Students’ immaturity, drunkenness cause police to intervene
Dear Editors,
Re: “More police unwelcome guests” (Journal, Sept. 25, 2007)
Not only does the city of Kingston and Kingston Police need an attitude change, but Queen’s students do as well. It is a fact that students are “an aggregate body of drunken slobs.”
There is a lack of maturity and responsibility on the students’ part that reinforces that statement. A couple weeks ago, I was awoken by neighbours next door who decided to place their television in the middle of the street and take a bat to it. Shrieks of laughter indicated that this was a hilarious thing to do after a night of partying. I was completely baffled as I watched from my bedroom window.
A few nights later, some people a few houses down decided to take all their plates and smash them onto the sidewalk. Again, in a state of severe intoxication, there were roars of laughter to express how fun it was. I wonder what they thought when they woke up the next morning to find their kitchen cabinets empty.
This is only the tip of the iceberg to what I witness in the Ghetto. It really isn’t surprising that we are labeled as an uncontrollable group that causes grief to the city of Kingston. Events that take place after drinking are complete disruptions to the neighbourhood and cause the area to look like a garbage dump.
There needs to be significant changes on both parts. Kingston police are recognizing what goes on in the Ghetto and they are preventing further damage to the city. Yes, it is causing them to change their priorities, so why don’t we do something to change that?
Grace Liao
ArtSci ’07
‘Dressing up for school’ draws stares, confused looks
Dear Editors,
Re: “Playing dress-up at school” (Journal, Sept. 7, 2007)
Today I wore a dress. A dress! I wore a grey strapless business casual dress and to top it off I also added (yes, it’s true) string of pearls! And a headband! I even wore a pair of—I know it’s crazy—ballet flats! I wore it to the JDUC, the library, my classes and I even wore it as I walked down the street.
Why is this a big deal? I don’t know. All I can tell you is that I was given multiple confused looks by random people and told that I was over-dressed for a regular day on school campus. At some points in the day it felt like people thought I had lost my mind and worn my prom dress to school (which was definitely not what I looked like).
In a previous Journal postscript article the question was asked, “Why don’t we dress up for class?” Well, as you can tell from my experience, I don’t do it very often because people just don’t understand it.
It is often easier to just blend in instead of constantly being given weird and/or dirty looks. I assume that many people think I’m trying too hard when I dress like this or that I’m trying to impress some guy in my class, hence the ‘Who do you think you are wearing that outfit?’ stares I attract. Trust me—it doesn’t take that much time to zip up the back of a dress or to put on a necklace. I do it because I like to change it up, maybe wear an outfit I saw in a magazine that looked really cute, or to just feel confident and look nice. Now don’t get me wrong. As a true appreciator of fashion and all it stands for, I like being looked at. I just don’t understand it when people look at you as if you’re an alien just because you dressed up a little and try to make you feel wrong for doing so. People shouldn’t be afraid of looking like they’re trying too hard because they dress well. The purpose of fashion is to wear clothes that look good and make you feel good and I for one am going to keep choosing my outfits based on that principle.
I’ll accept the compliments and disregard the “looks,” because maybe it will give someone else the confidence to dress for success too.
Ashley Singh
ArtSci ’09
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