Queen’s Apprentice raises the bar
Dear Editors,
The Queen’s Apprentice, an ambitious eight-week event that received little support from our student governments and fought an initial wave of general disbelief, wrapped up their act on March 23 at Clark Hall Pub. Surprise plot twists and character-driven contestants fought all the way until the very last one could finally hear the words “you’re hired.” Coming down to an intense final fight between an overly ambitious commerce student and a self-depreciating Mr. Nice Guy, the crowd at Clark was relentlessly going nuts.
Having been a (nearly fired) student in Marc Busch’s Commerce 381 class, I have to confess how I had already noticed his strong ability to understand the mechanisms of entertainment. With an opportunity like this, he and the event organizers went creatively insane by firing contestants in order to create the most successfully compelling scenarios: the “Karate Kid” underdog versus the daunting champ, the unexpected comeback, the comic relief adviser, the poisonous twist on a popular business saying, just to name a few.
The crew behind this semester’s Queen’s Apprentice has taught a crucial lesson to all the students in charge of social event planning on campus: that adding a sufficient amount of substance and cleverness to your event’s content can make you get away with random technicalities and inspire all your guests to behave appropriately.
Taking the student population’s focus away from abusive drinking, derogatory behaviour and mass misconduct can never be achieved through rules and regulations, but through the planning of events that are brilliantly entertaining enough to make us grateful and appreciative all the way through.
Thus, I wholeheartedly thank the organizers of this event for raising the bar.
Louis Plamondon
AMS Campus Activities Commissioner
Brigitte Gabriel controversy about cheap political points
Dear Editors,
Re: “Interpreting the words of Brigitte Gabriel” (Journal, April 1, 2005).
It is clear that, had they known that Brigitte Gabriel would divert so much from her advertised talk, Queen’s Hillel and Queen’s Israeli Peace Initiative would not have invited her to speak. It is also clear that she will not be invited back to Queen’s any time soon, and that she is less likely to be invited to other campuses.
So what is the purpose of these fanatical demands for a pound of Hillel flesh? Is it not just to score cheap political points and ignore the real issues?
Aviva Millstone
ArtSci ’06
Corruption in Liberal Party reason to call election
Dear Editors,
The corruption in the Liberal party is good reason to call an election. Last November the Hon. Andy Scott recalled our Chief and Counsel on an allegation of corruption in the 2003 election here on the Tobique First Nation. I questioned Indian Affairs about the alleged corruption and they stated that they had hired a retired RCMP officer to investigate an allegation that some people were drinking under a tent that had been erected the day of the election in the parking lot.
So they called a new election using the accelerated election clause of the Indian Act. With the shorter time involved and incompetence of the people Indian Affairs sent in to oversee the election, a lot of our off-reserve members were denied the right to vote. The results of the new election were that most of the same people were re-elected.
I again questioned Indian Affairs about the clause in the Indian Act that states a person involved in corruption cannot hold office again for six years and they stated the investigation didn’t name any person or persons responsible for erecting the tent.
Indian Affairs oversaw the new election, and the only thing different in this election was that the people that were drinking in the parking lot drank without a tent.
I wonder, if Mr. Scott had hired Judge Gomery maybe he would have called the tent rental company find out who had rented the tent. It must have been $150 of dirty money that was used to rent the tent.
The cost of the new election and investigation was well over $300,000, not counting the other economic hardships this caused the membership of the band who rely on the band for employment. Over 200 people were laid off while waiting for the new election. The damage this caused our members who lost their right to vote feel their basic human rights were violated, and there is no amount of money to repair this damage.
According to testimony at the Gomery Inquiry, $200 million was used to corrupt three federal elections. The $150 used to corrupt our election pales in comparison.
Misty Moss
Member of the Tobique First Nation
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