Special Issue: Welcome Week 2012

SPECIAL EDITION: WELCOME WEEK 2012 Last year’s record-breaking number of first-years was more than McMaster could handle. With estimates indicating similar enrolment numbers for this September, will new students be getting the education they deserve? Page 3

The Silhouette www.thesil.ca

MCMASTER UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Saturday, September 1, 2012

EST. 1930

Welcome to the first four years of the rest of your life.

Vol. 83, No. 4

Make way for the Wilson Building McMaster has been criticized in recent years for neglecting the infrastructure needs of its social sciences and humanities programs, but with construction set to begin on a new liberal arts building next year, are times changing?

Page 3

A GEOMETRIC GUIDE ON

HOW TO SURVIVE

FIRST YEAR

THE ROAD BACK TO THE

VANIER CUP JEFF TAM THE SILHOUETTE

With the return of star QB Kyle Quinlan, the McMaster Marauders football team will look to repeat last year’s sensational national championship run. They’ll start the season against the Guelph Gryphons on Monday at Ron Joyce Stadium. Page 11

WHERE TO FIND CLUBS, CONCERTS AND CULTURE IN

AT MCMASTER UNIVERSITY Page 8

Page 6-7

3 CAMPUS NEWS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

Liberal arts building to open Sept. 2015 Sam Colbert Executive Editor

An architect has been chosen for McMaster’s new liberal arts building, which was announced last summer following a funding commitment from the Ontario government.

Although the details will not be public until the University’s Planning and Building Committee approves the architect later this month, the Wilson Building for Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences will seek to accommodate new ways of teaching.

“We were looking for an architect who had experience in designing innovative learning spaces,” said Mohamed Attalla, the University’s Assistant Vice-President (Facility Services). “It’s part of our mandate at McMaster to develop learning space standards that meet the needs of the future.”

The traditional lecture-style teaching method may not fit with that vision, he said.

The new spaces will be better suited to discussion and group work, as well as the infu-

sion of more technology into teaching Construction will begin in May 2013, and the building is scheduled to be complete

by September 2015, when the incoming class of undergraduate students will be going into their fourth year.

The Wilson Building comes in part as a response to the ageing of the arts quad, the set of buildings adjacent to the student centre where most of the offices and classrooms for the humanities and social sciences faculties are held.

Funding for the $65-million building will come from a $45.5-million provincial grant announced last summer, $10 million donated by McMaster’s chancellor Lynton (Red) Wilson and a $1-million gift from the McMaster Association of Part-time Students. The University will cover the rest.

Wilson, the building’s namesake, donated his portion in 2007, which prompted the University to seek the remaining funds.

In addition to classrooms, the building will include lounge spaces and a perfor-

mance theatre.

The building will go on the current site of Wenthworth House, which is set to be demolished at the end of the school year.

The Phoenix, a bar owned by the Graduate Students Association, recently closed its Wentworth House location and will reopen above Bridges Café in the Refectory building on Sept. 4. The other tenants of Wentworth House have until the end of the year to find new homes.

A team has been assembled to consult on the building’s design. The team includes the deans of Social Sciences and Humanities, four professors from the two faculties and the McMaster Students Union’s president Siobhan Stewart.

“My priorities are whatever humanities and social sciences students deem to be appropriate for the space. I think it’s about trying to find a balance between both faculties, because they have unique needs,” said Stewart.

Stewart has consulted with Alex Bur-

nett and Lisa Bifano, who are current students and presidents of the social sciences and humanities societies, respectively. She is pushing for two additional seats for student representatives, one for each faculty society.

“As it is now, we’re in the older building with the lead problems in the water and Internet access not reaching certain lecture halls,” said Burnett. “By constructing this Wilson Building, it’s validating that we are appreciated as an academic discipline, as opposed to being those students in the arts quad. Having updated facilities in terms of Internet and capable desks that aren’t falling apart and places where professors can actually project their slides that’s not the wall is the most universal stuff.”

In choosing an architect, McMaster also looked for someone who would be sensitive to the needs of the community, said Attalla.

The Wilson Building will be situated near campus’ main entrance on Sterling Street, close to neighbourhoods where students and permanent residents cohabitate.

High enrolment continues to cause concern over campus capacity Anqi Shen

Online News Editor

McMaster’s student population has taken off since 2000, and last year, the university hit its operating peak.

An unexpected surplus of students chose McMaster last summer – about 400 students above target – which meant that the university couldn’t accommodate every student who wanted and was eligible to live in residence. First years were offered $1000 to live off campus, plus priority placement in their second year.

Though last year’s large freshman cohort was a provincial blip, with a record-setting 90,000 first years entering universities across Ontario, rising enrolment numbers are a growing concern.

A campus capacity study based on data from 2008-2009 concluded that McMaster needed approximately 12 per cent more space than it had in order to support student enrolment.

As of 2009, residential facilities have the largest percentage of space on campus at 20.5 per cent, followed by academic departmental offices and research labs for faculty and graduate students. Classroom and library facilities comprise about 8.5 per cent each, and common-use student activity space covers 1.5 per cet.

Dean of Students and Associate Vice-President (Student Affairs) Phil Wood, who was on the study’s steering committee, said there is an ongoing effort to optimize the use of classroom facilities and to improve amenities such as wireless Internet access.

As McMaster’s student population grows, so does the need for more study space on campus.

In 2009, Thode Library’s third floor was renovated and became home to the iSci Program, and the following year, the fourth floor of Mills Library became the Lyons New Media Centre. While the renovations were good news to certain programs, they meant the loss of study space for the general student population.

In response to growing demand, the University administration and McMaster Students Union (MSU) have worked to secure more permanent study space and 24-hour access to Thode Library during exam time.

Current MSU president Siobhan Stewart has pro-

posed an agreement to keep Bridges Café open longer during exam periods, beginning this December.

Vivian Lewis, Acting University Librarian, said the number of seats in libraries has increased dramatically from about 1,900 in 2004 to just over 2,900 in 2009. This past January, the entire book section on the second floor of Thode Library was moved to the basement, making way for 390 individual carrels in a new quiet study area.

“We’ve been investing a lot of time and intellectual labour into creating more seats for students,” said Lewis. “At the same time, we have to consider the quality of the work environment and the valuable collections we have in our libraries.”

Huzaifa Saeed, VP (Education) of the MSU, said that apart from overcrowding on campus, the MSU is concerned about higher student-to-faculty ratios and a decrease in the flexibility of course options for students.

“Rising enrolment is only one piece of the puzzle,” he added. “We are currently researching best practices across the higher education sector to improve quality of education for large class sizes.”

Although official numbers won’t be released until November, first-year confirmation numbers from the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre suggest that incoming class will be smaller than last year’s. This time around, the residence space issue is not so dire.

Even so, the number of students enrolling in Ontario universities has been steadily climbing (from 275,000 in 2000 to 434,000 in 2012). A recent report from the Council of Ontario Universities says that province-wide enrolment is up 2.5 per cent form last year. The challenges that come with this are ever present.

Projects that would increase McMaster’s campus capacity include the new $65-million Wilson Building dedicated to liberal arts studies, on which construction will begin next year, as well as a downtown health campus that will be a facility for teaching, research and healthcare delivery.

The Wilson Building will be used by more than half of McMaster’s student population, and the new health campus, to open in 2014, is expected to serve 4,000 students.

YOSEIF HADDAD SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR

PHOTO: PHOENIX WILL REOPEN SEPT. 4 IN NEW SPOT ABOVE BRIDGES CAFÉ After several delays, the Phoenix Bar and Grill, which is owned and operated by the Graduate Students Association, will open in its new location, the upper floor of the Refectory building on campus. Its previous home in Wentworth House closed at the end of August. Wentworth House will be demolished at the end of the school year to make way for the Wilson Building for Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences. The Phoenix is one of two bars on campus, the other being TwelvEighty, which is run by the McMaster Students Union. Pictured above is the bar area of the new Phoenix under construction during the summer.

4 EDITORIAL The Silhouette

McMaster University’s Student Newspaper

TheSil.ca

Editorial Board Sam Colbert Executive Editor Jemma Wolfe Managing Editor

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

An ode to a house I grew up in

Andrew Terefenko Production Editor Aissa Boodhoo-Leegsma Senior News Editor Julia Redmond Assistant News Editor Anqi Shen Online News Editor Kacper Niburski Opinions Editor Brandon Meawasige Senior Sports Editor Scott Hastie Assistant Sports Editor Sam Godfrey Senior InsideOut Editor Amanda Watkins Assistant InsideOut Editor Nolan Matthews Senior ANDY Editor Bahar Orang Assistant ANDY Editor Yoseif Haddad Senior Photo Editor Jessie Lu Assistant Photo Editor Javier Caicedo Multimedia Editor Karen Wang Graphics Editor Sandro Giordano Ad Manager

I’m writing this editorial at my desk in my bedroom. I’m surrounded by badly packed boxes, filled with stuff that’s either been deemed useful or that I’m too nostalgic to throw away. The walls are blank, and the closet is empty.

I’m moving out of my house tomorrow. It’s the house I lived in during my fourth year at McMaster. My new place suits a more grown-up lifestyle. We’ve got decorations on the mantle, cable TV and a living room and dining room being used for their intended purposes.

It’s nicer than the single-family home stuffed with six guys where I live now. I’m sure I’ll look back and be glad to have moved.

But today, I’m bummed out.

I didn’t feel like this when I finished classes for good in April, or even on my graduation day. Back in first year, I thought I would. But I eventually realized that you don’t think of your time here as passing neatly in semesters, or even in years.

During your undergrad you’ll make friends. And then you’ll make new friends, losing touch with those original friends. You’ll start dating someone. And then you’ll break up.

You’ll try new things. And then you’ll try other things that you’ll wish you hadn’t. You’ll get anxious, or even depressed, sometimes for months straight. And then you’ll feel better.

That’s the stuff you’ll remember. That’s the really formative stuff.

I’m going to remember this house. And I’ll remember the way I changed both because of it and because of the people who lived here.

To be honest, my own Welcome Week four years ago didn’t really do it for me. And if you don’t get much out of it either, that’s okay. It’s as much for the excited upper-years in jumpsuits as it’s for the first-years anyway.

But like it or not, you’re probably going to find some stuff here you really care about. So don’t be shy about it. Instead, be optimistic. Be sincere. Be kind. And be patient when things don’t go your way.

Whatever it is, it’s going to cause you a bit of grief, but whether it’s a student house or a soul mate or a field of study or your school newspaper, it’s probably worth it.

Legal

•

The Silhouette welcomes letters to the editor in person at MUSC B110, or by email at thesil@thesil.ca. Please include name, address and telephone number for verification only. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters and opinion articles. Opinions expressed in The Silhouette are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board, the publishers or university officials. The Silhouette is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the McMaster Students Union. The Silhouette board of publications acts as an intermediary between the editorial board, the McMaster community and the McMaster Students Union. Grievances regarding The Silhouette may be forwarded in writing to: McMaster Students Union, McMaster University Student Centre, Room 201, L8S 4S4, Attn: The Silhouette Board of Publications. The board will consider all submissions and make recommendations accordingly.

Sam Colbert

Visit us online at

theSil.ca

to 1994.

to 1990.

to the phoenix patio.

to cystic fibrosis.

to the small, local pizza places that do it just right.

to the way welcome week peaks in second year.

to the inevitable infusion of korean pop music into welcome week.

to the inevitable infusion of korean pop music into late-night talk show parody skits.

to living generously.

to dark basement offices. can someone please come to replace our nine dead fluorescent bulbs? it’s a cave down in this hole.

to haircuts. to red wilson. to the new staff. finally, some company. just don’t rearrange all my stuff. to c.f., d.m, a.h., j.w. and c.c. also to b.d., j.f. and f.c. also to run-d.m.c.

to lingerie football. to couches that are too old to be any good but you don’t want to throw away because, hey, it’s a couch.

We’re hiring!

The Silhouette is looking for a Videographer and a Distribution Coordinator. Both are paid positions, and will last the duration of the academic year. Email thesil@thesil.ca for more information or to apply.

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The Sil is always looking for new writers and photographers. Each section will hold a weekly meeting, where you can pitch an idea, take on a story assignment or just find out what the Sil is all about. Meeting times are published on the editorial page of each issue, starting in the next edition. No qualifications are required to contribute, but paid editorial positions involve an application process.

If you know of any story that might be of interest to McMaster students or the surrounding community, the Silhouette would love to hear about it. Our coverage tends to be McMaster-focused, though some sections range a little farther. Contact the editors of the appropriate section with ideas, or email thesil@thesil.ca if you’re unsure. We’d also love to hear your feedback on how we’re doing.

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5 PERSPECTIVE

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

Back and back and back again Kacper Niburski Opinions Editor

Look around.

To your left, the blinding fluorescence of multi-coloured coveralls shimmers. Just to the right of that, a mob of incessant cheering has broken out and will most likely ring on for about an hour or so.

Right in front of you, people are probably parading around to the cackling of talent-bereft pop monstrosities, who, through relentlessly roaring radios, shriek on and on about a morally bankrupt society.

Don’t be alarmed. Don’t be afraid.

This is your welcome. This is your University.

After two years, your University – while still entirely new to you – has become my home. It didn’t start out that way, though. I came as you did, or perhaps more truthfully, even less than that.

Jump back a few years, and you’ll find me packaged in a pair of mustard-stained underwear. It was a slip of the mind, a mistake of nerves, anxiety and general uncleanliness. I was scared out of my pants (and clean tighty-whities) of the prospect of entering a foreign environment. McMaster was big and I was small and I wondered if I would really matter at all.

Yet in time, things changed and I was able to call McMaster my home. To this day, whether by sheer loyalty or my own volition, McMaster still is. It isn’t the University itself that conjures this

feeling, however. Nor is it the community or unwavering kinship that I have developed over the years.

Instead, it is both the first warm smile I received and my first bitter disappointment. It is that day on a piano singing with strangers. It is finding a way onto the roof of Hamilton Hall only to wonder how anyone could get down. It is the best night that will never be remembered and another night that I only wish I could forget. It is that time looking up at the stars reading Kurt Vonnegut aloud. It is cramming before an exam. It is a laugh, a kiss, a conversation, a feeling, a thought, a hug, a cry, a test, a workout, a game, a secret, a dance, a drink, a car ride. It is an entire two years sandwiched into an article.

For what my home is and always will be is a single moment that is built upon brick by brick, memory by memory – just like a house would be. During both the good and bad times, it serves as a place for comfort and reflection.

It reminds me of where I was and where I am going. Friends, family, and people that I will never have the chance to meet, people that I will never be able to talk to – all of them fit into that house, that shelter. My shelter.

My home.

Yet it is not mine alone. It will be yours, just as much as it is mine.

It also belongs to the person who just passed you by. And the professor who is lecturing you. And the custodial staff who are working tirelessly. It is all of ours together.

This is because these moments, however fickle they may be, are the aggregate of 125 years.

Arising from a Christian education centre in 1881, McMaster was founded as a Baptist seminary. In 1890, the first degree programs were offered. 1892 brimmed with zany sport cheers like “Boom on Star”. 1894 saw the first students graduate. 1902, and the school colours were chosen. Then, in 1930, McMaster found its home. Hamilton.

This is but a brief snippet of various instances that comprise

McMaster’s history. It, however, barely scratches the surface. There were numerous accomplishments in education and research. There were times of uncertainty and hardship. There were harrowing accounts of students being drafted into the Great Wars proud but never returning.

Without all of these – a hundred unrecognizable faces and names, the sum of people before and after me, a collective spirit of students that yearned for knowledge and social interaction, all the alumni, all the professors, all the staff, all the people who walked where I walked, did what I did, and felt what I felt – my moments, my home, and everything else I value in this place, would not exist.

Perhaps that’s a tad dramatic.

It is often said that while all atoms exist, not all are important. Maybe that’s true. Maybe we are truly inconsequential in the scheme of things. Maybe no one will remember me five years from now. Maybe this very sentence will fade into obscurity.

But understand that while we have probably never met and it is likely that we never will, I have been where you have been, and no matter what has happened here at McMaster, whether it be happiness or sadness, frustration or serenity, I keep coming back and back and back again.

For this place is what you make of it, and what you make is this place.

6 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

N

AROUND TOWN The Snooty Fox @ Westdale

The th found are pa

➢

Live acoustic music on Tuesdays, Sangria Specials on Saturdays, Karaoke on Sundays and you can usually find a good deal for pitchers throughout the week. The “potato chips” are possibly the world’s most satisfying snack, but are not for the faint of heart.

H

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

W➢ ➢E S

The Aviary

A piece of Hamilton history still standing in 2012, it is a must-see if you have never been in the city before. While you’re there, check out the Museum of War History and take a stroll to the Waterfront Trail for a calm afternoon.

KB

Dundurn Castle

R YO

➢

If you like birds, both exotic and homegrown, then this is the place to see them. A quick ten-minute walk from campus and you are face-to-face with flamingos, pheasants and flocks of all kinds.

ON CAMPUS The Phoenix

TwelvEighty

CR.

MACKLIN ST. N.

A great spot for meals, snack food and drinks.

The prices are student-friendly and everything is greasy and delicious. Try the vodka slushies and the Taco Salad. When it’s open, the patio is lovely and you can enjoy live acoustic music on Thursday nights.

LONGWOOD RD. N.

On Thursday nights, this restaurant turns into a student club, where you’re bound to run into at least ten different people that you know. It’s approximately five dollars for cover and coat check.

There’s a limited number of spots for students under 19 and the spots fill up quickly, so if you’re underage, try to be in line by 10 o’clock.

DAL EW

OOD

C A M

MA

GETTING AROUND

LONGWOOD RD. S.

H

.

W .

T IN S

EMERSON ST.

BUS ROUTES 1, 5, 10, 51 BUS ROUTE 34 BUS ROUTE 2

Thanks to Dave Kuric from Mixed Media blogs Happening Hamilton, Beux Mond

By Nol

HAMILTON: Saturday, September 1, 2012 • The Silhouette

7

WHERE TO BEGIN IF YOU’VE NEVER BEEN

hing about Hamilton is that it gets better the more you get to know it. So to help you explore this weird, wonderful city that you’ve d yourself in, we present Hamilton: Where to Begin if You’ve Never Been. We’ve tried to highlight a few interesting and cool spots that art of the city’s character, but there are, of course, so many more. Now go on. Explore. And then write about it.

N.

JOHN ST. N.

JAMES ST.

Waterfront Trail

D.

BLV BARTON ST. E.

QUEEN ST. N. As the legend goes, a few years back the Casbah hosted a surprise Pixies show. This is the essential smallbut-loud rock venue that every city needs.

Check out the monthly hip-hop showcase called Steel Gold.

Rokbar @ Hess

Rockbar tends to be the most popular club in Hess, with hour-long line-ups. The venue has a dance floor and bar area on the first floor, a patio, a stage, and a second bar and dancing area on the second floor. The music is usually “top 40” with some classic rock thrown in at the end of the night.

Club Absinthe

HESS ST.

DUNDURN ST. S.

ia for the helpful suggestions. To find more spots in Hamilton, look up the des, or This Must Be the Place. Where campus ends, life begins. olan Matthews and Bahar Orang

ST.

AUGUSTA ST.

CHARLETON AVE. W.

ABERDEEN AVE.

KING WILLIAM

Homegrown Hamilton is an inviting cafe during the day and a great place to grab a drink or see the occasional concert at night. There’s even a comic book store and studio downstairs. Down the street is Baltimore House, a Gothic/Victorian design-inspired cafe, bar, and club. Along with the Brain, Homegrown and Baltimore are a more relaxed, artier alternative to Hess.

QUEEN ST. S.

LOCKE ST.

Got a date? Bring them here. Locke Street’s restaurants are charming, and some favourite spots include Earth to Table, with their fantastic pizza, and the gourmet burgers of Chuck’s Burger Bar. If you hate restaurants but still like food, there’s also a Farmer’s Market on Saturdays.

BAY ST. N.

KING ST. W.

CANNON ST.

James North is the big time. There’s This Ain’t Hollywood, a great spot for new, local bands pretty much every night.

The White Elephant, which is probably the greatest place to get a gift for a girlfiriend, and Mixed Media, which sells art supplies, books, and magaines. There’s the Brain, a cozy, hip bar that often has DJ nights or bands. Then there’s an Art Crawl, where on the second Friday of the month, galleries and stores on James North stay open late. Thousands of people go, and you get to see what art can do for a community.

Motown on Wednesdays at the Absinthe are a blast. Prepare to boogey to the Beatles, Jackson five, Diano Ross – and all those other oldies that you somehow find yourself knowing every word to. But if you’re looking to dance to top 40, you can check out the Absinthe on Friday nights.

ALSO CHECK OUT: You Me Gallery The Print Studio London Taphouse Honest Lawyer

Westdale Village Viva Night Club Augusta Bar Strip Hess Village Bars

8 STUDENT LIFE

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

FIRST YEAR PYRAMID OF SURVIVAL Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Adapted to McMaster Student Living in a Modern World Welcome to McMaster!

Entering university can be a little daunting, but it doesn’t have to scare you. So here’s a handy guide to get you through the next eight months, newbie.

Start from the bottom and work your way up.

Love/Belonging

Security

By Sam Godfrey

Senior InsideOut Editor Last, but definitely not least, is the tip of the Pyramid.

Self-actualization.

Discovering and developing who you are. University’s a trip, man, so open your mind to all these new people and experiences. You’ll find out more about yourself than you might think.

Self-Actualization

Now that we’re nearing the top of this pyramid, it’s time to get a little serious.

Self-esteem and confidence might fail you in the first few weeks of school. You’re adjusting to a new environment, and might feel a bit out of place. Play your cards right, though, and you’ll quickly discover skills you might not have known you even had.

Esteem

This level of the Pyramid is similar to the one bellow it, in that it provides some stable support, but this time of the emotional variety. There are clubs for everyone at Mac (check out Clubsfest on Sept. 5), and finding one you enjoy gives a great sense of belonging, without having to join a gang. There are thousands of people to choose from at university, so you can surround yourself with people that keep you feeling energized and excited about your life.

Security of Body: Campus is a safe place to be. There are emergency telephone portals, equipped with bright lights, smattered around campus. You can always see at least one, no matter where you are. And more than that, for the times you’re off-campus and trying to get home safely at night, you can call up the Student Walk Home Attendant Team (SWHAT) and they’ll send out a man and a woman to get you where you need to go. So don’t sweat, call SWHAT. Security of Health: In addition to the student-run SHEC, there’s also the Student Wellness Centre. There you can get appointments with mental or physical health professionals, five days a week, all year round.

Security of Employment: Not yet. That’s what you’re here to attain, remember? But until then, there are many part-time employment opportunities on campus. Check out OscarPlusMcMaster.ca or the McMaster Students Union jobs portal for available job opportunities in the area.

Physiological

At the bottom of the pyramid, we find the most basic, physical needs of humans: breathing, food, drink, sleep and sex. Lucky for you, McMaster makes it easy for you to fulfill most, if not all, of them.

Breathing: Mac is conveniently located on the planet Earth, known for its abundance of oxygen. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably figured out the whole breathing thing and should move on to the next point.

Food: It’s pretty much everywhere. If you are on campus, you are never more than five minutes away from a meal, or at the very least, a snack to keep you going. Thode Library even has a café on the first floor, so you can satisfy your hunger for knowledge and croissants in the same place. And if you’re commuting from home, most parents come equipped with a full fridge!

Drink: You’re in first year, which probably means you’re not 19 yet. But don’t worry; you’ll find a way. For all you of-age fogies, though, the west-heading bus will take you straight to University Plaza in less than 15 minutes. It has the usual LCBO, as well as a Dollorama, a Coles, and a few food sources, if you’re still hungry after the last paragraph. On campus, you’ve got bars The Phoenix and TwelvEighty. Walk east into Westdale for The Snooty Fox, or south of campus for Ramshead, West End Pub and Emerson Pub. Sleep: This is where Maslow and I disagree. He thinks sleep is an important human need, whereas I have a few years of anecdotal evidence to disprove the old man. Sleep? Forget about sleep. You’re in university now.

Sex: You sly dog, you. The Student Health Education Centre (SHEC) on the second floor of the student centre, room 202, is perpetually stocked with free condoms, lube and volunteers to answer all your health-related (sexual and otherwise) questions. Pick up some protection, find someone that’s into you, and getterdone.

9 STUDENT LIFE SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

Living large in North and West quads Managing Editor Jemma Wolfe suggests you defy good advice by getting fat, getting it on and getting away from your roommate in residence this fall You may not know it right now, but I guarantee that the eight short months that lie ahead of you in residence will be the most exciting, bizarre, confusing, whirlwind months of your sweet young life. You’re probably entering into it with a long list of expectations and cautionary tales of what you want to happen (make friends, get laid) and what you want to avoid (fail out, never get laid). The advice you’ll have heard most is, “make the most of your first year,” and it’s true. But “making the most of it” is not usually defined by the advice I’m about to give. I’m about to tell you to do the opposite of what you’d assume, and I mean it with every fiber of my nostalgic, upper-year being.

1

Gain the ‘Freshman 15’ No, seriously. Get hefty. Never again will you have such endless pre-paid, pre-cooked meal options at your fingertips. Embrace it with a full heart and a ready stomach. Yes, soon the photo on your student card will seem to glare at you with disapproval as you purchase yet another buffalo chicken wrap with extra cheese, flaunting how thin your face used to look. It will become hard to remember a time when your cheekbones were that prominent. Power through and keep eating. The weight will fall off in the summer, and come next September, you’ll resent all the first-years with their crisp new student cards and mourn the days when that fourth slice of pizza was just a swipe away.

2

Commit floorcest Ok, I admit, this can get a little messy. It’s with your best interests in mind that your CA, your friends and every first-year survival handbook out there warns against getting romantically – or, let’s face it, just sexually – entangled with your next-door neighbours.

There is nothing more awkward than having to live the next eight months on the same floor as a jilted, hormonal teen whose heart you may have just broken after a drunken, Welcome Week hookup. This is not the scenario I’m encouraging. Rather, when months have passed, friendships have comfortably settled on your floor in residence and you’re still longingly eyeing that girl or guy down the hall, don’t be afraid to rock the boat. Risk jeopardizing your close, cozy but unsatisfying friendship by initiating something more.

Yeah, it might turn out to be uncomfortable, but it also might end up being the greatest leap you ever took. Trust me on that one.

3

Don’t be besties with your roommate This can go one of two ways: either you came to Mac with your best friend from high school and are sharing a room in residence, or you were randomly paired with a stranger who instantly becomes your best friend. While it’s comforting to have a close friend help you make the transition from high school to university, it can also be socially limiting if (or should I say when) you rely on each other too much and don’t make the effort to meet other people on your floor or in your building. I can almost guarantee you will have a pair of such high school besties – usually girls – on your floor who are reclusive, exclusive and unintentionally unfriendly. They won’t even notice how, month after month of turning down invitations to hang-out/go-out/make-out, those invitations peter out and eventually stop coming, yet they’ll be confused and hurt come second year when they realize they don’t have very many friends. It’s an easy trap. Don’t be them.

So go forth, young froshies, and make the most of the eight months that lie before you in the North or West quads. Eat that extra slice of cake at East Meets West; knock on that cute ginger guy’s door on the fourth floor of Les Prince; venture outside of your suite in Bates. Do everything I did – and more.

10 VARSITY SPORTS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

It’s a good year to be a Marauder fan McMaster athletes looking to build upon strong 2011/2012 seasons Scott Hastie

Assistant Sports Editor

The 2012-2013 season is shaping up to be a memorable one for Marauders fans.

McMaster is looking to repeat upon last year’s successful campaign, which included Mac’s first ever Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) football championship, the Vanier Cup, an Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championship from the men’s soccer team, an OUA championship appearance from women’s rugby and a young men’s basketball team that reached the OUA Final Four.

The football season begins on Sept.

3, kicking off at Ron Joyce Stadium as the Marauders look to defend their championship. There will be some familiar faces in this year’s title run, with the reigning OUA Most Valuable Player Michael DiCroce returning at the wide receiver position.

Kyle Quinlan will be back under centre for the Maroon and Grey and look to top his 2011 season, which included the Most Valuable Player award in both the OUA and CIS championships.

Linebackers Nick Shorthill and Aram Eisho are also returning, and expectations are high for both players after successful rookie campaigns.

The fall athletics season will also see the women’s rugby team look to build off an amazing 2011 season. After going undefeated in conference play, the squad lost in the OUA finals to the University of Guelph Gryphons. Despite the loss, the team qualified for the CIS championships. The women’s team is poised to contend again for the OUA championship and looks to bring the 2012 banner to the David Braley Athletic Centre.

The men’s soccer team will be back on the field Sept. 5 at the University of Waterloo to defend their championship. The home opener for the men’s team will be on Saturday, Sept. 8 at 3:15 p.m., as the Marauders take on the University of Windsor Lancers.

GEOFF LISTER THE UBYSSEY

Quarterback Kyle Quinlan will return to the Marauders football team.

C/O RICK ZUZULAK

Adam Presutti of the men’s basketball team was named OUA Rookie of the Year last season.

Returning to lead the McMaster attack is forward Gersi Xhuti, who won OUA Rookie of the Year in 2011. The outlook is optimistic for the team, which includes a number of other returning key players.

With winter comes the return of basketball and a young men’s team looking to establish themselves as a force for coming

C/O MCMASTER ATHLETICS & RECREATION

The men’s soccer team will defend its OUA championship.

years in the OUA. After a surprisingly successful season last year, Marauders fans can expect another playoff run and possibly a shot at the Wilson Cup. The team will feature reigning OUA Rookie of the Year Adam Presutti at the point while rookie Rohan Boney aims to use his athleticism to aid the Marauders’ fast-paced

offence. This season could see the return of the Maroon and Grey to the CIS championship tournament, a level of competition the Marauders have not reached since 2006.

The Silhouette will be there every step of the way this athletic season, following all of the student athletes’ journeys to bring championship glory to the Mac campus.

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11 VARSITY SPORTS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

Nothing but the best Expectations couldn’t be higher for the McMaster Marauders football team. Starting the season ranked number one in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport circuit, the defending national champions are poised to make another run at the Vanier Cup. Brandon Meawasige previews the 2012 season.

JOSH CURRAN THE UBYESSEY

Kicker Tyler Crapigna, hoisted by his teammates, celebrates following the Marauders’ Vanier Cup victory in Vancouver last November.

Last year at this time, there were surely many Canadian university students who were either unaware of or otherwise uninterested by the prospects of the 2011 Vanier Cup. But by the winter it became very difficult to find someone who had not heard at least a little bit about the nationally televised battle of epic proportions that decided the eventual champion.

For this year’s McMaster Marauders, who were the victors of last year’s Cup, the challenge is no longer to win the Vanier, but instead to defend it.

It’s not always easy being the team on top. In addition to holding off the stiff competition both from the OUA and around the CIS, the Marauders will have to deal with pressures at home.

Treated to such a storybook performance by the 11-1 Maroon and Grey last year, the students, faculty, alumni and entire McMaster community will surely be expecting to follow their team until well after the last game of the regular season schedule, set to take place October 20 against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. And rightfully so.

For years Mac has been regarded as one of the nation’s premier football programs, missing only the national title in its trophy case.

Now, with no trail left to blaze, head coach Stefan Ptaszek will have to rally his troops for a long battle, which will kick-off Sept. 3 as McMaster hosts the Guelph Gryphons at Ron Joyce Stadium.

The sure sell-out will kick off the school’s frosh week festivities and provide Mac with an electric home atmosphere. Last year’s lone meeting between the two teams produced a 37-13 road game victory for the Marauders.

Before any football is played each year, the CIS selects its top ten

teams heading into the new season. With the Marauders earning the number-one spot, OUA rivals Queen’s, Western and Windsor also found their way into the rankings, once again making the OUA the premier conference in Canadian Interuniversity Sport football.

A powerhouse conference, a top national ranking, two Cups to defend and a school with high expectations; each are a harsh reality for this Marauder team who have had an offseason of many question marks already.

At first it appeared that Jason Medeiros, a key lineman, and star quarterback Kyle Quinlan were going to find glory in the greener pastures of the CFL. However, after stints at training camp with the Tiger-Cats and Alouettes, respectively, both players will be back for one more season at Ron Joyce.

The Marauders have suffered a 28-22 pre-season loss to the Laval Rouge et Or, who Mac defeated in the Vanier Cup game. Visiting Quebec for the first and only exhibition play this season, Marauders lost the Aug. 26 game using a mix of first-, second- and third-string players, so there is no reason to be alarmed.

For Laval, the game represented a chance at redemption, and in a way they found it with their slim victory. For McMaster, wins and losses don’t matter for a few more days, so Kyle Quinlan and Co. still have an endless window of possibilities. Perhaps there is an undefeated season fashioned after the NCAA powerhouses in the stars, or maybe Mac will take the road less travelled again and follow their movie-esque season from a year ago.

Whatever the case, 2012 will be a year to remember for McMaster football.

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