The Queen's Journal, Volume 149, Issue 27

the Queen’s University

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journal

Vol. 149, Issue 27

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Friday, April 8, 2022

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

Since 1873

‘Homes for people’: KUT rallies for affordable housing

See full story on Page 3 PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZEL

Incoming AMS executives attend transition assembly Assembly sees ratification of AMS commissioners A sbah A hmad Assistant News Editor On Apr. 7, the AMS held its transition Assembly in person for the first time in two years. Assembly convened in the Rose Event Commons room in Mitchell Hall. The event was also streamed virtually, with individuals participating through Teams.

The Assembly ratified new student directors for the AMS Board of Directors.

Followed by this, it was announced that the speaker candidate dropped out before ratification began.

Victoria Yu, Queen’s Student Diversity Project President, kicked the assembly off with an anti-oppression leadership training workshop.

The training discussed themes of bias, oppression, power, injustice, a nd advocacy.

Team ETC Platform Team ETC, composed of Eric Sikich, incoming AMS President, Tina Hu, incoming Vice-President (Operations), and Callum Robertson, incoming Vice-President (University Affairs) attended and presented their platform.

Hu was excited to assemble the team and get to know students in the upcoming term.

“A big part of the [transition] process was getting to know people and getting to know what students were thinking, and what they’re talking about,” Hu said.

Hu said ETC will ensure there’s a good team environment internally and that more collaboration occurs in society.

“I am passionate about improving the cross-pollination between the government and the corporate side—there is a lot of value in that,” Hu said.

Sikich said ETC’s second major platform point is student engagement and rebuilding trust in the AMS by the student body.

“A lot of people will go to CoGro [Common Ground Coffeehouse] or the

P&CC [Printing & Copy Centre], and not know they are AMS services [...] We will ensure we have a very personable AMS that is working to ensure our service is very representative,” Sikich said.

Robertson highlighted the third pillar—transparency and communication.

Robertson said this pillar would be essential in supporting the pillar of student engagement.

“The AMS website will be the most critical part in advertising to students,” Robertson said.

The final ETC pillar, presented by Hu, was advocacy. Hu highlighted the work that has been done in the past year by the Social Issues Commission.

“We don’t want to make promises that we can’t keep to students,” Sikich said.

Ratification of Commissioners AMS Assembly approved a slate of commissioners for the upcoming year.

Rob Hughes, ArtSci ’22, was ratified as Clubs Commissioner; Nikki Onuah, ArtSci ’22, as Campus Affairs Commissioner; Emily Rolph, ArtSci ’23, as Commissioner of Environmental Sustainability; and Amaiya Walters. ArtSci ’23; as Social Issues Commissioner.

When asked by Crystal Sau, Nursing Science Society President, about the role of making informed decisions, Walters commented on the SIC’s reliance on student engagement and feedback.

“It’s easy to get wrapped up in the AMS, but we have to remember we work for students,” Walters said.

Clubs Policies Brian Seo, outgoing Clubs Commissioner, discussed policy changes for clubs. A primary addition was defining the term “affiliated groups” for clubs.

“We’ve been noticing that within the structure of club governance there are a lot of clubs that have separate niche groups that pursue specific ventures within the group’s mandate. An example is Queen’s International Affairs Association which has a lot of things underneath,” Seo said.

Seo added that he’s proud of a new policy change that will mandate club presidents and co-chairs to go through mandatory training in the summer. This includes Sexual Violence Prevention and Response (SVPR) training, and other training to be determined.

“The disclosures, training is administered by the Sexual Violence Prevention Office. That was a great success and we got really good feedback, we’re hoping to push forward an organizational due diligence, ensuring that student leaders are able and are equipped to kind of deal with things that could potentially arise within the operations.”

Interviews with MPP candidates

Darts and Laurels

Queen’s must retain mask policy

What makes great art?

Women’s Basketball earns bronze

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News

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NEWS Deane describes program as offering ‘sanctuary and assistance’ Asbah Ahmad Assistant News Editor On April. 4, Queen’s announced new financial aid and modifications to the admissions policy to assist students, faculty, and researchers displaced by global conflict.

The announcement came after calls from community members

Friday, April 8, 2022

Queen’s launches Principal’s Global Scholars Program for additional support in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The policy changes follow recommendations from the Global Engagement working group.

Principal Patrick Deane described Queen’s as a champion for peace.

“Recent and ongoing conflicts worldwide, including in Afghanistan and Ukraine, have illustrated the disastrous consequences of physical and political violence,” Deane stated in the press release.

With an initial commitment of $1.25 million, the Principal’s Global Scholars and Fellows program will

Cold beverage consultative group conducting campus-wide survey Jenn Pete, director (business development) of Housing and Ancillary Services said the group has identified seven main criteria for selecting a cold beverage provider on campus.

“Nutritional value, social impact, sustainability, product quality & diversity, locally sourced, commitment to EDII, and affordability,” Pete wrote Asbah Ahmad in a statement sent to The Journal.

Assistant News Editor Preliminary results show the top three factors selected by survey In February, Queen’s Hospitality respondents are: sustainability, Services announced the formation nutritional value, and product of a cold beverage consultative quality. The survey remains open group. The group is currently until Apr. 30. conducting a survey open to “Through a survey, the students, staff, and faculty.

Working Group is seeking input The group’s formation from the university community follows AMS Assembly passing on the relative importance of a motion on Sep. 21 to publicly each criterion, within the oppose the vending supply context of a public Request agreement between Queen’s and for Proposal (RFP) process,” Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Pete wrote.

Ltd. The contract between Jessie Wile, AMS commissioner Coca-Cola and Queen’s is set to of environmental sustainability expire Aug. 31, 2023 after a (CES), and Samara Lijiam, one-year extension.

AMS social issues commissioner The consultative group is (SIC) said the AMS is made up of student government working closely with the representatives, Strategic consultative group.

Procurement Services, Housing “The survey that we put out and Ancillary Services, was pivotal in these efforts, Athletics and Recreation, as it showed us what values and others. students are most closely aligned

Community members can provide input on their priority values

Consultative group launched following AMS assembly.

offer safety for Queen’s students and faculty.

“This program aims to offer sanctuary and assistance while also bringing a diversity of insights, talents, and experiences to the university,” the press release read.

The Principal’s Global Scholars stream is designed to support undergraduate and graduate

students, while the Global Fellows stream will assist faculty and post-doctoral fellows.

“Principal’s Global Scholars serves to connect undergraduate and graduate students with streamlined admission options and funding to support their learning,” the press release stated.

“Global Fellows provides

Lavonne Hood, university ombudsperson, defines role.

displaced faculty members and post-doctoral fellows with one year of support to continue their academic work.”

Both programs are open to students and faculty regardless of geographic and social locations.

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

Ombudsperson turns students away due to number of academic integrity investigations University ombudsperson to only provide ‘impartial’ support Asbah Ahmad Assistant News Editor The University Office of the Ombudperson is no longer providing students with direct support in cases of academic integrity investigation.

“Unfortunately, due to the number of Notice of Investigations that are provided to students with,” Wile and Lijiam wrote in a statement sent to The Journal.

Wile has previously been a strong advocate for the removal of the current Coca-Cola-Queen’s contract, citing EDII (Equity, Diversity,

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL

across the University, the Office of the University Ombudsperson is unable to provide Faculty Advisors to assist students in responding to a Notice of Investigation,” the Office wrote in an email to The Journal.

The Office of the Ombudsperson advised that someone trusted should support students under investigation and attend any academic integrity conduct meetings.

“Students are encouraged to talk through the situation with someone they trust and are welcome to bring a support person along to the meeting,” the email said.

Lavonne Hood, University

Ombudsperson, said their role is to provide impartial support.

“Our role is not one of advocacy for individuals within any process, including Academic Integrity investigations. Advocates and support persons are permitted and encouraged in the university’s decision-making structures, but given the impartial requirement of our office, we can never play such a role,” Hood said.

“While we do not provide legal advice or counseling services, we can and do refer people to the appropriate offices for such services.”

Inclusion, and Indigeneity) and the university ’s commitment to addressing the climate crisis.

Both Lijiam and Wile said the University must maintain business values that are ethical and aligned with sustainability values.

“As we pass off our roles to the incoming CES and SIC, we are excited to see the progress they make in creating more equitable and sustainable business agreements,” Wile and Lijiam wrote.

“We believe the business partnerships that Queen’s has should be reflective of the values and principles of sustainability and ethics [...]

CES and SIC are to continue advocating for sustainability and equity, [and] to be factored into the procurement process for our next cold beverage provider, and

for all business partnerships at Queen’s.”

Coke Canada Bottling believes its impact on the local Kingston community is positive for the people and the economy.

“Kingston is home to 80 diverse Coke Canada employees and our distribution centre in the City, which services Queen’s, operates close to 24 hours per day, five days a week” Kathy Murphy, vice-president (public affairs and communications) of Coke Canada Bottling wrote in an email to The Journal.

“We service approximately 500 local customers and inject close to $750,000 in the local economy through local vendors and partners,” Murphy said Coke Canada Bottling is actively funding Ontario’s Extended Producer Responsibility program.

— With files from Sydney Ko

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Study finds Queen’s generated $1.67 billion for Kingston Press released published on Mar. 21.

SGPS urges students to apply for bursary before Apr. 11.

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL

SGPS pilots new emergency bursary Students can receive up to $450 Sydney Ko Senior News Editor In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Society of Graduate & Professional Students (SGPS) has created a new version of the Emergency Bursary for students in need of funding due to unforeseen circumstances. All graduate and professional students are eligible to apply.

According to Courtney Bannerman, SGPS Vice-President of (Finance & Services), the

emergency bursary will no support up to $450 of financial longer require students to aid. Students are only allowed to provide “proof of need.” Before apply for a bursary once every this pilot program, SGPS bursaries fiscal year, which starts May 1 required applicants to provide and extends to the following evidence of why financial aid April. 30. was needed.

Aside from providing better “We recognize especially access to funding, SGPS hopes in times of conflict, you don’t the new initiative will nudge necessarily [have a] financial plan the University to “step up” and for these kind of things at the start provide financial aid to students in of the year,” Bannerman said in an “distressing times.” interview with The Journal.

Due to the pandemic, the According to Bannerman, the SGPS office is only operating expenses covered by the bursary virtually. Students interested mostly fall under the “family in the emergency bursary emergency” category—including are encouraged to apply accommodating for abrupt travel before Apr. 11. plans. Students can receive

‘Homes for people’: KUT rallies for affordable housing organizing and support that are needed to help people facing homelessness, […] landlords, and [people] having a rough time in the housing market.”

The event saw several audience members speak about their personal experiences with housing Anne Fu & Sydney Ko in Kingston.

Journal Staff Doug Yearwood, Vice President of Community Relations at PSAC “Homes for people, not for profit.”

901, believes Queen’s isn’t doing A crowd of around 70 people enough to support graduate gathered at Market Square students in Kingston’s housing on Apr. 5 to demand rent market. According to him, the rollbacks, investment in rent- average graduate student isn’t geared-to-income housing, and paid nearly enough to keep up affordable units. All during a City with rising rent.

Council meeting.

“For graduate students, it’s really The rally was held by the difficult for a lot of us to make Katarokwi Union of Tenants ends meet. Only about one-third (KUT), a grassroots organization of our students live in any form of dedicated to improving the state rent-controlled housing— of housing and rental tenure community housing in either An in Kingston.

Clachlan or John Orr Tower—but “We see the housing crisis as the rest of us are left bearing the a political problem—it really cost of the market,” Yearwood said touches every level of society,” Kyle in an interview with The Journal.

Fillo, KUT community organizer, “A lot of the housing as we know said in an interview with in Kingston is depleted stock. It’s The Journal. really rundown. I think [a survey According to Fillo, KUT hoped PSAC 901 conducted] indicated not only to raise awareness of something like 50 to 60 per cent “skyrocketing” home prices but also [of union members], maybe the increase in rents across the even higher, experienced real country and the lack of housing. financial stress as a result of the “We don’t see those problems housing crisis.” getting fixed by the current Although PSAC 901 had hoped measures in place, so we’re here to to convince Queen’s to build more advocate both for the large-scale affordable community housing political changes that need to be in their most recent bargaining made, as well as the grassroots agreement, Yearwood said it

Mayor says Kingston is committed to addressing homelessness

arts and culture, and youth outreach.

Efforts are hosted by groups like Smith Business Consulting, which partners with local businesses to develop solutions Anne Fu in strategy, marketing, sales, and Assistant News Editor operations; local camps, recreation, and after-school programs like A new report released February Sistema Kingston or Black Youth 2021 has found Queen’s is in STEM that introduce children responsible for generating $1.67 to STEM and the arts; and law billion in economic and social clinics and healthcare services benefits for Kingston—11 per cent that provide essential services to of the region’s GDP—and one in underserved populations.

10 jobs in the city.

The report also found that The Economic and Community Queen’s helped welcome 36,000 Impact Study, a 106-page report people to the Agnes Etherington compiled by Deloitte, revealed Art Center in 2017-18, and Queen’s raises more than 41,000 people to the Isabel $1 million a year to Bader Performing Arts Center in support charitable causes, 2018-19, enriching the city’s employs over 400 medical arts scene. doctors, has supported over On the national level, these 700 start-ups, and has brought contributions translated to $1.57 over $237 million in spending billion towards Canada’s GDP and from out-of-town students to 14,588 jobs.

Kingston from 2018-19.

“As a public institution, Queen’s According to the report, Queen’s has a responsibility and a duty has also attracted $620 million to be a positive force and an in research and development active partner for the Kingston funding since 2013, while the community,” Principal Patrick Queen’s Cancer Institute has Deane wrote in the report’s held 500 medical trials led executive summary. by the Canadian Cancer “At Queen’s we have a Trials Group. responsibility to understand our Queen’s also remains a impact and to ensure that the road local leader in volunteerism, we choose for our future is one entrepreneurship, sustainability, that benefits us all.”

“wasn’t possible to get that dealt with” due to pushback from the Ford government. He insists, however, that the University’s support is vital.

“This is a situation where Queen’s is de facto recognizing PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL that our housing rights are being 106-page Deloitte report revealed $1 million violated,” Yearwood said. “It’s an support for charitable causes. issue that absolutely needs to be resolved, and we’re in no position over the last few years,” Paterson of new housing that’s being for indebted students, low-paid said in a post-rally interview with constructed in the city, and workers, to actually do this The Journal. we’ve also invested far more in on our own.”

Two years ago, City Council affordable housing than we have Vic Sahai, former NDP federal voted to defer planned capital ever before—it’s a huge challenge, candidate for Kingston and the projects to free up $18 million to there’s a lot of work to do, and Islands, was an attendee. build at least 90 affordable housing we’re doing what we can.”

“Housing is a human right, and units during this term of council.

In a statement sent to The the market cannot philosophically “We’ve dedicated to new Journal, the City of Kingston provide that. Either you can afford affordable housing, supportive Housing and Social Services it, or you can’t afford it—and if you and transitional housing towards Department said they appreciate can’t afford it, you’re homeless. If the services like the Integrated housing advocacy from both this is a human right, then the Care Hub, and to homelessness in individuals and organized groups. government has to get involved general,” Paterson said.

“We are aware that the for those people who can’t afford Currently, Kingston aims Katarokwi Union of Tenants it,” Sahai said in an interview with to increase the overall supply may sometimes disagree with The Journal. of housing while forming a our approach and methods, but “The policies that are set partnership with developers ultimately, they serve the same up are usually created by in a “strategic investment” to vulnerable individuals and families upper-middle-class people, for provide housing units below we serve,” Rob Hosier, City of upper-middle-class people. They market rent. Despite these efforts, Kingston’s communications officer, don’t think of how those policies Paterson said the City needs more wrote in an email to The Journal. will influence and affect people funding from the provincial and “We understand their holding who are going to be vulnerable federal governments. a rally on this vital community to homelessness.”

“As a City, we put in a lot of dollars, need and sincerely hope it results Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson and the more that the province in productive, actionable, and said the City is committed to and the federal government put in, sustainable solutions for those providing affordable housing and that just means more housing can who need them most.” addressing homelessness. be offered at a lower rental rate for “We’re putting more money into people that can’t afford the market —With files from Rida Chaudhry housing and homelessness than rate,” he said. we have ever in the city’s history “We’ve doubled the amount

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News

Friday, April 8, 2022

Liberal MPP candidate sits down with ‘The Journal’ Ted Hsu points to housing and affordability as the most pressing election issues

land out west King Street that is already zoned for medium density residential and mixed use,” he said.

Hsu also noted he hoped to have the province work more closely with Queen’s and St. Lawrence College to coordinate more affordable housing for Cassidy Mcmackon post-secondary students.

Opinions Editor To address the climate crisis, Hsu hopes to urge the development Liberal Member of Provincial of electric transportation in Parliament (MPP) candidate for Kingston to reduce greenhouse Kingston and the Islands Ted Hsu, gas emissions.

ArtSci ’94, is prepared to combat “I’m glad that the City of affordability issues as well as the Kingston is trying out electric climate crisis and advocate for buses. There are some start-up economic recovery. costs you have to have charging Through a platform that infrastructure, for example, but emphasizes the need to address that is one direction for the city to the Kingston housing crisis and the take,” he said. climate crisis locally, Hsu hopes to Hsu also intends to push tackle larger issues that have been for heating homes with electric exacerbated by the pandemic. heat rather than natural gases “Not being able to find housing and hopes to develop the means just makes people’s lives unstable,” for better electrical storage and Tsu said in an interview with The improved reliance on renewable Journal. “I think one of the things energy to reduce greenhouse that will make everybody’s life gas emissions. stable is to deal with this housing “We should do whatever we can affordability crisis that we have to try to avoid relying on natural right now.” gas for our baseload electricity To Hsu, the housing crisis generation,” he said. in Kingston is a “multi-faceted Hsu moved to Kingston problem” that can be addressed by in 1964 with his family as an the province alongside municipal infant. He attended Queen’s from and private bodies.

1980 through 1984, where he “The province can do some studied physics. Although he left very Kingston particular things. Kingston to pursue graduate There is some provincial Crown studies at Princeton University,

Cornell professors discuss rise of authoritarianism Kaushik Basu zeroes in on Greta’s Dilemma theory

scientists to collectively put their minds to challenge authoritarianism.

Basu went on to discuss game theory in economics, a framework that analyzes Skylar Soroka situations where parties Contributor make interdependent decisions—one of On Apr. 6, Queen’s Economics Basu’s prime interests.

Professor Christopher Cotton The Greta’s Dilemma and hosted a webinar with Incarceration Game offers guest speaker Kaushik Basu, insight into how dictators Cornell University Professor may make matters worse of International Studies and when they collectively interact Economics. The event was in situations. held via Zoom and discussed Greta’s Dilemma stresses how the rise of authoritarianism people’s selfish actions have and its link to economic the potential to harm future game theories. generations. Basu added that “The rise of authoritarianism constitutions may vary based and authoritarian leaders is the on geographical location, focus. You can see this [currently] complicating matters. with Putin’s rule,” Basu said.

“We live in such a globalized When examining the rise of world that a set of rules for Canada, authoritarianism, it’s important to a set of rules for India, and so look at the “structure” and “data” on­—there is just too much going of the world’s current economy. on,” said Basu.

“There is somehow a very Combating dictatorship distracted state of the nature of and authoritarianism is politics in the world—politics is a difficultchallenge, but a polarized,” Basu said, specifically necessary one. referencing Russia’s invasion “[We] have the capacity to of Ukraine. change the rules of the game Basu believes it’s imperative and that’s what we have to do for us to do innovative work collectively. This is our opportunity and urged his professional for the world, but there are risks colleagues and political we cannot deny.”

he returned to the Kingston area in 2006.

After returning to Kingston, he worked as the executive director of the Switch to Sustainable Energy Association, has been involved in working in start-up companies, and has worked with robotics.

Hsu also served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston from 2011 to 2015. In his return to the political arena, he hopes to help Ontario recover from the pandemic and “lead to a brighter future.”

When asked about his PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL professional background, Hsu Provincial election to take place in June. noted his prior experience in government and his background case now that people with a STEM seen how decisions have made working in the sciences background are not that common. lasting effects today. I think that would benefit his work in the It provides a different perspective.” historical perspective of having provincial legislature.

As a long-time Kingston seen one community for a long “About my STEM background, resident with multiple connections time is very useful.” it’s important to have a legislature to the city, Hsu said his experience that has people from all different seeing the city through the last few backgrounds,” he said. decades gives him a unique ability “When I first got elected in the to represent the people.

House of Commons, that is still the “I’ve seen the city change; I’ve

PC MPP candidate sits down with ‘The Journal’ Gary Bennett to focus on healthcare, student mental health, and housing

raise the issue of trying to get a family doctor [...] We quite simply just don’t have enough family doctors in this region.

It’s very pleasing to see that the party [PCs] came forward. We’ve created 50 new admissions positions at the Queen’s School Asbah Ahmad of Medicine.”

Assistant News Editor On the topic of student mental health, Bennett said it’s often not Gary Bennett is running to at the forefront of conversation be Kingston and the Island’s and remains an invisible disease.

Member of Provincial Parliament “People often suffer in silence.

(MPP) under the Progressive I’m pleased to see the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC). Conservative Party have come up Bennett sat down with The Journal with what they call a roadmap to discuss how his role on City to wellness. It’s almost a Council and his time as mayor will $4 billion investment in mental inform a potential MPP tenure. health,” he said.

“I’ve served a little more Bennett wants to work than a decade on Kingston with Queen’s to ensure more City Council, both as a member university graduates stay in the of City Council and as Mayor. Kingston area.

I found the experience of public “I think there’s less than five or service and representing people 10 per cent of graduates at Queen’s very rewarding,” Bennett said in who decide to stay in Kingston an interview with The Journal. [...] I want to ensure that we’re Affordability, homelessness, working in partnership—the and accessibility to healthcare Government of Ontario with resources are among Bennett’s top the City, and Queen’s University, priorities if elected. to see if we can create more “When you go door-to-door, I’m opportunities to retain students.” hearing issues that are revolving Bennett also spoke about around affordability. Homelessness the government’s current seems to be something that people initiatives aiming to identify want to talk about at the door, and issues related to racialization obviously the issues arising out of and Indigeneity. that, such as mental illness and “We’ve already put in addictions,” Bennett said. place programs that really Bennett supports integrated identify minority groups, care models when it comes particularly within our Indigenous to tackling homelessness. communities. I think as When discussing healthcare, Canadians we recognize that we Bennett said he’s concerned have an ongoing responsibility by the lack of family doctors to ensure that there are available for Kingston residents. no barriers to education, “I’ve had a couple of people whether it’s in our

SUPPLIED BY GARY BENNET

Indigenous communities or in other minority communities,” Bennett said.

When asked about the Ford government’s OSAP cuts and reliance on the Student Choice Initiative—which has now been struck down in court—Bennett said the PC government is willing to learn and demonstrate more “care.” “[Sometimes] you need to stand up from time to time and say, ‘You know, we might not have gotten it right the first time, and we need to rethink our policies,’” Bennett said.

Bennett reaffirmed his commitment to Queen’s and its students, mentioning his desire to create an advisory board with students if elected.

“The idea of forming a community advisory group is something that I would encourage the participation of students on. I would even hold meetings on the Queen’s campus,” Bennett said.

Bennett believes he’s the best candidate because of his experience and willingness to listen to all sides of an issue.

“When you belong to a political party, you’re going to have partisan views. Politics should only divide us during an election.

Once the election is behind us, we’re all members of the same ommunity, and we need to come back together.”

The provincial election is scheduled to take place June. 2.

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PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL

Team RTZ began their term on May 1, 2021.

‘Dynamic, resilient, and hopeful’: AMS Year in Review Team RTZ talks student engagement, AMS culture, and the JDUC Sydney Ko Senior News Editor In their final interview with The Journal, Team RTZ described their term as student leaders as “dynamic, resilient, and hopeful.”

When asked whether the executive has successfully checked off every actionable item from their platform, Tiana Wong, Vice-President (Operations) said “not necessarily,” because they’ve tackled more than what was included in their original platform.

“There’s some things we didn’t get to, but then there’s also a lot of things that were never included in the platform that we did get to that we’re very proud of—overall, we are happy with what has been achieved,” Wong said in an interview with The Journal.

On the achievements they were most proud of, President Zaid Kasim pointed to developing strong relationships with faculty societies and small affiliated member societies as well as the executive’s work on the JDUC redevelopment project.

“We held President’s caucus weekly this year and this is the first year in a long time that we worked extensively [together],” Kasim said in an interview with The Journal.

Vice-President (University Affairs) Ryan Sieg was proud of how the executive supported the return to in-person activities.

“I think that required a ton of efforts behind the scenes from a ton of different people in different branches, so I think that was also a really big accomplishment this year,” Sieg said in an interview with The Journal.

Rebuilding trust and student engagement One of the major actionable items in RTZ’s platform was their commitment to rebuilding the student body’s trust in the AMS. According to Wong, AMS employees have felt increase uncertainty intheir roles throughout COVID-19. Team RTZ

claims they’ve been “very transparent” with staff.

“I think we have done a good job instilling trust from my point of view with our employees,” Wong said. “We understand staff rely on these positions financially, so ensuring we were, to the best of our ability, providing opportunities for work was big.”

Kasim added the feedback they’ve received throughout the year was overall “positive.”

In terms of student engagement, Sieg referenced high participation in the Rector election and said there’s been an “upward trend” despite only one team running for AMS executive.

“While there was only one team in the election, I think they’ll do a very good job next year […] and I think that it seems like student engagement is on an upward trajectory,” Sieg said.

AMS culture and transparency While the AMS saw four resignations at the senior management level before the end of September, Wong said they’ve introduced more support for current and future staff. Since then, RTZ has implemented a human resources officer to help guide student staff and introduce “HR downloads.”

“Having a professional in the human resources office is really important to us, because there are sensitive matters that need to be dealt with and it’s unfair to burden a student with no experience in HR to be in that position,” Wong said.

Among the changes to improve AMS transparency is a website redevelopment project, which Wong said might sound “small,” but has been an “all hands on deck project.”

“It’s taken a lot of time with a very talented individual at an external company to help us create a new website that will be more student-facing,” Wong said. “The whole objective of that is to have a section where information is supposed to be readily available.”

The website will house information relating to AMS financials, policies, and student resources.

JDUC transition

Rideau building—taking place in June or July.

When asked what they will miss most As the JDUC revitalization project proceeds, about their time as an executive, both Kasim Kasim has dedicated his time to ensure a and Sieg said they’ll miss the moments they smooth transition for incoming AMS staff were able to spend on campus. moving to the LaSalle building.

“I think one thing that I will really “Many of our permanent staff miss from this year is the times where have moved over to the LaSalle building […] people were on campus—the energy we relocated some of our services as well,” just felt very fun,” Sieg said. “I’ll really Kasim said. miss the atmosphere and the buzz.”

AMS services including the Student Aside from her usual Common Life Centre (SLC), Walkhome, and Ground Coffeehouse order, Wong will the Printing & Copy Centre (P&CC) have miss the collaborative environment all moved into the Athletics & Recreation of the AMS. Centre (ARC).

Team RTZ advised the incoming AMS According to Kasim, the next services executive to “soak it up while it lasts.” to move will be Studio Q and the Secretariat’s office into the —With files from Asbah Ahmad.

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FEATURES FEATURES

Features

Friday, April 8, 2022

Construction on the JDUC begins in May.

Saying goodbye to the JDUC

The past, present and future of the iconic Queen’s building Kirby Harris Features Editor

Queen’s bought the John Deutsch University Center (JDUC) in 1927 and named it the Queen’s Memorial Union in commemoration of students who fought and died in WWI. Since that purchase, the building has remained a fixture of Queen’s campus—housing cafeterias, clubs, coffee shops, and residence halls.

Next month, renovations will begin that, when completed, will render the JDUC we know unrecognizable.

Past In its early days, Queen’s Memorial Union had a cafeteria, meeting rooms, and offices for different student societies. Most of the building was closed to women at this time—a literal boy’s club. It wasn’t until 1960, when women were granted unrestricted access to Wallace Hall, that the Memorial Union was officially open to women in its entirety.

On Sept. 4, 1947, the building was seriously damaged by a fire.

Originally constructed in 1862, it was already due for replacement.

After the fire, Queen’s demolished it early to make way.

The replacement building would be recognizable as what the JDUC looks like today. Renovations were made again in the mid-1970s, although it’s unclear exactly what year they were completed. Upon completion, the building was renamed for University President John Deutsch. Records aren’t clear if the decision to name the JDUC after him was made while he was still president in 1974 or after his death in 1976.

Throughout the decades, the JDUC has been home to endless businesses, services, and student organizations, including The Journal, the AMS and ASUS offices, Common Ground Coffeehouse

(CoGro), Queen’s Pub, a salon, a dentist, and more.

With all these fixtures of student life in one building, the JDUC has long been a popular site for student gatherings. In a guide to Queen’s acronyms published in 2005, Emma Reilly, The Journal’s Vol. 133 copy editor, noted, “if you sit at the JDUC long enough chances are you’ll see about 67 per cent of the people you know at Queen’s”.

Since the 1970s—either 1971 or 1976—the basement of the JDUC has been home to Queen’s on-campus club. Originally called “The Underground”, the club was renamed “Alfie’s” after Alfie Pierce, a decades-long supporter of Queen’s sports teams who passed away in 1951. For decades, Alfie’s was a hub of student entertainment.

In the 1980s, Alfie’s served alcohol and hosted events throughout the week, with live entertainment boasted on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. The club was almost too popular, according to some.

One Journal article published in 1980 complained Alfie’s lines were far too long and the club couldn’t accommodate enough patrons.

One of the other major social spaces in the JDUC is Queen’s Pub, one of Queen’s three on-campus bars. After opening in 1977 as Queen’s Pub, it was renamed “Quiet Pub” for a short period in the late 1970s and early 1980s after being banned from playing music due to noise complaints.

Until 2010, CoGro was also housed in the JDUC. Alongside selling coffee, tea, and café food, CoGro’s time in the JDUC had it hosting several student events. Ads from the mid-aughts promoted weekly movie nights, open mics, and watch parties for HBO’s Sex and The City.

The JDUC hosted career fairs, jazz concerts, Christmas dinners, and Superbowl parties throughout the years. Walking through the building at its most popular may have led you to something unusual—like a free fitness and health test or MuchMusic searching for their next Veejay.

In 2005, the JDUC was scheduled

to be replaced with a new student life centre that would cost the university 24 million dollars. The 2008 financial crisis and logistic issues led to the cancelation of construction in 2011.

The JDUC was given a fresh coat of paint in 2016 with a $1.2 million revitalization project, which improved walkways and added a skylight in the main part of the building.

Present After the post-2008 renovation cancellation, the JDUC remained in limbo. While the building was still used by student organizations, many of the once crowded locations began to lose traction.

Although The Brew, a smaller coffee shop also run by CoGro, remained in the JDUC, CoGro’s main location moved with the opening of the ARC in January 2010.

In 2013, Alfie’s was renamed The Underground yet again as an attempt to rebrand after a bout of poor financial performance.

The club had been declining in popularity since the late 80s despite multiple renovations and investments by the AMS. Throughout the rest of the 2010s, The Underground continued to operate in a deficit as it failed to draw in patrons.

The Brew, Queen’s Pub, and The Underground have been closed since Mar. 2020, when public health guidelines forced the Winter 2020 semester online. At the time, JDUC renovations were set to begin in 2021, causing services to stay closed. Although renovations were pushed back, a combination of renovation preparations and pandemic shutdowns left the services shuttered.

Simrit Anand, ConEd ’22, works for the Student Life Center providing information to students, parents, and anyone who comes by the office at the southern entrance of the JDUC. She’s noticed the lack of people coming in and out of the building since the pandemic began.

“It’s usually a lot busier but, because of COVID, not a lot of people have been coming in,” Anand said in an interview with The Journal.

Anand spoke fondly about her time in the JDUC, pointing

out the unique art, history, and artifacts in the building. One of her favourite features of the building is the memorial to the World Wars.

“It’s beautiful. There are tinted glass windows, and there are these really old photos of people that took part in the war,” she said. “You can tell that all the artifacts and stuff in the rooms are so old, but they’ve been kept very well.”

Even in pandemic times, there’s still life in the JDUC. Stephanie Pederson, ArtSci ’24, works for Walkhome, which was located in the JDUC until February, when it was moved to Queen’s Center in preparation for renovations.

Pederson’s favourite memory in the JDUC took place over a St. Patrick’s Day weekend, when her manager set up a game of water pong to pass the time.

Pederson used the JDUC’s unique architecture to set up a great shot.

“We started doing trick shots at one point, and I went up to the second level and I shot it down.

And I got it in. It was a really epic moment—probably the peak of my life,” Pederson said in an interview with The Journal.

Pederson spoke highly of the community within the JDUC and the positive relationship Walkhome had with others in the building.

“It’s really chill. We have music going, generally, and we’ve actually had people who work or live in the JDUC come up to us and be like, ‘What’s your playlist? This is good music.’”

Although it’s located in a separate part of campus from other residence halls, students do live in the JDUC. It’s home to the “Graduate Residence,” built in 1964. The Graduate Residence is 4-stories and houses approximately 100 students.

Despite being called the Graduate Residence, since 2018, the building has exclusively housed undergraduate students.

The JDUC residences are unique, with every room having the luxury of an attached private bathroom with a shower. Last year, these residences were used to isolate

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL

students who tested positive for COVID-19.

Future After years of back-and-forth between students and the University, pandemic interruptions, and missed funding deadlines, the revitalization of the JDUC is finally set to begin. Although it holds a lot of history, it’s clear the JDUC has structural issues that need to be addressed.

“Sometimes the JDUC roof drips on us, and it’s really bad. You can actually tell how badly it’s raining by how many drips there are,” Pederson said.

Accessibility is another big concern. The JDUC’s structure and lack of accessibility features make it hard to navigate for those with mobility needs. The additions and renovations to the building over the last 160 years have also led to a somewhat confusing floor plan.

“It’s not accessible, being completely honest; it’s also incredibly confusing. I one time tried to go to the [Sexual Health and Resource Center] and I got so lost I ended up at the Room of Requirement,” Pederson said.

Anand added the inclusion of ramps and accessibility features would make a significant positive difference.

The JDUC is clearly dated compared to newer buildings like Mitchell Hall. Despite this, Anand hopes the renovations make improvements without sacrificing the history of the building.

“Wallace Hall is beautiful, and so is McLaughlin. Even that World War exhibit they have. I really hope they don’t get rid of those things, because they’re absolutely beautiful. I feel like they’re an integral part of the building and Queen’s community,” Anand said.

“When you compare it to other buildings on campus like Goodes or Mitchell, it does look very old in comparison, but I’m just hoping they don’t scrap everything.

That’s my biggest concern.”

The JDUC revitalization is scheduled for completion by August 2024.

Editorials

Friday, April 8, 2022

EDITORIALS

queensjournal.ca

The Journal’s Perspective

Darts & laurels 2021-22

THE QUEEN’S JOURNAL Volume 149 Issue 27 www.queensjournal.ca @queensjournal Publishing since 1873

Editorial Board Editors in Chief

Darts Students talk police presence over homecoming weekends: During homecoming weekend October 2021, Queen’s students alleged significant police presence and brutality at the traditional street parties. Although some students were breaking COVID-19 guidelines, singling people out for tickets in violent or otherwise inappropriate ways didn’t convey the level of respect necessary to bring the situation under control. Further, a donation of $350,000 from Queen’s to the City of Kingston—which contributed to police funding—inspired discussions about the University’s lack of advocacy for student needs.

Freedom Convoy rolls through Kingston: Everyone has a right to protest, but as soon as protests compromise the safety of others, they’re crossing the line. The freedom convoy was a perfect example, making pedestrians feel targeted and unsafe on their own streets. COVID19 restrictions may feel tiring, but taking over cities taints the concept of “fighting for freedom”—all thanks to those who’ve likely never truly had their freedom compromised.

Any presence of Nazi flags in a demonstration is unacceptable—it’s unfortunate this hurtful show of white supremacy went on for as long as it did.

Queen’s not recognizing National Day for Truth & Reconciliation as statutory holiday: The University’s failure to acknowledge the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation as a statutory holiday is unacceptable. Hosting reconciliation events was a positive gesture, but students and

faculty must have a proper opportunity to reflect on Canada’s colonial history and how they can participate in reconciliation. Queen’s has the power to properly acknowledge the holiday as an institution—it’s the least that can be done.

Former AMS senior management staff speak to why they resigned: After three AMS senior management staff members resigned in September 2021, former staffers recalled their experiences with the overwhelming workload, racial bias, and cliquey culture still present within the workplace. While unacceptable, these circumstances are especially disappointing because to RTZ promised to address all these issues during their term and didn’t follow through. Disrespecting and compromising the safety of AMS staff is irresponsible—and the situation should’ve been better and more transparently handled by the executive in the aftermath.

Laurels Queen’s Hospitality Services gears up for Ramadan: A good start should always be acknowledged, and the extended operations of Hospitality Services for Ramadan is just that. The changes will be in effect throughout April 2022 to accommodate Muslim students who are celebrating. This is a proud achievement born from collaboration between Muslim dons, students, ResLife staff, and QUMSA, and is a welcome example of Queen’s acknowledging minority religions’ celebrations.

Mandatory Bus-it fee passes at AMS Winter Referendum: The reinstatement of the mandatory Bus-it fee is cause for

celebration—the program makes Kingston transportation more accessible and affordable for students. The Journal issued an editorial on AMS’s failure to bring back the program this year that resonated with many students, and we hoped it would help spark necessary change. Advocacy for the Bus-It program was a nice example of the Queen’s community coming together to affect real change.

Q u e e n’ s to participate in new bursary for Black & Indigenous student-athletes: The Black or Indigenous Heritage Student-Athlete Bursary sponsored by the OUA is a great addition to Queen’s financial supports, and will hopefully draw Black and Indigenous athletes to the Gaels.

Bursaries are a necessary step towards reducing monetary barriers for student-athletes. Though Queen’s must ensure Black and Indigenous studentathletes have a safe and welcoming experience once they begin their studies, the bursary is a good start towards welcoming these athletes.

Nobel prize winning Queen’s Alum sits down with ‘The Journal’: David Card—recent recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions in labour economics—is a Queen’s alum bringing hope and inspiration to the university’s current students. It’s lovely to see someone from our home turf making a positive impact. Card’s experience is a reminder that Queen’s students can build a meaningful career with the degrees we earn here.

—Journal Editorial Board

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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

Assistant Lifestyle Editor Photo Editor

Madeleine McCormick Spencer Hendrickson

Assistant Photo Editor Video Editor

Curtis Heinzl Nathan Carter

Assistant Video Editor Copy Editors

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

Adrianna Prattas Skylar Soroka

Staff Writers

Alexa Bartels Jack Burnham Herbert Wang

Business Staff Business Manager Sales Representatives Fundraising Representative Social Media Coordinator

Yoli Wang Medhavi Maurya Will Stewart Riya Shah Francesca Lim

Want to contribute?

Why word counts defeat their purpose—in 500 words or less Violetta Zeitlinger Fontana 1,500 to 2,000 words, Times New Roman, 12pt, double-spaced—we’ve all read that section of an assignment description. I’m sure many of us have groaned over finishing an essay and falling short of the word count or have written a passionate paper only to cut it down by 1,000 words.

Writing is supposed to be a creative outlet, a form to express your thoughts in ways numbers and graphs can’t convey.

Academia is already rigid enough—it shouldn’t limit passion as well.

When asked why we must stay within the limit, professors often say it’s to ensure conciseness in our writing. But word counts don’t equal conciseness—TAs and professors should discern the quality of someone’s writing by reading it, not by looking at the length of the paper.

I’m not against giving guidelines and suggestions. Every assignment is unique and requires a different amount of content.

However, grading should be focused on the quality of content, not the amount.

If you want to grade for conciseness, that’s fine. But grade the conciseness itself—not adherence to word count.

There’s a difference between filling your essay with unnecessary fluff and being 300 words over your limit because you have 2,300 words of solid content. I think students should be penalized for the fluff, not for extra words of worthwhile contribution.

If a student writes 3,000 words without answering the question, that’s not due to a lack of a word count—

it’s because they don’t know how to write.

A student will never learn to write well if they’re writing to reach a specific target. To judge the quality of their paper, students should be asking themselves, “Is this complete?” rather than, “Am I between 1,500 to 2,000 words?”

This approach not only teaches students to write better, but it also helps them learn how to fulfill an assignment’s purpose while tailoring to their audience.

We’ve taught students to use different terminology when communicating to a general audience versus professionals in the field. Word counts are no different. We should also be teaching the appropriate

times to submit a 500-word paper versus a 5,000-word paper.

By removing word counts, writing becomes about the piece itself—the story it tells. Our goal becomes internal rather than external. We finish the paper once it’s achieved its purpose, not once we’ve run out of room.

When we free our minds from the constrains of academia, we learn more about ourselves and our work.

Let’s try this again: just Times New Roman, 12pt, double-spaced. You’ll know you’ve finished when all the questions are answered.

Violetta is a second-year Health Sciences student and The Journal’s Production Manager.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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.

PHOTO BY SPENCER HENDRICKSON

Opinions

8 • queensjournal.ca

OPINIONS

Friday, April 8, 2022

Your Perspective

Adrianna believes that masking shouldn’t merely be a personal decision.

PHOTO BY SPENCER HENDRICKSON

Learning to live with COVID doesn’t mean abandoning masks Queen’s should reconsider suspending masking mandates Adrianna Prattas Contributor With Queen’s suspending masking and vaccination mandates starting May 1, it’s important we discuss why the popular notion of “learning to live with COVID” doesn’t mean we should throw our hands up in the air and hope for the best.

Instead, learning to live with COVID-19 should mean increasing hospital staff and capacities, offering more accessible testing, improving ventilation infrastructure, and keeping in place the mandates that have saved countless lives over the last two years.

For Queen’s, this means maintaining masking and vaccination mandates for an indefinite period.

Queen’s claims its reasoning for the removal of mandates is grounded in the decline of COVID19 hospitalizations. This logic is shortsighted.

There have been significant increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations since Ontario’s mask and vaccine mandate removal—a trend reflected in several other provinces that have eased or removed mandates, including

Quebec, Saskatchewan, and pre-existing conditions who British Columbia. suffer from ongoing symptoms Part of the increase in experienced organ damage to hospitalizations and COVID one or more organs four months cases is due to the Omicron post initial mild infection. Longsubvariant BA.2. term effects of COVID-19 can also While some claim the Omicron come in the form of blood clots variant causes a “mild” infection, which increase the risk of heart that doesn’t mean leaders should conditions and strokes. be content with the rapid spread of To suggest COVID-19 is “mild” the virus. Numerous studies have and “like the flu” even in young, found COVID-19 symptoms can low-risk, healthy individuals is persist in people with even mild or inappropriate and dangerous asymptomatic infections after the when there are an alarming of virus has exited the body. healthy young adults experiencing One particular study notes strokes and a plethora of other persistent symptoms may debilitating health issues. occur in up to 35 per cent Some may argue while of infected individuals, with COVID-19 may still be dangerous, symptoms ranging in severity individuals will conduct “personal from fatigue and difficulty risk assessments” when breathing to decreased mental determining whether to wear and cognitive functioning and a mask. This is precisely what multi-organ damage. This KFL&A Medical Officer of Health can impair daily functioning Piotr Oglaza, stated in a message to and effectively debilitate once KFL&A in preparation for Ontario’s healthy people. removal of the mask mandate.

Another study also notes The “personal” in the term the uptick in mild cases is “personal risk assessment” is concerning as it may result in a misleading. The actions individuals considerable number of individuals take during this pandemic, such with difficult persistent symptoms. as masking or not masking, An influx of patients requiring affect others. long-term assistance would Asymptomatic infections, overrun Ontario’s healthcare especially in low-risk groups, are system which currently not uncommon. It’s possible an doesn’t have capacity to individual who deems themself provide this care. low-risk and decides to remain Although many Queen’s unmasked in public spaces students would likely be considered could unknowingly have an “low-risk” for severe illness or asymptomatic COVID-19 infection. death, that doesn't mean they’re Everyone around this individual immune from the dangers some of whom may be high-risk, of long-COVID-19. is now at risk of infection due to A UK study found young, their decision to not wear a mask. low-risk patients, with few As we have been reminded

since mask mandates began, isolation is impossible, we masks not only protect the person should be mindful of how wearing the mask but also those our decisions may affect others around them. However, masking around us. Even if you and your isn’t nearly as effective if only friends deem yourselves to be “vulnerable” individuals wear “low-risk”, that doesn’t a mask. mean this is the case for an A study exploring the immunocompromised housemate. effectiveness of one-way masking While remaining masked isn’t concluded social distancing fun, neither is contracting COVID-19 combined with only a vulnerable and being at-risk for experiencing person wearing a mask still the possibility of life-altering creates a high risk of infections. long-COVID-19 symptoms—nor Specifically, this study found if is it fun to send someone to the neither individual is masking, even hospital because you deemed with a distance of three meters yourself to be low-risk. between them, a five-minute The masks will come off one conversation has a 90 per cent risk day, but the increase in COVID-19 of infection. When only the cases, hospitalizations, and the vulnerable individual wears a lack of information on treating surgical mask, the risk reaches long-COVID mean that day hasn’t 90 per cent after 30 minutes. yet come. Wearing masks is one However, if both the infected of the simplest, most effective, and vulnerable individuals are and least invasive ways to protect wearing surgical masks, the yourself and others against the risk drops to under 30 per cent dangers of COVID-19. after an hour of close contact. If Queen’s owes it to its students both individuals wear an N95 to re-implement the mask and or equivalent mask, the risk of vaccine mandate to protect both infection further drops to 0.4 healthy and vulnerable staff and per cent after the same timeframe. students. While it may be a minor Even if students take a inconvenience to wear a mask personal risk assessment and for a bit longer, these mandates find themselves to be low-risk have—and will continue to—save and elect not to wear a mask, countless lives. that doesn’t mean others around To effectively learn to live with them are low-risk and can afford COVID-19, we must continue a COVID-19 infection. People who exercising the least-impairing, are seemingly young and healthy life-saving strategies until we have can have disabilities and chronic better methods of protection illnesses which make them more and treatment. Learning to live susceptible to severe effects with COVID-19 means wearing of COVID-19. masks, at least for now.

In university towns like Kingston, where students often live in Adrianna is a second-year Sociology spaces where t r u e student.

Friday, April 8, 2022

Arts

queensjournal.ca

DSS introduces relaxed performance with ‘Theseus’

ARTS

Production chooses accessibility over traditional theatre etiquette Alexa Bartels Staff Writer Equity and representation are of concern to many theatre scholars, especially as they pertain to accommodating audiences.

The Dan Studio Series held its first-ever relaxed performance on Mar. 24 with a collection of student-written and directed pieces titled Theseus that adapted conventional theatre etiquette to increase accessibility.

House lights in the Rotunda theatre were kept on, cues were turned down, and ASMs (assistant stage managers) were visible during transitions. Spectators were also given a content advisory and offered support located within Theological Hall as one portion of the production reflected on a character actively contemplating suicide.

While the structure of the performance prioritized accessibility, the pieces also explored a diversity of topics, including adventure, modern-romance, mental health, and existential crises.

The Fountain and Ham & Cheese Search For The Bagel

DSS made sure everyone could enjoy the show.

SUPPLIED BY STUDIO Q

QMT delivers emotional performance of ‘Little Women’ Musical rendition of the classic focuses on family and sisterhood Mackenzie Loveys Assisstant Arts Editor Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women remains a classic piece of literature frequently adapted for the stage and screen. Queen’s Musical Theatre (QMT) delivered a musical version of the beloved tale that thoughtfully paid tribute to the story and its characters.

QMT’s Little Women ran for 10 shows at Kingston Baby Grand Theatre from Mar. 31 to Apr. 9.

The play follows the lives of the March sisters, Jo, Amy, Beth, and Meg, as they mature from children into women. The story explores their sisterly bond by balancing the love and conflict often present in tight-knit families.

Opening night ran smoothly, with actors delivering stellar performances. Sets were moved by a combination of cast and crew, giving the impression of the story’s titular family. Everyone operated as one harmonious team that helped each other whenever possible.

Hannah Klose’s director’s note emphasized this kinship by saying, “Little Women depicts a family’s resilience and compassion throughout hardship, and these qualities have been reflected tenfold in our cast and crew over the course of this project.”

Through their strong representation of family, QMT delivered a heartwarming rendition of Little Women that invoked the comfort of the story and its characters.

Michelle Butterchew perfectly captured Jo’s passionate, bold, and often outspoken personality, but also conveyed the softness

•9

and unwavering loyalty she has for her family.

The youngest March sister, Amy, was given the respect she deserves but is often denied. Alexa Jacoby, who stood in for usual performer Christina Licatalosi, succeeded in selling the character’s journey from a vain child into an ambitious woman despite the short showtime.

Jacoby portrayed her as an ambitious and outspoken child who just wants to be like her older sisters, rather than the whining, entitled brat she often seems to be.

Beth, often viewed as a boring character, was brought to life by Skylar Jordan. Her acting and singing perfectly communicated Beth’s gentle and caring demeanor, communicating the beauty in her character’s subtlety. Rather than being a passive character who disappears into the shadows of her outgoing sisters, QMT’s version was the glue holding the family together.

While Aunt March and Laurie provided comedic relief, Meg and Marmee delivered the soothing, maternal presence often expected in Little Women. Dominique DelBen’s Marmee was effortlessly wise and comforting, especially in her emotional solo “Here Alone.”

While I had never experienced a musical inspired by Alcott’s novel before, QMT gave me the many feelings of nostalgia, joy, and sadness which I’ve grown to expect from Little Women.

With a strong sense of familial bond and three-dimensional characters, QMT did Alcott justice by successfully telling the story that always warms and breaks my heart.

The Fountain follows Jaden, who, while hopeful for his future, is overwhelmed with existential questions about his identity and life path. He sets out in search of the titular fountain in a magical forest in hopes of finding answers.

Ham & Cheese Search for the Bagel is another allegorical performance where destiny and God are interwoven into Ham & Cheese’s search to find a love they cannot have.

Both productions incorporated

accessibility measures into their performances, including the use of lighting during transitions. Ham and Cheese director Charity Wessel, ArtSci ’22, told The Journal more about the process in an interview.

“At least from my perspective, this specific DSS show has really taken a step up in terms of accessibility—not only in the creation process but in the performing process.”

Wessel hopes this level of accessibility will become a DSS-wide standard.

Cowboy Mike & The Golden Cattle and Make You Work Hard, Make You Spend Hard Cowboy Mike & The Golden Cattle and Make You Work Hard, Make You Spend Hard fused elements of tragic romance into a comedic structure.

Cowboy Mike & The Golden Cattle was undeniably the most happy-go-lucky performance of the evening. It was lighthearted and immersive, with mythical and fairytale creatures like beautiful sirens, wise willows, and golden cattle, of course.

Conversely, Make You Work Hard, Make You Spend Hard is a modern romantic comedy focused on mental health. Protagonist Daisy is an archetypal drama student struggling with emotional unavailability, stuck in an unconventional relationship with her teaching assistant.

DSS’s incorporation of accessibility measures benefited both performances.

Their decision to go with un-assigned seating fostered an intimate environment, allowing people to sit wherever they felt most comfortable. This was a benefit for those with mobility needs and appreciated given some of the heavy subject matter.

Overall, DSS’s relaxed performance laid a framework for a more inclusive and accessible theatre experience that should be followed by all.

Queen’s students presented ‘Little Women: The Musical.’

SUPPLIED BY QMT

Arts

10 • queensjournal.ca

Friday, April 8, 2022

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DHARMAYU DESAI

Questions often mean more than answers.

Exploring how we can define great art Studying art through three distinct lenses Ben Wrixon Senior Arts Editor For as long as art has existed, consumers, critics, and even artists themselves have debated what elevates great art above the rest. There may be no definitive answer, but the best works across all mediums often share commonalities.

Great art is timeless Art is often a product of its time—frequently, the artist’s expression at a specific moment in their life. While this

approach enables the artist to tap into particular emotions and circumstances, it opens the possibility of becoming dated, too.

Timelessness requires careful creative choices— something Omar El-Akkad recently accomplished with his Giller-Prize winning novel, What Strange Paradise.

Many consider it a commentary on the present-day refugee crisis, but El Akkad deliberately left locations and dates within the story unknown. This ambiguity allows the novel to serve as an exploration of the issue in the past, present, and future.

Great art is never pigeonholed by its time. It presents an idea or story that can be extrapolated across time, generations, and cultures.

Great art pushes boundaries It’s easy making art that fits contemporary moulds. There’s no risk in creating something for an audience that has been pre-established by others in the field.

However, to rise above the rest, great art must push boundaries and pave the way for whatever interesting thing might come next.

They say life imitates art, after all.

Music undoubtedly has its trailblazers. Elvis Presley ushered in a generation of rock and roll music to the disapproval of 1950s parents. NWA infused 1990s hip hop with a fiery attitude and charisma that made them a cultural zeitgeist.

Way back in the late 1500s, William Shakespeare was writing dramatic plays unlike anything the

world had ever seen before. His boundary-destroying literature is still studied today because of the doors it opened for storytellers across all artistic mediums.

Boundaries are meant to be broken. The best art is created when artists pursue their unique vision rather than finding comfort in the familiar.

Great art is a spark We’ll likely never know what the Mona Lisa is looking at. People will debate the meaning of Citizen Kane’s ending until the world stops turning. Listeners might go the next hundred years without fully understanding what Pink Floyd meant with The Wall.

When art leaves some things to the imagination, it allows the consumer to incorporate thoughts,

emotions, and experiences into the work. By doing this, the artist has provided us with a framework to think about whatever they wanted to communicate.

Great art has the power to inspire conversation. It frequently encourages people to think about what they have consumed, why it exists, and its place in society. It often has the audacity to challenge what people thought they knew about a certain topic, too.

The best artists recognize the power they hold. Their art is often a vehicle for change, serving as the spark society needs to start thinking about the world differently.

Great art doesn’t provide all the answers. Rather, it asks questions.

Art can change the world—historical inaccuracies and all ‘Bridgerton’ is a ‘nod’ to Jane Austen that retells Eurocentric narratives

Sydney Ko Senior News Editor As Netflix debuts the second season to Bridgerton, author Robert Morrison, Queen’s National Scholar, discussed the series’ nod to Jane Austen’s work.

Bridgerton is a show loosely based on Julia Quinn’s series of romance novels set in early 19th-century England. It follows a courtship-turned romance between Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Hasting, Duke of Hastings, as well as the gossip and scandals that saturated British high society.

In an interview with The Journal, Morrison explained how the show’s portrayal of the lavish lifestyles of upper-class British folks—complete with balls and promenades—only represented about four per cent of the population during the Regency era.

The Regency Era refers to 19th-century Britain after King George III was deemed unfit to rule

and the throne was taken over by his son, the prince regent. England was at war with France during this time, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, leaving many women waiting to be married.

Both Austen’s work and Bridgerton offer an optimistic view of England during the Regency era, which Morrison said is historically inaccurate. Despite these inconsistencies, he believes the show is helping the world move forward through a form of art.

“Art can do many things. One of them is to try and reproduce the past with as much clarity and accuracy as possible,” he said.

“That is not what Bridgerton does. Parts of it are historically accurate, but much of it is not.

What Bridgerton does imagine, though, is something else that art can do, which is to get us to think carefully and critically about the past and how it shapes, and often limits the world around us now.”

Producer Shonda Rhime’s inclusive approach to casting, such

Author Robert Morrison discusses England during the Regency era.

such as having a Queen with African lineage, proposes a new way of retelling Eurocentric stories.

Morrison believes it’s helping the public visualize what a world with representation could look like.

“We can’t always have narratives

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DHARMAYU DESAI

about white people falling in love with white people—if all the narratives are [the same], society stands still,” Morrison said.

“Art, I believe, can in this role push the world forward, can make us think differently and

more broadly, because it presents us with a version of the past that like Bridgerton, may be essentially escapist, but that also asks pressing questions about gender, race, sexuality, and equality.”

Sports

Friday, April 8, 2022

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Women’s Basketball earn first U Sports medal with win over Brock Gaels finish third place in Final 8, prove they are among nation’s best in 2022 Natar Ng Assistant Sports Editor

them into a dominant fourth quarter. Isabella Belvedere, Comm ’23, and Julia Chadwick, ArtSci ’22, After a historic run at the U Sports traded baskets throughout the Final 8, the Women’s Basketball first half of the fourth, scoring 13 team have earned their first U points between them to stretch out Sports medal in program history. the lead.

The Gaels downed the Brock The Gaels outscored the Badgers 75-57 in the bronze Badgers by nine points in the medal match on homecourt Apr. 3. fourth and sealed the win with an The Gaels’ previous best finishes 18- point surplus. Queen’s outshot at the Final 8 were fourth place in Brock with 37.3 per cent from 2001 and 2017. the floor and 31.4 per cent from “This is a big step forward for us,” three-point range. head coach Claire Meadows told Belvedere was named Nike The Journal after the game.

Player of the Game for her “We knew coming into this performance. The third-year guard tournament that we could played 17 minutes off the bench compete and we could contend, so and scored a team-high 22 points we proved ourselves. If anything, it during the win. was just a statement as to who we “We have a special program,” are as a team.”

Belvedere said after the game.

The Gaels broke out with a “We’ve definitely been doubted a 14-point lead in the first quarter, bit in the past, so I think [winning] but Brock managed to close that means proving ourselves and gap and come within five points proving to myself that I’m able to by halftime. compete with the best of the best.”

In the third, the Gaels opened Chadwick finished with a a nine-point lead that propelled double-double and recorded 16

points and 13 rebounds. Seniors Emma Weltz, Nurs ’22 and Laura Donovan, Nurs ’22 also led the scoreboard, recording 10 and nine points each.

Emma Ritcey, ArtSci ’22, was named a tournament All-Star after putting up big numbers in the Gaels’ close loss to the Winnipeg Wesmen in the Semifinals.

It was an emotional game for

many of the team’s senior players, especially dual-sport athlete Sophie de Goede, Comm ’22, who rounded out her monumental rugby and basketball careers with two U Sports medals this year.

“Maybe years down the line it will settle in,” de Goede said with a laugh after the game.

“Ending the season with a win at a National Championship at

home, it’s been storybook, from the rugby championship to the basketball [championship].”

“The past week has just been about trying to perform to the best of our abilities. We wanted to get the gold, but we are really happy to have come away with the bronze and to win a medal.”

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZEL

Men’s Basketball place fourth in first-ever U Sports Final 8 appearance Gaels end historic season with loss to Alberta Golden Bears in Bronze medal match Herbert Wang Staff Writer

sheet with 19 points and 10 rebounds, respectively.

“It [was] important for us to […] win that first game. We shortened our bench, and we had to pull that game out,” Barrie explained.

Grinding out the win against Dalhousie took a substantial toll on the Gaels, who grappled with

fatigue playing in the semifinals against Saskatchewan the next day.

Already undersized in the paint, the Gaels struggled to find the energy to be aggressive on boards and play lockdown defense. They were out-rebounded 56-31 by the Huskies—something Barrie emphasized as a

The Queen’s Men’s Basketball fell just short of the podium in their first ever U Sports National Championship appearance over the weekend, placing fourth overall in the field of eight.

The Gaels started off strong with a 90-80 win over the Dalhousie Tigers in their quarterfinal matchup on Apr. 1. However, they went on to lose their next two matchups against the Saskatchewan Huskies 86-60 in the semifinals on Apr. 2 and the University of Alberta Golden Bears 95-84 in the bronze medal match on Apr. 3—the latter marking the end of their 2021-22 season.

“Just very proud of the way they battled. we had an excruciating schedule going into nationals, […] and we had a lot of stuff that we were dealing with just in terms of health over that time,” head coach Stephen Barrie said in an interview with The Journal.

In their first matchup against the Tigers, only seven players on the Gaels squad played a substantial number of minutes.

Fifth-years Quinton Gray and Connor Keefe lead the team stat The Gaels finished fourth in the Final 8 after their loss to Alberta.

key difference between Queen’s and Saskatchewan.

“Our defense wasn’t good enough. In the third quarter of the Saskatchewan game, our defense was as bad as I’ve seen it in a long time,” he said.

“That was the difference, we weren’t able to get the

SUPPLIED BY DON VOAKLANDER

energy to rebound.”

In the bronze medal match against the Golden Bears, offense certainly wasn’t an issue. A standout, Gray dropped 38 points while shooting eight for 11 from deep. However, fatigue remained a persistent issue, as the Gaels were outrebounded again 58-38. Barrie insisted the group was exhausted despite their motivation to win.

“We had to ask them to go into their extra 20 per cent, find those bursts somewhere in there […]

They just didn’t have anything when we needed it, and it’s unfortunate that we hit that wall, but we definitely did,” he said.

When asked the highlight of the season, Barrie avoided individual moments, and stressed the process that the team followed to achieve their historic year—which included upsets of both uOttawa and Carleton in the OUA playoffs, as well as a shot at the Wilson Cup. “Obviously we had some good wins, and those things happen, but they happen because the process is sound,” he noted “We were very deliberate about that commitment from the very beginning of the year, and our guys did a really good job of making our goal to get better one day at a time.

And for me, that was the most gratifying part of the year.”

Sports

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Friday, April 8, 2022

Queen’s Journal Colour Awards: Vol. 149

QJ Sports awards the teams and players who made 2021-22 a year to remember Angus Merry Senior Sports Editor Natara ng Assistant Sports Editor Team of the Year—Women’s Rugby Although each Gaels team brought something special to the table this year, Women’s Rugby stood out among the outstanding—namely, by winning the U Sports National Championship.

Not only was it the program’s maiden Monilex Trophy and the highest finish of any Gaels team at a national championship this year, but it was also the first time since 1922 that a Queen’s team has won a national title on home turf.

Simply put: this team was one for the history books, and nobody deserves the ‘Team of the Year’ more than them.

Coach of the Year—Claire Meadows, Women’s Basketball In her first true year as the head coach of the Women’s Basketball team, one could say that Claire Meadows couldn’t have done better.

Helping the team achieve its first national medal in program history after finishing third in the U Sports Final 8—and

doing so after weathering an early playoff exit and a stunted regular season—Meadows has proven that she’s a special leader, and that if there’s anything on the horizon for her and the team, it’s more winning at the national level.

That kind of credit isn’t cheap.

OUA in rebounding, averaging 12.1 per game.

In the Final 8 tournament, de Goede and the team won U Sports bronze, the first medal in program history, and de Goede’s second National medal of the year—a storybook ending for the Gael.

Rookie(s) of the Year— Hannah Duchesneau and Cole Duncanson

York and heartbreaker loss to Toronto.

On the men’s side, Cole Duncanson was named a Second Team East Division All-Star and All-Rookie, finishing the season with 73 points and 51 kills.

The powerhouse six-foot-nine middle showcased his ability to compete on the national stage at the U Sports Men’s Volleyball Championship, where he was named Player of the Game for his exceptional performance in the Gaels’ Quarter-Final match.

Most Disappointing Season—Men’s Soccer While many Gaels teams were on the positive of standout stat lines this year, Men’s Soccer weren’t—and they hold the particularly unflattering honor of being the sole Queen’s varsity sports team to fail to make the playoffs in 2021-22. For that reason alone, they stand out with a season where much was left to be desired.

Player of the Year— Sophie de Goede Sophie de Goede will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the most accomplished athletes to grace the fields and courts of Queen’s. The dual-sport athlete didn’t just play rugby and basketball this season—she excelled, and she has the hardware to prove it.

This season, de Goede led the women’s rugby team to a National Championship on home soil. She scored one try, one convert, and two penalty converts in the gold medal game, and was named tournament MVP and the U Sports Women’s Rugby Player of the Year.

After making history on the rugby pitch, de Goede took to the court with the women’s basketball team, where she was named a Second Team All-Star and led the

nationals in program history, finishing fourth among eight of Canada’s elite basketball programs at the U Sports Final 8.

What might not be on paper, however, is the fact that nobody could’ve expected this from them, including The Journal. It’s a mistake we don’t plan on making again, but we’re giving credit where credit’s due—this team was the definitive dark horse of 2021-22.

Varsity Club of the Year—Cycling

This season, volleyball rookies Hannah Duchesneau and Cole Duncanson proved that the future is bright for Queen’s volleyball.

Duchesneau was named to the OUA East Division All-Rookie Team and was fifth on the Gaels in points and kills. The outside stepped up during the OUA playoffs and led the Gaels in kills, blocks, and aces in both their victory over

Dark Horse team 2021-22—Men’s Basketball On paper, this team’s achievements speak for themselves. They had their best regular season in years, upset both of their biggest rivals in the OUA playoffs, played for the Wilson Cup for the first time in nearly a century, and—to top it off—qualified for their first

Quotes of the year

The Gaels continued to prove that they are the force to be reckoned with in the university cycling sphere. The cycling team won the Canadian Collegiate Cycling Association Virtual Championship Series, defending their title from last year. The Gaels placed first in the Toronto Grand Prix, the Ottawa Grand Prix, and the Waterloo Grand Prix, and they finished the overall series with a monster total of 594 points. The Gaels’ victory is accompanied by five omnium podium finishers.

QJ’s Sports section compiles the best audio snippets from artciles published in Vol. 149 Angus Merry Senior Sports Editor

“I think we’ll definitely have to one of the most beautiful and “The reality of our world is […] the narrative, and the perception turn our thoughts away from ‘just simple things you can do.” we are in a division with three that Black males are Black athletes. being grateful to be here’ to ‘how of the top five teams in the We’re just supposed to stay in the This article discusses anti-Black are we going to close the gap and — B r a n n a M a c D o u g a l l , country: Carleton, Ottawa, and athlete box.” racism and may be upsetting for take a serious run out a national f o r m e r Q u e e n ’ s [X University] […] and a good readers. The Canadian Mental championship?’”

Cross-Country Runner, on number of our playoff exits have —Kwame Osei, assistant coach Health Association Crisis Line can her relationship come when we’ve hit one of of the Men’s Football team, be reached at 1-800-875-6213.

—Gabriel deGroot, head coach with running. those three teams […] We following the findings of the OUA’s of Men’s Volleyball, on the haven’t felt like when we’ve Anti-Racism Report.

“We are the best program in the team’s seventh-place finish at gotten to the playoffs that we country, and we are going to do Nationals in 2022. have underperformed, “I think we all thought that we everything we can to remain there.” [we just haven’t] been definitely had a good chance, “There’s so much we can do as able to pull off the upset but you never know. It’s one day.

—Dan Valley, head coach of the individuals, as athletes […] You’re that we’ve needed to Anything can happen, especially Women’s Rugby team, after very privileged, because you pull off.” in golf.” winning the 2021 U-SPORTS have a voice, you actually National Championship. get a chance to speak —Stephan Barrie, —Zachary Greigenberger, Queen’s out, you actually get a head coach of Men’s golf player, after Queen’s won “I’m sort of like a freak of habit chance to be noticed Basketball team, prior to the OUA championship in 2021. […] typically, the night before a in your community […] the 2021-22 season. The Griegenberger finished second game, I’ll go through plays, draw I just want people to be Gaels went on to eliminate overall in the tournament. up my plays […] I’ll wake up, I’ll aware that racism exists, both Ottawa and Carleton in the read my Bible and pray […] and and there is something that they OUA playoffs and qualify for their “Whatever path life takes you down then go upstairs, make myself five can personally do about it.” first national championship in next, never forget there’s always a eggs with my bagel every day, and program history. seat waiting for you at the head of then I’ll come back to my room, sit —Sheridon Baptiste, Queen’s alum any table I’m sitting at, Captain.” down, and visualize plays before and former Olympian, on the social “I’m jealous that I don’t get to play.” “And I say this, because for me heading to the stadium.” power of varsity athletes. growing up, as a young Black —Kevin Bailie, former Queen’s Goalie, —Pat Lynott, former Gaels athlete, I never saw people that on Men’s Hockey’s graduating —Rasheed Tucker, running back “I don’t know, it’s almost like this Men’s Rugby player, after look like me in positions of captain, Patrick Sanvido. on the Men’s Football team, on his toxic relationship […] it can put being hired as the team’s new power within sport […] I never pre-game ritual. you into a lot of lows, but at the assistant head coach. had a Black head coach for the same time, it’s also in my mind longest while, and that created

Sports

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Retiring athletes share their favourite varsity sports memories Outgoing Gaels give a wistful look back before moving on to bigger and better things Angus Merry Senior Sports Editor Sophie de Goede — Women’s Rugby, Women’s Basketball To choose just one memory is difficult, so I’ll have to split between two: my first memory is winning the rugby National Championship on home soil this past November, and my second memory is our bronze medal run with the basketball team at this past week’s National Championships To win both those medals at home, in front of so many of the people that have helped me along this journey, was something more special than I can put into words. I am so incredibly grateful to everyone I’ve met, played with, and been influenced by during my time at Queen’s. I cannot wait to cheer each and every one of you throughout life just as you have cheered me on through my Gaels career!

Josh Mosley — Men’s Football Over these past six years at Queen’s, Gaels Football has become synonymous with family.

I’ve had the great pleasure of both building relationships with my teammates that will endure for a lifetime, while also sharing with my friends and family the rich culture of Queen’s Gaels Football.

One of my most cherished Soccer Championship is my our success. The experience of and finally potato chips—none memories playing Gaels favourite memory of being a winning an OUA championship of these were working, but I Football comes from the 2021 varsity athlete at Queen’s. It was and finishing fifth at nationals kept trying. season when my Dad was the perfect way to cap off my in Nova Scotia is something I’ll In that third period, when we joined by a caravan of 15 of my senior season with an incredible remember for the rest of my life. were up 3-1 with approximately uncles—‘uncles’ being broadly team and staff. eight minutess to go, the cramps defined—to watch us thump After a cancelled season and Patrick Sanvido — Men’s struck again. So, sitting on the the Carleton Ravens 45-0. many obstacles throughout Hockey bench in-between shifts, anyone Running to the back of the end- COVID, it was great to finally have near the bench would have zone and sharing a round of high- a positive turn of events. After A little inside memory that I would heard me yelling at Fishy—our fives with the whole crew after a beating our rival, uOttawa, in love to share is from the Queen’s equipment manager—to “Get the Rasheed Tucker Touchdown made the OUA semi-final game, we Cup final game in 2019, specifically chips!” my whole day. It truly encapsulated advanced to the OUA Final and the in the third period.

Fishy, thinking I was joking what Queen’s Football has become U Sports National Championship That entire playoff run I was around because we had virtually for me—a family event. for the first time since I’d been struggling with muscle cramps, won the game, was confused, and at Queen’s. and I was trying everything to sort of mad at me at first. But the Christie Gray — Women’s With support in the stands from mitigate them from occurring tone in my voice conveyed I wasn’t Soccer the entire Men’s program, friends, in the game: copious amounts kidding and needed the chips family, and alumni all season, I of water, Gatorade, Pedialyte, ASAP. Winning the 2021 OUA Women’s strongly believe this fuelled mustard packets, coconut water, So, those same people that may have heard me yelling on the bench then would have witnessed me eating a small sandwich bag of potato chips, trying to replenish the salt in my body to relieve my muscle cramps before heading out for my next shift.

Needless to say, it didn’t work, but I survived. In the final shift of the game my legs were cramping so bad that I couldn’t even bend my legs when we stormed our goalie celebrating the win.

I got over it quickly, though.

Seeing Spencer Abraham lift that trophy over a Queen’s jersey for the first time in 38 years was the perfect antidote.

Graduating athletes hang up their jerseys but hold onto the memories.

ILLUSTRATION BY SHELBY TALBOT

‘Lucky at the Right Time’: Inside the 2018-19 Queen’s Men’s Hockey season, part eight An eight-part series on the Gaels’ Queen’s Cup victory JACK BURNHAM Staff Writer “Okay, here we go, we can do this and come back.”

That’s what Queen’s forward Matt Needham told himself during the quarterfinals of the 2018-19 Men’s Hockey National Championship held in Lethbridge, Alta.

Only this time, he wasn’t hoping for the Gaels to come from behind and pull off a stunning victory to capture another piece of hardware. Rather, he was hoping for the St. Francis Xavier X-Men—his team at the time—to successfully erase a three-goal deficit to eliminate Q u e e n’ s from the tournament.

To capture the final moments of that 2018-19 season after the Queen’s Cup victory, The Journal spoke to Needham about his hockey career and his memories from that season.

Needham’s introduction “The East Coast, the people to hockey started with an are fantastic out there, I have NHL dynasty: his father and nothing but nice things to say the Pittsburgh Penguins about my four years.” of the 1990s.

As comfortable as the “My dad had a pretty good transition might have been career: he played in Kamloops, off the ice, preparing for the […] won a Stanley Cup their U Sports style of play on it second year, [and went] back- was a different story. to-back with Mario [Lemieux] “Growing up, you obviously and [Jaromir] Jagr,” Needham want to play pro hockey, you said. want an NHL contract. [Often] “He got a stick in my hand that doesn’t happen, and then about as early as I could walk.” it seems like U Sports is a step Following in his father’s down,” Needham confessed. footsteps, Needham joined the “It really isn’t. That kind of Kamloops Blazers of the WHL shocked me a little bit my first before traveling across the year […] You go from being a country to attend St. Francis topline guy to fitting into a little Xavier for his undergrad in lighter role, more penalty kills, 2016. [a] defensive role.”

“I’d been to Halifax once As for the reputation of before for the Canada Winter his new team, Needham was Games […] I really fell in love not concerned. The X-Men’s with the school, it’s obviously record said as much, especially a great hockey program in 2018-19. […] It’s a beautiful campus, “It seemed like we’d been small, […] it felt comfortable very good up through that going there,” Needham recalled. point […] We came in fourth

the year before, we were a very strong team […] We knew we had a shot,” Needham said.

“It’s tough when you get into those tournaments with the one-game elimination.

Anything can happen with one game. Not only do you have to be a good team, but you have to get lucky at the right time.”

In order to chart a path to the finals, though, St. Francis Xavier first had to get through the Gaels, a team whose season had followed a similar trajectory and whose program had improved substantially over the years prior.

“I knew they were a great hockey program,” Needham said.

“I knew [Spencer] Abraham was a big focal point for us.

He’s a top tier defenceman, it didn’t matter where or what he was doing, he was a guy you had to keep an eye on.”

“They came out, got off to

a great start […] They got on top of us, kind of caught us off guard a little bit,” Needham recalled about the beginning of the game.

“We just came back into the room, tried to re-focus, get back to how we were playing.”

But for Needham, the seeds were already planted for a comeback as X-Men forward Holden Cook scored on the power-play to cut into the Gaels’ lead.

“It was a big goal for us, and just to get that little bit of a spark and then sit down, I remember, in the dressing room between periods, between the first and second and everyone’s thinking, ‘Oh god, we’re in trouble here, we got to get going.’”

Read the rest online at queensjournal.ca/sports

Lifestyle

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Friday, April 8, 2022

LIFESTYLE

From QJ to the New York Times: A conversation with Shivani Gonzalez How Vol. 145’s

understanding the impact of the stories that were being told and how stories can really garner support for legislation.

Politics and journalism are really cyclical.

I spent a year and a half in that role before starting at The New York Times. Over the course of my life, I’ve applied to The New York Times like 25 times, and finally something stuck. I started in June as a News Assistant.

Lifestyle Editor is forging her path in journalism Alysha Mohamed Lifestyle Editor Four years ago, Shivani Gonzalez was spending her Thursday nights in the Journal office, frantically editing lifestyle articles and preparing layout for the next day.

Now, Gonzalez is living every creative’s dream in New York.

She’s a news assistant for The New York Times—the very newspaper she dreamed of working on her entire writing career.

The Journal sat down with Shivani to talk about her journey in journalism, from her first internship at 13 to the first time she walked through the emblematic glass doors of The Times.

The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

How did you decide you wanted to be a journalist?

I’ve known that I wanted to be a journalist since I was seven, which sounds silly, but it’s true. I remember my dad had moved into this old Victorian house and I went to the attic and found newspapers

Is The NYT everything you dreamed it would be?

How Gonzalez accomplished her dream of working at The New York Times.

from 1906—they literally crumbled when you picked them up. That’s when I decided I wanted to see myself in print.

As a 25-year-old, it seems crazy that a decision I made at [age seven] determined my life, and that I followed through with it.

At 13, I had my first internship at my small-town newspaper called The Troy Record. Then, at 14 or 15, I started an internship at a slightly bigger newspaper called The Albany Times Union. This is where I fell in love with politics— it was so cool being so young but going into Senate, listening in, and interviewing Senate members.

Why did you attend Queen’s, and how did your

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DHARMAYU DESAI

writing career continue at the university?

I’m a dual citizen—I know, I’m winning.

My college counsellor knew someone at Queen’s, and I applied but kept putting the process off and wouldn’t send in my documents.

When I finally did get in, my mom drove me to tour the University.

We played hooky from school and toured, and I instantly knew I was coming here.

I could tell the sense of community just from stepping foot in it. We stopped at a Tim Horton’s on the way out and I accepted my offer from Queen’s there, connected to their Wi-Fi because I had an American phone plan.

Tricolo ur Sex Diary: Sharin g sex sto ries Delving into the truth of hookup culture.

Writers unpack their awkward hookups This article discusses consent and may be triggering for some readers.

The Kingston Sexual Assault Centre’s 24-hour crisis and support phone line can be reached at 613544-6424 / 1-800-544-6424.

The summer of 2021 was a hot girl summer for me. As a freshly vaccinated woman, I enjoyed swiping through Tinder, seeing if there were any prospects for a good one-night stand.

When I swiped right on Eric*, we immediately struck up a flirty conversation. After chatting for a few days, we decided to have a late-night drink at my house, and we

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DHARMAYU DESAI

ended up getting physical pretty fast.

Eric was cute—he had curly dark hair, was a good kisser, and seemed like he knew what he was doing. When we were about ready to do the deed, he jumped off my bed and took off his pants.

I’d never seen a micropenis before and didn’t want to react in any way that might make him insecure, so I lay there while he put a condom on.

When he got back on top of me, he handed me a small black bag and said he had brought me something because he—and this is a direct quote—“knew his limitations.” I looked inside the bag to find a gold bullet vibrator. He was thoughtful.

We ended up doing the deed and had some nice pillow talk

afterwards, and he left about an hour after we finished. However, when I woke up the next morning, that’s when things went wrong. I noticed he had left his vibrator on my nightstand.

Just my luck.

We ended up playing tag over text for the next few weeks when he realized it had gone missing.

When I finally returned the toy a month later, I returned it with dead batteries.

—Anonymous, ArtSci ’22 First-year me was definitely enticed by the hookup and party culture at Queen’s.

One night, I went out, met this guy, and invited him over to mine when I got home. He came over and once things got

Then, I started at The Journal in my first role as Features Editor.

I almost didn’t accept. I wanted to go to Throwback Thursdays […] and press days were and still are on the same day. I missed the songs, but it was definitely worth it in the end.

Features reignited my love for writing and collaborating, and in fourth year, I was Lifestyle Editor.

Having a section and seeing through the entire process from start to finish cemented the fact that this is what I wanted to do with my life.

How was your experience as an aspiring journalist post-grad?

When I graduated, I spent a summer in Kingston gallivanting and day-drinking.

Then, I started a six-month internship with Business Insider, where I saw my first modern newsroom. After that, I was unemployed for a little bit and pivoted into politics.

I was the director of communication for a politician, and the role taught me how actual issues affect your average person. The politics job allowed me to go back into journalism, started, it became really clear to me that sleeping with him was not something I was particularly down for.

I expressed my feelings to him, and he took it as a challenge to convince me.

I heard my housemate come back from her night out, and when my guest said he was going to use the bathroom, I told him I was going to go chat with her. Her room was next door to mine, and we left the door open so that he would feel welcome to join once he finished.

After 15 minutes went by, I poked my head out of my housemate’s room to see that he was still in the bathroom. 30 more minutes went by, and for some reason he was still in the bathroom—or maybe that’s just what I told myself to have an excuse to sleep in my housemate’s room that night.

Morning time came, and I was

I was worried the job wouldn’t live up to my expectations, but it’s even better than I always dreamed.

I was reading an article about me online from when I was 15, and my dream was to have an article published in The New York Times. I never thought it would come true.

The job has been so exciting—every time I walk into the building, I wonder why they let me in. I’m in shock.

Right now, I’m a floater, so I go between different desks. Each desk is completely different in terms of what you do and what you write, and in the last four days I’ve been on four different desks. It’s always exciting and new. Most recently, I worked on live coverage of the Grammy’s winners.

What’s your favourite and least favourite part about living in New York?

My favourite part about New York is that literally no one cares, in the best way possible. You can leave your house in pajamas, and no one will bat an eye; you can wear a ballgown on the subway and it’s the same thing.

The full version of this article can be found online at queensjournal.ca/lifestyle

dreading having to check if this man was in my bed, sleeping, without me. Turns out that was exactly the case.

I crawled back in and told him I fell asleep in my housemate’s room because I thought he’d left.

He told me his jacket was in my housemate’s room because we’d smoked there the night before, so he couldn’t exactly leave.

This was at the end of January, peak wintertime.

I, albeit unknowingly, trapped this man in my house for the night while barely spending 30 minutes with him.

This made for an awkward goodbye, and he left. To my and my housemate’s excitement, he left nearly three grams of weed and we spent the day smoking it all.

—Anonymous, ArtSci ’23 *Names changed for anonymity

Lifestyle

Friday, April 8, 2022

queensjournal.ca

Lifestyle Reads: Books to crack open this summer Recommending novels to keep you relaxed and entertained over the summer Julia Stratton Features Editor It’s the time of year again: I’m finished school and finally reconnecting with my love of reading. Here are some of my favourite books that will help you rekindle your relationship with literature this summer: Normal People by Sally Rooney People used to ask me what my favourite book of all time was, and I would reply with the classic, “Oh I can’t just pick one, I’ve read too many good books.”

Incorrect: this book is the one.

While I think Normal People is the greatest book ever, I don’t know if I’ll ever read it again—I was an emotional wreck for about a week the first time around. I’ve read a lot of romance novels throughout my life, but I would say that this book isn’t about romance: it’s about intimacy.

If you want to relive the intimacy and heartbreak of your first love, this book is for you—but brace yourself for emotional destruction.

of the primate family take over the world?

Sapiens describes the major developments that allowed humans to expand throughout the continents, dominate the animal kingdom, and develop complex cultures and societies.

If you’re putting away your textbooks for the summer but still want to learn something new, Sapiens is for you.

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

Being a psychology major with a biology minor, I love to nerd out on anthropology books.

Once, in one of my biology classes, someone asked the prof if humans were an invasive species. My professor cocked his head, thought for a minute, and said, “Yeah, sort of.” The human species really is a freak of nature.

How else did the hairless cats

Whenever I recommend this book people always ask me what it’s about, and I don’t even know where to begin. One of my key memories from this book is a man dressed as a giant bunny hiding in a ceiling vent, but I can’t remember why or how he got there.

The basic premise is that a bunch of anxious people get taken hostage at an apartment showing

and get to know each other beyond their quirky exteriors. While trying to piece together this odd mystery, you’ll laugh, cry, and ultimately be reminded how anxiety often manifests as people just trying to find love, safety, and fulfillment.

It’s clever, compassionate, and made me laugh really hard.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for something light and funny—but not a garbage beach read.

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall This book is probably the craziest true story I’ve ever read. In short, a journalist goes into the mountains of Mexico to try to find a hidden community of an ultra runner and uncover the secrets of running and health.

On his journey, he encounters a hermit living in a cave after being dumped by his girlfriend, an

Finding the right spot an art Aysha Tabassum Editor in Chief Back in 2019, I wrote my first article for The Journal, and it remains my most impactful piece to date—ranking Kingston’s best boba spots. Since then, more bubble tea restaurants have opened around the student district, and the classics continue to keep us going in pandemic times.

Every Kingston boba spot has its own time and place—I’m here to help you determine where you should head depending on whether you need a caffeine boost, a sweet treat, a latenight cooldown, or a delectable Instagram story.

Drinks tried: Pearl Milk Tea, Peachy Lychee Green Tea with Coconut Jelly, Brown Sugar Pearl Crema with Oat Milk The Chatime location is one of the newest boba spots on the Kingston scene. With an emphasis on convenience and affordability, Chatime Kingston offers signature and flavored milk teas, smoothies, slushes, and a rotation of limited edition specialties.

Regular drinks start at $5.60.

The Pearl Milk Tea—which you can get with milk substitutes—is essential. While my Chatime order is a hazelnut milk tea, the Brown Sugar Pearl Crema was a welcome twist and the Peachy Lychee was refreshing.

Be warned, Chatime is for sugar lovers. Most drinks are very sweet and should be balanced well with their wide array of toppings.

Chatime Kingston is great for a quick boba pick-up any time of day. Situated right at Princess St. and University Ave., you’ll have a delicious drink in your hand in

ultra-runner with a passion for bare foot running, the elusive running tribe, and many other unique characters.

This team of eccentric ultrarunners take on some of the most niche and perilous ultramarathons in the United States on a quest to unlock the secrets of running and human nature.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

by Stieg Larson Growing up, I always saw this book on my friends’ parents’ bookshelves and display at Indigo and wondered what all the fuss was about. I finally got around to reading it this year, and I see now why everyone was so excited during its heyday.

I enjoy psychological thrillers over horror movies because they always provide interesting commentary on the complexities—and dark sides—of human behaviour.

This book was the most dark, twisted, and thrilling book I’ve ever read. It also provides insightful commentary on issues of mental illness in the law, the realities of sex trafficking, and the Swedish political system.

is 1 L—perfect for all-night study sessions. While drinks run between $6.99 and $7.99, the freshness and volume make them well worth the price point. They’re also very strong. The Earl Grey Milk Tea had me bouncing off the walls and my lactose-intolerant housemate was a big fan of the Passion Fruit Green Tea. Presotea is for the eco-conscious and clean diet baddies that aren’t messing around when it comes to getting their caffeine fix. This is a great takeout boba to grab on the way to the library—make sure to pop a bamboo fibre straw into your backpack.

for your craving is

Chatime

• 15

Sharetea

Thoughts after visiting four Kingston bubble tea spots.

PHOTO BY AYSHA TABASSUM

Ranking Kingston’s best bubble tea—again minutes. Get 100 per cent sugar if you’re anything like me—if not, get 50 per cent.

Classics Tea Lounge Drinks tried: Caramel Milk Tea with Pearls, Mango Grapefruit Tea, Strawberry Cheese Mousse Classics Tea Lounge is a Kingston exclusive with excellent service and a gorgeous dining area.

Located right at Princess St. and Division St., Classics serves up fruit teas, milk teas, ice crushes, sherbet, and tons of food to pair with your drink. On your way out, make sure to check out the snack shop.

With the large size priced between $4.99 and $5.99, boba at

Classics is affordable and high quality. The Caramel Milk Tea is perfect for anyone with a sweet tooth and the Strawberry Cheese Mousse is a solid choice if you’re trying to stay away from caffeine.

For mango lovers, the Mango Grapefruit Tea is refreshing and surprisingly light.

Classics is a great study spot during the day and an adorable date spot at night. Not only is the bubble tea well worth the price, you can also get everything from ramen to dim sum served up fresh and plated with care.

Make sure to take a ton of photos and avoid the line for The Brass.

Presotea Drinks tried: Royal Earl Grey Milk Tea with Pearls and Grass Jelly, Mango Cheese Cloud, Freshly Brewed Passion Fruit Green Tea with Pearls and Coconut Jelly Presotea Kingston is one of nearly 30 Canadian locations and offers the freshest boba you can find. Fruit tea lovers will rejoice at the wide selection and piles of produce at the storefront. The store’s owner supplies his own mangos, passionfruit, and more for brewed teas as well as slushes.

All drinks are made-to-order using whole tea bags.

A regular-sized drink is a whopping 700 mL and a large size

Drinks tried: Oolong Tea Creama, Mango Green Milk Tea with Lychee, Strawberry Milk Drop, Tiger Pearl Oat Milk Tea Sharetea Kingston was one of the first boba spots in the student district. Pre-COVID, you could eat in until late while enjoying their board game selection. Nowadays the restaurant offers mobile ordering and maintains diligent health and safety practices.

With drinks between $5.00 and $7.00, Sharetea has wide and ever-changing selections. Specials change monthly and, when you get a membership, you can often get 30 per cent off. For fruit and sugar lovers, the Mango Green Milk tea and Strawberry Milk Drop taste as good as they look. The Tiger Pearl Milk Tea is a classic that’s offered with milk substitutes and the Oolong Tea Crema will do exactly what it needs to—keep you happy and very alert.

Sharetea is perfect for leisurely Sunday mornings and pairs great with shawarma from Ali Baba’s next door. For those post-brunch bubble tea cravings, it’s also a very Instagrammable space with equally Instagrammable drinks.

Lifestyle

16 • queensjournal.ca

Friday, April 8, 2022

PHOTO BY SPENCER HENDRICKSON

The Editors in Chief reflect on their complicated journeys with The Journal.

Last Words Aysha & Shelby say goodbye to 'The Journal' Aysha Tabassum, Editor in Chief When I first stepped into the Journal office, it wasn’t nearly a perfect fit. The floors were covered in a respectable layer of dust and the couches reeked of cigarette smoke. I’ve now spent three years here, losing sleep over all the ways we could be better, wanting to take a breath.

Now it’s nearly over, and I’ve never been more terrified.

Never again will I brace myself for comments telling me they’ve heard enough about being Muslim or queer or whatever else I’m complaining about. Never again will I hope the anonymous commenter—or, if they’re bold, emailer—will know the intersection of my student house.

Never again will I grit my teeth and hope my work is making this wannabe-Ivy-League just a bit warmer.

Never again will I be without colour.

Never again will I hear Shelby’s latest earworm invading my office, her door across the hall refusing to stay closed. Never again will I smile to myself while listening to the second-years downstairs, hoping they’ve found a home where I’ve made mine. Never again will I see Sydney’s coffee cups stacked high on the news desk, each half full and diligently addressing the fruit fly housing crisis.

Never again will a place tear me apart like this student paper while still assuring me, constantly,

that I am wanted, needed, and loved.

This is the place where I sobbed on my office floor after my first real heartbreak, where I laughed harder than I ever had before even when it hurt being so far from home, and where I learned the world will always move forward and I’ll be there to see all its beauty.

The Journal and everyone in it insisted on loving me back, always, even when that wasn’t the case beyond 190 University Ave. I’m going to spend my life trying to honour that.

Matt and Raechel, I owe you the world for pulling me back in when I was lost at sea.

There was a voice in my head that kept me doubting myself until you two decided to replace it with words of encouragement. I never knew how it felt to have a team behind me and my terrorist ideas until you showed me kindness.

Shelby, my dialogue sister, thank you for your relentless trust in me and in us. Thank you for always having my back, even when you didn’t fully understand. Most importantly, thank you for being one of the few who actually took the time to listen.

Vol. 150 editors, this is a magical place where you’ll work with some of the most hardworking students on Queen’s campus. Make sure they can lean on you, and always lean on each other.

To Asbah, Clanny, Vio, and the whole boardroom crew—I’ve been waiting desperately to leave Queen’s for four years, but I can’t believe I’ll miss out on seeing what you do with this place and beyond.

Thank you for inspiring me every press day.

You are exactly who I was fighting for, before I knew you, and I know you’ll take

up that fight with grace and compassion.

I’m tearing up now, using my last press day to avoid my last commerce class, coming up on a month filled with lasts. If there’s anything The Journal has taught me it’s that there will be more love and light to come.

I’m excited to go anywhere I want, but this will always be home.

Aysha is ready to live in colour.

Shelby Talbot, Editor in Chief It’s been a long time since I’ve felt proud to be a Queen’s student.

When I was just six years old, I resolved to attend Queen’s for my undergrad. Twelve years later, my parents were moving me into my room on West Campus, 150 kilometres from home.

After a term and a half of struggling to carve out a place for myself, I took a chance and applied to work for the campus paper.

I’ve never felt more unprepared than I did before my Journal interview; I sat on the bathroom floor of Loco—ew—staving off a panic attack and Googling, “what is an Editorials Editor?”

I will always be thankful I managed to earn a place on the Vol. 148 masthead.

I’ve had the pleasure of learning and growing from tremendously talented and accomplished peers throughout my three years at The Journal, and it's been an experience like no other to have been able to develop so many beautiful and important stories.

On the morning Aysha and I received the call that we would be at the helm of Vol. 149, it felt as if a tightly stretched balloon just below my lungs had finally

burst. I was hopeful for the Journal we would create.

I began my term as Editor in Chief on a difficult note, to put it lightly.

I knew leading this paper would be some of the hardest work I’ve ever done. I knew this was an old institution with a long and recent history of awful impact. I also knew this would be a beautiful opportunity to work with someone I respect dearly to make this paper better.

Never had I been more smacked in the face by the realities of this campus, though, than when community leaders—including our very own Principal—demonstrated they were perfectly comfortable turning a blind eye to an onslaught of vitriolic, hateful attacks and threats aimed not just at The Journal, but at two students.

Student journalism is an incredibly vital mechanism.

Without the diligent, thoughtful efforts of students who make time to engage in this work, the community would be missing a platform to amplify their voices, ideas, and concerns.

All we ask for in return is compassion and respect.

In moments leading this paper when I felt genuinely afraid, I couldn’t help but think back to my younger, hopeful self who wanted so desperately to come here.

I am not proud of an institution capable of such apathy and cruelty not just towards me, but towards so many marginalized members of its community.

What I do feel proud of is the work Aysha, our staff, and I have achieved this year at The Journal, and the impact we hopefully leave behind.

To my family: Thank you for believing in me, supporting me,

and encouraging me. You gave me the confidence I needed to get to this point, and I wouldn’t be here without you.

To Serena, Jess, Rohini, and Daniel: You are the secret supports that propped up this volume, because you propped me up. Thank you for listening to every moment of frustration and excitement, for always lending me an ear and advice when I needed it.

To Raechel and Matt: When times were tough, your continued support meant the world to me. On days when it felt like this institution was crumbling, I recalled your kind message to me and Aysha in your own Last Words, encouraging us to carry on. Your hard work and example made this paper a place I wanted to lead.

To Aysha: I’m always in awe of your strength, your talent, and your courage. You have extended me such patience and generosity—sometimes more than I deserve. Thank you for being a genuine friend and supporter as I’ve grown into someone I’m proud to be.

While I have a complicated relationship with my time here, I cannot thank our staff enough for helping me find something to be proud of. You are all so talented, thoughtful, and kind. Your work has made this paper a better place, and you have in turn made Queen’s a better place.

I could never regret my time as Editor in Chief. But I’m also ready to move on. When I lock up the Journal house for the last time, I’ll know that it’s not really goodbye—I’ll carry everything I’ve learned here with me.

Shelby is ready to let this paper go.