The Queen's Journal, Volume 145, Issue 15

the journal Vol. 145, Issue 15

Queen’s University

F r i d ay N o v 2 4 , 2 0 1 7

since

1873

Sexual Violence Awareness Week aimed to recognize experiences of survivors

Week included a keynote speech from Globe and Mail journalist Robyn Doolittle PHOTO BY IAIN SHERRIFF-SCOTT

Beverley McLachlin addressing a crowd in Wallace Hall on Monday.

PRINCIPAL FORUM

Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin visits Queen’s

McLachlin’s visit was one installment in Principal’s Forum Speaker Series I ain S herriff -S cott , J asnit P abla and S arina G rewal Journal News Team

With the SCC being the highest court in Canada, it typically sets precedent throughout the country and lower courts.

During her time on the bench, McLachlin has had a strong impact on Canadian constitutional law, declaring laws prohibiting assisted dying and prostitution as unconstitutional.

Flanagan began the event by directing conversation towards gender representation on the bench. Currently, the Supreme Court has four women and five men.

“The home-child front still discourages some women who find themselves with children and family, and an inability, or they don’t wish to, give those children to other people to raise,” McLachlin said. “I wouldn’t personally like to see a nine-woman court or a nine-man court. I think that each gender brings its own perspectives.”

When asked whether sexual harassment is a continuing issue within the legal field, McLachlin said she “sincerely believes that it is no longer a factor in the practice of law.”

“I’m hoping that the law is an area where

Queen’s Law hosted Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Beverley McLachlin in Wallace Hall on Nov. 20 as part of the ongoing Principal’s Forum Speaker Series.

The Principal’s Forum is a public lecture series that has been taking place on Queen’s campus since 2012. The series allows the principal to invite distinguished visitors to campus to speak on issues of interest to the Queen’s community.

McLachlin was joined by Queen’s School of Law Dean Bill Flanagan. During her talk, she commented on diversity in law, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) and the appointment process of a new judge.

Following 28 years of service on the Supreme Court of Canada bench, McLachlin will retire from her post as Chief Justice on Dec. 15. She is the first woman to hold the position and is also the longest serving Chief Justice in Canadian history.

this has been more or less banished, and women are truly viewed as equals. So that’s less and less a barrier, and I’m very happy with that,” she continued.

A topic within the legal field that was also discussed was intervenors. Intervenors are prominent figures during litigation, who present themselves as a third party with an interest in the case at hand.

“Intervenors are not there to argue the merits, they could have an impact. I think the system works pretty well,” she said. “Most intervenors present a useful view.”

McLachlin added she doesn’t believe the utilization of intervenors will change and the system continues to benefit from them.

Flanagan also asked about doctrinal purity, wondering whether it’s sacrificed sometimes for a case win. McLachlin responded simply, “You do not dilute your principles.”

As a Justice on the Supreme Court, McLachlin added it’s important for the bench

What’s Inside?

NEWS

EDITORIALS

Indigenous students at Queen’s find OUSA report

Indigenous languages need Matt Mays talks opening support from for Arkells friday night

misses the mark

government

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queensjournal.ca

@queensjournal

ARTS

page 8 @queensjournal

See McLachlin on page 5

SPORTS

S arina G rewal Assistant News Editor This past week, the AMS Social Issues Commission facilitated Sexual Violence Awareness Week in an effort to provide a “brief glimpse at the essential dialogues that fuel sexual violence prevention and response on our campus,” according to their event page.

The Social Issues Commission (SIC) hosted the week in collaboration with the Bystander Intervention Training Program, Student Affairs and the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Coordinator.

In an interview with The Journal, Commissioner of Social Issues Ramna Safeer said efforts in sexual violence prevention and education are “very outward facing.”

This means they focus more on bystanders than victims.

“There’s a lot of outward education around consent, around bystander awareness and skills to be a positive bystander,” Safeer said. “I think there’s a need for a balance, for community building and recognizing the experiences and the shared experiences and nuanced experiences of survivors or victims.”

To find this balance, Safeer said one goal of Sexual Violence Awareness Week is to take a survivor-centric approach to awareness.

“A lot of the intention behind starting to have our work be more survivor-centric and focus on the post-traumatic growth is not just in my commitment to this work, but also as a survivor myself,” Safeer added. “What post-traumatic growth looks like to me is a willingness and an ability to come to terms See Robyn on page 5

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JUSTICE KING

POSTSCRIPT

Men’s basketball point guard Jaz Bains talks about journey to Queen’s

Don’t forget about the

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@queensjournal

important things in life

@thequeensjournal

News

2 •queensjournal.ca Jasnit Pabla Assistant News Editor Although the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance released a policy paper on Nov. 9, many Indigenous members of the Queen’s community feel the report missed the mark.

The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) and their report

Titled “Indigenous Students,” the report was ratified following OUSA’s Fall General Assembly on Oct. 29 and released Nov. 9. Indigenous students from McMaster, Brock and Laurier, as well as staff from Queen’s, Western, Laurier, McMaster and Brock collaborated with OUSA on the project.

According to a press release, the focus of the OUSA report is to identify “barriers that impede the participation of indigenous peoples within Ontario’s universities and outline strategies to combat these obstacles.”

“Half of the student authors on this paper identify as having Indigenous ancestry,” OUSA President Andrew Clubine told The Journal via email. “Their experiences and insights were instrumental in giving authenticity to the recommendations contained within.”

Through their research, OUSA found there are major barriers to Indigenous enrollment in post-secondary institutions. To combat these, the report contains 51 recommendations for provincial investment to address the identified concerns and is available through the OUSA website for viewing.

“The recommendations we hope to see the most immediate action on from the government, moving forward, is on addressing the financial barriers faced by Indigenous students,” Clubine wrote. “The Indigenous Student Bursary program is in desperate need of an increase in funding to improve the affordability of post-secondary education in Ontario.”

To streamline the process of receiving financial aid, Clubine told The Journal the report advises to add the bursary program on the OSAP portal.

The report cites the Council of Ontario Universities statistics on Indigenous enrollment in post-secondary institutions, stating only one per cent of the university population in Ontario is Indigenous. The report continues to say “only 11 per cent of Indigenous people[s] aged 25 to

INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS

Queen’s Native Students Association responds to report on Indigenous students

Indigenous students at Queen’s find OUSA ‘Indigenous Students report’ misses mark

‘most notably’ or ‘due to issues like this’ would have kept it from sounding like those were the only two issues.”

The group also indicated several concerns with the report’s proposal in respect to Indigenous representation. Doblej said the report doesn’t mention people with disabilities or two-spirit Indigenous people. He later added Inuit people aren’t considered in the report either.

While they agreed engaging with Indigenous students was important, QNSA believes OUSA should’ve looked beyond its mandated universities if it was to represent the experiences of all Indigenous peoples within Ontario.

The report requests the integration of Metis and non-status First Nations students into the government-funded Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP), which is given to Indigenous students in need. For Doblej, this is a troubling proposition.

“They miss a lot of “ realities that Indigenous students face ” —Darian Doblej, ArtSci ‘18

From left to right, Darian Doblej, Sarah Hanson and Tara Wilson.

64 have a university certificate, diploma or degree at a bachelor level in comparison to 29 per cent of non-Indigenous people[s] in the same age bracket.”

recommendations “weThehope to see the most immediate action on from the government, moving forward, is on addressing the financial barriers.

”

—Andrew Clubine, OUSA President

Other recommendations in the report include making information more accessible for prospective students who live in remote reserves through funding and inclusive language. It also suggests that “in the interim, the provincial government should increase the amount of funding allocated to the Indigenous Student Bursary

program from $1.5 million to $37 million in order to address the lack of funding available specifically for Indigenous students.”

The Ontario government has expressed its commitment to “working with Indigenous partners to create a third pillar of the postsecondary education system” in its 2017 Fall Economic Statement. Clubine believes this is an important first step for the province.

“Collaborating with these diverse Indigenous people[s] was incredibly engaging and encouraging,” Clubine said.

“We learned a lot about how reconciliation and decolonization can take place within the university sector, as well as how organizations like ours can Indigenize our own policies and practices.”

Queen’s Native Students Association (QNSA) response

The Journal reached out to

News in Brief

Kingston’s Prison For Women.

Friday, November 24, 2017

SUPPLIED BY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

He believes this move would “water down” the rights First Nations in Canada had fought for. Doblej recognized the two groups have complex differences, and this wouldn’t be PHOTO BY JASNIT PABLA well-received by the First Nations community.

Indigenous members of the While they identified several Queen’s community through more concerns, the students felt the Queen’s Native Student there were some positives from Association (QNSA) to hear their the report. response to the report. University The need for an Indigenous Council on Anti-Racism and travel grant — an issue Doblej Equity member Darian Doblej, found “universal” to Indigenous ArtSci ’18, and QNSA Co-Presidents peoples throughout Ontario — Sarah Hanson, ArtSci ‘19, and was an important highlight from Tara Wilson, Nursing ’19, shared the report. their thoughts.

The group said the report’s For Hanson, the problem lies focus on Indigenous women’s in the report only giving a general safety and the right to engage view of everything. in smudging is important to “They miss a lot of realities Indigenous students and a “good that Indigenous students face,” catch” by OUSA, according Doblej remarked. For example, to Wilson. he said the report recognizes the Although they think the report non-financial barriers to wasn’t successful in representing Indigenous enrollment in the Indigenous students in post-secondary institutions Ontario, they acknowledged in Ontario are the result of a the task itself. The general lack of internet access and direction of the policy paper the geographical location was appreciated. of reserves.

“We understand that it’s hard to “They’re not really considering get everything in there,” Hanson other social determinants that are said. “But if you need more time to barriers to Indigenous students,” get things done quickly, you should Wilson added. “Adding terms like take it.”

Queen’s looking to sell women’s penitentiary

After purchasing the former Prison for Women located at 40 Sir John A. MacDonald Boulevard in 2008, Queen’s has announced that it’s going to market.

The University has never used the eight-acre property, which was purchased for $2.9 million. Established in 1934, the prison was the only federal women’s penitentiary until its decommission in 2000.

The University has yet to release an asking price, but stated in a Nov. 10 news release, the funds from the sale will go to the University’s capital reserve fund

allocated to future projects.

Rogers and Trainor Commercial Realty Broker Laurence Trainor told Global News in an interview that “four qualified parties have already” approached the University about the building.

Queen’s University Media Centre added in the news release that “Queen’s has engaged Rogers and Trainor Commercial Realty Inc. to facilitate the sale. Queen’s University reserves the right to reject any or all offers, not necessarily accept the highest offer, and the right to accept any offer that may be in its best interest.”

— Jasnit Pabla

News

Friday, November 24, 2017

queensjournal.ca • 3

iain sherriff-scott Assistant News Editor

taking us seriously.”

As a result, the Ontario Ministry of Labour appointed a mediator To get the attention of students in and talks are set to resume in their most recent campaign, Public late December.

Service Alliance of Canada Local For its 2,000 members, Queen’s 901 have handed out condoms contributes $120,000 per year throughout campus that read for TA and TF health and dental “Teaching Assistants and Fellows plans. According to Berrgold, “this need union protection.” works out to less than one per Public Service Alliance cent. Almost $60 per-member of Canada (PSAC) Local 901 is contributed to our health and represents approximately 2,000 dental plan.” He added, “we are just teaching assistants (TA) and asking for equity with the other teaching fellows (TF) over the part-time workers on campus.” course of the year. The union “Every bargaining process is advocates working rights difficult, you are talking about of TAs, TFs, post-docs and rights, you are talking about research assistants. money, we think that Queen’s’ The condom campaign looks brand would be better served if PHOTO BY IAIN SHERRIFF-SCOTT to draw attention to the lack of Condom campaign cards handed out by PSAC Local 901. they treated us as equal to other consistency between how Queen’s employee groups,” Berrgold treats its different part-time PSAC Local 901 President Craig on campus.

by Queen’s. remarked. “I don’t think it is good employee groups. As of right now, Berrgold said health and dental Berrgold told The Journal in Since PSAC Local 901’s for international students to see Queen’s doesn’t provide teaching plans provided by the University an interview that they chose to contract expired in April, union headlines that there are strike assistants and teaching fellows are far worse than similar make condoms the focal point of representatives have been at the votes at Queen’s university, like with child care. On top of this, part-time employee groups their campaign because they see bargaining table with Queen’s. there was for the post-docs last them as “a symbol of the lack of Currently, however, Berrgold year, who overwhelmingly voted child-care benefits [they] have.” told The Journal that face-to-face to go on strike.”

According to Berrgold, nearly eight negotiations “were going nowhere.”

When asked what action Local per cent of the union membership “If we accepted what was on 901 would pursue if negotiations have children. the table right now, their last offer, collapsed in December, Berrgold “You are looking at about 150 we would be going backwards — said he doesn’t think calling a to 160 members. For those people, our contract would look worse strike would be “helpful” to the who have children, it’s a severe than it does right now,” Berrgold Queen’s brand. difficulty to do their work,” he said. said. “We don’t have child care. Our “Nobody wants to do that, I put Compared to other groups, wages, there is nothing significant that at their feet. It is nothing that Berrgold said teaching being offered. So literally they are we want to do, we take it very assistants and fellows are offering us the status-quo at this seriously, but they are pushing us treated as “second-class employees,” point, so we feel like they’re not and pushing us,” Berrgold said.

Teaching Assistants Union launches condom campaign

PSAC Local 901 President Craig Berrgold says Queen’s treats teaching assistants as “second-class employees”

ArtSci introduces Masters of Philosophy in English Literature program MPhil only program of its kind in Ontario Maureen O’Reilly News Editor

in the Department of English.

McKegney believes this masters is unique because of the As of fall 2018, the University will incorporation of a publishing offer a new two-year Masters of practicum course in the Philosophy in English Literature curriculum. This will take students program. It will provide students through every stage of the with guaranteed entry into a PhD publishing process. in the same field.

“Not only do students learn According to Marketing and about the complexities of academic Communications Coordinator in and non-academic publishing, the Faculty of Arts and Science but they are taken step-by-step Debbie Rogers, the Masters of through the process while working Philosophy in English Literature on a paper in their specific fields of (MPhil) program takes one year study such that at the end of their off of a student’s PhD. It’s the MPhil they will have submitted only graduate program of its kind at least one piece for publication,” in Ontario right now, as it offers he wrote. acceleration into a doctorate Not only will the publishing program and unique experiential practicum provide students with learning opportunities. valuable experience and skills, but Rogers also said the MPhil McKegney believes it also gives program will be targeted towards them the opportunity to publish a students who are already paper they can use towards grant interested in pursuing a PhD in or job applications. Moreover, the Philosophy of Literature. In an program allows students to pursue email to The Journal, Associate diverse and flexible pathways.

Professor in the Department of “Students who excel in the English Sam McKegney explained MA program are able to apply to “the degree is specifically designed transfer into the MPhil and gain for those students whose passion the advantages of an extra year for literary studies is leading them of funded graduate work and the to contemplate […] the kinds of acceleration of dissertation work doctoral project upon which they within the PhD, to which they will hope one day to embark.” thereby gain guaranteed entry,” McKegney also noted the McKegney wrote. “Students who MPhil was developed through determine after their first two consultation with graduate terms that they do not wish to students, faculty and alumni across continue on into the second year a variety of departments. of the MPhil can transfer to the “The Department of English MA, take one final spring course, has recognized increasing and graduate with an MA within diversity among the passions, 12 months.” life experiences, and career “The MPhil is a unique and research aspirations of our opportunity — unique like the graduate students over the past students it will prepare for a decade,” McKegney wrote. “We variety of careers and for doctoral need diverse pathways to success study,” McKegney wrote. for our graduate students and According to Rogers, flexibility among those pathways to applications for the MPhil program respond to students’ development.” are already open. The Faculty will According to McKegney, the be hosting a series of webinars in MPhil was designed to complement the coming weeks to help students the existing one-year MA and learn more about it. four-year PhD programs available

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News

4 •queensjournal.ca

Queen’s Park catch-up: Ontario government updates

Liberal government addresses college strike, minimum wage increase Queen’s Park in Toronto.

Iain Sherriff-Scott Assistant News Editor Last week, provincial lawmakers were busy debating legislation to end the five-week Ontario colleges

strike. This week, Kathleen Wynne’s government enacted plans to raise the minimum wage to $15, as revised labour legislation passed Wednesday.

RESEARCH

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Ontario Liberals legislate college faculty back to work

The Ontario Liberal government legislated college faculty back to work on Sunday,

Friday, November 24, 2017 ending a five-week-long strike.

Classes resumed on Tuesday.

After the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) failed to reach an agreement with College Employers Council (CEC) back in October, Ontario college faculty chose to strike. Since then, 500,000 students and 12,000 faculty members were out of the classroom.

The Liberals first introduced a back-to-work bill on Thursday evening after the OPSEU overwhelmingly voted in favour — 87 per cent — to reject the CEC Nov. 6 offer.

Last Thursday’s legislation was blocked by the NDP, who voiced support for Ontario college faculty’s right to fair negotiations. However, with support from the Progressive Conservatives, the government tabled legislation Friday, which passed Sunday.

In the process, the provincial government also ordered colleges to create a fund to support students who choose not to finish the condensed semester, or who experienced financial hardship because of the strike. Some colleges have proposed extending the fall semester as late as Dec. 22, and into the new year.

Queen’s Park passes $15 minimum wage hike On Wednesday, lawmakers at Queen’s Park passed a series of revised employment laws that will raise the minimum wage in Ontario to $14 by 2018 and $15 by 2019.

The changes to Ontario’s labour laws also makes it mandatory for employers to pay part-time workers the same rate as full-time workers for the same job. As well, employers will be required to compensate employees for three hours of work when shifts are cancelled with less than 48 hours notice.

When asked about the proposed minimum wage hike in September, Kingston and the Islands MPP Sophie Kiwala told The Journal “in other jurisdictions we haven’t seen quite the doom and gloom that’s being predicted.”

“The fact is that we need to make sure that everybody has a fair chance at earning a fair wage. When you are working full time or you are working part-time in the summer to support your studies, you need to know that you will be able to pay the bills at the end of the day,” Kiwala remarked.

Queen’s students win gold medal for research in synthetic biology

Queen’s Genetically Engineered Machine (QGEM) Team takes first place in Boston for project focused on arctic oil spill cleanup

Iain Sherriff-Scott Assistant News Editor The Queen’s Genetically Engineered Machine (QGEM) Team won a gold medal on Nov. 9 for their summer research project focused on developing synthetic biology to tackle arctic oil spills.

Formed in 2010, the Queen’s Genetically Engineered Machine Team is made up of undergraduate researchers on campus and is one of six in the province that make up the Ontario Genetic Engineered Machine (oGEM) collective.

With other teams in Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton and Waterloo, the oGEM’s goal is to stimulate interest in synthetic biology at the university level.

Each year, the collective travels south of the border to compete at the International Genetic Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition, hosted

by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). According to their website, iGEM is the premiere student team competition in synthetic biology and has encouraged students to solve real-world challenges by building genetically engineered

biological systems for over 10 years.

This year, iGEM drew nearly 5,400 participants from 310 teams, representing 44 countries.

Participants were provided with a kit of biological parts to work on over the summer, then their final projects are presented to and judged by a panel of industry experts.

Through genetic engineering, QGEM created bacteria that can break down harmful pollutants in water like oil. Over the summer, the team focused on engineering E. coli biofilms for useful applications. One member of the QGEM team, Nolan Neville, ArtSci ’18, told The Journal “biofilms are a hot-topic in research these days but usually for the opposite reasons.” “[Biofilms] are often maligned because they are considered one of the key factors in anti-biotic resistant infections, as well as things like dental plaque. Biofilms have a bad rap, but they are also pretty useful when you can engineer them to do useful things, which is exactly what we did,” Neville said.

QGEM was one of only four

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY NOLAN NEVILLE

From left to right: Sarah Babbitt, Nolan Neville, Mady Thompson and Yifei Wang.

Canadian teams to receive a medal for their research. After out-performing schools like MIT, Harvard, Stanford and Waterloo, Neville said their results show Queen’s can “definitely hold [its] own on the international stage.”

For team member Sarah Babbit, CompSci ’19, a significant contribution to Queen’s success this year was its multi-disciplinary membership. “It has to be multi-disciplinary to get everything done, you need someone to come up with the idea, someone to do it in the lab, someone to model it, someone to write about it,” she said.

According to QGEM team member Yifei Wang, ArtSci ’18, the project itself “offers a lot of

promise,” indicating that their research could be used by future iGEM teams to “carry forward what [QGEM] did.”

Wang said their research is aligned with popular trends in the bio-tech industry right now.

“The goal of iGEM is to essentially promote synthetic biology research because it is an up-and-coming field, especially in the bio-tech industry,” he said.

“They promote this through the use of the essential genetic parts called bio-bricks. They are creating a whole database of these little bio-bricks for researchers and other iGEM teams.”

Wang said there’s a lot of additional research and work to be done in this field.

“I know that the iGEM team at

Harvard was working on a project similar to ours,” he said. “I would highly encourage future iGEM teams that focus on our area.”

“

It was amazing to present our own project [and] to offer our innovative, creative idea and put that out in the world.

”

—Yifei Wang,

“It was amazing to present our own project [and] to offer our innovative, creative idea and put that out in the world,” Wang said.

News

Friday, November 24, 2017

SUPREME COURT

queensjournal.ca • 5

SEXUAL ASSAULT

McLachlin talks Robyn Doolittle Supreme Court inner gives keynote speech workings on sexual assault about it, and it’ll be something for the future to [see] how we can work out a system to not to diverge too much on major issues. reflect Indigenous traditions in the overall “You might agree to a way of stating a framework of the legal structure of the conclusion that you think you could state country,” she said. much better, but you try to agree on that,” McLachlin ended her visit by speaking she said. directly to law students and prospective As retirement nears, questions about a lawyers in the room. new SCC judge were directed towards the “I had no idea when I was studying law justice. “What I think Canadians are wanting how many opportunities to contribute to is a little more transparency,” she said. “For society the law presents. A law degree, an a couple years now we’ve been trying to understanding of how the law works, and look for other models. On the constitution, it the ability to think as a lawyer and analyze looks like it’s pure government appointment like a lawyer and advocate as a lawyer, these but there are appointing committees. skills are so empowering,” she said.

Government’s need help selecting the right candidate.”

She didn’t offer any more information to I’ve been enormously the tightly-packed audience in Wallace Hall, privileged in my lifetime to but did say Canadians can be “assured that have had a career in the law the people appointed have been vetted.” at a time where the law was On the topic of Indigenous law, Dean active and developing and Flanagan noted, “some people think Aboriginal law is not relevant to the future changing and keeping on careers of Canadian law students.” the problems of society in a McLachlin responded, “good lawyers serious way. have to understand their country. It’s very important.”

—Chief Justice For her, the legal system’s growth Beverley McLachlin surrounding Indigenous traditions is an important indicator of the increasing “I’ve been enormously privileged in my importance of Aboriginal peoples within lifetime to have had a career in the law the law. She mentioned sentencing in at a time where the law was active and circles and Gladue provisions that account developing and changing and keeping on for Aboriginal background as recent the problems of society in a serious way. implementations within the court.

To have been a small part of that has been Robyn Doolittle in Wallace Hall on Wednesday.

“These changes are a really good thing an enormous privilege. One I would never and I’m really happy people are talking dream I would’ve had studying law.”

Continued from front Continued from front

“

”

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with how my past trauma has shaped the way that I navigate through the world and see myself and my body.”

The week featured a keynote address from award-winning journalist Robyn Doolittle on Nov. 22. On Feb. 3 of this year, Doolittle published The Globe and Mail’s “Unfounded” piece after a two-year probe into police sexual assault investigation processes.

The week also incorporated multiple student and staff spotlight posts on social media. It will conclude with a Post-traumatic Growth Art Show on Nov. 24 to be hosted by the Mental Health Awareness Committee (MHAC).

“I think this week we wanted to balance that a little bit and have a conversation [like Dootlittle’s keynote] about what it’s like to be a survivor or victim in the justice system, and then end the week off with a post-trauma growth art show that is very much for that community,” Safeer said.

During her address, Doolittle relayed stories of sexual assault victims who went to the police and the process by which she conducted her investigation of these cases. Over the span of two years, she interviewed numerous authorities, specialized professionals in various fields related to sexual assault prevention, medical professionals and more.

Her probe culminated in the discovery that an average of one in five sexual assault complaints are dismissed as ‘unfounded’ in Canada. Doolittle told the audience this “is a police closure code that means the investigating officer thinks an allegation is baseless, and that a crime did not occur.”

“Unfounded cases are not the same as when police don’t have enough evidence to lay a charge: they mean, ‘You said you were raped, and I don’t think you were raped,’” she explained.

Doolittle recounted the many different

PHOTO BY IAIN SHERRIFF-SCOTT

areas in which sexual assault allegations have lacked proper investigation. She said victims are asked questions unrelated to the assault, suspects often aren’t interviewed, medical information isn’t interpreted properly, witnesses aren’t called in and investigating officers often lack understanding of rape myths.

There’s also a lack of resources allocated towards sexual assault cases in many police departments.

Doolittle also discussed the creation of the Philadelphia Model, a program wherein “once a year, advocates working in the violence against women sector are given full access to sexual assault departments’ internal investigative files. They can go through those cases, and look for signs of bias or investigative missteps.”

Since the program launch 17 years ago, the number of unfounded cases in Philadelphia went from 18 per cent — the highest among America’s 10 largest cities at the time — to four per cent.

In light of the publication of ‘Unfounded,’ Doolittle says many police stations across the country, including Kingston Police — where the dismissal of sex assault cases as unfounded is 19 per cent — have vowed to enact change in how they handle sexual assault complaints.

“Kingston is actually one of the best in the country in terms of trying to do better right now,” she said.

Doolittle concluded her keynote with her primary message. “Pretty well everyone I interviewed for this story thought the same thing: they never in a million years thought it could be them,” she said.

“So if there’s anyone in this room who’s waiting for sexual assault to personally touch their lives before being educated about the need for reform — don’t,” she said. “Don’t wait. Because statistics would suggest that it’s already touched your life, or someone else close to you, even if you don’t know about it.”

6 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, November 24, 2017

EDITORIALS

Efforts to increase fluency in Indigenous languages need Canada’s support Residential school systems in Canada have perpetuated the loss of Indigenous languages for centuries. Considering the level of endangerment Indigenous languages across Canada are facing as a result, government help in restoring them is vital.

In an article originally published in Chatelaine, Métis author Chelsea Vowel makes a case for Indigenous languages to be taught alongside French and English in Canada. Vowel argues there are constitutional protections and funding for Canada’s two official languages of English and French, while the languages of the original peoples of Canada are left behind.

The current education system in Canada is structured to easily push Indigenous studies to the background. Right now, it’s possible to go through an entire primary and secondary education in Canada without encountering the history of Indigenous peoples at all.

Even high school’s mandatory Canadian history courses rarely focus on Indigenous Canadian histories, skipping over residential schools and glossing over colonialism.

To combat this, Vowel argues every province and territory should pass an Official Languages Act which recognizes the Indigenous languages of those areas. This would be an important step going forward to not only ensure these languages are kept alive, but that they’re appropriately respected, funded and recognized by the government.

The emphasis Vowel’s proposal puts on the regional aspects of Indigenous

THE QUEEN’S JOURNAL

Caleigh Castiglione

www.queensjournal.ca @queensjournal Publishing since 1873

Editorial Board

Editor in Chief Managing Editor News Editor

Joseph Cattana Meg Glover

Maureen O’Reilly

Assistant News Editors Sarina Grewal Iain Sherriff-Scott Jasnit Pabla Features Editors

Alex Palermo Brigid Goulem

Editorials Editor

Ashley Rhamey

— Journal Editorial Board

Staff Writers and Photographers

Nick Pearce

Josh Malm

Assistant Arts Editor Clayton Tomlinson

Vishmayaa Jeyamoorthy

Arts Editor

Sebastian Bron

Sports Editor

Matt Scace

Assistant Sports Editor

Volume 145 Issue 15

revive them.

Signage and name recognition is another critical way to preserve languages. In British Columbia, distance signs with both English and Tsilhqot’in names for locations were installed on Highway 20. Highway signs in English, Squamish and Lil’wat were also put up along the highway to Whistler before the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Language has power and these small changes can have a big impact on bringing Indigeneity out of the background of the Canadian cultural scope and aid in language revival. For non-Indigenous Canadians, the encouragement of basic knowledge of Indigenous languages needs to be prefaced with basic knowledge of Indigenous history in Canada.

Having younger generations across the country become fluent in Indigenous languages is the only way to keep them alive and the Canadian government has a responsibility to help reverse the damage before it’s done.

languages gives her argument real weight.

While languages like Inuktituk, Cree and Ojibwe are in danger, there are 70 Indigenous languages across the country today which need more support to stay alive. History, culture and language are interconnected and if these languages disappear there won’t be a way to

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Why we can’t censor controversial viewpoints

Universities serve to challenge our viewpoints, our ideas and our potential to learn and evolve. But when they censor individual viewpoints, they create an even bigger issue.

Jordan Peterson, a University of Toronto professor and clinical psychologist, rose to infamy last year when he posted a YouTube video speaking out against a university policy requiring him to call students by their preferred pronouns.

Although Peterson stirred up a lot of controversy with his highly contentious views, he should still be allowed to express them. An attempt to remove him from a university rector ballot or ban his ideas from classrooms sends a dangerous message about academic freedom.

On Nov. 1, Lindsay Sheperd, a first-year communications teaching assistant at Wilfrid Laurier University, showed a clip of Peterson debating the use of gender-neutral pronouns with another professor. Sheperd was subsequently disciplined by two professors and a University official who charged her with creating a toxic environment and being transphobic because she didn’t denounce Peterson’s views after showing them.

Laurier changed their position when the University’s President and Vice-Chancellor reviewed the transcript of the conversation.

Sheperd has since received an apology, but this hardly reconciles the issue.

In spite of some quick backtracking on Laurier’s part, universities are struggling to accept exposure to controversial viewpoints as healthy and essential to an academic environment.

In the conversation about free speech and anti-discrimination, Peterson plays a very important role. He forces the conversation to be an open one with two sides, neither of which are immune to criticism. If universities shut down debates about policy before they even begin, how can we expect to evolve as a society?

My personal values align more with the very students who petition for Peterson to be disciplined. That being said, I think there’s something regressive about universities deciding what’s unchallengeable, unmentionable and not up for discussion.

While the world of academia will perhaps move on without him, Peterson is well within his rights as a professor to express his distaste of gender-neutral pronouns.

Silencing him sends a dangerous message about academic freedom, critical thinking and the tolerance of contentious viewpoints.

Instead of disciplining instructors for bringing up controversial topics, universities owe it to students to support the pursuit of challenging ideas and gaining knowledge of ranging viewpoints.

Alex is one of The Journal’s Features Editors. She’s a fourth-year Biochemistry major.

Friday, November 24, 2017

queensjournal.ca

•7

Opinions

Rethinking campus controversy How obsession with arguing the boundaries of free speech has damaged effective debate Jonah Prousky outside Queen’s Stauffer Library.

JONAH PROUSKY, Comm ’19

Nowadays, it seems as if there’s a ritual to campus debate surrounding highly controversial issues.

Typically, the students most affected by an issue voice their outrage, confusion and displeasure. They demand action from their university’s administrators and push to educate the less informed. Then, an opposing force of equally-affected students emerges and the issue gets disassembled, argued from different angles and sometimes demonstrations are held.

However, the topic of conversation at some point inevitably shifts from the underlying matter to the ways in which the issue implicates the boundaries of free speech.

For example, consider the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how it’s argued every year on campus. A spin-off of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions for Israel movement (BDS) constructs a mock checkpoint at a major campus intersection. Israel on Campus (IOC) labels the demonstration as being anti-Semitic.

The debate surrounding this globally significant issue is reduced to a single question; are mock checkpoints and other highly controversial demonstrations healthy expressions of free speech, or are they hate-fueled attempts at marginalizing a group of students on campus?

Due to this shift, the question is no longer relevant to the underlying issue and the debate’s focus has become campus-level policy, rather than one which looks globally.

The conversation surrounding the ethics of legal abortion, another issue

“Yeah, not much really.”

Eric Randall Engineering ’19

PHOTO BY JULIA BALAKRISHNAN

that’s often polarizing, is treated the same way on campus. An article published by The Journal in 2016 titled, “Queen’s Alive has no place on campus,” illustrates this phenomenon beautifully. This is because the article tails off with, “a discussion needs to happen on the limits of free speech.”

But will discussing the limits of free speech really progress our knowledge on the morals and science behind the termination of human pregnancy?

The Journal has published plenty of writing on this topic, including articles like, “Pro-life has a right to function” and “Examining Queen’s Alive’s right to live,” but as their titles suggest, they include nearly no discussion of abortion. This begs me to ask again, why are we reducing widely important issues down to matters of personal offense, micro-aggression and free speech?

This isn’t an issue unique to our campus.

Nearly every few weeks, the very presence of an alt-right or ultra-Conservative speaker is protested at an American college. Take, for example, the protest that took place after a speech from conservative commentator Ben Shapiro at the University of California at Berkley. In this case and in most others, the campus debate focused on whether the speaker violated the safe space of some portion of the University’s student body, or if they remained within the explicit or implicit boundaries of the institutions free speech policy.

Simply put, using the free speech debate as a proxy for more important underlying issues is lazy. It restricts the potential outcomes of healthy debate and discussion to the boundaries of a university campus.

Perhaps students are approaching debate and discussion in this peculiar

fashion because of the bizarre American election they recently witnessed. There was a noticeable lack of substance in the presidential debates that preceded Donald Trump’s January 2017 inauguration.

His main fighting point was his opponent had grossly overwhelming character flaws that deemed her unfit to serve in the Oval Office.

Trump was more concerned with silencing Clinton — in one case even suggesting she be imprisoned — than arguing over tax plans and health care.

Much like the controversy we observe on university campuses, there was almost no debate on the underlying issues, but rather plenty of discussion on the allegedly twisted dispositions of those involved.

Sure, this tactic may have led to the most puzzling presidential victory in American history, but this shouldn’t be a convincing strategy for an academic setting. Real progress on controversial issues isn’t made by defining or labeling the character traits of our opponents, or urging the certain university to interfere.

To combat this, I propose a change in how we, as a collective student body, approach our most divisive issues.

One where we prioritize intellectual progress and refrain from using campus free speech as a proxy for arguing matters of global importance.

For example, this year’s “Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights Week” could’ve been much more productive. Imagine if both sides of the debate worked together and held forums to discuss the barriers and obstacles that prevent peace in the region?

If this were to happen, both sides could learn about the suffering of

their counterparts and reach more informed conclusions.

Maybe if we look past our immediate urge to silence our ideological opposites, debates with useful and logical policy insights can be produced. Instead of urging our universities to interfere, students should begin to open the dialogue with their opponents. Even looking at the contentious Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it should be noted the biggest strides towards peace have taken place around a United Nations negotiating table, where both sides were present.

Especially now, when it appears the Trump-led free world’s approach to diplomacy has reached peak strangeness, we ought to remember that wisdom and knowledge are the sole providers of stability on the issues which divide us most.

I’m not proposing we extend the limits of free speech infinitely, or that the ongoing debate on political correctness and free speech is unimportant. I believe the issues that fall in the grey area — the ones that might be the most important — should be argued on their own merits and not by how they make us feel or their implications on free speech on campus.

The path to victory on controversial issues on campus doesn’t end with intervention from a university administrator or the silencing of one’s counterpart. A sound resolution is obtained by proving and refining our logic and this often requires deep thinking, empathy and most importantly, a willingness to compromise with the other side.

“I just go over past finals I can find.”

Adrian Gimon Engineering ’19

“Long hours in Goodes.”

Julie todaro Commerce’19

“Staying up late.”

Matthew Gwillam Commerce ’18

Talking heads ... how do you prep for exams?

Jonah P ro u s ky commerce student.

is

a

t h i rd - ye a r

PHOTOS BY JULIA BALAKRISHNAN

8 • queensjournal.ca

Friday, November 24, 2017

Arts

INTERVIEW

Matt Mays’ long road back to Kingston Indie rocker details new album ahead of Friday show

Matt Mays.

Nick Pearce Arts Editor

W

hen Canadian rock fixture Matt Mays takes the stage opening for the Arkells at the K-Rock Centre this Friday, it’ll be after a five-year wandering absence.

Mays’ new album Once Upon a Hell of a Time.... is his first release since 2012’s Juno Rock-album-ofthe-year-winning Coyote.

The interceding years between releases were challenging. Mays crisscrossed the continent and beyond as he coped with the 2013 death of his guitarist Jay Smith and his own various romantic troubles, eventually seeking out inspiration for new music.

“I lost a couple really close friends tragically and that throws anyone into a tailspin,” Mays said.

“It takes a long time, it’s not forever, but it takes a while to get used to living with that kind of loss.”

It’s the kind of loss that unfurls creatively over a long time, reappearing in Mays’ new song writing.

“I have a hard time banging out a record in [a] year and half like some people that can write lyrics Clayton Tomlinson Assistant Arts Editor

This article was originally published on Nov. 21.

On display at the Union Gallery until Jan. 18, Surface is the latest student exhibition to grace Stauffer’s art space, featuring works of mixed media, paintings and photographs.

In the exhibit’s pamphlet, curatorial assistant Claude Bock talked about how the art shown explores the idea of surface and how it affects our interpretation of a piece. He pointed out how

about things that are fictional,” he told The Journal. “I have to live a bit of a life to find things that I can write about.”

Finding this inspiration was wide-ranging. During this hiatius, Mays surfed in Morocco, had stays in Copenhagen and Scotland and a year-long residency in Los Angeles. Here, he recorded an entire unreleased album in late American musician Elliot Smith’s old studio.

“I was just getting out of the cold, really,” Mays said of his travelling. “I was planning on just going down for a week and I just sort of stayed, which is generally how it works for me.”

Over that time, he and longtime collaborator, indie rock band Wintersleep’s Loel Campbell, recorded a full album’s worth of 12 songs that have sat on a shelf ever since. Mays said much of his

songwriting during this period was inspired by the everyday sights of a big city. He often overheared conversations on the streets of L.A. while he thought back to his home in Nova Scotia.

Upon returning to Canada, Mays stayed with Campbell. Here, he completed another album that would become this year’s release.

The songs are indicative of Mays’ established style — rock music that’s content to be rock music, all with the personal touches that comes from a long five years.

One of the record’s first singles, ‘Ola Volo’, takes inspiration from the Vancouver artist of the same name that created his album art.

Mays first encountered Volo’s artwork at a Vancouver club, where Mays was deejaying a rock night. He saw Volo’s mural behind the club’s bar and was enamoured.

ART NEWS

“It totally blew me away and I was like ‘this is amazing.’ I asked the manager who did it and he said it was an artist named Ola Volo.”

Mays was mesmerized with the artist’s unique name and work and “couldn’t stop think[ing] about it.”

He researched more of her work and got lost, finding the work comforting both “edgy” and “interesting” at the same time.

Mays wrote a song titled ‘Ola Volo’, dedicating it to her artwork.

“I was going through kind of a rough period,” he said. “So she could paint me into one of her paintings. Kind of like that a-ha video for ‘Take On Me,’ to get me out of my life,” he said, referencing the ‘80s music video that featured live-action actors becoming animated.

Later, Campbell texted Mays from a show in Vancouver saying he was having a conversation with

Union Gallery opens new student exhibit Artwork examines our idea of surfaces through different media many of the students involved in the creation of the exhibit used mixed media, heavy strokes and paint splatter to show “how [surface] can be as important as subject matter.”

Although mixed media made up much of the exhibit, there were a few paintings on canvas as well.

One example is “Portrait” by Alyssa Scott, BFA ’19. Here, Scott depicts an image of a man from the shoulders up.

Scott used dabs and smears of paint to shape the man’s face in a more realistic way than typical paintings. As a result, viewers get

Two students going to the opening of the exhibit.

closer to the art and see its flaws, imperfections and vitality.

Other works featured everyday objects transposed into realistic paintings.

“Bacon and Eggs” by Mackenzie Gregson, BFA ’20, features “a still life of a still life” as she explained in an interview with The Journal.

The work is a mixed media piece depicting a table with the titular bacon and eggs — along with cut-out pages of still life paintings from an art magazine.

“Originally I was just going to paint newspapers onto the piece but my [professor] said, why

PHOTO BY SEBASTIEN MOLGAT

would you do that to yourself?”

Gregson said. Instead, she decided to incorporate the still life pages taken from art magazines and paste them onto canvas board.

“Some still lifes can be really boring … I wanted to create something very modern that people can relate to instead of the renaissance images,” she said.

Gregson used a blue-grey wood grain as the background of the image, the first application of the technique she’s since begun to use more frequently after noting its contrast with the brighter coffee cups, plates of food and grapefruits.

Ramolen Laruan, BFA ’18, debuted two new works for Surface.

Both “ode to my daddies” and “National Geographic — Come out where you are” are mixed media pieces and in Laruan’s words, “non-traditional.”

Laruan’s piece titled “National Geographic” features three pages cut out of a magazine the artist came across when she was procrastinating in the studio.

“I took these pages and just whited stuff out until the people in them had changed,” she said.

The images all feature groups of men with some portion of the

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY JULIE BOOTH

Volo, who happened to be a fan of Wintersleep.

Mays remembers his friend asking if he should show her the song.

“I’m like, ‘What? No, man, she’s going to think I’m a creep.’”

After a few months, Volo finally heard the song in Montreal after Mays relented. She was a fan and soon became a friend of Mays, agreeing to do the album’s artwork. Funnily enough, its depiction of Mays ultimately realizes the song’s lyrics — he became a part of her artwork.

Meanwhile, Mays continues to visit galleries and museums, taking inspiration from art, new and old, to put into his music.

He says the pieces are always valuable, regardless of when they were made.

“Artists being around other artists is a good thing, even if some of them are dead,” he said. “It sparks something inside that you don’t even notice.”

Opening for the Arkells on Friday night, Mays’ new album‘s worth of songs covering loss, travel and inspiration will mark a long-desired return to Kingston page they’re on removed by the white- out. The context of the pictures has been removed

by Laruan, leaving viewers to interpret and consider the body language of the men much more deeply than before.

Laruan’s additional piece titled “ode to my daddies” features a large canvas with black bars running through a wild scenery.

These black bars cut the piece up as if the work was split into many different smaller paintings.

Laruan meant for the piece to go against everything traditional about art. “It’s like the piece is bursting off the canvas, contained, but barely,” she said.

All the works featured in the latest Surface exhibition grapples with this idea of space and how the control of surface on an art piece allows the artist to similarly control the viewer’s perspective.

This emphasis on texture and exterior places artistic expression over artistic tradition.

“Art is the most liberating thing, but if you look at it, there’s so many rules to that liberation a lot of time,” Laruan said.

Other artists featured in the Surface exhibit in the Union Gallery include Austin Henderson, Karen Law, Jaclyn McConnell, Jaclyn O’Brien, Alyssa Scott, Leigha Stiles and Xujing Zhang.

Arts

Friday, November 24, 2017

queensjournal.ca

•9

BANDS

Hey Ocean! energizes Clark Hall Band returns to Queen’s for an intimate performance

Josh Malm Staff Writer

This article was originally published online Nov. 21.

Brimming with an effervescent brand of folky, synth-infused alternative pop, Canadian indie darlings Hey Ocean! delivered an impassioned performance at Clark Hall on Friday night.

Promising an intimate venue prior to the show, Hey Ocean! delivered. The band put on a fun, energetic and infectious setlist of funky pop numbers spanning their decade-long career, making the audience feel more than willing to sing along to their campfireinspired melodies.

The nearly lifelong friendship between lead vocalist and flute player Ashleigh Ball, guitarist David Beckingham and bassist/ vocalist David Vertesi was on display as they built off each other during the performance, a similar comradery present between the remaining band members.

The most enjoyable aspect of Hey Ocean!’s set was this

ability for each member to seamlessly gel with their counterparts. There was a sense of friendship and understanding on stage that complimented the group’s rhythmic, melodic and catchy hooks.

“Music is definitely therapeutic for me and I think for all of us,” David Vertesi told The Journal.

“Performing is just this whole other exertion of energy that is super fun, and doing it with people you know and love makes it special.”

“Madera,” a 6-minute slow-burning Latin-inspired ballad about the band’s early days trying to make it in the industry was a definite highlight of the performance.

On a frustrating, stormy day on a beach, the group, feeling dejected and hopeless, began cathartically screaming, “Hey Ocean!” at the body of water in front of them, Ball explained mid-performance.

The experience inspired their best song of the evening as well as the group’s namesake.

Little candid moments and stories like this, told between

Hey Ocean! in concert.

songs, made the show an intimate and uninhibited experience, much of which could be attributed to Ball’s individual performance.

Ball’s sincere vocals and genuine demeanor drew the audience closer and closer to the stage as the night progressed. With conviction in her voice, Ball built a rapport and connection with a crowd. Often, her encouragement led the audience to dance, clap and belt out lyrics with her.

ART NEWS

Post Traumatic Growth Art Show addresses sexual assault MHAC and AMS collaboration explores art’s role in trauma recovery Pamoda Wijekoon Staff Writer

On Friday, Sexual Violence Awareness Week’s Post Traumatic Growth Art Show hopes to change the dialogue around sexual assault awareness.

Hosted by the Mental Health Awareness Committee (MHAC), the art show will take place in the Sutherland Room of the JDUC on Nov. 24 at 8 p.m. After a panel of students speak to their experiences with sexual violence and recovery, there will be a showcase of the now-ongoing Student/Staff Spotlight portrait series.

There will also be an open mic for students to express their process of recovery.

“I think a lot of the sexual violence prevention and education work that has been done … has been very outward-facing,” Social Issues Commissioner and co-organizer Ramna Safeer said.

Safeer explained the focus on educating non-victims and non-survivors about prevention

through consent and bystander intervention. She also wants people to learn about the overlooked journeys that victims and survivors undergo as they recover from trauma.

“I think that the work that has taken place is incredibly necessary and has gotten us as far as we are as a campus, when it comes to challenging a culture of sexual violence, [but], we wanted to create a week focused on community building within [victims and] survivors of sexual violence,” she said.

MHAC co-chairs Madeline Heinke and Lisa Iannuzziello hope the event creates a safe space to foster thoughts on post-trauma growth.

“We wanted to create a way for [victims and] survivors to share their experiences [from a perspective of growth], compared to a night where we’d walk away feeling heavier, and not knowing how to cope,” Heinkie said. “We wanted to focus on how we’ve moved forward, in all our different ways.”

The open mic on Friday will provide the opportunity for students to speak out about their experience any way they wish, including using art, poetry and music.

When it comes to art, Heinke said, “it’s frightening to speak openly about [sexual assault] and I think art provides us an opportunity to express the things that are troubling us. Sometimes remembering everything that happened is extremely difficult.”

Through writing, Heinke said she found herself “being able to look back on memories in a way that was safe.”

“It’s important for [victims and] survivors of assault to express emotions that can be difficult to put into concise words. When you have a piece of art, you don’t have to say anything, and it can express so much,” she continued.

Generally, the week has prioritized intersectionality and explained how different facets of identity can play into incidents of sexual violence.

The art show’s ability to

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY JULIE BOOTH

“I love [performing] because I get to access my inner child and I just get to go [to] this really fun, weird place where I feel totally free. You could be in a totally shit room with amps blowing, and if the energy from the crowd is good, it can make it a great show,” Ball said.

Hey Ocean!’s performance was a pleasant reminder of how live music can have the power to get people out of their comfort zones

by invigorating their senses and allowing them to connect with each other.

“It’s a rush, I’ve been doing it my whole life and I feel pretty at home [on stage],” Vertesi said. “I think one of the best things about it is that you don’t think — you just do, which is nice. Its energizing, takes you out of your head and puts you into the moment.

That’s something that’s hard to do.”

facilitate an understanding of overlapping identities by making space for marginalized voices is one of the key benefits of the event. For Safeer, promoting an intersectional approach on campus is crucial to tackling the culture of sexual violence.

If the approach to prevention isn’t intersectional, then it’s “not getting at the heart of what makes certain people more vulnerable,” she said.

“Sexual violence looks like the larger culture of complacency around sexualized violence, from sexual assault to the move-in day signs that we see go up every year. I think in that way, sexual violence impacts all of us,” Safeer

said. That’s why fostering a sense of community among [victims and] survivors is so important, she added.

The organizers hope the show will help people form bonds, and feel less alone in their recovery process.

“What art does is allows us an avenue to really deal with that things that we’re thinking about and the growth that we’re undergoing after the trauma that we may have experienced,” Safeer said. “It’s a tool for us to recognize that our trauma complicates us, but it does not erase us, and inherently I think that is what this event is about.”

Ramna Safeer.

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

Arts

10 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, November 24, 2017

POINT / COUNTERPOINT

Should privileged writers represent marginalized communities?

Two Journal staff discuss privilege in storytelling YES Sarina Grewal Assistant News Editor

Diversity in literature is a strength: it allows for the presentation of new ideas and can educate readers about the experiences of others.

For authors, tackling diversity means facing their own positionality: can a white person write about a person of colour? Can an able-bodied person write about someone with a disability? Can a cisgendered person tell a story about a transgender individual?

I’d say yes. But in taking on a story involving a marginalized group as a person in a privileged position, the key lies in acknowledging the responsibility and weight in writing about the experiences of another.

Cultural appropriation is absolutely a concern: objectification, exotification and stereotyping people of other identities is definitely not something to be condoned.

But there’s something to say for a person trying to understand the experiences of another and to portray them in a way that’s both impactful and accurate. Sometimes the stories we need to hear can be imagined by people outside of those communities.

For example, Beartown is a book about a young woman who is sexually assaulted and the ripple effect this incident has throughout her town. Alongside this young woman, one of its other primary characters is a young Muslim boy. This novel is written by a Fredrik Backman, a white man who isn’t a survivor of sexual violence.

Nevertheless, Backman presents the characters in a highly nuanced, multi-faceted way, without relying on stereotypes; the

girl’s assault and the boy’s religious faith NO aren’t the entirety of who they are. These aspects aren’t ignored, but the two are Clayton Tomlinson depicted as people with many layers beyond Assistant Arts Editor one facet of their identity.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to For some people, family histories are write about marginalized voices. It’s vital fortunate enough to be without accounts to ensure people of the community have of marginalization or government significant input into how they’re presented. persecution. While still meaningful, Research is necessary and the principles their stories come from a more of proper allyship must be remembered. privileged place in society than those To express important ideas and convey in the margins. essential stories that aren’t necessarily These privileged people have stories your own is tenuous as a person with to tell and issues of their own that they privileged positionality. can better reflect upon. Because of this, If done wrong, it can set back an entire it seems unnecessary they should feel a community. But if it’s done the right way, itT:10”need to tell the stories of marginalized can often be incredibly powerful. peoples instead.

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In Canada, for example, marginalized peoples have just recently begun the process of attempting to overcome the still-fresh wounds of the history of residential school.

That’s the difference between a privileged writer telling the story of a marginalized community and someone speaking about their own pain. If people in privileged positions keep telling stories beyond their experience with regards to race, ethnicity, gender and other minority groups, we’ll never get it right.

For example, Canadian playwright Tomson Highway wrote his novel Kiss of the Fur Queen after a first-hand experience of abuse in a residential school.

People who are disconnected from their characters’ experiences shouldn’t tell the stories of those more directly affected.

Simple as that.

There’s nothing problematic if an artist wants to depict someone of another race. It becomes problematic when the artist takes other peoples’ stories and defining experiences out of their communities’ context.

Privileged people shouldn’t be able to tell other marginalized people what their lives are like. Telling their stories in the form of a novel or movie is the same thing — we’re just disguising this with discussion of artistic license.

Marginalized communities should be self-represented because stories — and their ownership — are central to identity.

If we crowd out self-representation, marginalized communities’ stories will continue to be misrepresented as they make way for privileged writers who perhaps have more access to publication.

Friday, November 24, 2017

queensjournal.ca

MEN’S BASKETBALL

• 11

Sports

Beating the odds

Gaels point guard Jaz Bains details his path to Queen’s Sebastian Bron Sports Editor Rejection is something Jaz Bains is familiar with — but it’s not something he accepts.

Sitting in the ARC’s alumni lounge, the current starting point guard for the men’s basketball team characterized his athletic career to The Journal as unconventional.

Albeit currently placed fifth among OUA scorers in points per game with 20.5 and leading the league with 6.2 assists per contest, Bains only began playing organized varsity basketball in his senior year of high school.

“High school was tough,” Bains, who transferred to Queen’s from St. Lawrence College over the summer, admitted. “In grade[s] 9, 10 and 11, I was cut from my high school [basketball] team.” “[My high school] coach was just like, ‘You tried out for three years so I put you on [the roster],’” he recalled being told after his fourth tryout. The Gaels’ point guard’s former coach also said his minutes on the court would come sporadically.

A lack of floor time during his senior season — Bains said he would be his team’s first or second substitution off the bench regularly — garnered

him little-to-no interest on the recruiting trail.

Upon graduating high school, Bains enrolled at Guelph Humber-College in 2012 hoping to kick-start his basketball career.

“Humber’s competitive [and] it’s a really good place for college basketball,” Bains said, explaining his reasoning for the move. When he was cut from the varsity team in his first year at the school, Bains played for the program’s junior-varsity affiliate.

“People get called up to varsity, so I was practicing with the varsity team and stuff, but [the coach] wouldn’t keep me because he said he had too many guys already,” he added. After two successive years of failing to make the program’s senior roster, Bains began to look elsewhere.

Despite not playing at the varsity level in college, Bains remained encouraged that his play would eventually attract a coach’s attention. “Keep working hard, keep going as hard as you can,” he remembered thinking to himself.

“Have a chip on your shoulder.”

During a visit to St. Lawrence, his patience was repaid.

The school’s basketball coach showed him around campus and pitched the idea of playing for

Bains leads the Gaels with 20.5 points per game this season.

the program. Bains recalled the coach informing him committing to play for his school wouldn’t guarantee him significant playing time, but he took a roll of the dice.

It paid dividends.

In his three seasons at SLC — where he played from 2014-17 — Bains averaged 22 points, five assists and two steals per game to cap off his collegiate career. In consecutive years, he won the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association’s (OCAA) Rookie of the Year, OCAA Player of the Year, and was named an OCAA First Team All-Star twice and national All-Canadian once. “[St. Lawrence] was where I was given the opportunity to showcase my talent and things went well,” Bains said of his time with the program.

With a diploma from SLC in hand, Bains said moving crosstown to Queen’s as a student-athlete transfer was a no-brainer. He was

comfortable with the program and had previously established a rapport with the team and coaching staff in years past.

“I would come [to Queen’s] for the summer to train and practice with the [varsity] team,” Bains said. After his second year at St. Lawrence, he would practice with the Gaels three times a week during the offseason. “At SLC, we’d get summers off, so we’d do our own training … but Queen’s is structured.”

During the recruiting process to fulfill his last two years of eligibly, Bains said being coveted

by Queen’s was the driving factor behind his decision. Head coach Stephan Barrie and assistant coach Jermaine Small “were really on me, messaging me all the time,” Bains remembered. “And that’s kind of what people want when they’re getting recruited.”

For Barrie, Bains’ greatest attribute is his drive. Reflecting on the recruiting process, the coach said the program looked beyond his skill set as a basketball player.

“He is driven to be successful and to accomplish goals he has in basketball — and he just wears those [goals] on his chest when he plays every day,” he said.“[We’re] really fortunate to get a chance to work with a kid like that. Not because he’s a great player, but

SUPPLIED BY QUEEN’S ATHLETICS

because … I’m so impressed by his desire.”

When asked about his determination, Bains said “I play my best when I have a chip on my shoulder.” Team concerns have always taken a precedence over individual goals and prioritizing that has been his primary focus in his first season with the Gaels.

“The first thing is winning a championship. I want to make nationals, I want to win,” Bains said of what he hopes to achieve before graduating from Queen’s.

“It’s not even an individual thing; it’s a program thing, a team thing.

We want to win — that’s all it is.”

The odds never played in Bains’ favour — but his resolve never waned. “[G]oing through all the tough times, getting through being cut … perseverance is a big reason for my being a good basketball player,” he said.

Hunched over his office chair in the ARC, Barrie tried to piece together his point guard’s career path.

“What are the odds of this kid right now, who’s just been cut by Humber, being an All-Canadian and then eventually a U Sports player that plays at an all-star level … I mean, what are the chances?”

“Everyone would’ve said there’s zero chance.”

WOMEN’S RUGBY

Gaels trio go international Popov featured for Canada at the 2015 Pan Am Games.

Matt Scace Assistant Sports Editor Just when they thought their seasons were over, Nadia Popov, McKinley Hunt and Janna Slevinsky got phone calls from Rugby Canada.

After helping Queen’s earn a silver medal in the OUA championships and finish fifth in the country, the three women were asked to play for Canada’s senior team in a test match series against England’s national squad.

Hosted in London, England, the event has seen the Red Roses from England take the first two contests by a significant margin.

In their 49-12 loss on Nov. 21, Hunt and Slevinsky scored Canada’s lone tries. The series’ last

match is set for Saturday, Nov. 23.

“The biggest benefit from these events is the ability to challenge ourselves in such high caliber and high pressure games,” Popov told The Journal via email.

The benefits of these opportunities don’t go unnoticed by the athletes, who gain experience against some of the world’s best.

“The biggest difference at the international level is the speed of play. Everything happens so much quicker and attention to detail is critical because the opposition will capitalize on any mistakes you make,” Popov said.

“Every pass, every tackle and decision needs to be that much more precise.”

Despite experiencing a heightened sense of competition,

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

this isn’t the Gaels athletes’ first time playing at the international level. While Hunt spent her 2016 and 2017 summers with Canada’s u20 team, Popov helped Canada earn gold at the 2015 Pan Am Games for Canada’s rugby sevens team.

With selections such as these happening in a very short time frame relative to their OUA and U Sports’ postseason schedules, Hunt said players are forced to remain in the best shape possible.

“You can’t really take a day off because you never know when you’re going to get a phone call saying that you’ve just been selected to a roster,” Hunt, who was a U Sports All-Canadian this past season, said. “In the physical sense, it pushes you to perform and be at

Nadia Popov, McKinley Hunt and Janna Slevinsky named to Canadian Senior women’s rugby team for series against England your very best every single day.”

Despite the experience putting athletes in stressful situations — these games often surround the exam period during the school year — Hunt sees this time as a valuable learning experience.

“In the long term it teaches you how to prioritize and figure out what your goals are because obviously everything you have to manage as an athlete in terms of school and national team commitments needs a balance,” Hunt said. “In the long term, it definitely is helpful to know how

you’re going to balance your life.”

With honours like this coming near the beginning of these athletes’ careers, Popov and Hunt have strong aspirations for the future. In 2021, the world’s best female rugby players will congregate for the women’s rugby world cup. Both Popov and Hunt have intentions of playing at this level.

“There’s no greater honour as athletes than to represent our country, and I hope to continue to grow alongside my teammates for years to come,” Popov added.

Sports

12 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, November 24, 2017

Season grades for fall varsity teams Journal Sports editors evaluate how Queen’s varsity teams fared this fall Sebastian Bron and Matt Scace Journal Staff This report card followed a highly unscientific grading formula. The criteria for rating teams’ performances was contingent on a simple algorithm: we gauged how teams performed in the regular season and if they were lucky enough, how they shaped up in the playoffs. The wins, losses and unforgettable moments of the varsity season made this grading process overwhelmingly difficult.

Men’s Rugby: A+

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

Cross Country: A

CREDIT: APSHUTTER.COM

SUPPLIED BY ROBIN KASEM

Women’s Soccer: A-

Key Results: OUA Champions, six OUA All-Stars

Key Results: Women’s U Sports silver, OUA gold

Key Results: OUA bronze medal

There isn’t much to say about the men’s rugby team that hasn’t already been said before. The Gaels were the most dominant team in the OUA. With a 9-0 record on the year, men’s rugby featured in their seventh consecutive OUA Championship game and won their fifth Turner Trophy in the last six years. Including playoffs, the team amassed 522 total points through nine games — which was 202 more than the year before. Their defense limited teams to a meager 10 points per game and conceded just 91 points on the season.

This year, the men’s and women’s cross country teams had high expectations. After spending seven weeks nationally-ranked first, the women’s team came just short of their first ever national gold with a silver medal.

This year, the Gaels were led by OUA Champion Branna MacDougall and U Sports silver medalist Claire Sumner.

Meanwhile, the men finished fifth in the country at the U Sports Championships and won a bronze medal at the OUA Championships.

The Gaels rode their league-leading regular season offense all the way to a third-place finish at the OUA Championships this fall. The team led the conference with 49 goals, 15 assists and 15.3 shots per game. While third-year forward Jenny Wolever placed first in the OUA for assists (9), points (19) and shots (57), Gaels captain Laura Callender led the OUA with 13 goals.

SUPPLIED BY QUEEN’S ATHLETICS

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

Rowing: B

SUPPLIED BY QUEEN’S ROWING

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

Women’s Rugby: A-

Football: B

Men’s Soccer: C-

Key Results: OUA silver, fifth at U Sports National Championship

Key Result: 6th in OUA

Key Results: Women’s OUA silver, men’s fifth in the OUA

Key Results: First-round loss in OUA playoffs

Dan Valley’s first season as head coach of the rugby team went as well as he could’ve asked for. After finishing fourth in the OUA last season, the Gaels had some room to grow — and they did. Following their upset against McMaster in the conference semifinals, Queen’s finished with an OUA silver medal and booked their ticket for the U Sports Championships. With a fifth-place finish at nationals, the Gaels proved they’re set to be a contender next year. A bright point this season for Queen’s was twosport athlete and Rookie of the Year Sophie de Goede.

At the outset of their season, the Gaels looked as if they were headed for a rebuilding year when they opened up 0-4. But their subsequent four-game win streak secured them the OUA’s final playoff spot and salvaged their otherwise lost season. The Gaels finished the regular season at 4-4, with quarterback Nate Hobbs placing first in total passing yards with 2655 and 21 passing touchdowns. Wide out Chris Osei-Kusi finished with an OUA-high seven receiving touchdowns. In the quarter finals, the Gaels loss to 12-9 to the McMaster Marauders.

At the OUA Championships, the women improved on their fourth place 2016 performance, earning the silver medal.

The men remained similar to last year, finishing fifth in the province for the second consecutive season. At the national championships, Gavin Stone picked up a bronze while Alexander Bernst and Nicholas Grubic brought home silver in the lightweight men’s category. Despite the strong individual showings from the three rowers, the men’s team finished seventh overall while the women came in 12th.

After finishing with their worst record since 2008-09 — at 6-7-3 — the men’s soccer team took a step back this year in terms of progression.

Sneaking into the OUA’s last playoff spot, Queen’s lost 2-0 in the first round to Ryerson. Jacob Schroeter’s 12 goals on the year served as a silver lining to the team’s underwhelming season, as he finished third among leading OUA goal scorers.

Sports

Friday, November 24, 2017

queensjournal.ca

• 13

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Talking hoops with coach Barrie Gaels coach discusses Queen’s, Michael Jordan and more

Barrie’s first season with the Gaels was in 2011.

Sebastian Bron Sports Editor It’s been eight years since Steph Barrie and men’s basketball were the OUA’s worst team with a 2-20 record. Luckily, that’s in the program’s rear-view mirror.

Barrie’s tumultuous first season as Gaels head coach in 2011 was, at least on the surface,

a forgettable period for the program. Behind the scenes, however, was an energized coaching staff looking to pump life into a team that was desperate for a change of pace.

During a candid interview, The Journal spoke with Barrie about his program’s newfound direction, the changing landscape in the sport of

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

basketball, recruiting, analytics and — much to our delight — the Jordan vs.

LeBron debate.

What dragged you to Queen’s after coaching women’s basketball at Western for six years?

There were two driving reasons of why I came. One was that I

started in the men’s game, having played and been an assistant coach on the University of Toronto men’s team. I was looking for an opportunity and this was kind of perfect timing.

I also wanted to make sure I was going to a school that was a good fit. I’m used to schools that have some academic standards and a culture that really prioritizes academics — Queen’s was no different.

All the boxes were checked, so I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity.

You touched on culture and academics … when you’re laying out a pitch to a recruit, are those the kinds of values you bank on?

I mean, for the most part, I think one of our biggest pitches that we talk about constantly is that if you’re going to come to Queen’s, it has to be for more than just basketball. You’re really not going to survive if it’s just going to be a basketball decision solely; you have to be driven academically to be successful.

The way we run our program and the way that we coach is we talk about life as much as we talk about basketball. And if that’s not something that appeals to someone, it’s not going to workout.

In a perfect world, what brand of basketball would you have your team play every game?

I think there are certain pieces that have to be there all the time, like playing hard defensively and rebounding. I’m also big on being unselfish. I’ve never been a coach that runs plays for guys as my [only] offense; I like to run offense that has movement — ball movement, person movement. Creating opportunities and then letting the game dictate what happens.

As Golden State [in the NBA] are showing, when more guys touch the ball in a possession they’re willing to do more for their teammates.

Kind of off-base, but I’ve got to take advantage: Jordan or LeBron?

That’s a no-brainer. I think for anyone who lived in my generation … Jordan was getting into that time when he was the superstar of the NBA, so he was everything to us. For me, it’ll always be Jordan — he’ll always be the greatest. I don’t think anyone can take that title away from him.

I think LeBron’s a more complete basketball player, but the reality is — and what I think most people forget is — as much

as shooting and skill and all those things matter, the competitive principle is the most important.

And no one has ever competed at a higher level than Jordan. He was the most fierce competitor to a level that I don’t think we’ve seen or been exposed to again.

Do you encourage your staff to use analytics — and why?

Oh yeah. No question.

[Analytics] are one part of your decision-making process, it’s one tool and it’s an important one … it doesn’t make every decision for you but it certainly influences decisions because you see it for every opponent you have that stat for and all your own players, too.

We hire a company to clip our games and then stat them for analytics — so we get all kinds of advanced stats and we can tell our players what their efficiencies are.

What skills and qualities do you look for when evaluating a player?

I think there’s kind of two sides to the basketball court that you’re looking at evaluating. One would be the skill side of it — we always like to use the term, ‘What are you bringing to the party?’ And you have to be bringing something to the party. Whether you’re a great rebounder and defender; whether you’re a tremendous shooter, or have tremendous ball-handling and passing skills … you have to bring something.

The other side of it is the mental side. Do you have leadership abilities? Are you a guy that’s a great teammate? Are you unselfish — or do you have some issues with that?

How do you feel about the way the program is headed compared to your first year?

There are some programs when you take over that can really swing upwards very quickly … and I knew that Queen’s was going to be a job that could be successful, but it was going to take time. I knew that.

Part of what I think [Athletics] was looking for was someone who was going to stay and not look at it as a stepping stone job to the next job. And for me, I wasn’t looking at this job that way. The attraction for both sides was that there was going to be stability and I was going to be here.

We want to change this program, it’s going to take some serious effort, but this group can move us in the right direction.

14 • queensjournal.ca

Friday, November 24, 2017

Lifestyle CULTURAL COMMENTARY

Mattel releases Hijab Barbie The impact diversity can bring to the toy brand

Mattel’s Hijab Barbie.

Shivani Gonzalez Lifestyle Editor

Last week, toy manufacturing company Mattel announced they would be releasing a new Barbie to their line — one that’s inspired

by Muslim Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad and the first ever to wear a hijab.

The reasons why this Hijab Barbie is a big deal is fairly obvious — it’s the first one of its kind.

While this is the company’s first release of a hijab-wearing doll, it’s on trend with Barbie expanding their look. This shift has already In honor of the show that inspired the title of this very column — Sex and the City — I’ve decided to center this week’s column around the men in the show and how their relationships with protagonist Carrie are actually very similar to the ones many of us experience in everyday life.

Throughout the series of Sex and the City, Carrie has her fair share of winners and losers with regards to the men she dates, just like many of us do. From the one that uprooted her life to move to Paris only to abandon her in a foreign art gallery to those that broke up with her using Post-it notes, there are lots of men in this show that help Carrie’s c h a ra c te r g row t h in various ways.

However, there are two characters who were particularly successful in stealing the heart of the show’s protagonist; the infamous Aidan and the mysterious Mr.Big. Now, aside from the fact both characters were gorgeous and charming men, they really were polar opposites.

Mr. Big was more of a mystery with his closed-off nature and the fact he knew how to care deeply for a person.

Unfortunately, it took six seasons to learn how to express it.

On the other hand, Aidan was an open book. What he lacked in mystery he made up for with his warm and loving nature. Aidan never ran from commitment or passed up a perfectly good opportunity to reassure his partner of his love for them.

included a plus-sized Barbie modeled after model Ashley Graham, a Latina Barbie and an African-American Barbie with an afro.

Like most things in this world, the release of Hijab Barbie has been faced with lots of controversy and backlash, with many saying the doll and the woman it’s modelled after only tell a story of oppression and has no place in the line of Barbie.

This argument isn’t at all uncomm on these days — especially with Bill 62 being passed in Quebec.

To sum it up, Bill 62 bans

wearing face coverings when using public services. This means if someone is seeking help at a hospital or using public transit, they’re forced to remove their covering.

The passing of this Bill is a result of the same type of mentality people have when they’re protesting the new Barbie — that having women wear face coverings is taking away their freedom. However, at the end of the day, not allowing someone to wear what they want in the name of their religion is oppression all the same.

Especially in a time where

Muslim people continue to be targeted and forced to deal with fear-mongering at their expense in places like the United States, having a Barbie which represents more people in the population can only be beneficial.

Children are future lawmakers, advocates and supporters, so having toys that are more inclusive and diverse is likely to inspire positive change.

If a non-Muslim child sees a doll wearing a head covering in and among the other Barbies, it’s going to help them realize Muslim girls are just like them. It will also

SEX AND THE LIMESTONE CITY

To the Aidans and Mr.Bigs in our lives Why we choose different types of partners at different times Based on these descriptions, you can probably understand even without watching the show that these two men aren’t so different from individuals many of us interact with every day — whether you’ve dated a Mr. Big or an Aidan yourself or you know of someone else who has.

One of the biggest debates of the series was which of these men Carrie should’ve ultimately chosen for a husband. As a spoiler for those who haven’t seen the show or movies, Carrie chooses Mr. Big and the two are married by the second movie.

Women and men frequently choose the Mr. Big types over the Aidan types everyday in real life — I myself have even been guilty of this — and in my opinion, it’s the wrong choice.

A lot of this tendency has to do with the fact many of us are hard-wired to think dating should be a challenge and anything that feels easy is too good to be true.

So many of us are constantly choosing partners we know are wrong for us for this reason.

Alternatively, many of us choose partners like Mr. Big as a sort of relationship project, thinking there’s some sort of reward increase in the relationship when we’re able to change

someone to better fit our ideals.

For whatever reason, we often choose to pick these closed-off, scared-of-commitment, unemotional people as partners.

But when we do, we’re losing out on some of the best parts of a relationship.

Many of us tend to believe an overly dramatic and stressful relationship makes for a true love story. But what we gain when we chose to be with the Aidan type is warmth, playfulness and ultimately, true happiness.

So with all the respect I have

Mr. Big and Carrie (left) and Aidan and Carrie (right).

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY WIKIPEDIA

stop them from otherizing people who don’t necessarily look the way they do.

Additionally, having a popular toy that looks like you, considering you’re a young Muslim girl, can be extremely empowering.

In an increasingly diverse world, it only makes sense to have different Barbies represent different people. Having Barbies that are representative of different races, body types and cultures is extremely productive to increasing awareness and acceptance of diversity overall. for the fictional Carrie Bradshaw, I have to say she probably didn’t always make the right choice. It’s true that Mr. Big did get himself together in the end, but it took years of heartache and constant lingering concerns about the relationship, even when they did get their perceived happily ever after.

Having experienced a Mr. Big type of relationship and now being in one that’s exactly the opposite, I can confidently say it’s the constant happiness and security I get from my Aidan-type man that makes this love story preferable.

—Barrie Cradshaw

PHOTOS SUPPLIED BY WIKIPEDIA

Lifestyle

Friday, November 24, 2017

queensjournal.ca

• 15

Journal staff ’s worst holiday presents ever From plain uncomfortable to downright disappointing

Journal Staff The winter holidays can mean d i f fe re n t things fo r different people.

It can mean spending time with the people you love, remembering what to be thankful for or having awkward conversations with relatives.

But it also means enjoying the consumerism associated with the holidays — presents.

Sometimes people hit a home run with what they get you and other times they just fall flat.

These are the stories of some of The Journal staff’s worst presents they’ve ever received over the holidays.

When I was nine years old, the first night of Hanukkah fell on the same day as my birthday. I logically assumed this meant I’d get double the presents from my parents and I prepared to swim in a pool of new iPod Touches. Instead, my parents got me and all my siblings socks and a CD entitled

“School on a Disk”.

—Josh Granovsky, Assistant Lifestyle Editor It’s not necessarily the worst gift in the world but it’s definitely the worst in comparison. My Nana plays extreme favourites when it comes to her grandkids. We’re all in our 20s and there are five of us in total: me, my sister and my three cousins. We always celebrate Christmas together in one house and open all of our presents one at a time in front of the tree. Last year, one after the other, my sister and I opened our Nana’s gifts and found a set of cozy plaid pajamas. They were awesome. Then two of my cousins opened their gifts and got the same pajamas. Cute right? We were all going to match. That is, until my oldest cousin’s turn came around and he started to laugh, because Nana had bought him a fucking iPad. —Ashley Rhamey, Editorials Editor I was around eight when I received my worst present ever.

From what I remember, I really wanted a Game Boy Advance and I almost fell down the stairs on Christmas morning because I was

so excited. I remember seeing a box that looked Game Boy-shaped under the tree and obviously grabbed it. But when I ripped off the wrapping, it was not a Game Boy Advance. It turned out to be a copy of the New Testament.

I got a bible.

—Nick Pearce, Arts Editor My worst present is actually a lack of a present. For my whole life, I’ve wanted a puppy more than anything. One Christmas Eve when I was 11 or 12, I was getting home from a friend’s house and immediately heard barking in my backyard and noticed paw prints leading up to the front door. I could barely breathe; I was so excited to finally get my dream present. But when I walked in, it was just another Christmas Eve and my mom had no idea what I was even talking about. All the dog signs were just coincidence. It wasn’t until five years and a signed

contract with my mom later that I finally got my dog.

—Shivani Gonzalez, Lifestyle Editor When I was seven years old, my mom got me a purple watch for Christmas. I was obviously going through some sort of boyish phase because I was absolutely outraged by the frilly lace it apparently had.

I only remember this because I wrote a thrilling account of the whole thing in my diary as if it was the biggest injustice that had ever happened to me. I was definitely a huge brat and I feel bad about it now — but it didn’t help that the next year she got me an alarm clock, which was honestly probably more of a punishment than a present.

—Julia Balakrishnan, Photos Editor When I was eight or nine, my stepgrandfather gave me a used set of Tchaikovsky cassette tapes and a mechanical

bird with real feathers in a cage that squawked when you walked past it — I feel like that kind of speaks for itself.

—Meredith Wilson-Smith, Copy Editor During the Christmas season of my second year, I had four different Secret Santa exchanges, one with my house-mates and others for the different clubs and groups I was a part of. For all four exchanges, I received four different mugs; an elf mug, a book-themed mug, a generic white mug and a sharpie-decorated mug. I don’t have anything against mugs per say. I love them. But four mugs are more than one girl needs, especially one who didn’t ever drink tea and made coffee at home perhaps once or twice a month, if that.

—Sarina Grewal, Assistant News Editor

CULTURAL COMMENTARY

Why do people care so much about Starbucks’ holiday cups?

An investigation of the reoccurring cup controversy Josh Granovsky Assistant Lifestyle Editor This opening line I’m about to write is one that’s been written every year for the past Winter’s: Starbucks’ latest holiday cup is once again stirring up controversy.

A theory that appears to have originated from a Buzzfeed article claims this year’s Starbucks holiday cup — a company cup design tradition that dates back over 20 years — features two women holding hands as a nod towards the inclusion of LGBTQ+ customers. A blink-and-you-miss-it illustration of two women holding hands in a Starbucks holiday ad seems to support this theory, though a company spokeswoman said the hands on the cup are meant to be gender-neutral.

Critics of the design, most notably Evangelical Christian communities, have allegedly spoken out against Starbucks for using Christmas as means of propelling a “gay agenda” onto its customers.

Starbucks notably clashed with similarly devout Christian groups in 2015 when they debuted a minimalist holiday cup — completely red with a centred Starbucks logo. The absence of traditional Christmas imagery, like Christmas trees or reindeer, led some to believe Starbucks was trying to diminish the holiday’s religious importance and resulted in an ongoing boycott.

I began looking into this history of controversy to understand how there could be so much meaning and political motives behind coffee containers.

After excessively researching the subject, I can now say, I still don’t fully understand.

The most glaringly obvious issue with this whole debate is cups are just cups. They don’t have feelings or political opinions.

How could they manage to offend such a large group of people?

The placement of these cups in a political argument seems to suggest more about the critics than it does about the company.

Starbucks cup controversy.

Starbucks cups have no obligation to do anything other than hold coffee. They don’t have to celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanza or really any other holiday. Since Starbucks serves a wide range of customers from an equally wide range of religions, it makes sense — if they’re going to celebrate holidays at all — they’d implement a broad holiday design.

placement “ofThe these cups in a

political argument seems to suggest more about the critics than it does about the company

”

Are these controversial interpretations a result of the unparalleled divisiveness of

American politics that’s led many to see everything through a political lens? Maybe aspects of internet culture like Facebook and YouTube comments have predisposed people to vocalize our thoughts about everything presented to us? It’s hard for us to say what the cause of this issue is, but it’s even harder for cups to say, since they can’t talk.

Another inconsistency I find in this debacle is many customers believe Starbucks’ greatest misstep with their holiday cups is caring too much about offending people.

Accusations of political correctness plague the coffee chain’s Twitter mentions as jilted consumers berate the company for excessively eliminating elements which could hurt someone’s feelings.

Now, the debate about political correctness is an argument unto itself that goes way beyond

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOSH GRANOVSKY

the scope of this controversy and article. But from what I gather, critics of the cup don’t like that Starbucks cares too much.

But isn’t caring about cups at all the definition of caring too much?

The flawed logic behind turning inconsequential matters, like designs on a cup, into a politicized debate about gay agendas and wars on Christmas is one of the most ironic things I’ve heard to date.

Based on their yearly track record, the one thing I can concretely infer from these controversies is that they’ll probably become as much as a tradition as the holiday cups themselves. But who knows? Maybe next year, Starbucks will finally succumb to the criticism and just pour coffee into people’s hands during the holiday season.

Lifestyle

16 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, November 24, 2017

PHOTO BY JULIA BALAKRISHNAN

Jasnit talking on the phone.

POSTSCRIPT

Don’t forget about the important things in life How losing a friend taught me to slow down Jasnit Pabla Assistant News Editor

The phone call I received on a brisk January night remains just as vivid to me now as it did three years ago.

“Sonja passed away last night,” my cousin said. “In her sleep, I don’t really know.”

I hung up almost immediately.

January 27, 2015 was a regular day for me. I had my high school exams coming up and was working a couple of extra hours at a nearby tutoring centre. I was stressed, my mind was focused on the exams I would take the next morning and the one after that.

As I walked towards my mom’s parked car, I picked at my cousin’s words. What a sick joke, I thought. Somewhere in the back of my mind, however, I knew he would never lie to me about that — especially not about someone like Sonja.

A short car ride later I was in my room, laptop open, phone out, trying to confirm for myself what I already believe but wanted desperately to dissent. Several of my childhood friends reached out to me within the span of 15 minutes, as details of her funeral were slowly revealed.

The night moved slowly and my memory is slightly blurred. I remember my mom calling me to the kitchen to eat. My legs operated slowly, unmotivated to move. I dragged my feet to the kitchen and came to stand right in front of her. I told her

about the news I’d just received, and while I was unsure of what to say or do about it in that moment, my mother instantly began to cry.

Sonja and I had spent the majority of our childhood playing soccer together. Countless sleepovers, secrets shared and bullies fought together, she was my first best friend. I could bike to her house blindfolded, but could never tell you her exact address.

Our families were closely-knit and she’s the familiar face in many team photos and birthday pictures.

I told her about the “news I’d just received, and while I was unsure of what to say or do about it in that moment, my mother began to instantly cry.

”

She was a sister to me.

Nobody asked me any questions concerning how she had passed and I preferred they didn’t, I couldn’t have answered anything.

I still can’t.

I didn’t eat, went straight to bed and cried until my alarm went off for the exam the next day. While most of the night consisted of grief at the loss of such an important person in my life, a lot of it was spent angry, trying to pick apart the reasons I’d chosen not to send her a text one day or invite her over another. I was angry with myself. I was angry

with the universe for taking someone so young and beautiful from their family.

Above all else, I was looking for an explanation.

No amount of screaming into a pillow helped, understandably.

But then came her funeral.

I can’t describe the sight of a friend laying motionless in a coffin, but any person who has experienced a friend’s funeral can recall how the words just won’t come.

Eyes closed, dressed in all white with her hands to her side, the only word I could fathom was “beautiful.” This was the same girl who had, only months prior, danced wildly to ‘Mr. Saxobeat’ when we were supposed to be studying. This was the same girl who I watched the first, second and third Die Hard movies with while eating pizzas that grew colder as the night of our first sleepover went on.

Another sleepless night later, I transitioned slowly back to my regular lifestyle. However, the memory of that week remains an important part of who I am today.

A lot of confusion during that week was a product of how suddenly things had happened.

One day I had sent her a funny text, the next she was gone without warning. I thought long about how many days it had been since I’d reached out and why that had been the case.

It occurred to me, while lost in all of my responsibilities and studying, I’d forgotten to give attention to the people in my life

who I cared about and who cared about me too. I began to analyze the relationships in my life and sure enough, there were similarly weak links.

The recurring presence of a day “too busy” to take 15 minutes to video chat with a distant friend or to ask your grandparents “what’s the gossip?” is a depressing thing to think about. But we’ve all done it. The amount of times this semester alone I told my friends I was too busy to grab coffee with them is becoming more apparent to me as the anniversary of Sonja’s passing slowly approaches.

Had I really been too busy for two months to call? No, that was never the case.

to me “that,It occurred while lost in all

my responsibilities and studying, I’d forgotten to give attention to the people in my life who I cared about and who cared about me too.

”

What I’ve learned from this experience is that I was always moving too quickly. This moment in my life forced me to press pause and re-evaluate my treatment of those around me.

The problem remains that I don’t press pause enough and I think that’s the case with many in the post-secondary environment.

Caught up in school,

non-academic commitments and just ensuring you have three meals a day is enough responsibility for me. But the pit in my stomach when I get a phone call from my grandmother after three weeks saying she misses me and wishes I’d call more reminds me I have the time regardless of how many assignments are due next week.

It’s as simple as calling a parent while you walk home from a meeting on campus, or taking some time before bed to text a friend whose had just as long a day as you.

Something important I’ve found for myself is acknowledging I don’t need to get dressed up and go out for coffee in order to truly socialize with someone, especially in today’s technologically social age. A text that reads, “tell me how things are going with you” can speak to someone just as strongly.

Sometimes it’s unreasonable during exam seasons to set aside a couple of hours a day to see your friends or family, but giving them a call for a couple of minutes is a good start. This continues to remain a huge support for me, living away from home.

I regret every single moment I didn’t call Sonja and ask about her day, and continue to feel guilty about closing myself off to her. While I’ll continue to be told that nothing is my fault in this regard, it’s hard to accept that fact.

I should’ve called her, and now I’ll never be able to.