been established. John Gordon will be RAQ’s repre-sentative. Many universities in the United Statesand a few in Canada have established retirementhomes on or near campus. If Queen’s does decide

to pursue this idea, it will be part of long-term development planning.

Retired faculty were again invitedto participate as application readersin the Major Entrance Award selec-tion process. The Admissions Office

was pleased once more to have RAQmembers participate.

Opportunities for volunteersto interact with students A section listing Volunteer opportunities has beenadded to the RAQ home page. Please check it out.One of the items gives more details about a noticewe printed in the Fall newsletter about the Queen’sUniversity International Centre (QUIC). AtSeptember’s RAQ Council meeting, SusanAnderson spoke to us about the Centre’s role inproviding a variety of services to incoming interna-tional students, staff and faculty, as well as to NorthAmerican students seeking opportunities abroad.Volunteers are needed for English language sup-port (ELS), income tax preparation assistance, andfor short-term housing upon students’ arrival.

Last September, the Office of Student Affairsorganized an Orientation event called Capstone.Students were invited to sit down and engage withcommunity members (including retirees) and pro-fessors. Reaction by the student participants to the2008 Capstone event was overwhelmingly positive.Learn more by following the Volunteer link atwww.queensu.ca/retirees.

arlene aish, President

Recent activities of RAQ Council,Executive, and CommitteesThe Principal’s Reception on October 27 was agreat success. RAQ members always seemkeen to get updates on the state of theUniversity and were interested inPrincipal Tom Williams’ plans for thefuture. He spoke candidly of themany challenges facing Queen’s atthis time. The question period after histalk was lively and lengthy. I believePrincipal Williams is open to ideas and sugges-tions from everyone, and so I would encourage youto e-mail or write to him with your opinions aboutthe University

Last summer, several Council members had din-ner in Kingston with some representatives fromLakehead University who are working towardsestablishing a retiree organization. They were notreceiving the support we were lucky enough to getat Queen’s when RAQ started. However, they havemade progress since then and recently asked forinformation about how we manage to put out sucha successful newsletter. John Gordon, Chair of theCommunications Committee, responded by givingan overview of how it all works. We are fortunateto be in a position to mentor another retiree group.

Until recently, CURAC (College and UniversityRetiree Associations of Canada) has not had a for-mal office. When George Brandie (VP of RAQ andSecretary of CURAC) suggested that the office beestablished at Queen’s, VP Patrick Deane was mostsupportive. CURAC will share facilities with RAQin Macintosh-Corry Hall.

A working group to investigate the possibility ofQueen’s getting involved in retiree housing has

Newsletter of the Retirees’ Association of Queen’s January 2009 Vol 7 No 2

RAQnewsPresidential

News and Views

Mark your

calendar!

RAQ Annual General Meeting and LunchMonday, April 27, at the University ClubReception and Cash Bar 11:30 amLunch 12:30 pm ❋ Meeting to Follow

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On November 12, 2008, HumanResources mailed its annual statementto Queen’s pensioners, outlining thepension fund’s rate of return for thelast four years and explaining why thelatest increase in our payments is about2%. I would like to use my first reportas chair of RAQ’s Pension and BenefitsCommittee to give you an overview ofpension governance and to differenti-

ate between the Board of Trustees’ PensionCommittee and your RAQ Pension and BenefitsCommittee, which is made up of David Bonham,Chris Chapler (new member) and me.

On that same November day, we three, along withRAQ President Arlene Aish, met with Rod Morrison(VP Human Resources) and Bob Weisnagel (Pensions& Benefits) to discuss the following areas of mutualconcern.

Governance During the past year, the composition ofthe Board of Trustees’ Pension Committee has beenmodified slightly to add two more Board appointees,replacing the two sitting Vice-Principals but leavingthem on the committee as non-voting, ex officio mem-bers. Currently the Board’s Pension Committee has 11voting members, six from among members of the plan(two active staffers, two faculty members and tworetirees) and five Board appointees, not necessarilyTrustees. The final accountability of Queen’s PensionPlan (QPP) matters remains with that committee,including establishing and maintaining investmentpolicies, as was confirmed by the update on pensiongovernance released by the University last March. Atthis stage, it seems advisable for RAQ’s Pension andBenefits Committee to keep a careful watch on devel-opments that follow from these changes. We’re tryingto do that.

Financial Viability of the Plan For all pension plansoperating in Ontario, there is a statutory requirementto conduct a formal actuarial review every threeyears. This was last done at Queen’s in February 2007

and showed an actuarial deficit of $40.5 million. Aswe understand the rules, this deficit must be dealtwith over a prescribed period of several years. Since2007, the deficit quite clearly is increasing, and nodoubt its course will be closely monitored by Queen’sand both pension committees. The next formal actu-arial review is scheduled for 2010 and will doubtless-ly be the subject of great interest. In spite of the cur-rent deficit, RAQ was assured at the November meet-ing that the QPP continues to occupy a good relativeposition vis à vis other universities and other employ-ers. Nonetheless, the current state of the economyheightens these worries.

It’s not easy to say specifically what causes adeficit. Although it’s wonderful news for us thatQueen’s retirees as a whole are living longer than thenational average, our longevity is a significant con-tributing factor. So might be the current stock marketvolatility. You may recall that other possible factorswere mentioned in our committee’s letter last Januaryto William Young, Chair of the Board of Trustees. Inany event, this deficit situation exists. Although theprimary financial responsibility rests with theUniversity, it is a matter that concerns RAQ verydirectly.

Future Meetings It was agreed that we should meetregularly with the administration through VPMorrison’s office for assistance with any questions wemight have concerning the operation of the QPP. Wewish to thank Rod and Bob for making this a mostfriendly and useful meeting.

Notes In these financially turbulent times, it is reas-suring to recall that the QPP has a non-reductionclause with respect to pension levels already in effect.For recent clarification about benefit claims, especial-ly for travellers who have a medical emergency morethan 500 km from home, outside Canada or Ontario,please see Queen’s November mailing about thePension Plan’s AGM on December 5. Clearly, it’s wiseto carry your Global Medical Assistance card.

alan green, Chair

Pensionand

Benefits Committee

Report

Who better to share ribbon-cutting honours on Professors’ Walk with Principal Tom Williams, right, than the ‘dean’ of the emeriti, JohnMeisel, RAQ’s first president? This Homecoming event took place on the newly named and landscaped path in front of Kingston Hall.(Queen’s Gazette photo by Stephen Wild)

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Music in Pictona “magical evening”On a beautiful fall afternoon, 28classical music lovers set off forthe annual RAQ outing to thePrince Edward County MusicFestival in Picton, stopping enroute for dinner at the delightfulPortabello Bistro just around thecorner from the church where theconcerts are held.

Here’s how Grace Orzechdescribes ‘the magic:”

“On the evening of September 18,I joined the group attending theopening night of the three-dayMusic Festival at the Church ofSaint Mary Magdalene in Picton.It was a perfect farewell to sum-mer and welcome to autumn. Themusic-making was superb in aprogramme that was a beautifulmixture of old and new. ThePenderecki String Quartet andmusical colleagues played twochamber music masterpieces.Clarinetist Simon Aldrich joinedthe quartet for Mozart’s ClarinetQuintet and cellist TanyaProchazka was the fifth memberfor Schubert’s sublime Quintet forStrings in C Major. The Festival’scomposer-in-residence, AlexinaLouie, charmed the audience withan account of how a composerworks. Tanya Prochazka andpianist Stephane Lemelin, who isthe Festival’s artistic director,played several of Louie’s works.On the bus trip back to Kingston,the magic of the evening contin-ued, as the moon beamed down onthe Bay of Quinte.”

Do mark your calendars for nextyear’s festival: September 17-19.www.pecmusicfestival.com.

marjorie pinkerton

“Drums in the Night” best drama outing yetThe general opinion of those whoattended Bertold Brecht’s “Drumsin the Night” (November 1) wasthat it was the best Queen’sDrama Department play we hadseen so far. Director and depart-ment head Craig Walker success-fully surrounded the audiencewith the atmosphere of 1920sBerlin. The students managedtheir not-so-easy parts remarkablywell and, all in all, we were leftwith much food for thought.

Although the director was notpresent to discuss the play after-ward (a popular feature of otherRAQ matinee outings), the studentactors willingly and ably answeredour questions. I was surprised thatno-one – neither audience noractors – questioned the very self-centred, final choice of the mainprotagonist, as if we were tobelieve “they lived happily everafter.” We are told that Brecht wasembarrassed about this play inlater life, but we enjoyed it verymuch. marion meyer

Innovation Park showsanother side of Queen’sOn November 5, about 20 retireeslearned how part of the NovelisGlobal Technology Centre (former-ly the Alcan Research Laboratoryon upper Princess St.) and newspace to be built there willenhance the economic prosperityof the Kingston area.

Director Janice Mady describedhow Innovation Park came to itscurrent state of development andoutlined plans for its growth.Queen’s has been a key partnerfrom the beginning. The “Park”–made possible by a $21-milliongrant from the Ontario govern-ment – brings academic andindustry engineers and scientiststogether under one roof as ameans of tapping their creativeenergy and fostering an environ-ment of discovery that acceleratesand supports the growth of newbusinesses. At present, the facilityis 60% occupied by 18 organiza-tions involving about 125 staff, faculty and students, in additionto about 85 Novelis staff.

bruce hutchinson

Reports of Past Events – Fall 2008

Tom Williams seems to be leading RAQin prayer about complex Queen’s issues(Principal’s Reception, October 27), but in fact he was mentally juggling his challenges.

The Principal had an attentiveUniversity Club audience, includingRAQueteer and past Principal Ron Watts (right). Question period waslong and lively.

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Coming RAQ Events Winter 2009March matinee: Chekhov’s“Seagull” with a twistSaturday, March 7Details TBA

RAQ’s first theatre outing in 2009will feature “The Seagull” byAnton Chekhov (1860-1904), pre-sented by Queen’s DramaDepartment and directed by Prof.Kim Renders. This was Chekhov’sfirst play after a long silence.Initially, it was received with suchhostility by the audience that oneof the actors lost her voice.However, in the end, the play

became known as the “greatestevent of Russian theatre” andmarked “the acceptance of newdevelopments in play writing.”(Summary and Study Guide)Chekhov commented that the playcontains five tons of love. Heshows that, typical of human ten-dencies, love, when freely given, isoften rejected and, conversely, issought when it is withheld.Director Renders intends to give“The Seagull” her own twist, chal-lenging both her young cast andus seasoned theatre-goers by treat-ing it as a comedy. Details about

location, time, and tickets willappear on RAQ’s web site and willbe announced to members with e-mail. marion meyer

Luncheon ReminderJanuary 25 will see the return ofthis popular noonhour series onthe last Monday of most months.Restaurant TBA. All are welcomeat these lunches, including mem-bers’ spouses, other Queen’sretirees, and friends. In due time,contact co-ordinator Jerry Roddy,jroddy@kingston.net or 613-353-6959, for details and reservations.

RAQnews is published three times a year by The Communications Committee, Chair, John Gordon.Contributors to this issue: Arlene Aish, Alan Green, Agnes Herzberg, Joy Hoselton, Bruce Hutchinson, Jim Kelly, Marion E. Meyer, Grace Orzech and Marjorie Pinkerton. Photos: George Brandie and Stephen Wild (Queen’s Gazette) Editor: Cathy Perkins; Design and Production: Peter Dorn; Web site manager: George Brandie.Printing and mailing: Special thanks to Queen’s Printing Services, Queen’s Post Office and RAQ volunteer stuffers.RAQ’s postal address is: Mackintosh-Corry Hall, Room B410, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6.Telephone 613-533-6986. E-mail raq@queensu.ca Web site www.queensu.ca/retirees.

Monday Morning ForumsThe Winter-Spring series of fiveMonday Morning Forums willcontinue to feature diverse special-ists sparking lively discussions byposing challenging questions. Allfive Forums will be held at theUniversity Club, 168 Stuart St.Come at 8:15 am to visit over cof-fee and muffins. The guest lectureis at 9:00, followed by an exchangeof ideas. Everyone is welcome.This series is co-ordinated byAgnes Herzberg under the jointsponsorship of the University andFour Points by Sheraton Hotel &Suites, Kingston.

RAQ members will receivemail and e-mail reminders.

January 12How does one get the scientific results one wants?Guest Speaker DR. J.C. BAILARNational Academies of the USA

February 23Is there a future for classical music?Presentation by MR. ERIC FRIESENCBC Radio 2 host of “Studio Sparks”

March 2Will there be enough water? Presentation byDR. J. H. CAREYWater and Science TechnologyDirectorate, Environment Canada

March 9Psychoanalysis andLiterature: From annexation to fragmentationGuest Speaker: DR. JEAN-JACQUES HAMMEmeritus Professor ofFrench Studies, Queen’s University

May 4What caused the banking crisis?A presentation byPROF. EDWIN H. NEAVEQueen’s School of Business

Forum participants gather to hear Dr. Alec Stewart, October 27.“Class slow to arrive on Monday mornings; what’s new?” quips John Gordon.