The Queen's Journal, Issue 7

T u e s d ay , S e p t e m b e r 2 0 , 2 0 11 — I s s u e 7

the journal Queen’s University — Since 1873

Inside Investing in education

What are RESPs and how much do students have to lose?

Photo illustration by Justin Chin

From left to right: Robert Kiley, Green Party; Rodger James, Progressive Conserative Party; John Gerretsen, Liberal Party; and Mary Rita Holland, New Democratic Party engage in the on-campus provincial election debate at Wallace Hall last night.

Provincial elections

Tuition and research a focal point B y S avoula S tylianou Assistant News Editor Quality of education was a major talking point at the all-candidates debate in Wallace Hall last night.

Liberal incumbent John Gerretsen, NDP candidate Mary Rita Holland, Progressive Conservative candidate Rodger James and Green Party candidate Robert Kiley presented differing opinions on tuition fees, enrolment expansion in universities and colleges and privatized funding for research in post-secondary institutions.

Candidates discussed their views on affordable post-secondary tuition in the province.

Kiley said due to increased tuition this year, the Green Party has plans to create scholarship programs aimed at lower-income families.

James said the Conservative party will look at the Ontario Student Assistance Plan (OSAP) to make it more readily available to those who need it.

Gerretsen said he wants to offer a reduction of up to 30 per cent for undergraduates’ university tuition.

“Every year, families of five out of six students will save $1,600 per student in university and $700 per student in college,” he said.

The only people who won’t be eligible for a reduction, Gerretsen said, are students whose parents

AMS

Others reallocated

Two more clubs told to leave Grey House B y K atherine Fernandez -B lance News Editor In addition to the Kingston Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG), the Levana Gender Advocacy Centre and EQuIP, two other student groups were removed from their Grey House space by the AMS. The Queen’s Students for Literacy club has been located in the Grey House for two decades.

Director Liz Peredun said she re-ratified the club on time this year, but in June she was informed that the club would be relocated from the Grey House.

“We were told that there [were] construction issues with the building,” Peredun, ArtSci ’13, said.

The club occupied an office on the third floor of the Grey House.

“We were told that it wasn’t safe, some sort of problem with the rafters in the building,” she said.

“They told us it was dangerous for

us to be up there.”

Peredun said the group was against the move to the new space allocated to them in Macgillivray-Brown Hall.

“We were sort of just asked to leave the Grey House and not really told why,” she said. “They haven’t really [made it] clear what they’re doing with the Grey House itself.”

AMS Vice-President of University Affairs Kieran Slobodin said the third floor of the Grey House was only ever meant for light storage.

The space in MacgillvrayBrown Hall is better for community-oriented groups like Queen’s Students for Literacy, Slobodin, ArtSci ’12, said.

“They have not filed a complaint,” he told the Journal via email.

Decisions regarding the occupancy of the Grey House have not been finalized, Slobodin said.

Queen’s Helping Hands, a non-specialist charity group didn’t See Decisions on page 5

earn more than $160,000 per year. post-secondary institutions.

Holland said the NDP wants “When we have smaller class to cap tuition fees and freeze them sizes, then students are learning the in order to ensure tuition becomes most,” he said. more affordable.

Candidates were asked about When asked about expanding their perspective on funding for the number of spots in colleges international students. and universities, Gerretsen, While Gerretsen, Holland and James, and Kiley stood behind Kiley agreed that international increasing enrolment. students should be integrated into Gerretsen said he’s proud Canada and allotted funding for the Liberal government has scholarships, grants and research, been able to send 200,000 more James said the Progressive students into college, university Conservative party wants to invest and apprenticeship programs in students from Ontario instead. compared to eight years ago. “[International students] should James said careful reorganization be funded on their own. Money is is necessary to deal with increasing money and Ontario doesn’t have a class sizes and decreasing numbers lot of it,” he said. of faculty members.

Both Holland and James were Holland, however, disagreed against the privatization of research with expanding the number of in post-secondary institutions. spaces in universities.

“We can’t have McCain [Foods] “There’s a lot we can do that sponsoring research in biology and doesn’t involve opening spaces expect that the results are going to and taking their tuition money be non-biased,” Holland said. for people who can’t afford their The Liberal and Green party education,” she said. candidates argued that private Kiley said the current funds are necessary in order for discrepancy between growing research to be completed. class sizes and shrinking faculty numbers can be solved by having For a full recap of the all-candidates donors contribute a minimum debate, read the Journal’s liveblog at of $5,000 per year to funds for queensjournal.ca

FAUXCOMING

page 3

A reason to vote Dialogue examines why students should vote.

page 7

Lyrical Limestone

Arts finds out what book lovers can expect from the sixth-annual KingstonWritersFest. page 8

Gaels still UnProven

Benjamin Deans breaks down the football team’s win against Laurier.

Page 11

Housing for Animals

Streets stay tame B y M eaghan Wray Assistant News Editor At its peak on Saturday night, Aberdeen Street had approximately 500 revelers — a much smaller turnout than in previous years.

Kingston Police Chief Stephen Tanner said he hopes Fauxcoming festivities will be confined to the last weekend.

Even so, Kingston Police officers are preparing for a possible follow-up and anticipate a similar crowd next weekend.

“We have to be ready for next weekend. It’s contingency planning,” Tanner said. “That’s the approach we’re taking this year.”

Last year, Kingston Police partnered with Ontario Provincial Police forces, the Toronto Police Service, including mounted units, Durham regional police and community police from Belleville, Brockville and Gananoque to ensure that enough resources were available for the street party.

This year, no additional resources were recruited but See Police on page 5

Postscript takes a look at students’ role in Kingston pet rescuing. page 15

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c o r r e c t I o n Neven Lochhead’s name was spelled incorrectly in the Sept. 16 issue of the Journal.

The Journal regrets the error.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

FooD

Chef to cook on campus Mac-Corry renovation to house chef Michael Smith’s restaurant

Chef Michael Smith’s restaurant in Mac-Corry boasts gourmet burgers and specialty recipes.

Regular outlets previously in the cafeteria, like Pita Pit, will reopen on Sept. 22.

B y c atherine o WSiK Assistant News Editor A $1.3 million renovation of the Mac-Corry cafeteria will include the Canadian Grilling Company, a restaurant designed

by Food Network Canada Chef Michael Smith.

In April 2010, Sodexo signed a food contract with Queen’s which included the installation of Smith’s restaurant.

A third of the renovation cost will be covered by Sodexo, but the University will own the space and cover all remaining expenses.

As part of their contract, Sodexo charges the University a fee for managing the restaurant with their own employees.

Bruce Griffiths, director of housing and hospitality services, said the new restaurant will open in October.

While the cafeteria has been expanded in the past, Griffiths said a substantial renovation was

Photo by asaD Chishti

leading around the dining area, Griffiths said.

Before it closed in May 2011, the Mac-Corry cafeteria had a Pita Pit, Pizza Pizza and featured Sodexo baked goods, grilled items and soups.

Griffiths said these services will re-open on Sept. 22. They will be relocated on the north wall of the cafeteria with a self-service area and cash registers at the back.

The Canadian Grilling Company will be located in the south end of the space, separated We want this to be from the rest of the dining area. a different experience The design of the restaurant is from other outlets. lodge-like, with wood, concrete and stone accents. Most tables will seat two or four people but —Bruce Griffiths, director of housing and there will be one long group table hospitality services capable of seating 10. A Chef Michael Smith merchandise centre The Mac-Corry space was and a flat screen television will be originally built in the mid-70s. The set up in the centre of the room.

“We want this to be a different new design will improve traffic flow in the cafeteria with a one- experience from other outlets,” way entrance at the north end Griffiths said.

The restaurant will have a menu featuring gourmet burgers and specialty items from Chef Michael Smith, such as his coleslaw.

“The feedback has been very positive,” Griffiths said, adding that over the past two years they’ve held focus groups as well as consultations with the food committee, the meal plan review committee and the senate residence committee.

Griffiths said the restaurant will be retail style and that students with meal plans will be able to use cash equivalencies, Additional Meal Plan Dollars or MyFunds.

Chef Michael Smith will visit Queen’s but Griffiths said the exact date will depend on the opening of the restaurant and Smith’s schedule at the time. “[He] has a relationship with Sodexo, and that relationship benefits Queen’s,” Griffiths said.

needed given the expected increase in patrons.

“Gradually we have adapted as best we could,” Griffiths told the Journal via email. He added that vending machines have been moved for extra space and cash register stations have been expanded.

“We really reached the limits of the old design and needed to look at something to properly service a very large customer base.”

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Tuesday, September 20, 2011

queensjournal.ca

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Parents who want to send their children to school are going to have to make greater sacrifices than ever before.

Feature

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FInance

Risks and returns of RESP investments Registered Education Savings Plans lose value in Canada’s declining stock market B y J anina E nrile Assistant Features Editor Lauren Witterick ended the summer with an eye on her investments.

When the Toronto Stock Exchange wavered in August, she watched her Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) dwindle.

“It’s always a worry that money won’t come in on time to pay tuition,” Witterick, ArtSci ’14, said.

“It changed by a couple hundred dollars in two or three days.”

RESPs are a Canadian government savings program allowing families to invest money into a tax-free fund to support a child’s post-secondary education. The amount the federal government contributes to RESPs is based on the investment put into it by the providers.

The government may also give additional grants such as the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG), a 20 per cent government grant added to the RESP for the first $2,500 each year.

A provider can only receive the yearly grant until the beneficiary is 17, but contributors can continue to deposit money in the RESP for the rest of their lives.

Witterick chose to invest her RESP in a mutual fund.

“As of right now, it’s more knowing the money’s there and that everything’s okay,” Witterick said. “But we’ve had close calls.”

Investing RESPs in stocks can be a risky decision in the current market, said School of Business associate professor Louis Gagnon.

“We are going through an extremely volatile period in the financial market,” he said.

The Globe and Mail reported that Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) stocks dropped 91.67 points in the past week, while Dow Jones took a hit of 108.08.

Points in the stock market are a representation of overall increase or decline in publicly traded stocks.

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We are going through an extremely volatile period in the financial market.

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—Louis Gagnon, School of Business associate professor

“Students have real needs for this cash in the near future and can’t take the risk,” Gagnon said.

Gagnon said migrating an RESP to a high interest savings account or a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) ensures money will be available whenever a student needs it.

If a student’s RESP was started at birth, it would have time to gather financial return in the 17 to 20 years before they begin post-secondary education. Gagnon

Students with Registered Education Savings Plans invested in stocks face greater potential for loss, says Louis Gagnon, associate professor at Queen’s School of Business.

said the nature of RESPs make it difficult to compensate for losses which occur during this time.

“Brokers tell people that in the long-run you tend to be compensated for risk so stay invested in the market,” he said.

“But risk is risk and when you need your cash you might need it exactly when the market tanks.”

Statistics Canada reported that Canadian tuition fees went up four per cent last year from an average of $4,942 to $5,138.

“We can’t rely on the stock market to rise with tuition fees,” Gagnon said. “Parents who want to send their children to school are going to have to make greater sacrifices than ever before,” he said.

Many people choose to invest RESPs into mutual funds because the compilation of stocks they encompass are already selected by portfolio managers, Gagnon said.

In 1999, 41 per cent of Canadians with post-secondary education savings used RESPs. According to Statistics Canada, the percentage rose to 55 per cent in 2002 and 69 per cent in 2008.

Professor Daniel Thornton from the School of Business opened an RESP for his new-born grandson last week.

“It’s a way of saving for future costs of a child’s education,” Thornton said. “The RESP itself is not an investment. It’s just a vehicle for holding investments, so you can have safe investments or grow stocks in there.

“The key feature is that once you make the investment, any of

the returns between now and when the child needs the money are completely tax-free.”

A provider, usually a parent or guardian, can contribute up to $50,000 for a beneficiary.

Thornton said the tax-free shelter of the RESP is its largest benefit.

always a worry “thatIt’smoney won’t come in on time to pay tuition. ” —Lauren Witterick, ArtSci ’14

“If you were to save by yourself outside of the tax-free savings account, you would have to pay tax on the interest, dividends or capital gains that were realized inside your investment account,” he said.

There are two types of RESPs: Individual Beneficiary Plans and Family Beneficiary Plans chosen based on the number of kids the plan will support.

The Family Beneficiary Plan can save for any of the children within a family, Thornton said.

“That’s helpful if you think it’s risky that perhaps one of the children would not be able to attend post-secondary school,” he said.

If a child doesn’t go to post-secondary school, and there are no other children left to benefit from the RESP, the money would have to be withdrawn and taxed.

“Not only that, I would be

slapped with a 20 per cent penalty tax to make up for the fact that during those 17 years, everything was earning interests, dividends and capital gains tax-free,” Thornton said. “So I would have to pay the

photo by justin chin

government back for the privilege of having all those tax-free savings.”

— With files from Terra-Ann Arnone

Terms of investment Beneficiary • Student who will receive the RESP funds.

Providers • Contributor to the RESP (usually a parent, guardian or family member).

Mutual funds • A collection of investments compiled by a bank’s portfolio manager.

Interest • Money earned from a financial institution when investing money.

Family Beneficiary Plan • RESP for families with one beneficiary or more.

Individual Beneficiary Plan • RESP contributed to by a person unrelated to the beneficiary.

Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) • A sum of money granted by the Canadian government to RESP beneficiaries 17-years old and under.

Commodities • Products which are traded publicly.

Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs) • Bonds guaranteed to return the initial investment.

Portfolio manager • The person who chooses stocks to be included in a mutual fund.

Capital gains • Money earned from selling shares of a stock.

— Source: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

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stUDent liFe

Campaign for classmate Student group hopes to reach $19,000 target by winter B y d arienne l ancaSter Contributor In an attempt to keep student George Evans in law school, a group of his classmates are fundraising $19,000.

Evans, JD ’14, is an international student from Nassau, Bahamas. This year, he faced a series of financial struggles that forced him to drop out of Queen’s.

“It has really just been one thing after the next,” Evans said.

Originally Evans expected to fund law school with a combination of scholarships and parental assistance. His resources fell through when his mother’s pension package was retracted and a scholarship he expected from the Lyford Cay Foundation in the Bahamas never materialized.

I can’t imagine I would “have gotten this kind of support in any other law school.

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—George Evans, JD ’14

The foundation funds Bahamian students studying internationally and helped Evans during his time at York University. He graduated from York in 2010 with a degree in Philosophy.

Living in Canada on a student visa means Evans is not permitted to hold a job unless enrolled at school. Now that he’s no longer enrolled at Queen’s, he’s ineligible to apply for Queen’s scholarships.

Evans disclosed his financial difficulties to a classmate when he was filling out applications for summer jobs.

He said he didn’t tell people about his

financial difficulties at first.

“It was a very private thing,” he said.

“It’s something that I know I shouldn’t feel ashamed about but sometimes I do.”

With a $19,000 debt to pay off and his second year of tuition fees to consider, Evans’ classmates decided to lend a hand.

The fundraising campaign Keep George Here aims to pay off the total amount of Evans’ debt. If successful, he will be allowed to re-enroll at Queen’s for the Winter term.

The campaign is entirely student-run.

Evans said he’s overwhelmed by the support he’s received from Queen’s students and the Kingston community.

“I can’t imagine I would have gotten this kind of support in any other law school,” he said.

The campaign was launched by Evans’ classmates Dana Carson and Katherine Chau.

“We felt really strongly about George,” Chau, JD ’13 said. “We want him to be able to see through his education.”

“We have so much confidence in his ability, he has tremendous work ethic.”

The campaign has included a Sept. 14 fundraiser at Monkey Bar and donations to the Keep George Here website which are submitted through a PayPal account.

The campaign is already well over half way to reaching their goal.

“Originally people heard about our $19,000 dollar target and they said ‘I don’t think you’re going to reach it,’ [but] hitting the target is inevitable at this point,” Chau said. “It’s something that will happen within the next week or two.”

For more information on the campaign visit keepgeorgehere.blogspot.com

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

Don’t Be Late Nominate!!

Special Recognition for Staff Award Nominations

This Award recognizes staff members who consistently provide outstanding contributions during their workday, directly or indirectly, to the learning and working environment at Queen's University at a level significantly beyond what is usually expected (e.g. improving the workplace efficiency, quality of worklife, customer service, problem-solving, etc.).

Informationand nomination forms are available from http://www.hr.queensu.ca/workandcareer/ awards-procedure.php.

Deadline: October 17, 2011

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

Police ready for repeat

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St. Lawrence College.

Kingston’s Mayor Mark Gerretsen said he Tanner said he’ll call on them if necessary didn’t know what to expect of the weekend, but the low turnout was a welcome surprise. next weekend.

“I took a walk down Aberdeen Street. The “We were hopeful that events from three, four, five years ago were behind us,” street was by no means closed,” he said. “I was fairly impressed when you consider what Tanner said.

While the next home football game is on we dealt with last year.”

Gerretsen said the atmosphere on Saturday Oct. 15, Tanner said he doesn’t anticipate an night is an indication of the University’s Aberdeen Street party that weekend.

“For me, the Aberdeen event was always in progress to quell the party.

“It means that we’re taking a step in the September,” he said.

A Kingston Police press release reported right direction, that the problems we’ve had 101 liquor-related tickets between 8 a.m. on in the past are behind us,” he said.

Police officers were relatively relaxed Saturday and 3 a.m. Sunday.

Kingston police officer Dan Mastin has last weekend, Christina Walsh, ArtSci ’12, worked during Homecoming weekend for said, adding that students responded to 23 years and said Saturday was a quiet police presence based on how officers acted evening compared to last year when the towards them.

“If we know there’s riot police, the students Aberdeen crowd reached over 1,500 people. “[We’ve had] no real problems,” he told are going to show up for the riot police. If the Journal on Saturday night. “They’re [police officers] keep calm and carry on, so will the students,” she said on Saturday night. young and having a good time.”

According to a police press release, — With files from Clare Clancy, Katherine attendees who received tickets identified Fernandez-Blance, Carolyn Flanagan and themselves as from schools that included Corey Lablans McGill, Guelph, Ryerson, Royal Military College, University of Toronto, Carleton and Continued from page 1

Decisions not finalized Continued from page 1

re-ratify as an AMS club and on Sept. 15 club members were notified that Helping Hands no longer qualified for club space.

“No one ever told us,” co-chair Natalie Corneau said, adding that neither her or co-chair [Natalie Lui] received emails concerning re-ratification over the summer.

Corneau said Helping Hands has no problem re-ratifying as an AMS club, but members weren’t adequately informed about

the process.

“If we had known, we would have done this on time,” Corneau, ArtSci ’12, said.

Unlike OPIRG and the Levana Gender Advocacy Centre — groups that were given the chance to re-ratify last week — Corneau said she was told this wasn’t an option for Helping Hands because the re-ratification deadline passed.

Queen’s Helping Hands has had an office in the Grey House for at least three years, Corneau said.

QUEENSJOURNAL.CA

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6 •queensjournal.ca About The Journal

Editorial Board

The Journal’s Perspective

Editors in Chief

Clare Clancy Jake Edmiston

Production Manager

Labiba Haque

News Editor

Katherine Fernandez-Blance

Assistant News Editors

Catherine Owsik Savoula Stylianou Meaghan Wray

Features Editor

Terra-Ann Arnone

Assistant Features Editor

Janina Enrile

Editorials Editor

Andrew Stokes

Editorial Illustrator

Janghan Hong

Dialogue Editor Arts Editor

Brendan Monahan Alyssa Ashton

Assistant Arts Editor

Caitlin Choi

Sports Editor

Gilbert Coyle

Assistant Sports Editor

Benjamin Deans

Postscript Editor

Jessica Fishbein

Photography Editor

Corey Lablans

Assistant Photo Editors

Justin Chin Asad Chishti

Copy Editors

Editorials

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The name change needs to be backed up with substantial action.

Not ready for new name O

n Sept.

15, AMS Assembly passed a motion to rebrand the Student Ghetto as the University District.

The motion, put forward by the Municipal Affairs Commission, was passed alongside an attendant motion that approved the establishment of the Student Maintenance and Resource Team.

This team of hired students will clean up garbage, organize recycling, cut grass and even apply fresh coats of paint to houses in the Student Ghetto.

The AMS has launched an advertising campaign for the new name without making any noticeable changes in the housing region around campus. The MAC’s proposed changes should have come before the rebranding.

Ghetto is a word steeped in a dark history, with ties to Jewish segregation in Renaissance Italy and the Second World War. It’s also used in North America to refer

to impoverished urban areas.

Our nomenclature is inappropriate. The Student Ghetto isn’t comparable to historical ghettos, but the term’s common acceptance at Queen’s will prevent the renaming from taking root.

The AMS hasn’t explained to the student body why University District is a preferable name and has instead tried to institute a new vernacular without communicating with students.

The first step in the renaming process shouldn’t be rebranding.

Instead, the AMS should start by improving housing standards in the area. The student body will be more willing to see the Student Ghetto as the University District if change occurs beneath the surface.

This isn’t the first time the AMS has tried to rename the Student Ghetto. In 2007, the Student Ghetto area was officially renamed the student village, but this failed to enter popular vocabulary. This

name change was superficial, and didn’t have any supporting policy.

The term Student Ghetto has stuck because of the nature of housing in the area. Houses are rundown, unclean and many landlords treat students unfairly.

Rebranding the region requires a multi-faceted change. Landlords need to treat students like first-time homeowners and less like destructive transients.

Students also need to rise to the occasion. Any attempts to rebrand the Student Ghetto will hinge on student support. Otherwise, the area will remain unchanged.

Changing the Student Ghetto’s name is the recycling of an old idea that didn’t work. For the results to be different this time, the name change needs to be backed up with substantial action.

Until we see change, the new name simply won’t stick.

Kelly Loeper

Assistant Blogs Editor

Carolyn Flanagan

Business Staff

Business Manager Kevin Imrie

Sales Representatives

Kyle Cogger Katherine Pearce

Staff Writers Anand Srivastava

Contributors

Mira Dineen Dylan Haber Darienne Lancaster Emily Lowe

Photographers

Jeff Peters

Tuesday, September 20, 2011 • Issue 7 • Volume 139 The Queen’s Journal is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Alma Mater Society of Queen’s University, Kingston.

Editorial opinions expressed in the Journal are the sole responsibility of the Queen’s Journal Editorial Board, and are not necessarily those of the University, the AMS or their officers.

Contents © 2011 by the Queen’s Journal; all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission of the Journal. The Queen’s Journal is printed on a Goss Community press by Performance Group of Companies in Smiths Falls, Ontario.

Contributions from all members of the Queen’s and Kingston community are welcome. The Journal reserves the right to edit all submissions.

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 8 of Volume 139 will be published on Friday, September 23, 2011.

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Student housing

Jessica Munshaw Terence Wong

Blogs Editor

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Private Schools

Grade market unethical A

n article published in the Toronto Star on Sunday Sept.18, “Student questions marks from a high school ‘credit mill’ ” examined accredited private high schools that dole out high marks in exchange for payment.

The example institution, TCT High School, was accused of rewarding students with high marks and credits for work that failed to meet provincial standards.

The practice is unethical and brings to light a variety of problems with the education system and university entrance requirements.

Classes at the school cost between $500 and $700 each.

According to the article, attendance isn’t enforced and instructors leave students unattended during examinations. In these respects, TCT High School represents many private schools.

Selling grades contributes to grade inflation and impacts the make-up of the university

measure of a student’s ability to applicant pool.

If some students pay for marks, succeed in university. They fail to teachers at other schools will raise take into account extracurricular grades to ensure they remain experiences that may help students competitive. Universities in turn in their education.

Transcripts should be raise their entrance requirements to narrow the potential pool of corroborated with essays or a students, further perpetuating Personal Statement of Experience (PSE), a Queen’s requirement. The the cycle.

Not only does grade inflation PSE gives a multi-faceted picture of hurt the education system a student and is a better indicator of but it also negatively impacts their aptitude.

A greater amount of students themselves.

It encourages a lax work ethic standardized testing in high and sense of entitlement that results school would start to improve the in students who are unprepared grade discrepancies. Holding for the rigors of academic study. students across the province to the Though it may get them ahead in same requirements would make for the short-term, ultimately, students a more even field when applying to university. are shortchanged.

Ideally an amalgam of marks, A deficit in study skills may lead to failure in university, but this doesn’t extracurricular activities and always happen. Some who cheat standardized testing would be their way into university receive used to judge a student’s aptitude. their degrees.

Grades alone fail to represent ability, With the lack of standardization especially when they’re ill-gotten. of grading, marks are an insufficient

Corey Lablans

Let them be

F

rom the Book of Genesis, where a serpent tempts Eve, to big-screen Hollywood productions like Snakes on a Plane; the fear of snakes is engrained into the minds of many. Ophidiophobia, the fear of snakes, has been passed on for centuries.

A study conducted by the University of Miami concluded that this fear is conditioned and that many of those who are afraid of snakes have never had negative first-hand experiences.

Misunderstanding and the unwillingness to learn perpetuates the fear of these majestic animals.

There are no venomous species of snakes naturally living in Kingston which means that only pets are potentially venomous.

According to the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the only venomous snake in the province is the Eastern Mississauga Rattle Snake. It’s limited to areas in southern Ontario that surround rivers.

There are a wide range of people who fear snakes. While some can’t be around them, others will get close but have a persistent dislike.

Some of my friends have a slight phobia of snakes, but it’s fascinating to see how they’ve progressively adapted to my snakes.

It’s surprising that so many people think snakes are in fact slimy.

This is far from true.

After touching a snake for the first time, many people comment on how snakes aren’t slimy at all.

Their skin feels smooth and slick.

Another stereotype that snakes seem to inherit is their sneaky and aggressive nature, lunging after unexpecting people.

As an owner of snakes who loves to catch them as well, I know that snakes are equally afraid of us.

Snakes have the disadvantage of being small; they see us as predators.

Snakes know they cannot eat us.

When they strike it’s a defense mechanism, telling a predator to stay back.

Having had snakes for the past 12 years, I have been bitten on several occasions without consequence.

If snakes were aggressive animals inclined to attack humans, then the rattlesnake I stood two feet away from in Texas surely would have tried to kill me.

You don’t have to like these critters but I’m asking for your understanding to let them live their lives.

The stigma can be powerful, but keep an open mind.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

DIALOGUE

Perspectives from the Queen’s community

Provincial Election

queensjournal.ca

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If every student who didn’t vote during the 2007 provincial election had instead cast a ballot, the results in 67 of 107 electoral districts could have changed.

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Why the student vote matters

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Talking Heads ... around campus Photos By Brendan Monahan

Will you vote at the advance polls?

The next provincial government will make decisions that impact students

“Yes, I like the idea of voting in advance.”

Emily McRae, ArtSci ’14

M ira D ineen , A rt S ci ’11 The second week of classes are underway and the University is buzzing with activity. Students are busy.

Your day probably looks something like this: grab a coffee on your way to campus, sort out your OSAP paperwork at Gordon Hall, call home for the first time in weeks to hear about how your little brother is settling into his Grade 6 class, note the increasing use of educational technology in your lectures and spend your night re-writing your resume and filling out job applications. After all, tuition and living costs are rising and you could probably use the extra cash.

There is an Ontario provincial election on Thursday, Oct. 6. The provincial government makes decisions that directly impact all areas of your life as a student.

In fact, the Ontario government sets policies for almost all of the above (except the coffee).

They include: the quality and cost of your post-secondary education, teacher training for professors, elementary and secondary education and student financial aid.

Let’s consider the cost of your education. An undergraduate degree in Ontario costs more than anywhere else in Canada, with students paying an average of $6,307 of tuition per year in 2010.

In the past decade, the average student debt load has risen to over $25,000 at graduation. Queen’s students are feeling the crunch.

Students should also be concerned about the quality of their education. At Queen’s, departments have disappeared and class sizes have increased as we do less with less, but quality means everything from investing in infrastructure and educational technologies that facilitate learning to recognizing that being a world-renowned researcher doesn’t necessarily translate into being a good teacher.

Accessibility to education is another key area of concern.

Students of Aboriginal descent, students whose parents didn’t

“No, I need more time to educate myself on the issues.”

Stefano Arcovio, Sci ’11

Photo by Justin Chin

Mira Dineen (far left) introduces (seated, from left) Green nominee Robert Kiley, Conservative nominee Rodger James, Liberal incumbent John Gerretsen and NDP nominee Mary Rita Holland at the Kingston and the Islands all-candidates debate at Wallace Hall on Monday night.

attend university and students in rural or northern Ontario are significantly less likely to ever go to university.

These would-be students are the lab partners you never had, or the person in front of you in line at Common Ground who isn’t there. They’re just like you — but they’re not because they never even applied to Queen’s.

The provincial government makes decisions that will continue to affect you once you’re no longer a student ... voting is your chance to speak up now.

Every year, qualified and interested high school students don’t apply to university for a multitude of reasons. Some are less aware of the resources available through student aid programs, while others are skeptical of the benefits of post-secondary education. Your new provincial government will have the power to address accessibility and help those from socio-economically and geographically under-represented groups go to university.

We as students have remarkable power over the democratic

process — unfortunately, many of us choose not to use it. Only 37.4 per cent of voters aged 18 to 24 cast a ballot in the 2008 Federal election — well below the average turnout.

Ontario’s large student population makes our participation in the electoral process even more critical. According to the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, if every student who didn’t vote during the 2007 provincial election had instead cast their ballot, the results in 67 out of 107 electoral districts could have changed. So why don’t students vote?

Often students question their own eligibility to vote in Kingston.

If you’re 18 and a Canadian citizen, you’re eligible to vote here for the Ontario Provincial Election.

It doesn’t matter if you’re from elsewhere in Ontario. You’re even eligible to vote if you’re from another province. All you need to do is prove you are currently living in Kingston.

Some students think voting is too complicated or will take up too much time. If you’re a Queen’s student, all you have to do is show up to the advanced poll with a piece of ID, like a driver’s license. It’s okay if your ID doesn’t have a Kingston address — you can print out a Verification of Enrollment form on site from SOLUS as your proof

of residence.

Critics of the youth vote claim that young people believe the issues don’t matter to them.

Certainly, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you’re a first-time voter, and some students might think they don’t know enough to vote. But with education shaping up to be a key issue in this election, I urge you to take the opportunity to get informed. You’re at Queen’s to learn, after all, and this is an amazing opportunity.

The provincial government makes decisions that will continue to affect you once you’re no longer a student. Provincial jurisdiction covers natural resources, roads, health care, municipalities and much more. Voting is your chance to speak up now and it will be your chance to speak up later. Why not get started early?

Politicians won’t prioritize student concerns unless students vote. Your voice doesn’t matter unless you speak up.

Vote in the provincial election.

It’s a big fucking deal.

Mira Dineen is AMS Academic Affairs Commissioner.

Students can cast their election ballots at the advance poll in the JDUC this Wednesday, Thursday or Friday between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

“If it’s easy and convenient, why not?”

Meg Campbell, ArtSci ’14

“Absolutely, I will.”

Cian O’Neill-Kizoff, Sci ’12

“No, I don’t plan to use it.”

Stephanie Huynh, ArtSci ’14

Have an opinion?

Have your say.

Submit a letter to journal_letters@ams.queensu.ca

Comment at queensjournal.ca

8 •queensjournal.ca

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

interview

Skank revival Planet Smashers bring the fun back to the ska scene

By Caitlin Choi Assistant Arts Editor

Arts photo by Jeff Peters

Merilyn Simonds is the artistic director of Kingston WritersFest and has been with the festival since its start six years ago.

Festival Preview

Limestone literature South African author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature J.M. Coetzee is part of this year’s Kingston WritersFest

By Savoula Stylianou Assistant News Editor Kingston is home to the first novel printed and published in Canada.

Julia Catherine Beckwith Hart visited an aunt in Kingston in 1820 and stayed in the city after marrying a bookbinder who printed her novel St. Ursula’s Convent in 1824.

This year’s sixth annual Kingston WritersFest is set on continuing the city’s literary tradition.

The festival’s artistic director, Merilyn Simonds, has been working on the festival since its inception in 2005.

“We don’t have an overall theme, we just try to bring in writers who write books in all the different genres,” Simonds said. “We try to be as embracing as possible.”

South African reclusive author J.M. Coetzee leads the international event with fellow author Paul Auster, giving a reading of their upcoming book of correspondence between each other. Coetzee has won two Booker Prizes for Life & Times of Michael K in 1983 and Disgrace in 1999 and the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature.

“It’s an amazing coup to have him here,” Simonds said.

Coetzee will appear at Queen’s on Sept. 23 and 24 for a conference developed by Rosemary Jolly for her South African studies group.

Jolly is a Queen’s English professor specializing in South African literature and culture. She is also a friend of Coetzee.

“His coming here is having an amazing effect, not only on the community of readers, but also on the community of academics and writers,” Simonds said.

Another WritersFest event, Hot Art, will feature a talk from

author Joshua Knelman who traced the path of a stolen art piece by following thieves and detectives.

WritersFest has a deal with Queen’s to trade funding from the University for free admission for Queen’s students. This includes access to all on-stage events, provided they’re not already sold out.

Multi-instrumentalist David Gossage, from the musical group David Gossage and the Celtic Mindwarp, will be playing the flute and whistle while accompanying author Trevor Ferguson (writing as John Farrow) as he depicts his latest crime thriller River City.

The quickest selling event is Canadian senator and retired general Roméo Dallaire speaking with South African journalist and poet Antjie Krog.

“They’re going to talk about human rights and violent societies and how we get back on the path of being humane,” Simonds said.

The numbers for this year’s festivities already seem to be larger than last year, Simonds said.

“Last year we had around 3,800 bums in seats,” she said. “By the looks of it, we will definitely be over 4,000 this year. Anybody who thinks the book is dead should come to the festival.”

The festival has 43 events planned and 60 writers lined up.

“It’s an incredible opportunity to see literature in action and see people talking about the ideas that are shaping our society,” Simonds said.

Kingston WritersFest runs from Sept. 22 to 25. For more information visit kingstonwritersfest.ca.

Ska didn’t die when Gwen Stefani left No Doubt. The reforming of Montreal’s the Planet Smashers marks the revival of ska as the subculture it was always meant to be.

Before the July release of Descent Into the Valley Of ..., the Smashers hadn’t put out an album since 2005’s Unstoppable. They called it quits in 2007 after about a year and a half on tour for their fifth studio record.

“We became kind of stoppable,” guitarist and lead vocalist Matt Collyer said. “We were on the road seven, eight months of the year since 2000.

“There’s nothing else I would have wanted to have done more, but at some point you have to realize that it takes wear on the body and the spirit.”

The band tried putting together an album prior to the split but eventually ditched it for a break from recording and touring. They’d spent over 40 months together in transit.

“It was going to be like a dark sort of crappy record — slow tunes, kind of boring,” Collyer said.

In 2009 they started playing again as a break from their full-time jobs. Collyer works at STOMP, the Smasher’s record label, doing label management. Drummer Scott Russell is involved in video production and works as a chef.

The band’s tenor saxophone player, Neil Johnson, is a glass blower; and trombone player Andrew Lattoni is the only professional musician in the band.

The Smashers collectively committed to making another album last fall.

Collyer said it was their best recording experience to date, despite having taken a six-year hiatus from the studio.

“For me, I would place it up See Time on page 9

Bruce Peninsula is made up of five core members plus an additional five choir members.

Supplied

interview

Back on the map Bruce Peninsula returns to the limelight with their sophmore album

By Alyssa Ashton Arts Editor On Dec. 21, 2010, Toronto-based band Bruce Peninsula was celebrating after receiving the master copy of their sophomore album Open Flames.

Then they stopped. On the morning of Dec. 22, frontman Neil Haverty was diagnosed with Acute promyelocytic leukemia and went into immediate treatment.

Supplied

Drummer Scott Russell’s lyrics and bassist Dave Cooper’s Haverty said his bandmates put caveman suit helped inspire the the album release and tour on hold, album’s cover art.

waiting for his recovery.

“When something like that happens, everything else goes to the side,” Haverty said. “We had just started to book shows. We had talked about doing a year tour. We were going to be road warriors.”

Doctors gave Haverty a 95 per cent chance of survival. After his diagnosis, Haverty sent an email to

See Paint on page 10

Online Jane’s JAM Toronto indie band Jane’s Party writes to the Journal about life after the garage.

ARTS

Tuesday, sepTember 20, 2011

queensjournal.ca

Q&a

Schabas on point Martha Schabas’ debut novel, Various Positions, explores the dark world of teenage ballerinas

Email journal_ae@ams.queensu.ca

1. What was the moment you realized you wanted to be a writer?

4. Was it difficult novel published?

I don’t think there was a single, epiphanic moment for me. I’ve always written; it’s always seemed like the most natural way to make sense of the world. I imagine that, for most writers, books seem a bit sublime.

Nothing can rival their ability to trawl the depths of human experience. When I was accepted into the MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, I decided to take my writing seriously for a bit. Now that bit seems fairly permanent.

By the time I got a publishing deal in Canada, I had been plugging away at the book for two and a half years. That was the difficult part, the writing bit and all the professional and financial sacrifices that go along with it. There’s a constant temptation to calculate opportunity cost as an aspiring writer; it’s something you have to resist if you’re set on finishing a piece of work. The publishing bit was pretty easy actually, and didn’t have that much to do with me. I was lucky to secure a wonderful agent after my MA in England, and she took care of the business of it all. I just said yes, emphatically.

2. You started off as a politics student at McGill, how did you end up as an author?

I’m glad to have the foundation in politics and history that I got at McGill, but when I was there, at the age of 19 or so, I felt a bit creatively starved. I got involved in the extracurricular theatre program, and then left McGill midway through my degree to go to George Brown Theatre School in Toronto. George Brown wasn’t a great fit either — I think I wanted to be an actor for all the wrong reasons — and I ended up finishing my degree in English Literature at the University of Toronto. It was the interplay between the practical study of theatre and the critical study of literature that had me thinking about art and books and aesthetics in new ways. Writing is a kind of consummate multi-tasking; it lets me be enterprising in so many different disciplines simultaneously. That may be what appeals to me most.

3. What inspired the theme of your debut novel Various Positions?

I knew that I wanted to write about young women and the politics of the body. I originally imagined my protagonist as someone in her twenties and able to editorialize on her experiences of physicality and sexism. But as I wrote, I became obsessed with the younger voice that I was discovering through flashbacks, and as the character got younger, I found myself dipping back into my own early teens, when I happened to be a serious ballet dancer. The fact that ballet was such a perfect metaphor for so many of the themes of feminism and femininity that I wanted to explore seemed like nothing other than a really lucky coincidence.

5. What advice aspiring authors?

do

getting

you

your

give

to

I think the opportunity cost issue is a big one. It’s difficult to throw yourself behind a novel with the necessary single-mindedness when there are zero guarantees of its future beyond your laptop screen. But this single-mindedness is a must. The book will likely take longer than you bargained for and you may frequently feel like you’re wasting your time. So I think you have to decide that writing, in and of itself and regardless of what it comes to, is more important than law school and mortgages. In short, be stubborn and keep going.

6. What author, dead or alive, would you love to meet and why?

I’m tempted to say Virginia Woolf because she’s a favourite of mine and I’m a bit obsessed with the tensions between her aesthetic theory and her feminist views. But the problem with writers is that there can be a jarring disconnect between their authorial voice and the one they speak with in their day-to-day. I’d be pretty sad if Virginia didn’t like me and, judging by her diaries, she could be pretty caustic. What’s that thing she said about Joyce again? An adolescent scratching his pimples?

Martha Schabas responded to the Journal’s questions via email. She will be at this year’s Kingston WritersFest on Saturday at 11 a.m.

— Alyssa Ashton

Time to smash Continued from page 8

there with Mighty [2003] and Life of the Party [1999],” Collyer said. “There’s less filler on this record than previous ones.”

Life of the Party earned the Montreal Independent Music Award for best ska band in 1999.

Jabs at neighbours and high school peers could be found in the Smashers’ older hits, but Collyer said the new record has a different direction.

“Normally we make fun of other people more, on this one we kind of make fun of ourselves,” he said. “That’s a good thing.”

Collyer said the break from recording helped the band re-focus on fun with the new album.

“It really represents what the Smashers

supplied

The Smashers have accomodated French crowds with written lyrics on stage.

are all about,” Collyer said.

The band’s entertaining character comes across in the music in part because of their laidback attitude towards the studio process.

Collyer said memories of making the album are enough to make him laugh aloud.

“Our francophone saxophone player who can barely speak English wrote the lyrics to the Descent Into the Valley Of ... opening track.”

The Planet Smashers play Time To Laugh Comedy Club tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

Want to write for Arts?

•9

ARTS

10 •queensjournal.ca

Paint without numbers

Bruce Peninsula’s debut album was self-released, but Open Flames will be released on Oct. 4 by Toronto indie label Hand Drawn Dracula.

Continued from page 8

friends and family explaining the situation.

“It was easy for me to stay positive. I was so lucky to have hundreds of people show their love and support to me,” he said. “The average person doesn’t get to take stock of the people they know and how they feel about you.”

When Haverty went into remission earlier this year, plans for Bruce Peninsula’s album and tour were back on the table.

“When I first got out of the hospital, I wasn’t so interested in playing music. I was disenchanted with it,” Haverty said. “But since we had all these plans I was forced to play and kind of found it again.

“If we hadn’t had this goal in mind for [a September album release], I wouldn’t have ended back in love with music. It’s lucky.”

Bruce Peninsula formed in 2006 with their first album A Mountain is a Mouth,

supplied

receiving a Polaris Long List nomination in 2009. The band of 10, operating with five core members, has been praised for being genreless.

“We were all surprised when people say things like that, but really if there’s a higher compliment to be paid I can’t think of one better than that,” he said. “You don’t want to be paint by numbers of some other music.”

The band’s unique sound is certainly hard to categorize and will be on full display on their upcoming cross-Canada tour. But Haverty is the first to admit this tour will be nothing like previous tours.

“Before touring was drinking every night to get through it and smoking a lot of cigarettes and staying up late,” he said. “Now it’s going to be different.”

Bruce Peninsula plays St. James’ Church on Thursday at 9 p.m.

Tuesday, sepTember 20, 2011

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

queensjournal.ca

• 11

sports

photo by justin chin

Ryan Granberg ran for 153 yards against a mediocre Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks defence on Saturday afternoon.

sideline commentary

Don’t get too excited Gaels’ offence comes alive, but against an easy opponent

B y B enjamin D eans Assistant Sports Editor Saturday’s game was impressive, but fans shouldn’t get excited until the Gaels beat a better team.

Though they showed a

lot of improvement in a 58-35 demolition of the Laurier Golden Hawks, the team is only 1-2 and still has a lot to prove.

The previously-invisible offence was overwhelming on Saturday.

They scored six touchdowns and ran up the score on a mediocre Golden Hawks defence.

Quarterback Billy McPhee finally looked comfortable with the ball, registering his first touchdown pass of the season.

With receivers Justin Chapelaine

women’s rugby

Last-minute magic McEwen’s late try saves Gaels from defeat B y A nand S rivastava Staff Writer Though the Brock Badgers dominated for almost 80 minutes in Saturday’s game at West Campus, the women’s rugby team squeaked out with a 15-14 victory to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Trailing 14-8 with only a few minutes remaining, rookie winger Lauren McEwen broke through the Brock defence with a 70-metre run to score a try and bring the

Gaels within one point of the Badgers. Lock Bronwyn Corrigan scored a conversion to put the Gaels ahead.

Captain Rachelle Kranenburg said she wasn’t satisfied with the win.

“Brock came out really hard and we were sloppy for a lot of the game,” Kranenburg said. “We need to learn from it.”

Fly-half Andrea Wadsworth scored to give the Gaels a 5-3 lead at half time but the Badgers

and Giovanni Aprile consistently overpowering the Golden Hawks secondary, McPhee had easy targets. He threw for 362 yards and four touchdowns, running another score in himself.

But the passing game wasn’t perfect. McPhee threw three interceptions — the most he’s thrown this season. He showed flashes of brilliance on Saturday but made some rookie mistakes. He needs to take fewer risks.

“I don’t want to say I was getting greedy,” he said of an interception returned for a touchdown. “It shouldn’t have happened.”

A large part of the Gaels’ offensive success was due to running back Ryan Granberg, who averaged about five yards on 30 carries. Head coach Pat Sheahan said Granberg’s strong

performance took some pressure off McPhee.

“I thought [Granberg] ran tough and played hard,” Sheahan said. “We went to him often and I thought he was productive.”

The Gaels’ defence had an easy afternoon against a weak Golden Hawks offence. Without leading receiver Shamawd Chambers, Golden Hawks quarterback Shane Kelly looked helpless. Passes usually destined for Chambers went to lesser receivers instead, leading to 25 incomplete passes and four interceptions by the Gaels defence.

The defence let the Golden Hawks back into the game near the end, allowing three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

“There was just enough in the fourth quarter to remind everybody that you’ve got to play

60 minutes,” Sheahan said. “We should have been able to win both halves in that football game.”

The Gaels will have their biggest chance to move ahead in the OUA standings with the York Lions, the Toronto Varsity Blues and the Windsor Lancers immediately ahead. Queen’s is tied for sixth place in the OUA. After three weeks, the powerful teams in the province look to be the McMaster Marauders, the Ottawa Gee-Gees and the Western Mustangs. Having already played the Marauders and the Gee-Gees, the Gaels need some points and some confidence before they face the Mustangs in the final week of the regular season.

improved after the break. The play was consistently in the Gaels’ end, forcing the team to continuously defend instead of establishing their offensive game.

Kranenburg said her team must improve their play if they want success.

“It’s good that this happened early in the season because it’s a really terrible feeling,” she said.

“We don’t want that to happen ever again.”

Head coach Beth Barz said she was surprised by the team’s subpar play.

“We looked pretty good in our warm up and run through,” Barz said. “We’ve just got to find a few answers for why we played on the back foot the whole game.”

men’s soccer

The Gaels travel to Toronto on Friday to play the 0-2 York Lions at 7 p.m.

Men’s soccer narrowly beats RMC and loses to Trent

The Gaels play the York Lions in Toronto on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Gaels falter B y D ylan H aber Contributor Men’s soccer fell victim to a classic case of underestimation over the weekend, narrowly defeating the Royal Military College Paladins 1-0 at home Friday before the 3-2-1 Trent Excalibur handed the Gaels their first loss of the season in Peterborough on Sunday.

The Gaels struggled to get the ball past the Paladins’ goalkeeper Jhordan Dorrington, who made 13 saves in Friday’s game.

It looked like the Gaels would concede an embarrassing tie against the Paladins — who haven’t won a game since 2007 — until rookie midfielder Henry Bloemen recorded his first career goal in

The women’s rugby team was minutes away from a loss to the Brock Badgers on Saturday.

photo by justin chin

See First on page 14

SPORTS

12 •queensjournal.ca

Tuesday, sepTember 20, 2011

men’s rugby

Win in Waterloo

Men’s rugby beats Waterloo Warriors on the road B y l ABiBA H AQUe Production Manager The men’s rugby team beat the Waterloo Warriors 22-12 on Friday, but interim head coach Gary Gilks said his team lacked cohesion.

“We had a slow start and it took a while to get anything going,” Gilks said. “The forwards and the backs didn’t link well together, pretty much the whole game.”

Tim Richardson, Pat Richardson and Matt Kelly all scored tries to take the Gaels to 2-0 on the season.

Gilks said the strategy ahead of next week’s game against the McMaster Marauders is to strengthen communication between players on the field.

“There were some players that were trying to do it all on their own, so I think it’s important for us to work in groups … as

opposed to individual work,” he said.

The Gaels were bolstered by flyhalf Liam Underwood’s return to the lineup.

Underwood, who missed last season with a dislocated ankle, played in his first game since 2009. He missed last week’s opener against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues while at Canada Rugby Sevens training camp in Victoria.

Underwood, who scored seven points on two conversions and a penalty kick, said the team didn’t execute their game plan against the Warriors.

“We wanted to try and keep the ball tight and challenge them with our forwards just … and I think we kind of got away from that,” he said.

The men host the 2-0 McMaster Marauders at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Tindall field.

women’s soccer

Two more wins

Women’s soccer continues perfect season B y e mily l OWe Contributor The women’s soccer team extended their undefeated season over the weekend, beating the Royal Military College Paladins 3-1 and the Trent Excalibur 6-0.

The Gaels trailed 1-0 at halftime against the Paladins on Friday at Richardson

Stadium, but exploded for three straight goals in the second half.

The go-ahead goal came in the 85th minute when midfielder Chantel McFetridge scored on a penalty shot.

Though his team outshot the Paladins 27-2, head coach Dave McDowell said there’s still room for improvement.

See McKinty on page 14

QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY FOOD ADVISORY COMMITTEE CALL FOR MEMBERSHIP The vacancy is for a student Member-at-Large position, to be selected by the committee from those responding to this call for membership.

Appointed members shall serve for a one-year renewable term. The committee is anxious to attain full representation. While the time commitment is not substantial (the committee generally meets once per month for about one hour at noon), it is an essential part of the stakeholder feedback and consultation. If you are interested in the student member-at-large position or if you wish further information, please contact Maureen Hamilton at 533-6000 extension 74553 by October 3, 2011. __________________________________________________________ The current representatives of the committee are: Executive Director, Housing and Hospitality Services AMS SGPS Queen’s CUPE Local QUSA QUFA JDUC MCRC JRHC Vacant Member-at-Large (student) Vacant Member-at-Large (student) Vacant Member-at-Large (student) The Queen’s University Food Committee is mandated to advise the Executive Director of Housing and Hospitality Services on matters pertaining to policies and directions of food services at Queen’s.

Outlets falling under the auspices of the committee include Residence Dining Halls, Residence Convenience Stores, Mackintosh-Corry, The Sidewalk Café, Botterell Hall Bistro, Bio-Sciences Complex and the vending.

Tuesday, sepTember 20, 2011

SPORTS

queensjournal.ca

• 13

SPORTS

14 •queensjournal.ca

Tuesday, sepTember 20, 2011

First loss Continued from page 11

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Winger Andrew Colosimo holds off a Royal Military College player during the Gaels’ 1-0 win at Tindall field yesterday.

ACROSS 1 Marshland 4 Trusty horse 9 Easter entree 12 “Hail, Caesar!”

13 Individually owned apartment 14 Exist 15 Scary party time 17 Allow 18 Summer (Fr.) 19 Simoleons 21 Angora yarn 24 Upper limbs 25 Lawyers’ org.

26 —Lingus 28 Wait patiently 31 Game played on horseback 33 Newcomer to society 35 Poi base 36 Alabama city 38 Evergreen type 40 Greek cross 41 Crumbly earth 43 Teen’s wall decoration 45 Opportunity 47 Tribute in verse 48 That woman 49 Spice Girl Geri 54 Noah’s boat 55 Bottled water brand

LAST ISSUE’S ANSWERS

56 57 58 59 52 53 54 55 56 57 58

Storm center Two (Sp.) Prognosticators Small barrel Opposite of “oui” Spud state Golf prop — and outs Male and female Raw rock Favorable vote

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 16 20 21 22 23 27 29 30 32 34 37 39 42 44 45 46 50 51 52 53

‘Humbug!’

Eggs Come together Nova — Rose to great heights Away from WSW Plant swelling Philanthropists, e.g.

Austrian city important in the Iron Age Neigh-borhood Christian denom.

Meadow Leave out Charts Reed instrument Distinguishing characteristics Ump Scottish hillside Thy Muscat’s country Manic-depressive McDonald’s logo ‘The Thinker’ and ‘The Kiss,’ e.g.

Go Stitch African nation Medal earner Falsehood ‘A mouse!’

Caustic solution Journey segment

the 87th minute.

Head coach Chris Gencarelli said his team overlooked their cross-town opponents.

“We were too complacent and too comfortable,” he said. “It’s one of those games where you just take the points, walk away and get ready for tomorrow.”

The Gaels delivered another lacklustre performance on Sunday, marking their first loss of the season and their first loss against Trent since 2007.

The team looked strong in the first half but couldn’t score. Trent striker Devon Coutu netted the game winner in the 67th minute to beat the Gaels 1-0.

“First and foremost, our attitude against the weak teams in the division needs to change,” captain Joe Zupo said. “We sometimes overlook that every game in this league is a tough one.”

Zupo said the game tape from the weekend will prove useful in preparing for coming games.

“We need to take a long look at what went wrong this weekend and analyze what we need to do to change,” said the second-year defender. “Everyone who’s on this team needs to put in the effort, both in practice and in games.”

Gencarelli said the Gaels’ erratic play on the weekend isn’t cause for concern.

“The guys know it needs to be better and it will be better,” he said. “Throughout the season, we’re going to have little bumps in the road.”

Gencarelli was quick to highlight areas for improvement.

“Work ethic. Plain and simple,” he said. “We need to be ready to compete and work hard and we need to finish the chances that we get in front of the goal.”

The Gaels host the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and the Ryerson Rams at Richardson Stadium next weekend.

McKinty shines Continued from page 12

“It’s frustrating,” he said. “The stuff we work on in training for hours doesn’t show in game situations.”

Midfielder Alexis McKinty posted a hat trick in the five-goal second half against the Excalibur on Saturday in Peterborough. Forward Jackie Tessier had two goals and goalkeeper Chantel Marson had her third shutout of the season.

“We looked a lot crisper,” McDowell said.

The 5-0 Gaels face the 1-3-1 Ryerson Rams on Saturday and the 4-1-0 Toronto Varsity Blues on Sunday at Richardson Stadium.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

queensjournal.ca

• 15

postscript ANIMALS

Safe spaces for animals in need Kingston Animal Rescue finds foster homes for small animals that shelters can’t accommodate B y J essica F ishbein Postscript Editor

good foster homes before animals are adopted permanently, adding that numbers of interested students It’s not uncommon to have a peak in September.

Fostering an animal is usually stray cat intercept your path when walking around the student ghetto. a six to eight-month commitment, “Cat overpopulation is a real meaning the eight-month school crisis,” said Alison Migneault, year isn’t a conflict.

Taking in a pet isn’t the director of Kingston Animal Rescue (KAR). “There are so many financial burden some students stray cats and so much breeding would expect.

“If there were economic especially in our community.” concerns we would supplement,” Lots of organizations Migneault said. These costs could include vaccinations and general have to euthanize supplies. For rabbits, this includes animals due to space the cost of hay, which is about and numbers, but an $15 per month. animal we take in is Student housing is checked to ensure the space makes an safe from risk appropriate home for the foster pet. of euthanasia.

Following the minimum sixmonth commitment, foster families have the option of adoption.

—Alison Migneault, Kingston Animal “They give them love and Rescue director affection and get to know their likes, dislikes and personalities,” According to Migneault, a Migneault said.

Migneault said KAR hasn’t female cat could have up to three litters a year, meaning a single cat enountered any poor foster families. and her offspring could produce The organization was founded in 2010 and is currently responsible up to 400,000 cats combined.

KAR is a volunteer-run, no-kill for 47 animals.

“We have a rigorous application animal shelter.

“Lots of organizations have to system and people can easily euthanize animals due to space and identify what animals they want to numbers, but an animal we take foster,” Migneault said.

“We are 100 per cent volunteer in is safe from risk of euthanasia,” Migneault said. “Rescuing is so literally all of our money goes to animals.” literally saving a life.”

Migneault was clear in Currently KAR has three Queen’s students fostering animals. her distinction between the Migneault said students offer aims of a pet store versus a

“

”

Holly and Dixie are two rabbits that the Kingston Animal Rescue took in after over 200 rabbits were removed from a residence in Ontario.

rescue organization.

“By going to a pet store, you are supporting an industry that is making money off of animals,” she said. “They just want the animals to breed and reproduce without thinking of the consequences.”

KAR vaccinates and spays and neuters all animals before giving

them to a foster home.

“It’s never an option that an animal we take in could go off and reproduce,” she said, adding that the adoption fee of $100 goes towards the cost to spay or neuter a pet as well as vaccinations.

Small animals are currently KAR’s priority.

student life

Queen’s students give shelter Students seek to improve lives of animals through adoption and volunteering At 10 months old, Apollo, a labrador retriever/beagle cross was adopted by Queen’s student Madlyn Axelrod from the Kingston Humane Society.

“I wanted to give a dog who needed a second chance the opportunity to live a happy life,” Axelrod, ArtSci ’11, said. “It was important to me to help a dog in need.”

Axelrod said she was concerned about buying a dog from a pet store because of the risk of supporting puppy mills — breeding operations that mass-produce puppies in substandard conditions.

It also made financial sense to rescue a pet, she said.

Apollo was adopted once before but his previous owners didn’t anticipate the difficulties of owning a pet.

“He was too high-energy for them,” Axelrod said.

Balancing a student lifestyle with caring for a dog is possible if Axelrod’s experience is

any indication.

“I like to study at home anyway and I didn’t live far from campus, so I was able to come back in between classes to take him for a walk and to give him some attention,” she said.

During her time at Queen’s, Axelrod lived in the Student Ghetto with two housemates.

“It was definitely an adjustment for my housemates but they were really wonderful and accommodating and opened up to having a dog in the house,” she said. “I took care of Apollo myself — I didn’t ask them to walk him or feed him or anything — but it was still quite an imposition on their space.”

Now three years old, Apollo is unable to join Axelrod at law school residence at New York University.

“I wanted to keep Apollo with me after graduation because he’s become like my best friend,” she said. “I also wanted to be able to

find my footing in a new city and new school before committing to having my dog.”

Apollo is living with Axelrod’s family for the time being.

to give a “dogI wanted who needed a

second chance the opportunity to live a happy life.

”

—Madlyn Axelrod, ArtSci ’11

“They’re thrilled to be able to house him for the year. Hopefully next year he’ll be able to join me again,” she said.

For students who can’t commit to fostering pets, the campus club Lost Paws offers an alternative.

Co-Chair Marissa Boccongelle, ArtSci ’12, said students travel to Kingston Humane Society to volunteer.

“We’re hoping to have weekly

trips,” she said. “They have rats and gerbils and smaller animals, but it’s more so the dogs and cats we focus on.”

Boccongelle said some students can’t foster animals due to rules set in place by landlords.

“I was looking into fostering animals this summer but my landlord told me I couldn’t,” she said.

According to the Residential Tenancies Act, landlords cannot restrict their tenants from housing pets. The exception to the rule involves exotic animals. They can be legally banned due to health or safety risks.

Landlords may implement a no-pet policy but it’s not legally binding.

— Jessica Fishbein

Supplied

“We have a special interest in … rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and rats, because they’re forgotten animals that don’t get the same care as a dog or cat,” she said. “At this point we’re open from anything to a dog down in terms of size.”

In emergency situations, rescue organizations in the area pool resources.

When the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) removed over 200 rabbits from an Ontario home last May, KAR took in 25.

“Lots of people think rabbits can just be released into the wild,” Migneault said. “Many rabbits have been domesticated for decades if not centuries and are ill-equipped to fend for themselves. Rabbits are prey animals.”

In the spring, animal shelters often receive abandoned and neglected rabbits that were impulsively purchased for Easter, Migneault said.

“Rabbits are really misunderstood animals. They have to be in a large, proper pen so they can exercise and a shelter can’t accommodate that need for space,” she said.

As pets, rabbits are fairly high-maintenance, requiring food pellets, vegetables, hay, fresh water and a clean litter box.

They live eight to 10 years and need three to four hours of exercise outside of a pen each day.

According to Migneault, giving an animal up to a shelter can put a strain on its space and resources.

“If you can’t help an animal, you should find someone else to foster it,” Migneault said.

16 •queensjournal.ca

Tuesday, September 20, 2011