Archive

The Kingston Police recently sent a letter requesting the University pay $84,000 for the expenses they incurred in order to police the Ghetto during Homecoming. In a second letter, the police suggested that the University have automatic punishment in place for students who violate the Criminal code.
They have also anticipated new strategies for next year, which may include helmets, Tasers and tear gas.Continue...

It’s time to come clean about my rehabilitation from an embarrassing addiction to weekly celebrity gossip magazines. I know it will generate a lot of eye rolling and groans, but recent events have caused me to evaluate my problem. I started reading my mother’s copies of Vogue when I was about 14.Continue...

It is appalling that the Iraq war was in the works before there were any valid suspicions that the country was harbouring weapons of mass destruction, the reason the Bush administration has consistently given for its preemptive invasion. In September 2002, Card told the New York Times they had a “meticulously planned strategy” and that “from a marketing point of view, you don’t introduce new products in August,” which was why the wheels began turning in September instead.Continue...

Just because it’s called the Ghetto does not mean the housing area around campus has to live up to its name. Students, like other Kingston residents, should be able to expect living conditions that meet municipal standards. At the same time, students are ultimately responsible for making sure their houses are meeting minimum requirements by being proactive in seeking out solutions. Hopefully, SPAT will help students begin to deal with housing problems.Continue...

Non-academic discipline at Queen’s is a peer-administered system that involves students passing judgment on other students for committing offences. These offences can range in severity from disturbance of the peace up to offences akin to vandalism and assault. Most of you at this point will be asking “Why should I care?” and for the vast majority of you, this system will be outside your experiences at Queen’s.Continue...

A recent Toronto Star article reported that the number of women studying engineering in Ontario is on the decline. In response to the decline, engineering schools have taken steps to entice women back to engineering by eliminating Ontario’s grade 12 geometry and discrete mathematics course as an entrance requirement. Instead, the article reports, applicants may substitute more “female-friendly” courses, such as biology.Continue...

Tuesday night, at the Kingston city council meeting, councillors voted in favour of requesting that Queen’s provide financial compensation for the costs of having the police, fire and ambulance services on Aberdeen Street during Homecoming weekend.

They also approved the creation of a committee directed at finding ways to thwart any future illegal activity in the Sydenham district. It should be noted that council voted to remove a clause to potentially grant police the ability to use more drastic measures to control crowds.Continue...

Yesterday it was pointed out to me that Coffee & Co. and Stooley’s are gaining a new neighbour on the corner of Division and Johnson. While I really shouldn’t judge any company that decides to move in and market itself to the many students of the area, I’m still slightly upset by this. For those who haven’t heard, the multinational super-company Starbucks is moving in across the street from both Coffee and Co. and Stooley’s.Continue...

Adèle Mercier’s letter has only fueled the continuing saga of Aberdeen. Comparing partiers to “Hitler youth” has done nothing to improve the situation. If anything, it has reaffirmed the media’s untrue stereotypes of Queen’s students, and offended those with painful connections to a Nazi past.Continue...