The Queen's Journal, Volume 146, Issue 3

vol .

146 no . 3

KINGSTON, ONTARIO

FROSH WEEK THROUGH THE AGES

MONDAY, JULY 30, 2018

Two students launch bid to unseat Stroud in Sydenham Dylan Chenier and Matt Gaiser vie for city council in upcoming municipal election I ain S herriff -S cott News Editor

Top Left & Bottom Right: Sept. 9, 2016 (Vol. 144); Top Right: Sept. 21, 1976 (Vol. 104); Centre: Sept. 7, 1990 (Vol. 118); Bottom Left: Sept. 13, 1985 (Vol. 113)

Two Queen’s students have launched campaigns to unseat Sydenham District City Councillor Peter Stroud in the upcoming municipal election.

Dylan Chenier and Matt Gaiser are both running for the district seat, which includes Queen’s and the historic Sydenham ward neighbourhood.

Both candidates sat down with The Journal to discuss their bids and the issues they plan to bring forward to students and residents.

Stroud did not respond to a request for a comment in time for publication.

In an interview, Chenier said “the most important issue to me would be the fact that we need to create a sense of community for the students to feel like they belong in this city and they belong in Sydenham, not just to the university.”

A Kingston local, Chenier is going into his third year of political studies. He’s been involved in the city’s political scene since the last municipal election in 2014, when he volunteered on former Mayoral candidate Brenda Slomka’s campaign.

“I sort of knew back then, I’d probably want to run in four years. It was just a matter of where,” Chenier said. “Then becoming a student here for the past two years, seeing how everything goes here, I thought Sydenham would make sense to run in.”

As the campaign gets underway, Chenier will focus on housing issues and downtown development, student representation on City Council, and improving local access to Council issues.

Chenier also said he plans to make the University District Safety Initiative, announced in early June, a central campaign issue. He told The Journal the consultation process for the initiative was “flawed,” because student groups were left out of the decision-making process.

“I think the policy itself rises from a need to protect students and the need to maintain safety. But the bylaw that was put in place, it just doesn’t do it right and it treats the students as separate from the rest of the community,” Chenier said.

“I think City Council doesn’t necessarily do a good job of maintaining proper relationships with the AMS or other student groups here in the University,” he added. “City Council tends to look at [students] as secondary citizens, and I think if you start to treat students as Kingstonians, that will harbour a better relationship with the University.”

In an interview, Gaiser told The Journal, his Council bid is his second attempt at public See City Council on page 4

IN THIS ISSUE: Students face lawsuits during exams, p. 5. Frosh in Focus, p. 6. Mental health policy at U of T, p. 8. In memory of Kim Renders, p. 11. Rowers championships, p. 15. Emmy Award nominations, p. 16. A friend passing during Frosh Week, p. 20.

News

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Monday, July 30, 2018

Botterell renovation nearly $2 million overbudget Board of Trustees approves budget increase, now $33.8 million Rachel Aiken Assistant News Editor Following the recommendation of the Capital Assets and Finance Committee, the Board of Trustees approved a $1.9 million budget increase for the ongoing renovation of Botterell Hall on May 11.

The budget for the Biomedical Research Facility revitalization—initially $31.9 million—is now $33.8 million.

The excess funding for the project is being sourced from faculty operating reserves, university contingency funds and the office of the Vice-Principal (Research and Innovation)—the project’s sponsor.

After the Board of Trustees approved the original budget of $31.9 million on July 14, 2016, construction began on the ninth floor of Botterell Hall in November of that year.

The ninth floor renovations, which account for two thirds of the budget, have since been completed.

However, the second focus of the project, the B2 basement, didn’t have a completed design until late 2017.

“Due to market conditions and project complexities, tenders came in higher than anticipated,” Associate Vice-Principal (Facilities), John Witjes, wrote in a statement to The Journal.

“The project team worked with the low bidders to identify several mechanical, electrical, and architectural efficiencies that helped reduce tender costs, but were still left a funding gap of $1.9 million in the project budget,” Witjes wrote.

According to the statement, the

low ceiling of the B2 basement proved a challenge when designing the mechanical ventilation system.

The system design was more complex than expected, making it the largest change of cost from the original budget.

The ventilation system upgrade is one of many renovations required to meet the standards set out by the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC). The CCAC sets the national standards for ethical animal treatment within scientific use. Approval from the Boterell Hall construction on July 28.

CCAC is required to be eligible for federal funding. facility, and significant upgrades “Queen’s Biomedical Research to building ventilation. These Facility, located in Botterell Hall, upgrades are designed to advance supports world-class research in animal care facilities in Botterell areas such as hemophilia, cancer Hall,” Winterborn wrote. and neuroscience,” University According to Witjes, in Veterinarian, Dr. Andrew addition to improving research Winterborn, wrote in a statement space conditions, the Biomedical to The Journal.

Research Facility improvements “A renovation project initiated will eliminate $2 million in in 2016 is nearing completion existing deferred maintenance on a series of upgrades including issues identified through a facility a state-of-the-art rodent care condition audit of university

Raechel Huizinga Assistant News Editor PHOTO BY IAIN SHERRIFF-SCOTT

Tea Room under renovations to promote sustainability General Manager says café leading by example in the community Madison Bendall Assistant News Editor The Tea Room is currently undergoing renovations to increase environmental sustainability.

The project furthers its already widely recognized track record as the first zero consumer-waste, carbon neutral café in North America.

Funded by donations from the Applied Science class of ’82, the café will implement more sustainable practices and materials.

The Tea Room will also prepare for more business by expanding its counter to create space for an additional register.

The changes being made to the coffee shop are meant to reflect it’s three pillars: environmental responsibility, community education, and fiscal sustainability, as outlined by its website.

In an interview with The Journal, Tea Room General Manager, Izzy Hazan, said she hopes the new space will expedite the ordering process.

“A lot of students find it difficult to wait in line for a coffee in the 10 minutes between class, an express till will ultimately allow a quicker, easier experience for everyone involved,” Hazan said.

Hazan added the extra room created in the café will allow more individual study space, in addition to the possibility of a group study table.

Following the recent renovations, Hazan said the Tea Room is also looking to expand the ‘student-on-a-budget’ friendly menu, with talks of adding mac and cheese as well as greater variety of eco-friendly milk selection.

According to Hazan, the changes to the café will allow more opportunities for the promotion of environmental awareness, including the use of environmentally educational posters to promote sustainable practices.

Hazan said the Tea Room is considering more environmentally

facilities conducted in 2016.

Equipment in use prior to the renovation also requires more water and electricity than equipment now available. By replacing the outdated parts, the project should result in operational savings.

The need for additional funding and Board approval hasn’t delayed the project which is still scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2018.

Walkhome app set to launch mid-August New student app to increase accessibility of service for users

Tea Room General Manager Izzy Hazan stands amidst construction.

PHOTO BY IAIN SHERRIFF-SCOTT

friendly incentives to encourage customers to make sustainable choices.

In terms of the renovation’s environmental footprint, the café will be using sustainable materials like straw and bamboo to replace the use of lumber or laminate.

By bolstering the café’s environmental awareness, Hazan said she hopes other cafés in the area adopt similar sustainable practices.

The Tea Room has demonstrated past success in influencing cafés in the area to go green. It’s the first of its kind to implement compostable packaging, which according to Hazan, has already created a ripple effect on campus and in local businesses.

Hazan said the new renovations will break down more barriers and open up doors to the use of sustainable materials.

“Setting the standards of using sustainable material in the physical structure of the café will be an additional factor which will influence how other cafes can participate in environmentally friendly practices as well,” she said. journal_news@ams.queensu.ca

In August, Walkhome will release its first ever app, available for iPhones and Androids, allowing students to request walks with the touch of a button.

Walkhome is a free AMS service that provides all students with a safe walk home, both on campus and in the greater University District. Its teams, made up of one male and one female identifying student, wear plainclothes during walks to ensure anonymity.

For users, the new app builds on the confidentiality aspect of the service.

Instead of calling or approaching the Walkhome kiosk, the new app will allow students to use their mobile devices to anonymously send pick-up requests.

After receiving a student’s pick-up location and special instructions—a certain door or exit a student would like to start the walk from—Walkhome will send a team to the student.

Matt Rowland, Walkhome head manager, told The Journal the app was developed in an “attempt to make things more accessible” for students.

The goal is to improve the service’s ease of use, “whether you’re a first year who’s trying to get from class to residence, or somebody who was studying at Stauffer and heading back home for the night,” Rowland said.

“It’s there, it’s ready for them, and then we’ll send teams along,” he continued, adding that using the app is similar to “ordering anything or opening any other application” on a mobile device.

According to Rowland, Walkhome will market the app to incoming first years during Orientation week.

In addition to promoting the app during events like Sidewalk Sale and Queen’s in the Park, Rowland said Walkhome will be providing Snapchat codes to a download link in orientation kits.

Walkhome will also be informing residence Dons about the app so they can promote it to first year students.

The app has been in development since 2015, but funds from the Women’s Safety grants in 2017 allowed Walkhome to partner with local software company Kingston WebWorks to expedite its progress.

The app is currently in open beta, with testing in both the Google Play and Apple store.

Walkhome will accept feedback and adjust the app until its official launch in mid-August.

Walkhome head manager Matt Rowland.

journal_news@ams.queensu.ca

PHOTO BY IAIN SHERRIFF-SCOTT

News

Monday, July 30, 2018

queensjournal.ca • 3

What you need to know about Queen’s new budget The Journal breaks down newly approved 2018-19 finances Iain Sherriff-Scott News Editor This month, Queen’s Board of Trustees approved the University’s 2018-19 operating budget to tackle faculty recruitment, research and a growing pension solvency deficit.

The budget, set out in a multi-year framework, retains many of the central commitments in last year’s operating budget, with some exceptions.

This year, Queen’s will continue the push to hire 200 tenured or tenure-track faculty members over the next five years. The budget also allocated almost $8 million to two research funds.

The university created a $600,000 “Research Catalyst” fund under the Vice-Principal’s (Research) office. The new money will “support emerging and strategic research opportunities.”

Additionally, the budget doles out $7 million for the creation of a new Research Intensity fund to “support the indirect costs of conducting research.”

Also noted in the budget is the additional accessibility funding of $250,000 in response to a recent accessibility audit. The new funds will add onto $3 million pledged for accessibility in last year’s budget.

In the University’s ongoing efforts to reduce the worsening solvency deficit of Queen’s penion plan, new measures are in the works. According to the budget, the pension solvency deficit is the “most significant budgetary challenge” facing the University.

According to a report to the Board of Trustees on May 11, the pension fund’s solvency deficit has increased from $285 million on Aug. 31, 2014 to $313 million on Aug. 31, 2017. The increase is attributed to “the impact of changes in assumptions for interest rates and mortality changes.”

Based on solvency relief regulations from 2016, Queen’s

will begin partial funding of the solvency deficit in the fall. The University will be required to make solvency payments of $15.6 million annually starting Sept. 1.

Also effective in September, the total special payments made to the pension solvency deficit will be $19 million, down from $20.7 million in 2016-17. According to the budget, if the solvency relief regulations hadn’t been implemented, the special payments would be around $50 million a year.

In response to the deficit, the University is also exploring a partnership with two other Ontario universities to create a Jointly Supported Pension Plan (JSPP).

According to the budget, “Queen’s, the University of Toronto, and the University of Guelph are now looking to finalize the outstanding design and governance elements of the project.”

Once established, all other Ontario universities will have the option to join the JSPP. The goal of the JSPP is stability. The University hopes entering a pension plan with a much wider scope and joint employee-employer governance strategy, it will result in “a more secure and stable future for plan members.”

Though the University has endorsed the idea of a JSPP, the shift will require employee consent before moving forward. According to the budget, “further information on the new plan and the consent process will be forthcoming once agreement has been reached on the outstanding matters.”

Potential risks to the University’s financial situation are also outlined in the budget.

Primary concerns are a dependence on government grants, regulated tuition, and market volatility affecting university investments. Pension solvency remains on the list of risks.

As mandated by the Board, the University is projecting to run a continually balanced budget under the multi-year budget framework. journal_news@ams.queensu.ca

News in Brief Gord Edgar Downie Pier officially opens The Gord Edgar Downie Pier was officially opened at a dedication ceremony last Thursday, following a $6.6 million revitalization.

In front of a large crowd, Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie’s brother, Patrick Downie, gave an emotional speech dedicating the project to his late brother and father.

“This waterfront was our front

yard. It was our playground and our sanctuary,” Downie said.

Mayor Brian Paterson, Kingston & the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen, members of the Tragically Hip and the Downie family also attended the dedication.

“The vision behind this project, from the beginning was to take what was always a wonderful waterfront park and transform it into something spectacular, to transform it into a space that sets the standard for what a

Climate Change Ambassador Patricia Fuller .

SUPPLIED BY FOREIGN AFFAIRS CANADA

Queen’s alum appointed Ambassador for Climate Change Patricia Fuller appointed to three-year term Iain Sherriff-Scott News Editor On World Environment Day, Queen’s alum Patricia Fuller became Canada’s next Ambassador for Climate Change.

Fuller, ArtSci ’86, is a veteran of the Foreign Service and entered the role on June 5 for a three-year term.

She graduated Queen’s with a Bachelor’s in political studies and economics before joining the Foreign Service. Since then, she’s served as Canada’s Ambassador to Uruguay and Ambassador to Chile.

Fuller also spent several years working at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Fuller will advise both the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, and the minister of Foreign Affairs on how Canada can “best advance its climate change priorities on the world stage.”

Domestically, Fuller headed the Office of Energy Efficiency and contributed to the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.

With experience in both the Foreign Service and domestic climate policy, Fuller said “[I] bring both my international experience and my experience with climate change issues to contribute to advancing [Canada’s] priorities.”

“I think having worked on both sides gives me a special appreciation of the challenges involved in putting into place transformational programs that can lead us towards a lower carbon footprint,” she said.

Fuller’s new role involves engaging with Canada’s partners internationally to promote Canadian business interests and sustainable development.

“It’s a very complex issue,” Fuller said. “Addressing climate change involves transitioning our economies towards clean growth and that’s not simple. We really have to bring all of our collective efforts globally to addressing that challenge.”

While at Queen’s in the 1980s, Fuller was active in the South African divestment movement.

At its peak, Students organized demonstrations and lobbied the University to divest its South African holdings because of the country’s apartheid policies.

“I had the opportunity to participate in some initiatives to seek to make change, and I think

21st Century urban waterfront IWC to be named Mitchell Hall park could be,” Paterson said, addressing the crowd.

After a donation from a Queen’s The Gord Edgar Downie Pier is engineering alum, the University now equipped with a sand beach, has announced the new name a bridge conecting the mainland to of the Innovation and Wellness the pier, pebble wading beach and Centre (IWC). shoreline.

The IWC, set to open in The opening of the pier September, will officially be called marks the completion of the Mitchell Hall. According to the past year’s Breakwater Park University, “Mitchell Hall signs revitalization project. will soon be visible around the building’s exterior.”

—Journal Staff The project, a joint effort between Queen’s and the provincial and federal

that is kind of what brought me to start working in the public service,” Fuller said.

Working with Queen’s u n d e rg ra d u a te student government, the Alma Mater Society, Fuller represented students and set the stage for her future career.

“I remember the little office in the basement of the John Deutsch building, leading the charge on the divestment challenge,” she recalled.

“It’s a story about how collective global collaboration and a lot of Canadian leadership can contribute to a positive outcome.

Of course the credit is due to the South African people themselves, but the sanctions movement and the international pressure certainly played a big part in bringing about the end of apartheid,” Fuller said.

As for her new role, Fuller looks ahead at the challenges of climate change with an urgency to advance solutions at home and abroad.

“It’s a pressing problem,” she said. “I think the urgency of accelerating the transition towards clean growth is such that we need to find ways to move forward as quickly as possible.”

“Working together is really the key part of getting to solutions on this.” journal_news@ams.queensu.ca

governments, is located on the corner of Union Street and Division Street, at the site of the former Physical Education Centre.

In early 2019, the University will open two more phases of the building, the Côté Sharp Student Wellness Centre and the Beaty Water Research Centre, in addition to the building’s upper floors.

The building is set to feature athletics resources, an “innovation hub” and engineering research labs and classrooms.

—Journal Staff

News

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Monday, July 30, 2018

Gaiser ‘not familiar’ with Chenier: Council treats new ticketing initiative students as ‘second-class citizens’ Continued from front ... office, running as a Liberal candidate in Alberta during the last general election.

Gaiser, a computer engineering student, said he plans to focus on three central issues: the vacancy rate in Kingston, business recycling issues and economic challenges to the downtown core.

“The vacancy rate here is only 0.7 per cent, and in the downtown area it’s only 0.5 per cent. So basically, there’s only one out of every 200 units open for rental. And what’s happening is, it’s causing the price of rent to skyrocket,” Gaiser said.

“We don’t want to reach Toronto levels of rent price; Queen’s is already one of the most expensive schools to attend in Ontario.”

Gaiser will also address the collection of recycling for businesses during the campaign. He said the City doesn’t collect business recycling at the curb, which hinders sustainability efforts. “[The City has] structured it in a way that has incentivized businesses to toss all their recyclables in the garbage. If you’re a city that wants to become the most sustainable in Canada, I think that’s unacceptable,”

Gaiser said.

Addressing economic challenges in Kingston’s downtown core, Gaiser said “major properties in the downtown area are not being rented out, including ones that are right beside the downtown transfer point. Nobody’s leasing them. We need to figure out why.”

When asked his position on the University District Safety Initiative, Gaiser said he’s “not familiar” with the initiative, but that he’d heard of it.

“I don’t see how that’s helpful to only enforce this during party weekends. Either the rules apply, or they don’t,” Gaiser said.

“I understand why you’d want students to feel consequences, but you then need to be consistent in the punishments.”

Both candidates also addressed the importance of the student vote in the upcoming election. Chenier and Gaiser both said they want to gain student attention by addressing key issues facing the University on the municipal level.

With the nomination period now closed, Chenier and Gaiser have less than three months to campaign for the seat.

Matt Gasier. journal_news@ams.queensu.ca

CREDIT: GAISER FOR SYDENHAM

Raechel Huizinga Assistant News Editor

SUPPLIED BY SCB

The Journal finalist for Fraser MacDougall Prize Journal Staff Queen’s student newspaper is a finalist for the 2018 Fraser MacDougall Prize for Best New Canadian Voice in Human Rights Reporting.

The Journal picked up three out of six finalist spots for articles that delve into human rights issues on campus.

The articles include two features from 2018, and one long-form project released in 2017.

The finalists are: “The forgotten legacies of Queen’s Black medical students”, by Arts Editor, Brigid Goulem; “Truth and Reconciliation at Queen’s, a year later”, by Editor-in-Chief Nick Pearce and Copy Editor Jasnit Pabla; and “Unquantifiable”, by former News Editor, Victoria Gibson.

According to the National NewsMedia Council, this year’s shortlist was chosen from a record number of 28 nominations

CREDIT: CHENIER FOR SYDENHAM

Environmental group seeks plastic-free campus Petition receives over seven hundred signatures in five days

Society for Conservation Biology Executive.

Dylan Chenier.

from campus news organizations across the country.

“This year’s jury was impressed by the quality of writing, rich context, and depth of narrative in all of the short-listed submissions. Judges were also impressed by the vibrancy of news presentation from campus news media organizations, either on newsprint or in digital format,” read the announcement.

The Fraser MacDougall Prize for Best New Canadian Voice in Human Rights Reporting, first presented in 2017, is meant to support student journalists who report on “challenging, high-impact human rights issues.”

Winners of the award will be honoured at the annual Journalists for Human Rights Gala, held in Toronto. Successful finalists will have their campus paper distributed at the gala and have their story re-published in The Toronto Star.

Last Monday, the Society for Conservation Biology Kingston Chapter [SCB] launched a petition asking Queen’s to transition into a plastic-free campus.

In just two days, the petition exceeded its goal of 500 signatures, and reached over 700 by Saturday.

SCB Vice-President, Minoli Dias, ArtSci ’20, told The Journal in a phone interview the Society was encouraged by the positive student response.

“It’s a big contribution,” Dias said. “We were so surprised and excited about it.”

According to Dias, the Society is hoping to work with Queen’s administration and the AMS over the next few years to replace all plastic products on campus with sustainable alternatives.

Queen’s currently does not allow the sale of plastic water bottles on campus, and locations like the Campus Bookstore provide reusable bags for customers. Dias thinks Queen’s can do more.

“We do understand it’s quite a transition, and it’s a little intimidating at first when you hear plastic-free,” she said. “That’s why we really want to partner with Queen’s.”

Although the Society has not received a response from the AMS, Queen’s Hospitality has expressed interest in changing suppliers this fall. According to Dias, Hospitality is considering banning plastic straws and introducing a fee for plastic bags.

“We’re thinking bigger and more ambitious,” Dias said, adding that the Society has been researching sustainable

alternatives and considering different fundraising ideas to aid in the transition.

At Trent University, for example, Dias said students have the option of paying a one time, five dollar fee for plastic containers to bring to different food locations on campus.

Dias told The Journal that, although the containers plastic products, implementing this practice at Queen’s could help students move away from singleuse plastic and foster a reusable mindset.

Dias thinks it would be positive for Queen’s to “adhere to the values that we’ve been trying to express in terms of our environmental impact.”

“We’re trying to move towards a more modern and more environmentally conscious way of doing things,” she added.

For this reason, the Society wants to avoid introducing paper products and “transferring” the problem to another material.

According to Dias, when recyclables reach a high volume at the Kingston recycling centre, they’re transported in trucks to a reprocessing centre in North Bay. The recycling is then collected and compressed before being put back onto trucks, transported to Montreal and exported to Asia or the United States.

By using biodegradable materials instead of paper and plastic, Queen’s can reduce its number of recyclables and its overall carbon footprint.

Dias hopes to use The Tea Room—a zero consumer-waste student-run café on campus—as a model going forward.

Dias is one of many students who’s studied sustainability at Queen’s. While she believes it’s positive to have those studies on campus, “being able to express these values in the Queen’s administration and our actions on campus and our policies would be great to see.”

The Society will leave the petition open until the end of September, and then present it to the AMS.

Monday, July 30, 2018

Features

queensjournal.ca

•5

IN-DEPTH STORIES FROM AROUND CAMPUS AND IN THE COMMUNITY

Students face lawsuit during exams One house’s experience illustrates pitfalls of student-landlord relationships Raechel Huizinga Assistant News Editor

His housemates nevertheless agreed when Harry offered to renovate their kitchen during winter break. Harry allegedly gave them a two-week time frame for the project. According to Burke, he took two months longer than he’d promised, making the kitchen unusable until the end of February.

In an emailed statement to The Journal, Lam’s legal representative, Ian McInnis, claimed the long renovation happened because “someone left the windows open over Christmas break,” causing the pipes to burst.

“Culpability could not be proven,” McInnis wrote.

When Burke and his

had served to students in the University District during the winter term exam season, although those students refused request for comment from The Journal.

Addressing Burke’s claim, McInnis wrote that Lam “filed other applications against tenants at other addresses for unpaid rent and/or damage to his property because he has the same right to do so as any other landlord.”

Burke claimed Lam relies on exam-induced stress to keep students from attending their court dates and fighting the lawsuits. Although McInnis denies this, Burke claims McInnis told him and his housemates it would

More than ten years ago, Phil Lam won the first ever Golden Cockroach—a discontinued AMS award presented to landlords of the University District’s worst houses.

The award no longer exists, but the complaints remain: students continue to report problems from Lam. In one case, Queen’s student Oliver Burke and his five housemates awoke one morning in late March to find a lawsuit requesting $10,700 in damages on their doorstep.

A few weeks later, they were expected to appear in court at the height of exam season.

Burke and his housemates’ lease on William Street began in the summer of 2017. By the time they moved out the following spring, the pipes froze, a nearly 50-year-old furnace stopped working and they had no access to their kitchen for the winter months.

As the weather turned cold, Burke and his five housemates had to cover up a window Students facing lawsuits during exams inherit reduced legal resources. that had been broken when they moved in, using pizza housemates appeared in court on be easier for them to not show up. boxes and grocery bags.

Apr. 25, they tried to request an Perhaps the housemates would Meanwhile, a workman named adjournment for their court date have done just that if they hadn’t Harry, hired by Lam, did repairs so they could focus on exams. approached John Done, a lawyer in the house throughout the year. Their request was denied. from Kingston’s community legal Lam expected Burke and his Although Burke and his clinic, for legal aid. housemates to pay for Harry’s housemates had only four Although he was working time and work, but Burke claims hours to prepare to face Lam, on over ten other cases, they were unaware of this. they were able to decrease the Burke said Done offered to “We were getting billed for damages requested by Lam from represent them. He even drove copious amounts of materials for $10,700 to $700. them home at the end of the day. stuff that we didn’t even know “The insane part about this According to Burke, Done told had been fixed,” Burke told The is the whole year it was just the the housemates he’d seen other Journal in a phone interview. talking point about how bad our students in distress because of “The way [Lam] expressed it in similar lawsuits. In an interview his emails and talking to us, there with The Journal, Done said he’d was never any sort of consent that been aware of Lam’s cases for we were going to be paying for many years but hadn’t taken anything that [Harry] was fixing.” action until now.

At one point during the year, “This year, what I saw at least Burke said Harry painted over twice, and I think probably more, a crack in the wall, and Lam were a series of applications that allegedly charged the Mr. Lam brought to the Landlord housemates $500. and Tenant Board,” Done told The According to Burke, he and his Journal. “In these applications he housemates never requested that was asking the board to order Harry come into their house, and house was,” he continued. “How groups of students to pay him Lam never told them when Harry grit it was. It was kind of funny money for damaging his buildings.” would be making repairs. By the until it was really not funny.”

However, Done was concerned end of the 2017 fall term, Burke Burke said he knew of at least that Lam “may have obtained said Harry wouldn’t even knock. ten other alleged lawsuits Lam things to which he may have

A few weeks later, they were expected to appear in court at the height of exam season.

not been entitled.”

This concern is a result of the amount of overreaching in the case of Burke and his housemates. Lam only recovered 6.5 percent of the amount he asked for, meaning that, according to Done, 93.5 percent of what he asked for had “no merit.”

Lam not only accused Burke and his housemates of breaking the window which was broken when they moved in, he also attempted to receive compensation for the time spent removing the grocery bags and pizza boxes they used to cover it up.

Burke and his housemates were able to refute this by presenting photos and emails which proved

housemates were “entirely unsuited” to defend themselves against Lam, adding this inexperience was “complicated by the fact that these proceedings were scheduled during exam times.”

“Beyond the obvious fact that this was a time that students should be focusing on their calculus exam, what it meant is that because [the court date] was scheduled during exam times, another resource to which they would have been expected to approach for help was unavailable,” Done said, referring to Queen’s Legal Aid. At least one of the students Done represented in Burke’s case had to leave to write an exam.

“He had to make a choice, about whether to keep his focus on succeeding in an exam, or to focus instead on this hearing,” he said. “Any adult knows what to tell them: focus on your exams, it’s your future.”

Although it is Lam’s decision when to file applications with the Landlord and Tenant Board, McInnis wrote it’s up to the board to schedule hearings.

McInnis added Burke and his housemates are “enjoying another year at the same address with Mr. Lam as their landlord,” and that the “parties seem to PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY IAIN SHERRIFF-SCOTT be content.”

Burke, however, that they had asked for the broken has moved out of the William window to be fixed when they Street house, and told The Journal he avoided one of Lam’s moved in.

According to Done, the one properties while searching for a thing that distinguished Burke’s new lease.

He’s not alone. Other case from all of Lam’s other cases was that Burke and his students have taken similar housemates had the support of an action since Lam won his second Golden Cockroach award experienced lawyer. in 2007.

Dave Sinkinson, ArtSci ‘11, “ was the Municipal Affairs Commissioner when the award was discontinued in 2012, largely because of the damaging effect it had on student-landlord relations.

At the time, he told The Journal the Golden Cockroach award “poisons any relationship we can have with landlords to help you fix your property,” and it was something “very reckless for the Society to be doing.”

—John Done The cancellation of the award may have saved the AMS from “But what about all of the legal risks, but dozens of students other cases?” he asked. “What if in the University District don’t they’d had an experienced lawyer? share the luxury.

Because an experienced lawyer prevents overreaching.” journal_features@ams.queensu.ca He said Burke and his

But what about all the other cases?

What if they’d had an experienced lawyer? Because an experienced lawyer prevents overreaching.”

In Focus

Frosh in Focus

6 •queensjournal.ca

Mikayla Wronko Staff Writer I have nothing but nostalgia for first year, but there are certain aspects of being a Queen’s student I wish I had known about.

You know, to save time.

It’s okay if you don’t love Orientation Week

First, Orientation Week is a right of passage. After that, you can decide if you enjoyed it.

Orientation Week is tradition-based comradery which

The pragmatic advice I wish I received in first year Advice from a grizzled upper year that isn’t ‘Queen’s will be the time of your life’

Many of the lessons learned in university aren’t in the brochure.

aims to remove social barriers for the incoming class. All new frosh wear their ill-fitting faculty shirt, scream their faculty chant at the top of their lungs and will at some point be covered in dirt, shaving cream and water.

Your instincts may be to turn up your nose, be overwhelmed, or embrace the unknown. Either way, it’s helpful to know that the Orientation Leaders and volunteers running frosh week have spent months preparing for your welcome, and genuinely want you to feel at home.

There’s no “best” residence

The frenzy of anticipation that surrounds residence room assignments always brings up the age-old question: which residence is the best?

Yes, my answer is clichéd and boring, but there’s no best residence. How close the residence is to campus, or whether or not you have your own bathroom is no indicator of how you will experience residence.

There’s a club for that?

Groups on campus bound to spark your interest

The Caledonias performing.

Zier Zhou Editorial Illustrator Whether you’re an activist or an astronomer, university is more than lectures and tests.

With over 250 clubs to pick from, you’re not only your

Monday, July 30, 2018

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY KAYLEE O’MEARA

major—you’re a stage manager, a juggler or a poker champion.

Clubs don’t just connect students to others with similar interests; they also offer a break from schoolwork, provide structure in your schedule, and give you valuable experience by

A randomized lottery matches you to a building and determines which characters will live with you for the year. From there, it ‘s up to you to embrace your first community at Queen’s.

Don’t worry about your program

Breathe a sigh of relief: nothing you do in first year completely commits you to a program.

I can’t count how many times I have seen students swap their major or minor, switch in or out of engineering, or transfer into completely different programs.

Unlike other universities, most incoming students at Queen’s use the year to see if they’re enjoying their classes before they commit to a concentration. In fact, you can add and drop classes without penalty until Sept. 19.

Narrow down your discipline’s requirements

I think we can all agree we would rather learn a plan’s

helping you develop skills that can translate into your future career.

So while you may be finished with course selection, there are still choices to be made. Keep reading if you’re on the hunt for a unique club to join.

For those singing alone in the shower

The Caledonias are the only all-female acapella group at Queen’s, allowing them to explore women’s empowerment through a shared love for music, both classic and contemporary.

For Kaylee O’Meara, ArtSci ’20, the Caledonias have been a home away from home since her very first audition.

“With them I have found an invaluable sense of community while doing something we all love — singing!,” O’Meara said.

While the major event of the year for the Caledonias is the Queen’s Intercollegiate Acapella Competition in March, you can also find them performing on campus and in the Kingston community at seasonal concerts, charity fundraisers, and Open Mic Nights at the Common Ground Coffeehouse.

For those who cultural connection Queen’s

Native

seek

Student

requirements than be surprised at the end of the year when we’re trying to declare a major.

In Arts and Science, majors and minors generally require you to earn a certain mark in the prerequisite classes to qualify for automatic acceptance. Don’t be afraid to book an appointment with an academic advisor or email the department you’re researching to get all of the details you need to be accepted.

Queen’s support resources are worth a try

When you’re balancing your academics and extracurriculars with your personal life, ask for help when you need it. I promise you that Queen’s and the student community are invested in your success and that, most importantly, you’re not alone.

Queen’s has an array of judgement-free student-run programs. The Peer Support Center (PSC), Engineering Wellness Center (EWS), Student Academic Success Services (SASS) and Sexual Health and Resource

Association (QNSA) welcomes anyone, regardless of ethnic background, who wants to learn more about Indigenous peoples and culture.

Comprised of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, the organization seeks to celebrate the diversity of Indigenous peoples and promote the discussion of important issues, including social justice and Indigenous access to health and education.

QNSA is also responsible for organizing Indigenous Awareness Week, which has a different theme each year and engages members of the Queen’s community through art, food, storytelling, and more.

For those whose world is a stage

Living in Technicolour gives creative artists an environment that encourages their growth. However, what sets them apart from other theatre companies is that they don’t solely shine the spotlight on dramatic acting.

Each semester, the team works together to host an extraordinary show that lasts two to three hours. The show includes a theatrical production, musical entertainment, short films, and a showcase of visual artwork, all created by Queen’s students.

Last year’s successful event,

PHOTO BY TESSA WARBURTON

Center (SHRC) are all great examples of students helping other students.

Queen’s is also home to Student Wellness Services (SWS), which offers professional help in the areas of personal, academic, and social development.

There really is a place for everyone

I kid you not when I say there is a community for everything at Queen’s.

Queen’s boasts an extensive number of clubs, teams and extracurriculars. With over 250 clubs, whether your interests lie in art, finance, writing, comedy, identity, athletics, theatre, religion, politics, I can guarantee that somebody shares your niche.

When you arrive in September, you get to make your own unique mark on campus. While no two Queen’s experiences are the same, tradition connects everyone in the incoming classes, and you’ll have the opportunity to be a part of something bigger than yourself.

Judge and Jury: No Particular Treason, was an interactive show that allowed the audience to decide the story’s outcome, depending on which character they believed to be guilty after hearing each of their testimonies.

For when it actually is rocket science

Queen’s Space Conference is for anyone who drifts off from everyday thoughts and considers life beyond Earth.

The Queen’s Space Conference invites curious minds to explore new ideas in science and discovery, and to network with the brightest leaders in the space industry.

The annual weekend event features interactive workshops, case competitions and exciting talks. Past speakers include astronauts, professors in astrophysics, and even science fiction authors.

Whether you’re interested in attending as a delegate or joining their executive team, the Queen’s Space Conference is worth looking into.

Feel free to explore whatever interests you, and don’t hesitate to try new things, whether that’s starring in a play or networking with rocket scientists.

There will be a club at Queen’s waiting for you to join—and if not, you can always start your own.

In Focus

Monday, July 30, 2018

queensjournal.ca

•7

Mastering the balance of work and play at university Adapting to a new environment while keeping stress at bay and remaining well-rounded Hannah Stafl Features Editor Open schedules, multitudes of extracurriculars and heavy workloads all mean one thing—high school’s over.

This isn’t meant to scare off incoming students though. Ian Garner, academic skills outreach coordinator at Queen’s Student Academic Success Services (SASS) said explaining this to incoming students from the outset of their university experience can make a difference when they adapt to the new learning environment.

According to Garner, part of the transition between secondary and post-secondary education is past achievement—especially with respect to high grades that don’t always translate to a university setting.

“Getting grades of 90 percent and over is possible in high school, but extremely rare in university,” Garner said.

He attributes some of this drop in performance to the type of work university demands, which is more centred on theoretical thinking and analysis.

Increased independence can also complicate the transition from Tegwyn Hughes Copy Editor

The first time I stepped into Leonard Dining Hall, I nearly ran back out the door.

These were my first days at Queen’s and the crowded lines, clamouring students, and countless options were more than overwhelming. I didn’t even try to assess my options—instead, I grabbed the first two plates of food I spotted, topped up my minuscule cup of water, and found a table with my friend as quickly as possible.

Now, as I enter my third year of using dining halls, I have all but mastered the ins and outs of the Queen’s meal plan. From giant waffles to grilled paninis, here are the best items you can find in the various dining halls on campus.

Leonard Dining Hall

‘Lenny’ is the place to go for the most satisfying eat-your-feelings kind of cravings.

The pizza station hiding in the back of the hall basically fed me for the first two weeks of school before I had the guts to experiment with the menu. Their pizza may not taste as good as Domino’s, but its supply is virtually unlimited and you can always count on it to be there for you when times are tough.

Right near the pizza is a generic sandwich-making station.

However, the panini grill next to it can transform the entire sandwich

high school to university, Garner observes students either over or under-work themselves to try and match the university pace. Instead, he recommends early planning and scheduling to help navigate the more rigorous academic setting.

Garner added students should be flexible and adopt new learning and studying techniques—which can often mean excelling earlier rather than later. Even if lastminute cramming was successful for students in the past, the more intensive nature of university may require them to plan ahead.

“If I had to choose one characteristic [of] a successful student, it would be that ability to be reflective, to understand why you’re doing what you’re doing,” Garner said.

SASS has many resources to help students adopt new strategies that may work for them. They offer three platforms for assistance: online aids, drop in workshops, and one-on-one consultation for topics such as essay writing.

Students can choose their preferred approach out of the three.

Ultimately, Garner thinks that narrowing down your priorities can make all the difference.

Planning is a useful skill in managing university life.

Whether your goal is to join various extracurriculars, volunteer your time, work a part-time job, or focus on academics, clarifying what deserves your time is imperative.

This helps incoming students engage in activities and shape a university experience they can truly enjoy and sustain long-term.

Reflecting on the best ways to allocate your time and energy isn’t only important with your academics, but also in staying healthy and managing stress levels.

Beth Blackett, health promotion coordinator at Queen’s Student Wellness Services (SWS) said practicing self-care and spending time away from academics could help all areas of a student’s life.

“Self-care makes you more resilient to stressors which are an inevitable part of university,” Blackett told The Journal in an

email. Not only can incorporating enjoyable activities ease the process of adapting to new challenges, it can also improve academic success.

She added that the highest achieving students often express a well-rounded approach to mental, physical and social health.

This involves regular reflection about your workload and the commitments you make. While university can offer many great opportunities, simply accepting them all can lead to feeling overwhelmed. She added that when students become overburdened, taking care of themselves and engaging in healthy routines become sidelined.

Blackett said an intense, singular focus on academics only lasts for so long. It isn’t sustainable, and rather than being short-sighted, it pays off for

The Best of Dining Halls All of the flavour without any of the guesswork

Some of the best food that Queen’s has to offer.

experience. Craft your own gourmet sandwich with all the fixings and watch with satisfaction as it cooks to perfection in front of your eyes.

If you aren’t already too full, grab a plate at the dessert station and pile it high, because there is usually a table covered in cookies, pies, and cake waiting for you.

Finally, don’t worry if you start getting sick of indulging at every meal. Leonard Hall has something for everyone, and the humble Simple Servings station will be your source of everything healthy, home-style, and allergen-free.

This station also usually has options for vegans and vegetarians.

If you see roasted potatoes on the menu, get in line, because they will blow your mind in the healthiest way.

Ban Righ Dining Hall

This past year, Ban Righ was my go-to favourite. It has all the comforts of home, especially with its breakfast foods. Leonard Hall doesn’t serve breakfast during the week, so Ban Righ really steps it up.

The cafeteria has a waffle making station, cereal bar, and

ILLUSTRATION BY AMELIA RANKINE

decent fruit selection.

Other breakfast staples include potatoes, bacon or sausage, and scrambled eggs. When you spot tater tots being served, you should fill up your plate—those deep-fried spuds are delectable.

For my fellow vegans, Ban Righ has two foods that will become a key feature of your dining hall experience. First, scrambled tofu is always available on request at the breakfast bar. My advice is to pair it with some toast and potatoes to create a drool-worthy spread. Ban Righ also regularly serves slices of rich, moist vegan chocolate cake at lunch on Friday.

ILLUSTRATION BY ZIER ZHOU

students to adopt a more steady-paced approach to work that will last for their entire university career.

“You need to think about playing the long game when it comes to your university experience,” Blackett said.

She recommends some ways that students can keep stress at bay, including moments of reflection throughout the day and planning your day ahead of time.

If students need more focus on their health and wellness, SWS offers counselling services, peer and professional workshops, and other options to provide support.

While university can be a new and challenging environment, success is completely attainable if you focus on the basics: sustainability and a long-term view.

Jean Royce Dining Hall For anyone living on Main Campus in first year, you may not feel the need to visit West Campus unless you have a lecture there or want to see a football game. However, the Jean Royce Dining Hall on West has some of the best food in residence.

Jean Royce mostly provides traditional buffet-style dining, but on weekdays lunch items are purchased with trade-a-meals (TAMS).

This means you can combine certain lunch items to make a meal and pay for it with one of your 200 TAMS, which are available through the meal plan for all first-year students in residence.

Jean Royce is popular in part because of its huge brunch portions on weekends, where you can treat yourself to a custom-made omelette and lots of toast and bagels. Another highlight is the pasta bar, which you can find on West every Thursday in the dining hall.

In the evening, keep an eye out for some indulgent dishes like West’s well-seasoned fries and cheesy nacho platters, which can’t be found anywhere else on campus.

With this crucial information under your belt, you’ll be able to enter any dining hall with confidence in September and impress your classmates with mouthwatering meal choices.

8 • queensjournal.ca

Monday, July 30, 2018

EDITORIALS

The Journal’s Perspective

THE QUEEN’S JOURNAL

U of T mental health policy puts students in the periphery A university mental health policy that cuts students off from support services is no health policy at all.

The University of Toronto’s Governing Council recently approved a university-mandated leave of absence policy, allowing school administrators to place students suffering from mental illness on mandatory leave.

The policy doesn’t enforce mandatory medical professional consultation, prompting understandable concern from the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

U of T calls the policy non-punitive, but it shuts struggling students out of a familiar environment, doing more harm than good.

Many students lack the privilege of support outside their respective campuses. Some have anxiety regarding their academic standing, but disconnecting them from a stable routine often exacerbates the issue.

Removing struggling students from campus denies any control for those who already feel powerless.

The leave of absence is enforced if administration deems the student “a risk of harm to themselves or others.”

Administrators may institute a leave if a student is struggling in their academic program and mental illness is suspected to be involved.

However, academic performance is no indicator of wellness. The linking of the two suggests U of T cares more about academic standards than student health.

Without mandated medical consultation, the policy fails to consider administrators’ experiences with or knowledge of mental health. This creates room for individual bias in any recommendation of leave. It also sets a dangerous precedent for inconsistent evaluation standards.

The policy further infantilizes students in its failure to consider what happens to those who are placed on leave. U of T doesn’t answer whether tuition will be refunded, how international students will be accommodated, or whether partially-completed courses must be retaken.

Queen’s has been frequently criticized for its lack of sufficient mental health resources, including inaccessible mental health resources and long appointment wait times. While we

ILLUSTRATION BY ZIER ZHOU

need to introduce more resources, improving the ones we do have is a start.

U of T’s recent decision, and the outcry which followed, should remind Queen’s of the importance

of mental health to students.

Though the policy’s language is not punitive, its action is.

The leave of absence policy asks those suffering from serious mental health issues to disappear and discourages students from being honest, disclosing their mental health concerns, and seeking help.

U of T’s proactive revision of student mental health policy is commendable.

However, their disregard for the realities of the student experience make the policy no more effective than a band-aid over a bullet wound.

Universities must consult students in need of support before they attempt to legislate and act on their behalf.

—Journal Editorial Board

Meredith Wilson-Smith

People who disparage pop culture to make a point don’t just exclude themselves from the conversation—they disrespect the power of diverse audiences.

A guilty pleasure is something a person enjoys despite that thing not being held in high regard. More often than not, the term also applies overwhelmingly to media consumed by young women.

Leaving an all-girls education for university first showed me the gendered hierarchy around media consumption. I learned that, as a rule, pop culture addresses emotion and

PHOTO BY TESSA WARBURTON

opinion—areas considered uniquely feminine and consequently trivial. The Atlantic is reliable, Chatelaine is a gossip rag. I can talk about the Supreme Court podcast I love, but not the one about relationship counselling.

Nobody openly says pop is their favourite genre or a romantic comedy is their favourite movie.

When I tell people Kylie Jenner’s birth announcement made me cry—twice—I’m met with disbelief or derision.

Media about women— tacking fashion, relationships, or self-improvement—is

Publishing since 1873

Editorial Board Editors in Chief

Sebastian Bron

Nick Pearce Iain Sherriff-Scott

News Editor

Rachel Aiken Madison Bendall Raechel huizinga

Assistant News Editors

Features Editors

Samantha Fink Hannah Stafl

Editorials Editor

Meredith Wilson-Smith

Opinions Editor

Sophia Spencer Brigid Goulem

Arts Editor

Brittany Giliforte

Assistant Arts Editor

Matt Scace

Sports Editor

Maggie Gowland

Assistant Sports Editor

Josh Granovsky

Lifestyle Editor

Ally Mastantuono

Assistant Lifestyle Editor

Chris Yao

Photo Editor

Tessa Warburton

Assistant Photo Editor

Amelia Rankine

Video Editor

Carter Smith

Assistant Video Editor

Zier Zhou

Editorial Illustrator

Tegwyn Hughes Jasnit Pabla

Copy Editors

Contributing Staff Staff Writers and Photographers Eva Stein

Contributors

Anna Jaschinski Samira Levesque Alexandra Phillips Jonah Prousky Brandon P. Tyrrell Sam Grobman

Business Staff Morgan Dodson

Business Manager Head Sales Representative

Pop culture increasingly vital in current political climate mistakenly considered a guilty pleasure, which is less description than it is an apology for discussing something appealing to women.

This mindset that you can’t be both an intelligent, informed person and captivated by celebrity culture simultaneously is increasingly obsolete.

Celebrities have the ability to change social institutions.

They’re the lens through which we digest society.

Khloe Kardashian’s struggle with infidelity through her first child’s birth raised questions about motherhood.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s “conscious uncoupling” was a new take on partnership.

Media created for men is perceived as inherently serious, whereas media geared toward women is seen as frivolous and flighty. Pop culture, however, is not an indulgence—it’s increasingly vital in the current political climate.

Shows like Queer Eye address race, mental health, and toxic masculinity. Movies like Love Actually permit the celebration of love beyond romantic strictures. Mainstream media has something of unique value for a wide range of audiences—if given a chance.

Volume 146 Issue 3 www.queensjournal.ca @queensjournal

That said, even if you take nothing from pop culture, you’re not responsible for justifying your tastes.

There’s nothing reprehensible about finding pleasure in something personally fulfilling.

My unironic love of T-Pain doesn’t make me smarter, but it does make me happier.

Denying women cultural control isn’t just stingy—it’s imprudent. After years of forced cultural observation over contribution, young women have their fingers on the pulse of society at any given moment.

You don’t have to be well-versed in Ariana Grande songs to understand the energetic mobilizing power of her fanbase.

The next time someone praises Cardi B, understand rolling your eyes doesn’t change their mind—it simply excludes you from the culture-wide conversation.

Calling pop culture a guilty pleasure denies the validity of a diverse and powerful section of society.

Meredith is The Journal’s Editorials Editor. She’s a third-year politics student.

Ben Johnstone

Sales Representative

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Office Administrator

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Want to contribute?

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

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

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 Editors in Chief.

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Contents © 2018 by The Queen’s Journal; all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission of The Journal.

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Monday, July 30, 2018

queensjournal.ca

OPINIONS

•9

Your Perspective

Expanding the scope of student conduct Queen’s students are Kingston residents

PHOTO BY SEBASTIAN BRON

Tyrrell encourages students to engage more actively as residents of Kingston.

BRANDON P. TYRRELL ARTSCI ’18

Criminal records shouldn’t be a cost associated with repairing the University’s reputational damage within the Kingston community.

Under the new University District Safety Initiative, certain offences during Frosh Week, Homecoming and St. Patrick’s Day, and any offences under the Kingston’s Nuisance Party Bylaw, will be issued a Part 1 summons to appear in court, as opposed to just receiving a ticket.

This initiative begs the question of whether attending Queen’s—which serves as an enrollment into excellence—is worth a potential criminal record.

Students who are issued a summons will appear on the public court docket.

Irrespective of what’s proven in court, the ways in which a student’s peers, family, faculty and community members would perceive them would likely be impacted.

The recent initiative wouldn’t only have short-term effects on students, but also on their long-term future potential.

Legal certainty is necessary for a law to be an effective mechanism to govern behaviour, as it provides those who are

Excellence has been replaced by patterns of negligence and disrespect

subjected to it with the ability to make their decisions accordingly.

The decisions of a rational person are balanced between their desired outcomes and possible punishment.

But each student’s obligation under the recent initiative is only in effect during certain days of the year, and its jurisdictional limitations are undefined.

In effect, the practical application of this measure and its unpredictable nature leaves the probability of its success somewhat murky.

Following the initiative, the Queen’s Student Code of Conduct expanded so that a violation of municipal, provincial or federal law is now in breach of a contractual agreement. Before the recent changes to the Code, the degree of the University’s power over matters involving public law was limited to circumstances where a student aided in the commission of a criminal offence.

Much of these jurisdictional changes came as a result of the University facing an insurmountable issue whereby individuals falling outside the scope of the Code are negatively impacting its reputation.

During these types of weekends, students, external friends and alumni filter into Kingston to collectively celebrate, and often quite intensely.

Every year, the University District is littered with garbage for days after major street parties. Broken glass prevents people and pets from walking around, or to, campus safely; local hospitals experience backlogs with patients recovering from over drinking.

At its worst, riots have started where police have been assaulted and property has been irreparably damaged. In 2009, Queen’s cancelled Homecoming after years of rowdy partying in the University District—a car was even flipped once.

These were all instances where excellence has been replaced by patterns of negligence and disrespect.

Person by person, arrest by arrest, patient by patient. Not holding those who have done wrong accountable damages the University’s reputation. Homecoming has been cancelled in the past to mitigate reputational damage. The decision was made in hopes of addressing the reckless behaviour often seen during the event.

More recently, though, the Nuisance Party Bylaw was introduced as a means of controlling and dispersing people in the chance where an event becomes of public nuisance. This law stipulates that, if need be, additional enforcement options beyond those accessible to bylaw enforcers would be made available.

Kingston Police now have the authority to order anyone not residing at a given location that’s deemed to be a public nuisance to leave the premises immediately.

The previous mandate stated that multiple notices to leave—not just one—had to be given before a person had to evacuate a given location.

At nearby academic institutions, such as St. Lawrence College, the scope of student conduct extends to actions which take place in settings of legitimate interest: college-sanctioned activities, campus property, co-op placements, or in circumstances where a student’s action disenfranchises another member of the college.

At Queen’s, a university student is also a Kingston resident.

By expanding the scope to breaches of public law, the University can now respond to media outlets when asked about its efforts to address students’ behaviour in the community—rather than

suggesting these students fall outside the University’s jurisdiction.

However, making laws that only apply during certain times of the year—and having students show up on the public court docket—is nothing short of systemically shifting the effects of reputational damage. It places the burden on specific students and invokes life-long implications for their actions.

Participating in the culture that Queen’s has evolved into is not something students

At Queen’s, a university student is also a Kingston resident.

should be penalized for. Condemning students’ wrong-doings is one thing, implementing a mechanism that places names on the public court docket are another affair.

Somewhere in pursuit of being the best party school in Canada, many have lost sight of the reason behind weekends like Homecoming—to celebrate a tradition of excellence.

Student development is a progression and may not always be linear. When a person in pursuit of excellence quits prematurely, they never know how close they are to achieving their goal.

Penalizing students who participate in the culture that Queen’s has become doesn’t foster a learning environment that supports each student’s unique development towards integrity.

Brandon P. Tyrrell is a fifth-year philosophy and political studies student.

Talking heads ... If you could give advice to your first-year self, what would it be?

PHOTOS BY TESSA WARBURTON

“Prioritize relationships over schoolwork.”

Josh Lam Comm’18

“Speak out more.”

Yuna Sunadori ArtSci ‘20

“Don’t be so nervous of failure.”

Courtney Rider Sci’19

“Take advantage of the first year ignorant bliss.”

Mettias Mehta Sci‘19

10 • queensjournal.ca

Arts

Monday, July 30, 2018

REVIEW

The Circus comes to town Cirque du Soleil dreams big with Corteo

Cirque du Soleil performed at the Leon’s Centre July 4 to 8, 2018.

Brigid Goulem Arts Editor Hanging from chandeliers and jumping on the bed are usually frowned upon—but Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo made an exception on July 4.

Corteo, performed at the Leon's Centre, tells the story of a clown named Mauro who is reliving his entire life while awaiting his own funeral. As he grapples with the realities of his death, characters from his life appear to him as former lovers, old friends and colleagues join him on stage.

While the show focuses on the death of the main character, the show is a celebration of life.

Using soft colours and extravagant and luxurious furniture, the show at no point feels mournful or morose. Rather, it feels like the daydreams of a creative child.

The soft fabrics of the

costumes, the use of furniture like four-poster beds and giant chandeliers, made the scenes feel like a 1920s Italian circus. As Mauro reflected on his life, the ambiance of the set, the

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY AMELIA RANKINE

costumes and the props evoked the sentiment that it was a long life, and one worth celebrating.

Corteo was written in 2006— and things have undoubtedly changed—but it’s hard not to ask how cynical

somebody has to be to not enjoy what Corteo has to offer.

In terms of story telling, the show is definitely limited. Telling a story through circus performances is challenging—especially for Cirque du Soleil, a company known for speaking multiple languages throughout the show.

The aim of the performance is not to share the details of the story, but to remind people how beautiful and adventurous life can be.

The show isn’t about the narrative, it’s about the seemingly impossible tricks that the artists perform.

As artist Slava Pereviazko walked across the stage atop a single ladder, not a sound could be heard in the audience. With no set or props, all eyes were on Pereviazko as he teetered on the ladder and reached up to grab the arm of an angel who is watching above.

It was a hard trick to watch—the audience was completely still as they anticipated the moment that he fell. It was a jaw-dropping trick, and there's no one else in the cast who can perform it.

While the acts themselves are phenomenal, it's the combination of dramatic costumes and sets, along with the physical skills of the artists that draws people in.

The show in itself is a remarkable feat, but it’s even more so considering they pick up and move it every four or five days.

The entire performance is crammed into 12 trucks, and is able to completely transform any space they perform in.

The show is a remarkable performance for families and adults alike. The show challenges the audience to expand their creative thinking enough to appreciate the childish Corteo for what it is—a masterpiece.

TIPSY REVIEW

Queen’s Players presents Poonanji: Welcome to the Gamestop The Journal jumps into the land of Poonanji Brigid Goulem Arts Editor I’ve always known one thing: if I was trapped inside a video game, I wouldn’t be entirely sober.

Thankfully, Queen’s Players was there to ensure their audience was as well-liquored as they were on July 9.

While I enjoyed a few too many Schooners, and tried to forget that I worked in the morning, Queen’s Players brought me along on an adventure through the weird and blurry world of Poonanji—based on the recent remake of the hit film Jumanji, which tells the story of students who get stuck in a video game.

For those lucky enough to get a ticket, Queen’s Players is a night out like no other—the interactive theatre experience depends on

an enthusiastic audience, and a hefty supply of liquor.

It works like this: the audience buys performers drinks and cheers them on as they chug them on stage. They sing and dance along to songs they know, and they heckle relentlessly when a performer screws up. In return, the cast provides profane jokes and wild dance routines that make the whole thing worthwhile.

The summer performance, Poonanji: Welcome to the Gamestop featured a wide

For those lucky enough to get a ticket, Queen's Players is a night out like no other

cast of characters in board game-related skits.

As someone whose board game experience consists of Monopoly and Scrabble, most of the references were lost on me. Luckily, with the help of a few Schooners, I didn’t care at all.

Queen’s Players performs to a loud crowd at the Mansion on Monday, July 9, 2018.

It turns out you don’t need an encyclopedic knowledge of board games to appreciate a good sex joke. Watching people pretend to go down on each other is always funny.

On top of the universality of wildly inappropriate jokes, Poonanji offered characters that everybody understood.

Brendan Robson, in his first-ever Players production, portrayed a stumbling John A. MacDondald who was chased off the stage by his fellow cast members for asking the audience inappropriate but accurate questions

about his life.

Meanwhile, veteran Player Kate Neweduk portrayed my new favourite character Frosh Girl who, while deep in a battle as part of the game of Poonanji, was searching for her phone and offering the audience Smirnoff Ice. For all former Frosh Girls, this performance was pure art. My friends and I were keeled over in laughter as we remembered all the joy and laughter Smirnoff Ice has brought us in our life.

Players works best if you throw yourself into it. If you sit back while everyone else rushes the

PHOTO BY ANNA JASCHINSKI

stage to sing along, it’s simply not as fun. It’s these close-up moments when everyone is singing along that you realize everyone else is just as drunk as you are.

Players is not meant to be an artistic masterpiece. It feels more like watching the Glee club hang out—if they were all drunk at a bar. It’s clear that Queen’s Players is as good a time for the cast as it is for the audience. The goal is to make people laugh, and they absolutely succeeded.

Will they win an Oscar? No. Will you enjoy yourself and have a great time? Yes.

Arts

Monday, July 30, 2018

queensjournal.ca

• 11

OBITUARY

Remembering Kim Renders Friends and students reflect on drama professor’s passing Brigid Goulem Arts Editor On July 17, beloved teacher and theatre trailblazer Kim Renders passed away.

Renders, a teacher, artist, and activist, made a profound impact in Kingston and across Canada.

As many in the community grapple with the loss, outpourings of memories and support for Renders’s family came throughout the week.

A pioneer in theatre and a founding member of the Nightwood Theatre Company—Canada’s oldest feminist stage company—Renders made art into activism and gave a voice to the marginalized.

In addition to many acting and directing credits, Renders was also a writer. She wrote one-woman plays and articles discussing pressing social issues.

Her one-woman show Motherhood Madness and the Shape of the Universe has been performed throughout Canada and Britain and was adapted for CBC Radio.

In 2006, Renders became a professor at Queen’s in the drama department. Working in drama and gender studies, Renders threw herself into her teaching.

She was a supportive mentor who expected the best from her students.

Former student Rachel Mack Arts '18, said Renders was there unequivocally for every one of her students.

When Mack was going through a hard time, Renders noticed and reached out to her over facebook, sending her a “lovely” message, telling Mack she “wasn’t alone.”

She was a supportive mentor who expected the best from her students, and often received it in return.

Similarly, former student Shannon Crooks Arts '17, was intimidated to be working with Renders because she thought she “wouldn’t measure up.” That wasn’t the case.

Over the course of a semester, Crooks said she grew to see Renders as a mentor and described her as one of the best professors she’s ever had.

“She inspired me to demand more in life and not be afraid to use [my] voice. The impact she had on me was so strong because she actually gave a shit about her students,” Crooks said.

Felicia Myronyk agrees. She remembers one exercise where students passed an imaginary ball around a circle, making a sound when they caught it.

Renders was frustrated that her students were being reserved and so she let out a loud scream.

She had each student go around the room and scream at the top of their lungs.

“Kim let us claim our space.

That’s how she lived her life.

Unapologetic. Strong. Claiming her space but giving room for others to claim theirs,” Myronyk said.

Beyond her students, Renders’s unapologetic and unfiltered persona inspired those around her.

Dr. Christine Overall, a Professor Emerita at Queen's knew Renders since she joined the faculty in 2006. She said Renders’s generosity made her a constant friend.

“She cheered me up in tough times, she encouraged me to try new things, she made me laugh,” Overall said. “Her departure leaves a yawning gap in my life. The world is diminished by her death.”

While Renders was deeply committed to her students and her work, it was her family that centred her—they were everything.

In a shared letter, Kim’s sister Micky Renders wrote that “every aspect of her work, her art, her health, and her heart was in some way filtered through, influenced, inspired, or coloured by the friendship and love she shared with [her husband] Robert Lindsay, [her son] Finn Lindsay, and [her daughter] Jill Lindsay.”

Micky Renders, touched by the tributes to her sister, added she hopes her sister is remembered for using her art to lift up others, and to imagine a more equitable and just world.

“She believed in art as a powerful force to imagine a better world and raise issues, make positive changes, to highlight injustice, to support and help women and those on the margins find their voice and realize their power, and to challenge the capitalist and patriarchal forces that are entrenched in our institutions.”

To honour Renders’s legacy, former students, colleagues, and friends started a fundraiser with a goal of raising $5,000 for the Nightwood Theatre’s 10,000 women campaign. Currently, $2,735 has been raised.

The campaign aims to increase

Kim Renders believed in art as a powerful force to challenge capitalist and patriarchal forces entrenched in our institutions.

the presence of women in the theatre arts. According to their website, 72 per cent of theatres in Canada are run by men,

Kim Renders worked to dismantle oppressive structures through her art.

only 33 per cent of plays are directed by women. Meanwhile, approximately 70 per cent of the theatre audience is made up of women.

As a feminist, and as a teacher Kim Renders’s impressive list of accomplishments don't do justice to all that she was. She was a fiercely unapologetic

SUPPLIED BY QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY

and unfiltered woman who used her platform to lift others up. She fought against injustice and worked to make the world a better place.

Arts

12 •queensjournal.ca

INTERVIEW

CANLIT

Wild times for Wild Rivers

Latest novel by Queen’s Alum falls short of expectations

Queen’s MBA Alum tackles business and Band releases second EP doppelgängers in new book Tessa Warburton Assistant Photos Editor Wild Rivers has one wish: they want to take charge of time.

Their new EP 88, released on June 22, is jam-packed with memories: childhood movies, restless university nights, and twangy guitars.

“After university, you have all this time on your hands, it’s amazing and daunting, and a common thing for all of us,” lead singer Devan Glover told The Journal.

In 88, the Toronto-based band explores yearning for a different time with tunes filled with rich vocals and haunting harmonies.

In the song "A week ago", Glover capitalizes on the sentiment, wishing she could hit the required 88 miles per hour to travel through time in Back to the Future.

Unsurprisingly, Wild Rivers are nostalgic for their university days.

Queen’s is inseparable from the band’s music—they formed on campus, in between classes and CoGro runs. Lead singers Glover and Khalid Yassein met in second year and began singing together all around Kingston, known as the duo Devan & Khalid.

After graduation, they began to explore their passion.

To accomplish this goal, they added fellow Queen’s student Andrew Oliver as a multi-instrumentalist and his childhood friend Ben Labenski on drums.

“It all came together so easily, it was awesome. It’s nice to have four creative minds working together. We all have different inputs and personal influences and music we like to play, which gives [us] a wider palatet,” Glover said.

After their formation, the band had a busy couple years working on their first self-titled album Wild Rivers. Glover explained that with their hectic tour schedule the band found it hard to cut out a large chunk of time to dedicate to writing.

Their solution was to rent a big studio apartment for one month in downtown Toronto.

The apartment was a place to focus on their writing, cut out the rest of the world, and get their ideas onto paper. Taking a break, the band took a trip to Nashville to get some more writing done and play a few shows.

They wrote 88 in that month, in between Toronto and Nashville.

It’s uncharted territory for the band, fresh off a new release and facing the prospect of a lifetime of music.

For one, the name Wild Rivers comes from a poem by Gregory Ore about jumping into the unknown and pursuing something despite it being risky and uncertain.

“That’s where we were, because we’d just graduated and decided to give music a shot—[the poem] really resonated,” Glover said.

After graduation, it became apparent to the band how quickly time can pass.

With four years behind them and many ahead, it’s no surprise that 88 is centered so heavily around days slipping by.

These songs focus on an impatience for the future while longing for the past. The EP isn’t necessarily about wanting to go back in time, but rather the power to manipulate it.

While that future is uncertain, it can only mean good things for Wild Rivers.

Brittany Giliforte Assistant Arts Editor

Mysterious plane crashes, doppelgängers, and shady business transactions are a perfect recipe for a science-fiction classic, but Timothy Taylor’s latest novel misses the mark.

The Rule of Stephens is the latest from Taylor, MBA' 87. The novel tells the tale of Catherine Bach, a plane crash survivor struggling to navigate the world of cutting-edge health technology while her doppelgänger threatens to replace her and take over her company.

That seems captivating. It implies the plane crash and doppelgängers will be a focal point of the book, which isn’t the case.

A more accurate summary would say that Taylor’s novel is about a woman who tries relentlessly to perfect her invention—the Red Pill 2.0—which promises to give users an alternative method of evaluating their health, making doctor visits unnecessary.

The subtle nod to The Matrix in the name Red Pill 2.0 is as close to science

fiction as Taylor gets, beyond references to Stephen King in the novel’s title.

The book’s “Rule of Stephens” states everything in the world can be explained using either the work of Stephen Hawking or Stephen King. It is only mentioned a handful of times. Considering this is the title of the novel, Taylor only used this rule as a subtle reminder to readers that there’s the possibility the story's events can be either real or false.

For such a compelling concept, it was only referenced a few times and leaves something to be desired from the lengthy business jargon that dominates most of the novel.

The first 100 pages are all about Bach’s start-up company, before Taylor finally introduces the folk-lore inspired possibility of doppelgängers. The story reverts back to the character’s business soon after.

In this respect, the author’s background is on display throughout the story. Taylor graduated from the Smith School of Business with an MBA, and he clearly knows the ins and outs of the financial landscape of British Columbia, which both helps and hinders the story.

Monday, July 30, 2018 The extensive focus on Bach’s start-up company gives the reader a full view of the character’s strengths and weaknesses, revealing how she handles stress, unforeseen challenges, and intense competition.

She struggles with repairing the kinks in her product while her business partner pressures her and threatens to sell the company. Through it all, she remains determined and trudges forward.

Although the focus on Bach’s new business shows readers she is a strong and independent protagonist, it also delays the far more engaging reveal of her possibly being replaced by a doppelgänger.

The suspense created by the threat of danger is what made the novel compelling, but the story repeatedly returned to the difficulties of establishing a business.

This resulted in pages of underwhelming content stuffed between a few exciting paragraphs.

Taylor’s decision to name his novel The Rule of Stephens offers an escape route from his own attempt at science fiction writing. If, according to the rule, everything can be explained using the work of either Hawking or King, then Taylor’s novel can be left undefinable. Either his protagonist is hallucinating a doppelgänger, or she really has one.

In either scenario, the plot of the novel is not reliant on the doppelgänger being real or fake to move forward. The protagonist’s business endeavors are the main focus, which is a disappointing discovery after high expectations of a sci-fi thriller.

If you’re looking for a fun science-fiction read, look elsewhere. But if you’re interested in the complexities of health care technology in British Columbia, The Rule of Stephens is for you.

As Lightfoot sang, “Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings, in the rooms of her ice-water mansion,” fans not only relished in Lightfoot’s soft voice, but also couldn’t help feel a sense of pride in their country as they listened to a Canadian musical legend, at a nationally-renowned venue, on Canada Day. Before the accolades, Lightfoot emerged as part of the folk-music revival, when it transcended music and popular culture. dominated the popular music scene in the I appreciated them as literary works.

1960s. It was through the lyrics of Canadian Through his lyrics, Lightfoot explores and musicians like Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young challenges Canada’s national identity—it’s and Joni Mitchell that Canada’s awe-inspiring this lyricism that earned him one of Canada’s landscapes, bustling cities, and quaint rural highest musical honours: the 1997 Governor towns became known around the world.

General’s Performing Arts Award.

Lightfoot and his contemporaries even With the band only covering about inspired the wave of Canadian rock music Jonah Prousky half of the Hall’s massive stage—and that subsumed the folk movement. Major Contributor his grandchildren seated in the front rock artists like the Tragically Hip and The Gordon Lightfoot took the stage at Massey row—it felt as if Lightfoot was playing to Rheostatics still wrote patriotically about Hall for the 40th year in a row this Canada friends at his home as he played classics Canada, and captured the attention of Day, an honour fit for an artist who has such as “The Wreck of the Edmund the nation.

For me, the importance of folk music is its been writing songs about this country Fitzgerald,” and “If You Could Read My ability to impact social movements for the last 60 years. such as the American Civil I had the privilege to Rights movement. be there.

In the words of musician John With the hall Lyndon, the folk musician’s ability scheduled to close for a to push a social or political agenda two-year maintenance made the genre “the genuine roots project, this might be of culture.” the 79-year-old singer’s Even as a lifelong folk fan, I'm last performance hard-pressed to explain the at his favourite captivating appeal of this hometown venue. music—as folk musician Phil Ochs A sea of red and once said, a good folk song with a white clad fans greeted strong message can have a deeper Lightfood, all of them impact and reach more people than shouting, “We love a thousand rallies. you Gord!” throughout Lightfoot's “Canadian Railroad the show.

Trilogy” is one of those songs. Its For me, he’s Canada’s genius is that it layers enormously greatest songwriter. As complicated social issues, like the I sat in the crowd at exploitation of foreign workers Massey Hall, and listened to Lightfoot sing patriotic Gordon Lightfoot performs at Massey Hall on July 1. PHOTO BY JONAH PROUSKY and Indigenous peoples atop an incredibly straightforward tunes, I could sense the magnitude of his contribution to Mind”—reminding the audience of the chord progression. The tune is somehow impossibly complicated yet beautifully Canadian culture. depth of his repertoire.

I started listening to Lightfoot because “The Wreck of the Edmund simple.

Perhaps the once loud voice of the folk Bob Dylan cited him as one of his Fitzgerald”—which Lightfoot sang alone mentors. When I first heard songs like and unabridged—tells the story of the ship, musician, which has historically brought “Steel Rail Blues” and “Sundown” I could The SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank in unity in times of political turbulence, is again in need of reviving. immediately see why—it felt as if these songs Lake Superior in 1975.

COMMENTARY

Lightfoot steps on stage at Massey Hall one last time Folk icon celebrates Canada with patriotic tunes

Monday, July 30, 2018

queensjournal.ca

RECRUITS

• 13

Sports

Kozak twins go varsity Quade and Kianna Kozak choose football, women’s rugby for coming fall season Maggie Gowland Assistant Sports Editor While they didn’t plan to share a university, twins Quade and Kianna Kozak couldn’t resist the idea of becoming Queen’s Gaels.

Earlier this summer, Quade and Kianna committed to Queen’s as members of the football and women’s rugby teams, respectively.

Kianna committed to women’s rugby as a scrum half after only three years playing the sport, while Quade, five minutes her senior, is set to don tricolor for the football team as a quarterback.

The brother and sister duo, hailing from Sturgeon County, Alberta, said they picked Queen’s because it offered them something they needed and longed for: respected athletic program and a welcoming culture.

“When I came for my visit, I really felt at home at Queen’s,” Quade, who echoed similar sentiments to his sister, told The Journal. He added it was the football team’s coaching staff that initially piqued his interest, but the school itself clinched his enrollment.

“Touring around the campus, I loved [it]. And I really loved the culture around the school.”

The Kozaks, both planning to pursue a degree in economics, have always done a little bit of everything together. Despite playing in different leagues, they‘ve always found a way to compete

against each other.

“Whenever we train together, it’s very competitive … For rugby, when she trains with me, it’s good for her because I can pick on her,” Quade said jokingly.

Before getting into football and rugby, the twins spent six years as national rodeo competitors with their town’s local 4-H Alberta club, a program offering agriculture-based opportunities for kids in rural communities.

Having grown up around horses, the twins built their way up from riding and showing horses to competing in rodeos through a family friend. Participation in rodeos was their first introduction to competition, and it showed them how hard work equates to success, Kianna said.

“We really started from the bottom,” Kianna said. “Our horses weren’t used to it, and introducing cattle, we worked our way up the totem pole.”

When they began to toy with the idea of a future in athletics and not rodeo, their family and friends encouraged them to take up organized sport.

Kianna, who had already been playing basketball in school, made the junior team in her first year of high school, which led to her first step away from rodeo. But after developing a hard-nosed reputation in tenth grade, her basketball coach suggested she try rugby.

“I went to rugby tryouts

and fell in love,” she said.

“And the rest is history.”

Kianna is currently training with a women’s league in Alberta before coming to Queen’s. Some of her teammates play for the University of Alberta and team Canada, which she noted helps in her development of becoming a collegiate varsity athlete.

“I’m hoping that playing and practicing with these girls will help the transition, but I still know it will be tough,” Kianna said.

Meanwhile, Quade was introduced to his choice of athletic trade by his lacrosse coach, who also doubled as a football coach.

Their father, Kelvin, said that

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY QUADE KOZAK

The Kozak Twins signing with Queen’s.

Quade hadn’t even thought about football when it all began.

“We got a call one night that said, ‘We need a football player.’

So he went out and played, and the rest is history,” Kelvin said.

Optimistic for the upcoming season at Queen’s, Quade is preparing to make the jump from secondary to collegiate play, where the intricacies and details of the game

are emphasized.

“For me, its going to be very tough going from a playing level where plays aren’t in-depth and you don’t think about much when you’re playing to a level where you’re watching film every day and need to know what’s going on,” he said.

“I’m mostly thankful for the opportunity to play with [Queen’s].”

ATHLETICS

Richardson stadium to host 2019 U18 Football Canada Cup Tournament will bring 480 players from across Canada Richardson Stadium.

Matt Scace Sports Editor The recently revitalized Richardson Stadium will play host to next year’s U18 Football Canada Cup (FCC), Queen’s Athletics announced this past Friday.

The annual event— which featured eight of Canada’s provinces and

territories in this year’s championship—will take place from July 8 to 14 next summer.

When Canada’s strongest young football players descend on Kingston, it will be the first time in seven years that Ontario will be the host of the competition. While all eyes will be on the under-18s over the week, Kingston will also be hosting the U16 Eastern Challenge,

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

which brings out four teams from Quebec, New Brunswick, Ontario and Saskatchewan.

Overall, the tournament will have 480 players and 84 provincial coaches participating.

To manage the masses of atletes and coaches, Queen’s has offered up accommodations and dining.

With the tournament having grown significantly in the past two decades, the FCC has served

as Canada’s premier opportunity for young football players to showcase their talents on the national stage. Since establishing their longstanding presence in youth football, the FCC has aimed created a platform for aspiring athletes to showcase their talents nationally.

The news was given in a press release on the Queen’s Athletics webstie on July 27.

“We are extremely excited to be hosting such an elite event at the newly revitalized Richardson Stadium. It is a great opportunity to showcase Queen’s University Athletics facilities on a national stage,” said Jeff Downie, Director of Business Development and Operations of Queen’s Athletics.

Sports

14 •queensjournal.ca

Monday, July 30, 2018

MEN’S HOCKEY

Brett Gibson named to men’s U17 Canadian coaching staff Men’s hockey coach to join team for World Hockey Challenge Matt Scace Sports Editor Many aspects of men’s hockey head coach Brett Gibson’s life revolve around growth.

That’s why when Hockey Canada came to Gibson for the third time in two years asking him to coach at the World under-17 Hockey Challenge, he welcomed the opportunity with open arms.

“It’s humbling, really, to coach the national team … [W]hen you get that call that they want you to be a head coach, it’s an unbelievable experience to develop as a coach and person,” Gibson, who’s heading into year 13 coaching the Gaels,

told The Journal.

Gibson will lead some of the country’s brightest young talent from Nov. 3-10, serving as the head coach for Team Canada White—one of two Canadian teams featured in the competition.

The tournament will be held in Saint John and Quipamsis, New Brunswick.

This will be his third gig with Hockey Canada, having served as an assistant coach in the 2017 under-17 Challenge and as Team Canada’s head coach in the 2017 Winter Universiade Championships.

For Gibson, the chance to be a part of the Challenge in a head coaching role is an opportunity to develop his craft. With Queen’s as his main focus, he considers his national positions as a means to improve his Gaels’ program.

“I get to represent the country, but I get to come back to Queen’s as a better coach,” Gibson said.

PHOTO BY IAN MACALPINE

Gibson coaching the Gaels.

Sharing a bench alongside other world-class coaches, Gibson added his development isn’t solely based on tactics.

Similar to players, coaches go through a summer development camp that trains their ability to manage high-stress situations and maximize a player’s utility on the ice.

“They teach you as coaches breathing techniques on how to calm yourself down on the bench to systems and structure and then player’s skill development,” Gibson

said. “That’s the biggest thing I’ve taken away from that—the number one priority of any coach is skill development.”

“It used to be a weakness and now I think it’s a strength of mine.”

With the tournament taking place in early November, Gibson has faced the challenge of managing the Gaels through the thick of their regular season.

The team’s season starts on Oct. 5 against McGill.

During the 2017-18 campaign, Gibson—returning from his head coaching duties at last year’s under-17 Challenge—found himself missing four consecutive games the Gaels lost. With a greater understanding of the impact his absence has on the team, Gibson is determined to provide Queen’s with a structured plan to cope while he’s away.

“There are practice plans and

we’ll go through everything in a game management plan with our coaching staff,” Gibson said.

“The more prepared they can be leading up to it, the more comfortable they’re going to be.”

Gibson noted he remains just as faithful to his team as he was last year, when they broke their record for most regular season wins.

“I trust my coaching staff but more importantly, I trust my players. I’m dealing with men and it’s a process,” Gibson said.

“If we do the right things all the time, we’ll be rewarded with results.”

Ultimately, the chance to coach for Canada presents far more benefits than not. The opportunity for growth it offers is as at its heart.

“I think that’s what we all need to do as coaches,” he said.

“We can’t stand still.”

MEN’S RUGBY

Queen’s alumnus captains Canada Rumball playing for Team Canada.

Maggie Gowland Assistant Sports Editor From Queen’s to the national stage, former Gaels men’s rugby player Lucas Rumball has taken his game to a new level since graduating in 2017.

In June, Rumball was named captain of the Canadian men’s rugby team for the side’s second of three Summer Series fixtures against Russia. It marked the first time the Gaels alumnus received captaincy honours over his more than 20-cap national career.

Rumball’s four years at Queen’s were met with plenty of ups and few downs. The flanker, who came to the school in 2013, kicked off his Gaels career winning three consecutive OUA championships before Rugby Canada

came knocking.

Captaining the Gaels to a Turner Trophy and winning OUA MVP honours in the 2015-16 season, Rumball was selected to join the national team as part of their junior development program. He made his debut for Canada’s senior team a year later, in February of 2016.

Though he grew comfortable playing in an international capacity through his three years with Canada’s rugby program, Rumball credited his time leading the Gaels for his smooth transition.

“The program at Queen’s is really professional,” Rumball told The Journal during a phone interview. “The national team is the national team—[a] little bit of a step up—but there were a lot of similarities between the two programs. Lots of film work, lots of study, lots

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

of recap, lots of focus on detail.”

The biggest difference at the international level, he added, is the competition—not the training.

“The pace of the game and the details, the small things, are a lot different. You need to be on 24/7. You can’t take a play off at all or you’ll be exposed for it.”

Despite their best efforts, Rumball and his team Canada teammates fell short in all three of their Summer Series matches.

The senior national squad lost considerably to Russia, Scotland and the United States, scoring a total of just 47 points in three games to their opponent’s 133.

“It was obviously not what we wanted. We finished on a decent note, but we still let some stuff slip in crucial moments,” Rumball said.

“We had very big individual errors, poor moments in the game.”

Lucas Rumball named national captain for series against Russia “Obviously, it’s disappointing.

[Y]ou want to win every game and do your best when you’re out there, but sometimes it just doesn’t come off.”

Players on the national team are currently home in their respective provinces to prepare for the upcoming Canadian Rugby Championships, set for early August.

Rumball, who will represent his native province of Ontario at the Championships, said playing rugby professionally remains something he hopes to do.

“Nothing has come up with that so far,” he said , adding with the responsibilities of playing for Canada, finding a pro contract hasn’t come easy.

“It’s a busy time for Rugby Canada, we have a lot of qualifying games and stuff to do, so it’s tough to get a contract.”

With the recent birth of Major League Rugby (MLR)—a professional American rugby league founded in March this year—Rumball sees a potential future in the sport long term. MLR featured seven teams in its first season, and four teams will join the league for the coming season.

One of them, the Ontario Arrows, is based out of Toronto—Rumball’s hometown, no less.

“A team in Toronto would be a good avenue for me,” he said.

“That’s where I think I’ll start.”

Sports

Monday, July 30, 2018

queensjournal.ca

• 15

CROSS COUNTRY

Brant Stachel gains national recognition for work in Kingston Gaels cross country assistant coach dedicated to future with Queen’s, local runners Matt Scace Sports Editor Most of Brant Stachel’s young coaching career has been spent in the shadows. The cross country team’s assistant coach has often found the time for others—but now, he’s finding it for himself.

This year, Stachel has been adding to his already budding resume. The 28-year-old, while coaching a handful of Queen’s and local Kingston athletes, was named head coach to Team Canada at Maggie Gowland Assistant Sports Editor

While it felt like any other race, it definitely wasn’t for the three Queen’s rowers who showcased a summer of hard work on the international stage this past weekend.

Alex Bernst, Louise Munro, and Gavin Stone represented Queen’s while competing for Team Canada at the under-23 World Rowing Championships. The tournament was held in Poznan, Poland, from July 25 to 29.

Bersnt, racing in the under-23 Men’s Lightweight Double, won the C final with teammate Vlad Tminskyi, placing 13th at the event. The duo narrowly missed qualifying for the A/B final, but were overall satisfied with their races.

The biggest difference at the international level was the competitors, Bernst told The Journal in a phone interview from Poland. “A lot of the time, it’s a person you’ve read about or seen race before, and then you get to line up beside them, and it’s like, ‘Woah.’”

Munro, racing in the under-23 Women’s Quadruple Sculls, placed fifth at the competition. Though she’s accustomed to racing as a single or double, Munro gained experience in a larger boat as part of the quad. She said racing alongside three other rowers is a new dynamic.

“You can’t race the race alone,” Munro said. “You make sure that you’re doing it together, so that was pretty cool.”

Munro, who is heading into her third year with the Gaels’ rowing program, added the experience abroad will send her and her teammates back to Queen’s with a new level of perspective.

“The motivation will be extended to the team,” she said.

“For anyone pursuing [the national

the 2018 International University Sport Federation (FISU) Cross Country Championships. In June, he was also named head coach to Team Ontario East’s track and field team for the upcoming Ontario Summer Games.

A St. Lawrence College graduate, Stachel has been with the Gaels as an assistant coach since 2012. He first started in coaching after returning home from two years at Humber College, when he asked Queen’s cross country Head Coach Steve Boyd if he could assist on a volunteer basis with the team.

“I still wanted to stay in running and thought I’d try coaching and see if [Boyd] could use another set of hands,” Stachel said in an interview with The Journal.

“It kind of worked and evolved from there.”

Since then, his role has

Stachel joined the cross country team as a volunteer assistant coach in 2012.

developed and turned him into one of the country’s top cross country and track and field coaches. Quickly finding his stride as a coach after four years of competing at the collegiate level, Stachel worked tirelessly alongside Boyd to close gaps that could help Queen’s improve the program.

“Each year it kind of snowballed,” he said, reflecting on the team’s previous culture of partying during the season, which they have since erased with a

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY ALEX BERNST

Munro, Stone and Bernst in Poland.

no-drinking policy. “We’d fix one gap and then look at others.”

Now, with a strong team culture and continued success on both the men’s and women’s teams, Stachel and Boyd are looking at the larger gaps they wish to close in the next two years.

“Now we’re looking at bigger issues this year like sustainability and just asking, ‘How do we get our athletes to the next level?’” he said, adding the lack of a full-time coach within the program has limited its consistency.

Cross country is the last varsity team at Queen’s to not have a full-time coach.

Alongside his major contributions to the University, Stachel has become a massive proponent for Kingston’s youth running scene.

In addition to working closely with the Gaels, he heads Kingston’s Junior Running Program alongside a cross country development group that serves students who can’t meet varsity standards but wish to train in a high-performance environment.

In the past year, a number of his athletes have made national teams and travelled across the world to compete.

With such a breadth of talent coming from under his wing, Stachel’s philosophy on running has evolved and created an immensely inclusive

PHOTO BY MATT SCACE

environment—something he takes distinct meaning from.

“I really see running as an ability for anybody,” Stachel said.

“It doesn’t matter what level you are; [my goal is] to work on positive characteristics that are going to help them [develop] on the human side.”

With this mindset, Stachel’s been working to bring runners together as a collective whole, rather than a sum of parts. In the next few years, he hopes to work with elementary and high schools to provide a direct running stream for local youth.

In addition, he wants to see his development group grow to over 100 runners across the Kingston community. “[My goal is] creating opportunities for athletes who want to be better, [and] giving them an opportunity to do that.”

While Stachel’s built himself an array of exciting coaching opportunities, his intentions for the future are unwaveringly dedicated to bolstering Queen’s and Kingston’s running scenes.

“I think if we can build all these groups together we can see national champions training in the same environment as someone trying to break 20 minutes for 5K,” Stachel said.

“We can create a really cool running center for Kingston if we achieve those goals over the next five years.”

ROWING

Rowers compete at under-23 worlds

Three Gaels race for Canada in Poland team] in the next couple of years, we can work together on that, and it will be really useful for people with similar goals.”

Stone, who raced in the under-23 Men’s 8, the blue-ribbon event, performed similarly to Munro, finishing fifth in the race. Unfortunately, one of his teammates fell ill during their time in Poland and had to be replaced with a rower from the Men’s Quadruple Sculls.

“It wasn’t optimal, [but] he did a great job and we did a really good job overcoming [it] and working together,” Stone said.

All three Gaels competing at the event, while admitting

they they didn’t race to the best of their abilities, felt honoured to attend the regatta, and hope to compete at the under-23 World Championships again in 2019.

“Just the environment and to race the fastest people is exciting because that’s what you’re building towards, and you get to see it at the next level,” Stone said.

“It’s really exciting, and fun. Like, really - best in the world fast.”

After taking some well-deserved time off after their season at Queen’s, the rowers return to Kingston for training camp on Aug. 26.

INFORMATION FOR ALL STUDENTS IMPACTED

BY SEXUAL VIOLENCE GET HELP, GIVE HELP queensu.ca/sexualviolencesupport Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Coordinator, Barb Lotan bjl7@queensu.ca

16 •queensjournal.ca

Monday, July 30, 2018

Lifestyle Josh Granovsky Lifestyle Editor If you’ve heard anything about this year’s Emmy Award nominations, it’s probably been centered around the idea of progress.

Voted upon collectively by the Television Academy, some have publicly commended the awards for their unusually diverse set of nominations. The fanfare isn’t unwarranted.

Sandra Oh made history by becoming the first Asian-American nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama in the award ceremony’s 70-year history.

Three new shows broke their way into the Outstanding Comedy race—rest in peace, eight years of consecutive Modern Family nominations. Even better, five of the eight nominated comedy series were created or co-created by women and people of colour.

These achievements are undoubtedly reasons for celebration, as recognizing a diverse group of talent on a massive platform increases minority visibility and opens doors for other underrepresented hopefuls in the entertainment industry.

The well-received comedy nominations—which also

CULTURAL COMMENTARY

Emmy Award nominations not as progressive as they seem TV awards stalling despite new diversity milestones recognized first-time people of colour nominees Issa Rae, Zazie Beetz, and Tiffany Haddish—understandably seems like a breath of fresh air for the Emmys. But across the road, at the drama nominations’s camp, you’re likely to find the same stale air the awards have been inhaling since the ’80s.

Every show nominated for Outstanding Drama Series was created by a white person, specifically—with the exception of Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy—white men. The eight dramas up for the award have also already been nominated by the Academy within the last two years.

But drama isn’t the only category stuck in its old ways.

The Academy nominated the

Antoine Griezmann, Luka Modric and Domagoj Vida at the 2018 World Cup.

Sam Grobman Contributor From June to July, students across the globe escaped the realities of their summer jobs and classes to passionately support their favourite national teams at the 2018 FIFA world cup.

With massive upsets, goals that took our breaths away, and more penalty kick shootouts than we could handle, this past World Cup will surely be remembered as one of the best in the tournament’s celebrated history.

If you didn’t catch the whole thing, don’t stress it. The Journal recapped some of the most notable and unforgettable storylines at this year’s World Cup. France triumphs on the grandest of stages

One by one, the world’s greatest soccer powers—Germany, Spain, and Brazil—were knocked out until the pool of eligible world cup winners was narrowed down to France and Croatia, who proved to be two of the most exciting teams

in the tournament.

Led by star striker Antoine Griezmann and lightning-fast 19-year-old Kylian Mbappe, Les Bleus came into the finals in dominant fashion, conceding just one loss throughout the tournament.

Surprise finalist Croatia—led by eventual Golden Ball winner Luka Modric and dynamic striker Mario Mandzukic—were fresh off three come-from-behind victories in the knockout stages, two coming by way of penalty kicks.

Although Croatia managed to tie the score 1-1 in the 28th minute, they were ultimately unable to work their comeback magic for a fourth straight match.

The perfectly executed French counterattack resulted in their winning 4-2.

If their play in the tournament was any indication, France was as worthy a world cup winner as any.

They recorded four clean sheets in seven total games and had the highest shot-conversion rate of all participating teams.

France’s win over Croatia marked their second world cup

same seven shows for Outstanding Reality Competition Program as they did last year. Outstanding Variety Talk Series recognized all but one of last years’ nominated shows, with 66 per cent of them created by white men. All eight of the Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series nominees are white; six are repeat nominees and seven are men.

The repetition and lack of diversity plaguing these categories doesn’t mean the nominees are undeserving. It does, however, signal a long-standing issue of voters shutting out equally deserving, new, or diverse nominees in favour of what they already know.

Killing Eve, the Sandra Oh-starring BBC America drama,

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOSH GRANOVSKY

victory. With a young core of Mbappe, Paul Pogba and Samuel Umtiti, France fans may not need to wait much longer to see a repeat performance.

Croatia’s Domagoj Vida sparks political outrage

The Croatian national team’s improbable run to the finals was nearly soured by a controversy surrounding defender Domagoj Vida. After Croatia’s quarter final victory over host country Russia, video emerged of Vida shouting, “Glory to Ukraine” and, “Belgrade burns” alongside his team’s coach, Ognjen Vukojevic.

Upon release, the video sparked outrage amongst Russian supporters, demanding accountability and penalties for what many viewed as political provocation.

FIFA handed Vida a formal warning and Vukojevic was fired by the Croatian team to avoid further conflict. This was the second politically-charged penalty imposed during the tournament, after three Swiss players were

was the most consistently shocking and darkly comedic show on air this year. An Outstanding Drama Series nomination would’ve also recognized its female powerhouse creator, Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Jane the Virgin—which is also created by a woman, follows a Latinx family, and topped many TV critics’ ‘Best Of’ lists—was also unjustly snubbed from the ceremony.

This year’s Emmy nominations took a step in the right direction in that they’re diversifying their nominees more than they ever

ILLUSTRATIONS BY AMELIA RANKINE

have. We can’t, however, let that one step distract us from how outdated the awards remain, particularly in their repeated recognition of older shows created by white people.

Seeing diverse creators awarded for sharing their underrepresented perspective would have a much larger impact on future generations of the entertainment industry than Game of Thrones winning Best Drama for the third time.

RECAP

Remembering the best stories of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Recapping a memorable and momentous month in Russia fined for making hand gestures reminiscent of the Albanian flag during a group stage match against Serbia.

VAR makes its international debut

Coming off the heels of goal line technology at the 2014 World Cup, this year’s event introduced the Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR) to aid in a referee’s often difficult decision-making.

Using this year’s World Cup as testing grounds, VAR reviews a head referee’s decisions through video footage and headset communication. It was used in numerous controversial in-game situations to accurately catch and call handballs, penalty kicks, and dives.

According to FIFA, 99 per cent of the 335 VAR-reviewed incidents in the world cup’s group stages were successful. The current correct call rate for referees hovers at 95 per cent.

Although rendering near perfect calls, critics of VAR claimed it led to lengthy stoppages in games

and placed heaps of pressure on referees to go back on their word and overturn calls.

United bid wins 2026 World Cup

The World Cup is coming to Canada.

A collective bid between Canada, the United States and Mexico edged out Morocco at the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow to host the 2026 World Cup. It marks the first time the tournament will be hosted on Canadian soil.

Although entered as a combined bid, the US will host a majority of the matches (60), while Canada and Mexico have been allotted 10 games each. Toronto, Edmonton, and Montreal will host domestic matches.

Canada has not made an appearance at the World Cup since 1986 but, as hosts, will earn an automatic place in the tournament.

Only eight years away, Canada will hope to develop a skilled and competitive team that can proudly represent the nation at home.

Lifestyle

Monday, July 30, 2018

queensjournal.ca

• 17

CULTURAL COMMENTARY

Is 13 Reasons Why’s triggering content acceptable artistic expression?

Examining if the contentious Netflix series is exempt from moral considerations Brittany Giliforte Assistant Arts Editor This article mentions suicide and sexual violence and may be triggering for some readers.

Netflix’s hit series 13 Reasons Why has been making waves with its controversial depiction of teen suicide since its premiere in 2017.

After continuing to deliver increasingly divisive plotlines in its recently released second season, the show has proven to be a unique case study in artistic expression without moral considerations.

13 Reasons Why follows the aftermath of protagonist Hannah Baker’s suicide and the 13 students she names as reasons for ending her life. Hannah records 13 tapes

prior to her death to document her high school experience, focusing on the bullying, abuse and deception she endured.

While the show claims to shed light on the toxic effects of bullying and mental illness, it’s been accused of doing so irresponsibly and recklessly at times.

Despite being well-received for its acting, the continued presence of Hannah in 13RW’s second season, released in mid-May,

foundational part of the show—without weight of their own assault alone.” has exposed the series to criticism.

Through bringing these sensitive subjects Having Hannah remain a part of the show, it, there wouldn’t be a plot. Everything despite committing suicide at the end of the said or done on behalf of its characters to the forefront mainstream entertainment, first season, has many viewers and mental revolves around her death. Even if the act art can resist the moral standards enforced health professionals fearing our conception of her committing suicide wasn’t portrayed on society in the name of artistic expression on-screen, the notion of it lingers in and free speech. of teen suicide has been romanticized.

Students watching 13RW can learn 13RW isn’t bringing awareness to viewers’ minds.

For Gauthier, showing the hardships from the characters’ missteps to become the effects of mental illness—it’s grossly misrepresenting what it actually feels like to characters endure could act as catalysts for more sympathetic and aware of the way they treat their peers. Ultimately, the progressive and healthier change in society. be suicidal.

“One of the many functions of popular nature of the show is to shock people into Suicide in art isn’t anything rare or new. Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s play culture is to enlighten and empower conversation—not to shelter viewers from depicting two star-crossed lovers, is still individuals by providing role models for difficult realities. beloved despite romanticizing both its behaviour,” Gauthier said. “In a nutshell, main characters’ suicide. The play revolves these role models inspire us to change our around two people hopelessly in love and own behaviour and put a human face on neglects any of the mental health issues they social change, so that developments might may experience, yet it is still regularly taught be more readily accepted.”

13RW uses its “role models” to push the in high schools across Canada.

This begs the question of whether we boundaries of what is considered socially can appreciate and revere a work of art for acceptable, as evidenced by its blunt its creative merits without considering its depiction of suicide and sexual assault.

This plays into the importance of noticing moral implications.

In the second season of 13RW, its warning signs, reaching out to friends and characters’ anger, guilt and grief over the family, and making mental health treatment passing of their classmate escalates. Drug accessible without stigma.

The suicide and multiple rape scenes in abuse and gun violence is introduced, and in the season finale a male character is even 13RW, while unsettling to watch, are ways brutally and graphically assaulted in their of exposing the reality of trauma and the effects of bullying and abuse. Putting a face to school’s bathroom.

Philippe Gauthier, an adjunct assistant mental health or social struggles can inspire PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOSH GRANOVSKY professor in Queen’s Film and Media people to both seek help and acknowledge At some point, individuals are required department, told The Journal that television they aren’t dealing with an issue alone.

Gauthier said Jessica Jones’ portrayal of to determine for themselves what they will and other art forms can often spark constructive discussion in a way that daily its main character’s assault “reminds us that or won’t watch. It can’t be left to the not putting a name to the assault or a face to artists to decide what’s appropriate for life can’t.

Citing the Netflix series Jessica it keeps it in the dark, and people who have each person.

Jones—which depicts former superhero been sexually assaulted have to carry the Jessica Jones grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder after being raped—Gauthier said scenes which expose the reality of PHOTO ESSAY mental illnesses and abuse are imperative in our fight to address them.

“Most shows need to show rape to address it,” Gauthier said of Jessica Jones via email. “Even if the camera looks away or opts to hold another character’s gaze, there Iain Sherriff-Scott months bring out a different—and much needs to be one moment where it’s clear the News Editor quieter—side of the city many of us act has taken place.” call home.

Hannah’s suicide in 13RW is a During the school year, Kingston will The Journal captured some photos to give become packed with students rushing a glimpse into what summer looks like in between classes and extracurriculars. Kingston—before the city is covered in NAM Tip #1 However, the mostly student-free summer leaves and beer cans.

Summer in Kingston

To oil thigh, or not to oil thigh; deliberating to whom a behaviour obligation is owed.

Amended Queen’s University Student Code of Conduct, 2018 To Þle a complaint, view the Code of Conduct, or for more information, visit: www.myAMS.org/NAM. For Non-Adversarial, Peer-toPeer, Non-Academic Misconduct consultation, contact: Judicial Affairs Manager Alma Mater Society | QueenÕs University | Room 038, JDUC | judicial@ams.queensu.ca | (613) 533-6000 ext. 77944

PHOTOS BY IAIN SHERRIFF-SCOTT

To see more photos from this series, go to queensjournal.ca/lifestyle

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Lifestyle

Monday, July 30, 2018

queensjournal.ca

Brigid Goulem Arts Editor As Canada’s southern neighbors question their democracy, and rights seem to be little more than suggestions, Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale is here to remind us that the worst is yet to come.

The eerily-relevant dystopian drama, which recently wrapped up its second season, should serve as a wake-up call for anyone who values their freedom. But for women, especially those of us seemingly protected by the privilege of wealth and whiteness, The Handmaid’s Tale is a warning.

The Emmy-winning, small-screen adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s classic novel, The Handmaid’s Tale tells the story of June, a “Handmaid” in the dystopic land of Gilead—formerly known as the United States of America. In the wake of a fertility crisis, far-right religious leaders stage a coup and the country’s democracy is overthrown.

The solution to the fertility crisis is Handmaids: women who have birthed children but are deemed morally unfit to be mothers.

June—the protagonist—was an adulteress, while her friends, Moira and Emily, are members of the LGBTQ community.

In the eyes of Gilead, they’re all sinners.

These women—who don’t meet the tale’s arbitrary standards of morality—have their children taken from them as punishment.

As Handmaids, they are forcibly raped each month in the hopes they’ll get pregnant and provide a child for what’s considered a morally sound family.

As these women go through their pregnancies, they additionally must grapple with the idea of giving up their babies.

To say the least—it’s dark. The rights of minorities are slowly

SCREENSHOT FROM NETFLIX

The Handmaids and wives during a ceremony.

TV

The Handmaid’s Tale’s second season is a warning for white women Gilead’s dystopian society is not as far off as it should be stripped away, families are torn apart, and fertile women who are believed to be immoral forced to be sex-slaves and bear children for wealthy men.

For those who care about where the world is heading, The Handmaid’s Tale’s depiction of what our world could turn into if we stop paying attention to our basic human rights, makes it a must-see series. But I think the show also has an important message for white women, who can be blinded by ignorance and privilege.

As a group, I think white women take our rights for granted, and fail to recognize that we also suffer as the rights of others are stripped.

In the 2016 election, 61 per

MUSIC REVIEW

Drake’s Scorpion boasts something for everyone

cent of white women without a degree voted for Donald Trump.

They voted because of economic uncertainty, trust in Trump’s ‘good business skills,’ and a dissatisfaction with the current political climate, among other reasons. But they didn’t vote to support reproductive rights, immigration rights, LGBTQ rights, or civil rights—because those were not part of Trump’s platform.

For many women, these rights—especially reproductive rights—are in the periphery of everyday life. They don’t affect us until we need them. Women protected by the privilege of wealth, whiteness, and heterosexuality don’t experience the degradation of these rights in their daily life.

But The Handmaid’s Tale reminds us that we are more affected by these changes than we think, and history has shown that

for all women reproductive rights are often a life or death issue.

The protagonist of the show, June, is a white, middle-class, straight woman. Before her world flipped upside down, she had a good job and was politically aware. However, in flashbacks during the second season, we see June exhausted by her mother’s ceaseless protesting. She’s excited she got a new job as an assistant editor, but her mother thinks she should be doing more as the world falls apart around them.

These flashbacks reveal to us that June—played brilliantly by Elizabeth Moss—is comfortable in her seemingly progressive ignorance.

Many of Gilead’s extremes and theatrics do seem far-off. The costumes are outdated and the biblical scripture is exhausting.

Yet the changes that lead to Gilead are changes that are debated

• 19

today—both in the United States and Canada.

In one flashback during the second season’s premiere, June realizes she needs her husband to sign a form so she can get her birth control.

He asks her if she’s “serious” and they both scoff at the ridiculousness of the situation. The idea that June, an educated and independent woman, is somehow inferior to her husband is amusing to them. But signing a form isn’t a huge hassle, so they comply.

Another character, Emily, has a flashback where she finds out she’s been relieved of her teaching privileges. When asked why she was let go, her superior—a gay man—says it’s because she’s a lesbian. “I thought you guys had it easy,” he tells her.

These flashbacks speak to different issues our society is currently facing.

Across the US, abortion clinics are being de-funded in a coordinated campaign to diminish a woman’s right to choose, and with the appointment of a new Supreme Court Justice, Roe v.

Wade, the law that legalizes a woman’s right to choose may be overturned.

In Canada, the new Ontario premier, Doug Ford, has said he wouldn’t stop anti-abortion legislation from being debated in the legislature and has suggested teenage girls should need parental permission to access abortions.

However, similar to the show, many of these changes are not as apparent in Canada. Toronto is the safe-haven for refugees of Gilead and Canadians are appalled at what women are suffering through.

But as our American neighbours have their rights challenged and families torn apart at the border, The Handmaid’s Tale begins to feels more like an incredibly well-shot documentary series than a post-apocalyptic drama.

New album is a perfect mix of R&B and rap Samira Levesque Contributor Spiteful and romantic messages.

Sweet and salty lyrics. Hard and soft beats. That’s the all-encompassing description of Drake’s newest album, Scorpion.

Released on June 29, and divided into an ‘A side’ and a ‘B side,’ Drake’s double album consists of 25 tracks which cater to both the hyped-up, ‘Let’s get lit at this pre’ mood, and the equally important, ‘I’m lying in bed with my phone being sad and catching feels’ vibe. Though different in genres, both sides of the album are similar by defining the emotional duality of millennials.

While you may identify more with the rap-heavy ‘A side’ or the R&B ‘B side,’ your runner-up side isn’t one you necessarily dislike.

As a successful artist with wide-ranging stylistic appeal, Drake’s earning his title as

someone who will be remembered and revered among the musical greats.

Yes, you may prefer listening to “I’m Upset” rather than “Don’t Matter to Me,” but if the latter appears on shuffle, you likely won’t skip it.

Drake appealing to different music tastes is simply one aspect of Scorpion’s early and considerable success. He not only had his album streamed over one billion times in just a week—becoming the first ever artist to do so—he also had four of his songs from the album debut in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10. That broke a 54-year record set by The Beatles.

To say Drake is a likeable musician would be to put it mildly.

He has a large audience, as his Billboard clout shows. But, charts aside, his multifaceted music is unique enough to be recognized and acknowledged even outside his core millennial fanbase.

A Venn diagram of Drake`s musical styles.

Take my uncle, for example. An avid music fan like me, he spends his nights on Spotify browsing to find the next best tune. For a 60-something-year-old—raised in a generation that listened to Led Zeppelin and The Beatles—to like Scorpion speaks to Drake’s true mastery of making high quality music with widespread appeal.

Based on his listening habits, I doubt my uncle would see the appeal of a hard trap rapper like 21-Savage, nor do I think he’d enjoy a more emotional R&B singer like Frank Ocean.

Perhaps what makes Drake’s Scorpion so credit-worthy is that he caters to both hard and soft rap while still managing to stay atop the industry ranks. His music exists completely separate and independent from any other artist in the industry.

Drake is Drake. He’s noncomparable. His album may have an ‘A side’ and ‘B side,’ each having tangible differences in sound and feel, but both are similar in that they are, put simply, signature Drake.

But what does that mean?

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOSH GRANOVSKY

Perhaps the answer is somewhere between the lines.

The album is inspired by so many others that it’s unique. Therefore, labelling his music is challenging.

Scorpion’s broad musical style means most people can listen to and enjoy his tracks. If Drake continues to successfully cater to people of different ages, backgrounds, and tastes, there’s no reason to think he won’t be remembered as one of the greatest artists ever.

20 •queensjournal.ca

Monday, July 30, 2018

POSTSCRIPT

Learning to process my grief during frosh week Two life-changing events taught me the importance of community

Matt Scace Sports Editor When my mother walked into my room with tears in her eyes as my brother and I watched tennis, I assumed it was about her son’s first year at university.

I knew seeing her first child go to university wasn’t going to be easy for her. I asked if everything was okay. She sat on a wicker laundry hamper and looked at her phone.

“Jeff died yesterday.”

Jeff—or as I called him, Mr. Mann—was my middle school gym teacher. Our friendship was something I never anticipated.

Plenty of kids visit their schools post-graduation, but to incessantly text while watching a Jays’ game was a different kind of student-teacher friendship.

There was a painful pause. My heart sank as my eyes welled up.

“How?” I said, trying to slow my breathing.

She said she didn’t know and “they just found him.”

A million questions swirled through my mind, each one leaving me more confused than the last. How? We’d texted just a few days earlier:“I’d love to see you before you head to the alma mater!” he wrote.

Of course, my mind raced to the unanswerable question: why?

But instead of asking anything else, I just looked at my mom and cried.

Jeff’s motto was “all in, all the time,” which I preached religiously during and after my time as his student. After two years as his student and two more spent assisting him with various teams he coached, I knew he’d be in my

Matt and a friend during Frosh Week.

inner circle for a long time.

He was one of my few confidants. Over our three-hour dinners and car rides home from competitions, he’d walk me through an upcoming first date and I’d give him an ear to yell at after a crushing loss. As much as my friends prodded me for hanging out with an ex-gym teacher, we appreciated one another.

Each time we saw each other we’d end up doubled over with laughter, soon finding ourselves locked in deep conversation minutes later.

It was different, but neither of us cared.

The night I got the news was painfully long. I called my friends, leaning on them to help understand what had happened.

Each time I hung up, a new sense of loss hit me. Spring evenings catching up on the past few months: gone. Trading jabs about sports: never again.

The future plans we’d made disappeared right in front of my eyes. I felt a sudden wave of guilt and regret looking at old texts about our plans to go to a sports game.

Unpacking each memory took months, but that night felt like I was unraveling a lifetime’s worth of memories.

Naturally, the last thing on my mind that night was how I’d move into my Queen’s residence the next day.

When I was supposed to be looking towards the future, I felt as though I spent frosh week looking into the past. Those first six days on campus were sensory overload—the additional gut-punch of leaving home for the first time rendered the frosh events, meet-ups with

high school friends and parties into little more than a blur.

When I was “ supposed to be

looking towards the future, I felt as though I spent frosh week looking into the past.

”

On the Saturday of Frosh Week, I went to Jeff’s funeral. At the end of the service, my best friend and I stood in front of Jeff’s closed coffin, hugged each other, and sobbed into one another’s shoulders. In that moment of sadness, I’d never felt more safe.

Naturally, going back to Kingston was the last thing I wanted to do after such an emotionally draining day.

Nonetheless, I hopped on the evening train and officially settled into residence.

In the days and weeks that followed, the insanity of frosh week took a measured step back and everyday university life showed its face for the first time. I made some new friends and we all began to ask ourselves the same questions each crop of first years ask themselves.

Why are my marks so much worse? Is this the right tin machine to put my dirty clothes in? How can a gym be that massive?

Most notably, the absence of my parents became more apparent.

During those first weeks, I felt like the only one who’d moved away for the first time. I excused my loneliness as a symptom

of grief—as though my homesickness and sense that independence just wasn’t for me was a unique experience for a first-year student.

As the smaller, daily questions were answered, my friends started to talk about how we were feeling as we finally shed our false sense of confidence and allowed ourselves to share our problems with one another. I slowly began to see that yes, my situation was unique, but I was the furthest thing from alone in my struggle to find my feet in Kingston.

Nonetheless, homesickness was a common theme among my friends. Some of them ached after seeing their high school sweethearts move on at Thanksgiving, and others found the higher academic expectations deeply trying.

It was in these moments that I felt less alone—it was as if someone was finally patting me on the shoulder and saying, “We’re in this together.”

The struggles—and the eventual highs as we adjusted to our new environment—brought us closer together and began to make Kingston feel like a second home.

As I slowly continued to digest Jeff’s death—the waves of loss becoming less frequent as time went on—it struck me that my first-year wouldn’t be defined by the hectic rush of its earliest days.

I would most remember every moment afterwards—the ones spent in someone’s room watching a movie, arguing about sports or talking to the don after your fourth noise complaint.

At the start of first year, most people give off a feeling

of contentment where they seem to handle every plight of independence in stride. As I later found out, hardly anyone was as put together as I had predicted.

Once we’d admitted this to each other, we were able to lift each other up—and it’s something I’ll never forget.

Suddenly, by the end of first semester, the same place that had swept the rug from under me was carefully placing it right back under my feet.

My first months at Queen’s showed me what it was like to lose every sense of connection, and build yourself back up from nothing. Despite the homesickness and tragedy I still find myself at a loss for words two years later.

First year provided me with a group of people with whom I shared common ground and, now, whom I consider family.

We all came to Queen’s lost and confused, which is exactly what helped us find our way to each other. Going from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs forced me to recognize what friendship was worth and made me nurture those connections more than I ever have.

First year is never an easy year, but I encourage everyone to stay on the lookout for their new Queen’s family; the people you pass in the stairway on move-in day may be the people that hold your hand in your hardest moments this year.

I desperately wish that night before Frosh Week never happened. But the connections I made and difficulties I shared with a supportive group of similarly scrambling people taught me that no one ever has to feel alone—no matter the size of their struggle.

PHOTO BY TESSA WARBURTON