Letters to the Editor - some entertaining reading

[Strike]

Something to brighten up your mornings.

Warning!  Place you coffee far away from your keyboard.

SOURCETAG  08102834644640
PUBLICATION:  The Kingston Whig-Standard
DATE:  2008.10.28
EDITION:  Final
SECTION:  Editorial/Opinion
PAGE:  5
BYLINE: 
COLUMN:  Letters to the Editor
WORD COUNT:  63

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Call in the military

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With the Aberdeen Street party getting enormously out of hand and becoming increasingly costly to taxpayers, the mayor should declare martial law in the Aberdeen Street area and ask the military to send in troops who are being trained in crowd control to monitor this debacle.

This might more quickly correct the situation than anything that has been proposed so far. Also, it would provide those troops with some hands-on experience in crowd control.

We are paying the salaries of these troops and this pay is 24/7 for them. Therefore, calling them out may be a more effective and less-costly solution to this problem.

Also, there should be zero tolerance for any offence committed at this affair, be it drunkenness, rowdyism, vandalism or whatever.

Queen's has had a longstanding good reputation and I would hate to see that reputation destroyed by the hooliganism on Aberdeen Street. J. N. Zakos Kingston

 

[Old Sweat]

Soldiers . . .

with guns . . .

in the streets . . .


Strike, tell me that J.N. Zakos is not one of your aliases.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Uh, yeah - why are we wasting our time in Afghanistan when there's this TRAVESTY occurring under our own noses?

Good one - thanks for the morning giggle!

 

[PMedMoe]

I like that, "We are paying the salaries of these troops..."

Yeah, because everyone knows no one in the CF pays taxes.   :

I don't know why they haven't cracked down on this "unsanctioned" party and just redirect and/or arrest people as they show up.

 

[OldSolduer]

Question, and pardon my ignorance, but I'm from Winnipeg. We don't get out much

What is the gentleman talking about in the letter??

 

[2 Cdo]

Folks, please take any letter to the editor of the Kingston Whig with a grain of salt. For a miliary town the average Kingstonian is about as informed as a lump of dirt! ;D

 

[Strike]

Question, and pardon my ignorance, but I'm from Winnipeg. We don't get out much

What is the gentleman talking about in the letter??

The Queen's University homecoming weekend.  They have an annual street party on Aberdeen St every year and it almost always gets out of hand...arrests, public drunkenness, fights, damage to public and private property, cars getting trashed/flipped/burned, etc.

 

[PMedMoe]

Not to mention all this at extra cost to the city as they have to bring in extra police, OPP, etc and Queen's University will not pay a cent as they don't "condone" the party.  Nor do they try to prevent it, either....

I liked the guy who suggested they have it within the walls of the closed prison.  That way you have controlled access and don't have to worry about bothering other people with the noise or property damage.  That was a letter to the editor worth reading.

 

[Greymatters]

If it snows on Aberdeen, should we also call in the military... ?  :boring:

 

[OldSolduer]

Lord knows you have about nine Federal Pens in the area. Good idea.  Rent one for the night and have the cons as security! :blotto:

 

[Strike]

Not to mention all this at extra cost to the city as they have to bring in extra police, OPP, etc and Queen's University will not pay a cent as they don't "condone" the party.  Nor do they try to prevent it, either....

I liked the guy who suggested they have it within the walls of the closed prison.  That way you have controlled access and don't have to worry about bothering other people with the noise or property damage.  That was a letter to the editor worth reading.

Too bad they already tore down the walls of said closed prison.

 

[xena]

Too bad they already tore down the walls of said closed prison.

Hey, do what the university students do and don't let the facts get in the way of a good idea.  : ;D

 

[xo31@711ret]

I dunno...anyone remember mardi gras in halifax in the 80's (good time except for a few idiots)?
Didn't the city ban it?

 

[The Bread Guy]

Well, no worries about the CF being called out to help - from Canadian Press, shared with the usual disclaimer.....

Queen's University has cancelled its traditional fall homecoming for the next two years, citing an "unprecedented number" of charges, violent incidents and injuries at this year's event.

A letter sent to the alumni of the Kingston, Ont., university says the event will be replaced by a spring reunion in May.

Tom Williams, the school's principal and vice-chancellor, says in the letter that safety concerns have reached a critical point.

He says the past four homecoming weekends have seen a "large and growing unsanctioned student gathering."

Police made nearly 140 arrests this year and laid nearly 700 liquor charges.

Williams says the decision to cancel fall homecoming events was not easy, but adds the university's reputation is at stake.

Given the event's track record, too late on that last highlighted bit...

 

[dapaterson]

Does Queen's have a code of student conduct?  Turfing out a few ne'er do wells might be a good example "pour encourager les autres".

 

[Shamrock]

From the office of the principal to my inbox:

Principal Williams' report on the future of Homecoming.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Dear Alumni,

I am writing to tell you about a difficult decision that I have made with respect to the Fall Homecoming.

As many of you know, Homecoming weekend for the past 4 years has been the occasion of a large and growing unsanctioned student gathering on Aberdeen Street – a small street located off campus in the student village. Numbers associated with this event have ranged from 5,000 to 10,000.  This year’s event was the largest yet and resulted in an unprecedented number of police charges, arrests, violent incidents and injuries.

Since 2005, the University community, including faculty, staff, students and alumni, have worked in collaboration with City of Kingston officials and law enforcement agencies in an effort to contain this volatile situation.  Despite our best efforts, the situation has worsened.  The unsanctioned gathering has come to be seen by many as a “tradition” whose timing is associated with Queen’s Homecoming.

Concerns for safety have been mounting steadily and are now at a critical point. After broad consultation with faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents and groups who comprise the Queen’s family, the Town/Gown Aberdeen working group, the Police, the hospitals, Fire and Rescue and legal experts, there is broad agreement that a new course of action is required.

I have therefore reached a very difficult decision: the University will not be hosting its Fall Homecoming Weekend for a minimum period of 2 years, beginning with the Homecoming of Fall 2009.

This decision has not easily been reached. I have seen first-hand the joy that alumni feel in returning to campus in the fall and I have joined in the excitement of the half-time parade at Richardson Stadium. I will feel the loss of these experiences very personally and in an effort to continue this time-honored and valued tradition the University will hold a homecoming-styled Spring Reunion Weekend in May (May 22 -24) 2009, that will include class reunions, MiniU and the Tricolour Guard dinner.

Queen’s alumni are an invaluable source of strength for this University. Your loyalty is what sets us apart from many others. I am calling on you now to make this sacrifice, because I am persuaded that something very precious and fragile is at risk: our hard-won reputation as a University that defines standards of excellence that respects the neighbourhood in which we live, and that cares about each member of our learning community.

I welcome your input on how to make the spring event the best possible occasion for alumni.

 

[aesop081]

Ahh...another chapter in the " We must save the masses from themselves" saga .........

 

[The Bread Guy]

Ahh...another chapter in the " We must save the masses from themselves" saga .........

I hear ya' on that point, but if this is also happening....

arrests, public drunkenness, fights, damage to public and private property, cars getting trashed/flipped/burned, etc.

it ain't just the rambunctious young students/alumni hurting each other.

 

[PMedMoe]

Does Queen's have a code of student conduct?  Turfing out a few ne'er do wells might be a good example "pour encourager les autres".

Problem is, half the people who show up are not Queen's students or alumni, they just heard about the party.

 

[aesop081]

I hear ya' on that point, but if this is also happening....it ain't just the rambunctious young students/alumni hurting each other.

Are we to ban the Grey Cup every time Calgary plays just because of incidents on "the red mile" ?

How about banning the Stanley Cup playoffs ?

Frosh week ?

Ban bars in the entertainment districts ( Toronto, Vancouver ?)....how many shootings / stabbings would that prevent......