Editorial Archives - Page 3 of 4

Dialogue is important, but not at the expense of non-binary communities

Written on October 18, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

A University of Toronto professor refusing to use gender-neutral pronouns has sparked an opportunity for an important debate. But it’s also just another instance of people having to defend their identities to those who refuse to acknowledge them. Psychology professor Jordan Peterson recently began...

Refusal to call Cleveland team by name gets discussion rolling

Written on October 18, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

Avoiding saying a word that carries a traumatic history is a silent protest — but it can have a loud impact. In light of the Toronto Blue Jays’ face-off with the Cleveland Indians, many Canadians are refusing to say the team’s full name because of its negative connotations on Indigenous populations...

Face-to-face learning doesn't need replacing

Written on October 14, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

It’s easy to get distracted by fancy gadgets and the convenience of online resources, but face-to-face learning is more effective. Blended learning allows for students to spend less time in lectures and tutorials and more time completing their studies online. This could include anything from watching...

It’s not all in the numbers

Written on October 14, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

Gender disparities in engineering may be the result of a larger cultural issue, but relieving the impact on students isn’t out of University’s hands. A feature published in The Journal last week showed that for some female engineering students in the faculty’s least gender-balanced discipline — electrical...

AMS’s seat at City council required, but only when they’re sure students care

Written on October 14, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

The AMS’s involvement in the City of Kingston’s Uber debate exemplifies why students vote for representatives — to advocate for their needs, even if the way they advocate isn’t always perfect. At the end of September, a petition drafted by the AMS arrived in student inboxes, protesting the City’s...

York professor makes call that isn't his to make

Written on October 6, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

With a few glowing lines on a reference letter, a York professor lent strength to one of the most harmful attitudes faced by survivors of sexual assault. Political science professor Stephan Newman drafted a character reference for recently convicted rapist Mustafa Ururyar’s sentencing, which describes...

Ending Commerce rankings breeds a better environment

Written on October 6, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

Public judgement doesn’t encourage healthy competition, but negative attitudes. The Commerce Society assembly discussed last week that the faculty’s ranking system — which was solely driven by grades and publicized to the student body — was coming to an end. Last year, ComSoc’s Academics Commissioner...

If diversity isn’t Senate’s job, they can make it their responsibility

Written on October 4, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

It’s time University administration stopped skimming over the difficult issues that affect us all. A student-written letter addressed to Senate regarding Queen’s lack of diversity in its faculty was brought up in a Senate meeting last week — only to be pushed off as not their problem. Michael Blennerhassett,...

Alumni, students need your donations too

Written on October 4, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

As hundreds of thousands of students leave university with mountains of debt and university institutions like Queen’s continuously solicit alumni donations, the question arises about which is a worthier cause — giving money to students, or to the institution. With Homecoming just around the corner,...

Replace repercussions with self-reflection

Written on October 4, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

The memories we have of detention shouldn’t be of boredom and anger, they should be memories of learning and self-reflection. I’m sure everyone can think of a time they got in trouble in elementary school. I remember the feeling of shame, the teacher’s paralyzing glare and my inability to listen to...

A few counsellors not enough for thousands of struggling students

Written on September 30, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

We have the statistics. We have the student mental health campaigns. We even have a student wellness centre being built slowly, but surely, in the PEC. But when it comes to tackling the mental health crisis head-on, are we glossing over a vital question — what are the root causes of plummeting...

Hands-on learning is the future, whether hunting or not

Written on September 30, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

Sometimes, you need to get your hands dirty. The idea of students picking up guns to hunt wildlife for academic credit may not be popular, but the premise behind it is valid — the principal of hands-on learning. As part of an Environmental Field Investigations course at the University of Manitoba,...

Banning electronics doesn’t guarantee engagement

Written on September 27, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

If a student is so easily distracted by their phones or laptops in class, maybe the change should be in the teaching, not the electronics. A majority of the reasoning for banning electronics in the classroom makes sense. Professors should have a right to make the call on how their lectures are run....

Voter turnout isn’t about the age, it’s about the demographic

Written on September 27, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

Pushing for the voting age to be lowered to 16 misses the bigger picture of voter representation — or rather, who’s missing from the picture. Inspired by cases of high youth voter turnout during the Scottish referendum and in Britain’s vote to leave the EU, many argue that if Canadian 16-year-olds...

No reason not to warn

Written on September 23, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

Universities don’t have to choose between honouring historical injustices and protecting the communities still affected by these histories today — they have the power to do both. An opinion piece in McMaster’s student newspaper The Silhouette detailed one student’s experience with sitting in a class...

Western USC’s homecoming ideas choose distraction over safety

Written on September 23, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

No amount of zip lines and hot air balloons are going to fix a pervasive drinking culture. Last week, The Western Gazette reported that the USC (University Students’ Council) executives proposed several adventurous ideas, including hot air balloons, zip lining, and a carnival, to distract students...

A safe space isn’t free from accountability

Written on September 20, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

The right to freely broadcast your political beliefs in the ‘safe space’ of a university doesn’t mean you can’t be held accountable when those beliefs generate unsafe spaces for other students. A video posted on The National Post shows a Mount Royal University student confronting another student about...

If new positions have one, tell us what the purpose is

Written on September 20, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

Frustration over the hiring of more University admin instead of departmental faculty is clear, but it’s hard to draw the parallel when the exact purpose of these admin positions is blurry. Principal Daniel Woolf recently announced the hiring of Caroline Davis as the inaugural vice-principal (facilities,...

Bringing to life a curriculum around assisted death is the first step

Written on September 16, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

It’s a difficult subject to talk about, but the contentiousness of physician-assisted death may be all the more reason to normalize education around it. In June, federal legislation was introduced that legalized and regulated medical assistance in dying. Although students may still be divided on...

‘No means yes’ response from Western inappropriate

Written on September 16, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

Rape culture on university campuses consists of much more than the act of sexual assault. But when “No means yes and yes means anal,” appeared on a Western student’s off-campus home, the immediate response was to write it off. The words, which were written on a window on a house near Western’s main...

Record-breaking Q was costly self-celebration, not celebration of students

Written on September 13, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

For University administrators, $9,000 may seem like dispensable money. But for many students, it’s a year’s worth of rent, one year’s tuition or a dent in our student loans. This week we were reminded that the University is more eager to pour potential into a 2-hour-long publicity stunt than do something...

Accountability in actions, not just words

Written on September 13, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

Although the AMS is commendable for their willingness to take accountability for the hazing that sent two AMS Pub Services (TAPS) employees to the hospital, the real test of their accountability will be the actions following. Since TAPS falls under his portfolio, AMS Vice President (Operations) Dave...

It’s about being good, not looking good

Written on September 9, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

In the matter of voluntourism, it’s not about intention at all — it’s about impact. Given the negative ideals that voluntourism often perpetuates, offering students with these experiences an upper hand only values the appearance of charity, not charity itself. In his article “To Get to Harvard, Go...

Internet doesn’t free speech

Written on March 13, 2015. Posted in Editorials.

The Internet hasn’t made speech freer — at least not on this campus. In theory, the connectivity of the Internet opens up dialogue between people and provides marginalized groups a chance to share their perspectives. But I don’t see this at Queen’s. I see the opposite — a strengthening of dominant...

Be present

Written on February 27, 2015. Posted in Editorials.

Waiting for things in the future or longing for things that have happened in the past can cause us to wish away the present. One of my political studies professors reminded me of this earlier this term. We should take full advantage of the ability to pass our university days thinking and educating...

Censored bodies

Written on June 26, 2013. Posted in Editorials.

A sexual taboo now surrounds words like “vagina” and “breasts”. My generation has trouble even saying these words aloud. Recently, I was on an American Airlines flight watching an episode of Parks and Recreation and the aforementioned words were censored. Censorship is a way...

Risky business

Written on April 4, 2013. Posted in Editorials.

“I just don’t want to die without a few scars.” These words have resonated in my mind ever since I read Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club seven years ago. I’ve taken it up as a sort of personal motto. With graduation nearing, I, like many other graduates, have spent a considerable amount of time reflecting...

Valued work

Written on March 22, 2013. Posted in Editorials.

Fine arts, as an academic discipline, is highly misunderstood and gravely undervalued by what seems to be a large portion of the academic world. I’m writing to tell you that the commonly associated terms like “starving artist,” “bird course” and “unemployed” are so unbelievably incorrect that they...

Think critically

Written on February 12, 2013. Posted in Editorials.

Paranoid conspiracy theorists have no place in the American gun rights debate. Since the Sandy Hook shootings on Dec. 14, conspiracy theories have become more popular thanks to podcast hosts promoting unrealistic and unsubstantiated claims. Specifically, many of these conspiracy theorists view Sandy...

Better than reaction

Written on February 5, 2013. Posted in Editorials.

Belittling a culture is never funny. Last week’s attack on Team PDA’s Vice-President of Operations candidate Craig Draeger was well called for, but it failed to deliver the appropriate message. A Tumblr page entitled “Queen’s is better than racism” called for Draeger’s removal from the AMS elections...

Tag: Editorial

The Journal, Queen's University - Since 1873

Get the App

Get the App