Rula Salam, a second-year English PhD student, found the war at her doorstep. On July 12, when Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers, Salam said it didn’t seem like something that would lead to anything more: Israel has conducted similar prisoner exchanges in the past.
When the news reported that the south was being heavily bombed later that day, she said it was unbelievable. The targeting soon moved much closer to home for Salam and her family when the suburbs of Beirut were bombed.

Jessica Goldberg, ConEd ’07, was studying for her final exams at Israel’s University of Haifa when Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers.
During the ensuing clash between the Israeli Defence Force and Hezbollah, the atmosphere in Israel grew tense.

Since Paul Martin’s resignation in March of this year, the Liberal party has been abuzz searching for a new leader. Throughout the summer, 10 candidates have campaigned across Canada, calling on all Liberals to support their quest for leadership.
Responding to some of those calls are members of the Queen’s University Liberal Association (QULA).
With such a large number of candidates, however, the organization is split over whom they should support.

Tenants of a building Queen’s bought for a new art center are now expecting the University to find them a new home.
The Domino Theatre and Stella Buck Centre, the two buildings that make up the J.K. Tett complex, officially became Queen’s property on July 31.
The buildings, located at 370 King St., will be converted into a performing arts centre that will provide classrooms, offices, a concert hall and other facilities for the Schools of Music and Drama and the Art Department.

Kingston’s downtown core received several environmentally friendly facelifts this past summer, and Green Scheme can be thanked for the city’s fresh new glow.
Aislinn McCarry, Green Scheme’s manager, said it’s a long-term community stewardship initiative aimed at fusing community groups and university students through a series of environmentally-friendly activities, such as tree-planting and gardening projects.
Green Scheme was launched in March as a result of a challenge raised in Principal Hitchcock’s letter to students entitled “Aberdeen: Moving Forward.”

Frosh Week 2006, festive even without traditional house parties, hasn’t been a major cause of concern to police.
Last year, 66 charges were laid against students over the Tuesday and Wednesday of Frosh Week, and the annual Main Campus Residence Council’s (MCRC) dance had to be cancelled an hour and a half early due to underage drinking.
Patrick Hoffman, MCRC VP (social) said that for the MCRC executive this year, safety was a primary concern.

In a survey about first-year orientation conducted by the Senate Orientation Activities Review Board (SOARB), 74 per cent of students who participated in 2005 orientation said they were treated equally by their leaders, compared to 64 per cent in 2004. Overall student respect for frosh leaders rose from 52 per cent to 63 per cent. From grease poles to coveralls, each University faculty boasts their own unique set of orientation traditions. Organizers say they value these traditions because of their role in promoting faculty pride.

Queen’s is among at least 22 schools to pull out of Maclean’s magazine’s university ranking issue.
“In recent years, there has been considerable concern in the University community about the methodology used by Maclean’s in their ranking of Canadian universities,” Principal Karen Hitchcock said in a statement released Aug. 23.
Eleven university presidents sent a letter to Tony Keller, Maclean’s special projects managing editor, announcing their intention to withdraw from the survey.
In the letter, sent on Aug. 14, the universities expressed reservations regarding the survey’s methodology.

The administration revealed a new ad campaign aimed to diffuse tensions and try to prevent a repeat of last year’s Homecoming, at a press conference Wednesday.
Newspaper ads and posters around campus with slogans such as “Keep Queen’s reputation out of the gutter” and “It’s not a car, it’s your degree that’s getting trashed,” reference the Queen’s Code of Conduct and potential long-term effects of an unsanctioned street party. The ads are intended to encourage students to think twice before joining in, Patrick Deane, vice-principal (academic) said.

A University alumnus is putting out a call for volunteers to walk the Ghetto on Homecoming weekend and act as a buffer between police and partying students.
Vinni Rebelo, a Kingston entrepreneur and manager of the Ambassador Hotel, said the idea came to him following last year’s unsanctioned street party, when more than 5,000 people crowded onto Aberdeen Street, and a car was flipped and set on fire.

I remember the look on my mom’s face when she caught me inhaling a freshly cooked pot of Kraft Dinner shortly after I had come home from first year. Yes, I had been eating unhealthier than normal. It had become instinctual to reach for something that didn’t burn a hole in my pocket, was effortless to make and even easier to eat after adapting to the residence way of life for the previous eight months.

About 45 per cent of respondents to a police survey of students in the Ghetto advocated less of a police response to Homecoming.
Police Chief Bill Closs said it makes sense for students to want less police presence.
This won’t necessarily result in having fewer police patrolling the area, however.