The Queen's Journal, Volume 150, Issue 13

Queen’s Commerce club suspended after serious incident

Student Conduct Office investigation is ongoing

Aimée Look Assistant News Editor

Queen’s Finance Association (QFA) activities were suspended on Nov. 3 following a serious incident of non-academic misconduct.

QFA hosts Canada’s oldest undergraduate finance conference called QFAC. The 2022-23 conference has been canceled alongside other events following the serious incident of non-academic misconduct. Each year, QFA runs panels, sends newsletters, and interviews distinguished finance professionals.

The club previously boasted its networking opportunities and interactive workshops.

The Student Conduct Office is conducting an ongoing investigation, which deals with “Category 2” cases of severe non-academic misconduct.

“[The incident] involved high-risk behavior and alcohol,” Commerce Dean Wanda Costen said in a statement to all Commerce students.

The incident is still under review by the Student Conduct Office. Costen has been consulted throughout the process and fully supports the decision to halt QFA activities.

“The safety and well-being of Smith students is a top priority for me. I will not tolerate student behavior that jeopardizes this,” Costen said.

The suspension is indefinite, and correspondence is confidential,

according to the Commerce Society (ComSoc).

“We are not at liberty to comment on the ongoing nature of this process,” ComSoc said in a statement to The Journal.

An individual working at ComSoc, Thomas*, told The Journal the incident allegedly involved “hazing” activities.

Thomas said they believe the incident was not fully under the supervision of the club.

Thomas alleged the incident was first reported to the University and ComSoc was later informed. ComSoc is waiting for a decision from the University, according to Thomas.

“Right now, it’s with Queen’s University. They are determining what measures will be taken,” they said. “[ComSoc] will take whatever

recommendation is given by the university—most likely […] It’s very much beyond ComSoc.”

A former member of QFA, Beth*, said that in their experience, the club conducts its social events like “any other” Commerce club.

“The stuff they’re doing, to my knowledge, are normal socials—and the type that pretty much almost every club in [ComSoc] runs,” they said in an interview with The Journal.

“Members can make decisions for themselves.”

QFA is working on events such as competitions in New York, Road to CEO, and the QFAC conference—many of which could not run during COVID-19. At the time of publication, Road to CEO is still scheduled to run, according to ComSoc’s website.

Women’s Rugby takes home silver medal

4 against the uOttawa Gee-Gees.

Queen’s repeated their Monilex Trophy-winning performance from last year with another win over the Gee-Gees.

Sarah Maat Sports Editor

After winning the OUA Championships at home on Oct. 28, Women’s Rugby flew to British Columbia to compete in the U Sports Championships in Victoria.

Over the last week they played in the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and the gold medal game. In the end, Queen’s played well and returned home as silver medalists.

To kick off their campaign for a national title, the Gaels played the host Victoria Vikes and brought the enthusiasm and grit they’ve become known for this season.

The last time these team played, the Vikes beat the Gaels on Nixon field. This year, Queen’s returned the favor by beating Victoria on their home turf.

Maggie Banks scored Queen’s only try before a 10-10 tie forced extra time. During the extended time, Lizzie Gibson—U Sports Rugby Player of the Year—scored a penalty convert for the win.

The Gaels played their second game of the tournament on Nov.

Queen’s was up 22-0 in the first half, but the Gee-Gees fought hard and blanked the Gaels 17-0 in the second half. Their comeback, however, wasn’t enough as Queen’s moved onto the championship game against Laval with a 22-17 win.

The Rogue et Or beat the Gaels in the 2019 gold medal match, while Queen’s won when they faced in last year’s semi-final match. These teams have had a contested history.

This year’s game started off solid for both teams. Queen’s fought hard for a try as the Rouge et Or held a disciplined and impenetrable defensive line. Laval converted on each of Queen’s three penalty kicks in the first half to build a 9-0 lead by halftime.

Queen’s still had 40 minutes to put up some points, and they did just that three minutes into the second half. Rookie Madison Donnelly found the try zone after some excellent passing on the left side of the field.

However, the Gaels struggled to maintain their momentum as Laval scored a try of their own six minutes later. In the end, Laval put

up another penalty conversion and another try to give themselves a 17-point lead.

Queen’s never gave up. Even in the final moments when all hope should’ve been lost, the Gaels dug deep and looked to their stands for support. A surprising number of Queen’s fans made the trek to B.C. to don their tricolour and support the Gaels—their impassioned chants and cheers came through even on the CBC livestream.

Although Queen’s couldn’t pull off the comeback, they still played a game to be proud of. When the final whistle blew, the Gaels ran over to give their cheering section a standing ovation.

“Obviously it is a lot of fun to go out and win, and win banners and championships and things of that sort, but at the end of the day its that old adage its about the journey not the destination and its about making sure that we have fun along the way,” Head Coach Dan Valley told The Journal

After the game, Queen’s Jaden Walker was named Nike Top Performers of the game alongside Laval’s Corinne Fréchette.

Maggie Banks, Mya Brubacher, Siobhan Sheerin, and Jaden Walker were all named to the Tournament All-Star team.

Women’s Rugby should be proud of their performance this season. It’s no small feat to bring home the OUA Champions title and U Sports silver medal.

“It’s a bummer because of something that seemed pretty out of their control [...] we’re taking opportunities away from students,” Beth said.

Having been a first-year representative of another club, they’ve always felt Commerce clubs are supportive environments.

“There’s this first-social culture at most clubs where you’re coming on, it’s the first time hanging out with everybody. People might give you the offer to drink with them [...] if you look too drunk, people will take care of you.”

Current QFA Co-Chairs Chloe Campeau and Laura Connolly did not respond to The Journal’s request for comment at time of publication.

*Name changed for safety reasons

Gaels lose gold medal game to Rouge et Or at the U Sports Championship

The Gaels travelled to Victoria to compete. SUPPLIED

Turkish pastry shop opens in University District

Business owner excited

products with students and community members

Asbah Ahmad Senior News Editor

A new business opened at the end of October at the intersection of Division and Earl St., offering students and community members traditional Turkish delights.

The business is named “Marjana” and menu items include imported pastries from Turkey that are hard to come by in the local Kingston market. Signature items on the menu include baklava, a Mediterranean pastry that includes cloves, lemon, and honey, all layered within Phyllo dough.

Fresh, daily baked savoury items such as Turkish pizza and feta and spinach baked goods are available for purchase along with sweet dishes.

Marjana’s owner, Ala Abdullah, is originally from the South of Iraq, but has lived in Canada for almost 20 years. Many of his staff come from diverse backgrounds including Turkey and Syria.

For Abdullah, starting his business in the heart of the University District and close to campus gives him the opportunity to engage with the local community, which includes students.

“We had the opportunity to get this location and I am thinking this will work. We are trying to make it work,

and we will add more,” Abdullah said in an interview with The Journal.

Understanding Marjana’s local market and target audience of students is very important to Abdullah. He said they will be listening to students and seeing what they can serve based on student demand.

The foot traffic in the area is something Abdullah wishes to engage with, by providing a welcoming atmosphere in the shop. The store features warm colours, and displays of intricate, tasty, pastries line the counters.

In the corner, Angel, the shop’s African Grey Parrot, sometimes makes an appearance—keeping customers engaged and livening up the atmosphere.

For many students who come from countries where a lot of traditional Turkish pastries have been adopted, Marjana offers itself as a taste of home in Kingston. Abdullah said the business and product is for everyone to try and explore.

“Students like the product. A lot of students from different nationalities come, and they like the product. We try to do very high quality,” Abdullah said.

Abdullah said a challenge in starting any new business is getting people into the store. He said people are starting to know about Marjana, and the store will be increasing their online presence through app delivery soon.

Abdullah’s favourite product at Marjana is the “muscle” baklava, joking that it makes your muscles bigger. The baklava is filled with pistachio, and various assortment of fillings.

When asked if he had a message for students, Abdullah asked them to come in. “Come in for a sample, come in to see the store.”

Queen’s Arab Student’s Association connects Arab students on campus

Association hosts cultural and language events for Arab students

Sophia Coppolino Assistant News Editor

The Queen’s Arab Students’ Association (QASA) is offering a dedicated space for Arab students at Queen’s.

QASA is a non-religious and non-political group founded this year by Alla Khalaf, Nurs ’24, who has wanted to connect the Arab community at Queen’s since she became a student. The club offers various events for students to educate them and bring them together.

“When I started the QASA, I was thinking of it as a social-cultural group—just to build the community for [Arab] students at Queen’s, and to connect students and provide them with a space to connect and interact,” Khalaf said in an interview with The Journal.

This semester, QASA is focused on establishing a team and collaborating with other student organizations. They’re also looking to get ratified by the AMS Clubs Commission and raise money through fundraisers and applying to AMS funding.

For their first event, QASA is hosting a fully booked Qahwa Night at Mitchell Hall, in conjunction with the Egyptian Students Association at Queen’s.

The event will feature board games,

live Arabic music, snacks, food, coffee, and a traditional Dabke. There will also be dialect challenges.

For Khalaf, language is a huge part of being Arab.

“Arab is anybody that speaks the language Arabic. Most Arabs are usually from the Middle East or any other country, but it’s just speaking the language, because I feel like the language is a huge part of our identity. It’s what connects most students most of the time.”

QASA aims to provide students with the opportunity to learn and practice Arabic, as well as teaching traditional dancing and eating Arab food.

“That’s also a big part, finding [Arab] spaces in Kingston, like Arab restaurants,” Khalaf said.

Khalaf came to Toronto five years ago from Syria and has been heavily involved in organizing events for her community, like the annual Taste of the Middle East festival.

“I’m hoping if we get enough funding to organize festivals that let other Arab and non-Arab students know about our food, music, and culture,” she said.

QASA plans to gear most of their events, which occur monthly, towards Arab students with the goal of providing them with space to build community. However, QASA also hopes to share their culture with non-Arab students at Queen’s.

“We do strive to establish a community and provide space for [Arab] students to connect and interact, while also promoting our culture, language, and heritage, and adding to the diversity of Queen’s University,” Khalaf said.

EngSoc seeks new logo

Sophia Coppolino Assistant News Editor

Students are competing to have their design become the new Engineering Society (EngSoc) emblem.

Launched by the EngSoc Engagement Committee, the logo competition will culminate with engineering students voting for their favourite design. The chosen new logo will be used

for merchandise, marketing and promotion—EngSoc’s original crest will remain in use for official contexts.

Submissions close on Nov. 13 at midnight.

“The idea with this new logo is having something students can feel they are tied to. Anyone in engineering can submit a design, and everyone in engineering gets to vote on it,” Jonah Opler, chair of the EngSoc Engagement Committee, said in an interview with The Journal.

“Moving forward, the crest will sort of become used for official documentation […] because the current crest includes the old Queen’s crest on it. There are sometimes issues with the trademark office.”

The competition features

prizes for students who submit designs, students who vote for a logo, and for the competition winner.

The winner will receive free EngSoc merchandise, a Ritual line skip, a special bar for their faculty jacket, a mug engraved with the logo, a plaque in the EngSoc student lounge, and bragging rights.

Everyone who submits a design will also be entered in a raffle to win a $15 Tea Room gift card.

While students get full creative freedom, the logo must include the EngSoc purple and yellow and should represent the Queen’s engineering community.

“I feel like there’s definitely been a lot of buzz. I’m very excited. Just hearing people talk about it—I feel like we’ve gotten a pretty

good number of submissions,” Sarah Goldin, EngSoc director of communications, said in an interview with The Journal.

The Engagement Committee —new this year—aims to re-excite the engineering community at Queen’s after the pandemic.

“There’s been a decrease in student engagement over the years. I think COVID-19 really exacerbated that. [The Engagement] Committee is seeking to address that little by little,” Opler said.

“We have four pillars, through which we are looking at this engagement issue: involvement, connection, community, and awareness.”

For its next project, the Engagement Committee is renewing the EngSoc lounge. The

lounge is open on the first-floor of the Integrated Learning Centre (ILC) to all students every day from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

“We want to make it more inviting, more exciting, and accessible to anyone. Because really, any engineering student or anyone should feel welcome. It’s a place to come hang, so we’re hoping to give it another refresh,” Opler said.

Opler and Goldin encouraged everyone with an idea to submit a logo design.

“You get to potentially create the logo that will emblemize our community. It’ll be part of Engineering Society history,” Opler said. “You also get some cool stuff.”

to share

PHOTO BY KAIDA CHEAH

The store offers many products for sale.

The EngSoc Engagement Committee hard at work.

PHOTO BY SOPHIA COPPOLINO

This article includes descriptions of antisemitism and may be triggering for some readers. The Peer Support Centre offers drop-in services and empathetic peer-based support and is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Skylar Soroka Assistant News Editor

A man was allegedly spotted exercising at the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC) with a

Man with Hitler tattoo spotted at ARC

tattoo of Adolf Hitler on his upper back on Nov. 5.

Rob*, a Queen’s student exercising at the ARC at the time, told The Journal he witnessed the incident. It follows graffiti of a swastika being discovered on a fridge in the Albert St. Residence building in early October.

“I was on the first floor [working out] on the machines, I saw a middle-aged man working out on the machine in front of me. He had a scary looking tattoo on his back and shoulder area,” Rob said.

Rob said the man was wearing a very revealing tank top,

clearly flashing this tattoo.

“As I started to get closer to the man to get a better look, he realized I was looking at his tattoo and stared at me,” Rob added.

Rob realized the tattoo was a shirtless Adolf Hitler, wearing a hat with the Reichsadler symbol which Hitler wore during WWII. The Reichsadler symbol represents an “imperial” eagle with the Nazi swastika below, enclosed in a circle.

“I texted my friends, who were working out on another floor, and they came with me to confront him,” Rob added.

SGPS hosts mental and physical health town hall

and professional students’ concerns about mental and physical health treatment access or accommodations.

“We at the SGPS are here to listen, support, and amplify student voices so we always welcome students with any concerns,” Ganslandt said in an interview with The Journal.

make it more gender inclusive.

Ganslandt said the SGPS is compiling a report on the discussions, which they’ll share with “the relevant community and University partners.”

This meeting was a part of a larger town hall series Ganslandt

Rob said, after he asked the man what the tattoo was, the man admitted it was Hitler.

Rob said the man was not hostile towards the group of students when confronted, but he believes this does not excuse the offensive and hateful imagery.

“We told him we found it very offensive,” he said.

Rob said, after the encounter, he and his friends went to the ARC front desk to report the incident.

He said the front desk staff asked for a description of the man, wrote an incident report, thanked Rob and his friends for reporting

and Fowlie have been hosting for the last two months. At these townhalls, the SGPS focused on several student issues, including housing and funding.

Ganslandt added the SGPS offers various types of physical and mental health accommodations for graduate students, like their supplemental insurance plan, provided by Studentcare, which provides 500 hundred dollars to cover therapy.

The SGPS is also trying out a new program this year called Conversation, which offers virtual mental health support,

the incident, asked if they felt unsafe, and took down Rob’s email.

“They did not seem to care too much,” Rob said.” “It felt as if the incident was tolerated.”

“As a Jewish student who works out a lot, it made me feel incredibly unsafe and scared. I wish the ARC would do more to combat this. They need to, in order to make Jewish students feel safe on campus.”

Rob said the staff said they would receive a follow-up email soon. At the time of publication, neither Rob nor his friends have received a follow-up from the ARC.

*Name changed for safety reason

Ganslandt said. It also helps students navigate resources and aids them in formal complaints processes.

The SGPS is hosting another town hall virtually on Nov. 22 where graduate and professional students can talk about anything that is important to them, including access to mental health care.

“We encourage students to come out to that if they have more input to provide on this topic,” Ganslandt said.

Skylar Soroka Assistant News Editor

The Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS) hosted a Mental and Physical Health Town Hall at Kingston Hall on Nov. 8.

The meeting was run by Emilia Ganslandt, vice president (community), and Devin Fowlie, vice-president (graduate) to hear and address graduate

Movember Committee expands outreach to all Queen’s faculties

Aimée Look Assistant News Editor

The Engineering Society (EngSoc)’s Movember committee wants to raise over $10,000 this month for men’s health and reach all faculties.

The committee has been fundraising for the Movember Foundation since 2014, which donates to over 1,200 charities

Meeting attendees expressed facing challenges when it comes to paying for health and wellness services, which aren’t easily accessible a lot of the time, according to them.

Attendees said they wanted to improve the culture of the ARC for all students, by having graduate-student-only fitness classes and expanding the women’s section—with the desire of changing its name to

focusing on men’s health—such as the Canadian Men’s Health Foundation. This year, EngSoc is hoping to grow the initiative from “EngSoc’s Movember” to Queen’s Movember, allowing students from all faculties to participate.

Last year, the committee raised $10,000. This year, they’re trying to surpass this amount.

“This is very important for the Queen’s community as there are thousands of young men attending Queen’s, and many of the health issues Movember works toward improving are very prevalent with young men,” Co-Chairs Grayson Udvari, Sci ’24, and Andy Collishaw, Sci ’25, said in a statement to The Journal

Movember takes place each

EngSoc fundraises for Movember

November and works to improve widespread issues among men. A few of its pillars are suicide prevention, mental health, and testicular cancer.

“Mental health is rarely talked about, especially with men at this

age, so starting the conversation is one thing that needs to be done,” Udvari and Collishaw said.

“Knowing about the health challenges young men face, especially on a university campus, is the first step in ensuring their health and safety.”

The committee hopes to raise $2,000 through events and fundraisers throughout the month. They’re setting up a booth at various times at the ILC in Beamish-Munro Hall, with more information about dates and times on their Instagram account.

The Tea Room is selling ‘Movember Mochas’ this month, donating one dollar to Movember for each mocha bought. CoGro is accepting donations in varying amounts for Movember, upon request when purchasing orders.

The committee is also facilitating an event at Stages Nightclub; they’re selling lineskip tickets for five dollars

on Nov. 26 to raise money for Movember.

At Clark Hall Pub, the Movember is selling fake moustaches in a donate-what-you-can format at the door on Nov 18.

The Movember committee hopes to raise the remaining $8,000 through its fundraising page on the Movember website, where those interested can donate.

Udvari and Collishaw said, over the last two-year, fundraising has primarily been over the Movember platform. During COVID-19, EngSoc held fundraising events such as the Movember Ritual and Movember Mochas with fewer people and “stricter rules.”

The committee urged Queen’s students to get involved by checking out their Instagram account, which shares event updates and ongoing initiatives throughout November.

Graduate student society aims to listen, support, and amplify student voices

Queen’s student says ‘it made me feel incredibly unsafe and scared’

SUPPLIED BY SGPS

The committee aims to raise $8,000 through Movember donations.

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL

SGPS team hands out care packages to meeting attendees.

Principal Deane lobbies to end university tuition fee freeze

University requires funding to meet student needs

Aimée Look Assistant News Editor

Principal Patrick Deane is lobbying the provincial government to end the current tuition fee freeze—to ensure the University receives adequate funding.

The Government of Ontario reduced tuition fees by 10 per cent and froze fees for funding -eligible domestic students in 2019. In March, they extended the freeze through the 2022-23 academic year.

In his report to Senate on Nov. 1, Deane said he’s continuing to lobby the provincial government along with the Council of Ontario Universities and other university presidents to end tuition freezes.

“No decision has been made as of yet, but discussions are ongoing,” Deane wrote in his report.

Stagnant government grants and tuition fees coupled with pressures, such as rising costs and inflation, have hindered financial planning at postsecondary institutions, according to the University.

“Universities need adequate funding to continue to fulfill their mission and meet the needs of students,” the University said in a statement to The Journal.

The University said Ontario’s post-secondary institutions depend on tuition fees and government grants, which cover the operating costs of learning missions and teaching.

The process to apply for financial aid remains the same, and the University will maintain its commitment to prioritizing financial aid resources for those with need.

“Queen’s remains committed to supporting access to postsecondary education, particularly for low-income families,” the University said.

Six people awarded Distinguished Service Award

“‘I’m really excited about the new strategic plan that [Deane] authored, and [Doug] Ford got behind, which pushes us towards looking at the UN measures of sustainability on a global basis,” Leech said in an interview with The Journal.

Leech’s belief is that Queen’s and students should look to do more good in the world. He said the University is perfectly positioned to do good, saying those are the people Queen’s should attract and incubate.

Asbah Ahmad Senior News Editor

The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts was home to the Distinguished Service Awards reception on the evening of Nov. 4.

The award, which was inaugurated by the University Council in 1974 and is given out annually, seeks to recognize the accomplishments of individuals who have made extraordinary positive contributions to Queen’s University. These accomplishments are meant to have a lasting impact on community members.

This year, six individuals were given the honour, with contributions ranging from working as the executive director of Athletics and Recreation (A&R), to supporting the University’s response to COVID-19.

In his opening remarks, Principal Patrick Deane said the six recipients made exemplary

contributions that touched many lives. Marcus Wong, ArtSci ’03 and University Council vice-chair introduced the award recipients.

Leslie Dal Cin, retired, and first female executive director of A&R, was recognized for her work spearheading facility redevelopment, and mental health and EDII work. In her acceptance speech, Dal Cin emphasized the work A&R did as a team.

For her dedication to student improvement and her work in the creation of the Health Sciences Offices of Professional Development and Educational Scholarship, Dr. Leslie Flynn, ArtSci ’78, and a former vice-dean was awarded. She was lauded for her work in medical education.

Dan Langham, director of environmental health and safety at Queen’s, was awarded for his leadership throughout the University’s COVID-19 response. His work—which included policy, program, and

service development—was cited as being instrumental to the University’s operations.

“One of the things I’ve always stressed throughout my career here at the University was that we needed to be a partner in academics and research,” Langham said in an interview with The Journal.

With the pandemic waning, Langham said his team can pick-up projects which were on hold during the pandemic. He said COVID-19 provided an important perspective on many policies his team is currently re-working.

Chancellor Emeritus Jim Leech, MBA ’73, was awarded for his dedicated contributions as a philanthropist, and for his close to seven-year stint as chancellor.

Chancellor Emeritus Leech said the most touching part of his work has been seeing the positive impact of bursaries and initiatives on students during his tenure as chancellor.

Dr. Donald Raymond, Sci ’84 and Emeritus Chair of the Board of Trustees, was awarded for his service on the Board through seeing changes in the systems of governance.

He was awarded for his work promoting responsible investment strategies and fostering relations with student leaders during the overhaul of the student conduct system. Raymond sat on the Board following the 2008 financial recession and worked to tackle challenges then.

Vice-Principal (Research) Kimberly Woodhouse was also among the awardees. She was awarded for her work as the first female Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, where she pushed for a change in engineering education.

Woodhouse was recognized for her role in advocating a link between teaching, research, and industry.

continued online....

Education workers strike sparks response on campus

the safety of staff and students.

The education workers were represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in the labour bargaining process.

Concurrent Education Students’ Association (CESA) President Zachary Galvani said as aspiring teachers, the organization values the work of CUPE members who went on strike. Galvani specifically mentioned the work education workers do to support student learning and safety.

associate teacher to plan for a shift to what was then the possible potential of more long-term online learning.

CESA and the Faculty of Education said they remain hopeful an agreement can be reached without further disruptions to school and any practicum activities.

workers and deny them of their constitutionally protected right to strike and to negotiate a free and fair collective agreement is an egregious violation and represents a direct attack on the rights of all workers in Ontario,” Morelli said in a statement to The Journal.

stagnated for far too long. The government needs to recognise their value and compensate them justly,” Hobill said in a statement to The Journal.

Asbah Ahmad Senior News Editor

Queen’s stakeholders and local unions are commenting on the recent education workers strike action.

Ontario education workers went off the job last Friday, and again briefly on Monday before the Ford government moved towards repealing Bill 28, which prohibits strike action. In response to the strikes, many school boards—including the Limestone District School Board —suspended operations to ensure

“It is disheartening to see that the provincial government failed to engage in good faith bargaining from the onset of negotiations. The use of the notwithstanding clause to undermine Charter Rights and Freedoms was wholly inappropriate,” Galvani said in an email to The Journal.

Both Galvani and Peter Chin, associate dean (Teacher Education), said teacher candidates were instructed to follow the instruction of their assigned school administration and their associate teacher.

“If a practicum moves online and continues to be a productive combination of teaching, planning, and marking it will be counted by the Ontario College of Teachers,” Chin said in a statement to The Journal.

Chin said some students spent Monday working with their

Queen’s University Faculty Association (QUFA) President Jordan Morelli said in invoking the notwithstanding clause, the Ontario government was infringing on the constitutionally protected right to strike.

“The imposition of the notwithstanding clause to impose of contract on CUPE education

Morelli said QUFA will stand in solidarity with education workers and against any “threats” to democracy that disregard basic rights.

PSAC 901 is unequivocally standing in solidarity with CUPE education workers. Astrid Hobil, president of PSAC 901, said their union supports bargaining demands for a fair contract.

“The wages in this sector have

“This is an attack on all workers in the province as it takes away the legal right of these workers to strike, which is a fundamental power that we hold as collective labour.”

Originally, pickets outside Kingston MPP Ted Hsu’s office were planned throughout the week from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Since the announcement from the Ford government on Monday, these pickets have not taken place. Education workers are back in school as of Tuesday.

Schools had to shut their doors.

PHOTO BY HERBERT WANG

With files from Curtis Heinzl

Story

The in-person reception was held at the Isabel Bader Centre.

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL

AMS fall referendum statements

See the full list of descriptions for student fees up for a vote at the fall referendum

The Journal provides free space in our print edition and online for parties on the referendum ballot. All statements are unedited.

This year’s fall referendum will take place on Nov. 14 and 15.

Friends of MSF: Queen’s Chapter

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF or Doctors without Borders) is an international humanitarian organization that provides rapid emergency medical relief to areas with little or no medical infrastructure, operating independently from political, economic, and religious influences.

Friends of MSF: Queen’s Chapter provides students with the opportunity to engage with global health issues by raising awareness and support for the lifesaving work of MSF. Each year, this club raises funds and awareness for MSF’s global health initiatives by orchestrating events such as Queen’s Global Health Summit, Queen’s Walk without Borders, charity concerts, speakers series, and awareness campaigns.

Friends of MSF: Queen’s Chapter also provides its members with information about the nature of national and overseas volunteer work in hopes that they will consider volunteering with MSF later in their professional careers.

The purpose and goals of this club align with Queen’s values of internationalism and social responsibility. Friends of MSF informs the Queen’s community of volunteer opportunities which can inspire students’ future plans. In addition, this club aspires to strengthen relationships between the various faculties at Queen’s. MSF’s missions are accomplished through the combined efforts of a wide range of professionals including doctors, nurses, mental health professionals, laboratory specialists, nutritionists, administrators, and project coordinators. Friends of MSF: Queen’s Chapter strives to mirror this diversity and recruits members from all faculties.

Exhibit Change

Exhibit Change is a student-led club that aims to advocate for significant issues worldwide, including social justice issues, using art’s power as a conduit for advocacy. Furthermore, we also aim to inform the community about these issues and the steps they can take to help mitigate them within their community, if applicable. Our output is split into two sectors; one sector within the club works on relatively bigger projects. At the same time, the other completes more consistent small posts on our social media to continually and regularly inform the community and bring attention to important issues worldwide. The relatively bigger projects are split into two wings, the art wing and the research wing. Researchers and artists interested in working on similar topics are paired together and communicate with each other to determine how they would like to complete their projects. The researchers delve deep into their selected topic and compile information, developing a synopsis. This information will be combined with the artistic products of the art wing (painting, digital art, or any artistic medium the artist desires), which will also be related to the topic of the project. Ultimately, we combine the artistic and research components and post them on social media. If separated and not within the same slide, the art component is usually placed first, grasping the viewers’ attention, and the synopsis is usually found on the second slide. However, this can vary depending on the researchers’ and artists’ preferences. The other sector is similar but

to a smaller extent and is more research heavy than art-heavy, allowing us to cover more information and topics we feel should be addressed.

Queen’s Concrete Toboggan Team

Queen’s Concrete Toboggan is a multidisciplinary engineering design team that competes annually at The Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race (GNCTR), the largest and longest running Canadian undergraduate Engineering Competition. The Team enters each design year with the goal of providing engineering students at Queen’s University with an opportunity to apply classroom theory in a unique and fun way through the design and construction of a five-person toboggan with concrete running surfaces. Queen’s participation in the GNCTR allows students to utilize skills gained from their engineering education in a design capacity and test their problem-solving skills. Furthermore, the design process allows members to develop their teamwork skills through collaborative work and technical report writing with colleagues from a variety of disciplines.

CFRC 101.9 FM

CFRC 101.9 FM is Queen’s voice - YOUR voice- in the media! Broadcasting since 1922 and podcasting since 2018, CFRC is the space on campus where students share their voices, ideas, perspectives, creativity, research, initiatives and interests with a global community, make their marks, and jumpstart their careers. Our music and spoken word content broadcasts on 101.9 FM and Cogeco Cable 282, streams at cfrc.ca, various mobile apps, and podcasts through Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, and Deezer feeds. 75% of CFRC pod/broadcasters are Queen’s students or alumni who enjoy opportunities to engage with and shape their communities on campus, in Kingston, and around the world. Students are also members on our Board of Directors ensuring student vision and leadership steers your campus radio station.

100% of student fees go directly to the maintenance and operation of the station in Lower Carruthers Hall: maintaining the space and the one of the largest music collections in the region, keeping our equipment updated and in good repair, training broadcasters and podcasters, and paying staff wages (all CFRC staff are students or recent Queen’s graduates) including station administration and program coordination. Fees also support the creation of student employment opportunities through SWEP and Work Study Programs and support the creation of news programming, public service announcements and our daily broadcasted events calendars that inform students about current issues, events and services of which they can take advantage.

On and off the airwaves, students gain life-long career-building skills in research, audio production, writing, oral presentation, listening, interviewing, time-management, collaboration and team-building, outreach and event-planning, influencing others, customer orientation, strategic thinking, and leadership.

For 100 years, CFRC has been proud to provide space for diverse students to share their voices, vision, and perspectives and to both engage and build their communities.

Queen’s Baja

The Queen’s Baja SAE Design Team is a multi-disciplinary team that designs, manufactures, and races a single rider offroad vehicle. Queen’s Baja competes in the

North American Baja SAE Three Series, which attracts over 100 teams from around the world to compete in a variety of events. The competitive environment allows team members to test their designs and learn from other passionate students from all corners of the globe.

The team’s success hinges on open, positive communication whether that be between team members, with the faculty, or with the public. Team members with strong communication skills often become team leaders in their senior years providing valuable experience managing teams, developing a project plan, and creating a vision for success. The Baja team provides members with a real open-ended design problem that requires extensive research, an iterative design process, advanced modelling and analysis, and final design validation. This dynamic platform is ideal for students seeking a challenge where hardwork, sound design principles, and creativity are encouraged.

The team is always looking for ways to innovate from using topology optimization software as part of the ideation process to designing fully custom parts that are traditionally stock parts. Queen’s Baja is one of the most established design teams on Queen’s campus and continues to provide students with amazing experiences.

Queen’s First Aid

Queen’s First Aid Campus Response Team is a university campus first aid response team serving Queen’s University and its direct community in Kingston. At its core, the team is composed of motivated and enthusiastic students who are looking to make a positive difference while developing their leadership, communication skills and confidence.

Queen’s First Aid serves as a confidential and professional service responding to medical emergencies on campus. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we operated and were available 24/7. As we slowly return to normal, we will be available from 2 pm - 11 pm, 7 days/week until further notice.

Our presence is also seen at many events, both on and off campus, where our first aid teams provide coverage free of charge. These include O-Week events, football games, banquets, formals, convocations, Polar Bear dips, boat cruises and more. Any Queen’s club or group can request our attendance by using our request form.

Queen’s First Aid has a team of two responders available to be dispatched through the Queen’s Emergency Report Centre to attend first aid situations -- simply call 613-533-6111 or press an emergency blue light on campus. This service is available between 2 pm and 11 pm, 7 days/week during the regular academic year, excluding Thanksgiving weekend, Reading Week and exam periods.

Queen’s Lyme Disease Coalition

Queen’s Lyme Disease Coalition, Madoc’s Chapter is an AMS-ratified club dedicated to raising awareness and funds for Lyme Disease research in Canada. We do this through two main avenues: fundraising and awareness. Firstly, we support Lyme disease research in Canada by raising funds for the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation to support their mission to raise awareness and promote Lyme disease research, education, and treatment. Secondly, we aim to raise awareness by educating the people in Kingston and the Queen’s community.

We do this by promoting awareness of the preventative measures that one can take to prevent tick bites and Lyme disease, and by promoting awareness of the early warning signs of Lyme disease; this promotes tick safety and Lyme disease knowledge in our community, improving our community’s overall public health. We also raise awareness about Lyme disease research by running events such as awareness campaigns and research-based public knowledge events, like our annual Speaker Series event. Overall, we are working towards the goal that we can one day find a cure for Lyme disease and its symptoms.

Loving Spoonful

Loving Spoonful builds community around good food throughout Kingston and area by utilizing innovative, collaborative programs and outreach. The fundamental principle underlying Loving Spoonful’s work is that all people need good food to thrive. We recognize food as a powerful community builder and engage in partnerships across the region to create social inclusion and a strong local food system. Loving Spoonful promotes, supports, and champions programs and policy change that realizes social, environmental, and economic justice. We envision a resilient community and local food system, that nourishes all people and supports dignified access to good food.

Kingston Canadian Film Festival

Founded in 2001, the Kingston Canadian Film Festival (KCFF) is a charitable organization grounded in the belief that Canadian film and filmmakers are distinctive and vital to our country’s culture. We seek to develop an audience for our national cinema by promoting and celebrating Canadian film and media while supporting and encouraging local film production.

Showcasing all genres of film, KCFF has screened 700+ feature films and 1,000+ short films over the years – some by firsttime filmmakers, some by Oscar winners. Our programming enriches the lives of our audience and community while promoting tourism, local business, and Canadian arts and culture.

In 2021, KCFF presented its first fully digital festival and offered patrons 10 days of Canadian films available to stream at home. For the first time, the largest all-Canadian film festival was available to patrons across the globe reaching viewers in Russia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Brazil, the United States, and across Canada. In March 2022, KCFF offered its first hybrid festival - one that included at-home digital streaming and a return to the theatres.

KCFF will be inviting guests and patrons back to Kingston for the Festival in 2023 and reinvigorating the dynamic experience that visitors have come to expect year after year. KCFF has 20 years of incredible guests including Gerry Dee, Bif Naked, Gordon Pinsent, Cathy Jones, and Deepa Mehta, plus cast from shows like Baroness Von Sketch, Letterkenny, Mr. D, Trailer Park Boys, and Kids in the Hall.

As a charitable cultural organization, our mission is to provide access to Canadian film in a dynamic festival setting. KCFF presents screenings, events, and activities that provide a fresh experience of Canadian film. In turn, KCFF creates an audience that supports and encourages the ongoing development and appreciation of our national cinema and its creators.

Queen’s Soul Food

Queen’s Soul Food is a needs-based, student-driven organization that aims to support the local communities of its chapters. The organization strives to find creative solutions to, and promote awareness of local food security and issues of food waste at Queen’s University and the wider Kingston community. With the help of a team of about 70 volunteers, our main activity is to pick up un-served, leftover food from Queen’s cafeterias and to deliver it to various shelters in the Kingston area on a daily basis. Through awareness and fundraising events that we hold throughout the year, we strive to foster and build relationships with Queen’s clubs that share similar values, to promote responsible food consumption, to build bridges between Queen’s University and the Kingston community, and to raise awareness about individuals living in poverty in Kingston and in Canada as a whole.

Queen’s Events

“Wouldn’t it be cool if all the events at Queen’s and downtown were listed in one place, easy to find?” QueensEvents.ca / @ queensevents on Instagram helps students develop a sense of belonging, both at Queen’s and in their communities, by promoting all upcoming events year-round. This includes Arts – theatre, film screenings, concerts, art classes - Academic – study sessions, public lectures, conferences, competitions, workshops, career fairs - and Socials – sports, fundraisers, dances, tournaments, trivia, networking nights. If you have a late birthday, you might be surprised to find out that 70% of the events happening every week are open to all ages, not just 19 plus!

Annually, we help 400+ event organizers get more “bums in seats” at their events. We also host workshops during the year for event planners to network and share resources.

@QueensEvents organizes fun giveaways on Instagram to help students feel more at-home in Kingston. Carving pumpkins is a fun fall tradition that can be a helpful study break activity, however, it can be difficult to get pumpkins home from the grocery store without a car, so QueensEvents took the initiative to deliver pumpkins to student houses. This small act of “normalcy” during the pandemic had a positive impact on students’ mental health and wellbeing. Hearing that students wanted to get into nature to recharge, QueensEvents covered the transportation for a group to attend a community tree planting event. We also gave away group tickets to the Fall Fair, The Screening Room, cross-country skiing at Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area, and paddling with Ahoy Rentals. For St. Patrick’s Day, QueensEvents placed pop-up garbage and recycling bins throughout the University District. This, along with a community clean-up (“if there’s less litter, maybe you’ll litter less”), resulted in positive community feedback, and kept our streets clean

Queen’s University Taylor Swift Society

The Queen’s University Taylor Swift Society, commonly known as QUTSS, is a club that was formed to bring together individuals who have a shared interest in Taylor Swift’s life and musical legacy. With various events, including dance and listening parties, trivia nights, and baking/movie nights, our club seeks to create a community where students can bond with others over their love for Swift’s music. We aim to provide a safe space, free of judgement where everyone is welcome. With over 1200 followers on our social media platforms and over 250 members in our Facebook group, we have seen exponential growth and interest in the club over the past year. Club events requiring tickets consistently sold out within 10 minutes. With the recent increase in interest, we anticipate the enthusiasm for

events will only continue to rise, opening up new opportunities for the club within the Queen’s community.

Queen’s Cardiac Research Committee

The Queens Cardiac Research Committee is a student-led committee that aims to make research findings pertaining to cardiovascular diseases more accessible and digestible for Queens students. We hope to raise awareness for the importance of cardiovascular research, as well as inspire students to explore career options that align with their interests. Our goal is to make complicated research and information more accessible for the public to understand. Within our committee, we post weekly infographics and digital animations on our Instagram (@queenscrc). This year, we will be hosting various events throughout the year and an end-of-year conference! We believe that the success of our mission will greatly benefit both Queens students and the community on a larger scale.

Queen’s International Affairs Association

Established in 1907, Queen’s International Affairs Association (QIAA) is a not-forprofit, student-led organization at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. QIAA aims to educate, engage, and enhance the experience of all Queen’s students to promote a better understanding of international affairs within Queen’s and the broader global community. We do this through all of our initiatives! This includes our two annual conferences: the Queen’s Model United Nations Invitational (QMUNi) in the Fall and the Queen’s National Model United Nations Conference (QNMUN) in the Winter. QIAA also publishes the only international-relations journal on campus, The Observer and is the home to Right of Reply, our international relations podcast. QIAA is renowned for its Speaker’s Series events which feature many prominent figures of International relations and politics. Our International Development Week held in February strives to bring awareness to Canada’s role in reducing poverty on a global scale. Finally, the Queen’s Model United Nations Team competes in Model United Nations conferences across North America. Aside from our initiatives we have an internal team of marketing, events, outreach, EDI, finance, and a chief of staff.

QIAA appeals to people across all faculties as international affairs applies to everyone. We have students in our club from Health Science, Commerce, Philosophy, Politics and many others. Through our events and initiatives we aim to create an engaging and welcoming environment where students feel they can discuss important topics. We also facilitate professional development and alumni relations events which help strengthen relationships with current and past QIAA members.

Canadian Association for Global Health

The Canadian Association for Global Health (CAGH) was established in the summer of 2021 as an outcome of a membersupported amalgamation of the Canadian Society for International Health (CSIH) and the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research (CCGHR). CAGH is a national notfor-profit organization that brings together a vibrant global health community working to create a healthier and more equitable world. The Queen’s Student Chapter of the CAGH represents CAGH on Queen’s campus, and has four main objectives:

To promote global health research as a model and a driver of collaboration and equity in the creation, co-production, and translation of knowledge.

To advocate for equitable and mutually beneficial global health programming, evidence-informed decision making, and improved health and wellbeing globally.

To increase global health knowledge, education, and literacy, specifically among global health outreach groups already on campus.

To hold networking events to connect global health professionals with Queen’s University students, promoting opportunities in the field of global health.

Our most valued initiative is our mentorship program, launched last year. Our program connects undergraduate students at Queen’s to various individuals in academia and industry who have experience in global health, public health, or development studies. Through this connection, we hope to inspire undergraduate students to pursue opportunities in global health and provide them with the resources and support that they’ll need to do so. As a relatively new club founded in 2020, we are very keen on gaining traction within the Queen’s community through student support. Looking to the future, we hope to grow our existing initiatives to provide more opportunities for students to get involved in global health so that they can become successful global citizens

Queen’s Conference on Education

Since its inception in 2002, the Queen’s Conference on Education has evolved into the largest student-run annual conference at Queen’s University. The conference is geared towards anyone who is interested in expanding, enriching, and evolving their viewpoints on education. Conference delegates include students from over fifteen other universities in Ontario as well as students and professors from NORD University in Norway.

QCE provides hundreds of conference delegates with the opportunity to explore a number of themes in the world of education through keynote presentations and interactive workshops which range from discussing current issues in the field of education to a focus on professional development and refining practical and related skills. The conference also provides the chance for delegates to interact and network with peers who are also interested in teaching in the future.

Each year, the executive team chooses a theme for the conference in hopes to share more about a specific subject that can impact all educators. Over the course of a weekend, QCE hopes to bring fellow future educators together into an environment of learning about oneself, others, and the workplace.

During a delegate’s stay in Kingston, they will experience two dynamic keynote speakers, a special lunchtime speaker, four engaging workshops and a banquet shared with fellow delegates.

QCE aims to provide a conference like no other and hopes to make it a milestone of all delegates’ undergraduate careers.

Queen’s Aero Design Team

The Queen’s Aero Design Team (QADT) is the foremost resource for Queen’s University students seeking to learn about unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) design, construction, and operation. Composed of students from a wide range of disciplines and years of experience, our team is grouped into five major divisions: Aerodynamics, Structural, Software, Communications, and Electronics. Through mentorship, dedicated projects, and independent learning within each division, members develop the technical and soft skills necessary for a career in engineering.

For competition each year the team designs and builds a novel system composed of any aircraft ranging from a fixed-wing (plane), a multi-rotor drone, a rotary wing, and more. The team competes in a Pan-Canadian Unmanned Aerial Systems Competition giving students operational experience with UAV technology

in a task-based scenario. Our mission is to provide unique opportunities for students to learn, explore, and experience all aspects of aircraft design and construction in a team environment while developing  innovative designs.

To be successful, the team relies on its members, who span all faculties, disciplines, years, and skill levels. The team provides members with practical experience in aerodynamics, electronics, communications, and engineering design to assemble an unmanned aerial system capable of surveillance, reliable flight operations, and data collection. At competition members gain first-hand technical and operational experience with autonomous aircrafts completing problems at the forefront of the unmanned aircraft industry. Furthermore, the competition allows students to directly network with experts in the aerospace industry, helping them secure jobs in the field.

Queen’s Debating Union

The Queen’s Debating Union is oldest club at Queen’s University and the oldest debating society in Canada, founded in 1843. The QDU fosters a deep commitment to maintaining both our competitive excellence and open social community. We cherish our traditions and our enduring connections with our alumni. In both the fall and winter semesters we send Queen’s students across Canada and the world to debate tournaments at all different universities. The QDU is open to all Queen’s students and to the greater Kingston community, as demonstrated by our afterschool programs with local elementary schools as well as our outreach program at Collins Bay.

TEDxQueensU

Looking to revitalize the educational experience at Queen’s University, TEDxQueensU is a collective of people whose goals are to teach and share ideas worth spreading. TEDxQueensU is a communityrun event: partnering with students, faculty, alumni, and the surrounding Kingston community to be a catalyst for the sharing of creative and profound ideas. Through community, education and ideas, TEDxQueensU hopes to invigorate the imaginations of students and faculty alike. We build our conference around the TED mission of sharing incredible ideas. We want to use this event to showcase Queen’s creativity, ingenuity, and innovation while at the same time hosting amazing speakers from around the world. The 2023 conference will be the 13th annual TEDx event held at Queen’s University. Our event is made entirely possible through the generous support of local organizations, alumni, and major partners. We believe in bringing together organizations and individuals who are trailblazers, supporting a platform for the sharing of remarkable thinking and ideas at a top Canadian university and city.

Canadian Association for Research in Regenerative Medicine

The Canadian Association for Research in Regenerative Medicine (CARRM) is a non-profit organization. The organization, at its core, strives to improve the quality of healthcare and research worldwide by advancing the innovative science that is regenerative medicine. The Queen’s chapter consists of a group of dedicated students who, in conjunction with many other universities, work to secure funding for groundbreaking research and raise awareness of the potential applications of this research. In many ways, the Queen’s chapter focuses on involving and inspiring students to explore the science of regenerative medicine. Speaker panels with experts in their fields, networking and information sessions, coffee house trivia, fundraising events, and many other functions engage students to actively learn about regenerative medicine. The

Queen’s chapter consists of a group of dedicated students who, in conjunction with many other universities, work to secure funding for groundbreaking research and raise awareness of the potential applications of this research. In many ways, the Queen’s chapter focuses on involving and inspiring students to explore the science of regenerative medicine. Speaker panels with experts in their fields, networking and information sessions, coffee house trivia, fundraising events, and many other functions engage students to actively learn about regenerative medicine. The club also accepts general members who volunteer at numerous events and find a common interest among their peers. In essence, this club runs on a common belief that regenerative medicine has untapped potential to advance the medical field, and passionately works to aid in the discovery of that potential.

NeuGeneration

NeuGeneration is a two-day neuroscience conference held at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. The conference is organized by a group of undergraduate students who share a common interest in the fascinating field of neuroscience. This year, our team has been working hard to institute procedures to allow delegates to learn, make memories, and be inspired in-person. We would like to gladly announce that our conference will be hosted the weekend of January 21st and 22nd, 2023.

NeuGeneration Conference 2023 will provide delegates with the opportunity to listen to and network with leading neuroscience researchers within Canada. Delegates will compete in a case-competition that gives them a chance to share their passion for problem-solving through group learning and presentations. Lastly, our delegates will participate in hands-on workshops that encompass a diverse set of neuroscience topics.

We hope to provide students with a deeper connection to a network that is

bigger than themselves, giving delegates the opportunity to share their thoughts, questions, and passion with other individuals who are united by their love of neuroscience.

Our conference has explored a wide variety of topics within neuroscience from mental health and neurodegenerative diseases, to topics in artificial intelligence, neurosurgery, and brain plasticity. We are committed to providing our group of delegates with an in-person conference full of revolutionary research, stimulating conversations and networking opportunities to inspire the next generation of undergraduate students to further their passion for the brain. As we approach our eighth annual conference this January, we hope to entice you to join the conversation and to explore the complexity surrounding the sophisticated inner workings of the human mind.

Students 4 Special Olympics

Students 4 Special Olympics (S4SO) is a student-run club that provides free, weekly, sports practices to children and youth in the Kingston community with an intellectual disability. In partnership with Special Olympics Ontario, we hope to provide the Kingston community with an hour of engaging and inclusive physical activity. The club promotes diversity and inclusion and helps bring awareness of Special Olympics Movement to the Queen’s community. Each week, a group of student coaches and athletes from the Kingston community unite in the name of inclusive sport! Our executive team works to fundraise and create outreach opportunities to further promote our program to both the Kingston and Queen’s Communities. Our team of student volunteers are passionate about creating inclusive opportunities for individuals at any ability level to participate in fun physical activity.

Queen’s Model Parliament

Every January students from a variety of faculties attend a conference in Ottawa and

fill the seats of our distinguished Members of Parliament in the House of Commons. In the months leading up to the conference, QMP delegates form political parties, elect leaders, engage in debate and draft bills. These bills are prepared to be debated in the House of Commons and cover topics that our delegates have decided on. Entirely student run, Queen’s Model Parliament is a unique conference that allows students from a variety of disciplines to explore the Canadian legislative process in the presence of many notable political figures. Members of Parliament, Justices of the Supreme Court and prominent members of Canada’s journalism scene join the conference to preside over debate as Speakers of the House of Commons. We also host panels with various themes where delegates are given the chance to ask questions and further interact with those in various areas of the political field. Many notable politicians, journalists and Queen’s University Alumni also join the conference as Keynote Speakers and distinguished guests at both the Annual Wine and Cheese Soirée and the spectacular Final Gala. QMP delegates have used their experiences at the conference to become Rhodes Scholars, distinguished entrepreneurs, academics, political figures, and other prominent members of Canadian Society. Two of QMP’s most distinguished alumni that inspire our delegates to participate in Canadian politics are the Honourable John Baird and the Honourable Peter Milliken, who helped bring our conference to the House of Commons.

AMS Food Bank

The AMS Food Bank provides confidential and non-judgmental food options to members of the Queen’s community in the most comfortable environment possible. The Food Bank helps to ensure that Queen’s students can be healthy and productive as they pursue academic achievement and alleviates poverty amongst Queen’s community members.

Queen’s Undergraduate Conference on Healthcare

The mission of CUCOH is to design and implement a conference that informs undergraduate students of the current state of Canadian healthcare. This is accomplished by engaging them in discussions with other students and professionals to develop leadership, inspiration, and an understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of healthcare in Canada. The objectives are to present a cohesive overview of the current state of Canadian healthcare and explore specific areas of future change, investigate global health trends and our place in them, and increase the exchange of knowledge between professionals and students from across Canada through discussion and debate, encourage student research in the sciences through a poster competition, present a broad perspective of the Canadian medical sector by introducing a range of topics that highlights the diversity of health-related professions, and initiate a well-informed and proactive generation of leaders by providing early involvement in diverse health-related professions that will shape the future of Canadian healthcare.

With our current student fee, we have been able to subsidize costs for attendees, particularly Queen’s students, allowing us to broaden the scope of the conference. For example, we were able to increase the number of workshops we run, increase the breadth and expertise of the knowledge of speakers involved in the conference, and use campus spaces that can accommodate more delegates. In this way, expanding delegate enrollment for the conference. Additionally, with the creation of our Outreach Committee in 2021, we are increasing the number of educational opportunities for Queen’s students to participate in throughout the year. For example, last year we were able to offer an Indigenous medicine-making workshop for free due thanks to our student fee. We hope that going forward we can broaden our engagement with the Queen’s community and offer a breadth of opportunities to students throughout the year.

Hocoween Photo Contest Winner

Photo by Erik Magnusson.

The relationship between climate change and human health

and the climate were immediately apparent, although she says it took longer for the medical community to warm up to the issue.

Anne Fu Features Editor

Eight years ago, Dr. Anna Gunz, a pediatric intensivist in London, saw her first patient who was impacted by climate change.

A baby from a remote Indigenous community in the northwest had been brought in with a severe lung infection. After two difficult weeks in the ICU, Dr. Gunz tried to offer the mother some words of comfort by recognizing how far they were from home, only for them to tell her that it didn’t matter where they were.

The words surprised Dr. Gunz. The mother explained that a few years ago, their community’s landing strip had been flooded, and a teenager had died of sepsis because medical personnel weren’t able to perform an evacuation in time. Since then, the community was prophylactically evacuated and scattered across the north every winter. Her husband was in a hospital up north, while her son was being treated in Toronto. For this family, going home was an impossibility.

In an interview with The Journal, Dr. Gunz said this story “sen[t] chills down” her spine. She said the mother’s situation was a consequence of climate change: their landing strip had been flooded at an unusual and unprecedented time of year.

Their story wouldn’t be the last. A few years later, Dr. Gunz met another family from the north who couldn’t return home because an ice jam flooded their community. The town’s residents had to be flown out one or two at a time while their homes and sanitation systems filled with water, unsure if their communities would ever be the same.

A patient of hers with mild asthma passed away one unusually hot and humid day from a cardiac arrest. A child told her they were terrified of tornadoes because they wouldn’t be able to take shelter in her basement, which wasn’t wheelchair accessible. And this summer, Dr. Gunz saw an unprecedented surge in viral infections during the July heatwaves—viruses she’d never seen in the summer until now.

For Dr. Gunz, who has a background in geography and environmental science, these connections between human health

This November, world leaders are gathering in Egypt at COP27 to determine how they can tackle climate change—an issue the Lancet calls the “greatest global health threat facing the world in the 21st century.” Canada ranks last amongst all G7 nations in terms of climate action progress and has warmed at double the global average rate of warming since 1948.

***

It was a hot summer day in 2021 when Dr. Kim-Chi Tran stepped outside to meet an orange sky. Dr. Tran, who lives in Scarborough, was initially caught off guard by the sight. The haze in the air, she later realized, was coming from smoke blown from wildfires raging in northwestern Ontario.

Though people were still masking at the time, which reduced some of the possible health consequences of smoke inhalation, Dr. Tran recalls the experience as “a very eerie feeling that we had never experienced before in Toronto.” To her, it was an uncomfortable reminder of the toll climate change was already taking on communities across Canada and the world.

The summer of 2021 was one of the worst wildfire seasons Ontario had ever experienced. That year, 1,200 fires burned nearly 800,000 hectares of land in northwestern Ontario. Environment Canada issued air quality and visibility warnings for Kingston as smoke and particulate matter clouded the skies.

“Just a one degree increase in temperature brings about 10 to 15 per cent more lightning, and lightning causes up to 30 to 50 per cent of wildfires in the country. We’re going to see more fire,” Ed Struzik, a fellow at the Queen’s Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy who’s written extensively about the impact of wildfires, told The Journal.

Research shows wildfire smoke can contribute to and exacerbate a number of heart and lung diseases, resulting in a spike in hospitalizations that will increase the burden on our already-strained healthcare system. According to Struzik, inhaling wildfire smoke can be about as noxious and carcinogenic as smoking cigarettes.

Heat is another climate change-related stressor that poses risks to human health, according to Dr. Gunz. Here in Kingston, cooling centers have gone from being nonexistent just a few years ago to a regular summer feature many rely on to stave off the extreme summer heat. A 2022 report from the University of Waterloo named Kingston as one of the most at-risk cities for extreme heat events in the nation—above Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa.

Health agencies in Canada and the United States have only recently begun to ask physicians to track heat-related illnesses, according to Dr. Gunz, but she doesn’t think that data will address the full scope of the issue just yet.

According to her, the health consequences of a hotter environment aren’t only limited to heatstroke and dehydration. Hot temperatures will increase the prevalence of everything from heart attacks and stroke to kidney stones to infectious diseases to respiratory illnesses. What’s more, even a small increase in temperature can raise the likelihood of aggression, violence, and suicide.

Access to respite, however, won’t come equally to everyone. According to Dr. Gunz, children, those without access to air conditioning or adequate shelter, and those who have limited mobility, such as the elderly or people with disabilities, will struggle to protect themselves from rising temperatures, even though they’re often the least to blame for global warming.

“You’re going to have these people in apartment buildings, without water, without power, without refrigeration, and some of them won’t actually even be able to get outside or into cooling centers,” Dr. Gunz said.

The health consequences of high temperatures are a labour issue as well, according to Jeremy Milloy, a historian of public health and the Integrity of Creation and Climate Change lead at the Providence Centre for Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation in Kingston.

Those who are work outside or in hot, enclosed environments, like farm labourers, service workers, and delivery drivers, are at greater risk of heat-related injury and illness, Milloy told The Journal. The lack of legislation regarding extreme heat in the workplace means those who are most at risk are also the least likely to be protected.

“We could use better regulation around

unsafe work and extreme heat,” Milloy said. “We need to be aggressively retrofitting our buildings for energy efficiency, so that it’s easier to keep cool to protect [people] from climate change. We need to have better public transit so that people can get around in extreme heat events without walking long distances.”

When the environment is reshaped by climate change, so is our health. Milloy points to the loss of greenspace around Kingston as an issue that intersects with multiple dimensions of human health.

Trees provide shade and cooling, prevent floodwaters from rising, and improve mental health, but Milloy claims these benefits aren’t prioritized by our government the way greater urban development is. Developers in Kingston recently attempted to turn the Davis Tannery, a local wetland home to several crucial species of flora and fauna, into a new residential area.

Bryan Collins is a PhD candidate at Queen’s in the department of environmental studies. His research focuses on how climate change is affecting our food systems and agriculture here in Kingston. Over the course of his investigation, Collins has spoken to several farmers in the area who say they’re already struggling to adjust to the effects of climate change.

“[The farmers] tell me stories about how climate change has affected them, such as having to switch to different crops that are more adapted to hotter climates,” Collins said in an interview with The Journal.

“They’ll tell me stories of how extreme weather events are becoming more common, such as severe wind events that are destroying their infrastructure like greenhouses, or how hail is destroying their crops, which is happening more often nowadays than it has in the past.”

These repercussions are forcing some farmers to adapt or give up on the business entirely. With the loss of locally grown produce, Collins said, Kingstonians will have to rely on imported and processed foods grown on large-scale farms that are less healthy and more expensive.

Those farming projects also can’t provide economic benefits to the local community and will contribute to greenhouse gas emissions as a result of the shipping and transport costs, Collins said.

ILLUSTRATION BY ARDEN MASON-OURIQUE

Experts speak to climate activism within medicine

Purging school libraries of queer content is harmful

Young people today need more access to diverse perspectives; there’s no substitute for diverse representation. But controlling the educational materials kids have access to makes indoctrinating them easier.

Parents should see their kids as people, not things to control. Kids who want to learn about queer people and queer issues won’t let book bans stop them.

However, without accessible education materials in schools—including books about sexuality and gender—kids will inevitably turn to the internet where they may find adult-oriented or inaccurate information that could end up harming them. It’s a lot easier to find inappropriate content online than in a published book.

THE QUEEN’S JOURNAL

Volume 150 Issue 13

www.queensjournal.ca @queensjournal Publishing since 1873

Editorial Board

Editor in Chief Ben Wrixon

Managing Editor Julia Harmsworth

Production Manager Dharmayu Desai

News Editor Asbah Ahmad

Assistant News Editors Sophia Coppolino Aimee Look Skylar Soroka

Features Editors Anne Fu Suzy Leinster

Editorials Editor Maia McCann

Editorials Illustrator Katharine Sung

Opinions Editor Sandrine Jacquot

Arts Editor Rida Chaudhry

Assistant Arts Editor Sam Goodale

Sports Editor Sarah Maat

Lifestyle Editor Maddie Hunt

Assistant Lifestyle Editor Clanny Mugabe

Photo Editor Curtis Heinzl

Assistant Photo Editor Herbert Wang

Video Editor Mackenzie Loveys

Censorship is rarely a good thing, especially not when it’s furthering a political agenda.

Conservative parents in the U.S. are campaigning to ban books with queer content from school libraries. Their concerns are rooted in the passé and extremely homophobic notion that queer people are pedophiles who want to ‘convert’ children.

Obviously, nothing—least of all a school library book—can change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Books can, however, help young people come to terms with their identity and reduce feelings of shame and isolation.

As we observe right-wing extremist politics from across the border, it’s critical for Canadians to remember our country is not without prejudice. This past summer, drag artists put on reading shows for children in public libraries across the country. The program sparked protest and threats of violence that led to some events being cancelled.

Though we may be reluctant to admit it, Canada suffers from deep-seated homophobia just like our neighbours to the south.

Perpetuating the myth that queerness

is unnatural by banning books about queer people and their experiences is harmful to kids questioning their gender identity or sexuality. This book banning frenzy is not about protecting children, it’s about erasing queerness.

While it’s good to take an interest in your kids’ education, it’s wrong to limit their access to information because it doesn’t fit your politics. The modern obsession with sheltering kids has led to parents feeling entitled to control every minute aspect of their lives.

Americans who rush to defend their first amendment rights at any opportunity are the same people who support banning books containing queer content. Conservatives know book bans contradict their free speech principle, but seem willing to overlook this blatant hypocrisy to perpetuate anti-LGBTQ+ hate.

The internet poses a greater risk to kids’ innocence than practically any book out there, especially heavily vetted texts in school libraries. Bigotry that’s taught can be unlearned through exposure to different perspectives—and that scares conservative parents.

School libraires are among the safest resources available to children, and their financial and physical accessibility is something we can’t afford to lose. A lot of kids don’t have any other access to the information school libraries offer, particularly those living in poverty.

At some point, children need the chance to figure things out for themselves and read what they want—that’s how they learn. No one should be deprived of access to educational materials because they don’t align with someone else’s beliefs.

The idea that censoring queerness can ‘prevent’ it shows how misunderstood queer identities still are today. We need education that acknowledges queerness, not erases it.

Parents and teachers have a responsibility to prepare kids for adulthood. That means educating them on how to interact with information and alternative perspectives, regardless of whether they agree with them. Critical thinking skills can’t be developed in a vacuum.

School should be a haven for learning—political and religious beliefs should not be allowed to interfere.

—Journal Editorial Board

Sometimes it’s okay to be alone

Cassandra Pao Copy Editor

For many students, university marks the beginning of the precious, confusing, and deeply formative age of emerging adulthood.

It’s a stage of life that developed roughly over the past half-century, particularly in industrialized countries. Early adulthood refers to the years between adolescence and adulthood—usually 18 to 29—where people settle into adult careers, responsibilities, and relationships.

Crucially, to facilitate its characteristic self-exploration and discovery, emerging adulthood is thought of as a self-focused age. Yet many young people struggle to feel comfortable in the silence and solitude conducive to self-reflection.

Students feel pressure to always be doing something, whether it be schoolwork, earning money, or socializing. Meanwhile, streaming services and social media encourage us to distract ourselves from our thoughts in rare moments alone.

We should take time with our thoughts. Time to be meaningfully and mindfully alone.

Of course, there isn’t anything wrong with enjoying the company of others, and you’ll learn about yourself even if you’re always around people. However, without balance, you could find your self-image being informed by others’ expectations rather than your own.

You probably know who you are as a housemate, a friend, a student, a partner—who are you alone?

Spending time thinking about your values and their reasoning, your actions and their explanations, and your feelings and their origins, will help you build a relationship with yourself.

yourself. Paying attention to that inner dialogue validates it and you.

Remember, it’s okay if you feel lonely. In identifying any emotion, you’ve still learnt something about yourself.

Emerging adulthood is a period of instability, during which young people navigate leaving home, university life, entering the workforce, long term relationships, and more. You’re expected to move around and change jobs often, meaning you’ll likely find yourself in new situations with new people regularly.

When everything else is changing, it’s helpful to feel grounded in your understanding of yourself. Being able to rely on yourself steels you against uncertainty and disorienting new experiences.

On a smaller scale, a strong sense of self helps you remember you’re more than grades, or relationships, or anything else external. These things are fantastic, and it’s natural for them to feel like a part of you somehow, but they don’t have to determine how you define yourself.

Copy Editors Vineeth Jarabana Cassandra Pao Mikayla Wilson

Graphics Editor Amna Rafiq

BIPOC Advisory Board Members Ruth Osunde Alexis Ejeckam Sharon Sun

Contributing Staff

Contributors Arden Mason-Ourique Chloé Rainville Kaida Cheah Sofia Tosello Bella Rose Grace Chen

Business Staff

Business Manager Chad Huang

Sales Representatives Sylvie Garabedian Eric Joosse

Fundraising Representative Grace Moffat

Social Media Coordinator Claire Schaffeler

Want to contribute?

For information visit: www.queensjournal.ca/contribute or email the Editor in Chief at journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca

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

The Queen’s Journal is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Alma Mater Society of Queen’s University, Kingston.

Situated on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. The Journal’s Editorial Board acknowledges the traditional territories our newspaper is situated on have allowed us to pursue our mandate. We recognize our responsibility to understand the truth of our history.

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.

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If you don’t know where to start, try taking a walk.

You don’t have to listen to music or call a friend. Try just walking in silence, letting your mind wander, and seeing where it takes you. Get more comfortable listening to your inner dialogue, rather than mediating or burying it.

Practice being mindfully alone in small moments; get to know and like being with

No matter how perfect your relationships, the only person who will always be there for you at a moment’s notice is yourself. Don’t forget to build that relationship, too.

Time where you’re expected to focus on yourself is a blessing—relish the opportunity.

ILLUSTRATION BY KATHARINE SUNG

Cassandra is a third-year English student and one of The Journal’s Copy Editors

PHOTO BY HERBERT WANG

OPINIONS

Your Perspective

It’s time to ditch daylight savings

Talking Heads...

Tosello Contributor

The clocks turning back one hour on Nov. 2 marks that time of year when you walk out of your lecture at 5:30 p.m. to find it pitch-black outside.

Student morale drops as the difference between 12 a.m. and 5 p.m. blur, and the chill from the waterfront makes walking to the library for a late-night study session a chore.

Packed with end-of-semester papers and tests, November and December are daunting, frigid, and dark months as the fun of fall, Homecoming, and Halloween is replaced with an eagerness for the semester to be over.

Imagine walking out of your 5:30 p.m. lecture with the sun beating down and knowing you have a few hours left to seize the day. Sure, you're bundled under three layers, and the wind lashes your cheeks as you walk down University Ave., but at least it's still light out.

This could be a reality if not for the antiquated daylight savings, leaving many of us questioning why we still turn our clocks back in November. How is it be physically or mentally beneficial?

"By removing daylight savings, Canada would be one step closer to breaking away from out-of-touch laws and creating a country more compatible with current social conditions.

Daylight savings was based on the idea that moving clocks forward would mean more daylight and higher levels of productivity in the spring.

During World War I it helped soldiers: daylight savings was introduced to

increase production for the war effort and save energy.

However, with TVs, cars, and the many other energy-using technologies present today, it’s anachronistic to think we are conserving more energy when it's light outside.

In their rush to get to class, students forget to turn off their bedroom lights. Meanwhile, cafes in downtown Kingston need to accommodate their customers by using lights, and lecture hall illumination is often kept on all day.

Although it’s important to preserve energy, the idea that daylight savings would indeed encourage us to turn off the lights is unrealistic. If anything, the energy preservation that happens in the spring is undermined by the amount of energy used in the winter when the clocks turn back.

Having a law such as daylight savings is synonymous with many archaic policies still instilled today that were made by officials facing highly different circumstances and problems. By removing daylight savings, Canada would be one step closer to breaking away from out-of-touch laws and creating a country more compatible with current social conditions.

Daylight savings profoundly impacts people’s mental and physical health.

Turning back the clocks causes a de-synchronization of our bodies that can exacerbate symptoms of depression over time. Here we see seasonal depression come into play, where students find themselves lacking motivation and are less happy in the colder, darker months.

A lack of light also decreases melatonin production, affecting our mood and sleep patterns. This drop in melatonin further exacerbates the dreadfulness of November and December as our bodies a re busy adjusting to a new time change.

When it gets dark outside, the likelihood of car accidents also increases.

J-walking has become normal among busy students needing to get to class on time or get home after a long day of studying.

It’s already dangerous enough given all the cars traveling kilometres above the speed limit, and it becomes more difficult for vehicles to see students sprinting across the road as darkness falls on campus.

Ending daylight savings underscores the idea that if we deal with issues at a provincial level, we can improve policy at the municipal level.

"Getting rid of such a concept would quell anxieties about productivity and mental health, making it easier for students to focus on friendships and school.

Municipal officials need to deal with street safety and unsafe driving in the University District whether or not the provincial government ends daylight savings. However, if daylight savings were to end, the perturbation of night-time driving and j-walking would be a less serious issue as accidents decrease under well-lit conditions.

Daylight savings could encourage students to wake up earlier so they can get the most out of the daylight, but during a time when all-nighters and partying are consistently practiced, it’s counterproductive to sacrifice sleep in favour of productivity. How are you supposed to be more productive when you're functioning on four hours of sleep?

It's hard to think of any reason why turning the clocks back is beneficial to students. Getting rid of such a concept would quell anxieties about productivity and mental health, making it easier for students to focus on friendships and school.

Seizing the day is hard—it’s even harder with less time.

Sofia is a third-year history student.

Sofia thinks daylight savings is outdated and hurts student morale.

Sofia

November just got a a whole lot darker

What's your opinion on Elon Musk's Twitter takeover?

PHOTO BY HERBERT WANG

Review: ‘Her Loss’

Open Mic Night returns to Common Ground Coffeehouse

hosting free performances every Wednesday

Sam Goodale Assistant Arts Editor

Common Ground Coffeehouse (CoGro) Open Mic Nights are returning this month.

Open Mic Night, which is free for all students is set to run every Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. and will feature live musical performances from students.

Jennifer Chew, CoGro marketing and events manager, said they created Open Mic Night to allow students to share their talent. Chew said keeping the event open to everyone—as both attendees and potential performers—is vital to ensuring it remains as inclusive as possible.

“I think it’s nice to have an open invite to all students to do Mic Night. You don’t have to be in a specific club to be involved, you just sign up as is,” Chew said in an interview with The Journal.

“Anyone who has an interest in performing is more than welcome to sign up.”

By keeping the event inclusive to all Queen’s students, Open Mic Night is a fantastic opportunity to build community around music and expose students to the music scene at Queen’s in a familiar environment. It’s also a great social opportunity for students to connect with peers from other faculties while sharing a passion for music.

“It’s nice that there’s students from different backgrounds, so you don’t necessarily have to study music to perform,” Chew said. “You can be in any faculty to participate, so I think that’s nice as well.”

Attendees of Open Mic Night can expect a relaxed vibe at the event. Most performances are solo acts with a minimalist sound. Regardless, big talent will be on display.

Going into the events, Chew is most excited to attract new students who might not frequently visit CoGro in the evenings.

“People might be inclined to study at libraries and different study spots, but I think having this Open Mic Night might incentivize students to come to CoGro and take a nice study break from the school things that are happening outside,” Chew said.

Open Mic Night further cements CoGro as a valuable source of community for students at Queen’s. The spot is a favourite amongst students for daytime study, but with evening events, CoGro is providing day long opportunities for students to connect.

“You don’t have to be studying [at CoGro], you can just chat with friends,” Chew said. “It’s a very relaxed environment.”

Although there will be performances, CoGro will remain open throughout Open Mic Nights. Students can grab food and drinks while they enjoy free live music.

Students interested in performing can visit CoGro’s signup form where they will be asked to submit an audio or video clip of themselves. CoGro will offer performers a cake and coffee voucher as a thank-you.

More info can be found on CoGro’s Instagram for students wishing to attend.

Sam Goodale Asssitant Arts Editor

The quasi-collaborative effort of Her Loss is the best album Drake has dropped since 2017’s More Life. After a contentious venture into the techno dance scene, Drake has returned to his element and brought 21 Savage along for the ride.

The result is an intermittently brilliant album, albeit with some misses. Regardless, it’s clear Drake is having a great time, and Her Loss is a whole lot of fun.

Drake’s bars can be a little ridiculous throughout the album. On “Privileged Rappers,” he audaciously raps, “let’s have sex in the bank / tell ‘em to open the safe,” before throwing in a “purr” adlib.

Savage and Drake then refer to each other as “treacherous lil’ twin[s]” on “Treacherous Twins.” The pair revel in their camaraderie as Drake lays down the bar “you tell me you want something, imma tell you ‘same, same.’”

Then there’s “short rigatoni with the pesto” on “Middle of the Ocean,” the first pasta-inspired Drake line since 2015’s “No Tellin.’”

Some of these lines come off as silly—and they are—but they embody the sort of cheekiness that’s become quintessentially Drake.

Although this is technically a collaborative effort, Her Loss is primarily a Drake project. Savage is nonetheless crucial to the album’s success: he prevents Drake from falling into

his self-obsessive falsetto tendencies, and Drake allows Savage to have a more dynamic, varied sound.

On “Major Distribution,” Drake lays down tight, clean bars full of bravado. On “Hours in Silence,” Savage is in his feels and offers a melodic sound we rarely see from the rapper.

It’s when Drake slips back into his navelgazing obsession with trust issues and romantic throes that Her Loss stumbles. “Hours in Silence” and “I Guess it’s F—k Me” are notable misses, with Drake droning on and on over minimalist beats.

His attempts to croon through selfmythology and lost love are boring and barren. The tracks are full of toxic petulance, with Drake rapping, “she asking me why I haven’t nut / I didn’t know we was in a rush / enjoying the moment, so hush.” It speaks for itself.

Although Her Loss provides wonderful textural and thematic contrast with the inclusion of both artists, Drake shines on his solo tracks.

On “Middle of the Ocean,” he synthesizes the two spheres with lines like “no chance the kid’ll make it here like vasectomy / they

underestimate my trajectory,” or “whippin’ the Vespa off of six tequilas / big Benjamins like the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

There’s an egotistic self-awareness here, as Drake realizes his “latest stuff / might be the only teacher that gets paid enough.” The sentiment is there, but it’s rich coming from a guy who makes millions a year.

When Drake isn’t sleepwalking through flat self-pitying verses, Her Loss is a fun exploration of artistic contrasts and a reminder to rap fans Drake can still lay down some heat when he’s on top of his game. The inclusion of Savage, although perhaps underutilized, pushes the album over the top, bringing the best out of both rappers.

Thematically, the album fails to convincingly coalesce into something profound, but it is enjoyable.

If anything, Her Loss is a massive course correction after the surly, self-pitying Honestly, Nevermind, and 2021’s Certified Lover Boy.

Maybe all Drake needed was a “treacherous lil’ twin” to remind him what it’s like to have fun. Luckily, he’s found one in Savage.

The duality of Mia Goth in ‘X’

and Owen Campbell as RJ make up the group—though Mia Goth’s Maxine is the character audiences are drawn to.

Rida Chaudhry Senior Arts Editor

Ti West’s recent film, X, takes horror back to its roots—rid of psychological warfare and instead renewing classic slasher tropes alongside erotica.

The year is 1979, the place is an eerie rented farmhouse, and the task is shooting a porno called “The Farmer’s Daughter.” The cast and crew of the aptly titled smut follows the typical heterosexual male dream: a double female to male ratio.

Martin Henderson as Wayne, Jenna Ortega as Lorraine, Brittany Snow as BobbyLynne, Mescudi (Kid Cudi) as Jackson,

Goth also plays Pearl, elderly co-owner of the farmhouse with her husband Howard. This doppelgänger element cements her to Maxine, eventually bringing the movie full circle.

West’s undertaking of skin and sin is a well-acquainted subject in horror, but X offers a new dimension of feminist motivations and unexpected sequenced events.

While women in the genre often find their villainous drive from sexual suppression, X does the opposite as poor Pearl’s bloodlust comes from her inability to be sexually satisfied from her husband whose heart can’t take a screw.

The film’s beauty is to be expected from

A24, the studio which has taken over horror in recent years. The cinematography takes the anticipation factor to the next level by layering paralleled scenes on top of each other, switching in-scene between the camera being used by director RJ in ’79 and the one to film X itself.

Making a movie while making a movie is a trope not foreign to horror nor film, but the accuracy and intent of West’s delivery sets X apart.

The late 70s marked a time of liberation and sway from religious views, hence the preacher’s monologue being played on every television in the film to juxtapose the group’s raunchy task. This setting helps makes the fuel behind Pearl’s fire seems that much more absurd, keeping viewers slack-jawed for the second half of the film.

In true farm fatale style, pitchforks, axes, and alligators serve as the weapons of choice. Gore is runs high after RJ cries in the shower and all hell breaks loose. The death sequences are also noteworthy as they stray from typical patterns; West’s film goes against all the cliches of horror in an hour and a half.

West took on X with the intention of making a highbrow slasher film—to say he succeeded would be an understatement.

X forces viewers to confront the fears unspoken in a youth driven society: growing old, undesirable, and unsatisfied. Pearl’s libido transgresses into anger and fascination with her younger doppelgänger she catches mid-action in the adult film.

Spinning clichés on their head while simultaneously embracing the classic identity of Texas Chainsaw Massacre built a horror picture that will leaves you thinking. The last 45 minutes might just be the most narcissistic nightmare ever.

Goth at the centre of Ti West’s newest film

Drake rediscovers his sense of fun with 21 Savage on latest album

Her Loss offers interesting artistic contrasts.

GRAPHIC BY AMNA RAFIQ

X reconciles Texas Chainsaw Massacre with Boogie Nights.

GRAPHIC BY AMNA RAFIQ

Queen’s advances to the Yates Cup after 35-13 victory

Sarah Maat Senior Sports Editor

Queen’s is going to the Yates Cup.

The Gaels played their semi-final game at Richardson Stadium in front of an enthusiastic home crowd, dominating despite heavy winds and bad weather.

“To be able to secure another championship game opportunity two years in a row now is a big deal for our program and we are

definitely pushing in the right direction right now so feels great,” Head Coach Steve Snyder said in an interview with The Journal

Queen’s hit their stride early when Alex Vreeken found Aidan O’Neal with a 35-yard pass.

From there Queen’s kept it up, immediately earning another first down when Vreeken found Richard Burton with a 20-yard reception.

As they brought it close to the line, Vreeken handed the ball off to Anthony Soles for their first touchdown. That play marked the first of Vreeken and Burton’s many connections.

“Richard is kind of one of those quarter back friendly guys,” Snyder said. “He’s had a unique ability

HEINZL

to click with just about anybody who’s throwing him the ball and that’s a credit to him.”

As for Vreeken, Snyder said he “settled into that game really well.”

The Gaels maintained pressure and possession and despite radical winds, as Tyler Mullan scored a 17-yard field goal for another three points. Soles then scored his second touchdown of the game with another short rush across the line to put the Gaels up 17-0 at half time.

In the third quarter, uOttawa fought back and used Queen’s confidence against them.

The Gee-Gee’s scored up their first touchdown of the game with a 78-yard pass set by a fake

Queen’s Football serves uOttawa ‘the knockout blow’

hand-off and pass from quarterback Ben Maracle.

Soon after their seven points, the Gee-Gee’s earned three more when Queen’s conceded a safety and the Gee-Gee’s forced a rouge soon after.

“We knew it was going to be a fight. We knew we were going to go four quarters with these guys; its playoff football and they’re a great team,” Burton said in a post-game interview.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Queen’s tallied a field goal, touchdown, and rouge while uOttawa only scored another field goal.

With less than five game minutes left, however, Queen’s delivered what Burton dubbed “the knockout blow” on a critical 45-yeard punt return touchdown.

“I think that big catch in the fourth quarter there was the nail in the coffin,” Snyder said.

After a great conversion from Mullan, the game ended with a 35-13 victory for Queen’s. The team put on a show of excellent teamwork to prove they are ready for the

Yates Cup.

In a post-game interview, Vreeken put it best.

“I’m surrounded by greatness; they’re just going to rise, and I’ll rise with them.”

After a devastating loss in the finals last year, Queen’s is ready for revenge.

“I think we’re more experienced. I think we’re a better football team […] making that playoff run last year was powerful for our program but I don’t think we were ready to go win a championship. I think this team is in a much better place to be able to compete at a high level,” Snyder said.

Stakes will be high, but the whole team is ready for a fight.

“We understand that if we lose its over and this group will never be back together again,” Vreeken said. “We just got to play our brand of football.”

In the end, however, Queen’s is just relishing the experience.

“An opportunity to win the Yates Cup is something special,” Burton said.

Men’s Rugby loses 34-22 to Laurier in the OUA semifinals

Staff Writer

The Gaels lost to the Laurier Golden Hawks in the OUA Men’s Rugby semi-finals last Saturday at Nixon field.

The Gaels received a bye for the first round of the OUA playoffs after their undefeated regular season. The last time these teams faced off was in the regular season finale two weeks ago when Queen’s won 52-31.

The Gaels came out of the gate strong, holding a close lead over the Golden Hawks throughout the first half. Queen’s Tom Kirkwood scored within the first few plays, bringing the score to 7-0 after a successful conversion.

The Gaels played great defence; they executed intense tackles and smart plays on their defensive goal line. However, Laurier still broke through the Gael’s defence with a try and good conversion kick to equalize the score.

Will Matthews then took the field with a second successful try and conversion for Queen’s, but Laurier responded with a try of their own, although they missed the conversion.

Queen’s continued to keep the pressure on the Golden Hawks and ended the first half ahead by a score of 22-12.

The Golden Hawks came back in the second half, scoring two tries to take the lead and put them up 22-26. Meanwhile, the Gaels couldn’t break through the Golden Hawks’ defense as they failed to score despite many attempts and hard battles at the Laurier goal line.

In the end, the Golden Hawks maintained the pressure on the

Gaels, keeping them away from their goal line for the remainder of the game.

With a nasty interception from the Golden Hawks on one of the Gael’s offensive plays, Laurier took control with an unexpected try and conversion in minute 65. The quick turnaround left the Gaels behind with a score of 32-22.

Unable to close the gap, the Gaels pressed on as Laurier gained a penalty, allowing them another two points and sealing the game at 34-22.

The Gaels kept playing right until the last minute. They got a final play to attempt for a try, but were not successful. Defeated by the devastating loss on Nixon Field, the Gaels denied an interview with The Journal after the game.

The Golden Hawks have not won a game against the Gaels in 20 years—their first win since 2002 is definitely one for the history books as they advance to the OUA finals.

Ending their 20-year winning

streak against the Golden Hawks, the men’s team will prepare for the after season and prepare to return next year stronger than ever.

Although a tough way to end the season, the Gaels left their hearts on the pitch—regardless of the result, making the OUA semi-finals is no small accomplishment.

Queen’s devastated after team suffers first loss of the season

Bella Rose

Jared Chisari scores a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

PHOTO BY CURTIS

The loss was a huge upset.

PHOTO BY BELLA ROSE

Queen’s Basketball is back against Nipissing

Women’s Basketball wins 81-41

Lilly Coote Assistant Sports Editor

The Queen’s Gaels defeated the Nipissing Lakers 98-84 in their second regular season game on Friday night at the ARC.

The first quarter was fast paced. The Lakers scored a basket in the first few seconds, but the Gaels ended the quarter hot up 24-16. However, the Lakers closed the gap in the second quarter by scoring a lot of second chance points and only trailed 41-39 at halftime.

During the third quarter, the Gaels broke away and closed the quarter up five at 67-62. Stakes were high heading into the fourth quarter, but Queen’s Cole Syllas controlled the glass late with some key second chance put backs, helping the Gaels prevail 98-84.

Issac Krueger, Cole Syllas, Luke Syllas, and Scott Jenkins all scored in double digits on Friday for the Gaels. The win was a team effort; the Gaels bench scored 38 bench points.

“They really tested us in the first half, but I am proud of the group. We responded really well in the second half,” Connor Kelly, a fourth-year guard for the Gaels, said in an interview with The Journal.

Connor Kelly is an incoming transfer student from Bishop’s University, and, so far, his three pointers have been a huge asset to the team. Kelly said the transition to Queen’s has been practically seamless.

“This group has been special to me, really welcoming. I am really excited for this group that we have here to see what we can do.”

Coming into the regular season, the Gaels had won all seven of their exhibition and playoff games. Cameron Bett, a fifth-year guard for the Gaels, said it’s important to not let early success give the team a sense of false confidence.

“[We need to continue] keeping our head straight and making sure we are taking the last wins and thinking that we are too big,” Bett said in a post-game interview with The Journal.

Head Coach Stephan Barrie is on the same page. He believes the team must take things day-by-day despite their currently undefeated record.

“We’ve got a lot of things—despite our record—to fix and get better at,” Barrie said in an interview with The Journal.

“To feel good about being undefeated would be pointless at this point. It’s really

more about wanting to find out how we can get better.”

Stephan Barrie has been at Queen’s for 11 years, and this is his 10th season as the head coach of the Men’s Basketball team.

Coote Assistant Sports Editor

The Women’s Basketball team won their second game of the regular season with a score of 81-41, defeating the

During the first quarter, the Gaels rebounded well, outhustling the Lakers who played at a slower pace and struggled to put the ball in the hoop. Queen’s physically had them holding a strong 44-25 lead by the end

Throughout the third and fourth quarters, Queen’s held a consistent 20-point lead over Nipissing. Every time Nipissing gained momentum, Queen’s retaliated. The Gaels were red hot from three, shooting an impressive 43 per cent on shots

The second half closed 81-41, Julia Chadwick, a fifth year forward, led Queen’s with 22 points.

The Gael’s defense forced 22 turnovers on which they scored 28 points. The team also improved their free throw percentage by 1 5 per cent from their game the night before, where they defeated the Laurentian Voyageurs on home territory at the Athletics and Recreation Center (ARC).

All-Star Sophie de Goede—they still have a strong group of returning veterans.

“We have a lot of senior leaders, it’s really nice to have that experience,” fourth-year guard Isabella Belvedere said in a post-game interview with The Journal

Head Coach Claire Meadows is on the same page as Belvedere and believes having experienced players benefits the team dynamic and contributes to their success.

“In terms of our leadership experience, especially after how we performed at the end of the year last year, getting that core group of players back is essential for us to meet our goals and expectations this year,” Coach Meadows said in a press release.

Despite this only being Coach Meadow’s second season as head coach, she’s no rookie when it comes to the game of basketball.

Meadows has extensive national and provincial coaching experience, previously serving as the Head Coach for the University of British Columbia Okanagan and assistant coach with Canada’s Junior National Team.

Claire Meadows also spent five seasons playing on the Queen’s Women’s Basketball Team during her undergraduate years. While playing as a Gael, she established a legendary reputation as an OUA East First Team All-Star, CIS All-Canadian nominee, and University Award of Merit recipient. She finished her Queen’s career as the women’s team’s second all-time leading scorer.

It’s clear Meadows brings a multitude of experience to her role as the Head Coach. With all of this accumulated knowledge, she told The Journal she’s established four main principles for her team: energy, appreciation, accountability, and trust.

“When the season’s done, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about if we lived up to those core values. And if we’ve lived up to those core values, then we will consider our season a success,” Meadows said in a press release.

Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. in the ARC.

Last year, the women’s team finished their season with a 9-5 record and made it to the second round of the OUA Playoffs. The team won the Bronze Medal when they competed in the USPORTS Final 8, which they hosted at the ARC last April. While some of the Gaels best players graduated—including OUA Second-Team

“Obviously, we want to perform well on the court as well, but the core values are things that we can control. That’s where our focus is each and every day.”

Coach Meadows and the women’s basketball team hope their team philosophies will once again help them dominate this upcoming season. For their next game, the Gaels will challenge the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks at 6 p.m. on Friday Nov. 11 at the ARC.

Ridgebacks on Friday

Lilly

Men’s Basketball wins 98-84

Queen’s shows domination at home.

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL

LIFESTYLE

gives children

Maddie Hunt Senior Lifestyle Editor

Dear Disney: we’ve found comfort, joy, laughter, and sometimes even sadness in your films, but we didn’t grow up seeing the diversity, inclusivity, or representation we should’ve been consuming as kids.

Between the strictly Eurocentric princesses and the small-figured girls destined to be rescued by a big strong man, Disney didn’t show much body inclusivity, representation of BIPOC characters, or female strength absent of a man until recently.

Frozen gave us sisterly love and female empowerment without needing to be rescued by a prince. Soon to come is a live-action Little Mermaid starring Halle Bailey, a black woman, as Ariel. And now, Disney has gifted us with a plussized heroine who overcomes body dysmorphia and embodies body confidence and empowerment in a short film titled Reflect.

Released on Disney+ in September as part of Disney’s Short Circuit series of experimental films, “Reflect” provides the

Maddie Hunt Senior Lifestyle Editor

Congrats, internet—once again, you’ve taken things too far.

Last week, Kit Connor, one of the leading actors in the popular Netflix queer romance show, Heartstopper, came out—unwillingly —in a tweet that condemned users who had pressured him to define his sexuality with accusations of queerbaiting and general harassment.

Connor tweeted, “I’m bi. Congrats for forcing an 18-year-old to out himself. I think some of you missed the point of the show.”

He couldn’t be more right.

In Heartstopper, two high school boys attempt to navigate their sexuality, love, coming out, and the stigmas surrounding queer romance. One of the show’s most significant takeaways is no one should ever feel pressured to define their sexuality, and if they choose to, it’s theirs to define.

It’s ironic the internet took the show’s message— finding comfort in who you are without needing to define it to others—and ensured Connor didn’t get the same courtesy.

Connor has faced an onslaught of queerbaiting accusations for the past month because he played a bisexual character on TV.

The definition of ‘queerbaiting’ has been modified to become ammunition used to

body inclusivity all young girls deserve to see.

The film follows the story of Bianca, Disney’s first plus-sized heroine, a young ballet dancer navigating body image and self-esteem struggles.

Bianca is seen at the beginning of the film happily dancing and confident in herself. That’s until she stands between smaller women, sadly comparing her body to those around her while her teacher says, “tight tummy, long neck.” She looks in the mirror, only to see it shatter and create a barrier around her, illustrating the ruptured image she has of herself based on her body image.

Scared, she tries to run, but there’s nowhere to go, so she takes a breath and begins to dance. In doing so, the mirrors around her not only disappear, but burst into beautiful sparkles. At the end of the film, she overcomes her insecurities by drawing on her strength, power, and grace, breaking through the last piece of glass. The film finishes with her smiling at her reflection in the ballet studio.

Kit

This representation of a plus-sized heroine is hopeful and inspiring to see. Younger generations are growing up with body positivity and images of beauty breaking beyond the conventional standard—something we never grew up seeing in Disney movies.

Plus-sized characters were either always side characters or villains. Larger body types were represented in a way that confirmed the insecurities we had around our self-image. Kids growing up with body image insecurities didn’t want to see body similarities in Ursula; they wanted to be represented as Ariel.

That’s what makes this short so special. It shows a beautiful ballet dancer, expressing herself confidently and proudly, pushing past her insecurities. It gives girls with larger body types someone

that looks like them in a strong, confident way—someone to assure them they’re just as beautiful as the smaller girls in the room.

Girls need to see this inclusive representation of beauty and empowerment, especially at a young age, when the media is constantly attempting to do otherwise.

The reactions to “Reflect” have been overwhelmingly positive, and deservingly so. Many viewers were happy to see inclusivity, some joyfully overwhelmed and crying, and others saying they wish they could show the short to the younger version of themselves as reassurance they’d be okay.

In contrast, some felt angered and disappointed this was the first showing of a plus-sized character, it was a short film, and the character was confined to the parameters of her body image, rather than being

Connor didn’t queerbait you We are not entitled to celebrities’ sexual identities

normalized and playing a standard Disney role like that of a princess.

I would’ve loved to see this short growing up. Being represented as pretty and strong despite your body type would’ve been great to see and is essential for younger audiences now. Would I have loved to see Bianca as a princess as well? Of course. But I also believe a small step in the right direction is still a step—Rome wasn’t built in a day; no need to be bitter.

“Reflect” portrays a sense of hope for the inclusive, representative direction Disney is headed in, and I couldn’t be happier for the younger generation of girls who are going to grow up watching princesses’ who look like them—empowered, bodyinclusive, BIPOC princesses.

Disney, please don’t let down the new generation of strong, beautiful, young girls.

identity to anyone, and he wasn’t even appropriating queer culture.

For those who need a wakeup call: no one, not even the world’s most popular celebrity who lives every waking minute in the spotlight, needs to disclose their sexual orientation.

A person’s sexual identity is theirs, and theirs alone. You’re not entitled to their sexuality, no matter how much other personal information they share with the world. Sexuality is personal and intimate to each person; it’s theirs to share, or not share.

It’s imperative to ensure Hollywood isn’t profiting off sexualities, but robbing individuals of their own coming out experience, or pressuring them to define their sexual orientation, is wrong.

pressure celebrities to define their sexuality, and this is a big problem.

Traditionally, queerbaiting describes works of fiction that hint at, but then never depict, queer romance, identities, or relationships. In short, it’s a marketing technique that ‘baits’ queerness to attract queer audiences.

This definition has quickly evolved and adapted to being

applied to celebrities who ‘appropriate’ queer culture and aesthetics to draw in support and fans from LGBTQ+ communities. Usually, this is done with good intentions; it’s an effort to hold those appropriating queer culture accountable.

Here’s the thing: real people can’t queerbait you. More often than not, this

rhetoric forces celebrities to come out before they’re ready—like Connor.

While yes, Hollywood needs to cast LGBTQ+ actors as LGBTQ+ characters, accusing an eighteen-year-old who hasn’t yet defined their identity of queerbaiting simply because he plays a queer character is wrong.

Connor doesn’t owe his

Let me be blunt: that’s exactly what the media did to Connor. He felt so harassed and hurt by the accusations, he was robbed of his own coming-out experience. He didn’t want to label his sexuality but had no choice after the media’s commentary. It’s heartbreaking.

The media needs to be better. We need to be better.

Let this act as a reminder: you can feel comfortable and confident in your sexuality without needing to disclose it to other people. Your sexuality is yours and yours alone.

Dear Kit Connor, on behalf of the internet, I’m sorry.

‘Reflect’

the body inclusivity we never received

Disney’s new short film is a positive representation of a plus-sized heroine

Reflect illustrates the struggles of body dysmorphia young women face.

GRAPHIC BY AMNA RAFIQ

Kit Connor spoke out about feeling forced to come out.

GRAPHIC BY AMNA RAFIQ

Clanny Mugabe Assistant Lifestyle Editor

Months ago, TikTok star Addison Rae walked the same Met Gala carpet as award-winning actor Lily James, supermodels Karlie Kloss and Kendall Jenner, and Grammy winner Lizzo. Does Rae meet the same calibre of success to be here?

In 2021, the world of celebrity gossip took a turn when influencers who were previously confined to online fame made it to the Met Gala. The old guard of YouTube and the new stock from TikTok had representatives with Lily Singh, Emma Chamberlain, the D’Amelio family, and Addison Rae on the guest list.

This revelation sent the internet into a tizzy as people questioned these influencers’ right to be there, and in turn, influencers fought back to defend their spot at the prestigious event. This is old news, of course; since then, online influencers have been making appearances in television and films, on red carpets, and at charity events like the Met Gala at an increased regularity.

What’s interesting about this phenomenon is the mentality behind this backlash, and what influencers on red carpets signal for the entertainment industry.

Part of this shift from exclusive online fame to prestigious mainstream fame comes from the increasing power of platforms like TikTok and YouTube. Both platforms are free and accessible worldwide, with the unique feature

The merging of online and mainstream fame

TikTok creates larger accessibility into mainstream fame

deliberate shift in which some of the biggest influencers are trying to achieve mainstream success, posting less on the platforms they cultivated in favour of more typical TV and film roles. Look at Addison Rae and the much panned He’s All That Netflix film, or The D’Amelio Show, a reality TV series on Disney+.

Given this shift, the question remains, are they worthy enough for such prestige?

Maybe no—a lot of them, like Addison Rae, don’t have the same kind of acting or singing skills as more prestigious celebrities. Or, maybe yes—most influencers have a more hands-on approach to their work than traditional celebrities. But editing and creating videos on a large scale is still a lot of work.

Ultimately, whether prestige is earned doesn’t matter—at least to Hollywood. While some influencers are genuinely skilled and deserving of all the accolades they receive, Hollywood doesn’t care about who deserves prestige or not; they care about who brings in the most money.

of allowing pretty much anyone to upload content. So, both platforms are filled to the brim with thousands of different types of videos catering to audiences big and small, niche and mainstream.

It makes sense: Hollywood looks at online influencers and sees their platform and, more importantly, their audience, who

they can now cater to. While prestige and nepotism gatekeep much of Hollywood, money is still what makes it run.

Online celebrities having better access to fame and prestige has less to do with their talent and everything to do with a simple numbers game—with how many eyes they can bring to a screen.

On the other hand, part of this shift is deliberate on the part of influencers. Online fame is lucrative, and it can get very lucrative very quickly, but one of the downfalls is the lack of stability in being an independent online creator; it’s not a space that affords the guarantee of longevity.

So, we’re seeing a bigger

What does this all mean? In our media landscape, fame is more accessible than ever. We see it every day, as ordinary vloggers walk red carpets. However, while people are growing to have a more inclusive idea of celebrity, this doesn’t mean Hollywood is changing drastically, or lowering their standards.

It means it’s easier to bring in money on less prestigious spaces, like TikTok. Money still talks.

It’s okay if you don’t vibe with hookup culture

Hookup culture isn’t for everyone

Grace Chen Contributor

Casual sex shouldn’t be condemned, but it shouldn’t be represented as the norm either.

In the past few months, I’ve been reflecting a lot on hookup culture in society and at Queen’s, the negative consequences it has on many people’s self-esteem and views towards sexuality. Hookup culture is perhaps more prevalent than ever, perpetuated by the media.

I’ve seen various Reddit posts and TikTok videos from students expressing their lack of belonging to this culture. At Queen’s, I’ve never fit into this lifestyle, especially as a late bloomer who’s still figuring out what I want out of life and other people.

But I eventually came to the realization that it’s okay if you don’t want to indulge in hookup culture.

There are many other things in life and in university that students can enjoy, and other ways to go about your relationships that don’t involve casual sex.

We live in a hypersexualized world where everything is about “numbers,” body counts, and doing things quickly to just “get it over with.” Billboards, magazines, and social media show a lot of explicit,

over-curated content that wrecks people’s self-esteem when it comes to ideas surrounding sex.

Beer commercials involve women in bikinis and female superheroes wear skin-tight costumes—it’s hard to not engage in a culture that focuses on physicality and body image over everything else.

It’s hard to look at these images of women—who are deeply adored by men—and live in a society where casual sex is prioritized without feeling unworthy or unlovable.

I learned while everyone is free to do what they want, we shouldn’t feel peer-pressured into doing something that doesn’t connect with our values.

Ask yourself: Is sex the most important thing right now? Am I engaging in it because that’s what everyone else is doing, or because I want to?

Answering these questions can reframe your perspective. Sexuality and sex are marketed as this holy grail, when, in reality, it’s just one thing a natural thing in life that will just eventually come to everyone, if that’s what they want.

Social media perpetuates hookup culture. It makes it feel like everyone is participating in

it, when that’s not really the case. Hookup culture can engrain false senses of insecurity into people’s heads that everyone is living their best life sleeping with numerous people and that if you’re not doing that, or enough or it, then you aren’t enough.

At the end of the day, sexuality and sex are personal and intimate matters that don’t need to be disclosed to anyone, not even your closest friends and family members. You should never

feel rushed or pressured to hook up if you don’t want to.

There’s a huge subsection of students who aren’t into casual sex at all. Some are merely at the library focused on getting their degree, studying, and hanging out with their friends—without the benefits. Everyone has their own trajectory, and sometimes, hooking up with strangers on a sweaty dance floor doesn’t need to happen or be romanticized as normalcy.

Give yourself permission to carve your own path and own who

you are, even if that road is outside of the hookup culture path. You are whole and complete as you are. You have a lot to give to this world and are worth more than your body and the relationships you’ve been in.

This hasn’t been easy for me to realize, but after realizing how much I love the little things in life—like spending time with my friends and chasing my own career pursuits—I’ve come to the conclusion that hookup culture isn’t for me, and that’s alright.

TikTok influencers walk the same red carpet as award-winning mega-celebrities. GRAPHIC BY AMNA RAFIQ

Hookup culture can be harmful to your self-esteem.

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL

Hunting for closure in my relationships

All your relationships are significant

Suzy Leinster Features Editor

When I was six years old, I met my best friend on the playground of our elementary school. I was dressed in my classic monochromatic pink from head-to-toe, carrying a floral lunchbox, and wearing my signature matching headband.

I was eleven years old when I entered middle school, having grown only an inch or two since the sixth grade while others had grown five. Middle school was where I really felt the growing pains; I clung to old friends as they’d spontaneously disappear.

Suddenly, I entered high school, meeting some of my closest friends to this day.

“ I didn’t realize these relationships were so foundational until I came to Queen’s and found no immediate ties.

From one school to the next, my friends had other friends who floated in and out of my life. Our time together was marked with easy laughs and lunchtime chats, but I was never upset to see them go, because I had my close group of best friends.

There was a stability to my friendships at home, built on shared history. I didn’t realize these relationships were so foundational until I came to Queen’s and found no immediate close ties.

I felt this the strongest on my 18th birthday. I’ll preface this by saying I like a little attention, but I’m not the type to demand it.

On that lonely October day, for the first time, I missed coming to class and having someone wish me a quick happy birthday. I would’ve loved even a little “are you doing anything tonight” that wasn’t related to wandering the rain soaked streets in search of a trashy Halloween party--I happen to share my birthday with this holiday.

It wasn’t about the lack of attention, but a yearning for unspoken closeness.

Nevertheless, I had to adapt and learned how to become close to people in different ways, separate from this notion of shared history.

As first year blended into second, third, and now fourth, I have a profound appreciation for the brief relationships I’ve made in this time of temporality.

“

[...] if i were to cling to every friend I meet, I’d be clinging to a sinking ship that shouldn’t have set sail.

There’s this narrative in university that we should let our friends leave our lives as easily as they entered them. Especially in such a transitory period, I know if I were to cling to every friend I meet, I’d be clinging to a sinking ship that shouldn’t have set sail.

It’s important to recognize the loss of these relationships, though, and mourn their failures—no matter how briefly you knew a person. There’s something special in mourning not just the ten-year friendships from childhood but also the girl you sat next to for four months in class, the favourite

co-worker you trained with, and the one-week fling you hung out with for a day.

[...] there’s a sense of nostalgia and maybe even some greater melancholy when I think of who we were to each other in the moments we knew the other.

This act of mourning is purely for me. If I pretend a person’s absence doesn’t affect me, I’ll never fully move on, and these lingering feelings of awkwardness or regret will plague me when I think of what could’ve or should’ve been.

These relationships, friendships, and plain acquaintances don’t always end with heart-wrenching departures or epic fights. In my case, friendships fade when the message is left on delivered for more than a few days. We speak, and there should be more to say, but there’s less to talk about, and we don’t have as much fun together as we used to.

I can’t always remember when I first met someone and, in the same way, I can’t always remember how I became a stranger to them, but I do know there’s a sense of nostalgia and maybe even some greater melancholy when I think of who we were to each other in the moments we knew the other.

A few months ago, I read a book called The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi for a creative writing class and searched for the author’s trace in the narrative’s language, plot, and setting. The story begins with the title, and we

enter the world of Vivek through his friend’s and family’s eyes. We look for closure in Vivek’s death by uncovering his origins, not from his perspective, but through his family’s.

We watch how his mother’s perspective becomes clouded with the obsession of needing to fix Vivek in the months leading up to his death and how this eventual passing acts as a release into delirium for answers and closure.

I don’t mean to compare the weight of a death to the ending of a relationship, but I do want to emphasize the importance this process has in my view on relationships with the people that have left or are soon to go.

Perhaps I’m simply too despairingly uncertain, doubtful, or—I’ll admit—unwillingly insecure, but when I can sense someone’s slow departure from my life, I go to my friends for advice like they’re genies in a bottle. And, especially with romantic relationships, I’m told to remain on the defensive when people begin disconnecting from me.

“ I prefer to engage in a final conversation.

I’m told to “leave them on read,” or “give them a yes or no response” to reject them—this idea of offering them nothing of yourself because you feel they’re not entitled to that information anymore. Essentially, be yawn-worthy boring and bone-dry, so they’ll get the hint you’re done with them.

As much as I think this is a toxic mentality, I do it quite a bit. However, it doesn’t always sit

right with me. I’m also secretly selfish, occasionally obsessive, and find this sense of closure to be reductive. I’d prefer to engage in a final conversation.

If someone has made a large impact in my life, I want to talk with them once more, share one more laugh, and give us one last moment before we say goodbye. I need to lay to rest this awkward fear of seeing them in the seat next to me, in the new city they moved to and the café where we got coffee.

My relationships, no matter how brief or deep, are significant. Forcing myself to diminish the important moments with someone does nothing to satisfy my need for closure. When I can’t get that last conversation I want, I reflect on the small moments and appreciate them for what they were.

There’s no right way to start or end a relationship, but I’ve learned it’s just as important to know how to say goodbye as it is to open yourself up to new friends. If you’re still afraid of running into an old someone or dwelling over the loss of a relationship, hunt for answers to lay them to rest.

I won’t let the way I say goodbye define my relationships and the memories we made. So, alongside learning the importance of letting people momentarily connect with me in life, I’ve also learned to let them go in my own way.

“ I wont let the way I say goodbye define my relationships and the memories we made.

Appreciating the moments you had together is enough closure.

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL