Letters to the Editors

Don’t attack IAW

Dear Editors,

Re: “IAW dishonest” (Mar. 19, 2010).

A common theme among critics of Israel Apartheid Week (IAW)—which include some of our politicians and Alex Goldberg, who wrote a letter to the editor on Mar. 19—is none of them actually attended the event.

How can you criticize the content of an event that you didn’t attend? An attack on IAW is an attack on Canada’s fundamental principle of freedom of speech.

On Mar. 11, the Jerusalem Post, a leading Israeli newspaper, reported half of Israeli Jews between 15 and 18 think Arabs shouldn’t have equal rights, 56 per cent believe Arabs shouldn’t be in the Knesset and 50 per cent of the Jewish youngsters who defined themselves as religious said they believe the “Death to Arabs” slogan is legitimate.

These are alarming statistics to say the least and further reinforce the need for events like the IAW, which highlight the reality on the ground.

Simon Amherst,

ArtSci ’88

Grow up, already

Dear Editors,

Re: “Food fight in Leonard” (Mar. 19, 2010).

It was very fitting to see “Food fight in Leonard” followed immediately by the title “Queen’s needs more childcare” on the Journal’s website.

Those students involved behaved childishly and only reinforce the stereotype of Queen’s students as wasteful, privileged, spoiled brats.

Grow up already and stop giving your peers—and my alma mater—a bad name.

Lisa Woodcock,

ArtSci ’04

Financial pressures

Dear Editors,

Re: “Future uncertain for law library” (Mar. 19, 2010).

I was gratified to read about student support for the Lederman Law library, though it’s unfortunate the article presented only part of the picture.

The pressures of budget constraint are felt across the entire library system much as they are being felt across the University as a whole.

All units within the library have been grappling with budget constraints and staffing reductions. We are now working together to streamline purchasing, cataloguing and operational activities in order to continue to maintain public services tailored to meet the widely varying needs of users across all disciplines. We are appreciative of the continued interest and support of the Faculties and Schools we serve, including the Faculty of Law, which has enabled us to sustain current levels of service to this point.

The library is in a relatively early stage of exploring options for this organizational restructuring, working in consultation with Faculty-and Senate-based library advisory committees to ensure that any changes enable us to continue to provide the core services most needed and valued by students and faculty. Any proposed changes that might affect services to library users will be brought forward through appropriate governing bodies and reported out in a timely manner.

Paul Wiens,

University Librarian

All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.

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