Odds and ends with Craig and friends
One tough librarian Sleepy heads
sports page 13
A&E page 9
Queen’s
postscript page 16
University
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F R I D AY, O c t o b e r 1 , 2 0 1 0
Able’s premier
Punk Vet, Triple Threat
New SIC Publication will promote ability awareness By Katherine Fernandez-Blance Assistant News Editor
employing young people are aware that stereotypes are false. “There isn’t a lot you can do to overcome stereotypes no matter what generation you’re in,” he said. “All Generation Y’s can do is prepare well for a job and try to do well once they’re in the workplace.” Steinberg said the survey commissioned by RSM Richter might help companies recognize the truth about their Generation Y employees. “We do the survey to determine myths and stereotypes in today’s work force,” he said. “We hire a lot of young people each year, so to become better recruiters we need to learn what younger people are thinking.” Steinberg said the survey found that most young people would prefer to avoid giant conglomerates.
The Social Issues Commission (SIC) has created a new magazine that will address misrepresentations of ability through various forms of visual and written art. Able will be added to SIC’s four existing annual publications, The Feminist Review, Outwrite, Headsup and cultureSHOCK. All publications address issues concerning marginalized issues through a magazine format. Founder and Chair of Able, Ben Jennings, developed the idea for the magazine when working on a zine about ability issues over the summer. “The community I am in is one in which people get their message out through zines, and I thought this would be a good format to express my message,” Jennings, ArtSci ’13, said. Zines are small-circulation, self-published productions that focus on specific social issues, Jennings said. He had been trying to contact people to contribute to the project when AMS Social Issues Commissioner Daniella Dávila, contacted him about creating a campus publication that would promote awareness about ability issues on campus. “I wanted to get Ben’s zine to become an actual publication to make it a lot more accessible to the student population,” Dávila, ArtSci ’11 said. “Able’s mandate is to demonstrate the intersections between abilities and other types of identities and marginalization,” she said. “We want to make the university aware of the systematic problems that exist.” At the Sept. 16 AMS Assembly, the policy for Able was presented and approved. A budget has been created for the magazine, and the funding will come from the AMS Assembly’s allocation, Dávila said, adding that the team’s next step is to get the word out about recruiting
Please see Generation on Page 4
Please see Able on Page 4
The Menzingers were one of three punk acts who performed Monday night at Time to Laugh Comedy Club.
photo by christine blais
Generation Y stereotypes proven wrong RSM Richter survey shows assumptions about Generation Y in the workplace aren’t always true By Jessica Fishbein Assistant News Editor Employers often think 18 to 25 year-olds are overconfident, but according to a new study by RSM Richter, stereotypes like this about Generation Y simply aren’t true. David Steinberg, co-managing partner of RSM Richter’s Toronto office, said his company’s August survey showed young people are often misperceived in the office. He said Generation Y’s aren’t
INDEX
Volume 138, Issue 10 www.queensjournal.ca News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
A&E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Features . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Editorials . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Postscript . . . . . . . . . . 16
Op-Ed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
arrogant. In fact, the survey showed that 30 per cent of Generation Y’s were concerned about not meeting expectations once in a new workplace. Sociology Department Head Vincent Mosco said the media often perpetuates generational stereotypes. “The media likes to present information in small and simple language. As a result, they oversimplify and find it easy to stereotype generations,” he said. “Generation Y is labeled as overconfident because Generation X was labeled slackers and other labels were already used on previous generations.” Mosco said there’s absolutely no reason for Generation Y’s to be labeled as overconfident in their abilities. “If anything, Generation Y’s lack confidence because they don’t
know if they have the skills to keep up in such a fast-moving world,” he said. “Generation Y people are better educated, which might lead to some sense of self confidence on their part, but I think this is entirely overruled by the state of economy.” According to Mosco, the biggest challenge facing Generation Y isn’t the prevalence of stereotypes in the workplace but the lack of jobs for them in the job market. “Saying the younger generation is overconfident in their abilities is a way of blaming the victim for their own circumstances. It’s a way of the older generation saying, ‘It’s your own fault,” he said, adding that Generation Y’s lack of success in the job market is due to the state of the market itself. Mosco said Generation Y stereotypes aren’t harmful because most people who are serious about