the journal
Queen’s University
Vol. 143, Issue 29
T h u r s day , M a r c h 3 1 , 2 0 1 6
since
1873
AMS SERVICES
Studio Q, one year later
Year in Review
Gains and losses visible one year after amalgamation of three campus services
Our annual insert looks back at the biggest stories of the year
J ordana G oldman Assistant News Editor Studio Q’s first year on campus “was a year for learning,” said Lauren Abramsky, the service’s head manager. She’s spent the past year overseeing the amalgamation of Queen’s TV (QTV), Yearbook & Design Services (YDS) and Convocation Services under its new name, Studio Q. The services were amalgamated late last year due to the overlap between YDS and QTV. Since then, staff members have expressed both concern due to cuts to QTV’s news content and optimism about the direction of the service in the future. Emma Fuller, ArtSci ’16, last year’s executive producer for QTV and the AMS’ current Media Services Director, was part of the team that spearheaded the merger. Fuller says they intended to create more content by combining two creative services under one roof. Convocation Services’ operating expenses already included advertising services from QTV, so it also became part of the amalgamated service. One of the largest changes that came out of the merger was the removal of mandated news content and broadcasting that QTV had previously offered. Prior to the amalgamation, QTV had four to five mandated news segments per week, according to Fuller. “Videos take way more effort, so instead of weekly mandated content, the volunteers kind of got to choose what they wanted to focus on,” Abramsky said. She said this year’s documentary on Queen’s triathlon was an example of the new projects that have come out of the freedom offered to volunteers. The 13-minute film, a joint effort of volunteers, staff and management, took months to film and produce. It went on to be screened at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival in February 2016. Prior to the amalgamation, QTV had a team of six managers responsible for the production of videos under their specialized sections. QTV produced around 58 videos last year. This year, Studio Q has produced between 10 and 15 videos. “That’s a drastic number difference but See QTV on page 4
ILLUSTRATIONS BY VINCENT LIN
ABORIGINAL STUDENTS
Scholarship created for Indigenous law students Queen’s Law Students’ Society comes to consensus on surplus M organ D odson Contributor On March 24, the Queen’s Law Students’ Society (LSS) announced the creation of a new Aboriginal Entrance Scholarship for aspiring Indigenous lawyers. The annual scholarship is intended to address the underrepresentation of Indigenous students in Canadian law schools. It also serves as a response to the Calls to Action contained in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report. The scholarship will provide between $2,000 and $3,000 and will be awarded to one incoming Indigenous
Queen’s law student who demonstrates financial need and academic achievement. Funds for the scholarship were made available by a $25,000 LSS budget surplus, which will be transferred to a joint endowed fund created in partnership with the Queen’s Faulty of Law. Dean of Law Bill Flanagan has offered to match the LSS’s commitment with $25,000 of the faculty’s funds, although the faculty’s contribution is still waiting for the approval of the Provost. The endowed fund will be invested with an expected annual SUPPLIED BY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
return of approximately four per cent to ensure that funds for the scholarship are available for years to come. When the surplus was discovered, a number of proposals were brought to the table by members of the LSS. An established committee first narrowed the list of proposals down before the chosen proposals were brought before Queen’s law students in the form of an online survey. Students voted in the survey from March 23 to 24. The Aboriginal Entrance Scholarship won 60 per cent of the vote. 65 per cent of the total law student population voted. The scholarship will “support students financially and encourage law students who want to stay true to their Indigenous culture,” according to LSS Student Senator Ian Moore, JD ’16. Moore was the formal mover of the scholarship proposal. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission — which is funded by the federal government — looks into the history See Less than on page 4
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
FEATURES
EDITORIALS
ARTS
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
How the first Black student saved Queen’s
The highs and lows of the 2015-16 school year
Drama students, open yourselves up to criticism
Three top athletes reflect on their time at Queen’s
We asked, you voted: Best of Kingston survey results
page 3
page 5
page 7
page 9
page 11
Online:
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Thursday, March 31, 2016
AMS executive year in review Team CBW — now CBL — reflects on their 2015-16 term
From left: Vice President (University Affairs) Sarah Letersky, President Kanivanan Chinniah and Vice President (Operations) Kyle Beaudry during Frosh Week.
M ikayla W ronko Assistant News Editor
a counter would have cost more than students would be willing to pay. It’s been one year since Team She said the monthly ARC CBW was acclaimed as the AMS graphics are accessible through the executive, and as their term ends, AMS’s Facebook page. they say they’re finally hitting their stride. Increasing student card value “It’s sad when the last four months are the ones where you Though the AMS has had really feel like you know what several discussions with Queen’s you’re doing,” Vice President Housing & Ancillary Services (University Affairs) Sarah throughout the year, there won’t Letersky said. be more uses for a Queen’s President Kanivanan Chinniah, student card next year. Vice President (Operations) Kyle Beaudry said the incoming Beaudry and Letersky sat down AMS needs to push and work with The Journal to debrief on determining if adding the students on the year and the legacy infrastructure to support a more they hope to leave behind. versatile student card is worth the cost. Bus service evaluation Fall Reading Week After multiple meetings with Kingston city officials, Beaudry At the March 16 AMS Assembly, told The Journal that changes to the AMS executive told bus Routes 17 and 18 will be made constituents that they plan to to accommodate student demand put forth a motion at the April starting in September this year. Senate meeting to postpone the Beaudry said Route 17 will be Fall Reading Week proposal for running on Johnson and Brock further student consultation. Streets to provide a quicker, more Chinniah says that, on a technical efficient ride to West Campus. level, the Senate Committee on Route 18, which picks up Academic Procedures (SCAP) passengers from the VIA Rail only has authority to set sessional station and the Kingston Bus dates, not the residence move-in Terminal, will be expanded to or Orientation days. He said that extend services for students coming the proposal assumes complete back to Kingston on Sunday trains compliance from the bodies and buses. setting move-in and Orientation days — and that’s a problem. ARC people counter “Students are divided on the costs the community has to pay for The people counter was initially a fall break,” Chinniah said. a campaign promising to track Letersky added that further the ARC’s busiest hours. But consultation needs to encompass Letersky said the AMS has both students and experts to make settled for monthly graphics sure that the proposal will actually measuring peak times due to the help issues of mental health. logistical challenges of installing a counter. Repurposing the AGM “As it looks right now, [the graphics are] the most viable AMS Assembly passed policy option because of the multiple amendments in the fall that exit and entry points into the removed Annual General Meetings Athletic Centre,” she said, adding (AGM) as an avenue for student that the technology required for fees. The changes caused turnout
to drop at this year’s AGM and started discussions about the future of the yearly meeting. “The discussion that was had and mentioned was that [the AGM] should be a forum for students to come and engage in debate,” Letersky said. Letersky added that the AMS executive’s presentation may have been too lengthy and probably needs to be more engaging. “It is something the new exec is taking very seriously, so they’ll probably have a review of [the AGM] over the next couple months,” Letersky said. AMS recruitment
revitalization project — funded with money from the Queen’s Centre project — is well underway. Beaudry told The Journal that the men’s and women’s washrooms have been completed and that the construction of a gender neutral washroom is in progress. The project includes the construction of a new walkway in the JDUC, a new skylight and the refurbishing of Wallace Hall to make it more aesthetically appealing. Beaudry said students should only pay for a renovated JDUC once they start to use it. “The fee would be retroactive, so we’re not paying now for something that will be finished in five to six years,” he said.
The AMS saw several high-profile resignations this year, including the resignations of Vice-President (University Affairs) Catherine Final thoughts Wright in the summer (replaced by Sarah Letersky) and Academic As they say goodbye to their AMS Affairs Commissioner Read Leask positions and transition in their (replaced by Tyler Lively). replacements, CBL mused about A series of resignations in their futures. the fall — and hiring processes Letersky said she’ll be required — prompted the completing her final year for executive to take a look at their her Bachelor’s degree in fall hiring practices. 2016. Beaudry will be starting After reviewing the hiring work at PwC — a multinational process, Chinniah said they perfessional services firm — in found that the AMS needs to Toronto after the summer, while attract more external applicants. Chinniah will be taking time off Because the most-cited barrier to before his next endeavour. external applicants is the proposal Chinniah said he doesn’t want component of AMS applications, to leave a legacy as a person, they’ve removed that requirement but instead lay a foundation for for salaried positions. a good future. He said it would Chinniah said there has been a be a disservice to students to use 40 per cent increase in executive the executive role only to create report applicants, a 60 per cent big moments. increase in corporate service Beaudry agreed. applicants and a 20 per cent “You don’t get those increase in government manager opportunities [to be of service applicants since amending to students] if you’re constantly the application. chasing a big project that you’re “We’re getting a more diverse not even sure is in the best pool in terms of faculty and interests of students, when what’s AMS experience.” actually in the best interest of students is to listen to them,” JDUC he said. For Letersky, it’s about leaving The $1.2-million JDUC the AMS in a better place from
JOURNAL FILE PHOTO
than when they walked in. “I think we’ll be remembered as the AMS who propelled the society forward and put students at the forefront of the discussion … I think that’s something we’re all happy to be leaving with.” —With files from Maureen O’Reilly
GRAPHIC BY ASHLEY QUAN
CORRECTIONS Students struggle to access Isabel MARCH 24, 2016 The Journal did not explicitly request an ownership breakdown of the Isabel. A graphic was removed because the information presented was incomplete. Stephen Trivieri’s film is called To The Bader, not To the Isabel.
Print edition error MARCH 24, 2016 The last print edition of the Journal was incorrectly labelled “Issue 24”. The correct issue was 28. The Journal regrets the errors.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
queensjournal.ca
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FEATURE
Robert Sutherland: the first Black grad’s long road to recognition JOURNAL FILE PHOTO
Theological Hall (above) began construction in 1879 — a year after Sutherland’s death.
More than 100 years later, student efforts ensured the legacy of Queen’s first major donor lives on N ick P earce Features Editor The man who saved Queen’s University was likely born a slave to unknown parents. According to a letter written by his close friend James Maclennan, Robert Sutherland was born to a Scottish father and a Black mother in Jamaica in 1830. He was three years old when the British Empire abolished slavery. There’s no record of his baptism — the Church of England didn’t record baptisms of slaves at the time. But he lived in Jamaica until he was 19, when he boarded a ship to leave the Caribbean forever. Soon after, Sutherland became the sixtieth student to enroll at Queen’s. If Maclennan and historian A. R. Hazelgrove are correct, Sutherland’s father likely covered his son’s expenses and chose Queen’s for its Scottish roots. When Sutherland arrived, the school was a small and insular Presbyterian college — his graduating arts class was 11 people, including three Masters students. It wasn’t even a decade old. It occupied two stone houses on the north side of William St., and most of its traffic tended to be horse-drawn. A young arts student and future Supreme Court Justice named James Maclennan befriended the solitary Jamaican student, starting a friendship that would last until they died. Sutherland studied classics and mathematics, which paid off. As a freshman, he won four academic awards. By the next year, his classmates awarded him a general merit award for the quality of his schoolwork. These were just a few of the many accolades Sutherland would receive from the small college. Sutherland was a keen debater in the Dialectic Society, the club that eventually became the AMS. While he was the club’s treasurer, his true skill was debating. Of the 10 debates he was in, he led his
team to seven victories. Although slavery continued miles to the south, Sutherland often said Queen’s was the one place “he had always been treated as a gentleman.” One April day in 1852, Queen’s Principal John Machar, a stern Scottish immigrant and minister, handed Queen’s first Black graduate his diploma. Three years later, Sutherland became British North America’s first Black lawyer. He settled in a pioneer village named Walkerton — south of Owen Sound — and opened a barrister’s practice soon after. According to Hazelgrove, Sutherland chose the spot for its proximity to escaped slaves settling in Ontario. He would have been the natural choice for the freedmen looking to register land or prepare a will. Sutherland lived alone in the same small house for the rest of his life. He contented himself with his work, writing wills and participating in his community. He was called one of Walkerton’s leading citizens by a local directory. He never married or had children. Later, Principal George Grant would write that Sutherland’s life was “solitary and joyless.” In 1878, Sutherland traveled to Toronto but was floored by coughing fits as he became ill. He was hospitalized and diagnosed with pneumonia. His condition declined until he passed away on June 2 at 48 years old. Sutherland left everything he had to Queen’s due to his enduring respect for his treatment at the school. His donation amounted to over $12,000 — worth over a quarter million dollars today and equal to the Queen’s yearly operating budget at that time. By the spring of 1878, Queen’s was in dire financial straits. The University of Toronto would likely annex the school if it couldn’t get its books in order. Luckily, Sutherland’s donation, the first one of its kind to Queen’s, ensured its financial independence. Sutherland was buried in a
Toronto graveyard two days after he died. There was no marker. In gratitude, Queen’s donated a large granite tombstone to his grave. “May his devotion to his alma mater not pass into oblivion” his plaque in Grant Hall reads. There be wouldn’t be any physical recognition on campus for another 95 years, until that plaque was placed in Grant Hall in his commemoration. *** In fall 1994, Greg Frankson remembers standing with a megaphone on the steps of Richardson Hall protesting a white supremacist group on campus. That year, the Heritage Front had begun recruiting on the Queen’s campus. A student involved with the organization was distributing posters and running an organizational call centre out of her residence room in Victoria Hall, according to a 2010 article in The Journal. A progressive campus publication, Surface, published an issue addressing the group, but copies of its next issue mysteriously disappeared the night it was distributed on campus. One of Surface’s co-editors alleged that the disappearance was related to their coverage of the Heritage Front. Frankson was already involved with RED, an anti-discrimination group, and had contributed to Surface, both of which drew him to attend the rally. But his contact with anti-discrimination groups also exposed him to Sutherland’s story. “They were raising awareness around the history of Queen’s in general,” Frankson said. “And Robert Sutherland was one of the more notable stories at the time.” In his third year, Frankson was elected as the first Black AMS president in Queen’s history. His first order of business as president-elect was to send a letter to Dean of Student Affairs, Bob Crawford, and the principal to inform them that he intended
to make the commemoration of Robert Sutherland a top priority. Crawford got back to him soon after. “[Crawford responded] to let me know we had to be diplomatic, [that this] is not the way things are done around campus,” he said. “I think the letter got the attention of the administration.” Under Frankson’s tenure, the AMS created the Robert Sutherland Task Force. The task force’s 1997 report, which passed unanimously, recommended four actions: providing a Robert Sutherland Award for Excellence in Debating to a member of the Queen’s Debating Union, dedicating a room in the JDUC to Sutherland, providing the Robert Sutherland prize to a self-defined graduating student of colour who fostered diversity on campus and creating the Robert Sutherland Visitorship to allow a scholar to speak on diversity on campus. Frankson said the AMS also worked with the department of Campus Planning and Development to get a building named after Sutherland. “We got a lot pushback from the university on the idea of naming any buildings,” he said. One suggestion was to name the tower in Grant Hall after Sutherland. “That idea didn’t get very far.” Frankson says the department didn’t prioritize Sutherland because
they intended to attract notable donors with opportunities to name buildings after them, “without understanding the irony of that statement.” The AMS eventually compromised and Queen’s named a room in the JDUC after Sutherland. But Frankson continued to bring up the issue in University Council, an advisory body made up of Queen’s alumni, in the coming years. Efforts to honour Sutherland were renewed almost 10 years later with a push to rename the Policy Studies building Robert Sutherland Hall, with the rationale that Sutherland’s legal career complemented policy studies. Then-Rector Leora Jackson, Undergraduate Student Trustee Michael Ceci, AMS President Talia Radcliffe and SGPS President Jeff Welsh spearheaded the effort. The Board of Trustees passed the proposal unanimously. 131 years after his death, Robert Sutherland’s legacy was enshrined on campus. Frankson says Sutherland’s legacy goes beyond his bequest — it also shows the value of a diverse campus. “We do ourselves a grave and massive disservice every time we deny the need of equity of access and equity of treatment of all people of the Queen’s community,” he said. — with files from Adam Laskaris
The Policy Studies building was renamed Robert Sutherland Hall.
PHOTO BY KENDRA PIERROZ
News
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Thursday, March 31, 2016
QTV news broadcasts cut after merger Less than Continued from front page
since we weren’t mandating [them], it’s actually pretty impressive,” Abramsky said. Aside from the triathlon documentary, this year’s videos have included a “Profs Read Mean USAT’s” video, coverage of Homecoming, St. Patrick’s Day and Valentine’s Day and segments on campus clubs like Queen’s varsity sailing and the varsity rowing team. Last year, Fuller held a meeting to inform QTV staff that the service would be amalgamated into Studio Q and that mandated news content would be removed from the service. “What I remember telling them is that
QTV
QUEEN’S TV
CONVOCATION SERVICES GRAPHIC BY ASHLEY QUAN
the opportunity to make videos was still going to exist. It was just going to be more up to the volunteers to take that initiative,” Fuller said. When the news first broke, QTV alumni were highly critical of the changes in an interview with The Journal last January. Eugene Michasiw, QTV’s Executive Producer in 2011-12, said he was “shocked” and “saddened” by the removal of mandated editorial content, while Daniel Szczepanek, QTV’s executive producer in 2010-11, said it would leave The Journal as the only “true media outlet on campus.” Some staff also expressed concerns. Studio Q Video Factory staff member Madison Pincombe created a video “From QTV to Q”, where several staff members expressed discontent about the removal of news broadcasting YDS YEARBOOK & DESIGN from the service. SERVICES Travis Rhee, CompSci ’16, a current Video Factory Manager at Studio Q, was one of the employees featured in the video. He spoke with The Journal about his views on the merger. “I was both intrigued and disappointed,” said Rhee, who served as the Business Manager for QTV from 201213 and Executive Producer in 2014. He was surprised by how quickly the
merger happened. “[In] my year, we had a discussion with our Media Services Director at the time, and this is something that I actually almost envisioned maybe happening in five years,” he said. Rhee said he and other students were most disappointed with the loss of news in QTV, which he called a “casualty” for the service. “That was a good part of what Queen’s TV was. It wasn’t just, you know, corporate videos and the livestream,” he said. While QTV had six managers with at least five volunteers underneath them producing structured content for their specific section, Rhee said such a system no longer exists. “When Studio Q came in they got rid of all that and essentially just made, I think, one manager, as the Volunteer Video Manager ... it wasn’t news anymore. It was more kind of do-what-you-want.” Despite this, he said he’s pleased that the service has become more accessible to volunteers and that Live Content Manager Sarah Muma has been proactive in getting people interested in volunteering. “They did cut a lot of the resources that she had, but considering what she was given, she has been doing a really good job,” he said. Those cuts weren’t necessarily as sweeping as Rhee suggests. Fuller said almost 90 per cent of film equipment remained with Studio Q, although two DSLR cameras were transferred to The Journal to allow the newspaper to expand its video content. In the upcoming year, Studio Q will hire a video manager to build additional content. According to Abramsky, they’ll also be implementing feedback gathered throughout the year to improve the service in the future.
1% of law students are Aboriginal Continued from front page
of the residential school system and how it continues to impact Aboriginal communities in Canada. Moore said the Commission’s December 2015 report asked Canadian colleges and universities to rethink their approach to Indigenous issues and the ways they can address the legacy of Canada’s residential schools. “Indigenous people are underrepresented in the legal profession [and] underrepresented at law schools,” Moore said. “The law has historically been used as one of the most powerful tools of oppression of Indigenous peoples, and so what these calls to action have explicitly asked law schools to do is rethink the curriculum.” Less than one per cent of students enrolled in Queen’s Law self-identify as Aboriginal, according to Moore, and Queen’s has never offered a scholarship specifically for Aboriginal law students in the past. He added that the scholarship recognizes that law students are part of the system that has historically oppressed Aboriginal peoples. “It’s important to us to own up to the responsibility that we have,” he said.
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EDITORIALS
The Journal’s Perspective
Darts and Laurels 2015-16 ILLUSTRATION BY KEITH SAUNDERS
Darts Student Constable (StuCons) fee fails: The AMS’s decision to put all student fees through referendum hindered the StuCon fee increase. StuCons are essential to student life, and the fee increase was necessary to meet new provincial standards. However, the AMS failed to acknowledge the issue and instead reacted poorly to The Journal’s criticism of their actions. School of Computing faculty dwindling: It’s been a decade since the School of Computing hired a new group of faculty members, despite seven departures since 2007. Computer science is a growing field that should be on the cutting edge, but it’s instead being neglected by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
soup and pay-it-forward board will be missed by many. Street harassment in the University District: Street harassment is a normal occurrence, but this year we found that much of what happens is criminal and shouldn’t be tolerated. Calling each other out when we are making other students feel unsafe is a job we have to start taking seriously. Absent mental health resources for graduate student: The existence of only one graduate student-specific counsellor is concerning. Considering how vulnerable graduate students are to poor mental health, they deserve more support from their student society and the University. Disorder at the Castle: Despite dismissals, resignations and large course amalgamations at the Bader International Study Center, the administration failed to provide a strong plan for the Castle’s future. Just because it’s located on another continent doesn’t mean we can ignore concerns at our other campus.
Fall referendum nullified: The most disappointing part of the AMS’s decision to nullify the fall referendum was their lack of transparency. Along with failing to notify constituents, the AMS didn’t provide a reason for the nullification until after the fact. Moreover, the same CEO whose Principal Daniel Woof’s email: questioned integrity resulted in While students’ behaviour during the nullification was quietly Frosh Week was reprehensible, rehired afterwards without Principal Daniel Woolf’s response an explanation. was entirely unhelpful. Woolf’s email lecture had more the Sexual harassment of TAs in tone of a PR statement made to Political Studies: If TAs are being satisfy external bodies than a sexual harassed and verbally constructive approach to Queen’s abused, it shouldn’t take an drinking culture. email leak for us to know about it. Mistreatment of students is a Lack of diversity and equity community problem that requires among faculty: Despite repeatedly an open and transparent reporting acknowledging that diversity and mechanism rather than closed equity are concerns at Queen’s, door investigations. this year saw lots of lip action but little results. Queen’s “culture of The Sleepless Goat closing: whiteness” isn’t going to change When The Sleepless Goat closed unless we step up to the plate. the Kingston and Queen’s We need to diversify faculty, communities lost a place where courses and students and everyone was welcome. The recognize that diversity can no unique café with its free warm longer be put on the back burner.
THE QUEEN’S JOURNAL Volume 143 Issue 29 www.queensjournal.ca @queensjournal Publishing since 1873
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A Decade of Editorials Visit qjlongform.com to view the full article
Sexual violence policy: The approval of Queen’s sexual assault policy was a long-awaited step forward. While the final result is lacking in many ways, Queen’s is progressing more quickly than Jane Willsie many other schools and in the Editorials Editor right direction. We are students for a short time. Personal Interest Credit: At a Homecoming and the ReUnion We’re here for a few years and school where people’s grades Street Festival: Despite concerns then we move on. University is a often scare them from having an after a rowdy Frosh Week, temporary home for us. education, the introduction of a Homecoming went smoothly But Queen’s has a long history pass/fail option in Arts and Science this year, no doubt in part due that outlives any temporary is extremely welcome. Thanks to another successful ReUnion residents passing through. There to the ASUS President and Vice Festival. The work of student have been thousands of students President, students now have a volunteers who cleaned up before us, students with the same chance to learn something new the streets the next day is stresses, the same worries and without fear. especially commendable. insecurities ... right? When I decided to dig back Edward Snowden talks to Provincial funding for low income through the past 10 years of students via live feed: The Queen’s students: Ontario’s plan to offer editorials in The Queen’s Journal, International Affairs Association’s free tuition for low income families I really had no idea what I would persistence paid off when Edward isn’t without its pitfalls, but, it find. All I knew was that buried Snowden addressed a packed signals an awareness that many among our archives were the Grant Hall. The group was find post-secondary education opinions and voices of students remarkably dedicated and created inaccessible. Hopefully this will who could tell Queen’s history an event where students proved continue to be a priority for the from a fascinating perspective. they aren’t as apathetic as we may province in the future. What I found was unexpected think when it comes to issues that at times, emotional at others and, really matter. Scramble crossing: It’s a small surprisingly, somewhat humorous. thing, but for a student body From a signed editorial comparing Students save elderly woman made up of mostly pedestrians, Battlestar Galactica to religion to from drowning: It’s not every day the scramble crossing was a flawless the confessions of a recovering you encounter everyday heroes. addition to our campus. It was also trivia addict, the topics that In early February, a Queen’s implementedinatimelyandefficient occupied the minds of Journal staff student and medical resident manner through cooperation have differed widely over the years. rescued an elderly woman after between the city of Kingston And yet some things never change. she accidentally drove her car and Queen’s. I was most concerned with how into Elevator Bay. This story of the biggest issues I see facing the everyday people coming to the AMS’s mental health push: student body today developed aid of strangers in need was The AMS took a step towards over time. How long have we been heart-warming to say the least. increasing mental health services asking for better mental health on campus this year. Along with resources? How has the AMS acted Kingston welcoming Syrian successfully lobbying Student over the years? How deeply-rooted refugees: While the refugee crisis Wellness Services to extend its is Queen’s lack of diversity? brought out some ugliness in hours, the Online Psychology Don’t get me wrong. If my term North America, genuine kindness Network was added to the AMS as Editorials Editor has taught me and sympathy took action Health Plan. This was an instance anything this year, it’s that The in Kingston and at Queen’s. of student consultation done right, Journal doesn’t always get things Numerous groups, including and shows a positive, practical right. But even our past mistakes Queen’s Law students, faculty direction for the AMS. are valuable lessons for the present. members and Kingston residents Welcome to a trip down should be applauded for offering — Journal Editorial Board memory lane to see what has and accommodations, food and hasn’t changed.
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support to Syrian refugees.
Arthur MacDonald’s Nobel Prize win: We couldn’t imagine a better public representative for Queen’s than Arthur MacDonald. His ground-breaking work won him a Nobel Prize in Physics this year, and brought a wave of school pride to Queen’s.
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OPINIONS
Your Perspective
Talking Heads... with this year’s outgoing staff
Tenants: know your rights or risk them
PHOTOS BY KATE MEAGHER
What was the best part of working at The Journal?
Contributions for next year’s volume can be emailed to next year’s Opinions Editor, Arththy Valluvan at journal_letters@ams.queensu.ca
The importance of educating yourself on your legal options
“You taking my fucking picture.”
“The people.”
Arwin Chan, Vol 143 Production Manager Young people are often vulnerable to exploitation by landlords, warns Arththy Valluvan.
Arththy Valluvan, ArtSci ’18
“Making some type of positive contribution to my university.” Jordana Goldman, Vol 143 Assistant News Editor
“Bringing a graduate student perspective to The Journal.” Anastasiya Boika, Vol 143 Features Editor
“Domino’s — The Journal changes you like that.” Nick Pearce, Vol 143 Features Editor
“Press night dinners with my buddies.” Kate Meagher, Vol 143 Opinions Editor
“Friendship.” Lauren Luchenski, Vol 143 Assistant Arts Editor
When I decided to come to Queen’s, people were quick to tell me how difficult the transition would be. “No one is going to hold your hand anymore,” they told me. Again and again. It wasn’t until second year that I realized it wasn’t enough to know how to do laundry and feed myself I had to know my legal rights as a tenant to prevent landlords from taking advantage of me. When students fail to educate themselves about these matters they end up enabling their own mistreatment. Living in residence in first year allowed me to continue leading a life of dependency — almost everything was done for me. Then I signed a lease for a four-bedroom apartment with three friends. The building wasn’t completed when I signed. Disregarding my parents’ concerns, I was adamant and excited to make the decision for myself. The summer before moving in, things got complicated. Because the building was unfinished, everything was tentative, with progress dependent on a variety of factors and a vague, projected plan. General questions, like when I could move in, went unanswered. Even after I moved in, the building wasn’t finished and many apartments weren’t ready for tenants. Throughout the first half of the year, ventilation issues in the apartment, workers coming in and out with little warning, poor scheduling, and waking up to daily construction were all things tenants had to deal with. Attempting to discuss the
“Staring at the blank page before you and filling it up with beautiful content.” Adam Laskaris, Vol 143 Sports Editor
issues with management often proved frustrating, as they were incredibly hard to deal with and unapproachable. Whenever I brought concerns up with my landlord, I wasn’t taken seriously. Because I was young, they assumed placating me would tide me over. To a certain extent, they were right. I wanted to look into legal action, but failed to go through with it. I wasn’t sure I had the grounds to make a case or the resources to consult professional, legal help. However, I now realize that I had more options, and there were resources I could have contacted through the Queen’s Student Community Relations Office. Young people are often overlooked and taken advantage of because of their age and lack of authority. But if this year taught me anything, it’s that I, like many tenants, was part of the problem. I may not have caused the issue, or started a dispute with my landlord, but the fact that I wasn’t prepared to deal with problems left me vulnerable, making me a contributing factor. The best way to confront my issues would’ve been to first educate myself about the laws and organizations that existed to protect tenants. I would’ve been able to assert myself and argue my case more thoroughly. The situation is much like any other sort of investment. People who run a business focus on their own interests, and it’s up to investors to do their research and understand where they’re putting their money. When a company hides something and acts unethically or
PHOTO BY STEPHANIE NIJHUIS
illegally, it’s up to investors to know their options and take appropriate action to rectify the problem. Landlords build their leases and contracts in ways that benefits themselves. However, some of their rules and regulations are negotiable and less concrete than they seem, because they’re unenforceable under Ontario law. It’s important to know information like this because it helps students understand what they can advocate for and what’s legally permissible under the law. Students should also look into the Residential Tenancies Act established through Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to thoroughly understand what they’re doing when signing a lease. Queen’s also has a section on its website under “Student Affairs” titled “leases and landlords” that directs students to resources and tips to consider when they experience issues with their landlords. The most important thing to do is address the concerns that arise and avoid complacency — even if responses can be discouraging. Letting discouragement silence you is tempting, but it also guarantees defeat. Like many people in positions of power, some landlords will try to keep the upper hand over young people. When you decide to live on your own, you also sign up to handle difficult situations, which requires knowing your rights. After all, no one is going to hold your hand anymore. Arththy Valluvan is a second-year English major and next year’s Opinions Editor at The Journal.
Katelyn Martinko, Vol 143 Business Manager
“Seeing how dedicated the team is.” Jasmit De Saffel, Vol 143 Office Administrator
“Working alongside such intelligent and passionate people!” Ashley Quan, Vol 143 Graphics Editor
“Meeting so many great people in such a short time.” Katie King, Vol 143 Copy Editor
“The pizza.” Vishmayaa Jeyamoorthy, Vol 143 Copy Editor
“Listening to Kanye late at night.”
“The summer internship opportunity.”
“Meeting super rad people.”
Kailun Zhang, Vol 143 Assistant Lifestyle Editor
Kendra Pierroz, Vol 143 Photo Editor
Stephanie Nijhuis, Vol 143 Photo Editor
Thursday, March 31, 2016
queensjournal.ca
•7
ARTS Are you there, Queen’s theatre? It’s me, Nina. The Queen’s theatre community needs to be open to honest reviews Nina Ricciarelli, ArtSci ‘16, believes the Queen’s theatre community needs to be more open to criticism if they’re to learn from their mistakes.
N ina R icciarelli Staff Writer Last year, I was given the opportunity to see a play to review it for an arts magazine on campus. The play was decent. Nothing too rave-worthy and nothing too disparagingly bad. It was typical and unsurprising. In my review, I wrote about the good and the bad, and came to the conclusion that it was worth a watch if you were the kind of person who doesn’t look for professionalism in student theatre. When my article was published, however, I was unpleasantly surprised to see entire paragraphs had been cut out of my review. The majority of my critical points on the negative aspects of the show had been edited out. The editor told me that the negative bits
were cut out because the magazine was “trying to foster a positive, inclusive community for artists to feel free to create art.” Let me make something quite clear: giving out only positive praise doesn’t lead to good art. Editing out the constructive thoughts of reviewers for the sake of stroking an artist’s ego is dishonest. In doing so, the writers and editors become the villains, carefully cocooning playwrights and directors in a mountain of inviting feedback and subtly discouraging them from leaving their comfort zones. The process of creating theatre is frustrating, especially because it’s a collaborative medium. Everyone thinks differently and we all have different ways of dealing with conflict. Putting people in a room and telling them to create
something they’ll be proud of doesn’t mean that those people are going to be best friends at the end of it. Creating theatre is like having sex, conceiving a child, giving birth to it, raising it and watching it go to college in the span of two to three months. It’s co-parenting in a compound. It’s an insult to those artists to be disingenuous with your criticism in the same way that it’s an insult to tell me that I can’t print my real opinions. Respecting the people in these productions and their work in the theatre has nothing to do with whether or not I like the production that they’ve created. But it seems that line has been blurred. Censorship of negative reviews isn’t just a problem with print and digital media. I’ve found that my peers in
the Drama Department restrain themselves from offering negative criticism of productions their friends have worked on, whether it’s in class or in conversations in the hallways of our building. We self-censor ourselves because of a fear that we’ll insult someone. It’s a vicious cycle that discourages the urge to think critically and leaves us smiling and nodding like bobble heads. As a result, theatre at Queen’s is bland and uneventful. Theatre has become about hiring friends to work with you rather than hiring people who are better suited for the job but who may challenge your artistic vision. How are we to know if what works in a piece of theatre when nobody tells us otherwise? Does that mean that we have achieved perfection?
PHOTO BY STEPHANIE NIJHUIS
It’s impossible to create perfect art. Perfection, or the perception of it, goes against the principles of art. And perfection does not warrant progress. It encourages repetition. Why would you change something everyone liked? Why leave the soft, cozy bed when it’s so cold outside? We must stop muting ourselves as a community simply because we’re afraid of hurting the feelings of friends. By assuming our friends and colleagues can’t distinguish what is personal and what is critical, we are discrediting their intelligence, professionalism and ability as artists. This stiffens the growth of art within the community. I hope that someday I will be able to express my true thoughts on a work of theatre in something other than a whisper.
MUSIC
The Tragically Hip to receive honorary Queen’s degrees Acclaimed rock band began in Kingston A lex P alermo Contributor Renowned musicians The Tragically Hip will be among the 16 people receiving honorary degrees from Queen’s this spring. On May 19, all five members of the rock band — Rob Baker, Gord Sinclair, Paul Langlois, Gordon Downie and Johnny Fay — will be among the first to receive their honorary doctorate of law degrees alongside medical school graduates from the Class of 2016. Honorary degrees grant the recognition and prestige of a Queen’s degree without the usual required coursework. The band has a long history in Kingston. In the early 1980s, when the Underground was still Alfie’s and when Stauffer didn’t exist, “The Hip” was born at the KCVI, a local high school. “Rob [Baker] and Gord Sinclair grew up across the street from
each other and were in the same grade,” said Michèle Langlois, brother of Paul Langlois, in an email to The Journal. “[They] jammed a lot together and had a band in high school called Rick and the Rodents.” Other members of the band — Langlois, Downie and Fay — were two years younger but also attended KCVI. Lead guitarist Baker, Sinclair and Downie all graduated from Queen’s. Baker received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1986, while Gord Sinclair graduated in the same year and Downie in 1988. Baker, Downie, Sinclair, Johnny Fay and a fifth member — Davis Manning — began to play together when Baker and Sinclair were in second year at Queen’s. “[Their] first gig was a Kingston Arts Council fundraiser at the Modern Fuel Gallery on Queen Street,” said Michèle Langlois. In 1986, the same year that Baker
The Tragically Hip will receive their honorary degrees this spring.
and Sinclair graduated, Paul Langlois joined the band and David Manning decided to move on. The Tragically Hip played exclusively in small town Ontario venues until they were discovered and signed by MCA in the mid-1980s. Their first release, a self-titled EP, produced the two singles “Highway Girl” and “Small Town Take-Down”. The Hip first topped the Canadian charts in 1991 with the release of Road Apples, their third studio album. Their career skyrocketed with several chart topping albums in 1992 and 1994, and they appeared as musical guests on Saturday Night Live
in 1996. After the release of their seventh studio album in 1999, they won several Juno awards and achieved platinum success three times. Fast forward to 2014, and they’re on a headlining tour to celebrate their return to the studio with a re-mastered version of Fully Completely on the horizon. That year, Baker was awarded the 2014 Padre Laverty Award from the Queen’s University Alumni Kingston Branch. The award honoured his successful music career and recognized his efforts to support the arts community at Queen’s. “Sinclair, Langlois and Baker
SUPPLIED BY THE TRAGICALLY HIP
are all currently Kingston residents. [They] are very supportive of the Kingston arts community and of the Queen’s and Kingston community as a whole,” Michèle Langlois wrote. “They show tremendous support for local live music, local visual and theatre arts. Journalist Ali Velshi and former Queen’s University Chaplain Brian Yealland are also receiving honorary degrees along with eight other recipients. The Tragically Hip will receive their honorary degrees at 2:30 p.m. on May 19 at Grant Hall.
Arts
8 •queensjournal.ca
Thursday, March 31, 2016
THEATRE
Four indie films on womanhood available on Netflix Independent cinema has more potential for realistic and diverse narratives
A screenshot from (top left) Tangerine, (bottom left) Obvious Child, (top right) Short Term 12 and (bottom right) Girlhood.
S ydney U rbanek Staff Writer If you’re not a straight white male, the journey to have your work in film respected can be a tumultuous one.
A study conducted by the University of Southern California last year found that females made up roughly 34 per cent of speaking roles in movies and scripted series produced in 2014 and 2015. Racial minorities also face severe
Cram Jams Soundtracks for your studies
underrepresentation in Hollywood, and there remain few realistic and non-stereotypical lesbian, gay and transgender roles available. For that reason, it’s often in the realm of independent film that we get to see stories about women and minorities that big studios consider too financially risky to produce. Independent filmmakers — not as limited by the requirement that their work be commercially viable — can focus on the unique and very real experiences of women, including stories that are too controversial or taboo for mainstream cinema. Here are four independent films that provide refreshingly realistic stories about women and their unique experiences. Each of the following films are currently available on Netflix Canada. Tangerine (2015) directed by Sean S. Baker Best friends Sin-Dee Rella and Alexandra are transgender women of colour who work as prostitutes in an unglamorous part of Los Angeles. We meet them in a doughnut shop on Christmas Eve, catching up after Sin-Dee has served jail time for 28 days. Alexandra tells Sin-Dee that her boyfriend and pimp, Chester, has been unfaithful with a cisgender woman named Dinah during her time away. The remainder of the film follows Sin-Dee as she furiously and hilariously searches for Dinah on the streets of LA. Tangerine was shot on an iPhone 5s, using a Steadicam rig and an app called FiLMiC Pro that costs $8. With its oversaturated colours and documentary-like camera work, the film is stylistically unique. Obvious Child (2014) directed by Gillian Robespierre
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Starring Jenny Slate — the co-writer and voice artist behind the stop-motion YouTube film Marcel the Shell — Obvious Child tells the story of a young woman who finds herself pregnant shortly after losing her job and her long-term boyfriend. From Juno to Knocked Up, unplanned pregnancy stories aren’t new to the film world. But Obvious Child is one of the only films I’ve ever seen that directly devotes itself
PHOTOS SUPPLIED BY YOUTUBE
to the issue of abortion and other topics related to female reproductive health. Though the film’s comedy may not be for everyone, it refreshingly deals with subject matter that many female viewers will be surprised, and perhaps grateful, to see addressed on-screen. Short Term 12 (2013) directed by Destin Daniel Cretton I originally watched Short Term 12 because there had been Oscar buzz surrounding Brie Larson’s role in the film. Larson plays Grace, a young supervisor at a group home full of at-risk teenagers. Grace gives everything she has towards these kids, because it’s part of the way she copes with her own traumatic memories from childhood. At work, she’s nurturing and assertive, but she secretly struggles with her own mental health issues and an untimely pregnancy at home. Her character is emotionally complex and imperfect, and that’s what makes her so likeable. Grace holds everything together at the group home, just as Larson does for the film itself. Girlhood (2014) directed by Céline Sciamma After abruptly finding out that she has no educational future, young teenager Marieme is invited into a gang of girls in a poor suburb of Paris. Throughout the film, a true coming-ofage story, she gains confidence and a sense of maturity through her newfound social life. The film’s narrative centers primarily on the lives and relationships of young black teenagers. It deals with intersections of race and gender, as well as the ways that sexuality further complicates Marieme’s adolescence. Girlhood is visually stunning with its use of bright red, blue and purple hues and it plays with light to emphasize the emotions of characters throughout. Its musical accompaniment includes everything from synthesizers to “Diamonds” by Rihanna, giving the film an even greater sense of electricity.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
queensjournal.ca
•9
SPORTS It’s hard to say goodbye
Departing athletes Caitlyn Lahonen, Lauren McEwen and Taylor Clements discuss their final season PHOTOS BY ARWIN CHAN AND KENDRA PIERROZ
A dam L askaris Sports Editor As the school year comes to a close, many varsity athletes will be hanging up their Gael jerseys for the last time. Three of Queen’s most talented athletes shared their experience and thoughts on their time as a Gael. Women’s hockey’s Caitlyn Lahonen served as the team’s starting goalie for the past two seasons. Taylor Clements was a crucial hard-nosed winger for his four years with the Gaels’ men’s hockey program. And Lauren McEwen was a two-time CIS medalist and the women’s rugby team’s all-time leading scorer. The Journal sat down with the three to tell their stories and let them say goodbye. What was it like putting on the Gaels jersey for the final time? Lahonen: You never really prepare yourself to put the jersey on for that last time. Now it’s over and there is no next year, and you wish that you would’ve really embraced it a little more. At Queen’s, they grow such a family and knowing that you’re a part of that family is a great feeling. I think that’s
what I’ll miss the most. Clements: Near the end of my hockey season it was a pretty emotional time, because you’re always thinking about the ‘what if’s?’ and the, ‘what’s next?’ When it came down to game time it was all about the game, nothing changed. After my last game … I was like, “holy shit, that was my last hockey game as a Gael.” McEwen: It was very bittersweet. I will always, forever, feel like my last game as a Gael was the national championship game, but the [7s rugby tournament in British Columbia in March] was a little more fun. It gave me a chance to do things I’d never do. It was nice to get all of those trick plays out of your system before you have to hang up your cleats. What was it like to be part of a growing varsity program? Clements: It’s really fun to be a part of. My first year here we had a rough season and from my second to fourth year we were a very competitive team. McEwen: 2013 — that was where
Banner night Queen’s hands out annual Colour Awards S arah O’F laherty Contributor On Tuesday night, members of Gaels varsity clubs gathered to celebrate excellence in athletics at the 80th annual Club Colour Awards Banquet. The ceremony honours Queen’s top athletes from the school year. The major awards include the top female and male rookies of the year, top male and female athletes and the most outstanding performer of the year. Alfie Pierce Trophy for Female Rookie of the Year: Jessie Pollett, fencing Although she’s one of the youngest members of her team, Pollett was a critical part of the fencing team’s success this year. The team won the OUA Championship, and Pollett herself won gold at Carleton and silver at RMC in a team event. “I’m very surprised, and very
happy about it,” Pollett said. “I hope to help them win as many championships as I possibly can.” While Pollett has had a successful year with the team this season, she’s setting her sights high for the years to come. “I’m hoping to be known as kind of a mentor, because I do have a lot of experience coming into the club. So I hope to use that to groom a future generation of fencers.” Alfie Pierce Trophy for Male Rookie of the Year: Cameron Butler, squash Butler was named both OUA Rookie of the Year and OUA All-Star this January for squash. “I’m just thankful for everyone that’s made tonight possible and the season possible too,” Butler said. Butler recalled a tight game at the OUAs as a favourite moment of the year, where the
it all kind of exploded. That was where we won the OUA for the first time ever, it was the year where we kind of looked at ourselves as a team and said, “We’re a contending team. We can be the best in the country.” We started demanding respect. Lahonen: We’ve really gained a lot more resources and a lot more people [working for the team]. My first year here, we didn’t have a goalie coach, and now we have a full-time goalie coach. Now we have a defensive coach to help develop skills. The off-ice training program has really grown an immense amount. It’s crazy. What’s next for you? Lahonen: I’m going back home to Saskatoon. I’ll be starting a job with a Potash Corporation, working as a process engineer in training. I’ll play hockey with the guys at work and get involved in coaching. Competitive hockey is on a standstill at the moment. Clements: I don’t want to play hockey any more, the thrill is gone for me. I’m happy with where I’ve ended up. I want to hit the workforce. I want to find out
what is a passion for mine besides hockey. I don’t know what it is right now, but I want to find it. McEwen: I’m going to stay in Kingston, and I’m going to be coaching full-time at St. Lawrence. What was the one defining moment or play of your career at Queen’s? Lahonen: I wouldn’t say there’s one moment. But those moments where you come together as a team, like in spring training. If one person is the last person to finish a drill, you finish as a team. Clements: I’ll always remember in second year, beating out Ottawa in the first round of the playoffs. That’s the highlight reel moment that sticks out for me. We won the third game in overtime to win the series. I had an assist on the play. I don’t remember being happier. McEwen: I think the most memorable moment would be after the Acadia game [where Queen’s won 24-17 after falling behind 17-0], just realizing what the heck we just did … seeing the look on everybody’s faces, the pure genuine belief [that we could win]
that everyone had. Also, in first year, during our OUA bronze game, I came in as a sub. We were down, and I got pooped on by a bird. I then went on and scored the game-winning try. What do you want to be remembered for? Lahonen: I want to be remembered as a hard worker, a dedicated athlete. Someone who never gives up. Clements: People will remember me for having fun while working hard. [The one lesson I learned is] if you put the effort in, the work always gets done. McEwen: I hope that they say how much fun they had with me, because I sure as hell had a lot of fun with those girls. I hope that I’m remembered for my passion. I think that rugby has given me a lot, Queen’s women’s rugby especially, it’s given me so much. I’m so passionate about it. Maybe [I’ll be remembered for] a couple kicks here and there. These interviews were condensed and edited for clarity.
team finished fifth. “I had a very close match with the number one player at U of T. It was a really intense match and everyone was cheering me on.” Jack Jarvis Trophy for Top Male Athlete: Jimmy Wintle, fencing Wintle, the captain of the men’s fencing team, has enjoyed a long list of accomplishments during his time as a Gael. While at Queen’s, his team has won six medals at the OUA, and Wintle has personally won one gold, three silver and one bronze. “It’s a really great cap to an amazing eight years with the fencing team,” Wintle said after winning the trophy. “I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to be my teammates and my friends. This is just another great memory of the many great memories that I have with the team.” Marion Ross Trophy for Top Female Athlete: Jasmin Aggarwal, triathlon Aggarwal served this season not just as a varsity athlete, but also
Jimmy Wintle has fenced at Queen’s for eight years.
assisted the team with coaching duties as club co-president. “[The award] means a lot for me. It’s so much more than just my athletic performance; it’s being a coach,” Aggarwal said. “It’s just been an amazing experience being involved.” Outstanding Performance of the Year: Gill Pegg, rugby & wrestling Pegg has seen success both on the pitch and the mat this year, as a member of both the wrestling
PHOTO BY KENDRA PIERROZ
and rugby teams. Pegg has been named an OUA All-Star in both rugby and wrestling, the OUA MVP in wrestling and won gold in wrestling. She’s also won a CIS bronze medal in wrestling, a CIS silver in rugby and was named a CIS All-Star for rugby. “It means a lot,” Pegg said of the award. “It makes you feel like you belong as both an athlete and a student.” Pegg hopes to leave a legacy of determination and commitment. “It was a very long five years, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
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Thursday, March 31, 2016
LIFESTYLE MENSTRUATION
Men, we answered your questions about periods Watch the video online at www.queensjournal.ca/lifestyle SUPPLIED BY PIXABAY
SURVEILLANCE
Apple and FBI face off How Apple is set to profit from the surveillance legal case K yle C urlew Staff Writer Unless you’ve been holed up in Stauffer Library ignoring your friends and family and the World Wide Web, you’ve probably heard about the legal battle between the FBI and Apple. The government requested that Apple create a backdoor that would allow access to locked iPhones. In this case, specifically to access the phone of the terrorist responsible for the San Bernardino shooting in December. As you can imagine, political pundits, media corporations and members of the public quickly picked their sides. Even Trump made a typically half-assed remark about a boycott of Apple products. And Edward Snowden, the famous National Security Agency whistleblower, called BS
on the FBI’s insistence that they required Apple’s help to crack the encryption. Snowden was right. This week, the FBI dropped their case against Apple after they managed to unlock the iPhone with the help of an unknown third party — after weeks of insisting that the only avenue for unlocking was through Apple. While the media has focused largely on the FBI ‘Big Brother’ type surveillance, Apple has escaped criticism. Apple emerged from this fiasco as a valorized body sticking it to an oppressive government. Though I don’t think the state should be given any more surveillance capabilities than they already have, I’m left wondering how Apple may be profiting from this heavily publicized case. In its privacy policy, the tech
STUDENT LIFE
How to keep your cool during exams
GRAPHIC BY ERIKA STREISFIELD
K ailun Z hang Assistant Lifestyle Editor There’s nothing that sucks all life and happiness out of you quite like tirelessly studying for
weeks on end. With exam season fast-approaching, this probably won’t be the first time you hear this, but, despite it all, you should make sure to take care of yourself. Sleep right, eat well and get some
giant specifies that it doesn’t monetize and sell private consumer browsing data like other companies, but it’s worth noting that Apple is a profit-driven entity. Unlike the state, there are weak regulations surrounding what Apple can choose to do with data syphoned from every Apple user. It’s also worth noting that Apple has already milked the legal case in every possible way to keep the corporation in the spot light. Its privacy policy consistently references the case. All messages are clear: Apple exists to protect its users. Apple is poised to profit from the PR boost after challenging the government on issues of security. However, this case isn’t black and white. Apple is right to challenge the government on its request. Humouring the FBI would create a legal precedent
and open a Pandora’s Box of state-led surveillance. Thousands of requests would follow. It could cascade into complete civic transparency, all the while cloaking government intentions. While the government has abandoned their case against Apple, their attempts to access the private lives of millions of citizens aren’t over. This was only one legal battle out of many to come — all
aiming to set a new precedent in state-run surveillance. However, I wouldn’t be so quick to throw myself into Apple’s lot either — at a whim they could change their privacy policy and exploit user data like every other tech corporation. As the media storm around this case settles down, there are no heroes. Just powerful groups vying for a more profitable standpoint.
exercise — you know the drill. SUPPLIED BY PIXABAY But sometimes the things that Despite Apple’s best efforts, the FBI found a backdoor. really make the difference between feeling like a human and a zombie are the little ones. While it’d be that cause. Opt for a seat near a As cheesy as it sounds, something wondrous to consistently do yoga, window to remind yourself that about seeing the sun set can be get all five food groups in and pull there’s an outside world, where the so relaxing. off a full night’s sleep, some days sun shines and exams aren’t taking it’s just not realistic. The following over your life. Clean tips are ones that are easy to take and will hopefully help you Make playlists If you feel like your life’s maintain a greater sense of sanity a mess, a room that looks like throughout these next few weeks. Playing the right music can elevate something exploded doesn’t help. your mood in any scenario — even Stress-cleaning isn’t for everyone Shower hour eight of studying. I like having out there, but it’s a real thing. a few playlists: one that pumps me During exams, my room quickly First off, take showers. Usually up to grind it out, one that picks devolves into a mess that usually I shouldn’t have to say this, but me up (usually reserved for my doesn’t get cleaned until after showers tend to go on the back showers) and one that mellows me exams are over. Taking some time burner during exams. Stepping out before I go to bed. to tidy it up can be good for under hot water can ease some If music distracts you too you — a clean room is a of the tension built up from hours much while studying, try a “Rainy clean mind. spent hunched over a desk. Plus, Mood” soundtrack. There’s hygiene is a pretty good excuse one on YouTube that’s just Nothing is worth your health to take a break from studying. It eight-straight hours of rain and sounds simple, but it can be a thunder sounds — amazing. Finally, remember that as stressful gratifying 10 minutes of calm. as this time of year can be, it’s all Get fresh air going to be okay. Whatever it is Study in sunlight that you do to make it through Get outside and take a conscious exams, give yourself the permission Exam season has a way of making breather. Even the walk to and to indulge. Take breaks, see your you feel empty inside. Retreating from the library counts, but if friends, call your mom — there’s into a corner of Stauff for two you’ve got a little more time than nothing wrong with making time weeks straight doesn’t exactly help that, try taking a short walk at dusk. for your well-being.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Lifestyle
queensjournal.ca
• 11
Sudoku
© Kevin Stone [www.brainbashers.com]
Crossword
ACROSS
DOWN
1 Hollywood’s Photoshopping? (Abbr.) 4 $ dispenser 7 Cheek by ___ 11 Pilgrimage to Mecca 13 “How come?” 14 Overwhelms 15 Earthenware pot 16 Neither partner 17 Require 18 Westerns star John 20 Language of Pakistan 22 Grecian vessel 24 Red suit 28 Former Soviet republic 32 Zagreb resident 33 Computer brand 34 Youngster 36 Christmas 37 Salvers 39 Topic 41 Blew hard 43 Greet the villain 44 Thing 46 Prank 50 Celebrity 53 Unopened flower 55 Noble title 56 Congers, e.g. 57 Unfriendly 58 Old portico 59 Ridge caused by a blow 60 With 61-Across, finis 61 See 60-Across
1 Food, slangily 2 Festive 3 Without doing anything 4 Plant bristle 5 Commandment starter 6 Gift from the wise men 7 She’s Betty in “Mad Men” 8 Have bills 9 Tiny 10 “Acid” 12 New Year’s Day 19 Mess up 21 Calendar abbr. 23 Almond or pecan 25 Libertine 26 Body powder 27 Proofreading directive 28 Dog owner’s chore 29 Beige 30 Symbol on Canada’s flag 31 “Help!” 35 Place for 28-Down 38 Prepared 40 Feathery neckpiece 42 Subtraction from an account 45 Lots 47 Actor Donovan 48 Press 49 Dressed 50 Stitch 51 Golf prop 52 Everybody 54 Coloring agent
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Thursday, March 31, 2016
LAST WORDS
PHOTO BY STEPHANIE NIJHUIS
S ebastian L eck Editor in Chief It’s appropriate that I write this quickly while under stress. How better to end my year than with the time-honoured tradition of just barely meeting the deadline, while juggling what feels like 50 other things I have to do. I’ll miss this place. It may not feel like it now, as I sit bleary-eyed in my dusty office, but I’ll miss the Journal house, the Queen’s campus and the people who work so hard to keep this newspaper afloat. And despite the naysayers on Twitter, we’ve done some damn good reporting. That’s not to say there weren’t mistakes. Every correction hurt me, and after each one we pledged to do better. There’s nothing else you can do. Student writers are, by definition, amateurs, but that doesn’t mean our standards should be lower. It just means we have more to learn. Before I wrote for The Journal, I used to pick it up every week, even if I didn’t understand what the AMS was or why the newspaper kept putting stories about it on their front page. I eventually wrote a postscript article and a news brief, and then applied for Assistant News Editor because I’d missed the deadline for all the other positions. I was, somehow, hired. It’s pretty wonderful that any student can walk off the street and get something published here. And if you get hired and work as hard as you can, you’ve got a good chance of eventually running the place one day. That said, The Journal has changed since Anisa and I arrived. We have a new website, a new print design and, hopefully, a new approach to the way we do things. Out of necessity and ambition, our focus has become increasingly digital. We’ve produced more digital projects, added interactive maps and graphs to our articles and upped our game on social media (which increased our total pageviews from 750,000 to a million from last year). Along the way, our new longform website has allowed us to pursue journalistic projects that seemed impossible just a few years ago. I leave this place with love for everything it’s done for me — the sharing of ideas, the debates, the late night hilarity, the thrill of We want to thank everyone who contributed to Volume 143.
finding new stories and the knowledge that my words can really make a difference. But it’ll also be a relief to be free from the constant buzzing of my phone, calls from angry readers, the extremely late nights and the stress of overseeing the finances of the newspaper, which remain uncertain. I’m happy and sad and proud and slightly annoyed by the sense that we could have done better. But I don’t want to belabor this. Good luck, Jacob and Jane, with the year ahead. Thank you to Janina and Alison, the Editors in Chief in 2013-14, for taking a chance on me, and to their successors Vince and Nick for giving me free reign over a full page
A nisa R awhani Editor in Chief This feels strangely like writing my own obituary. Here lies Anisa: she aimed high and at times fell flat on her face. Rest in peace. I could leave it there, but if I’ve learned anything from the past three years, it’s that there’s always more to a story. There’s this little red brick house on University Ave. that thousands pass each day, but few stop to notice. The paint on the porch is peeling, and the floors inside are stained beyond repair. But within the walls of this rather unremarkable house, truly remarkable people reside.
PHOTO BY ANNA MARIA LI
and two multimedia projects. I’m sure I was infuriating at times, but your patient editing made me a better writer. Thank you to my non-Journal friends for keeping me grounded, even when I bore you to tears talking about the newspaper. Thank you to my parents thousands of miles away, who’ve been nothing but supportive. Thank you to our staff, all of you, for working so, so hard and staying positive. And thank you to Anisa, the best co-editor I could have asked for. You pushed me when I needed pushing and you were my rock when I felt I couldn’t go on. We made it. Isn’t that crazy? Sebastian’s ready to move on. No, really.
There are about 30 of them, each singular and unsalaried, but dedicated beyond belief and willing to take whatever hits come with their thankless jobs. Like the caffeine running through their veins, they’re the lifeblood of this place. They’re the miraculous force that brings a newspaper to your stands every week. During our time together, I probably didn’t express my gratitude enough, so I’ll say it now: thank you. Thank you for coming in each day. Thank you for your sacrifices. Thank you for your mistakes. You were perfect. It isn’t every year we report on study drug use on campus, a professor winning a Nobel Prize, a $50 million donation or a professor
Arththy Valluvan
Clayton Tomlinson
Evelyn Pyper
Joshua Finkelstein
Liam Gutman
Melanie Gray
Rachel Day
Sydney Urbanek
Aruna Aundhia
Courtenay Jacklin
Gabby Altman
Judah Batist
Luke Tincknell
Merrin Gillies
Rebecca Hayward
Tarini Pahwa
Ashley Rhamey
Dana Mitchell
Gabi Sandler
Justine Little-Trent
Madeleine Le
Michael Green
Ronen Goldfarb
Tarreisha Agard
Auston Chhor
Daniel Cassese
Geoff Roberts
Kanivanan Chinniah
Madeline Heinke
Michael Lindsay
Roy Farrer
The Expert Sexpert
Blake Canning
Daniel Sahl
Grant Bishop
Kate Charboneau
Maggie Ou
Michael Ozburn
Ryan Aceman
Tiffany Telford
Blake Del Brocco
Darian Doblej
Isabella Kresin
Kathleen Houlahan
Makenzie Mackay
Michael Taggart
Sam Kary
Tom Connolly
Abbey Lee Hallett
Caela Fenton
Dillon Wamsley
Jae Moon
Chayer
Maria Vlasova
Michelle Allan
Samantha Figenshaw
Tyler Turnbull
Abigail Conners
Cameron Newell
Éden Mokoya
Jake Ramer
Katie Tidman
Mathieson Smith
Mike Young
Samuel Walsh-Prete
Victoria
Adam Davis
Cameron Treanor
Eily Shaw
Jenna Zucker
Kelly Pepall
Matt Christie
Monica O’rourke
Sara Murphy
Dimitropolous
Adeena Zeldin
Catherine Ryoo
Ellen Rowe
Jesse Gazic
Kelly Stephan
Matt Kussin
Morgan Campbell
Sarah Letersky
Victoria Musial
Adrian Smith
Carissa Gordon
Elisa Hall
Jessica Sung
Kia Kortelainen
Mathew Kahansky
Myriam-Morênikê
Sarah O’Flaherty
Vincent Lin
Ahmed Kayssi
Carolyn Abel
Elisha Corbett
Jillian Pineau
Kiera Liblik
Maureen O’reilly
Djossou
Sean Sutherland
William Simonds
Alec Macneil
Charlotte Sanders
Elissa Bozhkov
Jon Wiseman
Kyle Beaudry
Max Bittker
Natanya Levine
Sebastian Bron
Zelia Bukhari
Alex Palermo
Chelsea Speck
Emily Wong
Jonah Buckstein
Kyle Curlew
Max Garcia
Nathan Bateman
Spencer Belyea
Zohaib Ahmed
Alicia Hai
Chloe Beisheim
Emma Mclean
Jonathan Shepherd
Lily Colston
Megan Williams
Nathan Fish
Stephanie Solty
Alixandra Glance
Chris Pickles
Emma Sewell
Joseph Szeman
Leslie Egan
Meaghan Edgley
Nicole Costa
Stephen Smith
Allison Williams
Christina Di Cosola
Eric Gallo-Miscevich
Josh Malm
Leah Combs
Meera Govindasamy
Nina Ricciarelli
Styna Tao
speaking out about alleged plagiarism among their peers. With our new website, we’ve reported these stories in ways we never could before. But while the writers change, some stories remain the same — racism rears its ugly head, sexual assault policies are lacking and bureaucracy continues to waste all of our time. Sometimes I have these daydreams where certain key moments in my life never happened. An alternate timeline where I never received that phone call three years ago, offering me a position as a Copy Editor at The Journal. I’m not sure where I’d be otherwise. My last three years have been spent listening to stories and fumbling to get the right words on the page. The stories came from people who weren’t like me. People who wear scarves around their head in devotion to God. People who’ve been made to feel like nothing because they have dark skin in a school of whiteness. People who’ve been assaulted on the same streets that I’ve walked unharmed. To the strangers who shared intimate details of their life with me, thank you. I’m not sure if I did justice to your stories, but know that at the very least you made me a better person. With each interview, the questions kept coming. Why are these things happening? How can things be so complicated? What’s causing all of this? The sense that I have unfinished business continues to loom overhead, but I know my time is drawing to a close. Jacob and Jane, there will be days you feel infinite, and there will be days when it will all prove to be too much. Just breathe. Remember that there were hundreds of editors before you and they somehow made it through the insanity. Also, while I have you here, remember to lay off the coffee. Sebastian, my co-editor and best friend, I’m going to miss having you within yelling distance every day. I love you — but you already know that. Arwin, there’s no one I’d rather argue with about front page designs at 3 a.m. You were a dream. Katelyn, our business manager, thanks for making sure we kept a roof over our heads. Our beloved office admin Jasmit, without you I probably would have lost it. Janina and Alison, three years ago you changed everything. Thank you for taking a chance on me. Nick and Vince, your journalistic talents continue to inspire me. I know you’ll both do great things. And finally, Nat and Marbles, my beloved housemates, you were my haven. Thank you for keeping things in perspective and feeding me avocados. When I turn in my key to the Journal house, I know a sad relief will set in. All of the maybes and what ifs will spin around my head. But those are stories for another time, and questions for another generation. Anisa is ready for some adventure.