News in brief

News in brief

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Members of Silent No More protest outside Stauffer Library.
Image by: Corey Lablans
Members of Silent No More protest outside Stauffer Library.

Incident at the Spot

Police were called to the Spot nightclub at 12:23 a.m. yesterday morning after receiving complaints about a 26-year-old male forcing his way into the club.

Kingston Police media relations officer, Constable Steven Koopman, said bouncers denied Andrew Barber entrance because he was previously banned for aggressive behaviour.

Allegedly, Barber tried to enter into the front entrance of the Spot, but staff members removed him.

Barber proceeded to pull out a knife and started shouting death threats to staff members of the Spot.

“Then he smashed through one of the side windows facing out onto Princess Street,” Koopman said, adding that there were no injuries sustained.

“There were three victims of a threat to cause death, but no reported injuries,” he said. “Otherwise, he’d be looking at assault charges.”

The three victims were Spot staff members. Koopman said.

“He fled the scene right away,”he said. “Officers were dispatched at 12:23 a.m. and three of them arrived on the scene at 12:25, but he was gone.”

Barber turned himself in two hours later to the Kingston Police Station, Koopman said.

He is charged with three counts of uttering threats to cause death, carrying a concealed weapon, mischief under $5,000 and carrying a dangerous weapon.

— Savoula Stylianou

PHEKSA presidential candidate runs unopposed

For the sole presidential hopeful of the Physical and Health Education and Kinesiology Student Association (PHEKSA), keeping Camp Day going will remain a focus if elected.

Steven Gillies, PheKin ’13, is running uncontested this year.

Last semester, Gillies sat on the Camp Day fundraising committee. Camp Day is a half-credit course which takes Physical and Health Education students on a week-long trip during Frosh Week to Camp Oconto.

The program for first-year students in the faculty has faced budget cuts in the past and has survived solely on two-year fundraising.

Gillies said if elected he will also focus on ensuring that Camp Day doesn’t face the same struggles it has in past years.

“As long as we keep the voice strong and unified, everyone will recognize how much [Camp Day] means and we should be able to keep it running,” he said.

All positions — president, vice-president of operations and vice-president of university affairs — within PHEKSA are elected individually.

Gillies was both a first- and second- year representative within the council. He said he decided to run for president to ensure that all students are given the best experience possible in his faculty.

“Things have been run very well in the past and everything has worked out in a way that is benefiting the students,” he said.

Election results will be announced tonight.

— Emily Hayes

Anti-abortion demonstration

An anti-abortion demonstration drew small crowds in front of Stauffer Library on Wednesday.

Two women from the Christian organization Silent no More spoke about their personal experiences with abortion and why they regretted them. The event was organized by pro-life group Queen’s Alive.

Angelina Steenstra, the national co-ordinator of Silent no More was one of the speakers at the event.

“I had an abortion when I was 15 years old, 40 years ago,” Steenstra told the Journal. “Today I continue to regret that experience … because it took the life of my first child and it caused all sorts of side effects in my life that I never expected.” Steenstra said the group isn’t politically or legally motivated.

“It’s reaching out to people who are hurting,” she said. “I believe that we need to hear from people who have experienced abortions.” Steenstra said the event wasn’t meant to stir the abortion debate.

Zuza Kurzawa, one of the organizers of the event and president of Queen’s Alive said the response to the demonstration has been fairly positive.

“This at the very least is a way to discuss the issue in a very personal way, but also in a very truthful way,” Kurzawa, ArtSci ’13, said.

— Katherine Fernandez-Blance

Students race for prizes

Three Queen’s students took home $900 in cash last night and a fourth won a year’s worth of free textbooks at the Oohlala Campus Games competition.

The three-day event began on Tuesday and was run through student-created mobile game company Oohlala. It’s so far taken place on two other campuses and students only compete against their own classmates.

Participants that downloaded the free Campus Games app on their iPhone or Android phone chased a virtual treasure chest through campus using the app’s GPS. The student who had the virtual treasure at 5 p.m. each day won $300 in cash.

The game allows for participants within a close range of each other to steal the virtual treasure chest from another participant. The student who holds onto the virtual treasure chest the longest wins a year of free textbooks, with a maximum value of $500.

Danial Jameel, a fourth-year student at the University of Toronto is one of the co-founders of the app, which launched in September.

“The idea was … the government is hiking tuition fees everywhere, so how can we give back,” he said. Funding for the prizes comes through either money the company has won at business competitions or sponsorship. Ted Lee, ArtSci’ 12, won the grand prize of free textbooks for a year.

— Katherine Fernandez-Blance

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