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Minister visits campus

Canada’s Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, Brad Duguid, stopped by Queen’s on Tuesday to meet with campus groups and members of administration.

Duguid’s time on campus included a meeting with Principal Daniel Woolf, Provost Alan Harrison and Director of Public and Government Affairs Sheila Dunn, after which he dropped by Goodes Hall, the Queen’s Innovation Connector and Four Directions Aboriginal Centre.

He finished his visit to Queen’s by meeting with members of the AMS before heading to the Kingston campus of St. Lawrence College.

He told the Whig-Standard during his visit that he believes “Queen’s is one of the top universities in our system and one of the top universities in the world.”

“I just wanted to come here to speak to the administration, speak to some of the students and see firsthand some of the good work being done in our post-secondary system,” he said. “There are few institutions with the great reputation that Queen’s has and it’s nice to have an opportunity to visit again and see some of the good work being done.”

— Holly Tousignant

Prison to Museum

Kingston Penitentiary’s former warden is hoping to see the prison turned into a museum following the upcoming expulsion of prisoners.

The penitentiary will officially close as a correctional facility in the fall. Monty Burke, warden from 1997 to 2002, was inspired by Australia’s Old Melbourne Goal, Melbourne’s oldest prison which now operates as a museum.

Burke will be venturing to Australia to connect with those who run the jail museum, which he hopes to use as a prototype for a similar project in Kingston.

The closure of Kingston Penitentiary — a maximum security facility which opened in 1835 — was announced in April of last year by the federal government. The Correctional Service of Canada museum, which includes artifacts from the penitentiary, currently stands across the street.

Kingston city councillor Liz Shell told the Whig-Standard she’s interested in the project, but that it’s difficult connecting with the federal government.

­— Holly Tousignant

Event encourages peace

World War III is looming, according to one campus group, but it can be stopped if people can learn to respect and love one another.

On March 26, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Students Association (AMSA) held a conference at Queen’s called “Is World War Three Inevitable?” The event was held in conjunction with seven other Canadian universities.

The Ahmadiyya sect of Islam — which has over 4,000 members across Canada — has a motto of “Love for All, Hatred for None.”

The leader of the Ahmadiyya community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, believes the current aggression and hatred between countries is fuelling what could be another world war.

Speakers at the event included Reverend Brian Yealland and City Councillor Dorothy Hector.

Yealland said the issues that face our world include the misuse of power, such as when religions get tied to power, losing their sense of peace.

“The answer lies in the power of the human spirit to do activities to lead to peace,” he told the crowd. Hector spoke about the lack of women in governance.

“Unless everyone is at the table representing the population, there will be a problem and a chance for war,” she told the crowd.

— Laura Russell

CFRC gets SGPS fee

CFRC received a boost last week when the Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS) voted to increase the station’s mandatory student fee.

The fee will be raised from $3.27 to $7.50, an increase that will bring in additional revenue of about $16,000.

In February, undergraduate students voted down CFRC’s proposal to bring a similar increase to referendum at the AMS annual general meeting. CFRC hoped to raise the mandatory AMS student fee from $5.03 to $7.50. On March 1, CFRC Operations Manager Kristiana Clemens told the Journal that without the SGPS increase, the station would have had to look at cutting two of its five salaried staff positions.

According to a statement released on CFRC’s website, the additional funding will help “to secure the station’s future as it transitions to independence from the Alma Mater Society at Queen’s this year.”

— Holly Tousignant

Students named Next Top Ad Execs

A team from Queen’s recently claimed second place at Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec competition.

The team, consisting of Nick Pateras and Carolyn Saunders, finished behind a team from the University of Guelph. The third place team hailed from York’s Schulich School of Business.

Two other Queen’s teams competed in the top ten, but didn’t place.

The top team walked away with a Chevrolet vehicle. Scholarships and other prizes were also available. ­

— Holly Tousignant

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