Last Tuesday was a big day for our neighbours. After a mid-term election that saw the Democrats rest control of the Senate and House of Representatives away from the Republicans, President George W. Bush said his party took a “thumpin’.”

There is one major thing that has come to trouble me about local politics here in my native city. Kingston has a total population of about 120,000, and students at Queen’s University make up more than ten percent of this total.

CAIRO—A column about politics in the Arab world is bound to be over-ambitious. Several volumes at least are needed to fairly encapsulate the complex and intricate history of a region plagued for centuries by war and oppression.

While some students are comfortable discussing these issues with academic staff to be granted extensions or waivers, others silently endure these crises, thinking they are trivial. No personal issue is trivial. Maybe your TA can’t give you an extension, but that doesn’t make it an insignificant issue to other people and, more importantly, to yourself. Queen’s is known for its
high standards. Along with the contemporary push to be the super student—smart, athletic, fun, serious, cool, hot—we are constantly pressed to excel in everything.

QUMSA along with the Canadian Federation of Students, the TMA and SGPS, will be hosting a forum on Nov. 1 at 6 p.m., to address Islamophobia. Following a brief panel discussion, students and community members will be given an opportunity to come forth and share their own experiences and sentiments with regards to this topic, and all are encouraged to attend.

On Sept. 21, in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made one thing clear. When it comes to the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, “We will succeed.”

Frank Milne, a Queen’s business and economics professor, thinks that Canadians want a “Harvard
education with McDonald’s hamburger prices.” Milne spoke at last Sunday’s Great Debate in Grant Hall,
organized by the AMS to explore issues surrounding Canadian postsecondary education.

“I am not sure how many students have noticed this, but there has been an increasing amount of sexist advertising being displayed in the men’s washrooms in the JDUC targeted against women,” says Peter Saczkowski, ArtSci ’07. “The first advertisements went up last year and I was disturbed by them at this point, but I figured that someone might notice and do something about it. Sadly, this did not happen and the advertisements are still there.”

On Sept. 30, the AMS made a two-hour presentation to the Board of Trustees, the governing body responsible for the overall operation of the University and for overseeing financial matters and
senior appointments.

When European countries formed the European Union there was widespread debate in the parliaments of nations. Patriotic tempers raged, people were up in arms and media coverage was remarkable.
But when Canada, the United States, and Mexico entered into a similar agreement, it was silent in the House of Commons and Congress.