January 19, 2007
Vol. 134, Issue 26

Source: www.fin.gov .on.ca and pa rl.gc.ca (Graphic by Katrina Ludlow and B. Shiva Mayer)

A peek inside the payroll

Principal Karen Hitchcock makes $306,425.04, David Walker, dean of Health Sciences, makes $320,073.32, and David Saunders, dean of the School of Business, makes $236,520.50. They are three of the highest-paid employees of the University. Vice-Principal (Human Resources) Roderick Morrison said the principal’s salary is determined by the Board of Directors based on what other principals and presidents in Canada are making.

Changes to tenant-landlord rules will be in effect by month’s end

As of Jan. 31, tenant-landlord legislation will get an overhaul when the Ontario Residential Tenancies Act replaces the Tenant Protection Act. AMS Municipal Affairs Commissioner Ryan Quinlan-Keech said the new legislation won’t affect student tenants very much, but it should be an opportunity for them to educate themselves about their rights as tenants, and to ensure their landlords are up to date on the current legislation.

Do marks matter in job hunt?

You’re told you need them to get into university, into graduate school, to get a good job and to have a secure future. You have probably spent years of your life worrying about whether yours are up to par. But once you get out of school, how important are marks to the people who are hiring you?

Search narrows for new dean

The University has narrowed down its search to replace Faculty of Applied Science Dean Tom Harris to two candidates, but will only reveal one of their names. The selection committee, headed by Vice-Principal (Academic) Patrick Deane, will meet with the final two candidates over the next couple of weeks. One of these candidates is David Wilkinson, director of the McMaster University Centre for Automotive Materials and the McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute. Wilkinson visited Queen’s on Tuesday.

‘Canada is suffering from electoral dysfunction’

Canada’s electoral system is dysfunctional, and democracy must adapt to 21st-century politics, Chris Horkins, Queen’s New Democrat leader, told a citizens’ group designed to discuss and review Ontario’s electoral system. “Which is worse—students not voting, or students voting against their values?” Horkins asked the Ontario Citizens’ Assembly on Tuesday night.

Putting the percentages in perspective

Alexandra Muccilli said she thinks her marks would likely be higher if she attended a different university. Muccilli, ArtSci ’08, said her marks fell 10 percentage points in first year. Meanwhile, Mike Sung, ArtSci ’08, said his marks dropped 17 percentage points from high school to university, but there is nowhere else he’d rather be than Queen’s. Although he’s worried he won’t meet academic requirements for graduate school, Sung doesn’t think he’s alone in that respect.

Clubs’ campaigns plan to raise money for reading

As Queen’s students buckle down for another semester of study, two student groups are kicking off campaigns to raise books and money for students who don’t have the means to do so. Ryan Gallagher, ArtSci ’07, is the president of Queen’s CognitivAction, a charity group that started this year, whose mandate is to work on a variety of causes.

News In Brief

The Foodbank’s decline

Foodbank usage has dropped from 1,500 visits per year in 2004, to a mere 100 since last May. Foodbank manager Tara Tran said the move from a more central location on Earl Street to Macgillivray-Brown Hall (due to Queen’s Centre construction) could be to blame for the dramatic drop.

House-hunting tips for first-timers

When time is an issue, even a constructed one, it’s easy to ignore reality and jump at the first possibility. It’s not necessary to sign early in Kingston. There is no shortage of housing, and it’s important to remember that when hunting for a place

Lack of student interest in property assessments

The last complaint the Kingston property standards office received from someone living in the Ghetto came two weeks ago, and it didn’t come from a student. The call came from a student’s mother, who had visited her child’s house for the weekend and was disgusted with what she saw.

QMT cast makes it out of the Woods

A hopeful spectator might enter Into the Woods looking for something similar to Wicked, the musical based on Gregory Maguire’s cynical satire of The Wizard of Oz’s Wicked Witch of the West.

Student-coaches steer their peers

The pre-competition routine for most athletes is pretty basic. Check your equipment; pack some spare socks and maybe a snack. For a student-athlete, that plan might include bringing along a textbook to read on the bus ride home.

Starry, starry night

Today, stargazing remains both a popular hobby and research pursuit. Last Saturday, the Kingston chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) and the Queen’s physics department held an open house at the Queen’s Observatory.

Issue in photos

View all images from vol. 134, issue 26.