According to this year’s Concurrent Education Student Association (CESA) executive candidates, it’s all about reinvigorating what they see as a tired faculty society.

Elamin Abdelmahmoud and Hakim Kassam, both ArtSci ’09, were shocked to discover that they were the only team running for the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS) executive.
Abdelmahmoud is running for ASUS president, and Kassam is running for vice-president.
To win their acclamation vote, Abdelmahmoud and Kassam still need a 60 per cent confidence vote in order to be acclaimed to their positions. ASUS Vice-President Kyle Abrey said he likes the team’s platform.

Beginning today, five undergraduate students begin their campaigns for a seat on one of the University’s highest decision-making bodies. The undergraduate student trustee serves a two-year term and is the only undergraduate student with a Board of Trustees vote. Michael Ceci, ArtSci ’09, said one of the main challenges will be trying to get his name known.

One of two candidates vying to be the next Dean of Applied Science came to campus to meet students and faculty yesterday. Kimberly Woodhouse, currently a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto, met with students, staff, and faculty from the Faculty of Applied Science in an opening meeting/forum.

On Jan. 16, I spent a typical day in Williams’ shoes as she oversaw the daily operations of a cafeteria that serves 22,000 meals each week. From the moment I stepped into her world, it was clear that health and wellness were top priorities.

For one day a week, undergraduate business students have exclusive access to a Health, Counselling, and Disability Services counsellor at Goodes Hall.
They don’t have to wait the approximately three weeks to see a counsellor at the LaSalle Building if they don’t want to.
If business students prefer to use their exclusive service, they will wait about a week after they book an appointment on the Commerce Society’s website.

Queen’s Chaplain Brian Yealland estimates that more than three quarters of Queen’s students have some part of their life that they feel is sacred. It’s his job to provide spiritual support to all of them, as well as the rest of the Queen’s community. Yealland said no one is without bias but his denomination doesn’t interfere with helping those who approach him for assistance.

In fall 2005, Hurricane Stan struck Lake Coatepeque in El Salvador and caused severe mudslides that killed 49 people. Simultaneously, a nearby volcano erupted, which resulted in similar devastation. In response to the natural disaster, 10 Queen’s Rotaract members went to El Salvador in May 2006. They planted hundreds of tree seeds and built several retaining walls, 80 per cent of which are still standing, to protect the village. Now, they want to go back.

Acol Dor chokes up when she talks about how she left her home in Sudan in 1995 with her son, fleeing the second Sudanese civil war between north and south Sudan.
Dor spoke at Queen’s last Tuesday along with Norman Epstein. Dor and Epstein are co-founders of Canadians Against Slavery and Torture in Sudan (CASTS).
Dor said international intervention in the Darfur region of Sudan is necessary because of what’s going on there, and because the government in Khartoum isn’t protecting the Sudanese people

While the university doesn’t have specific information on how many students are raising children,
Morgan Kennedy, 21, is one undergraduate student caring for a baby while she works towards a degree. “I am a full-time student, and I’ll graduate with a BA in sociology this spring,” said Kennedy, who hopes to work in corrections after she finishes school. Kennedy’s story is a unique one …

The aMs Pub services (TAPs) may be more than $48,000 in the red, but it’s $16,000 ahead of the proposed budget for the year. After a few years of growth, TAPs is finally emerging as a successful service, said Christine Wheatley, TaPs head manager.

Canada’s electoral system is dysfunctional, and democracy must adapt to 21st-century politics, Chris
Horkins, Queen’s New Democrat leader, told a citizens’ group designed to discuss and review Ontario’s electoral system. “Which is worse—students not voting, or students voting against their values?” Horkins asked the Ontario Citizens’ Assembly on Tuesday night.