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Vic Hall fire alarms decrease

The number of fire alarms pulled in Victoria Hall residence has significantly decreased from last year.

In the fall term of 2010 there were a total of 26 fire alarms pulled from September to November. So far this term there has been one malicious fire alarm.

Bruce Griffiths, director of Queen’s Housing and Hospitality Services, said this decrease resulted from many new initiatives including the installation of video cameras in the Victoria Hall lobby and stairwells.

“Cameras are a useful tool along with safety education, additional locks in stairwells, the hiring of a Security Supervisor, the campus safety website, etc,” Griffiths told the Journal via email.

Last year, a malicious fire alarm meant Kingston Fire and Rescue was delayed from an emergency incident that led to a death.

Griffiths said an investigation into applying these methods to other buildings around campus will begin in the new year.

“A broader assessment [of] some of our initiatives, including cameras and lighting, will take place in the coming months,” he said.

— Catherine Owsik

Dancers win bronze

Flow Dance Club placed third in the Nov. 26 Ontario University Competition for hip hop (OUCH).

Flow executive member Jamie Jia Shen said this is the first year the club — comprised of 16 performing members — has placed at OUCH. “Queen’s was never part of the competition until last year,” Shen, ArtSci ’12, said. “This year’s really the first time we knew what we were doing.”

Shen said she was surprised the group placed this year.

“We weren’t expecting any placement because it’s only our second time, so we’re pretty happy,” she said.

The competition included 12 teams of college and university dance teams that performed routines in front of five judges. Durham College placed first followed by Carleton University. The competition provided no monetary awards.

Shen has been involved with Flow since her second year at Queen’s and said the group helps foster a hip-hop community in Kingston.

“It’s not to win medals, it’s more for the love of dancing, the love of community,” she said. “Flow is a family.”

— Katherine Fernandez-Blance

Profs win research award

The National Haemophilia Foundation recently awarded two Queen’s pathology and molecular medicine professors the title of Researcher of the Year.

Dr. David Lillicrap and Dr. Paula James have worked to improve the lives of patients with bleeding disorders, such a haemophilia and von Willebrand disease. Both disorders cause abnormal bleeding due to a lack of blood clotting.

Queen’s research has been conducted at the Kingston General Hospital and the Molecular Haemostasis Laboratory.

A team of 20 researchers working with Dr. Lillicrap have been trying to develop a cure, using gene therapy, for haemophilia.

Von Willebrand disease, Dr. James’ specialty, isn’t as well known as haemophilia but affects a greater number of people.

The research hopes to improve the identification process of people affected by either blood disorder.

— Meaghan Wray

Residences save energy

Harkness International Hall won this year’s annual Residence Energy Challenge (REC). The REC encourages students in residence to decrease their energy use.

Some green methods implemented included turning off lights more often, taking shorter showers and using drying racks for washed clothes.

During a three-week period the energy consumption of each residence building is measured and then compared to last year’s three-week total.

Together all of the residences decreased a total of 21,845 kilowatt hours during the competition. Harkness decreased the most amount of energy use. The money saved will go towards installing sustainable features in the building.

Students living in Harkness also won free entry into a glow in the dark party hosted by the Main Campus Residence Council (MCRC).

The competition aims to teach students about sustainable lifestyles.

— Catherine Owsik

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