The Queen's Journal, Volume 142, Issue 26

News: ASUS DSC elections go awry page 2 F R I D AY , M A R C H 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 — I S S U E 2 6

THE JOURNAL QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY — SINCE 1873

SPORTS

Back in the game Pitcher raises funds to battle cancer B Y B RENT M OORE Assistant Sports Editor Six years ago, Alex Mann had a full head of hair and dreams of playing NCAA baseball.

Those dreams were dashed when he was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma — a rare form of bone cancer — in spring 2009, near the end of his grade 11 year.

The future Queen’s baseball reliever needed to undergo surgery and several months of chemotherapy to save his left arm. It was an arduous 10-month process — one that forced him to miss a year of high school and left him unable to pursue his athletic ambitions.

“I don’t remember this, but my parents told me that as soon as I woke up out of surgery I immediately asked the surgeon, ‘Am I ever going to play baseball again?’” Mann said. “And she just basically said, ‘No.’” It took two years to prove her wrong. After a year of physiotherapy and an adjustment to his throwing style, Mann cracked Queen’s baseball team as a rookie in fall 2011, and played for three seasons.

He was the Gaels’ most battle-tested relief pitcher — and he never forgot the people who helped him overcome his illness.

Now, he’s giving back through Forrest Donaldson, an ASUS an online campaign, raising funds representative to the AMS who for two charitable organizations. It spoke against the fee at the AGM, told the Journal that the AMS executive knew they’d have to propose some sort of fee, even if they didn’t have exact figures for the potential student fee at the time of the fall referendum.

“Clearly at that point they knew that they were looking at a fee,” said Donaldson, ArtSci ’15.

“What was to stop them from introducing another plebiscite Opinion: question that said something Prof talks along the lines of ‘would you academic be okay with a $10 or more fee freedom being attached to pay for the ReUnion Festival?’” page 9 He added that it’s within the AMS’s capacity to call a referendum at any point — which, he said,

Five years cancer-free, former Gael launches crowdsourcing campaign AMS

ReUnion Street Festival fee passes, after a fight

Starting next year, students will pay a $12.50 mandatory fee to support the Homecoming festival B Y M ISHAL O MAR Assistant News Editor A mandatory $12.50 ReUnion Street Festival fee and a $24.43 Tricolour Yearbook and Studio Q opt-out fee passed at Tuesday’s AMS Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The AGM — which was held at Grant Hall and attended by over 100 people — is an annual meeting of AMS Assembly at which any undergraduate student is able to vote on proposed motions.

Debate around the ReUnion Street Festival fee began with some Assembly members and members-at-large proposing that it go to referendum instead of being voted on at the AGM. Speaker Chris Casher eventually ruled that any comments that “deny the legitimacy of the AGM” would be

deemed irrelevant.

Reiterating comments made in previous assemblies dealing with the fee, the AMS executive said last fall’s ReUnion Street Festival improved town-gown relations and alumni relations. They added that it wouldn’t be possible for another festival to take place without a mandatory fee for undergraduate students because they couldn’t reuse the Advantage Fund this year.

Most studentswho spoke during the AGM supported passing the mandatory fee, including Rector Mike Young, ASUS President Adam Grotsky, Judicial Affairs Director William Simonds and Academic Affairs Commissioner Colin Zarzour.

The motion was voted on via secret ballot and received 133 “yes” votes, 12 “no” votes and two abstentions.

has raised over $6,750 so far, and closes on March 20.

The campaign coincides with a notable milestone. On Monday, Mann celebrated his fifth anniversary of being proclaimed cancer-free — though he’s still without his luscious brown locks.

“I had this poofy flow sort of thing, and I always had to cut it for baseball,” he said. “I always hated [cutting the hair].

“When I finished therapy I was basically like, ‘Alright, when’s it coming back?’”

In the months leading up to his diagnosis, Mann was playing high school and competitive baseball in Oakville. He was regarded as a standout local prospect, with the opportunity to play for a high-level American college.

That was before his diagnosis.

When the word came down, he immediately started researching Ewing’s sarcoma.

“Before my surgery, I was watching videos of the procedure and my mom was like, ‘You’re crazy. What are you doing?’” Mann said. “I always needed to know the outcomes.”

In surgery, an 18 cm long section of his left humerus was successfully removed, to be replaced by a steel prosthetic. Doctors left his elbow joint untouched, but removed part of his deltoid muscle — something that impedes his mobility to See Dedication on page 15

Feature: On-campus prayer space a necessity page 3

See Studio on page 7

Arts: Divulging Down There page 11

News

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Friday, March 13, 2015

ACADEMICS

ASUS papers over problems in DSC election After allegedly receiving incorrect voters’ list from Registrar, ASUS switches to paper ballots from online voting B y J acob R osen Assistant News Editor ASUS switched to paper ballots during Department Student Council (DSC) elections last Thursday after experiencing errors in its online voting system, and there’s still confusion about who’s responsible.

While ASUS representatives say there was an issue with the list they received from the University Registrar, which confirms students’ eligibility to vote, the University says they were never contacted for a list by ASUS. Instead, according to the AMS, ASUS used a list created by the Registrar in January for the AMS winter elections. The University later said this list didn’t include the necessary information to validate ASUS voters.

“There was an issue with the student list we received from A polling station was set up in the JDUC Monday for DSC elections. the Registrar’s office,” said Queen’s Communications ASUS Academics Commissioner hours. By the time the Journal Emily Graham, which she said went to print, ASUS had yet to Director Kristyn Wallace told the Journal via email that the Office forced the society to turn to determine voter turnout.

The Philosophy DSC organized of the University Registrar wasn’t paper ballots.

Graham, ArtSci ’15, said she its own election through asked to provide a list specifically received emails from AMS Chief SurveyMonkey — which Graham for the ASUS DSC elections.

Returning Officer Tyler Lively as said she hadn’t known about until The Registrar created a list for AMS elections on Jan. 8, but well as students and other ASUS it had already begun.

“I am now working with them this list wouldn’t have included council members informing her that they were unable to vote for to ensure that the election is carried all the information ASUS used to their registered major or minor out in a fair and legitimate way,” validate voters.

AMS Commissioner of Internal DSC. In some cases, students were Graham said via email.

“This will require sufficient Affairs Claire Cathro confirmed registered to vote under a different information regarding student to the Journal via email that the program than their own.

ASUS expected a decrease in concentrations, as well as ASUS list used for ASUS’s DSC elections voter turnout due to the technical oversight of the ensuing election was the Jan. 8 list created by the Registrar for AMS elections. issues, which led it to extend voting and verification process.”

the glitch.

“The big question is, ‘why were these lists inaccurate?’

Unfortunately, it was out of our hands,” said Grotsky, ArtSci ’15.

Last year was the first year ASUS implemented its own online voting system, prior to which it used paper ballots. But the system wasn’t intricate enough, Grotsky said, so student numbers and programs had to be manually cross-referenced after voting to ensure legitimacy.

He said ASUS hoped the switch to the AMS system this year would fix the validation problem because the system pre-verifies student information — but this wasn’t the case.

This year also marked the first year the AMS switched to the Simply Voting system for its elections, after its contract PHOTO BY CHLOE SOBEL with Votenet, the online voting system it previously used, expired “We receive our student lists last August.

Online polling for the ASUS from the University Registrar which includes information for DSC election opened March 5, students’ academic plans,” said when students received an email at 12:03 a.m. At 9:45 a.m., another Cathro, ArtSci ’15.

AMS elections didn’t require email was sent out informing segmentation based on student students that, due to issues with academic plans, so the referendum the system, they’d be required to wouldn’t have been affected cast their votes in person.

“To ensure that we do have if the information was wrong, legitimate elections for the positions, Cathro said.

“We will be discussing with the we had no choice but to switch to Registrar to ensure the information paper ballots,” Grotsky said.

The results of the DSC elections we receive moving forward have been posted online on the is correct.”

ASUS President Adam Grotsky ASUS Facebook page. said the society isn’t to blame for

ACTIVISM

Best Buddies spreads the word to stop a slur Anti-r-word campaign garnered more than 150 signatures B y C hloe S obel News Editor More than 150 Queen’s students have pledged not to use the r-word, thanks to Best Buddies’ “Spread the Word to End the R-Word” campaign.

The r-word refers to “retard” — a slur against people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

On March 4, Best Buddies set up a booth at the Biosciences Complex, where they collected pledge signatures and took photos to post on their Facebook page. This is the first year that the campaign has been run at Queen’s.

Devin Cleary, the club’s president, said the response was very positive.

“A lot of people actually knew about the campaign, which was more than we were expecting, and we had a ton of responses with people saying, ‘oh, I don’t use that anyway’, or ‘I have a sibling, cousin, friend with special needs so I know

that that’s hurtful’,” said Cleary, ArtSci ’16.

“I know in the community as a whole it’s a very large issue, but here on campus we were actually positively surprised about the amount of awareness that was already here.”

Though March is the club’s awareness month, they conduct awareness campaigns throughout the year and “are constantly posting on Facebook and having training sessions for our volunteers”, Cleary said.

“We do have some social media campaigns that we do as well … and just generally telling people if we hear it, ‘hey, I know you didn’t mean to say it, but that’s not cool.’”

She said it can sometimes be awkward to ask people not to use the r-word.

“I think a lot of people use it trying to be ‘cool’, and I know a lot of times at parties and whatnot … people will say it, and I will say ‘hey, that’s not nice’ or ‘hey don’t say that’,” she said.

“People who know that I’m involved with Best Buddies will be like, ‘oh, I’m really sorry’, but sometimes the response is, ‘why do you care what I’m saying?’”

She cares, she said, because the r-word is a slur.

“People aren’t using it to be offensive. It just comes out and people don’t realize that it’s, again, the same as any other — like the n-word or the f-word, it’s a slur and it shouldn’t be used,” she said.

“I know that a lot of our buddies have said they find it very hurtful, too, because it was used as a medical term, but now it’s synonymous with stupid or any SUPPLIED BY DEVIN CLEARY other negative word.”

Devin Cleary and her buddy Warren at a holiday party.

Best Buddies pairs students with individuals in the Kingston individuals have, because a lot of moved away.

“A lot of the people that we work community who have intellectual times they’re perfectly capable of or developmental special needs. enjoying these regular activities with are elderly … and they’re “We just try and provide them but they don’t have anyone to do in community living homes, and people are paid to be there with with friendship that many people them with.” take for granted, whether it’s going This is because most of the them,” she said.

“It’s a completely different for coffee or going bowling or people Best Buddies works with are older — including Cleary’s experience to have someone want seeing a movie,” Cleary said.

“It’s quite sad sometimes to buddy, Warren, who’s 56 — and to be with you and want to take hear about the stories that these their family members have died or you out.”

Friday, March 13, 2015

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FEATURE RELIGION

Prayer space expands on campus Chaplain and three students discuss the growth of religious resources and the limits of accommodation B y S ebastian L eck Features Editor

office. Then I do the research to confirm or deny it.

prayer at the beginning and then a discussion about Hinduism.

While Queen’s was founded by pious Scottish Presbyterians, students with religious beliefs today are in a firm minority.

But a Christian background does mean the University is designed with Christian students in mind — particularly through its adherence to the Christian calendar.

“Even if they are culturally Christian, they’re at an advantage over students who are of other faiths and backgrounds,” Johnson said, noting that students of different religious backgrounds may have holidays that conflict with exams and assignments.

Queen’s offers religious accommodations for students who aren’t of a Christian background. Accommodations include rescheduling exams and presentations that fall on religious holidays, providing specialized food options and adding prayer spaces to campus.

The office of the chaplain currently funds a Sunni Imam and a Christian pastor, and Johnson said she’s negotiating to have a transgender pastor come to Queen’s to work starting next September.

The Journal sat down with Johnson and three students involved in religious communities at Queen’s this week to discuss religious accommodations and the role religion plays in their lives.

Masfa Tariq, ArtSci ’15, is a Muslim student.

Dukesika Chandrakumar, Nurs ’16, is the president of the Hindu Students Association, while Hayley Lipworth, ConEd ’16, is a vice-president of Queen’s Hillel, a Jewish student club.

Tariq: I’m not involved in the [Queen’s University Muslim Student Association] executive, but I am a Muslim and I do practice and use all the facilities.

On the religious accommodations offered by Queen’s

Their roles on campus Johnson: People look to me as the religious authority on campus.

When there is a request for accommodation, it comes to this

Lipworth: I’m the vice president (internal) of Queen’s Hillel. I mostly look over the social committee, so that’s social events for Jewish and non-Jewish students, as well as the Shabat dinners.

Chandrakumar: I’m in Nursing and there’s only me and someone else who’s Hindu. That’s why I joined the Hindu Students Association, because I wanted to see how many other students were Hindu.

On spaces and resources for religious students Johnson: I’m a resource. I’m the main resource that the University funds, as well as the Human Rights Office. Most of the sacred space on campus has been shut down or made unavailable, and I’m in the process of trying to change that.

This afternoon, I’m taking some prayer mats to the prayer room in Stauffer Library that we’re opening up. There’s a similar process happening on West Campus, and there’s a room in Goodes Hall.

Tariq: There’s space on the third floor of the JDUC for prayer.

Lipworth: On campus, Queen’s Hillel is an AMS-ratified club.

We have club space, so that’s helpful. We also have a Hillel House off-campus. It’s a place where we have Shabat dinner and social gatherings. There’s also a synagogue off-campus.

Chandrakumar: For our group, the Hindu Students Association, we provide a space for prayer and meditation. We have the Satsang [event], which [is] basically a

Johnson: It’s primarily around exam timing. If a student has an assignment that is due or an exam that conflicts with a religious obligation, they can speak to their professor and the Exams Office to have that moved. That’s the biggest accommodation.

People are given time to pray if their religion requires that. The most obvious one there is that Muslims have this obligation to pray five times a day in certain windows.

Tariq: [Muslim students] actually told me all the positive things Queen’s has done. [One student] said he really appreciates how Queen’s has given a prayer space … someone else said they appreciate how exams can be accommodated at different times due to prayer.

If I’ve ever emailed a prof, they said “that’s OK, we’ll schedule a different time”. As long as I’ve been here, there’s been no one who has said anything against Queen’s.

Lipworth: The school has been very accommodating for Jewish holidays. A lot of Jewish holidays fall on exams, or on midterms.

Especially the beginning of the year — September is the high time for Jewish holidays. You have Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah.

When I was in first year, I had to be vegetarian. I ordered kosher food a few times, and it wasn’t the quality I was expected for a dinner.

It was more like airplane food.

Chandrakumar: If a student had a religious holiday, I feel the University should be able to accommodate this. For example, Diwali is a big Hindu holiday, which often falls in October or November, and this is a time when midterms occur … I found many students are torn between celebrating their religious holiday and studying for exams.

On where the obligation to accommodate ends

Masfa Tariq is part of the Muslim community at Queen’s.

PHOTO BY ARWIN CHAN

Johnson: In Canada, we have a duty to accommodate unless it involves undue hardship. People have different understandings of what undue hardship represents.

Here’s an easy one: Passover for Jewish students frequently conflicts with exam schedules. There are four days during Passover where Jewish students are absolutely forbidden from working. If they have an exam scheduled on those four days, they’re granted an opportunity to move that exam.

However, there’s nothing in religious law that says they have to spend the holiday with their family.

So it’s a bit sad, but the University is under no obligation to allow them travel time so they can be with their

Chaplain Kate Johnson runs an office in the JDUC.

Hayley Lipworth is a vice-president of Queen’s Hillel.

family during Passover.

Tariq: For the University, it becomes really hard to accommodate all of the religious holidays. I do think the University has a right to say, “No, we can’t do that” ... But I feel like when someone is uncomfortable with something, I feel the University has an obligation to step in.

Lipworth: Passover is eight days, but there are four days when you are obligated to not use electricity.

Jewish holidays start at sundown.

Being able to get home in time, in my opinion, is one of the most important parts.

Say you live in Toronto and you need to drive there and be with your family before sundown — you’ll be rushing to get there before sundown when you won’t be able to use electronics.

I would draw the line between reasonable religious observance and spending time with your family when you really can be at school doing work.

On the role of religion in their lives Johnson: I belong to the Quaker tradition. We’re non-creedal. We don’t think we have a monopoly on God. God’s big enough to speak to people in a way that they can hear God.

PHOTO BY ARWIN CHAN

PHOTO BY ALEX PICKERING

Whether you call it God, or my highest self, it doesn’t matter what word you use. It’s love, and it’s important for me to act with love.

Tariq: It’s been my way of life, from how I eat to how I greet people. I don’t go to prayer and then party afterwards. That’s contradictory to me.

It’s what you believe in and not what you show. Someone can wear the hijab but not believe it.

Lipworth: I grew up in a traditionally Jewish home. We had our traditional Friday night dinners. We don’t eat pork, we don’t eat shrimp and lobster, we don’t eat meat and milk together. As I’ve learned more, I’ve actually accepted [those rules] more as animal rights more than anything else.

To me, it’s my family. It’s my community. It’s my support system and my friends. It’s a whole life thing.

Chandrakumar: I’m not religious, in that I don’t practice all of the religious rules. Being Hindu for me is being a good person, and doing good. I’m not a vegetarian. I eat meat … but the main thing is to do good, and that’s the role it plays in my life.

These interviews have been condensed and edited for clarity.

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News

Friday, March 13, 2015

HEALTH

Students help students during PSC Cares Week Five booths and three evening events comprise the week’s events, focusing on self-care and self-love B y J enna Z ucker Staff Writer The first event of the Peer Support Centre’s (PSC) Cares Week, a “wall of self-love”, asked people to write down something they love about themselves. Most found this difficult.

Educating students on self-care and self-love is the overarching theme of Cares Week, which began last year.

The PSC — a support service run by a group of trained volunteers offering safe, non-judgmental and confidential personal support to students — has promoted self-care and self-compassion this week through booths and evening events. “[The PSC] provide[s] personal, practical, academic and crisis support to any member of the Queen’s community regardless of their year or program,” said PSC Director Cara Chen, ArtSci ’15.

People frequent the PSC every day to help alleviate academic stress, Chen said, something the booths and nightly events aim to combat.

“Cares Week is more about ‘what can you do to help yourself’ — all of our other events throughout the week [are intended to]

break the stigma of taking time for yourself,” she said.

“Whatever you choose to do to deal with a stressful situation — whatever works for you, all the power to you.”

The “wall of self-love” and yoga night kicked off the week on Monday. The yoga event informed students of the importance of taking care of both their physical and mental well-being.

“It’s tough to love yourself sometimes, because that can be construed as egotistical or something and it’s really strange — it’s part of our culture — so we’re trying to break that a little bit,” Chen said.

“It’s okay to compliment yourself and feel good about who you are as a person — we really encourage that.”

Chen said by participating in the week’s events and commenting on their self-care activity via social media, students are eligible to win prizes. Those who attend the evening events will be entered to win the grand prize, which will be revealed Friday.

Wednesday evening’s workshop was dedicated to the practice of mindfulness. It was held in Dunning Hall and attended by approximately 20 people.

“The point [of mindfulness] is to be okay techniques for de-stressing and executing that you’re not actively doing something mindfulness on a daily basis. in the moment — you’re okay with who “It’s this present moment that’s important and where you are,” said psychology — how you’re doing right now — that’s what professor Katherine Holshausen, who led makes it empowering,” Holshausen said. the workshop.

The week’s final event will be “[It] gives you the opportunity to reflect “Making a schedule that includes and can enrich your experiences.” self-care”, a booth at the ARC The workshop, which embodied the on Friday.

PSC’s view of self-help, taught the group

Larissa Tutert, left, and Rochelle McAdam at a PSC booth at Common Ground, where students wrote themselves letters for a bad day.

PHOTO BY NATASA BANSAGI

PHOTO BY NATASA BANSAGI

News

Friday, March 13, 2015

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ABORTION

Pro-life club’s legitimacy questioned Student accuses Queen’s Alive group of presenting inaccurate information about abortions B y M ishal O mar Assistant News Editor

are few hospitals and clinics that perform abortions upon request past 20 weeks.

“I was just blown away because A Queen’s student said she was “shocked” about the information I thought Queen’s was a legitimate presented by anti-abortion club university, and that if you have a Queen’s Alive, after the club set up club and you’re doing surveys you a booth in Mackintosh-Corry Hall. don’t pressure an opinion if you Raven Adamson said she was want a relatively objective survey,” asked to answer questions about her Adamson said.

She added that Queen’s Alive knowledge on abortion in Canada by members of the club last month. gave her the impression they While being questioned, she said were surveying students and club members began presenting gathering data.

“They were disagreeing with my their anti-abortion opinions to her answers; it made me incredibly as facts.

“They told me that, in fact, a uncomfortable; it was not an woman could get an abortion up unbiased survey experience; it just until the day before a baby was turned into an argument,” she said.

“It just shocked me. It’s Queen’s due — they repeated that to me multiple times,” said Adamson, University, there should be some accountability, some credibility ArtSci ’18.

Adamson said that she spoke to within clubs and groups and her T.A. after this incident, who especially when they’re doing public surveys and claiming to denied the claim was true.

According to the Canadian be med students — where is that Federation for Sexual Health, information coming from; is there abortions are highly uncommon bias there? I would really like after 20 weeks of pregnancy and to know.”

Club President Christine are most often performed to protect the woman’s health or in the case of Helferty said the purpose of serious fetal abnormalities. There Queen’s Alive is to affirm the dignity

of human life from conception to natural death.

“Our club’s opinion on abortion is that essentially, we believe that all human beings deserve human rights, and that would include human beings from the moment of conception all the way until the moment of their natural death,” said Helferty, Nurs ’16.

“We are against abortion and ideally, way down the line, it would be illegal in Canada.”

Helferty said the club doesn’t think it would make sense to make abortion illegal “right now”, adding that the club’s purpose is to ask students questions — through a questionnaire — to learn about people’s beliefs and have a discussion based on their answers.

“What we want to do is educate people that human life does indeed begin at the moment of conception and see if they also believe if that human life is equal to all other human life, which we value as having human rights.”

Although the club’s stance on abortion remains the same in cases of rape as well as when the

pregnant person may be too young or unable to afford to raise a child, Helferty said she does empathize with these women and believes society needs to support them.

“We sincerely do not seek to insult women or diminish their pain with pregnancy or devalue

their experience of any of those things,” she said.

“We just seek to have equal human rights for all human beings and we believe that society — if it became educated — would also believe that.”

Queen’s Alive’s poster at their Mac-Corry booth.

PHOTO BY MISHAL OMAR

ACTIVISM

QPID camps out to raise money for youth shelter Students camped outside Stauffer over five days; QPID has raised just over 40 per cent of $10,000 goal B y J acob R osen Assistant News Editor The spring weather couldn’t have come at a more convenient time for students participating in the nationwide 5 Days for Homelessness campaign this year.

Seven members from Queen’s Project on International Development (QPID) spent the past five days outside Stauffer Library in an effort to raise $10,000 for the Kingston Youth Shelter.

Lauren Stacey, co-project director of QPID, said youth homelessness is often invisible in Kingston and on campus because homeless youth may still attend classes or even have a job.

“A lot of people don’t realize it’s happening around us,” said Stacey, ArtSci ’16.

All proceeds from the campaign go to the Kingston Youth Shelter, which can house up to 15 people at a time. The shelter aims to keep youth off the streets and

provides a safe environment for them to sleep or escape from an abusive relationship.

Campaign rules dictate that students must sleep outside each night, with only a pillow and a sleeping bag, and only accept food that has been donated to them.

Students must also attend all classes and blog about their experiences on www.5days.ca/queens.

Feedback has been mostly positive, Stacey said, but there have also been a few instances

where they’ve received negative comments.

“We’re not pretending, we’re not saying that through the five days we understand what it’s like to be homeless — we’re just trying to raise as much money as possible for the homeless shelter,” she said.

Kelsey Ross, co-director of programming for QPID, also weighed in on the negative feedback.

“We’ve had only a couple of negative responses asking, ‘why don’t you just help them get a job?’” said Ross, ArtSci ’15.

“Part of what we’re trying to do is trying to combat that stigma that says ‘they’re just lazy’ when in fact a lot of these youth do have jobs — it’s just not enough [for] a roof over their heads.”

Participants were also helped by 18 volunteers from Queen’s to meet the $10,000 goal. As of early

Left: four of the students camped outside Stauffer Library as part of 5 Days for Homelessness. Right: one participant sitting on the library steps.

Friday morning, QPID reported it had raised $4,095 and had engaged in many conversations to spread awareness for the cause.

QPID focuses on community-based development issues as well as larger national and international issues. The club recently ran a high school outreach program to increase student awareness of development issues.

As part of the campaign, Executive Director of Kingston Youth Shelter Jason Beaubiah spoke Thursday afternoon at Stauffer’s speaker’s corner, to discuss the diverse demographic of youth who use the shelter.

“QPID is very committed to showing that development is both international and local, and I like that we’re showing that there is this development issue — within Kingston specifically — that we can learn more about,” Ross said.

PHOTOS BY HENRY TIAN

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News

Friday, March 13, 2015

LGBTQ

Lecture addresses why trans issues matter

Inspired by her daughter’s transition, Debi Jackson comes to Queen’s for public lecture on trans issues B y M iriam B art Contributor

the question, “Why do transgender term to describe anyone whose issues matter?” The following identity or behavior falls outside of 60 minutes answered that question. stereotypical gender norms”.

Debi Jackson travelled all the way Her presentation focused on Jackson explained the scope from Missouri to advocate for the story of her four-year-old of potential misunderstanding transgender and other LGBTQ daughter’s transition, as well as through the metaphor of a issues to the audience in Ellis Hall societal issues that trans and similar “Genderbread Person”. Broken on Thursday night. communities face. She defined into four sections, the genderbread Jackson, who isn’t transgender, the term transgender as “gender person consists of gender identity, initiated the conversation by asking non-conforming … an umbrella gender expression, biological sex

Debi Jackson speaking Thursday evening.

PHOTO BY ALEX PICKERING

and sexual orientation.

Gender non-conformists that exist within the umbrella term transgender include, but are not exclusive to: transsexual, intersex, cross-dresser, drag, butch woman, effeminate man, gender-variant/ gender-fluid/gender-queer.

These individuals may go through one or all phases of transition throughout their lifetimes, including social and physical transition. For Jackson’s daughter, this social transition included an element of losing friends and entering a new community.

Notably, her daughter’s friends were more accepting than their parents — what Jackson believed was representative of societal influence on people’s perceptions.

Her daughter’s physical transition thus far has included her choosing to grow out her hair and wear jewelry and makeup, all the while favouring all things pink, purple and sparkly. The hormonal or surgical procedures won’t be an option until puberty, Jackson said.

She said age is a limitation on a trans person’s agency.

“Doctors are often disinterested, or restricted by the law to perform this type of surgery on people under 16 or 18,” Jackson said.

“But if my daughter wants to get surgery at 14, after being certain of her gender for a decade, I don’t see why the law or doctors should make her go through the social stress that the transformations of puberty would bring.”

Jackson said she thinks society finds the concept of gender

identity being formed in very early childhood to be very confusing.

“There is no evidence that anything outside of the womb can influence your gender identity,” she said.

Trans people face an incredible amount of violence, Jackson said. It’s a life of constant fear and danger, not just for their lives but of being rejected by strangers, colleagues, friends and loved ones, she added.

Furthermore, she said, 41 per cent of transgender people have attempted suicide or had suicidal thoughts — much higher than 1.3 per cent of the overall U.S. population. In Ontario alone, 75 per cent of trans people have seriously considered suicide.

“It is not an inherent mental disorder; suicide rate is the result of extreme minority stress,” Jackson said.

Jackson outlined the priorities of the trans community in order of decreasing priority: workplace discrimination, trans-specific healthcare coverage by insurance, hate crime laws, access to trans-sensitive health care, access to correct personal IDs, housing non-discrimination, marriage equality and anti-bullying laws.

Following the presentation, there was an hour-long Q&A with Jackson and two trans individuals, Dan Vena and Brea Hutchinson.

Rector Mike Young said he’d been planning the event for the past 10 months.

“This was a pipedream come true,” he said.

NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2015

Studio Q fee also passed Continued from page 1

they could have done in January or February.

“I think they’ve been very forceful in the way they present this issue and the urgency they created around this issue, in order to make sure that this project they believe in very much passes,” he said.

“I just really wish we had the chance to consult with students as a whole on this issue, and the best way to do that is through referendum.”

AMS President Allison Williams told the Journal via email that the festival is an opportunity for the Queen’s community to come together.

“We are excited to see this fee pass and cannot wait to see the festival come to life again next year, with an abundance of students and alumni in attendance,” said Williams, ArtSci ’14.

The establishment of the Tricolour

Yearbook and Studio Q fee was much less contentious. After Campus Services Director Kanivanan Chinniah and Retail and Design Services Director Dylan Trebels gave a presentation on the fee, Grotsky called for a motion to vote on the motion, which carried.

Casher allowed three brief questions before the opt-out fee was voted on.

The AGM didn’t meet quorum, which would require two per cent of all AMS members to take part.

If a student disagrees with motions passed during the AGM, policy allows for them to start a petition, as long as this occurs within two weeks of the meeting. A special general meeting would follow within a week of receiving the petition and, if the meeting meets quorum, it would proceed and the motions would be readdressed.

The petition would require 326 signatures, representing two per cent of the AMS population.

AMS President Allison Williams spoke in favour of the fee at the AGM.

PHOTO BY CHLOE SOBEL

CAMPUS CALENDAR Friday, March 13 Queen’s Players: “Landlorde of the Rings: The Princess Towers” 7:30-10:30 p.m.

The Mansion, 506 Princess St.

Monday, March 16 Career Workshop: You’ve Got Skills!

11- 11:50 a.m.

Gordon Hall – 3rd floor – Career Services

March 14-22 Maple Madness Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority (CRCA)

Wednesday, March 18 QHRLC Presents: Major Phillip Drew on Genocide 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Sir John A. Room 202

Sunday, March 15: FreshSight Case Competition 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Goodes Hall

Thursday, March 19 Red Bull Paper Wings: Queen’s University Qualiflyer 11 a.m.

ARC

QUEENSJOURNAL.CA

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Friday, March 13, 2015

DIALOGUE

Editorials — The Journal’s Perspective

ACCESSIBILITY

Campus barriers unacceptable When it comes to accessibility, the bare minimum isn’t enough.

Over the next two years, campus buildings will be examined for their accessibility as part of an audit launched by Queen’s last month. After the audit is complete, the University will receive a list of recommendations for how its infrastructure can comply with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).

The AODA was passed in 2005 and aims to achieve accessibility for Ontarians with disabilities by 2025.

While newer buildings are compliant with the AODA, physical barriers persist in older buildings on campus, such as stairs, low desks and high light switches.

With only 10 years left before accessibility is legally required, it’s bizarre that the University waited a decade before beginning the audit, which will likely generate a high volume of recommendations.

While the audit will focus on buildings, accessibility doesn’t stop at physical mobility. Some of Queen’s online resources, such as the Campus Accessibility Guide, haven’t been updated since 2006, despite significant changes to the

University over the last decade. accessibility as a marginal issue. The The administration puts a average student doesn’t necessarily great deal of effort in hyping large struggle with accessibility, but projects, such as the Isabel Bader all members of the Queen’s Centre and the redevelopment of community have a part to play in Richardson Stadium. While these alleviating barriers. initiatives are far more glamorous, After the audit is completed, accessibility issues in existing students should be made aware of buildings deserve more attention what changes are recommended and student support.

— not only to ensure accountability, This lack of attention treats but to fully understand what

L

Internet doesn’t free speech

Editorial Board

Opinions Editor

Editors in Chief

Arts Editors

Nick Faris Vincent Ben Matak

Production Manager News Editor

Sam Koebrich Chloe Sobel

Assistant News Editors

Natasa Bansagi Mishal Omar Jacob Rosen

Features Editors

Sebastian Leck Laura Russell

Editorials Editor

Anisa Rawhani

— Journal Editorial Board

ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAELLA FORTUNE

of thought and the silencing of dissenting voices.

I’ve witnessed it myself when I’ve walked across campus gathering student opinions for the Journal. Some students give ebastian eck thoughtful, honest responses, but many are guarded.

It’s fascinating to compare the Journal’s past “Talking Heads” to those published today. In the past, students’ answers were often controversial or simply ridiculous. Now, most are safe and noncommittal.

I worry that students have equally provocative opinions today, The Internet hasn’t made speech but fear sharing them. freer — at least not on this campus.

It makes sense. Why risk having In theory, the connectivity of your name and face accompany a the Internet opens up dialogue divisive quote online for potential between people and provides employers to see? marginalized groups a chance to As a reporter, I’ve seen fear share their perspectives. But I don’t reflected in requests for anonymity. see this at Queen’s.

A leader of a protest once asked I see the opposite — a me to omit her name because she strengthening of dominant strands was applying to law school, and an

S

barriers are present on this campus.

With that awareness, students can help to ensure campus features and social spaces that aren’t being audited are made more accessible.

A beautiful campus is important, but it’s meaningless if some people can’t access it.

Olivia Bowden

Olivia Loncar-Bartolini Kashmala Omar

Sports Editor

Sean Sutherland

Assistant Sports Editor Lifestyle Editor

Brent Moore

Chloë Grande

Assistant Lifestyle Editor Photo Editors

Kate Meagher Arwin Chan Alex Pickering

Assistant Photo Editor

Michelle Allan

immigration rights event organizer refused an interview to “stay off the grid”.

Add in an online mob that descends on people with differing opinions, and it’s hard to believe that anyone talks about politics.

The viciousness of online debates during this year’s ASUS elections ensured that no one but an insular, highly political group of students contributed meaningfully.

Now that social media websites and news sources can instantaneously share information with the masses, those who aim to survive require communications officers and public relations training.

As a result, it’s only the professionals with the training to be controversial that can speak publicly — journalists, politicians and public relations specialists — while the rest are best off if they don’t show up on Google at all.

In 1933, the Arts-LevanaGraphics Editor and Editorial Illustrator Michaella Fortune

Web Developer Copy Editors

Karen Chen

Leigh Cameron Christine Ellis Chandra Erickson

Contributing Staff

Staff Writers and Photographers Gabby Altman Alicia Hai Zoe Kelsey Lauren Luchenski Jenna Zucker

Contributors

Miriam Bart

Theology party swept to power in the AMS and banned fraternities after 1,000 students — out of a Queen’s population many times smaller than the current student body — gathered to debate the topic in a general meeting.

Such a politically charged AMS and such tremendous student involvement is unthinkable today. This week’s AMS Annual General Meeting didn’t even meet quorum, set at two per cent of all AMS members.

Our culture could afford to be more forgiving. What a 21-year-old student says today shouldn’t define their lives, and there must be room for second chances.

Otherwise, intelligent voices may be intimidated out of speaking, and we’ll all be the worse for it.

Sebastian is one of the Journal’s Features Editors. He’s a fourth-year history major.

David Parker Henry Tian

Business Staff Business Manager

David Worsley

Marketing Manager

Hayley Square

Sales Representatives

Fraser Bruce Katelyn Martinko Jacob Rumball Teddy Taggart Friday, March 13, 2015 • Issue 26 • Volume 142

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

“

A beautiful campus is important, but it’s meaningless if some people can’t access it.

EDUCATION

”

End the Ebola visa ban Canada’s Ebola visa ban is discriminatory and ineffective. Its cancellation is long overdue.

The visa policy — which currently bans residents of countries that have experienced persistent Ebola outbreaks, such as Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia from traveling to Canada — has remained intact despite continuous opposition from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The ban — which passed at the end of October — actually makes disease control more difficult, according to the WHO. It can compel people to travel illegally, which can cause viruses to spread.

The ban has prevented students from West African countries from attending Canadian post-secondary education institutions, despite their admission.

The policy made very little sense to begin with. Canadian residents are allowed to travel back and forth between West African countries and Canada — even healthcare workers helping with the Ebola effort, who have a higher likelihood of carrying the virus. As such, the ban discriminates solely against West African residents.

Until the government lifts the ban, or West African countries are officially deemed Ebola-free, intermediary measures could be introduced to prevent unnecessary discrimination.

Rather than banning students and other residents entirely, visas should be granted on a case-by-case basis after individuals are screened for the virus. Since travel between West Africa and Canada is already minimal, such screening measures are entirely feasible.

— Journal Editorial Board

the University, the AMS or their officers.

Contents © 2015 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.

Subscriptions are available for $80.00 per year (plus applicable taxes).

Please address complaints and grievances to the Editors in Chief.

Please direct editorial, advertising and circulation enquiries to: 190 University Ave., Kingston, ON, 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 27 of the Journal will be published on March 20, 2015

FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2015

QUEENSJOURNAL.CA

OPINIONS — YOUR

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PERSPECTIVE

ACADEMICS

Freedom requires balance

Professors’ academic freedom in the classroom must allow for students to voice their own opinions and criticisms PHOTO BY OLIVIA BOWDEN

DAVID PARKER Students have occasionally voiced concern about professors who express ideas in the classroom that seem to go beyond the curriculum.

They aren’t alone. Politicians and self-appointed watchdog groups — such as Accuracy in Academia and Students for Academic Freedom in the United States — have denounced the university professorate as tenured radicals protected by absolute job security, who indoctrinate their students rather than permitting independent thought.

Queen’s has seen its own controversies about what may or may not be said in the classroom — controversies not always handled as deftly as they might have been, because applying general rules to specific circumstances can be tough, particularly when equally-held values conflict.

Can we preserve an academy where professors are free to be candid in their analyses of the world’s modern problems, yet students experience the classroom as a safe place, not feeling that they must follow a “party line” or keep quiet?

I believe that we can and must.

Doing so requires unwavering adherence to three core principles — academic freedom, professional responsibility and

respect for students — and careful, judicious thought when those principles work at cross-purposes, as they sometimes inevitably will.

tenure, because a probationary period prior to receiving lifetime job security only makes sense.

But their ability to teach and research with something approaching the freedom of tenure brings the same benefit to society. Universities would do well always to keep that in mind.

Respect for students

How do you balance a professor’s responsibility to the truth as they see it, against their responsibility to treat fairly and respectfully those Academic freedom students who disagree with them?

This is always a potential Professors’ liberty to say and write problem because professors have what they want, protected by another unique and awesome tenure, is a unique and essential power: the grade book.

Professional responsibility benefit to society.

The answer isn’t avoiding I can already hear the jeering: a privileged professor trying to With the unique protection of controversial subjects or always sell his self-interest in lifelong job tenure comes the duty to adhere walking the middle of the road. security as some great public good. to the professional norms of I don’t want a classroom where But where else, other professors’ academic disciplines. I feel I have to censor myself than in universities, do you Plagiarism, data falsification or when I have strong and — I find highly-trained experts free failure to disclose a conflict of think — well-founded opinions.

At the same time, nothing to describe the world as they interest rightly deserves sanction.

Professional responsibility annoys me more than Queen’s see it, without fear of consequences for telling truths people may equally requires that professors students’ adeptness at parroting my not want to hear? Politicians? subject their ideas to the political biases back to me in essays scrutiny — even the withering and exams.

Corporate spokespersons?

As a specialist in Latin Government employees in criticism — of peers, the general American history, I want the Canada, including scientists, public and their own students.

Academic freedom protects us freedom to call Chile’s General have faced gag orders. Even journalists need to be mindful of from being fired or disciplined Augusto Pinochet a murderer covering stories that may displease for what we say, but it doesn’t and Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez a their employers or anger people protect us from challenge or ridicule demagogue. But I equally want a in academic journals or class where students impressed by in power.

Pinochet’s economic achievements This isn’t to deny the brave on Twitter.

Professors understand or Chávez’s grassroots social truth-tellers in all of these professions who defy the risks. that criticism comes with the policies feel empowered to But that’s the point: they must territory and is a tiny price push back.

I want a classroom free of speech defy risks, while the institution of to pay for the freedom tenure tenure protects university affords. Time, one hopes, that marginalizes or stigmatizes, professors from retribution for will prove whether iconoclastic but unafraid to discuss sensitive, ideas were revolutionary even troubling issues. what they say.

This safe balance can be hard to Newly hired and contract or delusional. find. First, everyone has a different faculty are unprotected by

comfort level for controversy in the classroom.

Second, correcting a student who fails to master disciplinary standards of evidence isn’t the same as imposing the professor’s opinion, but the line between the two often appears quite blurry.

Navigating these waters takes trust, good will and careful reflection on all sides.

Surely, all my colleagues agree — at least in the abstract — with the principles of academic freedom, professional responsibility and respect for students. But in the difficult cases, we may not always practice perfectly what we preach.

Outside the University, these values are under attack, and inside the University, administrators have occasionally been too quick to abandon them for fear of negative public relations.

Nobody wants to see bad stories about Queen’s on the cover of the Toronto Star, and sometimes, mollifying critics to make a scandal go away is the path of least resistance.

But it’s precisely the difficult cases that force all of us to think more clearly about the values and principles that nurture a University community, and that benefit society as a whole.

David Parker is an associate professor in the Department of History.

Talking heads ... around campus How did you celebrate International Women’s Day?

“I called my mom and sister and celebrated the women in my life.”

BECKY WIESCHKOWSKI, ARTSCI ’17

“[Women’s Day] was a big thing on Twitter. It was interesting to see different opinions.”

KRISTINA MCDAVID, ARTSCI ’18

PHOTOS BY OLIVIA BOWDEN

“I called my mom and told her I love her. She’s a role model in my life.”

“I called my grandma.”

“I lit a candle in support of ending violence against women.”

RACHEL VANDER-VEEN, COMM ’18

JACOB MCCOY, ARTSCI ’17

LYNDEN EVERS, ARTSCI ’16

10 • queensjournal.ca

Friday, March 13, 2015

ARTS

CAMPUS ART

Nostalgia and nature

Profile of fourth-year fine art student Brian Hoad Brian Hoad with his prints in Ontario Hall.

B y O livia L oncar -B artolini Arts Editor For fourth-year fine art student Brian Hoad, art is a way for him

to reflect on his days growing up in rural Ontario.

Hailing from the small town of Port Hope, Hoad spent much of his childhood immersed in nature

THEATRE

Gatsby’s Legacy Colliding Scopes Theatre Presents an adaptation of the Great Gatsby B y A licia H ai Staff Writer Colliding Scopes Theatre presents twisting and turning storylines and plenty of intrigue within Legacy, a freely-adapted sequel to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s the Great Gatsby. The hour-long production — atwistfromtheclassic novel — centres on the mystery behind Gatsby’s inheritance, all of which has since been claimed by Meyer Wolfsheim.

In addition to central characters in The Great Gatsby, including Nick Carraway, Daisy and Tom Buchanan and Meyer Wolfsheim, Legacy also adds a few new characters to the mix, including Pammy Buchanan (Daisy and Tom’s daughter) and reporter Jane Pollock.

As Wolfsheim attempts to insist the legitimacy of his claim to Gatsby’s fortune, Carraway constantly tries to accuse him of fraud. This causes tensions to rise among the Buchanan family.

Taking matters into her own hands, Pammy investigates Gatsby’s house — the “rotting space corpse” as Tom calls it — where she discovers a letter left to her by Gatsby, describing the true nature of her mother’s relationship with him. It also proclaims her as sole heir to his fortune.

At the urging of reporter Jane Pollock, who is looking for her “big break,” and Carraway, eager to reveal Wolfsheim’s true colours, Pammy confronts her family. It’s Tom, oblivious to Gatsby’s love for his wife this entire time, who ends up attempting to comfort the hysterical and self-centred Daisy.

In the end it’s Daisy, unaware of her family’s own needs, who convinces her husband to send her off to the British Isles. Tom, now the hero of the story, is forced to deal with Wolfsheim and his impending life changes.

What made Legacy unique was the way that audience members were able to walk around the set and talk to the actors during the play.The actors were forced to use improv, which added an element of uncertainty to the play.

Ben Sterlin, ArtSci ’18, — playing the role of Nick Carraway — revealed that while all of the actors’ lines were scripted, every time an actor spoke to the audience, it was improv.

“We had to develop stories about what we were going to say in the beginning of the show,” Sterlin said.

“By the end, I had different stories about various items of Gatsby’s, so that process was pretty cool to do.”

The play’s location at the Grey House on Bader Lane allowed

during the summer, I would go to camp and do a lot of activities like canoeing and stuff like that, and I think that’s influenced my work quite a bit,” Hoad said.

“A lot of my work is about venturing out and exploring.”

In the final year of his fine art undergrad, Hoad has been working solely with printmaking. Although he is passionate about painting, he wanted to take the opportunity to focus on perfecting his print technique.

“When you’re dealing with printing presses and all of the extra supplies that are needed for print, I thought maybe this is the year I’ll try to really take advantage of that,” Hoad said. “I’ve done some big prints this year and that’s something I’d never gotten to do before.”

Hanging in his Ontario Hall studio, the sheer size of Hoad’s print work draws the eye immediately.

With themes of nature clearly evident, a massive woodcut print of a man on canoe portage stands over eight feet tall.

“This year the print students got to arrange a trip to North Adams, Massachusetts, and we had to go there for our work because the prints are so large and there’s nowhere to print them anywhere else,” Hoad said.

“It was a really cool trip and it was sort of like what going to art camp as an adult be like.”

According to Hoad, the trip was an amazing learning experience and one of the highlights of the program for him.

Coming from a creative family, choosing to apply to the fine art program was a natural step for Hoad. Being spoon fed art from a young age, he received full support from his parents in his decision to study fine art.

“My dad is a classically trained guitar player and my mom is a high school teacher, and her dad was a landscape painter, so I always grew up in this art environment, and it always just seemed like that was what I was going to do,” he said.

Hoad hesitated to choose a favourite aspect of his program.

From first-year, where the entire class works together, to fourth-year, where everyone branches off independently to carve their own paths as artists, Hoad said each year has been a totally different experience for him.

“I miss the group work from the beginning years — that was one of my favourite parts of the program because it was so fun,” Hoad said.

“Everything’s been so great, it’s hard to choose the best part of the program.”

PHOTO BY OLIVIA LONCAR-BARTOLINI

and many of his summers at camp inspire his work.

“Recreationally, I spend a lot of time doing more outdoor based activities. Instead of playing sports simultaneous scenes to occur in different rooms throughout the space, letting audience members move from upstairs to downstairs in a leisurely manner.

“What was really great about the space was that when you were standing in certain parts of the house you could hear multiple conversations in different rooms,” said co-director Jesse Gazic on their choice at the Grey House.

“You have the ability to oversee everything, but still also are compelled to follow different tracks.”

In terms of inspiration for Gatsby, Gazic said that much of what Colliding Scopes Theatre strives to do as a company is to create a living, breathing organic environment for the audience to play into.

“Gatsby’s world just seemed so rich and detailed, and students can relate to looking at a party more critically, so in the end Gatsby was the best fit to create an environment out of,” Gazic said.

The audience interacted with the actors during the play.

Nikki Clydesdale, ArtSci ‘16, playing the role of Pammy Buchanan.

SUPPLIED BY COLLIDING SCOPES THEATRE COMPANY

Arts

Friday, March 13, 2015

STAGE PRODUCTION

Delving Down There Emotional storytelling show connects with crowds B y L auren L uchenski Staff Writer This year’s Down There production is an extraordinary collection of powerful and relatable stories on the diverse nature of identity.

Down There is an annual stage production of a collection of short stories, poems, dances, monologues and songs that are written, directed, produced and performed entirely by students.

It started with the Women’s Empowerment Committee’s production of “The Vagina Monologues” in 1999, which dealt almost exclusively with women’s issues. Then, the name changed to “Revulvalutions” in 2011 which was half “The Vagina Monologues” and half student-written, like Down There.

Due to the success of that show, they officially changed the name to Down There in 2012.

The performance includes performances on topics such as femininity and masculinity, mental health, body image, race, sexual orientation and religion.

The sense of community, comfortableness and closeness between the cast members was evident on stage. There’s a clear support system between the cast and crew that can be seen through the lack of vulnerability in the cast’s performance about experience and social issues that resonate with them.

“This whole thing is for people to have an honest performance on stage, and I think that if we can touch even one person with each monologue then that’s important,” said co-director Hanna Brynn,

Robbie Barnett-Kemper playing out his touching story.

ArtSci ’16.

From the director’s perspective, the discussion about social issues that are prominent to the cast members allowed for the cast and crew’s self-development. “[It’s so great] seeing the cast members grow and be able to tell their own stories on stage,” Brynn said. “We’re incredibly proud of them.”

The directors wanted to take a new casting approach this year.

“Early on with casting, we found that a lot of people auditioned with original pieces,” said co-director Rida Sakina, ArtSci ’15. “It was very inspiring for us and we figured we would try to cast and produce an entirely original show.”

The majority of the pieces were written and performed by those who wrote them. Only three of the 18 pieces, which were still

queensjournal.ca

written by Queen’s students, were performed by people who didn’t write them.

The overarching theme of identity, self-perception and self-portrayal connects each of the shows performances.

Deterring from last year’s set — “up here, in here and around there” — the directors decided to hire more male cast members this year to discuss how stereotypes of masculinity impact men.

The theme of identity was inspired by a monologue submission by one of the show’s technical directors — Wallis Caldoza, ArtSci ’17 — titled ‘Roots’.

Caldoza’s monologue was used during the show’s finale and turned into a performance featuring the entire cast, including song and dance.

“We thought ‘Roots’ would make an incredible finale if we were able to tie everyone into it.

We have a super talented cast,” Sakina said. “It was quite a process but I think that it has come together quite beautifully.”

The production not only acts as a mouthpiece for students to share their individual stories of struggle, opinions, identity, roots and life — but also gives audience

• 11

members a chance to step inside a safe space to listen and relate to the performers’ experiences without judgment.

“The storytelling aspect and the nature of getting people in a space to come together and not necessarily talk about the issues then and there, but [listening] to the cast members,” Sakina said.

“It’s not just a show that you leave and forget about.”

Even if audience members haven’t experienced the social issues being presented in Down There, the performance welcomes viewers into a new perspective to create awareness.

“We want [audiences] to come in with an open mind and heart, and be willing to listen — we want to make sure members connect to at least one of the pieces in some way.”

— With files from Kashmala Omar This student-run performance is a non-profit organization, donating the shows proceeds to Kingston’s domestic abuse shelters including Dawn House, Interval House and Sexual Assault Center Kingston.

PHOTO BY ALEX PICKERING

ART LECTURE

The mystery of Bosch Art history professor analyzes artwork through layering B y K ashmala O mar Arts Editor The mystery of Hieronymus Bosch and his bizarre artwork was unravelled in an insightful lecture

by Ron Pronk.

Held at the Kingston Frontenac Public Library on Wednesday, “Looking Closer at Hieronymus Bosch” did just that — instead of analysing the Early Netherlandish painter’s work visually, Pronk looked to science to provide more meaning.

Pronk, an art history professor at Queen’s, specializes in employing scientific techniques to better understand art. One of these techniques is dendrochronology, which is used to date events based on patterns of growth rings in trees.

The technique analyzes different layers beneath paintings, like the ground layer — where an underdrawing is executed.

Each layer provides further context to the finished work.

Pronk discussed how the technique brings new meaning to “Garden of Early Delights”, arguably Bosch’s most famous painting.

“It’s a monumental painting, but

we actually don’t know much at all,” Pronk said. “We don’t know for whom it was painted and we don’t know what it means, except of course we know there’s the scene of hell and the creation of Eve to the left.”

The underdrawing of a painting is the initial sketch an artist draws before painting over it. But they aren’t always as revealing as art historians hope — Pronk said Bosch might not have even done them himself.

“When you look at the underdrawing compared to the painting, these paintings can show quite dramatic differences and it often can seem like they don’t belong together at all,” Pronk said. “Technical examinations reveal a lot — the painting is a three-dimensional, complex object.”

Moving on to the significance of “Death and the Miser”, Pronk pointed out the ways in which the painting deviated from its underdrawn counterpart.

“We see in the painting that the angel is looking up at a crucifix and Death steps in, and the miser, the person who’s going to die, is being offered a bag of

money, probably.

“But in the underdrawing, you see something else — we see that the miser actually accepts this bag of money and offers this goblet in return,” Pronk said. “He seems to be bargaining with Death. This is important for art historians to understand the iconography of the painting.”

Pronk described another Bosch painting, “Ecce Homo”, which depicts a scene from the Bible. In the traditional painting, the city view is blocked by people, Pronk said, but in the underdrawing you see a clear view of the city landscape.

By looking at the structure and details of Bosch’s paintings as opposed to just the surface, details of the artist’s technique and painting intent are unveiled.

“Yes, Bosch was a completely strange and deviant artist in his themes and his focus, but at the same time he was very much rooted in his tradition, and that’s often overlooked,” Pronk said.

“And what I tried to do today was show the more traditional side of Bosch.”

Aleesha Meyler’s striking performance.

PHOTO BY ALEX PICKERING

12 • queensjournal.ca

Friday, March 13, 2015

Friday, March 13, 2015

Arts

queensjournal.ca

Broaden your opportunities and take the first step in your journey towards a Queen’s MBA

Learn the fundamentals of business in just 4 months • Program runs May – August • Earn credits toward an MBA • Designed for graduates of any discipline • Broaden your career prospects

Attend an information session Thursday, March 26th - 5:30pm Goodes Hall, room 103 143 Union Street

• 13

14 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, March 13, 2015

FIGURE SKATING

Club hindered SPORTS by lack of rink Without Queen’s-owned arena, figure skaters make daily early-morning trek B y S ean S utherland Sports Editor It’s still dark outside when Kelsey Valentine rises from bed each weekday morning.

By the time she makes it to the Memorial Centre for 6 a.m. figure skating practice, the sun still hasn’t risen. It won’t appear until Valentine and her Gaels teammates have already been on the ice for at least an hour.

The early mornings are one consequence of Queen’s not owning and operating its own rink. The school’s ice-based teams practice north of campus at Memorial, where they share time with the arena’s other tenants.

The University is in the final year of a five-year lease agreement with the City of Kingston to use the Memorial Centre, whose primary tenant is the Church Athletic League — a local minor hockey association.

After receiving multiple interview requests from the Journal, Queen’s Athletics and Recreation said they were unavailable for comment.

It’s an unfortunate reality for

Valentine, a fourth-year student in her second year with the figure skating team. To get the recommended eight hours of sleep a night, she has to go to bed at around 9 p.m.

“It really does affect what I have to do at night in order to get organized,” she said. “If I want to do schoolwork at night, I have to really try to get to bed early. I know a lot of [the other skaters] don’t end up getting to bed until 11 or later just because it’s hard to work with that schedule in a school setting.”

Most of the team walks to the rink in the morning, but first-years receive rides from the team’s two head coaches.

Valentine said the early mornings can take a physical toll on individual skaters, and often lead to illnesses. Many skaters miss time during the season because of these ailments and school commitments.

Queen’s tenancy at the Memorial Centre has also deterred prospective skaters.

Valentine didn’t join the team until her third year at Queen’s because she was hesitant about the early-morning practices.

Because Queen’s doesn’t have a rink of its own, four-time OUA medalist Kelsey Valentine and her figure skating teammates have early-morning practices at the Memorial Centre.

“I know there were some girls who came out to tryouts the first day or two and realized it just wouldn’t work with their schedule,” she said.

The lack of a campus rink didn’t prevent the Gaels from finding success at last month’s OUA championships. The team finished fifth overall, while Valentine picked up four medals: three gold and one silver.

The Western Mustangs captured their fourth title in five years at the competition, held in Guelph. The host Guelph Gryphons claimed second and the Ryerson Rams finished third — meaning every podium team came from schools with their own arenas.

Valentine said she understands that financial constraints stand in the way of Queen’s building an on-campus arena. Athletics

PHOTO BY ARWIN CHAN

Director Leslie Dal Cin told the Journal last year that the University would need to raise $15 million in outside donations to fund such a project.

Still, Valentine said a campus rink would alleviate some of the financial burden on the figure skating club itself. The team has to rent out the Invista Centre if they host an interuniversity competition See Added on page 16

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

One win short of CIS

Besieged by injuries all season, women’s ball makes Final Four B y S ean S utherland Sports Editor A loss in the provincial semi-finals ended an unexpected run for women’s basketball.

The Gaels fell one win short of qualifying for the CIS national championships, losing 69-60 to the Ryerson Rams — the eventual provincial runners-up — last Friday in Windsor. The loss came one week after Queen’s upset the second-seeded Laurier Golden Hawks in the OUA quarterfinals.

Fourth-year guard Jenny Wright’s 13.8 points per game led all Gaels this season.

JOURNAL FILE PHOTOS

Head coach Dave Wilson said Queen’s succeeded in their goal of shutting down star Ryerson guard Keneca Pingue-Giles, holding her to eight points.

But the Gaels weren’t able to contain the Rams’ other players, as first-year Ryerson forward Sofia Paska dropped a game-high 18 points.

“Unfortunately, their younger players stepped up,” Wilson said.

“Those are really the players that beat us.”

Queen’s trailed by 16 points

heading into the final quarter, and while they rallied in the fourth to close the gap to seven, the difference proved to be too much to overcome.

Wilson said the Gaels struggled with finishing on offence compared to their two previous contests.

They shot 35.9 per cent from the floor, hitting just six of 24 three-point attempts — both down from their playoff victories over the Golden Hawks and the Laurentian Lady Vees.

“There were some opportunities that we kind of left on the table,” Wilson said, “but we just didn’t get the ball to fall.”

The Gaels entered this season after capturing the OUA East title and earning a spot at the CIS championships in 2013-14.

This year’s Final Four exit may seem like a bit of a letdown, but Wilson said the campaign as a whole was a success.

“You come into the season with some goals,” he said. “When you fall short of that, it tends to colour your reflection of the whole season. But in reality, we overcame See Veterans on page 16

SPORTS

FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2015

QUEENSJOURNAL.CA

• 15

Dedication serves as inspiration for teammates Continued from page 1

this day.

“I can’t grab a glass out of the cupboard with my left hand,” Mann said. “Can’t brush my teeth with my left hand. I’m left-handed and I’d always brushed my teeth with my left hand. That was a huge change.”

Mann had always pitched with his right hand, but after surgery, he had to readjust his technique. He began to prop up his glove with his right hand when catching the ball, since his left arm was too weak to

support itself.

On top of Queen’s practices, Mann went through a physiotherapy routine that included bands to stretch his left side. He also dedicated a summer before coming to Queen’s to improving his pitching speed.

His pitches maxed out at 87 miles per hour in high school. Since his surgery, he has topped out at 83 on the radar gun.

“It wasn’t ever going to get to a point where I would be back at the level I used to be at,” he said. “That sucked.”

When Mann travelled to Kingston for

baseball tryouts in the summer of 2011, he yearned to return to a competitive team.

He didn’t see much playing time during his first season with the Gaels, but that did nothing to dampen his spirits.

Ben Schoening played with Mann that year, and coached him the following season.

“He was a great guy to have on the team.

He’s a pleasure to play alongside and a pleasure to coach because of how mentally tough he was,” Schoening said.

“It’s such an incredible story — to see someone’s opportunities and their potential

dip off, but then watch them work their ass off to regain them.”

Even after surgery, Schoening said Mann seemed to have retained his fundamental baseball skills. It was his contributions off the field, though, that became especially invaluable.

“I think everyone really fed off his energy from a playing standpoint, and once everyone became aware of his story, it became really motivating,” Schoening said.

“The team really looked to him as an inspiration.”

Mann’s campaign educates and reciprocates Alex Mann’s fundraising campaign is all about giving back.

The crowdfunding campaign — launched this week through Tilt — is entitled “Alex Mann: Five Years and Counting”.

The proceeds will be split between Children’s Wish and Childhood Cancer Canada (CCC) — both of which are charities Mann connected with when he was initially diagnosed with cancer.

awareness,” Mann said.

After his diagnosis, CCC helped him network with fellow cancer survivors and people who were going through treatment for Ewing’s sarcoma — including two other children with the disease.

Children’s Wish sent Mann and his family on a trip to Hawaii during his grade 12 year to celebrate six months of being cancer-free.

It’s an opportunity for him to not only raise money, but to thank the people who supported and treated him. It’s also a chance to explain his story to the people he meets at Queen’s.

Mann held a Reddit: Ask Me Anything (AMA) on March 4, during which he communicated with some people who had experienced the same type of cancer. The session received 154 comments.

“The campaign is a word-of-mouth thing. I’m just trying to spread

Much like the Tilt campaign, the AMA was an opportunity for Mann to

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explain Ewing’s sarcoma to people who may not know much about it.

Mann posted several photos, a link to the Tilt campaign and an article from the Oakville Beaver that was published in 2011.

One recent photo shows Mann without a shirt or hat — the surgical scar on his left arm less evident than his hairless head. A yellow LiveStrong band is wrapped around his left wrist.

In one comment, Mann said the most difficult part of having cancer was the after-effects of his treatment — the hair loss and limited mobility in his left arm.

Another commenter asked how Mann and his family initially reacted when they heard the news.

“I didn't really process it,” Mann responded on the forum. “I didn't cry, wasn't upset, I just figured that I would be out of commission for a year and then once my treatment was finished I would be back to normal life again.”

“After about a month everything started to sink in. As soon as I started losing parts of me (hair, bone, physique) it became real. I wasn't sad per se, I was more frustrated.”

Five years down the road, he’s channelled the emotion towards a good cause.

— Brent Moore

Sports

16 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, March 13, 2015

Added hosting cost Continued from page 14

in Kingston, which they did for the 2013 OUA championships.

“It’s really expensive to rent that rink,” she said. “With that in mind, we can’t really ever host competitions unless we’re absolutely forced to.”

Co-head figure skating coach Spencer Yakaback said other university teams have helped foot the bill for Queen’s arena situation.

OUA schools split the cost of events like provincials, including the 2013 championships at Invista.

As a varsity club, figure skating

receives less funding than Queen’s hockey programs, which hold varsity team status.

Yakaback said financial constraints have a detrimental impact on his program every year.

“It takes up a substantial portion of our budget compared to other schools who have an on-campus rink and don’t have to pay for anything at all,” he said.

Though no development is imminent, Yakaback said a rink would prove beneficial to the school as a whole.

“I think it would be just a great addition to campus.”

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

Veterans power playoff run Continued from page 14

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO Fifth-year point guard Liz Boag is graduating after finishing her final season as a Gael with 13.1 points per game.

a whole pile of obstacles and stuff and played some very, very good basketball over the course of the season.”

The team’s health was a major obstacle. Six players suffered concussions at some point during the year, including fifth-year forward Gemma Bullard.

An OUA All-Star in 2013-14, Bullard missed over half of this season, averaging just 4.2 points per game in limited playing time when she was healthy.

The Gaels finished seventh in the conference during the regular season, but played some of their best basketball at the end of the year, according to Wilson, after the roster returned to full strength.

“We got besieged by injuries that sort of took us off our stride a

little bit,” he said. “It took us until almost the end of the season to recover from that.”

“Getting back together to what we were capable of doing was pretty neat to see after all the injuries.”

Several Gaels had strong individual campaigns. Fourth-year guard Jenny Wright led the team with 13.8 points and was named a First-Team OUA All-Star, while fifth-year guard Liz Boag earned Second-Team honours.

Wright may return next season, but Boag and Bullard won’t be coming back. Instead, Queen’s will have to rely on younger players who had strong campaigns this year. Second-year guard Abby Dixon broke out in 2014-15, notching 8.5 points per game off the bench.

Wilson said next year’s roster

will have to play a different style of basketball.

“One of the things I’ve learned is you never really replace players — they’re just way too unique,” he said. “You learn to work with the players that you have [and] that you bring in, and you make a completely new sculpture of your team.”

Follow @QJSports.

SPORTS

FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2015

QUEENSJOURNAL.CA

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• 17

18 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, March 13, 2015

LIFESTYLE RECIPE

Post-St. Patrick’s Day smoothie cure

Take the time to replenish any nutrients you might deplete in your Irish celebration B y K ate M eagher Assistant Lifestyle Editor With green cocktails, green jello shots and green beer, St. Patrick’s Day celebrations can leave you feeling a little bit — you guessed it — green.

There are a lot of theories on how to best recover from a hangover — some swear by a big, greasy breakfast, others a big mug of coffee.

A few will even tell you that nothing beats the hair of the dog that bit you — a bit of whatever you were drinking the night before may do the trick.

It’s generally better to avoid large quantities of dense foods the morning after a big drink.

Greasy foods can be hard on your stomach, particularly if you’re already feeling a bit sick.

Coffee can be a bit more forgiving, particularly if you’re so

devoted to your cup o’ Joe that skipping a morning will leave you with an aching head.

But caffeine can dehydrate you further, so you might be better off going without.

Drinking more alcohol will only put off that head-splitting hangover until later.

You might as well buck up and get it over with, and this refreshing green drink might be your best option.

An hour or so after drinking this, it might be worth trying for some solid food, but remember to stick to choices that are easy to digest — oatmeal or eggs are normally a safe bet.

Remember that the only real cures to a hangover are time and rest, but in the meantime, this refreshing smoothie might help you feel a bit more comfortable.

Ingredients • 1 frozen banana • 1 piece of peeled ginger, about half the size of your thumb • 400 mL coconut water • 2 handfuls spinach • 1 tsp honey • 4 ice cubes Instructions 1. Depending on the power of your blender, it might be easier to slice your ginger and bananas first.

2. Add all of the ingredients to your blender and pulse until the mixture is smooth.

3. Transfer to a glass and enjoy immediately.

4. Keep it low key and stay hydrated throughout the day.

COLUMNS — QJ POP

Role model behaviour Cara Delevigne is anything but an average supermodel, with an impressive resume ranging from singing to acting

A healthy green smoothie helps ease any hangover.

Delevigne’s quirky personality makes her one-of-a-kind and hugely popular.

B y Z oe K elsey Staff Writer If you’re like me, you might sometimes be startled by allegedly very famous people that you’ve never heard of.

This past week, that celebrity

was Cara Delevigne, who is almost inescapably everywhere right now.

Who’s this squinty girl rumoured to be in the recording studio with Beyonce, sharing elevators with Reese Witherspoon on Instagram and hanging out with Taylor Swift?

In the age of the “so why are

SUPPLIED BY MIRROR

they famous?” celebrity, I couldn’t resist doing a little research.

A quick Google search reveals that Delevigne is a British supermodel, actress and singer, with a million-dollar smirk and trademark thick eyebrows.

A little more in-depth browsing

will reveal that the 22-year-old is a representative of everything teen girls want to be right now.

She’s equally goofy and glam, and can go from sporting couture to pizza-print onesies in a 24-hour period.

She’s the elusive (and problematic) cool girl, who can flit between simpering sexuality and snowy innocence with ease, and loves partying, Call of Duty and McDonald’s.

The teenage itch for a relatable idol isn’t new, but Delevigne’s waifish tomboy prototype with a piece of pizza in one hand and Vogue in the other is.

The same thirst for authenticity that launched hundreds of See Stylish on page 19

PHOTO BY KATE MEAGHER

Upcoming: Look forward to reading the runners-up for Lifestyle’s Annual Short Fiction Contest.

LIFESTYLE

Friday, March 13, 2015

queensjournal.ca

• 19

EXCHANGE DIARIES

In love with Australia Like Kingston, Canberra is a close-knit university town

Sydney’s Bondi Beach sure beats the cool weather back here in Kingston.

B y G abby A ltman Staff Writer I didn’t have a date, but Valentine’s Day last year was one of the most memorable days of my life.

It’s when I found out about my semester-long dalliance with Australian National University (ANU).

I’ve always been in love with Australia from afar. The sunny skies, the magical beaches and the charming accent always seemed whimsical. Now, there’s no more dreaming of that long awaited day.

After a grueling 30-hour flight on Feb. 3, I finally made it. I

currently live in a mixed residence with first-years and other exchange students, and the experience is drastically different than my year-long stay at Victoria Hall in first year.

Because the legal drinking age here is 18, almost all of the students living here are legal. It isn’t unusual to see residents walking around drinking in res. There’s also a bar downstairs that sells cheap drinks.

Can you imagine the Lazy Scholar selling $2.50 beers? This was one of the biggest culture shocks of all, especially because the dons are allowed to drink with us.

But other than that, ANU is pretty

PHOTOS SUPPLIED BY GABBY ALTMAN

comparable to Queen’s.

ANU is located in Canberra, the capital city of Australia, and resembles Ottawa in its heavy concentration of government buildings.

The university is very tight-knit and community-based, much like Queen’s. Many of the city’s residents are students, so you’re bound to run into someone when you’re out clubbing or eating.

While many Australians say living in Canberra isn’t exactly desirable (it’s not that close to the ocean), I’ve been having a blast meeting so many new people from all over the world.

Canberra is centrally located in between Melbourne and Sydney, so it’s super easy to grab a $25 Greyhound bus to either for the weekend.

While the price of a brunch is comparable to the bus ticket, the delicious smashed avocado toast and eggs benny are worth it.

So far, I’ve only been able to make it out to Sydney, but I plan on heading down to Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road within the next few weeks. I also have yet to try Vegemite or see a kangaroo.

Until then, I’ll be snacking on Tim Tams (the most amazing Australian chocolate wafers) and drinking Goon (bagged wine — it’s a thing).

The Australian National University is located in Canberra.

Stylish and sassy British it-girl Continued from page 18

“38 Reasons You Wish Jennifer Lawrence Was Your Best Friend” lists has found solace in the candidness of Delevigne’s personality.

She’s fast-talking, foulmouthed and quirky. Delevigne is passionate, progressively-minded (she’s thrown full support behind the Free the Nipple Campaign) and accessible through massively followed Instagram and Twitter accounts.

Throw in a host of celebrity

Follow @QJLifestyle.

besties like Selena Gomez, model Jordan Dunn and Kendall Jenner, and rumoured boyfriends like Harry Styles, and Delevigne is a living teenage fantasy.

Her famous look, personality and lifestyle aren’t to overwhelm her host of accomplishments, though.

Delevigne was named “Model of the Year” at the British Fashion Awards in 2012 and 2014. She’s been the face of Burberry and walked for every major designer out there, from Chanel to Oscar de la Renta to Stella McCartney.

Delevigne has also ventured into the music world, having collaborated with Pharrell Williams on a song for a Chanel ad.

She and Beyonce made headlines last week when they each posted matching Instagram photos of their respective hands on the

same mixing board.

2015 also marks the year Delevigne becomes a movie star.

After several successful forays into film — including a role in 2012’s Anna Karenina and as the star of a Chanel short film — Delevinge’s versatile and emotive face will soon be coming to a theatre near you.

In the coming months, the native Londoner can be seen in the psychological thriller The Face of an Angel, the historical drama Tulip Fever and the next John Green film adaptation Paper Towns, amongst other films.

Delevigne appears to us as a girl uninterrupted: a mad mixture of Kate Moss, Edie Sedgwick, Chloe Sevigny and, crucially, something entirely her own. She’s a seemingly authentic version of the new it-girl fantasy, systematically conquering every facet of pop culture.

ACROSS 1 Vacationing 4 Wasn’t colorfast 8 Ohio nine 12 Neither mate 13 Ethereal 14 List-ending abbr.

15 Blackmailer’s task 17 — mater 18 Barracks bed 19 Apparent 21 Incalculable 24 Witness 25 Island neckwear 26 Conclusion 28 Door fastener 32 Corner 34 Do sums 36 Salver 37 Cancel 39 “—the season ...”

41 Cleo’s slayer 42 Calendar abbr.

44 Type of raincoat 46 Vanquish 50 Director’s cry 51 Stead 52 Double-take, e.g.

56 Actress Jessica 57 Barn roof decoration 58 Sphere 59 “Hey, you!”

60 Eastern potentate 61 PBS funding org.

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 16 20 21 22 23 27 29

30 31 33 35 38 40 43 45 46 47 48 49 53 54 55

Individual “Family Guy” airer Bit Fight Roman 52 Cupid’s counterpart Units of force Beef, e.g.

Needle case “Phooey!”

Smeltery refuse Bill’s partner Conger or moray Radius neighbor Element no. 10 Modern-day evidence Old insecticide Tension caused by pulling Moolah Syringe, for short Fruit used in preserves Brief swim Rawls or Reed World Cup game Gall Eccentric Applaud Rembrandt works Beaks Stationery unit Singer DiFranco Tramcar load Cagers’ org.

LIFESTYLE

20 •QUEENSJOURNAL.CA

FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2015

POSTSCRIPT

Put a ring on it Getting married young may seem intimidating, but it’s an important conversation worth having with your partner Young marriages are on the decline. The average age of marriage increased from 22.5 to 29.1 for Canadian women and 24.9 to 31.1 for men between 1972 and 2008.

B Y A NISA R AWHANI Editorials Editor At first, it was barely noticeable.

An engagement announcement here, a wedding album there. But soon, couples getting hitched became a consistent feature of my Facebook newsfeed.

The scary part? I’m starting to follow suit.

Sure, I’ve got my not-so-secret Pinterest board of wedding dresses and colour schemes — who doesn’t? — and I’ve always spoken openly about marriage with my partners.

But the actual commitment still feels distant, which is why it floors me to see my peers engaging in matrimony left, right and centre.

Beyond the obvious joy I’ve experienced when my close friends get engaged and married, I sometimes can’t help but think, “My God, another one?” or “Look at them! They’re babies! They’re the same age as me!”

Following with: “When will it be my turn?!”

I knew that for the next decade I would be attending more and more weddings. It was time to chat with some Queen’s students to get an insight into the engaged and married life.

Tom Proulx and Jaclyn Pearson, both 21, started dating when they were in grade 10, and are now engaged to be married in July 2016.

After dating for six years, the couple said their families and friends, though incredibly supportive and excited, were hardly surprised by their engagement.

“We’ve always been really open about what we’ve wanted in our lives and where we want our relationship going,” said Proulx, LifeSci ’15.

Proulx said they’ll be getting married at the same age his parents did decades before.

Despite how long they’ve been together, many people questioned Pearson’s parents about their daughter’s decision, given her age.

While it’s common to view young marriage as irresponsible and immature, this wasn’t always

the case.

Between 1972 and 2008, the average age of marriage for Canadian women increased from 22.5 to 29.1, and for men from 24.9 to 31.1.

Young adults today are generally much more likely to defer transitions — such as graduation, careers, marriage and parenthood — which is why young marriages are seen increasingly as abnormal.

But sometimes it doesn’t make sense to prolong the next step, Proulx said.

“I’ve known h e r since I was 15,” he said.

“I’ve m a d e , a r g u a b l y, some of the most important decisions of my life with her as my partner.”

If you’ve found that person, then why should you bother waiting?”

He said if couples are able to get through stressful and uncertain times and still want to spend every day with each other, then they’re already on their way to getting married.

Becoming engaged hasn’t changed much about their relationship, added Pearson, ConEd ’16. They just watch more TLC. “So many people look at it as this life-altering decision,” she said. “But no matter what situation you’re in, you have to work hard with your relationship and be open and honest about what you want out of it.

“So long as you can do that, you’re ready to plan for the future.”

Overall, the couple said knowing where they’re going has

enhanced the different facets of their life.

“I think it makes you a more motivated and passionate person in general,” Pearson said, “because you’re working hard, not just towards a career, but towards your life [together].

“For some people that may not work,” she added, “but for us, all the decisions we’re making, we’re making together.”

While Proulx and Pearson will be married after dating for seven years, Jesse Harris and his wife

time,” Harris said. “They seem[ed] to just not be interested in hanging with me now that I was engaged to a female, which was kind of frustrating.”

He added that his wife experienced the same thing with her male friends.

“It was sort of surprising that there were so many people that just didn’t seem to be as interested in hanging out with us,” he said.

Despite this, Harris said he’s found married life “cool” and “awesome.”

“I enjoy being married — that’s why I keep doing it.”

But that isn’t to say being married is easy by any means, he said, adding that they’re much better at marriage now than when they started.

L i k e Pr o u l x , Harris said he doesn’t understand why people avoid the commitment.

“I don’t understand a — Tom Proulx, lot of the time why people date LifeSci ’15 for as long as they do,” he said. “I think it’s a lot easier to say either … this is somebody that I want to be with, or not.” wasted no time.

I had to agree with them there.

Harris, currently a master’s of The couples around me seem to chemical engineering student, met prolong marriage or breaking his wife in Sept. 2008 when they up — often attributing their were both 20. They decided to get hesitation to high divorce rates.

With four divorced half siblings, married about four months later.

“We had been dating for a short I definitely believe a fear of divorce period of time, but we had actually is warranted, but at the same time, gone through a decent amount,” it can’t paralyze you.

There’s a point in relationships he said. “We both realized that we were really good at supporting where you and your partner need to sit down and figure out if you’re one another.”

Harris said they both realized in it for the long run.

At 21, I’m only seeing marriages early on that their values and life at their beginnings for the most goals were compatible.

While their parents accepted part. It’s going to take years before I their decision, it was a different can see whether a friend’s marriage has had long-term success or not. story with friends.

“I had a lot of gay friends at the That’s why I decided to speak

“ If you’ve

found that person, then why should you bother waiting? ”

VISUALS BY ARWIN CHAN

with someone who’s seen couples at their worst.

Kim Lawrence, a clinical counsellor in Kingston, said in her experience, everyone undergoes difficulties in marriage.

“At any age if we misunderstand what marriage is, it’s a recipe for challenges,” Lawrence said.

“The most important is how we deal with these changes and transitions.”

She said difficulties often arise in relationships during periods of transition.

And let’s face it — young adulthood is just one extended, topsy-turvy transition, which provides young couples with far more opportunities for difficulties.

That being said, Lawrence said common complaints she receives aren’t exclusive to an age group.

She said a lack of communication (or differing communication styles); a lack of intimacy and feeling of connectedness; and conflict resolution are the three main and interrelated challenges couples bring to her.

Somehow, this didn’t surprise me.

“Communication” is the sort of thing you always read about as being critical to a relationship — and frankly, it is.

“We often have this fairytale notion of relationships and true love,” Lawrence said. “[That] if it’s true love then it should be easy and our partner should know us and we shouldn’t have to tell them what to do.”

But let’s face it: relationships are complicated, and unless you’re dating a mindreader, you have to speak up.

Lawrence said it’s critical to be assertive and communicate to your partner how you’re feeling and what your needs are, instead of being passive and assuming our partner should just know.

I’m still not sure when it’ll happen for me. I might be married in seven months or I could end up being a bridesmaid 27 times before I even meet the right person.