Queen's Journal, Volume 146, Issue 24

the journal

Queen’s University

Vol. 146, Issue 24

Friday, March 8, 2019

Since 1873

Board of Trustees conditionally approves JDUC redevelopment

R aechel H uizinga Assistant News Editor

After spending years seeking student approval for the JDUC redevelopment, the AMS has one final challenge: raising $10 million in donor funding.

The Board of Trustees conditionally approved the JDUC project on Mar. 1, requiring the AMS, SGPS, and University to raise a minimum of $10 million in donor and alumni funding before construction can begin.

“I think $10 million, personally, is a lot of money,” AMS President Miguel Martinez said in an interview with The Journal. “But I think the University is constantly running

$10 million in donor funding needed before construction begins

campaigns like this and kind of going out and getting donor funding.”

Martinez pointed to the Richardson stadium redevelopment in 2016—in which Queen’s secured millions in donor funding—as a sign the Society will be able to raise the funds necessary for the JDUC project. He called the donors for Richardson’s revitalization an “exclusive” set of alumni who were connected to the stadium, including past football players, and believes the JDUC

project can cast a wider net to generate alumni funding.

“A student life building is a building that’s for all students. And donors usually like to see their donations impact as many people as possible,” Martinez said.

The AMS will work with the University’s Advancement Office to approach potential alumni for donations, but can’t begin this process without the Board’s approval, which is why it’s considered conditional.

“We’re not allowed to basically start building anything and moving forward with construction until all of the funding is in place, but at the same time, we’re not permitted to go out and start raising money from donors until the project has received the full and final approval from the Board of Trustees,” Martinez said. “It’s kind of a chicken and an egg.”

He added the University will allow an upfront payment of $1.5 million, separate from the planned $10 million, to pay architectural firms HDR and MJMA to develop their designs over the next several months.

See Redevelopment on page 5

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

WOMEN’S DAY:

Students honour their female role models J osh G ranovsky Lifestyle Editor

V

O G U E

PHOTOS BY MAGGIE GOWLAND

CHARITY FASHION SHOW RETURNS FOR 22ND YEAR • Page 8 •

On Mar. 8, people all over the world will celebrate International Women’s Day for its 108th year. While the global day aims to raise awareness for the necessity of gender equality, it also serves to remind us of the amazing contributions women make each day.

In honour of International Women’s Day, we asked Queen’s students to share stories about women who’ve changed their lives for the better.

• Page 13 • ILLUSTRATION BY AMELIA RANKINE

IN THIS ISSUE: AMS’ first ‘Student Advocacy Symposium’ taking place, p. 5. A look into The Journal’s biggest stories, p. 6.

The price is right to eat ethically, p. 6. Backlash over the Gillette ad is overblown, p. 7. Men’s hockey captain leaves legacy, p. 11. queensjournal.ca

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2 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, March 8, 2019

Smith School teams up with Catalyst Canada Partnership explores workplace diversity, inclusion programs through survey Luca Dannetta Staff Writer The Smith School of Business has announced a strategic partnership with Catalyst Canada to explore diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Catalyst Canada is a global non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of women in the world of business.

“Enhancing diversity and inclusion is a priority for both the Business School and the University,” Mitch Gudgeon, Smith’s director of strategic partnerships, wrote in an email to The Journal.

Gudgeon said workplace dynamics are shifting, and that Smith recognizes the importance of developing inclusive leaders who can manage diverse teams.

As a first step, Smith commissioned Catalyst to conduct a survey exploring attitudes toward diversity and inclusion initiatives in the workplace, a press release

from the University confirmed last week.

The survey, which polled 1,000 working Canadians, found that while the majority, 69 per cent, are positively inclined towards diversity and inclusion programs, roughly 40 per cent of employees are unaware whether their companies even have such programs.

The survey also explored different perceptions of diversity and inclusion initiatives across gender divides, finding that men are significantly more likely to believe diversity and inclusion narratives are no longer necessary and that Canadian society is sufficiently inclusive.

Notably, the survey found women in companies without diversity and inclusion initiatives are less likely than men to report they feel comfortable acting like themselves in the workplace. The gender difference on this metric disappears in companies that have pursued these initiatives.

This survey marks the beginning of what Smith and Catalyst hope will be a fruitful partnership.

Moving forward, the relationship between the two will focus on three key areas.

First, a corporate discussion forum will unite industry leaders, Smith faculty, and Catalyst experts to share challenges and

The partnership began with a survey exploring workplace diversity.

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

strategies for fostering greater inclusion management roles. Focuses will include in the workplace. development in leadership for LGBTQ+ Following that, a new research hub people, women, new Canadians, and led by Smith faculty will conduct research Indigenous peoples. on new endeavours in workplace Smith was also the first Canadian diversity and inclusion with input from school to join the Forté Foundation, a Canadian companies. non-profit that aims to bolster women’s Finally, Smith will integrate core ranks in business schools and c-suites. Over content from Catalyst’s inclusive their 11-year partnership, the schools have leadership training into the academic provided $40,000 in Forté Foundation curriculum for commerce students. Fellowships each year for up to four This will include courses on managing women in the full-time MBA program. unconscious bias and building inclusive Smith aims to remain in a leadership communication workplace. position regarding diversity and inclusion Smith hopes the partnership with going forward.

Catalyst will add to their already extensive More details on the Smith-Catalyst set of programs designed to foster diversity partnership, and details on training and inclusion both in the business school programs, will be announced later in 2019. and in the workplace.

“We believe there is a great opportunity For example, the Centre for Social Impact to accelerate our shared goal of creating a at the Smith School is initiating a Diversity more inclusive workforce,” Gudgeon said. and Inclusion Professional Series that “We look forward to seeing the impact this seeks to address diversity gaps in senior partnership will make moving forward.”

Peer Support Centre hosts annual Cares Week

Week of events asks students to invest in their personal wellbeing, highlights self-care Ellen Nagy Staff Writer From March 4 to 8, the Peer Support Centre held a series of events dedicated to fostering mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing on campus.

“As students, we’re under a lot of pressure,

and for us [this week] was just the perfect opportunity to open a conversation about how we take care of ourselves while all that craziness is going on,” PSC Outreach Coordinator, Sierra Gaudreault, told The Journal.

PSC Cares Week worked to emphasize the importance of taking time for

PSC Coordinators Sierra Gaudreault (left) and Nike Elmi (right).

SUPPLIED BY SIERRA GAUDREAULT

self-care and its multifaceted modes through accessible and interactive events.

“All these events are financially accessible, so they’re open to everyone,” PSC Outreach Coordinator, Nika Elmi, told The Journal.

The week kicked off on Monday with a whiteboard campaign in the ARC where students were invited to share p o s i t ive statements about themselves, followed by a clothing sale that sold apparel marked with encouraging phrases.

On Tuesday, the PSC also invited students to engage with the Kingston community, traveling to Tuesday night’s City Council meeting to join the conversation on climate change.

The booth hosted Wednesday in the ARC was a seed planting event called “Nourish to Flourish,” which invited students to pot and nurture seedlings.

Thursday’s “Notes of Kindness” encouraged students to write messages to themselves for rainy days, calling attention to the ways they can support themselves. Meanwhile, Friday’s “Bags of Joy” asked students to create bags of candy.

Coordinators Gaudreault and Elmi identified “Paint Night” on March 7 as the week’s most popular event. It’s in collaboration with the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, a partnership that extends throughout the semester via the “Art Hive” series which also offers drop-in art therapy on Thursday evenings.

The final event of the week is a community dinner on March 8 at the

Queen’s University International Centre in Mitchell Hall.

“A lot of these events are drop-in based, so you can really work them into your schedule, and also stay for as little or as long as you like,” Gaudreault said.

The PSC is also aware of the individually specific self-care and have consciously curated, not only a week, but a year full of differing self-care activities, including presentations, physical exercise classes, and art nights.

“We do different events throughout the year […] They’re always accessible and [we] invite everyone on Queen’s campus to participate in these community themed events,” Gaudreault said.

The PSC’s community emphasis also speaks through the number of collaborators they’ve worked with on care events.

From art therapy nights at the Agnes, community dinners with the AMS Food Bank, to partnerships with Queen’s Commerce Mental Health Association and jack.org Summit, the PSC seeks to expand its presence on campus.

“We like to have things going on that people can come, take a pause and participate in,” Gaudreault said.

Aside from events, the PSC has regular office hours from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in Room 34 of the JDUC, Monday through Sunday, offering non-judgmental and confidential support to Queen’s students.

“We can provide resources and support—drop-in is very valuable to the students,” Elmi said.

News

Friday, March 8, 2019

queensjournal.ca • 3

Research assistants bargain against two-year wage freeze, lack of intellectual property

Students send postcards to Principal Woolf.

Union campaigns on campus, sends hundreds of postcards to Principal Woolf Raechel Huizinga Assistant News Editor

“The [U]niversity remains committed to the collective bargaining process.”

After around 50 research assistants came forward as witnesses to the OLRB, the Board made a ruling classifying them as employees on Feb. 16, 2017, allowing them to count the ballots and unionize.

PSAC has had 15 meetings with the

“Asking us to wait another

Queen’s research assistants have spent two years for a wage five years fighting for fair wages—but increase is unacceptable they might not see any improvements for because we’ve already another two years. waited five years to get At a bargaining meeting on Monday, the University’s first wage proposal for research to this point.” assistants included a two-year freeze, meaning assistants who currently hold —Craig Berggold, contracts with Queen’s wouldn’t receive any PSAC President pay increases or health and dental benefits until 2021.

The problem, according to Public University’s faculty of relations over the past Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) Local 901 10 months, bargaining for its first contract President Craig Berggold, is many research with research assistants. They’re hoping to assistants will have graduated by then. eventually be paid the same rate as teaching “Asking us to wait another two years for assistants, who currently earn an hourly a wage increase is unacceptable because wage of $41.37. we’ve already waited five years to get to “This is our first contract, and that’s this point,” he said in an interview with The what makes this a really exciting round Journal on Wednesday. of organizing and bargaining, because the In 2014, approximately 600 research bargaining team is trying to ensure the assistants at Queen’s voted on union standards for our first contract represent certification, but the ballots weren’t counted what we need,” Berggold said. until 2017.

Vice-President of PSAC Local 901 According to Berggold, the University Suhaylah Sequeira told The Journal one contested the employee status of research of the Alliance’s biggest concerns going assistants after the vote, prompting the into bargaining was differentiating Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) research assistant employee work and to freeze the ballot count until it made Graduate Research Assistant Fellowship a ruling on whether they were students (GRAF) work—which is work related to a or employees. student’s thesis.

The University declined a request for “What we found is that, in the sciences, confirmation of its contestation. a lot of people who are under GRAF “The current negotiations between the contracts are also conducting employee [U]niversity and PSAC are in respect of a first work,” Sequeira said. “As we went into contract for graduate students employed bargaining, that was our first really big as research assistants,” Director of Faculty discussion—how to draw that line.”

Relations Michael Villeneuve wrote in a GRAF students receive their funding in statement to The Journal. “Given that we are funding packages, while research assistants in negotiations, it would be inappropriate to usually receive contracts in addition to comment further at this time.” their packages.

According to Berggold, however, many GRAF students perform work unrelated to their theses.

“A lot of the GRAF [students] were also being asked in the labs to supervise undergrads, which isn’t related to their theses,” he said, adding other non-thesis activities included fixing machines and cleaning labs.

“Nobody’s doing a chapter in their thesis on how to clean a lab.”

Another surprise at the most recent bargaining meeting was the University’s position on intellectual property rights.

“It’s one of the hurdles that was unexpected at the table,” Berggold said.

“They tabled very limited intellectual property language and we were quite surprised by that.”

He added getting credit for work is “very important” to a research assistant’s success.

“We say publish or perish. If we can’t achieve that recognition in this contract, it’ll be very difficult for our members to ratify any deal, no matter how much money is on the table.”

According to Sequeira, while not every research assistant contributes original ideas to the research they’re working on, many of them do.

“Quite a few, especially Masters and PhD students [who’ve] been in their field of study quite some time, do contribute original ideas,” she said. “We were very taken aback to basically hear from the University that intellectual property rights and language didn’t really apply to research assistants.”

The University declined a request for comment on its discussion of intellectual property rights at the meeting.

Berggold stressed, however, the biggest issue PSAC’s facing is the potential two-year wage freeze.

Several other Ontario universities pay research assistants the same hourly wage as teaching assistants, according to documents obtained by The Journal.

The University of Ottawa pays both its teaching and research assistants $43.98.

At Carleton, teaching and research assistants are both paid $41.70, and at

PHOTO BY CHRIS YAO

McMaster, both are paid $43.63.

At McGill, research assistants earn $34.61 an hour, more than its teaching assistants who earn $29.33.

According to Berggold, many research assistants at Queen’s only earn minimum wage.

Adriana Zichy is a research assistant in her final year of law school.

When she graduates, she’ll be $85,000 in debt.

She makes $14.50 an hour.

“I think it’s frustrating, because research assistants contribute so much to the publication process and support so much of the faculty’s work,” Zichy said in an interview with The Journal. “I think we should be paid fairly for that time and effort.”

Along with other research assistants, Zichy’s been campaigning with PSAC across campus for fair wages. As well as handing out over 500 comic books, the campaigners are inviting members of the Queen’s community to send postcards to Principal Daniel Woolf.

“I think it’s frutrating, because research assistants contribute so much to the publication process and support so much of the faculty’s work.”

—Adriana Zichy, Research Assistant

Zichy said hundreds of students and faculty have sent postcards to Woolf, including one professor who wrote that “no research assistance equals no publications.”

“We have professors coming and signing all the time, sharing their thoughts,” she said. “There’s a lot of broad support on campus for the campaign.”

PSAC will meet with the Faculty of Relations again on Mar. 25 for the next round of bargaining.

News

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Friday, March 8, 2019

Club to hold climate rally next week QBACC to march from campus to City Hall with students, faculty Catherine Lu Contributor

Spaces to advance entrepreneurship on campus are located in Mitchell Hall.

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

Queen’s partners with U of T to advance entrepreneurship University secures new space for Kingston startups to grow in Toronto through ONRamp initiative

Toronto,” Banting said.

“Entrepreneurs and startups working with Queen’s, as well as community partners, will be invited to use the ONRamp facilities as a location for meetings in downtown Toronto with potential investors, customers and suppliers, and government officials.”

Queen’s is the fourth university to partner with U of T, following McMaster, Waterloo, and Western.

Claudia Rupnik “Through collaboration with U of T Assistant News Editor and other ONRamp member universities, Queen’s will contribute to the strengthening Queen’s is prioritizing post-grad of the Ontario innovation network,” student success with their latest Banting said. “Not only will [those] university partnership. working with Queen’s be able to use the On Feb. 28, Queen’s announced space, others using the ONRamp facilities they’re the newest member of the will be welcome to participate in University of Toronto’s ONRamp initiative. workshops and events organized ONRamp provides entrepreneurs and by Queen’s and delivered in new businesses with access to work space, the space.” events, and networking opportunities in The University hopes researchers and Toronto. The U of T Entrepreneurship team entrepreneurs affiliated with Queen’s launched the program in 2017. will benefit from the new space, as “Through Queen’s membership in students will be able to use it free ONRamp, we’re able to complement of charge. and expand the innovation and “Given the downtown location of entrepreneurship landscape that is ONRamp, and proximity to MaRS available to researchers, innovators, and [Discovery District in Toronto], this is a entrepreneurs working with Queen’s,” valuable resource that provides students Jim Banting, assistant vice-principal with a professional atmosphere to network (partnerships and innovation) said in and build their businesses,” Amanda an email to The Journal.

Gilbert, communications coordinator, The ONRamp facility consists of Research Partnership Unit, said in an email a 15,000-square-foot collaboration to The Journal. and co-working space located in U of Entrepreneurs affiliated with Queen’s T’s downtown campus. Through the who are interested in accessing the space partnership, Queen’s and Kingston-based can visit the ONRamp facility at 100 entrepreneurs and researchers are granted College St. access to a workspace in the city.

Those who use the space are asked “The space provides Queen’s-connected to notify the University through Gilbert startups and researchers with a landing pad by email, amanda.gilbert@queensu.ca, in Toronto to hold meetings and use hot when the space is used to allow the desk space,” Banting said. monitoring of the partnership’s value.

While Queen’s has developed an “While our local resources are always environment that supports innovation available to student entrepreneurs and in Kingston through various acceleration researchers, we realize [they] may need programs and incubation spaces, to travel to larger hubs for collaboration including those available at Innovation meetings, pitch events, and other business Park and in Mitchell Hall, the University development opportunities,” Gilbert said. recognized the need for workspaces “ONRamp provides a in Toronto. home-away-from-home for startups “Many of our researchers and companies and researchers needing to conduct based in Kingston and working with some of their work and meetings Queen’s, hold business meetings in in Toronto.”

Kingston locals, educators, and news media to help facilitate the message beyond the day’s events.

Queen’s Backing Action on Climate “I think this one’s different from Change (QBACC) has organized a past actions, too, because it’s incorporating community rally on Mar. 15 to show the Kingston community and working support for action on climate change with local groups like 350 Kingston in Kingston. and The Kingston Climate Hub to reach The event will start at noon around out to the entire city and surroundings,” the intersection of University Avenue Weder said. “It’s a general call to action and Union Street, and over the course of to everybody who has a stake in two hours will make its way up Union this crisis.” to Princess, then back south until it The funds QBACC used for posters reaches City Hall. and advertisements were provided QBACC has been advocating by the AMS, but outreach efforts were for increased awareness around completed by volunteers, many within climate change for more than coordinating groups.

15 years, including sending students The rally’s purpose, according to to protests in Ottawa and Toronto. In Lorraway and Weder, is to centre the recent years, they’ve expanded importance of climate change efforts to their outreach and fossil fuel preserving the city they love, rather than divestment campaign. protesting lack of effort.

Julia Weder, co-chair of Divest Weder also said she wants to host Queen’s and ArtSci ’19, and Nick small collaborative sessions to continue Lorraway, co-chair of QBACC the momentum of the climate change and ArtSci ’20, spoke to conversation before graduating at the The Journal about the event, explaining end of the academic year. at least 22 professors are expected With an estimated turnout to attend. of over 200 people, she hopes “We’ve got more outreach this environmentally-minded individuals semester than we’ve ever had,” can meet at the rally and strike L o r ra way said. “ Eve r yo n e up a long-term relationship to I’ve talked to is, like, ‘I’m achieve change. going and my entire team’s “That’s the really empowering thing going.’

A lot of people about working with QBACC: the people are tired of sitting at home, and around you are truly dedicated and they want to go out to show they prioritizing this issue in their lives,” expect climate action to happen.”

Weder said. “We do divestment. We do Lorraway also said that even environmental activism. It’s a life purpose.” though the group has planned rallies before, they expect Kingston’s turnout out to be different and possibly the organization’s biggest.

In attendance, they hope to see

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Friday, March 8, 2019

News

First AMS ‘Student Advocacy Symposium’ taking place this weekend Inaugural event aims to gather student feedback, inform future policies Angus Merry Digital Manager On Sunday, the AMS will host its first-ever Student Advocacy Symposium.

Aimed at facilitating dialogue between students and the Society, the event hopes to gather feedback on the AMS and how it can improve its policy-making in the future.

“This will be the first year of what we hope becomes a crucial symposium for the future of the AMS,” Society President Miguel Martinez told The Journal. “As the incoming Executive [team] transitions in, learns about their roles, and gets ready for day one, we wish to have this conference be used for the development of their strategic framework.”

The symposium consists of three main pillars including implementing ideas for the future, using data analysis, and direct consultation with students.

In the past, engagement with the AMS has stagnated. The Society has struggled with low numbers in voter turnout, with 30.1 per cent this past election season and only 25.6 per cent turnout in the recent JDUC referendum.

Furthermore, in the last two years, Executive candidate turnout has suffered—with this year’s elected team hoping to address the issue during their term in the next academic year.

A consultation model recently developed by the Ontario Ministry of Education inspired the event.

Much like the Student Advocacy Symposium, the Ministry’s model was created to generate more feedback with students to inform future educational policies.

Chauntae De Gannes, the AMS’s marketing research manager, worked on the Minister’s Student Advisory Council, where she was exposed to the model.

After noticing a lack of consultation between the AMS and its student body, she petitioned to implement the same techniques used by the Ministry to achieve similar results.

“Through her role as Marketing Research Manager, [De Gannes] has set out to embrace non-traditional feedback styles to gather data and chart the future direction the AMS should take,” Rachael Heleniak,

the AMS’s director of communications, told The Journal.

The symposium also incorporated a theme to encourage students from different communities to attend the event and voice their concerns.

The theme “Shaping the Future with Student Voices” is meant to signify the AMS’s intention to shape the Society’s future with the opinions and suggestions of the entire student body. At the event, students will have the opportunity to propose their own ideas for future policies as well as give feedback on existing ones.

“The event will be a platform to bring students together to speak up about their concerns and how they want them to be addressed into the future. The goal is to have action items and deliverables that strategically shape how the AMS can better serve students,” De Gannes told The Journal in an interview.

“By virtue of starting a dialogue with students from an upward approach, the symposium will allow students to set the agenda of what priorities need to be addressed on campus and in the AMS as a whole,” she added.

Taking place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the JDUC on Mar. 10, the symposium will provide breakfast and lunch for attendees. Registration prior to the event is required.

queensjournal.ca • 5

JDUC approved Continued from front ...

The $1.5 million will be made up of University funding and AMS and SGPS student fees.

Currently, the architects have prepared Class D building designs, which are basic, early blueprints. Before construction can begin, however, the architects must prepare Class A estimates, which are more thorough, detailed designs that address structural components like electricity and plumbing.

These designs will be ready after the architects have consulted with electrical and mechanical engineers.

Martinez said they should be ready by March of 2020.

The Board of Trustees also required that a Capital Redevelopment Framework Agreement be secured between the AMS, SGPS, and the University.

Martinez said this contract already exists and is currently undergoing legal review.

The Board’s final condition required confirmation that the recently passed student fee for the redevelopment remains mandatory under the Ford government’s Student Choice Initiative.

Because the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities classified student building fees as mandatory in a technical briefing in February, Martinez said securing the confirmation isn’t something the Society is “worried about as of this moment.” He also emphasized the conditions proposed by the Board were expected, and not a surprise to the AMS. “I’m very glad that students will finally get a building that, hopefully, they can be a little bit more proud of,” Martinez said.

6 • queensjournal.ca

Friday, March 8, 2019

Features Queen’s in print IN-DEPTH STORIES FROM AROUND CAMPUS AND IN THE COMMUNITY

A look into student journalism through The Journal’s biggest stories Raechel Huizinga & Jasnit Pabla Journal Staff Queen’s legacy is incomplete without mention of its student newspaper—one of Canada’s oldest student publications, at over 140 years old.

At every major turning point in the University’s history, The Journal’s staff takes interest in how their administrative bodies operate for or against the students.

This issue, two Journal News Editors review the most pivotal stories to Queen’s students over the past 10 years. These are in no way cumulative of the work of student editors, writers, and photographers throughout the last 146 years, but they are one way to recognize the work of student papers on our dynamic campus.

Nov. 18, 2011:

Bands banned for term The Journal’s coverage of the Queen’s Bands suspension following discovery of homophobic, racist, and sexist songbooks attracted national coverage. First to break the story, The Journal’s coverage was referenced in national outlets like the National Post.

The Journal challenged the quickly rising idea that the songbook’s lyrics were harmless jokes.

With over 600 comments from students and alumni, The Journal provided an outlet for Queen’s to express its condemnation of sexism, racism, and homophobia, and its disappointment over the use of their student fees.

Before its reinstatement a few months later, the club was required to undergo human rights and equity training. Harmful instances haven’t been reported since.

March 23, 2012:

Coming out on the court In 2012, The Journal followed men’s volleyball player Bryan Fautley. He spoke to his experience on the team as a left side hitter who’d yet to reveal his sexuality as a gay man to his teammates.

Then-Sports Editor Gilbert Coyle explored how the team’s dynamic shifted as Fautley slowly revealed his sexuality. Leaving behind the team in 2010 after an impressive season, Fautley had Head Coach

Brenda Willis tell his teammates why he’d left: being surrounded by casual homophobic slurs was eating away at him.

“I knew that homosexuality and sport don’t mix,” Fautley told The Journal in 2012.

Coyle’s work was integral to acknowledging the experiences of athletes at Queen’s as well as members of the LGBTQ+ community. These are experiences faced by athletes today, perhaps somewhat changed as a result of Fautley ’s timely story.

Nov. 23, 2016:

Issues on race and cultural appropriation at Queen’s attracts national attention The Journal’s coverage of a Beerfest party that featured students in the University District wearing racist costumes brought national news coverage to Queen’s.

On Nov. 23, The Journal released photos of the event alongside interviews with AMS and University administration re p re s e n t a t ive s .

Their condemnation of the event was the first step to reconciling the party’s impact on campus.

Following our coverage, the University began to take action in January of 2017 with the execution of the Principal’s Implementation Committee on Racism, Diversity and Inclusion (PICRDI). A report was delivered in April of 2017 following several months’ worth of work compiling suggestions and recommendations for implementation.

PICRDI’s results continue to come to fruition at Queen’s.

With the University Council on Anti-Racism and Equity (UCARE) established, a new space for racialized students on campus, and subsequent positions added to administration, the University’s efforts are shaped under the scrutiny of its student paper.

Nov. 25, 2016:

Former BISC students discuss incidents of sexual misconduct The Journal proved the length of its reach by reporting on sexual misconduct happening on the other side of the world.

At least three female students at the Bader International Study Centre (BISC) experienced sexual harassment and assault during the 2014-15 school year.

The Journal was able to spotlight the BISC’s lack of a

Over the last 146 years, The Journal has been covering major changes and events in Queen’s history.

clear sexual violence policy, which deprioritized the safety of female students, while the University argued its absence was due to geographical distance.

By giving the survivors a platform to tell their stories, The Journal proved that a distance of over 5,000 km can’t stop perpetrators from being held accountable.

Clubs shared their experiences filing requests, and the then-Vice-President (University Affairs) expressed the inefficiencies of the granting process. Under criticism, funds were granted a week after the article’s release.

Fighting for control in reporting sexual assault

The AMS remains an integral part of the Queen’s undergrad experience, through the services it provides and the representation it seeks to uphold.

During the 2018 election period, The Journal sat down with the only candidate team running for AMS executive. The Editorial team was disappointed with the lack of student engagement on Queen’s campus, but also with the choice before them.

The decision not to endorse the only candidate had a rippling effect for the AMS—beginning with the candidate team dropping their bid for office.

The AMS would move for a special assembly that took over seven hours to appoint the 2018-19 Executive.

March 24, 2017:

Students deserve a newspaper that pays attention to the decisions its administration makes about who has agency and voice.

In 2015, a Queen’s student accused of sexual assault was elected to Senate, one of the University’s most powerful governing bodies.

The Journal gave the survivor a place to tell her story and bring attention to the lack of structure and knowledge surrounding reporting sexual violence at Queen’s. She had to report her assault countless times before being heard, but the accused, who was going to trial for his actions, had no problem gaining status on one of Queen’s highest governing bodies.

The Journal held Queen’s accountable for its failure to implement adequate sexual violence policies on campus. The newspaper was an advocate for survivors when school administration failed to be.

Jan. 12, 2018:

AMS Sustainability Action Fund held back $22,000 for months despite multiple requests A year prior to this story, the AMS Commission of Environmental Affairs was disbanded, and actions towards sustainability had failed to progress.

In 2018, The Journal reported $22,000 had gone unused in what was a predetermined fund for clubs and organizations on campus to pursue sustainability efforts.

Jan. 26, 2018:

We can’t settle for less with Team ECN

March 29, 2018:

Queen’s International Affairs Association saw three high-level terminations for sexual harassment last year From 2016-17, several female members of the Queen’s International Affairs Association (QIAA) endured incidents of sexual harassment, resulting in three terminations of male members.

The Journal’s coverage exposed issues of sexual harassment in one of the largest clubs at Queen’s. Reporting on the aftermath of the terminations, The Journal drew attention to the Association’s inability to enforce a clubs-wide ban for the men accused. This demonstrated that the absence of an overarching sexual violence policy for campus clubs creates loopholes for violators to continue discomforting female students.

The AMS denied responsibility

PHOTO BY CHRIS YAO

in dealing with issues of sexual violence and harassment within clubs. By reporting on the damage QIAA’s incidents of sexual harassment caused, The Journal questioned the AMS’ lack of involvement.

April 4, 2018:

Truth & Reconciliation at Queen’s, a year later In April of 2017, the Queen’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released its final report. It was a raft of recommendations to ensure the University was responding to national calls to action to reconcile the country’s rocky relationship with Indigenous peoples.

A year after implementation, The Journal took to several corners of campus to understand whether the 25 recommendations put in place were a future being worked towards, or a list to be swept under the rug.

Administration, educators, and students expressed their thoughts on the report to The Journal. For students, the report was too distant to impact them; for administration, changes were on the rise.

By emphasizing the work done, and that which wasn’t, the focus held administration accountable for finishing what it started. ***

Over the last decade, Queen’s University has changed, as has the province and society it exists in, but the mandate of student-run papers hasn’t.

Maintaining autonomous, accountable, and transparent coverage continues to remain pivotal to the paper’s orientation well into its 146th year in operation—and will remain so long after.

In light of changes unraveling throughout the province constraining the progress of student journalism, it is evermore important to understand the stories being told by journalists on campus, and to fight for their continuation.

Friday, March 8, 2019

queensjournal.ca

EDITORIALS

The Journal’s Perspective

The price is right to eat ethically When choosing between ethical food choices and price tags, students are often left to defer to their limited chequing accounts.

That being said, with thoughtfulness and creativity, there are still ways to eat ethically without breaking the bank.

A recent Globe and Mail piece asked whether only the rich can eat ethically.

Citing the high cost of food packaging integrated into grocery expenses and the cheapness of food produced with unethical labour or ingredients, the piece seems to agree only the socially-conscious wealthy can put their money where their mouths are. While options exist to provide inexpensive and local ingredients, like farmer’s markets, they’re often limited in their range and difficult to access year-round.

Good food—whether vegan, organic, or fair-trade—is expensive to produce.

It’s often difficult for vendors to access ethically-made products to cook, bake, or prepare their wares.

As students, we see this firsthand.

We’re faced with convenience and cost concerns above all else when shopping.

Buying in bulk often means buying Costco food without knowing where it comes from, or buying mass produce that’ll expire before it’s used.

But as we become increasingly health-conscious, it’s hard to sit

reduce food waste’s negative impact. CoGro has donated to FoodRescue.ca, redistributing extra food to people in need. While we could promote greater participation in these initiatives, it’s already a step on campus showing how students can consume food ethically without high spending or effort.

U l t i m a t e l y, food corporations are accountable for unethical practices like unfair animal treatment and labour use. The onus shouldn’t be on consumers to the point where they’re judged for consuming unethically produced food due to their budgetary constraints.

We have to find a balance between recognizing the imperfect nature of our society and working to make a difference on ILLUSTRATION BY ZIER ZHOU an individual scale. comfortably with the knowledge that your In response to the question instant noodles and packaged cookies of whether only the rich can eat contain unethical products like palm oil. ethically, the answer is no—but we Without time or money on our hands, need to keep our expectations reasonable researching and obtaining locally-sourced and take action one step at a time. There’s and sustainable food takes resources no shame in not shopping at Whole Foods, we don’t have when we’re already but consider switching a burger for a learning to cook and eat healthier. No meat-free meal once a week. zero-waste grocery stores exist in Kingston, You don’t have to be perfect to improve and companies are often opaque about ethical consumption—you just have how they use unethical labour to work to do better. and environmental resources.

That said, there are smaller-scale means to —Journal Editorial Board

Breed-specific legislation doles out careless, ineffective punishment

PHOTO BY TESSA WARBURTON

H annah S tafl

Discrimination isn’t limited to the human species.

The animals we interact with most—cats and dogs—are companion animals, yet within this group, not all are treated equally.

In some countries, laws exist limiting or banning certain types of dogs, with pit bulls being disproportionately targeted most. This stems from a belief that

the historical use of pit bulls in dogfighting predisposes them to violence.

The purpose of this legislation is to prevent pit bulls from attacking and biting other animals and humans.

In practice, however, these laws fail to address the real problem of harmful owners who breed and raise dogs to encourage violent qualities—whether for dogfighting or otherwise. Instead, they punish animals themselves for their upbringing or threatening appearance.

Breed-specific legislation involves the restriction of pit bulls or dogs similar to them in appearance, such as terriers, who are assumed to have a similar disposition.

In Canada, Ontario is the only province in the country to have a province-wide ban on the breed. The province’s legislation has banned pit bulls, with those born before 2005 required to be muzzled and spayed or neutered to prevent the breed’s reproduction.

The issue with this legislation is it provides little to no benefit—the province hasn’t seen a drop in dog bites since it enacted the law. Instead, it inflicts harsh costs on both owners and their pets.

These bans fail to hold irresponsible and dangerous owners accountable, and can also harm lower-income groups disproportionately. Where someone may be living paycheque-to-paycheque, the costs of legal fees to prove

their dog is a different breed may be too high to bear.

Dogs aren’t given the same presumption of innocence humans are, and may be persecuted for their breed alone. It’s up to owners to prove people otherwise.

Courts can order restrictions or even a dog’s killing if it’s “behaved in a manner that poses a menace to the safety of persons or domestic animals,” applied specifically to pit bull-type dogs.

Quebec recently decided against enacting breed-specific legislation due to a lack of evidence proving its effectiveness.

Ontario should follow suit and instead focus on educating owners and enforcing laws around responsible pet ownership—such as leashing laws—rather than punishing dogs themselves.

Pit bulls have attacked humans and other animals before—as have other breeds. A golden retriever can be dangerous, just as a pit bull can be harmless.

Ignoring that they are a product of their environment does everyone a disservice, and laws that punish certain breeds for their owners or appearance are neither effective nor just.

Hannah is one of The Journal’s Features Editors. She’s a third-year student in the Politics, Philosophy, and Economics program.

•7

THE QUEEN’S JOURNAL Volume 146 Issue 24 www.queensjournal.ca @queensjournal Publishing since 1873

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Friday, March 8, 2019

OPINIONS

Your Perspective

Letter to the Editor Dear Editor,

Queen’s University now posts the number of animals they use in research, which is commendable but they don’t list the species.

The primates referred to in the article, “The curtain on animal research at Queen’s lifts an inch” are likely in the category “Large Mammals”.

This approach hides which species i.e. cats, dogs and primates are being experimented on.

Queen’s also experiments on dogs. We know this because of the 2017 Journal article entitled, “Fighting for transparency with Queen’s haemophiliac dog colony” about “a research colony of schnauzers, spaniels and beagles carrying the sex-linked gene for haemophilia”. We don’t know if they’re stray pet dogs or “purpose bred” dogs. From Ontario’s Animals for Research Act (Act) we know that over 4,700 stray pet dogs and cats are reported in Ontario laboratories each year. If you lost your dog or cat it may have ended up in a laboratory. Note that the species are listed in this government report. But, no one is allowed to know where the researchers take the stray pet dogs and cats from or what happens to them in laboratories. This information is kept secret by both the Act and the research industry organization, the Canadian Council on Animal Care. When you’re doing things to animals that people don’t support you need to keep it a secret.

Queen’s should be part of the movement to truly advance science for humans. As Charu Chandrasekera stated in the Journal article, “Ninety-five per cent of drugs tested—and found to be safe and effective in animals—fail in human clinical trials,” And, of the five per cent that make it to the market, another 50 per cent per cent are withdrawn or receive black-box warnings. It’s time for change.

Sincerely, Ainslie Willock Animal Alliance of Canada

Nathan argues against toxic masculinity, in favour of the recent Gillette ad.

Backlash over the Gillette ad is overblown

PHOTO BY TESSA WARBURTON

Examining the response to the razor company’s takedown of toxic masculinity Nathan Gallagher ArtSci '21 Recently, Gillette caused controversy when it launched a rebranding of its public image with the release of an ad criticizing toxic masculinity. The ad, which generated millions of views, cast a wide net, making reference to the #MeToo movement, misogyny, and the age-old adage, “Boys will be boys.”

For better or worse, the ad exposed the pervasive role media plays in shaping people’s opinions and behaviours.

Due to the anonymous nature of the internet, viewers’ opinions were skewed to dislike the ad. However, if you watch the ad without an initial negative-leaning bias, it’s clear Gillette only aims to create positive social reform—and the controversial response to its call for change arose from the very toxic masculinity it rallies against.

During the ad’s runtime, Gillette puts a twist on their 30-year-old slogan “the best a man can get,” turning it into “the best men can be,” suggesting that men should do more to combat unhealthy behaviour. As a result, a portion of male viewers were offended, claiming the ad

needlessly bashes men in order to appear “woke” in a market that increasingly values socially-conscious brand identities.

In a tweet, television personality Piers Morgan called the commercial “virtue-signaling [politically correct] guff” and characterized it as part of a “pathetic global assault on masculinity.” Largely, Morgan and fellow Gillette boycotters take issue with the ad’s left-wing political “attack” on traditional masculine values.

The backlash to the ad is no surprise given the nature of political commentary online.

The algorithm YouTube implements for its comment section creates an echo chamber, where users are only exposed to videos that reinforce their views and beliefs. This is a major reason for the backlash from the hyper-masculine community on the web, and the anonymity of the site only makes its responses worse.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that Gillette’s progressive liberal ad was ripped to shreds when it was uploaded to YouTube.

Gillette didn’t shoot itself in the foot by critiquing its target demographic: 29.5 million people viewed the ad. Positive or not, that’s significant viewership.

But when new viewers see an

“No.”

“Only if there’s bacon.”

ad and observe the dislikes and negative comments it conjures, their opinion is immediately altered and they overlook the actual merits of the ad.

To those calling for a boycott of the Gillette company, you should know your outrage will have no effect on sales—except maybe to raise them.

Proctor and Gamble, the company which owns Gillette, knew exactly what they were doing by weighing in on an issue as debated as toxic masculinity.

It’s the same tactic employed by Nike in their similarly controversial Colin Kaepernick advertisement, which incidentally boosted sales for the sports-wear company.

The response to the Gillette ad since its release has evolved to be more positive: according to data from Harris Poll, 57 per cent of Gen Z’s and millennials are now “more likely to consider purchasing Gillette products.”

That said, some negative responses to the ad weren’t directly because of its progressive themes. Some argue that the ad is a soulless corporate gambit that piggy-backs off a modern social movement for financial gain.

Of course, Gillette’s intentions weren’t as altruistic as they claim.

However, their financial motive doesn’t remove the cultural impact

that marketing and advertising are capable of creating.

Forget for a moment that you find the ad cringey or patronizing, or deeply offensive to your manhood, and actually examine its content. Nowhere does it say that men should be ashamed of their masculinity.

This angle arose purely out of an interpretation imposed on the ad by commentators like Piers Morgan.

If you watch the ad openly and honestly, its intended meaning is easy to grasp. The ad points to the problematic and damaging “boys will be boys” trope, which excuses certain mens’ bad behaviour. Although sexual harassment, violence, and bullying aren’t behaviours that all men practice, we all a play a role in normalizing them through forms of toxic masculinity.

To me, “Boys will be boys” is itself offensive. Do we as a society think so little of what boys and men can be? For Gillette, it’s all there in the ad’s title, “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be.” This ad isn’t an attack on your masculinity. It challenges and inspires us to be better, and believes in our capabilities to do just that.

Nathan is a second-year Politics major and English minor.

Talking heads

... students around campus

PHOTOS BY TESSA WARBURTON

Pineapple on pizza: yes or no?

Chauntae De Gannes, ArtSci ’20

Trevell Hamilton, ArtSci ’21

“100 per cent yes. Ham and pineapple is the best combo.”

Laura Wilson, ArtSci ’21

“Of course! It adds a different vibe.”

Ashley Greenwald, Comm ’21

Friday, March 8, 2019

queensjournal.ca

•9

Arts BAND PROFILE

Ezra Jordan carries on a musical tradition Musician talks growing up in a musical family

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY LUKAS LENNON

Ezra Jordan will be playing the Mansion on March 8.

Rhiannon Ng Contributor Ezra Jordan has never been a stranger to music.

The To r o n t o - b a s e d singer-songwriter grew up immersed in creative talent, with both parents—Amy Sky and Marc Jordan—prominent names in Canadian and American music industries.

From a young age, Jordan was clinking away at keyboards and exploring new chord progressions. Now 25, he’s reached over 2.5 million hits on Spotify and is about to embark on his second Canadian tour as a solo artist, with a stop at The Mansion on March 8.

But Jordan didn’t always want to be a songwriter.

“I always thought I wanted to be a piano player, or to be more involved in film scoring or

CANADA READS

producing,” he said in an interview with The Journal. “I never even considered writing songs until later on. I think it was my way of differentiating myself from my parents.”

That all changed in 2012 when then-18-year-old Jordan suffered a life-threatening injury while waterskiing. The accident tore all the ligaments in his knee, and he sustained considerable nerve damage. For over a year, he was unable to properly sit at a piano.

“I almost lost my leg and it took a long time for me to recover enough to play piano again. But during that time, I started playing guitar a little more and started singing and writing my own stuff as a musical outlet,” Jordan recalled.

Shortly after his recovery, he toured as a keyboardist and backup singer with Juno-nominated artist Scott Helman, and graduated from the Musician’s Institute in Los

‘Brother’ is a timely meditation on loss Canada Reads’ novel tells story of brotherhood and grief Brittany Giliforte Assistant Arts Editor A eulogy to lost boys and corrupted innocence, David Chariandy’s latest novel, Brother, follows the residents of Scarborough who search in vain for a place to call home.

In the novel, Michael and his Trinidadian mother grapple with their grief for over ten years after Michael’s brother Francis dies.

They’re unable to learn how to live without him.

In their neighborhood, they’re like everyone else—facing the same struggle to succeed and fit in—but outside, they’re untrusted and unwelcomed.

In Brother, most of the characters are immigrants and they share a common

experience: they’re never accepted. Their home is never really their home.

This is a feeling that worsens when the young family loses Francis, leaving Michael and his mother struggling to find peace.

Silence is their coping strategy.

Never so much as saying Francis’ name, or talking about grief, they move through their daily routines without excitement.

Chariandy uses this silence as a tool. He doesn’t linger on Michael’s flashbacks of his brother; they’re too painful for him to remember. The author shows the reader just how deeply Michael is hurting by using indirect prose.

This experience with loss and grief isn’t an isolated experience in the city.

Angeles. In 2017, he released his first singles, “Drag me Down” and “I Only Got Eyes for Her,” the latter of which recently hit over one million plays on Spotify.

His style blends bluesy synths with rhythmic keyboard riffs, all set against an ambient R&B landscape. The diversity of genres woven into his music speaks to Jordan’s vast array of musical influences.

“My parents were definitely big ones—my mom is an amazing cellist and recorder player, and my dad plays piano and guitar,” Jordan said. He also draws inspiration from contemporary singer-songwriters—John Mayer and D’Angelo being his favourites.

“There aren’t many songwriters out there these days who are also virtuosic musicians in their own rights,” Jordan said. “John Mayer’s talent blows me away, and there isn’t a single song on his latest

album I don’t like.”

Jordan’s piano-infused melodies and soulful style also reflect the influence of James Blake, whose musical novelty continuously inspires him to explore new melodic territory. “[Blake’s] not afraid to try crazy things. He’ll throw voice riffs and classical chord progressions into his songs, and somehow it just works. There’s something about him that just works,” Jordan said.

Although Jordan writes mainly on guitar and piano, his songs often start with stray notes on his phone, where he jots down ideas, concepts, and titles to keep his inspiration flowing. Whether he starts with a chord progression, a lyric, or a melody, he always stops to think about the mood his work is trying to convey.

“I learned from my dad the most impactful songs are impactful because every aspect of the song is

working toward the same goal. It’s all speaking to the same emotion or telling the same story,” Jordan said. “For me, it’s really about writing music that feels right, and what resonates with the story I’m trying to tell.”

This songwriting process is reflected in the advice Jordan often gives to aspiring musicians.

“If it sounds right to you, then it’s right. Don’t listen to what others say,” he said.

Jordan also urges young musicians to stick to their goals, acknowledging the cutthroat nature of the modern music industry. Growing up in a musical family and watching his parents work hard in their offices and studios every day, he’s witnessed the dedication it takes to establish oneself as a musician.

“You need to be prepared to work your ass off for what you want.”

Set in the mid-80’s, the novel’s Scarborough is home to mostly immigrants or children of immigrants.

They’re ostracized and discriminated against on a daily basis. This makes it nearly impossible for any resident to get a job that pays well enough to move out of what the locals call “Scarlem,” or “Scar-bro.”

Chariandy uses this language to convey identity and explore the city his characters live in. The characters’ use of the nickname “Scarlem” implies that Scarborough is like a Canadian version of the American neighborhood Harlem, frequently associated with crime, poverty, and drug use in the same time period Brother is set in.

Chariandy’s Scarborough is no different.

In the novel, living in “Scarlem” as a child of immigrants can sometimes be a death sentence.

Facing discrimination from residents of nicer, richer neighborhoods, the communities in Scarborough have a hard time climbing ranks to get out of town in pursuit of a better life.

Many of the young male characters turn to crime for money in hopes of one day leaving. This is mostly implied through the writing style.

Chariandy’s novel is written in hushed tones, never explicitly revealing anything.

He’s as secretive as his characters, and gives the reader only as much information as they need to piece together the story. When cash changes hands at Desirea’s barbershop, the reader—through the eyes of a young Michael—is led to think something illegal is taking place.

He associates this exchange of cash with his mother finding out Francis hung out at Desirea’s. Her shock and shame at the discovery is a clue to the reader of the criminal reputation of this barbershop.

These characters live every day with constant threats of violence.

Young male residents, the novel’s

perpetrators of this violence, boast about their behavior on street corners, and the police who hunt them—and innocents—down.

From the start of the novel, rippling gunshots and blaring police sirens, coupled with the sound of rubber skidding on gravel and sneakers pounding the pavement makeup the fictitious soundtrack to life in “Scar-bro.”

This sound haunts the youth of Scarborough, alluding to the sad reality that their future will likely play out in a similar way.

Chariandy’s characters are set-up for failure from the start.

Living in a world that assumes the worst from them, very few are able to prove that assumption wrong.

David Chariandy’s Brother is a Canada

PHOTO BY CHRIS YAO

Arts

10 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, March 8, 2019

STUDENT SHOWS

Vogue Charity Fashion Show tells a brief history of time Fashion show provides optimistic vision for the future This article first appeared online on Mar. 5.

Maggie Gowland Assistant Sports Editor Using fashion to tell the history of humanity seems unorthodox, but it made perfect sense in this year’s Vogue Charity Fashion Show: Tempora Mantura (VCFS).

The 22nd annual show, running from Feb. 28 to Mar. 2, had a fundraising goal of $60,000 to donate to the Sexual Assault Centre Kingston (SACK). The show sold around 85 per cent of its tickets, with two of the three nights sold out. The ambitious goal exceeds the show’s largest donation to date; last year’s Visionaries show raised $55,000 for the Canadian Mental Health

Association (CMHA).

After watching the show for the first time on closing night, co-presidents Anushka Garde and Julianna Nemeth told The Journal “it was flawless.”

“We got to watch it [closing night] and neither of us have seen the show, so we got to sit in the audience,” Nemeth said. “Our showing was amazing—we were blown away.”

Unlike last year’s show, which offered eight independent scenes, Tempora told one narrative from start to finish. Modeled after the Latin phrase Tempora Mutantur, meaning “the times change and we change with them,” this year’s show moved from the creation of the universe to a glimpse of the future.

The first scene, Stargazing, introduced a time before any life

REVIEW

Vogue Charity Fashion Show at the Grand Theatre.

existed. It opened with a musical performance of John Mayer’s “In Your Atmosphere” by Adam Hunter and Matt Léger. Next came Flora, a ballet number showcasing a vibrant clothing line with models dressed in shades of green, gold, pink, and white.

In contrast to the gentleness of Flora, Fauna depicted the wildness of animal life evolving and flourishing. Hip-hop dancers donned camo cargo pants to dance to a mashup of A$AP Ferg, Kanye, and Nicki Manaj’s infamous “Monster.”

Rudimentary Innovation, the next scene, introduces humanity through society-defining inventions: paper, fire, electricity. Models dressed in geometrically designed outfits; everything had sharp angles,

circles or squares printed in colours straight out of a box of Crayola Crayons.

Finally, cast members turned up the heat with a seductive men’s dance number. However, this year, the Vogue tradition dance took a new turn.

By way of introduction, the show projected a video on screen of several male cast and crew members discussing their insecurities, and broadcasting their vulnerabilities. According to the co-presidents, this was influenced

by SACK and was meant to address toxic masculinity and promote a culture of consent.

“The song we used [at the beginning] was [John Legend and André 3000’s ‘Green Light’],’” Garde said. “It’s more of that giving versus taking culture that we were really trying to get out there.”

Broadcasting this message advocates for a culture of consent for men and women alike.

In VCFS’s annual charity video, which reached 20,000 viewers, a sexual assault survivor told her story on camera to further show the impact on survivors that SACK supports.

“It’s really easy to kind of brush sexual violence away as something

that happens to other people,” Nemeth said. “It’s happening now.

It’s happening to people you know.

It’s happening to people you love, and it may have happened to you.”

Keeping with the theme of consent, for the lingerie scene, models weaved boldly back and forth to a cover of Ella Eyre’s “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off,” to further promoting a safe environment.

The final scenes looked ahead to the future. Faces of the Future showed models dressed in black, white, and silver outfits, made entirely of glitter, leather and skin.

One model wore wings, while another wore what looked like a turtle shell, begging the question of what’s next for humanity.

In the Coexistence scene, the cast donned outfits from previous scenes, coming together in one encompassing piece of choreography. The resolution, according to Nemeth, provides a vision of the future.

“All of these different stories that we’ve shown throughout have come together,” she said. “We can only actually have harmony if we learn to balance all of these things together instead of dominating one.”

loyalties, especially amongst the Romans, begin to fade and alliances become unclear.

The production revels in the script’s darker themes, with blood-curdling screams filling the room during the most through the theatre. It’s on display gruesome scenes. as Titus betrays Saturninus’ expectations and the latter must defend his honor, leading to a climatic duel.

The loud impact of the swords reinforce the stakes of this life or death battle, and the nimble movements of the actors make for an engrossing fight. The costume and prop design teams’ excessive use of the fake blood also contributes to creating a gory, tense production.

With the copious amounts of fake blood pouring from injured characters, the crimson lighting during fight scenes, and the bright red Roman soldier uniforms, the design team’s use of colour reflects the abrasive violence consistent throughout the play.

The red uniforms of the Romans contrasted with the black uniforms of the Goths—amplifying the tension of their conflict through color alone. In the second half of the play, this separation through colour is dropped when

The time and effort that both the cast and production team put into every gory detail of the show have created a unique experience, as the suspense and despair of it can only be found in a tragedy like Titus Andronicus.

Studio 013 brings Shakespeare’s most gruesome play to life Cast of Titus Andronicus gives their blood, and tears to the performance Devon Makse Contributor Studio 013’s production of Shakespeare’s most violent play relishes in all the gory details.

Titus Andronicus is running at The Box in the H’art Centre from March 7 to 9. Centered around Roman general Titus, the play begins with the titular character executing the Queen’s son after returning to Rome from war.

She swears revenge against him, launching the tale into action.

The conflict soon escalates to war, rape, honor killings, and cannibalism. The characters show no mercy and no sense of morality, everything is fair game; no cost is too great. Through the play’s many traumatic events, the cast delivers a series of convincing performances.

Among the standouts, lead actor Lucas Cmok Kehoe gives a strong performance as Titus Andronicus. He conveys both the threatening energy of a gruff army general, and the despair of a man

losing his sanity.

M e a nwh i l e , Christian Milanovic as Marcus Andronicus, Titus’ brother and voice of reason, shows how much time and attention to detail was spent on character work in the rehearsal stages. Not only is his performance commanding, but it thrives on details, like laboriously carries his weight while limping along with a cane.

Performances aside, the show’s production, particularly the lighting and sound, is a selling point in the play’s depiction of the war between Romans and Goths.

Bright yellows and greens portray a sunny afternoon in the woods, while darker reds present the insides of dimly lit rooms. During the most intense scenes, lights shine a harsh crimson, while shrill, ambient music plays in the background.

Adding more intensity to the fight scenes, the actors’ sword props are frighteningly realistic.

When they clash, they make loud clanging noises that echo

PHOTO BY MAGGIE GOWLAND

Friday, March 8, 2019

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• 11

Sports ATHLETE PROFILE

Abraham leaves behind a generational legacy PHOTOS BY MATT SCACE

Queen’s captain closing five years with program Friday in Queen’s Cup final Jasnit Pabla News Editor As a younger defenceman, Spencer Abraham never expected to be chosen to take a game-winning shootout goal during his first appearance for the U Sports All-Star team.

Positioned against the 2015 Canadian World Junior team, men’s hockey Head Coach Brett Gibson—then serving as an assistant coach for the 23-man roster—chose one of his newest recruits to seal the deal.

“I think I’ve been through just about everything with him in the past five years,” Abraham said of Gibson. “He looked at me and said, ‘You better not miss.’ [And] I went out there and scored the winning goal.”

The decision to give Abraham the shot took him by surprise, but Gibson knew right away he was the man for the job.

“When I stuck my neck out there, [the game] was on TSN and I probably overstepped because I was the assistant coach at the time. But, I knew what he could do,” Gibson told The Journal in an interview.

Gibson’s sentiments, now almost three years later, continue to echo. To him, Abraham’s a “generational player” whose impact on Queen’s hockey program hasn’t gone unnoticed, and continues to resonate with those around him.

But before coming to the Gaels in 2014-15, Abraham began his career with the Ontario Hockey League’s Brampton Battalion and then moved two years later to the Erie Otters to carry out another two seasons.

Upon meeting Gibson following a game with the Otters in 2014, Abraham decided to sign with Queen’s several weeks later.

From there, he began to pursue his love of hockey alongside a professional career. He received his undergraduate degree in Classical Studies in 2017, and will advance to receive his law degree from Queen’s in 2020.

“It was different,” Abraham said about playing collegiate hockey relative to the OHL. “Coming here, especially with the school element, that was a big change.”

However, a new environment wasn’t enough to shut out one of the strongest defenseman in his age group.

In his rookie season, Abraham played a

Top: Abraham (right) and Brett Gibson (left). Bottom: Abraham at the Carr-Harris Cup.

consistent role in the Gaels’ success “Definitely, the greatest honour I’ve alongside defenseman and former ever had playing hockey,” Abraham said. captain, Patrick Downe. Downe would go “Anytime you’re recognized by the league, on to mentor Abraham through his first it’s something special. But when you’re three seasons with the Gaels, exiting the recognized internally by the 25 guys in the program after the 2016-17 season. room, the coaching staff—those are the “He was someone who really molded me people that you care about most.” into [being] the next captain,” Abraham said For Gibson, moving Abraham into of his former defensive partner. the captaincy wasn’t an easy process. He Throughout Abraham’s five-year career watched his defenceman attempt to mold with Queen’s, he’s been distinguished with himself into the role, focusing on carrying both OUA and U Sports honours. In his first the weight of his fellow teammates on his season, he was named the U Sports Rookie own shoulders. But it took Abraham a while of the Year and OUA Defenceman of the Year to figure out how to keep the role from for the Eastern conference. Last season, weighing on him—something he came to he was named the OUA East Defenceman learn once he began sharing the burden and of the Year for the second time, alongside responsibilities of being captain with his being named the Eastern Conference’s Most coaching team.

Sportsmanlike Player.

Abraham’s on-ice performance was In his first campaign with the Gaels, dominant, but what began to resonate more Abraham recorded 28 points, dishing with his teammates was their captain’s out 23 assists and scoring five goals. His off-ice demeanor: a work ethic and maturity career-high regular season goal-scoring that he said was shaped by Downe. year followed, maintaining the point count Aaron Fransen, former defenceman but with nine goals on the scoreboard. for the Gaels’ hockey program, only met During this Abraham a year year’s playoff ago, but was SPENCER ABRAHAM LIST run, Abraham’s i m m e d i a te ly OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS scored four drawn to him in seven games.

• 2014-15 U Sports, OUA East Rookie of the Year as a selfless G i b s o n • 2014-15 OUA Defenceman of the Year leader—a true believes that • 2017-18 OUA East Defenceman of the Year embodiment of while Abraham • 2017-18 OUA, OUA East Most Sportsmanlike Player a captain. was a strong • 4x OUA East First-Team All-Star B e f o r e player before this year’s coming to Carr-Harris Queen’s, the program harnessed his Cup, Fransen held sole ownership over offensive capabilities. The coach reflected the record for most points by a defenceman on the opportunity to work closely with in Queen’s history at 116. Abraham the 25 year-old, who now views him as a matched that mark in early February, and good friend. the following weekend, surpassed Fransen.

“He’s the true professional. He treats He now has 120 careers points. my family, my kids, and his teammates the “It takes true leadership to get a group of exact same way,” Gibson said of his captain. high-achieving kids to sacrifice themselves, “I think that’s the ultimate compliment I trust each other, and work towards common can give Spencer Abraham.” objectives all in the name of fun,” Fransen As such, it was no surprise to onlookers told The Journal, alluding to Abraham. when Abraham was given the captaincy “It’s a brotherhood—and part of a good following the 2016-17 season after brotherhood is a selfless leader who takes Downe graduated. responsibility and is accountable.”

Fransen played with the Gaels at a time when the program was relatively stagnant, and has since watched as Abraham’s career shaped the program’s upward trajectory. He believes Abraham’s played a role—regardless of the capacity—in garnering continuous buy-in from players into Queen’s hockey.

A similar sentiment, shared by Gibson, reflected on Abraham’s ability to start a “trail blaze” of players joining the program.

The decorated defenseman’s experience developing as a player and professional has served as an appealing objective for up-and-coming hopeful recruits.

For former Gaels goalie and current Assistant Coach Kevin Baillie, Abraham’s distinctions and captaincy were in tune with the on-ice “brother” he’s come to know.

“His production, statistically, is obviously second to none. To be so dominant for so long is so incredibly tough to do,” Bailie told The Journal. “Spence is a calm, quietly confident individual […] You wouldn’t know how accomplished he is.”

Baillie added that the two have followed roughly the same path throughout their careers, featuring in the OHL before playing alongside each other and completing their undergraduate educations together. With careers in law, they’ll continue their journeys together in life after Queen’s.

When the pair join Stikeman Elliot this summer, a corporate law firm based in Toronto, Bailie hopes they’ll continue to pursue goals together—even with their on-ice careers behind them—with Fransen at the helm as a Partner at the firm.

“I truly consider him family,” Bailie said, adding their final goal of securing the Queen’s Cup together is a focus now more than ever.

“We’re almost there.”

On Saturday night, Abraham will play his final home-ice game at the Memorial Centre against the Guelph Gryphons. It’ll be the final step to achieving the goal he’s held with Bailie and Gibson for five years.

“Five years ago, if you told me come year five, I’m hosting the Queen’s cup as the captain and get to bring the Queen’s cup back home for the first time in 40 years,” Bailie said. “It [wouldn’t] get any better.”

Despite the pressure, his focus for the night is going to be on soaking in the moment. Having played over 100 games in the historic Memorial Centre, he’ll follow his standard pre-game routine, having his pre-game meal the exact same way he has for his entire career.

“He’s a generational player and person,” Gibson said. “His points are going to be what he’s remembered for in the record books, but his leadership is going to be his legacy at Queen’s.”

Sports

12 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, March 8, 2019

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

First-seeded Gaels looking for Forsyth Cup Gaels brimming with confidence following nine-game winning streak Andrew Schjerning Staff Writer Following a gritty win over an upstart Guelph team in the quarterfinals, men’s volleyball is flying high heading into a Final Four showdown featuring some of the best talent in Ontario.

Queen’s will host the championships on Friday and

Saturday—the first time they’ve done so since 2010-11.

“Honestly, we’re pretty excited,” fourth-year Zac Hutcheson told The Journal ahead of their slate of weekend games.

“The [game against Guelph] was a good opportunity to prepare for the Final Four, and we played with a lot of grit and determination.”

Queen’s (15-3) had to dig deep to overcome a surprisingly tenacious Guelph team (8-9), who showed heart and resiliency as it climbed back from being down 2-0 to tie the game. Despite this, the Gaels regained their composure late in the match, winning the final set 23-21, saving three match points.

However, despite a narrow margin of victory against the Gryphons, Queen’s feels confident

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

First round loss ends Gaels season Queen’s have yet to win playoff game since 2011-12 This article first appeared online on Mar. 5.

Maggie Gowland Assistant Sports Editor In an eerie repetition of their 2017-18 season, the women’s volleyball team’s (13-6) playoff run came to a quick close last weekend after a 3-1 loss to the Western Mustangs (14-5).

The Gaels have now dropped three consecutive quarterfinal bouts to Western, and they’ve failed to make it past the first round of the postseason since 2011-12.

In an interview with The Journal on Monday, Head Coach Ryan Ratushniak said although his team performed well in the match, things just didn’t play out in their favour.

“We came out very strong in the match, taking a good lead in the first set. And that was probably the strongest we’ve come out all year,” he said. “It was just that things didn’t go our way.”

After Queen’s won the first set 25-19, Western came back to win the second and third. While the Gaels were up 24-21 in the fourth, the game slipped through their fingers when the Mustangs ripping off a five-point run to win the closing set 26-24 and the match 3-1.

“You really need to play a complete game, a complete set, and be consistent,” Ratushniak said about how his team could’ve performed better. “It felt like similar to our regular season game against them [when] we outplayed them for a lot of the match.” In October, the Gaels lost to Western by just a narrow 3-2 margin. They

in their number-one seeding, and will look to continue their staggering nine-game win streak through the weekend.

“I think there was more PHOTO BY MATT SCACE pressure in the quarterfinals Queen’s will host the OUA Final Four this weekend. against Guelph. So, going into this weekend, I think there’s less played them before, and we competitive edge in close matches. pressure,” Hutcheson said. know with McMaster we They already have the talent: Still, expectations will be need to shut down their big Hutcheson is second in the OUA high for a Queen’s team playing guns,” Hutcheson said when asked with 266 kills this season, while in front of a home crowd. On about potential opponents Queen’s second-year Zane Grossinger is top of that, the Gaels will play could line up against, as well as second in assists per set with the University of Toronto in the how the Tricolour-friendly crowd an average of 9.97; Head Coach semi-finals and potentially could play a role in their outcome.

Gabriel de Groot was recently the McMaster Marauders in “We’re going in with a ton of awarded Coach of the Year in the the finals—two teams they’ve confidence, especially since we’re OUA East. The team’s cohesion has defeated earlier in the season. playing at home.” progressed over the course of the “I think we’re pretty confident, Beyond the role of their season, Hutcheson said. especially after the game against exceptional talent, the strong “Honestly, this team has been Guelph. With the Toronto bonds and overall chemistry one of the most fun to play on, in matchup, we played pretty between this Queen’s team terms of team spirit and chemistry. good defense when we could be what gives them the We all believe in each other, so when we’re on the court and we’re having issues, we’ve been good at figuring it out,” he said.

“Everyone on this team knows their role [...] it’s a great environment to be part of.

Whether they’re on the bench, or coming in to serve, we all play as a team.”

Queen’s will begin their Forsythe Cup bid on Saturday against U of T at 3:00 p.m. If they win, they’ll play the winner of McMaster vs. Windsor on Sunday afternoon—if they lose, they take on the loser for OUA bronze.

haven’t beat the Mustangs since 2015-16.

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO Overall, Queen’s outscored The women’s team wemt 13-6 in the regular season. the Mustangs on Saturday 67-61, putting up 58 kills to year’s roster will be a younger Western’s 44. one—he’s reluctant to think about ATHLETICS “But that’s not how [volleyball] next year just yet. works,” Ratushniak said, “and “We’re still kind of evaluating that beat us in the end. That’s the this season and debriefing the nature of the sport.” Despite season, reflecting,” he said. “But Saturday’s loss, the second-year once it’s time, we’ll start preparing. head coach added he’s proud of I feel very good about where we’re • Men’s and women’s how his team performed—both at as a program and where we’re volleyball recieve on Saturday and throughout going, so we’re definitely looking OUA honours; the season. forward to the future.”

While Ratushniak feels his When reflecting on the DeGroot named program is going in the right season, the big highlight for coach of the year direction, the Gaels undoubtedly Ratushniak was his team’s pair of faced some adversity this year. five-set wins over the University of Fourth-year Isabelle Korchinski Toronto Blues (14-5).

• Squash players tore her ACL in January and missed “When we look back, I think medal at nationals the remainder of the season. we can be very proud of those Also injured were third-year results. In both of those matches Natalie Crews, who had surgery we played very well,” he said. on a torn ACL just last week, and “They’re a team that’s been ranked second-year Erin Finan, who’s in the top-10 in the country been out with a concussion all year.” for much of the second-half Along with this, the Gaels’ of the year. only loss to a team in their OUA “Not making excuses or saying East division was the Ryerson that we could’ve gone further Rams, who were last year’s without those injuries, but that OUA and U Sports gold medal definitely had an impact on champions. “We took care of our ability to do certain things business in our division, including on the court, and also train in beating Toronto—that’s definitely certain ways,” Ratushniak said. a highlight.”

Fifth-year Caroline Livingston, But what impressed in her final game as a Gael before Ratushniak the most was how his graduation, led the match with team closed their regular season.

16 kills against Western, with After heading into the winter second-year Julia Wiercigroch break with a 5-4 record, the Gaels queensu.ca/sexualviolencesupport close behind at 15. Also notably, won eight while losing just two of fourth-year Sierra Hardy had 42 their final 10 games—including assists in her final game sporting a six-game win streak before Sexual Violence Prevention and Support the tricolor. the postseason.

Coordinator, Barb Lotan With the 2018-19 campaign “We became galvanized; bjl7@queensu.ca wrapped up, the Gaels are we started to play together,” now looking ahead to Ratushniak said. “We talked recruiting and rebuilding for about supporting each other at next season.

Though all times and we really achieved Ratushniak has six recruits that. That would be what I’m most committed—indicating next proud of.”

Sports in Brief Get the scoop at queensjournal.ca/ sports

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STUDENT STORIES

• 13

Lifestyle

Students honour their female role models for International Women’s Day International Women’s Day this year is on March 8.

Sharing stories of women making positive impacts Continued from front ...

“My mother always came home late from work—and she still does. As a kid, I didn’t understand why her job as an internist was keeping her away from home so late. I never fully appreciated the time and effort she put into her job until I had the chance to work alongside her for a summer.

Only then I began to understand how she always went above and beyond for her patients, often visiting them afterhours and doing everything in her power to improve and extend their lives. Praise from countless of her staff members and patients testified to that.

Not only is my mother passionate about her job, she’s also an avid runner, having completed over 13 marathons.

She started running at 36 and hasn’t stopped since, not even when breast cancer caused her

to go under the knife.

Despite her busy life, my mother always took the time to kiss my siblings and I goodnight when she came back from work. She’s shared with us her values and always supported us in our endeavors—even the slightly crazier ones like going to spend a year abroad in England.

My mother is undoubtedly the most determined and loving woman I know, and that’s why I’m proud to be her daughter.

Chère maman, Je t’aime gros comme l’infini +1.”

—Geneviève Nolet, ArtSci ’20

“I’m very lucky to have had Mrs. Hillier as my teacher in high school.

She’s one of the most cheerful people I know, and I’ve always admired her endless enthusiasm for English literature and world history. Through her classes, I developed a love of writing, and her feedback and encouragement has helped me grow the confidence to continue doing so, even outside of class.

There were also plenty of things I’ve learned from Mrs. Hillier outside of what she taught in class.

She’d regularly go beyond her role as a teacher to connect with students during her breaks or after school. She also worked with our school’s Interact Club, contributing to important causes in our community, and her generosity has motivated me and so many other students to follow in her footsteps.

Although Mrs. Hillier retired from teaching, she continues to inspire me through her colourful creativity and sense of adventure.

Her countless interests, from poetry writing to whale watching, reminds me of the possibility in finding balance between diverse interests and seeking out immense joy in our everyday lives.”

—Zier Zhou, Sci ’20

“My grandmother lived in hiding through the Holocaust in France as a teenager. She came to Canada speaking little English at about my age. Since then, she’s raised four kids and become the loving and strong matriarch of our large,

STUDENT START-UPS

dynamic family. She teaches us to remember our history, but not to dwell on it, and to be grateful for what we have.

Across the country, I constantly hear people telling me what a wonderful teacher and principal my grandmother was to them in their youth. Having survived the war playing music for communities in rural France, she’s brought the art form into every corner of my family’s life—inspiring many of my cousins’ music careers and motivating us all to follow our dreams.

To this day, I still see my grandmother face problems with perseverance and little incentive to complain. In spite of what she’s been through, she’s one of the happiest and liveliest people I know, and I’m honoured to call her my inspiration.”

—Samantha Fink, ConEd ’20

“In upper elementary, my list of priorities was very short—I valued my friends, my comics, and my Playstation 2. But within 10 minutes of being in Ms. Komarnycky’s class, I knew that

PHOTO BY TESSA WARBURTON

was no longer going to fly.

Ms. Komarnycky was middle-aged, 5’2”, and terrifying.

She had a hawk-like gaze that saw everything and the strictest class rules in school.

But she was also the only adult pushing me to do more.

At first, I resented this. I didn’t want to do homework or join clubs or lead projects, but she would tell me her expectations and leave before I could say no.

Every conversation between us amounted to me whining, ‘Do I have to do this?’ and her saying, ‘Yes. Because I know you can.’

I practiced more math than I could stomach, tutored many classmates, and assembled the school newspaper. By the end of sixth grade, she finally explained her intentions: ‘Being smart wouldn’t get you anywhere without hard work.’

Ms. Komarnycky was kind, intelligent, and always encouraged me to reach just a bit higher; in my mind, her image will always be at the very top.”

—Julia Balakrishnan, MA ’19

Research Stream bridges gap between researchers and participants Two Queen’s students discuss their start-up Ally Mastantuono Assistant Lifestyle Editor Student entrepreneurs Luc Pelletier, Kin ’19, and Brooke Resendes, CompSci ’19, want to pave the way for medical advances vital for the future of healthcare.

By founding and running the web platform Research Stream, which connects researchers with interested participants for human subject research, they’re on the road to doing just that.

According to Pelletier, human subject research is any sort of research done on humans, ranging from psychology studies that monitor the brain during puzzle-solving, to clinical trials that test new drugs and medical devices.

Research Stream simplifies the communication between researchers and participants by allowing users to create an online account, browse through a list of studies, and contact re s e a rc h e r s

directly if they’re interested in being participants. Through streamlining this process, the platform alleviates the strain of finding interested participants and hitting study recruitment goals, allowing everyone involved to direct their focus on advancing science and improving lives. “[Users] can click on different studies and learn about all the information that they would want to know before participating,” Resendes told The Journal in an interview. “[This] is something that you unfortunately don’t get to see often in the traditional methods, like fliers [and] bulletin boards.”

Pelletier recognized the need for a platform like Research Stream

while working in healthcare information technology for the Ottawa Heart Institute. During his time there, he noticed nurses and researchers were having a difficult time finding subjects for their studies. This strain affected their ability to push the pace in terms of science and medical advances important for healthcare.

“I just found [it] really odd that at this world-class institution, they were having such difficulties finding subjects,” Pelletier said.

“This stuck in the back of my head—this [is] a huge problem, [yet] most people [haven’t] heard of it.”

When Pelletier met Resendes this past summer at the Queen’s Innovation Centre Summer Initiative (QICSI)—a four-month program providing its successful applicants funding and mentorship for entrepreneurial ventures—he saw the potential benefits of a partnership.

Boasting a background in PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS YAO AND AMELIA RANKINE computer science

and product development, Resendes had the skills necessary to bring Pelletier’s idea to life. Together, they could find an effective solution to the widespread lack of research subjects.

After the platform’s initial conception, the team reached out to potentially interested parties in the greater Kingston area.

“The more we talk[ed] to people, [the more] it lit the fire to keep going,” Resendes said. “We saw that this [is] a real problem that can be solved.”

Since establishing Research Stream in the QICSI program, Pelletier and Resendes have continued to work and run the platform amidst their hectic academic and extracurricular schedules. Realizing the necessity for a platform like Research Stream, they’ve also both committed to working on the venture full-time after graduation.

Moving forward, the duo plans to make Research Stream “bigger and better” by implementing refined search algorithms, offering researchers insight and giving study leaders the option to directly message potential participants.

They also want to test their platform with disease populations, allowing people who have a personal stake in certain medical advancements to participate in necessary clinical trials.

“Something that we’ve realized [while] making this is people participate in research for different reasons,” Resendes said. “What we’re trying to do is cater to all those different motivations. So, everyone from people who are part of a specific disease population, to the average student who’s participating in studies just trying to make an extra couple bucks.”

By making the whole process easier for those new to participating in research, Pelletier also hopes Research Stream will highlight the importance of giving back to science.

“Medical advancements don’t happen on their own,” Pelletier said. “Almost everyone’s donated to some cause or some research at [one] point, but a lot of people haven’t necessarily gotten involved in donating their time to science. I highly recommend it.”

Lifestyle

14 •queensjournal.ca

THANK YOU LETTER

Canada Post

Friday, March 8, 2019

LOCAL STARS

When Kingston becomes a movie set

Exploring our city’s Sharing an appreciation presence in the for snail mail entertainment industry Claudia Rupnik Assistant News Editor

In high school, my father told me that everyone wins the lottery once in their lifetime. If that’s true, I’ll never score a million dollars on a scratch ticket because I hit the jackpot with my family.

Unfortunately, my family is spread out across the globe, from Thunder Bay to Wichita to Edinburgh. For most of my life, maintaining any sense of connection required lengthy phone calls, haphazard e-mails, and the odd plane ride. This proved to be an unreliable system for a child that just wanted to hang out with her cousins, who all lived 16 hours away.

But things changed in the sixth grade when I discovered the postal system and conned my cousin into writing me letters.

[T]hings changed in the sixth grade when I discovered the postal system and conned my cousin into writing me letters.

We quickly put pen to paper and became good, old-fashioned pen pals.

Our earliest letters are dated in 2012, when I lamented about the perils associated with elementary school and first crushes, and she responded with discussions of high school and trips abroad. Letters were padded with would-you-rather questions, playlists of our favourite songs, dollar store stickers, and images stolen from Tumblr.

Seven years later, I still anxiously check the mailbox every Monday to Friday.

The content of our letters has evolved with age, as we now debate the advantages of dating apps, describe our shared homesickness and loneliness, and try to pinpoint what exactly we hope to do with our post-university lives—a more pressing issue for her, a recent-graduate.

The most recent letter I received was hand delivered in Edinburgh over Reading Week, and probed the meaning of friendship and the shifting relationship we have with our hometowns as we grow up.

Christmas morning doesn’t touch the feeling of tearing open an envelope on my way up the stairs into my apartment, devouring the letter before I’ve unlocked my front door and choking up over words written three weeks earlier, in a café somewhere across the Atlantic.

I keep our letters in a shoebox in the corner of my bedroom. Every few weeks, I pull one out of the stack and read back through the trials and tribulations of my and my cousin’s teenage selves as we sorted through our dreams in secret letters.

No matter what’s on my to-do list, there’s always half an hour to write a letter, put a stamp on it, and walk it to the mailbox. I’m endlessly grateful for the Canadian postal system, which continues to make my letter-writing aspirations a reality.

Josh Granovsky Lifestyle Editor Queen’s students who spend years exploring Kingston often think they know the city well enough to navigate it blindfolded. Unknowingly, these same students are also likely to have watched a movie, TV show, or music video that’s used Kingston as its chameleonic backdrop.

The Kingston to which many of us feel a claim of ownership has been doubling as various cities on our favourite shows and movies for years. For the 1999 Christopher Walken-starring Vendetta, HBO transformed our beloved Springer Market Square into New Orleans. In a 2013 episode of The CW’s Nikita, the square stood in for a Russian village. Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Torro played off City Hall’s exterior as 19th century Buffalo in his 2015 film Crimson Peak.

Kingston’s onscreen credits extend to various locations throughout the city.

Fall Out Boy adorned Fort Henry with green screens and Roman Empire-era battle gear when filming the music video for their hit song “Centuries.” CBC and Netflix’s Alias Grace set up camp at the Kingston Penitentiary for most of its filming. And a number of smaller-scale productions have also made good use of Kingston’s scenic

SUPPLIED BY KINGSTON FILM OFFICE

Kingston City Hall and a still from Crimson Peak.

locales, including a video for The Washington Post, a British cable show, and two Japanese TV series.

While Kingston still may not have the same volume of active production as its Canadian neighbours, like Toronto and Vancouver, that won’t be the case for long if the newly-established Kingston Film Office has any say in the matter.

The office, which opened in January of 2018, works to build the infrastructure to attract and support film and TV production in Kingston. These responsibilities include providing access to the city’s locations, conversing with various Canadian unions, and fostering a creative environment that can fill cast and crew duties of incoming productions.

“Right now, it’s a really exciting time [in the film industry],” Alex Jansen, the Film Office’s Business Development Manager, told The Journal in a phone interview. “We’re having record years of production within Ontario and Canada, and a lot of it’s in Toronto, so Toronto is now kind of bursting at the seams.”

Canada’s film production boom shows no sign of slowing down, as Netflix recently announced its intent to build 800 acres worth of filming and office space in Toronto.

This development comes on the heels of the company’s 2017 commitment to spend $500 million on made-in-Canada productions.

Making the drive over to Kingston for filming comes with its own hoard of incentives. The area is subject to

THE LAZY ECONOMIST

Explaining the Dow Defining the stock market indicator Rebecca Frost Staff Writer When reporting on the economy, news sources will refer to something called “The Dow,” a term that’s used often but rarely explained.

The Dow is short for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a number which indicates how well the American stock market is doing. It’s based on the stock prices of 30 key companies from a variety of important sectors across the U.S. Specifically, the Dow measures these companies’ stock prices on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq—the two largest stock exchanges in America. Some of the companies included in the Dow right now are Apple, Boeing, Goldman Sachs, Home Depot, Exxon Mobile, McDonald’s, and Walmart.

Companies featured in the Dow change over time, but the general idea is they’re the stocks of big, important corporations from several sectors important to the American economy.

As these companies’ stock prices fluctuate, The Dow varies. If the companies’ stock prices are generally going up—indicating that investors are confident they will keep generating profits—then the Dow goes up. That’s good news. But if they go down, the Dow follows suit, and that’s bad news.

Another popular index you might see in the news is the S&P 500 index. It’s constructed by a financial services company called Standard and Poor (S&P) based on the stock prices of 500 companies across the U.S. Meanwhile, in Canada, the domestic stock market has an indicator of its own.

The most widely-quoted measure of the Canadian market’s health is the S&P/ TSX Composite Index. It’s like the S&P 500, except calculated based on the stock prices of 250 companies across the Canadian economy that are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX).

While these indexes can offer insight into how well companies are doing, they are by no means a perfect measure of any economy’s

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOSH GRANOVSKY

money-saving tax credits from the government, as well as additional rewards set specifically for productions that film outside of Toronto. The city also shares a time zone and geographic proximity with New York, where many of the world’s largest media companies are based.

However, above all else, Kingston’s biggest draw is its irreplicable locations.

“The main thing people will travel for are those locations that you just can’t get anywhere else,” Jansen said. “What makes [Kingston] attractive once shoots come out here, is they find the infrastructure for [productions].”

Jansen, who graduated from Queen’s in 2001 with a Film and Media degree, also hopes to use Kingston’s burgeoning media presence as a way to bridge Film students into the next stages of their careers. He cites an American commercial filmed at the Isabel Bader Centre this past summer with a local crew as an example of the town’s talent capabilities matching or exceeding that of larger cities.

“We do a lot of training opportunities with the Film and Media department,” Jansen said. “We started doing monthly workshops from September and April [...] and we’re able to do large information sessions, and hands-on things like bringing in an Oscar-winning technician for a lighting workshop.”

Jansen’s current long-term goal for the Film Office involves enticing large-scale productions to make Kingston their filming base, which would help integrate the city’s residents into the entertainment sector of the job market.

“As productions come in and have amazing experiences, we’ll start to see more and more employment [in Kingston],” Jansen said. “You’ll see the local community and the local industry melding.” strength. Since they’re based on stock price, which can be overvalued or undervalued based on the confidence of investors, these measures can paint an overly optimistic or pessimistic picture.

These indicators also don’t capture things like wages, unemployment, and inequality. Therefore, they don’t measure a country’s economic health outside of measuring stock prices.

Despite their limitations, indices like the Dow are important for many people.

A lot of low-interest savings plans invest money in a variety of stable stocks that are meant to represent the overall market, like those singled out by the Dow. These investments are what generate interest for their owners.

A lot of everyday savings plans, like pension funds and RESPs, are invested this way. Although the Dow’s calculations are not an exact science, it’s good to keep an eye on how the stock market is doing, especially as you save money throughout your life.

Lifestyle

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Lifestyle

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Friday, March 8, 2019

POSTSCRIPT

Forging my Jewish identity as a minority Experiences as a token representative

Carolyn grew up feeling the burden of representing all Jews in her actions.

Carolyn Svonkin Staff Writer

As one of few Jewish people attending my Anglican high school, I was accustomed to being the centre of attention in curious rooms.

While learning about the Holocaust in History class, my peers’ eyes would dart towards me before participating. When we covered Judaism in World Religions, my teacher requested I support his curriculum.

I tried to answer questions and participate in discussions unemotionally, hoping to avoid alienating my audience.

In those moments, I felt responsible for carrying the triple weight of religion, culture, and history.

Unlike visible minorities, I have the ability to buffer myself from this burden. Rarely am I identified outright as Jewish and I’ve been fortunate to grow up in a tolerant society.

For anyone who identifies or is seen as “different,” at one point—or many—you’ll be compelled to speak as an individual for a group that’s even more complicated than it is diverse. It doesn’t matter that I’m 19-years-old and can barely understand Hebrew beyond my Bat Mitzvah portion. I shoulder the minority’s burden: the expectation I will knowledgeably and unemotionally explain who I am to others.

At times, illuminating the intricacies of being different to someone who’s never experienced it is like explaining colour to someone born blind. And even though I preface by saying I’m not an expert, nor am I stating

any opinion but my own, I acknowledge these warnings regularly fall on deaf ears.

What I say is often taken as gospel truth, applicable to all Jews.

So I choose words carefully, tread lightly, and try to surmount the impossible task of encapsulating an identity.

What I say is often “taken as gospel truth,

applicable to all Jews.

So I choose words carefully, tread lightly, and try to surmount the impossible task of encapsulating an identity.

”

That sounds hyperbolic, but anyone who’s encountered being the sole member of a minority group in a room will recognize the feeling. When I first discussed these feelings with a friend of mine who’s Muslim, the parallels between our experiences shocked me—especially as members of two groups the mainstream media often pits against each other.

She taught me the universality of the minority experience; thousands of kilometers from where our people battle, she and I understand each other remarkably.

In May last year, my friend, Maya, texted me saying, “This may be offside, but what are your feelings on the Israel-Palestine conflict?”

“Not offside,” I responded.

“Israel is important for Jews.

When criticism arises, it feels personal, but every country has flaws.”

It’s always frustrated me when,

upon confrontation with the subject of Israel, my Jewish peers snap to the offensive. As the only democracy in the Middle East and a homeland for the subjects of the world’s oldest hatred, there are numerous reasons to support Israel.

I have spent time collecting these reasons as a shield to the anti-Israeli sentiment that rears its head at the most surprising moments. However, when staunch defenders are pressed to legitimize their convictions, the answer is often simply, “I’m Jewish.”

There’s nothing inherently wrong with this statement. But I’ve watched it baffle and alienate non-Jews. “I feel like I could make enemies by saying I don’t support either the Israeli or Palestinian government,” Maya said.

This gulf of misunderstanding runs deep. Judaism isn’t just a religion, but a culture where Israel is a pillar. My first day of Hebrew school, the class was paraded to the top floor of a synagogue for a presentation on the Holocaust.

Images of emaciated bodies and gas chambers flashed before our eyes while the genocide was described in excruciating detail.

The slideshow concluded with a panorama of Jerusalem.

The teacher fell quiet, letting us sit in the contrast between the exceptional ugliness of what we’d seen and the tranquility of the image now before us.

“Israel is our salvation,” she announced. “Because of Israel, when we say never again, we know we mean it.”

I was six and just been given more of an education on hatred and its brutality than many

ever get. Extreme as it may be, when my friends look to me in bewilderment over the obstinate Jewish attachment to Israel, I tell them this story.

This experience isn’t unique—it’s the context in which Jews are raised. In a time not long ago and a place not far away, we had nothing. When Israel was established, it became our something. And in the face of a seemingly eternal battle against anti-Semitism, it remains.

Is being Jewish a sufficient reason to support Israel? Do Jews support Israel as an obligation?

These questions feel impossible to answer, just like the questions I and other members of minority groups are asked regularly. In my experience, they’re rarely asked with mal-intent—I’ve been lucky to encounter more open-minded people than otherwise.

However, being a spokesperson grows tiring, especially when imposter syndrome creeps in and I realize how little I actually know when compared to how much I should know.

Minorities rarely get the luxury of making—and subsequently correcting—mistakes.

To maintain the progress Jews have made in combating prejudice, our burden is to be better, more knowledgeable and more amicable than anyone else, lest you slip up and cause the one step back associated with every two steps forward.

Since beginning university, I’ve found myself spending increasing time with friends who also belong to minority groups. But I cannot live behind a shield of ignorance, or nestle myself deep enough in the Jewish community to forget there’s a world beyond that

PHOTO BY CHRIS YAO

doesn’t like or understand me. Just because I can hide doesn’t mean I will.

I often wonder if my explanation to Maya clarified anything at all. I debate whether I have any right to an opinion on how Jews defend Israel. But I’m still trying to make friends with the knot in my stomach that flares when Israel comes up and I wait for heads to turn towards me, forgetting that at university I’m far more anonymous.

Difference is hard, but complexity is opportunity.

I’m educating myself about the Israel-Palestine conflict and becoming more empathetic to my friends’ opinions. I want to understand the house my bias lives in, its foundation laid in Hebrew school and rooms furnished by my upbringing. I want my friends to keep asking me questions, regardless of whether I possess answers.

Difference is hard, “but complexity is

opportunity. I’m educating myself about the Israel-Palestine conflict and becoming more empathetic to my friends’ opinions.

”

“How do you grasp grey issues surrounded by black and white mentalities?” I asked Maya. Navigating the minority’s burden is wading through ocean: choppy, tiring, lonely, and sometimes appearing endless.

But I now look at it less as a burden to bear and more an opportunity to swim.