The Queen's Journal, Issue 30

sit-down Series

The Journal talks to social historian Barrington Walker in the first installment of a new series.

Page 3

Split Lungs

Julie Doiron catches up with the Journal in light of her gig at the Grad club.

Trivia Contests

Plants and Animals and Random Recipe ticket giveaways.

losing consistency The women’s volleyball team split games against Toronto and RMC.

Pages 8 and 10

Page 8

Breaking habits Exploring why the phrase ‘old habits die hard’ rings true.

Page 13

Page 16

T u e s d ay , F e b r u a r y 1 , 2 0 11 — I s s u e 3 0

the journal

Q u e e n ’ s U n i v e r s i t y — C a n a da ’ s O l d e s t S t u d e n t N e w s pa p e r — S i n c e 1 8 7 3

Interlaced instrumentals

elections

Vying for a vote of confidence B y Terra A nn -A rnone Web and Blogs Editor

Photo by Christine Blais

Katie Lee matched her clothes to her keys at Montreal quartet Braids’ enveloping show last Friday night at the Grad Club with Cherry Chapstick. For more photos from the concert see page 9.

Presidential candidate Rico Garcia and running-mate Duncan Peterson are campaigning unopposed in the ASUS executive elections this year.

Garcia, ArtSci ’13, said his experience external to ASUS makes him the best candidate for president, a quality that is balanced out by his internally-focused teammate.

“We’ve both taken different paths through ASUS, Duncan more internal and I’m external or representative,” he said.

Garcia is an economics major and currently holds a two year position as senator. Previously he was 2013 year society president and sat on the Board of Directors.

He also co-chaired the ASUS Remembrance Day Committee, and sat on the ASUS Grants Committee, ASUS Summer Camps Hiring Committee and the ASUS Student Initiative Fund Committee.

Currently the academics commissioner, Peterson, ArtSci ’11, began his time in ASUS as a Gael in 2007. He has since co-chaired the

elections

A demanding debate amongst trustees L abiba H aque Assistant News Editor Last Thursday the five candidates vying to be the next undergraduate student trustee debated the relevant issues in front of 30 onlookers in the JDUC. The debate started off with an online question; “The Board of Trustees works with many senior administrators. What steps would you take to build strong relationships with the members of the Board of Trustees?”

Patrick Allin, ArtSci ’13, said that in order to build strong relationships with other Board members, the student trustee must be informed and able to talk about

student issues.

“Being well-informed about issues that are pertinent to students, being able to bring these issues directly to the members of the Board of Trustees … is vital to establishing a good report and vital to establishing a two year friendship,” he said.

“They have been removed from the classroom for thirty, forty, fifty or sixty years. We are just a student.

It’s very easy to discount a student on the Board.”

Lauren Long, CommSci ‘13 said that there are only three students on the Board of Trustees and only one who represents the voice of all undergraduates. Numerically that’s See Building on page 5

W.J. Barnes Teaching Excellence Award committee and was deputy academics commissioner last year.

Garcia and Peterson said that having similar ideas on restructuring ASUS prompted their decision to run for executive office in November.

According to Peterson, the team’s six-point platform is based on creating awareness among students about ASUS and increasing the organization’s financial transparency.

“Even though we’re facing a confirmation vote, we shouldn’t be just telling people what we’re going to do. As student representatives we’ll talk to them about it so they can get involved in their society,” Peterson said.

In order to raise awareness about ASUS Garcia and Peterson said their strategy is based on a strict marketing model to be implemented when in office.

“We want to do a two week intense marketing campaign, followed by two weeks of no marketing,” Garcia said. “We want See Financial on page 3

Inside electing a cesa exec An inside look at the platform for Team LoKK. page 4

MEN’S Hockey

The student trustee candidates discuss their platforms at the debate last Thursday night in the JDUC.

PHOTO BY CHRISTINE BLAIS

The men’s hockey team nixed their three game winning streak in North Bay. page 13

2 •QUEENSJOURNAL.CA

news

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2011

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

queensjournal.ca

•3

Features Sit-Down Series Photo by Justin Tang

Interview

Barrington Walker on Black history Queen’s history professor talks about his new book on debunking the myth of Canadian enlightenment in the age of slavery B y J ake E dmiston Features Editor When Barrington Walker started his PhD dissertation at the University of Toronto, he was focusing on Black porters on Canadian trains.

But a criminal case involving one Black porter intrigued him and so he switched his focus to Canada’s criminal court records and examined the history of inequalities in Canada.

The Queen’s associate history professor’s new book, Race on Trial: Black Defendants in Ontario’s Criminal Courts, 1858-1958 continues with this subject. Walker used court records to discover that Black slaves escaping the United States via the Underground Railroad weren’t reaching the utopia they had expected.

Yesterday, the Journal sat down with the author to discuss his findings:

A: You find things like segregated schools are quite common in 1850s Ontario. The schools question is really one of the most huge ones. ... Although under law there are provisions made in Canada for Blacks to receive education, in practice, a lot of whites conspired to keep Black children out of schools.

For most blacks, the occupations they embarked upon in Canada were very of similar to the sorts of work that Blacks did under slavery and they found themselves pushed to the bottom of the occupational ladder. That’s a huge one as well, Blacks’ position in the labour market.

Something that’s a little harder to document but it comes up in sources from time to time is just the

Canada ... You’ll find documented histories of people who for a variety of reasons didn’t leave behind sources, whether because of education or you know, most groups don’t sit around and write diaries, that’s really a white-middle-class preoccupation, which I guess has only been replaced by blogging now. Most working-class Blacks were too busy trying to make a living. The courts are often a very good window onto their day-to-day lives.

I wanted to look at the limits of their freedom. I knew on paper that they were free, but I figured that legal trials would tell us a lot about the extent in which those ideals of freedom were fully realized.

Oftentimes the law did live up to its ideals but more often not.

I expected to find was a really unambiguous story of Blacks facing “discrimination” and being subject to very harsh sentences ... and that’s certainly a lot of what I found but there are also a lot of other things going on that complicated the picture.

Race was articulated in ways that can’t be easily called discrimination … What I mean by that was there were often these narratives around Black people’s inability to understand the gravity of what they had done. Defence lawyers, sometimes judges, would make arguments about Blacks’ inability to appreciate the gravity of their crime, this often would have an effect on sampling as well.

One of the things that I found was sometimes arguments around

Q: Is the general idea that Canada was the enlightened neighbor to the slave-trading United States a myth?

A: It’s not a myth necessarily because there’s some historical truth in it. Slavery was practiced in Canada, and sometimes Canadians erroneously assume that slavery wasn’t more extensive because of moral reasons, but really the reasons were climatic.

There’s an argument to be made that if Canada could have supported large scale plantation agriculture, slavery would have been much more prominent.

Where I think some of the naiveté comes in is the belief that because slavery wasn’t practiced here past 1834, that Blacks didn’t face discrimination ... when the truth is much more complicated then that.

The exercise of the law was often distorted by the pervasiveness of societal discrimination. The law had these ideals about equal treatment and colour blindness under the law but the reality was it was operating within a context of very pervasive anti-Black racism.

So it’s trying to figure out how Blacks lived between those two contradictions. In many ways the Black experience is that paradox between legal freedom and societal inequality.

Q: What were some of those societal inequalities?

that we wouldn’t normally expect.

Having your sentence commuted because your lawyer managed to argue that you couldn’t understand the gravity of your crime because you’re Black is pretty good because you don’t hang. On the other hand, the price of those arguments is your dehumanization. I suppose it was a price that most of those defendants in question were willing to pay, but in many ways it’s a very steep price.

Q: Should this part of our heritage be a source of national pride?

A: Yeah, but with an asterisk. I think Canadians should celebrate the fact that Canada did provide a legal haven for people of African descent who would have had to have lived through a life of terrible bondage in the United States. I’m not trying to take that legacy away from Canadians. But I think Canadians need to be more honest about some of the societal prejudices that Blacks faced when they arrived in Canada. Canada was a legal haven yes, but it was no utopia.

Q: How are court records from the 19th and early 20th century relevant today?

Barrington Walker said lawyers used an excuse of racial inferiority in defence of African Canadians convicted of crimes in 19th century Canada.

everyday casual racism that Black people had to face. Things like the depictions of Blacks in the media as either childlike, or buffoonish or prone to criminal tendencies.

The casualness with which white Canadians threw around the racial epithet “Nigger” was quite common and some Blacks reported being called “Nigger” to the face—something that really doesn’t happen now aside from the Internet.

Q: Why did you go about uncovering these social inequalities through examining court cases?

A: Being trained as a social historian, the court records are a really good window on the histories of all marginal populations in

It really speaks to what I call the veneer of freedom. Blacks came across the border in that era and there’s stories about Blacks falling on their knees and kissing British soil. These are somewhat romantic myths about Canada but there’s a grain of truth in them.

Legal freedom only can take you so far. The pressing issues of how your children are going to be educated, where you’re going to live, what you’re going to eat, really substantiate freedom and make it meaningful. Blacks found it was more complicated than just crossing the border.

Q: Where you expecting to find what you found?

A: Not entirely. I think what

Photo by Justin Tang

mercy can be as much about race as arguments around harsh punishment. In some of the cases in the book there were arguments about Blacks being incapable of understanding the whole idea of premeditation. So premeditated murder being something that Black people were incapable of because premeditation assumes some kind of cognitive ability and if you don’t have the cognitive ability, premeditated murder is an impossibility for some populations.

Q: What are the implications of that racially-based request for mercy?

A: Race is a very dynamic thing in that it turns up in all sorts of places and it turns up in places

A: I think it’s relevant today, frankly, because that tension I was talking about between societal inequality and legal equality still exists in Canada for people of African descent. Although the discrimination that Blacks face now in Canada isn’t as overt as what I found in the mid-19th century up until the mid-20th century, it’s still quite true that ... the socio-economic position of African-Canadians is relatively low compared to other groups in Canadian society. So there’s that aspect of it.

It’s still very much that Blacks are associated with the dominant culture’s imagination of crime and issues of criminal justice. So in that sense, I think if we kind of go full-circle with this work, because it was a work that was very much influenced by the environment around the just desserts case.

Look forward to the next installment of the Sit-Down Series in coming issues the Journal.

News

4 •queensjournal.ca

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

ELECTIONS

Preaching the importance of teaching Team LoKK for CESA excutives seek a vote of confidence and hope to implement a more inclusive atmosphere Labiba Haque Assistant News Editor This year’s Concurrent Education Students Association (CESA) executive candidates said that the key to success for their faculty society is inclusivity. The executive race is uncontested, which means that students will have to cast a vote of confidence for team LoKK. The team is made up of presidential candidate Alex Love, ConEd ’12, vice-president (external) candidate Katie Wilson, ConEd ’12 and vice-president (internal) candidate Kimberly Howald, ConEd ’12.

Love, who is the current academic affairs commissioner for CESA council said that the team’s platform focuses on three important aspects; professionalism, awareness and communication. He said it was inspired by the CESA Mission Statement. Love said the team also plans to look outside of the Society.

“We’d really like to work with other faculties,” he said, emphasizing their plans to create more inter-faculty events.

Love said he wants to create interactive ways to engage students about the on goings of the ConEd council.

“We hope to be working with the education class professor and

use the beginning of the classes to inform students,” he said. Another option would be to provide the professor with an information slide to display in lecture.

“We’d also like to ensure that any positions that are elected at the very beginning of year are carried through with what they originally promise in their platforms,” he said.

Love said that this process can be conducted through periodic online surveys sent out to concurrent education students.

The candidates started working together last semester after being involved with various components of the society.

“The three of us really have come together and we really want to work towards making CESA more inclusive of all the students it represents. I think our diversity can really help us, we’d love the student’s vote of confidence.”

Wilson, who was an academic Teach on this year’s Frosh Week executive committee said that the team plans to amalgamate the duties of the Equity Representative of CESA with the position of the External Affairs Commissioner’s position.

This position will include attending equity caucus meetings and ensuring ConEd events are equitable and oppression-free.

Wilson said the team also hopes to

Kimberly Howald, ConEd ‘12 (left), Alex Love, ConEd ‘12 (centre) and Katie Wilson, ConEd ‘12 (right), say that building on inter-faculty relations is a priority.

create an events planning manual.

“In terms of the professional aspect of our platform, we want to create an events planning manual that kind of allows people to know how to plan an event, how they can figure out money handling for larger events and the resources which they can use,” she said.

Howald said the team wants to emphasize the importance of the Queen’s and Kingston communities.

“We want to increase awareness about Queen’s and Kingston communities,” she said, adding that this includes working with other faculties on initiatives such

Photo by Justin Tang

as Tree of Life, which is an event that ConEd collaborates on with physical education and kinesiology. each year.

Howald said the team plans to add to these initiatives by creating more workshops and fundraisers.

Financial accountability a priority Continued from page 1

marketing to be reborn every month to keep things fresh.”

The team’s marketing plan will come in handy when promoting revitalized services like the ASUS

movie theatre (AMT).

“We want to move back to film reels like we did two years ago because it gives a different vibe,” Peterson said, adding that the AMT currently uses DVDs to put on Sunday night movies.

In conjunction with new marketing strategies for ASUS services, the team said they want to emphasize internal accountability in ASUS. Garcia said as a member of the Board of Directors he saw a need

to increase financial accountability in ASUS. “We manage a fund of close to $180,000 and there’s no real accountability for ASUS as a whole,” he said.

Even though we’re “facing a confirmation

vote, we shouldn’t be just telling people what we’re going to do. As student representatives we’ll talk to them about it so they can involved in their society.”

— Duncan Petterson, ASUS vice-presidential candidate Peterson added that the financial plan for ASUS is presented only a few times a year. “It’s not reflective of the amount of money being dealt with here,” he said.

Because of annual turnover in the ASUS, Garcia said presenting a financial plan to people in transition is difficult. Instead, the team is proposing monthly financial meetings with the Board

of Directors.

“We want to get a good sense of continuity in the budget and monthly meetings would help that,” Garcia said.

The team also wants to ensure an international student perspective on ASUS assembly.

They want to add an international student representative to the ASUS Assembly who would sit as a non-voting member. “We want them to be able to voice their concerns regularly,” said Garcia.

In order to be a voting member of ASUS Assembly, the representative must have been elected by the student body.

The team also wants to create a student Faculty Board caucus to increase external representation.

“What we propose is to have the DSC Chairs, the ASUS Senators, the ASUS Exec and I to meet one or two days before actual Faculty Board meetings so that all the students involved can go over the meeting agenda and discuss the issues that will be brought up,” Peterson said.

For full platform, go to garcia-peterson.com.

Want to write for News?

Photo by Justin Tang

Duncan Peterson, ArtSci ‘11 (left,) and Rico Garcia, ArtSci ‘13 (right,) say that if they are elected ASUS Presidents they want to meet once a month with the Board of Directors to ensure financial continuity

Email: journal_news@ams.queensu.ca

News

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

queensjournal.ca

•5

Building strong communication Continued from page 1

only 12 per cent representation of students, when student fees are 43 per cent of the operating budget.

“So, this isn’t a position of authority, rather it is a position of influence. Student voices will not be heard unless we work with the admin, unless we build partnerships with the admin,” she said adding that she has sat on committees previously with Board of Trustee members and hopes to build on her past relationships with them.

Stephen Pariser, ArtSci ‘11, said that it’s important to recognize that it’s a student trustee position.

“If they were looking for someone to go in with a lot of business experience or ideas on how to balance a budget they would go for another adult trustee,” he said also agreeing with Long that the position largely is influential rather than authoritative.

Jesse Waslowski, ArtSci ‘13, said the best thing to do is to bring stronger relationships and ask questions to engage with Board members.

“The most important way to do this is by establishing personal relationships with the administration,” he said.

Andrew Witzke, ArtSci ‘12 and Comm’ 13, said he already works with many of the Board members due to his involvement in the Senate, however he also agreed with the other candidates by saying that its essential to sit down with members and have personal relationships with them.

“Another way that I hope to do this is by continuing the initiative that the current trustee started. That means going to lunch with Principal Woolf every month,” he said.

However, though the debate initially started in agreement, the candidates soon showed some differences in opinion.

Amanda Howell, chair of the education

portfolio from the Social Issues Commission, asked the candidates if they had any other commitments that may impair their ability to be accessible and accountable to the undergraduate student body.

Allin said that if elected he plans to fully dedicate his time to the position, as he is only in second year. In addition, he plans to spend the summer in Kingston working.

“Senior administrators work twelve months a year. Without students on campus they have a lot more availability. So I could really work on platform development and work towards bringing issues to their attention,” he said.

Long, Pariser and Waslowski all said that they plan to be available for the next two years and hope to create open office hours for students, as well as provide information through a website.

However, Witzke said that hopes to go on an exchange during his term.

“Next winter term I hope to be going on exchange in Europe. I hope to be going on exchange hopefully to the same university that my mother went to,” he said adding that it would result him missing one of his eight meetings.

Witzke said he could meet with students through Skype while on exchange.

Pariser rebutted that not all students have Skype and that they may be intimated by asking the trustee about his personal Skype information.

“Intimidation only occurs when you exude an intimidating persona, and I don’t really think I exude an intimidating persona,” Witzke said.

The night ended with the five candidates participating in the ‘Oil Thigh,’ as a symbol for university unity.

The debate can be found online at bit.ly/2011debates

eDitor in CHief 2011 eLeCtion Voters List Vote February 10th from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 190 University Ave. Terra-Ann Arnone

Balpreet Kukreja

Alyssa Ashton

Rachel Kuper

Kate Bascom

Lauri Kytömaa

Paul Bishop Christine Blais Katherine Fernandez-Blance Clare Clancy Justin Chin

Dianne Lalonde Kelly Loeper Tim McKay Sara Melvin Jacob Morgan

Jaaron Collins

Parker Mott

Rob Campbell

Claire Nelischer

Elias Da Silva-Powell Benjamin Deans

Catherine Owsik Katie Pearce

Craig Draeger

Rose Solovitch

Jake Edmiston

Anand Srivastava

Janina Enrile Jessica Fishbein Carolyn Flanagan Ally Hall

Andrew Stokes Justin Tang Holly Tousignant Ron Yan

Labiba Haque

Leslie Yun

Jerome James

Adam Zunder

Undergraduate student trustee candidate Stephen Pariser said that the trustee is a position of influence rather than authority.

Photos by ChRistinE bLais

Candidate Lauren Long said that it is necessary for the undergraduate student trustee to build relationships with the adminstration.

Photos by ChRistinE bLais

6 •queensjournal.ca About The Journal

Editorial Board

The Journal’s Perspective

Editor in Chief

Tyler Ball

Managing Editor Rachel Kuper Production Manager Leslie Yun

News Editor

Clare Clancy

Assistant News Editors

Katerine Fernandez-Blance Jessica Fishbein Labiba Haque

Features Editor

Editorials Editor

Jake Edmiston

Elias Da Silva-Powell

Editorial Cartoonist Dialogue Editor

Adam Zunder

Craig Draeger

Arts Editor

Ally Hall

Assistant Arts Editor

Alyssa Ashton

Sports Editor

Kate Bascom

Assistant Sports Editor

Lauri Kytömaa

Postscript Editor

Kelly Loeper

Supplements Editor

Holly Tousignant

Photography Editor

Christine Blais

Assistant Photo Editor

Justin Tang

Copy Editors

Andrew Stokes Catherine Owsik

Web and Blogs Editor

Terra-Ann Arnone

Web Manager

Dianne Lalonde

Business Staff

Business Manager David Sinkinson

Advertising Manager

Tina You

Advertising Representatives

Carlee Duchesne Lianne Lew Jesse Weening

Staff

Photographers Asad Chishti

Writers Contributors

Editorials

Benjamin Deans Omer Aziz Kiran Rana Nick Roy Jessica Strong

Tuesday, February 1, 2011 • Issue 30 • 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 © 2011 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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Please address complaints and grievances to the Editors in Chief.

Please direct editorial, advertising and circulation enquiries to: 190 University Avenue, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3P4 Telephone : 613-533-2800 (editorial) 613-533-6711 (advertising) Fax: 613-533-6728 Email: journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca The Journal Online: www.queensjournal.ca Circulation 6,000 Issue 31 of Volume 138 will be published on Thursday, February 3, 2011.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

““

Ultimately, Team CES was clearer and more confidence-inspiring—both in terms of their candidates and platform points.

”

Ams elections

Team CES for AMS

A

fter extensive discussion work lobbying for OUSA fees this the financial concerns facing Alfie’s, ndrew tokes with both teams in the AMS year and his understanding of a which is experiencing a downward executive 2011-12 race, the extensive range of issues facing trend in attendance.

CES pointed to lowered liquor editorial board of the Journal students—issues both directly has chosen to endorse Morgan related and ancillary to the position sales revenue and suggested the solution lies in pushing Campbell, Ashley Eagan and he is seeking.

President and CEO candidate special event nights, like Classic Kieran Slobodin.

The editorial board voted 16-0 Morgan Campbell’s role as a student Rock Saturdays—a consistently in favour of Team CES, with trustee makes her an excellent popular event.

SDL emphasized unexpected candidate, due to her understanding three abstentions. he English language is made up With the exception of Morgan of the day-to-day operations of costs related to Student Constable of thousands of words that can Campbell, candidates from both the University and her multitude licensing, an increased minimum teams manage AMS services, of connections throughout the wage and possible drug use at make an almost infinite number of phrases and sayings. Out of these Alfie’s driving down liquor sales. commissions or committees. All University’s administration.

However, SDL’s proposed myriad expressions there is one that Some expressed concern candidates demonstrated an impressive knowledge of the over vice-president (Operations) birthday line-skip program doesn’t I hate above all others: “why me?”

As in, “This is so terrible; why Ashley Eagan’s seem likely to mitigate these issues, financial operations of the candidate portfolios for which they are familiarity with the specific and could cause problems for did it happen to me?” or “that car workings of the AMS. Given event security and access. Allowing could’ve hit anyone; why me?” currently responsible.

These phrases feel like poison Both teams presented interesting Eagan’s position as Retail Services for the appropriate number of and varied platforms addressing a Director some were confused by line-skips in a night could be a in my ears—what they really mean is “this should’ve happened to variety of campus issues. However, CES’s shortage of platform points management nightmare.

The idea has generated criticism someone else.” the platform presented by CES relating to existing retail and We are both instinctually wired from existing Student Constable appeared to be supported by a food services.

However, the steep learning a d m i n i s t r a t i o n — c r i t i c i s m and culturally acclimatized to revile greater quality and quantity of curve associated with the SDL is aware of, but which whatever hurts us, and many of us background research.

It’s hard to deny that operations position means that a the team doesn’t appear too would don the hedonistic belief that pleasure is life’s greatest calling. team SDL is friendly and great deal of this knowledge is concerned about.

It’s this mindset that convinces Throughout discussion, both approachable. Of particular note gleaned through hands-on and teams did an excellent job relating us not to work hard and resist is vice-president (Operations) transitional experience.

Both SDL and CES emphasized platform points to their skills and temptation, and so our country candidate Dan Szczepanek, who consistently provided detailed the need for a more accessible and abilities. However, candidates has an obesity problem. This same and sound answers, and visible AMS. Each team stressed from Team CES tended to mindset fuels our inability to delay demonstrated an impressive grasp the importance of trying to show a better appreciation of pleasure, making us think, “I see it, of the issues involved in this emulate the relationship between the distinction between big- and I want it,” and so our continent is perspectives, mired in debt. election—particularly for someone students in small faculties with their small-picture This should not be the case. while SDL focused on personal with little internal AMS experience. faculty societies.

Life is suffering, and life isn’t over However, Team SDL’s “South of experiences. CES also demonstrated However, it’s hard to be certain how Team SDL’s approachability Union” strategy seems misguided. a clearer understanding of the any time soon, so it’s time to change will translate into an official While the plan to increase the timeframe for implementing their the approach. Every opportunity to suffer is an opportunity to be capacity—the professionalism and visibility of the AMS around platform in a long-term sense.

Ultimately, Team CES great, and to showcase your moral preparation demonstrated by team campus is commendable, it might was clearer and more fortitude and humanity. have a counter-productive effect.

CES gave them a clear edge.

When tragedy touches your life, Conducting scheduled open confidence-inspiring—both in The candidates from Team CES have excellent credentials to office hours at a rotating location terms of their candidates and don’t wring your hands and mourn assume the executive positions around campus seems like a platform points. Their approach your lot—accept it, embrace it.

When the opportunity comes to gamble, and it will only trade was consistently on point and they’re pursuing.

Vice-president (University approachability for accessibility. showed a strong degree of say “why did this happen to me,” Affairs) candidate Kieran Slobodin The plan will also take the preparation for the challenges of say “thank goodness this happened is the strongest candidate executives away from where most assuming the role of AMS executive. to me and not someone else.” The The Journal feels that students’ errant spark that burns your house in this election due to his students expect to find them—in votes are most effectively cast in down is the same that could have extensive experience within the their offices. destroyed your neighbor’s home.

Each candidate team addressed support of Team CES. administration and the AMS, his Kahlil Gibran said that “pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding,” and by looking through this lens, we gain a new perspective on our tribulations. Think of them instead as growing pains: a necessary part of your evolution into a mature and fully formed creature.

It is heartbreak and sorrow that carves us into our optimal shape—steel gets its strength from being tempered in fire.

I’m mixing my metaphors, but I think you get the idea.

When grief or unhappiness surprises you, confront it. Fleeing from or burying it away is to miss a chance to become something better.

So please, never ever say “why did it have to be me,” because when you let slip those few words, you’re speaking countless volumes about who you are on a basic level, and it doesn’t sound very good at all.

If you can’t think of something constructive to say, then say nothing. Suffering in silence is a time-honoured virtue that needs to make a comeback.

Just don’t say, “why me?”; that pain is yours, make it your own.

A

S

Pain’s gains

T

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

queensjournal.ca

DIALOGUE

•7

Talking Heads ... in the JDUC

Perspectives from the Queen’s community

Photos By Craig Draeger

If you lived in Egypt, would you protest the government?

“No. I’d do something useful.”

Simon Hickson, ArtSci ’11

Egyptian protesters clash with police this week in an effort to pressure President Hosni Mubarak to step down, but the US has conveyed mixed messages about the regime.

Supplied

International politics

A Domino Effect of Democracy?

The developing crisis in Africa highlights the political complexity of the region republican government in Egypt sparked a revolution in Iraq in 1958, but both of these revolutions replaced a dictator in a crown with a dictator in a military uniform.

Fortunately for Egyptians bearing the current crisis, the O mer A ziz , A rt S ci ’12 military seems to be on the side of the people.

In the case of Iran, a hopeful “Perhaps the Saudis will have to build a whole village for Arab public revolted against a presidents once they run out of Western-backed dictator only to villas.” According to Al Jazeera, have their revolution hijacked by that’s how a taxi driver in Syria the equally dictatorial and nefarious half-jokingly referred to the events Ayatollah Khomeini. Unlike the Shah, this man received his mandate unfolding in North Africa.

People watching the not from American dollar bills but developments in the Middle East from Allah.

A military takeover of the are hoping for a domino effect of democratization starting in Tunisia government or the establishment of Islamist ‘democracy’ are and cascading across the region.

In the last week alone, Tunisia’s both possible outcomes to the President Ben Ali has fled to Saudi current situation.

What seems most likely to Arabia as Tunisians have taken to the streets en masse; Egyptian happen, if a domino effect of President Hosni Mubarak has revolutions is in the works, is a appointed a Vice-President, sent his 1989-style cascade of reforms, family to London, and banned the metastasizing from one country to Arabic news network, Al Jazeera; the next but culminating in unequal hundreds of Algerians have been and disparate results similar to the arrested for demonstrating against new states formed out of the old the government in Algiers; and Soviet Union.

As the journalist Robert Kaplan Jordanians have demanded the resignation of their Prime Minister, has suggested, some countries in the shouting “send the corrupt guys Middle East may take a relatively pain-free path to democracy and to court.”

What’s happening in the region capitalism the way Poland and is truly remarkable, but don’t get Hungary did.

Others may descend into your hopes up yet.

Revolutionary fervour periodic anarchy the way Albania resulting in a re-invigorated did. Others still may be engulfed in status-quo or an exacerbated a Yugoslavia-style civil war.

Of course, the outcome of the form of authoritarianism has been commonplace in both the Middle current protests is as dependent on a single external factor as it is on East and Eastern Europe.

Few people today remember internal ones: the position of the the events of 1952 in Egypt, 1979 United States.

Fortunately for in Iran or 1989 in the former democracy-spreaders, idealists and Soviet bloc.

The first revolution was liberals everywhere, the rhetoric an overthrow of the Egyptian of the Obama Administration monarchy led by the Free Officers has shifted from tacit support to and the soon-to-be strongman hints of opposition toward the of the Middle East, Gamal ancien régime.

On Thursday, Jan. 27, Secretary Abdel Nasser.

The establishment of a of State Hillary Clinton called for

both sides to “show restraint”—a euphemistic way of not supporting the protestors.

By Friday, the American President and Vice President cautioned against violence while lauding Hosni Mubarak as a strong US ally and an anchor of stability in the region. By Sunday, Jan. 30, the US was calling for an “orderly transition.”

This is a direct rebuke of the thesis that anti-Americanism reigns supreme across the region and is ... a motivating factor for mass protests.

It would be naïve to think the United States will immediately pull the plug on Mubarak and the $1.5 billion of US taxpayer dollars the dictator receives (although Vice-President Biden said he “would not refer to him as a dictator”).

What makes a Mubarak step-down possibly acceptable for Washington is the fact that the opposition leader, Mohamad Elbaradei, is a moderate reformist who holds degrees from Geneva and NYU. On the other hand, the United States would not let anything happen to the pro-American leadership of Jordan under King Abdullah or the Saudi royal family who sit on billions of dollars of oil wealth.

However, all hope is not lost.

The regimes themselves will have to respond to their people through reforms which will most likely be piecemeal but progressive— something that is already taking place in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Democracy, if it will ever come to the Middle East, will come organically from within.

However, the United States will have to materially support the protestors and not the dictators

suppressing them.

It is an idealistic goal to have, but the moral compass of the United States has pointed toward democracy in the past.

Perhaps most telling about these protests is what they are, not what they’re about. From Tunisia to Jordan, no one is revolting because of the Israeli occupation of Palestine—this coming a week after Al Jazeera released the “Palestine Papers.”

This is a direct rebuke of the claim that all the problems of the Middle East point toward Israel.

No one is revolting because of anti-Americanism. This is a direct rebuke of the thesis that anti-Americanism reigns supreme across the region and is, by itself, a motivating factor for mass protests.

In fact, Tunisians and Egyptians are demanding economic and political rights—that is, the right to participate in an open market economy not at the whim of a despot—coupled with the right to have a say in who will rule the country. In other words, they’re protesting for what we in the West already have.

Furthermore, no one is revolting in favour of Islamism or anything that al Qaeda advocates.

Even the Muslim Brotherhood was quiet during the early stages of the Egyptian revolution and intellectuals readily dismiss the prospect of these protests moving in an Islamist direction.

We should be proud of Tunisians and Egyptians for rising up. At the same time, we should temper our excitement and idealism with a dose of caution and realism.

Remember, the only revolution in modern history that produced the desired outcome was the American one.

Time will tell whether 2011 replicates the years 1952, 1978 or 1989.

Let’s hope the Saudis have enough extra retirement homes for these despots.

“Yes, I believe in a free and democratic society.”

Chris Jackson, ArtSci ’12

“I’d be scared to get involved.”

Katie Hinchliffe, ArtSci ’09

“I think I would protest.”

Nicole Marcogliese, ArtSci ’12

“Sure.”

Kaleigh Smith, ArtSci ’12

Have your say.

Write a letter or visit queensjournal.ca to comment.

8 •queensjournal.ca

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Arts Making a career of collaboration, Doiron has worked with The Wooden Stars on their Juno award-winning joint album, Julie Doiron and The Wooden Stars, as a guest musician on albums for The Tragically Hip and Gord Downie as well as with Daniel Romano of Attack in Black and Fred Squire of Shotgun and Jaybird comprising their much loved folk trio, Daniel, Fred and Julie.

Interview

I dream of Julie

““

supplied

I’m just forever grateful to have people who want to have me play, to come to their bar or venue ... I’m always grateful.

”

Julie Doiron’s musical journey has been a long one, beginning with indie-rock band Eric’s Trip, a brief detour with her melancholic alter-ego Broken Girl and evolving with her strong and positive solo act B y N ick R oy Contributor Kingston is in for a real treat tonight when one of Canada’s finest musicians, Julie Doiron, brings her Polaris Prize-nominated indie rock tunes to the Grad Club.

Doiron got her musical start back in 1990 when then boyfriend Rick White convinced her to play in his band Eric’s Trip. Despite the band’s break-up in 1996, Doiron continued her musical aspirations; recording nine solo albums, collaborating with artists including ex-boyfriend White and touring the world, including a trip to China

next issue Cuff the Duke

and Japan last year.

“It’s an exciting time in China right now because bands from away are just starting to come there, and they’re not jaded or anything to see people playing that aren’t necessarily from China and they’re receptive audiences so that’s really neat for us,” Doiron said, adding that she didn’t always think music was going to be a career path. In fact, she went to school for photography.

“It was after I graduated that Eric’s Trip started touring, but I figured that would be it, that photography was going to be a career and music was going to be a hobby,” she said. “And now, photography’s more my hobby and music’s my job, but lately I’m starting to get back into photos in a bigger way now, sort of dabbling with that again, which has been really nice.”

In addition to her numerous recordings, Julie also published a book of photos in 1998 entitled The Longest Winter, with words by Ottawa author Ian Roy.

I’m also fortunate to “have a lot of friends

who make really good music, so I tend to take a lot of inspiration from them as well.

”

—Julie Doiron

“When we started Eric’s Trip, it was meant to be just for fun, and I don’t think anyone really had any aspirations to go beyond that,” she said. “We certainly didn’t expect it. We just kind of fell into having the record label find us, and things just went from there. And after Eric’s Trip broke up, I didn’t

Check out a preview of the Dukes this Friday in light of their show at the Grad Club the same evening.

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The Montreal foursome talk to the Journal about gaining notoriety by playing in Canada’s pizzerias and poutineries.

See page 10 for a chance to win two tickets to their show this Saturday.

online dinosaur bones Q&A with Ben Fox of Toronto’s Dinosaur Bones on limelight

For a chance to win two guestlist spots for Plants & Animals’ show on March 9, email your answer to journal_ae@ams.queensu.ca by this Friday

know what else to do, so I kept on making music. I never really expected music as a career.”

Her wide-reaching touring has seen her take inspiration from many artists.

“A lot of the inspiration I was getting was for many years is this band Ladyhawk from Vancouver, they’re one of my favourites,” she said. “I’m also fortunate to have a lot of friends who make really good music, so I tend to take a lot of inspiration from them as well. People like Snailhouse [Mike Feurstack], like Old Man Luedecke; he’s one of Canada’s best songwriters and he’s so good.”

Like many songwriters, there are a number of different methods to Doiron’s creative process.

“Sometimes it’s lyrics that just pop into my head, or sometimes I’ll find a melody and then keep singing it over and over till it’s

good,” she explained. “I’ll either be writing lyrics on the road, and then later on get a guitar and put it to music. Or sometimes I’ll just sit down and write a whole song, which is rarer and sometimes I’ll just make up some guitar parts and go back later.

It’s kind of those three ways, but the most common way is that I have a few lyrics and a melody, and I’ll keep singing the melody over and over and going back to find more lyrics from my notebook and going back and compiling them all at the end. So I mean, there’s no specific way, but eventually you find a way that works for you. ” Julie’s sound can be described as dynamic and eclectic, varying greatly depending on the atmosphere of the venue and crowd.

“I do love performing live, and it’s probably going to be a bit of a mix this time,” Doiron said.

“We sometimes do a full-on rock show, and sometimes do something quieter; I think it’ll just be a good show. I never know what mood I’m going to be in, so I don’t know; I plan on playing a wide range of old songs and new songs; mostly I think it’ll just be good to get back out on the road after a few months off, so I think they’ll have a good time tonight.”

Despite all her success Doiron has a quiet modesty.

“I’m just forever grateful to have people who want to have me play, to come to their bar or venue and it’s not always easy to get shows, but I’m always grateful that I can,” she said. “Just to play with the people I play with is a privilege.”

Julie Doiron plays the Grad Club tonight at 9 p.m. with Little Scream.

Tickets are $12, available at the door.

Arts

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

queensjournal.ca

•9

COnCert FOllOw-uP

Woven wonders Braids brought their sonic bubbles to the Grad Club on Friday, hypnotizing crowds with fellow Montréal post-rockers Cherry Chapstick

pHOTO BY CHRisTiNe BlAis

With blissed-out 1980s poppy shoegaze Cherry Chapstick (Dex Garcia, Julian Flavin and Nigel Ward, from left) were the driving force behind attendees’ dance moves.

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After meeting and forming at a Calgary high school, the Braids quartet made the move to Montréal and released their debut record, Native Speaker, two years later.

Upcoming EVERY WEEK Monday - All you can eat Spaghetti Tuesday - 1/2 Price Large Nachos for Members (5-close) Wednesdays - Open Mic - 9pm Thursday - Trivia - 9pm Friday Feb 4th Cuff the Duke Friday Feb 11th NQ Arbuckle w/The Matthews Brothers Saturday Feb 12th Jim Bryson and Weakerthans Band Friday March 4th Jenn Grant Saturday March 5th Yukon Blond with The Paint Movement Friday March 25th Born Ruffians

Tickets available at Tricolour Outlet and The Grad Club and online at ticketscene.ca www.queensu.ca/gradclub 613-546-3427 162 Barrie St.

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

Arts

10 •queensjournal.ca

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

get out there Art

TOP 5

1. The High Dials Anthems for Doomed Youth 2. Imaginary Cities Temporary Resident 3. Mookie & the Loyalists Mookie & the Loyalists EP 4. Souljah Fyah I Wish 5. Jenn Grant Honeymoon Punch

Union Gallery Main Gallery Joseph DeLappe, Harrell Fletcher, Oliver Laric, Renzo Martens, SWAMP, Thompson & Craighead and Sarah Vanagt MyWar: Participation in an Age of Conflict Until Saturday Feb. 12

The Mansion White Cowbell Oklahoma and Spitfist Friday Feb. 18, 9 p.m.

Cover TBA The Mansion The Reason with Gentlemen Husbands Saturday Feb. 19, 9 p.m. $10

Music

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The Mansion Dinosaur Bones with Justin Andre, Brandon Pasternak and James and Blackburn Thursday Feb. 3, 9 p.m. $10

The Screening Room Until Thursday Feb. 3: Made in Dagenham and Rabbit Hole Show times available at moviesinkingston.com theatre

The Grad Club Cuff the Duke Friday Feb. 4, 9 p.m. $12

The Grand Theatre L’Homme Invisible/The Invisible Man Wednesday Feb. 9 to Friday Feb. 25 Tickets and times at theatrekingston.com

The Mansion The Mahones Thursday Feb. 17, 9 p.m. $10

For an extended version of Get Out There see the ‘Arts’ tab at queensjournal.ca

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For a chance to win two guestlist spots for Random Recipe’s show, email journal_ae@ams. queensu.ca by this Friday

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Arts

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

album review

Lucky in the Limestone Wendy Luella Perkins releases her yearning debut

B y J essica S trong Contributor “I have the great good fortune upon waking every morn / to welcome what’s before me like a babe who is newborn.” So begins the title song and first track on Wendy Luella Perkins’ new album, Lucky Life. The sentiment of blessedness and delight in these lyrics sets the stage for the rest of the album, a collection of simple but beautiful songs

with spiritual overtones.

Perkins’ songs feature simple, repetitive lyrics and melodies. The repetition is common to many of the songs, yet its effect on each is unique.

In “Lucky Life,” the emphasis on good fortune evokes genuine gratitude. In “Apple Blossom Time,” the repetition evokes the rhythm of a season-dependent country life.

In “Little Brown Bird,” the repetition is very simple, very peaceful, and I think makes the song well suited to a child audience.

Lucky Life is an album full of joy. Perkins captures moments of pleasure from various aspects of life in her songs. She delights in nature in “Apple Blossom Time,” explores family dialogue in “Live Life Love Life,” rekindles romance in “Let’s Start Again,” and revels in relaxation in “Hour.”

check out the arts blog limelight tomorrow for an interview with dinosaur bones

queensjournal.ca

Most of the album is slow and peaceful, but the tracks “Long Way Back” and “Sing the Universe” have a bit of a fast paced, folk-rock feel, which adds some unexpected punch to an otherwise very tranquil album.

Perkins is known for leading Soulful Singing workshops and her ardency comes through in her music. This is not the same “soul” as is in Soul music; Perkins’ soul is Folk soul. Her voice is pure, sweet and cheerful, her words express childlike wonder and spiritual gratitude, and she delivers her gentle melodies alongside gentle guitar, piano

• 11

and banjo.

Perkins’ sound is reminiscent of folk festivals and summer in the country. Imagine yourself reclined on a picnic blanket on a grassy field, with warm sun streaming down on your face; in the distance you hear whispers of birdsong and murmurs of a brook. Picture a small wooden stage in front of you. On it is a soft-spoken woman with a guitar. She serenades you a lullaby about birds, water, birth and life. If this scene makes you yearn for sunshine and birdsong, you’ll enjoy Lucky Life.

Art Matters Catherine Hale tours

Collecting Visions: Selections from the Justin and Elisabeth Lang Collection

Thursday 3 February, 12:15 pm Thursdays feature free admission until 9 pm.

queensjournal . ca / blogs / limelight Got an idea for the blog?

Hit us up at journal_ae@ams.queensu.ca Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada K7L 3N6 613.533.2190 www.aeac.ca

Supported by the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Kingston and the Kingston Arts Council through the City of Kingston Arts Fund and the Justin and Elisabeth Lang Foundation Fund.

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To nd out, join a committee to evaluate the external lobbying of the AMS. There’s three seats available for “students-at-large” with applicants chosen by lottery.

Keep your student government accountable. Pick up an application at the front desk or go to myams.org/getinvolved. Return applications to the front desk by Feb 11th at 4pm.

12 •queensjournal.ca

Arts

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

queensjournal.ca

• 13

sports Women’s Volleyball

Gaels rebound then relapse

Gaels down Blues but fall to Paladins over the weekend in Kingston B y B enjamin D eans Staff Writer The women’s volleyball team had an uneven weekend. They beat the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in three sets and then lost to the RMC Paladins in four sets. Queen’s is now fifth in the OUA with a 10-4 record.

The weekend began with a confident victory over the Blues.

After a decisive win in the opening set, the Gaels fought hard in the second taking the lead for the first time at 25-24.

It was unfortunate “because the game required more of us and we just didn’t bring it today.

”

—Joely Christian-Macfarlane, women’s volleyball head coach

Although the Gaels were down in the beginning, middle Katie Matthews said Queen’s was never worried about losing the set.

“It was a fantastic game,” she said. “After last weekend, we were really focused on our side of the court ... We showed a lot of guts in the second set coming back when we were down and we just showed Toronto no mercy.”

Inside

Queen’s took the third set 25-14, beating Toronto for the second time this season. With two losses on January 21 and 22, the Gaels’ win over the Blues was a welcome rebound.

“There are a lot of teams who are pretty excited about us losing last weekend,” Matthews said.

“We’re one of the top teams now and it was nice to go out there and show other teams that they’re going to have to work hard if they want to beat us.”

On Sunday, the Gaels traveled across Kingston to face their regional rival, the Paladins. Down 1-0 after the first set, Queen’s battled to win the second. With the game on the line in the fourth, the Gaels couldn’t pull off a win, despite erasing an eight point deficit. Head coach Joely Christian-Macfarlane credited the 6-9 Paladins with great play.

“They played a fantastic volleyball game and we just didn’t come with the same type of intensity to the match as they did,” she said. “It was unfortunate because the game required more of us and we just didn’t bring it today.”

While the Gaels were frustrated with a disappointing ending to what started as a good weekend, Christian-Macfarlane said certain players played particularly well. Third-year outside hitter Lorna Button totalled 21 kills and 29 points.

The women’s volleyball team have struggled in their past four games despite a 9-1 start to the season.

“She played really well in the Toronto match and then, once Men’s hockey again, today, she had a great match against RMC,” she said. “The subs all went in and did a great job when they had the opportunity to step on the court.”

The Gaels are struggling with consistency at the moment. In their first 10 matches, they achieved a near-perfect record, only to go 1-3 in their past four matches, all four against teams with worse records.

With the postseason only five B y L auri Kytömaa games away, the Gaels need to start Assistant Sports Editor

Photo by Asad Chishti

Can’t find the way in North Bay

Road trip yields one point as Gaels take the Lakers to overtime on Saturday

See RMC on page 14

Ridgebacks fall to Gaels

Women’s Basketball The Gaels travelled to Canada’s capital to take on the Ottawa Gee-Gees and the Carleton Ravens. page 14

Next

issue Women’s hockey The Gaels faced the UOIT Ridgebacks on Friday at the Memorial Centre.

Forward Becky Conroy had two goals in the 4-1 win.

Photo by Justin Tang

The women’s hockey team defeated the UOIT Ridgebacks 4-1 on Friday. Read more about the game this Friday.

The men’s hockey team drove six and a half hours north this past weekend to take on the second place Nipissing Lakers. For Queen’s, riding a three game winning streak coming in to the game, the weekend’s objective was to build on success by adding points to the playoff push. However, the Lakers didn’t serve their guests the points that they needed, instead they sent the Gaels packing with two straight losses. Nipissing took both games Friday and Saturday winning 5-2 and then 3-2 in overtime.

The Friday game may have been a display of the effects of a long road trip. The Gaels lasted through a scoreless first period outshooting the Lakers 12-9, but in the second period Nipissing broke open the scoring just two minutes in.

Defenceman Patrick McEachen scored a response goal for the Gaels on the power play but it would be the closest the Gaels would get.

The Lakers roared back into the lead, sitting comfortably with a 5-1 lead after two goals in the second and third. The final score was 5-2 after Queen’s scored a goal late in the third. Gaels captain Jonathon Lawrance said the team lacked effort.

“We just didn’t play with any kind of energy,” he said. “They’re a team that’s tough to play at home.

We came out flat and they put a

couple goals together in the second period and we lay down and that was it.”

The Gaels mounted a much more aggressive attack the following day but were only able to come out with a consolation prize of one point. Following the tough 5-2 loss, the Gaels knew they needed to bring a much stronger effort in order to secure a win. Queen’s forward Brandon Perry opened the scoring with a goal in the first but the Lakers would once again respond, potting two unanswered goals, one in the second and the other early in the third.

If we ever get a full “lineup we are going to be a really dangerous team. ” —Brett Gibson, men’s hockey head coach

Faced with the much more manageable 2-1 deficit the Gaels answered back when Lawrance scored his seventh goal of the season, unassisted in the last four minutes of the game. The goal forced overtime, but the Lakers ramped up their game just enough to score on a Queen’s penalty and take a tough win from the hands of the Gaels.

The Queen’s offence struggled See Injuries on page 15

Sports

14 •queensjournal.ca

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Women’s basketball

Close call in capital Women’s basketball nearly upsets Carleton Ravens in overtime loss B y K ate B ascom Sports Editor

the Gaels have been led by veteran guard Brittany Moore who has continued to perform.

An Ottawa road trip can be a The Carleton loss was another headache for any team in the disappointment in the Gaels’ OUA. The Ottawa Gee-Gees season. Head coach Dave Wilson and the Carleton Ravens are said that as a group, the players at the top of the OUA East in are not used to losing but have women’s basketball, third and first managed to overcome tough losses respectively, and the Ravens are this season. ranked sixth in the nation. The “This group has been extremely Gaels opened the weekend with resilient,” he said. “The rookies a 65-47 loss against the Gee-Gees. have come from winning programs.

With the team riding a five-game Our veterans, last year we finished losing streak, Queen’s grabbed one in third place. None of them are point from the weekend after a accustomed to this.” hard-fought 66-65 overtime loss to The Gee-Gees built a substantial the Ravens. lead in the first half as the Gaels were unable to hold off Ottawa’s offence. Queen’s went into the They’ve been extremely resilient. ... I second half down 30-18. The tried to regain control of the honestly believe we’re Gaels game in the third quarter when going to be rewarded they matched the Gee-Gees for here at some point.

17 points, but it was too little, too late with Ottawa beating Queen’s 65-47.

—Dave Wilson, women’s basketball “We were very flat against head coach Ottawa,” Wilson said. “We don’t know why at times we’re coming The Gaels’ current 3-13 record out this flat and not playing our is in stark contrast to last year’s best basketball. [We] put ourselves season. At the end of January, the in a hole right off the bat and can’t Gaels were at a comfortable 13-6 seem to find our way to get out last season. Their losing record of it.”

The Gaels controlled the Ravens doesn’t indicate the work and effort of the team who have lost play to start the game, outscoring eight of their 13 games by only 10 them by three at the half. Wilson points or less. With season-ending said the Gaels’ play to open the injuries and a large rookie presence, game set a standard for the rest of

“

”

the game.

“How we came out to start the game was totally different,” he said. “There was energy … There has never been a lack of effort on our team but the energy just wasn’t there on Friday. Saturday the energy was there, the focus was there, the concentration was there that allowed them to play some pretty good basketball.”

Queen’s was able to maintain their play through the second half, which Wilson said was due to being individually matched to the Carleton team. The Gaels forced overtime after See Playoff on page 15

The women’s volleyball found some grounding in a win over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.

Photo by Asad Chishti

RMC stumps Gaels last meetings, the Gaels rocked the Rams in three sets and lost playing their best volleyball in order narrowly to the Lions in five. to repeat their final four finish from “We talked about the [RMC last season. loss] and learning from it and “Everything’s a little finding a way to fix the things that nerve-wracking now,” hurt us this weekend,” ChristianChristian-Macfarlane said.

Macfarlane said. “Both matches Next weekend, the Gaels travel [next weekend] now have more to Toronto to face the Ryerson importance than they would have Rams and the York Lions. While previously, so it’s step-on-the-courtthe Rams are last in the OUA with and-play, that’s really what I’m a 1-14 record, the Lions are just thinking. We just need to step on above the Gaels at 11-4. In their the court and take care of business.”

Continued from page 13

SportS

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Injuries hit Gaels injury that bothered him in the first half of the season. After the break to succeed on the power play, he appeared recovered particularly finishing 1-for-14 over the weekend after a six point stretch in two as they simply couldn’t overcome games against Toronto and RMC. His 1.07 points per game average the Nipissing penalty kill.

“They did a good job of is the highest on the team.

The Gaels are beset by several pressuring us,” Lawrance said. “We had trouble getting setup in the other injuries as well. Along zone. They [also] had two good with Liske, the team has six goalies that made saves for them. players—David Chubb, David We had the chances but we just Fitzpatrick, Robert Stellick, Brandon Perry and Brock couldn’t capitalize.”

The team was also notably Ouellet—who have been struggling outshot in both affairs with the with injuries this season. Gibson shot totals going 39-27 and 38-29 said that if the team could just both in favour of Nipissing. Gaels get healthy for the postseason the forward Jordan Mirwaldt said Gaels would have a big advantage.

“If we ever get a full lineup we the offensive pressure was to are going to be a really dangerous be expected.

“They’re a run and gun team,” team,” he said. “I haven’t had a full he said. “They’re really offensive. lineup all season. Teams wouldn’t They have a lot of weapons and know how to scout us.”

Despite two losses, Gibson said they move the puck well.”

The barrage of shots put the he doesn’t see the past weekend as Gaels goaltenders to the test. a speed bump in any sense. “[We are] 5-3-1 in the last ten, David Aime and Steele De Fazio weathered the storm by stopping one bad game doesn’t make a a combined 69 of 77 shots. While streak,” he said. “Going six hours De Fazio did give up five goals in to play the second place team up Friday’s effort, head coach Brett north and getting one point is not Gibson felt that he was largely hitting a wall by any means. Four responsible for keeping the margin games left in the Kingston, we can end up over .500, and with all of of loss tolerable.

“If it wasn’t for Steele [De Fazio] the injuries we’ve had it would be it could have been much worse,” a great season. We’d be on a high note going into the playoffs.” he said.

Injuries were once again a factor for the Gaels this weekend. The glaring hole in the lineup was the absence of forward Payton Liske.

Liske was forced to sit out once again because of a nagging ankle Continued from page 13

Continued from page 14

coming back from an eight point deficit, but the Ravens would win by one point after making one of two foul shots to end the game.

“Our feeling at this point is that we still control our destiny,” he said. “We’re not relying on anybody else to beat anybody else. We just know that we have to go out and win some basketball games and we’re certainly capable of doing that. … If we continue to play the way we played on Saturday, we will win games going forward and those are games that can be against anybody in the division.”

A losing record can weigh on a team but Wilson said the Gaels’ efforts in the season cannot go unnoticed for a team not used to losing.

“This is new territory for them but they’ve been extremely resilient and I don’t see that changing,” he said. “They’re going to come out and they’re going to play hard. I honestly believe we’re going to be rewarded here at some point.”

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LAst Issue’s AnsWeRs

16 •queensjournal.ca

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

psychology

postscript Stuck in a rut

Many of our New Year’s resolutions have dwindled by the end of the month.

Why are our habits so hard to change?

B y K iran R ana Contributor

According to Cynthia Fekken, a professor in the department of psychology, it can be hard to change habits when the benefits won’t be seen right away.

As January comes to an end, many of our promises of attending 8:30 a.m. lectures, quitting smoking and eating healthy have slowly dwindled from our steadfast vows of new behavior at the beginning of the month.

Early January sees the ARC filled with what seems to be almost double its usual number of students breaking a sweat and determined to start fresh. The decrease in students

by February, however, is noticeable.

“January is annoying for sure,” said Jessica Whiting, ArtsSci ’11 and an avid exerciser. “You wait 25 minutes for a treadmill knowing that the guy on it probably won’t be back in a week. Old habits die hard.”

We’re undeniably creatures of habit. Yet in today’s society, the word itself carries a negative connotation. “[A habit is] a routine response to a particular situation or set of stimuli,” said Cynthia Fekken, a professor in the psychology department.

“In psychology, habits are viewed as a simple form of learning and in that sense, they are good.

People don’t need to engage in serious deliberation each time they’re in the same situation,” she said, adding that this includes things like brushing your teeth before bed every night.

Although we know habits are a natural part of our everyday activities, what exactly makes a habit “bad”?

“We explicitly refer to habits as being bad if they are associated with negative consequences, such as eating junk food every evening while watching TV for five hours,” Fekken said.

Bad habits are often confused with addictions; although there are certain differences between the two, there are evident correlations and the line dividing them can

easily become blurry.

For example, when does binge drinking turn into a case of alcoholism? In psychology, an addiction is always negative.

“The addiction is characterized by a lack of control on the part of the person, that she/ he cannot resist engaging in the behavior even though consequences are normally dire,” She said.

It’s this notion of addictions that the TLC show My Strange Addiction is based on.

The documentary series follows people and their compulsions that range from gross, such as someone who’s addicted to eating chalk, to just plain weird, such as a woman who almost exclusively communicates through her puppets.

So why is it so hard to break a bad habit? Why does it take such a short amount of time for a person to fall right back into their old ways?

Habits tend to be learned, conditioned, reinforced and modeled.

“One distinction between a good habit and a bad habit is that good habits are associated with a reward that lies in the future, whereas a bad habit is immediately rewarded,” Fekken said.

This can be seen in students who go to the gym in January: they will need to wait weeks, if not months, to see significant improvements in their health, whereas those sitting at home eating snacks on the couch will feel good in the short term.

“The addiction is characterized by the reliance on a short-term reward as well as a physical dependence on the substance,” she said.

Andrea Jones, ArtSci ’11, is working on research with Eric Dumont, a professor in the department of biology.

Their research involves understanding the biological

processes that occur through the voluntary administration of a substance.

The research is conducted on rats that are trained to voluntarily self-administer cocaine. The experiments are set up so that the rats have to press a lever a certain number of times to get a dose of cocaine.

There is also another group of rats that passively receive cocaine—they don’t have to do any work.

Each time the self-administering group receives a dosage, the number of times they have to press the lever increases. (For example, for the first dosage, they press the lever once and for the second, they press the lever twice and so on).

“What’s interesting is that rats that passively receive cocaine don’t exhibit the same behavior of compulsive binging or cellular changes,” Jones said. “These cellular changes are similar in how humans learn—the connections in our brains change every time we learn something new.

“So when the rats are trained to perform a task to receive cocaine, it makes the decision to work harder for the drug,” she said, adding that rats have even been shown to put themselves in harm’s way for cocaine.

“It’s important to understand that when someone begins to voluntarily take addictive drugs, smoke or gamble, there are long-standing changes in the brain,” she said, such as changes in how people think, act and perceive the world.

“They enter a cycle of binge-withdrawal-craving and that becomes a major focus in their lives, more important than natural necessities like food or even physical pain.”

Rats have been used in the study of habitual learning and addictive

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behavior for quite some time.

Important neural activity patterns in a specific region of the brain change when habits are formed, change again when habits are broken and re-emerge when that extinguished habit is rekindled.

These habitual patterns occur in the basal ganglia, a brain region that is critical to habits, addiction and procedural learning.

Malfunctions in the ganglia are commoninpatientswithParkinson’s disease, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and many other neuropsychiatric disorders.

In 2005 Ann Graybiel, a professor of neurosciences at MIT’s McGovern Institute, conducted a study regarding habitual learning with rats.

People become “worried about changing their routine.

”

—Chris Mitchell, ArtSci ’11

In Graybiel’s experiments, the rats learned there was a chocolate reward at the end of a maze.

As they were learning the maze, their neurons were active throughout the entire maze. As the rats learned the exact location of the chocolate, their neurons fired up only at the beginning and end of the task; the rats were relatively uninterested through the rest of the maze.

Once the researchers removed the reward, the rats slowly stopped going through the maze, and the learned habit of expecting the chocolate reward and its accompanying neural pattern disappeared.

As soon as the reward was returned, however, the learned pattern appeared again, accompanied by spikes in neural activity at the beginning and end of the race.

The researchers were attempting to stimulate the learning and forgetting of a habit. “If a learned pattern remains in the brain after

photo by christine blais

the behavior is extinguished, maybe that’s why it is so difficult to change a habit,” Graybiel said.

One way to break a bad habit is through the repetition of a new behavior, such as working out at the same time every day. However, it’s important to note how easy it can be to fall back into an old habit, no matter how long ago it was broken.

“It is as though somehow, the brain retains a memory of the habit context, and this pattern can be triggered if the right habit cues come back,” Graybiel said.

“This situation is familiar to anyone who is trying to lose weight or to control a well-engrained habit. Just the sight of a piece of chocolate cake can reset all those good intentions.”

Chris Mitchell, ArtSci ’11, smoked for four years and just quit cold turkey two weeks ago. “It’s probably the first time I’ve seriously tried quitting,” he said, adding that his dependence on smoking was physical and mental.

“To a larger extent it’s a mental addiction. You start to think, ‘I don’t think I can study for exams without it.’”

Mitchell said an important trigger to restarting the habit would be his environment. “It’s difficult to be around people so involved in the habit,” he said.

Another obstacle to quitting is drinking.

“You sometimes justify having a cigarette,” he said.

“Drinking’s notorious for lowering people’s drive.”

Breaking habits can be difficult when it’s become part of daily life, he said.

“People become adjusted to it.

They develop a routine around the habit,” he said, adding that with smoking, it’s common to develop a routine of smoking during certain times throughout the day, such as after class or a meal.

“It starts to become almost unconscious,” he said. “People are worried about changing their routine.”

—With files from Kelly Loeper