Gender-based violence shouldn’t be forgotten
Dear Editors:
Re: “Any school’s vulnerable” (Journal, October 10, 2006).
I wanted to thank you for acknowledging that the shootings that occurred in recent weeks have primarily targeted female students. This is no coincidence. Horrifying incidences like these remind us that gender-based violence is still a prevalent issue and one that shouldn’t be forgotten.
Globally, three million women die each year due to gender-based violence—that’s more than 8,000
per day. This statistic doesn’t include the women who don’t die but who continually suffer in silence. Gender equality is still a goal to be attained. Events like Take Back the Night and the December 6th Memorial, and groups like the AMS Women’s Issues Committee and the ASUS Women’s Empowerment Committee are still extremely relevant. We need to continue educatingourselves and advocating for
changes in North America and around the world.
Allison Williams
AMS Social Issues Commissioner
Golden Words starving for online Journal
Dear Editors:
Please fix your website. You’re starving us for material, here.
Don MacCannell
Golden Words Editor
Candidate for city council says ‘Queen’s shouldn’t pay a dime’ for Homecoming
Dear Editors:
I wasn’t surprised to see my opponents for the Sydenham Ward city council seat, Floyd Patterson and Bill Glover, arguing that Queen’s University and its students should fork over a portion of the police costs for the events at the unsanctioned Homecoming party on Aberdeen Street at a recent meeting.
This seems like a typical comment coming from two long-time Sydenham candidates who continually fuel the community fire against students. But why are these candidates wrong? Patterson and Glover both forget this important fact: Queen’s University, as an institution, didn’t sanction the Aberdeen Street party.
In fact, the administration attempted to deter people from going to the unsanctioned event through a poster campaign and direct addresses from Principal Hitchcock. There’s also the legal aspect. Aberdeen Street, like other municipal roads in Kingston, belong to the municipality—not Queen’s. The responsibility of maintaining peace and order does not transfer over to the University for one night—it remains a constant municipal duty.
Moreover, the Kingston Police and fire services are paid by the public as a whole, not by private individuals or institutions on a use-by-use basis.
The comments made by Glover and Patterson, which point fingers at Queen’s and its students, aren’t helpful and not conducive to entrenching the sense of wholeness that was created when the community worked together over the past year to ensure a successful weekend. I believe that Queen’s should not pay a dime for the police costs for any party it doesn’t condone. As a stakeholder at this fine institution, like all other Queen’s students, my money should be going to research and classrooms—not to fuel the political agendas of others.
Alex Huntley
ArtSci ’08 and Sydenham Ward city councillor candidate
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to eic@queensjournal.ca.