The Queen's Journal, Issue 9

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T u e s d ay , S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 2 — I s s u e 9

j the ournal Queen’s University — Since 1873

1:30:48

Activism

Support dwindles

Inside Feature

Funds down over 20 years, but walk exceeds this year’s goals

A look at the Alumni Association’s international branches.

B y Vincent M atak Assistant News Editor Twenty-two years after Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life started in Kingston, event organizers have seen a decrease in donations for the event. “When we first started them in the 90s we had 300 or 400 people out and would raise on average around $25,000 a year,” John MacTavish, executive director for HIV/AIDS Regional Services (HARS) in Kingston, said, “but that was the beginning of it, it was a crisis.” HARS is the host organization for the annual Kingston Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life. Approximately 150 people attended the event on Saturday, a decrease of 50 people from last year. The walk began in City Park and included groups of children leading the walk that went down Princess St. This year’s Walk for Life raised $13,000 from online donations and cheques — $3,000 more than organizers had expected. The annual lantern festival, a regular component of the Walk that signifies resilience for those with HIV, was cancelled due to bad weather. MacTavish said he attributes the decrease in overall funds raised at the Walk partly to the fundraising for other issues people are supporting. “There’s only so much money to go around,” he said. “If it’s your family member living with cancer, you’re going to support that, and you have to find ways to work with that and work with the other groups to make it happen.” Despite the decrease in donations and participation from last year, MacTavish said there is still a strong network of support for people living with HIV/AIDS in Kingston. HARS offers resources to students through Health, Counselling and Disability Services at Queen’s and helps around 240 people with HIV/AIDS in Kingston each year. One of the main issues the service deals with is deconstructing the stigma around people living with the disease. “People will look at it like it’s a matter of blame,” he said. “People have to know that it’s my friend, my neighbour, my coworker … it’s not as easy to say something negative about it or ‘we don’t care’ if we consider it on a personal level.” The funds raised will go toward HARS access services, a project See Event on page 6

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News

Philosophy professor discusses the ethical implications of having kids. page 4

Arts

A review of Russell Peters’ Saturday night show at the K-Rock Centre. Jordy Jacob, Sci ’16, captures the tam on Saturday’s Grease Pole event.

Photo by Tiffany Lam

Frosh

Sci ’16 makes slick history Two weeks after event was postponed, engineering frosh capture Grease Pole tam on first attempt B y R achel H erscovici Assistant News Editor Despite Saturday’s grim weather, Sci ’16 pressed on to become the first year ever in Grease Pole history to capture the tam on their first attempt at the directed climb. Like other Grease Pole climbs, the frosh began the event left to their own devices in the pit trying to climb the pole. Slowly upper years were allowed into the pit to splash and taunt the first-years , delaying their success further. The directed climb was the final stage of the event when everyone, upper years and frosh alike, came together to coordinate climbing the pole. Covered in mud and with shoes strapped to feet with duct tape, this year’s frosh completed the event in 1:30:48. The fastest time ever in Grease Pole history, back before the times of directed climbs, was Sci ’77’s 17-minute climb. The event was postponed from its original scheduled date of Sept.

8 due to inclement weather, but this didn’t deter students from beating last year’s time of 2:09:06. Taylor Wheeler, Engineering Society President, said he thought

the event went better than anyone could have expected. “Everyone was pretty nervous we wouldn’t be able to run the

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Postscript

Exploring lesser known sports. page 19

See Climb on page 5

Administration

Improving the Queen’s Press McGill-Queen’s University Press’ Kingston office to hire two full-time employees after external review recommends changes B y H olly Tousignant News Editor The Kingston office of the McGillQueen’s University Press (MQUP) is temporarily closed after its three staff left their positions. Their departure followed an external review of the Press in 2011 which recommended steps for moving forward and expanding. The Press is one of the largest university publishers in North America, and ranks in the top 10 percentile in volume of

work published. “These are exciting times for the Kingston editorial office of the Press as the number of manuscripts from that office will at least treble in output once the two editors have settled in their places,” MQUP Executive Director Philip Cercone told the Journal via email. The review was conducted by the Provost at the University of British Columbia and the directors of two major American university presses and found that MQUP was “clearly the best Canadian University

Press and among the best in North America,” Cercone said. “In the next 10 years, the 17-member Board of Directors of the Press, on which sit the Principals and Provosts of both Queen’s and McGill, will be considering a 10-year blueprint — one hopes that the number of titles published will be increased by some 50 per cent,” he said. “As well, the list will be more focused and the area of growth will likely be more on internationally-themed books than See Review on page 7


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