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Debate over discount Loved Ones Special may harm local businesses BY KATHERINE FERNANDEZ-BLANCE ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Kingston businesses are worried that a special discount offered by Queen’s Event Services will negatively affect them this summer. The ‘Loved Ones Special’ lets faculty and staff at both Kingston General Hospital and the University bring their friends and family to stay in residence for as little as $32 per night. Warren Bennet, owner of the Abbey Manor Inn and Secret Garden Inn said he is definitely unhappy with the situation. “We can’t compete with these rates; it will definitely have an impact on our business,” he said. “Queen’s should be ashamed; they’re effectively killing the business around them.” Bennet said that his inns offer a corporate rate to visiting Queen’s alumni and faculty, which is half of the cheapest regular rate of $129 per night at the Secret Garden Inn. Bennet added that his businesses do a lot of work with members of the Queen’s community and gets a lot of referrals from Kingston General Hospital. With accommodation in downtown Kingston’s Bed and Breakfasts costing a minimum of $130 per night in peak season, Queen’s Event Services may be pricing out local businesses. Bruce Griffiths, Director of Queen’s Housing and Hospitality Services said he is unaware of any negative reaction to the Loved
Recent heat wave could impact health BY CLARE CLANCY NEWS EDITOR Staying cool in the summer heat can be challenging, particularly during a heat wave like the one recently experienced in Kingston. Helen Driver, a professor in Medicine and Psychology, said high temperatures can disrupt regular sleeping patterns and can negatively impact health. “Lack of sleep causes irritability, lack of concentration, daytime sleepiness, and morning headaches,” she said. Driver said since sleep is such a basic need, people will always find a way to sleep, so long-term sleep deprivation is not really a risk during a heat wave. “People might end up falling asleep at inopportune moments,” she said. “Sleep is a basic need. Once people are sufficiently tired enough, they find a way to sleep.” Driver said heat is only problematic in one phase of sleep PHOTO BY CHRISTINE BLAIS but that it disrupts the whole With less than two months until school starts, prepare yourself for Queen’s and Kingston with our Frosh Extra on page 14. Please see Climate on Page 11
Queen’s gets up to speed University upgrades service with $33.5 million administrative system JAKE EDMISTON FEATURES EDITOR
Checking back every day during September to see if a spot finally opened in that course you’ve been trying to get into is a reality with the current administrative system, QCARD. Luckily, there’s a $33.5 million University investment being launched this year to remedy that Please see Benefits on Page 9 problem and others caused by Queen’s 30 year old mainframe. The system is called QUASR and it’s a true web based interface Volume 138, Issue 3 Richard Palmer, QUASR Student www.queensjournal.ca Centre project manager said. News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Frosh Extra . . . . . . . . .14 “There will be a lot more pointing and clicking and a lot less Features. . . . . . . . . . . . .3 A&E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 typing,” he said, adding that the Editorials . . . . . . . . . . .12 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 first parts of the Student Centre Op-Ed . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Postscript . . . . . . . . . . .32 platform will be launched this fall.
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In the heat of it
JUMPING INTO FALL
During the upcoming adddrop period, before the system is implemented, dropping a course can lead to somewhat of an online purgatory. If the preferred option isn’t available and the dropped spot is taken when the student turns back, they’re left with a course load gap. Among the several other updates to the outdated QCARD system, QUASR will offer a swap function. Students choose the preferred course and the course needed to be dropped. When a spot becomes available in the preferred course, the new system will drop the old course and select the new one. This also means that students no longer need to check QCARD religiously in hopes of finding a spot in previously full classes. Palmer said the modernized
Student Centre interface will allow students to interact with QUASR the same way they would a web browser. Students will select a course code from a drop-down menu. Unlike QCARD, which only displays the name of a course, course descriptions, similar to the descriptions provided on the course calendar, will now appear when a course is selected. The current system also forces students to manually assemble the timetable on their respective faculty website. Palmer said personalized exam timetables will now be accessible through the Student Centre platform. Associate Registrar of Records and Services Andrew Ness said QUASR may have a high price tag but it’s going to be a benefit to
the campus. “[The University] is taking resources from every corner of the campus because we’re thinking about how can we better serve students,” he said, adding that the QCARD system was a part of 30-year old group of servers. “Old doesn’t mean bad. Old is still reliable. These are systems that are used in many banks and insurance companies because they’re robust.” He said student frustrations with the QCARD system stem the emergence of e-commerce culture in recent years. “If you think of e-commerce and the way we’re used to enacting transactions -- it happens in real time,” he said. “It’s not something Please see QCARD on Page 3