Free speech wall covered by leftist club

In response to being named the worst university in Canada for free speech by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), U of O established a wall of free speech on Feb. 5 and 6. The wall as meant as an outlet for all students to express their opinions, however the Revolutionary Student Movement (RSM) has covered the wall with leftist slogans.

As quoted by The Fulcrum, third-year economics student Omar Benmegdoul, who was responsible for the wall, said, “They covered the wall entirely in an effort to stop others from being [able] to write on the wall as well.”

RSM member Jean-Philippe Ouellet responded that the slogans were the work of one club member, and that the member used the wall as a billboard, which in itself is free speech.

With files from The Fulcrum

Students propose course credit for internships

Students in Queen’s political science department are pushing for external political work to be recognized as course credit by the university.

The student behind the reform, Isabelle Duchaine, explained the idea: “I dropped a 400-level seminar on political communications because I was spending […] the entire month of March, when I was supposed to be having class, in Toronto meeting with MPPs.” The proposal would count outside internships as academic work, to be graded on a pass or fail basis.

The proposal has been approved by the Political Studies Undergraduate Committee, and now faces the political studies department and the Faculty of Arts and Science for final approval.

With files from The Queen’s Journal

Fall reading week for U of S

As of the 2014-15 school year, several colleges at the U of S will enjoy a fall reading break based around the Remembrance Day long weekend. The medicine, dentistry, nursing and veterinary medicine colleges will not have a break.

U of S students’ union president Max FineDay was disappointed by the feedback from these colleges. “I had one dean tell me, ‘It’s a choice between students going skiing for a week or students learning to deal with heart attacks,’” FineDay said.

FineDay argued that a fall reading break is essential for students’ mental health. Brock University, Western University, McMaster University and Carleton University have all recently added a fall reading break to their schedules.

With files from The Sheaf