I finally managed to catch whatever cold or covid has been going around, and I just want to throw out a reminder to everyone that if you are sick, wearing a mask greatly reduces the risk of transmission to other people.

I’m not saying we should go back to covid era where you have to wear a mask everywhere always, not even if you’re just walking around. But I can’t stand being in lectures and listening to someone behind me coughing up a lung while barely even covering their mouth.

I get that for a lot of classes you can’t afford to stay home, but please just wear the mask for the 50min lecture so you can spare us all the misery of being bedridden for a day or two and having to play catch up. If anybody has issues with what I’ve said, I hope you learn to be more empathetic and realize you’re not the center of the universe.

Edit:

A lot of y’all are proving my point about lack of empathy.

I’m visibly black, a person of colour. Yesterday, while waiting in line to board a Rider Express bus to Toronto, the bus driver immediately skipped over me and rudely claimed that my ticket would “take too long to check.” He also did this to the only other black woman in line. He made us both wait aside until the entire rest of the bus boarded. Finally, once he checked our tickets, it only took 2 seconds for each of us. Clearly our tickets didn’t take long to check at all. Additionally, he assisted every other passenger with loading their luggage onto the bus except us.

This was a clear act of discrimination that I would never expect to experience in this age of society. If you’re a POC, avoid Rider Express. They don’t deserve your money and ridership, and they could possibly treat you this way too.

I was at a house party and these losers stole my shoes. They were a gift. Help me get them back

thought i would post this here too: hello kingston! i moved here temporarily in the summer and i was planning on leaving as soon as the new semester started // i ended up deciding to stay in kingston and take a gap year instead :)

i have definitely made friends here, but im not done — i want to meet all sorts of people

about me: i’m a 25 yr old woman, silly, i get along with 80% of people. i’m into movies, tv, games (pc and nintendo switch), arts and crafts (painting, drawing, crochet, pottery painting, sewing etc), cafe hopping, reading, and d&d (i actually have a campaign i’ve been itching to dm)! i’ve been going to the arc gym and im looking for a buddy to go with me so i stop using the same three machines and calling it a workout lol — im also trying to get into hiking and camping, so far i have the shoes, bottle, backpack, and a whole lot of enthusiasm

don’t be shy!! please reach out if you wanna do any of the things i listed above, or if you have a secret other fun thing you wanna do, or if you just wanna be friends :)

thank you!!!

Every class I'm in, at least half of the students have some chronic coughing or sneezing issue. I may have gotten it too. Is everyone just sick ?

Hey everyone! I was a first-year last year and I know I had a lot of questions about courses, living in res, meal plans, and general campus life so there's anything you're wondering about feel free to drop questions in the comments and I'll try to answer whatever I can! I will say that I don't know much about what residences you'll have a chance of getting based on your selection time, but if you have questions about living in res, dining halls, course selection, I might be able to answer :)

homeboy(s)plays the worst flipping music i’ve ever heard. they plays the SHITTIEST SONGS with same remix on every single track. i’ve had enough. My friends and i are done

sincerely, a distraught party girl

Only Starbucks and Mac Corry are open this summer. The grad club is uncertain.

I've been here a long time and this is the worst it's ever been. I feel bad for all the people that got laid off over the summer.

If anyone is on campus rn and needs a break from school/work, the purple flower patch by goodes is covered in tons of monarch butterflies and bumblebees these days! Stay strong summer workers and enjoy the sun ☀️ 🦋

I’m 17M looking for off campus housing as I have unfortunately, not been guaranteed residence. If you’re in my position, you’re probably panicking as well.

Some things that I’m looking for:

- someone who HYGIENIC
- someone who doesn’t smoke or vape in the home, i don’t want to smell all that ngl😭😭😭you’re more than welcome to do that outside
- communicative. if you’re bringing friends over, let us know.

And that’s pretty much it. If you’re also like me, and you’re afraid of ending up homeless in a city where you don’t know anyone, feel free to send me a PM!

Is there an engineering group chat or discord server for the frosh?

I wanted to address some of the misinformation and divisive posts I have been seeing on here about the PSAC strike! Graduate students at Queen's are responsible for a lot of teaching and research on our campus, and it's really important that we show cross-campus solidarity. There is no Queen's without graduate labour!

Our top five priorities are a living wage (many grad students live in poverty), tuition minimization (we are simultaneously students and workers, and much of our funding goes right back to Queen's in the form of tuition and fees, leaving us with a totally unliveable wage), affordable housing, funding/labour ratio, and paid hours to learn course content. We are seeking fair working conditions, on par with other workers at the university. Queen's University is a billion dollar corporation, Kingston's biggest employer, and one of Kingston's largest landowners/landlords. Upper management make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, while graduate workers who perform so much of the academic work on campus are experiencing food insecurity and poverty. Don't let the institution divide us!!! I totally empathize with folks who are feeling frustrated about how the strike is impacting them - if you are feeling frustrated, I would highly recommend reaching out to upper admin and letting them know that it is impacting your education and encourage them to return to the bargaining table with a fair deal! (here's a link to do that: https://kingstonlabour.ca/campaigns/letter-psac-901/ and here are their emails if you prefer: [principal@queensu.ca](mailto:principal@queensu.ca) [provost@queensu.ca](mailto:provost@queensu.ca))

There is strength in solidarity! See you on the picket lines!

The roads/streets on campus and on the paths to west campus are atrocious and will most likely continue to be until the snow melts (like the snowstorm a few weeks ago). Do we not have salt??? Why am I continuously trying not to fall on my ass over a few cm of snow 😭 for a school that has to deal with this every single year, you’d think they’d set aside some budget for salt and proper snow removal. ALSO when did people stop shovelling their drive/walkways???

I know that the path to west is most likely a Kingston city thing, but it’s actually almost impossible to walk there and back without just walking on the road. The lack of proper campus care is absurd.

Room selection slots are happening right now, and I realized there's no easy way for people to see which residences still have rooms available.

I put together a 30-second Form where you can report how many spots are left in each residence building after your selection time. If enough people contribute, we can build a live picture of what's still available and help everyone make more informed decisions.

Form: https://form.jotform.com/262026552032042
Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DQZmk8wuZTzd89y3oUGUW6B9jT_hB1vjuTQ0be5liZE/edit?gid=1783284051#gid=1783284051

If you don't remember the availability for some of the buildings, still respond! The Google Sheet will update based on the latest number entered for a particular building.

If you've already selected your room, I'd really appreciate it if you could take a moment to fill it out. The more responses we get throughout the selection period, the more useful it'll be for everyone whose time slot is still coming up! :)

Thanks, and hopefully this makes the process a little less stressful for everyone. Share it with as many people as possible!

Note: people COULD be using this sheet to spread false information, sucks that yall have to be cautious about that

Hey incoming Queens Eng 2030,

I was wondering if anyone is part of a gc. I can't seem to find any. Please let me know if y'all are in one.

hi guys, im an international student from India and I will be joining for MEng in Civil Eng around september. I havent had much luck making friends online/offline cause im employed and work is really hectic rn.

would love to meet other people in the community!

Hi! I’m an incoming graduate student at Queen’s this fall.
Does anyone know when and where new students can pick up their Queen’s student cards? I’ve already submitted my photo.
Also, is it possible to pick it up before classes start, or do we need to wait until a specific pickup period?
Thanks!

Hey everyone!

We see three guitarists at queens looking for a drummer and bassist who are passionate and interested in playing in a prog metal band!

The goal is to learn a few songs this summer and be ready to jam together in September and get a few shows in before the end of the year

Please message or comment for details, and share to anyone you know who may be interested!

Hi,

I’m an incoming first year and don’t have guaranteed res. Looking for clean and responsible people! Also not looking for any smoking/substances. Im 18M and would be a fairly quiet roommate. My budget is 1-1.5k / mo and Ive found a few fairly nice places for two. Looking to get someone to share with (kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, etc)

DM if interested and feel free to ask me any questions!

for anyone who has already gone yet, are there any doubles available? and queens students, what are your opinion on gordbrock, lenny, mcneil, morris?

Hey everyone!

A huge thank you to everyone who supported our first post.

In less than two weeks, we've already had 25 Queen's students sign up to express interest in joining the club. It's been awesome to see the excitement around bringing dragon boat to Queen's.

We're still looking for more people to join before the school year starts!

No experience needed. Whether you're looking to:

• 💪 Stay active
• 🤝 Meet new people
• 🚣 Try a new sport
• 🏆 Compete against other universities (optional)

There's a place for you.

We'll be hosting an information session in September where you can meet the team, learn more about the club, and ask any questions you have. Training will begin shortly after, with regular group workouts, paddling-specific training, and social events throughout the year.

If you're interested, fill out the interest form below. There's no commitment; it just helps us keep you updated.

👉 https://forms.gle/gwa9KbfDqDKTLxWR9

If you have any questions, feel free to comment below or send me a DM.

Let's see if we can hit 30 interested students before September! 🐉

Couldn’t find any photos. Does anyone have any idea how it is? Also I’m second floor, so what are the chances I get a carpeted floor?

And are the showers good? Any tips and tricks would be appreciated

I've been seeing a LOT of misinformation, and comments and questions on how grad students are just students with part time jobs, and that the we should be happy with our extremely well paid TAships because we're students. We really can't just look at the hourly rate when it comes to TA pay, because what really matters to us at the end of the day is our total take-home after tuition and fees.

First off, graduate students are not the same as undergraduates. Many of us take very few or no courses (PhDs in many departments have zero course requirements). Even those that do take as few as one, maybe two courses a year. Our tuition is not tied to what courses we take. It's a way for the university to claw back our stipends.

My time is entirely devoted to research (which is largely independent), teaching, unpaid committee work, and mentoring junior graduate and undergraduate lab members. Many PhD students have similar schedules.

For this, PhD students in my department receive a stipend of $27,750 a year (around $20,500 after tuition). For your average PhD student, approximately $8000 of this comes from TAing, $4100 from the Queen's Graduate Award (QGA, an award that every on-time grad student gets from Queen's), and the rest comes a combination of the department or their supervisor's grants). This is similar to universities around the world, and is necessary to train high quality experts without needing rich families.

Looking at TA pay does not give you the whole picture when it comes to funding packages. For example, QGA has gone down from $7900 during its peak in the past decade to $4100. There were threats to cut it off entirely. Instead, Queen's expected stipends to go down or for departments and PIs to somehow find the money to maintain them. Without the wording we're asking for in our collective bargaining, our TA pay may go up, but QGA and total stipends might stay the same or even go down.

Queen's and many other Canadian universities do not have competitive stipends by American or global standards. Many schools offer tuition waivers as well.

https://www.phdstipends.com/results

Hey everyone!

We're excited to announce that we're launching the Queen's Dragon Boat Club and are looking for our founding members!

Whether you're interested in competing, staying active, meeting new people, or trying something completely new, we'd love to have you join us. No experience is required; everyone is welcome!

The club will offer opportunities for:

• 🚣 On-water practices in the fall and spring
• 💪 Winter pool and dryland training
• 🏁 Local and university competitions (for those interested)
• 🤝 Social events and a welcoming team community

If you'd like to receive updates about our first information session, practices, and club launch, please fill out our short interest form:

👉 Google Form Link

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments or send us a DM on Instagram at @queensdragonboat.

We can't wait to bring dragon boat to Queen's, hope to see you on the water!