AMS Bus-It
The Bus-It program is the AMS service that allows every student to ride Kingston Transit for free with a validated student card. The fee pays for 12-month bus passes for all students on all Kingston Transit buses. The contribution made by the AMS to Kingston Transit every year allows us to push for more student-oriented services. The fee has allowed us to improve bus times from the Student Village to the Via Rail Train Station and Coach Canada Bus Terminal in addition to paying for the creation of the Student Circuit Bus which goes from campus and the Student Village to useful locations such as Food Basics, the LCBO and Staples. The fee remains the cheapest in Canada, costing less than 70 per cent of a single-month pass on Kingston Transit.
Accessibility Queen’s
Accessibility Queen’s (AQ) has worked for well over two decades to improve accessibility on campus for students with disabilities. Funded entirely by a mandatory $3.00 student activity fee paid by both AMS and SGPS members, AQ implements new and continuing initiatives designed to improve physical, academic and social accessibility for Queen’s students across campus. Examples of past capital projects initiated by AQ include the renovation of two ground floor washrooms in Dupuis Hall making them barrier free and wheelchair accessible; providing a lift to the stage in Grant Hall; the installation of four power door openers around campus; providing an accessible entrance to the AMS Food Centre; installing a wheelchair lift in Mac-Corry; making the Grey House accessible; fixing a ramp outside the JDUC; and funding an accessible computer station in the JDUC near the elevator. AQ has also addressed academic accessibility by purchasing equipment for the Adaptive Technology Lab in Stauffer Library; providing the exam centre in Mac-Corry with ergonomic work stations; and by advocating for special exam arrangements for students with disabilities.
Previous years have also seen AQ purchase resource guides to help students with disabilities access resources in the Kingston community and subsidize the cost of sign language course to make them more affordable for the average student. In 2005-2006, AQ established a $100,000 endowment fund to provide students with disabilities bursary money to cover expenses endured because of their disability (i.e. adaptive technologies, transportation subsidies etc).
AQ continues to serve as the main peer support network for students with disabilities, and provides a voice for ALL students concerned with accessibility issues. The continuation of this fee remains central to the functionality of AQ’s diverse projects and programs, and works to ensure that all students are able to access the resources this University has to offer.
AMS Food Centre
AMS Food Centre (formerly known as AMS Food Bank) – optional $1.00
The AMS Food Centre, formerly known as the AMS Food Bank, is a service run through the Social Issues Commission that offers students a confidential food service in a comfortable and supportive environment. The Food Centre is funded entirely through an optional $1.00 fee paid by both AMS and SGPS members, and the service is open to all Queen’s students who experience difficulties purchasing food on a regular basis. Given the rising costs of living, education and associated costs, the Food Centre is an invaluable service committed to ensuring that students are able to meet their basic costs of living while engaged in post-secondary education. The Food Centre is staffed entirely by volunteers and all fees are put directly towards the purchase of food, maintenance of the space and advertising. The centre is based on the general principles of social justice and strives to create partnerships and to develop support within the Kingston community for students.
Aside from providing the services offered at the Food Centre, volunteers work in collaboration with other committees such as Meal XChange and Students Against Poverty to raise awareness about student poverty in Kingston and to encourage students to donate towards the Food Centre and its programs. Every year, the groups collaborate to run events such as the Halloween Trick-or-Eat Program. The Food Centre has grown in scope over the past few years, offering new and improved services to students such as the introduction of the food locker program and the soon-to-arrive online ordering form.
The Food Centre serves as the main support service for a number of students on-campus, and the continuation of the fee remains central to its ability to operate and provide adequate service to those that need it.
Campus Observation Room
Nobody who has a few drinks expects to end up in the Emergency Room at the end of an evening of fun with their friends. However, the risk of choking on one’s own vomit or sustaining an injury through a fall, are very real after consuming a lot of alcohol.
The Campus Observation Room (C.O.R.) is an on-campus detox facility – a safe, friendly, non-judgmental, CONFIDENTIAL place for assessing and monitoring students who have consumed a large amount of alcohol and are at risk of harm. All students and their friends are welcome. COR is coordinated through Queen’s Health, Counselling and Disability Services; funded by student interest fees with help from Queen’s Residences; staffed by trained peer volunteers and professionals from the local HDH Detox Centre; and housed in Victoria Hall. COR aims to ensure the safety of students who’ve consumed excessive alcohol. In addition, COR supports the KGH Emergency Department by looking after intoxicated people who need monitoring but don’t require the full services of the hospital. This allows the hospital to use their resources for the most critically ill patients. COR also supports all students by providing a safe place to bring intoxicated friends they’re worried about. Finally, we train a large group of student volunteers and provide them opportunities to assess and care for others. COR was established in 1990 and initially opened for Orientation Week and Homecoming Weekend. It was expanded in 2003 to operate weekends in September. Last year, it expanded operations again to be open weekends throughout the fall term and selected weekends in the winter term. Since its inception, COR has provided care to more than 900 students including 90 so far this fall.
Your student fees allow COR to open throughout the fall term. Please vote YES to COR!
DREAM
The goal of D.R.E.A.M. (Discover the Reality of Educating All Minds) is to raise funds to establish libraries and schools in developing countries. We work in partnership with the world renowned charity, Room to Read, to implement these projects in poor Southeast Asian countries. In the past three years, we have raised over $50,000 to fund the construction of nine libraries in Nepal and one computer lab in Cambodia. This year, we are aiming to raise $40,000 to build 9 libraries in India. The AMS fee is an extremely important part of our annual budget and enables hundreds of children in developing countries to receive a proper education.
The Empress
Since 1994, The Empress magazine has been the only bilingual publication on campus promoting culture and diversity that extend beyond the continent of Asia. Written in both English and Chinese, one may be surprised to find the magazine filled with amusing anecdotes, interesting facts, and opinion pieces from writers of many different cultural backgrounds.
The Empress aims to promote Chinese as well as various other cultures in order to facilitate the exchange of ideas in a multicultural institution like Queen’s University. The newest issues include complete translations of all Chinese articles into English so that anyone can take part in our multicultural experience. In addition to establishing readership in the community, The Empress also acts as a liaison between many of the Asian organizations on campus as well as between our students and various businesses in the Kingston area.
Our funding comes from the AMS $0.65 opt-outable student activities fee. With this funding, The Empress can continue to thrive through the publishing of many more culturally-rich issues for years to come. The activities of the club shall be carried on with no intention of personal financial gain as all of the funding shall be used uniquely for carrying out the club’s objectives.
Finding a copy of The Empress is easy – our publication’s new issues are completed on a bi-monthly basis, and they can be found at magazine stalls around campus.
Fuel Cell Team
The Queen’s Fuel Cell Team has been receiving AMS opt-outable fees for the past four years and has put the money to great use. It has been used to help purchase the fuel cell stacks that power the project vehicle, as well as the materials used to build the systems to make the fuel cell stacks function. To date, the team has completed its first project vehicle: a golf cart, which runs off two hydrogen fuel cell stacks. If the AMS opt-outable fees are renewed for the team, the money will be used to further the team’s goals. The goals for the next few years are centered on building a new project vehicle, either a road vehicle or a formula racing vehicle, which will run off hydrogen fuel. To do this, the team needs to invest a lot of money in purchasing a new, more powerful fuel cell stack, along with the systems to make the stack function, and the materials to build/convert the next project vehicle. Although the AMS opt-outable fees would not completely fund the team’s ambitions, they would provide a strong base on which to build the rest of the team’s sponsorship, which is obtained through corporate sponsors. The Queen’s Fuel Cell Team will be able to achieve their upcoming goals much more readily with the help of the AMS opt-outable fees.
Oxfam
Queen’s Oxfam is an on-campus branch of Oxfam Canada. We work to promote sustainable development on and off Queen’s Campus. We run three campaigns: Make Trade Fair, For All and No Sweat, as well as the Fair Trade Co-op. To this extent we are asking students to vote yes to continue our $0.35 opt-outable student fee on the fall referendum. For more information on Queen’s Oxfam please visit our website at www.queensoxfam.ca
Queen’s After-Hours Clinic
The Queen’s After-Hours Clinic is a new initiative to open a fully-functional, inter-professional, evening and weekend healthcare clinic on campus. Based out of the LaSalle building, the clinic’s physicians and nurses will provide appointment-based healthcare service, assisted by senior-level medical and nursing students. In addition, four salaried student directors will be hired to oversee the operations, human resources, finance and public relations portfolios under the direction of Health, Counselling, and Disability Services staff. By September of 2009, the clinic will be open two evenings and one weekend day each week, which we anticipate will alleviate some of the current pressure on HCDS and allow for shorter wait times at Health Services.
In order to cover the operational costs of the clinic and maintain it entirely free of charge to those with OHIP or equivalent coverage, we are requesting the establishment of a $3.75 mandatory fee. Any questions regarding this initiative can be directed towards Eveline Traxler (4et3@queensu.ca) or Mike Condra, HCDS Director (condram@queensu.ca).
Reelout
The reelout arts project inc. was founded in 1999 through Queen’s University’s, Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG). Over the last 10 years, our annual reelout queer film + video festival has continued to be our most prominent event. Held over two weeks in January and February, the festival now has a solid history of organizing a high quality, well-attended, fiscally sound community arts event that contributes to the vitality of Kingston’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans community. The festival also creates a space for discussion, education and exploration, and in doing so promotes acceptance and understanding. Additionally, the festival provides a forum for up-and-coming as well as seasoned Canadian filmmakers to show their work while showcasing award-winning and acclaimed films and videos from around the world. The festival screens work that would otherwise be unavailable in Kingston and broadens the audience’s understanding of film and video-making practices and styles.
Queen’s and its students play a vital role in the life of the reelout arts project. With the majority of reelout’s fundraising and promotional events being hosted on and around the Queen’s campus, and Queen’s students making up over 50% of our volunteers, the university has been key to supporting and maintaining this non-profit, arts-focused organization.
In addition to the main festival, reelout also hosts special screenings in conjunction with other community events. This year marks the start of a new reelout initiative, the reelout in schools project. This project involves working with a variety of partners including several Queen’s student organizations to present interactive anti-discrimination workshops that use film to dispel myths and foster discussion and understanding.
Please see Friday’s paper for more fall referendum statements. Voting takes place on Oct. 28 and 29.
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