The Queen's Journal, Volume 148, Issue 11

the journal Queen’s University

Vol. 148, Issue 11

Situated on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples.

Since 1873

Thursday, October 22, 2020

I nternational graduate students denied ra and ta positions

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Proctortrack suspends service following breach, impacting FEAS and Smith Canadian student data safe, frozen on servers J ulia H armsworth Assistant News Editor Thanks to technological issues, remote midterms aren’t going quite as planned.

Proctortrack detected a security breach on Oct. 13 at 3:30 p.m. After the breach, it suspended its service for 10 days to conduct maintenance.

The service published a statement releasing the details of the breach on Oct. 14, and Queen’s published a press release informing students of its effects on Oct. 16.

The shutdown will affect some students in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (FEAS) and the Smith School of Business, according to the University.

FEAS will use Examity to proctor its midterms, and Smith has moved to non-proctored midterm assessments. Instructors will email the affected students with updates on their exams.

“To date, our security team has reviewed the incident and queensjournal.ca

implemented safety measures against the breach and secured any exposures to avoid any further threats or intrusions,” Proctortrack wrote in the statement.

According to an additional statement released on Oct. 17, Proctortrack has “contained” the issue and is “in the process of assessing the impact.”

“At an organization level, we work closely with Cybersecurity experts to reduce the risk of security and data breaches,” the service wrote.

“We have invested heavily in our IT Security Systems, and that investment has been successful in the sense that it reduced the risk presented by many attackers.”

In an interview with CBC News, Rahul Siddharth, CEO of Verificient Technologies, the company which developed Proctortrack, said the company’s servers in Europe were hacked by a “prankster.”

The “prankster” accessed the servers by pretending to be a Verificient employee.

According to Siddharth, Proctortrack detected the breach within a few hours and froze its servers, so no student data was leaked.

“Our logs show there has been no data breach on the servers,”

Siddharth said. “Student data has never left Canada. It’s still on their servers. We just froze that data.

Canadian students don’t need to worry.”

Western University was also affected by the breach. Student assessments which had intended to use Proctortrack were suspended, and instructors were told to find alternative solutions.

Queen’s announced it had selected Examity and Proctortrack as its two remote proctoring services in early October. It made the decision after determining both services met the University’s privacy and security requirements.

Both programs have been used at Queen’s in the past and will continue to be used in the future.

Last week, a petition started circulating online asking the University to let students opt out of remote proctoring for exams. As of Oct. 20, it had 250 signatures.

The petition cites “significant privacy concerns” with Examity and Proctortrack, as they each require students to submit personal information, including their student ID and address.

@queensjournal

@queensjournal

See Proctortrack on page 3

PHOTO BY JODIE GRIEVE

News

Editorials

In conversation with first chair for women in engineering

Prioritizing Black student safety in the classroom

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Page 7

Opinions

Arts

The risks of misusing protest language

Queen’s alumna discusses new memoir

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Sports

Lifestyle

Queen’s coaches give midterm pep talks

Voting absentee in the US election

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@thequeensjournal

News

2 • queensjournal.ca

Thursday, october 22, 2020

PHOTO BY JODIE GRIEVE

A separate process to re-name the building will begin in the coming months.

Sir John A. Macdonald officially scratched from law building

with the values and aspirations of the current law school and Queen’s community where Indigenous and racialized students must feel welcome and included.”

More than 3,000 members of the Queen’s community participated in the two-month consultation process on de-naming the building.

“During this era of truth and reconciliation, it’s important to consider how we move forward together with a good mind and in peace for the greater good for all peoples,” Kanonhsyonne (Janice Hill), associate viceprincipal of Indigenous Initiatives, wrote in the statement. “As Haudenosaunee we are taught in our decision making of equity, diversity, and inclusivity and to “Sir John A. Macdonald is rightly to reflect on and be mindful of the past ensure all students, faculty, and staff feel celebrated for his central role in the founding while considering the impact on welcome within the Queen’s community,” of modern Canada and the creation of our future generations.”

Deane wrote in a statement. “It also country’s constitution. However, a more “This decision affirms that Queen’s is supports our commitment to take action to complete understanding of his legacies has headed in that direction in terms of creating address systemic racism and ensure every emerged in recent years. In particular, we a safe and equitable space where each member of our community may enjoy the now have a richer and better understanding member of the community has a strong benefits of our institution equally.” of the hurtful views and policies he and sense of belonging. As we continue to The committee was established in July by his government advanced in relation to dismantle these colonial symbols, we get the Faculty of Law after an online petition Indigenous peoples and racial minorities,” closer to achieving an inclusive community began circulating to call for the re-naming of Walters wrote in the statement. for all.” the building.

“What was made clear through our Queen’s will pursue a separate process The committee prepared a 65-page consultations is that the Macdonald name for renaming the law building in the report for Walters recommending sends a conflicting message that interferes coming months.

Macdonald’s name be removed from the building. This recommendation was accepted by Walters and endorsed by Deane before it was sent to the Board of Trustees for final approval.

Board of Trustees approves removal of Macdonald’s name from law school building

Claudia Rupnik News Editor This story first appeared online on Oct. 20.

The Board of Trustees approved the University’s decision to remove Sir John A. Macdonald’s name from the law school building on Monday.

The recommendation to remove Macdonald’s name from the building was brought forward by Principal Patrick Deane, who accepted earlier recommendations made by Mark Walters, dean of the Faculty of Law, and a report from a special committee tasked with evaluating the situation.

“This decision is grounded in the university’s present-day academic mission and commitment to honour the values

Two asymptomatic testing centres open in Kingston Centres part of provincial plan to boost Ontario’s COVID-19 response

Julia Harmsworth Assistant News Editor Queen’s students without symptoms of COVID-19 can now get tested.

Two pharmacies in Kingston are offering free asymptomatic COVID-19 testing: the Shoppers Drug Marts at 775 Strand Boulevard and 1201 Division Street. Both pharmacies are open Monday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to midnight.

The addition of asymptomatic COVID-19 testing centres in Ontario is part

of the provincial government’s “Keeping Ontarians Safe: Preparing for Future Waves of COVID-19” plan. The plan revealed 50 new locations offering COVID-19 testing at pharmacies, including the two in Kingston.

Premier Doug Ford announced a $1.376 billion investment to enhance the province’s COVID-19 response on Oct. 14. This investment includes a flu shot campaign, hiring more nurses, and a plan to expand testing and contact tracing.

The pharmacy locations are available to test asymptomatic individuals who meet the

The asymptomatic testing is offered at Shoppers Drug Mart.

criteria established by the Province. Testing is by appointment.

The list of those who are eligible for testing includes long-term care home residents, workers, or visitors; homeless shelter residents or workers; farmworkers; self-identified Indigenous individuals; individuals who require testing for travel clearance; and residents or workers in other congregate living settings.

International students who’ve passed their mandated 14-day quarantine period can also get tested at the pharmacy.

The Kingston Assessment Centre at Beechgrove is still offering COVID-19 testing by appointment, but only for individuals who are exhibiting symptoms.

There are currently five active cases

PHOTO BY MAIA MCCANN

of COVID-19 in the Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health region.

Queen’s opened its own satellite COVID-19 assessment centre in Mitchell Hall on Sept. 15 for pre-booked appointments Monday to Friday from 5- 8 p.m.

Cynthia Gibney, director of Student Wellness Services, told The Journal the Mitchell Hall testing centre has performed approximately 2,000 COVID-19 tests so far.

A total of 25 positive cases of COVID-19 have been identified at Queen’s: nine in residence and 16 off-campus. Two cases were reported last week, from Oct. 12-18.

Students can book an appointment at the Mitchell Hall testing centre by calling Student Wellness Services at 613-533-2506.

News

Thursday, October 22, 2020

queensjournal.ca • 3

Closing the gender equality gap in engineering: In conversation with Dr. Heidi Ploeg Ploeg is the first Chair for Women in Engineering Cassidy McMackon Assistant News Editor

faculty we have in engineering that are women, we’re looking at how many students we have that are women, and our goal is to increase these numbers.”

Though Ploeg is looking to increase the number of female students in the FEAS at Queen’s, she also said she’s invested in Engineers Canada’s 30 by 30 program—the national program aiming to increase the percentage of women in engineering to 30 per cent by 2030.

Ploeg said the current national percentage of women in the profession of engineering is a mere 18 per cent.

“When I was a student at Queen’s, [that number] wasn’t much lower than it is now,” Ploeg told The Journal. “I totally expected that by my age now that I would be in a community that

was on par [with the number of men and women being equal in the profession.]”

The Faculty of Engineering and “It’s not something that will Applied Sciences (FEAS) appointed happen without effort, and I’m Dr. Heidi Ploeg as the inaugural disappointed with the level of Chair for Women in Engineering effort and the level of change that on Oct. 15. Ploeg will hold a has happened in the 30 years that five-year term in the position.

I have been in the profession.”

The Board of Trustees Ploeg, BSc ’88, MSc ’91, PhD ’00, approved the position at its studied mechanical engineering December meeting in 2019. at Queen’s.

The position, which is in the During her graduate work, Department of Mechanical and Ploeg also worked in a research Materials Engineering, is funded department modelling and by an anonymous alumnus testing orthopedic implants in who donated an endowment of Winterthur, Switzerland. Shortly $3 million. after completing her PhD, Ploeg PHOTO BY FEAS “We want to set Queen’s as a moved to the United States and Ploeg also used to be a student at Queen’s. leader in promoting diversity in became an assistant professor engineering, targeting specifically at the mechanical engineering University of Wisconsin-Madison pandemics. Engineers definitely women in engineering” Ploeg told department of the University of and serving as an assistant and need to be at the table, and The Journal in an interview. “We’re Wisconsin-Madison. then associate professor in those engineers need to be looking at our numbers, how many After receiving tenure from the mechanical engineering, Ploeg diverse as well and represent returned to Queen’s to teach as an the citizenship.” associate professor in 2018.

Ploeg told The Journal that Upon her return to Queen’s, the Faculty of Arts and Science Ploeg entered into conversations is now licensed to offer a about creating the position for viewing for the documentary Chair for Women Engineering.

Picture a Scientist this semester.

Ploeg hopes the position The documentary follows will provide an example for several female scientists universities both in Canada and changing the face of science in internationally to advocate for the United States and worldwide, more women in the profession showing what it means to be a of engineering. female scientist.

“It’s important to our society,” Ploeg will also be teaching she said. “We are really missing MECH 333, a new class open an opportunity when we only to students outside of the have 18 per cent of the profession FEAS that addresses the as women.” importance of having diversity in “The types of challenges we design technology. face as a society need a diverse “I am hopeful we will get closer team membership. Engineers to the 30 by 30,” Ploeg said. “If need to be part of that team, we have 50 per cent of women PHOTO BY MAIA MCCANN Queen’s has been implementing the Multi-Factor Authentication since the summer. and they need to help in the as Canadians, we need to have complex challenges we are facing, 50 per cent of engineers to in terms of the environment or be women.”

Prior to the breach, Queen’s was promoting cyber security ...continued from front

university to allow students to opt out of remote-proctored exams if they have privacy concerns and to Proctortrack verifies work with professors to prepare students’ identities using facial alternate examination formats for recognition technology and those students.” uses the computer’s camera to Prior to the breach, Queen’s monitor their behavior during the was promoting cybersecurity. assessment, including possible The University launched the incidents of cheating.

Multi-Factor Authentication “I recognize that with the (MFA) initiative this past summer pandemic, there are challenges to double-check the identities of that Queen’s must face in those accessing Queen’s online maintaining academic integrity. resources. As of Oct. 1, 49 per cent However, the privacy concerns of Queen’s staff members and inherent in both Examity and 16 per cent of student-staff had ProctorTrack cannot be ignored,” enrolled in the program. the petition stated.

According to Jennifer Doyle, “Therefore, I encourage the chief information officer and

associate vice-principal (IT Services), MFA is “strongly encouraged” for students. The program will be rolled out to students during the fall term in three-week enrolment windows.

“MFA is being deployed using a wave-based approach to manage the impacts to different user groups and to ensure the IT Support Centre is able to effectively support the entire campus community,” Doyle wrote in a statement to The Journal.

Students don’t need to wait to be notified of their enrolment time.

However, they can enroll any time using the instructions on the IT Services website.

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News

Pandemic’s impact on international enrolment threatens revenue stream at Canadian universities estimated that international students paid almost 40 per cent of all tuition fees and accounted for almost $4 billion in annual revenue for Canadian universities in 2017-18.

The report states that the threat to tuition poses a serious risk to post-secondary institutions because of how reliant on student fees they’ve become in the last decade.

Acknowledging the uncertainty around both international and domestic enrolment, Statistics Canada created projected Claudia Rupnik scenarios indicating the range of potential News Editor losses facing these institutions.

Post-secondary institutions could face Statistics Canada (StatsCan) released a losses from $377 million to $3.4 billion report on Oct. 8 to show how Canadian post- during the 2020-21 academic year. secondary institutions haven’t escaped the The projections for international student economic impacts of COVID-19. enrolment are based on international Many of the impacts on revenue stem student permit holder data from from uncertainty about international Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship student enrolment. In 2020-21, the average Canada (IRCC) because, according annual international undergraduate student to Statistics Canada, these numbers tuition at Canadian universities is $32,041, typically correlate with international almost five times the average for domestic student enrolment. students who pay $6,610 for the year.

IRCC recorded that the number of student In 2019, The Journal reported that permits issued from June to August 2020 fell international students paid an average by 58 per cent compared with 2019. of $40,168.17 for one year of an Arts and Thirteen per cent of the permits granted Science undergraduate degree at Queen’s, prior to August 2020 were no longer valid at depending on the time of enrolment. the beginning of September and another 32 According to the StatsCan report, it’s per cent won’t be valid by January 2021.

Statistics Canada projects potential financial losses at post-secondary institutions across the country in 2020-21

Queen’s clubs discuss impact of cultural appropriation at CARED panel

Issues Commission working to examine the ways in which racism and discrimination intersect with issues of gender, class, and sexuality and explores possible strategies for combating it.

The panel, which was hosted over video-chat platform Zoom, featured representatives from Queen’s Black Academic Society, Queen’s University Muslim Student Association, Queen’s Asian Student Association, and Queen’s Women of Colour Collective.

Cassidy McMackon Each of these groups function with Assistant News Editor the intention of providing safe spaces for marginalized voices on campus and For Cultural and Ethnic Awareness Month, educating the community.

Queen’s Committee Against Racial and The event was structured so that CARED Ethnic Discrimination (CARED) held a panel organizers posed questions to those in discussing cultural appreciation versus attendance and allowed panelists to provide cultural appropriation on Oct. 19. their thoughts on the topics and discuss CARED is an anti-racist activist and challenges they face. educational committee under the AMS Social CARED co-chairs Jade Leonard and

Queen’s Committee Against Racial and Ethnic Discrimination hosts event to create safe, educational space for discussion

Thursday, october 22, 2020

Queen’s identified the risk of reduced international enrolment in May.

The first scenario projects a revenue loss of $3.4 billion under the assumption that there are 58 per cent fewer international students during the 2020-21 year and a stable number of domestic students.

A second scenario shows a financial loss of $1.6 billion, or 3.6 per cent of overall university revenues for 2020-21, if the number of international students decreased by 32 per cent. In the third projection scenario, Canadian universities would experience a loss of $377 million if the number of international students declined by 13 per cent.

While these three projections assume domestic enrolment remains stable for 2020-21, another two models look at decreases of domestic students enrolling in courses.

The fourth projection applies a possible 20 per cent decrease in domestic student enrolment in combination with a 32 per cent decrease in international students to

PHOTO BY JODIE GRIEVE

predict a $3.1 billion loss of revenue.

The final scenario assumed domestic student enrolment would increase by seven per cent—based on how enrolment increased after the 2008 recession—and international enrolment would decrease by 32 per cent amounting to a $1.1 billion loss of revenue.

Queen’s identified the possibility of enrolment reductions as the greatest risk associated with the remote term in May because of how it directly contributes to lower revenue.

While the University wasn’t able to predict exactly how international student enrolment would be impacted by the pandemic, it planned for a variety of scenarios wherein enrolment targets aren’t met this year.

The scenarios showed potential revenue losses of $42 million to $87 million based on changes to the international student population.

CARED’s panel was hosted virtually through Zoom.

PHOTO BY MAIA MCCANN

Joseph Oladimeji posed questions to the Leonard explained that events like the panelists throughout the event to foster CARED panel also offer allies a chance to discussions about the impact of cultural learn and educate themselves on the lived appropriation on students. experiences of marginalized groups.

“Panels like this are a great opportunity to “Listening to the voices firsthand create a space where marginalized groups is not only a way to get informed on campus can talk freely and openly about but to visibly show your support for the challenges they face without fear of marginalized communities,” Leonard said. consequence and persecution,” Leonard told “Ultimately, having these conversations The Journal. allow us to highlight the realities of the “Folks can often feel alone when BIPOC community and reduces the experiencing oppression, so having an open perpetuation of racism when we face these dialogue to express common feelings is issues head on.” healing for this community.”

Leonard added CARED’s hope for white Discussions focused largely on instances students in attendance was to recognize where certain aspects of a marginalized the impacts of cultural appropriation on culture had been appropriated by Western marginalized communities. culture, when it was okay for a member of “The topic of cultural appropriation is a certain culture to allow another individual rooted in institutionalized racism. It is also to borrow or adopt certain practices from enhanced through capitalist motives, where a culture that’s not their own, and how the participants (Westerners) are able to profit internet influenced cultural appreciation off marginalized groups and their culture versus appropriation. while still maintaining their privilege,” The panel also discussed how the Queen’s Leonard wrote. community should be moving forward to “To be able to pick and choose what ensure instances of cultural appropriation you see as desirable or digestible from don’t happen and how people should be held one’s culture perpetuates stereotypes and accountable when marginalized cultures ostracizes the marginalized from dominant do become appropriated. (white) society.”

News

Thursday, October 22, 2020

queensjournal.ca • 5

What does your day look like?

The Canadian 24-hour Movement Guidelines for Adults have some suggestions Queen’s profs develop new guidelines for healthy living Noor Yassein Contributor “Move more, sit less, sleep well”—this is the mantra of the newly released Canadian 24-hour Movement Guidelines for Adults.

The advice is particularly important during the pandemic, when staying healthy has become even more of a priority.

The first of its kind, the guidelines lay out what a healthy 24 hours should look like for the average Canadian adult aged 18-64, as well as recommendations for those 65 or older.

They recognize, for the first time, that any amount of movement is beneficial.

People don’t need to do a specific 30-minute workout every day to be healthy; it’s about making your whole day matter.

Dr. Robert Ross, a professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, was a key member in developing the guidelines.

“The guidelines are about integration of movement behaviors throughout a 24-hour day […][a]ppreciate that some exercise, some movement behavior is better than none, and moving towards the targets, whether they are achieved or not, is beneficial,” Ross said in an interview with The Journal.

Especially when a majority of the population is now working from home, it can be difficult to become physically active— since COVID-19 prevention guidelines were

News in Brief

Queen’s opens Education Library and Special Collections Queen’s opened the Education Library on Oct. 19 and granted students access to Special Collections.

The Education Library contains 19 seats which can be booked in four-hour time slots from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Queen’s University Archive and the W.D. Jordan Rare Books and Special Collections are now available for individual access by appointment on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Stauffer Library also remains open,

implemented in March, many Canadian adults have felt a loss of control, particularly those more at risk of contracting the virus.

This is why the guidelines are so beneficial, Ross said.

“Here are opportunities for individual Canadians to say, ‘I have numerous ways that I can move more throughout the day […] I can reduce the number of hours that I view a screen by simply taking a walk two or three times a day.

“And if I’m moving more, chances are I’m going to sleep better’[…] it’s a very positive news story.”

Getting a gym membership is great if that’s what you like to do, Ross said. But going for a brisk walk outside, walking around the shopping mall, or parking your car a little further away than normal are all example of ways you can reach the recommended 150 minutes per week without buying any equipment or setting aside specific time.

Even if you don’t reach those minutes in a week, that’s okay. The guidelines suggest a healthy lifestyle is all about increasing and integrating movement whenever and wherever, regardless of the intensity or amount.

“The guidelines are about integration of movement behaviours throughout a 24-hour day [...] some movement behaviour is better than none, and moving towards the targets, whether they are achieved or not, is beneficial.”

—Dr. Robert Ross, Professor in the School

of Kinesiology and Health Studies

Dr. Jennifer Tomasone, an assistant professor in the School of Kinesiology offering 132 seats for student use in time slots available from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

All students must wear a face mask and adhere to social distancing guidelines while using the libraries.

Each student is allowed to book up to 40 hours or 10 time slots per month using the Bookable Seat service available on the library website.

—Julia Stratton, Staff Writer

University to mark National Disability Employment Awareness Month at the Isabel

The University will be lighting up the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts in

The guidelines suggest integrating more movement into your day.

PHOTOS BY MAIA MCCANN

and Health Studies, also helped develop the guidelines.

“Some of the long-term benefits of engaging in optimal levels of movement behavior include things like lower risk of death, lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type 3 diabetes, several cancers, anxiety, depression, dementia […] these are all important in the long term,” Tomasone told The Journal. “[W]e also know that in the short term, a good night’s sleep or getting some movement can elevate your mood and give you a more positive outlook on life, and these are all things we want to experience every day, but particularly during the pandemic.”

As we come upon the winter months, staying active might prove to be more difficult. However, it’s not impossible. “[Taking] the more mundane tasks of everyday living and trying to incorporate some more movement wherever possible […] dance around while washing the dishes, or while brushing your teeth. Or during a class if you’re a student, or during a meeting if you’re a staff member or a faculty member, can you stand?”

“We don’t have to think about going outside in the cold Kingston weather, or wherever people are located. It can be just simple swaps that we can do, even in our own home.”

A healthy lifestyle is about making your whole day count, according to Ross and Tomasone. The guidelines are not meant to be thresholds—they just want you to move more than you are now, to sit less than you are now, and to sleep better than

you are now.

“We want to always think about replacing our sedentary behavior with additional physical activity, and then wherever possible, trading light physical activity with more moderate to vigorous physical activity,” Tomasone said.

“At the same time, we have to preserve sufficient sleep…when we can make those

purple and blue overnight on Oct. 22 to mark National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

The month is dedicated to raising awareness about the underemployment of people who have a disability, the importance of including disability in the conversation about workplace diversity and inclusion, and the benefits of hiring employees who have a disability.

The Light It Up initiative is a multi-city event organized as part of the Ontario Disability Employment Network’s awareness campaign this month.

According to the University, the initiative intends to recognize the contributions made by people who have a disability to businesses and communities across the province.

The Isabel Bader Centre will be lit up

from 6:00 p.m. on Oct. 22 until 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 23.

“[Taking] the more mundane tasks of everyday living and trying to incorporate some more movement wherever possible [...] dance around while washing the dishes, or while brushing your teeth.

Or during a class if you’re a student, or during a meeting if you’re a staff member or a faculty member, can you stand?”

—Dr. Jennifer Tomasone, Assistant Professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies

trade-offs throughout our day more often, that provides us with greater health benefits.”

For more information on these guidelines and their impacts, people can visit participACTION.com or csepguidelines. ca. There is also a participACTION app that features fun challenges and suggestions for incorporating movement into daily life.

—Claudia Rupnik, News Editor

6 • queensjournal.ca

Thursday, October 22, 2020

Features PHOTO BY MADDISON ANDREWS

Members of the ISWG, PSAC 901, and SGPS weigh in on the University’s decision to deny employment to those living outside of Canada.

Queen’s denying many international students employment during COVID-19

According to SGS, those who can’t travel to Canada for the fall will not receive a TA or RA position Aysha Tabassum Features Editor A note on the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) site reads that those “who can not travel to Canada for the fall will not receive a Teaching Assistant (TA) or Research Assistant (RA) position.”

The International Students Working Group (ISWG) is determined to reverse this decision, which it says is unprecedented.

In 2018, the ISWG was founded under SGPS by PhD candidates Canan Sahin and Rohit Revi. At the time, the group’s main concern was asking for reductions in the tuition for migrant graduate students, which currently sits at more than three times the rate of domestic tuition.

Tuition rates for international students in Ontario, since 1996, have been exempt from provincial regulations on tuition caps. This has contributed to a pattern where, over the last 12 years, international students in Ontario have paid about four times more in tuition than domestic students.

“After two years of campaigning […] we successfully expressed the overwhelming support of PhD international students for the reduction of international fees to domestic rates,” reads a letter by the ISWG addressed to Principal Patrick Deane, Provost Mark Green, and Dean of the SGS, Fahim Quadir.

“We also thought the university […] would address this pressing problem with due diligence.

However, we are deeply dismayed by the lack of transparent communication, concrete efforts and actions.”

Concerns similar to those raised by the ISWG have been growing at other Ontario universities, like Western University and the University of Toronto.

While the SGS site points domestic students to federal financial support such as Employment Income or the Canada Emergency Student Benefit if they’re unable to afford continuing their graduate studies as a result of COVID-19, no specific supports for international students are publicized.

Currently the site reminds students they “have the option to withdraw from [their] program and apply for readmission.”

“You have to leave your field work, leave your family, and put yourself at risk to come back to Kingston”

Many of Sahin and Revi’s colleagues received emails throughout late August and early September notifying them of the new requirement, which they said is discriminatory.

“It is commonly known that international students who do field work in the summer and are away for a couple of months will always receive employment when they return [to university],” Revi said.

The ISWG founders described panic among students who relied on income from TA and RA positions to fund their education. Revi said the combined circumstances of the pandemic and the late notice made returning to Canada difficult.

“You have to leave your field work, leave your family, and put yourself at risk to come back to Kingston if you want employment.”

Before being informed of the change, many students had already made arrangements to begin or continue their field work—a component required for graduation—outside of Canada.

While the SGS site provides safety guidelines for students travelling internationally, many felt uncomfortable and distressed in doing so, according to Revi and Sahin.

Sahin noted the puzzling nature of the situation, as the majority of programs are taking place remotely and most of her peers satisfy the requirements for Canadian employment.

“This barrier created, without declaration of reason, is hurtful.”

According to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) 901, which represents unionized TAs and RAs at Queen’s, “International Graduate Students are temporary residents of Canada, with valid residential addresses in this country, Canadian bank accounts, and valid Social Insurance Numbers.”

“While we understand that there might be legal challenges to employing new or incoming International Graduate Students (who are yet to receive their SIN numbers), for ongoing students, this is not the case.”

This policy, in effect, “creates employment

these complications are and why they have not existed in the past.”

“Most international students are also racialized members of the Queen’s student community.

This policy, in effect, creates employment barriers for racialized students.”

Anthony Lomax, SGPS vice-president (Community) said in an email to The Journal that the SGPS believes “this decision was very poorly communicated by the University, especially given that the University’s practice has been to allow remote TA/RA work prior to this year.”

“Many students will miss out on important employment opportunities, opportunities that were in some cases promised by departments in funding letters sent earlier this summer.”

“While this employment income is especially important for students given the current pandemic, these job opportunities are also vital for those wishing to secure future employment in academia when they complete their degrees.”

In an email to The Journal, Quadir, on behalf of SGS, mentioned fellowships as a possible funding solution for graduate students unable to fund their studies.

“It is important to note that where international graduate students are not able to legally work in Canada, arrangements have been made to address funding shortfalls through fellowships applied to tuition […] The fellowships are for incoming international students who received a funding offer from Queen’s and are not physically present in Canada.”

Revi noted that efforts by students to understand the rationale behind the decision haven’t turned up any clear answers, with departments themselves individually offering unclear or no explanations.

“The reasons cited within departments is that SGS considers there are complications that arise within the jurisdictions international students may be residing in, but from no source has anyone been given concretely what

Sahin said the notion that legal complications may result from employing international students living outside of Canada lacked consensus.

Other Ontario universities, like Carleton, have not implemented any similar restrictions on the employment of international students.

“Out of an anxiety, a fear of complications, [SGS] seems to be putting graduate students’

“The COVID-19 virus has caused the world to come to a halt, but our international student workers should not be blamed for that.”

In an email to The Journal, Doug Yearwood, vice president (Community Affairs) for PSAC 901, wrote that the decision is “discriminatory.”

“International grad students are temporary residents of Canada who contribute to our local community in so many different ways. The COVID-19 virus has caused the world to come to a halt, but our international student workers should not be blamed for that.”

barriers for racialized students.

“It’s not respectful. It’s not very considerate.”

employment lives and academic lives at a strain […] It’s not respectful. It’s not very considerate.

It shows the lack of care the University has for its international graduate student community.”

“As accountable offices, they should be responsive. They should be open. They should be providing extensive explanations for policies that hurt people.”

Yearwood added that international students are the most financially precarious of all student groups.

At Queen’s specifically, a 2019 School of Graduate Studies report found that international graduate students in the Humanities, after paying for university-related expenses, are on average left with a food budget of $22.60 per month.

“After tuition fees and living expenses are spent, international graduate students barely have enough to sustain themselves in a dignified manner,” Revi said.

“The University needs to do more for them during this time, and can start by offering them employment during COVID, regardless of their current place of residence,” Yearwood said.

When asked to comment on the decision to deny TA and RA employment to international graduate students living abroad, Quadir said the matter “sits outside the purview of the School of Graduate Studies and is currently the subject of a union grievance so it would not be appropriate to comment further.”

On Oct. 15, a joint letter written

by PSAC 901 and SGPS was sent to Quadir and Principal Deane asking they reverse the decision to deny international graduate students employment.

The letter reads that “the abrupt decision to deny their employment in the middle of a pandemic was not only poorly communicated, but also discriminatory on the basis of immigration status and current location of residence.”

“We implore you to reverse this decision and begin to offer employment contracts to International Graduate Students regardless of their current place of residence.”

Thursday, October 22, 2020

queensjournal.ca

EDITORIALS

The Journal’s Perspective

THE QUEEN’S JOURNAL Volume 148 Issue 11 www.queensjournal.ca @queensjournal Publishing since 1873

Editorial Board Editor in Chief Managing Editor Production Manager

Raechel Huizinga matt scace tessa warburton

News Editor Assistant News Editors

claudia rupnik Julia Harmsworth Simone Manning Cassidy McMackon

Features Editors

Carolyn Svonkin Aysha Tabassum

Editorials Editor

Chloe Sarrazin Ashley Chen

Editorials Illustrator

Ben Wrixon

Opinions Editor

Nathan Gallagher

Arts Editor

Alysha Mohamed

Assistant Arts Editor

Matt Funk

Sports Editor

Julia Mallon

Assistant Sports Editor Lifestyle Editor

Shelby Talbot

Assistant Lifestyle Editor

Kirby Harris Jodie Grieve

Photo Editor

ILLUSTRATION BY ASHLEY CHEN

Without safety of Black students in the classroom, there is no academic freedom More than 30 professors at the University of Ottawa recently penned a letter in support of Lieutenant-Duval, a white professor who faced backlash after saying the N-word during a lecture. Despite pushback from students, the professor has since been reinstated.

This was the wrong call. The University of Ottawa had a chance to side with its Black students and clubs and to show that this type of behavior is unacceptable—in any setting, but especially in an academic one where students from all backgrounds should expect to feel safe.

Allowing this professor to get by scotch-free, despite her racist actions, jeopardizes that safety in a psychological sense.

Saying the N-word as a white person is never acceptable.

Everyone—especially at the college

age—knows the implications of the word.

Students can read it easily enough on paper in the texts they study. They don’t need to hear it out loud.

The professor—as well as those supporting her—claim that punishing the use of the N-word is a violation of academic freedom, but that reasoning is flawed.

Academic freedom doesn’t give you the right to use hate speech; saying the N-word is just that.

No matter the intent, when a white person says the N-word, it’s being used harmfully.

There are no exceptions to this rule, in an academic setting or otherwise.

Hate speech has consequences in any context, but especially in a classroom. Black students come to university to learn and pay for classes like anyone else. That education is compromised when the academic setting no longer becomes a safe space.

Professors using or supporting the use of the N-word in the classroom further disrupts

Ms. Understood?

Male-centric healthcare remains the biggest threat to women’s health

If you’re a woman, you’re at a greater risk of being misdiagnosed and improperly treated in common medical situations—period.

In medicine, the methods for evaluating, diagnosing, and treating disease for both men and women are based on previous research conducted on male cells, animals, and bodies. However, women are physiologically, neurologically, cognitively, socially, and experientially unique from men.

This means medicine that helps men isn’t always designed to also help women.

In the past, women were exempted from drug trials for a number of reasons, like the possibility that they might get pregnant during the trial. Menstrual cycles, with their characteristically fluctuating hormone levels, were also viewed as an unnecessary variable.

Testing on men allowed researchers to get a clearer picture of a drug’s effect, tailoring the current medical model to male standards. For example, a man experiencing a heart attack might experience pain in the left arm or chest heaviness. In the same situation, women often report only mild discomfort, fatigue, and shortness of breath.

Because stereotypical cardiac symptoms are based on how men typically experience cardiovascular events, early signs of

impending heart attacks were missed in 78 per cent of Canadian women as of 2018.

Women can’t recognize what’s happening inside their own bodies because they haven’t been taught to identify non-traditional symptoms. Health professionals are also delayed in recognizing symptoms for the same reasons.

The misunderstanding of women’s hearts has serious consequences: women who have a heart attack are more likely to die compared to men. Nevertheless, Heart and Stroke reported in 2018 that two thirds of heart disease clinical research still focused on men.

Women also metabolize drugs differently than men.

In 2014, nearly 20 years after the drug’s initial release, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and later Health Canada, halved the recommended dosage of Ambien for women because they found women were still impaired the morning after taking the drug.

The different effects were linked to higher percentages of body fat in women compared to men, different heart rhythms, the effect of female sex hormones on the liver’s functions, and the smaller size of women’s kidneys.

•7

that safe space and shatters any trust they might’ve had with their Black students.

The University of Ottawa should reconsider its passive stance on the incident. In allowing the professor to return to teaching, the university is prioritizing white professors over the safety of its Black students.

In future, U of O should also reconsider its hiring process and aim to hire more teachers of colour.

Everyone should enjoy certain freedoms in the classroom, but saying the N-word as a white person is not one of them.

Rather, students—especially minority students—should have the freedom to feel safe in the university classroom.

The idea that white professors shouldn’t say the N-word isn’t a violation of academic freedom. It’s common sense.

—Journal Editorial Board

Claudia Rupnik

Maia McCann

Assistant Photo Editor

Lauren Thomas

Video Editor

Francesca Lim

Assistant Video Editor

Ryland Piche Hannah Strasdin

Copy Editors

Contributing Staff Jack Burnham Gabrielle Cotton Amanda Hacker Noor Yassein

Contributors

Staff Writers

Emily Clare Pravieena Gnanakumar Julia Stratton

Business Staff Business Manager

Christine Mao

Sales Representative

Bronte Simon Yoli Wang

Fundraising Representative

Sonya Patel

Want to contribute?

For information visit: www.queensjournal.ca/contribute or email the Editor in Chief at journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca Contributions from all members of the Queen’s and Kingston community are welcome. The Journal reserves the right to edit all submissions.

The Queen’s Journal is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Alma Mater Society of Queen’s University, Kingston.

Situated on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. The Journal’s Editorial Board acknowledges the traditional territories our newspaper is situated on have allowed us to pursue our mandate.

We recognize our responsibility to understand the truth of our history.

Editorial opinions expressed in The Journal are the sole responsibility of The Queen’s Journal Editorial Board, and are not necessarily those of the University, the AMS or their officers.

190 University Ave., Kingston, ON, K7L 3P4 Editorial Office: 613-533-2800 Business Office: 613-533-6711 Fax: 613-533-6728 Email: journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca Please address complaints and grievances to the Editor in Chief and Managing Editor.

PHOTO BY JODIE GRIEVE

The initial dosage didn’t account for the differences in chromosomes, hormones, bodily systems, and structures.

This was the FDA’s first sex-specific prescribing guideline.

It’s important to trust your doctor’s expertise, but it’s also critical to ask questions when you’re receiving treatment.

Was the medication you’re being prescribed tested on women? Has the doctor seen any disparity in outcomes between male and female patients? Are you taking the sex-appropriate dose?

For their part, medical professionals and researchers can ask these questions themselves when dealing with women’s health. Those currently practicing should aim to provide the most individualized treatment possible.

The medical system is entrenched in its male-centric history. Until it’s addressed, women are at risk.

Claudia is a fourth-year French student and The Journal’s News Editor.

The Queen’s Journal is printed on a Goss Community press by Performance Group of Companies in Smiths Falls, Ontario.

Contents © 2020 by The Queen’s Journal; all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission of The Journal.

Circulation 3,000

8 • queensjournal.ca

OPINIONS

OPINIONS

Thursday, October 22, 2020

Your Perspective

ILLUSTRATION BY ASHLEY CHEN

Protest language is not a tool for the disobedient

Discussing the repercussions of misusing protest language Society has a responsibility to ensure protest language is not delegitimized.

In recent months, streams of N.W.A.’s 1988 single “F—k tha Police,” have increased by over 300 per cent. The song details court proceedings between N.W.A. and the police, ultimately having them prosecute the police for their crimes against Black people.

It’s no surprise that Americans angered by institutional racism are flocking to this song, whose lyrics demand police are held accountable for racist behaviour, over 30 years after its release.

Unfortunately, while written as a protest song fighting for racial solidarity, the song’s powerful lyrics have been misappropriated by white teenagers expressing youthful disobedience.

As anti-police language returns to the public consciousnesses, a similar trend is developing. Phrases such as ‘ACAB’—an abbreviation for ‘All Cops Are Bastards’—and ‘F—k 12’ are being misused by many, particularly young people. While the growing antagonism between police and students breaking coronavirus guidelines has created a new space outside of police brutality protests for anti-police language, this space ultimately just cheapens the language and distorts the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The origins of ‘ACAB’ and ‘F—k 12’ are not particularly

statements. With that in mind, it’s excuse for young people to lash become clear the phrase ‘ACAB’ has out at societal authority figures. been corrupted as Instagram feeds Conflating protestors with are frequently full of posts about partiers delegitimizes the concrete parties broken up by police with policy reforms being put forth captions that read ‘ACAB’ and ‘F—k as immature and unrealistic. As clear. ‘ACAB’ appeared in music as 12’. These captions—far too often Black Lives Matter protestors early as the 1920s and eventually uploaded by white youth—provide advocate for concrete changes became a trademark of 1970s no reference to the institutional to the criminal justice system, punk rock. Regardless, the flaws of the police system the integrity of their message is meaning has always been clear: that have a disproportionately critical to the overall success of all cops belong to a system which negative effect on Black and the movement. Otherwise, these disproportionately targets the Indigenous people. needed reforms will be written poor and disenfranchised. It is Without any mention of policing off as uneducated opposition to a phrase rooted in class conflict at all, posts such as these are using enshrined institutions. once used by both the working ‘ACAB’ as a simple expression of class and prisoners; the tendency youthful disobedience against “While the misuse of for socioeconomic and criminal authority figures. The act of police protest language by matters to become racially breaking up a party—thrown Queen's students has little divided led to the racialization illegally during a pandemic, no effect on popular culture, of the phrase. less—pales in comparison to they are contributing to a police brutality and murder. The “The most crucial problem with the police is not that nationwide problem." they ruin the fun, but rather that, component of as they are often allowed In discussing “F—k tha Police,” anti-police rhetoric is to itkillstands, people when their job is to former N.W.A rapper Ice Cube its ability to educate serve and protect them. Misusing described the song as being through pithy yet a phrase such as ‘ACAB’ only “more than just a song that was complex statements." complicates and misconstrues this insulting the police. It was a important point. revenge fantasy, like Inglorious When police murdered George The improper use of ‘ACAB’ Basterds by Quentin Tarantino."

Floyd and Breonna Taylor in the within the student population It speaks volumes that Ice Cube summer of 2020, ‘ACAB’ became is only getting worse, especially was willing to compare his integral to the associated protest as police levy massive fines on perspective of police to Tarantino’s movement. Protestors recognized irresponsible partygoers. Each vision of Nazis. Back in their the problem as extending beyond unwarranted use of ‘ACAB’ dilutes heyday, N.W.A. was approached by a few bad cops, choosing rather to its potency and limits its ability to police backstage who read them speak out against the institution educate. The phrase is becoming laws about obscenity, leading to of policing which quite possibly separated from police brutality the song being banned from their encourages the oppression of entirely, hindering society’s 1989 tour and from most BIPOC. Even if some cops are good, ability to recognize it as radio stations. they exist as active outliers in a a serious problem.

At the time of its release, the system that arms and enables the Furthermore, the misuse song represented an urgent so-called bad seeds. of ‘ACAB’ and ‘F—k 12’ provide message fueled by high stakes and The most crucial component of critics with an opportunity to pent-up anger. However, by 2016, anti-police rhetoric is its ability to discredit the Black Lives Matter the song had, in many respects, educate through pithy yet complex movement as simply being an lost its potency through overuse,

as evidenced by a Massachusetts D.J. being fined for playing the song at a bar. He admitted to never having considered the meaning of the lyrics and described it as “college kids having fun.”

Phrases such as ‘ACAB’ and ‘F—k 12’ cannot be treated like “F—k tha Police.” We cannot allow them to become synonymous with “college kids having fun" instead of rallying cries tied to potent political movements. While the misuse of protest language by Queen’s students has little effect on popular culture, they are contributing to a nationwide problem.

For Black Lives Matter protests to result in institutional reform, the message cannot be confused or diluted. Queen’s students have a responsibility to educate themselves and speak with purpose. Allyship plays a critical role in social movements of any kind; there must be a concerted effort not only to self-educate and share knowledge, but also to keep the movement focused.

Claiming to care is no longer enough. The first step to showing you care is by remaining thoughtful in your language.

When you say ‘ACAB,’ you better mean it.

Amanda Hacker is a second-year Arts & Science student.

Have an opinion? Email journal_letters@ams.queensu.ca

Arts

Thursday, October 22, 2020

queensjournal.ca • 9

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

‘A Bite of the Apple’: Queen’s alumna discusses new memoir Lennie Goodings reflects on her 40 years in publishing

Lennie Goodings has worked with literary superstars Margaret Atwood and Maya Angelou.

Nathan Gallagher Arts Editor Lennie Goodings, ArtSci ’76, majored in English at Queen’s before moving to the U.K. where she has spent the last 40 years working in publishing with the likes of Margaret Atwood and Maya Angelou.

While Goodings has spent most of her storied career helping other writers publish their works, her new memoir is the first book she’s ever written.

A Bite of the Apple is the story of her publishing career at Virago, a feminist publishing house founded in the 1970s. In an interview with The Journal, Goodings discussed the book and how she got her start.

“I was terribly anxious studying English and Film thinking I didn’t understand quite what you would do with that,” Goodings said.

“I remember even as a young child, too, I always loved reading […] I didn’t know that there was such a thing as a creative industry even. I didn’t know anything about that, and I was just anxious all the time about what I would be when I grew up.”

After university, Goodings worked at a bookshop in Victoria, B.C. where she learned about the world of publishing and realized it could be a viable career option for her.

“That was when I suddenly thought ‘oh I see there is a publishing industry; maybe that is something I could do.’ But I was still keen on an adventure—not

ready to settle down quite yet into working in Canada, and I’d always wanted to go to England.”

So, Goodings bought a plane ticket to England and a return ticket dated an entire year later, embarking on what she thought would be a temporary excursion on her path to eventually settling down and working in Toronto.

“If somebody had said to me as I got on that airplane, ‘You will stay in Britain for another 40 years.

You will not work in Toronto again.

You will set up home in London,’ I would’ve got off that plane lickety-split,” she said.

When she landed across the pond in 1978, Goodings got a job for a company that provided publicity and marketing for books, a position she held for most of that year.

“After a year of that, I thought, these aren’t the kinds of books I really admire. I really would rather be involved with something that means something.”

Goodings decided to stay on her work visa and try her hand at something else.

“I had a permit to work there for three years, a temporary working visa that you could get in those days […] the paperwork said, ‘We understand that young Commonwealth members understandably want to visit the mother country,’” she laughed. “As long as it’s my ticket, I’ll swallow the colonialism.”

In 1979, Goodings left her job at the marketing company and joined Virago, a feminist publishing house which had been founded

only five years earlier. At that time, the second wave of feminism was reaching a fever pitch.

“There were starting to be [feminist] magazines on both sides of the Atlantic—Muse Magazine, for example, started in 1972—so, the radical presses were starting to rise up in Britain and I felt very caught up in the combination of politics and literature.”

Starting at Virago was a very exciting time for Goodings, who first became interested in non-traditional narrative forms during her film minor at Queen’s.

“I don’t know what Queen’s is like now politically, but it was pretty straight when I was there, and I wouldn’t say it was particularly progressive,” she said.

“But the film department was utterly mind-blowing for me […] It was so radical. We studied abstract, experimental films. We talked about different kinds of narrative.

I think that [program] alongside the quite traditional English department was very politically awakening for me.”

“I like being able to prove to the world that these books are important and necessary and saleable […] Virago started out by highlighting to the world two things,” Goodings said.

The first was that women could be in charge of publishing houses and make the final decisions on what kinds of books were to be published.

“I know that doesn’t sound very radical now,” she said. “But it was in Britain in the end of the 70s

and early 80s, [and] it was mainly men at the head of most publishing houses deciding what would be published.”

The second mission of Virago was to publish feminist books those other companies were rejecting at the time.

Before Virago, there had been some famous female publishers thought to be worthy of a place in the classical canon such as Jane Austen, the Brontes, and Virginia Woolf, but the literary scene was still largely dominated by men. Virago sought to change that.

“It’s hard for women to get published. It’s hard for men to get published. Nobody gets published easily,” Goodings said. “But it was how women’s writing was regarded […] is it regarded as second class? Is it regarded as only for women? Those are the other areas that we’re still challenging.”

It was on that quest to legitimize women’s writing that Goodings’ personal and professional life became entangled with that of Margaret Atwood, acclaimed Canadian author of The Handmaid’s Tale.

While Atwood had been previously published in hardcover form, it was Virago that published Atwood’s first two novels, Surfacing and The Edible Woman, as paperbacks.

“You can imagine how exciting it was for me. I’d studied her at university [...] so it was incredibly thrilling for me to have her as part of the Virago team,” Goodings said.

PHOTO BY JODIE GRIEVE

At that time, Goodings was still working in publicity as she had been doing in her former job.

So, she was charged with taking Atwood around Britain to various press junkets.

“I didn’t really know quite what I was doing to be honest, but she’s such a sport, and when I would say things like ‘I’m sorry that person didn’t read the book’ or ‘I’m sorry there’s crappy food in the hotels,’ she just would laugh and say, ‘It’s all material.’”

A Bite of the Apple is brimming with similar stories of Goodings’ 40 years in publication.

“I’ve been at a really interesting publishing house.

I’ve been at a publishing house at a really interesting time. This particular time of the wave of feminism […] It’s a slice of publishing history. The world has changed again, and so I thought, I do want to capture all of that.”

Despite spending 40 years publishing the work of other writers, this is Goodings’ first novel she can call her own, a feat which she said was more taxing than she’d ever anticipated.

Nevertheless, her editorial instincts kicked in.

“My original feeling was trying not to over-claim, trying to acknowledge that I was only one of many people to do these things. Then I realized, well you have to respect the reader, and the reader doesn’t want to hear the slightly bland version of things. The reader needs you to be at the core.”

10 • queensjournal.ca

COMMENTARY

From Borat to Eric Andre: Reviewing the history of performance art Cringe comedians expose our stigmas Nathan Gallagher Arts Editor No one commits to a role quite like Sacha Baron Cohen, but his dedication to duping real people is part of a proud history of performance art, which makes us laugh and cringe while teaching us about ourselves.

Borat took the world by storm when the movie premiered in 2006. Cohen’s absurd portrayal of a Kazakh—the voice, the suit, the hair and moustache—all became instantly iconic. His cartoonish version of a foreigner, who’s comically racist, sexist, and ignorant of American customs is still funny to this day.

But Borat was never the butt of the joke. Rather, the target of Cohen’s satire was the unwitting participants in his “documentary” who believed Borat to be a real person.

In that way, Borat lets the audience in on the joke as we point our fingers at American culture itself. Cohen’s next projects made this mission abundantly clear.

Bruno, released in 2009, was a character who, much like Borat, originated in Cohen’s Da Ali G Show where he first adopted the schtick of pretending to be an outrageous

Arts

Thursday, October 22, 2020

person to troll whomever he was interacting with.

But where Borat is all our faulty perceptions of a foreigner bundled up and taken to the extreme, Bruno is every gay male stereotype set to overdrive.

In hilarious and uncomfortable ways, Bruno challenged the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” mindset of our heteronormative culture and exposed the prevalence of homophobia in the United States.

Another popular performance artist is Eric Andre, whose comedy is very much in the same wheelhouse as Cohen’s. He hosts The Eric Andre Show on Adult Swim, a combination of bizarre celebrity interviews, where the goal is to make the guest feel as uncomfortable as humanly possible, and absurdist street sketches which shock and confuse unwitting citizens.

One such sketch involves Andre bursting loudly into a café while pursued by an actor in a police uniform. The fake cop pushes him up against the wall and cuffs him, then out of nowhere, the two passionately make out to as the camera cuts to the shocked and dismayed reactions of some of the customers.

Like in Cohen’s work, the punchline isn’t the act of trolling itself but the reaction of regular people whose social script is being challenged. To elicit those reactions, the performer must fully commit to the absurdist reality of their

characters and the situations they create. The Eric Andre we see on his “talk show” likely bears no more semblance to the real Eric Andre than Borat does to Cohen.

The father of this type of comedic performance art as we know it today is probably a man named Andy Kaufman, the first stand-up comic ever to bomb on purpose. Just like Borat, Kaufman would speak with a silly and vaguely foreign-sounding voice and pretend to be a simpleton.

Kaufman’s stand-up routines were in a class of their own. He’d go up on live television wearing an ugly suit and greased back hair, then stand there with the shifty-eyed, nervousness of a child while telling a series of deliberately awful jokes. Often the audience reactions would be staggered, their laughs only coming after an awkward moment of silence taken by Kaufman every time he dropped a supposed punchline.

Kaufman, now deceased, became a man of legend because

even in interviews he was engaging in performance art—always acting under a veil of fiction to conceal his true character. Only those who knew him personally could tell us what the real Kaufman was like.

While Kaufman’s work was never as politically bent as Sacha Baron Cohen’s, he was the first to figure out the comic doesn’t have to play themselves. You can troll the entire world and get away with it.

American society looks pretty different than when the first Borat came out 14 years ago. A corrupt real estate mogul and television personality named Donald Trump is president, and the coronavirus is tearing through the country.

Based on the trailer and early reviews of Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm, it seems that Borat will be taking on the Trump administration in a direct and shocking way. In that way, the Borat sequel might have more in common with Cohen’s political satire Who is America? from 2018.

In that show, Cohen targeted American politicians, which in

province,” Garniss wrote.

“I believe we were the first arts organization to cancel in Kingston and by March 16, it seemed like the entire City had closed down at which point the province had mandated closures. If we were set on completing our event, technically speaking we could have carried on until March 15, the final day of our Fest. I hope we played a part in keeping Kingston safe and healthy by acting early.”

Once the festival was canceled, everyone who’d purchased a ticket for a screening was offered a refund and encouraged to stay home.

According to Garniss, there wasn’t enough time to organize online screenings for the whole slate of 2020 films.

“However, for 2021, we’re planning to offer the Fest online through a new film festival platform that is being used by a number of events this fall, like TIFF,” Garniss said.

“It’ll be very different. Obviously, there are pros and cons when comparing this to our traditional in-person event. Speaking of which: we’re hoping to hold limited in-person screenings at the Fest, in addition to the digital Fest, provided it’s safe to do so in March. We’re just taking things week by week and continually reassessing. The Fest will take place March 4-7.”

Garniss and fellow organizers have anticipated reduced enthusiasm for the 2021 festival as a result of the pandemic. Because of this, they’ve waived all film submission fees.

“It’s encouraging more filmmakers to submit their work,” he wrote.

“We’re also accepting films that had release dates last year, so long as their release was impacted by COVID. So, if a film isn’t brand new, but had limited traction last year due to a compromised release, we’d still consider it for the Fest.”

Submissions are made through KCFF’s website. As always, they’re accepting films from all Canadian or Canadian-based filmmakers.

“Our mission is to showcase and promote Canadian films and filmmakers. We consider Canadian filmmakers to include landed immigrants, permanent residents, newcomers, anyone currently living and working in Canada including international students, and Canadians living abroad.”

Garniss also wrote about why it’s so important to promote Canadian films not only in the current cultural moment, but in any given year.

“Our national cinema is drastically underserved,” wrote Garniss.

“There’s a stat from Telefilm that claims only 2% of our national box office is spent on Canadian movies.

However, many of these films are winning awards around the world at major festivals. So, we do our best to get eyes on these films and their

Performance artists challenge the norm.

‘Inspiration during tough times’: Kingston Canadian Film Festival soldiers on

Festival Director Mark Garniss discusses KCFF during COVID-19 Nathan Gallagher Arts Editor Before COVID-19, the worst impact on The Kingston Canadian Film Festival (KCFF) had been a snowstorm that interrupted one night of screenings. Last March, the festival had to power down only two days in.

In a statement to The Journal, Festival Director Mark Garniss discussed how COVID-19 affected the 2020 Festival, and how they’ve adjusted their plans for March 2021.

“We actually shut down the festival on day two, March 12, but that was an organizational decision, not one that was mandated by the

ILLUSTRATION BY TESSA WARBURTON

some instances resulted in real consequences. For example, Cohen posed as an Israeli counter-terrorism expert and tricked former Republican House Representative Jason Spencer into pulling his pants down and brandishing his butt in an exercise meant to somehow deter Islamic extremists. When the episode aired, Spencer was forced to resign.

In another instance, Cohen disguised as the same character and got Dick Cheney, vice president of the Bush administration, to sign a water jug he claimed was used for waterboarding. That particular scene laid bare the casual cruelty of Dick Cheney in implementing torture policies.

So, performance art is no laughing matter. While many of these kinds of stunts are hilarious, they also shine an uncomfortable light on society. We should all be eager to see what that light exposes when Borat 2 airs on Oct. 23.

ILLUSTRATION BY EILEEN RAISBECK

filmmaking teams. Our mission remains the same during COVID.” In Canada and abroad, the film industry has been hurt by the pandemic. But through thick and thin, the KCFF is keeping the flame of Canadian filmmaking lit.

“Canadian film provides a snapshot of who we are as people, our politics, culture, humour, attitudes, and values,” Garniss wrote. “These stories are told from filmmakers living coast to coast, ranging from aspiring [and] emerging artists all the way to Oscar-winning directors. This is a pretty significant time being a Canadian […] and I think these times are reflected in the art being created, including film. Artists tend to find inspiration during tough times—perhaps that can be a positive we take from all of this.”

Thursday, October 22, 2020

queensjournal.ca • 11

CURRENT EVENTS

‘There’s nothing like live laughter’: Pinecone Uprising performs at Musiikki Café

Pinecone Uprising performed on Oct. 21.

Improv Troupe discusses performance after COVID-19 Alysha Mohamed Assistant Arts Editor The Pinecone Uprising Improv Troupe performed at Musiikki Café in Kingston on Oct. 21. Though live improv and theatre has

become increasingly difficult with COVID-19 guidelines, the troupe was able to put on a show with added social distancing measures.

In an interview with The Journal, members Amy Wilding, Lenny Epstein, and Gavin North discussed the origins of their troupe, the power of live performance, and what makes improv so exciting.

Wilding, Epstein, and North have all been involved in the improv world for years and have recently collaborated in creating their new performance group.

“We’re all from various improv

PHOTO BY MAIA MCCANN

troupes,” Wilding said. “Lenny and Gavin came to an improv workshop I was hosting and we instantly became friends and had quite a connection, partly because we have a similar improv background.”

Epstein agreed with this statement, describing his prior experience. “Gavin and I are part of an improve troupe in Prince Edward County, and we’ve been performing with them for about seven years,” he said.

“It’s such a small place where we are and we just wanted to play with different people. When we

saw Amy was doing an improve workshop in Kingston, we just came down and hit it off.”

Unfortunately, the pandemic hit just as the three performers joined forces.

“COVID hit and put the breaks on what we were doing, but we continued to create whatever we could including producing online shows,” Wilding said.

The troupe did manage to perform at Musiikki Café twice at the end of August and were quite successful in terms of audience engagement and actual performance, according to the troupe.

Various theatre companies and improv groups have adapted to the pandemic by shifting their performances to either a Zoom or social media live stream setting.

Epstein described the difficulty of moving performances online, suggesting that it diminishes the power of the art form.

“I think there is something wrong with Zoom theatre,” said Epstein. “It’s just not the same. Live theatre is magic, and improvised theatre is magic in the moment—we really kind of connect on a bunch of levels where we have tons of fun.”

Wilding elaborated on the connection between the members of the troupe.

“In improv, there’s a click,” they

A Queen’s Journal Podcast

said. “And I hear that click whenever the five of us are on stage together.

The biggest skill is making whoever you’re on stage with look amazing, but with that click you can almost sense what the other person is going to do.”

Performing during a pandemic comes with its challenges, especially when it comes to maintaining social distancing guidelines. Pinecone Uprising confronted these challenges by directly addressing them through comedy.

To ensure a distance was kept between audience and performers, someone had the role of alerting the performers if they moved too close to the audience – and this was integrated into the show as a gag.

Because of these restrictions, the troupe performs wearing masks and microphones. “We’re not used to working with microphones like a stand-up comic does, but we have to use them clearly to be heard,” Wilding said.

The troupe expressed their excitement for performing live improv, especially because of its ability to connect people through laughter.

“People were really missing that live connection,” Wilding said.

“There’s nothing like live laughter, and that’s something I’ll never take for granted again.”

With files from Nathan Gallagher.

Sports

12 • queensjournal.ca

SPORTS

Matt Funk, Jack Burnham Sports Editor; Contributor Although the NFL is entering its seventh week, this marks the first week of an ongoing ‘start ‘em, sit ‘em’ fantasy football competition between The Journal and Western Gazette’s sports sections.

Not only will this instalment serve to continue our school’s friendly rivalry in a year without sports, it may give some Gaels in the thick of their fantasy football seasons a valuable second opinion on who to start their games in a season wracked with more uncertainty than ever.

Here’s how it works: each week, both sports sections will release five picks for players to start, and five to keep on the bench. After the week has finished on Monday night, we’ll subtract the bench’s points from our starters’ points and calculate overall net points.

To ensure this competition relies on creativity—and may provide some use to fantasy owners—there are some guidelines.

The five players must comprise a quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, and defensive player, and their combined values cannot exceed $100, according to fantasy pro’s valuation calculator.

The same goes for the bench—in order to make it a challenge, these players also need a combined worth of approximately $100.

Let the games begin—below are The Journal’s picks for the week.

PHOTO BY JODIE GRIEVE

‘The Queen’s Journal’ vs ‘Western Gazette’: Fantasy Football series Journal’s picks for start ‘em sit ‘em

Raiders will take on Tampa Bay this week as both teams look for consistency. Jacobs had 77 yards and two touchdowns last week in an upset win against the Chiefs and now goes up against a Starters Tampa defence ranked third for the season.

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Tyreek Hill and the Kansas Bay Packers take on the Houston City Chiefs take on the Denver Texans this week as Green Bay Broncos this week after a win looks to bounce back from a loss against Buffalo in week six. Hill to Tampa Bay. Rodgers has had a was targeted only three times quarterback rating of 100 through in that game due to the rain, but the first five weeks of the season, consistently plays roughly 92 per leaving the impression that his cent of all offensive snaps. In his lacklustre performance against last game against Denver, Hill went the Bucs in week six was a fluke. for 67 yards and two touchdowns.

Houston’s defence is ranked 26 on The Denver defence is ranked the season.

15 this season, which shouldn’t Josh Jacobs and the Las Vegas pose a threat to the dominant

Queen’s coaches give pep talks

however, the midterm season is often characterized by hours spent alone studying in Stauffer with Spotify’s ‘Deep Focus’ playlist on loop.

In a year when many students haven’t met—let alone formed bonds with classmates—this midterm season might feel especially isolated. Some of us may be wishing we had a personal Matt Funk coach to hype us up through the Sports Editor coming weeks.

With this in mind, The Journal The midterm season can be a reached out to some of Queen’s stressful time for most students. top coaches to get some words of Chasing down an ‘A’ for a 40 per wisdom and motivation to push cent midterm can feel like a do-or- on—and get some solid scores. die playoff match. The reality is, When it comes to performing this time of year is crunch time. when the pressure’s on, Queen’s But when athletes are prepping football head coach Steve Snyder for a big game, they often have could be considered an expert. the support of teammates and Throughout his seasoned career, coaches to rely on. For students, he has led the top offences in

Men’s hockey’s Brett Gibson and football’s Steve Snyder give guidance on how to get that ‘A’

Thursday, October 22, 2020

Chief’s offence.

Austin Hooper and the Browns take on the Cincinnati Bengals this week in a battle of Ohio. Hooper was the most targeted player for the Browns last week, with six targets and five catches for 52 yards, a dramatic improvement from his week two performance.

He’ll be playing against a

Canada and won two Yates Cups and a Vanier cup.

His key to success is allotting the time for necessary preparations, so when it’s time to perform you feel confident and are in the best position to succeed.

Snyder believes what leads to success on the field also translates to the classroom.

“Performance is about preparation. Preparation is about striving to get an edge, so that when it’s time to perform on game day you know that you are ready to be at your best, you know that you have found an edge, an edge equals a competitive advantage,” he said.

“The key to game day is trusting that edge that you have created through your commitment to preparation. Turn on your game face, believe in your edge and play to win. Attack it and finish it.”

Bengals defence ranked 24 in for the season.

The Saints defence faces off against the Panthers this week as New Orleans comes off a week off, and the Panthers look to recover from a loss to the Bears. Ranked 20 among defences this season, the rest should help this team and have allowed it to reorganize.

Brett Gibson, head coach of the men’s hockey team, is also a proven leader. Throughout his 14-year tenure at Queen’s, he’s led the Gaels to 10 playoff appearances, a 2019 Queen’s Cup win, and has amassed honours including Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and U Sports Coach of the Year.

Much like Snyder, Gibson believes preparation is crucial, which ultimately boils down to time management. This might not initially sound comforting to procrastinators, but it should be.

At the end of the day, success boils down to preparedness, which is something you can control, Gibson said.

“Midterm weeks and exam weeks are stressful times for all university students; do not feel that [you] are alone in those sentiments. Time [m]anagement and [p]reparation are two key skills that need to be at the

Bench Deshaun Watson and the Texans face off against the Green Bay Packers this week as Houston comes off a loss to the Titans.

Watson played well last week, but now faces a defence ranked 12 against quarterbacks this season and comes into the matchup with a 1-5 record.

Kenyan Drake and the Cardinals face off against the Seahawks this week as Seattle looks to extend its perfect season. Though Drake had a season-high two touchdowns last week against the Cowboys, this week he faces a defence ranked 13 in the league instead of one ranked dead last.

Robert Woods and the Rams face off against the Chicago Bears this week as LA looks to come back from a loss to San Francisco.

Woods caught only four passes in 10 targets last week and didn’t score in his last matchup against the Bears in 2018.

Darren Waller and the Raiders face off against the Buccaneers this week as Las Vegas comes off an upset victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. However, Waller didn’t start that game and had only 48 yards with seven targets and had his second-lower catch percentage of the season. The Buccaneers defence is ranked third in the league.

The San Francisco 49ers face off against the Patriots this week as New England looks to bounce back from a loss against the Broncos at home. The Patriots have had more practice time and Cam Newton has averaged a quarterback rating of 89 through the first three weeks of the season, and should be hungry to prove himself.

PHOTO BY JODIE GRIEVE

forefront leading up to these weeks,” Gibson said.

“The best part of these two skills is that they are choices that each one of you have at your disposal.

You choose how much time you are going to study. You choose whether to sacrifice some personal time. If [you] really want to do well on your exams, [you] are going to have to make sacrifices, but by making these sacrifices, [you] are setting yourself up for success.”

While these sacrifices are necessary, Gibson noted that students also need to prioritize their health and wellness in order for their preparation to pay off.

“You also cannot study 24 hours a day. Sleep, nutrition and some sort of exercise will allow your body and brain to feel energized for the grind of the week. Time management and preparation will allow you to use rest [and] exercise as a weapon.”

LIFESTYLE

Thursday, October 22, 2020

queensjournal.ca

Lifestyle

Casting your ballot is important, even if you feel removed.

ILLUSTRATION BY SHELBY TALBOT

Voting absentee as an American-Canadian citizen Voting is more important than ever Chloe Sarrazin Editorials Editor I’ve always been proud of my American-Canadian dual citizenship. While I grew up in a small, Connecticut town, my summers were consumed by month-long visits to my grandparents’ cottage near Westport, Ontario. Christmas often meant travelling to Ottawa to see grandparents and cousins.

Once I graduated high school, my Canadian citizenship meant I could attend a university with affordable tuition costs, unlike the University of Connecticut’s roughly $20,000 a year

domestic tuition. I’m also eligible to work and enjoy free health insurance—a luxury the US continues to lack—through OHIP. I’ve always been proud of my Canadian citizenship, but I don’t typically flaunt my American roots. Telling people where I come from is often met with a frozen smile, a look that quickly vanishes the moment I clarify, “I don’t support Donald Trump though!”

While I’ve leaned into my Canadian roots in Kingston, I still have significant ties to the States. Some of my closest friends are scattered across New England, and my parents continue to reside in my hometown. The upcoming presidential election may not affect me as significantly as if I were still living at home, but it will affect my loved ones in a big way.

I have no grievances saying outright that I don’t support President Donald Trump. Not just because I’m left-leaning, but because he’s probably America’s most unpresidential president to date.

He lies every chance he gets, refuses to denounce white supremacy, spews racist rhetoric, has numerous sexual assault allegations to his name, and has refused time and time again to take responsibility for the mismanagement of coronavirus in the States.

Donald Trump isn’t only a danger to the United States, but a danger to democracy as we know it.

The Nov. 3 election is a turning point for my home country. If Trump gets re-elected, it’ll affect the way coronavirus and a potential vaccine are managed in 2021 and beyond. Not only will my parents’

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health be affected by this—especially in the case of my dad, who is high-risk for the virus—it will also affect my dad’s architecture firm, a small business that has already been negatively affected by Trump’s failures.

Joe Biden certainly isn’t my first pick for president—but he far exceeds the alternative.

Living in Canada for the past three years has distanced me, in part, from many of the social issues occurring in the States.

During my first year at Queen’s, many of my friends back home attended marches against gun violence. Considering I attended middle school a town over from the Sandy Hook shooting, gun violence is an issue I feel a particularly strong connection to. Even though Canada provided a refuge of sorts from the countless school shootings in the States, I longed to be home, participating in those marches and taking a stand against the US government’s utter refusal to fully commit to gun control measures.

Being in Canada as this election unfolds gives me a similar helpless feeling—though I’m reassured I can still vote, even from so far away.

In September, I was quick to secure an absentee ballot. Even though Connecticut is almost always a blue, democrat-leaning state, I know I’ve done my part to hopefully remove Trump from office by voting.

If you’re a dual citizen who hasn’t yet voted absentee, I implore you to do so as soon as possible. It’s not too late—in many states, ballots postmarked Nov. 3 will still be counted, though this varies state to state. If you’re unsure how to vote absentee, visiting Vote.org is a great place to start.

I know that, should Trump get re-elected and the States falls to utter anarchy, I have a home in Canada. But that doesn’t mean this election won’t affect my closest loved ones, or the countless Americans I grew up around.

This election is far bigger than me.

As an American citizen, I feel I have a duty to vote absentee. If you’re an American, you do, too.

Falling back in love with reading Finding my way back to my favourite pastime Shelby Talbot Lifestyle Editor When I was a kid, I always had a book on the go.

These days, I struggle to finish reading a modest novel in a month. I just don’t derive the same joy from reading as I used to—I don’t know if it’s because I have so little free time or because, as an English student, I do so much reading for classes already. Since high school, I feel like I’ve lost touch with one of my favorite pastimes. I’m trying hard to get that back.

I don’t think my experience is an uncommon one; many of my friends, new and old, have fallen out of love with reading for pleasure in the past few years, too. Trying to balance schoolwork, extra-curriculars, and being a functioning adult leaves little time left in the day for doing things we enjoy, and sometimes carving out time to relax feels like a chore.

This year, I set a goal for myself: to read two books every month. Since January, I’ve failed sorely to meet that target. My desire to read comes in bursts and peters off quickly, and

Hobbies take effort.

stories that aren’t presented in an easily-digestible television format don’t hold my interest like they did when I was younger.

It’s frustrating, as a once-avid reader, to have to work so hard to enjoy something that was once effortless for me. Reading was such an important part of my life growing up—books were there for me through good times and bad. When I struggled to make friends at a new school, I could settle

PHOTO BY JODIE GRIEVE

in at lunch with a good story. For my birthdays, I’d treat myself to a hard cover edition of a book I’d been dying to read.

Reading has helped to foster friendships, to cheer me up on a bad day, to pass the time on a rainy weekend. I can recall times in my life based on the books I was reading: in kindergarten, I asked my teacher to call me Harry Potter; sleepovers with friends from basketball were Hunger Games-themed; middle

school was marked by Percy Jackson & the Olympians.

Recently, I’ve managed to slowly dip my toes back into reading with some success. I challenged myself to read the new Twilight novel for an article, and I’m working through the spin-off from a series I enjoyed in high school.

The key has been starting simple.

In the summer months, when I found myself stuck at home with some extra time on my hands, I put a lot of pressure on myself to work through an ambitious list of classic novels and challenging reads I’d wanted to put a dent in since high school. I made up a checklist of titles, but only ended up ticking off a single box.

In July, I started a couple of my friends on a set of novels I had already read and loved. I reread along with them, and I slowly started to feel excited about the story again.

Since classes started this fall, I’ve had to scramble to find time to read, but I’m pleased that I’m trying. I bought Bram Stoker’s Dracula last week, and I’m aiming to start and finish it over the reading break.

Like anything, reading is a practiced skill. Once you stop doing it for a while, it’s hard to jump back in. But, as I’ve found, it’s not impossible—it just takes some time.

LIFESTYLE

14 • queensjournal.ca

Ranking Jane’s love interests on ‘Jane the Virgin’ Who were Jane’s best boyfriends on the American telenovela?

Aysha Tabassum Features Editor Jane the Virgin centres around a young woman obsessed with writing, thinking about, and living out romance novels. As the title indicates, the series initially centres around Jane saving her virginity until marriage—a commitment which is complicated when she’s accidentally artificially inseminated.

If you haven’t seen the show, it’s a

charming telenovela with intriguing characters that touches on the most loved clichés of the genre without taking itself too seriously.

For those of you who have, I wanted to take a moment before midterms to justify my binge-watching by ranking all eight of Jane’s love interests throughout the series. Of course, there are spoilers ahead.

8. Fabian Regalo del Cielo

After Michael’s death, Jane finally puts her commitment to keeping sex within marriage to rest, and she does it with her dad’s hot co-star, Fabian.

Fabian, like many of the love interests I’m about to mention, doesn’t seem to have much chemistry with Jane outside of their sexual relationship. He’s a forgettable part of the series and seems to bring out a not-sosavoury side of Jane—one that leaves her willing to lie about her feelings just to get into bed with someone.

7. Dennis Chambers

Dennis appears as Michael’s partner on the police force throughout the first three seasons and, shortly after Michael’s death is revealed, he’s shown developing an interest in Jane. The

Thursday, October 22, 2020 two only go on one date to signal that Jane is ready for love again after being widowed.

It feels disrespectful to have Jane go for one of Michael’s best friends following his death. Their chemistry isn’t compelling enough to justify their short-lived romance and, overall, the plotline seems like it’s stalling for something better.

6. Dax

Dax appears briefly in season two and presents the possibility that Jane doesn’t have to end up with either Rafael or Michael. He doesn’t stick around very long, but is mostly pleasant—sarcastic, charming, and warm enough to bring out Jane’s fun side.

Unfortunately, we find out at the end of his episode that he has a girlfriend, despite acting on his romantic interest for Jane. We do not redeem cheaters (or almostcheaters) in this house.

5. Sam

Sam is the snobby academic who Jane was hung up on when she first met Michael. We only see him through flashbacks, and we don’t know much about him or his relationship with Jane, which is why he falls in this arbitrary place on this list.

4. Professor Chavez

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SHELBY TALBOT

Jane has a number of suitors.

Point/Counterpoint: Is it too early to start celebrating Christmas?

Debating whether holiday cheer can pre-date Halloween horror Yes The Christmas holidays are, as the popular tune goes, a wonderful time of year. They’re full of family, bright decorations, and celebration, as well as some classic songs. However, timing is everything. Beginning our celebration three months before December—before Halloween even has a chance to occur—is just too early.

If Christmas celebration becomes normal year-round, it won’t hold the same charm.

Celebrating it for three months straight will definitely cause the holiday to become tired once December 25 arrives. Do we want to be ready for New Year’s or Valentine’s Day by the time Christmas Eve rolls around? Do we want to be annoyed by the Christmas songs on the radio at the very time we’re supposed to enjoy them the most? Because if we start celebrating now, that will happen.

Celebrating Christmas this early completely disregards the amazing

and fun holidays in-between.

This mainly pertains to Halloween: it’s a chance to dress up as whoever or whatever you want and a perfect excuse to buy candy and eat what you don’t hand out. That doesn’t sound so bad to me. Pumpkins, pumpkin pie, and apple pie—these are all things associated with fall and Halloween, but not with Christmas. If we start celebrating Christmas now, it’s going to be hard to get in the spirit of spooky season.

Christmas is a fun and merry time of year, but October just isn’t the right time to start its celebration. We need to appreciate what’s in front of us, and right now, that’s Halloween.

Christmas will come—if we can hold off for now, it will be that much better when it does.

—Noor Yassein, Contributor No There are exactly 55 days between Halloween and Christmas. In those 55 short days, I am expected to cram cookie decorating, caroling, movie watching, and listening to my favourite Christmas albums.

I say those expectations are unacceptable. I’m even willing to be so bold as to say that 365 days isn’t enough to contain all of that

holiday cheer.

I’m a devoted and passionate Christmas-holic. I grew up in a household that celebrates the holiday to an outrageous degree. We always have a Christmas tree on every floor of the house, as well as boxes and boxes of Christmas themed decor that I take out as early as I can. What’s so wrong with wanting to be in the Christmas spirit before Halloween?

I am a well-practiced multitasker, so I am more than capable of appreciating multiple holidays at once. I’m not trying to take away from the importance of Halloween—it’s just as exciting as Christmas.

That is, except for the fact that you don’t get to unwrap gifts, nobody makes fulllength albums for the occasion, and it isn’t a nationally recognized holiday.

I feel like Christmas deserves far more than 55 days to get hyped for. The extraordinarily talented Taylor Swift croons in her bop Lover, “we can leave the Christmas lights up ’til January.”

I would like to politely disagree and say we can leave them up until next December, because for me, Christmas isn’t a holiday—it’s a lifestyle.

—Emily Clare, Staff Writer

Professor Chavez is Jane’s advisor while she’s completing her master’s. He’s every girl’s dream professor, and the writers do their best to keep the relationship as appropriate as possible, but it’s later revealed that Jane is not the first nor last student whom the professor is chasing.

The Professor Chavez plotline brings out passionate moments and his storyline reveals the real guilt and anxiety that can be attached to losing your virginity, but that doesn’t make up for the fact that the guy is a creep.

3. Rafael Solano

There are hot bad boys, and then there’s Rafael.

Despite the continued sacrifice and patience Jane has for her baby daddy, Rafael constantly puts himself above everyone around him. A borderline abusive partner the first time they start dating, it takes very little throughout

the rest of the series for him to completely abandon Jane, entirely uncaring about her feelings when they’re at odds.

Obviously, and heartbreakingly, Jane ends up with Rafael.

It feels reductive of the otherwise empowered and strong-willed heroine we know.

Having Rafael be Jane’s be-allend-all enforces troubling ideals: one, that biological parents should always be in relationships with each other and, two, that women should put up with toxicity if it means being with their child’s father.

2. Adam Alvaro

Oh—Adam.

Adam’s a refreshing blast from Jane’s past. A passionate artist she almost married in her teen years, he’s the creative we all dream about, even if he’s definitely not dad material.

Adam is kind, accommodating, and firm. Though it often disrupts his otherwise dream bachelor life, he’s always willing to make compromises for Jane and Mateo.

Ultimately, a career change brings an end to their relationship. But, other than his immaturity, Adam is a bright spot on Jane’s romantic record. He wrote her love cue, for god’s sake.

1. Michael Cordero

Michael is proof that the good guy can still be the bad boy. He can go from comforting a distraught Jane to telling his own mother off in order to protect his fiancée in no time flat.

While Rafael proves time and again that he only cares about himself, Michael is always willing to sacrifice his own happiness for others, especially Jane.

It still makes me angry that the showrunners use Michael as a roadblock to Jane finding her way back to Rafael, but it’s nice that they keep him true to his character. While Rafael is cursing and tormenting Jane for being confused about her ‘dead’ husband coming back into her life, a former-amnesiac Michael is telling her, as always, that all he wants is for her to be happy.

Jane should have ended up with Michael. Period. But, honestly, this might be one of those few cases when the woman isn’t good enough for the man.

ILLUSTRATION BY EZRI WYMAN

Thursdy, October 22, 2020

queensjournal.ca

‘Emily in Paris’ tests negative for COVID-19 The popular Netflix's series captures a world without a global pandemic.

Physically I’m here, but mentally I’m in Paris Pravieena Gnanakumar Staff Writer Netflix’s latest bingeworthy show, Emily in Paris, has been the perfect way for me to escape the harsh realities we’re facing today. From the bright, vivid colours to its amazing soundtrack, the show captures the magical essence of Paris. I was a little hesitant to watch the show, but gave it a chance after realizing Darren Star was the mastermind behind Emily in Paris—surely the creator of Sex and the City wouldn’t let me down.

Before watching the show, I mentally prepped myself for a watch that would bring out my inner cynic. Was this series going to confirm my beliefs that real life sucks, and will never be anything like

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SHELBY TALBOT

television and movies? In case you’re wondering, my inner cynic didn’t emerge, and if anything, Emily in Paris had the opposite effect.

To watch a hot new show that takes place in a world without COVID-19 is strange. These past few months, I’ve been stuck on old sitcoms in which smartphones aren’t even a thing, let alone coronavirus—and Grey’s Anatomy, which is incorporating the pandemic into its storyline, is far too real for me right now.

Emily in Paris is full of whimsy and colour; from the fashion to the music and sex positivity. The show follows Emily on her journey from Chicago to Paris after she’s offered the opportunity to work for a marketing firm in France that her previous company acquired. Her new job is to bring an American perspective to their firm.

There’s just one catch: Emily doesn’t know any French.

Emily is chipper and motivated to get started until she realizes the disconnect

between American culture and Parisian culture is more intense than she had expected. As she makes friends in the city and slowly tries to pick up some French, she begins to let loose and go with the flow of a Paris lifestyle. Throw some of the cutest outfits—seriously, I can only wonder how much Emily is being paid to afford clothes like this—fun music, and love triangles into the mix, and you’ve got your latest binge.

The show does have a few problematic moments though, which has been a common thread of criticism among its viewers. From an unconsented grope

by Emily’s friend’s brother to a package of lingerie that’s delivered to Emily by one of her superiors, many people online have deemed the normalization of these moments on the show to be unproductive and wrong. When I first watched these scenes, I was quick to agree—Emily’s such a feminist, so why doesn’t she address these issues through that lens on the show?

the generations before us. A year ago, The New York Times wrote that the ‘OK, Boomer’ meme “marks the end of friendly generational relations”—if you can even call the relations prior to the divisive political friction of 2019 ‘friendly.’

During the current pandemic, generational dissent has only been amplified. Boomers have been generalized as angry and unreasonable non-mask wearers; Millennials and Zoomers are stereotypically flouting public health guidelines and partying despite the risk to their health.

There’s truth to both of these typecasts: many Boomers aren’t as concerned about the virus as they should be, and young people account for a significant portion of current COVID-19 cases. There’s value in acknowledging these trends, but pigeonholing entire generations probably isn’t the most effective way to get people to cooperate in slowing the spread of coronavirus.

As we’ve seen here in Kingston, these negative and divisive rhetorics have positioned the Kingston local and student populations at odds. Earlier this fall, KFL&A Public Health’s Twitter account posted a condescending COVID-19 safety graphic targeting young adults. Law-abiding students were angered at the disrespectful messaging, while the angry Twitter replies from Kingston locals were discouraging.

Niceties are never an excuse for impeding progress—young people

shouldn’t be forced to be polite or compromise with older generations about their politics and beliefs. But when it comes to the current coronavirus crisis, we need to be moving forward together.

During a time when it’s vital that we cooperate in the name of saving lives, focusing on alienating whole generations of people isn’t the direction we should be taking. Targeting public health messaging

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That’s just another harsh reality of the world we live in today—we can’t consume media without critical analysis.

At times it’s exhausting, but it’s necessary.

And if a show makes you think while keeping you entertained, perhaps it’s doing its job.

I really don’t know if I’d enjoy Emily in Paris more if certain scenes didn’t exist.

Right now, I like the show and am invested enough to trust Emily's character will develop. I think that’s what we’re supposed to like about Emily: she’s not perfect, but she’s not a mess. She’s quite average, but in a charming and relatable way.

During these strange times, I’ve often found myself limiting my dreams and hopes for the future. But watching Emily in Paris reminds me of a different world and reality, one ripe with opportunity for adventure.

The show doesn’t capture what the world used to look like before the pandemic, but it certainly resembles the romanticized version in my head. While I can’t move to Paris right now, at least I’ve started daydreaming about it again. Without this show, I don’t think moving to Paris would even be an idea in my head—it would’ve been far too cluttered with thoughts about the reusable masks I plan to buy, online learning, racial tensions around the world, and much more.

As corny as it sounds, this show reminds me to dream big. Maybe a “Live, Laugh, Love” sign above my bed could do the same thing. But for me, Emily in Paris gave me the inspiration to not lose hope that one day, I’ll live a life in a world where I can work for a bougie marketing firm, wear glamorous clothes, and find love in Paris. Emily in Paris is relatable and reminds us that any one of us could be Emily.

I’ve been to Paris before, and while I wasn’t swept off my feet by beautiful men or working at a fabulous marketing firm, I felt pretty unstoppable while standing underneath the Eiffel Tower.

Emily in Paris makes me want to feel that way again.

Why generational divides are unproductive when it comes to COVID-19

Mitigating public health risks during the current pandemic requires cooperation, not shaming Shelby Talbot Lifestyle Editor OK, Boomer—it’s a comeback, it’s a meme, and it’s a signal of a deep and contentious generational divide.

Let’s face it: we love to point fingers at one another. Whether it’s blaming Millennials for killing the fabric softener industry or Generation Z for threatening traditional shopping, it’s easy to shift any blame to giant, faceless demographics.

Generational differences have been points of contention for years. When you have groups united by similar social and political values, they’re bound to butt heads with conflicting values. But relations have never seemed quite as dire as they are presently.

We’ve drawn lines in the sand delineating each generation, but those lines have become battlelines.

Generation Z—the group born between the late 90s and early 2010s—is predicted to be the first generation to have a lower quality of life than the previous generation.

We stand to inherit a mess of financial, environmental, and political strife from

at the demographics that are most at-risk for the virus is a useful tool, but there’s no need to shame people to encourage maskwearing—it doesn’t work.

Generational differences mean that we’re not going to be on the same page for many things, but we must be on the same page about COVID-19. If we have to shelf OK, Boomer for the time being, then so be it.

ILLUSTRATION BY TESSA WARBURTON

16 • queensjournal.ca

Thursday, October 22, 2020

POSTSCRIPT

Gabrielle reflects on how the disorder has impacted her life.

PHOTO BY JODIE GRIEVE

Not normal period pain: my life with endometriosis Living with my diagnosis since the age of 15 Gabrielle Cotton Contributor It was the morning of my Grade 10 science exam when the pain started. Up until that moment in my life, my period pain had always been manageable. On that morning, it became so bad I began to black out.

I still went to my exam only to last 20 minutes before asking to go to the bathroom to throw up. I laid down on the floor, trying to use the cold concrete to rid myself of a sudden hot flash and fainting spell.

I managed to get myself to my teacher's office. They promptly called my parents, asking them to come and pick me up. I was carried out of the school by the vice-principal and my dad, who was in his police uniform.

I was diagnosed with endometriosis and put on prescribed pain killers.

I was 15 years "old,Since I have experienced

excruciating pain every month

Endometriosis is a disorder wherein the tissue that usually lines the inside of your uterus grows on the outside. This makes periods incredibly painful—some women with endometriosis have said childbirth causes less pain than their period.

Since I was 15 years old, I have

experienced excruciating pain every month. Some are better than others, but I am on bed rest for 30 hours almost every menstruation cycle.

In Grade 8, when all the girls in my class started menstruating, we created a code word to let each other know: it was "bananas."

Because of my endometriosis, I’ve never had the luxury of choosing not to tell people when I am on my period or discreetly using a code word.

The pain sometimes "creeps down my legs, and I am unable to stand

Sometimes, in the beginning, I could get away with calling it a medical condition. But every month when the pain worsened I had to instruct those close to me of what to do if I were to faint, what I would be able to stomach eating, and what would happen if I had a muscle spasm and was unable to move my neck. It was through these instructions I often revealed I suffer from endometriosis, or, more simply, extremely painful periods.

I’ve had to disclose this information to past boyfriends very early in relationships, to teachers, friends, and workplaces. Often, I could tell people thought I was oversharing. But I was looking at it as a safety concern, not just for myself, but for the people around me as well. Some people were understanding, but most weren't.

This isn’t to say they didn't care.

They just didn't understand.

I was often hit with "I get pain too," or "the pain can't be that bad,” or "why didn't you just call in sick?"

Some of the people with these responses probably do experience period pain, but in most cases, they are still functional during their periods. I am doubled over in bed, crawling around my apartment for two days. The pain sometimes creeps down my legs, and I am unable to stand, or it is so intense that I get hot flashes and then chills back and forth for hours.

I would’ve loved to have been able to call in to work sick every time I was on my period, but I would’ve been calling in two to three days a month, hoping I was lucky enough my period wouldn’t start when I was scheduled to work. As any girl knows, you can try to predict when your period is coming, but you can never be 100 per cent certain. Not to mention calling in sick that often can make it very hard to keep a job, especially if they don’t understand your situation.

month I feel like "anEvery inconvenience to the world

After my diagnosis, my biggest fear became fainting in public. It made me even more conscious of the pain, of how many people were watching me cry on the subway, clenching my backpack and trying to use it as a makeshift heating pad to calm my muscles.

I cannot count the number of times strangers have walked me home or have made me wait to drive anywhere because the

pain was so intense that I started to blackout.

Every month I feel like an inconvenience to the world. A little dramatic, but if you’re in my inner circle of friends and family, I rely on your help to keep me alive.

Last month, my roommates had to bring me food and water while I sat in bed and tried to sleep away the pain. My mother has always been my saving grace—she went through the same thing—and when I’m able to be home during my period she always takes care of me.

Ten months of pain "without any solution

The worst part of all of this is when people try and compare their pain to mine or dismiss me because it's “just a period.”

To those people, I hope you and your loved ones never have to experience endometriosis. It feels like living hell for two to three days every month.

When I was 21, one of my managers at work convinced me to get on a very long waitlist to see a gynecologist in Toronto. I knew that no matter how much I pleaded, they weren’t going to remove everything. Still, there had to be other options.

Ten months later, I had my first appointment. Ten months of pain without any solution.

My gynecologist and I did an initial consultation. We discussed the possibility of birth control, but that option was quickly ruled out as I get frequent migraines. Taking birth control with migraines increases one's risk for a stroke.

A year of other tests to ensure the rest of my body was functioning correctly went by. I had a colonoscopy, a heart exam, did massage therapy, acupuncture, and Chinese cupping, but nothing yielded positive results or showed other internal issues.

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But even with treatment, this is a condition that affects every aspect of my life

Finally, after two years, we settled on the option of an IUD. It took another six months to get everything in order and book a space at the hospital. They wanted to do a full scope inside to ensure that the rest of my uterus and ovaries looked okay. The only way to do that was to be put under.

My surgery was moved due to COVID-19, and I finally had the IUD inserted last week. I am praying this option works and minimizes the pain.

But even with treatment, this is a condition that affects every aspect of my life. I have to keep my life in order every day of the month, or my pain is so much worse on my period. I have to plan each month around my cycle and carefully schedule activities when I know the pain is due.

My life has changed a lot since I was 15. I have moved to three different cities, completed my undergrad, held a variety of jobs, and am now in my Masters. The only thing that has remained constant is the endometriosis.

Endometriosis pain isn’t normal period pain and shouldn’t be compared as such.