The AMS may need to increase its annual student fee if it wants to stop running a loss, said Vice-President (Operations) John Manning.
The AMS’ funding hasn’t kept up with its growth over the past couple years, Manning said, resulting in shortfalls like this year’s projected $108,627 loss in the operating fund. This is the second year in a row that fund has posted a loss of more than $100,000.

Ask most people on campus about the upcoming referendum question and you will often get blank stares and maybe an awkward shrug.
Understandably, this may be the response of a demographic with historically lower voter turnout. But young people are not the only ones who are unaware. Other citizens, from all walks of life, don’t know the impending question, which appears to be the result of an information drought and not simply negligence.

The contents of councillor Bill Glover’s mailbox Monday morning will determine whether or not he will vote in favour of closing Aberdeen Street for the Saturday of Homecoming.
The AMS and the University applied for the street closure two months ago.
Glover, councillor for Sydenham ward, which includes the infamous stretch of the Ghetto, said he is waiting on a letter from Principal Karen Hitchcock before deciding whether or not to endorse the closure.

If city council doesn’t agree to close Aberdeen Street over Homecoming Weekend, last year’s Aberdeen Street volunteers may not be making a repeat appearance. After the Homecoming 2005 Aberdeen Street party made national news, Rebelo was fed up with the reputation Queen’s had acquired and wanted to clean up the notorious annual street party on Aberdeen.

Parties vying for first spot in the provincial election should rethink the way the Ontario government funds post-secondary institutions, said a spokesperson for the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS).
The CFS wants the government to roll back tuition fees to their 2004-05 levels and double the number of grants available to students.

The last time Ontario voters faced a referendum, the year was 1924 and the issue at hand was prohibition. On Oct. 10, 2007, the stakes are a bit higher. At polling stations across the province, voters will be handed two ballots. The first should be a familiar one: it will ask voters to choose from a selection of candidates representing different parties, whom they want to represent them at the provincial level. The second ballot will pose a question with a more lasting impact.

Women and children literally took to the streets last Thursday to show their support for Take Back the Night. The event, which runs in cities across Canada, the U.S. and Europe on the last Thursday of every September, was organized locally by the Sexual Assault Centre Kingston (SACK). Before the march, participants rallied in Confederation Basin Park, where SACK’s Public Education Coordinator Heather Lackner shared statistics about sexual and physical violence done to women and children.

The Faculty of Applied Science is encouraging faculty from the electrical and computer engineering department to leave voluntarily with financial compensation.
The program was announced at the faculty board on Sept. 19. Dean of Applied Science Kimberly Woodhouse wouldn’t comment on the program or how it will work.

After a particularly rowdy September, Insp. Brian Cookman said Kingston Police may have to look into adding additional officers to patrol the Ghetto all year.
The Kingston Whig-Standard quoted police Chief Bill Closs suggesting the Ghetto might need up to 16 officers to patrol it all day, every day of the year.

John Gerretsen, MPP for Kingston and the Islands and minister of municipal affairs and housing, said the province has given Ontario municipalities everything they need to improve the housing situation in places like the Queen’s student Ghetto.

The ink has faded in some areas, the paper looks a little uneven—especially on the edges—and it comes with the original seal, restored from its shattered state. The document that predates me by more than a century established Queen’s as a college to instruct students in “the various branches of Science Literature” in the Province of Upper Canada.

Starting in early November, long lines at Health, Counselling and Disability Services (HCDS) will no longer keep students from getting counselling.
The AMS-run Peer Support Centre will offer support and guidance in non-academic areas of student life.
The centre will be based on the second floor of the JDUC in room 214 and students will be able to drop in, call or e-mail to set up an appointment.

On Saturday Agnes Benedickson Field will be host to Queen’s first annual educational powwow, “Engaging the Community.”
Georgina Riel, Four Directions Aboriginal Student Centre manager, said she expects anywhere between 1,000 and 5,000 attendees.
The powwow is the first at Queen’s and is hosted by Four Directions, the campus resource centre for aboriginal community members or anyone interested in aboriginal issues and practices.

The AMS is sticking to last year’s game plan when preparing for Homecoming 2007, said President Kingsley Chak.
“The city and the AMS and the administration are working very closely together,” he said. “The main goal for us is to maintain public safety. The police and us have been talking to see how we can achieve that goal together.”
Chak said the AMS’s general approach to Homecoming will be the same, and they will continue to work with the city and the Kingston police.

Students living on Aberdeen Street welcomed a new neighbour yesterday as Queen’s unveiled its new community outreach centre—the first of its kind in Canada, Jason Laker, dean of student affairs, said.
The centre, located at 11 Aberdeen St., was Laker’s brainchild and is mandated to “offer increased opportunities for student involvement, broader awareness of Queen’s University services and offers greater connections between the Queen’s community and the local Kingston and area communities.”

Almost two weeks into the provincial election, the AMS and Elections Ontario’s Kingston and the Islands office are teaming up to raise awareness about the upcoming provincial election on campus.
Elections Ontario had voter registration booths set up in the residence cafeterias—Ban Righ Hall, Leonard Hall, and Jean Royce Hall—on September 12, 13, 17 and 18.

Online campaigns and schmoozing with pop stars may be the way some politicians attract younger voters, but according to Michael Ignatieff, it’s not going get to the heart of the problem. On Wednesday, the outspoken academic and Liberal MP told the Journal he wanted use his time at the University to argue against youth apathy and suggest ways to get more people involved in politics.
Yesterday afternoon in Macdonald Hall, Ignatieff delivered a speech about civic engagement in Canada in the 21st century to room overflowing with listeners.

Homecoming 2007 is still two weeks away, but Kingston police are readying themselves for a wild weekend following a Frosh Week they say was rowdier than most.
With 36 charges laid on Sept. 5 alone, additional staff patrolled the Ghetto in the following days.
Closs said he expects Homecoming crowds this year to be similar to previous years, when several thousand people crowded onto Aberdeen Street on the Saturday of Homecoming weekend.

The intersection of University Avenue and Union Street will reopen at the end of September.
University Avenue between Bader Lane and Union Street will reopen at the end of October.
Sidewalks along University Avenue are available for pedestrians.