The Queen's Journal, Volume 149, Issue 11

the Queen’s University

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journal

Vol. 149, Issue 11

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Friday, October 29, 2021

Students talk police presence over homecoming weekends

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL

R ida C haudhry Assistant News Editor

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

Since 1873

she was picking me up for and she wouldn’t give me an answer,” he said.

John said he’s submitted an appeal for the ticket for two reasons. He first referred to the City of Kingston’s twitter, where the nuisance party on Aberdeen was declared at 2:35 p.m.

“The time written on my ticket is 2:35 p.m. There was a couple of minutes of time between when the first cop grabbed me and when the ticket was written. She either grabbed me on the dot or what I think before 2:34 p.m.—so before it was illegal to be there.”

According to John, the incident was caught on a video he plans to use in the appeal process.

“In it you can see that the officer ignored many other people on the street and came straight towards me, while you can see three or four other cops on the street not addressing any of the other people crossing the street.”

“I was given no warning.

No one told me that I couldn’t be there, she just immediately grabbed me,” John said.

Jane* ArtSci ’23 and Aberdeen resident, was approached by officers on her way home on Oct. 23. Jane was taking an intoxicated friend home where a line of police officers was blocking entrance to Aberdeen.

“When I went up to the officer and told [them] that I lived there, he refused to let us through because the gathering on Aberdeen had been declared a nuisance party,” Jane told The Journal in an interview.

“I told him that I had medication I needed to take at a certain time and therefore had to return home. The officer seemed stumped but still made the decision to question me about what medication it was.”

Jane said she found this “inappropriate.”

When she clarified the medication was birth control, the officer didn’t let her through because the medication wasn’t needed for “life-threatening” reasons.

“As a police officer, I felt like this was a stretch of his expertise. People take different medications for various reasons,” Jane said.

“It was a shock to me, not only because it had become illegal for me to go home, but also because it seemed like an officer was shoddily handling a situation.”

The Journal reached out to Kingston Police for a statement but did not receive a response in time for publication.

On Oct. 16 and 23, thousands flooded the streets of the student district for unsanctioned Homecoming gatherings. Ontario Provincial Police, Greater Toronto Area, and Gananoque Police joined Kingston Police officers in surveilling the crowds.

Despite outcry from Queen’s students against over-policing in the University District, both Queen’s administration and Mayor Bryan Paterson supported the large police presence.

The Journal sat down with four Queen’s students to discuss their interactions with police.

On Oct. 16, Smith* was on the street playing ball with some of his friends when six to eight police officers allegedly tackled him to the ground.

“I guess the officers deemed that it was not okay for us to be [playing ball]. I was tackled and arrested, then I was brought to jail and spent eight hours in jail,” Smith said in an interview with The Journal.

Smith hit his head on the pavement as he was tackled by the officers.

“Nothing was explained to

me at all. I was in the dark the entire time,” Smith said.

“Once I got to jail, I wasn’t told how long I was going to be there or what I was arrested for, which is frustrating because it wasn’t a clear situation. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Smith was told the next week at the hospital that he had a concussion.

Concussion symptoms can impact one’s ability to focus, recall, and process information —all things necessary for students to perform well in the midst of midterm season, Smith said.

According to Smith, this all led to a $65 public intoxication ticket.

“Part of me wants to put it behind me but at the same time I think I was treated pretty unfairly,” Smith said.

“I’m honestly still not entirely sure what I did to get that situation handled like that.”

Another student, Joe*, was approached by Kingston Police on Oct. 16. He and a few friends were on the corner of William and Aberdeen St. “We were approached by officers who told us we need to move out of the area, and we told them that we were just deciding whether we’re grabbing food or heading home,” Joe told The Journal in an interview.

According to Joe, one of the officers abruptly grabbed his arm, pinned it behind his back, and pushed him to the opposite direction.

“I was told ‘don’t talk back,

just move’. I don’t feel like I was saying anything in an aggressive or argumentative manner,” Joe said.

“At that point I was irritated and no longer wanted to go to grab food, so I started walking back towards [University Ave. and Victoria St.]. The officer started following me and grabbed me once again telling me ‘you need to go back the other way,’ to which I responded ‘my house is this way, it wouldn’t make sense for me to go back up Division.’”

When Joe asked for the officer’s badge number, she refused.

“I was just tired and frustrated,” Joe said.

Joe explained that none of his friends or housemates had a similar encounter. He was the only person of colour in the group.

“I’m not someone who just pulls out the race card. I’ve come to terms with the fact that it’s part of the reality of life, but this is the first time that I feel it impacted me to this degree. It’s really disheartening to me,” Joe said.

“It is a cliché ‘oh is this officer only talking to me because I’m a person of colour’. But at the same time, there’s very few explanations for why this police officer approached me so aggressively in a street of thousands of people.”

As the situation heightened, Joe asked what his rights were. “[The officer] responded to me saying that if I said another word then she’ll give me a ticket.”

After Joe sought out clarification, the officer handed him off to her superior to receive a ticket.

“She says to me, ‘it’s too late to apologize now’.”

The ticket Joe received was for nuisance partying, which came with a $2,000 fine.

A similar experience happened to John*, Comm ’23, on Oct. 23, when the police charged him for crossing the street.

“I was on Aberdeen for probably less than 30 seconds.

I entered it through a backyard and saw a couple of my buddies across the street, so I went to cross with a group of five other guys,” John said in an interview with The Journal.

“When the cop came up behind me, I initially thought she was going to go for the guy next to me because he was drinking from an open can of beer, but she grabbed me instead and walked me back to their car.”

According to John, the police wrote him a $2,000 fine for attending a nuisance party, and he was told that if he were to return to the street he would be taken to jail.

“I was just curious and asked them if I lived on Aberdeen, would I still be subject to the $2,000 fine? The cop who detained me said ‘We don’t give an f*** where you live.’”

John was taken aback by their hostility.

“I asked the female cop what

How gender roles impact STEM classrooms

Consciousness around ‘cringe culture’

Reinvesting in Homecoming Weekend

SPAF hosts Halloween parade

‘Trusting the process’ with Rasheed Tucker

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This article includes descriptions of violence and may be triggering for some readers. The Peer Support Centre offers drop-in services and empathetic peer-based support and is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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*Names changed for anonymity due to safety reasons.

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Friday, October 29, 2021

Nobel prize winning Queen’s Alum sits down with ‘The Journal’ Asbah Ahmad Assistant News Editor “I got a call at 2 a.m. and it was a call from Sweden. At first I thought it was one of my friends playing a joke.”

David Card, ArtSci ’78 and LLD ‘99, recalled in a phone interview with The Journal the day he found out he was receiving this year’s Nobel Prize in Economics.

Born in Guelph, Card came to Queen’s with the intention to study science. Economics wasn’t always his intended path.

“When I went to Queen’s I was originally thinking of doing work in Chemistry and Physics, but then I was helping my girlfriend at the time, and I was reading her textbook,” Card said.

“I found it very interesting, and got intrigued by it, and thought of taking an Economics course.”

Having worked at a steel factory growing up, Card said his personal background has largely influenced his decision to pursue his study in labour economics, migration, and wealth distribution.

“My family was not rich. My dad was a farmer, and I had a lot of jobs—some pretty crappy jobs too,” he said.

Card said there are some very important issues concerning the

perception of people at the bottom of the wealth divide.

“I felt like there were a lot of important issues involving how people are at the bottom of the labour market, and how they survive. In the 60s and 70s there was a lot of interest in income support programs, and that interest has come back,” Card said.

Under Reaganomics in the 80s, Card said it was almost uncommon for scholars to work on topics regarding “lower waged people.”

Despite this climate, he persisted.

“Growing up in Guelph, there was a big Italian immigrant community. Many of my friends in high school were children of migrants who came after World War II. Many of these people were very, very poor when they came to Canada and their children and grandchildren have done quite well afterwards,” Card said.

“There has always been some negativity about immigration, but my experience was that it was a big plus for the Guelph, Kitchener, and Waterloo area.”

For Card, refugees and migrant workers have also played a large role in his story as well as Canada’s history.

“Canada has received many refugees over many years. In the

50s there were migrants from Hungary to Canada, and one of them was a neighbour of mine and he bought a farm and it was so interesting to talk to him,” Card said.

“In the 60s, when I was in the eighth grade, there was a big migration of people of Indian ethnicity from Uganda.”

Speaking to his own career, Card emphasized the human element in economics that’s very important and often not thought about.

“There are some people mainly interested in the financial markets.

But most people who study economics are actually interested in the human behaviour side,” he explained.

“We want to make the world function better and we want to understand why some groups are doing better than others.

That is also mostly what labour economics is.”

Card said patience is key in the research field.

“Most of what is happening in research will only be noticed by those in the field. But once in a while someone does set the stage for another person’s launching point. This is kind of what happened with the minimum wage work

AMS introduces International Students Bursary Bursary will be up to $500

students with increased know what’s available to you, or financial support. the resources are limited,” she said.

“I’ve noticed, in my position, “The goal of this bursary was to that there is a difference in the create an avenue for international Sam Goodale scholarships and financial aid students to access further support, Staff Writer that the school offers, and there’s and we’re hoping that, through a lot more for domestic students this bursary, students feel that the The AMS recently announced than there are for international AMS values international students.” a new International Students students,” she said.

Chowdhury said the Bursary geared towards providing International students at introduction of the bursary will financial support to international Queen’s pay far greater tuition increase students’ engagement students. The bursary will be fees than their domestic peers. with the AMS. valued up to $500 and provided Fall-term tuition based on financial need. for a domestic Following the announcement, Arts and Science The Journal sat down with Anika student in Chowdhury, AMS Commissioner 2020-21 was of Campus Affairs, to discuss the $ 3 , 0 9 1 . 5 5 . introduction of the Bursary.

International First proposed in 2019, the tuition was International Students Bursary $24,300.35. comes as a result of consultation “This AMS with international students in bursary is a nice Kingston. A need was identified for way to offset extra financial support. some of the “Their tuition is higher, they have smaller costs larger expenses for travel, and for international they also have other unforeseen students.” expenses that domestic The bursary students don’t necessarily have,” is part of the Chowdhury said. efforts of the Chowdhury noticed a disparity AMS to increase between the scholarships and international financial aid Queen’s offers students’ access to domestic students versus to resources international students. With and support. the i n t ro d u c t i o n of “Sometimes, the International Students it’s difficult to Bursary, Chowdhury hopes access resources to provide international when you don’t

Card speaks to his research and journey in academia.

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY NIKLAS ELMED

I did with Alan Krueger,” Card said.

“You have to have patience, what you do this year might not be recognized this year. It is similar to good literature and art. Van Gogh never sold a painting while he was alive.”

Card said all students should be taking advantage of the opportunities around them.

“There are more students than faculty but there are a lot of amazing opportunities across departments in a university.

People don’t realize how unique that opportunity is,” Card said.

Card had two mentors at Queen’s who shaped the way he worked in his career.

“I had to take courses that had no prerequisites because I was so late getting into economics. So labour economics was taught by Professor Michael Abbott, and income distribution was taught

by Professor Charles Beach,” Card said.

He added having the two professors helped pave his way from Queen’s to Princeton.

“Oftentimes people say something c o n f i d e n t ly, ‘economists all know X.’ In actuality, very rarely is this true. [...] It’s worth re-investigating and understanding more deeply some concepts that exist out there,” Card said.

“There are opportunities for international students to get involved and use their voice,” she said.

“I’m hoping that students who engage with the bursary will feel supported by the AMS and will seek out more resources or look to engage with us further.”

Applications for the bursary are set to close on Nov. 7. With marketing initiatives still ongoing, the deadline will likely be extended by two weeks to give students further exposure to the bursary.

Students can apply directly through the AMS website.

Chowdhury hopes the support provided by the International

Students Bursary will spur more action to assist marginalized students at Queen’s.

“It really sets up [the] next steps to create a more inclusive environment at our school and within the AMS.” With massive time and effort poured into creating the International Student’s Bursary, Chowdhury hopes international students feel more supported by the AMS. “I just hope students access it and it’s advertised well, and marketed well, so students know that it’s there for them.”

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Independent MPP Randy Hillier uses student’s passing to spread misinformation Student starts petition to condemn Hillier Rida Chaudhry Assistant News Editor As Kamila Lebel-Farrell’s loved ones continued to adjust to her sudden passing, Randy Hillier, Member of Ontario Provincial Parliament (Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston), used student photos while spreading misinformation on the COVID-19 vaccine.

In his post, Hillier included two other recently passed Queen’s students, claiming each person “lost their lives” or is “suffering from a permanent adverse reaction” after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

On Jun. 9, Lebel-Farrell collapsed while on a run in Tindall Field. According to Eilish Brennan, ArtSci ‘23, the family has yet to receive the coroner’s report.

Brennan, a close friend of

Lebel-Farrell and an outspoken critic of Hillier, sat down with The Journal to discuss Hillier’s recent posts.

“Him misusing a photo of my friend is something that impacted me and those close to Kamila greatly,” Brennan said.

Brennan said her friend’s information was used without the Lebel-Farrell family’s permission and, despite outcry from those closest to them, Hillier refused to take down the post.

“I had to do something. I thought that I need to remind him that there are people who are grieving and using their loved ones without their consent is despicable,” Brennan said.

Brennan started a petition calling for the government of Canada to condemn Hillier’s exploitation of Ontarians deaths without consent from their families.

“My goal is to file a public complaint to the Ministry of the Solicitor General via the government of Canada’s website.

However, in order to do this to

its full effect, I require a list of witnesses,” the petition reads.

Hillier’s post has since been deleted by Instagram but remains on his Facebook account.

“Ultimately, the goal is to remove him from a position of power, but the petition is primarily to make [Hillier] aware of how many people this has affected,” Brennan explained.

Brennan added that L e b e l - Fa r re l l ’ s mother has even come across her daughter’s face on American anti-vaccine websites.

Politicians across Canada have weighed in and condemned Hillier’s misinformed social media post. Premier Doug Ford has referred to the incident as “cheese [slipping] off the cracker” and “appalling.”

In the face of criticism, Hillier tweeted a call to the Ontario Provincial Police to investigate the sudden deaths of young individuals across Ontario.

The Journal reached out to MPP Randy Hillier for a statement.

He didn’t respond in time for publication.

Lebel-Farrell was a beloved member of the community and had just completed her second year in the Faculty of Arts and Science.

“I met Kamila in first year.

She reached out to me through Facebook when we were both put in West campus,” Brennan said.

“We were both kind of bummed about it initially but right off the bat she was so overwhelmingly

Queen’s lost a beloved member of the community on Jun. 9.

$1 million endowment supports access to education

for community action to address Indigenous issues.

“I think it’s also very timely in the sense that these issues about the residential schools have surfaced over the last year or so,” she said.

“There really needs to be efforts made to somehow—not make up for it, because you can’t possibly do that—but to provide Indigenous very, very disparately spread,” young people with opportunities he said. that weren’t there before “I personally feel strongly that for them.”

I would like to make a dent in “We need to bridge the divide that inequality.” that previously existed between Norman Loveland cited the their culture and their location,” uncovering of mass unmarked she added. graves at former residential The STEM:InA initiative school sites across Canada is a result of collaboration as driving the pair to donate between multiple faculties at to STEM:InA. Queen’s—including the “That didn’t necessarily Faculty of Arts and Sciences motivate us to give, but it certainly and the Faculty of Health accelerated our inclination to Sciences. This interdisciplinary do so,” he said. collaboration increased the Gay Loveland echoed her Lovelands’ desire to support husband’s sentiments. The the program. discovery of the unmarked “The collaborative nature of graves clarified the need this sort of thing could be really

Access to the Engineering Education program.

The pair are passionate about ensuring everyone who desires education has the opportunity to further their learning.

“We have a firm belief that every young person should have the opportunity to go as far and as fast Sam Goodale as their drive and ambition will Staff Writer take them,” Norman Loveland said.

“We believe [education] This article discusses the atrocities improves quality of life for all.” committed in Residential Schools The funds mobilized and may be triggering for some through STEM:InA will help readers. Those seeking support may bring geographically distanced contact the Office of Indigenous Indigenous students to Queen’s as Initiatives and Reconciliation or well as orient them to the campus Four Directions. For immediate and Kingston. Potential recipients assistance, the National Indian will have their families invited to Residential School Crisis Hotline can campus to discuss what’s involved be reached at 1-866-925-4419. in an undergraduate degree at Queen’s.

After their $1 million endowment “We want to reach out to to support the STEM: Indigenous prospective students and their Activities (STEM:InA) program, families to show the way to The Journal sat down with Queen’s and show what they donors Norman Loveland, Sci ’65, can do at Queen’s and let the and Gay Loveland. The students identify with how endowment will be spread over they might possibly fit into four years. that environment,” Norman STEM:InA supports the Loveland said. advancement of Indigenous He added that, in the face access to education within of the pandemic, Indigenous science, technology, engineering, communities have suffered and math-based disciplines. The disproportionately.

His initiative is administered by desire to donate came from the Faculty of Engineering and a want to decrease Applied Science. pandemic-related inequity.

The Lovelands have a history “Part of my zeal for this of philanthropy, donating to initiative comes from the fact that both Queen’s and the University one of the unfortunate results of Toronto. One of their major of the pandemic is that there initiatives as donors at Queen’s is a huge windfall benefit to a Norman and Gay Loveland discuss their donation to the STEM: was in support of the Aboriginal huge number of people, but it’s Indigenous Activities initiative.

Lovelands hope to bring distanced Indigenous students to Queen’s

positive about it, saying that we’re going to have the best time ever […] I ended up truly loving West Campus and I think a lot of it can be attributed to her.”

This past Saturday, Lebel-Farrell’s family and friends gathered to plant a tree in her honor by the waterfront of Gord-Brockington residence.

“Kam’s time at Queen’s was short but she impacted so many people,” Brennan said.

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEIINZL

helpful for Indigenous students,” Gay Loveland said.

“An organization that meets their broader needs, both intellectually, educationally, and through these supports of the Aboriginal representatives at the university, we felt that that was really quite an inventive and worthwhile package.”

Though heavily involved in funding the STEM:InA program, the Lovelands are not hands-on in administering the initiative.

However, the pair are confident in the university’s ability to mobilize their funds as efficiently as possible.

“We have the utmost faith in how well Queen’s will use the money and make it count for the kinds of things we relate to,” Norman Loveland said.

“Investing our money in Queen’s not only makes us feel very good about giving it, but we’re so happy that they could do such a better job with that money than we could ever do.”

SUPPLIED BY NORMAN & GAY LOVELAND

News

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Senate questions $350,000 payment to City Senate debates revoking honorary degrees from deceased recipients Sydney Ko Senior News Editor This article discusses sexual assault and may be triggering for some readers. The Kingston Sexual Assault Centre’s 24-hour crisis and support phone line can be reached at 613-544-6424 / 1-800-544-6424.

The Centre’s online chat feature can be reached here.

On Oct. 26, the October senate meeting began with Principal Patrick Deane’s opening address followed by a moment of silence for Queen’s student Jacob Downey.

October’s meeting included discussions on new revisions to the Academic Integrity Procedures policy, the special issuance of Honorary Degrees, and the events that occured during Homecoming weekends.

Academic Integrity Procedures policy The Senate discussed proposed revisions to the Academic Integrity Procedures policy.

Led by Senator Klodiana Kolomitro, chair of the Senate Committee on Academic Development and Procedures (SCADP), the revisions focused on procedural fairness, evidence, confidentiality, and timing.

The report also proposed that each faculty/school appoint an Academic Integrity administrator who will carry out responsibilities including providing advice to instructors and maintaining records.

According to Kolomitro, the revisions have been in the works for “over a year and a half.”

“In terms of the changes that have been done, a lot of those are very logistical and align the procedures with a policy.”

“They aim to clarify the process and reduce the workload of the instructors by clarifying step by step what needs to be done,” Kolomitro said.

“The other change is to bring consistency across faculties and schools.”

Senator Jordan Morelli raised concerns on the recommendations, with a motion to refer the discussed topic back to SCADP. “With all due respect, I would suggest that we still haven’t gotten it right,” Morelli said.

Morelli added that many administrators have often found this work “burdensome”.

“I think it’s contrary to natural justice principles that the investigator is also the judge and jury and the executioner in these things, and also the person that hears initial appeals, and it’s particularly onerous on our terms adjunct faculty which teach a considerable portion of all courses at Queen’s—it’s a huge trauma and one that’s only getting worse,” he said.

Senator Diane Beauchemin, undergraduate chair for Department of Chemistry, seconded the motion.

“Speaking with faculty members in my department, several of them just close their eyes, and they’re just overloaded, so I’m very much in favor of this motion,” Beauchemin said.

After hearing questions and concerns, Kolomitro explained the proposal puts an emphasis on the perspectives of fairness, mental health, consistency, and resource application for faculties and school to follow.

“You’re actually taking away some of the education, the training, the mentoring that we’re working so hard to implement through the academic integrity procedures

Degrees Committee and associate professor in the department of Public Health Sciences, the procedure allowed each senator an opportunity to submit a request for the issuance of a statement regarding past awarding of an honorary degree.

One of the questions raised […] we’re adding to the instructor during the meeting was whether workload because it is the deceased recipients should instructor who knows the context have their award revoked best,” Kolomitro said. on the same grounds as The Senate unanimously voted living recipients. in favour to refer the item back to “I think that keeping in the the SCADP for further revisions. exclusion of the deceased recipients really does send Senate Honorary Degrees a strong message about the Committee branding of the University, and I’m concerned as a Senator,” Senator The Honorary Degree is a Karen Lawford, assistant professor degree awarded to an individual in the department of Gender to recognize “outstanding Studies, said. contribution to society on a “Why can’t we stand up for the national or international scale.” moral rights of humanity? […]

The Honorary Degree I think that allowing deceased Committee aims to provide a recipients to maintain their clearer procedure when issuing honorary degrees from Queen’s awards to individuals whose past and keep that within that family or current conduct bring disrepute legacy maintains colonialism, to the university. white supremacy, the hatred of “This is really about how the the other, the constructions of institution wishes to relate to its the other. It maintains patriarchy,” history and decisions that have Lawford said. been made in the past, particularly Lawford added that having with regard to the honors the this option will ensure inclusion university has chosen to bestow and safety. on individuals or the morale of After being cut off before many decades,” Deane said. finishing her statement, Lawford “We are an institution that has added that she felt “very evolved closely connected to the unwelcomed at the Senate”. evolution of our states and to the “I work very hard at trying to colonial project.” convey this in a manner that is In 2018, the University accessible to those minds here rescinded an honorary degree who don’t consider Indigenous from Aung San Suu Kyi following perspectives or work within her role in the ethnic cleansing the framework, and then to be of the Rohingya in Myanmar. constantly dismissed—this hurts,” According to Deane, the action Lawford said. to revoke the award occurred Senator Duncan issued an outside the policy framework. As a apology and called on Senator result, the Senate hopes to come to Nathan Brinklow to speak on a “coherent position” for Queen’s. the topic. “[This] will enable us to deal Brinklow suggested that honestly and legitimately with revoking honorary degrees should some of these decisions which be the last resort. we have reason to question or “I feel the decision to revoke an to regret, but to do so in a way honorary degree is essentially an that doesn’t expunge history that undoing of a previous degree of isn’t self-serving rather than a Senate, and I think it’s consistent principle. In the way in which we with good governance to undo address some of these decisions,” a previously passed thing that Deane said. requires a super majority to do so,” Led by Senator Hunter Duncan, Morelli said. chair of the Senate Honorary The discussion on honorary

Muslim and Indigenous women discuss faith and work Panel featured Hoda Bayoumi and Kate Brant Asbah Ahmad Assistant News Editor On Oct. 22, the Islamic Society of Kingston (ISK) held a panel titled “How Faith Drives our Work: Perspectives from Indigenous and Muslim Women.”

Mona Rahman, ArtSci ’93 and PhD ‘01, said panel members discussed how faith drives their work.

“Rather than us talking, it would be better to go and invite some of the elders of our communities to speak,” Rahman

said in an interview with The Journal.

The panel members who spoke were Hoda Bayoumi, ISK member, and Kate Brant, one of the Grandmothers of Katarokwi.

Rahman said the panel was designed in conjunction with Lindsay Morcom, assistant professor in the Faculty of Education and coordinator of the Indigenous Teachers Education Program (ITEP), to discuss how Muslim and Indigenous people can share and honour truth and reconciliation.

“The initial idea [of the panel] was actually Lindsay’s,” Rahman said.

Rahman and Morcom both designed this panel based on their personal experiences and

interactions with each other’s respective communities.

“We have both noticed that there are many similarities in our [Indigenous and Muslim] perspectives, and the ways we approach things, and we thought it would be worthwhile exploring,” Rahman explained.

Rahman said panel members spoke to how faith can promote healing when faced with oppression.

“We sat and had a conversation about how faith drives our work, and we spoke about how our faith helps us during tragedies and situations [...] This is especially the case in Indigenous communities and the oppression that has been going on for so long” Rahman said.

“I think it’s the same with the

degrees was later tabled for further consideration.

Principal’s report In his report, Deane noted the recent large gatherings in the University District during both homecoming weekends.

“I’ll begin with the obvious, disturbing events in the last several weeks in terms of student behaviour, street parties, and most particularly, the emergence of misogynistic signs on student buildings during the homecoming weekend,” Deane said.

Deane said the signs reflected the need to “change the culture” of this institution.

“I think anyone who has watched the YouTube video produced

by Jack Denmo at homecoming events […] will realize it’s not just the signs that are troubling, [it’s the] attitudes to sex and gender, and sexual violence—we do have a bigger problem.”

According to Deane, the signs were taken down immediately at the request of campus security. Additionally, students who put up the signs will be “dealt with under the sexual violence policy.”

After Deane’s report, Senator Morelli raised concerns regarding the $350,000 payment the University made to the city to compensate extra costs taken on from enforcing COVID-19 restrictions in the student district.

“I and a few others were a little bit troubled that the university gave $350,000, I think it was proactively, to the City of Kingston, I think for the explicit use of policing,” Morelli said.

“At the end of the day, my view is that policing is a city responsibility,” he said. “We pay taxes, everybody pays taxes, and the university shouldn’t be giving away money when we were struggling to fund programs and hire faculty and meet the mental health needs of our students.”

Morelli said he would rather see the funds targeted towards student outreach and mental health supports.

In response to Morelli’s comment, Deane said the university “does not pay taxes directly to the city.”

“This contribution to the city is in recognition of unusual challenges to their budget, occasioned by the activities of our student body this fall,” Deane said.

women on the panel believe action can come in many forms.

Muslim community, especially “It’s doing good for the this year and the past few months community, in whatever sphere with the tragedies we’ve been that might be in: professional, going through.” community, within your Rahman says, in many family, and fighting for social cases, both Muslim and justice. This is all faith driven,” Indigenous communities use Rahman said. their faith to build resilience Rahman added it’s important and become stronger in the face for Queen’s students to keep an of adversity. open mind and listen to and learn “Just looking at how Indigenous new perspectives. traditions and our faith in the “University is great because Muslim community keep us we get a whole range of opinions, going, help with our resilience,” you get to explore those Rahman said. opinions and have discussions.”

Panelists said faith must be Rahman said. “put into action.”

“Sometimes we think we are “You can’t just have faith. It’s right at all costs, and we don’t good to believe and have faith, listen to other people, [but] we but you need to put that faith should always listen and take into action.” Rahman said. a step back.”

She added that all the

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AMS fall referendum statements See the full list of descriptions for student fees up for a vote at the fall referendum The Journal provides free space in our print edition and online for parties on the referendum ballot.

All statements are unedited.

This year, the fall referendum will take place on Nov. 1 and 2.

Queen’s Hellenic Student’s Association The Queen’s Hellenic Student Association (QHSA) is a rapidly growing cultural club at Queen’s University which was originally established in 2013.

Since the beginning of our time at Queen’s, QHSA has had a mission to promote Hellenic culture on campus. Our club generally holds a few events each month which aim to unify students of Hellenic descent and those simply interested in our culture. By promoting an open atmosphere and celebrating Hellenic culture, both ancient and modern, we intend to bring the true spirit of Neo-Hellenism to life amongst the members of our organization. We also hope to create and maintain a sense of community that is a great joy to participate in.

Membership is not limited solely to students of Greek lineage but is open to all those who are interested in Greek culture. In turn, every member has an equal opportunity to participate in our association.

While most QHSA events are held on campus or online, and intended for Queen’s students, we also tend to help the Kingston Greek Community whenever possible. The main event that our club helps the Kingston Greek Community with is their Greek food sales. This event is hosted, planned, and executed entirely by the Greek Community of Kingston.

However, QHSA helps support by purchasing food at our own disclosure, and we help market the event through our club’s social media pages. Additionally, while QHSA is not a religious group, some members may choose to attend church together to further support the Kingston Greek Community. University can be a huge adjustment for most students. Therefore, if QHSA can provide a sense of comfort and support for Queen’s students, our goal has been achieved.

Queen’s Project on International Development Queen’s Project on International Development (QPID) is a student-run organization

operating out of the Queen’s is an excellent opportunity to Engineering Society since 1990. fund undergraduate projects On campus, QPID hosts a monthly focused on different aspects forum which focuses on a of sustainability. variety of development and global justice issues and through Muse Magazine engaging guest speakers and topics, connecting students Conceived in CoGro as an with leaders in all fields of local ambitious dream scribbled on and global development. In lined paper, MUSE Magazine Kingston, QPID runs workshop emerged as the brainchild of activities in local schools and three artistically enthusiastic plans a two day conference for students. The first issue, named high school students, all relating “The Explosion” was launched in to important development February 2011. Recently in 2019, topics.

Through these the magazine celebrated its 10 education initiatives, QPID hopes year anniversary! to stimulate more awareness Our team is comprised of of global problems that our over 100 members across our 4 generation faces and engage branches: Online, Business, Print, students to take informed action and Creative. MUSE seeks to build towards these issues. Through an inclusive and open minded our community outreach community, whilst providing a team, QPID has an established medium for students to explore relationship with the Kingston their creative passions through Youth Shelter and provides various roles from directors and support for their organization heads to contributors and interns, in a number of ways. QPID and as readers too. runs a week-long campaign in MUSE is a tribute to the the spring to raise awareness innovative, the unique, the fashion about youth homelessness in forward, and the stylistically Kingston, and raise funds for creative. It is a nod of gratitude the shelter: In previous years, to those who break the mold and QPID has raised over $12,000 to expose beauty in places we may support the shelter’s operations. overlook in our daily student In Canada and internationally, adventure. Having published QPID participates in summer twenty-three print issues to internships that share a focus on date and hundreds of articles collaboration between interns online, MUSE strives to be the and host communities to fill go-to authority for all things community-identified needs. creative at Queen’s. From lifestyle, QPID has participated in over fashion, entertainment, the arts 200 grassroots community to our very own ‘MUSE’INGS,’ initiatives in Guyana, Ghana, our mandate is to highlight the Nunavut, Bolivia, Peru, India, creative talent at Queen’s Nicaragua, Burkina Faso, and University with diversity, inclusion, Kingston. QPID currently and accessibility at the forefront participates in summer projects of our work. In addition to daily by sending two students to articles and content showcased on each of our partners in the our online platforms, we release Northwest Territories, Botswana, one free print issue per semester and India, the Gambia, and the at our events, on campus, and Philippines. With our holistic across Kingston. and conscious approach to MUSE is seeking a $0.15 fee development education, QPID increase to their $0.50 fee in continues to support the local and order to increase the amount of international community. In all student work we can showcase that we do, QPID strives to engage in our magazine by increasing in critical thinking and work the page count, ensuring towards informed action. long-term sustainability.

Sustainability Action Fund

Robogals

The Sustainable Action Fund is granted to students who apply to it in hopes of improving sustainability at Queen’s through relevant events and initiatives. The applicability of the fund is extremely broad and has been granted to a variety of initiatives including conferences, a greenhouse, a residence composting initiative, and a secure bike storage facility. This

Robogals is an international, student-run organization that aims to inspire, engage, and empower women to consider studying engineering and related fields. Our primary activity is hosting interactive, engineering-based workshops for elementary and high school students. The Robogals chapter at Queen’s University has been making a positive impact in the Kingston, Ontario community

since 2013. In the past few years, we have helped introduce over 500 young women to robotics and engineering. Many of these students have never had the opportunity to play with electronics before, let alone LEGO robots; but after a one-hour workshop with Robogals Queen’s, they become completely comfortable with programming the robots. Our curriculum also includes HTML, iRobot, TinkerCAD, and Scratch coding workshops. All students are welcome to participate!

In addition to supporting elementary and high school students, Robogals provides opportunities to the club’s executive members and volunteers as well. Every year, Robogals Queen’s is invited to the Seminar on Inducting New Executives (SINE), ran by Robogals North America. SINE is an exciting time for Robogals volunteers from across the region to come together and learn more about the broader Robogals community through workshops, presentations, panels, and team building events.

Queen’s University Blood Team Queen’s University Blood Team (QUBT) is a group of 2 Co-Chairs, 8 Directors, 13 Coordinators, and approx. 20 General Executive members, which work alongside Canadian Blood Services (CBS) to promote blood donation and stem cell registration at Queen’s University.

To promote blood donation, our club sets up blood clinics in the BioSciences Complex and runs a LifeBus, which takes groups of students to the permanent clinic on Gardiners Road to donate. We also host events for promotion of blood donation and raise awareness through social media initiatives. As well, our club runs events encouraging students to sign up for the National Stem Cell Registry and competes with other universities in the Get Swabbed Challenge hosted by CBS to get the most registrants possible. The hard work and strong community in QUBT have not gone unnoticed

by CBS, who we work very closely with.

Queen’s Bands Since 1905, Queen’s Bands have represented the spirit and traditions of Queen’s University.

Queen’s Bands is Canada’s largest and oldest university marching band, with a current membership of 100 students. We are no

experience necessary and should a student wish to learn a new skill we offer various workshops to teach them these skills. The Bands are comprised of six sections: Colour Guard, Bagpipes, Drum Corps, Highland Dancers, Brass Band, and Cheerleaders.

We represent the university locally, provincially, nationally, and internationally. Queen’s Bands performs at home and away football games, other varsity events, Orientation Week, University Open Houses, holiday parades, alumni events, and community gatherings.

Additionally, The Bands assist in many fundraising initiatives in the Queen’s and Kingston communities every year.

All Bands members pay substantial membership fees and cover many costs individually.

However, these membership fees are not sufficient enough to cover all costs associated with our numerous performances, such as those listed above. Queen’s Bands is requesting a continuation of the current fee of $4.15 per student to help cover our operational expenses. AMS Student Fees are used to cover many costs, including transportation, accommodation, uniform and instrument purchase and repair, sheet music, and police escorts for community parades.

With your vote, Queen’s Bands can continue to represent our university with enthusiasm and pride. From your first tour of campus to your convocation to your 50th class reunion, whether it’s an Oil Thigh after a touchdown at a football game or an Oil Thigh at your Tamming Ceremony during Orientation Week, Queen’s Bands has and always will be there with you every step of the way.

Cha Gheill!

Levana Gender Advocacy Center The Levana Gender Advocacy Centre is a student-funded Queen’s University organization committed to creating and nurturing a radical community of Kingston students and residents. Devoted to fighting gender oppression and advocating for broad ideas of gender empowerment for those of any or no gender, Levana operates on anti-oppressive practices.

Having collected a student fee in years prior, we have developed student-led working groups and programming initiatives such as our lunchtime chat series, in which we have facilitated conversations around social justice issues relevant to the Queen’s community. With our student fee, we are able to co-sponsor

N

6 • queensjournal.ca panels and conferences on issues applicable to our mandate of gender advocacy such as AltFrosh and Alt-Frost, consent workshops, as well as our Radical Body Positivity Conference in January 2019. We also facilitate and provide equity and anti-oppression training for internal organizations on campus such as ASUS, the AMS, and EGSS. We also provide funding for equity-based student projects, and have funded and hope to continue to fund a variety of events including conference, publications, and art shows, performances.

Step Above the Stigma SAS was founded at Queen’s University and now has over 100 volunteers working towards a fundraising goal of $1,000,000 to facilitate systemic change within the Canadian mental health care system. Our mission is to de-stigmatize, revolutionize and redefine what it means to have mental health or struggle with mental illness(es); to unequivocally demonstrate the imperativeness of self-care and self-love both when it comes to others and oneself; to educate and empower as many individuals as possible to identify when someone is struggling to provide support and direct them to potentially life-saving resources; to build a nationwide mental health community by collaborating with charities and community organizations who work at the intersection of mental health and other extremely important factors that impact quality of life such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status; and affect systemic change within the Canadian mental health care system to ensure every student, no matter their socioeconomic status, can access the help they need.

In the last 5 years SAS has hosted 204 events and 310 campaigns both online and in person. Moreover, Ampai and her team have directly impacted 120,645 individuals, have had 724 volunteers since 2017, and have raised $102,000.

SAS is also in the process of building BIPOCloud (Black Indigenous People of Colour - Loud) a national

research-based online platform of mental health resources for BIPOC students, which will go live in 2022.

Next year, SAS plans to host their third annual SAS summit, where mental health advocates can tune in online for a day of learning, community building, and compassionate discussion; mental health workshops; intersectional collaborations; annual car smash where we purchase a scrapped car, bring the car to the center of U and U, paint stigmatized words and smash it to raise funds; annual Coffee house that provides a platform for students to tell their stories, and methods of self-care; volunteer meetings; and programming for the greater Kingston community and local high school students.

Friday Friends Friday Friends is an informal group mentorship program that seeks to facilitate the social and personal development of young adults with intellectual disabilities through interaction with students from the Queen’s community.

Volunteers and participants meet on Fridays from 6 to 8PM for a variety of social activities including movie nights, bowling, baking, crafts, board games and sports.

The mandate is to provide a positive social setting in which Queen’s students and young adults with disabilities can interact.

Queen’s Students for Literacy Queen’s Students for Literacy was established as a branch of Frontier College in 1899, making us the second oldest club at Queen’s. Queen’s Students for Literacy runs three different programs: Literacy Outreach, Math is Might and Read 4 Fun. Each program focuses on helping different groups in the Kingston community build their

literacy and numeracy skills and foster a love of learning.

Our Read 4 Fun program provides reading and homework services to elementary school students in Kingston. We offer free one-on-one tutoring program to build upon what is learned in the classroom, and to provide additional assistance and customized learning.

Our Literacy Outreach program works with children and adults staying at Lily’s Place and Interval House shelters in the Kingston community, as well as with new immigrants to Canada through Immigrant Services Kingston and Area. While working with learners in the shelters our goal is to promote a love of reading and provide additional academic support, while also providing child supervision for parents in the process.

This year we have also introduced a new program, Math is Might, which is designed to assist high school children in grade 9 with the new de-streamlined math curriculum. Our goal is to ensure that children who may not be able to afford math tutoring have access to tutoring services to assist them with the new curriculum.

Funds acquired through our student opt-out fee are essential to providing our tutors with transportation to our community partners in the Kingston community where our tutoring takes place, as well as provide resources, both virtual and physical, for our tutors and learners. Without our student fee we would be unable to provide transportation for our tutors, lack the funding for recruitment, hiring, club administration and

Friday, October 29, 2021 miscellaneous physical and virtual classroom supply costs.

Queen’s Legal Aid Queen’s Legal Aid (“QLA”) is legal aid clinic that provides free legal services to lowincome residents in the Kingston area.

By paying a $6.00 student levy, Queen’s University students automatically qualify for our free legal services. Without this fee, Queen’s students would only qualify for QLA’s services if the student’s family’s income met the LAO financial criteria, which approximates the low income cutoff that defines the poverty line for Canadian urban areas.

QLA assist Queen’s students with: • Landlord/Tenant problems, including unresolved maintenance issues, interference with a tenant’s right, and illegal charges charged by landlords; • Minor criminal offences, including theft, assault and mischief charges; • Full representation on provincial offences, including Highway Traffic Act, Reopening Ontario Act or Liquor Licencing Act charges; • Charges under the City of Kingston’s Nuisance Party Bylaw or other laws prosecuted under the University District Safety Initiative; • City of Kingston Administrative Monetary Penalties; • Small Claim Court claims and defences; • Employment law matters; • Human rights claims; and • Appeals to the University Student Appeal Board.

For Queen’s students only, we also provide a dedicated service of notarizing and commissioning documents, free of charge, including declarations and affidavits for OSAP purposes, graduate school applications or invitations to visit Canada. A Queen’s

University student who uses our services to commission just one document, or to have a single document certified as a “true copy” will save the significant cost of paying a private lawyer for that same service!

Best Buddies The purpose of Queen’s University Best Buddies is to promote and support friendships between Queen’s University students and individuals with special needs in the community.

Best Buddies provides the opportunity for students to develop close friendships with people with developmental and intellectual disabilities with the goal of fostering respect and understanding for the diversity of people and abilities.

Queen’s University Best Buddies is a campus affiliate of Best Buddies Canada, an organization that aims to provide people with intellectual disabilities the chance to have experiences that many people take for granted. As a club, Queen’s University Best Buddies facilitates and supports friendships between students and individuals with intellectual disabilities in the Kingston community. Students are paired with a buddy and are responsible for contacting their buddy regularly and meeting their buddy biweekly for a one-on-one activity. These friendships are intended to be similar to any other friendships and time spent together may include going for coffee, watching movies, going to the mall, attending a local sporting event, engaging in physical activity, or another mutually enjoyable activity. At least once a month Queen’s University Best Buddies hosts chapter-wide group events where everyone is invited to socialize with other buddy pairs and enjoy refreshments, crafts, dancing, and various other activities.

Features

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queensjournal.ca

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FEATURES

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL

The Journal spoke to three students about how gender roles and expectations impact their learning.

The reality of being a woman in STEM A ‘frat culture’ still exists in STEM classrooms KIRBY HARRIS Features Editor Women students have outnumbered their male classmates for years at Queen’s.

For the past decade, the percentage of women at Queen’s has remained relatively stable at around 57 per cent of the student body. However, in STEM classrooms—any subject falling under science, technology, engineering, and math—women are still a minority.

In 2020, 28 per cent of undergraduate engineering students at Queen’s were women.

While that number may seem small, it’s significantly higher than the national average of about 19 per cent.

There are similar numbers in other STEM programs at Queen’s. In 2015, about 35 per cent of undergraduate computing students at Queen’s were women.

The national average percentage of women in computing programs hovers at around 15 per cent.

The humanities, social sciences, and education are just some programs that are usually far over 60 per cent women.

Women in these programs study, learn, and eventually work with plenty of other women.

Women who are studying STEM subjects don’t always have the same luxury.

From the classroom to their careers, women in STEM are constantly working in male dominated spaces. Without proper intervention, this can lend to inequalities.

“The boys would just dive into the technical components.”

In STEM classrooms, group work is defined by a gendered division of labour.

Simone Markus, PhD candidate in Geological Engineering, is particularly aware of this phenomenon.

As a teaching assistant (TA), Markus is sometimes responsible for overseeing group projects in class. She noticed patterns in how tasks are delegated between genders.

“I remember so distinctly there was different components to the design projects they were working on,” Markus said of a design class she was a TA for.

“The girls would end up doing the work that was like editing the reports, making the presentations, and doing more of the touchy-feely work and the social aspects of engineering. The boys would just dive into the technical components.”

Markus worries that by dividing work this way, women can miss out on developing important technical skills.

“I feel like that is a challenge for a lot of female students where they end up not really learning all the aspects of the course.”

Markus explained.

“I don’t know if it was intentional for excluding the girls, but it’s something that happened in every group that I was supervising.

That’s how the work was divided.

I don’t want to say because the male students push them out, because it’s not really anybody’s fault.”

Even if gendered divisions of labour aren’t intentional, they can create an environment where men’s learning is prioritized.

For Zoe Rolfe-Low, Eng ’22, these same gender roles have had a noticeable effect on her learning.

In a first-year coding class, Rolfe-Low was teamed up with a male classmate who was having problems with his computer.

“His computer wasn’t working for coding and so we could only use my computer. Every single class he would take my computer from me and then write it.”

As a result of losing that class time, Rolfe-Low wasn’t able to perform well in the course.

“I didn’t learn to code, and I

did really poorly in that class,” Rolfe-Low said.

When she did get the chance to learn to code again, Rolfe-Low discovered she was good at coding when given the opportunity to learn on her own.

“In third year, I did really well in a class that’s very similar.”

These problems aren’t unique to Queen’s, or even a university setting. Alice Cehic, CompSci ’22, had a similar experience before attending Queen’s.

“In high school, I went to a computing competition, and I was partnered with a dude, and he was taking more of the reins on the computer,” Cehic said.

“There was only one computer, he only let me have it a few times, then he’d take it away from me.”

“All my professors this semester are male. All of them except for one last semester were male.”

Women in STEM programs can sometimes struggle to relate to their male professors. Although Queen’s carries out inclusive hiring practices, many programs lack women professors.

“All my professors this semester are male. All of them except for one last semester were male,” Cehic said.

“Having a female professor would be great, just to have someone to relate to, someone who understands, and you can feel a bit more comfortable with.”

The lack of women in senior roles isn’t unique to academic institutions. In many STEM fields, it’s rare to find women in managerial roles.

“As a young engineer, you don’t end up seeing a lot of female role models who are doing the things that you want to do,” Markus said.

“In industry, it’s a lot harder to find role models and mentors that are senior in their career that are women.”

T h e re a re s eve ra l potential reasons for this gap in representation.

Often women are expected to juggle family life and a career

in a way that’s not expected of men. This is called the “double burden” of working women and consists of the extra housework and caregiving women perform. In 2018, Statistics Canada found that, on average, women perform over 6 hours more of household labour per week than men.

“When women have children when they’re working, if it’s a male and female couple, often the woman is the one who takes the parental leave, and it kind of becomes expected that women will take parental leave and men won’t,” Markus said.

“If a woman is thinking about having a family, subconsciously a manager might think ‘is she gonna go and take time off?’ and maybe that effects what project she gets put on or if she gets a promotion.”

The lack of women in senior STEM positions has a generational impact. While the first classes for women were held at Queen’s in 1869, it would be decades before women broke into STEM subjects.

Women were not accepted into the Faculty of Engineering at Queen’s until 1942.

“It’s a frat culture basically in engineering.”

In the near-80 years since Queen’s Engineering first started accepting women, a culture rooted in patriarchal standards has remained.

“It’s a frat culture basically in engineering,” Rolfe-Low said.

“There’s all these traditions that have sexist and racist undertones that are just being kind of watered down, but the culture is still there.”

This culture isn’t unique to engineering, but also manifests in other male-dominated classrooms.

“The things said in class, not just by students but also by the professors—that is the main thing that could be changed to make it feel more inclusive,” Cehic said.

In the computing program,

Cehic has experienced many instances of professors using gendered examples in class.

Professors sometimes single out women students in an attempt to engage them with stereotypically feminine objects or topics.

“For guys, expensive cars, and for girls another example,” Cehic said.

There is a general lack of awareness about discrimination among many STEM students.

Although Queen’s offers courses on both the past and present of discriminatory practices, these courses aren’t usually seen as relevant to STEM programs.

“Being required to take more courses about history or the experiences of other people would really help a lot of engineering students,” Rolfe-Low said.

Promoting STEM to young girls has been a longtime goal of academic institutions, nonprofits, and even the Canadian federal government.

“I think there’s a lot going on with promoting STEM to younger girls and high school girls,” Markus said. “More is always better.”

The faster women enter STEM fields, the faster classrooms can learn to actively include them.

However, these efforts have left a lot of women in who are currently in STEM programs feeling a lack of support.

“I was pushed into STEM as a teenager without any of the problems that women in STEM face being fixed,” Rolfe-Low said.

Despite the relatively high rates of women in Queen’s STEM programs, stepping inside the classroom can still feel isolating.

“Queen’s makes the effort by accepting females, and sure, that’s great, but once you’re in the door it’s not fun. It’s not great. It’s not inclusive. It’s like from the outside it looks nice with a good ratio, but once you’re inside it sucks,” Cehic said.

“I think that there’s a lot to be done. They’re trying, and I’ll take it, I’ll take what I can get.”

8 • queensjournal.ca

Editorials

EDITORIALS

Friday, October 29, 2021

The Journal’s Perspective

It’s up to all of us to stop online bullying

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEIINZL

Kirby Harris Cyberbullying is on the rise. More parents across the world are reporting their children being cyberbullied.

At first glance, you may assume this behaviour is an unfortunate consequence of a generation raised online. But it’s not other children setting the standard for modern cyberbullying. Instead, it’s set by adult influencers who profit off “cringe culture.”

TikTok and YouTube have thousands of videos of adults going viral for laughing at content posted by children. The insults hurled at kids online would be identified as severe bullying if said on school grounds.

When we support this behaviour, we’re sending the message to children that it’s okay to be mean to their peers—as long as their insults are funny.

When I first learned what cyberbullying was, it had a very specific definition. It was the mid 2000s, and social media was just emerging. Cyberbullying only meant mean text messages or emails sent relentlessly to a victim.

Times have changed. Social media apps and websites like TikTok and Instagram have made everybody an online content creator. Cyberbullying is no longer being carried out by classmates, but by strangers online.

Mocking and sarcastic comments can be disastrous to a person’s mental health and emotional wellbeing. Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying is omnipresent, and can feel never-ending to the victim.

This doesn’t mean we have to be nice all the time. In some cases, content creators “cringing” at videos can be harmless.

In cases of “punching up”—when someone makes fun of a more powerful person or group—nobody really gets hurt.

Creating comedy out of mocking celebrities, politicians, and corporations is a natural extension of critiquing public figures.

Online cringe culture is problematic because it’s rarely aimed at those with power. Instead, it usually mocks children and teenagers who’ve never been in the public

eye before. Their only error was posting a “cringey” or awkward video. It’s common for these “cringey” videos to be recorded without their consent and posted by friends, family members, or even strangers.

By interacting with and boosting videos of content creators mocking children, we’re sending the message to children that this kind of behaviour is acceptable. This same bullying behaviour can manifest in classrooms and schools as kids try to mimic their favourite online creators.

I’m not exempt from this behaviour. I have often laughed at a video or image of a young person on social media that was never intended to be funny. It’s easy to forget how a like or comment can impact someone, especially if you were not the one to make the joke in the first place.

Before sharing a cringey video with your friends or liking an insulting comment, think first about who your action may be hurting.

Will you be laughing at a child? Did they post the video themselves, or was it filmed without their consent?

If the video was never intended to be funny in the first place, it might be better to just keep scrolling.

Kirby is a fourth-year Global Development Studies student and one of The Journal’s Features Editors.

THE QUEEN’S JOURNAL Volume 149 Issue 11 www.queensjournal.ca @queensjournal Publishing since 1873

Editorial Board Editors in Chief

Aysha Tabassum Shelby Talbot

Production Manager

Violetta Zeitlinger Fontana

News Editor Assistant News Editors

Features Editors

Sydney Ko Asbah Ahmad Rida Chaudry Anne Fu Kirby Harris Julia Stratton

Editorials Editor Editorials Illustrator Opinions Editor

Anna Fouks Clanny Mugabe Cassidy McMackon

Arts Editor

Ben Wrixon

Assistant Arts Editor Sports Editor

Mackenzie Loveys Angus Merry

Assistant Sports Editor Lifestyle Editor

Natara Ng Alysha Mohamed

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Madeleine McCormick Spencer Hendrickson

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Curtis Heinzl Nathan Carter

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Leah Smithson Martin Hayes Suzy Leinster

Graphics Editor

Dharmayu Desai

Podcast Coordinator BIPOC Advisory Board Members

Lauren Thomas Alysha Ahmad Anya D’Souza Yvonne Tan

Contributing Staff Contributors

Ariel Aguilar Gonzalez Sophie Deasy Hillary Fotheringham

Staff Writers

Jack Burnham Sam Goodale

Business Staff

Increased police presence in the University District must not go unacknowledged Students are uncomfortable with the City of Kingston’s increased policing of the University District. Once again, the University is turning a blind eye.

Before Homecoming weekend on Oct. 15, news broke that Queen’s would be making a $350,000 donation to the City of Kingston to compensate increased costs as a result of enforcing COVID-19 restrictions in the University District. The Board feels a lack of funding dedicated to other means supporting student safety and curbing destruction during this time is concerning—particularly because the City seems bent on spending this money on policing.

The past two weekends, as students took to Aberdeen St. for Hoco and Foco debauchery, they were met with a heavy police presence—including officers in riot gear.

The rowdy minority of students on Queen’s party weekends, who make decisions which endanger themselves, their peers and the overall Kingston community—especially during a pandemic—deserve no excuse. But the increased presence of police around campus serves to make students feel intimidated, not protected.

The AMS has spearheaded a petition demanding that Queen’s donation to the City be put towards harm reduction rather than law enforcement. Over 1,500 people have signed, yet the University has been silent.

Remaining passive about the police presence at street party events increases danger for attendees in an already chaotic atmosphere. The University should know better than to be complicit when it comes to student safety.

Queen’s decision to donate an unprecedented amount of money to

the City while neglecting how it’s spent ignores the voices of students, particularly historically marginalized students, as they reject over-policing. These same students, including students of colour and LGBTQIA+ individuals, are among those disproportionately targeted by police.

The vandalism and the destructive parties during events like Homecoming aren’t acceptable. However, we live in a society where police involvement can pose a detriment to student safety.

This past Homecoming celebration is a good example. Unsurprisingly, most of the policing focus was on Aberdeen, the traditional hub for the street party. Law enforcement drove students from the street, dividing the party into smaller groups and moving the commotion outwards into the University District.

Although Aberdeen quieted, the efforts resulted in hundreds of inebriated students to move away from campus—and help—to engage in dangerous behaviors across the community.

When the City chooses to deploy

a large police presence, the officers present should be actively protecting attendees and property, not ratcheting up unwanted behaviors.

Queen’s money would’ve been better spent if funds were diverted towards protecting students who were inevitably going to choose to risk Homecoming this year.

Setting up support tents to help those suffering from the effects of alcohol, for example, could’ve facilitated safety and supervision of students while reducing strain on Kingston’s hospitals—a meaningful way to reduce the financial burden on the City.

When it comes to addressing party weekends, Queen’s must be prepared to prevent dangerous and destructive student behaviors without compromising student safety—instead of passively watching the situation unfold.

—Journal Editorial Board

ILLUSTRATION BY CLANNY MUGABE

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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.

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Contents © 2021 by The Queen’s Journal; all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission of The Journal.

Opinions

Friday, October 29, 2021

queensjournal.ca

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OPINIONS

Queen’s Homecoming is a problem to be managed, not solved To mitigate street parties, the University needs to reinvest in programming for students

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DHARMAYU DESAI

Ariel believes Queen’s should refocus its approach away from policing.

Ariel Aguilar Gonzalez Contributor Queen’s has a longstanding history of rowdy Homecoming celebrations.

Every year, it seems as though the university experiences the same routine. The weekend consistently features a shocked mayor, a somber principal condemning street parties, disgruntled neighbours, and disorderly students celebrating in the streets.

Although the student body continues to be freshened with new faces, the pattern is feeling a little worn out.

In fact, the only change in the narrative seems to be the size of the festivities. This year, with ever- increasing student enrollment and an unsatiated appetite for Homecoming celebrations leftover from long lockdowns, the street parties have reached another all-time high.

The intensity of street parties this year shouldn't be surprising.

To mitigate rowdy street parties, Queen’s should instead invest in deterring students from attending street parties through a greater focus on engaging in-person programming.

My first year at Queen’s coincided with the last year of the four-year suspension of Homecoming between 2008 and 2012. Although "foco" celebrations continued in those intervening years, the street parties returned with a bang in 2013 when Homecoming was officially reintroduced.

You could also consider this year’s celebrations as similar

to "foco" of years past, since official Homecoming celebrations continued to take place virtually this year.

This doesn't bode well for what the street parties will look like next year.

violent behaviour " While over Homecoming weekend cannot be tolerated, students who are expelled will simply be replaced by future Homecoming offenders the next year

Regardless of the length of the suspension, the reputation of Homecoming ensures new students and others outside the Queen’s community conflate the weekend’s celebrations with public parties and hanging out on rooftops. The pandemic helped build anticipation for this year’s festivities, and it's clear that the scale of street partying is on a steady upward trend.

Now, the cries of expulsion are raining down harder than bylaw fines.

Former Kingston mayor and current MP Mark Gerretsen recently argued that increasing student discipline via expulsion is the “only meaningful solution.”

While violent behaviour over Homecoming weekend cannot be tolerated, students who are expelled will simply be replaced by future Homecoming offenders the next year.

Additionally, expulsion does little to address the number of

party-goers with no association with Queen’s. As Mayor Bryan Paterson has noted, Kingston police estimated that “about half of the crowd” from the first weekend of this year’s Homecoming gatherings weren't Queen’s students.

It appears that Queen’s Homecoming has earned the distinction of becoming the last stop on the university town “roadshow” as the mayor put it.

It’s frustrating that despite larger fines failing to stop even larger street parties, elected Kingston representatives continue to double down on a hardline approach in search of a silver bullet. While this policy may be a deterrent to some, it obviously doesn't dampen the enthusiasm of those students determined to party on Aberdeen.

It's likely those trekking on the Homecoming roadshow don’t factor in bylaw fines when planning their itineraries, either.

With Homecoming firmly established as a special weekend to party in the minds of students across the province, there’s no solution to this problem.

Instead, to help mitigate this problem, Queen’s should refocus in its approach to managing student behaviour by offering better programming over Homecoming to its students.

Consider that before the implementation of the ReUnion Street Festival, there was no official Homecoming programming on Saturday nights. The festival was implemented in 2014 to offer students a meaningful chance to celebrate Homecoming with

alumni and other members of the Queen’s community.

As a member of AMS leadership at the time, I spent long meetings with university administrators and City of Kingston staff to convince them that it was critical to offer students a compelling choice other than flipping cups in someone’s front yard.

While it didn’t eliminate street parties entirely, the ReUnion Street Festival did serve as a draw for students and even had the endorsement of Kingston politicians and community leaders after they saw the impact that it had on reduced student crowds.

It may currently be unrealistic to host such a large-scale event again on campus while still facing public health restrictions, but students shouldn't have to choose between an unsafe environment in the University District or simply staying at home.

The University has already demonstrated the fiscal capacity to grant $350,000 to the City of Kingston for this year, and this money may be better allocated towards a proactive approach towards tackling student behaviour.

you are "aWhether Kingstonian or an

reputation and doesn't quell Kingston residents' frustrations and calls for more severe punishment.

From my time as the Municipal Affairs Commissioner at the AMS, there was a notable lack of collaboration between University administrators, City officials, and their counterparts from different university towns facing similar problems.

After Mayor Paterson said recently that university towns in Ontario need to work together, it appears this is disappointingly still the case. Perhaps a simple practical solution to the Homecoming party circuit may be scheduling all Ontario university homecoming festivities to occur on the same weekend.

Regardless of the specific tactics, Queen’s has an obligation to provide a safe and welcoming environment for students, alumni, and Kingston residents during Homecoming weekend. The cast of students will change every year, and so the threats of cancellations and expulsions will continually miss their mark.

Whether you are a Kingstonian or an alumnus watching from afar like me, the plot line is getting tired. It's time for a change of direction.

alumnus watching from afar like me, the plot line is getting tired

Ariel Agular Gonzalez is a ’16 Queen’s alumni and former AMS Commissioner of Municipal Affairs.

As it stands, writing an annual cheque to the City doesn't change the underlying factors behind Homecoming’s

To submit an opinion, contact journal_letters@ams.queensu.ca

Arts

10 • queensjournal.ca

Friday, October 29, 2021

ARTS

SUPPLIED BY LINDA COULTER

Coulter’s ‘Rejuvenate’ is one of the pieces on display.

Kingston Fibre Artists hosting annual show and sale Members are united using textiles to create art Ben Wrixon Senior Arts Editor After COVID-19 cancelled their 2020 event, the annual show and sale hosted by the Kingston Fibre Artists is back for 2021 at the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning.

Art Threads 2021 opened on Oct. 23 and is running until Nov. 4. The Journal spoke with show coordinator Linda Coulter about how the Kingston Fibre

Artists continually create beautiful art using textiles. “[Kingston Fibre Artists] is a cooperative, in the sense that it’s not open to the public,” Coulter said.

“It’s by invitation only. based on skill level and ability to get along with the rest of the members. This is our 22nd show.”

The Fibre Artists group currently has 15 members connected by their desire to host an annual show and sale. They meet monthly to socialize and help each other develop as artists. Coulter said the group is stitched together by their collective use of textiles.

“There’s no obligation to make any particular kind of art—you can do abstract, realistic, wall-hangings, or anything you want—but the idea is that [Kingston Fibre Artists] use textiles in some fashion.”

The group usually holds their annual show in April. However, limitations and restrictions imposed by the pandemic ultimately pushed their year’s event into the fall.

Their comprehensive Art Threads 2021 gallery features over 60 pieces from 13 group members and in a wide variety of different artistic styles.

This opportunity

SPAF hosts annual Halloween parade

to proudly display their work for the public is long overdue for many group members.

“The work is quite extraordinary this year,” Coulter said.

“I find it very inspired this year, and I think it’s because it’s been two-and-ahalf years since our last show in April of 2019. [Our artists] have gotten to choose their favourite pieces, and I think it certainly shows.”

Yes, despite the beauty seen in their finished products, Coulter acknowledged the last few years have hardly been pretty for many artists—many members within the group had their creative energy and process disrupted by all facets of COVID-19.

“I would say the group is fifty-fifty. There are certain people in the group who have felt that [the pandemic] killed their creativity, and that they couldn’t get their head around creating like they used to.”

Coulter, however, doesn’t count herself as one of them.

“I had a huge time of creativity. I think for me, the reason my output increased was because I had more time. When COVID came, I had some real dedicated time.”

“It did change my work,” she added.

“It changed my palette a bit. You know, it was a little bit more muted than normal. It certainly wasn’t intentional, but probably [reflected] my mood.”

The work on display for Art Threads 2021 embodies these mixed emotions.

Coulter believes the pandemic ultimately pushed the entire group into new artistic territory.

“It doesn’t mean that they’re negative pieces, but they’re certainly unusual for that member, and they probably wouldn’t have it made them during normal times.”

See the gallery for yourself now at the Tett Centre.

Artistic director Greg Tilson discusses SPAF’s annual tradition Mackenzie Loveys Assisstant Arts Editor

Parade to feature music from Urban Science Brass Band.

SUPPLIED BY SPAF

Skeleton Park Arts Festival (SPAF) is hosting their annual Halloween parade on Oct. 31 at 4 p.m. in Skeleton Park.

The Halloween parade has been a Skeleton Park tradition for around 30 years, welcoming kids and families in surrounding neighbourhoods to meet in the park and show off their costumes.

The Journal spoke with Greg Tilson, artistic director of SPAF, about this year’s event.

“You’re likely to see some stilt walkers and a lot of a lot of really interesting costumes,” Tilson said.

“You can imagine in a neighborhood full of artists that the costumes are going to be pretty impressive.”

The Urban Science Brass Band, a New Orleans-style brass band from Montreal, will be leading this year’s parade. They’re known for their high-energy, interactive performances that feature an array of instruments, multilingual MCs, marching band drummers, and street dancers. “[The Urban Science Brass Band is] right up our alley,” Tilson said. “They know how to take it to the streets.”

SPAF and Urban Science Brass Band have also partnered with Roots and Wings, KEYS Job Centre, and Queen’s Black Graduate Caucus to facilitate a workshop dedicated to teaching young folks how to rap and improvise music.

Roots and Wings is a Kingston organization that serves racialized youth—most of whom identify

as female, queer, trans, and/or non-binary. KEYS and Queen’s Black Graduate Caucus also work with young folks and students in the community, bringing a supportive addition to the parade.

Tilson says SPAF and partnering organizations are trying to create a safe space for young folks that will give them access to arts learning. “[We hope to] welcome these young people with some high-caliber music and fun activities before the parade,” Tilson said.

SPAF has worked to ensure the workshop and parade are accessible to the public while taking the ongoing pandemic into consideration.

“That’s what we’re all about here, just making art super accessible,” Tilson said. “[We’re] kind of getting out of the traditional theater and into the streets, parks, and porches to get take [art] to the people.”

The activities will take place safely outside in the park and surrounding street. SPAF asks participants to wear masks wherever physical distancing may be difficult.

Tilson sees the power of Skeleton Park’s traditions and the power of connecting people through art and music, especially through safe in-person events.

“We’ve all been struggling together to figure out how to stay connected and have fun, and to continue to make art,” Tilson said.

“I’m just excited that we’re all going to be getting together and continuing a tradition.”

Arts

Friday, October 29, 2021

queensjournal.ca

• 11

‘Hadestown’ is well worth the trip

ILLUSTRATION BY CLANNY MUGABE

This blend of old and new is must-see theatre.

The musical is a high-energy interpolation of Greek mythology Clanny Mugabe Editorial Illustrator Hadestown is a musical that first took Broadway by storm in 2019.

All the songs featured in Hadestown were adapted from the concept album of the same name, written and performed by singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell.

Since the release of Mitchell’s album in 2010, the source material has been adapted and changed to fit a musical theatre format.

It was initially brought to the stage in an off-Broadway production in 2017 before receiving a Broadway spot two years ago.

H o w e v e r, because of

COVID-19, its Broadway run was cut short, and its subsequent North American tour was delayed until this year.

Luckily, now that Broadway has returned, both that New York run and the North American tour are back, making the musical accessible to hopeful viewers once again.

Hadestown retells the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, the lovers of ancient Greece who were torn apart by death. The musical adapts this story into a vague 1930s-esque setting.

The show grounds the more fantastical elements first introduced in the Greek myth.

The “underworld” is now an underground industrial city where the workers are “dead to the world” and work endlessly to serve the god known as Hades.

Hadestown is a clever mixture of Greek myth with the harsh realities of depression-era history that uses folk-inspired

music to match the themes and aesthetics of the musical.

The soundtrack recorded by the original Broadway cast is available on most musical streaming and downloading platforms. They sing the entire musical. For those unable to make the trip to New York or elsewhere in the US to see it live, the soundtrack is a great alternative that features the same musical and storytelling that make Hadestown special.

However, Hadestown is absolutely worth seeing live if possible.

The musical’s original Broadway cast—featuring Reeve Carvey and Eva Nobelazada as the intrepid lovers and the impressive baritone of Patrick Page—is still currently performing their respective roles at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway.

Outside of Broadway, the tour cast is equally good. Levi Kreis is a fantastic

Hermes whose powerful singing voice brings so much to the character. Meanwhile, Kimberly Marable and Kevyn Morrow are incredibly charismatic as Persephone and Hades. The touring cast stays loyal to the choreography of the original production, but their singing adds unique elements to the musical.

From its music to its choreography to its performances, Hadestown hits every mark on what makes a fantastic musical. Its high-energy songs will have viewers dancing in their seats, while their emotional lyrics will move them to their cores.

Whether it’s by making the trip to New York to see the Broadway show or chasing the tour cast through the United States, seeing Hadestown is worth the time and effort.

Watching brown women fall in love in print

A roundup of romance novels by and for South Asian girls Aysha Tabassum Editor in Chief There was a long period following high school when I didn’t read fiction for pleasure. University made reading seem like a chore while giving me less time to do it. At the same time, TV and film were going through a renaissance of representation for women of colour.

Recently, it dawned on me recently I’ve been steering clear of novels because of how increasingly difficult it’s become to see myself in them.

When I was younger, it didn’t matter to me that the protagonists of most popular romance novels were white women. However, as I grew older and experienced more culturally and racially specific obstacles to love and sex, it became harder to relate to those novels—until recently.

It can be quite a feat to find romance novels with protagonists that look like you, no matter what you look like. Once you do, it’s empowering, joyful, and so damn refreshing.

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar

A queer Desi girl’s dream trope, Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating follows two Muslim teenagers who enter a fake relationship. Hani, an outgoing girl from a socially progressive family, wants her friends to accept her bisexuality. Meanwhile, Ishu, a Type-A overachiever with traditionalist parents, wants to gain popularity points, and be elected “Head Girl” at her high school.

Hani and Ishu’s relationship, which slowly becomes more than pretend throughout the novel, is a testament to how brown girls live in an impossible paradox: they must choose between pleasing non-Desi folks while staying true to the values and ex p e c t a t i o n s of their communities.

Jaigirdar, a Bangladeshi woman like myself, does an incredible job mixing lighthearted teen fiction into a more serious examination of experiencing Islamophobia as a first-generation immigrant.

The Chai Factor by Farah Heron Following the budding relationship between Amira Khan, an engineer,

Three recommendations for Desis looking for cliché reads.

and Duncan Gallahad, a sort-of musician and part-time parent, The Chai Factor is a heartwarming and uniquely Canadian story. With rich and nostalgic descriptions of traditional Indian food throughout, the novel follows Amira on her journey back to Toronto to complete her grad school thesis and as she falls head-over-heels for a member of the barbershop quartet renting out her grandma’s basement.

The charm of Heron’s debut novel is that it’s unapologetically cliché. From its use of the fake dating trope to turning white knight syndrome on its head, reading Heron’s contemporary story is absolutely vindicating for

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DHARMAYU DESAI

brown girls who’ve never seen themselves in a cheesy romance novel.

The Chai Factor is also full to the brim with references to Toronto as well as a university in Kingston that sounds a lot like Queen’s.

It’s a fascinating and enjoyable read that sometimes gets pretty steamy—wink, wink.

Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron A spin-off of The Chai Factor, Accidentally Engaged follows Amira’s best friend, Reena Manji, who ends up falling hard for a man her parents originally tried to set her up with. Nadim, the bachelor in question, is impossibly

smooth with a British accent to top it off.

While The Chai Factor held serious space for discussions of Islamophobia and white saviorism, Accidentally Engaged holds less space for speaking to white audiences and more for brown women looking to get lost in an impossibly cute story.

Readers will experience Reena having her sourdough starters pour into the next apartment, fake an engagement in order to win a cooking scholarship, and catch her mom attending a secret poker tournament. Well-written, way too on-the-nose, and complete with original recipes, Accidentally Engaged is the perfect quick read.

Sports

12 • queensjournal.ca

Friday, October 29, 2021

‘Trusting the process’— a conversation with Golden Gael Rasheed Tucker ‘The Journal’ sits down with the Gaels’ star running back Jack Burnham Staff Writer Winning a football game doesn’t start on the scoreboard.

At least, not according to Rasheed Tucker—the star running back of the Gaels football team.

This week, The Journal sat down with Tucker to discuss among other things, his string of incredible performances, the football team’s transformation, and his work away from the field.

When asked about his current accolades—ranking second in the OUA with eight rushing touchdowns and 697 yards—Tucker was quick to compliment the work of the coaching staff to recruit a strong offensive line before himself.

“We worked really, really hard […] to make sure we built on offensive line that could sustain us and could allow us to be a running program. The O-line has been absolutely instrumental in that, and I believe that we have the top offensive line in the country,” he said.

“It’s been years here now, my fourth year of working hard. First and foremost, God gracing me with the ability and the talent to come out and play and perform on the football field, and those have been the driving forces.”

That same process-driven approach characterizes his preparation before the game as well.

“I’m sort of like a freak of habit […] typically, the night before a game, I’ll go through plays, draw up my plays […] I’ll wake up, I’ll read

ended in 2019, we got into training […] we’ve just been working hard together for two years. There was a lot of time of just grinding with no real opportunity to show all of the progress we’ve made,” he said.

“What we’ve really been trying to do is build something great with

Even with their regular season concluded, Tucker knows there’s still more work to be done.

After all—six wins aren’t the Yates Cup. “We built something pretty good throughout the regular season, now we are just excited to have

PHOTO BY ROBIN KASEM

Rasheed Tucker pictured

my Bible and pray […] and then this season. Every week, every go upstairs, make myself five eggs practice we talk about laying a with my bagel every day, and then new brick, laying a new brick, I’ll come back to my room, sit and building up a structure of down, and visualize plays before something great.” heading to the stadium.”

Putting in work on the field It’s an attitude that’s well- is only one part of creating matched for a team whose motto a successful team, however, is “laying bricks” and gives out Tucker was also quick to highlight the “Hardhat of the Week” award the team’s growing camaraderie, on Instagram to players who have and how it’s informed their excelled in practice. success in the regular season.

According to Tucker, however, “I feel like this is the tightest the team’s steely work ethic started group of brothers I’ve had since long before their opening game I’ve been at Queen’s,” he said. away at Carleton in September.

“That’s been a key factor to our “From the second the season success this year.”

the opportunity to go and finish it off,” he noted.

When it concerns his own future, however, Tucker is more circumspect. When asked about his plans as he prepares to enter his final year of U SPORTS eligibility, Tucker responded cautiously.

“I’m not really all too focused on that right now. The main priority is continuing to dominate and helping do whatever I can to make sure that my team does not lose any games the rest of the season […] and to worry about the future after that.”

‘Process’ also frames Tucker’s

approach to his life off the field.

Not only does he try to be a resource for younger players, but he also serves as Vice President of the Queen’s Black Academic Society, an organization he’s been involved with throughout his time at Queen’s.

“I approach school and I approach football the same way […] before I get out to practice, checking through my meeting notes […] the same way that I would review material prior to a lecture.”

He also works in an outreach role with the Smith Black Business Association.

With the lights brighter and the stage bigger as the playoffs inch closer, that process will ultimately determine how far Tucker and the Queen’s Gaels will go this postseason.

Yet, recalling his favorite moment of the regular season, Tucker knows he can meet the challenge.

“We were playing Guelph, who is obviously a very, very strong contender in this league […] I remember walking off the field then and thinking, ‘we could really do something this year,’” he said.

“There is probably no team I would be afraid of us playing. We [can] battle against anyone.”

Point-Counterpoint: Which fall Gaels team reigns supreme?

‘The Journal’s’ Sports Editors trade takes on who’s been the best of the best this semester Angus merry & natara ng Sports Editors

that hasn’t lost a single time throughout 6 games?

Although they sit behind only Men’s Football — Angus Merry, Western in total points scored Senior Sports Editor throughout the season (172), they boast the fewest number of total If you’ve kept up with this year’s points allowed in the OUA (44) football team in any capacity, you with only three touchdowns scored know this season has been the on them this year—nodding to best in, well—let’s just say that it’s the unstoppable force that is been a while. the Gaels defence.

Head coach Steve Snyder’s And what a defence it is. initial promise to turn the Gaels’ Queen’s ranks second overall in the football program around upon his OUA for total sacks (17), rushing hiring almost three years ago has yards allowed (520), as well as seemingly taken shape this fall, average yardage given per game as him and the team posted their (289.3). Anthony Federico, one first undefeated season (6-0) since of the best Defensive Lineman in 2008. the OUA—and the shining star Like I said—it’s been a while. on an already stacked squad—is For further reference, first in the province in sacks (7), throughout the last six seasons, average sacks per game (1.17), the Gaels have failed to qualify for yards gained from sacks (62), the OUA playoffs four times. In tackles for loss of yardage (10.5) the two seasons they did qualify, and yards gained from tackles (69). they were knocked out of the But it’s not just their defence OUA quarterfinals both years— that’s made the Gaels winners not even sniffing a chance at the this year. James Keenan, their Yates cup. starting quarterback, has asserted This year, things are different. his place as one of the foremost Really different. offensive leaders in the OUA too.

Ranked first in the OUA East and In a field that has been anything third in the country, Snyder and but uncompetitive, he ranks third the Gaels have been unstoppable in passing touchdowns (6), fourth from the jump, scoring an average in completions (87), fourth in of 28.6 points per game while only passing yards (1099), and fourth allowing an average of 7.3 points in efficiency rating (137.5). per game.

And, of course, the Gaels Did I also mention they’re have none other than the only team in the country Rasheed Tucker—one of the top

offensive pieces in the country, bar none. The Gaels star running back is second in the OUA for touchdowns (8), rushing yards (697), rushing yards per game (116.2), and points per game (8.0).

For the last decade, this university’s historic greatness on the gridiron has been gone, and in many ways, forgotten.

But not this year.

This year, the Gaels have stormed back from what seemed like an eternity of heartbreak, sadness, and frustration. They’ve taken nothing for granted, stayed humble, and earned every single one of their six victories through grit, hard work, and determination.

Above all else, they’ve shown us that Queen’s football is still something worth believing in.

Now I ask you: has any other team done that lately?

While a 4-0 record speaks for itself, what’s particularly impressive is that they capped big wins over Guelph and McMaster— two teams also nationally ranked in the Top 10.

Women’s rugby is among several Queen’s sports teams who finished their seasons undefeated this fall—but they didn’t just win all their games.

They dominated the scoreboard on every occasion.

Posting 221 points and only conceding 27 points over four games, this team clearly found tremendous success on both offense and defense. They held Brock scoreless in their season opener, and in their game against Guelph, conceded only three points, the likes of which came from a penalty kick.

The depth and range of talent of this team gleams Women’s Rugby — Natara Ng, through stellar performances Assistant Sports Editor from veteran players and rookies alike.

If there is any team deserving Fifth-year Sophie de Goede of the fall sports team title, it’s ranks second in the OUA for total Queen’s women’s rugby. points and leads the league in The team finished their 2021- conversions. Third-years Carmen 22 campaign with a first-place Izyk and Jaden Walker are both finish in the OUA Shiels Division ranked tenth, while rookie Chloe and are currently ranked No. 2 in Daniels is fifteenth. the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

The team’s greatness is Dominating the provincial and backed by a rich, jaunty history national level rankings makes of women’s rugby at Queen’s. sense for a team that finished the It began as an unofficial sport regular season undefeated. in 1991 with a team consisting

mainly of beginners and student coaches.

The movement was led by Queen’s student Barb Relton, who’s Golden Rule, according to a quote from a 1991 Journal article, was “hit them early, and hit them hard.”

20 years later, the rugby team isn’t only living up to this proclamation—they’re adding +their own chapter to the storied history.

But being the best team isn’t just about winning games—it’s also about what the team does off the field. The women’s rugby team has set a high standard for being role models in the community.

For example, members of the team are currently playing a big role in heading the Strong Girls United chapter at Queen’s—a program that empowers and inspires girls to be the best versions of themselves through sports and leadership programming.

Women’s rugby will continue their story at both the OUA playoffs and U Sports Championship in the coming weeks. Clearly, their spots in these tournaments have been well-earned.

Queen’s women’s rugby is in a league of their own. They’ve risen above their station and undoubtedly established themselves as the most dominant sports team at Queen’s this fall.

Sports

Friday, October 29, 2021

queensjournal.ca

• 13

Former Gaels Cross-Country Star Branna MacDougall wins debut marathon in Muskoka Running a 2:33:40, the Kingston native now sits 26th all time among Canadian female marathoners Angus Merry Senior Sports Editor On Oct. 3, former Queen’s Cross-Country athlete Branna MacDougall, ran and won her debut marathon in Bracebridge, Ontario, finishing the 42-kilometer race in just 2 hours, 33 minutes, and 40 seconds.

With that finish, only 25 other female Canadians in history have ever run a marathon faster.

Following her statement performance at the Muskoka Marathon last week, The Journal caught up with MacDougall to discuss her incredible debut as well as her unyielding—and, at times, paradoxical—passion for running.

“I don’t know, […] I don’t think it’s quite normal for an elementary school kid to go for a run on [a] Saturday morning,” MacDougall said in an interview, describing her unusual start with the sport.

“I was really bad at any kind of team sports and anything to do with hand-eye coordination.”

Although running has always been a part of her life, MacDougall’s love affair with the sport started out small.

Like any other activity, it began

as an outlet for her adolescent whimsy. Then, when she started high school, MacDougall joined Physi-Kult, a Kingston-based running club owned and operated by former Queen’s Cross Country head coach Steve Boyd.

Nearly 10 years later, MacDougall is still running for Physi-Kult, with Boyd still her coach.

Since then, she’s done nothing but excel in the sport, regularly competing for championship positions at the secondary and post-secondary level. Her accolades include the OUA MVP award in 2017, first place at the 2017 OUA championships and Branna MacDougall, pictured. third place at the 2019 U Sports championships, and a U Sports sport at times.

But, as MacDougall later National Team title in 2019.

“I don’t know, it’s almost like remarked, her navigation of After she stopped competing this toxic relationship […] it can this relationship is continuously as a varsity athlete in 2020, put you into a lot of lows,” she improving. Not only has she taken MacDougall continued her brand explained. greater strides to achieve a sense of excellence on two feet. Prior “But at the same time, it’s also in of balance in her life, but she also to her performance at this year’s my mind one of the most beautiful firmly believes that her new field Muskoka Marathon, she ran her and simple things you can do.” of competition is conducive to a debut half-marathon at the same Therein lies MacDougall’s positive mindset where varsity venue last year, at which she broke paradoxical relationship athletics sometimes wasn’t.

Canada’s under-23 record for the with running: on one hand, “There’s a lot of pressure still event by three whole minutes, she considers it a form of […] [but] it just feels different.” finishing with a time of 1:11:42. meditation—a part of her daily Speaking to her performance Over a year later, she still holds routine as unchangeable as at the Muskoka Marathon, the record, and ranks ninth all- brushing her teeth—but on the MacDougall noted her preparation time among Canadian women other, it’s also the source of some was somewhat hasty leading up to for her finishing time for the half- of her biggest anxieties. it. In fact, she didn’t even know she marathon.

She’s equally perplexed by was going to compete until the end Despite all this, and the dynamic. of August. a laundry list of other “It’s so weird […] the actual act Average training periods for running-related accolades, of running makes everything so marathons usually range between MacDougall nonetheless much better in my life, but then four and six months. Prior to her acknowledges that her relationship a lot of the things surrounding “tapering” period—her gradual with running is anything but simple. running have caused me a lot of decrease in training meant to Injuries, expectations, pressure anxiety, a lot of stress,” she said. prepare her body leading up to to perform—all of it is part and “Especially since I’ve been the event—MacDougall only had a parcel of being a runner at the competing at a high level since solid four weeks of training under highest level, and it’s certainly such a young age, it’s a difficult her belt. tested her relationship with the thing to learn how to navigate.”

Yet, on Oct. 3, after she laced up her runners, she did anything but disappoint.

According to MacDougall, one of her fellow clubmates paced her for the first 30 kilometers, allowing

SUPPLIED BY BRANNA MACDOUGALL

her to stay on perfect time for the first three quarters of the race.

Despite experiencing a slight dip in speed shortly thereafter, she was able to return to her previous pace and finish the race strong.

Although a race to remember, MacDougall admitted some parts of her trek are slightly fuzzy in retrospect.

“Honestly, I don’t remember a lot from the last 10 [kilometers].

I’ve never been in that much pain in my life.”

Reflecting on the wider experience, however, MacDougall clearly remembers the help and support she received from her close friends and family members—and won’t forget it anytime soon.

“My roommates and a few of my friends came out to cheer […]

My parents and Steve [Boyd] were driving in a car and cheering for me,” she said.

“It was just really fun.”

This article was first published online on Monday, Oct. 25 at queensjournal.ca/sports

Season Preview: Men’s & Women’s Volleyball

Coaches Ryan Ratushniak, left, and Gabriel DeGroot, right.

Natara Ng Assistant Sports Editor After nearly two years without competitive play, the Men’s and Women’s volleyball teams are making their return to the court.

Ahead of their regular season debuts, The Journal sat down with Women’s head coach Ryan Ratushniak and Men’s head coach Gabriel Degroot to discuss what to expect from their respective squads this season.

For Ratushniak, their exhibition games against the University of Montreal Oct. 17 and RMC Oct. 23 were more about enjoying their return competitive play rather than engaging in hard competition.

“It was the first time we were

putting on the jersey and playing against an opponent in a very long time,” he said. “So, you know, we just wanted to enjoy the experience.”

Ratushniak iterated that this team’s strengths lie in an aggressive style of play and serving ability.

“Our offense is based on running some very good, fast-tempo offense with our middles, and also a good tempo to our outside hitters,” he said. “We try and open up gaps in the block and expose the defense based on the speed of our offense.”

“We serve with a lot of velocity, and we serve into a lot of conflict zones on the floor.”

Ratushniak remarked that in

PHOTO BY SPENCER HENDRICKSON

these early days of the season, the team is still learning a lotabout their game—but so far, he’s focusing on improving their block defense and transition offense.

“Once we start playing our regular season games, that will tell us a lot about where we’re at and what we need to work on,” he explained.

Referring to this year’s roster and recruits, Ratushniak noted that the rookie class is larger than usual since all second-year players have yet to compete at the university level.

“Our second-year student athletes were all Junior National Team players the summer before coming to Queens, so they have some international experience,” he

Coaches Gabriel DeGroot and Ryan Ratushniak speak to ‘The Journal’ before the start of the 2021-22 season said. “They are very strong players and people with a lot of character.”

In preceding years, the Women’s volleyball team has had little difficulty qualifying for the OUA playoffs—but they’ve ultimately failed to make any deep runs in recent memory.

On this topic, Ratushniak said that returning players have learned from these experiences, and that with every year comes new players and new opportunities.

“We learned that we need to play a little bit more consistent and with a little bit more resiliency from the last season where we competed,” he said.

“We want to play to win points and keep that as consistent as possible, and be resilient

throughout the course of the set, throughout the course of the match, and from match to match.”

On the men’s team, head coach Gabriel DeGroot said their pre-season matchups against Windsor Oct. 16 and McMaster Oct. 23 helped the team find their level of cohesion.

“We’re trying to use our lineup in a way that’s trying to create as much cohesion amongst a bit of a core group […] It was a good test for us,” he said.

Read the rest online at queensjournal.ca/sports

Sports

14 • queensjournal.ca

Friday, October 29, 2021

Women’s Rugby spearheading Canada’s first Strong Girls United program Team member Jillian Lynott speaks to ‘The Journal’ about kickstarting the female empowerment initiative Sophie Deasy Contributor In the last year of her undergrad, Queen’s rugby player Jillian Lynott, ArtSci ’22, has decided to make a lasting impact on the surrounding Kingston community—organizing the first Strong Girls United (SGU) program run by a Canadian university.

A non-profit originally founded in the United States, SGU is an organization that seeks to empower and inspire young females to be the best—and strongest—versions of themselves through sport, mindfulness, and leadership programming.

In an interview with The Journal, Lynott spoke about how she was inspired by the SGU mission statement and recognized the potential impact a program of its kind would have at Queen’s and the surrounding community.

“Queen’s athletes have a role to play in this community and I think it’s important to use our voice and our position to positively empower the girls [so that we can] build together strongly.”

The program habitually runs for a 6-8 week period and consists of 16 girls in a given community being matched with local female varsity athletes for mentorship.

In weekly one-hour sessions, mentors run exercises that teach girls various positive tools that

can transcend areas of their life beyond just the field or court.

When asked why she believes Queen’s was the first Canadian university to implement this program, Lynott explained that the current environment here is optimal to facilitate such initiatives.

“Queen’s athletes are innately wanting to give back to their community supporters. We also have all the infrastructure [from previous initiatives] already in place which made this a seamless process,” she said.

Lynott’s insight comes from her former position as a member of Queen’s Varsity Leadership Council.

Despite the existing infrastructure, Lynott and the rest of the rugby team are still facing some challenges transforming the program’s curriculum to fit a Canadian context.

“We are still trying to reach our fundraising goal, which is $2,000 to make the program cost-free, because we had trouble initially figuring how to do that since the U.S. uses different [fundraising] systems.”

All this said, Lynott still believes the community interest in the program will pick up once awareness of it is spread further.

“Since this program is so new to Canada, the next step is to

get a team together to share information [with community members and varsity athletes] so that when they hear Strong Girls United they understand what that represents.”

girls in sports “ Keeping is so important […] it teaches so many valuable life lessons

Amidst these obstacles, Lynott is dedicated to seeing the initiative through because she recognizes the immediate need for this work in the current Kingston community.

Jillian Lynott and the Women’s rugby team team spearhead Strong Girls United.

“As it is, girls are not as involved [as boys] with sports, and after COVID hit there was more of a drop -off of participation by girls, so I saw the importance of this program,” she explained.

“Strong Girls United even allows lower socioeconomic status groups here in Kingston to be involved as the program is completely cost-free.”

Lynott has a long-term goal for the program: she wants it to continue past her time here at Queen’s.

“Keeping girls in sports is so important […] it teaches so many valuable life lessons,” she remarked.

“Ultimately, I just want this program to give a voice and the ability to lead, coach, and empower young girls to become strong women.”

Lynott recognizes how much sports in her own life have taught her. Through this program, she hopes to inspire the next generation of female athletes to get as much out of their sport as she did.

“In the end, it’s all about exposing girls to opportunities that they might not have even known were possible, [as the overall motto here] is ‘If she can see it, she can be it.’’’

Queen’s SGU program will launch in the winter term, with specific dates to be announced in the near future.

PHOTO BY JEFF CHAN

Gaels win third annual ‘Kick for the Cure’ game against RMC, raise $13,000 in the process Team Scoring leader Christie Gray talks last week’s success on and off the field Angus Merry Senior Sports Editor

active role in continuing to develop the initiative year to year since.

According to Gray, ‘Kick for the On Oct. 24, the Queen’s Women’s Cure’ has grown exponentially Soccer team won their third since it was originally devised. In annual “Kick for the Cure” soccer its first iteration, the team raised game against RMC, handily beating less than $5,000. the Paladins 5-0 at Richardson Although they couldn’t have Stadium. an actual game during the 2020The initiative, originally 21 academic year—due to the started in 2019, is a soccer-based suspension of varsity sports— iteration of the Canadian Cancer Gray said the team still organized a Society’s “Run for the Cure’ in socially-distanced run, the likes of which individuals raise funds which raised $10,000. and awareness for breast cancer Currently in her final season of research. As of Oct. 26, the men’s eligibility as a student-athlete, Gray and women’s soccer teams had won’t be able to play in next year’s already surpassed their$10,000 game, but she remains hopeful fundraising goal by upwards of that the event will continue to $3,000 ahead of the event’s Oct. 31 grow after she leaves. end date.

“It’ll be cool next year to see the “I think this year really younger up-and-coming leaders reassured that this is a tradition take it over,” she said. that’s probably going to stick “I think it’s an initiative that’ll around,” fifth-year forward stay around for a while, so it’s Christe Gray told The Journal in pretty cool to [have been] a part of an interview. that.”

“It’s been pretty amazing.”

Not only did she lead the Gray was one of the founding charge for this year’s recordmembers of “Kick for the Cure’” breaking fundraising effort, but back in 2019 and has played an Gray also led the team on the field

too, scoring three of their five goals in Sunday’s match.

Speaking to their commanding victory, Gray said she and the team were happy with the win, but they could’ve performed better.

“We probably should have scored more, considering we had forty shots on net and only scored five goals,” she explained.

“But at the end of the day, a win’s a win.”

Gray is currently the leading scorer on the Gaels’ roster and

Christie Gray, pictured.

ranks second in the OUA in total goals scored.

Commenting on her current accolades, Gray was quick to point out the level of support she receives from her teammates, and how much her success is derived from it.

“I wouldn’t be able to score goals if I didn’t have a good goalie, defence, and mid behind me,” she said.

“We’ve had a couple awesome transfers. One from the states, one

from Trent who’s my age […] Lots of attacking force from everywhere, so it’s been a really fun year.”

Looking forward to their final games of the season against York this weekend, Gray said she and the team are well aware of how important it is for their seeding in the playoffs, but are still up for the challenge.

“I’m confident, if we play the way that we did against Ottawa […] we’ll give them a good shot.”

“It’ll be a fun battle.”

PHOTO BY ROBIN KASEM

Friday, October 29, 2021

Lifestyle

queensjournal.ca

• 15

LIFESTYLE

‘No Time to Die’ subverts our expectations of the classic ‘Bond girl’ trope Femme fatale figures are slowly evolving

girl scene in the film is where the stunning Cuban actress Ana de Armas shines as CIA agent Paloma. Though she wears one of the most gorgeous dresses in the franchise with a classic red lip and side part, Paloma is incredibly Alysha Mohamed charming as she playfully subverts Senior Lifestyle Editor our expectations of a fleeting love interest.

I’ve come to expect a certain kind of Though her character is initially girl from the Bond franchise. She’s nervous, she turns out to be stunning, confident, and casually incredibly sharp, competent, and sporting a Beretta pistol strapped a skilled fighter. She leads Bond to her thigh. through the mission and doesn’t Part of me has always even get close to sleeping with wanted to embody the energy him—it’s Daniel Craig who strips of a "Bond girl." The fantasy is down and changes into a tuxedo alluring—growing up watching the of her choosing, not the other films, I wanted to wear diamonds way around. and stilettos, manipulate the men No Time to Die proved that the around me with ease, and shine in Daniel Craig's final Bond movie strays away from typical female narratives.

ILLUSTRATION BY DHARMAYU DESAI Bond girl trope is evolving. The a fight scene as the camera lingers on new, complex femme fatale trope the thigh-high slit in my dress. will always be another one, and we know he Bond is tastefully covered with the classic is a hundred times more alluring than seeing The series is simultaneously sexy was too emotionally unavailable to have a white bedsheet. a one-dimensional sex symbol in every new and sexist, and I was often too blinded real relationship, anyway.

She’s anything but a cliché. Bond refers 007 film. by the incredible fashion to analyze its When I saw Vesper shine as the beloved to her as Dr. Swann throughout the film, Daniel Craig’s final film as 007 gave problematic undertones.

Bond girl in Casino Royale, I felt, for the affirming her intellect and accomplishments me something I didn’t even know I was Bond girls, though sometimes brilliant, first time, that the franchise was starting to in the professional world. She holds her own missing—sharp, competent, stunning are usually disposable. Like sacrificial complicate its usual narratives. against the villain of the story and clearly women who craft a modern vision of what lambs, their purpose is to look incredibly Her betrayal was complex and nuanced, has her own agency—the union between Bond girls can be. I can’t wait to see how desirable in a steamy sex scene and die in and her intellect matched the leading Swann and Bond is one of mutual attraction the writers subvert our expectations as the a climactic action sequence. They aid Bond man’s. Though she ultimately ended up and respect, rather than solely desire. series evolves further. in his mission and sometimes even betray being a plot device to the series, she was The closest we get to a “typical” Bond him, but their storyline is rarely a deep and somehow separated from other Bond meaningful part of the film. girls I had seen, fallen in lust with, and Despite its allure, the classic image of a watched disappear into the fabric of Bond girl is damaging. The femme fatale the film. trope is riddled with misogyny—it’s the However, it was undoubtedly in seeing No perfect example of the male gaze manifesting Time to Die that I realized the Bond girl trope in film. is evolving. At the heart of the film is the love Traditional Bond girl narratives story between Bond and Madeleine Swann: perpetuate the idea that a woman’s a complex psychologist with an interesting mind, especially the upbringings and sexual energy should outweigh backstory, moments of vulnerability, and a lived experiences that led to the horrible her intellect and talent, along with strong sense of self. crimes for which they are known. It’s spinning a narrative that all women Swann’s experience as a mother is a the incomprehensibility of their actions that I’m intrigued by, and like a puzzle, I are disposable. grounding aspect of her characterization, try to make sense of them by piecing the We never have to worry about the separating her from other women in the stories together. protagonist recovering from the emotional genre. She’s modestly dressed in almost every Hilary Fotheringham Names like Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted scars of the last Bond girl—we know there shot, and the one sex scene between her and Contributor Bundy are ingrained in pop culture, often As Netflix rolls out series after series about referenced in music and TV, highlighting the lives of history’s most depraved serial society’s dark fixation with these infamous killers, many of us have spent countless hours killers. The song “The Ripper” by Judas Priest in front of the TV, completely captivated by is about 1888 serial killer Jack the Ripper; the shock, horror, and strange appeal of “Blow” by Tyler the Creator is inspired by these stories. the mind of Ted Bundy.

From Conversations with a Killer: The As we hear these references, conveyed to Ted Bundy Tapes to Night Stalker: The Hunt us in songs and on the screen, we feel an urge for a Serial Killer, true crime narratives have to investigate the serial killers ourselves, become increasingly popular through the which leads us to become invested in their frequent release of docuseries, podcasts, stories and the high stakes horror that and films. characterizes them.

Naturally, this leads us to wonder what Forensic psychologist Katherine exactly makes this genre so appealing, Ramsland effectively sums up this idea in and what aspect of the gruesome horror a line from her book, The Human Predator: portrayed in these stories continually draws A Historical Chronicle of Serial Murder and us back in for more.

Forensic Investigation (2007). She writes, Fear generates a unique rush of “It’s not really about the victims. It’s more adrenaline, prompting us to be enthralled about the puzzle—the interesting labyrinth by the feeling without being in danger. of human emotions and human motives.”

We’re safe in our bedrooms watching Ted The compelling complexity of serialBundy on our laptops, but we’re still able to killer stories has become almost addictive experience the excitement of fear. for many. We have the human impulse to As a society, we're often drawn to stories investigate for ourselves and to try and we don’t want to see, but cannot look away figure out exactly what it is that makes these from. As children, we intently listened to individuals behave so differently than we do. ghost stories that filled us with panic and Society’s fascination with true crime kept us up at night. As adults, we turn our serial killer stories in the media is heads toward car accidents we drive past on multifaceted. It’s driven by psychological the highway. curiosity and the urge to comprehend the There is a psychological aspect of the true reality of gruesome acts that we cannot crime genre that captures the attention of begin to imagine. viewers, as we attempt to understand the However, it's also fueled by the thrill of ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the atrocities committed. the dramatic, intense, and shocking, which My fascination with serial-killer by human nature continues to draw us back docuseries stems from my curiosity about in with each new release. the inner workings of a serial killer’s

Piecing the puzzle together: Society’s fascination with serial killers

We’re drawn to gruesome stories

Lifestyle

16 • queensjournal.ca

Friday, October 29, 2021

POSTSCRIPT

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL

Strength, recovery, and finding community is more important than weight.

There’s more to running than burning calories

How training for a race changed my attitude toward body weight and self-worth Julia Stratton Features Editor This article discusses eating disorders and may be triggering for some readers. The Canadian Mental Health Association Crisis Line can be reached at 1-800-875-6213.

Part of my self-worth has always been tied to my appearance.

I’ve heard the saying “it’s not what your body looks like, it’s what your body can do” a thousand times, but it’s taken me 18 weeks of training and a 21-kilometre race to truly understand its meaning.

Grade 11 was the first time I felt really dissatisfied with my body. It didn’t take me long to figure out that running was a great way to burn a lot of calories.

"

The only reason I ran was to make myself look a certain way, and when I didn’t see my body changing after the first few weeks, I felt like a failure.

I joined the cross-country team at my high school, hoping it would help me to lose weight.

The practices were grueling.

I pushed myself to run farther distances than I should have just to burn extra calories. I completed the distances on sheer willpower, but by the end of the run, I was running slowly, and my legs hurt like crazy.

After each practice, I would lock myself in the bathroom, pull up my shirt, and poke and pinch at the fat on my stomach while looking in the mirror, hoping that one run would’ve made my body look different.

The only reason I ran was to make myself look a certain way, and when I didn’t see my body changing after the first few weeks, I felt like a failure I completed the grade 11 cross-country season and joined again in grade 12, but after high school, my legs hurt, my body still looked the same, and I decided I was done with running.

Although my primary goal while running in high school was to lose weight, while I was running, I would always dream of marathons and the feeling of accomplishment I could earn if I ever finished one.

I was chronically injured and slow, but I always had a feeling that if I kept running, I could accomplish any distance I wanted to. Something about the challenge of long-distance running was always alluring to me—but after seeing my body stay the same after so much pain and effort, I decided to stop.

Once I quit running after high school, there was always a voice in the back of my mind nagging me to try again. If I was ever going to achieve my goal of doing a long-distance race, I was

going to have to tie up my shoes and get back into the sport.

I swore off running for my first two years of university, and I honoured that. Then, one rainy day in July of 2020, I decided to look up a 5-kilometer route and go for a run.

Two months later, I broke my personal 5km record. Instead of being filled with pain and disappointment, I was proud of myself—and my body felt great.

In high school, running was a means for me to burn calories.

When I started running again after taking a break, I was set on achieving my fitness goals rather than trying to make my body look a certain way.

I hadn’t weighed " myself in months and

was reluctant to know the number because I thought it would make me discount all the other progress I’d made throughout my training.

In addition to my mentality shifting, I was also using a training plan which helped me increase the duration of my runs gradually so my body had time to adapt.

Because I didn’t push my body past what it could handle, I felt great and wanted to keep running—and I did.

After my 5k, I trained for a 10k. Then I started training for a half-marathon. After hitting a wall in the half-marathon training program, I joined a group at The

Running Room.

Each week of the program, we had a workshop or seminar related to running. I learned about hill training, strength training, and speed work—and by implementing these workouts in my training program, I finally began to see myself get faster and stronger without hurting myself.

At one of the workshops, a guest speaker came to talk with us about different heart rate zones and how running at different paces can help train your body in different ways.

After this session, I went to get a fitness assessment done to be able to implement new strategies in my training.

Before starting the assessment, the trainer had to take some of my measurements. He was a cute kinesiology graduate student, and I was mortified that he was about to know my weight.

I hadn’t weighed myself in months and was reluctant to know the number because I thought it would make me discount all the other progress I’d made throughout my training.

I stood rigidly on the scale while he weighed me. When it was finally over, he asked, “Do you want to know your weight?”

“No,” I said curtly, refusing to meet his eyes.

As the assessment went on, I realized the trainer didn’t think any less of me after knowing my weight. He could tell based on my running form and my heart rate and lactic acid buildup that I was fit and a good runner.

When I got my test results back, I was happy with my paces and realized how much I'd improved throughout my training. Though I didn’t want to know how much I

weighed, I found out since it was listed at the top of the form.

It was a higher number than what I had been aiming for when I was younger, but for the first time in a long time, I didn’t even care.

By this point in my training, I’d completed all the workouts to date in the training plan, including the difficult hill training and track practices.

has helped "meRunning set goals for myself that don’t involve my weight.

I’d worked too hard for all my progress to be overlooked because of a slight increase in body weight. I had also been eating well throughout my training and had probably put on some muscle which added to my total weight.

Running has helped me set goals for myself that don’t involve my weight. By focusing on and accomplishing my running goals, I’ve realized my personality traits that helped me accomplish my goals are more valuable than what my body looks like.

At the end of my training, I completed my half-marathon with my aunt in Vancouver in the time that I wanted. Over this process, my body changed, but more importantly, I learned a lot about the importance of hard work, consistency, and having a good support network.

The lessons I’ve learned in running will take me further than my appearance ever will.