On Wednesday, over 100 people gathered for a silent candlelight vigil in front of City Hall to remember the lives lost during the current Israel-Gaza conflict. The vigil was organized by the Kingston Coalition for Gaza.

For Team MAP—presidential candidate Colin McLeod, vice-president (operations) candidate Ellen Allwright and vice-president (university affairs) candidate Suhail Panjwani—their greatest strength in running for AMS executive lies in their self-proclaimed outsider status. “The tie that binds us all is that we have AMS experience, but also have experience outside of the AMS,” McLeod said.

If you haven’t yet met the members of Team CYZ, you might be the only one.
“We did not want to seem unprepared, so immediately we scheduled meetings last term and have met with everyone you could think of: student leaders, people internal to the AMS, committee chairs, clubs executives and almost every administrator you could think of,” presidential candidate Michael Ceci said.

Tomorrow, students, staff, faculty and members of the Kingston community will show their solidarity with Gaza during a silent candlelight vigil in front of City Hall.
The newly-formed Kingston Coalition for Gaza is organizing the vigil.

In response to an outcry on campus following an Islamophobic comment made by ASUS President Jacob Mantle on a friend’s Facebook page in October, the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS) is creating a new Diversity and Equity Advisor position to oversee issues relating to social justice, diversity and equity on campus.
Mantle said the position was first proposed at the Jan. 8 ASUS Assembly, and will be discussed again at the Jan. 22 ASUS Assembly.

After an inquiry into the voter eligibility of 93 ballots, TAs and TFs at Queen’s remain un-unionized after a final vote result of 398 to 359 against unionization.
TAs and TFs cast their ballots on Nov. 26 2008.

Thirteen Queen’s research projects will receive $2 million in funding thanks to the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Leaders Opportunities Fund.
Vice-Principal (Research) Kerry Rowe said CFI provides funding for research projects at universities across Canada.

The joint Board/Senate Advisory Committee is narrowing the pool of candidates to meet its spring 2009 deadline as it searches for the University’s next principal.
University Secretary Georgina Moore said she couldn’t name any of the candidates or say how many there are in order to protect their privacy, but said candidates from both Canada and abroad are being considered.

Concerns regarding academic integrity have been raised in light of inconsistent evaluation procedure in a fourth-year nursing class.
Concepts of Acute and Critical Illness, taught by professor Ann Brown, has been met by an uproar of student protest in response to the release of confidential practice test questions for the course onto the NURS 403 WebCT site.

Fabulous and full of film-savvy, Heather Christie has been a welcome addition to the A&E staff roster this year, producing sharp criticism that’s rivaled only by her ability to cause laughing fits.

As exam period begins, students will begin study sessions at libraries and in classrooms across campus. For those pulling all-nighters, safety is a concern for students studying or walking home alone.

Yesterday, students gathered to remember Comm ’09 student Baha Bekenov, who was found dead in Goodes Hall on Nov. 11. A book containing messages of condolences, stories of Bekenov and pictures of his time at Queen’s was made and will be sent to Bekenov’s parents.

Last Thursday was marked by the resignations of two high-ranking university officials. On Nov. 20, Vice-Principal (Advancement) David Mitchell and Vice-Principal (Operations and Finance) Andrew Simpson both announced they were stepping down.

The Education Students Society (ESS), representing about 700 students in the Faculty of Education, will vote in January on whether or not to secede from the AMS and join the Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS). At a meeting on Nov. 19, the ESS Council passed a motion calling for a referendum on membership in the AMS.