The Queen's Journal, Issue 24

That time of year?

Features page 3

A rocking riot

The grades are in

A&E page 19

Sports page 23

Queen’s

University

the journal since

1873

T h u r s d ay, D e c e m b e r 2 , 2 0 1 0

Path to India

Mr. roboto

Queen’s Law looks to make ties with Indian universities

By Labiba Haque Assistant News Editor

photo by JUSTIN TANG

Stephen Scott, professor at the Queen’s Centre for Neuroscience studies, and mechanical technician Luke Harris demonstrate the KINARM, a virtual reality system that assesses brain function. For full story, see the Sci&Tech Extra on page 14.

As part of a continuing effort to internationalize Queen’s, the Faculty of Law has announced a partnership with Jindal Global Law School in New Delhi, India.

Bill Flanagan, dean of Queen’s Law, said this new partnership will allow law students to study at the Jindal School on exchange. He said the exchange will be popular because many students have ties to India.

“Those who don’t have cultural ties with India are fascinated with India,” he said. “India is booming.

It’s a huge economy.”

Flanagan said the exchange will be structured in the same way as other exchanges already offered by the Faculty of Law to places such as Australia, Hong Kong and several others.

Students on exchange are awarded credits on their transcripts as opposed to direct grades. The Please see Nine on page 9

Walking towards operational changes Walkhome faces staff shortages after receiving a spike in walking requests from students

By Halla Imam Contributor Johanna Spinner, ArtSci ’13, said she gets nervous about walking home from campus at night.

“You don’t realize how dangerous it is when you’re walking home alone from Stauffer at one in the morning, until you open your queensu.ca email and find another

INDEX Volume 138, Issue 24 www.queensjournal.ca News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Tech Extra . . . . . . . . . . 14

Features . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

A&E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Editorials . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Op-Ed . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Postscript . . . . . . . . . . 27

campus security alert,” she said.

Walkhome is a student-run safety service under the AMS that gives students who feel unsafe a way to avoid walking home alone.

Staff members form mixed-gender teams to walk fellow students anywhere they need to go.

Walkhome Manager Victoria Harrison said this year there has been an increase in Walkhome requests and the service is struggling to meet a rising demand.

“From September to November, we have given over 5150 walks.

This is an increase from last year. At this time last year Walkhome had given over 4450 walks,” she said.

“There have been instances where we don’t have enough teams to match the demand,” she said, adding that she estimates

Walkhome averaged around 45 walks per night in September compared to 55 in October.

Harrison said she’s working

with Vice-President (Operations) Ben Hartley and Hospitality and Services Director David Chou to re-evaluate Walkhome’s operations.

“It’s really hard to anticipate when the waves are going to come.

It’s more a matter of scheduling Please see Walkhome on page 7

Victims remembered Memorial for victims of the 1989 Montreal Massarcre aims to bring attention to violence against women in general

By Andrew Stokes Copy Editor On Dec. 6, 1989, Marc Lépine killed 14 women in an attack at Montreal’s École Polytechnique.

Dubbed the Montreal Massacre, Dec. 6 now marks a national day of remembrance for Lepine’s victims.

For the third year in a row, the Engineering Society is hosting a memorial to mark this tragedy and to bring attention to violence against women in general.

Maddy Parrott, Sci ’13, is coordinating the event along with a committee comprised of 15 Kingston community members,

representing a wide array of organizations such as EngSoc, Sexual Assault Centre Kingston, and Canada World youth. She said the memorial is important to all students, but especially to women.

“We felt it was important to Please see Memorial on page 8

N

2 •queensjournal.ca T hursday, December 2, 2010 ews

FEATURE

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2010

QUEENSJOURNAL.CA

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False panic increases average rent Misconceptions that the Ghetto is experiencing a housing shortage caused average monthly rent to rise from around $450 to $600, says a Queen’s housing advisor

BY GABRIEL NEWMAN-HOGAN AND ROSE SOLOVITCH JOURNAL STAFF This time last year, Town-Gown Relations Co-ordinator Joan Jones heard rumours that Queen’s Student Ghetto was facing a housing shortage. She said the panic led to a rise in the average monthly rent from around $450 to $600 per person.

“A lot of landlords rubbed their hands together with glee,” Jones said, adding that the panic sprung from landlords pushing upper year students to re-sign a

no later than mid-January 2011,” read the email acquired by the Journal yesterday. Each house or apartment was offered $25 per room if a decision was made by tomorrow.

The Ontario Residential Tenancies Act includes a clause prohibiting landlords from locking tenants into a year-long fixed term contract. Jones said Queen’s pushed for a program that would allow for Student Ghetto landlords an exemption from the rule.

“Queen’s said, ‘wait a minute.

As a landlord, we can’t let that happen to our properties or else we’re going to have

in Queen’s Landlord Contract Program are required to notify tenants of their affiliation when the lease is signed. However, not all landlords participate in the Queen’s program, Jones said, making it difficult for students to know what rights they’re entitled to.

“It’s a very complicated thing and that’s why students are naturally at a disadvantage because there’s so many rules,” she said, adding that the Town-Gown office, in room 135 of the JDUC, offers help to any Queen’s student unsure of what they’re obligated to tell their landlord. “Figure out which one of the rules applies to your unit. Don’t just accept what your landlord says about, ‘thou shalt re-sign a contract or thou have to

the competitive and expensive rental market.

Property Standards is a service provided by the city of Kingston Building Section which offers inspections of student properties to determine whether or not it meets the minimum housings standards which set by the Provincial government. Property Standards officers will issue landlords work orders to bring the house up to code.

First-year student Kelsey Keane said she’s scanning the student Ghetto housing market.

“I already have housemates and we’re going to look at a house,”she said.

David Gordon is a Queen’s urban planning professor who’s been teaching

Ontario, like Queen’s, has a large number of students living in small-scale, privately owned rental properties. According to Glenn Matthews, an off-campus housing administrator for Western, the key to making a set-up like this work is plenty of oversight, and fostering healthy discussions between students and landlords.

“We take a lot of time and effort to try and give both parties information to try and maintain [relations].”

London has recently instituted landlord licensing, a move Matthews hopes will prevent landlords from renting out properties that are not up to code.

Kingston city council quashed a proposal to license owners of s t u d e n t housing last year, reported the

PHOTO BY JUSTIN TANG

A City of Guelph senior policy offficer at the said the concerns were raised at a public forum about the University of Guelph student housing situation becoming similar to the Queen’s Student Ghetto. lease or give notice they won’t be re-signing as early as December.

“Landlords do a lot of really sneaky things to get students to give early notice,” she said.

Jones said she’s dealt with cases where tenants were offered Starbucks gift cards in exchange for making an early decision. But she said most student-tenants aren’t obligated to notify their landlords until late February.

“Landlords push this premature departure and so instead of just having the first years out there looking for housing, we have this mass of upper years as well,” Jones said. “It creates this illusion that there’s a housing shortage.

Last year what it did was create a panic and housing prices jumped significantly because so many more people were looking for at exactly the same time.”

High Point Properties, one of the largest property managers in the Ghetto, sent an email to tenants offering cash for re-signing or terminating a lease early.

“According to your lease agreement, it is necessary to indicate in writing to Highpoint Developments / Highpoint Management about your intention to re-lease the same apartment/ house or to terminate the tenancy at the end of your lease agreement

upper-year and graduate students just hanging on for a couple extra months,’ ” she said. “That would throw it out of the cycle of the academic year.”

The provincial government granted the exemption to landlords providing accommodations to postsecondary students. Any landlord wanting to receive the exemption can enter into the Landlord Contract Program for an annual fee of $20 per unit.

Members are permitted a Tenancy Termination Agreement to be signed along with the lease—allowing for the tenancy to be terminated at the end of the lease. However, most landlords stipulate a time period for tenants to apply for a renewal of the lease.

The program requires that members have annual property inspections from a third party to prove the landlord’s units are in compliance with the Kingston Property Standards Act. All participants can only raise rent by a percentage set by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Guidelines annually. This year the regulated increase rate is 0.7 per cent.

“Other landlords that aren’t part of the program can raise the rent to whatever the market will bear,” Jones said. “So that’s where you get those big jumps.”

All landlords participating

give notice.’ ” Landlords who aren’t members of the Queen’s program are lawfully able to sign students onto a fixed-term contract during the first year of tenancy. Following that period, another fixed term contract is not legally binding, Jones said.

Jones said tenants shouldn’t tolerate landlords showing their home to prospective renters if they haven’t told their landlord they’re not re-signing the lease.

“Landlords do a lot of really sneaky things to get students to give early notice.”

— Joan Jones, Town-Gown Relations co-ordinator “Last year we had landlords dragging first-year students through houses and signed leases with them with the upper-year students who had no intention of leaving,” she said. “The landlord doesn’t have the right to show the house until the current upper-year tenants have given written notice.”

Jones said she recommends students use resources made available by the City of Kingston to remedy maintenance issues on their homes before looking for housing elsewhere to avoid entering into

at Queen’s since 1994.

The Sci ’76 alumnus said Queen’s student housing changed drastically in the early 1970s, with students moving out of the boarding houses advocated by their parents, and into private residences.

“The age of majority changed from 21 to 18, so off campus students could sign for an apartment by themselves,” he said. “In previous years when you came to Queen’s, you did your first year ... in residence. When you moved off campus, your parents signed for you, and your parents generally wanted you to live with someone who was taking care of you. That was called in loco parentis.”

He said instead of minors whose parents made arrangements with boarding houses, students became adults who could sign a lease, creating more opportunity for landlords.

“Take a four bedroom house and put two more bedrooms on the ground floor, two in the basement, and two in the attic, and suddenly you’ve got a ten bedroom house,” Gordon said. “The rent from that could outbid any family. Gradually the area around the campus started to be converted one house at a time ... into student housing.”

The University of Western

Kingston Whig-Standard.

The City of Guelph recently passed a bylaw prohibiting the establishment of housing with six or more bedrooms within 100 m of another dwelling with six or more bedrooms.

“The intent is to increase diversity and create a healthy mix of housing types in all neighbourhoods,” Joan Jylanne, a senior policy planner with the City of Guelph, told the Journal via email.

Jylanne said public forums discussing the implementing of the bylaw saw concerns from the public about the city developing a University of Guelph student housing concentration similar to the Queen’s situation.

“There was certainly the concern that we would have a Queen’s Ghetto,” she said, adding that the actual bylaw didn’t echo the same concerns.

“The by-law does not target students, it applies city-wide,” she said. “[It] does not and cannot address the tenure of units (owned vs. rented) or make distinctions on the basis of relationship or persons [living in the dwelling].”

—with files from Jake Edmiston

News

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NATIONAL DAY OF REMEMBRANCE AND ACTION ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2010 6:00PM MEMORIAL & CANDLELIGHT VIGIL Wallace Hall, JDUC, 2nd Floor, Queen’s University, 87 Union Street

GUEST SPEAKER: JESSICA YEE Two spirit youth, founder of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network

• Commemorate the 14 women murdered at l’Ecole Polytechnique in 1989.

• Remember all women who have died as a result of gender-based violence.

• Take action to end violence against women

Thursday, december 2, 2010

Pro-life club banned at Carleton University Carleton University Students Association (CUSA) is facing legal action after it denied club status to the pro-life club Carleton Lifeline.

The Charlatan, Carleton’s campus paper, reported that Carleton Lifeline’s status was revoked on the grounds that it violates CUSA’s Discrimination on Campus Policy, which states that will “respect and affirm a woman’s right to choose her options in case of pregnancy.”

The Policy also states that “actions such as any campaign, distribution, solicitation, lobbying, effort, display, event, etc. that seeks to limit or remove a woman’s right to choose her options in the case of pregnancy will not be supported,” and that “no CUSA resources, space, recognition or funding will be allocated for the purpose of promoting these actions.”

In a letter dated Nov. 11, CUSA’s Khaldoon Bushnaq, vice-president (internal affairs), invited Carleton Lifeline to amend their club constitution to respect CUSA’s policy by Nov. 18 in order to regain their certification. Without certification, Carleton Lifeline cannot book student space nor receive funding from the school.

Carleton Lifeline has been a certified club on campus since 2007. It has been re-certified every year since 2007 and has never changed its constitution or pro-life stance.

—Jessica Fishbein

UVic increases Aboriginal student enrollment Due to high rates of graduation and academic success, an initiative designed to help Aboriginal students is set to continue at the University of Victoria.

The Times Colonist reported on Nov. 28 that the project will be funded by the University as well as the provincial government and private donors.

The Le,nonet Project has contributed to a 20 per cent increase in Aboriginal student graduation rates at UVic in the four years since the project began.

The project’s name comes from a Straits Salish word meaning “success after many hardships.”

The project supports Aboriginal students by offering scholarships ranging from $1,000

to $5,000, providing emergency relief for students undergoing temporary financial hardships, organizing peer-mentoring programs and coordinating community and research apprenticeships.

The pilot for the project was completed by 200 Aboriginal Students in 2009. The data from these students was compared to all other Aboriginal students not registered in the program and Aboriginal students studying at the University of Victoria from 2000 to 2005, before the program began.

There are currently about 700 Aboriginal students studying at both graduate and undergraduate levels at UVic. Over 90 per cent of the 144 First Nations students who participated in the program’s interviews and surveys said Le,nonet helped them succeed at university, while over 73 percent said it helped them identify with being Aboriginal.

—Jessica Fishbein

York discusses anti-semetic allegations Rabbi Aaron Hoch and York University President Mamdouh Shoukri will meet this month to discuss accusations made by Hoch that Shoukri supports anti-Semitism on campus.

York’s campus newspaper the Excaliber reported that this meeting comes in light of a recent speech given by British MP George Galloway at York University.

According to a Nov. 16 National Post article, Hoch sent an email to 700 people regarding George Galloway’s speech at the Keele campus of York University. His email stated “Mr. Shoukri has again showed his amazing tolerance for anti-Semitism and lack of vigilance regarding the feeling of safety for Jewish students on campus.”

George Galloway was not allowed to enter Canada in 2008 due to reports that he donated money to Hamas, an organization that Canada considers a terrorist group.

According to the National Post, York University asked for an apology from Hoch for associating its president with antiSemitism. Instead, Hoch sent a copy of his email correspondence with York to all of his contacts.

—Jessica Fishbein

get SoCiaL Follow the Journal on twitter at: twitter.com/queensjournal

For info contact: vec@kingston.net | 613-545-1833 ext. 35

www.wedontstopkingston.com Organized by: Education on Gender Issues, Engineering Society of Queens, Kingston Interval House, Levana Gender Advocacy Center, Sexual Assult Center Kingston, Society of Graduate & Professional Students, Women in Science and Engineering.

or on Facebook at: facebook.com/queensjournal

Thursday, December 2, 2010

News

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•5

Kingston’s museums could receive boost Canadian Museums Day aims to get the federal government to committ $25 million to the funding of museums

By Katherine Fernandez-Blance Assistant News Editor Kingston’s 19 museums could receive a portion of a $25 million funding boost over the next five years after a group of roughly 100 museum professionals met with MPs and Senators at Parliament.

This year’s Canadian Museums Day, dubbed ‘Hill Day’ by its supporters took place on Nov. 23. The annual event began last year through collaboration between museum advocacy groups including the Canadian Museum Association, the Canadian Art Museums Directors’ Organization and the Canadian Federation of Friends of Museums.

“ ... students should have every reason to want to see a healthy well-funded art gallery that continues to offer the fullest spectrum of art programming.”

—Janet Brooke, Director of Queen’s Agnes Etherington Art Centre Janet Brooke, Director of Queen’s Agnes Etherington Art Centre, attended Hill Day this year. She said its focus was to get the federal government to commit to the Canadians Supporting Their Museums Fund, which would provide for the federal government to match private sector donations to museums, dollar for dollar.

“Kingston has an unusually high number of museums [for a city of this size],” Brooke said, adding that in this context museums also refer to art museums, known to most as art galleries. In Kingston, the Penitentiary Museum and the Pump House Steam Museum are some of the city’s most popular tourist attractions.

Nationally, Canada has around 2,000 museums.

Brooke said that funding for museums from both private and governmental sources is much lower than funding for other arts institutions, namely the performing arts.

Just as with other arts institutions, operating costs have gone up exponentially in recent years, which is why federal support is so vital, Brooke said.

Most museum workers earn very low salaries when compared to the overall marketplace, Brooke said, and most museums rely heavily on volunteers to balance out operating costs. The Agnes Etherington Art Centre employs nine people full time, and has an extensive base of volunteers, Brooke said.

Many students aren’t aware of the extent of services that Canada’s premiere university gallery offers, Brooke said.

“While many students would associate us exclusively with the department of art, the kind of offerings we do appeal to a wide variety of students … students should have every reason to want to see a healthy well-funded art gallery that continues to offer the fullest spectrum of art programming,” Brooke said, adding that Queen’s students have a wealth of information available to them for free at the gallery.

Hill Day aimed to increase federal budgeting for museums but also promoted an increase in private sector donations, both individually and corporately.

“One of the reasons we’re supporting this is that currently private philanthropy and donations account nationally for nine per cent of Canadian museum’s operating budgets,” Brooke said, adding that the hope is that Canadians will donate more towards museums when they see that the government will be matching their funds.

“The endowment program we’re looking to is a program that already exists for other sectors, the results have shown very clearly that it’s an effective form of support,” she said.

According to Brooke, although the government has generally been unsympathetic to the needs and aspirations of museums, Brooke said, after the individual meetings with MPs and Senators took place, most politicians appeared to be very warm and receptive to the agenda.

“Most recommended that I move forward

supplied photo by Kate Yuksel

Janet Brooke, Director of Queen’s Agnes Etherington Art Centre wants to see an increase in federal and individual funding of Canadian museums. with it,” Brooke said.

Although Brooke said she doesn’t yet know whether the federal government will commit to the fund advocated at Hill Day, she said she’s ensuring that the advocacy continues in the future.

This will be done largely through a letter writing campaign from community members to MPs. “We want to make sure that the project we’re seeking support for doesn’t fade away on a table somewhere,” she said. “We want

to make sure that it goes through the full [governmental] process.”

Brooke said she feels Hill Day was successful this year, especially in terms of raising awareness among federal agents.

“Museums are increasingly a voice that deserves to be heard,” Brooke said. “We already do survive without this program, but [it] would go very far to help create the sustainable funding base that is the cornerstone of institutional health.”

Sporting awareness

photo by justin tang

CEO of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Sandra Palmaro thanks the men’s rugby team for raising $27,000 earlier this year in Run for the Cure.

News

6 •queensjournal.ca

Thursday, december 2, 2010

NEWS IN BRIEF Academic planning task force approved Senate approved the use of a task force to assist in developing of the university academic plan, on Nov. 25 Senate meeting.

Based on the recommendation of Senators Mark Jones and Ross Chaudhry, Senate agreed that the taskforce should be composed of three faculty members, one staff member, two students (one undergraduate and one graduate or professional studies), one dean and a chair appointed by the principal.

On Nov. 29, Queen’s University Secretariat sent out an email calling for nominations to the task force, with the deadline for submission set as Dec. 10.

The Senate Nominating Committee will be in charge of selecting task force members and presenting them to members of Senate.

Senate members will vote electronically by Dec. 21 to decide the final composition of the task force.

In conjunction to the task force, Senate also passed a motion for a series of town hall meetings to help address key academic planning issues.

Principal Daniel Woolf told Senate that much of the academic plan has been completed however he hopes to see more consultations over the next few months.

—Labiba Haque

Quality Assurance Processess approved The Queen’s University Quality Assurance Processes (QUQAPs) was approved on Nov. 25 based on the recommendation of University Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Robert Silverman.

The quality assurance processes were developed in accordance with the quality assurance framework designed by the Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents (OCAV).

The province-wide framework adopted by the Council of Ontario Universities in April 2010 includes initiatives taken by

CaMpUS CaLenDar

universities to ensure consistencies among all programs across Ontario.

Some senators voiced concerns at the Nov. 25 meeting in regards to the framework having a large impact on the University’s authority and interdependence.

However, Vice-Provost (Graduate Studies) and Dean of Graduate Studies Brenda Brouwer and Principal Daniel Woolf told Senate the Quality Council was established to facilitate program improvements and public accountability.

The QUQAPs document will now be sent for approval to the COU Quality Council with an estimated deadline for its implementation scheduled for September 2011.

—Labiba Haque

Paving the path for United Way Queen’s United Way has reached the final stage of its campaigning goals, raising $310,160 since its launch in September.

The University has raised 99 per cent of its goal, however, it’s still striving to reach its $315,000 target.

The campaign was first launched September with the objective to support social services and programs in the local Kingston community. Queen’s is the largest contributor in the Kingston, Frontenac, and Lennox and Addington region. The region has raised $3,145,000 in total, including the contribution from the University.

Campaign leaders encourage people to continue to take pledge forms and make donations through the month of December.

On Dec. 4, there will be a holiday food and clothing drive planned by Queen’s students to benefit several United Way funded agencies. Students will be going door-to-door in residential areas near campus to collect items for the drive. Students, faculty, staff and members of the local community are encouraged to make a donation or a pledge by calling 613-533-6000 x 78345.

Thursday, Dec. 2

Monday, Dec. 6

holiday Food Drive aRC 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

lecture: Moodle and Multimedia Mackintosh-Corry hall, Room b176 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Free

holiday Card-Making agnes etherington art Centre’s studio 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Free Friday, Dec. 3 Quidditch for Muggles at Queen’s!

City park – Cricket Field barrie & bagot st.

11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. $2/person student Chamber ensemble Concert harrison le-Caine hall, Room 120 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Free Sunday, Dec. 5 holiday Movie Marathon! stirling a 7 p.m. $4/student

Memorial for victims of the Montreal Massacre Wallace hall, jDuC 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 7 MhaC De-stress goodie bag giveaway stauffer library 10 a.m. the slow professor Robert sutherland building, Room 202 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 8 Monieson ideas - green entrepreneurship 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Free Thursday, Dec. 9 on being an artist (in your spare time) Deb Krakow 12 p.m. ban Righ Centre Free

—Labiba Haque

Licensed by the LLBO • GLUTEN FREE MENU ITEMS

Friday & Saturday

Servin

Breakfagst Brunch, L , and D unch seven da inner ys a w eek!

Contact our full-service catering department for your next meeting, party or event.

News

Thursday, december 2, 2010

queensjournal.ca

•7

Walkhome demand on the rise Continued from page 1

students who have a constant reminder that Walkhome is an option for them.”

Harrison said November is a particularly busy month for Walkhome.

“November each year tends to be one of our busiest months. This month tends to have more walks because it’s a busy month for tests and assignments, which motivates many more late night library sessions. In November we averaged around 70 walks a night,” she told the Journal via email.

According to Harrison, the increase in calls is normal during this time of year.

‘Each individual has their own reason for using Walkhome and I don’t want to speculate whether or not it is because of the recent attacks that have occurred,” she said.

One such incident occurred on Nov. 4 in the parking lot north of Stauffer Library. A female student was reportedly grabbed by an unknown male. She escaped her attacker unharmed but the suspect was not found.

Harrison said the increase in calls can be attributed to the simple fact that it gets darker much earlier. photo by justin tang Walkhome’s hours of operation are Robin Johannsen, Sci ’12 and night co-ordinator for Walkhome dispatches typically Sunday until Wednesday from 8 teams via the radio. p.m. until 2 a.m., and extend until 3 a.m. from Thursday to Saturday. As of the middle of October, however, Walkhome began offering services beginning at 6 p.m.

Donna Sly, security awareness co-ordinator at Campus Security, said WalkSafe offers a similar service to Walkhome except remains on campus.

“It’s similar to the Walkhome service except we only provide walks on campus. We don’t travel off campus like Walkhome,” she said. “If Walkhome needs help one night, let’s say they have to deal with a lot more calls than usual on a particular night, then we also provide service for Walkhome.”

Unlike Walkhome, Sly said WalkSafe has not seen the same increase in demand.

WalkSafe has not seen a significant increase in calls over the years, as Walkhome is the main service students use,” she said.

“October and November is usually when we experience the most calls, but we associate that with the fact that it gets darker earlier.”

more teams,” she said, adding that the understaffing Walkhome is experiencing is not necessarily a matter of funding.

“Basically what I’m doing on my end is I’m looking at the trends of when walks tend to happen … and looking to see if I can shuffle around teams to accommodate increase of teams throughout the night,” she said.

Hartley said the best way to manage a spike in the number of Walkhome requests is to increase the number of teams working.

“On nights with a heavy volume of walks, this invariably requires providing students with a cab when teams are not available, an element of the operation Walkhome budgets for every year,” Hartley told the Journal via email. “As our volume of walks increases, so too do our cab costs.

“When we see an increase in walks as we’ve seen this year, it can actually be less expensive for the service to add another team … and this [is] what we’ve done. Not only will we save on costs, but we will also be putting more money back in students’ pockets in the form of wages,” he said, adding that Walkhome is the more used than any similar operation at another universities.

“Even before this year, Walkhome did a disproportionate number of walks relative to all other Canadian campuses.”

Harrison said concerns that Walkhome is understaffed have to do with the operating budget.

“There is a certain amount of money that has been allocated towards paying staff members,” she said. “We can only afford to have so many people working during service hours.”

The increase in minimum wage over the past several years has had an effect on Walkhome’s ability to hire more staff, Harrison said, adding that the number of walks increases annually, due to increased advertising. Frosh week has proven to be an important time of year for Walkhome, as it gives staff an opportunity to reach out to students and assert their presence on campus.

“Around three years ago we started giving out the Walkhome key chains,” she said. “It has made our service more accessible for

photo by justin tang

—With files from Clare Clancy Walkhome staffers are grouped into teams consisting of one male and one female.

I can’t seem to focus I’m not getting anything done

c

I just don’t feel like myself anymore

on si

blue sky project

de ties bili ssi po he rt www.queensu.ca/its/etc

I’m always tired

I can’t stop crying I used to be happy

Does this sound like you?

If you are between 18 and 29, you may be eligible to take part in a research study of depression.

Help find out what causes depression through your participation in Blue Sky Project. www.blueskyproject.ca 613.533.6003

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8 •queensjournal.ca

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Memorial seeks to end violence Continued from page 1

encourage women to come in [to university] without being afraid of anything,” she said.

Queen’s has been hosting a memorial service since 2008 with each year having a different focus. 2008’s ceremony focused on aboriginal women, and 2009’s service had a film screening of Polytechnique that commemorated the 20-year anniversary of the Montreal attack.

women can do just as much as men, especially in terms of things like engineering and sciences.”

A decreased budget for the event has meant less advertising this year, but word has nonetheless been spread via Facebook, a dedicated website, and numerous posters throughout campus and the rest of town.

The memorial service will include a speech by Jessica Yee, a gender equality activist, who advocates for anti-discrimination with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The talk will focus on the continuing problem of violence against women.

“[We’re] letting them know that women can do just as much as men, especially in terms of things like engineering “We want people to and sciences.” realize that violence —Maddy Parrott, organizer against women isn’t a for the Dec. 6 memorial thing of the past. It still Through a mixture of speakers happens and it needs to and performances, Parrott said the stop. ” Montreal Massacre memorial will show people that violence against women still exists.

“We want people to realize that violence against women isn’t a thing of the past. It still happens, and it needs to stop. It’s sort of an event to make people realize and actually think about it, instead of just not even really acknowledging it.”

The goal is to educate people, Parrott said. “[We’re] letting them know that

—Maddy Parrott, organizer for the Maddy Parrott, Sci‘ 13 is organizing the massacre’s memorial on Dec. 6.

Dec. 6 memorial Along with Jessica Yee, the Queen’s a capella group The Caledonias will perform before the rose ceremony, where 14 students will read the names and biographies of the women who were killed. Many of the speakers are female engineering students who volunteered to be a part of the ceremony.

After this, a candlelight vigil will be held outside to remember the victims of the École Polytechnique shooting. After a moment of silence, the names of Kingston women who have been the victims of spousal abuse will be read.

The event will also include information booths for local women’s organizations like the

Kingston Interval House, which supports women and children experiencing violence, the Levena Gender Advocacy Centre and Women in Science and Engineering, which works to increase the participation of women in science and engineering.

Parrott said the ceremony tends to have a large turnout.

photo by Justin Tang

“Last year there were over 200,” she said. “So we’re hoping for that, if not more, again this year.”

A memorial service for the Montreal massacre will be held at 6 p.m. on Dec. 6 in Wallace Hall in the JDUC.

Thursday, december 2, 2010

News

queensjournal.ca

•9

Nine scholarships offered to Indian students Continued from page 1

exchange option is open to law students of all concentrations.

Flanagan said India is an ideal country for the Faculty of Law to partner with.

“There are a million reasons why we should be there, why we should be involved with India.”

He said the biggest draw for Queen’s includes the fact that India is English speaking and that like Canada, it follows a common law system.

Flanagan said he first heard about Jindal Law School from a Queen’s law graduate student.

“We have long-term goals for India, including increased student enrollment from India, greater faculty and student mobility for our students, visiting Indian scholars to Queen’s [and] potential engagement with Indian industry.”

Principal Woolf and Jindall Global Law School’s Vice-Chancellor Raj Kumar sign a memorandum of understanding during Woolf’s recent trip to India with a group of presidents from other Canadian universities.

international programs in the Faculty of Law, said the recently developed agreements between Queen’s Law and Jindal Global —Daniel Woolf, principal Law School will give up to three students per semester the opportunity to participate “I was in China on a research in the exchange.

The Faculty of Law has also secured project … stopped off in New Delhi and met with the graduate and the Dean of the school funding from alumnus Andrew Best, LLB and was very impressed with the school,” he ’81, to provide an exchange bursary to one Jindal student coming to Queen’s each year. said.

Ready said that in the last couple of years In an effort to increase international awareness about Canadian universities, the Faculty of Law has seen approximately Principal Woolf travelled to India along with 40 out of 160 third year law students 15 other Canadian university presidents for go on exchange.

“This is an option that will be very a weeklong visit from Nov. 8 - 13. During this trip, Woolf signed a memorandum of popular and I think this is adding another understanding between Queen’s and the option for students rather than adding six more students to our numbers,” she said.

Jindal Law School.

Internationalization is one of the key Woolf was part of the largest delegation of Canadian university presidents and principals principles of ‘Where Next?,’ the vision statement presented to the Queen’s to ever visit India.

Queen’s has already taken several community last January that outlines a plan initiatives to strengthen their ties with Indian for Queen’s future.

An advisory group, consisting of universities. Woolf announced that up to nine new admission scholarships will be Vice-Provost (International) John Dixon, awarded to top undergraduate students from Vice-Principal (Advancement) Tom Harris India, starting fall 2011. The students in and Vice-Principal (Research) Steven Liss, Masters of Business Administration (MBA) is currently in the process of developing have also recently organized the first Queen’s a strategy geared towards prioritizing international promotion within the upcoming Business Forum entitled ‘Experience India.’

Gillian Ready, assistant dean of Academic Plan.

Woolf said India is a country with a growing middle class population and large facility deficits. He said inter-university partnerships may be able to help alleviate some of these burdens.

“India’s post-secondary system doesn’t have the capacity to educate everyone and the quality of the institution is quite variable.

So there is an opportunity for Canadian universities, including Queen’s, to help India educate its citizens,” he said.

“We have long-term goals for India, including increased student enrollment from India, greater faculty and student mobility for our students, bringing visiting Indian scholars to Queen’s [and] potential engagement with Indian industry.”

Woolf announced that up to nine admission scholarships will be awarded to top undergraduate students from India,

supplieD

starting next fall.

Five of the scholarships are the Principal’s International Scholarships valued at $20, 000 each, which will be funded from donations. Students from India are also eligible for up to four of the 10 International Entrance Scholarships valued at $9,000 each.

Further awards previously available only to Canadian students will be open to all eligble internal students, starting fall 2011.

Vice-Provost (International) John Dixon told the Journal via email that scholarships will be awarded to Indian undergraduate students who would study at Queen’s for their whole undergraduate degrees and they’re not targeted to specific disciplines.

“Assisting a few students to attend Queen’s, these scholarships will raise the profile of Queen’s and lead other students to consider coming here,” he said.

Editorials

10 • queensjournal.ca

Q u ee n ’ s

Thursday, December 2, 2010

University

the journal since

1873

Four Loko is too much N

ew Jersey’s Ramapo College has banned a popular canned beverage in light of serious concerns about the safety of its students. The drink is called Four Loko, and contains alcohol and a host of energy drink ingredients. Not only does it come in large, 700 ml cans, but it’s cheap and fruit-flavoured as well. These factors make it popular with those on a tight budget and those who don’t like the harsh taste of more traditional drinks.

Ramapo College instituted the ban on Oct. 1, after more than 20 students were hospitalized in binge-drinking incidents.

Other institutions have followed the college’s lead, and many more have informed their students about the dangers posed by alcoholic energy drinks, particularly Four Loko.

Ramapo College President Peter Mercer was quoted as saying that the beverage serves “no redeeming social purpose.” It’s hard to disagree with him—just as it’s hard to imagine someone drinking Four Loko for

any reason other than quick intoxication.

It’s unlikely that the college will be able to effectively enforce such a ban. However, efforts to make the drink less available aren’t limited to the administrative level. In response to concerns about overconsumption, several states are moving to ban alcoholic energy drinks outright, and many retailers have voluntarily pulled the product from shelves.

Though it’s a good idea to make potentially dangerous beverages less available, the ban is targeting a symptom, not the problem itself. Young people—especially students— are fond of risky methods of drinking.

Recipes for a do-it-yourself equivalent of Four Loko are available online, and less-motivated people can simply mix an alcohol-free energy drink with their beverage of choice.

It’s important to note that the issues stemming from Four Loko aren’t simply the consequence of an unsafe product getting into the wrong hands.

Aberdeen and agony A

story published Nov. 26 on queensjournal.ca detailed Principal Daniel Woolf’s decision to suspend Fall Homecoming for a further three years.

Woolf cited ongoing concerns about the annual unsanctioned Aberdeen Street Party as influencing his decision. While he acknowledged that attendance is down, he indicated his belief that any reversal of the suspension would simply encourage large crowds to return and continue to threaten public safety and the University’s reputation.

Principal Woolf faced a daunting decision.

There are many different perspectives on the issues surrounding Homecoming weekend, and satisfying everyone was never a possibility.

Despite being a separate event, Homecoming Weekend has become synonymous with the Aberdeen Street Party.

It’s disappointing that an outright cancellation of the former is the current solution to the problems posed by the latter.

There are some unexplored avenues which could help the University and the City of Kingston negotiate the issues posed by the street party, such as attracting crowds to other venues in the city, or continuing to present a strong police presence on Aberdeen Street without cancelling Homecoming Weekend— both of which would help underscore that the two are not interchangeable.

However, previous attempts at accommodation—including road closures and harm reduction—ended in failure. In light of the street party’s high profile, it would

be counter-productive for the University to take any steps that might encourage attendance on Aberdeen Street. The window for a university-sanctioned event has closed—at least for the foreseeable future.

In reality, “solving” the Aberdeen Street problem isn’t the University’s responsibility. Well-intentioned emails from the administration—and a strong police presence—have failed to drop attendance to zero. The responsiblity is on the shoulders of anyone who shows up on Aberdeen Street, even those who claim that they just want to see the spectacle. This behaviour only draws attention to the Aberdeen issue—from both the public and the media.

Students and alumni who decry the cancellation as an assault on tradition are right to complain. But Homecoming Weekend has ceased to be about the traditions of one’s alma mater, eclipsed instead by a tradition of shameful behaviour and resultant bad press.

Regardless of whether or not the problems originate from Queen’s students as a group, they will ultimately face most of the consequences. While the loss of a tradition is a tragedy, it’s a greater tragedy that current and future generations of students suffer because of the actions of a select few.

Students and alumni alike should embrace other routes of getting in touch with the Queen’s community of the past and present, and form traditions that haven’t been stained by memories of flipped cars and students in handcuffs.

Volunteer voluntarily Katherine Fernandez-Blance

I

like to believe that I exist to do more than just to take up space and procreate. I believe that many of us have more to offer the world than our diplomas on our walls, and money in our bank accounts. I’m certainly no optimist, but I hope that my contribution to the world will leave it in a better place than it was when I first entered it.

Volunteering—something that my bleeding heart has a large soft spot for—is an activity that society looks upon with keen interest. Volunteering is something that is meant to humble and educate you, especially when volunteering with those who are ‘less fortunate’ than you.

But what is it about volunteering that leaves celebrities clambering to the nearest African orphanage and members of religious organizations dutifully serving the homeless at local soup kitchens every weekend?

In general, I don’t think it’s for the betterment of the affected communities.

Not real, sustainable betterment at least.

Volunteering can be an exploitive, almost voyeuristic activity, depending on the situation and the motivations behind the volunteer. I was volunteering earlier this week, and a couple of high-school boys had also signed up with me. Though the boys did their jobs, they goofed around, laughed behind the patrons’ backs, and didn’t appear to understand the importance of the work that they were doing.

When another volunteer chatted to them about why they were there—after they

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Thursday, December 2, 2010 • Issue 24 • Volume 138 The Queen’s Journal is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Alma Mater Society of Queen’s University, Kingston. Editorial opinions expressed in the Journal are the sole responsibility of the Queen’s Journal Editorial Board, and are not necessarily those of the University, the AMS or their officers.

Contents © 2010 by the Queen’s Journal; all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission of the Journal. The Queen’s Journal is printed on a Goss Community press by Performance Group of Companies in Smiths Falls, Ontario. Contributions from all members of the Queen’s and Kingston community are welcome. The Journal reserves the right to edit all submissions.

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complained that their feet hurt from walking around too much— the boys informed us that they were only volunteering to fill their 40 hours of mandatory community service.

This mandatory ‘volunteering’ is apparently meant to teach teenagers some humility and perspective, but I saw little of that. Instead, I saw adolescents who were well aware of their class privilege, mocking the actions of those with none.

Volunteering can have a dark side, especially when dealing with differences in power dynamics. This is only one example and the typical immaturity of teenage boys is common knowledge, but it made me wonder why we volunteer.

The reality is hard to admit, but I would say it’s true for most. Volunteering feels good, it gives us a sense of purpose, and in many contexts it makes us feel better about our situations. When done in large groups with people from similar backgrounds, it appears to almost act as group therapy.

Yet, society needs volunteers as much as volunteers need the defined role that their commitment offers them. Volunteering is an essential activity, but stop blindly following others into it, if you are like many who believe that three hours spent dishing out soup to the hungry can change lives.

Before your good-Samaritan-self signs up for some more volunteer shifts, think about why you are doing it. Reflection can offer the world something.

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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Opinions

queensjournal.ca

• 11

Tuition policy change hurts students The University’s new tuition payment policy comes at the detriment of students, and amounts to a cash grab

Patrick Allin, ArtSci ’13 On Oct. 14, University Registrar Jo-Anne Brady appeared before AMS Assembly to present the University’s new information system. The transition to this new system has resulted in a new fee

payment schedule for tuition.

Under the new system, the full tuition payment for the entire academic year is due by Sept. 1. Deferrals are allowed for OSAP loans, provided the student submits evidence of the application.

Student fees are due on Sept. 30.

This represents a change from current policy that requires full tuition and fee payment

by Sept. 30.

Late payments are charged an interest rate of prime plus three per cent, which works out to

six per cent annual interest on late payments. According to the Registrar, this system brings Queen’s in line with other Ontario universities.

It’s clear from the University’s perspective why full tuition payment will be required on Sept. 1. This move brings tens of millions of dollars into the University a full 30 days earlier than the current deadline does.

Queen’s can then invest these funds, earning interest, slightly increasing tuition revenue. With

No thanks to ThankQ By asking students to self-identify as requiring financial assistance, the program is normalizing well-off students

Laura Stairs, ArtSci ’12 I received an email last Friday about the ThankQ program: a program that invites scholarship and bursary recipients to wear a “ThankQ” tag on their backpacks.

While I understand that the intent of the program is to show appreciation to alumni for their financial contributions to the education of Queen’s students, I have several concerns with the program.

First, students are asked to identify themselves to their peers as individuals who need financial assistance and whose education is therefore largely funded by the University.

This has the effect of creating a divide between students who receive financial aid and those who don’t under the premise of celebrating alumni for their contributions.

What this does is further stigmatize student poverty. There are students at Queen’s who feel embarrassed to acknowledge that they need financial assistance.

By requesting that students wear tags on their backpacks, the ThankQ program asks them to acknowledge to their peers that they’re here thanks to the generosity of alumni.

Students who don’t receive financial assistance, however, are not encouraged to identify their thankfulness.

This normalizes their financial circumstances as they do not need to be explicitly identified as a variant, nor do they need to be highlighted (through the donning of ThankQ tags). This whole process leads to a further stigmatization of student poverty at Queen’s.

Second, while there is absolutely nothing wrong with showing appreciation for alumni

contributions towards the University, monetary or otherwise, why does this need to be a public affair?

The public display of appreciation expected by the ThankQ committee is ineffective at expressing that appreciation.

Alumni are not always on campus; in fact, most are rarely on campus, making this method of appreciation only effective in asking students to self-identify to their peers.

Though it was stated in the email that this is a voluntary process, this is the only highly advertised opportunity students are given to show their appreciation for alumni support (and this opportunity does not extend to all students but to students receiving financial aid only).

Students who choose not to participate are then understood to be ungrateful or to feel entitled to the financial assistance they have received, which is unfair to them given the already stigmatized view of poverty on campus.

It’s clear that not all students understand the implications of taking and wearing a ThankQ tag but that does not excuse the continuation of this program in its current form.

Third, during my time at Queens I have seen these same tags on buildings, technology and other objects donated by alumni over the years. These tags signify a type of ownership that the alumni have over these objects.

By asking students to don these same tags, the process effectively objectifies students and marks them as donations, just like any other building or object.

Identifying students as alumni donations only reinforces the belief that those students are at Queen’s only through the generosity of Queen’s Alumni and that they couldn’t be here any other way, undermining their own merit and right to be at this institution.

The ThankQ program ultimately stigmatizes the financial difficulties of certain students and creates a visual and public divide between those who can pay and

those who cannot pay for their university careers.

The aforementioned problems need to amended. More personal, effective, possibly anonymous and definitely less targeted ways for students to show appreciation to alumni need to be developed.

One idea is to have students write thank you notes/ cards that would be sent to alumni individually.

Further, making the committee and its associated offices aware of the problems I have identified is imperative. As a concerned student and soon-to-be alumnus, I want to ensure that ThankQ committees in the future do not use this method of appreciation and are aware of the problems associated with it.

Receiving the email sent by ThankQ was a very isolating experience for me as it likely was for other students. Many decisions are being made at Queen’s that show a complete disregard for low-income students, such as the changes in the tuition payment schedule and increasing international student fees, among others.

Isolating and targeting students who receive bursaries, along with ignoring the financial feasibility of a Queen’s education when making important decisions, stigmatizes the experiences of student who identify as low-income by isolating and labeling us while simultaneously making us irrelevant in the decision making process.

I am very grateful to all the alumni who donate money to support bursaries, scholarships and the work study program here at Queen’s.

I also recognize that it would be nearly impossible for me to afford to be here without their generous donations.

However, my presence here is not solely a result of generous alumni contributions. I am here because I’m ambitious, a hard worker, dedicated, intelligent and determined. Where’s my tag that says that?

Laura Stairs is co-chair of Students Against Poverty

pension obligations, a lowered credit rating and debt on capital projects, the University needs all the cash it can get.

The new system is detrimental to students because it requires the payment of tuition earlier than the current policy. The consequences of late tuition payment can be both financially and academically detrimental.

Many students work during the summer to help fund their education. Tuition for a full course load for undergraduates ranges from $5,205 for a domestic student in Arts and Science to $25,300 for an international student in Commerce. According to the Registrar, “students are not earning money in September.”

Thus, according to this logic, the tuition deadline change will not affect students funding their education through summer jobs.

This is wrong.

Under the new system, students who do not pay in full by Sept. 1 will risk being dropped from their classes, and may not be able to modify their schedule during add/drop.

Next year, classes begin on Sept. 12, 2011. That’s a week and a half into September, 10 days that a student can still work to earn money towards paying his or her tuition. The revised tuition deadline quashes this opportunity, as the tuition payment will be due before classes have begun.

The OSAP program has a grey area where a student may still not have enough money to fully fund his or her tuition.

A student’s parents may earn an income above the OSAP cutoff, etc, but still not have enough money for their education, due to a variety of factors and circumstances.

Thus, the student may need to take out a bank loan, which charges interest on the principal amount of the loan.

Next year, some students will need to take out a loan 30 days earlier than they would have this year, since full tuition will be due 30 days earlier.

This will cost the student one month of carrying costs for the loan that they otherwise would not have to pay, increasing the financial burden on the student once he or she graduates.

With Queen’s increasing tuition fees between four and eight per cent, it is inappropriate to burden a select group of students with this inequitable policy.

The most concerning part of the new policy are the consequences for students who don’t pay their tuition in full.

Currently, a student with debt owed to Queen’s can still register for courses, provided that the minimum registration payment has been made. This debt,

appropriately, will accrue interest.

If a student is tight for money, he or she does not need to worry about being dropped from courses.

Under the new policy, a student may be bumped from a course if another student who has paid in full requests that course.

Many students opt to accrue interest on tuition they owe to Queen’s, and work part time throughout the year to pay it off.

This change in tuition payment policy does not foster an academic community, but rather it creates inaccessibility to a Queen’s education.

This avoids or lessens the need to take out a loan, which can burden the student with high interest rates and fees in the future.

Under the new system, students who do not pay in full by Sept.

1 will risk being dropped from their classes, and may not be able to modify their schedule during add/drop.

What’s the solution? Changing the already approved revised tuition payment schedule is not feasible.

Queen’s has already shifted the minimum registration payment deadline back from Aug. 30 to Aug. 1, presumably with the same interest earning goals in mind.

However, this policy must be revised to ensure that missing a payment date will not boot a student out of a course that he or she may need for future studies.

Such a policy is inequitable and places an unfair burden on many students.

Everyone should be on an equal footing at Queen’s.

The revised tuition payment policy is inequitable across the board, as it punishes students academically who cannot pay in full—this is inappropriate for the University environment.

Queen’s missed the mark in consulting students on this policy change. Requiring full tuition payment by Sept. 1 may increase financial burden on many students.

More importantly, the academic consequences are inappropriate and detrimental.

The Queen’s online Viewbook page describes Queen’s as an “academic community.”

This change in tuition payment policy does not foster an academic community, but rather it can make a Queen’s education inaccessible.

Queen’s created and approved this policy change without consulting the student body.

Please contact the Rector and the University Registrar to voice your opinion—it’s important and your voice will make a difference.

Opinions

12 • queensjournal.ca

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Assembly stifles discourse The recent changes to the AMS policy for external affiliation have set a poor precedent

Jesse Waslowski, ArtSci ’13 The recent changes to our AMS fee renewal system have become an issue. Let me begin by outlining the old system, in which organisations seeking external alignment, campus groups and publications could get funding.

In order to create, increase or renew a fee (which has to be done once every three years) these groups must collect five per cent of AMS students’ signatures for their “fee question.” Once accomplished, the question can pass through AMS Assembly.

After Assembly, the question goes back to the student body.

That’s when you get to vote whether or not you “agree to the establishment of a $x.yz fee (subject to individual opt-out) to support the Queen’s group ABC.” On Nov. 11, a parallel system was proposed to AMS Assembly, specifically for “External Alignment with Provincial and Federal Postsecondary Education Lobby Organizations.”

On Nov. 25, this system finished its second reading in AMS Assembly, meaning it’s now part of the Constitution.

It’s interesting to note that representatives from ASUS, a faculty with a lower level of representatives per student, were most opposed to the changes.

This system is similar to the current one, except that the

renewal is “subject to a review

by Assembly.”

Additionally, students would be able to use the original system to ask to remove the fee for an externally aligned group, like the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA). There are other debatable changes, but these are the two I’ll address.

Why the change? Advocates for the new system cite a waste of resources as one of their three main arguments.

This first argument contends that because the paid Academic Affairs Commissioner would be spending time advertising for the external group they wish to align with—rather than working with them—his or her time would go to waste.

But Section 6.08.01 (v) of the AMS Constitution requires the Academic Affairs Commissioner to “disseminat[e] information to students, on topics directly related to academics.” Promoting an academic lobby group arguably isn’t “directly related to academics,” but it definitely serves as a useful means to deal with information that is.

A second argument proposed by advocates for the changes, is that these changes promote stability for the Academic Affairs Commissioner. With online voting at Queen’s, more students have been voting in general, but “apathetic” voters have increased more significantly.

“Apathetic” voters tend to vote down fee questions, because they aren’t very involved in the Queen’s community. Because AMS Assembly members are unavoidably involved to some degree, it’s argued that renewing a fee would be made

easier if passed through them.

It’s also been argued that because a lot of the Commissioner’s job is based on external alignment, the change makes it easier to renew any external alignment fee, stabilising the position’s portfolio.

This argument is at the heart of the problem with these changes.

It’s this portfolio’s instability that is needed. It requires the Academic Affairs Commissioner to promote any alignments and what they entail to the student body (as stated in the job description), rather than requiring the student body to mobilise to take them down.

Additionally, the systemic issue of apathetic voters should be dealt with separately. It should not be circumvented for a specific organisation due to the lack of Assembly-knowledge amongst some campus groups and the AMS Commissioners (who are doing a great job from what I can see).

I’m sure there are some publications out there that would love to increase their stability too, by asking Assembly to pass their fee questions instead of remaining accountable to the student body.

The third argument is the most powerful, and it’s two-pronged.

On the one hand, proponents of the change explain how the current system is cyclical.

The Academic Affairs Commissioner tends to campaign hard one year, and then remains quiet for the two years that follow (before the next fee renewal).

On the other hand, this problem is fixed if the Academic Affairs Commissioner has to worry about the student body mounting a “No Renewal” campaign at any time.

I will refute the second part

of this argument first: that the Commissioner would have to advertise the external alignment in order to prevent opposition is flawed for a number of reasons.

It’s not easy for groups to form.

Queen’s takes pride in its plurality of clubs, but the difficulty of starting one is well known.

Additionally, if such a group were to form, it would be especially difficult for them to organise support for their cause.

In a community like Queen’s, it requires more nerve to criticise than to support.

With the exception of a recent censure motion (which I don’t have space to explain here), general public criticism is hard to stir.

Imagine, instead of someone asking for support signatures, they are asking for opposition signatures. Not only is this difficult, but this contrary culture is not what should be fostered or required at Queen’s.

Just as well, if the Commissioner didn’t advocate in favour of the affiliation, who would know enough to try and oppose it?

It’s only through positive, self-sustaining advocacy that this conversation exists at all, which returns me to the advocates’ third argument.

It may be true that the old system is cyclical, and that there are bouts of discourse followed by general silence. Unfortunately, this is preferable to the change.

It’s preferable to have a system where dialogue is encouraged, albeit sporadically, than a situation where opposition only forms from the Commissioner’s actions. The resulting silence will allow issues to fall by the wayside.

Hoping for a young apprentice

talking h

e

a

d

s

... in the QP

What are your plans for the holiday break?

“I plan on going ‘taboozoning’ multiple times.”

Phil Price, ArtSci ’13

“Absolutely nothing.”

Shayne Sharkey, ConEd ’13

“Going home and going skiing.”

Stefano Arcovio, Sci ’11

Canada’s political system could use passion and charisma, not another boring old man

Omer Aziz, ArtSci ’12 In early 2009, federal NDP leader Jack Layton came to Queen’s to hold a town hall meeting.

I distinctly remember asking him quite pointedly what an NDP government would have done to prevent the economic crisis from coming to Canada and what it would have done to mitigate its effects if the first option failed.

My question received no answer; Ontario MPP Andrea Horwath, who was then recently elected leader of the Ontario NDP, stood up and gave several platitudes on responsibility that, frankly, should have insulted the audience’s intelligence.

Mr. Layton’s case is a singular example of something that most Canadians already know: our leaders are boring, uninspiring and driven more by accumulating political points and dominating the

next poll than by a grand vision for this country.

Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe are four old men bickering over petty politics in a tone that should embarrass not just them but us, the Canadian people.

Why is it that here in Canada we haven’t had a leader who’s been able to inspire or embolden us as a nation?

Part of the answer lies in the fact that our political institutions favour politicians who are apprenticed and groomed from within the system, discouraging someone fresh and new from rising and delivering a vision for the country that looks beyond the next poll or election.

At the centre of this system is our Prime Minister. Having met the Prime Minister on a number of occasions, let me say that he is not a very welcoming person.

This, in and of itself, is not a fair criticism of Mr. Harper. His supporters—whose ranks I was once a part of—rightly point to his wonkish approach to policy, his Machiavellian approach to politics and his Nixonian approach to opposition.

However, even if we set aside the cold aura Mr. Harper exudes and examine his resumé, it reeks of boring, simple and tried approaches to governing.

Our current Prime Minister has spent his entire life in politics, first as a Reform MP from 1993 to 1997 and then as Canadian Alliance/ Conservative Party MP from 2002 onwards. His brief break from politics between these years came as he took up the leadership of a conservative think tank named the National Citizens Coalition.

Why is it that here in Canada we haven’t had a leader who’s been able to inspire or embolden us as a nation?

Do these credentials in any way make Mr. Harper unique or a break from the past? It seems that the office of Prime Minister of Canada is one long apprenticeship.

The same holds true for the other party leaders. The exception to the apprenticeship thesis is Mr. Ignatieff, who’s spent almost his entire adult life outside of the

country he wants to run. In his case, politics is an internship.

Contrast Mr. Harper with some other leaders on the world stage right now and the uninspiring, unambitious nature of our Prime Minister is amplified.

President Obama was a community organizer working in the poorest neighbourhoods of Chicago, a civil rights lawyer, a professor at the University of Chicago as well as a Senator prior to becoming President.

Chancellor Merkel of Germany, a researcher of quantum chemistry by trade, was involved in the democracy movement following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and served in Helmet Kohl’s Government as Minister of Women and Youth.

President Sarkozy of France— who was born in Hungary and whose mother was of French Catholic and Greek Jewish origin—was abandoned at an early age by his father but still managed to become a successful lawyer and later an accomplished politician.

He is acknowledged even by his opponents to be a powerful orator Please see Cause on page 9

“Spend some quality time with family and friends.”

Kevin Edwards, ArtSci ’11

“Swimming in natural hot springs.”

Chris Halliday, ArtSci ’11

Have your say.

Write a letter or visit queensjournal.ca to comment.

Opinions

Thursday, December 2, 2010

queensjournal.ca

• 13

A question of values, not race The now infamous Maclean’s “Too Asian?” article makes broad generalizations, but we must examine the “Asian values”

Yan Yu, ArtSci ’11 The Maclean’s Nov. 10 article about Canadian universities becoming “too Asian”, was certainly quite the controversy. It was so controversial that its title has been changed to “The Enrollment Controversy” from “Too Asian” and an apologetic follow-up article has now been published.

I won’t focus on the article’s gross generalizations, cliché stereotypes and hidden motives. They’ve been covered extensively elsewhere.

What I will focus on is Maclean’s’ implication that the values upheld by students (the so-called “Asian students”) who put academics ahead of social interaction or alcohol are somehow bad for Canadian universities. Just look at the article’s original title: “Too Asian?” What’s next? “Too horrific?” “Too frightening?”

Having lived half of my life immersed in Chinese culture and the other half in a Western one, I can credibly comment about this rather divisive article from both cultures’ points of view.

True, in western societies like Canada, there does exist a culture gap between traditional Asian cultures and the 21st-century western culture.

But just because we sometimes don’t understand why members of other cultures do what they do, doesn’t mean we should be afraid, or even concerned. Just because your friend chooses to study rather than party doesn’t mean they’re any less your friend.

The “Asian students” that Maclean’s refers to—the ones spending much of their time studying—are simply adhering more strongly to certain values that

other students also possess.

These values include selfdiscipline, hard work, sacrifice and delayed gratification.

If you’ll notice, the values themselves are fairly general. There is nothing racial, nothing cultural and certainly nothing “Asian” about any of them. Heck, some of my Caucasian friends uphold more of these values than I do! Essentially, these values are not just values that “Asian students” possess. They’re values that all students, from all cultures, share in common.

They’re values we all share, regardless of race or background.

So, having clarified the reason why some students choose to study harder than others, and having eliminated the race issue from the equation, it becomes obvious that there’s nothing to fear from an increasing prevalence of these more hard-working, more self-disciplined students in Canadian universities.

Having more of these positive values on campus is no cause for concern, and certainly not a reason for radically changing university admissions policies.

In fact, I would argue that this trend is not only innocuous; it’s actually beneficial for universities like Queen’s.

Just think what would happen for Queen’s, as a whole, if more students adopted these values to a fuller extent in our lives.

There would be greater overall academic success, since more students will actually be working hard.

There would be less complaining and greater student satisfaction because more students would be willing to make sacrifices and prioritize.

Delayed gratification means the crowds on Aberdeen won’t be as large in future Fauxcomings, expediting the restoration of our long-lost Homecoming tradition.

And finally, more self-discipline means that Vic Hall could have zero–count ‘em, zero–malicious fire alarm pulls during the school-year!

I’m not calling for the end of alcohol-infused parties here. We all have different ways of relaxing, and that’s cool.

I’m simply laughing at Maclean’s for suggesting that values such as self-discipline and hard work can ever be seen as frightening or undesirable, especially in places like Universities.

We, students of Queen’s University, and Canadian university students in general, are very lucky people indeed. We live in one of the wealthiest places on Earth.

We’re well-fed, well-clothed

and well-drank (sometimes too much so).

We have tremendous resources at our disposal, and boundless opportunities to pursue.

What excuses do we have for being lazy, for not working hard, for not making our sacrifices to do the best we can in university?

We’re often called the “future leaders” of society, and for a very good reason: we are.

We are future teachers, doctors, writers, lawyers, artists, politicians, engineers, businesspeople, nurses, diplomats, professors, etc. In short, we are society’s future innovators, entrepreneurs, and caregivers.

But imagine an innovator without the ability to work hard.

Imagine an entrepreneur with

no sense of delayed gratification.

And imagine a caregiver with no sense of sacrifice, self-discipline or hard work.

So, Maclean’s, instead of spreading fear over the rise in beneficial values on campus, celebrate it. Trumpet the helpful impacts of these values for Canadian universities, and garbage the rest.

And to my fellow students, know that values such as hard work, delayed gratification, and self-discipline are our values.

They’re values we all share, regardless of race or background.

And if we embrace them and apply them more fully in our lives, it’s not only us who will benefit.

Our university will, too.

Cause of our situation Continued from page 8

and charismatic man. Imagine Mr. Harper’s opponents saying that of him!

President Lula of Brazil, upon whom Barack Obama conferred the title of “most popular politician on earth,” served as the head of certain unions and leftist organizations while Brazil was under military rule.

Manmohan Singh of India, the first Sikh Prime Minister of that great Republic, orchestrated the economic reforms of the country in the 1990s to put India on a path to superpower status. It’s hardly surprising that Newsweek Magazine called him “the leader other leaders love.”

So, why is it that our leaders pale in comparison to Obama, Merkel, Sarkozy, Lula and Singh, to only name a handful of democratically elected and internationally respected—even revered—leaders?

Notice the one example I did not name was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. That’s because Canada follows the example of the

UK in apprenticing leaders from inside the system.

The influential international relations theorist and Columbia University Professor Kenneth Waltz persuasively argued that the reason why the United Kingdom has traditionally had older and more tried Prime Ministers was because the route to the premiership required becoming first an MP, pledging loyalty to Party and Prime Minister, becoming a cabinet minister with some political clout, and then if the leadership opened up, declaring a candidacy that relied on decades of experience and loyalty. In other words, one long apprenticeship.

Between 1867 and 1979, when Margaret Thatcher came to power, the United Kingdom had 22 Prime Ministers who served, on average, 28 years in government before becoming Prime Minister.

Unlike Canada, the UK has had the wisdom to change and allow those with shorter apprenticeships to become leaders.

Tony Blair and David Cameron were both young Prime Ministers

with new ideas to invigorate and inspire the country.

In Canada, our last young apprentice was Pierre Trudeau, someone no Prime Minister since has been able to replicate in terms of vision and political stature.

Contrast this to the United States where no direct route to the Presidency exists.

The past hundred years have seen academics, lawyers, businessmen, generals, governors, congressmen and senators become President, some of them inspiring the country to believe in politics as a means to solving big problems.

Here in Canada, our trained Machiavellian politicians seem to care little about these big problems.

It’s the next poll that’s on their minds or the policy that will stir up the base enough to win the 35 per cent of the vote necessary to win government. It’s no surprise that many Canadians are fed up with our federal leaders’ inability to solve big problems.

Let’s just hope a young apprentice comes along soon.

dignity of the human person, the potential of human freedom and the capacity for moral virtue, something long forgotten by those who see condoms as the only and ultimate solution to the problem of AIDS.

Claire Brown, Nurs ’12

Bikram yoga has helped ease my physical ailments and has strengthened my mental health conditions. It’s contributed to my increased flexibility and improved posture. I leave each class feeling energized, cleansed and truly uplifted.

A yoga instructor once told me that yoga is the “most unselfish thing you can do for the people around you and in your life.”

I’m devoted to this phrase and encourage other individuals to invest in themselves.

I believe that taking time each day to relax and reflect—be it a walk in the woods, trying a new recipe or the practice of Bikram yoga—ensures that you are physically, mentally and spiritually healthy and able to engage with and love those around you.

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS Pope and condoms Re: “Condoms get Papal nod” (November 26 2010)

Dear Editors,

The Catholic Church’s teachings on extra-marital sex and contraception have not changed.

The Pope’s comments regarding condom use in the prevention of the spread of AIDS have been widely misrepresented by the media as a “move” towards advocating contraception.

Pope Benedict XVI, in union with the teachings of the Church, maintains that sexual intercourse ought to be an expression of total and sincere love with an openness to procreation.

The Church has always taught that this can only be truly and properly expressed in marriage.

An individual who is aware that

they are HIV positive has a moral responsibility to avoid transmitting the disease to others.

The extreme case that has been so misconstrued by the media at large (and by the editorial in question) is the use of condoms by prostitutes.

Prostitution is a degradation of the sexual act, reducing it from an act of love to a commercial object.

The introduction of a condom in this circumstance does not remove the fault. Its only positive effect, if there is any to be found, is that it may indicate the beginning of an individual’s recognition of the humanity of the other.

The Church is in no way stating that condom usage is a necessary step in the progression towards a moral solution to the problem of AIDS. It should be made clear that the only 100 per cent effective way to stop the spread of this disease

is abstinence.

A prostitute’s use of a condom, then, is a step that should be followed up by a departure from engaging in prostitution and sexual intercourse, as concern for others grows into a more moral understanding of human love.

In this way, the initiative of the Church can lead to the only truly effective way of preventing the spread of AIDS. The example which Pope Benedict used presumably involved sex between two men, meaning that pregnancy is not a possibility.

Contraception, then, is not the issue at hand. The conclusion drawn in “Condoms get Papal nod,” that the Pope’s statements show a move by the Church towards a more secular attitude regarding contraception, has no basis in anything actually said by the Pope and the Church.

The Pope is reaffirming the

Good for the mind, body and spirit Re: “Can you handle the heat?”

(November 26, 2010)

Dear Editors,

I was thrilled to see Pamela Mullins’ piece on Bikram yoga in the Nov. 26 issue of the Journal.

Many elements of my life have been dramatically improved since I began regularly committing to the practice.

Leah Timmermann, ArtsSci ’11

14 • queensjournal.ca

Sci&Tech Extra

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Adaptive Technology Centre provides a safe place for students The Centre offers several software programs to assist students with disabilities

By Holly Tousignant Supplements Editor A small haven of technology in Stauffer Library aims to put students registered with Disability Services on an equal playing field with their peers.

The Adaptive Technology Centre, located just inside the entrance of Stauffer, contains a computer lab with eight computers, each with programs designed to help students with disabilities ranging from learning disorders and ADD to physical disabilities.

Every student registered with disability services gets a card that allows them access to the lab.

Adaptive technologies specialist Andrew Ashby said the facility is visited by about 100 of the nearly 800 students registered with disability services. Many students come on a regular basis, he added.

“We probably have one or two dozen regulars who are here probably every day,” he said.

Ashby said the most used program is Kerzwell 3000, which allows students to scan textbooks and course notes and have them read out loud by the computer.

“It assists students who have different kinds of learning disabilities,” he said, citing dyslexia, difficulty reading and difficulty processing information quickly or effectively as reasons a student might find the program helpful.

“Also, some students with ADD can use it,” he said, “because with some students, having something read to them can help them maintain focus a little longer rather than reading it to themselves.”

Each computer in the lab is equipped with a scanner and the centre also has a high speed scanning room.

“It becomes effective if students have a coursepack or loose papers.

They can scan 60 pages, both sides in a minute,” he said. “They can save that as a pdf document and open it in Kerzwell.”

Another commonly used program at the centre is Inspiration.

It helps students get their brainstormed ideas down quickly.

“It is a program designed around the concept of mindmapping.

Students can use it to brainstorm their ideas or come up with an essay structure before they write,” Ashby said, adding that students can create a visual map or a word hierarchy version, both of which are exportable to Microsoft Word.

Ashby said the Livescribe Smartpen is a useful in-class tool for students. By using the pen

Photo by Christine Blais

Software like Kerzwell 3000, pictured above, is designed to help students with disabilities ranging from ADD and learning disorders to physical disabilities, Adaptive Technologies Specialist Andrew Ashby says. and the special paper that goes with it, students can record their lectures and take notes while the pen syncs the two together. After class, students can tap the pen on their notes and the pen will play back the part of the lecture that was being recorded as they wrote the word they clicked on.

According to their website, the Livescribe Smartpen is available at retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy and Staples starting from $129.95.

“That’s kind of neat because again a lot of students have difficulty hearing what’s being said and taking notes at the same time,” Ashby said. “It takes some of the pressure off to know it’s being recorded.”

Students with both physical and learning disabilities can benefit from a program called Dragon Naturally Speaking, Ashby said.

“That is a voice to text software, so basically the user uses a headset and they talk to the computer, so where it becomes advantageous is with physical disabilities, limited use of hands or arms,” he said.

“The other thing you can do with it is dictate right into Microsoft Word so students with learning disabilities, poor spelling or ADD are able to get things out on the page quickly.”

He said the centre provides services that many students would not have access to otherwise, as the technology is quite expensive.

“Software like Kerzwell costs anywhere from $1,000 to $1,400,” he said.

See Technology on page 17

Independent musicians benefit from online exposure Social media enables authentic connections between artists and fans, marketing manager says

By Caroline Garrod and Holly Tousignant Journal Staff With the recent disabling of peer-to-peer file sharing program Limewire, countless music lovers were left searching for other ways to get their tunes for free.

Many major record companies have positioned themselves as enemies of the internet, but in independent music circles, the internet is providing marketing opportunities that would otherwise be unimaginable.

Neil Bearse is the Manager of web-based marketing for Queen’s School of Business.

He also works with such artists as Black Lab, David Usher and Ingrid Michaelson to market their music online. Bearse said he began working with independent artists in 2005, promoting their music to podcasters and bloggers.

“Podcasts weren’t allowed to play music that was licensed,” he said. “There were a lot of podcasters who were playing music recorded by their cousin that wasn’t very good.”

Bearse said he reached out to independent musicians, introducing

them to the huge market of people — podcasters — who would be willing to play their music. He said because the amateur nature of podcasting from five years ago no longer exists, he has now turned to other forms of online media.

“We’ve moved on now to try to make authentic connections between artists and their fans on Twitter and YouTube,” Bearse said, adding that these connections are what help the artists become lucrative.

“People won’t steal from friends,” he said. “So how do you create a relationship between artists and fans so when an album comes out people are willing to download it from iTunes or go to a concert?”

Robert Jacques, Sci ’12, said while he does download music for free, he tries to support his favourite bands in other ways, including attending concerts.

“As far as downloading indie music goes, I do feel guilty for not supporting the band when I download,” he admits, “However, if I like the band enough, I’ll go to the show and maybe even buy the CD, so I guess it helps spread the word for the band in some cases as well.”

This gray area is one that many students inhabit--while acknowledging that illegal downloading is harmful for bands, they also point out that they are far more likely to listen to a wider variety of music when they don’t have to pay for it, and this has benefits for musicians.

“With the ability to access millions of different songs at the touch of a button comes free publicity and popularity spanning from word of mouth,” Alanna Fata, ArtSci ’13 said. “That being said, every musician starts with the dream of selling CDs and writing their own liner notes, and this is something that is slowly deteriorating as online sharing becomes increasingly popular.”

Kelsey Taylor, also ArtSci ’13, feels that that musicians benefit from downloading.

“It’s an excellent marketing tool,” she said. “People would not necessarily purchase [music] if they had never heard it before.”

Bearse agreed that the Internet is a perfect marketing tool for artists.

He said one of his artists, Ingrid Michaelson, now has over 55,000 See There’s on page 17

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Science & Technology Extra

queensjournal.ca

• 15

Top tech gifts for the holidays Six popular tech gadgets ranging from $20 to $499 to add to your holiday wish list Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device Price: $189.00 from amazon.com Do you know someone who always seems to have his or her face buried in a book? This is the perfect gift for them. With a massive selection of over 750,000 books that can be downloaded anywhere at anytime, a memory which can hold up to 3,500 books and a battery life of up to a month per charge (wireless turned off), this gadget is flying off the shelves and its endless features make it well worth the steep price tag. Not to mention, it weighs less than a paperback and is thinner than a magazine. Kindles ordered from Amazon have been known to take four to six weeks to arrive, so order yours soon.

Voltaic Solar Powered Backpack Price: $199 (normal backpack or messenger bag)-$499 (for a laptop charging back)

ION Audio iCUE3 Discover DJ System Price: $83.99 on amazon.com

These environmentally-friendly backpacks are perfect for the traveller, backpacker or everyday student walking to and from class wanting to give keep their iPod and laptop charged. The normal backpacks can charge cellphones, iPods, MP3 players, cameras and GPS systems, while special bags have been made to charge laptops. These even include a battery that you can pre-charge in the sun and use later as a charger on those gloomier days. Check out voltaicsystems.com for more information on the products and store locations.

For anyone who’s ever held the secret desire of being a DJ or simply wants to throw awesome parties, this is gift is ideal. This DJ-style turntable plugs into your computer’s USB hub and features 2 touch-sensitive scratch wheels. It works with both Macs and PCs and allows you to perform with the music in your iTunes library. The system comes with an extensive list of mixing tools and includes the software for your computer.

Bedol Water Clock Price: $20-40 This is the perfect gift for an eco-friendly friend who is tired of being late for their 8:30 class.

Powered by water and a dash of salt (or lemon juice), this clock will never need batteries replaced and won’t contribute to the growing problem of battery disposal. The clock comes in a variety of colours and styles, and can be purchased from several online retailers including amazon.com.

Kinect Price: Around $150.00 (not including Xbox 360 system) This controller-free Xbox addition is the perfect gift for that friend who spends their days with their hands glued to gaming controllers. Kinect brings games to life, with players controlling the action with the wave of a hand or the sound of their voice. Kinect games come in sports, dance and fitness packs. Still not convinced? There are locations in Toronto and Montreal where you can play Kinect for free to try it out.

iPad Price: Starts at $499

This hot commodity can be found in the adoring hands of many celebrities including Steve Martin, David Letterman and Miley Cyrus. With a 9.7 inch high resolution touch screen, the lucky recipient of this gift can watch movies, surf the web, listen to music and enjoy endless applications. The iPad is highly portable, weighing only 1.5 pounds, and is thin enough to carry in a purse. It became available in Canada in May and can purchased at Apple online or in-store or at retailers like Future Shop and Best Buy.

— Jessica Munshaw

Supplied Photos

16 • queensjournal.ca

Science & Technology Extra

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Problems with online privacy With social media apps like Facebook’s Farmville sharing users’ info, is there any way for users to ensure we’re protected?

By Isabelle Duchaine Contributor Like millions of others, Elysia Maludzinski is an active user of social networking sites, but with exams and final assignments approaching, she decided to pull the plug.

“I took a week off because Facebook was consuming my life and I really needed to study”, said Maludzinski ArtSci ‘13.

This makes her an exception to the trend. According to facebook.com, approximately 50 per cent of users log in daily, sharing a total of 30 billion pieces of content worldwide every month.

In a growing age of technology, Facebook is becoming nearly ubiquitous with changing notions of privacy. But although Maludzinski acknowledges that social networks can be detrimental to productivity, she said she’s confident with her online privacy.

“I’m not too concerned. I have all my privacy settings set to strong,” she said. “I limit my profile for certain people. There’s definitely things that I wouldn’t like my parents to see.”

Queen’s law professor Arthur Cockfield said students need to be aware that their parents aren’t the only people who might be snooping on their Facebook.

“If in your status update you reveal that you’re not at home, a friend of a friend or a false friend might use that info against you.

That’s happened,” he said.

According a Sept. 17 CBS report, police in Nashua, New Hamshire found a team of thieves who had monitored local Facebook networks to locate people who announced vacations via their status updates. Police recovered nearly $200,000 of stolen property from their spree of 50 or so August thefts. A similar experience in Indiana cost a couple over $10,000 worth of electronics after they posted a status announcing they would be visiting a concert in a neighbouring town.

Cockfield said the most important thing a person can do to protect themselves is set the privacy settings on their computer.

Cookies, pieces of data stored on your computer by a website, can be used maliciously to track users’ browsing.

“Set the privacy settings to ensure that cookies are deleted,” he said. “A cookie is a bit of data planted on your hard drive by a commercial website and it keeps sending back info to the ‘mothership,’ as I call it, so once you visit a commercial website it starts to track all your other website visits” Besides limiting cookies, Cockfield said it’s very important to keep tight privacy settings on social networking sites.

“Here too consumers must

ensure that they don’t share too much of their personal information with members of the public,” he said. “That way for instance you can restrict your profile to only your friends.”

Nonetheless, Cockfield said even those who have strict privacy settings are not necessarily safe because they can be affected by leaks.

An October 2010 investigation by the Wall Street Journal discovered that certain Facebook apps had been ‘leaking’ identifying information to dozens of Internet tracking and advertising companies.

“Even if you make a significant effort to protect your privacy, sometimes you will fall trap to various privacy scandals,” he said. “Certain Facebook apps like Farmville were selling users personal information to direct marketing companies in contravention with Facebook privacy laws.”

Another recent online privacy scandal involves Google, Cockfield said.

“The Google cars were driving around for Google Streetview and it turns out they were also at one point accessing people’s unprotected wireless networks and collecting personal information,” he said.

Online privacy encompasses security concerns of governments, corporations and individuals. In Canada, Section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees a “reasonable expectation of privacy,” although this allows for judicial interpretation.

Privacy has become a much

Photo Illustration by Justin Tang

The most important thing people can do to protect themselves online is set their privacy settings, Queen’s law professor Arthur Cockfield says. discussed topic, as previous privacy laws enacted in the past two decades have struggled to keep up with technology.

According to a Nov. 2010 reference document by the Canadian Privacy Commission (CPC) entitled “A Matter of Trust: Integrating Privacy and Public Safety in the 21st Century.” the Internet has fundamentally shifted cultural notions of privacy.

“As new technologies and social practices emerge and shape our conception of privacy, they can also raise new security concerns, and so that fundamental legal principles

become all the more important,” the report says.

In June 2009, the CPC spearheaded a move to increase individual privacy on social networking sites, limiting the ability of outside applications to access parts of a user’s profile.

The ruling by the CPC now states that users must grant additional permission before detailed profiles are accessed, but its effectiveness is limited.

Cockfield said the Google and Facebook scandals were not taken lightly by the Canadian government.

“In both cases, Facebook and Google, our federal Privacy Commissioner warned the companies that they were not in compliance with Canadian privacy laws,” he said.

Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart’s comments were in response to a 2009 investigation into Facebook’s privacy polices.

The investigation included reccomendations for Facebook, which the social networking site agreed to address.

— With files from Holly Tousignant

Prof invents first ever objective brain function assessment tool

New KINARM device could revolutionize the way brain injuries are observed, inventor says

By Holly Tousignant Supplements Editor New technology developed by a Queen’s neuroscientist could change the way brain injuries are assessed.

Professor of anatomy and cell biology Stephen Scott is the inventor of the device called KINARM (Kinesiological Instrument for Normal and Altered Reaching Movements).

The device is the only objective tool for assessing brain function.

Scott said the tool can be used to study the sensory, motor and cognitive function of the brain. He said these assessments are currently done by a doctor without the use of technology.

“Clinicians will ask you to touch your finger to your nose and give a score of zero, one or two, two being perfect and one meaning there’s some impairment,” he

said. “It’s very coarse … when you get a one, it’s just not clear what’s wrong. Is it strength, is it coordination? What we’re trying to do is create an automated objective tool with much better resolution and objectivity.

“In the long term our goal is to see it like an ultrasound facility or MRI as a standard technology that provides, in this case, a measure of brain function,” he said, adding that he hopes to see the KINARM parallel a blood test, with doctors being able to generate a report detailing function problems.

Scott said the tool is attached to a person’s arm and can monitor shoulder and elbow movements. It measures hand and joint motion and the motors allow researchers to apply loads to the limbs wherever they want, he added.

“It has a two-dimensional virtual reality system that allows it to present visual targets, or objects,

in the workspace,” he said. “We will put subjects in and they will perform a battery of tasks and automatically give a detailed report of the brain function.”

KINARM was launched at the world’s largest neuroscience conference in San Diego on Nov. 15.

“We’ve been developing the technology for over 10 years,” he said, adding that the launch of the tool in San Diego marks its availability for use by researchers.

Adjustments have been made to make it easier to operate by researchers who do not have expert knowledge of its use.

“Now we’ve made some automated software that provides a package of tasks,” he said.

“We also have the analysis tools all automated, so the researcher can just press the button to run a patient and press a second button to get the analysis. You no longer

need the special knowledge. We can provide it as a research tool.”

Scott said future plans for the device include making it available for use on patients, after it has been assessed by researchers.

“The big thing is a two stage process. The clinical practice is the first step, getting the technology in the hands of scientists, studying diseases … In five years time, the goal is to have it actually be used in regular clinical practice.”

Queen’s University’s PARTEQ Innovations, along with BKIN Technologies, commercialized the device. CEO John Malloy said he has high hopes for KINARM. “This system has the potential to do for the diagnosis of brain injury what X-rays did for diagnosing muscular and skeletal injuries.”

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Science & Technology Extra

queensjournal.ca

• 17

Quantum chess puts new spin on old game Stundent-created game combines quantum physics and chess to outsmart computers

By Holly Tousignant Supplements Editor A computer science professor and one of his students have collaborated to revolutionize a centuries old game.

Professor Selim Akl and fourth-year computing student Alice Wismath are the minds behind quantum chess, the latest

talk of the online gaming world.

The concept for the game is borrowed from quantum physics, which is also the source of its name.

“We are told by quantum physics that when the smallest particles are in quantum state they are more than one thing at one time,” he said. “The moment you make an observation they then settle on one of the states and they stay like that

for the rest of their life.”

The idea began with Akl, who wrote a paper about the proposed game. Akl said he got the idea when he was teaching a course on natural computing.

“The issue of intelligence came up, human intelligence, and usually when intelligence comes up chess comes up,” he said. “Unfortunately chess is no longer the measure [of

Supplied

Fourth-year computing student and quantum chess creator Alice Wismath, right, brought to life the ideas of her thesis supervisor Selim Akl, left.

“There’s now the possibility for artists to make money.”

Continued from page 14

followers on twitter. While driving through Georgia, Michaelson expressed a desire to watch Home Alone, and had the DVD delivered to her by a fan, Bearse added.

Bearse cites British singer Imogen Heap, whom he does not represent, as an artist who uses social media effectively. He said Heap video-blogged the creation of her album Ellipse on YouTube for all of her fans to see.

“She’s got a really great model to follow,” he said. “She’s got videos of herself making the album at three in the morning, trying to figure out a particular bridge or particular song. She used these tools to make the [process] completely transparent.”

Heap’s album reached number four on the Canadian Albums Chart, and hit number one on the Billboard Top Electronic Albums list, among others.

Bearse said he agrees with the concept of “1000 True Fans,” the theory that an artist needs 1000 dedicated fans to catapult them to fame.

In 2007, Bearse helped organize an online campaign called “Bum Rush the Charts” to help promote Black Lab, a podcast staple at the time. The online campaign aimed to get enough people to download Black Lab’s single “Mine Again” to get the song to number one on the iTunes chart. The song didn’t hit number one, but it did make it

intelligence] because computers can beat most humans and my students were not very happy about this.”

Because of the nature of quantum chess, the game is not a runaway win for the computer as it usually is with standard chess.

“In conventional chess, a computer can essentially tell all future possibilities and make a very good move and therefore defeat most humans,” Akl said. “With quantum chess, the computer is faced with this uncertainty.”

Computers create trees that map all possible outcomes. The trees for quantum chess are much more complicated due to the changeability of the game pieces, so the computer is put at less of an advantage.

The first ever quantum chess tournament was held in Kingston over the summer. The game was a challenge for players due to the unpredictability of the pieces, but Akl said the computer vs human success rate was about 50/50.

“This game places humans and computer on the same footing.”

Akl said initially no one was interested in his paper, but when Wismath earned an NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) grant, she decided to pursue his idea.

“She wanted a supervisor to supervise her project so she came to me and I said ‘Alice, I wrote a paper on quantum chess and nobody paid attention, nobody cared, so I need you to bring it to life.’”

Wismath programmed the game, which puts a few major twists on classic chess.

“In the new version the piece can be more than one piece at a time and so you don’t know when you’re looking, what is what,” Akl said. “So what might be a pawn could be also, at the same time,

might be a knight. And so when you touch the piece it reveals itself to you as one of its characters.”

Just as quantum physics states that the smallest particles stick to a state once observed, the chess pieces in quantum chess stick to their identity if they land on a white square. It is when they land on a black square that their identity can change.

Another twist in quantum chess is that players must capture the king, which never becomes another piece, rather than simply deliver a checkmate.

Wismath, CompSci ’11, said she was intrigued by the opportunity to make Akl’s idea a reality.

“I was looking for a summer in computing and I went to talk to Selim and he mentioned this as a project and I thought it sounded really cool,” she said. “I got to come up with rules to make it actually playable and to write the program to simulate the game to allow you to play and to come up with the computer strategy.”

Wismath said her involvement with continue into the future.

“I’m doing my … honours fourth-year project, so I’m going to be continuing on quantum chess,” she said, adding that Akl is her thesis supervisor. “I’ll be trying to add something like castling, maybe something with tanglements. …

Obviously I just kind of want to make something that works as simple as possible.”

Castling is a special move in chess that uses the king and a rook of the same colour, while entanglement is a property of quantum physics.

Akl said he hopes to see quantum chess commercialized in the future, either as an online game, board game or both.

Technology can be a “game changer” for students Continued from page 14

Photo by Justin Tang

Neil Bearse of the School of Business says independent artists can benefit from online tools like Twitter and YouTube. onto the chart.

Bearse said because of social media, a wider variety of artists are able to make a living from their music than ever before.

“The industry doesn’t make the money it used to make, but a lot of that money before wasn’t going into the hands of the artists,” he said, adding that it used to

be easier for record companies to control what people listened to by promoting a single artist on every music channel. “Now the difference is that particularly for most musicians that aren’t your big name rock stars like U2, there’s now the possibility for artists to make money making music.”

The Centre is funded by donors, the AMS and Accessbility Queen’s, but funding remains an ongoing problem.

Ashby said being a person with a disability himself, the thing that strikes him about the Centre is its inclusiveness. The technology itself is also of vital importance to students with disabilities, he added.

“Technology isn’t a magic bullet. It doesn’t solve problems for everyone, but it can definitely be a game changer in the difference between doing poorly and doing well,” he said. “If they’re in Arts and Science where there’s a lot of reading, without the assistance of Kerzwell to help them read it would be very, very difficult for them to do well.”

Adaptive Technology Centre Co-ordinator Michele Chittenden said in addition to taking advantage of the computer lab and study

rooms, many students simply enjoy the welcoming environment of the Centre.

“They also use it as a place to rest between classes,” she said.

“We did a survey and we asked the students what they thought and it was overwhelmingly positive.

It was a non-judgemental place, they could be themselves here. The word ‘safe’ came up a lot.”

Chittenden said the Centre has been around since 1991 and moved into its current home in room 120 of Stauffer in 2006. It has been a model for other schools and has won several awards including the the Canadian Association of College and University Libraries (CACUL) Innovation Achievement Award in 1994.

“Queen’s was the first university in Canada to have a centre like this in the library,” she said. “There’s so much negativity out there, but it’s nice to know that Queen’s has something to be proud of.”

Arts&Entertainment

queensjournal.ca

• 18

Thursday, December 2, 2010

supplied

From left: Deerhunter Halcyon Digest, Flying Lotus Cosmogramma, LCD Soundsystem This Is Happening, PS I Love You Meet Me At The Muster Station and Sleigh Bells Treats.

The top 10 LPs of 2010

Five Journal staffers weigh in on the sickest sonic releases of the year 1. Deerhunter—Halcyon Digest The quintessential album for the post-Merriweather Post Pavilion year wherein popular indie musicians have woken up to the possibility that experimental exploration and a calculated indulgence in pop tropes can go hand in hand.

2. No Age—Everything In Between The scruffy and noisy duo have finally emerged from the lo-fi fuzz of their debut with song like “Glitter” that achieve transcendence by matching their approach with glam handclaps and a damn catchy chorus.

3. Big K.R.I.T.—K.R.I.T. Wuz Here Quality hip-hop from Mississippi in the great southern tradition of artists like UGK, Outkast and Goodie Mob. K.R.I.T. produces his own beats and uses classic soul samples to accompany his raps.

4. Robyn—Body Talk Pt. 1 Robyn is a chart-topping disco queen from outer space. Her relative anonymity in the world of A-list celebrities is probably a positive thing. That being said, “Dancing On My Own” was recently featured in a Gossip Girl episode and Snoop Dogg appears on a song for the second installment of the Body Talk series.

5. Das Racist—Sit Down, Man Nobody’s been this simultaneously funny and dope since the Beastie Boys circa 1989.

“Call me Dwight Schrute the way that I eat beats” is one of the many hyper referential lines packed into this mix tape. Oh, and they also deconstruct race from a post-modern perspective so check it out.

6. Weekend—Sports Weekend is a terrifically dark band that makes anthemic shoegaze in the vein of My Bloody Valentine—a cathartic wash of loud and awesome noise. (Side Note: These days it seems that the more un-Googleable your band name, the trendier. I’m looking at you Cults, Tanlines, Tennis, etc.)

7. Tyler The Creator—Bastard Tyler The Creator is the resident RZA (aka producer/rapper) in the Los Angeles collective of young

skate-punk MCs, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Em All. This guy is barely 18-years-old and the pure vitriol he spits here makes contemporary gangster rap artists look like cartoon characters.

8. Kanye West—My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy The latest album from this self-proclaimed genius is a maximalist pop opus that takes hip-hop to new and exciting places.

Eat your heart out, Taylor, this one’s for those brave enough to admit that they’re douche-bags (because Lord knows we’re all d-bags at the end of the day).

9. The National—High Violet Matt Berninger, the lead singer of The National, has a thick baritone voice that can fill up a room unlike many other yelping and shouting indie rockers. “I was carried to Ohio on a swarm of bees/ I’ll never marry but Ohio don’t remember me” he sings on the single, “Bloodbuzz Ohio”.

10. Compilation—Matador at 21 This compilation of material recorded for the venerable indie label, Matador Records, is easily the best release of the year, but it would be unfair to rank it at number one because it draws from over two decades of music, a ridiculously stacked roster of artists and spans six discs.

—Jacob Morgan 1. Broken Bells—Broken Bells Musical intercourse from the man responsible for The Shins’ lyrical genius and the producer with albums from Gnarles Barkley and the Gorillaz on his bedpost.

James Mercer and Danger Mouse are delicious. This collaboration makes The Postal Service seem like hard boiled eggs and peanut butter.

2. The Dead Weather—Sea of Cowards One more album of this calibre and The White Stripes will become that band Jack White was in before The Dead Weather.

3. The New Pornographers— Together The latest from the New Pornographers is the perfect amalgamation of the calmness on their previous album, Challengers and the electricity of earlier records.

and endearing that it really defies any meaningful critical analysis. If you don’t like the world’s greatest party music, that’s OK, it’s not for you anyway.

4. Mumford & Sons—Sigh No More Van Morrison with Botox injections.

5. Deerhunter—Halcyon Digest It’s pop in all the right places and beautiful, glorious noise everywhere else.

5. Shad—TSOL Another strong album from Canada’s best rapper. Suck it Choclair.

6. Kanye West—My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Who knew this self-indulgent and self-influenced record about mostly self-inflicted wounds would be so interesting and sound more like the future than all before it?

6. Arcade Fire—The Suburbs After the Neon Bible flop, I thought Arcade Fire was done. I feel like a cynical asshole.

7. Broken Social Scene— Forgiveness Rock Record I tried to hate this record to prove to myself I don’t love BSS unconditionally. It didn’t happen.

8. Stars—The Five Ghosts After the Stars show at Sydenham United Church this year, they’re on every list I make— including “best orgasms of 2010.”

9. Portugal. The Man—American Ghetto If you took Kool and the Gang, turned them all into Eunuchs and spun them around in swivel chairs, they’d probably make this record— which is a good thing.

7. Harvey Milk—A Small Turn of Human Kindness After realizing it was impossible to make a heavier metal album than 2008’s Life… The Best Game in Town they screamed out in agony, making something unlike anyone has heard before.

8. Caribou—Swim Topped by the banger of the year, this is an electronic record that actually makes some new sounds, which is apparently a lot to ask of most dance musicians.

lunatic genius. Lurid, touching, triumphant—“this pimp is at the top of Mt. Olympus.”

5. PS I Love You—Meet Me At the Muster Station An endlessly catchy album of mutant pop from the hometown heroes.

6. The-Dream—Love King Bulletproof pop music. Equal parts Prince and R. Kelly.

7. Flying Lotus— Cosmogramma A cosmic wonderland existing in the margins between jazz, hiphop and electronic music. Truly next level.

8. Deerhunter—Halcyon Digest A remarkable collection of songs from a consistently excellent band. Explores dusty psych-pop and dreamy R&B while honing the spooky art-rock they’re known for.

9. The Tallest Man on Earth—The Wild Hunt The Bob Dylan comparisons are unavoidable but reductive – this is a record of startling emotional depth in its own right.

10. Matthew Dear-—Black City 9. Big Boi—Sir Lucious Left Foot: Elegant and sexy and more than The Son of Chico Dusty a little weird, it connects the dots While Kanye is moving hip between dark disco and immersive hop into the new century, Big Boi synth pop. still remembers what his parent’s record collection sounded like —Adam Wray without sounding tired or recycled.

10. Vampire Weekend—Contra 1. PS I Love You—Meet Me At the Not much different from their self-titled debut, but I’m not sick of 10. Soulja Boy—The DeAndre Muster Station Way The culmination of years of work their quirks yet.

Punk isn’t dead, it’s just from Paul Saulnier and Ben Nelson, —Jake Edmiston Soulja Boy. the LP comes with a heavy dose of Kingston pride after solidifying the 1. Sleigh Bells—Treats —Tyler Ball local duo’s adored status from fans A veteran of the hardcore and critics alike. Shatteringly tight scene and a former elementary 1. LCD Soundsystem—This is lo-fi tracks saturated in distorted fuzz are spiked with yelping shrieks teacher basically mixed those two Happening Sad and wistful and bitter and and face-melting riffs, making for things together to create the best combination of noise and pop yet. hilarious, this was the soundtrack anthemic rock that’ll force you to to a year steeped in status update face the love.

2. LCD Soundsystem—This Is solipsism and reflexive nostalgia.

Happening 2. Beach House—Teen Dream Although its highest highs don’t 2. James Blake—The Bells Sketch, It feels like more than a year since the Baltimore duo gave me reach as high as the best tracks CMYK and Klavierwerk EPs. Three EPs that chart the growth a reason to stay awake with their on Sound of Silver, it’s a little more consistent and shows signs of a producer who’s pacing the third and most listenable record. of James Murphy having more vanguard of electronic music. Moving out of their comfort zone, fun than usual, resulting in one Soulful and delicate. the band managed to capture of the smartest dance records in the hazy nostalgia and churning 3. Joanna Newsom—Have One emotions that come with teenage recent memory.

On Me years—minus the awkward phase.

3. PS I Love You—Meet Me At This sprawling triple LP finds The Muster Station Newsom at her most intimate 3. Deerhunter—Halcyon Digest Fuzzed-out danceable riffs and direct. It’s a masterpiece that The layered dark horse from a duo that displays an unfolds itself slowly, teaching you immediately snagged and kept my understanding of music so vast, how to listen to it. ears despite a Suburbs saturated they knew they couldn’t fit it all in. summer. Hit “Helicopter” if 4. Kanye West—My Beautiful you’ve got a penchant for goose 4. Girl Talk—All Day Dark Twisted Fantasy Please see The top on page 22 Greg Gillis makes music so fun The fever dreams of a

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Arts & Entertainment

queensjournal.ca

• 19

Republic of rock

The Most Serene Republic solidify their creative independence with their new label, Home of the Rebels

By Brandon Pasternak Contributor From bad times comes inspiration for The Most Serene Republic, including their newest EP, Fantastick Impossibliss. Such a unique title, naturally, required a bit of explanation. Pianist and back-up vocalist Ryan Lenssen described how he and lead vocalist Adrian Jewett, created the character “Fantastick Impossibliss.”

“We were going through some hard times and there were some supplied problems with our personas,” he Miles’ yearning vocals are poured over the sextet’s vibe to exude sunshine, sweetness and sprightly strings on The Orchard. said. “He was fantasy sick. I would never be able to find bliss. This is who I am, this is how it is. It was an artistic expression of our longing to have a tomorrow; we really needed to get that out.”

Beyond the profound meaning, wrote the majority of [the album] in a beautiful area and getting to eat it can be.” the recording process took a new

By Ari Herberman on a peach orchard in upstate peaches all the time, be outside and Contributor The band has toured with approach from their last record New York.” be together, it was good.”

Tokyo Police Club and City and ...And The Ever Expanding Universe.

The Orchard had help in its Colour, among others, and has If you’re like me and have been production stages from two a clear affinity for collaboration, “ ... this music is from living under a rock, it’s time to “We spent a lot of time other contemporaries, Death so I asked what other groups Ra people who aren’t too crawl out from under it and get just writing and only Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla Ra Riot would like to share the concerned with what into Ra Ra Riot. having to do that in and Vampire Weekend’s Rostam stage with.

I had the chance to speak else is going on in the Batmanglij. Walla mixed nine with the American band’s cellist, a beautiful area and “There’s plenty of current Alexandra Lawn, over the phone getting to eat peaches all tracks and Batmanglij mixed one, touring bands that would be great,” world as far as stylistic a contribution Lawn said she Lawn said. “We could really dive popularity.” and she graciously attempted to the time, be outside and believes adds another dimension to into the bands that don’t exist put the band’s overall sound into be together, it —Ryan Lenssen, the album. words for new listeners. anymore. That would be even pianist and back-up vocalist of was good.”

“You usually send an album off greater. If The Police ever had “At times, it can be really lush.

The Most Serene Republic —Alexandra Lawn, to be mixed by a mixer. We’ve another reunion tour, that would I think we are very inspired by cellist of Ra Ra Riot really been interested in working be splendid. I think there are few “The direction that it’s gone true classic pop music. It ranges with Chris one way or another bands right now that are very true in this time is different,” Lenssen from The Beatles, to U2, The Lawn said the experience was a and we always love working with to what music should be and how said. “We went back to having Police, Fleetwood Mac … we have Rostam,” Lawn said. “Both of it should be done, that seem to produced the album ourselves … those kind of poppy sensibilities, bonding one for the group.

“It was just a really good time in them are just super-talented and have a very fun time and have such I missed being in control behind you know, catchy melodies.

We’ve got the violin, cello so the our lives. We spent a lot of time just have other perspectives to add to a happy vibe to them. It’s very the board, making the critical arrangement of the strings with the writing and only having to do that it, you know, make it as much as inspiring to see a band still in that decisions ... [getting] back to other instruments makes it a bit kind of mindset.” our roots.” more intricate.”

Ra Ra Riot, known for their Becoming more creatively Intricate is the perfect word high-energy shows, has certainly independent, the band has formed to describe the sextet’s second maintained that happy vibe. their own record label, Home of album The Orchard, an enchanting Their persistence and passion for the Rebels, taken from an old song combination of sweeping strings, music is especially commendable of their’s.

“Let’s not only name the label, tight percussion and elegant considering the tragedy they faced in 2007 with the passing of the but have our motto in the label harmonies. The album was band’s original drummer, John name as well,” Lenssen said. “You released in Canada in August on Pike. Lawn said she isn’t sure how have to know this music is from the indie label Arts & Crafts, which helped the band connect with their the band was able to push on people who aren’t too concerned with what else is going on in the northern fan base. following his death.

“Obviously that has been the world as far as stylistic popularity.

“It’s really cool to have access biggest challenge. Sometimes I The coolest people are those that to Canadian fans and be able to be wonder what kept it going, and don’t ... give a shit.” out here more,” Lawn said. “Also [Arts & Crafts] are just really, really sometimes I feel like he wrote In response to the changing fantastic people to work with.” so much music and this is our music industry, their best option The band formed in 2006 at opportunity to kind of keep him was to go their own route.

Syracuse University and hasn’t going. And that’s kind of a great “In the last five years, the industry wasted any time securing their spot feeling, to be able to do that.” has changed more than probably the on the map of today’s indie music Ra Ra Riot have come a long last 20 years combined,” Lenssen scene. In 2007 they released their way in a short while, and don’t said. “You can’t really be on a label first self-titled EP, 2008 brought plan on slowing down. “Keep ... in the indie world and expect having fun, keep trucking along, to be making ... money without their debut album The Rhumb keep making music, keep playing massive amounts of debt.”

Line and the Can You Tell EP was music,” Lawn said. “I think released in 2009.

After having worked with Arts What distinguishes 2010’s as long as we keep having fun & Crafts, their former record label, The Orchard from their previous we’re happy.” for a number of years, the group releases is experience and comfort. still maintains a strong connection.

“We’ve got about four and a half Ra Ra Riot play an all ages “They have our full blessing,” years of playing with each other show tomorrow at Chalmers said Ryan. “It’s going to be better under our belt,” Lawn said. “We’ve Street United Church with for us if we get the support from gotten really good at playing with The Most Serene Republic at the fans ... so we don’t have all these each other. I think there was more 8 p.m., doors at 7 p.m. people that would take a cut out of supplied of a sophisticated sensibility and After four years of playing together, Lawn (above) said Ra Ra Tickets are $20 in advance, Please see Less on page 22 awareness on this album. We Riot have mastered a strong sense of sensibility and awareness. $25 at the door.

‘Make it as much as it can be’ Ra Ra Riot talks to the Journal about The Police, keeping the fun and the beauty of peach trees

Arts & Entertainment

20 • queensjournal.ca

Thursday, December 2, 2010

photos by tyler ball

Multiple members including Spencer Evans on keys (left) and Mike Sakell on drums (right) rock the sax, bass and guitar to achieve their infectious grooves.

Express to a jazz rock funk utopia With their weekly gig at The Toucan, local five-piece Ghetto Express pull passengers from all fronts of Kingston’s scene ARTIST IN PROFILE What’s your excuse for going to The Toucan every Monday night?

Not that you need one—mine’s that I live next door, Arthur the bartender pours the perfect Creemore and the jazz styling of local five-piece Ghetto Express never fails to get bodies grooving and jiving each week.

Their vibrant set is unraveled week after week with veterans of the scene Mike Sakell on drums and vocals, saxophonist Jon Stewart, guitarist Mark Taras, bassist Alec Barkin and pianist and vocalist Spencer Evans. After multiple changes in the lineup, the group has become a rock solid fixture in the community and their love for

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music permeates every show they play. Their passion is contagious and will inspire audience members to go against the grain of sticking to what they know, venture out and explore the treasure troves the town has to offer.

Who are you?

My name is Mike Sakell.

What do you do?

I play drums for the Ghetto Express every Monday night at The Toucan. I’ve been playing drums in bands professionally for about 35 years.

How long have you been playing The Toucan?

We are now in our tenth year at the Toucan, arguably the longest running house gig ever in Kingston, something we are quite proud of.

How long have you been playing in Kingston?

About 25 years.

How did the band form?

Ghetto was formed when the previous house band at the Toucan (Blue Monday) ended a four year stint. Myself and the bass player from that band (Zak Colbert) didn’t want to lose the gig, so we approached the owners of the pub and asked if they would be interested in hiring a new band,

with a new approach.

Where and how often do you practice?

Usually we work out new stuff on stage. We don’t very often get in a room together and work on songs.

Most memorable gig?

Last Monday night.

What role does the audience play?

The audience is of course very important to us, and we totally feed off of their energy, as any live performer will tell you.

What’s the most challenging part?

Favourite song to play?

The most challenging part is getting through a night when you know that you’re just not clicking together. Whether it’s me or just the band in general, some nights it just doesn’t gel and seem as tight. I think that’s pretty normal though and the good far outweighs the bad in this case.

I don’t have a favourite song that I play, but the style I like to play the most is funk music, good ole groovin’ danceable funk.

Ghetto Express play The Toucan every Monday night from 10:30 p.m. until last call at 2 a.m.

—Ally Hall

far from ordinary day

What inspires and fuels your highenergy live shows?

I look no further than the bandstand. I feel very privileged to be working with such high calibre musicians and friends …

Inspiration also comes from being involved in something that I love to do. It’s what I do best, and the fact that I’ve made a living at it for so long makes me feel very fortunate indeed.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

The most rewarding part of the gig for me is the audience reaction and also like I said before, getting to play with the calibre of musicians onstage week after week, I never take that for granted.

photo by christine blais

Alan Doyle of east-coast rock pillar Great Big Sea belted it out at the band’s show at The K-Rock Centre last Saturday night.

Thursday, december 2, 2010

Arts & EntErtAinmEnt

Crafts of another feather This year’s Fat Goose craft Fair is getting a new time slot and venue but promises the familiar range of locally made arts, crafts and services By aLLy HaLL a&e ediTor When I heard rumours of a potential prerelease of local arts collective Apple Crisp’s vinyl compilation, I immediately began trolling the Internet for clues as to where I might locate the highly anticipated treasure.

I was expressly enthused upon discovering the rumour came attached to a branch of Apple Crisp—next Sunday night’s annual Fat Goose Craft Fair offering a range of locally made crafts and craft services to the community.

“Apple Crisp started out as a music series,” one of Fat Goose’s organizers Lucas Huang told me over the phone. “It eventually became a record label and then a zine and a whole bunch of other things, but one of the things it expanded into was the craft fair.”

Last year, Huang contributed his screen print work to the fair as both crafter and volunteer by selling his originally designed images printed onto secondhand clothing. He said the transition between artist and organizer was organic.

“All of the organizers are going to be [featured as] artists as well,” he said. “Last year it was basically run by Annie [Clifford] and Vince [Perez], this year they grabbed me and Meredith [Powell] and just told us that they didn’t want to run it all on their own again. The workload is split four ways and it’s made it very easy.”

With last year’s successful Fat Goose was held in a church auditorium with a typical midmorning to late-afternoonevening format, this year’s fair organizers decided to give it a bit of a makeover.

“It’s happening at night,” Huang said. “This year we’re starting it at 6 p.m. and running it till 11 p.m. The atmosphere will be a bit different … this year we rented out the Renaissance event venue so it’s going to have a different feel … maybe more of a party kind of atmosphere than last year.”

With a database of artists at Apple Crisp’s fingertips, the organizers reached out via email to acquire the selection of crafters featured at this year’s fair with the added encouragement for them to pass the message along to whoever might be of interest.

“Kingston is a small enough community that it reached a lot of people,” Huang said.

One extension of the application deadline and a slew of word-ofmouth promotion later, the array of featured artists were accumulated.

“We decided based on a number of factors,” Huang said. “First of

all, the quality of the work based on the images the artist sent in and then after that it was a matter of trying to have a diverse selection of crafts.”

With cities like Kingston often all too quickly misperceived as void of rich artistic activity, Huang said the vast number of applicants to the Fair proves the opposite to be true.

“This year we had a lot of potters apply and they were all really, really good and we had to turn down some of them because we didn’t want to have half our artists be potters,” Huang said.

“That was really too bad. I think what we ended up with was really high quality and a really wide range of arts and crafts.”

An important keeper and communicator of art scene knowledge in Kingston, the Fair’s role in the community goes beyond the simple offer of a unique selection of potential stockingstuffers for those on your holiday list. Huang told me about Made 4 You, a supply and craft store whose mandate (when open) was to showcase the work of local artists and crafters as well as providing a place to show off their work.

“They recently re-opened, they had a little booth in the

sustainability centre, but it’s not nearly as big as it used to be,” he said. “I think without a proper dedicated store to showcase local arts and crafts a lot of people don’t know the kind of talent that’s sitting around this town, basically in their backyard. This craft show along with others … show[s] people what their neighbours are up to.”

The neighbours in question this year include Amy Johnson of AmyJ Designs and Chrissy Poitras and Nelly Casson of Spark Box Studios.

“There’s jewelry, pottery, clothing … this one guy [Ian Murray] has a sheep farm on Wolfe Island and he’s going to bring some of his art,” Huang said. “A lady who was there last year [Nicole Armour], I’m really excited about her work. She does hand bound hardcover books, it’s really neat.”

As for that rumoured vinyl prerelease, Huang is keeping us guessing.

“There’s going to be some surprises.”

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Arts & EntErtAinmEnt

Thursday, december 2, 2010

‘Less work, more fun’ continued from page 19

every record we sell.”

With a continuously evolving sound, the band places the onus of influence on the music they listen to.

“Over the years your pop sensibilities change ... we sort of go through these little fits of being obsessed, and can’t help but apply it,” Lenssen said. “[But] there are always some strings that continue on no matter what.”

Most Serene Republic has built up a team of talented musicians through the years with every member in the group bringing their own skill set.

“In the early days, it was pretty much Adrian and I that wrote everything. Now ...

I’ve been able to ... just be a producer and less a composer all the time,” Lenssen said.

“Everybody ... is bringing something. I get surprised out of it and I end up enjoying the music as a fan.”

No doubt it’s this collaboration that has brought about their success, a notable one being their Juno nomination for Heavens to Purgatory, a pop single from ...And the Ever Expanding Universe.

“To be recognized on that scale in Canada was a dream come true for me. At first I thought, ‘It’s a scam,’” Lessen said.

“Being ... in the room with ... those people you’ve always looked up to, I wouldn’t take it back for anything.”

Fans may also find it interesting to hear that, teaming up with Roots and Douglas Coupland, The Most Serene Republic’s music was used for Douglas Coupland’s clothing line.

“Roots thought ‘Pink Noise’ would be perfect for the Douglas Coupland campaign they were doing,” said Lessen. “We did a bunch of promo videos for them, I did the music for their various ads ... and they said they were going to make us some clothes

out of it.”

Having taken some down time since their last album, the band was able to reflect on their past few years of heavy touring.

“I don’t know if I want to do one of those massive touring years again,” Lessen said. “It detached us from reality. It was a really good experience just to stop and be in one place for a while.”

When speaking with Lenssen, there was a lot of excitement surrounding their current line-up of shows.

“If people want to come see a different kind of show that we put on, this is definitely the time to see us.”

Recalling their days of opening for renowned bands such as Broken Social Scene and The Strokes, the band is looking forward to filling the opening slot for Ra Ra Riot this time around.

“When you’re headlining it’s a completely different position to be in; everything is different,” Lessen said. “This is going to be fun for me; less work, more fun.”

Leaving those aspiring for a career in music with an encouraging word, Lenssen suggests avoiding record labels and agents.

“We live in an independent age. Everything should be home grown nowadays,” Lessen said. “If you have the content and the ability to reach an audience, that’s all you need.”

With high expectations for the upcoming LP, there is always something new to anticipate.

“The next record’s not going to sound like Fantastick,” Lessen said. “It’s always an evolution of something. Sometimes you end up with wings sometimes you end up with gills. This is how new music is made.”

The Most Serene Republic play Chalmers St. United Church with Ra Ra Riot tomorrow at 8 p.m.

supplied

The Most Serene Republic may have got their start as the Robin to Broken Social Scene’s Batman but over the last decade have stepped into a limelight all their own.

The top of the crop continued from page 18

bump-inducing grooves.

4. LCD Soundsystem—This Is Happening James Murphy—bare, raw and fearless.

5. Sleigh Bells—Treats A deafening buzz comes with Sleigh Bells.

It might be their fan base, it might be their record, but when teacher quit her day job and teamed up with a veteran of the hardcore scene, a visceral and furiously kinetic noise-pop duo was born.

6. Flying Lotus—Cosmogramma The bleeps of old school Super Mario and Duck Hunt on this release from Californian producer and sound manipulator Flying Lotus had me hooked from first spin. By fearlessly streamlining his work into sound rather than songs, Ellison pushed an ever-expanding subgenre in the process of drowning listeners in euphoric experimentation.

7. Diamond Rings—Special Affections In the chorus of the riff-filled “Something Else,” the glamazon couldn’t be more wrong in singing, “I am really not your thing.”

8. Shad—TSOL When I first saw Shadrach Kabango’s

MAKE IT LARGE FOR $5.00 MORE

music video for “The Old Prince Still Lives At Home” last year, I was shocked by the rapper’s ability to bend genre with his beats.

After watching him spit at last summer’s Wolfe Island Music Festival with his JayZ-eque flow and mind blowing freestyle skills fresh from the release of his record, he solidified his place in my mind as best rapper in Canada.

9. Woodhands—Remorsecapade Dan Werb and Paul Banwatt offer the most spastic sex appeal I’ve encountered with my ears. The electro pop dynamos put on a notably incomparable live show, which they somehow managed to harness on their sophomore release.

10. Best Coast—Crazy For You Bethany Costentino wrote the soundtrack to my summer, in a nutshell. The laid-back west coast vibe that permeates through each track may have been written “about weed and my cat and being lazy a lot,” but the beachy grooves are saturated in sunshine and are simplistic but aptly relatable reflections on love.

For a selection of winter warbles and tips for what to watch this winter wonderland please see queensjournal.ca

Sports

Thursday, December 2, 2010

queensjournal.ca

• 23

National champions top Gaels grades From Richardson Stadium to PEI and Peterborough, the Gaels’ acheivements were recognized across the country on both the provincial and national stage. The Journal’s Sports Editors take a look back at the fall season’s stand-out teams.

By Kate Bascom and Lauri Kytömaa Journal Staff

Women’s Soccer Grade: A Record: 14-2 season, 5-1 playoffs; CIS Champions The women’s soccer team enjoyed an outstanding regular season, outscoring their opponents 50-10 and dropping only two games, both to the Ottawa Gee-Gees. Striker Jacqueline Tessier headlined the team by leading the CIS in scoring during the regular season with 18 goals.

Their playoff record was equally as impressive as they only gave up two goals in the OUA and CIS championships combined. Their loss in the OUA Finals to the Laurier Golden Hawks was the only dark spot in their season, which they quickly redeemed in PEI at the CIS Championship, beating the Golden Hawks in overtime for the Gladys Bean Memorial Trophy.

Women’s Rugby Grade: ARecord: 5-0 season, 3-3 playoffs The women’s rugby program is coming off a historic season for the Gaels. After breaking a quarterfinal curse last season, the Gaels ran with their momentum all the way to their first CIS Championship berth. The Gaels finished fifth in the national championship.

Eight man Ash Ward was named CIS All-Canadian. Fly-half/ wing Andrea Wadsworth, scrumhalf Susan Heald and fullbacks Karlye Wong and Jocelyn Poirier all earned OUA Russell Division All-Star nods.

Women’s Rowing Grade: ARecord: First in OUA, fourth in CIS After failing to win the OUA championship last year for only the second time in seven years, the women’s rowing team took back their top spot on the podium. The lightweight program led the way with wins in the eight, the four and the single. However the team was unable to perform quite as well out west at the CIS championships where they finished fourth, two places behind a Western team that they had beaten in St. Catharines.

Women’s Lacrosse Grade: B+ Record: 10-4-1 season, 2-1 playoffs The women’s lacrosse team had a strong regular season with their only losses against perennial favourites Laurier and Western.

The Gaels were able to grab a podium spot from the University of Toronto in the bronze medal game of the OUA Championship, improving from a fourth-place finish last year.

Photo Illustration by Justin Tang

A CIS banner for women’s soccer and a first-time CIS appearence by women’s rugby capped off the Gaels’ fall season.

Women’s Golf Grade: B Record: Third in OUA After an outstanding season last year which saw the Gaels go on a 6-0 gold medal streak, they continued to be a presence on the podium this year. Grabbing a first-place finish at their home tournament to start the season, the Gaels would finish second in the next three tournaments. The team would finish the season with a bronze medal at the OUA Championship.

Men’s Cross Country Grade: B Record: Fifth in OUA, fifth in CIS With the loss of veteran Matt Hulse for the beginning of the season, the Gaels were able to pull together for consistent finishes in Guelph and London. The return of Hulse at the CIS Championship and his career-best finish of fifth place propelled the men’s cross country team to fifth at nationals.

Men’s Rugby Grade: B Record: 6-2 season, 2-1 playoffs; OUA Bronze Medal Although the team was unable to live up to last year’s

high standards of a championship season, they were still able to come away with some OUA hardware.

But even the bronze was only won by a hair as rookie full-back David Worsley kicked a penalty goal late in the game to squeak by the Brock Badgers, 16-15, in the bronze medal game. The Gaels had problems against the league’s top two teams, the McMaster Marauders and the Western Mustangs all season and need to find a way to get on par with them in order to make another deep post season run.

Women’s Cross Country Grade: B Record: Third in OUA, ninth in CIS The women’s cross country team was led by runners Leah Larocque and Stephanie Hulse.

Both pulled out their best finishes of the season at the Queen’s Invitational, finishing second and third respectively. However, the Gaels were only able to improve slightly on their 10th place finish at nationals last year.

Hulse also earned her first OUA All Star team honour.

Men’s Golf Grade: BRecord: Third in OUA

The men’s golf team pulled off a podium finish at the OUA Championship this year despite a large rookie presence. In the regular season, the Gaels were unable to find consistency and only grabbed two podium finishes. But the Gaels were able to pull together when it counted, grabbing a bronze medal and improving on their fourth-place finish last year.

Men’s Soccer Grade: C+ Record: 8-5-1 season, 1-1 playoffs The Gaels’ season ended in a controversial quarterfinal match against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues after they scored a penalty kick on a handball call.

Even with the loss of key veterans, including goalkeeper Sean Martin-Courtright and a coaching change, the Gaels showed strength and consistency throughout the season, never losing a game by more than two goals.

Men’s Rowing Grade: C+ Record: Third in OUA, seventh in CIS The team made little gains from their 2009 season where they also placed in third and seventh in the OUA and CIS respectively. The heavyweight eight provided a nice

surprise by finishing in second place at the OUA championships.

Equally as surprising was the lightweight four’s drop into fifth place. Several key boats also failed to qualify for the finals in the CIS championships, costing the team important points.

Football Grade: CRecord: 3-5 season, 0-1 playoffs The Gaels’ play was extremely volatile over the course of the season. The year started with a few very tight games, suggesting the team could be highly competitive but big losses to Western and Laurier proved they couldn’t battle with the top OUA teams. The team struggled to accommodate for numerous graduating players from their Vanier Cup championship team, most noticeably quarterback Danny Brannagan.

Yet the season was not without its bright spots: rookie linebacker Sam Sabourin finished second in the OUA for tackles and recieved the Norm Marshall award for OUA Rookie of the Year, Matthew O’Donnell was awarded the J.P. Metras award for OUA Lineman of the Year and kicker Dan Village set the team record for points scored.

24 • queensjournal.ca

Sports

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Queen’s 58, Windsor 77; Queen’s 64, Western 65

‘Stangs saved by the bell A near upset over Western was the highlight of the weekend for the 1-7 Gaels

By Kate Bascom Sports Editor With the women’s basketball team struggling on the road, they were looking for a cure at home for their five game losing streak. The weekend’s competition offered no easy out as the Gaels faced the Windsor Lancers and the Western Mustangs, both nationally ranked teams. With a 77-58 loss to the Lancers, the Gaels nearly upset the Mustangs, but lost 65-64 on Saturday.

The Gaels have been on the road for the last two weekends where they suffered four straight losses. Head coach Dave Wilson said their play on the road had been sloppy but he saw a difference in his team’s play at the ARC.

“At times I thought [we] could have given us ... a more significant lead that would have been harder for Western to overcome. I thought there were opportunities to win the game that we missed out on.”

Queen’s 2, Western 3; Queen’s 3, Windsor 0

Rival Western tops Queen’s Gaels’ grab second spot in the OUA going into the winter break

By Anand Srivastava Staff Writer

Photo by Justin Tang

Guard Brittany Moore charges down the court while battling a Mustang player on Saturday. the previous road game.

“When I asked the girls what the difference was [this weekend] ... they said they were just fed up with how poorly they were playing,” he said. “I said well that’s fine, just be fed up all the time then —Dave Wilson, and play a little bit harder.”

The Gaels showed improvement women’s basketball head coach in their game against the Western “For the most part, I thought Mustangs, who are tied for first in we played very hard,” said head the OUA with a 7-1 record. Queen’s coach Dave Wilson. “That was maintained a tight a game with very important to us ... Both games Western through four quarters, we played very hard which gives grabbing the lead at several points us opportunities and [then] we in the game.

“There were a number of things have opportunities to do things that we did that took [Western] out and improve.”

The Gaels faced tough of their rhythm of what they were competition starting the weekend’s trying to do,” he said. “They had games against the CIS-leading a little bit of difficulty defending Lancers. The Gaels couldn’t catch what we were doing offensively a break as four Lancers scored because we had some ideas of in double figures, and their what we thought we could exploit defence kept Queen’s to 10 and with them that seemed to be 11 points in the second and third quite effective.”

The Gaels lost the lead in the quarter respectively. The Lancers continue to be one of the most dying minutes of the game and dominant teams in the CIS. They were unable to capitalize on a Photos by Sam McIntyre have outscored their opponents by last-ditch three-pointer by guard Post Jill Wheat’s shot is blocked by Western’s defensive efforts. double digits in all of their six wins Brittany Moore.

“I was a little disappointed top scorer with 21 points and was energy, just trying to get open to this season.

After the close game against that we didn’t take care of the 8 for 17 from the floor in 31 score. It’s quite an amazing feat that Western, Wilson said the team ball as well as I thought we could minutes of play. Wilson said her she can score as much as she does talked about their issues in of,” Wilson said. “We were very performance is a testament to how with the attention that she draws.” sloppy with the ball. At times I hard she works.

Wilson said the difference in the thought [we] could have given us ... “[Moore] is one of the hardest Gaels’ game against the Mustangs a more significant lead that would working kids in terms of working was their attitude. have been harder for Western to on her game both in-season and “They’ve shown the ability overcome. I thought there were out-of-season,” he said. “She to learn what the opposition is opportunities to win the game that gets special attention from the doing, to execute a game plan, not we missed out on.” opposition in almost every game perfectly by any means but they Moore controlled play in the we play. Western was no different. can execute a game plan,” he said.

Western game. She was the game’s So she expends a great deal of “The real key is the attitude they bring to the start of the game. If they come in prepared to play hard as they have for the last three games, we’ll be in very good shape going into this game. If we don’t bring this attitude, this will be a huge struggle.”

The Gaels will face off against the RMC Paladins for their final game before the winter break on Thursday. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. at RMC.

Plagued by injuries, the men’s volleyball team split their home games last weekend, edged out by the Western Mustangs in five sets on Saturday before rebounding for a straight-sets win over the Windsor Lancers on Sunday.

Heading in to the weekend the Gaels had an opportunity to overtake the Mustangs for the top spot in the OUA standings, however Western proved too strong in an 8-25, 25-20, 25-22, 24-26, 7-15 heartbreaking loss.

Outside hitter Joren Zeeman, who was unable to play against the Mustangs due to an ankle injury, made his presence felt as he returned to the lineup against the Lancers with a team-leading 20 points on 18 kills to lead Queen’s to the 25-23, 25-22, 25-22 victory.

Setter Jackson Dakin recorded 88 assists over the two games for the Gaels.

Zeeman said he was pleased to see the team rebound after a tough loss against Western.

“It’s good to get a win in three sets, we haven’t done that in a while,” he said. “We lost two close games in five sets coming in to the game [against Windsor] and we wanted to come out strong and not have it go to a fifth set. We wanted to make a statement and beat these guys. They’re a good team and have some very good players but we managed to shut them down today.”

The Gaels were without the services of outside hitter Niko Rukavina and setter Dan Rosenbaum for both matches, and outside hitter Bryan Fautley was forced to miss the game against the Lancers due to an injury sustained in the Saturday loss.

Despite these injuries, Zeeman said the team wasn’t looking for an excuse but rather needed to improve their overall play.

“The loss [against Western] was obviously disappointing,” he said.

“We really felt that we had the personnel on the floor to get the win. It had nothing to do with injuries or people not playing. It’s more that we didn’t get points we needed when it mattered at the end of the fourth set and in the fifth set.”

Head coach Brenda Willis said Zeeman’s introduction in to the lineup against the Lancers provided a big boost for the entire team.

“It was extremely important that [Zeeman] be in the mix against Windsor,” Willis said. “He just adds so much confidence to the floor due Please see Gaels on page 26

SportS

Thursday, december 2, 2010

queensjournal.ca

• 25

ouA WATeR PoLo CHAMPIonSHIPS

Queen’s still pooling experience for future men’s and women’s water polo finish fourth and fifth respectively over the weekend against ontario competition

By Lauri Kytömaa assisTanT sporTs ediTor The sound of splashes and whistles filled the ARC this past weekend as Queen’s hosted the 2010 OUA Water Polo Championships.

A total of 11 men’s and women’s teams played 24 games over three days for a chance to prove themselves on a provincial level.

The Gaels found themselves at the lower end of the standings. The men finished 1-2 in their games; beating York 8-7, and losing to Toronto and Western 23-0 and 15-8 respectively. The women went 1-4 getting their only win from a York forfeit while losing to Toronto, McMaster, Carleton and McMaster 15-4, 11-4, 16-2 and 12-0 respectively.

The men’s tournament was structured into two groups with Toronto, York and Queen’s in group A and Carleton, McMaster and Western in group B. The weekend started with each team playing two games against their group. The top team of each group advanced directly into the semi-final while the second and third place teams played a quarterfinal.

The Gaels men’s team entered the water on Friday evening in an exciting match against the York Lions. The first quarter ended evenly with a score of 3-2 in favour of York. By the end of the third the Gaels held a 7-6 lead. The excitement climaxed in the fourth quarter as the Gaels threw together a final offensive push in the last 30 seconds of a 7-7 game. The Gaels would secure their first win of the tournament when Riley Millington found the back of the net with one second remaining.

The team’s subsequent games weren’t nearly as exciting. On Saturday morning they took a beating from the Toronto Varsity Blues, 23-0, forcing them to second place in group A. Later that day they lost to the Western Mustangs 15-8 in the quarterfinals, eliminating them from the tournament. Team captain Ian Pinchin said the team could have played better in their game against Western.

“We let their shooters have too much room to move around,” he said. “We eliminated their center but we focused too much on one or two players. They beat us up and down the pool. Our counterattack wasn’t fast enough, [we] needed to

be swimming harder.”

The women weren’t much more successful.

With only five teams in their event, the women’s tournament was structured as a round robin instead of group play with the top four teams qualifying for a medal game.

The Gaels started against Toronto on Friday where they took a tough 15-4 loss in which captain Carla Henderson scored two goals. They got a free pass that afternoon against York, who forfeited their match.

The women entered Saturday with a 1-1 record, but things did not improve. In the evening they dropped a game 11-4 to the McMaster Marauders. On Sunday they played Carleton and lost 16-2 to finish their round robin action 1-3. The record put them in fourth, good enough to qualify for the bronze medal match against the third place Marauders.

In the bronze medal game the team struggled to generate offence, leading to a decisive defeat. The team played fairly well defensively against the Marauders, however on offence they found themselves forced to the perimeters and often took weak or bad angle shots that the goalie had no problem defending against.

Meanwhile, the Marauders combined their scoring abilities with the play of their goaltender to finish the game with a decisive 12-0 win. Head coach Don Duffey said the team’s offence cost them the game.

“We just couldn’t buy a goal,” he said.

“They shot the lights out. It was just one of those days ... it wasn’t meant to be this year.”

Despite the results, both teams took a lot of positives from the weekend. The men’s PhoToS by JuSTIn TanG win over York was a big step for a program The women’s team competes in the bronze medal game against the McMaster still trying to grow. For the women, simply Marauders losing 12-0 over the weekend at the ARC. getting to see the top calibre teams in action provided experience. The clear disparities amongst teams may derive largely from a lack of play time.

Duffey said the team had a lot of rookies on the roster this season.

“We have a lot of young kids coming out,” he said. “[This season was] just [about] gaining experience: I think we made leaps and bounds and some big steps, big stretches.

We just need to play a little bit more and get more experience. Get into that ‘big game’ mentality where we know how to finish.”

PhoTo by JuSTIn TanG

Gaels player Andrew Read defends against a Toronto forward on Saturday.

Sports

26 • queensjournal.ca

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Gaels spear Lancers Continued from page 24

to the fact that he can score at will.

He warmed [the ankle] up and gave it a shot. I’d say he was at about 60 per cent capacity but he sure helped us.”

With the win, the Gaels wrapped up the first part of their season with a record of 8-2, good for 16 points and a tie for second place in the OUA with the McMaster Marauders. The Mustangs sit atop the chart with a 10-0 record.

“We wanted to make a statement and beat these guys. They’re a good team and have some very good players but we managed to shut them down today.”

—Joren Zeeman, outside hitter

ACROSS 1 Notes from the boss 6 Couric’s employer 9 Vacationing 12 Open-mouthed 13 Exist 14 Clay, after 1964 15 Lost cause 16 Dugong’s cousin 18 One 20 Approach 21 Jewel 23 Backing 24 Low singer 25 Satan’s forte 27 Twangy 29 Most updated 31 Beta-carotene, e.g.

35 Hacienda brick 37 Ready for action 38 People 41 Eggs 43 Gist 44 One of HOMES 45 Appetite ruiners?

47 Authoritative

command 49 Hotel

accommodation 52 All-purpose truck 53 Round Table address 54 Bassoons’ kin 55 Roulette bet 56 Snoop 57 Trousers DOWN 1 Periodical, for short 2 Id counterpart 3 Set free 4 Admitting customers 5 Helvetica lack 6 Movie lot necessity

7 Actor Pitt 8 Sun Yat- — 9 Author Joyce Carol

— 10 Dog bane?

11 1980s Pontiac model 17 Not digital 19 Scout master?

21 Come together 22 Actress Longoria

Parker 24 — -relief 26 Couldn’t keep a

secret 28 Colander 30 1960s campus org.

32 Huge home 33 Ostrich’s relative 34 CSA soldier 36 Derelicts’ domain 38 Leg bone 39 Give a speech 40 Queued (up) 42 Man of morals?

45 Commotion 46 Brass instrument 48 Venomous viper 50 Asian holiday 51 Curvy character

Last Issue’s Answers

“Our goal all along has been to win the OUA Championship, to finish in the top four at CIS,” Willis said. “Certainly the setbacks of the major injuries have made that a loftier goal. Being 8-2, all things considered, especially with the two losses coming in five sets without some of our key guys present, we’re pretty confident that we can get everything working together.”

Queen’s will now travel to Western Canada at the end of the month to take part in a tournament hosted by the Trinity Western Spartans in Langley, British Columbia before continuing OUA action on Jan. 9 when they visit the RMC Paladins.

Stat of the Week In the four games decided by 10 or less points this season, Gaels guard Dan Bannister of the men’s basketball team has stepped up by averaging 24 points per game. His season average is 19.5 points per game.

Athletes of the Week

Dan Bannister Men’s Basketball Last weekend, the men’s basketball team continued to show signs of improvement in a difficult start to the season. While the team lost to both the Windsor Lancers and the Western Mustangs, fourth-year guard Dan Bannister had tremendous games. He ended the weekend with 34 points, eight rebounds, seven free throws and six steals. Nevertheless, Bannister was modest about his performance.

“I played OK,” he said. “I missed a lot of open shots.”

While Bannister’s field goal percentage of 43.2 per cent is relatively low, he is still one of the top offensive players in the OUA. His 19.5 points per game and three point rate of 39 per cent are fifth and 17th in the league respectively.

Bannister’s efforts have created opportunities for the slumping Gaels, especially having made those achievements in an unusual season like this one. With a change in coaching and the graduation of the Gaels’ scoring leader Mitch Leger, Bannister has filled the role, but said he still sees room for improvement.

“I think that if I could hit a few more shots, we would be able to win close games,” he said.

In a 1-7 season where the Gaels have lost only three games by less than ten points, Bannister shouldn’t be the only one hungry for improvement. But then again, working hard has always been a central part of Bannister’s game.

With a young team, he is one of the few veteran players along with fourth-year Timothy Boyle.

Bannister said he tries to provide guidance to the rookie players. One of the values that he said he tries hardest to instil is the importance of working on improving play outside of the games and team practise. It seems that his leadership is working.

“We’re growing as a team,” he said.

At second last in the OUA, the Gaels have a lot of growth left and the second half of the season will not be any easier. Bannister’s leadership will continue to be put to the test as the season progresses.

—Benjamin Deans

Brittany Moore Women’s Basketball Last weekend, women’s basketball captain Brittany Moore led her team through two tough losses to Windsor and Western. The fourth-year guard accumulated 37 points and seven assists over the weekend.

“I definitely improved this past weekend,” she said. “At the beginning of the season, I had been struggling a bit … I haven’t been hitting shots and my shooting percentage hasn’t been where it normally is.”

Moore’s shot percentage of 29 per cent to start the season has not been ideal for the Gael veteran, although she currently averages 15 points and 2.62 assists per game.

Moore has played impressively given her team’s circumstances.

Currently, the team is crippled with injuries, leaving only eight of the thirteen Gaels able to play.

“We’re kind of cursed right now with injuries but we’re hoping that we’ll get some players back,” she said. “The players who have been coming in, who have been healthy, are beginning to step up.”

Moore will finish the first half of this season against RMC this Thursday and then turn her sights to the rest of the year after the break. “[Over the break], we’ll be focusing on just taking care of the ball on offence,” she said.

If everything can come together for Moore and the Gaels, from injuries to skill development, they can hopefully make a playoff run in late February. “[Against Western], it was good to see where we can play at,” she said. “It was a really good weekend for us as a team, as far as growth and moving forward and knowing [that] we can play every single game.”

Moore’s leadership, as a veteran player, will be crucial in the months ahead.

“Being able to recognize what my opportunities are on the floor and possibly making better opportunities for someone else to score, that’s one of the most difficult things,” she said. “You play good defence and you get opportunities there on the other end of the floor.”

—Benjamin Deans

THE JOURNAL

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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Postscript

queensjournal.ca

• 27

A feast of festive flavours

Recovering from exams and reconnecting with family and friends has never been easier with these holiday treats

By Jessica Fishbein Assistant News Editor Most hardworking and underfed students would probably agree that there’s no better way to spread holiday cheer (or any cheer, for that matter) than through a well-prepared festive dish.

While the holiday season includes celebrations of Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza and so much more, these recipes can be served at any holiday gathering. If you’re unlike me and reasonably competent at following instructions, these recipes should be fairly easy to prepare.

Holidays are best for taking that necessary break from work and school, getting together with loved ones and enjoying these festive foods, so dig in, indulge and worry about the consequences of said consumption later—there’s always the New Year for weight loss resolutions! While food is essential for bringing people together during the holiday season, don’t forget to truly appreciate your family and friend’s company—and making them these mouth-watering foods won’t hurt.

Eggnog A liquid departure from other holiday treats, eggnog is usually served during the Christmas season and can be considered an acquired taste. While I count myself a previous sceptic of this holiday beverage, this recipe quickly changed my mind and I have no doubt it will help sway popular opinion. Is there really any better combination than sugar and alcohol?

Ingredients • 16 egg yolks • 1-1/3 cups (325 ml) icing sugar • 3-3/4 cups (925 ml) milk • 3 cups (750 ml) whipping cream • 1/2 tsp (2 ml) vanilla • 1-1/2 cups (375 ml) bourbon or dark rum or brandy • 1/4 tsp (1 ml) nutmeg

Directions In saucepan, whisk egg yolks with sugar until smooth. Whisk in milk and 1/2 cup (125 ml) of the cream; cook over medium heat, stirring and without boiling, until thick enough to coat spoon, 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Stir in 3/4 cup (175 ml) of the remaining cream and vanilla; strain into bowl. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.

Whisk in bourbon; cover and chill for two hours. Transfer to punch bowl.

In bowl, lightly whip remaining cream; fold into eggnog.

Sprinkle with nutmeg.

—Source: Canadianliving.com

Candy Cane Brownies Who can say no to a brownie?

Perfect for a holiday get together, there will be no complaints about this classic favourite.

Christmas Cookies

Ingredients

Simple yet tasty, these cookies aren’t your classic chocolate chip but their sugary deliciousness will quell your cravings nonetheless. In addition, if you’re into being creative this recipe will allow you to decorate your cookies any way you want.

Ingredients • 3 cups (750 ml) flour • 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) baking powder • 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) nutmeg • 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) salt • 1 cup (250 ml) butter • 2/3 cup (150 ml) light brown sugar • 1/2 cup (125 ml) light corn syrup • 2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla extract Directions Preheat oven to 350F Whisk together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt.

In another bowl beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the corn syrup and vanilla.

On low speed gradually add the flour mixture.

Roll out one piece about 1/4” (0.64 cm) thick. Cut out your shapes and decorate as desired.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes.

—Source: Pillsbury.com

Hannukah donuts Hannukah has many fun foods to offer, like potato latkes, chocolate gelt and Israeli soufganiot. This is a take on the Israeli soufganiot, which is a powdered donut traditionally enjoyed during the eight nights of Hannukah.

Ingredients • 1 pound (454 g) prepared pizza dough • 3/4 cup (175 ml) sugar • 1 1/2 (7.5 ml) teaspoons ground cinnamon or icing sugar • Vegetable oil, for deep-frying • Olive oil, for deep-frying Directions Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/2-inch (1.27 cm) thickness. Using a floured 2-inch cookie cutter,

cut out doughnut rounds.

Using a floured 1-inch (2.54 cm)cookie cutter, cut out a hole in the center of each doughnut. Gather the dough scraps and reroll. Cut out more doughnuts.

• 2/3 cup (150 ml) butter • 8 oz (227 g) semisweet chocolate, chopped • 4 oz (113 g) unsweetened chocolate, chopped • 1-1/2 cups (375 ml) granulated sugar • 4 Eggs • 2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla • 1 cup (250 ml) all purpose flour • 1 tsp (5 ml) salt • Topping • 1/2 cup (125 ml) crushed candy canes • 2/3 cup (150 ml) mini chocolate chips

Directions Line 13- x 9-inch (3.5 L) metal cake pan with parchment paper; set aside.

In saucepan over medium-low heat, melt together butter and semisweet and unsweetened chocolates. Let cool for 10 minutes. Whisk in sugar, then eggs, 1 at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Using wooden spoon, stir in flour and salt. Scrape into prepared pan.

Bake in centre of 350°F (180°C) oven until cake tester inserted in centre comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging, 25 to 30 minutes.

Topping: Sprinkle with candy canes, then chocolate chips; return to oven for 30 seconds (do not let topping melt). Let cool in pan on rack. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.

—Source: Pillsbury.com

Whisk the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl to blend. Set the cinnamon-sugar aside.

Pour equal parts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches (5.08 cm). Heat the oil over medium heat until a deepfry thermometer registers 375 degrees F. Working in batches, fry the doughnuts until they puff but are still pale, about 45 seconds per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Cool slightly. While the doughnuts are still warm, generously coat each two times with the cinnamon-sugar or icing sugar. Serve warm.

—Source: foodnetwork.com photos by justin tang

28 • queensjournal.ca

Postscript

Thursday, December 2, 2010