The Queen's Journal, Volume 145, Issue 4

the journal

Queen’s University

Vol. 145, Issue 4

Friday Sept 8, 2017

since 1873

Queen’s Welcomes

Frosh 2021

PHOTO BY JUSTICE KING

Engineering and Nursing frosh week dance-off.

Queen’s student avoids sexual assault charge Chance Macdonald’s sentencing postponed to not interfere with summer employment

M aureen O’R eilly News Editor

On August 25, Queen’s student Chance Macdonald was sentenced to two years’ probation along with 88 days of intermittent jail time on weekends for assaulting a 16-year old victim 22 months ago.

This stems from Macdonald, Comm ’18, pleading guilty on April 3 to a charge of common assault he committed against a 16-yearold female. According to public Ontario Court of Justice record, his sentencing was “reluctantly” adjourned until August 25, so as to “not interfere with his summer job [and] chances of being hired [full time] prior to August 25.”

When Macdonald first appeared in court in November of 2015, he was facing charges of sexual assault and forcible confinement. These original charges were withdrawn by the time he was sentenced.

Deloitte Canada, Macdonald’s former employer, shared a statement via Facebook on

Thursday addressing the sentencing, noting they were made aware the previous night of a “2015 criminal incident involving a former Deloitte summer student.”

“This had not been disclosed to us previously by the individual, and due to the arrangement made with the Court, was not information that was available to us through our screening process. We take this very seriously and have addressed it,” Deloitte wrote. “This individual is no longer employed by Deloitte.”

The assault occurred in early October 2015 during a “rookie party” for the Gananoque Islanders junior hockey team, held in the university housing district.

At the time of Macdonald’s plea in April, assistant Crown attorney Gerard Laarhuis read an account of what happened that night into the court record. In an article from The Whig-Standard, Laarhuis recalled that the victim faced repeated rude comments and intrusions from several of the male hockey players in the home that night.

Macdonald, who was 20 years old at the time, was among this

FEATURES

EDITORIALS

Queen’s students seek arrangements online to help pay for school

Professor’s opinion on AMS decision about Bikes academic accommodations and Boards jeopardizes leaves students behind sustainability on campus

Student athlete pens letter Politics column looks at about his decision to hang lack of feminism in Trump up his skates White House

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This article was originally published online August 31.

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crew. Laarhuis read that over the course of the night Macdonald requested to have a threesome with the victim, forced himself on top of her and allegedly groped her.

Earlier in the hearing, The Whig-Standard reported that the judge expressed to Macdonald that although he excelled in employment, athletics and academics, all of this could have come crashing down on him.

Read the full Whig article, on the Kingston Whig-Standard website.

As reported in The Whig- Standard, the sentence arrived via a joint recommendation from Macdonald and the victim’s lawyers, adopted by Justice Letourneau.

Macdonald has been subjected to bail conditions since his first appearance in court in November 2015. After completing his four-month summer internship, his probation and 88 days of intermittent jail time will start on September 8.

The conditions of his probation require Macdonald to stay away from the victim and avoid any direct or indirect communication

with her, as well as abstain from the use of alcohol or other intoxicating substances.

The University released a statement Thursday afternoon expressing that they were “extremely disheartened to learn” that Macdonald was a Queen’s student.

“When the university becomes aware that a member of the Queen’s community has been charged with or convicted of a violent crime, an assessment is conducted to determine if there is a risk to the Queen’s community,” the statement read. “Due to privacy considerations, we will not speak publicly about specific students or the outcomes of such matters.”

“We are taking steps to assess the safety and protect the wellbeing of individuals within our community.

This is the university’s top priority.”

OPINIONS

SPORTS

WHAT’S INSIDE?

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A statement from Kingston Police

In an email to The Journal on Friday, Detective Sargeant in the Sex Assault Unit Barbara Hough provided safety tips and advice

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on reporting sexual assault for students.

“In regards to concerns of fellow students convicted of a crime or not… You can never be aware of everyone who may be a potential threat. The best way to remain safe is to be alert and aware of your surroundings and the people around you,” Hough wrote.

Hough advised students to avoid travelling alone on campus at night and “if you choose to drink, do so in moderation.”

“Be aware of the source of the alcohol and who may have had access to tamper with it before you drink,” Hough wrote.

“For students hesitant to report a sexual assault… Kingston Police want you to know that we have several sexual assault investigators that are dedicated to providing a safe, respectful and supportive environment to victims reporting sexual violence.

We are committed to working together with community partners to deliver a victim centered approach within See Macdonald on page 4

LIFESTYLE

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News

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Friday, sept 8, 2017

TRANSPORTATION

Vancouver-based rideshare start-up looks to break into Ontario, Quebec markets POP Rideshare opens office in Kingston to target students, university markets

iain Sherriff-Scott Assistant News Editor While most ride-sharing ventures focus on short-distance trips, one start-up has come to Kingston to change the nature of the business.

Flo Devellennes is the co-founder and CEO of the Vancouver-based start-up POP Rideshare. The platform will seek to connect Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa and Montreal by helping to fill empty seats in people’s cars who are already travelling to a destination.

Unlike the more traditional ridesharing set-ups, like Uber and Lyft, POP Rideshare looks to connect people going on long-distance trips.

Other long-distance ride-share companies — like the Paris-based BlaBlaCar — operate in a similar fashion and have been successful in the last five years.

POP Rideshare opened its first office outside of western Canada this summer, choosing Kingston to facilitate its move into the Ontario and Quebec markets.

Users of POP will be able to search for rides via the website or app and pay for their seats online. Devellennes said the platform promotes accountability by having a similar mutual review system as other services like Uber and AirB&B. “We are not a company that has raised millions of dollars, we are a start-up from Vancouver, we’ve been around for three years and we have 60,000 users,” Devellennes said.

When the platform began in December of 2014, its first major route took skiers from Vancouver to Whistler. Since then, the company has expanded into the whole of B.C., Alberta and parts of the northwestern United States.

Now, POP is on both the Android and Apple app stores.

In the last six months the company has sought to move into the Ontario and Quebec markets,

specifically along Highway 401.

Devellennes described Kingston as the “sweet spot” in terms of a location that is central on the 401 corridor.

According to Devellennes, POP is meant to be affordable to students, unlike other ride-sharing platforms like Uber that only travel short distances and often cost nearly as much as a taxi.

“A ride on Uber is minimum a dollar per kilometre, a ride on POP is average 10 cents per kilometre, so the pricing we are able to offer, filing extra capacity, is one tenth of the price of Uber,” Devellennes said.

“Our competition is not actually Uber at all,” Devellennes remarked.

“Our competition is Via Rail and the Greyhound.”

POP provides accountability that is lost on ridesharing set-ups like the massive Queen’s ridesharing group on Facebook that has accrued over 25,000 members, Devellenes said.

“The main problem with the way people organize rides on Facebook is reliability. We heard from drivers that about 30 to 50 per cent of the people who book with them through Facebook don’t show up.

[This] is a huge waste of time for drivers, but also means that cars will actually not get filled,” he said.

“It’s a free market, so people will choose one solution over another,” Devellennes continued, citing AirB&B as an example.

“A lot of people used short-term rentals through Craigslist, then AirB&B created this marketplace where people could trust each other and ensure they were actually going to get into a place, that its actually going to be clean, that the host would actually show up. We are trying to do the same with long-distance ride-sharing through our company.”

POP will be on Queen’s campus this year working to gain recognition from students, who Devellennes hopes will make up a significant amount of their users.

Thomas Dymond in Saglek Fjord, Nunatsiavut.

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY THOMAS DYMOND

Queen’s medicine student chosen to join Canada C3 Expedition

Thomas Dymond journeyed from Nain to Iqaluit as part of the special Canada 150 voyage

Indigenous groups and Canada’s history of mistreating Aboriginal communities.

While most students look Dymond applied to and forward to the summer heat, embarked on leg six of the one Queen’s medical student 15-section expedition, where spent his July in the chilly they started the trip in Nain, northern-Canadian landscape.

Nunatsiavut on July 22.

Thomas Dymond, Med ’20, was After starting in the largest one of almost 5000 individuals to community of that region, the apply to embark on the Canada group ventured north towards C3 expedition this July — a Iqaluit, where their portion of the 150-day boat excursion that trip ended on July 29. Although traveled from Toronto to Victoria his trip was just seven days, the via the Northwest Passage. On entire 150-day journey began on April 25, Dymond was confirmed June 1 and will continue on until as a youth ambassador for October 28. the expedition, making him Throughout the trip, they one of the lucky 350 to 400 to stopped at locations such as be accepted.

Hebron, an abandoned community The C3 trip was created as a that was forcibly relocated in voyage to celebrate Canada’s 150 1959, and the Torngat Mountains years of confederation. The 150 National Park. celebration has been criticised by According to the Canada C3 Indigenous activists and allies for website, this Canada 150 signature failing to properly acknowledge expedition was a journey that explored four primary themes as it traveled from “coast to coast to coast.” The four themes — diversity and inclusion, reconciliation, youth engagement and the environment — are reflected upon through a variety of projects, programs, ideas and stories of individuals from across the country.

The excursion aimed to give Canadians “new perspectives, triggering unexpected connections and sparking fresh ideas on how to build a better Canada.”

Dymond, who heralds from Nova Scotia and is of Mi’kmaq heritage, is a strong advocate for the Indigenous community.

During the expedition, Dymond had the chance to give a workshop to a youth community and engage PHOTO SUPPLIED BY FLO DEVELLENNES Co-founders (left to right) Burden, Devellennes and passenger Carly Walde (back). in discussions about topics like Sarina Grewal Assistant News Editor

reconciliation and diversity.

Looking back on the experience, Dymond said it allowed him to gain “a larger appreciation for how vast Canada as a nation is.”

“I think it’s important for people who are non-Indigenous to go to these places and see these communities and to meet these people firsthand,” he said.

A project like this “Canada C3 project is

really doing something more than just celebrating Canada.

”

— Thomas Dymond, Med ‘20

Despite the controversial reaction from Indigenous communities to the 150 celebration, Dymond said there was a “major Indigenous component to the journey,” and conversations surrounding reconciliation were always organic and genuine throughout the trip.

“There was a lot of resistance towards Canada 150, and I still can appreciate that resistance and why people have an issue with Canada 150. But a project like this Canada C3 project, is really doing something more than just celebrating Canada,” Dymond said.

“It’s really connecting a lot of places and a lot of people that would never have the opportunity to ever be connected ever again.”

News

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•3

AMS summer in review Team JCP provides project updates, looks forward to year ahead

PHOTO BY JUSTICE KING

AMS Executive Team JCP (left to right): Chelsea Hollidge, Palmer Lockridge, Jennifer Li.

Maureen o’reilly News Editor With the newly appointed Vice-President (Operations) Chelsea Hollidge on board, AMS executive Team JCP is gearing up for the start of the school year. The team is entering the year with significant progress made on some of their platform points, while others have proven more difficult to advance.

“One thing we realized is that the staff we have do a lot of incredible work, and all of these things that we’ve [done] would not be possible without the team that we have around us,” President Jenn Li told The Journal. “They deserve a lot of the recognition.”

New Vice-President (Operations) appointed On August 16, the executive team announced via a statement on their website the resignation of former Vice-President (Operations) Brian MacKay, attributing his leave to “personal reasons.”

“This has been a difficult decision and one that I have not made lightly,” MacKay wrote in the statement.

As per the AMS Constitution, Li and Lockridge maintained the authority to appoint a replacement subject to Assembly approval. In their statement, they said they would nominate a new Vice-President (Operations) in a matter of days.

MacKay’s replacement — former Director of Media Services Chelsea Hollidge — was announced August 28. Hollidge assumed her executive responsibilities right away and will be officially ratified at AMS Assembly on September 21.

Online booking system at Student Wellness Services One platform point that Li recalls being “very vocal” about during their campaign has already been completed. When the new home of Student Wellness Services (SWS) — the Queen’s Innovation and Wellness Centre — opens in the spring of 2018, students will also see the launch of an online appointment booking system.

“The Innovation and Wellness Centre will have new facilities for SWS and an online system for booking will be implemented at the same time as the launch,” Li said.

During their campaign, the executive advocated for this system because it helped to reduce barriers for students seeking counseling and other health services that may be stigmatized.

According to Li, the team will be working with SWS to see if a soft launch can be piloted earlier in the year to receive student feedback.

Student constable bursary Vice-President (University Affairs) Palmer Lockridge worked with the clubs office to introduce the new student constable (stucon) bursary, which will be available to students starting this fall.

Lockridge said during their election period the executive heard that the cost of stucons was a real barrier for clubs holding events both on and off campus.

According to Lockridge, one stucon can cost a club up to $12, with these fees often limiting clubs from holding large events.

To offset these costs, the stucon bursary totals $10,000. Any club going through the event sanctioning process is eligible to apply for a portion of it to use towards their event.

Increased health coverage for counseling As per a specific goal in their platform, the executive team has managed to increase student health coverage from 60 to 80 per cent for counseling services specifically.

“Every student that opts in [to the Queen’s health plan] will be able to access not just Student Wellness Services, but they also have that increased coverage to go off into the community resources,” Li said.

Earlier availability of exam schedules “That one is proving a bit harder to move forward on than we had suspected,” Lockridge said when speaking about the team’s plan to make exam schedules available to students earlier.

Lockridge cited the University of Guelph as a model, since their final exam dates are visible when students enroll in courses during the summer.

Going forward, Team JCP is continuing to have conversations with the University Registrar about the exam scheduling process and how Queen’s compares to other universities.

“I don’t think it’s going to be realistic for us to change it to be like Guelph,” Lockridge said. “[But] even if we can move it up to [the] second week of classes to give students a little bit more predictability, I still think it’s a step that we want to take forwards.”

Li said.

Li said the rooms on the second floor of the Queen’s Centre are being looked at as candidates in particular.

Physical changes to the services The Peer Support Centre (PSC) saw significant increases in staff and space this summer.

“We’re up to almost 100 volunteers from years before when it was around 60,” Lockridge said. “That’s a result of moving into new spaces.”

The PSC no longer shares space with the Academic Grievance Centre and Housing Resource Centre. The service now has two dedicated peer spaces as opposed to one, as well as an office space in the JDUC for their head managers.

“Over the past two years, we’ve seen a massive increase in the amount of students accessing the Peer Support Centre, and we’re hoping that having the two spaces open at the same time is going to mean we can serve more students,” Lockridge said.

In addition, Hollidge noted that Common Ground was approved for a new espresso machine, Studio Q has been approved for five new computers and TAPS will be receiving new TVs for QP.

Furthermore, physical changes have been made to the layout of Tricolour Outlet and The Underground, and a similar change will be in the works for the P&CC throughout this year.

Long-term strategic projects “One of the biggest [long-term projects] is the conversation around student life space and the JDUC,” Li said.

“This building is not accessible… it does not work for the current student body and will not work for future students that come to campus as well.”

Li says conversations with the university regarding the redevelopment of the JDUC are ongoing. Beginning this fall, the executive will be seeking out feedback on what sort of changes students would like to see.

In comparison to other Ontario universities who have a modern student life, Li said they aren’t “inaccessible and old and falling apart,” like the JDUC. “JDUC is near and dear to our hearts, but we want to make sure that it’s in the hearts of all the students, and that it’s reflective of their needs in a modern student body.”

The Judicial Affairs Office investigates and prosecutes alleged violations of the Queen’s University Student Code of Conduct and presents these cases to the Judicial Committee. Sanctions will be imposed if students are found to be in violation of the Code of Conduct

Indigenize name of a space in the Student Life Centre According to Li, the Student Life Centre (SLC) Managing Director Katherine Kennedy and the AMS Commissioner of Social Issues Ramna Safeer are collaborating with the Four Directions Aboriginal Student Centre to decide on a space to rename and indigenize. “[We want] to make sure that the naming opportunity is appropriate, that there is student feedback, and that the space can be recognized in a way that is meaningful,”

To file a complaint, view the Code of Conduct, or for more information, visit: www.myAMS.org/NAM Alma Mater Society | Queen’s University |Room 038, JDUC Judicial Affairs Manager: judicial@ams.queensu.ca (613) 533-6000 ext. 77944

News

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PHOTO (LEFT) SUPPLIED BY RACHEL AMIRAULT, PHOTO (RIGHT) SUPPLIED BY FLORIAN NTIBARIGOBEKA

Ozira Foods team (left) and Dream Again team (right).

Queen’s Innovation Connector Summer Initiative start-ups win funding at pitch competition Two prize winning teams talk about the competition

JaSnit Pabla Assistant News Editor About QICSI For the past six years, Queen’s Innovation Centre Summer Initiative (QICSI) has provided paid internships for Queen’s students to pursue start-up companies and business ventures.

QICSI student ventures are supported with resources provided by the university, many outliving program deadlines.

Resources range from workshops, guest speakers and mentorships to providing seed funding as well as industry contacts.

Program Coordinator Amanda Gilbert told The Journal in an email that QICSI “allows young entrepreneurs to hit the ground running when developing their teams and ventures.� “Our funding comes from many sources,�

Gilbert wrote. “Part of the program’s funding comes from the central university funds, some comes from government grants, and some of it comes from various philanthropic donors such as the Dunin Foundation and Desh and Jaishree Deshpande.�

A major aspect of the program forces participants to work with students from a broad range of faculties at the university. “Perhaps the most common roadblock we’ve seen over the years is team dynamics.

Learning to work with a small group of individuals to develop a venture in a short amount of time can be stressful.�

This summer, team Fitra was awarded $30,000 for their pitch and spoke to The Journal in August about their success. Additional winners following the competitions, team Dream Again and Ozira Foods won $15,000 and $10,000 respectively.

Amirault said. “We had an idea with a lot of market demand.�

Ozira Foods is focused on a sustainable approach to protein consumption using an aquatic plant known as duckweed. By grinding the plant, which the team has been growing in a controlled environment on campus, a protein-rich powder can be produced. “This is a product that could be seamlessly added to any meal for conscience consumers looking to reduce their meat consumption,�

Amirault added. “We hope to obtain a minimum viable product by February this year, and see where this idea could take us in the future.�

Ozira Foods

Dream Again

Ozira Foods is a QICSI-born company that was awarded $10,000 following this summer’s Dunin-Deshpande pitch competition. Team member Rachel Amirault, Sci ‘18, believes the money will serve as the jumpstart the team needs to push their company to large-scale growth. “The judges at our pitch competition had a tough time deciding who was a winner,�

Team Dream Again structured their business venture around creating custom-fitted continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) masks to treat sleep apnea.

Macdonald convicted of assaulting teen girl Continued from front

victim centered approach within the criminal justice system.� “Cases like this is the very reason so many of us do the work we do,� says Safeer AMS Social Issues Commissioner Ramna Safeer, ArtSci ’18, acknowledged the fear amongst students surrounding this case and offered some insight for those who may be concerned about sexual violence occurring on campus. “Know that there are so many campus partners and members of our community who are actively challenging this culture of sexual violence and working towards a campus that doesn’t stand for sexual violence

in all its forms, whether that’s sexual assault or rape jokes or victim-blaming,� Safeer wrote in an email to The Journal. “What’s important to remember about our response to highly visible and publicized cases of sexual violence like this one, is that a rhetoric of shock and surprise might be sending the wrong message,� Safeer wrote. “Sexual violence happens to real people. Statistics are real and it’s a shame, I think, that it often takes one person’s incredibly traumatic experience to be made widespread and public for us to believe it.� “Cases like this is the very reason so many of us do the work we do and it doesn’t change our efforts to cultivate an environment where sexual violence is met with accountability, not apathy.�

Their goal is to counter the standard mask size by allowing their product to fit the patient’s facial structure. The team won $15,000 at the pitch contest following their QICSI experience.

Team member Florian Ntibarigobeka believes the team dynamic was a challenging aspect of the program but one they quickly overcame. “Another obstacle was defining set roles,�

Ntibarigobeka wrote in an email to The Journal. “Because naturally when you are in an early-stage start-up, everyone wants to be involved with everything.�

Albeit just a few short weeks since the program, Ntibarigobeka said they know where the money will go. “We plan to allocate funding towards product development, regulatory approval, provisional patent filing and, potentially, pilot projects,� Ntibarigobeka wrote.

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Features

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IN-DEPTH STORIES FROM AROUND CAMPUS AND IN THE COMMUNITY

Seeking graduation: the strategy behind sugaring The ins and outs of Seeking Arrangement at Queen’s

ALEX PALERMO Features Editor To help offset the rising cost of university, students both on campus and across Canada have taken to a modern twist on an old-fashioned arrangement.

‘Sugaring’ — as it’s come to be known — is defined as the practice of one person financially supporting another in exchange for companionship.

Here, ‘companionship’ can range anywhere from time spent talking to dominatrix-like services.

For hundreds of thousands of Canadian students, this isn’t just an abstract concept, it’s their saving grace. Over 200,000 Canadian university students use the Seeking Arrangement service as their golden ticket to graduation.

Globally, more than one million students signed up for the service in 2016.

‘Sugar Baby University Canada’ is Seeking Arrangement’s tailored web page for Canadian students seeking relief from crippling student debt. The welcome page of their website features a ‘debt-clock’ as a banner, hanging as the numbers slowly creep upwards.

The current total student debt amount in Canada? $16,658,861,051.

According to Statistics Canada, university students today pay 40 per cent more on average in overall tuition fees than students did in 2007. The average price of tuition in 2016-17 was $6,373 — a three per cent increase from the previous year.

Last year, the Canadian University Consortium surveyed 18,000 students across 36 universities in Canada and found that the average graduate owed $26,819 in provincial and federal loans.

For students in this situation, sugaring is an increasingly popular option. Seeking Arrangement currently has 6 million worldwide users, most of which are located in the United States. Of the 631,678 Canadians are currently signed up for Seeking Arrangement — 65 per cent are female ‘sugar babies’, 15 per cent are male ‘sugar babies, 29 per cent are ‘sugar daddies’ and just one per cent are ‘sugar mommies’.

In 2016 alone, Queen’s had 86 new sign ups. This placed them in ninth place amongst Canadian universities, 52 behind the top ranked University of Alberta.

For Sarah* — a current student at Queen’s — joining Seeking Arrangement was an escape from the realities of her impending graduation. “I was at this quintessential transition period in your life where you finish undergrad and you think: is this it?

Now what?,” she told The Journal.

During her time on the site, Sarah was offered a wide range of companionship offers that she

According to Seeking Arrangement, 86 Queen’s students signed up for the service with their Queen’s e-mail in 2016.

turned down. These included $5000/month to meet up in a hotel room for weekly blowjobs, an $80,000 salary to marry an immigrant from China, move to Vancouver and bear his children (for $2-million a head), as well as $50 to film a five-minute video of her squashing baby mice with her feet.

On the other end of the spectrum, Sarah said she also experienced meaningful relationships with some of the men on the site.

“It’s been tough because there have been times when I wanted to talk to someone about how I was feeling about a relationship but I couldn’t. I legitimately haven’t told anyone,” Sarah said, “That part is isolating. I would never tell my friends and family.”

It’s been tough “because there

have been times when I wanted to talk to someone about how I was feeling about a relationship but I couldn’t. I legitimately haven’t told anyone.

”

— Queen’s student Sarah

The feelings of isolation and

lack of control are growing concerns when considering this newly-evolved line or work.

While many users are simply on the site for enjoyment or out of curiosity — Seeking Arrangement offers students free premium memberships — many young users are left without other options for paying their tuition.

Meghan* joined Seeking Arrangement after one of her friends told her about being put up in hotels by sugar daddies when she visited Toronto. “She would get in touch with one of those guys. You don’t really have to do anything with them, but they would just set her up in a hotel, so it would make sense.”

Meghan’s experience going on dates never went beyond dinner and gifts: “Basically guys will get in touch with you and tell you what they’re looking for and you can just say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. I’ve been on a dinner date [and been paid] for my time.” The range of payment for the companionship varies greatly between arrangements but in Meghan’s case, $200-$400 was the standard for a few hours.

While many students have direct tuition payment arrangements with their partners, others like Meghan consider the benefits of sugaring to be more along the lines of instant gratification and extra spending money.

Highlighting the true range of diverse arrangements that Seeking Arrangement has facilitated,

Meghan added, “But I mean, I know some girls who make a living off of [Seeking Arrangement]. You could get on [Seeking Arrangement] and go on a date that day.”

Seeking Arrangement is technically classified as just another dating service. “The reason we’re unique is that we let people chose how much time and money they want to invest in a relationship before” Brook Ulrick, a Seeking Arrangement spokesperson, told The Journal.

According to Ulrick, the average allowance paid to ‘sugar babies’ is around $2,500 per month which can include tuition, vacations, bills or other gifts.

The benefits that have drawn the millions of worldwide Seeking Arrangement users don’t end at having their bills and tuition paid.

According to Ulrick, a common desire among students is to develop connections with mentors and older professionals.

I know some girls “who make a living off of [Seeking Arrangement].

You could get on [Seeking Arrangement] and go on a date that day.

”

— Queen’s student Meghan

PHOTO BY JULIA BALAKRISHNAN

“I would say most of the sugar babies on the site are looking to get ahead in life,” he said. “I was just talking to one sugar baby who did an interview here on the radio and she was saying the only way she got into the program she got into — pre-med — was because her sugar daddy was a professor and he helped her get that spot.”

Although it might seem like a new trend that has started in the 21st century, it’s not a new phenomenon.

“Students have been doing sex work as a way to support themselves through college for generations,” Samantha King, Head of the Gender Studies department said via e-mail with The Journal.

“My concern is that attending university in Canada is increasingly expensive, forcing many students to work long hours in a variety of paid jobs and still graduate with mountains of debt.”

Sex work is widely known as the “world’s oldest profession,” and with that (like any other job) comes the possibility of violence, discrimination and health and safety risks.

“For students doing sex work, control over the conditions of their work and freedom from [risks] are key to their health and safety,” King said.

*The names of the two female students have been changed in this story to protect their identities.

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Friday, Sept 8, 2017

EDITORIALS

Brigid Goulem

The Journal’s Perspective

Academic accommodations aren’t academic advantages

Free prescription medication plan is a huge help to students

PHOTO BY JULIA BALAKRISHNAN

As an educator employed at a university, Professor Bruce Pardy has an unusual attitude towards student success. It’s one based on survival of the fittest, or in this case, survival of the those without disabilities.

The opinions held by Pardy — who works at the Queen’s Faculty of Law — were published in the National Post. In his article, Pardy shows a deep misunderstanding of exactly what academic accommodations are for and what a learning disability is.

He argues throughout the article that accommodations for learning disabilities and mental illnesses give the students who struggle with them an unfair academic advantage over their peers.

Pardy supports his claim by comparing academia with athleticism. He explains that an athlete who sustains an injury before a race wouldn’t get special treatment in order to compete. If, for example, he was to ask for a head start in the race, it would be

THE QUEEN’S JOURNAL

dismissed as unfair. According to Pardy, academic accommodations for students in university are no different than cheating.

Pardy consistently writes that students “claim” to have disabilities and mental illnesses in order to get ahead in their academics. He doesn’t acknowledge that, like any other illness or injury, disabilities and mental illnesses are diagnosed by professionals. Students can’t simply walk into accessibility services and demand accommodations.

Accommodations for learning disabilities in Ontario universities are hard won. In order to be confirmed as having a learning disability, an individual must be evaluated with a psychological assessment by a registered psychologist.

Extensive documentation of the specifics of the learning disability need to be provided and specific accommodations are determined based on that report. Faking a learning disability for academic accommodations, such as getting Nick Pearce

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an extra hour on a timed exam, is Furthermore, Pardy confuses nearly impossible. the terms “mental disability” and Accommodations provide “learning disability” throughout things like extra time on exams his article, despite them being for those who take longer to very different things. A learning focus, or an extension on a disability is measured with an deadline for a student dealing entirely separate set of tests with a depressive episode. Rather than a mental disability and than guaranteeing a better grade, records the differences in they give students the chance to how an individual learns and achieve a result that reflects what retains information, not their they can really do with their intellectual ability. academic ability.

The idea that students with When Pardy frames mental learning disabilities aren’t illness as an excuse students use intelligent enough to compete with to get extensions, he’s perpetuating their peers equally is a harmful a dangerous stigma that stereotype. Educators, especially at surrounds students who struggle the post-secondary level, need to be with their mental health. He better educated on what learning assumes all students who ask for disabilities and mental illnesses accommodations are lazy or taking are and how they inhibit people in advantage of the accessibility their education before they reach system — something that’s simply the classroom. not true. Making the choice to The goal of an educator disclose their mental illness to their should be to see their students school is a feat in itself and making succeed, not set them the claim that students fake their up to fail. symptoms will only discourage students from reaching out for help.

— Journal Editorial Board

Sebastian Bron

Sports Editor Lifestyle Editor

Volume 145 Issue 4

ILLUSTRATION BY STEPHANIE JIANG

Contributing Staff Staff Writers and Photographers Michelle Allan Joshua Finkelstein Kiera Liblik Steph Nijhuis Pamoda Wijekoon

Business Staff Business Manager Head Sales Representative Office Administrator

Abby Choudhury LeAnn Sverko Faith Villanueva

Want to contribute?

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The Queen’s Journal is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Alma Mater Society of Queen’s University, Kingston.

Editorial opinions expressed in The Journal are the sole responsibility of The Queen’s Journal Editorial Board, and are not necessarily those of the University, the AMS or their officers.

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Drugs are about to get a lot cheaper for people under 25.

The Liberal government of Ontario introduced the plan in their most recent budget to introduce universal pharmacare for anyone under 25 starting January 1, 2018.

Anyone with an OHIP card will have access to free prescription medication as long as it is prescribed by a physician. The plan has no up front costs and applies to all, regardless of family income or whether they are already covered under a private insurance plan.

This plan is especially helpful for university students, many of whom are just becoming more financially independent. School is a huge expense already, and with rising tuition rates, costs such as prescription medications can be a significant burden on students.

While prescription medication isn’t usually a large expense for many university or college students, it’s an unexpected cost that could add unnecessary pressure to what can be an already strained budget. Now regardless of income, people under 25 can recover from a disease or have access to birth control.

Many students aren’t financially independent and may have to ask their parents for money to help cover expenses. By creating this program, it increases the independence with which young people can seek medical help.

The new plan allows for students to access over 4,400 prescription drugs. This includes prescription contraceptives such as birth control pills and IUDs, which are purchased widely by female students. It also allows for students to access free treatment for strep throat, STIs or the common flu, all while keeping prescriptions private.

Albeit a great change, Ontario is the first province to roll this out.

With the other nine provinces and territories having no concrete plan in place, it will be interesting to see how long it takes to become a nation-wide change.

This plan is a great step towards making sure Ontario students can live free of the financial stress of healthcare and helps to ease the sometimes overwhelming burden of school.

Brigid is one of The Journal’s Features Editors. She’s a third-year Political Studies major.

Friday, Sept 8, 2017

queensjournal.ca

OPINIONS

•7

Your Perspective

Don’t forget to put students first

AMS and Board of Directors’ decision to turn Bikes and Boards failed to take student perspective into account VISHMAYAA JEYAMOORTHY, ARTSCI ‘18

Despite election promises of the contrary, one recent decision by the AMS shows how our student government continues to push their sustainability efforts to the side.

For the last five years, Bikes and Boards was a sustainable service on campus that provided low-cost parts and repairs for bikes, skateboards, longboards, as well as community programming dedicated to creating an environmentally responsible and sustainable campus. They became a corporate service four months ago after the previous AMS Executive voted for the dissolution of the Commission of Environmental Affairs (CEA) and its portfolio was distributed throughout the AMS. After four short months, the Board of Directors reported to the Executive that the corporate service was no longer financially viable and Bikes and Boards would be closed as a service to become a club.

This decision seems to have been made with a lack of consideration for students, financial accessibility, environmental sustainability and transparency.

One of the most frustrating things surrounding this outcome is that Bikes and Boards wasn’t given a fighting chance to operate as a service. When the CEA dissolved, the AMS made a commitment to ensure that sustainability was still going to be a priority for student leaders.

This was reiterated by the current executive during their election campaign, saying in an interview to The Journal that “the sustainability initiatives and ideas in our platform… will still be implemented and still be a priority.” To a certain extent, they have done that — they’ve introduced the AMS Sustainability Partnership. In an AMS blog post, Vice President (University Affairs) Palmer Lockridge described this as “a roundtable that will bring together student leaders with other stakeholders to address environmental issues at Queen’s and beyond. Its tasks will include

helping [the AMS] structure our sustainability study for the coming year, directing our advocacy efforts, and awarding recognition for student leadership in sustainable innovation and awareness.” What this doesn’t include is visible, grassroots, on-the-ground sustainability work like the kind Bikes and Boards did with the support of the CEA. Given that Bikes and Boards was in its infancy — only four months of being under Retail Services portfolio — it seems unfair that they weren’t given the time to prove they were financially viable.

Back when the CEA existed, the commission was given a substantial grant from Assembly to finance their different activities. In years past, the CEA often used this yearly grant to fund Bikes and Boards and help mitigate any debt they might Vishmayaa Jeyamoorthy wants more to be done about sustainability on campus . take on. When the repair shop was shifted to the Retail Services student — to be cognizant And at the end of the day, this Portfolio, they weren’t given of what that money would is just another case of broken the same grant money and as a have meant to their campaign promises. result, they weren’t able to project fellow students.

The AMS executive technically that they were going to balance doesn’t owe the general student the books. body anything. They have followed What is also disappointing the letter of the law, or the policy, about this situation is that the as it were. But the promises Board of Directors is made up of they made during their election 12 voting members, nine of which to become a more transparent are students. Even if there was student government seems to have no consultation with the general been a case of smoke and mirrors. student body, it’s incredible that Team JPB’s longform platform the Board of Directors and the AMS included promises to “implement executive especially, didn’t think of sustainability initiatives regardless the social impact of their decision.

I don’t expect the former Bikes of the future of the [CEA]”, but The former Bikes and Boards and Boards staff to join the new Bikes and Boards is in their current staff would have been expecting club or for it to be able to operate situation because of the lack of a year’s worth of wages to pay for at the same high-quality level of support after the dissolution of tuition, rent, groceries and more. service as it previously did. Further the CEA. Team JPB also promised Instead, the six students were downsizing Bikes & Boards into a to “require all Year-to-Date forced to give up a guaranteed club, especially with no guarantee commission and once budgets to source of income for only the of adequate funding or retaining be uploaded to the AMS website on possibility of getting another job. its spot in the JDUC after this year, a quarterly basis”, but this has yet In a decision from the Board level, brings so much uncertainty about to happen. these six staffers were offered a the now-club’s future.

They said they “will work with special eligibility to apply to AMS There’s no guarantee that Bikes the AMS Board of Directors to jobs in the fall, though these are and Boards will have a large enough identify ways to make corporate normally reserved for first-year volunteer base to continue running, finances more transparent to and transfer students. However, especially when some of the duties students,” but at the time of this since policy dictates that they can’t that paid staff previously took on article being written, they have yet relocate these students, it’s not a will be transferred to volunteers to post minutes from the Board of guarantee that any of the former who won’t be compensated for Directors meeting.

Bikes and Boards staff will get the their time. With all this uncertainty, Prior to their year, the AMS wages they were expecting. it’s the university’s commitment to executive promised to focus on “the I would expect my student sustainability that ultimately takes lack of transparency and [continue] leaders — emphasis on the hit. to keep lines of communication

The six students “were forced to give

up a guaranteed source of income for only the possibility of getting another job.

”

PHOTO BY JULIA BALAKRISHNAN

between the AMS and the students open,” but they constantly say that they will refuse to engage on social media. However, the AMS hasn’t provided another open channel of communication that forces them to be publically accountable for their responses in a way that email and individual face-to-face interactions can’t.

Likewise, this decision was not made overnight; so where was the student consultation? Why was the Head Manager not given any sort of notice? This situation is another example of the current AMS executive making decisions behind closed doors.

It’s the job of the AMS Executive and the Board of Directors to look at the whole picture – the finances aren’t the only part of this story.

Bikes and Boards was a part of campus-wide efforts to make Queen’s a more environmentally sustainable campus. It was a service that provided jobs for students on campus, helping make Queen’s more financially accessible.

Bikes and Boards and this student body deserves to know at what point the AMS and Board of Directors decided that the finances were more important than the students and the environment.

How many lost student jobs is too many?

Talking heads ... around campus What’s been your favourite thing about the first week at Queen’s?

“Meeting so many new friends.”

Madison Ketelaars ArtSci ‘21

“Going back to bed after waking up early.”

Tyler Kennedy ArtSci ‘18

PHOTOS BY NICOLE LANGFIELD

“So many fresh faces in engineering.”

“Experiencing the amazing Queen’s spirit.”

Luna Tang Eng ‘20

Phaedra Leonard ArtSci ‘21

8 • queensjournal.ca

Friday, sept 8, 2017

Arts ALUMNI

Queen’s grad takes home provincial art award Jessica Peterson’s fine arts thesis wins prize money, gallery display SUPPLIED BY JESSICA PETERSON

Overindulgence (2017) by Peterson.

Pamoda WijekooN Staff Writer When Jessica Peterson was first told she had won the BMO 1st Art Competition for Ontario for her artwork Overindulgence, her immediate reaction was panic. “Oh my god,” she remembered, “I left [the painting] in a barn.”

The competition, hosted by the Bank of Montreal, is an annual showcase of undergrad talent in fine arts. During the selection process, professors across Canada choose deserving students from their graduating classes to submit their artistic pieces. A panel of judges then chooses a regional winner from each province and territory to win a prize of $7500 and have their artwork displayed in a gallery.

This year, Peterson’s Overindulgence won the Ontario division — making her the second Queen’s student to win in the 15-year history of the competition.

Peterson’s success follows that of Queen’s grad Lindsey Wilson, who won in 2015 for her sculpture Murmur I. It was Wilson’s victory, which happened when Peterson was in her second year at

Queen’s that alerted her to the existence of the competition.

Knowing it would be the last time she would have access to Ontario Hall’s studio space in her final year at Queen’s, Peterson decided, in her words, to “work as big as possible.”

As a result, she took advantage of the larger studio space in her last year and created the massive 36’ x 8’ abstract oil painting, Overindulgence. Painting over the winter term, she used an evocative range of colour to speak to a wider experience and relationship with the human body.

Although it was her winter thesis project, Overindulgence was almost disposed of when it came to the chaotic rush of her final weeks at Queen’s.

“I really didn’t think I was going to win,” Peterson said, explaining she was more concerned with moving out of her rental and getting her art out of its space on time.

“I wasn’t prepared. We were rushing to move [the painting] and I was shoving it into the elevator piece by piece. I had thought that I’d better hold onto it, just in case, so I put it in my uncle’s barn. Then I got the call and thought, ‘oh no’.”

PHOTO BY NICOLE LANGFIELD

Existere performed for incoming first years.

LOCAL PRODUCTION

Existere meets an evolving campus Social action troupe welcomes class of 2021 Nick Pearce Arts Editor On Monday and Tuesday, social action theatre troupe Existere kicked off this year’s frosh week with six performances for thousands of first-year students in Grant Hall.

Every year, a cast of 12 second-year

students and three third-year directors write, choreograph and perform a 90-minute show of short vignettes that covers everything from sex jokes to diversity issues on campus. The cast brings their own experiences into the creative process, contributing their own challenges and reactions to life as a first year at Queen’s.

This year’s Co-Creative Director

Now, Overindulgence will be displayed alongside the other winning pieces in Toronto’s Justina M. Barnicke Gallery from November 16 to December 16, the only painting among the 18 artworks.

While writing her thesis proposal, Peterson knew she “wanted to paint figures, but I didn’t want them to be immediately recognizable as figures.”

The finished product is a sprawl of colour with heavy pinks and purples transitioning into a haze of pale blue and yellow.

The bulky figures bleed into their environment as they travel across the canvas, almost hidden within their changing backdrop.

“Because bodies are so politicized, there are not a lot of successful contemporary artists who do traditional figure painting,” Peterson said.

“The body is the first point of contact with the world,” she explained. “I wanted the paintings to be about how your body is a tool to understand the world in a physical way. I wanted to visually represent the feeling of overindulgence and got right to the point by making the bodies abstract.”

Peterson’s artistic inclinations for the piece were inspired by her work as a swimming coach for children with disabilities and the intense sensory experience of the children she taught who

had autism. She explained how the feeling of being in the water for those children was “something that someone who is neurotypical can’t understand at all.”

“We have this big yellow tube at the pool and for a child without a disability it’s something for them to play with. If you put that over a child with autism, it’s as if their entire world is yellow and they have no words to understand the feeling.”

Peterson explained her attempts to capture the same intense sensation within her art, disregarding the baggage of “gender, race, age or ability”, Overindulgence acts as an exploration of how “your body and your skin understands your environment before your brain puts words to it.”

When asked about what she will do with the prize money, Peterson laughed.

“I opened a savings account. It was very exciting.” The money will be another step towards attending graduate school in Europe, a cause she plans to fund further in the coming years. Although Peterson’s art has been featured in shows in the past, the BMO competition is the first large-scale exposure she’s received and it has inspired her to push forward with her work.

Until then, Peterson will continue to paint and apply to shows. Her reason for pursuing art is simple: “when I’m painting,” she explained, “I’m the happiest.”

Kiana Baker-Sohn explained some of the performances also respond to controversial events like last year’s country-themed party, which this year’s Existere addressed directly in a sketch.

The skit involved an “old broadcast” blurting out insensitive or bigoted stereotypes directed at the scene’s characters over a stereo. At first, the combination of surprise at the comments and the old-timey accent caused scattered laughter in the audience.

However, the dialogue got steadily more uncomfortable.

“Where are you really from?” the voice asked cast member Stephanie Fung’s character. “You can speak English really well.”

In addition to individualized comments, the broadcast directly referenced the issue, asking a character from a small town if they took part in last year’s controversial countries party.

Baker-Sohn said Existere’s unique ability to speak on a peer-to-peer level at the beginning of frosh week gives its members the responsibility to make students feel accepted at their new university.

“Even though the first years were not a part of the Queen’s community during the events of last year, they happened right around when they were applying to university,” she said.

“They think ‘Is this a place where I’ll be accepted? Is this a safe community?’ Apart from the usuals of living in residence and relationships and healthy eating, this is something we had to put in our show.”

The characters eventually turn off the stereo, after a tongue-in-cheek pun about “stereo”types being harmful. At least the pun deflated the tension, winces aside.

According to Co-Creative Director Maureen Barnes, all commentary within the sketches was based off of perceptions that the cast members encountered during their first year at Queen’s.

This writing process quickly transformed the group dynamic after the troupe’s January auditions.

“We joked that we were 12 random people thrown into a room,” cast member Paul Smith said. “’Okay share your deepest, darkest secrets. And by the end of the hour and a half, whether it’s crying together or saying if you need me, I’m here.’”

As part of the process, the directors asked the cast to split off into groups and go topic by topic—discussing themes like sex and dating, campus diversity, alcohol consumption—all before bringing their personal experiences into their scenes.

Afterward, the cast started retooling each other’s scenes, polishing the material for the frosh week performance.

See Existere page 10

Arts

Friday, sept 8, 2017

Steve Manders and his artwork at Douglas Fluhrer Park.

queensjournal.ca

•9

PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE NIJHJUIS

Street art back against the wall

ON THE WALL Festival Returns to Revitalize Kingston Park StePhaNie NijhuiS Staff Writer On Monday, the ON THE WALL: Street Art Festival brought together artists of all different mediums and demographics to repaint the murals of Douglas Fluhrer Park.

Throughout the five-day festival, artists ranging from a solo artist taking a contemporary graffiti-based approach, to a group of hand-painters tackling their landscape mural together, the diversity of perspectives and artists was displayed along the beautiful inner-harbour park.

The goal of the street festival is to display street art in a productive light, rather than the negative connotations that often surround it. The festival provides a space for artists to work without constraints and allows the community to come and watch them complete their work from start to finish.

In 2014, The Water Access Group teamed up with the Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour to bring the festival to the retaining wall of Douglas Fluhrer Park. As it was already covered in various forms of graffiti and murals, it was an ideal location to further promote the benefits of street and public art within the community. City Council voted unanimously to support the festival because it reflected the city’s Culture Plan and Art in Public Places policy.

In its inaugural year, the festival won the Kingstonist award for its liveliness and for being the most exciting new arts event of the year.

Steve Manders, a local explorer and photographer, took a unique approach to painting his mural on Monday. Some

decided to work freestyle, but there was a mathematical approach to his work.

“This is a bit like drafting, I used my computer and some other photographs, made my composition and then gridded it, then I made a great big grid on the wall.

So now it becomes a paint-by-numbers,” he explained.

Manders’ work, although during the interview was still a few strokes away from completion, sparked an intrigue in the history of Kingston. The mural details the local history of the K&P railway, depicting one of the stations alongside a historic train, against a colourful sunset.

Since his retirement, Manders has been exploring and searching for the old and undiscovered train stations and railways along the K&P Railway system. Much of the history of the railway system has been lost, but Manders has since found 62 Railways, 75 original surviving stations and over 300 bridges.

In bringing his discoveries to light by integrating them within his art, Manders contributes to the revival of the history of Kingston and extended parts of Ontario.

Street art often has the reputation of being something done solely in secret and in the dark, where artists hide their identity to avoid consequences. During the ON THE WALL festival, artists have the chance to tell their stories and interact with the community, altering this common perception. Without this aspect, Manders wouldn’t have had a platform to share the history of the K&P Railway with this new part of the community.

Other murals along the wall featured Canadian landscapes, Indigenous art and

various images of animals and people. This variety provided different perspectives to the ideals that create the mosaic of street art, and both the past and present diversity of the Kingston community.

Furthermore, the variety of artistic

approaches solidified

this cultural and artistic diversity. Manders took a drafting approach, working with grids and using traditional paint brushes while other artwork featured a mixture of approaches including spray cans and paint rollers.

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Arts

10 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, sept 8, 2017

ART IN TRAVEL

Bohemian beauty in Prague’s Mucha Museum Exploring the life and work of Alphonse Mucha claytoN tomliNSoN Assistant Arts Editor When I went to Prague this summer, I went for everything but its art reputation.

In a city where beer is cheaper than water and homes are sandwiched between massive Gothic cathedrals, most of my attention was focused away from the world’s only museum dedicated to the Czech Art Noveau artist Alphonse Mucha. Nonetheless, stumbling upon this hidden gem provided me with a truly unique experience.

The building is unassuming, with only a subtle green sign above the door telling you what you’re getting into. I got there just as it began heavily raining.

Sam Lee performs in Grant Hall.

Mucha Museum in Prague.

The weather, combined with the somberly lit interior of the museum, meant we basically needed to squint to even see the artwork.

The exhibition is split into seven sections which are based around the evolution of Mucha’s style, from his early Art Nouveau panels to his Parisian film posters to his later years of nationalist Czech and Slavic paintings, the exhibit shows his distinctive style.

Mucha was born in Moravia and spent much of life around Europe.

He studied art in Munich and later lived in Paris while developing the style of Art Nouveau.

The style rejected earlier religious and monarchical themes that dominated at the time. Instead, it explored the role

PHOTO BY NICOLE LANGFIELD

Existere Returns Continued from Page 8

“The scenes we’ve written become all of our scenes,” troupe member Marlisa Howes said, describing how individually written skits began to include all of the cast’s creative input. This led to a new focus on the experiences of Trans students, First Years Not in Residences (FYNIRs), alongside more content devoted to accepting non-sexually active first-year students.

The topic of consent played a large role in this year’s show, with the troupe utilizing diverse heterosexual and non-heterosexual pairings of cast members to illustrate its reaching consequences for all communities.

“People all have [this] capability and your scenario is still valid,” Fung said of the show’s efforts to speak to all members of the incoming class.

In the past, this socially

conscious approach could make the show’s laughs few and far between. Even now, frosh week’s flurry of resources, facts and figures can spill over to Existere.

That being said, the show is at its best when it manages to successfully weave humour organically into its sometimes serious message.

But the underlying message, in the wake of campus controversy, is more important than ever.

According to Fung, it comes down to reaching every member of the audience and the Queen’s community, regardless of who they are.

“Queen’s is now your space,” Fung said. “You are a vital part of the community and you do what you need to do for yourself.”

SUPPLIED BY WIKICOMMONS

of Christianity in everyday life, without all the technical expertise of earlier generations. After all, Art Nouveau is just French for ‘new art’.

He applied this pared down approach to his landmark work — posters featuring stage actress Sarah Bernhardt.

One of these posters for the play ‘Gismondo’ shows Bernhardt on full display in the idealized beauty she presented onstage, dressed like an ancient Byzantine with a wreath in her hair.

Mucha’s posters gave the hand drawn impressions of a sketch while still remaining sophisticated works of art. They’re life-size and hung up on the wall so it looks as though the subjects are staring down at you.

After seeing several similar works walking around the museum, I was awe of this man’s capabilities for capturing something unique in women.

Through his work, Mucha shows their personalities and interests—not society’s—that had never been explored before.

His work lacked the objectification and control of women that many of the previous centuries of art had instilled.

Like a lot of students abroad, Mucha eventually got sick of loitering in foreign countries with bad exchange rates and returned home to what was then Czechoslovakia. Those 20 or so

years would be the country’s last as an independent state until the fall of the U.S.S.R. Reflecting this history, his work turned toward Slavic and Czech national identity after his return.

This phase is at its most evocative in the last room of the museum, which featured a large painting called ‘Star’. The painting depicts a Slavic woman in the Siberian tundra looking up helplessly to a shining star. Her face is bent and sorrowful and her palms are outstretched.

The painting was produced in 1923 and is considered a critical response to the Bolshevik revolution. When I looked at this woman, I felt her pain—the plaintive pain that comes from having no opportunities to better your situation and life.

Through paintings like ‘Star’, Mucha showed a side of Europe forgotten by the constant revolutions. Slavic people weren’t hopeful for the shining light of communism because they’d been through it all before.

Mucha wasn’t immune to that trend. Living in Prague at the beginning of the Nazi occupation was disastrous for the artist with Jewish and Slavic roots. He took ill after he was questioned by the secret police of Nazi-Germany, Gestapo, and died, oddly enough, on my birthday — another thing to remember as I count my wrinkles.

He lived the life of a carefree

artist in Paris until his artistic awakening paralleled the birth of Czech national identity. I left the museum with a much better grasp of art in the Czech Republic, because that’s how profound an influence Mucha had.

Although surprised to come across the museum as I strolled the streets of Prague, learning about Alphonse Mucha opened my eyes to a whole other side of the country’s history.

SUPPLIED BY WIKICOMMONS

CAREER SERVICES EVENTS 2017/2018

CAREER FAIR September 26, 2017 The ARC 10:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Don’t miss the biggest career event of the year!

Network with employers, explore further education, take a LinkedIn photo, and more.

QUESTIONS?

(613) 533-2992 careers.queensu.ca

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY FAIRS

Fall : October 17-18, 2017 Winter : January 24, 2018 Grant Hall, 10:30 AM - 3:30 PM

SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES FAIR January 23, 2018 The ARC, 10:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Friday, Sept 8, 2017

queenSjournal.ca

• 11

Sports SUPPLIED BY JAKE CLEMENTS

Jake Clements played 18 career games for Queen’s.

HOCKEY

Hanging up the skates Queen’s hockey player Jake Clements pens letter about his decision to walk away from the sport he loves Jake Clements Contributor I can still vividly picture my first day of class. While pulling out my notepad, a fellow classmate approaches me, a 22-year old bearded sophomore and asked “are you the professor?”

Laughing it off, this was the first of countless times I have explained my story of how I took three years off after high school to pursue my dream of playing university hockey. Today, I pen this letter to say goodbye to the game that has shaped me into the person I am today.

Now before I become even more washed up, let me tell this story one more time: before my third gap year between high school and university, I was invited to try out in Des Moines, Iowa, for a team in the United States Hockey League. After making the team, everything was going according to plan. Even though the season hadn’t begun, I started to receive some interest to play in the NCAA. Although a little later than I planned before, I was one step closer to my dream.

This was until one Tuesday morning, when the team trainer told me that the coach wanted to see me in his office, which is never a good sign. Thirty minutes later, I was driving back to Toronto, distraught, after being blind sided, cut and sent home.

Here I was, 20 years old, without an education, scholarship, or team. If you have ever seen me play hockey, the first thing you would notice is that I am the furthest from being the most skilled player on the ice — if anything, I am surprised a parody video of me stick handling hasn’t gone viral yet.

After countless hours of hard work — including rehabbing a season ending shoulder surgery — I was fortunate to receive a commitment to play for the Queen’s Gaels Varsity Hockey team. Looking back on what I

would consider the two best years of my hockey career, I’m indebted to head coach Brett Gibson.

He gave me the opportunity to turn my Iowa heartbreak into the best thing that has ever happened to me, as my time at Queen’s has opened up alleyways that I may never have been exposed to otherwise.

“

Here I was, 20 years old, without an education, scholarship, or team.

”

- Jake Clements Everyone stops playing at some point, and my time has come. In a counter-intuitive sense, I have decided to step away from hockey due to the other avenues in life that the sport has directly, or indirectly, carved for me.

As a by-product of a system where you have 7 AM practices before your 8:30 AM test or just a few hours to complete an assignment on the bus on the way home from a game, I’ve developed a strong work ethic, teamwork experience and time management skills that I’m grateful for.

Another thing I am grateful for is opportunities I’ve gained through hockey. Going into my third year at Queen’s, I can truly say that I’m studying at my dream school where I’ve developed newly-found lifelong friendships.

pursue my new dreams, I will always miss the locker-room laughs and the adrenaline after your team scores a big goal (if you check my stat line, I never had one of those).

As I’m writing this note from the airport before I depart for an academic exchange in Vienna, I’m reminded of one thing.

This isn’t a story of a triumphant rise to stardom. Hollywood screenplay writers won’t line up to recreate it, although I think (wish) Ryan Reynolds would be a great fit to star as Jake Clements.

So why am I telling you my story?

The most important lesson

I’ve learned at university is that you learn just as much outside of the classroom as you do while in it. Playing on the hockey team provided me with the experiences and opportunities that defined my positive experience at Queen’s which propelled me to pursue my new career goals.

With Frosh Week looming, a new crop of students arrive on campus with endless opportunities, so I’m challenging the Class of ’21 to do two things: 1: Take advantage of the endless extracurricular opportunities to get involved with a new team.

2: View your shortcomings not as failures, but as challenges to create opportunity from distress.

So, if you ever see a 23 year-old bearded junior walking through Stauffer or up University Avenue, no, I’m not your ECON 110 professor. Rather, I’m someone who wants to hear your story and how you plan to utilize your surroundings to learn as much as you possibly can while you are at university.

Finally, to my former teammates, now brothers, I cannot wait to watch you succeed in giving this school what it deserves – I may have already booked a ticket to come watch you do something special later this year.

“

You learn just as much outside of the classroom as you do while in it.

”

- Jake Clements I had the privilege of wearing the tricolour alongside the 28 greatest people I have ever met — to go to war with you guys every week was an honour.

Although I’m moving on to

Clements (2) featured as a defenceman for the Gaels.

SUPPLIED BY JAKE CLEMENTS

SportS

12 •queenSjournal.ca

Friday, Sept 8, 2017

FOOTBALL

Football goes back to the drawing board Gaels optimistic despite slow start to season

Men’s football are hopeful for a swift turnaround in 2017.

sebastian bron Sports Editor Queen’s football head coach Pat Sheahan said his team was disheartened after they fell to a 0-2 record following a loss to UOttawa last weekend.

Holding a lead since the second quarter, Queen’s went into the final two minutes of the game six points ahead of the nationally ranked number nine Gee-Gees.

Although it seemed as if the Gaels were on the verge of an upset, things changed in a matter of moments.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Gee-Gee’s ripped off a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 1:45 left on the clock. The Gaels’ next drive, which ended with a turnover-on-downs, sealed their fate. They lost by a narrow score of 14-13.

“It never should have happened, and we all recognize that,” Sheahan said of Queen’s special team’s fourth-quarter blunder.

“But by the same token, we seem to be that club right now that is succumbing to these kinds of errors late in ball games.”

Looking back on the past two games, Sheahan isn’t worried about the team’s play — “there was lots of effort,” he said. Instead, he’s focused on the team’s inability to close out tight games.

Their first matchup of the season against Carleton played out in similar fashion to their most recent loss. They led for much of the game — and even much of the fourth quarter — but a Ravens touchdown with 18 seconds to play handed the team a 22-17 loss.

Albeit two exciting finishes to start the season, Sheahan said the Gaels have a “maturational point” they have yet to go through which entails “winning the close ones.”

“We’re right there,” he said, alluding to when his team might find their first win. “We’re probably three plays away from going 2-0

right now.”

Gauging some of the positives from the losses, the Gaels have certainly improved on the offensive side of the ball.

Their 202 yards on the ground impressively out-matched the Gee-Gees’ 83. For context, the prior week against Carleton, Queen’s had a mere 57 total yards rushing compared to the Ravens’ 141.

Moreover, they suffered no turnovers against the Gee-Gees — they fumbled three times against the Ravens — and their defence evidently played a sound game, only allowing two scores.

“We played much better in many respects in week two than we did in week one… basically kick-off returns was really the only glitch we had [against UOttawa],” Sheahan, who heads into his 17th year as the Gaels’ head coach, said.

There’s no magic formula, he added; the players simply “need to develop the mental capacity to make [plays]” that dictate the outcomes of close games.” When players make plays, they get in the habit of making a difference, he continued.

Sheahan stressed to The Journal that the Gaels have without question proved they are both an exciting and competitive bunch.

“What [students and fans] are gonna see is some great, entertaining football, and guys who are really giving their all for the program – they’re proud to wear the jersey.”

When asked if he remains optimistic of the team’s prospects for the remainder of the season, even after two straight losses, Sheahan was as frank as could be.

“One hundred percent,” he said.

The Gaels’ next test comes at home when they host Laurier on September 16.

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY QUEEN’S ATHLETICS AND RECREATION

SportS

Friday, Sept 8, 2017

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MEN’S RUGBY

Men’s rugby looking to return to OUA glory

After loss in finals last year, Gaels looking to win fifth OUA championship in six years matt sCaCe Assistant Sports Editor After four straight years of winning championships, there was a changing of the guard atop men’s rugby in the OUA. In a thrilling battle against the Guelph Gryphon’s in the final, Queen’s was on the wrong side of history. With a chance to win their fifth straight OUA Championship on the line, the Gaels were outlasted by their rivals in a decision made by penalty kicks to raise the Turner Trophy.

That was nine months ago.

With the memory of the mid-November game well behind them, the men’s rugby team is settling in for another season with high expectations and a new set of eyes overlooking every step they take.

Earlier in the summer, the Gaels brought on coach Dave Butcher to man the varsity and development squad. Butcher will carry the torch that former head coach Gary Gilks once held as he hopes to improve on the team’s past successes.

When asked about his team, he said they have a lot of potential.

Men’s rugby in a scrum last season against Western University.

“We’ve got a really strong returning team…so we’ve got a strong leadership group and we’ve got five or six rookies that have played at a really high level and they’ve not just supported the group but really pushed some of the senior players, so obviously the standard is lifted,” Butcher said.

Butcher comes from a strong

rugby background as a former player for the Scottish national team, as well as a coach and sports development professional in Canada and Scotland.

Butcher was adamant that any thoughts about last year’s finish have been erased and noted the team is raring to get another shot at an OUA championship.

“They very rarely speak about

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

it, so we’ve just focused on what we’re doing,” Butcher said. “That’s been sort of their mind set since day one of camp so we’re very focused on how we perform.”

Rather than stress the score line, Butcher is more focused on how the team plays.

“We’re very focused on performance and not as much on the outcome. We think if

we take care of our individual and collective performances, then the outcome will come our way.”

Because Queen’s has visibly established a winning formula, Butcher says he doesn’t plan on changing the team’s style.

Instead, he plans on making small additions to the way the Gaels approach their season.

For Butcher, his main objective is overall enhancement, though he says he comes along with a few “non-negotiables.”

“The big thing for me is performance, outcome and focus. We’re going to be very developmental and performance focused,” Butcher said.

With that, Butcher sees the passion and desire the team has to be their best selves.

“You can tell the guys just bleed Queen’s, they want to play for Queen’s. I want to take the best bits of that and enhance it.

The team has gotten off to a strong start, as they took their season opener against Trent University by a score of 60-0.

They take on the Laurier Golden Hawkes this weekend and will hold their home opener against RMC on September 16.

WOMEN’S RUGBY

New beginnings for women’s rugby Women’s rugby welcoming new coaches, young blood to help improve on previous success matt sCaCe Assistant Sports Editor It’s a season of new beginnings and fresh starts for the women’s rugby team.

Earlier in the summer, Queen’s welcomed Dan Valley as the women’s rugby coach, who will look to build on the success Beth Barz provided the program over the course of her tenure. Further, the team boasts a strong new crop of first-year players who are expected to bring an added energy to a leadershipstrong team.

With 14 first year’s joining the team, the Gaels will be filled with new faces. In an interview with The Journal, Valley was firm about the fact that this was not a gamble on a younger generation.

Rather, it was the way the cards fell when training camp came to a close.

“First year, second year, third year, fourth year, fifth year, I didn’t really care coming in. It was looking at athletes that were going to try and play the game that I think I would play it and athletes that were going to be willing to put the work in. That was our

big sort of look-for, it wasn’t necessarily about going with a younger side versus an older side,” Valley said.

Of those who returned from last year, it’s clear that Queen’s has a lot of talent across the field.

Team-leading scorer and centre Nadia Popov, alongside lock McKinley Hunt and wing Lauren Murray were all named OUA All-Stars last year.

Scrum half Jordi Di Nardo was also named OUA rookie of the year. Di Nardo was the first Gael to win the award in the program history since Popov did so back in 2012-13.

To build the foundation of the program, the team will have a lot of their new players take part in key roles. Earlier this summer, Queen’s welcomed Sophie De Goede to the program. Unlike most athletes who play one sport, she will be playing for the varsity basketball team in the winter term.

The back row player impressed in her first OUA, posting 16 points against Guelph.

The Gaels are coming off of a strong season in which they finished fourth in OUA after losing to Western in the bronze

Center Nadia Popov was selected to be an OUA All-Star last season.

medal game. While some coaches would look to build on this result, Valley’s main focus is to instill a strong level of work ethic to the team before they look at results.

“It’s really easy for teams to talk about the standards that they want to uphold…to me, it is the actions day-to-day and actually personifying those ideas,” said Valley.

It’s a change he knows won’t happen overnight.

“We could be successful this year but I think as far as achieving sustainable success, this year’s about building the foundation,” he said.

“If that means winning an OUA championship, fantastic, but if it means setting the precedent as far as our expectation day-in, day-out, even better.”

In expressing the culture he wants to bring to the team, Valley was very blunt.

“A hundred per cent

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

accountability, zero excuses.”

The Gaels season is already underway, as they nearly pulled off an upset against the defending OUA champion Guelph Gryphons on Saturday, despite falling by a score of 38-31.

The women are set to play the Western Mustangs this Saturday afternoon in their first home game of the season.

14 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, sept 8, 2017

Josh Granovsky Assistant Lifestyle Editor

Lifestyle

Fall is around the corner, all your friends are back in Kingston and your back is already aching from carrying excessively heavy textbooks. This could only mean one thing: TV’s summer break is over.

While the fall season reminds some of wilting trees, the start of the school year and pumpkin spice, what it really means is that your favourite shows are back after a brutal summer hiatus and some new ones are auditioning for a highly competitive slot in your Netflix queue. Here are some select picks of the shows returning this season: American Horror Story: Cult, Sept. 5 Like many loyal viewers of this horror anthology, I have some trust issues with the AHS franchise.

The show has been on a steady decline since its second season and promos for this season have involved cults, Trump and bees.

Despite themes that appear to be picked out of a hat, this season is getting surprisingly great reviews from critics. If you gave up on the show or have never started, this season — which requires no prior viewing — might be the time to start watching.

The Good Place, Sept. 20 My favourite show of last year, that you’ve unfortunately most likely never seen, returns on NBC with a one-hour premiere this month. It’s essentially a cross between Parks & Recreation and Lost, which should make no sense but does anyway. You do need to watch the first season for the show to make sense but lucky for everyone, it will be on Netflix

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOSH GRANOVSKY

Some of the stars of shows coming to TV this fall.

JOURNAL PICKS

Fall TV’s six most exciting prospects A look at the new and returning shows to distract you from studying the day after the second season premiere, so you can burn through the first 14 and be caught up in time for the season’s new episodes.

Except things are a little different: Sheldon is nine years old, entering high school and there’s no laugh track. Bazinga?

Young Sheldon, Sept. 25 Are you one of the people who somehow gave The Big Bang Theory the largest Canadian sitcom audience since the Friends series finale? Well, you may have to extend your weekly TV watching by a half-hour because Sheldon, the show’s hit character, is getting his own spin-off series.

This Is Us, Sept. 26 TV’s breakout series of 2016 is coming back for another round.

If you’re not one of the 15 million viewers who tuned in weekly last year, the show follows the Pearson family throughout numerous decades as they deal with racism, body image and tragedy. Season one comes to Netflix on September

PHOTO BY JUSTICE KING

SEX IN THE LIMESTONE CITY

How to navigate hook ups when you have a roommate One expert shares her experience in residence

Q: Dear Barrie, how do you navigate hook ups in residence?

A: Living with roommates in residence is definitely something that can hinder your sex life. In

my first year at Queen’s, I was assigned to a quad room with very little privacy.

Seriously, I could swing an arm and hit my roommate’s bed beside me. To make matters worse, it’s

very common in first year to find partners who also share their room with others.

This was a year-long battle that I eventually overcame and I’m happy to share with all of you the

20, giving you exactly six days to catch up. Spoiler alert: you will cry the whole time and it will not be pretty.

Will & Grace, Sept. 28 Yes, I am talking about THAT Will & Grace. No, it’s not 1998.

Your favourite fictional roommates are back. And somehow, they’re still roommates, despite being in their 50s. After an 11-year hiatus, the show that Joe Biden claims “did more to educate the American public [on LBGT issues] than almost anything anybody has ever done so far” will return to continue our education for 16 episodes this year, and has already been renewed for a second season as well.

tips I learned to tough it out.

Now, I think it’s safe to say no one wants to be sleeping in a bed two feet away from people doing the deed. And if your roommate does want to be there, it’s a problem that would constitute an entirely separate article.

Luckily, there are some age old tricks that many roommates who came before me invented, such as the good old sock on the door.

For those of you living under a rock who aren’t familiar with this approach, you simply place a sock on the door knob when you and your partner want to reserve the room for the two minutes or two hours you need (no one’s judging here).

You can modernize this oldschool technique with whatever works for you and your roommates — a quick text or a secret symbol written on your res door white board.

However, in my experience, not all roommates are going to be okay with being sexiled by a sock or a text and in these circumstances, I was given the choice to either embrace the audience or find an alternate location.

Now, embracing the audience wasn’t always the easiest choice

Riverdale, Oct. 11 You know, that TV show you rushed home from the bar on Thursday nights to watch when the new weekly episode came out at midnight? Even though season one solved the Jason Blossom murder, there’s still a lot of questions left to answer. Will Varchie survive?

More importantly, will Bughead?

Will the town ever turn into the zombie apocalypse like online fan boards suggest?

Other returning favourites premiering this month include Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Empire and Transparent. If you watch everything listed, you will almost have enough shows to fill the wait for Game of Thrones to return in 2019. Winter is coming eventually, folks. due to the fact that this involves making little noise while hoping the other people in the room aren’t paying attention to the moving covers right beside them.

That choice can give you a rush in the moment but leads to lots of awkward conversation when you all have breakfast the next day.

The alternative option is enjoying the exhilarating concept of sex in a public place. Shower sex is not at all uncommon in some people’s everyday sex livs but in residence’s public showers it can give you an even bigger audience than

all roommates “areNotgoing to be okay being sexiled

”

your roommates.

However, Queen’s being as wonderful and advanced as it is, has introduced a perfect solution to this in the form of a tub room.

You’re now probably wondering what a tub room is and if it’s sanitary. Well, a tub room is a residence bathroom found on specific residence floors consisting See Figure on Page 15

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• 15

POLITICS

Taking my seat: guess who opposes equal pay Ivanka Trump isn’t the hero we need Carolyn Thompson Contributor It’s been quite the summer.

Nearly one year ago our neighbours to the South realized a catastrophic mistake when the electoral college gave the Presidential race to a racist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic, ableist (or any of the myriad of other “ic” or “ist” terms that he most likely falls into) President. Since November 8, 2016, Americans, and the world, have been paying for this mistake. President Donald Trump and his ongoing mistakes have controlled the airwaves both in the US and abroad.

I was going to take some time to introduce this column and review the weekly summer atrocities of this Presidency. However, one recent issue has caught my eye.

It’s a problem I think has run somewhat under the radar, but one that nicely introduces this column for the female-empowered bad-assery I hope for it to be.

Before I get to the issue at hand, I want to speak to the person who made this issue even more of a problem at the White House. No, I’m not talking about Donald Trump this time. It’s one of his trusted advisers. The adviser America hoped would bring rationality, social issues and, above all else, feminism to the White House. Haven’t guessed it yet?

I’m obviously not talking about Melania, so that leaves Ivanka. Yes, dear old Ivanka Trump.

Last week, Ivanka gave the White House the ‘green light’ to roll back Obama’s January 2016 policy that worked to close the gender pay gap.

Now, you’re correct in thinking Ivanka has no any authority to introduce or take away policies.

However, as ‘the feminist spokesperson’ at the White House, you and I both know Donald Trump probably listened to Lorde’s ‘Green Light’ thinking “I’m waiting for it/that green light/I want it”… to stop talking about the gender pay gap and allow white cis-men to thrive in this USA.

Anyways, this policy was fairly simple. As explained in Business Insider, it required companies with over 100 employees to collect data on how much they paid their workers broken down by race, gender and ethnicity. This opens up companies to be more accountable to their employees and to the public. It would allow the media and advocacy groups to compile newly public data and compare pay between companies.

I think it would start a trend of requiring employers to put their money where their mouth is in terms of equity, hiring and pay.

The argument opposing this policy and the reason Ivanka is against it? It’s too cumbersome and time-consuming for companies to collect this data.

Too cumbersome? Give me a break. Do you know what I think is cumbersome? Going through Twitter every morning and constantly seeing pictures of Donald Trump’s face along with more devastating news and offensive commentary from the President when I’m searching for pictures of puppies.

Obama’s policy is definitely not the sole solution to the gender pay gap but it’s a step in the right direction Now, when I first heard about Ivanka’s decision, I was mad and was inspired to do some research into the gender pay gap.

What I discovered is that while white women make 80 per cent of what white men make, black women earn 65 per cent and Latina women earn 57 per cent of the full-time weekly pay of a white man, as reported in the Women’s Policy Research annual report.

I think we, as a society, often fail to look at this issue intersectionally.

As women, we have to fight and stand up for all women. This policy began to address these issues by not only breaking down the pay gap by gender but also by race and ethnicity.

Yes, I know this isn’t everything, but again, it was a start.

Back to Ivanka: not only did she give her blessing to get rid of the Obama administrations policy, she

Figure your own system out with roommates Continued from Page 14

of a sink, toilet and tub, with a door that can be locked while the room is occupied. Whether this is sanitary is difficult to say as it’s my opinion there are very few 18 year olds that are actually taking baths in a public washroom, leaving me to believe these rooms may be used more commonly for the purposes that we’re discussing.

I found this route also eliminated the awkwardness while keeping things exciting.

Therefore, although having roommates while still trying to

get that good loving can introduce a set of problems, it honestly wasn’t as terrible as I thought it would be.

If you find your own way of getting it on when you live in a small room with other people it makes things so much easier.

And honestly it’s a part of living in residence, I’m not the only one that has navigated through this problem and I won’t be the last.

— Barrie Cradshaw

PHOTO PROVIDED BY WIKIPEDIA

Ivanka Trump at rally.

didn’t propose anything herself to improve the gap and justify her decision.

So, what are my takeaways from this?

The first is that when we talk about the gender pay gap, we can’t just assume that people are talking

about it from an intersectional perspective. We need to keep fighting for all women, regardless of race or ethnicity, to make sure they have a seat at the table. The second lesson: Ivanka Trump isn’t our ally in the White House, and people need to stop talking about

her as if she is. In an administration that is mostly run by white older men, Ivanka could have been the female voice that was much needed in the White House, but her actions prove we can’t count on her in that way.

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Friday, sept 8, 2017

PHOTO PROVIDED BY NATASHA KORNAK

Natasha Kornak and Rona Ambrosa meeting about the JUST act

POSTSCRIPT

The only thing the recent sexual assault trial taught Queen’s is a lesson How the trial illuminates sexual violence problems on campus

naTasha kornak Contributor This article talks about sexual assault and may be triggering for some readers.

When the recruitment team from Queen’s came to my high school in grade 12, they spoke highly of the robust school spirit, the quality of the academics and the student life on campus.

Not once did they mention the prominence of sexual violence at the university.

Sexual assault was foreign to me when I entered my first year in 2015. I knew what it was but my grasp on it ended there. It wasn’t until one of my best friends here at Queen’s told me she had been sexually assaulted that the concept became tangible and personal for me. With her permission, I’m going to share her experience with you.

She was sexually assaulted in the third week of September going into her first year. Afterwards, she made the decision to go to the hospital, where she was driven by a Queen’s security guard, to access what’s commonly referred to as a rape kit. Take a minute to digest how brave that is. But getting help from Queen’s wasn’t easy. She particularly had trouble getting her professors to appropriately implement her academic accommodations.

My friend is brave and resilient and isn’t to be defined by her experience. But her experience does define the Queen’s community as one where sexual violence and rape culture can exist.

Now, I don’t know the girl who was assaulted by the now fourth — year Commerce student and I likely never will; but when I think of her, I think of someone who has the same level of bravery and

resiliency as my friend; someone who knew she owed it to herself to seek justice for what happened to her. Imagine being 16 years old and going through the process of reporting an assault. You’d have to be profoundly courageous to go through that.

If you don’t know, Queen’s student Chance Macdonald pled guilty to a charge of common assault, even though the actions he committed can be classified as sexual assault under the Criminal Code of Canada, in April. However, his sentencing was delayed so it would be kept off the record until he completed an internship with Deloitte. The judge in this case, Justice Allan Letourneau, told Macdonald he had “played extremely high-end hockey and [knew] the mob mentality that can exist in that atmosphere,” as if this was some sort of excuse for Macdonald’s actions. He’ll also only have to complete 88 days of intermittent jail time. Ultimately,

wellbeing of the victim or survivor.

It reminds us that rape culture on campus is real. Don’t believe me?

times have you seen one of those lewd “bed‘Howsheetmany signs — ones that say “daughter drop off” for instance — hanging from a house during frosh week?

”

Think about this: “I just got raped by that exam.”

How many times have you heard someone say something like that?

How many times have you seen one of those lewd bed sheet signs — ones that say “daughter drop off” for instance — hanging from a house near campus during frosh week?

The cycle of sexual violence is vicious and unforgiving. It starts with actions like these, which, intentional or not, normalize sexual violence both on and off campus. When actions like this

If there’s one thing this situation can give to the “Queen’s community, it’s a reminder that sexual violence is alive and well on and off our campus ”

Macdonald’s sentencing was profoundly lenient to ensure his athletic, academic and vocational prospects would be protected.

But in order to have such prospects, Macdonald must have something of value to offer. If there’s one thing this situation can give to the Queen’s community, it’s a reminder that sexual violence can exist on and off our campus. This case reminds us that our justice system still sometimes prioritizes the wellbeing of perpetrators, particularly those who are white, male with good athletic and/ or academic abilities, over the

many sentences are equivalent to a slap on the wrist.

This is the cycle of sexual

continue without repercussions, assaults are bound to occur.

When a victim or survivor of sexual assault chooses to go to the police, they face their first obstacle: being believed. In Canada, one in five claims of sexual assault are deemed “unfounded” (in other words, baseless) by police.

If a case is lucky enough to make it to a court room, survivors are often met with even more doubt and shame. I know individuals whose cases have been dropped by the prosecutor without consultation. Still, in those cases that do result in a conviction,

violence, a cycle that we have allowed to continue for far too long.

University is where we learn who we are as individuals, where we reaffirm our sense of right and wrong. How Queen’s administration responds to this situation will tell us whether or not they condone sexual violence. It’s no longer good enough to simply claim the safety of the students is their top priority or that they don’t tolerate sexual violence. These claims can’t erase the physical and emotional scars left on victims of sexual violence. These words won’t stop me from looking over my shoulder when I walk home from a night of studying at the library. If Queen’s doesn’t take appropriate action, they’ll be complicit in any future sexual assault committed by their students. Plain and simple.

The day I found out my friend was assaulted was the day I not only became an ally, but also an advocate in the fight against sexual violence on campus and beyond.

Essentially, I strive to relay the voices of survivors who may not be ready or able to speak out about their experiences to those who can make change happen.

So what can you do? Well, there’s a few things. You can email the Dean of Commerce, Provost, Judicial Affairs Manager, Dean of Student Affairs, and our Sexual Violence and Prevention

Coordinator, Barbara Lotan to express your concerns about this.

You can launch a non-academic misconduct complaint with the AMS. You can also write to your Member of Parliament about the need for sexual assault sensitivity training for judges and write to the Ontario Judicial Council about Justice Letourneau’s lenient sentencing.

Most importantly, you can reflect on your actions and your words to see if you have in any way contributed to this culture. You can educate yourself on the very real issue of violence against women and girls in Canada. You can seek out bystander intervention training to learn how you can help prevent an assault or help someone who may have been assaulted. You can speak out when you someone says or does something that contributes to this culture. It’s never too late to become an ally.

We need to fight for those who have already experienced sexual assault—those who have been ignored, not believed or denied justice. But we also need to fight for those who might experience sexual violence in the future and try to prevent assaults before they happen. I’ve never been sexually assaulted, but I could be. And I’d never see it coming; no one ever does. It could be me, but it could also be you, your sister, your brother, your roommate, your neighbour. We’re all vulnerable, but we’re stronger when we support one another.

We have an inalienable responsibility to take up the fight against sexual violence on and off campus, otherwise we’ll be having this same conversation in a year from now, if not sooner.