Nine Ghetto houses got green makeovers over the past two weeks as part of the AMS Sustainability Co-ordinator’s Greenovations project.
Because all of the Greenovations being made are improvements students could be making themselves without permission from their landlands, the project co-ordinators didn’t need to consult landlords before beginning.

A proposed boycott of Israeli universities is unlawful, the British University and College Union (UCU)’s legal advisors told them on Sept. 28.
The union announced a call for debate on cutting academic ties with post-secondary institutions in Israel in May.
Following that announcement, Principal Karen Hitchcock issued a statement on the university’s website in early July saying Queen’s would have no choice but to ask the union to add Queen’s to its boycott list if they pursued their “ill-advised course.”

Southern Africa is a region comprising of 14 countries, more than 40 languages and a population of more than 184 million. And this population is on the move.
At Queen’s, the Southern African Research Centre (SARC) works with various faculties and international agencies and institutions to do research and implement development projects in Southern Africa.

As Homecoming weekend approaches, the Kingston police are making final arrangements to ensure a safe weekend.
Police Insp. Brian Cookman said the position of police officers around the Ghetto has been adjusted from last year due to unexpected partying on the Friday of Homecoming 2006. Cookman said public order units from Toronto and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are being brought in to police partygoers. Last year, Kingston police had one OPP public order unit and two Toronto police officers.
As with Homecoming 2006, surveillance cameras and additional lighting will be installed on Aberdeen Street.

Kingston police are investigating two incidents of sexual assault in the Queen’s community.
The victims of both incidents were female Queen’s students, said Sergeant Balwant Dhillon, head of the sexual assault unit. For privacy reasons, Dhillon said he couldn’t release the ages of the victims or the accused, but he said alcohol was a factor in all three assaults.
The police have suspects for one of the two cases still under investigation. In all the cases the attackers were male.

Last night New Democrat candidate Rick Downes joined his supporters at the Grizzly Grill shortly before 10 p.m., talking to them and shaking hands briefly before addressing the crowd to concede his defeat.
Downes received 20.6 per cent of the vote, with 10,126 votes as of 2 a.m. today.

Progressive Conservative candidate Dr. John Rapin, who was a distant second in last night’s election, would have won in Kingston and the Islands were it not for party leader John Tory’s sabotage on the campaign trail, said Gareth Neilson, Rapin’s campaign office manager.
“If John Tory wasn’t the leader of this party, we would have won this riding. As a matter of fact, if John Tory hadn’t opened his fucking mouth, we would have won this riding.”

The provincial Liberals won their second straight majority government, with incumbent John Gerretsen leading in Kingston and the Islands with 47.2 per cent.

After four years as Ontario Premier, Dalton McGuinty has the challenge of convincing Canadians that he has done well and can make Ontario better. His track record includes the hiring of 8,000 new nurses, and the 1.3 million-square-kilometre Toronto region greenbelt among others.

Growing up in a working-class family, NDP candidate Rick Downes said he became aware early on of the inadequacy of minimum wage in Ontario. “Last December, [Premier Dalton] McGuinty gave himself a $20,000 pay raise,” Downes said. “Then two months later, he raised the minimum wage. Do you know how much it was? It was just 25 cents.” At today’s minimum wage of $8, one can earn $16,000 in a year, which puts them $6,000 below the poverty line.

More than 20,000 residents in Kingston don’t have a family doctor. For Progressive Conservative candidate Dr. John Rapin, this news is motivation to run for a seat in provincial legislature, representing Kingston and the Islands.

Incumbent Liberal John Gerretsen is in politics because of life lessons learned from his parents. A lawyer by profession, Gerretsen said he has been involved in politics off and on for the last 35 years. A Kingston councillor in the 1970s, he served as mayor from 1980-88 and sat on the Queen’s board of trustees from 1982-91.

Freedom Party candidate Mark Fournier wasn’t originally going to run in Kingston and the Islands this provincial election.
Fournier received a call from Freedom Party leader Paul McKeever that convinced him to run.
The main issue he’s concerned with is abolishing the provincial income tax.

Family Coalition Party candidate Chris Beneteau said the three most important parts of his platform are life, freedom and family as the building blocks of society.
Beneteau said although Family Coalition is a small party, it’s close to reaching its goal of having a candidate in every riding.

To Bridget Doherty, Green Party candidate for Kingston and the Islands, being a member of the provincial parliament (MPP) would mean more than an office in Queen’s Park. Her first task, if elected, would be to develop a relationship with other organizations and institutions in Kingston. Strong working relationships are necessary for improving the quality of life in Kingston for adults, seniors and kids, she said.