Burford-Grinnell wins SGPS presidency

With 55.2 per cent of the popular vote, Jillian Burford-Grinnell won the presidency for the Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS) on Mar. 3. She ran unopposed.

449 ballots were cast over two days, representing just over 10 per cent of the SGPS, she said. 35 votes were cast against Burford-Grinnell and 166 were unanswered.

“I’m really excited,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to the upcoming year.”

Burford-Grinnell is currently vice-president (finance and services) and has also served on SGPS council as a mature student representative.

“Transitioning has already started,” she said. “The outgoing executive is incredibly supportive. I’m really looking forward to increasing the services the SGPS has to offer.”

Burford-Grinnell said she hopes to improve is childcare, since over 10 per cent of SGPS members have children.

SGPS voter turnout is traditionally low, Burford-Grinnell said, with around 10 per cent of the society’s members voting.

With international women’s day taking place last Tuesday, Burford-Grinnell said she was reminded that she’s the third woman to be elected to the position.

“I’m somewhat dismayed that the numbers [of elected women] haven’t been higher,” she said.

Other SGPS council members for the upcoming academic year are Anne-Marie Grondin, incoming vice-president (campaigns and community affairs), Andrea Phillipson, incoming vice-president (finance and services), Irene Karagiorgakis, incoming vice-president (graduate), Mark Noble, incoming vice-president (professional) and Daniel Moore, incoming graduate student senator.

— Clare Clancy

Fair highlights disability awareness month

This March is Queen’s third annual Disability Awareness Month (D.A.M.) and groups are coming together to showcase resources available for those affected by disabilities.

Various Queen’s clubs and organizations will be joining together to run an information fair during from Mar. 16 to 17 in the BioSciences complex. Participating organizations include the Canadian Paraplegic Association (CPA), Leading Hands of Canada, Canadian Hearing Society (CHS), Friends for Inclusion, Social Transition & Education Program (STEP), Queen’s Best Buddies, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, Adaptive Technology Lab (ATL), Health, Counselling and Disability Services (HCDS), Revved Up Program and Accessibility Queen’s.

“Advocate awareness. That’s what we want to do,” organizer Katie Charboneau, ArtSci ’10 said. “To get these issues out there and let people know what sorts of organizations and services are available on campus.” The fair provides various clubs with an opportunity to show what they have to offer as well as to enable Queen’s students to become more knowledgeable of the various disabilities there are.

“D.A.M. is awesome because it brings out disabilities that you may not have heard of, whether physical, mental, or invisible,” Sarah Castonguay, ArtSci ’12, said.

Other events will also take place during the month.

Dodge 4 a Cause will be held at the ARC on Mar. 12 where teams can register to support community living in Kingston. Queen’s Best Buddies organization has teamed up with Boston Pizza where 10 per cent of all profits made on Mar. 14, starting at 5 p.m. and lasting until 8 p.m., will be put towards the Best Buddies organization.

— Andrew Ha