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the journal Queen’s University — Since 1873
AMS elections
BGP celebrates executive election victory Berkok, Green and Pritchard win election after receiving 59.7 per cent of the vote on the second reading B y Vincent M atak Assistant News Editor Team BGP’s victory Thursday morning was met with screams of joy by the team members and their supporters. The screaming began as soon as the AMS chief electoral and chief returning officers entered the third-story JDUC common room BGP had been waiting in with their campaign volunteers. The rest of AMS council accompanied both CEO Caileigh Simpson and CRO Ali Tejpar in announcing BGP as next year’s AMS executives, bringing with them champagne and congratulations. “Catharsis has never been so well defined for me until this morning,” President-elect Eril Berkok said. The members of BGP were anxious prior to the announcement, which had been delayed almost 15 hours. Following the release of the results, teammates Berkok, Peter Green and TK Pritchard hugged each other, thanked their volunteers and ventured to Queen’s Pub for celebratory drinks. The AMS reported that 41.4 per cent of AMS members voted in this year’s election — the highest turnout since 1991. BGP won with 59.7 per cent of the vote in the second ballot. Today, the president and vice-president-elects will begin preparing themselves for the roles of AMS executives, positions which will commence on May 1. “The most important thing we need to be doing right now is to start transitioning,” Berkok said. “That will be a good step to ensure we’re ready for May.” “You’ll see me in Tristan’s [Lee, vice-president of operations] office tomorrow,” Green, AMS vice-president of operations-elect, said. Pritchard, AMS vice-president of university affairs-elect, echoed his statement and said he will begin meetings with the current vice-president of university affairs, See Highest on page 7
Team BGP rejoices over their win with supporters shortly after learning they’d won the election on Thursday morning.
Photo by Alex Choi
AMS Elections
Voting validation delays election results Results stalled as the CRO and CEO awaited raw voting data from VoteNet B y H olly Tousignant News Editor The AMS elections team will provide next year’s Chief Electoral and Chief Returning Officers (CEO and CRO) with a strong transition
to avoid the same mistakes from happening again, the current CEO told the Journal. The results of the 2013 AMS election were released Thursday morning at approximately 11:20 a.m., just over 15 hours after
the voting period ended. “Last year was the first year that preferential balloting was used and so moving forward we’re going to look at how it can be used more effectively,” AMS Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Caileigh
Fraternities
Policy amended at Assembly Nearly 80-year-old ban on fraternities receives updates
B y J ulia Vriend Assistant News Editor The policy that banned students from involvement in fraternities and sororities outside of Queen’s
Seven for six
Queen’s defeated the RMC Paladins 7-2 last night at the K-Rock Centre to win their sixth straight Carr-Harris Cup. See page 16 for full story.
Photo by Peter Lee
was amended last night at the a report to Assembly, which included letters from Queen’s and AMS assembly. The amendment means that the AMS’ legal counsel and the penalties are no longer in place for results of an online feedback form, AMS members who choose to join among other documents. The ban on fraternities a fraternity or sorority. Such groups are still prohibited from affiliating was originally implemented in the 1930s. themselves with the University. “The void that we saw in the The amendment, which was devised by the AMS executive last statement was that it really team, carried in its first reading at didn’t list all of the reasons why Assembly on Jan. 17. On Jan. 31 fraternities and sororities were it carried in its second reading and banned,” Dineen, ArtSci ’11, said. the voting members of Assembly “It was really short.” She added that the old policy adopted the addition to policy. Vice-President of University didn’t outline how the AMS would Affairs Mira Dineen said she and enforce the ban or what kind of Vice-President of Operations sanctions that they would impose Tristan Lee began looking at on a student who was involved existing policies in October. with one. She said students expressed “[The ban] was symbolically concerns that fraternities and taken into account but there was sororities would “detract from no practice of it,” Dineen said. the school environment that we Although the University and the have here, which is really unique AMS believe that fraternities and to Queen’s.” sororities have no place at Queen’s On Nov. 22, Dineen, Lee and or in the AMS, the constitution will President Doug Johnson presented See Ban on page 7
Simpson said. She took over the post after CEO Scott Mason took leave to campaign for ASUS presidency. Simpson was formerly a PHEKSA representative on AMS Assembly. The delay in releasing the results occurred in part due to the system of tabulating votes used by VoteNet, the service used to conduct elections. According to a statement released on the AMS website, VoteNet selects winners based on “ballot points” for votes involving preferential ballots, rather than raw votes, as is AMS policy. Simpson said a solution to the problem was discovered at 8:30 p.m. which involved obtaining the raw data from VoteNet. “At that point we were waiting for VoteNet to provide us with this raw data and the problem was that the file was too big, so we needed a compressed file that had to come from their end,” Simpson said. She noted that the same system of preferential balloting was used in last year’s election, but the file was not as large and therefore could be downloaded the same night. Not a single election, including faculty society, undergraduate student trustee and residence society, was uncontested this year, and the additional teams on the ballot resulted in the larger file. Simpson said she wasn’t told to look out for such a problem. “I wasn’t transitioned on it,” she said. See Preferential on page 7
2 • queensjournal.ca
News
Friday, February 1, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
queensjournal.ca
•3
Feature Student life
Residence rule offences rise Citations up compared to last year B y A lison S houldice Features Editor Fall semester had a spike in residence citations, and admin and residents’ councils are unsure as to why. Last semester, there were 73 more offences than the same period the year before. Between September and December 2012, there were 1,659 citations, compared to to 1,586 in Fall 2011. “We’ve been trying to analyze this ourselves, but from year-to-year it’s hard to determine why it happens,” said Main Campus Residents’ Council (MCRC) President Tuba Chishti, adding that the newly formed Residents’ Society (ResSoc) has no plans to hire new dons next year in response to these rates. Residence citations refer to documented cases of rule violations where the student respondent has been found responsible. “If you look at the numbers themselves, they look like they’re rising on all levels,” said Arig Girgrah, assistant dean of student affairs. Although there’s no clear explanation for the rise in numbers, Girgrah said the change could be due to shift in enrolment. This year, there was an additional 150 to 200 students in residence. “You’re going to have more students, so it makes sense that you’re going to have more incidents,” she said. Girgrah doesn’t believe the change in incidents is
cause for alarm. The biggest jump in numbers occurred between 2010 and 2011, when the administration took a stricter approach to rule violations, particularly those related to alcohol. In the fall of 2011, incidents spiked from about 1,100 to 1,600. 2011 was the first time alcohol was completely banned in residence during the Frosh Week, a rule that’s been in place since. Some of the greatest increases were seen in level one offences, which include several alcohol violations. “The greater diligence on our part obviously resulted in more documentation,” Girgrah said. “Those are the kinds of things we have to be analytical around.” Offence levels are assigned on a scale of one to three and are determined by the Senate Residence Committee and its Discipline Working Group. The committee consists of a mix of staff, students and faculty. “[The committee will] look at a number of issues, but particularly … the processes and procedures around our judicial system,” Girgrah said. “They will talk about things like: are the levels categorized correctly? Do we have the right kinds of sanctions?” Level one and two offences are dealt with by the residents’ councils and their own non-academic discipline systems, while level three offences are handled by the administration. Level one includes offences related to open and underage
10 most common offences, 2011-12 1. Inappropriate behaviour [level 1]: 635 2. Noise [level 1]: 591 3. Possession of excessive quantity or mass consumption [level 2]: 209 4. Underage alcohol use [level 1]: 192 5. Alcohol in residence [level 1]: 146 6. Unsanctioned gathering [level 2]: 94 7. Progression of offences [level 2]: 90 8. Illegal substances [level 2]: 71 9. Inappropriate behaviour [level 2]: 53 10. Progression of offences [level 3]: 45
— Student Affairs, Queen’s University
There were 73 more residence citations during the Fall 2012 than in the Fall 2011 semester. Next year’s ResSoc has no plans to hire more dons in response.
alcohol use. Violations such as theft are classified as level two, while serious incidents like drug trafficking fall under the level three classification.
going to “haveYou’re more students,
so it makes sense that you’re going to have more incidents.
”
— Arig Girgrah, assistant dean of student affairs
Last semester, the most common citation was for “inappropriate behaviour.” According to the ResRules handbook, this means conduct that is “unacceptable, unwanted, harmful or offensive.” The most common level two offence was possession of excessive quantity of alcohol or mass consumption — participating in drinking games or getting caught with more than the quantity of alcohol permitted in residence. The process of documentation typically starts at the don level. Dons are responsible for tracking what they hear and see in the residences while they are on-call. “At any point there’s documentation, I’d say the discipline system is invoked,” Girgrah said. Current residence dons have been instructed by Residence Life to refrain from commenting on the matter. First-year student Amanda Little said she has a good relationship with the dons on her own floor, but others have been less forgiving to her and her friends.
“I’ve been written up maybe two times for being in a room with alcohol. It wasn’t my room,” she said. “There’s not a lot of leeway in terms of trying to explain the situation, they just write down what they see.” Little, ArtSci ’16, is 19, but she said dons often assume she’s underage. She finds that residence facilitators, who she meets with after being written up, are often more reasonable than dons. “I think some dons need to ask specific questions instead of jumping to specific conclusions,“ she said. Andrew Green, ArtSci ’11, was was a don last year in Leonard Hall. He said the most common violations in his experience were related to alcohol and noise. “You go knock on the door if there’s still noise going on and you essentially address the situation,” Green said. “You deal with it. But essentially your main job is to record objectively.” Dons enter information on incidents into an online portal and document the names of students involved. This is then sent to the Residence Life Coordinator, who can choose to send it to a Residence Facilitator to pursue disciplinary action. Green said he took a different approach to discipline than most other dons. “The objective of a don is to make [residence] a safe, reasonable place where you can study and live a normal life and feel included. Those were my priorities,” he said. “I’d rather see you invite the other underage student who’s been a little shy to join the group … I’d
Photos by Tiffany Lam
rather see you offer him a beer and include him.” When he did let an incident slide, he did so because he believed it was reasonable. In his opinion, this approach fostered a more inclusive community. He felt his floor had a better group dynamic and could approach both him and one another should any problem arise. “It got me in trouble sometimes with my supervisors but … the other dons had much fewer problems with my residents because of the relationship I feel I had with them on an ongoing basis,” he said.
not a lot “ofThere’s leeway in terms of trying to explain the situation, [dons] just write down what they see.
”
— Amanda Little, ArtSci ’16 Green believes that oftentimes, the right people aren’t always hired to be a don. “I don’t think the people who would be best at donning apply because of maybe the experience they had with their don,” he said. He also believes that Residence Life tends to employ those who are likely to enforce the rules by the book, as they’re a less risky hire. “I think a lot more people who are great at being Gaels and FRECs, — student leaders like that — those people should apply more.”
news
4 • queensjournal.ca
Friday, February 1, 2013
MentAl HeAltH
Students seek alternative counselling times
Options available for students who can’t make it to HCDS during office hours, Director Mike Condra says B y H olly TousignanT News Editor Accessing Health, Counselling and Disability Services (HCDS) can be difficult for students whose schedules prevent them from visiting during office hours, but Director Mike Condra said it doesn’t have to be this way. Some students, such as those in the School of Nursing, work long hours for several days in a row, meaning that they’re unable to attend counselling and other appointments while HCDS is open during regular hours. Condra said he wasn’t aware of the problem until recently. “It came up in a class I was teaching in nursing,” he said. Health services are open two nights a week, but the hours for counselling and disability services are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday to Thursday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday. Condra said students in this position are advised to contact HCDS to make alternate arrangements. “What I would recommend is just to call and leave a voicemail and one of us here will call you back and try to work out a schedule,” he said. The counselling service used to be open some evenings, he noted, but the evening appointments weren’t very popular. Condra said HCDS also has a counsellor present in the JDUC whose schedule can be flexible. “Our counsellor in the JDUC can sometimes see students in the evening or the weekends,” he said. One of HCDS’ counsellors is responsible for maintaining an up-to-date list of
In addition to the LaSalle location, a counsellor is available in residence as well as at the JDUC.
community resources for students who chose to go that route, Condra said. “All of our counsellors have access to that information.” Condra said he’s supportive of the idea proposed by the Principal’s Commission on Mental Health to implement faculty-based, or “hub-and-spoke,” counselling. With this model, HCDS counsellors
would be housed in the various faculties; a similar system is already in place for Commerce, and the Faculty of Law and School of Medicine each have advisers offering academic and non-academic support on staff. “I definitely think that would be a very good idea,” Condra said.
contribUtors of tHE MontH Katie Grandin
Peter reimer
Katie has been a reliable contributor this year. She’s always been willing to commit to an assignment.She has a flair for theatre and has written exceptionally creative play reviews this year. Katie always has a smile to give and an imaginative opinion to provide — we look forward to seeing more of that in the future!
Returning men’s basketball beat reporter Peter’s serving his second year as a Journal staff writer. Reimer intuitively finds the right storyline and produces articles worthy of minimal edits. In the fall he covered men’s soccer, displaying unmatched enthusiasm and initiative for the job. His story pitches are consistently sublime.
Prisca choi
charlotte Gagnier
Photo by tereNCe WoNG
Sam Koebrich
OPEN TO ALL STUDENTS PRELIMINARIES
Monday February 11th, 2013, and Tuesday February 12th, 2013 7:00 pm at the John Deutsch University Centre
Prisca, Charlotte and Sam have been a force for the photo section in the past month. Their hard work and dedication have helped the Journal’s elections coverage tremendously. All three photographers continue to impress and we’re proud to have them as part of our team.
don’t away thinkwalk about it
FINALS
Wednesday February 13th, 2013 7:00 pm at the John Deutsch University Centre
THE 72ND ANNUAL
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WWW.QUEENSU.CA/DRAMA/PUBLICSPEAKING Deadline for registration is Wednesday February 6th, 2013 Co-sponsored by the Department of Drama and the Student Life Centre. Prizes funded by a bequest from the estate of Andrew McCulloch, B.A. 1871, M.A. 1874
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Friday, February 1, 2013
queensjournal.ca
•5
BRUCE. CCR. QUEEN. JIMI. ACDC. CLAPTON. CSNY. RUSH.
CLASSIC CLASSIC ROCK ROCK FEBRUARY 1 at ALFIE’S
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Interested in working FULL-TIME with the AMS next year? AMS Council applications (Commissioners & Service Directors) are DUE Feb 6th by 12pm online
Info on full-time positions (service managers, assitant-managers, commissioners, service directors, officers & more) can be found at www.myAMS.org in our full-time opportunities brochure For more info & to apply through our Online Application System go to www.myAMS.org
Any questions can be sent to the AMS Human Resource Officer, Laura Skellet, at hr@ams.queensu.ca
The Alma Mater Society
6 • queensjournal.ca
News
Friday, February 1, 2013
Elections in brief Mason and Tahiri win ASUS election
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Scott Mason and Irfan Tahiri were elected to the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS) executive Wednesday night. Tahiri, Artsci ’14, and Mason, ArtSci ’14, received the news while surrounded by friends at a Barrie St. house party. “Whether or not you voted for us, we’re going to make the society better — we hope to do it with you,” Mason said in his victory speech. Competing team Allison Williams, ArtSci ’14, and Zaeem Anwar, CompSci ’14, said they see a bright future for the Society under Mason and Tahiri. “When we saw their platform, we knew that no matter what, ASUS was going to be moving forward in a positive direction,” Williams said. — Tristan DiFrancesco
JAM claim spots on CESA executive Team JAM were announced the victors Wednesday evening in the election for the Concurrent Education Students’ Association executive. The team, consisting of president-elect Alex Marshall, external vice-president-elect Hannah Miller and internal vice-president-elect Jake Ferguson, learned of the results while gathered with their opponents, team MiDAs. “We’re really excited to get going on all of our promises,” Marshall, ConEd ’14, said. As per tradition, the CESA executive candidates met at Fanatics Sports Lounge and bonded over nachos. This is the first time in five years that a team hasn’t run unopposed for CESA. “Being able to run against a team made us better and made people in Con-Ed more interested in what was going on,” Miller said. Even though team MiDAs didn’t win, the candidates said they’re still glad they ran. — Chloë Grande
Purba pulls ahead in COMPSA vote Sahib Purba, CompSci ’15, was elected as president of the Computing Students’ Association (COMPSA) Wednesday night. After receiving the call notifying him of the results, he pumped a fist in the air and his friends erupted into a cheer as they realized he
had won. with them and talk to them about He said he thinks it was the some of the ideas they have that strength of his platform, which they would really like to see included promises of more materialize,” Fleck said. faculty events, that resulted in — Joanna Plucinska his win. He said he’s very grateful for all of the students that supported him Aulthouse named and went out and voted. Undergraduate “I want to make this year big for the students and the faculty Student Trustee because when the students leave, the faculty remains, so I really want Andrew Aulthouse won the Undergraduate Student Trustee to do this for everyone.” Purba’s opponent, Julia election with 53 per cent of the Duimovich, CompSci ’15, said vote on the first ballot. The results were announced she’s happy with the way the Thursday morning. Aulthouse campaign went. heard the news via phone call — Joanna Plucinska and while present at Team BGP’s party. He said he’s proud of how his Julia Vriend campaign was run. “Win or lose, I have no regrets TCA takes ComSoc about how the campaign went,” he said. “I had great people helping Team TCA’s President-elect Tyler me out.” Hennick, VP-External-elect Charlie Aulthouse plans to tackle mental Prussky and VP-Internal-elect health issues on campus by helping Ashton Menuz claimed victory administration with their vision of over Team JKJ after a long and faculty-specific councillors. Aulthouse was running for the heated campaign period. 54 per cent of Commerce position against Leo Erlikhman, ArtSci ’14, and Nathan Utioh, students voted in this election. With all four VP candidates ArtSci ’15. “I commend them on the job out-of-country on exchange, the race was essentially contested by they did,” he said. “Leo had a Hennick and Jaril Valenciano, strong vision. Nathan was a strong presidential candidate for communicator … I look forward to working with them in some Team JKJ. “It was definitely a challenge capacity in the future.” to campaign without Charlie and — Janina Enrile and Julia Vriend Ashton in Kingston, but we had incredible support from a fantastic group of volunteers,” Hennick said. “[Team JKJ has] each individually DDP victors in first done a lot for the society and we ResSoc election hope for their support moving into next year.” Screams of surprise and happiness — Tristan DiFrancesco filled the room in Victoria Hall after Feodor Snagvosky, Chief Electoral Officer, announced to team DDP that they had won Fleck elected as the first-ever Residence Society EngSoc president (ResSoc) election. “My heart is beating triple Emily Fleck found out she was time,” President-elect Hasina Daya, elected as next year’s EngSoc ArtSci ’14, said. President amidst a crowd of “We’re ready to turn a new cheering supporters and a quick page in residence history,” round of celebratory shots with her Vice-President-elect of new executive team. residential affairs Katie Preisner, Fleck, who was this year’s ArtSci ’14, said. EngSoc vice-president of society The newly-formed Residence affairs, viewed this election as a Society marks the amalgamation stepping stone. of the Main Campus Residence “Once I was involved, I realized Council and Jean Royce it was something I really liked Hall Council. Team DDP, which also and wanted to pursue further,” includes Vice-President-elect of Fleck said. Fleck did express her willingness Judicial Affairs Chantal D’souza, to work with Eric Goldfarb and ConEd ’14, beat teams YSO and Alex Wilson, the two candidates PAS to attain the positions. who were not elected. “The other campaigns I ran — Styna Tao against have really wonderful platforms, so I hope to sit down
News happens. Cover it. Email journal_news@ams.queensu.ca to find out more about writing for us.
news
Friday, February 1, 2013
queensjournal.ca
•7
Preferential ballot decides vote for second time Continued from page 1
While the Undergraduate Student Trustee election and AMS executive election results were delayed by the AMS until this
morning, faculty and residence societies were left to determine for themselves how to proceed. The winter referendum didn’t involve prefernetial balloting, but those results were delayed as well.
Highest voter turnout since 1991 next year’s commissioners and service directors. While BGP will begin their term Mira Dineen. Expanding the Blue Light in three months, teams PDA and system to Victoria and City Park TNL will make other arrangements. Team PDA, made up of by this summer is something Pritchard said he’ll begin working presidential candidate Alexander Prescott, vice-president of university on immediately. affairs candidate Lisa Acchione and vice-president of operations We were waiting for VoteNet to provide us candidate Craig Draeger submitted a statement to the Journal with this raw data. Thursday afternoon. “Ultimately, we are happy to see Eril, Peter and TK elected for — Caileigh Simpson, AMS CEO their respective positions. They ran a fair and attractive campaign The team has consulted with that exemplified their potential as Student Affairs, who support the prospective student government expansion and will help the team leaders,” the statement read. Team TNL retained a positive negotiate with the City to expand further into the University District. outlook after receiving a call from “It’s a matter of doing those the AMS Elections Team telling negotiations and figuring those them they had lost to BGP. “We didn’t win, but it really out,” Pritchard said. Berkok said his first goal as wasn’t for nothing — we learned president-elect is to lay the a lot, we did have fun, we made groundwork for expanding some amazing friendships. I’m just Queen’s Wi-Fi, a multi-year really proud of the three of you and project the team will undertake the rest of the team,” Daniel Bone, in conjunction with Queen’s Team TNL’s campaign manager, Information Technology services. said. “It was pretty amazing to see The process will begin by surveying all that support all week.” “I think we ran a very positive areas to determine where the expansion would cover the campaign,” TNL’s presidential candidate Troy Sherman said. “I most students “Obviously it’s a big project that think most importantly we brought we want to get started as soon as a lot of issues to the attention of the students.” possible,” Berkok said. Green added that one thing — With files from Nick Faris he’ll begin to review is the and Rachel Herscovici current AMS hiring practices to ensure equitable standards for
Only the Engineering Society (EngSoc) and Residence Society (ResSoc) were affected as they were the only societies to have more than two teams in the running. EngSoc released their results around midnight Wednesday night, while ResSoc waited until approximately 6:30 on Thursday evening. Greg McKellar, AMS information officer, said the release of election results often goes past midnight. Delays of this length or longer are not uncommon
either, he noted. The most recent was disqualified. election to go “well into the next Prior to that, another lengthy day” took place in 2008, when the delay occurred in 1999 after a then-paper ballots underwent two team was disqualified because recounts due to the results being they had purchased a cell phone too close to call. which they hadn’t expensed. “In 2004, it was delayed because Their disqualification was of a flood of complaints at the last eventually overturned. minute,” McKellar said. “If you were as much as a single In that case, the issue stemmed penny over the spending limit, it from allegations of campaign was an automatic disqualification,” violations against one of the teams, McKellar said, adding that and the situation was resolved restrictions are no longer when the team in question as strict.
Continued from page 1
Ban was only ‘symbolically’ taken into account, VP says
“
Continued from page 1
”
SAT. FEB. 2
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no longer prohibit AMS members from being a part of clubs outside of the student government. Dineen said it’s difficult to please everyone on this issue. They have been in contact with students, alumni, the University’s legal council and the Ontario Human Rights Office. “The policy that we put forward I believe accomplishes the spirit of the AMS and the Ontario Human Rights Code,” she said. Many alumni repeatedly asked the AMS to maintain the ban on membership, she said.
“Some alumni were understanding that controlling what students do off campus isn’t really keeping with our mandate,” she said.
The policy that we “put forward I believe
accomplishes the spirit of the AMS.
”
— Mira Dineen, AMS vice-president of university affairs
At the Assembly last night, an amendment was added to the
original amendment. It prohibits fraternities and sororities from recruiting on campus. “It’s something we thought was implied but we want to put that in there just in case,” Dineen said. The executive team looked to policies from other universities, but decided to start from scratch for the AMS. “Queen’s is unique and the AMS is unique and we did look at what other universities do, but we really sat down and thought what makes sense for the AMS,” she said.
Check out queensjournal.ca/election for full coverage of the AMS elections.
8 • QUEENSJOURNAL.CA
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2013
DIALOGUE
“
HOCKEY
EDITORIALS — THE JOURNAL’S PERSPECTIVE
Hockey is more often than not a unifying force in this country.
National sport brings pride, not worries H
ockey’s positive ability to Canadians, his analysis lacks a unite Canadians shouldn’t global context. be decried — in fact, it should This past week, 21 individuals be celebrated. were sentenced to death in Egypt A recent column published in for a deadly riot that broke out at a The Globe and Mail by Lawrence soccer match last year. Hooliganism Martin laments Canada’s total is commonplace in the U.K. at obsession and focus on the sport. ‘football’ matches, where fights While Martin believes hockey between fans of opposing teams has become too important to often break out.
It’s not that Canada’s love of hockey has always been perfectly passive — the Vancouver riots in 2010 were an unfortunate occurrence that most definitely brought the profile of the sport down. Canada’s culture surrounding hockey doesn’t seem that extreme compared to other countries. Their
love of sports can be far more together and be proud of. It’s been around in Canada dangerous than Canada’s. There’s little violence at major hockey since before Confederation and games and there are rarely criminal has been consistently celebrated. charges laid on individuals as a Whether it’s when Team Canada wins gold at the Olympics or when result of hockey. It’s also true, as Martin points a child’s peewee hockey team wins out, that some parents take their at the local skating rink, Canadians children’s career in hockey too are proud of their national game. Why shouldn’t we seriously. The culture surrounding the sport, especially at a competitive celebrate the fact that we view level, can be all-consuming. hockey as something that is However, we shouldn’t see this is ours — something distinctly and as a serious national problem — if undeniably Canadian? There’s no need to anything, this should be seen as a parenting or coaching issue with worry –— hockey culture in Canada isn’t flawless, but it’s the individuals involved. Hockey is more often than still something that, at the not a unifying force in this end of the day, can bring us as country — something that the Canadians together. diversity of Canadians from — Journal Editorial Board different backgrounds can come
JOANNA PLUCINSKA
ILLUSTRATION BY OLIVIA MERSEREAU
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
McGill ban is out of line S
ome situations call for extreme measures — but not quite as extreme as the ones McGill is taking against student journalists. McGill University recently attempted to ban certain Access to Information requests (ATIs) after a significant spike in them by campus newspapers, from 37 to 170 in the past year. The University claims that the ban also stems from the abusive nature of the requests. Those came largely from 14 student journalists after the Quebec student protests were over. The details of the ATI requests from the campus newspapers involved are insufficient — neither the University nor the student journalists involved have explained what specific form these requests took. This doesn’t detract from
the fact that McGill has taken had with the press in the past, they extreme and unnecessary steps should find a way to negotiate with in attempting to gain the power the students involved to come up to completely deny ATI requests. with a more democratic solution. McGill has many options Specifically, this ban targets The McGill Daily, Concordia’s The Link in making the process easier for themselves while still and McGilliLeaked. It’s clear that the relationship ensuring it’s fair to student between students and university journalists. They could provide administrations in Quebec was more stringent guidelines for how tense during student protests. It’s ATI requests should look, or up the also not shocking that, in light price on making the requests. Hopefully, more precise of this atmosphere, students may have called for more access to the information will be released to the public about the nature of these University’s private information. But the press has the right to ATI requests in order to better grant these sorts requests according determine who exactly is in the to Quebec and Canadian law. In wrong in this situation. This doesn’t exempt McGill banning them from making these requests, the school only succeeds from blame — the administration at stonewalling the press instead of needs to find alternatives to smooth making any progress in solving the over the issues they have with the student journalists involved. issue at hand. In this situation, regardless of what relationship the University — Journal Editorial Board
Editorial Board
Opinions Editor
Editors in Chief
Arts Editor
KATHERINE FERNANDEZ-BLANCE
LABIBA HAQUE
Production Manager
TRISTAN DIFRANCESCO
News Editor
Web Developer
TERENCE WONG
SAVOULA STYLIANOU
Assistant Arts Editor Sports Editor
PETER MORROW
Assistant Sports Editor
RACHEL HERSCOVICI VINCENT MATAK JULIA VRIEND
Postscript Editor
Features Editors
ROSIE HALES ALISON SHOULDICE
Editorials Editor
JOANNA PLUCINSKA
Editorial Illustrator
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HOLLY TOUSIGNANT
Assistant News Editors
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Blogs Editor
NICK FARIS JANINA ENRILE ALEX CHOI
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TIFFANY LAM
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Contributing Staff
Writers and Photographers JOSH BURTON PRISCA CHOI CHARLOTTE GAGNIER SAM KOEBRICH PETER LEE PETER REIMER STYNA TAO
Contributors
SOPHIE BARKHAM SIERRA MEGAS DOUG NESBITT
”
U
Smear free
niversity campuses should be places conducive to democratic discussion, not blatant attack campaigns. The recent campaign urging students to optout of paying a student fee supporting Carleton University’s OPIRG chapter sets a scary precedent on university campuses. The campus Love of Liberty group started a Facebook campaign called “Get a Beer on OPIRG,” encouraging students to spend the $6.84 that could go to OPIRG-Carleton on school supplies or drinks. “OPIRG collects money off of 100 per cent of students to pay for the political dreams of one per cent of Carleton students,” states the Facebook page. Not only is this information wrong — last year 68 full-time and five part-time students chose to optout of the fee — it provides little information on what NICOLAAS SMITH
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JENNIFER CHE FANNY RABINOVITCH-KUZMICKI HANK XU Friday, February 1, 2013 • Issue 30 • Volume 140
The Queen’s Journal is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Alma Mater Society of Queen’s University, Kingston. Editorial opinions expressed in the Journal are the sole responsibility of the Queen’s Journal Editorial Board, and are not necessarily those of the University, the AMS or their officers. Contents © 2013 by the Queen’s Journal; all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission of the Journal.
the OPIRG-Carleton chapter actually does. It’s a shame that they’re exercising their right to freedom of speech by unfairly smearing an organization that they disagree with. Campuses are political places — this is a positive thing. While OPIRG chapters may advocate for given political issues, such as Israel Apartheid week and Idle No More, they have every right to do so. A democratic and open campus environment should foster a variety of political views that can be expressed and cultivated. If anything, discussion should be encouraged among opposing political groups — not explicit political bashing. The beauty of opt-outable fees is that students can choose for themselves whether or not they want to support a group of a political nature. It’s up to students to educate themselves on the issues that they want to invest in. While the Love of Liberty group’s campaign may carry one message, students shouldn’t blindly accept it at face value — they should find out for themselves what projects the Carleton chapter of OPIRG really does and encourage a larger political conversation on campus about the issues at hand. Joanna is the Editorials Editor at 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 $120.00 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 Avenue, Kingston, Ontario, K7L-3P4 Telephone: 613-533-2800 (editorial) 613-533-6711 (advertising) Fax: 613-533-6728 Email: journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca The Journal Online: www.queensjournal.ca Circulation 6,000 Issue 31 of Volume 140 will be published on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
Dialogue
queensjournal.ca
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Talking heads
Opinions — Your perspective
Unions
... around campus
Collective bargaining is necessary
Photos By Terence Wong
How did you feel about the election results being delayed?
President for PSAC local 901 writes regarding the state of Queen’s TAs and TFs
Doug Nesbitt, PhD ’14 When it comes to bargaining, a union offers a highly democratic space for Teaching Assistants (TAs) and Teaching Fellows (TFs) to collectively set their agenda for how to improve working, living and learning conditions for ourselves and others at Queen’s and in Kingston. It’s in this spirit that Queen’s undergraduate TAs and Research Assistants can consider the Queen’s TA/TF union an organization they can turn to for advice regarding workplace issues especially in the wake of legislation like Bill 115. Queen’s University TAs and TFs, represented by the Public Sector Alliance of Canada (PSAC) local 901, will be renegotiating their collective agreement for the first time this spring. Queen’s Post-Doctoral Fellows are also currently bargaining their first contract with the University. While the labour environment at Queen’s is fairly peaceful, the wider education sector in Ontario is fairly shaky. The passage and use of Bill 115 allowed the Liberal cabinet to impose concession-laden contracts on 136,000 teachers by suspending Charter-protected collective bargaining rights, and barring their unions from appealing any part of the process through the Ontario Labour Relations Board or Human Rights Code. Shortly after the passage of Bill 115 in September, the “Protecting Public Services Act” was drafted. The draft legislation would impose similar contracts enforced by similar ministerial powers on 500,000 public sector workers, including Queen’s TAs and TFs, and anyone else on campus working with a collective agreement. Fortunately, Queen’s TAs and TFs can bargain freely as Premier McGuinty’s four-month prorogation meant this proposed
bill was shelved. Hopefully the new Ontario premier, Kathleen Wynne, won’t revisit this legislation. Premier Wynne has distanced herself from Bill 115, but she has yet to convincingly explain why she voted for it. Four days before prorogation on October 15, PSAC local 901 elected a bargaining committee at a general membership meeting. The committee has yet to finalize its bargaining proposals, but priorities are being set by the issues and concerns raised by TAs and TFs about their work experiences.
While the labour environment at Queen’s is fairly peaceful, the wider education sector in Ontario is fairly shaky. The passage and use of Bill 115 allowed the Liberal cabinet to impose concession-laden contracts on 136,000 teachers. In our first contract, the union secured a $100,000/year benefits fund from the University. The amount was too little to form an independent benefits plan, so PSAC local 901 and the Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS) negotiated a joint PSAC local 901-SGPS health and dental plan. The $100,000/year was added to the existing SGPS health and dental plan and benefits all SGPS members regardless of whether or not they’re in the union. The joint plan includes a new emergency dental fund of $15,000/year, and an international student fund of $15,000/year. The latter plan is to help international students who are covered by the University Health Insurance Plan, which is more expensive and has less coverage than the Ontario Health Insurance Plan enjoyed by Canadian students. Many union members have expressed a desire for our benefits package to be expanded to improve
“The delay wasn’t upsetting — as long as the results of the election were true & accurate.” Trina Lee, Comm ’14
Collective bargaining was under fire through the passage of Bill 115 that imposed certain contracts on teachers.
eye care coverage. PSAC local 901 recently conducted a membership survey in which 66 percent of respondents said they wore eyeglasses or contact lenses. We intend to bargain for an increase in benefits so we can improve the existing eye care coverage of $115 every two years for both frames and lenses. Another concern raised by members is the replacement of what was once considered a Teaching Fellowship with a Teaching Assistantship. This has resulted in a loss of wages and employment credentials associated with a TFship. A clarification of TA/TF job descriptions through bargaining is required to prevent members from losing wages and valuable job experience. TFs in particular have expressed dissatisfaction with the University’s job training standards. The University and union agree that TA/TF training should be compensated. However, the norm at Queen’s is that only departments have mandatory and paid TA/TF training session. While the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) offers a wide range of invaluable training sessions for TAs and TFs, only some departments make CTL sessions mandatory, and thus compensated. The uneven nature of TA/TF training from department to department should be of special concern to Queen’s undergrads. The union is committed to raising the minimum standards of paid TA/TF training at Queen’s and is open to proposals of how this might be addressed, whether in
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bargaining or by other means. By allowing TAs and TFs recourse and oversight over the past couple years, PSAC local 901 has been able to build a strong health and dental plan and identify and begin to address a series of minor and sometimes major problems regarding TA/TF work at Queen’s.
Stephanie Campbell, Sci ’16
Another concern raised by members is the replacement of what was once considered a Teaching Fellowship with Teaching Assistantship. This has resulted in a loss of wage and employment credentials associated with a TFship.
“I didn’t know there was a delay. As long as the results are accurate the timing dosen’t matter so much.”
Open communication between the membership, departmental stewards, and the executive is essential for the union to function most effectively in this manner. Departmental stewards are critical in this process, providing the union the eyes and ears to observe the operations of their department and speak with their colleagues about workplace matters, grievances and the union itself. Queen’s TAs and TFs have a real opportunity to improve our working conditions as well as undergrad learning conditions through the collective bargaining process and the union’s democratic structures. Doug Nesbitt is the president of PSAC local 901.
Want to have your opinion published? Write a letter to the editor! Send emails to: journal_letters@ams.queensu.ca
“I didn’t vote.”
Emily Reinfelds, ArtSci ’13
“It’s serious, but the reaction was perhaps blown out of proportion.” Conor Fitzpatrick, CompSci ’15
“There was an election?” Sean Braley, CompSci ’15
10 •queensjournal.ca
In Focus
Friday, February 1, 2013
Electi
Journal phot faculty elect commotion, suspenseful an unforesee to remembe
Friday, February 1, 2013
In Focus
ion endings
tographers followed AMS, ResSoc and tion candidates this week to capture the , elation and devastation. In the span of 24 hours, winners were crowned — all while en delay made this an election er.
queensjournal.ca
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12 • queensjournal.ca
Friday, February 1, 2013
interview
Arts
Preach no more Dirty Nil guitarist praises getting out of the comfort zone B y A lex D ownham Assistant Arts Editor Love him or hate him, Jim Morrissey has a following. And The Dirty Nil’s Luke Bentham says nothing irritates him more than that. “I fucking hate Morrissey,” he said. “The Smiths are infallible and nobody questions their greatness, but Morrissey fundamentally pisses me off.” Bentham said the band finds their influences from other 80s rock and roll groups like the Replacements. Now, the Hamilton trio is returning to Kingston to play songs from their new 7” split. Bentham said they were lucky enough to record the compilation with their friends Northern Primitive. Listening to the songs, the straining vocals and muddy melodies added to the rock sound the band prides themselves on. Bentham said the recording’s crunchy vibe was a consequence of the amps being cranked
Hamilton trio The Dirty Nil recall a series of unfortunate events during one evening of touring where no one showed up to their show and they were denied the free burritos they were promised.
personal opinion. during recording. “Just to be able to share a slab “That was the craziest recording session I’ve ever been a part of. It of plastic with them is an honour. was in a basement and it was so They’re our friends, but we respect loud.” Bentham said. “We came in, them a lot as a band.” listened to it and it was madness.” The mutual love between The Bentham had a lot to say Dirty Nil and Northern Primitive about his fellow musicians, is shown in their new music video complimenting them by declaring for “Positive Bondar / Zombie them the best band going in his Eyed,” where the two bands met
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in a barn with Mitch Fillion, a filmmaker for the YouTube channel Southern Souls. “That was a lot fun. We did it in a desolate barn in black and white on the coldest day of the year. It totally suited Northern Primitive’s song,” Bentham said. “We played on their song and they played on ours too.”
Now the Hamilton trio is on tour without their friends from Northern Primitive, and Bentham said not every show on tour is what he hopes. He recalls the band running into penny pinching promoters and criminals when they played a show in Montreal. “Me, Kyle and Dave played at Burritoville for discount burritos in Montreal one time and nobody showed up. The discount was revoked because nobody showed up. It was a brutal night,” he said. Fortunately, Bentham views gigs like these as minor fallbacks. Instead of keeping comfortable by constantly playing in their hometown of Hamilton, Bentham sees touring as a big opportunity to gain more fans. “It’s easy to play Hamilton in front of a sold out crowd over the holidays or summer, but it’s another thing when you take the dog and pony show on the road to see how many people you can get out to a gig in a whole other county.” That’s why Bentham said it’s important to get out of their comfort zone. “In Hamilton, it’s like preaching to the converted.” The Dirty Nil plays the Mansion next Friday at 9 p.m.
art review
Imprints on the human body BFA student Melissa Smallridge’s new Union Gallery exhibit explores the nature of tattoos and body markings, both visible and invisible B y S ierra M egas Contributor
A shoulder and arm dressed in a white collared shirt takes up most of the painting, with the shirt unbuttoned to expose a black rosary tattoo on what would be the flesh of the subject. Yet, Smallridge declines to give the viewer the literal skin of
the subject. Instead, the canvas of the painting replaces the body. The rosary is literally tattooed onto the fabric of the painting. Perhaps this absence of body allows the viewer to step into the canvas of the painting and form their own
relationship with the tattoo. Not only does Smallridge’s work vary in subject matter, it also varies in choice of material, with the use of oil paints on wood panels, an effect which leaves the pieces shining as if still wet.
We all have markings on us, even if we don’t know it. They’re our own tattoos. In Melissa Smallridge’s exhibit Stories in Ink, she exhibits her See Tales on page 14 very own tattoo tale, along with those of her friends. Her space shows a juxtaposition where conversation points between the patchwork-like pieces on the walls of the Project Room. Quotes are hung in thick black frames next to each painting. They hint at the individualized back stories that lie at the heart of each work. Smallridge’s collection speaks to the culture of tattoo art, an interest which began around the time she received her first tattoo at age 17. Her artist statement explains that she was motivated “to explore the relationship these body modifications have on the identities of those they mark.” “Each work in this series reveals a different aspect of identity, individuality and self-expression,” Smallridge’s artist statement reads. A small book of explanatory quotes for each piece emphasizes the emotional aspect of the exhibit. “When I lost my parents I wanted to get a tattoo that reminded me of them,” declares a line from “Rosary.” The painting consists of a cropped section of an upper torso. Artist Melissa Smallridge uses examples from her friends to create the pieces of work in her exhibit Stories in Ink.
photos by tiffany lam
Friday, February 1, 2013
Arts
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Play review
The evolution of parents to children King’s Town Players puts on a wonderfully childish production of God of Carnage
In the play God of Carnage, two sets of parents get embroiled in an argument over their children and find themselves exemplifying child-like behaviour themselves.
B y J anina E nrile Postscript Editor Turns out you can be young again. It’s not always a good thing, though. God of Carnage follows an afternoon meeting between two sets of parents: the Raleighs and the Novaks. The action begins offstage, when the Raleighs’ son Benjamin hits the Novaks’ son Henry in the face with a stick. Over the next half hour, the audience watches four adults seemingly degenerate into children. As they argue about their own childrens’ behaviour with more sarcasm than a playground altercation could produce, there’s a lot of cursing, insults, homophobia, misogyny and racism — basically what you would encounter between two 13-year-olds on Xbox Live. While some of the dialogue can certainly make the audience uncomfortable, it’s what makes the play so good to watch. The entire story is set in the confines of the Novaks’ living room, a pale wash of pink with simple seating and a bottle of rum to the side. Without a change of scenery, it would be easy to get bored of God of Carnage, but the well-written characters and creative
blocking of the climactic action kept the audience entertained. The arguing between the adults devolves more and more from what their sons did to how their adult lives are unfolding. As the four main characters strode across the set, the evolving dialogue kept the audience captivated. The characters were realistic and fun to watch. I imagine my parents might get into childish arguments like this, although I can’t really see my mom drinking too much rum and throwing up on the coffee table. There’s the sharing of French dessert caflouti near the outset of the play. Here are the artificial remarks of how delicious it is, with the Raleighs asking the Novaks for the recipe. It’s an interesting parallel to the middle of the play, when the bottle of rum is passed around. That’s where things get really messy. The characters, who originally tried to keep their personalities subdued, get more and more out of control. Alan Raleigh makes a little remark about how people link morality with control, but sometimes it’s good to let go. At the end of the play, the stage is a mess. The characters, who were all impressively
played, let their lack of control extend to their actions. It’s comparable to two boys fighting, with one getting hit in the face with a stick.
photos by tiffany lam
King’s Town Players production of God of Carnage runs at the Kingston Yacht Club until Feb. 9.
Keep up to date on Kingston’s art, music and theatre scene
Follow @QJArts on Twitter!
Arts
14 • queensjournal.ca
Friday, February 1, 2013
Tales of tattoos Continued from page 12
“Reborn” illustrates the strength of the oil on wood material choice. It depicts a phoenix glowing in red and orange flames. “Ashes exist because things burn,” reads the accompanying text. “They are remnants of what once was but is not anymore.” Tinged with blue edges, the phoenix defies the fire of destruction. While each of Smallridge’s paintings present only a section of the subject’s body, her large-scale wood print is the only piece that shows a single, unified body.
A girl, with tattoos on her arms and legs, rests on her back facing the viewer. Yet sunglasses obscure her gaze. Smallridge deprives the viewer access to the girl’s eyes, and in doing so, preserves a sense of privacy. Using nameless, fragmented bodies, Smallridge’s exhibit challenges the viewer to take the place of the subject and, literally or figuratively, confront his or her own personal tattoos. Melissa Smallridge’s Stories in Ink is on exhibit in the Project Room of Union Gallery until Feb. 8.
Smallridge uses a variety of oil paints on wood in her series of paintings.
photo by tiffany lam
Get Out There Art Modern Fuel State of Flux Gallery Chris Miner’s Artists Statements Until Feb. 13 Modern Fuel Main Gallery TH&B’s Resurrection Until Feb. 23
Agnes Etherington Art Centre Historical Feature and R. Fraser Elliott Galleries Less Until Feb. 24
The Mansion The Dirty Nil Feb. 8 at 9 p.m. 19+ $10 advance
The Mansion Cancer Bats Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. All ages $13 advance
Agnes Etherington Art Centre Samuel J. Zacks Gallery Paul-Émile Borduas’ Figure with Birds Until Feb. 24
Grad Club Hannah Georgas with Aidan Knight Feb. 9
The Mansion By Divine Right Feb. 22 at 9 p.m. 19+ $10 advance
Music Union Gallery Main Space David Woodward and Brynn Higgins-Stirrup Feb. 15 to Mar. 19 Union Gallery Project Room Monika Rosen Feb. 15 to Mar. 19
The Mansion Bellfonix Every Monday night 10:30 p.m. Free Grad Club Hayden with Lou Canon Feb. 6
From media planning and management to account co-ordination and sales, this program offers the unique skills you will need to launch your career in an advertising or media company.
ADVERTISING MEDIA MANAGEMENT POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE
business.humber.ca/postgrad
Grad Club Wu Tang Clan’s Inspectah Deck Feb. 10 The Mansion Ben Caplan Feb. 12 at 9 p.m. 19+ $7 advance
The Mansion The Creepshow Feb. 23 at 9 p.m. 19+ $12 advance Theatre Grand Theatre Theatre Kingston presents Joe Penhall’s Blue/Orange
Until Feb. 16 See kingstongrand.ca Grand Theatre MW4 Feb. 3 at 2:30 p.m. See kingstongrand.ca Grand Theatre Dean Brody Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. See kingstongrand.ca Grand Theatre Rock of Ages Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. See kingstongrand.ca Grand Theatre K-Rock presents Comfortably Numb - Canada’s Pink Floyd Show Feb. 21 at 8:30 p.m.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2013
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OUR TOP JANUARY PICKS FASHION
Looks we love: sneakers Whenever I hear the words “comfortable shoes,” I’m immediately paying attention — there’s nothing worse than walking through campus with rubbing heels, squished toes or a wobbly stride. Us Queen’s girls like style AND comfort, and the resurrection of the sneaker fits perfectly with the look. Running shoes, particularly those with bold bright colours, are making a comeback. How To Wear Them: The key to pulling off a running shoe with jeans or leggings is choosing a shoe that is slim fitting, slender and relatively
flat-soled. We’re not talking Saucony athletic shoes; these kicks are closer to the skater shoe in fit and style. Opt for neon accents and coloured laces; when paired with simple denim or leggings, they stand out and are surprisingly flattering. I like to wear my Nike Lunarglides with a simple black legging and wool sweater, or my New Balance sneakers with a coloured jean and crew neck. The possibilities are seemingly endless, and all you need to keep in mind is that a bright running shoe requires a simple bottom (ie. avoid patterns). — Trilby Goouch
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PHOTOS SUPPLIED
Chicken korma: Cooked in a thick, creamy sauce with nuts such as almonds or cashews. Butter chicken: Cooked in a rich, tomato-based buttery sauce. Vindaloo (extra spicy!): Lamb vindaloo is the most common option, often cooked with potatoes and lots of spice. Chicken tikka masala: A creamy, tomato based, orange-coloured curry served with chunks of chicken that are marinated in spices and yogurt. Aloo gobi: A cauliflower-based curry. Saag paneer: Sauteed creamy spinach served with paneer, an Indian cottage cheese. Vegetable korma: Same as chicken korma. Dal: A dish in which lentils/chickpeas/split peas are pureed and sautéed with spices. Mattar paneer: A tomato-based curry cooked with peas, paneer (cottage cheese), garam masala (a traditional Indian spice) and cumin. — Trilby Goouch
TRAVEL
First impressions of Paris exchange
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To quote Les Misérables, “To stray is human. To saunter is Parisian.” Such is the atmosphere in Paris; hustle and bustle does not exist, and a tourist is best served walking purposelessly. Paris is sure to delight and surprise even the most unsuspecting traveler; its beauty is mesmerizing. Each winding backstreet and isolated courtyard is an architectural triumph and a statement of history. Every city has its own Eiffel tower or Musée du Louvre but few are able to derive such wonder from the mundane. Streets are littered with pack-a-day
smokers who take frequent breaks from their 35-hour weeks. Nude women are ubiquitous on sculptures and artworks; wine is ridiculously cheap; restaurants and cafés dominate, all of which come with espresso machines and on-tap beer. In an after-work ritual, Parisians stand aimlessly yet with dignity at the bar with wine in hand. There is no room for English, except at tourist traps where English-speakers are clearly outsiders. Even the beggars don’t ask such lowly creatures for money and instead glance at
them with pity. There are a few enlightened Parisians; some have put up with my choppy French (though it is usually better than their English), stowed my bags and pointed out directions patiently, but these are the exceptions. Unfortunately, the food is not good enough that random sampling of restaurants will offer any redeeming results. The average food is probably better than the average elsewhere, however, few restaurants live up to their privileged pedigree. — David Kong
EDITOR IN CHIEF ELECTION VOTERS LIST 2013 VOTE ON FEBRUARY 7 FROM 11 A.M. TO 4 P.M. AT 190 UNIVERSITY AVENUE.
Eril Berkok
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Alex Downham
Joanna Plucinska
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Peter Reimer
Nick Faris
Colin Robinson
Katherine Fernandez-Blance
Alison Shouldice
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Rosie Hales
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One night only! Saturday, March 9, 7:30pm Tickets: 613.530.2050 kingstongrand.ca
16 •queensjournal.ca
Friday, February 1, 2013
Sports
Tomorrow night at the ARC, Queen’s men’s basketball team will host the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the fourth annual Marco W. Alessio Memorial Alumni Game.
Photo by alex choi
Men’s basketball
A new, noble tradition The passing of a respected Gaels alum inspired an annual memorial game. Tomorrow, Queen’s will tip off in his honour B y Peter R eimer Staff Writer Men’s basketball alumni will be in town tomorrow to remember and celebrate the life of a fallen teammate. The Gaels will take on the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the fourth annual Marco W. Alessio Memorial Alumni Game. Marco “Mark” William Alessio, ArtSci ’89, played for the Gaels from 1986-89. He was killed on vacation in Antananarivo, Madagascar on Feb. 23, 2009, from gunshot wounds while protecting his girlfriend from invaders. Actor and former teammate Tom Cavanagh, ArtSci ’87 and BEd ’88, told the Journal via email that Alessio was — and still is — his best friend. “The longest lasting group of friends I have began at Queen’s with my basketball teammates,” Cavanagh said. “And from our first day of practice it became clear that these were to become friendships to be reckoned with.” The tightly-knit relationships formed on the court some 25 years ago keep Cavanagh and the rest of Alessio’s teammates returning to Kingston each year. They come to honour the memory of their charming, guitar-strumming, coffee-brewing teammate and friend. “Our team … has been honoured by the current Queen’s men’s basketball edition’s willingness to include our friend as part of their own legacy,” Cavanagh said. The memorial game was established in Feb. 2010. Along with it, a men’s basketball award for academic achievement and athletic excellence was renamed in Alessio’s honour in 2009. “Mark honoured Queen’s with his charisma, his staggering athleticism, his ferocity, his humour and sportsmanship, on and off the court,” Cavanagh said. “When we lost Mark from our ranks, one clear way to honour him was to go back
to the beginnings, and include the Queen’s men’s basketball team.” Before tomorrow’s tip-off, Cavanagh will address the crowd, tell his friend’s story and present the award to this year’s recipient. Last year, fourth-year forward Bernard Burgesson won the award as a 2010-11 Academic All-Canadian and co-captain in his final year on the team. “It wasn’t just getting a faceless,
nameless scholarship,” Burgesson said. “It was good to have that background a couple years before I got it.” Along with the members of this year’s basketball team, Burgesson will once again have the opportunity to speak with alumni tomorrow afternoon. The current crop of players will learn of Alessio’s character, just as Burgesson has done in the past
Journal File Photo
Alessio played for the Gaels from 1986-89. Today, the team awards a scholarship in his name to a current Queen’s player.
few years. “[Alessio] was all about going out there and trying things, and questioning things — not just being a yes-man,” Burgesson said. “I’ve been trying to live my life like that for a while, in terms of setting goals for myself and just striving to be the best I can be.” After his time on the court from 2008-12, Burgesson is now helping out from the sidelines, but
said he remembers when the first Marco W. Alessio Memorial Men’s Basketball Award was given out. “It was fresh after the passing of Mark Alessio,” he said. “From the dedication [the alumni] showed, and now coming back year after year, I could tell how important it was to them.” The Gaels are also in action tonight, when they take on the top-ranked Carleton Ravens.
Men’s hockey
RMC carved up at Carr-Harris Gaels gain degree of redemption with decisive win over cellar-dwelling Paladins B y J osh B urton Staff Writer Queen’s triumphed last night in a matchup of the world’s oldest hockey rivals. The Gaels blew out the RMC Paladins 7-2 to capture the 27th annual Carr-Harris Cup — their sixth consecutive title. Held in a rowdy K-Rock Centre for the second straight year, Queen’s clinched a playoff berth in the OUA East Division with the
blowout victory. Gaels fifth-year forward Brock Ouellet netted two goals and took home the hardware for team MVP. “This was a nice way to end my Queen’s career,” Ouellet said. “I was fortunate enough to get the MVP, but there were a lot of guys who stepped up tonight.” The game’s first period featured a parade to the penalty box, with both teams combining for 18 total penalty minutes. Power-play goals from Joseph
Luongo and Brock Ouellet and a short-handed tally from Jordan Soquila sealed the game early on for Queen’s. Gaels captain Corey Bureau wired a wrist shot over the shoulder of Paladins netminder Paul Dorsey in the second period for a second short-handed goal. “We boxed out really well [on the penalty kill] and kept it really simple,” Gaels goaltender Riley Whitlock said. Whitlock gave a stellar
Queen’s avenged last week’s 2-1 overtime loss to their cross-town rivals, potting three early goals on special teams to open up last night’s rout.
Photo by Peter lee
performance in his final Carr-Harris Cup, stopping 16 of 18 shots.
was a nice way “toThis end my Queen’s career. ” —Brock Ouellet, Gaels forward
Whitlock wasn’t tested often, but made a point blank save on a Paladins first-period power play. “[Getting the shutout] would have been nice, but right now in my career all I care about is just trying to win and get some momentum before playoffs,” Whitlock said. Atmosphere was electric even before the opening faceoff in the K-Rock Centre. Both school’s fans came out in droves, packing the arena with 3,122 spectators. Queen’s and RMC’s bands were also in attendance and kept the crowd lively, playing favourites ranging from the Hockey Night in Canada theme song to “Livin’ on a Prayer.” “It’s really too bad you don’t get half of this at our home games,” Gaels head coach Brett Gibson said. “These kids enjoy it.” “It was a fun game to play in and the crowd was amazing tonight.”
Sports
Friday, February 1, 2013
queensjournal.ca
• 17
Varsity sports
Post-season prognosis With two weekends remaining before the OUA playoffs, the Journal’s sports editors evaluate where Gaels teams fit in B y N ick Faris and Peter M orrow Journal Staff
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
MEN’S HOCKEY Head coach Brett Gibson’s group has three games to boost confidence before playoffs. The seventh-place Gaels aren’t likely to move up the ranks; they’ll likely play Carleton in the first round. They’re 0-2 against the Ravens, losing twice by a pair of goals. To move up, they’d need to string together at least three wins in their remaining four matches — something they haven’t done all season. Their longest win streak lasted only two games, coming in early October. With 71 goals against, Queen’s is third best in the conference. Veteran netminder Riley Whitlock will have to dominate for the Gaels to advance past the first-round. The Gaels’ 61 goal total is second worst in the OUA, save for RMC’s 41. Assistant Coach Tony Cimellaro said it best: it’s no secret the Gaels have scoring problems. If that trend changes in the next few games, watch out for men’s hockey come playoff time. —Peter Morrow
A seven-goal shellacking at the hands of the Guelph Gryphons shouldn’t disrupt Queen’s playoff push. The Gaels still boast the OUA’s stingiest defence, even after falling 7-2 in Guelph last weekend. The Gryphons have ridden an 11-game winning streak all the way to second place in the standings, setting up a mad dash for the league’s lone CIS berth. Journal File Photo Queen’s sits two points back of Men’s basketball Guelph with a game in hand, but is 10-6, but a stacked OUA East will massive games against fourth-place make a deep playoff run improbable. Western and top-ranked Laurier predominantly rookie-fueled loom ahead. Locking down Guelph’s top lineup to face a slew of OUA East forwards will be the challenge in heavyweights on their own. The dynastic Carleton Ravens a potential second-round playoff series. Three of the OUA’s top four lead the division at 15-1, followed scorers are Gryphons, but Gaels closely by the Ottawa Gee-Gees netminders Karissa Savage and Mel and Ryerson Rams. Queen’s Dodd-Moher are the league’s best, sits fourth at a respectable 10-6, predictably tarnished by the grind in one order or another. Queen’s defensive fortitude of a brutal schedule. Fourth appears to be where the will prevail in three games against Guelph, but it won’t be enough to Gaels will wind up, with a home matchup against the Laurentian unseat Laurier. The Golden Hawks haven’t lost Voyageurs slated for the first round in regulation since Oct. 6 — their of the playoffs. Queen’s will pass that first game of the season. They’ve also won eight of the last nine OUA test, but Carleton is utterly championships, with Queen’s 2011 untouchable — with or without Faulkner and Simpson. title the lone anomaly. The championship series will go —Nick Faris the distance, but Laurier’s home ice edge will deny the Gaels another WOMEN’S BASKETBALL OUA banner. —Nick Faris MEN’S BASKETBALL
Journal File Photo
Men’s hockey may be in for a first-round date with the second-place Carleton Ravens.
At their healthiest, Queen’s can overcome almost anyone. But injuries have hit them at the worst possible time. Leading scorer Greg Faulkner and three-point gunner Mackenzie Simpson were both sidelined during the Gaels’ road split last weekend — one week after Queen’s dropped a pair of blowout games in Ottawa. Their absence has left a
The Gaels are smack dab in the middle, which doesn’t bode well for postseason success. Just like 2011-12, they’re fourth in a seven-team division and will remain as such. They face the OUA’s top two squads, Ottawa and Carleton, this weekend. To finish off, they face the bottom two squads, York and Toronto. Assuming they go 2-2, they’ll look to redeem last year’s 71-66 loss against fifth-place Ryerson in the first round. See Teams on page 18
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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
Friday Feb. 1, 6 p.m.: Gaels (6-10) vs. Carleton Ravens (13-3).
Saturday Feb. 2, 4:10 p.m.: Gaels (17-3-2) @ Windsor Lancers (12-8-3).
Saturday Feb. p.m.: Gaels vs. Gee-Gees (12-4).
Sunday Feb. 3, 4 p.m.: Gaels @ Western Mustangs (16-5-1).
Saturday Feb. 2, 2 p.m.: Gaels (9-5) vs. York Lions (8-7).
MEN’S BASKETBALL
MEN’S HOCKEY
Friday Feb. 1, 8 p.m.: Gaels (10-6) vs. Carleton Ravens (15-1).
Saturday Feb. 2, 7:30 p.m.: Gaels (10-10-5) vs. Ottawa Gee-Gees (12-8-4).
Sunday Feb. 3, 2 p.m.: Gaels vs. McMaster Marauders (15-0).
Saturday Feb. p.m.: Gaels vs. Gee-Gees
2, 6 Ottawa
2, 8 Ottawa (12-4).
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL Saturday Feb. 2, noon: Gaels (11-3) vs. York Lions (13-1).
Sunday Feb. 3, noon: Gaels vs. McMaster Marauders (8-7). MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
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SportS
18 •queensjournal.ca
Friday, February 1, 2013
Teams set for second season Continued from page 17
With the graduation of AllStar guard Brittany Moore, Liz Boag’s led the offensive charge. Second-year guard Jenny Wright’s provided a spark too, but collectively they’ve been vulnerable in the defensive zone. They’ve allowed 1037 points against — currently third worst in the OUA. Injuries to Boag and other key players haven’t helped, and a current four-game losing skid could easily reach six this weekend. —Peter Morrow MEN’S VoLLEYBALL The defending OUA champions can’t be overlooked, even in a rebuilding year. Outside hitters Mike Tomlinson and Philippe Goyer have enjoyed standout seasons, while fifth-year setter Jackson Dakin — the lone returning starter from last year’s championship squad — has stabilized a youthful rotation. Sitting fourth in the OUA at 9-5, all of Queen’s losses have come against teams
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ranked higher than them in the standings — Western, Waterloo and undefeated McMaster, who’ll be in Kingston for a final regular season showdown this Sunday. The Gaels face the York Lions (8-7) tomorrow in a likely first-round playoff preview. It took Queen’s five sets to top York on Oct. 27, but they’ll claim consecutive home victories over the next two weeks. That’ll set up a semifinal matchup with McMaster (15-0), one year after a decisive Gaels Fifth-year Colleen Journal File Photo victory in last season’s OUA Ogilvie leads the Gaels in kills. Final Four. Anything can happen in a performance against the first-place one-and-done playoff setting, Ottawa Gee-Gees last weekend. but there’s a reason McMaster’s She said the 3-0 loss had more to dropped only seven total sets all do with her team’s sub-par outing season. The Gaels have the strength than it did with Ottawa’s play. Regardless, an alarming statistic to avoid a shutout, but a repeat trip shows that the Gaels are 0-3 against to the OUA final won’t happen. Ottawa (15-1), York (13-1) and —Nick Faris Ryerson (10-4); they’re 11-0 against the rest. A nine-game win streak carried them to third in the OUA, WoMEN’S VoLLEYBALL sniffing the coat tails of Ottawa Head coach Joely Christian- and York. This Saturday they’ll face York Macfarlane made it clear from the season’s beginning: her team is again — offering opportunity for a confidence boost heading into no underdog. Last year, they rode a five-game the playoffs. If Neville’s post-game reaction win streak into the playoffs and struck gold. This year they’re in speaks to anything, the defending third place, and they’re hungry to OUA champions feel they can repeat. be even better. Team captain Katie Neville —Peter Morrow was visibly upset with her team’s
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LAST ISSUE’S ANSWERS
Friday, February 1, 2013
queensjournal.ca
postscript
• 19
THE SKILL OF FLYING HIGH Check out our video on queensjournal.ca/video
performing arts
Hanging in the balance Trapeze and aerial silk require more than strength, focus and dedication B y J anina E nrile Postscript Editor According to Erin Ball, the biggest challenge of starting an aerial acrobatics course is finding a space with high enough ceilings. Ball, who’s been practicing aerial acrobatics for the past five years, owns Twisted, a year-and-a-half old company that teaches aerial arts like trapeze and silks. Trapeze, the famous performing art invented in 1859 by Frenchman Jules Leotard, involves a wooden rod, suspended using a rope or cord on either side. A performer can swing from one trapeze bar to another, but Ball teaches static trapeze. Here, the bar stays still. Meanwhile, the aerial silk is a piece of fabric that hangs hooked to the 20-foot-high ceiling. Contrary to popular belief, the fabric is usually chiffon, polyester or synthetic nylon. Since the sport requires so much twisting and turning, there are no safety lines used. The performer has to rely on their willpower and strength. “You’re constantly having to hold your body weight,” Ball said. But Twisted is a small venture compared to aerial silk performers at places like Cirque du Soleil, where they perform much more
complex sequences at even greater heights. Cirque du Soleil was the birthplace of the art of aerial silks. It was first invented in 1995 by André Simard, an acrobatic research and development specialist for the Canadian entertainment company. Ball first got inspired to try aerial acrobatics after the Kingston Buskers Festival. “I saw a girl doing a handstand on a guy’s arm and I thought, wow, that’s the coolest thing ever,” she said. After that, Ball said she looked into getting started with aerial acrobatics through classes in Toronto. “I started training and fell in love with it,” she said. Throughout the hour-long lesson, Ball works with each of the four students to teach them new move sequences on the silks or the trapeze bar. The students seem apprehensive but excited. Some of them have been coming here for weeks, steadily building their endurance, strength and flexibility. But, with the growing popularity of aerial acrobatics, students continue signing up for one of five of Ball’s classes. “Almost all of my classes are full right now,” she said. She’s happy to teach them, although each class can only take up to six students.
Students at Twisted can learn skills on aerial silks, building up their strength over weeks of classes.
Today’s lesson involves a new sequence called a splits balance, a move that Ball made up herself. The students must take each foot into a foot lock, moving their body down into the splits. After this, they do what’s called a splits roll-up for each leg — a move that involves a quick maneuver that rolls the student around horizontally. It leaves a student upside down for a split-second. When Ball shows the class this move, she’s confident and swift with the silks, ending the move with what looks like the splits in mid-air, a silk wrapped around each foot. It all seems so easy. The students all look nervous, their shoulders trembling while they try to find the right moment to let go. After some attempts, they seem confident. And for a second, the split is hands-free. Each student raises her arms above her head, in a “voila!” motion. Wobbling, they quickly return their hands to the silk and slide smoothly down. You can see how
proud Ball is of her students, even as they nurse the growing calluses on their palms. Seeing students’ progress through classes is the most
photos by alex choi
rewarding part of teaching, she said. “[It’s] seeing people fall in love with it the way that I did,” she said.
Erin Ball watches on as I attempt a move on the aerial silk (described below).
a day on the silks
A student attempts the splits balance, a move Ball created. For a full photo gallery visit queensjournal.ca/photos
When I first met Erin Ball, she was doing the splits upside down using a piece of fabric hung from the ceiling. Ball, owner and instructor at Twisted, said each beginner has their own difficulties with aerial silks. I just didn’t expect my biggest challenge to be getting on the silk at all. Ball wants to teach me some basic moves, pointing me to one of three silks in her area of Loyalist Gymnastics. It’s a silver one which, I later learn, has more tension to help a performer along with their sequences. From a standing position, I wrap my right foot around the silk, bending my knee and making sure that the fabric was lying over my leg. With the sticky rosin fresh on my palms and foot, I reach both
arms up to grip the fabric. It doesn’t seem so bad. I try to straighten my leg, pulling my body up with my feeble arms, but it’s no use. “You have to flex your foot,” Ball told me, as I struggle to even stay on the silk. I try this a few more times. I finally climb the silk, feeling every muscle in my arms, legs and core screaming because I haven’t worked out in months. After pushing myself up three times, I’m way taller than the rest of the people in the room. Did I mention that I’m slightly afraid of heights? At this point, Ball decides that I should try something a bit more difficult. After placing myself in a foot lock — where my right foot is wrapped by one half of the silk, locking it in — I take the left segment and maneuver it to hold
my waist. Bringing my knee over the silk, my body tips back. It’s a precarious balance, and I’m suddenly aware of the few feet between myself and the mat. Ball tells me I can let go. I have to trust myself to keep my leg straight and my knee bent, or I fall to the mat. Surprisingly, the silk holds as I free my hands. Stretching them out, I’m told to relax my shoulders. Slowly, my back arches and I’m left hanging but secure while the students watching on congratulate me on my efforts. It’s an exhilarating performing art, I can see now. Lowering myself slowly to the ground, my back aches and my hands are red and raw. Despite all that, I can’t wait to try again. — Janina Enrile
20 • queensjournal.ca
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2013