Aimée Look

Top Articles

Erik Magnusson
The Journal •

$19,100 in fines issued at St. Patrick’s Day celebrations

Swaths of students took to Aberdeen St. for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations on both March 17 and 18 which posed an “immediate threat to safety in the area,” according to Kingston Police.

Kingston Police issued 373 court summons and arrest, while bylaw enforcement issued 47 fines totaling $19,100 over the weekend.

Despite celebrations being similar to previous years, the Police said they provided proactive messaging to communities around the University District—which enabled them to keep the com
Curtis Heinzl
The Journal •

KFL&A Public Health sees uptick in STI cases

Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox, and Addington (KFL&A) Public Health is seeing a “spike” in gonorrhea cases among post-secondary aged individuals, says Nicole Szumlanski, manager of the sexual health program at KFL&A Public Health.

In response, Student Wellness Services (SWS) at Queen’s is partnering with the KFL&A Public Health Unit to increase drop-in testing availabilities for asymptomatic students.

Starting in February, the quick-tests became available twice a week and has recently increased t
Herbert Wang
The Journal •

Queen’s projects $43.9 million shortfall in student fee revenue

Queen’s overall revenue is anticipated to be $37.6 million lower than was outlined in the 2022-23 operating budget.

Provost Teri Shearer presented Queen’s Financial Projection Report as of Dec. 31 at the Board of Trustees meeting earlier this month. The report demonstrated the University’s projected overall operating deficit of $28.2 million.

Lower enrolment from international undergraduate and graduate students caused a projected $43.9 million shortfall in student fee revenues.

“Almost 97 pe
Herbert Wang
The Journal •

Prime Minister Trudeau and President of European Commission stop in Kingston

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen visited Kingston’s Canadian Forces Base (CFB) on March 7. During her two-day visit to Canada, she was hosted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and they both attended the CFB for a joint press conference.

“It is a real pleasure to welcome President von der Leyen to Canada,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

Von der Leyen and Trudeau discussed shared priorities such as responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fighting climate change,
Herbert Wang
The Journal •

André Picard gives talk about health care at Queen’s

“Welcome, boomers. Let’s talk about health care,” is how award-winning journalist André Picard started his lecture, “Medicare 2050: Rebuilding the Health System for an Aging Society” on March 2 at Ellis Hall.

Picard has been a health reporter and columnist at The Globe and Mail for almost 36 years. He was brought on the health beat early in the HIV/AIDS epidemic after covering similar stories for his student paper, The Fulcrum.

His reporting for The Globe has been nominated for the National Ne
Herbert Wang
The Journal •

AMS Assembly discusses Black Student Clubs Caucus letter at AGM

At the AMS’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), members of the Black Clubs Caucus said the AMS doesn’t see them as a priority.

Students had the opportunity to make statements and ask Assembly members questions at AGM on March 9, which was followed by a general Assembly.

As the meeting kicked off, AMS President Eric Sikich started by recapping the successes and failures of team ETC’s term thus far.

Sikich congratulated outgoing student leaders, commending the work done this year. 2022-23 marked a f
Curtis Heinzl
The Journal •

‘Journal’ staff win big at 2023 JHM awards

The Journal had five articles shortlisted and two winning pieces at the recent John H. MacDonald (JHM) Awards for Excellence in Student Journalism.

The “prestigious” awards are put on by the Canadian University Press and were announced at the NASH Gala held at McMaster on Feb 18. Current Features Editor Anne Fu, HealthSci ’25, Senior News Editor Asbah Ahmad, ArtSci ’24, and Assistant Lifestyle Editor Clanny Mugabe, ArtSci ’23, were all recognized.

Fu had three articles shortlisted for the 2SLG
Curtis Heinzl
The Journal •

Let’s make tree-planting trendy

Helping at an orphanage in an impoverished country and posing with underprivileged children on Instagram proves to others what a selfless person you are—and is sure to get likes. Unfortunately, even with the best intentions and organizations, short-term ‘voluntourism’ with children can have unintended consequences.

Some ‘profit orphanages’ in developing countries have been alleged to recruit and profit off children, intentionally making them look dirty and poor to increase donations. Many child
The Journal •

Bringing Queen’s StuCons back to its 'glory days'

Rebranding and the student fee allocation of the Queen’s StuCons service was discussed at AMS Assembly on Feb. 16.

Queen’s StuCons—previously named Queen’s Student Constables—recently changed its name to align with what students already call the service, StuCons Head Manager Caroline Jarrett said in an interview with The Journal.

“Constables is a pretty loaded term. I think StuCons is a much more friendly and accurate description of the services we provide in the in the QSC [Queen’s Student Ce
The Journal •

‘All gone’: Queen’s students affected by earthquake in Turkey and Syria

Scrolling through Instagram, Selim Dag, ArtSci ’24, came across a photo of his hometown of Adana, Turkey. In the photograph, his town was destroyed.

Thinking to himself, he thought, “What the hell? This is a joke, right?”

Dag immediately rang his father, who lives in Adana. His father picked up FaceTime rushing down from the 24th floor of his building. The building collapsed while Dag was on the phone.

“The first few hours, I lost my senses. I was punching the walls [...] I just burst out cry
The Journal •

Black-owned health services support racialized communities

Sometimes, when clients find it hard to express their feelings, psychologist E.L. Adams will switch on a song.

Adams told The Journal he grew up listening to ’80s music, country, and Motown. He uses music in his practice to help clients to delve into past experiences and connect with others.

“It can be difficult to see, reframe, or feel connected—given people’s circumstances,” he said. “A lot of times with mental health, people feel like their situations are unique, and they feel isolated, the
Max Yi
The Journal •

Queen’s updates cybersecurity measures to protect data

The Queen’s IT team faces tens of thousands of cybersecurity threats to systems every day, according to Marie-Claude Arguin, Queen’s chief information officer and associate vice-principal (IT services).

Queen’s is changing its multi-factor authentication (MFA) system through the Microsoft Authenticator App on Feb. 27. The authenticator app will send two-digit numbers to the device the user is logging in with, and those numbers need to be inputted to log in. The app will now display the location
The Journal •

Graduate students at Queen’s rally to abolish tuition

Queen’s graduate student union, PSAC 901, wants Principal Patrick Deane to abolish tuition for graduate students and increase working wages.

The union held the rally outside Richardson Hall—where Principal Deane’s office is located—with speakers from the SGPS, Queen’s Faculty Union Association (QUFA), and Ontario Public interest Research Group (OPIRG) Kingston on Feb. 7.

The students invited Deane to a town hall on Jan. 17 to ask him questions and air grievances as he’s lobbying the provincial
Curtis Heinzl
The Journal •

Black student associations respond to racist incident at AMS debate

This article discusses anti-Black racism and may be distressing to some readers. The Peer Support Centre and BIPOC Talk can be accessed here.

Several Black student associations on campus spoke to The Journal about the recent events involving the distribution of a racist image of a candidate in the now-concluded AMS executive election. The candidates’ team, ERA, dropped out of the running.

The Queen’s Black Academic Society (QBAS) President Teshi Bollo-Kamara, ArtSci ’23 and Vice-President Amai
The Journal •

Queen’s responds to AMS debate incident

Queen’s is encouraging students to take cybersecurity modules in response to an incident at the AMS executive debate on Feb. 2.

The University acknowledged the racist image air-dropped to students during the debate and released a statement to The Journal condemning racism and discrimination within the Queen’s community.

“[Queen’s] is committed to promoting a safe, healthy, and inclusive community. We strive to provide a range of services, programming, and supports for students, including in re
Curtis Heinzl
The Journal •

Teams ERA, KMV, and TBD face off at AMS executive debate

AMS executive candidate teams ERA, KMV, and TBD went head-to-head in a debate in Theological Hall before polls open on Feb. 6 and 7. It was the first-time teams debated in person since 2020.

The panel opened with a short address from Reem Al-Rawi, the uncontested undergraduate trustee candidate, who hopes to create “meaningful connections” with the AMS executive to provide opportunities for collaboration on projects, such as holiday house checks over the winter break.

“The health and safety of
Curtis Heinzl
The Journal •

Team ERA campaigns to provide value to students

Team ERA wants to “revitalize” the AMS through advocacy, financial accessibility, and student wellness.

Their platform was developed after consulting over 100 people, including students, club heads, members from each faculty society, and various university representatives.

Elisabeth McHarg, ArtSci ’23, is running for vice-president (operations). From working on the AMS Orientation Roundtable to being a barista at Common Ground (CoGro), McHarg has held seven roles within ASUS and the AMS.

“I d
Herbert Wang
The Journal •

Senate discusses changes to Orientation and reading week dates

As Senate opened on Jan. 31, AMS president Eric Sikich asked questions via Zoom regarding the sessional dates surrounding Orientation Week and the University’s “competing priorities.”

“There is a general consensus of a desire to change the format that has been consistent over the previous years as the weekend model,” Sikich said.

He acknowledged it was “difficult” to change dates and asked how the University can support students if the dates of Orientation Week can’t be changed.

Ann Tierney,
The Journal •

Islamophobia an ongoing issue in Canadian society

The panel opened at 6 p.m. at Mackintosh-Corry Hall on Jan 30, with sociology Professor Dr. Fauzia Husain sharing her experiences of Islamophobia at Queen’s and elsewhere.

“Make sure you don’t make Canada look bad,” Husain said her family told her before she came to the panel. “Make sure you don’t come off as angry. In other words,

make sure you don’t confirm the stereotype.”

“I asked myself, will playing nice keep me safe? Will playing nice keep other Muslims safe?” Husain said.

Husain, who
The Journal •

Petition calls to dismantle Queen’s Autism Speaks Canada branch

Vera Aube, ArtSci ’23, was diagnosed with autism over the winter break. After three and a half years at Queen’s, they now feel “validated” to speak out on behalf of the neurodivergent community.

Aube is petitioning to stop the Autism Speaks Canada (ASC) branch at Queen’s, alongside three neurodivergent friends. Almost 500 people have signed the petition since it opened around two weeks ago. The petition requests that the AMS “dismantle” Queen’s branch of ASC and replace it with another organiza
Load More