The Queen's Journal, Volume 146, Issue 10

News

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Friday, October 19, 2018 Raechel Huizinga Assistant News Editor

Sydenham candidates debate before upcoming election.

SCREENSHOT FROM YOUTUBE

Councillor Stroud walks out of all-candidates meeting Sydenham incumbent leaves early, misses hopefuls’ closing discussion Madison Bendall Assistant News Editor

Sydenham Councillor Peter Stroud left the Sydenham District all-candidate’s debate on Sunday after a resident raised issues he felt personally attacked him.

Lindsey Foster, a Sydenham resident, planned to ask about inclusivity in the district, but began by addressing Stroud’s “ability to respond to a constituent that may disagree with him.”

She suggested he had “conflictive tones” and referenced Stroud leaving a council meeting in June 2017 for the Tir Nan Og Pub. Before finishing her question, Stroud left the stage and approached Foster and the microphone. He said her question was a personal attack and then exited.

At the time the debate was running long and Foster’s question was the final one of the evening. However, the three other candidates remained at the debate and discussed inclusivity within the district.

When asked for a comment, Stroud told The Journal, “It’s not really very helpful for voters to dwell on an insignificant incident.”

“I had just asked her preferred candidate, [Chenier], why he was running in a district other than where he lives … It was just [her] trying to make the opponent of her candidate look bad by gutter politics,” he said.

“She didn’t even pose it in the form of a question it was the form of an insult.”

Stroud also addressed the “pub-night” story, calling it “onesided” as reported in the Kingston Whig-Standard and “not really relevant.”

Stroud said the council meeting that night was composed of briefings on the Third Crossing Project. He’d already sat down with the director of engineering that day and discussed the project at length.

“I apologized on television … and I never heard a complaint from a single Sydenham resident in the next two years leading up to this election of that incident.”

In an assembly last night, the AMS held a roundtable of the architects designing the JDUC redevelopment project.

“This year we’re going to be moving towards a second referendum which will engage with students, student leaders, the student body, general groups, and caucuses,” AMS President Miguel Martinez said. “[The AMS] is going to try and reach as many students as we can to engage in the new Student Life Centre.”

The project is a joint venture between architect firms HDR Architecture Associates and MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects (MJMA).

“This year we’re going to be moving towards a second referendum which will engage with students, student leaders, the student body, general groups, and caucuses.”

—Miguel Martinez, AMS President

“This is an opportunity where we as architects get to interact with students who will be working with the project and understand exactly what you want,” Ted Watson, of MJMA, said.

Watson added student engagement and feedback is their primary concern when discussing the future JDUC redevelopment.

“We need to meet with the students, listen to them, learn from them, and take notes of their concerns to see if we can incorporate those elements into the design,” he said.

The presentation then opened up to a question period, followed by a roundtable discussion between student leaders and architects working on the JDUC redevelopment.

Questions asked in the assembly raised concerns in the areas of accessibility, sustainability, convenience, and engagement.

When asked about a more accessible Student Life Centre for students with disabilities, Watson said plans are still in the works.

“We haven’t spoken to any particular groups [who identify] with physical disabilities at this stage just yet, but this just goes without saying [...] that people should feel like [the structure] is theirs as much as everybody else.”

EngSoc President Carson Cooke

AMS President Miguel Martinez addresses assembly.

PHOTO BY TESSA WARBURTON

AMS Assembly hosts roundtable of architect working group Thursday assembly hosts consultation session between students and JDUC architects asked about the project’s sustainability plans surrounding student engagement, moving forward. and announced another consultation, “One of the main concerns we have is which will be held on Oct. 29. in the design of the building to not only “I think we all need to come together as a be sustainable right now, but to be team to bring students at large to the table,” innovative and sustainable 20 years he said. down the road,” Cooke said.

Other motions covered within the In a closing statement to the JDUC assembly addressed the increase in fees consultation, Martinez encouraged to support student groups including students to participate in the Queen’s Project on International consultation process.

Development, Friday Friends, Queen’s “This is our first consultation, Backing Action, and Queen’s Legal Aid. with students and with the AMS All motions passed. assembly, consisting of student Following the final motion in the leaders and students who are a bit assembly, the AMS opened up to another more familiar with things that are going on discussion period regarding the Learning around the university,” he said.

Outcomes Framework proposed Martinez continued to discuss the AMS by Commissioner of Academic

Affairs, Julia Göllner.

Göllner presented the framework, which she said could guide the development of learning outcomes in courses.

“Essentially this document is in its very early stages,” she said. “It was the goal of the University to use recommendations and transfer them into this document and use it to incorporate into course material.”

Discussion of the Learning Outcomes Framework highlighted the need for a more in-depth description of how the proposals will be achieved. journal_news@ams.queensu.ca

Friday, October 19, 2018

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Friday, October 19, 2018

Appreciation not Appropriation campaign comes back in full force AMS initiative extended to two weeks Raechel Huizinga Assistant News Editor

From Oct. 15 to Halloween, the AMS is running its annual Appreciation not Appropriation campaign, designed to educate students about how to respect other cultures and religions.

In 2017, the AMS ran the first campaign after a costume party the previous year gained national attention after its attendees dressing as racist stereotypes.

After last year’s initial run, Commissioner of Social Issues Myriam Morenike Djossou decided to extend the campaign to two weeks and increase the number of awareness events.

Like last year, students can sign a pledge—both on a sheet at different campus locations, and online—and pick up a pin to support the cause.

Djossou also increased the amount of awareness posters around campus from four to six, which will stay up all year long.

“It’s important to keep in mind this kind of appropriation is happening all throughout the year,” she told The Journal. “Halloween becomes one of those times where cultural appropriation becomes very prevalent, so it is very easy to see.”

Djossou said Queen’s has made progress since it’s infamous 2016 Halloween party, and programs like the new office of Indigenous Initiatives have worked to reduce racism on campus. However, she said there’s still work to be done.

“The party in 2016, last year was attempt[ed] to be reproduced,” Djossou said. “I find that very upsetting and a sign that there’s still a lot of work to be done to spread the word on how appropriation is harmful.”

“I can relate myself as a racialized student,” she said. “It is very hurtful when you’re trying to explain why appropriation is harmful and continue to keep seeing it on campus.”

Co-chairs of CARED Samira Levesque (left) and Rania Belhadjamida (right).

The aim of the first event, Cultural and Religious Appreciation Night, was to allow students to learn about different cultural and religious groups on campus and how each are commonly appropriated.

“People are not saying you can’t engage with other people’s culture, but we’re saying to do it in a meaningful and respectful way,” Djossou said.

Held on Oct. 17, the event featured campus groups including Queen’s Native Students Association, Japanese Relations at Queen’s, the African and Caribbean Students’ Association, and the Queen’s University International Centre.

The campaign is supported

by Queen’s Committee Against Racial and Ethnic Discrimination [CARED], whose co-chairs Samira Levesque, Arts ’20, and Rania

Belhadjamida, Sci ‘19, told The Journal this year’s discussion about appropriation will be more goal-oriented.

“The first step towards combatting an issue is education,” Levesque said. “The next step will be our open discussion next week where we go at the issue head on and focus on what allyship means, how to recognize appropriation, and how to deal with appropriation.”

Lavie Williams, Queen’s Human Rights Office’s Inclusion and Anti-Racism Advisor, will moderate the open discussion, held next Wednesday.

“We’re going to try this year to make it more of a policy issue and, moving forward, how we can make a true impact on students,” Levesque said.

Belhadjamida stressed the importance of engaging

PHOTO BY TESSA WARBURTON

with students about how to recognize the difference between appropriation and appreciation.

“I feel like it always starts with the student. That’s the foundation, and then [it’s] working from there upwards,” she said. “It’s not like acts of racism or discrimination or appropriation don’t occur on the administrative level either.”

“I can say I’ve talked to professors who’ve shared their feelings with me on this as well,” she continued. “It all begins with the foundation and that’s the students.”

While Levesque is still unsure about how to bring this campaign into higher institutional levels, she said the committee is going to become “more action-oriented.”

“If students are expressing all these grievances and the need to act more substantially, we need to act.”

Queen’s grads run 254km for mental health on Homecoming 24 Hours to Queens Group to complete day-long trek from Toronto to Kingston Maddie Bendall Assistant News Editor This Homecoming, 10 Queen’s alumni are running from Toronto to Kingston, raising money for mental health awareness with a 250-kilometre trek.

The group departed for campus on Thursday, and are aiming to complete the run in under 24 hours.

The group of former housemates, classmates, and lifelong friends decided to challenge themselves to run 254 km—a reference to the student house address on

Alfred Street that most of the group lived in during their time at Queen’s.

The run will be completed as a relay-style expedition, with each member running in increments of five kilometers, at a total of 29 km per runner.

Among the group is Ryan Aimers, Comm ’15, who proposed the idea to his colleagues.

“The whole run has been an idea for a while but it really came together within the last month,” Aimers said.

Aimers explained the group is attempting to complete the run in less than 24 hours, with the hope

24 Hours to Queen’s pictured in white jackets (front).

of arriving at their former house before 6 p.m. Friday.

“The whole way we set this up is so it is achievable, but by all means it will be a challenge and will not be easy,” he said.

Aimers said the group will equally split the run. Each person will run and drive the bus in increments of five kilometers, and have a remaining 40 kilometers to rest.

Hoping to make an impact, the group also decided to use the run as an opportunity to raise money and spread awareness for mental health.

“The challenge that we’re

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY RYAN AIMERS

completing is only a matter of 24 hours,” Amiers said. “What we’re doing is nothing compared to the challenges people with mental illness struggle with every day [sic].”

Funds raised from the run will be donated to the mental health organization Mind Over Miles, who will then direct proceeds to the Murphy Centre for Mental Health at Sunnybrook Hospital.

“All of us are more than happy to go through this challenge and this struggle together to help raise money for mental health awareness,” Aimers said.

The Mind over Miles organization is a Toronto-based club founded by Queen’s Alum and fellow colleague Virginia McKinnel, who was inspired to start the organization after struggling with bipolar disorder.

In an interview with The Journal, McKinnel said the primary goal of Mind over Miles is to create a community of positive minded, running enthusiasts who share the common goal of ensuring mental illness is viewed the same as any other illness.

“I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder in my first semester in my first year at Queen’s,” McKinnel said. “I was only 18 years old, and I wasn’t

ready to fully accept my mental illness.”

She said the challenges she faced as a result of Bipolar Disorder could’ve been more manageable if she had access to more resources.

Reflecting on her own experiences, McKinnel said she, “wish[ed] there had been something I could watch, or a person to reach out to who was in a similar situation as me so that I could understand it a bit better and not feel quite so alone.”

As the founder of Mind over Matter, McKinnel said the awareness raised from her videos and the organization alone has touched a wide variety of people across the province.

Mckinnel said the group havsalready raised approximately $9,400 and counting—almost double their goal of at least $5,000.

The group is still accepting donations—McKinnel said the final cheque won’t be delivered until Sunday.

“I hope everyone at Queen’s is able to give a warm welcome to the guys coming in from the run,” he said.

The group of 10 are projected to arrive at their former home on Albert Street at approximately 6 p.m.

News

Friday, October 19, 2018

‘Cannabis policy review 2019’ Continued from front ... of neighbouring residents, businesses, and institutions.”

While it’s campus security’s responsibility to “refer instances where a student is believed to have violated this policy to the Non-Academic Misconduct Intake Office,” the protocol responding to a breach of policy is still hazy.

The policy states, “Individuals who do not comply with [the] policy may be subject to penalties or discipline, up to and including the termination of employment and/or other relationship with the university.”

Disciplinary sanctions won’t apply to those seeking emergency medical services.

The University’s approach to managing the use of cannabis on campus is based on the Cannabis Act 2017, which prohibits consumption of cannabis in public spaces.

The University has aligned their policy with the Smoke Free Ontario Act to avoid impairment in the workplace and complications with a potential transition to a smoke-free campus.

The policy states that “to permit Smoking Cannabis on University Property would run counter to the direction of the university to move towards a smoke free environment” and it has begun this process “through the work of the university’s Clean Air Steering Committee.”

Only those who receive accommodations will be permitted to smoke cannabis on campus, and these will be determined on a caseby-case basis.

If an individual receives

accommodations, the policy requires the user to smoke only in places on University property where tobacco smoking is permitted.

The policy expects accommodated users to provide “satisfactory evidence” of the need for a medical accommodation before they will be allowed to consume cannabis on campus.

The University will review their smoking of cannabis policy in 2019.

has developed a “comprehensive communications plan” to ensure students understand the new campus policies on the consumption of cannabis.

Through a central website dedicated to cannabis information, the University has compiled information from various other websites, including Student Affairs, Student Wellness, Residence, Human Resources, and Athletics and Recreation.

The University will also distribute information through “various” social media platforms.

for students, faculty and staff at the BISC. We continue to look for opportunities to support the health and wellbeing of the BISC community,” it read.

“Due to privacy considerations, we will not comment further about specific individuals, ongoing human resource issues, or the outcomes of such matters.”

In an interview with The Journal, Thomas said he’s suffered from depression since 2011.

However, in June, his mental health deteriorated, forcing him to take leave from work.

Though he’d sought time off, Thomas described his mental health at the time as “progressively getting worse.”

On Jul. 21, shortly after returning to work, Thomas claimed there was a confrontation with a colleague, which caused a panic and anxiety attack that forced him to leave the site.

Later, a doctor recommended Thomas take five weeks off work due to depression, anxiety, and stress.

On Aug. 28, Thomas received a formal notice of dismissal from the BISC in an email from Iain Ball, senior regional manager for Compass Group. At the time, Thomas was still on leave for his mental health.

In an email to Ball, Julie Ryan, enterprise director at the BISC, wrote the BISC had “lost

PSC not equipped for support of graduate students Continued from front ...

be holding extensive consultation programs with our membership to graduate students may not cover see what they want their space to pragmatic strategies dealing with look like in the JDUC.” stress, anxiety, and depression.

Ultimately, the Society’s goal Meanwhile, the survey revealed is to pursue designated space other issues like the lack of through redevelopment of available campus space and peer the JDUC. CORE Community housing support for graduate students.

In the graduate students’ “We’ve heard [graduate referendum, 77 per cent voted for Renters’ leases will Preparation for legalization students] are being turned away designated space or in favour of determine marijuana policy in from the AMS Peer Support Centre, achieving designated space in the University-owned off-campus As new legislation is crafted, and that’s totally understandable,” JDUC redevelopment. rental properties.

Langham said the University Morrison said. “The AMS peer The JDUC redevelopment In an email statement to The needs to review each change to support centre is not equipped depends on whether the AMS fee Journal, Dan Langham, chairman determine the potential impact on for peer-to-peer support of passes. After, there will potentially of the University’s Cannabis campus, and to the work already graduate students.” be years of construction before the Working Group, wrote the use of done to prepare for legalization.

A disconnect between the new building opens. cannabis in Community Housing As an example, Langham experiences of undergraduate and When asked about the barrier properties will be “dictated by the pointed to the late proposed graduate students contributes of fees and time, Morrison said he terms of the lease that students changes to the locations where to support barriers, according was currently focused on the JDUC. signed with the university.” cannabis can be smoked, which to Morrison.

“There’s been no tangible The University wouldn’t say he said “delayed the release “It’s no secret the graduate discussions about what graduate whether current leases specifically of cannabis information” as community isn’t as strong as the space outside the JDUC might look prohibit the consumption of the University determined undergraduate community,” he like,” he said. “But I can certainly cannabis on the properties. what additional policies might said. “You say Queen’s and one of say the University is receptive and “Regardless of the specific be required. the first things that comes to mind understands it’s a priority.” lease terms, tenants are expected Langham said he feels is the student experience.”

In terms of other issues to consider the needs of their the University has “prepared “We need to foster communities, currently facing graduate students, housemates, particularly if asthma, adequately” for the legalization of strengthen and engage in a way Morrison told The Journal that allergies or other similar medical cannabis, even as provincial and that breaks down some of the silos the SGPS’ top two priorities considerations are involved,” federal legislation evolved. graduate students can find their are concerns about time limits Langham wrote. “We expect our “Queen’s University may way into through their studies.” to complete research and the tenants to use common sense and continue to adjust policies Morrison added the Society struggles of international students. good judgment.” pursuant to emerging legislation,” is hoping to open a small-scale “It’s important that graduate Langham wrote. “Members of peer support centre for graduate students understand we know Communicating rules to the Queen’s community will be students by next semester. time and completion is an issue students notified should further policies be But the problem of designated and we are working with the adjusted or instituted. campus space for graduate University to figure out what According to Langham, the students isn’t easily solved. resources we can give students University’s communications office “It’s long been a hypothesis of to be healthy and successful,” the SGPS that a lack of designated Morrison said. graduate space, a lack of areas Concerning international to congregate and meet people students, Morrison wants to work outside of your faculty can be a on retainment and support. cause for feelings of loneliness or “Bringing international students confidence” in Thomas. on the information Thomas lack of thriving,” he said. here doesn’t make us the best “With our increasing business, has submitted.

While an area on the second school globally: it’s about bringing the highly pressurized work In his claim summary floor of Stauffer will be designated international students here and environment, in respect of our submitted to ACAS, Thomas to graduate study space later this making them feel comfortable, catering provision, will continue. wrote his reaction to the argument semester, and the Society has making them feel included and We therefore do not believe this is on Jul. 21 was “linked to the opened a lounge for graduate setting them up for success,” the right place for Adrian to work, recent deterioration in [his] long- students in the JDUC, the survey he said. either for his sake or for ours as term depression in the preceding revealed a need for a variety of The Society will be hosting a your client.” [two] months.” spaces across campus. town hall on Oct. 23 in McLaughlin In Ryan’s email to Ball, she “I assert without this “The survey showed us Hall from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. to claimed to have reports of consequence of my long-term something we hadn’t thought openly discuss international Thomas’ interactions being of an depression, the client would not about before, which is one space student issues, and on Oct. 24 in unacceptable standard, dating have made this decision, and doesn’t necessarily fulfill the space Dunning Hall, room 11, to discuss back several months. as such, it qualifies as a direct needs of every student,” Morrison time to completion.

Ryan said he exhibited consequence of a disability.” said. “If the JDUC referendum were “[g]eneral negative attitudes “[The BISC has] shown no to pass, and hopefully it does, we’ll to comments regarding remorse or acknowledgement provision, including responses of their actions and have a long to Google reviews and history of poor response to mental student/staff suggestions.” ill health in the workplace which Following his dismissal has included significant staff from the BISC, Thomas filed absence and 1 suicide completion,” his complaint.

Thomas wrote in his tribunal Thomas received notice from claim form.

Compass Group that if no other “One employee completed placement is found for him, he suicide in April of 2018 and no will be terminated from their impact support [was] put in place employment on Nov. 23. for employees following this.”

Before Thomas’ claim was In his ACAS claim summary, submitted to the tribunal panel, Thomas described giving it went through The Advisory, talks to students at the BISC Conciliation and Arbitration about mental health and the Service (ACAS), a third-party promotion of his charity, Different conciliation service. The tribunal Minds—established in Oct. will decide whether the claim will 2017 to promote good mental advance to the panel on Oct. 28. health—which required Thomas BISC’s representative did not to discuss his personal experience engage with Thomas’ accusations, with depression. nor did they respond to ACAS. On May 30, The Gazette profiled If the BISC doesn’t respond Different Minds and Thomas’s to the claim before Oct. 28, marathon, but has since removed the decision will be based the article.

‘No remorse from BISC’

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Friday, Oct 19, 2018

Features How a 1960s Queen’s student utopia fell from grace IN-DEPTH STORIES FROM AROUND CAMPUS AND IN THE COMMUNITY

Now Princess Towers, Elrond College was a student-run housing cooperative in the ’60s Samantha Fink and Josh Granovsky Journal Staff Princess To w e r s — a n aging 16-storey apartment building that looms over the Hub—began its life as a student-run utopian commune in the 1960s.

An idealistic solution to a campus-wide housing crisis, it was first named Elrond College, a reference to The Lord of the Rings. Students were promised the building was something different by its promotional material: “Elrond College—where the ‘they’ is ‘you’ and the rules are your own.”

Within 10 years, suffering from a fierce market, debt, and dwindling hopes of success, it was sold to developers.

They renamed it Princess Towers.

“They” is “you”

In the fall of 1968, Queen’s was committed to providing every first-year student with housing.

However, times were changing; more students were enrolling in the university than ever before, and Queen’s couldn’t accommodate all of them.

For first-year students, the university held true to its promise. When some accepted students couldn’t fit into residence, Queen’s rented a motel and a school bus, bussing students to their temporary accommodations multiple times a day.

Upper-year students were left with an insufficient Kingston housing market. It seemed every house, apartment, or room near Queen’s campus was either already rented out or unwilling to take in students.

“It seemed every

house, apartment, or room near Queen’s campus was either already rented out or unwilling to take in students.”

In a September 1968 Journal article, Al Steven, Sci ’71, said he wound up sleeping on the floor of a co-op after all

125 housing listings he pursued were unavailable. David White, ArtSci ’71, said he had no place to stay since July, and the only listing provided by Queen’s Housing Service was 24 km outside Kingston.

Stories like these were common around campus.

According to Queen’s historian Duncan McDowall, some students turned to living in between library shelves, eating their meals in the student centre and showering in the gym.

Throughout 1969, four Arts students—Michael Vaughan, Dave Peters, Dan Burns and Ross McGregor—looked for their own inspiration, researching co-op housing efforts elsewhere in the province.

There was already a precedent at Queen’s. In 1941, co-op housing came to campus, when a group of students from Sci ’44 ran a house they’d bought on Earl Street.

Later, the community-centred culture of the ’60s brought a renewed interest to sharing living spaces on campus, leading to Elrond.

McDowall’s book, Testing Tradition, outlines the historical factors that led to Elrond. When David Pakrul was sworn in as AMS president in 1968, he made solving this housing crisis a top priority.

Later, McGregor was elected for AMS president on the platform of continuing this legacy.

Under Pakrul’s leadership, the AMS gained control of the university’s housing service. It transformed itself into a new organization: Students for a New University (SNU).

Student activists from SNU soon took their housing concerns to the Board of Trustees, claiming the University failed to provide students with fundamental needs.

They asked the trustees to let them take the problem into their own hands. All they needed was some financial support.

It was the first time the Board of Trustees had encountered radical student politics. They didn’t know how to face it.

They decided to take a chance on the students. According to McDowall, The National Housing Act had recently been amended to permit 90 per cent financing of student residences over 50 years.

Elrond College exemplified student advocacy.

The AMS only needed to find the money to make a 10 per cent down payment.

In a groundbreaking move, the trustees passed a motion at a meeting in October to lend the AMS $50,000 for the down payment. Queen’s students then found their way to Ottawa, seeking financial backing from the Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation (CHMC), and eventually winning federal government support.

As a result, the AMS took out a $178,000 option on a car-dealership lot at the corner of Princess and Division Streets, making their dream a reality.

Communes and Car Dealerships

The students aimed to create an alternative way of student life that included communal eating in a cafeteria, daily chore duties, and counter courses—sessions which didn’t count for school credit, but allowed residents to discuss relevant topics in an educational manner.

The students contacted renowned architect Irving Grossman, who’d made a name for himself in Toronto with creative designs of parks, apartment buildings, and synagogues.

Grossman’s design plans sought to reflect the building’s community-minded ideology—even at the expense of conventional functionalities.

Each suite held eight to 12 people and was called a “neighbourhood.”

Foyers and empty corridors became communal hangout areas, and elevators avoided service on some floors so residents would have to pass other residents before reaching their rooms.

The building was projected to house 400 beds, with the actual number coming in at 410.

Vroom Construction was hired to build the building that Grossman envisioned, and by the e a r ly ‘70s, plans were up and running.

The College had a Board of Directors, which included students and Queen’s professors interested in the project.

The students promoted the

building with a The Lord of the Rings themed marketing strategy.

They even built off a franchiseinspired slogan, “A perfect house whether you like food or sleep, or story telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking, or a pleasure mixture of them all.”

To them, it meant that Elrond was a magic kingdom, unlike other housing options which were simply a place to stay and a cheque to a landlord each month.

Elrond meant community.

Paradise Lost

Although Elrond at first seemed like a dream come true, challenges were inevitable.

Within a few years, a city alderman charged Elrond and Queen’s with exploitation of the Kingston labour market, according to McDowall’s book.

When Elrond went into debt, Vroom abandoned their contract and sued them for $300,000 in cost overruns.

By 1972, the total cost of the project was $3.37 million.

In today’s market, that number is equivalent to well over $20 million. The students didn’t stop there.

In the fall of 1973, Elrond was open for business and John Blanchard was appointed as general manager.

Students paid their rents, met their new suite-mates, and finally called somewhere in Kingston home.

However, financial struggles persisted. The Board of Directors assumed the building would be treated like other Queen’s residences, and thus immune to municipal property taxes. The City of Kingston didn’t agree, and Elrond’s overhead charges forced them to increase their rent prices.

In addition, Elrond hadn’t taken into account that students at the time didn’t pay rents over the summer months.

In an attempt to cover these costs, the Board nicknamed the building Hotel Hobbit, unsuccessfully trying to rent it out as a hotel for tourists in the summer.

These extra costs forced Elrond’s reasonable and attractive prices to increase to typical

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOSH GRANOVSKY

market ones.

Inevitably, the building struggled to gain occupants.

With time, it became known for drug trafficking, and high rates of student turnover made the dream of an ideal community impossible.

With vacant rooms, Elrond was in $3.86 million of debt by 1977—equivalent to over $15 million today.

In the rest of Kingston, the housing market was stabilizing.

Students were no longer sleeping in libraries. Busses were no longer driving groups of students to motels multiple times a day. Students found homes, and Elrond’s financial burden fell hard.

In 1980, the Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation took ownership of the building.

No longer able to function as a student co-op, Elrond was offered to Queen’s, who declined it.

The building was then sold to a developer who renamed it Princess Towers. It now stands behind The Brass and is rented out to students at market prices—but its elevators still don’t stop on every floor.

Elrond College can either be seen as a reflection of naïve ’60s idealism—or, as McDowall said we should see it, one of the earliest and strongest testaments to the power of student activism.

While students elsewhere in Ontario were staging aggressive protests against rising market prices, Queen’s students were taking matters into their own hands.

The October 1968 meeting, where Queen’s students successfully procured funding for Elrond from the Board of Trustees, set a powerful precedent.

It was one of the first moments in the university’s history where the AMS truly embodied what is now a common belief: Queen’s students can be trusted to oversee matters governing their own fate better than anyone else.

The creation of Elrond College marked the first of many demonstrations that Queen’s students are active and engaged—and have been since at least 1968.

Friday, Oct 19, 2018

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THE QUEEN’S JOURNAL

The Journal’s Perspective

NHL’s lack of domestic violence policy sets dangerous precedent

Volume 146 Issue 10 www.queensjournal.ca @queensjournal Publishing since 1873

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Editorials Editor

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Opinions Editor

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The National Hockey League’s (NHL) lack of domestic violence policy sets a poor example for youth and sports fans worldwide.

Although Nashville Predators forward Austin Watson pleaded no contest to a domestic assault charge in July, he’ll be back on the ice sooner than anticipated.

Watson was arrested after publicly pushing his girlfriend this summer.

He was subsequently suspended by the NHL for 28 games.

Last week, his girlfriend issued a statement stating her alcoholism was to blame for the physical conflict.

Shortly after, the NHL’s arbitrator reduced Watson’s suspension to 18 games.

The decision was based on the case at hand, because the NHL—one of the four major North American sports leagues and among the wealthiest in the world—has no written domestic violence policy.

The NHL’s mishandling of Watson’s case is indicative of a bigger problem in sports.

When an athlete is the perpetrator, North American professional sports leagues’ domestic violence policies are

consistent only in their inadequacy and subjectivity.

Most of these leagues have vague or non-existent domestic violence policies.

The consequences players face are inconsistent. In most disciplinary cases, players are allowed to return to their respective teams sooner rather than later.

Watson’s reduced suspension indicates the NHL ranks player performance and profit over human decency.

The NHL released a statement expressing their disappointment with the arbitrator’s decision and reaffirmed their commitment to justice—yet they fail to establish standardized policy condemning domestic violence by players.

While Watson’s suspension also suspends his income, his on-ice talent is worth millions of dollars. A brief suspension doesn’t materially punish a player.

Until the NHL writes a policy, domestic violence by players will continue. The league needs to set a public standard by acknowledging the issue and taking constructive steps to mitigate it.

Watson’s immunity as a player is indicative of a larger

ILLUSTRATION BY AMELIA RANKINE

societal problem—and this isn’t confined to the NHL alone.

In 2017, hockey player and Queen’s student Chance Macdonald was charged with sexual assault—but, met with a sympathetic judge who also played hockey, his sentencing was delayed so he wouldn’t lose his internship.

As these biases play out in our own community, the NHL’s poor example is indicative of a larger systemic problem.

Many children dream of growing up to be professional athletes. As they look up to players who flout the law with no repercussions, they learn from that violent behaviour.

Domestic violence cannot be tolerated, whether you shoot a puck or dribble a ball. This is a rampant problem requiring strict rehabilitative policy and unbiased internal investigation.

Without sports league collaboration to forge policy, the NHL will continue to ignore the voices of domestic violence survivors—and teach children this behaviour is acceptable.

—Journal Editorial Board

Low-income students should have the right to pay tuition themselves

Using student loans to pay tuition fees enables students to spend money responsibly. Taking that ability away manifests stereotypes about how low-income students can’t manage their money.

Before the 2018 school year, students could choose to allow the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) to pay their tuition fees for them. That’s no longer an option. The National Student Loans Service Centre will use your OSAP funds to send money directly to your school.

OSAP’s new system now pays all outstanding fees on your student account.

While this usually just includes tuition, it could extend to library fines or other non-tuition fees which don’t need to be paid to attend classes or write exams.

This results in a subtraction from the leftover money a student uses for rent, bills, groceries and other living expenses.

While all fees should be paid, students should have the right to budget these payments in a way that works for them.

Just because students don’t directly earn OSAP funds, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have the right to manage granted money on their own.

The reality is, they’re going to

PHOTO BY TESSA WARBURTON

Raechel Huizinga

repay the loans.

Students spending their OSAP funds on video games, designer clothes, and trips to Europe create a stereotype about how low-income individuals ‘misuse’ their loans.

This perpetuates harmful misconceptions about the relationship between low-earning individuals and money.

Even if you have the money to buy a

•7

nice coat, you shouldn’t, because you come from a low-income family. People on welfare shouldn’t go on vacation or to the movies. If you use the food bank, you shouldn’t eat at restaurants—the list goes on.

Growing up in a single-parent family far below the poverty line, I remember feeling guilty spending money at restaurants or on clothes when my family depended so heavily on food banks and the charity of others.

Coming to Queen’s was the first time in my life I didn’t have to worry about money, and the first time I could prove I knew how to use it. After being unable to pay for so many other things, I could make the decision to pay tuition on my own—and it felt good.

OSAP’s aim is to provide students with enough money to cover tuition and living expenses. But where you come from shouldn’t determine the conditions of those living expenses, whether they be trips to Europe or a meal at McDonald’s.

Higher education is a right, not a privilege.

Making post-secondary institutions inclusive for students from all backgrounds means translating this into the actual OSAP system.

Raechel is one of The Journal’s Assistant News Editors. She’s a third-year English student.

Lillian Gao

Editorial Intern

Contributing Staff

Contributors

Aaron Bailey Max Bradshaw Alice He Meg Kirkpatrick Alexandra Mantella Graham McKitrick Audric Patrick Elijah Nadler Jack Rabb Claudia Rupnik Jamie Urbanek Markus Wieshofer Aleena Yusufzai

Business Staff Business Manager

Morgan Dodson

Head Sales Representative

Aidan Chalmers

Sales Representative

Ben Johnstone

Sales Representative

Callum Nesbitt

Office Administrator

Liveny Krishnakumar

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.

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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.

Circulation 3,000

8 • queensjournal.ca

Friday, Oct 19, 2018

OPINIONS: Roundtable on legalization

ALL PHOTOS TAKEN BY TESSA WARBURTON

Legalization can’t be rushed

Marijuana is a health issue, not a criminal issue

Graham McKitrick, ArtSci ’20

Aaron Bailey, ArtSci ’20

A shift in a drug’s regulation must be done right. The legalization of marijuana will only be successful if the agencies are fully able to handle the increased responsibility that comes with it.

The role of a democratically elected government is to act in line with its citizens’ wishes. Canada’s recent legalization of marijuana did that; a majority of Canadians wanted marijuana legalized.

The therapeutic or medicinal qualities marijuana have become more accessible for Canadians. Legalization also weakens the market of illegal drug sales and crime, and it opens the door for consumer to invest in a booming industry—something that benefits the domestic economy.

With business investment in Canada already lower than in other industrialized countries, the existence of a new market for investors will attract more taxable capital.

Comparatively, arguments against legalization state there will be negative effects on vulnerable youth and at-risk communities, and that it’ll result in a monopoly for the federal government.

While these negative aspects hold some validity, they’re not persuasive enough to draw support from large numbers of Canadians, making legalization the popular and correct course of action.

However, necessary societal change is only successful when all parties involved are prepared to deal with possible negative consequences.

While provincial and municipal governments welcome the chance to collect tax dollars from marijuana sales, police forces across the country have been sounding the alarm that they have not been properly equipped or funded to detect marijuana impaired drivers.

In the time between the 2016 federal election and legalization on Oct. 17, Health Canada has approved only one device to conduct roadside tests of impairment. To make matters worse, the device has a minimum operating temperature of four degrees celsius—an issue considering Canadian winters.

After the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, there was an increase in fatalities involving cannabis-impaired drivers. The news that police forces in Canada will either be unable to detects impairment—or guarantee the results of the device that detects impairment—should’ve been prioritized before marijuana was legalized.

Legalizing marijuana will provide social and economic benefits to Canada, but without being able to control or minimize the possible effect it has on public safety, this rushed decision is irresponsible.

Legalizing cannabis in Canada is a landmark liberalization that highlights a reformed approach to substance use—one based on principles of prevention, harm reduction and enforcement.

According to a 2016 National College Health Assessment survey conducted at Queen’s, 45.3 percent of students have used cannabis at least once in their lifetime. Criminalizing marijuana use hasn’t deterred Canadians from using the drug—it’s only made its use less safe.

By choosing to legalize and regulate cannabis for non-medicinal use, the federal government is proactively shifting its focus away from criminalization and towards issues of public health and safety.

When the supply of cannabis is restricted without addressing demand, the “Iron Law of Prohibition” takes hold.

The “Iron Law” states that when something is made illegal, continuous demand will raise its price, encouraging illicit producers to import greater amounts at greater potencies in order to maximize their profits.

In effect, this leads to stronger strains of cannabis and the proliferation of synthetic cannabis which can be detrimental to the health of the drug’s users.

These high-risk substances are a direct result of the criminalization previously associated with cannabis, and exemplifies the dire need for legalization to be accompanied by thorough regulations.

The harms of a prohibitionist approach to cannabis doesn’t stop with the individual user. The economic and social consequences of cannabis prohibition are costly, tragic

Graham McKitrick is a third-year Philosophy major.

With marijuana legalized, questions still linger.

and discriminatory.

The law enforcement and correctional resources that were allocated to cannabis related offences were astronomical and are better directed towards prevention, treatment, and harm reduction.

Black and Indigenous individuals are also disproportionately represented by cannabis possession arrest statistics.

With cannabis being legal and better integrated into our society, we can begin to reconcile the negative impact criminalization has had on marginalized groups.

On the distribution side of things, legalization deprives groups affiliated with organized crime a source of revenue.

Now it will be managed legally, many measures of control will be exercised over the production, distribution, and use of cannabis that were entirely absent before. This includes the standard dosage, purity, potency, the general quality of a substance and point of sale regulation.

By choosing to legalize and regulate cannabis, the government of Canada has decided to further extend its health promotion efforts to the segment of the population rather than sweep them under the rug—which put their health and public safety at risk.

There are many real health risks associated with cannabis use, and this fact further supports the need for legal regulation when it comes to cannabis in Canada.

When substance use is treated as a health issue instead of a criminal one, opportunities for objective, non-judgmental educational dialogue are created. Under the misguided philosophy of cannabis prohibition such opportunities are the exception—not the rule.

Cannabis Act has shortcomings Alice He, Comm ’21

The Cannabis Act has incredible potential to drive both economic and societal progress in Canada. However, the federal government’s current marijuana regulation only benefits privileged members in our society.

The act’s shortcomings derail any socioeconomic progress it makes. Failing to clearly outline how revenues can be reinvested to create value and mitigate negative repercussions of the policy causes Bill C-45 to target marginalized groups in Canada.

Under the new cannabis regulations, in certain provinces, those who’ve trafficked marijuana before will have a much tougher time becoming eligible to sell the drug legally. In Alberta, anyone who wants to open a dispensary but has had previous drug-related offences will be ineligible for a retail marijuana licensce.

Those who’ve been previously convicted of drug-related offenses are disproportionately poor people of colour.

The federal government is providing expansive business opportunities for private retailers with legalization, which simply adds to the wealth of predominantly white business owners from higher socio-economic backgrounds.

They’re failing to acknowledge the racially-biased past of drug criminalization, the fate of those previously criminalized, and the future of dealers—who currently make $15,000 to $50,000 in annual income from dealing.

To make it even more challenging for those of lower socio-economic status, the government’s pricing motive for cannabis is to eliminate black-market suppliers. But for drug dealers, the decision to sell is made out of necessity Aaron Bailey is a third-year Health and circumstance.

Studies major.

By the government’s standards, the previous source of livelihood for these individuals will be eliminated. Because of their past, they’ll be barred from economic opportunities they are familiar with.

Amendments should be made to Bill C-45 to ensure profits from the sale of recreational pot would be reinvested in the public.

Furthermore, tax revenues from cannabis sales could be allocated to provide job training for black-market drug dealers, counselling for those struggling with addiction, and funding for drug-offence reparations.

The Cannabis Act provides resources for the government to ease the transition of the groups most likely to be adversely impacted by legalization. More importantly, the act provides opportunity for the right socioeconomic change.

The government can funnel funds into targeting the systemic adversities which cause people to turn to illegal drug trafficking in the first place.

GRAPHIC BY NOUR MAZOUM

Alice He is a second year Commerce major.

Friday, October 19, 2018

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Arts BAND PROFILE

Rich Aucoin tours for charity Halifax singer to visit Blu Martini on Friday Rich Aucoin will play at Blue Martini on Friday, Oct. 19, 2018.

Brittany Giliforte & Brigid Goulem Journal Staff If biking is good for your health, Rich Aucoin should be a fitness guru by now.

The Halifax-based musician cycled across the US to every gig on his “Press On” tour from March 23 to June 26, raising both money and awareness for mental health issues.

Now, he’s touring Canada, with a stop in Kingston at Blu Martini on Oct 19.

This wasn’t Aucoin’s first charity tour.

Back in 2007, he toured across 6,500 kilometres of Canada. Prior to that, he ran half-marathons.

On his charity tours, Aucoin offers his fans, friends, and family the opportunity Aleena Yusufzai Contributor

The Elwins have the same feel-good vibes as the best of `90s one-hit wonders.

Next Wednesday night, the emerging indie band from Newmarket, Ontario will open for Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker (USS) at Ale on Oct. 24.

The band is made up of singer and guitarist Matthew Sweeney, drummer Travis Stokl, guitarist Feurd Ian, and bassist Frankie Figliomeni. Their distinct musical sound—including beat, rhythm, and lyrics—is part of a proud tradition of infectious indie.

For Figliomeni, part of that legacy was making music where the inspiration was everyday life. “[Our inspiration] is always different,” he said. “we want to talk about out lives and what we got through.”

Growing up to meet that standard, Figliomeni’s major influences were his own cousins. They were committed music fans and musicians and their enthusiasm led him to go to local shows. Discovering his passion, he went to shows until he saw The Elwins live for the first time.

After seeing them perform, he took an unusual step. He joined the band.

Considering how he found The Elwins, Figliomeni wants the band’s music to recreate the meaningful experiences he had growing up.

Their goal is to create songs that can help them in some way, providing a sense of happiness and comfort for fans.

The Elwins’ sound—inspired by The Beatles, Paul Simon, and Joni Mitchell—is supposed to make people feel at home, all the time.

These classic tastes guide the

to pledge money to various mental health organizations. Some of the organizations he has donated to in the past include the Childhood Cancer Canada Foundation and the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

After his most recent US tour, he donated to Mental Health America and the Canadian Mental Health Association.

“It felt like I could do some good,” Aucoin said in a phone interview with The Journal. “It was an amazing experience just for me to travel and see everything but also it was a great to kind of use the platform of the tour to raise more awareness for mental health issues.”

This time around, he’s hitching a ride into Kingston with his drummer, Taylor Knox.

“It’s been a couple of years now since

we’ve played Kingston,” Aucoin said.

“I’m excited to show anyone that’s seen the show before the new version.”

The songs on his new EP are a preview of what fans can expect to hear on his upcoming album.

He recorded the EP over the last couple of years, both on tour and off, all across Canada. There’s a total of 60 different musicians who have contributed to the making of the EP. Incorporating different mediums into his music is a habit for Aucoin.

His music videos and concerts visuals often recreate scenes from famous film.

“The show is like a montage of every movie you’ve ever seen, so there are 800 movies that are cut up into the video show

MUSIC

The Elwins take Ale for fall break A look behind the scenes of The Elwins and their musical inspiration

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY ARTS AND CRAFTS

and a coordinated light show and lots of confetti and a parachute comes out at some point, it’s a pretty fun time,” Aucoin said.

He re-enacts scenes from some of the most famous movies in film history in his music videos. For his song “It,” he takes inspiration from movies, like “Forest Gump,” “Taxi Driver,” “ET,” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

He makes no effort to blend the scenes together, but uses the most iconic scenes to amp-up the tension of the music.

In the chorus of, “It,” he repeatedly asks the question, “Will you let it hold you down?” In the context of the song, “it” refers to the fear of chasing your dreams. For Aucoin that means being a movie star.

In the meantime, he may have to settle for the stage. to dive into the exhaustive creative process that he compares to a rollercoaster.

When creating their music, there’s often confusion and frustration, and the band can sometimes feel beaten.

They can wonder if the music will be good enough at the end. But the highs always outnumber the lows, and The Elwins are left with nothing but quality tunes.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” he said.

Their newest album, “Beauty Community” consists of 13 songs, each one shares the same vibe—listeners won’t be able to resist bobbing their heads as they listen along.

Their song “Hey! Ya! You”—one of the more popular songs on the album—is painfully relatable for some. The lyrics are a reminder of the

The lyrics are a reminder of the sometimes overwhelming desire for romantic company.

The Elwins will play at Ale with Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker on Oct. 24, 2018.

homegrown feel of their music, as they strive to create equally timeless sounds in their unique music.

This is no small feat. A lot of time

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY LISTEN HARDER PUBLICITY

and work goes into an intensive creative process. Figliomeni is excited even just speaking about it.

“CanIjustgototown?”heasked,preparing

sometimes overwhelming desire for romantic company.

As singer Sweeney—in his low, croony voice—sings, “and sometimes I just need someone to touch/so you can take my hand and just get attached.”

It evokes memories of desire in times of loneliness. While loneliness is intensely personal, it’s universal for anyone that happens upon the song.

The Elwins are a product of collaboration.

The personal fulfillment evident in their music is guaranteed to make listeners think of home—and comfortably ease into the fall break.

10 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, October 19, 2018

REVIEW

Printmaking at the Agnes relives horrors of First World War New exhibit follows soldiers and civilians through conflict Alexandra Mantella Contributor

Artistic interpretations of the war to end all wars aren’t hard to find.

Paintings, books, songs and films thoroughly documented the experiences of the war, but a new exhibit at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre presents a dissenting new vision of it.

The exhibit, Printmakers at War (1914-1918), depicts the prints of soldiers and civilians who experienced the war first-hand. The works’ p r i n t m a ke r s p o r t ray landscapes ravaged by The First World War in black and white etchings.

It’s a visually haunting representation of peaceful daily life grinding to a halt as the world embarked on one of the largest wars it had ever experienced.

In the history books, the war’s tragedies usually involve the staggering number of deaths, the terror of the battles and the sound

BAND PROFILE

of bullets and shells firing and exploding on the battlefield.

The period is filled with countless stories and experiences of soldiers, civilians, and survivors.

But the Printmakers at War (1914-1918) exhibit offers a unique retelling of the war from those with first-hand experience through its black-and-white landscape prints.

It portrays its vistas of the Great War’s ravaged landscapes with simple etchings. The small exhibit displays multiple prints made

by Muirhead Bone, Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson, Percy John Delf Smith, Paul Nash and many more.

These printmakers were war artists who produced prints for the sake of political activism. Their work serves as a tool for awareness and education of how war affects its witnesses.

They had to be fully immersed in the war to be able to validly depict it with the brutal honesty seen in the

the exhibit.

Each print in the Printmakers of War (1914-1918) provides a different element or scene of wartime horror that an artist endured.

PHOTOS BY CHRIS YAO It’s captured in The Printmakers: at War (1914-1918) is on exhibit at the pieces like “Rain, Agnes Etherington Art Centre until Dec. 2, 2018.

Lake Zillebeke” by Nash—an ideal example the same, eyes of civilians feeling some capacity of of printmaking.

The were fixed on the sky above the sorrow witnessed and scratch-like image contains the city, as spotlights searched created in the name of contradicting light and for incoming Zeppelins that educating and informing the dark to communicate a might approach with bombs world. Printmakers at War vengeful landscape full of ready to drop.

(1914-1918) does justice to Bone was predominantly an almost entirely lost tragedy and remorse in of artists the wake or anticipation a propaganda and war artist generation who depicted his scenes with and educators. of battle.

On the flip side, pieces the intent of educating civilian The Agnes Etherington like “Piccadilly Circus” by populations about the horrors Centre’s final words on Bone display the homefront, of war. behalf of the exhibit were In all the prints, there’s an simple: where the landscape of the “images London remained physically element of remorse, vacancy, serve as warnings for untainted by conflict. All and memory of the horror future generations” to endured by the unique be ever conscious of the war artist. One cannot realities of the Great War. look at the images without

Indie rockers USS talk Ale House show Kingston one of bands 16-tour stops Brittany Giliforte Assistant Arts Editor

Everything about vocalist Ashley Buchholz is summed up in his band’s name: Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker (USS).

Preparing for his upcoming show at the Ale House on Oct. 24, Buchholz said USS is a reminder to find harmony and positivity everywhere.

Bucholz embodies this philosophy. He was even excited to perform a new song, “Medicine,” that was inspired by his girlfriend “ghosting” him.

“It felt like getting stabbed with a billion butter knives at the same time in the heart,” Buchholz told The Journal over the phone.

After that experience, he told his friends, “Guys, I just got a f—king taste of my own medicine.”

Despite the drama, Buchholz was unshakable.

Every

topic—his depression and anxiety included—appeared as a chance to share his optimism. It was clearest when he discussed reconnecting with his father after 30 years.

While the two were apart for decades, forging a new relationship was a source of inspiration for Buchholz.

He decided to only pursue positive experiences with his father, weaving him into his life. It was a means of repairing the relationship.

He wasn’t religious but began taking his father to church. It grew into an opportunity to perform music that helped him build his relationship with his father.

“I started taking him to this little gospel church where we were the only white people, then I actually asked the reverend one day after church, ‘Do you need anyone to play music?

You don’t have any musicians,’” Buchholz said. “[The reverend] said, ‘My husband and I were praying last night that musicians would

is one of USS’s more romantic songs—all with trademark standout lyrics.

Despite it being an unconventional love song, Tim Millar, guitarist of metal band Protest the Hero, requested USS play the tune at his wedding for the first dance with his wife.

In the song’s music video, an introduction from a deep, radio-personality-styled voice, says, “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, from the lightning clouds of Venus with a bullet, mystery and romance proudly present live and direct from the ether, Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker!”

This inter-galactic, larger-than-life image is more

come and sing here,’” Buchholz said. He sang at the church the very next week, and said it was “exhilarating.”

“It fundamentally changed me as a writer and a creator and a singer,” Buchholz said.

Compared to his first performance in a school talent show, where he was kicked off stage mid-song, he’s come a long way.

Years later, his irreverent performance style onstage has hardly changed. However, now it’s more “like a combination of a spin class, a rave, and a motivational seminar.”

“We got something for your heart, we got something for your mind, and we got something for your body,” he said.

Buchholz always keeps these early inspirations close at hand—one of his first songs written as a student, “I Like Dogs,” reads almost like a preview for his career. Years later, his titles have kept their original pomp.

“Porno Star Trek,” for example, USS brings humour to their music.

than just a quirky ploy. It supports Buchholz’s reasoning behind naming the band Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker.

“I pulled out the dictionary and I just flipped it open to a word and the first word was ‘ubiquitous’ and I never heard that word before and it means ‘everywhere simultaneously.’ And it was like exactly the kind of synaptic earthquake that needed to happen to shake me out of this kind of doldrums of stagnant being,” Buchholtz said.

“I want to seek harmony everywhere all the time, seek joyfulness, cheerfulness, enthusiasm, all those characteristics of champions.”

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY UBIQUITOUS SOUND SYSTEM

Friday, Oct 19, 2018

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MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Sports

Gaels adapting to new role as a league leader ATHLETICS

Volleyball looking to build off last A look at drug control at Queen’s and the question of cannabis control season’s surprise GRAPHIC BY NOUR MAZLOUM run to nationals Marijuana will remain on WADA’s banned substance list despite legalization in Canada.

Drawing the hard line

Matt Scace Sports Editor

Spending three hours waiting to have to pee was something Jack* never thought he’d have to do in his life.

“I was sitting around at practice, went to the bathroom, came out and the boys were like, ‘You’re getting drug tested,’” said Jack, a member of the Queen’s varsity football team.

Jack is no stranger to drug tests—neither are his teammates.

Approximately 12 to 15 members of the football team are randomly tested at various points of the year, some multiple times, he said. For him, the test came after experiencing a recent injury, which made him feel confused.

Nonetheless, he complied with the drug testing officer.

“He sat with me at lunch for an hour and a half, he followed me to my therapy and then I finally could [urinate].”

Jack’s anecdote isn’t an anomaly for many varsity athletes across Canada. It’s considered the price of admission to fair and equitable sport.

According to an annual statistics report by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES), Canada’s not-for-profit governing body for enforcing fair play and drug-free sport, 5,317 doping control tests were administered to Canadian athletes over the past year.

While the CCES controls doping programs for numerous athletic governing bodies in the country such as Athletics Canada, U Sports—the Canadian university sport’s governing body—is one of the largest that the organization works with.

In 2017, eight U Sports athletes were caught violating the banned substance laws defined by the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of outlawed substances.

The CCES drug control program runs on one key element: surprise.

Its role in different sports varies as well. Football, which drives in a large portion of consumer and commercial interest for U Sports, undergoes painstaking procedures to ensure athletes are clean. However, other sports have fewer resources put towards drug control.

“Usually it’s only two [drug tests per race],” second-year cross

country runner Matt Flood told The Journal. “They’ll predetermine which positions they’ll test and it’s usually two positions within the top five.”

Once the predetermined athlete is selected, the practice remains all the same. Competitions end and doping control officers chaperone the athlete, always keeping them in sight until a sufficient urine sample can be produced. This is done in large part to ensure athletes don’t swap their urine for a clean urine sample or attempt to dilute their urine by drinking water. Control officers are also required to watch the athlete urinate.

“You’re sitting there and the guy’s watching you do it,” Jack said.

Despite the CCES’ efforts, Jack said doping is an issue in leagues that aren’t sanctioned by the doping control program.

“At the end of high school, nearly half of my team was on [steroids],” Jack said, adding many of his former teammates went on to play university football.

While he believes all of them have stopped doping, he said steroids played a part in paving the way toward university football. Though Jack disclosed he’s never touched a performance-enhancing drug (PED), he completely understands these athletes’ perspectives.

“Given how badly I wanted to succeed … I was like, ‘What else can I do to succeed?’” Jack said.

The question, he added, doesn’t have an easy answer for players.

“A lot of [my high school teammates] were like 5’8” playing running back. If he goes to university … what is he? What can help him grow?”

A growing concern among athletes is how a banned substance can sneak into their bloodstream without their knowing. While some drugs are now labelled as threshold substances—meaning an athlete needs a certain amount of the substance in their bloodstream to get labelled as an abuse—Queen’s varsity athletes are prohibited from consuming certain over-the-counter medications.

“We’re not allowed to take Advil Cold and Sinus,” Jack said. “If you have a steroid cream that goes on your skin … that’s on you to know.”

The doping control program in Canada is hardly a joke. In

2010, nine University of Waterloo football players were caught for anti-doping violations. The program was shut down for the season and, despite reinstating in 2011, had difficulties after many of its clean players transferred.

Marijuana remains banned substance

Announced earlier this summer, Canada’s legalization of marijuana is leaving no impact on WADA’s banned substance list. Since the agency’s inception in 1999, it’s kept consistent with one universal banned substance list. As such, U Sports substance regulations remain unaffected by legalization.

The CCES and WADA have, however, made changes to protect its athletes from easily testing positive for cannabis.

Cannabis was recently labelled a threshold drug by WADA. Previous to the changes in regulation, athletes with a concentration of 15 nanograms per millilitre in their urine or bloodstream would be sanctioned.

Now, an athlete must have 150 nanograms per millilitre in their system to test positive for cannabis.

While marijuana has largely been acknowledged to not be performance enhancing, the issue of its use in sport remains contentious.

“The consensus opinion from all those experts including the stakeholders of all the countries around the world, many countries feel much more strongly about cannabis,” Paul Melia, President and CEO of the CCES, said in an interview with The Journal.

“They see it as a gateway to harder drugs.”

Football head coach Pat Sheahan is of similar mind to the drug. He said he doesn’t see its benefits in sport.

“I’m certainly not a proponent of athletes having their blood full of THC,” Sheahan said. “I don’t see how it enhances your athletics but, by the same token, it is a drug.”

Of the nine banned-substance sanctions made across U Sports in 2017, four were for cannabis violations—with each athlete receiving a two-month suspension.

Melia said U Sports wishes to be code-compliant with WADA because numerous varsity athletes compete internationally—some

even at the Olympic level.

In order to compete abroad, these athletes must adhere to WADA’s substance policy. But with the legalization of marijuana in Canada, the issue is becoming more contentious—and ambiguous.

“The list committee uses three criteria: is it harmful for the athletes’ health, is it performance enhancing, or is it contrary to the spirit of sport?” Melia said, acknowledging it’s not easy to argue that marijuana fits into any of those categories. “That third criteria is a bit ambiguous for sure.”

In order to clarify any confusion around the subject, all U Sports athletes are required to complete a short online course on drug control in order to be eligible to compete.

In the offseason, athletes aren’t subjected to drug tests and the use of marijuana is considered permissible by the CCES’ banned substance policy.

Recently, many professional athletes have been vocal supporters of marijuana as not only harmless, but a helpful substance in mitigating pain—especially in contact sports. They tout it as a healthier and less addictive substance than painkillers like codeine or morphine.

In sports such as hockey and football—where contact is at the forefront—addiction to painkillers has become an issue, especially to retired athletes who’ve tried to alleviate aches and pains with the drugs.

For those wishing to get marijuana off WADA’s banned substance list, they’re likely to be met with difficulty.

Certain leagues who are unaffiliated with WADA, such as the Canadian Football League, don’t test for marijuana. But with numerous countries unwilling to budge on decriminalization, it’s removal from the list is unlikely.

However unlikely, though, Melia said the CCES is open to negotiating with WADA. “[The policy] is not necessarily intended to address athletes who compete at a lower level. That’s probably the case for more varsity athletes in most sports,” Melia said.

“If there’s willingness on the part of WADA to do something in this area [we’ll discuss it], but I don’t know if that’s likely at all.”

Jack Rabb Staff Writer

Heading into the 2018-19 season, first-year men’s volleyball head coach Gabriel DeGroot is ready to steer the ship.

DeGroot’s no stranger to Queen’s volleyball. He joined the team as an assistant coach in 2010 after an outstanding OUA career as a player with Guelph, earning OUA All-Star selections in two consecutive seasons. Serving under the leadership of longtime Gaels head coach Brenda Willis, DeGroot helped Queen’s to the playoffs each year since his arrival.

When Willis retired after last spring’s trip to the U Sports National Championships, a search for her successor began. Eventually, Queen’s found their ideal candidate right under their nose, promoting DeGroot to take the helm of the program.

The Gaels lost two key players to graduation this year: Markus Trence, an OUA All-Star and league-leader in kills last season, and veteran Jack Peckham.

However, DeGroot plans on filling in the gaps with their new but experienced young core.

In a phone interview with The Journal, DeGroot said their successors are an exciting prospect. “[Our sophomores] got a year of experience under their belts,” DeGroot said of the team’s run at nationals last season. He added he doesn’t anticipate any fall-off from last year despite the youthfulness of the team.

The Gaels’ youth has already shown promise, with much of their 2017-18 squad being driven by second-years Mitchell Neuert and Julian Krygel. Perhaps the most notable performance last year came from setter Zane Grossinger, who averaged 9.72 assists per set, earning him OUA East Rookie of the Year honours, and a spot on the All-Canadian Rookie team.

“He’s the key to our offence,” DeGroot said of Grossinger.

To read the rest of the story, visit www.queensjournal. ca/sports

Sports

12 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, Oct 19, 2018

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Gaels poised for strong 2018-19 campaign

Women’s volleyball building off strides made last season, hosting home opener on Oct. 27 Maggie Gowland Assistant Sports Editor After a difficult loss to Western in last season’s OUA quarter-final, the women’s volleyball team is ready to hit the hardwood.

But coming off a season that marked significant improvement for the team, the Gaels are gearing up for the year with hopes of a better final outcome.

The Gaels—who haven’t passed the OUA quarter-finals since the 2011-12 season—are entering their second season under head coach Ryan Ratushniak, who sounded optimistic in an interview with The Journal earlier this week.

He said the Gaels are adjusting to some changes in personnel as they try to implement a new playbook into their offence. This year’s roster will see the absence of last season’s captain and First-Team All-Star, Shannon Neville.

“She carried a big load offensively, and was also a very strong leader for us,” Ratushniak said of Neville. “She’s the type of player that, regardless of our offensive personnel, is always going to be missed.”

FOOTBALL

Head coach Ryan Ratushniak is heading into his second season with the women’s team.

“There’s [currently] a greater understanding of our systems and how we want to play together as a team. But right now, we’re still going through a phase of actually

figuring out how to execute that in competition.”

For the 2018-19 season, fifth-years Victoria Wensley and Isabelle Korchinski will captain

Playoff implications abound for football on Homecoming Gaels ‘not in a conversation about a loss,’ says head coach ahead of game against Ottawa Matt Scace Sports Editor Coaches rarely utter the phrase, “Winning is everything.”

This weekend is the exception for the Queen’s football team (3-4), who are slated to host the UOttawa Gee-Gees (5-2) in their final game of the regular season on Homecoming Saturday.

A win gives them a shot at making the postseason. A loss would signify the official end to their 2018-19 campaign.

“The message [to the players], quite frankly, is that a win over Ottawa is the only thing that sort of gets us into the conversation [of making the playoffs],” head coach Pat Sheahan said at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

Aside from needing a win on Saturday, the Gaels’ playoff hopes are also hinging on three games that would put them into the postseason. If they beat Ottawa, their winning formula is as such: Windsor (1-6) beats McMaster (4-3), Western (7-0) defeats Laurier (4-3), and Guelph (4-3) wins over Waterloo (4-3).

Sheahan knows it’s a tall order—plenty of emotions will be swirling for every team playing on Saturday. Because of this, he’s asked the league-wide scores not

be put up on the scoreboard at Richardson Stadium on Saturday.

“We don’t want any distractions in the game for the boys,” he said.

It’s been a season of highs and lows for the Gaels. Their most recent loss came against McMaster in a devastating 27-24 game over Thanksgiving weekend.

It was their fourth consecutive game decided by three points or less—three of which they’ve lost.

All four games, won or lost, have largely been decided by field goals, tight calls, and comebacks.

“It’s been [about] who makes that one play on the given day,” Sheahan said. “You would just like to see [Queen’s players] rewarded but we’re not the only ones that work hard and get the bad bounces, so, at the end of the day, you’ve got to be grown up about it.”

“You’ve got to live and move on.”

The Gaels’ game against McMaster was abnormal in many regards—an 11 a.m. start time on Friday morning was a massive factor. The game also came a short five days after Queen’s 26-23 loss to Western, giving them minimal recovery time. Meanwhile, McMaster enjoyed a two-week preparation period after having the prior week off due to a bye.

“I don’t think the conditions were ideal,” Sheahan said. “There’s no question we probably weren’t

as sharp as we could’ve been had we been at home or if we’d had a couple days to prepare.”

UOttawa, their opponent on Saturday, has been one of the 2018-19 season’s biggest surprises. Currently second in the OUA, they’ve put up strong performances in tight games against Carleton, Guelph, and McMaster—all teams who’ve given Queen’s trouble this season.

Sheahan is viewing Ottawa’s defence as one of the pivotal aspects of Saturday’s game. He said Ottawa has a defence that likes to take risks—something he sees as a game of checks and balances.

“When they play a ramble-and-gamble defensive style on you, they’ll make some plays and they’ll give up some plays,” he said.

Ottawa will come into the game hungry for a win as much as Queen’s. They also have significant playoff implications on the line. A win would lock them into second place, but a loss could see them drop to fourth or fifth in the conference.

Regardless of the weekend’s scenarios, Sheahan is continuing to drill one sentiment into his team.

“We are not in a conversation about a loss to Ottawa. All of our efforts are directed to that goal.”

PHOTO BY MATT SCACE

the team.

In addition to the seniors on the roster, the team has several promising rookies who “read the game well,” according to Ratushniak.

The four new incoming first-years will be a welcome addition to a team who made massive strides last season and finished with a 13-6 record—a stark improvement from their 10-10 finish the year before. One of their wins last season came against McMaster, who ended the season with an OUA East-best 17-2 record.

So far, first-year outside hitter Arielle Palermo has become one of the rookies Ratushniak thinks could make a difference.

“She’s a very dynamic player in terms of her movement and jumping ability—[she] hits the ball hard,” he said. “She’s a very exciting player.”

As for the team navigating their new on-court dynamic in

competition, the Gaels faced some strong teams in their first slate of exhibition games this fall.

Over the weekend of Oct. 12-14, the team travelled to B.C. to play in the West Coast Classic exhibition tournament. Although the Gaels fell short in their three games against Trinity Western, UBC, and Thompson Rivers, Ratushniak said his team performed better as the tournament continued.

He also predicts UBC and Trinity will crack top-five in the country based on their previous year’s performances. “[That’s] good experience for us, and we got more consistent as the games went on,” he said. “We need to keep working on consistency and familiarity for each other.”

For their OUA season opener, the Gaels will host the Windsor Lancers on Oct. 27.

When the Gaels faced the Lancers last season, they won in five sets. Accordingly, Ratushniak thinks it’ll prove a tight and “very challenging” match.

“I think it will go down to a wire, and either team will win,” he said. “We have to come prepared for them and be ready to fight for points.” “[Windsor has] a lot of strong athletes, strong players, they can extend rallies … We’re going to have to execute our serving game very well against them.

We’re a strong serving team, so I think we’ll have to keep pressure on them.”

After their game against Windsor, the Gaels will face the Mustangs at home on Oct. 28—a team Ratushniak said will be very strong in the upcoming season, along with McMaster, Toronto, and Ryerson. Queen’s finished behind Toronto (15-4) and Ryerson (19-0) in the OUA East last season.

Overall, Ratushniak sees the OUA getting stronger as a whole—but that doesn’t seem to worry him.

“I think the lot will be similar to last year in some ways, but only time will tell.”

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Sports

Friday, Oct 19, 2018 Matt Scace, Maggie Gowland Sports Editors Football vs. UOttawa Gee-Gees 1 p.m. at Richardson Stadium It’s the football team’s last regular season game, and it’s likely going to be one to remember. With a 3-4 record, the Gaels need to win to earn a playoff spot.

It’ll be a tall order against UOttawa, who’s playing for second in the OUA with a 5-2 record. With that in hand, fans can expect to see one of two scenarios. With their playoff spot clinched, the Gee-Gees may rest their top athletes, giving the Gaels a strong chance.

Alternatively, Queen’s will go toeto-toe with one of the country’s best. The latter is more likely.

In either case, it’s bound to be a battle, but Queen’s grit and determination—and some help from the home crowd—will see them edge this one out.

GOLF

STAFF PICKS

Homecoming game predictions

The Journal’s sports editors forecast what’s in store for Queen’s teams this weekend

Max Bradshaw Contributor Queen’s golf capped their season off on a high note earlier this week, finding success at the OUA Championships on Monday and Tuesday. The men’s

• 13

the Gaels will look to right their wrongs as they come face-to-face with the OUA’s only undefeated team a second time.

After a gritty 29-24 OUA semi-final win over McMaster that secured them a spot at the U Sports National Championships, Queen’s will be in Guelph for a match that’s sure to keep fans on the edge of their seats.

Men’s hockey vs. Brock Badgers 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Centre

Despite playing away from home, the women’s rugby team have a chance at OUA gold this weekend against Guelph. While they lost to the Gryphons in their first meeting,

Two of the OUA’s undefeated teams are going to clash on Saturday night when the Gaels (3-0) take on the Brock Badgers (3-0).

Queen’s has already proven themselves on the biggest stage by taking down McGill—last year’s OUA Championship team—in their first game of the season last week. Meanwhile, Brock’s wins have come against York, Guelph, and Laurier—all undistinguished teams in the OUA. It’s early in the season, and plenty of unknowns continue to float in the air, but Queen’s young core has put up an impressive early-season defensive effort that should continue this weekend. In their three games, they’ve given up just one goal—Queen’s shut out RMC and UOIT last week 4-0 and 3-0, respectively.

hovering around five degrees and challenging winds on both days. Kristen MacLaren, first-year head coach for Queen’s golf program, described the wind as a “three club wind,” indicating the intense amount of resistance the wind provided against the ball.

“Playing in those conditions was mentally taxing for the players,” MacLaren told The Journal.

Due to the wind, the top scorer for the women’s division scored 20 over par, and the best golfer in the men’s division finished five over par.

“It’s not often that a player will win being 20 above par. The

weather conditions really made it tough for everyone on the course,” MacLaren said.

Robyn Campbell, captain of the women’s team, said the wind was one of the biggest external factors impeding on the Gaels’ play.

“We were playing in 30 kilometre winds. On top of thinking about our shots, we also had to take the wind into account,” she said.

Third-year teammate Jasmine Mussani concurred, adding, “I don’t think any of us have ever played golf in such terrible weather.””

With their season at a close, the team will spend their offseason training in preparation for the spring season.

Numerous Queen’s teams have their most important games of the season this weekend.

Men’s rugby vs. McMaster Marauders 3 p.m. at Nixon Field For their last regular season game, the undefeated Gaels (7-0) will take on the McMaster Marauders (4-3) to see if they truly reign

supreme over the OUA. This matchup will be a repeat of last season’s final regular season game, where Queen’s came out with a 62-18 victory.

So far, the Gaels have clinched a home-field advantage for the OUA playoffs, where they’ve

Gaels complete strong season at provincial championships Women win OUA silver, men finish in sixth at provincial championships

queensjournal.ca

team ended with a sixth place finish, while the women finished in second and podiumed with silver.

The winners of the provincial tournament—hosted by McMaster University at the Heron Point Golf Club in Hamilton—were the University of Toronto women’s team and the University of Ottawa’s men’s contingent.

On Tuesday—the final day of the competition—it came down to the wire for the Gaels’ women’s team. Going back and forth with U of T and leading by a number of points, the Gaels were ultimately unable to seal the deal. In the

end, U of T edged out Queen’s and finished with a gold medal.

The top performers for the men’s team were Trevor Corner and Micheal von Schalburg, who tied for 16th and finished at 16 strokes over par, ending 11 strokes off the lead. For the women, Campbell and third-year Jasmine Mussani tied for fifth individually finishing at +28, solid for eight strokes off the lead.

Given the abnormally high scores, no golfer was a fan of the weather.

The weather made the tournament particularly difficult, with temperatures

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

secured themselves the top overall seed. The Gaels will look to take down McMaster this homecoming as they continue in their chase for a second consecutive Turner Trophy.

Women’s Rugby vs. Guelph Gryphons 12 p.m. in Guelph, Ontario

14 • queensjournal.ca

Friday, October 19, 2018

Lifestyle

Celebrate marijuana’s legalization with these five films Eli Nadler and Jamie Urbanek Contributors

This week comes with many blessings: midterms winding down, friends visiting for Homecoming, and, of course, Canada’s legalization of marijuana.

Whether you’re trying weed for the first time or are familiar with the drug, one of the best ways to enhance your high experience is watching movies. Here are some recommendations for when you and your housemates cuddle up on the couch and indulge in legally acceptable weed.

LIFE HACKS

A guide to the perfect movies to watch while legally high

Watch Inception if you want to get lost

Watch Moana if you miss the beach

There’s nothing quite like the picturesque view of Moana sailing the ocean seas and the soothing sound of Dwayne Johnson’s voice to trick yourself into thinking you’re on a beach. While high, there’s no better narrative than the spiritual journey of Moana.

Moana takes everything great about a Disney princess movie and puts it against the backdrop of a tropical island. Sit back, relax, and try to forget that it will be 10 degrees and possibly raining on Homecoming.

For extra points, take a drag of your joint every time the water comes alive. We realize this makes no sense out of context—which is why you need to watch the movie.

great action scenes and comedic relief.

While the high-budget effects of Marvel movies might be too overwhelming in your current state, Sky High packs in all the action with double the fun. The movie is ridiculously entertaining and will have your altered mind fully engaged throughout its entirety.

Movies like Moana and Inception can enhance your experience.

Watch Sausage Party if you want to get wacky

You can’t go wrong with Sausage Party.

This movie is technically terrible—feeling a little high makes it less terrible. Animated hot dogs and tacos making crude jokes suddenly become Oscar-worthy and make you completely forget your troubles from the real world, like your hand being wrist-deep in a container of Kraft peanut butter.

Becoming emotionally invested in a narrative centered on grocery store products realizing their life’s purpose ultimately leads to their demise is truly an experience like

no other. But with the calming effects of weed on your side, I promise you’ll get through it.

Watch Pineapple Express if you’re feeling adventurous

Seth Rogen, who proves not all heroes wear capes, perfected the stoner comedy with Pineapple Express.

While it may not sound like it, two idiot stoners finding themselves in the midst of a marijuana-related death crime investigation is exactly what you’ll want to see high. The entire movie is basically one long conversation between two friends sitting on a couch and throwing ridiculous

STUDENT LIFE

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ALLY MASTAN-

ideas back and forth.

You’ll get the consistent urge over the course of the film to wash James Franco’s hair—but don’t worry, the deadpan one-liners and absurd events will be the perfect distraction.

Watch Sky High if you need a pick-me-up

If you’re feeling like a sidekick, or a little blue, this Disney superhero movie gem will lift you up.

Sky High is set at a school that teaches teenagers how to be superheroes and sidekicks, and is filled with

Here’s the wildcard—Inception.

This one’s a wild ride, and likely not suitable for the stilladapting minds of rookie smokers. Inception’s premise—a science fiction analysis of our reality’s relation to our dreams—makes for a rollercoaster. A benefit of watching this movie high is it’ll actually make a lot more sense to you than if you watch it sober.

Beware of the film’s jolting moments, like when Marion Cotillard jumps out of a window.

Its disturbing because you’ll be stoned, and also because she’s a sensational Oscar-winning actress who sells the big fall eerily well.

Do not watch…

Now that you know what you should watch, here’s a quick list of films to avoid at all costs while you are under marijuana’s influence. Don’t watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because incurable munchies will take over, or The Revenant because that bear attack will stop your heart. The Truman Show will convince your already paranoid self that you’re being watched.

With these suggestions and warnings in mind, sit back, relax, and don’t for even one second think about that deadline you missed earlier today.

In defense of learning a second language Learning new languages is a more realistic goal than people think

Claudia Rupnuk Contributor Over the summer, I was drinking my morning coffee at a friend’s cottage when their father mentioned the current state of the Ontario Secondary School Core French Curriculum—the French-as-a-second language program designed for native English speakers in secondary schools.

He was critical of the curriculum’s grammar-intensive focus because it’d discouraged his children from taking language classes following their mandatory ninth grade French course.

His children wanted to learn how to speak French conversationally, but found the majority of their classes were spent memorizing verb tenses and trivial grammatical nuances.

Having already taken French

throughout elementary school, they were disappointed at limited fluency.

As a result, he firmly believed the curriculum should be rewritten to prioritize simple French-language conversational skills, as opposed to the literacy building blocks of reading and writing.

I was incredulous. How can someone expect to speak a language without understanding basic conjugations or developing a vocabulary?

While French was my favourite class in high school, I was familiar with the experience described by his children because it’s one shared by nearly everyone else I know.

My friends hated French class and dropped it as soon as they could. Readings were difficult, grammar exercises were time consuming, and presentations were embarrassing. To top it

all off, most of my friends also weren’t achieving the grades they wanted in the course.

As a French Studies major and Spanish minor, I understand their frustration. I’ve spent afternoons reading twenty pages of pure medieval French poetry and still felt like I wasn’t fully understanding the content. I’ve sat through lectures and understood only every other word the professor said.

Achieving fluency can feel like an impossible goal.

As most language learners would agree, there’s a stigma surrounding the process of learning a new language that prevents people from getting started.

The general thought process about learning a language is it must be easy, and you shouldn’t struggle learning or investing copious amounts of time into it. If you struggle, you must be

inherently bad at picking up the language.

Yes, learning a new language is difficult. But it’s supposed to be difficult. It’s the process of teaching y o u r brain how to

communicate with an entirely new set of rules. It’s a constant challenge.

Among secondary and post-secondary students, STEM subjects are considered complicated and require time and dedication in order to better understand its material. On the other hand, language classes are widely viewed as bird

courses—with university students choosing first year language courses as easy fillers in their schedules, and dropping them after.

To read the rest of this article, go to queensjournal.ca/

lifestyle

GRAPHIC BY NOUR MAZLOUM

Lifestyle

Friday, October 19, 2018

queensjournal.ca

Graham McKitrick Contributor Kanye West made headlines last week—even more than usual—after visiting the White House to meet with his current political idol, President Donald Trump.

While Kanye’s support of Trump may seem to reflect his political beliefs, his jumping on the MAGA train likely has more to do with his artistic philosophy than his political opinions.

Kanye’s music career has been based on doing things that are either outside the mainstream, or things that became the mainstream. A theme in his art has always been distancing himself from norms. His samples and songs draw from any genre you can think of, and the broad artistic scope of his albums are the opposite of consistency.

Musically and artistically, Kanye is a contrarian—he takes opposing views and rejects majority opinion. His hotly debated, right-leaning political activities over the past year align with that same theme: he’s rejecting

Musically and artistically, Kanye is a contrarian—he takes opposing views and rejects majority opinion.

the popular or mainstream.

Since Kanye’s recent political stances don’t seem to fit any historical trend, it’s reasonable to believe he supports Trump

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ALLY MASTANTUONO

Kanye’s art is reflected in all areas of his life, including his politics.

QJ POLITICS

Kanye West’s politics aren’t personal, they’re his art West’s newfound love of Donald Trump is consistent with his artistic style because it’s the contrarian thing to do—rather than some case of political motivation.

He has no history of assured political leanings. He’s not a Republican, as evidenced by his comments on live TV regarding George Bush not caring about

Black people during Hurricane Katrina. He’s also had a public feud with former Democratic president Barack Obama, who called Kanye a “jacka—” after the latter’s infamous interruption of Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009.

Trump seems to be the first political figure Kanye has supported with enthusiasm, which suggests the reasons behind his support aren’t actually tied to politics.

Trump is raw, unpredictable, and says whatever he wants

to say—all qualities of Kanye’s music. It shouldn’t be a surprise that someone who extends his art into unpredictable places would use the same philosophy in a political endorsement.

Not only is Trump inconsistent and spontaneous, but within K a nye ’ s social sphere—Democratic Hollywood—he’s the most reviled political figure, and is therefore the most c o n t ra r i a n political option.

One of Kanye’s most consistent messages justifying his support for Trump is that “Black people don’t have to be Democrats.”

It’d make more sense for Kanye, if he were truly Republican or at least conservative, to frame this argument in a positive light—that black people can be Republicans. Instead, it’s more likely the case that Kanye is apolitical and this argument is part of his war against societal norms.

It stands to reason that if the situation was reversed and Hollywood was predominantly Republican—perhaps with Hillary Clinton as president and the majority of Black voters identifying as conservatives—Kanye’s message would be Black people can be Democrats.

The substance of his message isn’t about what should be, but what can be.

All the evidence, from the style of Kanye’s music and personality to the substance of what he says, reveals an artist whose art is reflected in all areas of his life—including his politics.

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16 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, October 19, 2018

POSTSCRIPT

Queen’s students and alumni share their most memorable Homecomings Stories of sneaking into a football game, revisiting campus after 20 years, and more

Homecoming brings students and alumni together to celebrate Queen’s.

Journal Staff Whether it’s running down Aberdeen Street or connecting with past generations of Gaels, Homecoming is an unforgettable experience in the Queen’s community.

As this year’s celebration approaches, The Journal asked students and alumni to share the stories of their most memorable Homecoming. ***

“In 2008, my three housemates and I returned to Queen’s for our 20th reunion. The moment we stepped into Grant Hall and received our welcome packages, we began reminiscing. It was great to see so many familiar faces and catch up with old friends.

On Saturday—before the much-anticipated football game—my housemates and I decided to visit all the places we’d lived while at Queen’s.

We took pictures outside of Victoria Hall, in front of our house on Albert, and on the porch of our place on Johnson Street.

While we laughed on the porch of our old home, the door opened and a young man asked if he could help us. We excitedly explained that we’d lived in the house 22 years earlier.

He kindly invited us in to see our old rooms and introduced us to his housemates—second-year Engineering students who were working instead of going to the

football game. They offered us beers and toured us around our old home.

We ending up sitting around the kitchen table with the boys, drinking beer and sharing stories about what Queen’s was like 20 years ago. We completely forgot about the football game.

We were having too much fun sitting in our old house.

When it was time to leave, one of the young men said: ‘I can’t believe we just spent the afternoon drinking and sharing stories with women who went to Queen’s before we were even born.’

We left feeling very old, but very happy. Before heading home the next morning, we snuck back to our Johnson Street house and left a pack of beer on the front porch with a thankyou note. As we drove away, the door opened and the four young men ran after our car, thanking us.

A very sweet memory of coming home.”

—Sharon Nagle, ConEd ‘88

“My first Homecoming, I was decked out in purple dye, tipsy by 10 a.m., and ready to charge the football field during halftime—back when it was still allowed.

On my way to the stadium, I lost my ticket but let my inebriated courage lead the way.

Breaking off from the main crowd, I snuck into the guest entrance and convinced two security

Queen’s alumni during Homecoming last fall.

guards I had entered and got lost looking for the bathroom. They fell for every word, walked me back to the student bleachers, and hoisted me up into the stands.

Later that evening, my luck came crashing down.

Full of Leonard Hall pasta and PBR beer, I ran loose in the Brant Hall lobby.

Kingston police officers found me and took me away to sleep it off. After resting on a hot concrete bench for hours, I was released.

The officers gave me a McMuffin sandwich for my troubles and a great party story I’ve been telling ever since.”

—Anonymous, Eng ‘19

“My first year at Queen’s was also my dad’s 30th anniversary of his graduation. Since his life doesn’t revolve around me, he and my mom came to Kingston with their friends to celebrate Homecoming—to me and my brother’s irritation.

My parents promised they wouldn’t bother us on Homecoming and, instead, we went out for dinner the night before, which was a good compromise.

The next day, I ran around with my friends and tried to find a party we could sneak into.

Giving up around 11 p.m., we headed to Aberdeen with the crowd.

At the corner of Aberdeen and William, I spotted two familiar faces—it was my mom and

dad. We didn’t hang out for long because I couldn’t wait to run away with my friends.

It was very memorable, to say the least. Few people have partied with their parents at Queen’s Homecoming.

—Hannah Stafl, ArtSci ‘20

“One Queen’s homecoming, my crew and I were leaving our pre-party when a random guy, roughly our age, came up to us.

He said he was from out of town, claimed to have lost his phone, and offered $100 to someone willing to call him and his friends a cab.

All my friends were ignoring him, focused on navigating the homecoming party-crawl.

I doubted there was any money, but I felt bad for the guy.

I pulled out my phone, found the cab company’s number, and asked for a car to be sent to the area.

Once I got off the phone, I was shocked to find the guy holding out a $100 bill. As I ran to catch up with my friends, they were all amazed he actually gave me the money.

I bought all 12 of my friends Subway for lunch and was the real MVP of HoCo.” —Elise Agnor, ArtSci ‘17

“While my Homecoming memories are a bit blurry, I recall an overarching feeling of anxiety about fitting in at all the events and parties. I remember

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

my first Homecoming as the beginning of feeling truly comfortable at Queen’s, getting into a groove, and finding my people.

I lived in Morris and had a roommate who went to Toronto for Homecoming. Her absence allowed me to open up my room for shenanigans.

One activity involved purple Kool-Aid, which managed to spill everywhere. That, coupled with the general chaos of dozens of people celebrating, turned the room into a disaster zone.

My roommate arrived with her mother on Sunday of Homecoming weekend while I was in the washroom. When I returned, her mother exclaimed, ‘Colleen, someone has ransacked your room. Are you okay?’

My roommate switched into another room that very night and I had a double room to myself for the rest of the year.

A more noble Homecoming memory is being moved when senior Queen’s alumni took the field during the football game’s halftime. Their smiling faces—and seeming success—made me confident in the choices I’d made.

It connected me to the past, and I knew that for the most part, everything works out. Your Queen’s memories are yours to count on when you choose to—and an Oil Thigh can be done at any age.”

—Colleen Kennedy, ArtSci ‘93

PHOTOS BY CHRIS YAO