Faculty, teaching assistants and graduate students at York University—all members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees—have been on strike since Nov. 5.
TAs at Queen’s are currently not unionized, but the potential for striking is one of the concerns raised by opponents of Teaching Assistant and Fellow Association’s (TAFA) unionization campaign.

Eakhytzhan Bekenov will be remembered as a quiet and caring student with a strong work ethic.
Known to his friends as Baha, the Comm ’09 student came to Queen’s from Kazakhstan and spent a year on exchange at the Copenhagen Business School.

On Friday night, Rachel Kucharczuk’s routine trip to the grocery store was disrupted by the discovery of anti-Semitic comments smeared on the front and back of her car.
“I was in bed with the flu all day and I came out to my car to get some ginger ale.”

Principal Tom Williams announced this morning that Homecoming as students and alumni now know it has been cancelled. The event will be replaced by a Homecoming-style “Spring Reunion,” held in May. The change will stand for at least two years.

University staff members trying to join the United Steelworkers union say senior administrators are blocking them from disseminating information amongst their colleagues and making it difficult for them to meet.
The employees attempting to unionize are non-teaching technical and support staff, and don’t include library or physical plant employees, who are covered by their own collective agreements.

University residences across the country are switching to cage-free shell eggs as part of an effort to provide students with more humanely-produced foods.
According to Bruce Passmore at the Humane Society International (HSI), conventional eggs are produced by hens enclosed in wire cages approximately 432 to 555 square centimetres in size, about three quarters of a tabloid-sized paper.

Queen’s campus received an unwelcome paint job last week as five cases of offensive graffiti were reported to campus security on Oct. 31 and Nov. 2. The first incident was reported at 5:38 a.m. On Oct. 31 on the wall of Beamish-Munro Hall, beside the Tea Room; the words “Queen’s Spirit: Bigotry, Queen’s Tradition: Denial” were spray painted on the wall.

At ASUS Assembly on Thursday night, Jacob Mantle announced he would not be resigning as ASUS president. Mantle was asked to resign by the AMS executive, Queen’s students and student groups, following a comment he posted on a friend’s Facebook wall. The comment, ‘I like your Taliban picture’ was made in response to a photo of two girls wearing scarves and sunglasses.

AMS services in the JDUC are being told to keep doors closed and ensure their garbage is properly disposed of in light of recent damage caused by rats in the building.
AMS Student Centre and Clubs Co-ordinator Stephen Chow said he estimates there are three or four rats in the JDUC who likely came from the houses that were demolished to build the Queen’s Centre.

At last night’s AMS Assembly, Jacob Mantle’s future as ASUS president was discussed.
The discussion occurred in response to a discriminatory comment Mantle posted on a friend’s Facebook wall in response to a photo of two girls wearing scarves and sunglasses, saying “I like your Taliban picture.”

Various members of the Queen’s community were asked to discuss their views on Jacob Mantle’s comment, his apology, other instances of Islamophobia on campus and the Journal’s coverage of the issues. Queen’s University Muslim Association (QUMSA) co-chair Isra Rafiq, ArtSci ’09, said Mantle’s status as a student leader doesn’t make his statement any more hurtful.

Five students are looking to build a positive image for Queen’s University and its students—one click at a time. Yesterday, Joanna Pleta, Dave Giglio, Jihong Kim, Catarina Barroso, Michael Ashbourne and David Fraher publically launched saveourghetto.com, a website highlighting the beneficial activities and charitable organizations students have initiated to build a constructive relationship with the Kingston community.

University students across the country had the opportunity to turn the tables on their schools with the release of the Globe and Mail’s annual Canadian University Report.
The report is a compilation of responses from Canadian university students who voluntarily filled out an online survey and rated their respective institutions.