QUMSA along with the Canadian Federation of Students, the TMA and SGPS, will be hosting a forum on Nov. 1 at 6 p.m., to address Islamophobia. Following a brief panel discussion, students and community members will be given an opportunity to come forth and share their own experiences and sentiments with regards to this topic, and all are encouraged to attend.

On Sept. 21, in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made one thing clear. When it comes to the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, “We will succeed.”

Frank Milne, a Queen’s business and economics professor, thinks that Canadians want a “Harvard
education with McDonald’s hamburger prices.” Milne spoke at last Sunday’s Great Debate in Grant Hall,
organized by the AMS to explore issues surrounding Canadian postsecondary education.

“I am not sure how many students have noticed this, but there has been an increasing amount of sexist advertising being displayed in the men’s washrooms in the JDUC targeted against women,” says Peter Saczkowski, ArtSci ’07. “The first advertisements went up last year and I was disturbed by them at this point, but I figured that someone might notice and do something about it. Sadly, this did not happen and the advertisements are still there.”

On Sept. 30, the AMS made a two-hour presentation to the Board of Trustees, the governing body responsible for the overall operation of the University and for overseeing financial matters and
senior appointments.

When European countries formed the European Union there was widespread debate in the parliaments of nations. Patriotic tempers raged, people were up in arms and media coverage was remarkable.
But when Canada, the United States, and Mexico entered into a similar agreement, it was silent in the House of Commons and Congress.

“Concerns regarding the legality and integrity of Queen’s Muslim Students’ Association (QUMSA)’s membership policies have surfaced since the AMS Assembly’s first meeting.
Seemingly convincing criticisms of the organization have subsequently emerged, yet the arguments put forth are mistaken in their most basic premises.”

“To promote friendly relations between Muslim and non-Muslim students” and “to help discredit a lot of misconceptions about Islam”: These are but two of the many laudable goals Queen’s University Muslim Students’ Association (QUMSA) purports to be striving to attain, at least according to their website.

Last May, seven faculty deans from Queen’s brought a motion to the Senate that would effectively end student-administered non-academic discipline at Queen’s—a 120-year-old tradition that is the only one of its kind in the country. The motive for the motion was to supposedly ensure that students breaking the rules were adequately punished—something the deans were apparently concerned with that the AMS wasn’t doing—and to safeguard the University’s reputation.

It all started with a seemingly innocent e-mail from Ten Thousand Villages asking me to donate a School Kit to help refugee and displaced children get a normal education. It seemed like a great idea: help a child by giving them the tools needed for education. But something made me hesitate.

“Let me emphasize that there is nothing wrong with partying with your friends as long as laws, such as those governing alcohol, noise and public safety are respected. Unfortunately, it was the actions of a small minority who chose to break the law that tarnished the memory of that weekend and blemished the reputation of Queen’s and Kingston,” says Harvey Rosen, Mayor.