The
We pop some balloons, scare some editors, and catch it all on film
Silhouette
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McMASTER UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Thursday, March 20, 2014 VOL. 84 NO. 26
RWANDAN REFUGEE
ONE MAC STUDENT’S
ESCAPE
STORY
YOSEIF HADDAD / PHOTO EDITOR
Providence Abananatwe left her violent and genocide-ravaged country for another home in another hemisphere. This is the tale of one graduating student’s journey from hardship to hope. PAGE A6
STUDENT POLITICS
SRA election results released There’s no such thing as being “just friends” PAGE A9
A new Student Representative Assembly will occupy these Council Chambers as of April 6. YOSEIF HADDAD / PHOTO EDITOR
Miscalulcations by Elections Department spelled disappointment for a science hopeful, as the voting results were released to the public Anqi Shen Online Editor The results of the 2014 SRA general election were released on March 13 after two days of online polling. With the announcement of results, the Elections Department also revealed they had miscalculated the number of seats in Nursing and Science: Nursing should have two seats instead of one, and Science should have six seats instead of seven. According to a memo from the Elections Department, the mistake was “admittedly the result of human error.” The error was brought to the Elections Committee, who voted to hold another election for a second Nursing representative. Despite the mix-up, the committee determined that a separate election will not be held for Science representatives. The top six candidates for SRA Science will
be part of the Assembly, while the seventh, Mike Cheung, will not. Cheung was separated by four votes from Patricia Kousoulas, the sixth-place Science representative elected. Before polling took place, a number of seats had already been acclaimed. The maximum number of seats for Kinesiology (2), Engineering (6) and Arts & Science (1) were acclaimed, and one seat of two for Nursing was acclaimed. @anqi_shen
SRA Business Representatives Nolan Harrison (152 votes, 34.5%) Tambakis, John (92 votes, 20.9%) Mohamed, Sarah (86 votes, 19.5%) Cheng, David (82 votes, 18.6%) Laniado, Ari (28 votes, 6.4%) Total votes: 262 Abstain: 32 (12.2%) SRA Health Science Representatives Mordhorst, Alexa 179 (44.1%) Chivukula, Pardh 155 (38.2%) Berditchevskaia, Inna 72 (17.7%) Total votes: 235 Abstain: 12 (5.1%)
SRA Science Representatives Brodka, Jacob 547 (15.5%) Tweedie, Victoria 413 (11.7%) Gill, Mike 393 (11.1%) Mazza, Mirella 361 (10.2%) Guarna, Giuliana 315 (8.9%) Kousoulas, Patricia 294 (8.3%) Cheung, Mike 290 (8.2%) Abbas, Anser 284 (8.0%) Hutchinson, Marty 254 (7.2%) Clayton, Miranda 187 (5.3%) Le, Paul 112 (3.2%) Baiden, Gilbert 89 (2.5%) Total votes: 836 Abstain: 18 (2.2%)
SRA Humanities Representatives Soubas, Jessica 182 (21.4%) King, Sara 127 (14.9%) Lehwald, Katie 123 (14.5%) Oliveros, Daymon 123 (14.5%) Filice, Simon 122 (14.3%) Towers, Matthew 110 (12.9%) McGowen, Kara 64 (7.5%) Total votes: 349 Abstain: 33 (9.5%)
SRA Arts and Science * Acclaimed: Spencer Nestico-Semianiw
SRA Social Science Representatives Paul, Tristan 218 (16.9%) Craig, Lindsay 192 (14.9%) D’Angela, Daniel 187 (14.5%) Gillis, Eric 163 (12.6%) Jama, Sarah 156 (12.1%) Thamphirasan, Nilen 133 (10.3%) Ibe, Gerald 109 (8.4%) Jamieson-Eckel, Esmonde 71 (5.5%) Galindo, Cam 63 (4.9%) Total votes: 485 Abstain: 29 (6.0%)
SRA Kinesiology * Acclaimed: Raymond Khavane * Acclaimed: Taylor Wilson
Westdale italian Koosh Bistro aims to please PAGE B5
The Marauders say goodbye to a talented set of women PAGE B7
SRA Engineering * Acclaimed: Vikas Chennabathni * Acclaimed: Ethan D’Mello * Acclaimed: Alex Dufault * Acclaimed: Jay Modi * Acclaimed: Shen Seevaratram * Acclaimed: Ehima Osazuwa
SRA Nursing * Acclaimed: Mitchell Gillies * 1 seat vacant
Elected candidates in bold
ANDY tells you how to host a killer house party
C M Y K
the S ’ T N E D I S E PR E G A P Connecting Our City - LRT a Critical Next Step This year, the MSU has placed a priority on improving transit for students. This has included inter-city and regional transit improvements to GO Transit, as well as other services. Moreover, our biggest achievement was the newly negotiated contract with Hamilton Street Railway (HSR), approved by students via referendum, implementing both 12-month service and the first late-night service in the city. These enhancements are set to commence in September 2014. Yet one important issue for students remains outstanding. Since 2011, the MSU has committed to advocating on behalf of students to the municipality and the province, on the collaboratative effort that is Light Rail Transit (LRT) implementation in Hamilton. An LRT line would most likely run from the McMaster area along Main or King Streets to the east end of the city. The opportunities for students presented by the proposed LRT system include faster access to areas throughout the city, 24-hour transit service to the downtown core, and all with an environmentally sound transit solution. LRT would decrease travelling times, ease congestion on heavily used routes and directly impact the lives of McMaster students both on- and off-campus.
David Campbell President president@msu.mcmaster.ca
ext. 23885
Yet the benefits of LRT go beyond simply faster transit. The economics of LRT are very positive. A number of studies have shown that the introduction of LRT contributes to the overall welfare of a region, improving land values and facilitating new business. There is a lot of positivity in Hamilton around the current trajectory of the city, and an LRT line which will contribute to the welfare of the downtown core, would be beneficial to all Hamiltonians, including McMaster students. Over the past several months, mixed messages have come from both the City and the province, concerning the future of LRT in Hamilton. City council has approved an LRT implementation plan with the first phase fully funded by the province; the province in turn has been hesitant to settle on timelines or funding sources for such a plan. Transit is likely to be a big issue in both the upcoming municipal elections, and a potential provincial election, with candidates at all levels jockeying for position with their respective transit plans. But one thing remains clear; McMaster students would benefit dramatically from Light Rail Transit implemented in Hamilton. The proposal of a B-line LRT integration, including a stop at McMaster University, provides a direct impact to students to a degree that other transit proposals simply cannot match. The MSU will continue to advocate on these needs, building on our work to see a Hamilton transit system which best meets the needs of students here at Mac.
McMASTER STUDENTS UNION
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The President’s Page is sponsored by the McMaster Students Union. It is a space used to communicate with the student body about the projects, goals and agenda of the MSU Board of Directors.
www.msumcmaster.ca Spencer Graham VP (Education)
David Campbell President
Anna D’Angela VP (Administration)
Jeff Doucet VP (Finance)
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Thursday, March 20, 2014
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LIVE STREAM: You can now catch every SRA meeting live on our website. Health care referendum talks and more on March 23 @ 6:30 p.m. THESIL.CA
Editors Tyler Welch & Rachel Faber & Tomi Milos Email news@thesil.ca @theSilhouette Phone 905.525.9140 x27117
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Protecting Mac’s rare plants Horticultural technician Arthur Yeas cared for a number of plants through this harsh winter
TOMI MILOS/FEATURES EDITOR
Tomi Milos Features Editor McMaster’s Biology Greenhouse is set to quietly enjoy its 50th anniversary this year. The unassuming building is nestled next to Hamilton Hall and has been the home of a wide variety of plants since 1964. Of those 50 years, Arthur Yeas has been the greenhouse technician for 37 of them. Students and faculty members who frequent the facilities for research know him by his nickname, Art. Yeas has always had a passion for horticulture, even in his youth. “As a kid, I was always growing plants or working in a vegetable garden and decided to carry on doing that for my life’s work.” He obtained his diploma that certified him as a trained horticultural technician from Niagara College and the rest, as they say, is history. Yeas works by himself at the
greenhouse and is responsible for over 1000 plants, of 300 different species. This year’s especially harsh winter has made it especially difficult to keep the plants housed in the tropical greenhouse healthy, Yeas explained, but he has been able to help them through using technology such as steam and hot-water heating. Yeas also noted that the high-intensity light they have in the smaller greenhouses used by classes and researchers can be supplementary in light of the lack of sunlight during the darker months. “I try to keep the tropical house about 28 centigrade year-round, and then the smaller houses depend on what kind of research is going on or the requirements for the class.” The greenhouse is open to visitors on Monday (10:30-11:30 a.m.), Wednesday (9:30-10:30 a.m.), and Friday (9:30-10:30 a.m.). @tomimilos
BEN BARRETT-FORREST/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR
McMaster partnership with German institute at risk Abhi Mukherjee The Silhouette McMaster University is planning to partner with a German research institute in the hopes of building a bioengineering facility near McMaster Innovation Park. The venture promises to provide jobs to industry scientists and provide valuable research. However, it is turning out to be a costly affair and the partnership’s plans are in jeopardy of being shut down. The University has already signed a memorandum of agreement with the Fraunhofer-IZI Institute of Cell Therapy for the proposed $20-million facility. The building is intended to be a 50,000 square-foot international facility. In addition, three biotechnology centric companies want to
relocate near the proposed facility, promising to provide jobs to the locals. Mo Elbestawi is the vice-president of research at McMaster University. He is the representative from the University who is trying to convince different groups about the advantages of building a bioengineering facility. “This is a unique and ideal opportunity for Hamilton to capture the true economic value of the research that is conducted in McMaster’s facilities,” wrote Elbestawi, in a letter urging the council and city staff to study the feasibility of the partnership. The project requires $4-million from the city. Elbestawi is urging the council to make a decision regarding the issue urgently; he believes that this opportunity should not be allowed to pass, as the expression of interest is fairly
high. City Council has a different viewpoint compared to Elbestawi, regarding the partnership. Councillor Brad Clark noted that the city had already contributed $5-million to the Innovation Park, so the request for an additional $4-million of taxpayer cash came as a surprise to the council. Clark voted against studying the proposal. “It’s a tough one because our mandate is not education,” added Councillor Lloyd Ferguson, “But on the other hand this means jobs, high-paying, PhD jobs. I’ll listen but frankly it will be hard for us to come up with $4-million.” City Council is currently looking at the pros and cons of the venture; there are several councilors who see this as an opportunity to create jobs and
several others who believe that improving the living conditions within Hamilton should be the council’s primary concern, but every councilor, in unison is stunned by the $4-million cash request. Elbestawi mentioned that the University has been in discussion with the institute based in Leipzig, Germany, for more than a year now. The institute looked at six Canadian universities and chose McMaster because they found a unique combination between the health science, engineering and science programs offered at the University. The University is already seeking $8-million from the federal economic development agency. The German institute has pledged $13-million in operating costs to run the facility over the next four years.
Elbestawi is hoping to get a “yes” from the city, provincial and the federal government by May or June next year.
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“...frankly it will be hard for us to come up with $4-million.” Councilor Lloyd Ferguson, Hamilton City Council
CANADIAN CAMPUS NEWS Patrick Kim The Silhouette Concordia engineers to rewrite offensive frosh chants
UoGuelph to close Kemptville, Alfred agriculture campuses
uAlberta residence association suspended for hazing incident
uWindsor students vote out student alliance candidates
Queen’s proposes new Campus Master Plan
Concordia University engineering student leaders have helped pass a motion to rewrite offensive frosh chant songbooks in light of recent controversies in Canadian universities. Katherine Bellini, president of the Concordia chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, said, “I addressed this issue to promote a positive culture change within the school.” In addition to improving student leader training and current policies, the motion will also establish a Student Spirit Committee that will oversee promotional material and the song-rewriting process.
The University of Guelph is phasing out two of its agricultural campuses in Eastern Ontario due to falling enrolment and newly restricted funding. The Kemptville and Alfred campuses will no longer be accepting new students for fall 2014, and both campuses will officially shut down by the end of 2015. While the majority of the programs offered at the two campuses will be relocated to other Guelph campuses, the move will still result in at least 112 job losses. Currently registered students will still be able to complete their programs.
A University of Alberta student association has been suspended for one year after an alleged hazing incident occurred at a residence event in January. While the details of the incident are still unknown, a post written by Samuel Wright, the association president of Lister Hall Students’ Association (LHSA), stated the group had been found “guilty of breaching the code of student behavior and will be suspended as a student group effective May 1, 2014.” While the U of A Students’ Union stated that it does not condone any form of hazing, the LHSA will be given the due process and opportunity to appeal the decision.
Students at the University of Windsor have voted no confidence for uncontested candidates that were running for the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance (UWSA) executive and board of director positions. Fueled in part by a student-led Facebook group called Vote “None of the Above” the majority of students voted ‘No’ or ‘None of the above’ after concerns were raised about the unopposed candidates. According to UWSA president Rob Crawford, a re-election will likely have to wait until the fall, which may freeze decisions that include setting the budget until next year.
The Queen’s University Board of Trustees has approved a Campus Master Plan that aims to provide a guided framework for the campus for the next 10 to 15 years. The plan includes recommendations for “improving landscapes, fostering better movement within and between campuses, and enhancing student life spaces.” Although the plan identifies sites of improvement and of redevelopment, it does not mean the proposed projects will actually be undertaken, according to Laeeque Daneshmend, Queen’s Deputy Provost. The plan will be presented to the Senate later in the month.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
theSil.ca
A4 Executive Editor Jemma Wolfe Email thesil@thesil.ca @theSilhouette Phone 905.525.9140 x22052
S THE INFORMATION AGE
“All right, good night” For an information-saturated culture, missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 serves up an impossible shock
to the swan song (and j.d.’s sense of rhythm). to playing the frozen soundtrack on repeat. to the many kinds of hammers. to nail polish. to finally winning a donut - and on an extra large, too. to student (get) rec(ed) night. to blazers.
KAREN WANG / GRAPHICS EDITOR
to southwest chicken.
Jemma Wolfe Executive Editor It seems unfathomable that 13 days after going missing, Malaysia Airlines flight 370 is still nowhere to be found. It’s a horrible situation for an abundance of reasons: the grieving families, the anxiety of travellers world-wide, the rumours that abound in place of cohesive information from the many governments involved. The most disturbing aspect of the whole mystery, however, is that in our digital age and information-saturated global consciousness, a plane full of over 200 people could actually vanish without a trace. I was sitting at a restaurant with friends when the news alert popped up on my phone. Breaking: Malaysia airlines flight 370 vanished en route
from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. I casually told my friends and we exchanged phrases typical to the early hours of the incident: “wow that’s so scary,” “planes can vanish?” “I’m sure they’ll find it soon.” But “soon” stretched into hours, then days, and now weeks of speculation, uncertainty and bewilderment. A few details have emerged, of course. We know the co-pilot’s last recorded words, that the plane changed course, and that by this point, death of all passengers and crew is a near-certainty. But beyond that, where the plane is and why - remains a mystery. This kind of unknown is increasingly rare in our connected world. Most people I know now (including myself) are incapable of having a conversation without fact checking on our smart phones if any idea or
concept under discussion is unverified. Our curiosity is satisfied (while our imaginations are parched) and as a result, I feel entitled to abundant information on any topic at any time and in any place. But perhaps more disturbing than my sense of entitlement is my complete acceptance - and, indeed, assumption - that government (and citizen) surveillance is so developed that an object as large as a plane, and filled with an abundance of people from so many nations, could not possibly move (literally) under the radar. So what’s more frightening? That the plane, no matter what happened, vanished? Or that in our digital, surveilled world, I never would have thought that it could? @jemma_wolfe
www
to finalizing the top 3 of volume 85. so proud. to bread.
to running out of rye. to schedulingin friends. what happened to being kids and just knocking on each others’ doors? to waiting 45 minutes to see a career counsellor. to expired chocolate milk. to balloons popping in my ears. so mean. to bob party. to no pajama days in sight. to boring lunches. to feeling like “butter scraped over too much bread.”
The Silhouette
McMaster University’s Student Newspaper
EDITORIAL BOARD Jemma Wolfe | Executive Editor thesil@thesil.ca Sam Godfrey | Managing Editor managing@thesil.ca Andrew Terefenko | Production Editor production@thesil.ca Anqi Shen | Online Editor news@thesil.ca Tyler Welch | News Editor news@thesil.ca Rachel Faber | Assistant News Editor news@thesil.ca Tomi Milos | Features Editor news@thesil.ca Kacper Niburski | Opinions Editor opinions@thesil.ca Laura Sinclair | Sports Editor sports@thesil.ca Alexandra Reilly | Assistant Sports Editor sports@thesil.ca
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Julia O’Hanley The Xaverian Weekly ANTIGONISH (CUP) — If you’re planning on taking a trip to the metropolis of Toronto anytime soon, leave the white Uggs at home. In an attempt to cut costs and provide a more environmentally friendly winter in many parts of North America, Toronto has began to test the use of beet juice to melt icy roads and sidewalks instead of salt. Living in Canada, we have become all-too-familiar with the necessary use, and negative effects, of salt on icy roads. We know that without it, our daily commute across campus would be more treacherous and daily wipe-outs a guarantee. We have seen the salt-stained boots, and the white-tinted porch tiles, but we may not all know of some of the other negative effects that salt has throughout the winter months. Some sources are now linking salty sidewalks to negative impacts on the environment. The Toronto Conservation Authority believes declining fish and insect populations can be linked to salt usage by the city during the frigid winter months. Salt used to melt ice and snow from highways and streets has been running into streams and watersheds according to the TCA, harming the natural habitat and inhabitants of the affected areas. Not only is salt harmful to the environment, but it is also not very friendly to Toronto tax-payers. According to the city’s website, Toronto dumps an average of 130 thousand tons of salt on city streets and sidewalks each winter, with even more being used with the weather the city has been experiencing this year. All this comes with a hefty price tag — upwards of 10 million dollars every year. In response to environmental and economic concerns, the city has been experimenting with beet juice. Although the substance comes with complaints of a slight odour and a dark colour that can often stain footwear, it seems to be working well with regards to melting ice and snow. Experts have said that beet juice is a great alternative to massive salt use, as it works very well in low temperatures. Toronto is not the only city trying to cut costs with more environmentally friendly alternatives; many North American cities have been trying their hands at different ice-melting substances as well. Michigan state has experimented
Institutional Research and Analysis
with beet juice alongside Toronto. A mixture of beet juice, calcium chloride and sodium chloride (similar to table salt) is used to wet the streets of Michigan before an expected snowfall. Although beet juice makes up only 20 percent of the salt solution, it’s the method of its use that is making the biggest impact. Less solution is used overall in Michigan; instead of waiting for the snow to fall and the temperature to drop, crews in Michigan wet the streets with the beet juice and salt solution before the snowfall occurs. Less solution, and therefore less salt, is used in this method because salt is used to break the bind between snow and pavement. By preventing the bond from occurring in the first place, less solution has to be used — which is cost efficient. Cheese brine is another popular choice in the US, although the substance has yet to be tried in Canada. The state of Wisconsin, one of the largest supporters and contributors to the American dairy industry, is one of the most noted participants in the usage of cheese brine. Cheese brine is the liquid used in factories to soak certain cheeses, namely mozzarella. Cheese brine is without question one of the most economically efficient when it comes to melting snow and ice. As it is a byproduct that cheese factories typically simply dispose of, using cheese brine to melt ice is literally free. Polk County, Wisconsin, home to 44000 people, saved an estimated $40000 in the first year of substituting a portion of salt usage with the dairy byproduct. Molasses, garlic salt and kitty litter are all other “salternatives” that are being tested across the continent. Some may say this is taking things too far, but others are seemingly supportive of the environmental and economical savings that come with these less environmentally damaging choices. It is important to note that no methods listed have completely replaced the use of salt on streets — they have simply been added to the salt solution to swap out a portion of the salt. So if you are ever looking to change things up a bit and save a little money, maybe you should take the ideas of these North American cities into consideration and raid your cupboards for some snowmelting alternatives to salt. But remember — wear your pub shoes while doing it; no need to ruin your expensive boots on your beet juice covered walkway.
UH, Room 207 1280 Main Street, West Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4L8
Phone: 905-525-9140 Ext. 23530 Fax: 905-546-5213 Email: avpira@mcmaster.ca http://www.mcmaster.ca/avpira/
Inspiring Innovation and Discovery
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS ONE FULL-TIME UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE ONE PART-TIME UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE ONE GRADUATE STUDENT ON THE UNIVERSITY STUDENT FEES COMMITTEE: Applications are invited for one FULL-TIME UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, one PART-TIME UNDERGRADUATE and one GRADUATE STUDENT representative on the University Student Fees Committee for a one-year term commencing July 1 2014 – June 30 2015, renewable for a second 1 year term. Applications, definitions about eligible candidates, nominations and nomination procedures are available in the office of the Associate Vice-President, Institutional Research and Analysis, University Hall, Room 215 or through the website http:/www.mcmaster.ca/avpira/student_fees_committee.htm. Forms must be received by the Office of the Associate Vice-President, Institutional Research and Analysis, University Hall Room 215 or by email to avpira@mcmaster.ca by 4:30p.m. on FRIDAY, March 28, 2014. Successful applicants will be notified by Friday, April 18, 2014. The University Student Fees Committee meets monthly. Questions about the University Students Fees Committee may be directed to the Associate Vice-President, Institutional Research and Analysis who is the Chair of the Committee, telephone 905 525-9140, ext. 23530, or email avpira@mcmaster.ca.
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Considering more environmentally-friendly options to clear icy sidewalks, cities turn to beet juice
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Beet the salt
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Thursday, March 20, 2014
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Thursday, March 20, 2014
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A6
FEATURE
Rwandan finds refuge at McMaster Providence Abananatwe grew up in several refugee camps in multiple countries before coming to McMaster. She’s graduating this year, empowered and motivated to create change back home. Tyler Welch News Editor On a typical day, fourth-year Political Science student Providence Abananatwe rushes between classes, grabs a bite to eat at La Piazza and spends free time studying or talking on the phone with her sister at University of Toronto or her brother at University of Alberta. She her and her siblings have found homes in Canada. Twenty years ago, their family’s story was much different. They had no home. Twenty years ago, Providence, her four siblings and her parents were carrying all they had on a 400-kilometre trek from their home town in Rwanda to a refugee camp in Tanzania, hoping to catch a spot on a filled-to-thebrim United Nations bus heading to the camp. Genocide before grade school Providence was born in 1992 in Butare, Rwanda, a mid-sized city with a growing economy despite its concentration on subsistence farming. She was the fourth of five children to her parents, who had both been privileged enough to gain diplomas after secondary school. Her mother stayed at home with her children while Providence’s father worked for a local development organization in Butare. It was not a glamorous life, but it was comfortable. Less than two years later, in April of 1994, decades-old ethnic tensions in Rwanda erupted into what became one of the most deadly genocides since Khmer Rouge and the Holocaust. Rwanda had, since pre-colonial times, been divided by two major ethnic groups: Hutus and Tutsis. Under colonial rule, first under Germany and then Belgium, Rwanda’s European rulers tended to govern from abroad, putting most of the day-to-day power in the hands of local chiefs. Under Belgian rule especially, authority was concentrated to
only Tutsi chiefs who ruled over Hutus, even requiring Hutus to carry identity cards. In 1962, Rwanda gained independence from Belgium, leaving a country without solid infrastructure, economic development or a clear political leadership. Belgium’s departure from the continent also left behind animosity and bitterness with Hutus growing tired of Tutsi oppression. This came to a head in 1994, when key Hutu leaders in the government and military brought to fruition a killing spree they had been planning for years. At the end of the three-anda-half-month genocide, Hutus had slaughtered somewhere between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people, and wiped out almost 75 percent of the Tutsi population. Machetes, gun and shovels have all been recorded as tools of death used in the massacre. For Providence’s family, it was a confusing and terrifying time. Her lineage consisted of both Hutu and Tutsi relatives and her parents and siblings were neither pure Hutu nor fully Tutsi. This meant that they could not be accepted or safeguarded on any side of the conflict. Instead, they had to flee. Searching for a home They gathered only what they could carry and set off to a refugee camp in northern Tanzania that her father had heard of. “The UN did provide transportation but you had to walk between one UN station to the other to get on buses and trucks,” she said. “People had to walk very long distances to find UN transportation.” “I remember walking for days,” she said. “But I know people who walked for much longer than my family. Those buses and trucks were really full.” The next 10 years for the Abananatwe family were spent shuttling between refugee camps in Tanzania and Kenya, with a
brief period of time back home in Rwanda. Civil unrest and violence still prevented the family from being able move home permanently. “It was just too much to bear. We had to move for security reasons. There was no peace. There was not much we could do. Even neighbors were at the necks of each other,” she said. Instead, Providence and her family had to settle in at a more long-term refugee camp in Malawi. Dzaleka Refugee Camp became the family’s new home— almost 2000 kilometres from where Providence was born. Life at Dzaleka The camp is located on the site of a former prison for the political opposition that was built during Malawi’s dictatorship era. Now a democracy, the country converted the large swath of land into a refugee camp for families escaping
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“People have stayed in the refugee camp for 20 years and still they have not achieved anything. There are no new opportunities.” Providence Abananatwe
war-torn countries like Rwanda, Congo and Somalia. Meant for 4000-5000 residents, the camp has been known to hold up to 10,000 refugees during times of increased violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. “Malawi had a history of being peaceful and being nice to other people, especially to refugees. My dad knew that we could be protected, safe, if we went there,” she said.
201 0 Mov e to
Ham
Providence calls Dzaleka her home, seeing it as more of a community than a refugee camp. “It’s not like one of those refugee camps you see on TV, with violence going around. People really coexist even when they come from different backgrounds,” she said. “I call it a community. People are suffering but we are all there together.” There are houses, not just tents. They tend to be made of mud bricks. “All the houses look the same and most of them do not have electricity,” she said. “There is a building to go and collect food every month from the UN.” For Providence, despite a deficiency in food and shelter, the thing that is lacking most in her community is hope. “People have stayed in the refugee camp for 20 years and still they haven’t achieved anything. There are no new opportunities,” she said. It is most noticeable in the older generation. Because of their immigration status, refugees are not allowed to work outside of the camp but their home is too dangerous to return to. They are caught in the middle of two bad choices. “Older people pretty much just wake up, try to cook some food and just hang out. There’s really nothing to do,” she said. There is a primary school and a secondary school in Dzaleka, which can offer hope to the younger residents of the camp. Looking for hope in Canada McMaster is one of a number of Canadian universities that participate in the Student Refugee Program. It is a sponsorship program that costs students $1.47 each year but pays for a refugee to come to Canada and study at a world-class institution. Only about 15 students from Dzaleka are accepted to the program each year and they must go through a rigorous application
n
Ethiopia Democratic Republic of Congo
Uganda
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“I want to learn more about how I can help my community. I want to work from [Canada] in an organization that can help back home.”
@tylerwelch4
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Providence’s journey took her between refugee camps in Tanzania and Kenya. With violence still prevalent in her home country of Rwanda, her family moved permanently to Dzaleka refugee camp in central Malawi. Later, she was sponsored to study at McMaster and moved to Hamilton in 2010
process in order to end up at a Canadian university. Once a student graduates from the camp’s high school, students between the ages of 18 and 24 with a high enough average can apply to the program. Following that, there are English exams, interviews, TEOFL tests and immigration paperwork. The process can take two years. “It creates an opportunity for me but it gives me a chance to learn and help others,” she said. Life at McMaster was hard at first for Providence. Before coming to Hamilton, she had never been on a plane, never lived away from her parents, and had never been a minority. She was lonely and wanted to quit but her mother encouraged her to press on. “I had moments of not feeling like I belonged and not knowing anybody. Everything was different, the food was different. I was trying to cope with my new life,” she said. “It didn’t last too long and I called my mom all the time.” Eventually, she opened up, made friends and found joy in pursing her degree. Now, less than two months away from finishing an honours degree in Political Science, she knows that this opportunity has given her the chance to move beyond the horrors of her early life. Providence plans to move to Edmonton to be closer to her brother and attend grad school studying international development. After that, she will enter the workforce equipped to help change the course of history in her community and on her home continent. “I want to learn more about how I can help my community. I want to work from [Canada] in an organization that can help back home… It could be anything as long as someone else benefits from it.”
Rwanda
1997-2003 Looking for a home
Somalia
Kenya Burundi
1994, first refugee camp
Tanzania 2004-2010 Dzaleka Camp
Providence Abananatwe
Malawi Zambia
Thursday, March 20, 2014
theSil.ca
A7 Romance takes many forms and many people
A9
Editor Kacper Niburski Email opinions@thesil.ca @theSilhouette Phone 905.525.9140 x27117
S BIRTHDAY BLUES
Wax on a cake
Editorial Cartoon
Karen Wang / Graphics Editor
When growing up, even candles can’t burn away the thoughts Kacper Niburski Opinions Editor I cried on my sweet sixteen. While my parents sang “Happy Birthday” in thick, heavy accents, and lit candles were dancing to the tune of their breaths, and wax began to dripping bit by bit on the bright yellow ice-cream cake, I started to sob. I didn’t mean to nor did I have much of a reason to tear up. Birthdays were supposed to be the happiest days of my life. In fact, they were my life entirely. Because of that day way back when, I had the chance to be happy in the first place. And my tears weren’t meant to suggest otherwise; my birthday was special to me. For some, this was obviously not the case. There was no significance behind the date. In 1992, it was just another Friday that signaled a cloudy beginning of a weekend. Some, I’m sure, even moaned that their plans would have to change because of the inclement weather. My parents might have thought the same those twenty-two years ago. Who knows? They may have wanted to go dancing or see a movie or work a bit longer to afford all that I would ask them for. I wasn’t ready to come out yet. Neither was my twin. But then Friday came and push came to shove in more ways than one and I was born silent as a whisper. I did nothing to deserve the glory. I just flopped out like a fish on land. I couldn’t even breathe right those first few weeks. When I turned sixteen, I similarly had difficulty both taking the congratulations for the day and inhaling and exhaling. Snot was seeping into my mouth. The celebratory song ended off-key and early. My sniffles echoed throughout the dining room. My dad weighed his words, then said, “What is wrong?” I replied, “Nothing.” He looked at me, and then asked if we wanted to blow the rest of the candles out. My twin and I said yes, and we did, only having to take a second breath each before all of them went out. I look back, now six years older to the date, and I don’t think it was just pubescent anxiety getting the better of me. Nor was it because I had some seventy years left. Instead the obnoxious, whale-like tears were a realization that I didn’t know anything about myself and where I wanted to go. I knew very little at all. I had only just arrived here sixteen years ago. But I knew that I wasn’t supposed to cry on my birthday, yet I couldn’t help it. I was growing old faster than I could understand. And there was nothing to do against it all. Since then, my birthdays haven’t been much different. I’ve wondered what I am supposed to feel and how I’m supposed to get there. More often than not, I don’t feel any different than I did the day previously. Yet little insignificant moments pile up significantly. There’s that time you had your first kiss and when you laughed until a Sour Patch kid came out of your nose and you made love for the first time. In between the space and time of then and now where every morning was a little birth and every night a little death, everything changed. By then, you’ll be twenty-two, and you’ll be sitting in a unaired basement in shorts with glasses tilted on your face, little electrical wires for a beard, and your socks are off because you are feeling uncomfortable in your shoes. You flex your fingers, drink your tea, and look at the clock. It is 12:01 a.m. It is Thursday. And it is your birthday. Later it will be too, whenever that is, and you’ll be doing other things. Until then, you hope to make sense of the routine of every day, including on your birthday. You hope to be successful. And you hope to not have to hope for anything really. That is the one wish you ask for and it is the one wish you’ll never get. So, instead, keep blowing those candles, keep saying thanks for the happy birthday, and move on, with your head squirming first, then your body following along, then your legs flailing one after another. Because life, as far as you understand it, is not about the birthday. It is about all other days before and after it because without them, and their daily monotony and cycles and ups and downs, your birthday would mean nothing at all. Enjoy them. Enjoy everything. And don’t cry because the cake tastes pretty good after all.
@ kacpnibs
Can I have some more? Lessons learned in a soup kitchen can reflect broader problems within society
Aaron Devos The Silhouette This article is focused on four soup kitchens in downtown Hamilton. Each is distinct but collectively they share quite a few commonalities. These four are: Living Rock, MAC SOC (Student Outreach Collaborative), Salvation Army Soup Truck, and a joint venture between Love for the Streets and Compassion Ministries. The Living Rock is one of the few outreach services that focuses on supporting ‘at-risk’ street youth and young adults. MAC SOC is run largely by nursing students who care for the nutritional and physical health of vulnerable populations. Salvation Army Soup Truck is the only soup kitchen in Hamilton that is mobile. Lastly, Love for the Streets and Compassion Ministries aim to feed both body and soul. All of these groups with the possible exception of the Salvation Army Soup Truck receive many university students. Love for the Streets is comprised entirely of McMaster and University of Guelph students. MAC SOC is largely nursing students from McMaster. And Living Rock is a hodgepodge of students from Redeemer, McMaster, and Mohawk. If a student gets involved any time between the middle and end of a month when government assistance cheques begin to run out, they will quickly learn that these services can get quite busy. As these services get busier, food portions become smaller and tables fill up. Those involved in the Love for the Streets and the Salvation Army Soup Truck will notice
it all the more acutely as people often line up toe-to-heel for a half a block. Clearly there seems to be a tremendous need for soup kitchens in this downtown neighbourhood. In addition, all four soup kitchens operate on a single night. Therefore, not only is an individual soup kitchen filling up mid-way through the month, but all four are filling up on that same night between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. If the need does not yet sound great, they are all located within a one block radius in downtown Hamilton. Here is where it gets a little bit more complicated. These four soup kitchens all operate on Wednesday evenings. On Tuesday’s and Thursday’s Living Rock and the Salvation Army Soup Truck are operational, but for the majority of the week it is only the Salvation Army Soup Truck. What is happening here? Why not evenly space them out over the course of a week? Are we poorly stewarding food, financial, and human resources by operating like this? Could it be that because all four soup kitchens are busy on Wednesday nights there should be four soup kitchens open every night of the week as well? Is there another theory or explanation behind what is happening in this small area? Many people get involved with soup kitchens to help vulnerable populations but some of these questions ponder whether such help could be more harm than good. While this may sound like it discourages participation, its goal is quite the opposite. Its goal is to help students participate in the
wider discussions surrounding the context of their experience. Through understanding the broader context they may be better equipped to meet the intended goal behind their involvement. This is reminiscent of the teacher who tries his/her best to develop a strategy for dealing with the child who has difficulty focusing. They utilize every teaching technique they can think of but it still does not solve the problem. Then one day the teacher realizes that the problem has little to do with the classroom but instead a poor breakfast before entering into it. To help the student learn, the teacher was impelled to address a concern outside of the classroom. Could a similar tale be told of a soup kitchen? What is happening outside of a soup kitchen that can better illuminate what is happening within it? Are there pressing issues which are not being addressed because of a narrow focus on a particular soup kitchen? These are questions that require conversations. In the words of John Dewey, “Learning is a social activity.” There are many methods by which students can learn but the importance of a conversation cannot be forgotten. Conversations are the means by which students can enter into awareness of the context around them. Questions fuel conversations. What questions should be asked that will welcome students into a more complete understanding of the broader context around them? Perhaps in opening up the conversation, we may be able to see more clearly our role within it.
FEEDBACK Compiled by Kacper Niburski & Eliza Pope
What do you do on your birthday?
“Go on a trip, somewhere I haven’t been.” Yasmine Sharoda, Ph. D. Comp Sci
“Spend it with my family.”
Fengy Song. Electrical Engineering IV
“Surrounded by friends and taking part in fun activities.” Shuana Powell, Commerce II
“Eating food and drinking.”
James Rutledge, Commerce II
“Seeing family and friends.”
Alok Shah, Arts and Science II
theSil.ca
Thursday, March 20, 2014
OPINIONS
A band-aid for a home
A8
A concert for one Don’t worry about what people think Shamudi Gunasekera The Silhouette
ELIZA POPE / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
Ana Qarri Staff Reporter We’re no strangers to fundraisers. They’ve been with us since grade school and seem to follow us everywhere. Everything needs money, it seems. Of course it does. People need resources and sometimes our social programs fail us. Sometimes it’s not our social programs: it’s a country on another continent, a school that needs rebuilding, a non-profit that needs help with its efforts to help. The fundraiser I remember most vividly is one that happened in the ninth grade. I remember my homeroom teacher asking everyone to donate some money or food items for the local food bank. The class was small, we all knew who had donated and who hadn’t. There was pressure that came with “being a good person”. I didn’t like it. I donated anyway. Of course I did. I was a good person, after all. The whole thing, I thought, was pretty ironic. Many of the families at our high school were poor. The local food bank needed food because so many in our community needed food. Yet, the fundraiser was happening at our school, three blocks away from the food bank, and people who needed their food the most were being asked to donate, and unintentionally being pressured into donating. Was this really useful? Was it productive? Not all campaigns are this futile in nature, or so unfortunately mistaken in their approach. Yet, it is important to remain critical of the fundraisers that we see around McMaster on a weekly, if not daily, basis. Due to the large student population, being pressured into donating isn’t a problem we face. However, we are constantly being asked to give money to causes. Last week, the annual 5 Days for The Homeless (#5D4H)
campaign took place outside of MUSC. The location was perfect, and the amount of money they raised wasn’t so bad either. The campaign started back in 2005 as a local initiative by the University of Alberta School of Business and went national in 2008. It has taking place at McMaster since. A group of Commerce students, members of DeGroote Impact, sleep outside the student centre regardless of the weather (unless it poses a health concern). They can also only consume foods that are donated to them by other people. For the last few years, the campaign has been praised and criticized, yet it appears as though only the former has landed on the ears of the organizers. There are reasons to praise it. It does make money – money that the shelter (Notre Dame House) and those who use it really need and appreciate. There are also reasons to criticize it. The first can be found in the campaign’s name. Is “The Homeless” really an appropriate way of referring to people who have faced the challenge of homelessness in their lives? The second is the public simulation of homelessness that takes place right outside our student centre. The participants can never fully understand what it means to be homeless, nor am I saying that they claim they can. The participants record their reflections and the campaign on the 5 Days online blog. Last Monday, one of them wrote, “I am now reliant on other people and institutions to take basic care of myself and it’s hard to feel like I [can] be independent.” The fact is that this sentence isn’t true. The participant does still have complete independence if she decided to stop following the rules, yet decided to word things in such a way that implied that she really understood how
this feels. And she might, but posting the claim that you can understand how something like being dependent on others and government institutions feels in a matter of one day is harmful. It is this sort of message being communicated by the participants that’s raising so much criticism from so many people. Although they seem to have grasped the privilege that they hold to some extent, the campaign is failing to raise awareness in an impactful way, or to help educate the McMaster community on the issues they’re spending five days for outside in the cold. I know the participants have good intentions, and they are probably good people who really do care. No one is saying otherwise. This campaign has garnered so much attention over the years and seeing a great opportunity for raising awareness properly and educating people being wasted is unfortunate. The money raised from this campaign is really a band-aid solution. If the campaign isn’t pushing for systemic change, educating people, and doing something more than sleeping outside of MUSC to raise money, then I don’t believe that it is living up to its true potential. The goal of the campaign, as with all campaigns that tackle social issues, should be to help create a society where the campaign is no longer needed. No campaign will ever be perfect and no participant of this campaign will ever be an expert on homelessness. Instead of being defensive and shaming those who criticize this campaign, the participants and their supporters should take the time to think about why the campaign is being criticized. In the discussions I’ve read and participated in about this campaign, it seems that there is a general consensus that there are definitely things to improve on. The campaign and its par-
ticipants might have good – even great – intentions, yet this doesn’t act as a shield against criticisms. Good intentions don’t always translate into good actions, and holding on to the belief that the intentions are the be-all end-all of implementing change can be harmful. When serving others, when doing something with the intention of making someone else’s life easier, it’s not your ego that matters. It’s time the campaign acknowledges the criticisms and invites its critics to have an open discussion about its approach.
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“The goal of the campaign should be to help create a society where the campaign is no longer needed.”
“Come with me,” I begged my cousin. “I really don’t feel like it,” she says. “Just go by yourself, you’ll be fine.” As silly as it was, I really didn’t want to go to a concert by myself. I even contemplated not going, despite the fact that I loved the artist - Lights - and didn’t want to miss it. In the end, I dragged myself there on my own. It also happened to be the first concert I have ever been to. At first, the discomfort of not having a friend by my side, as I couldn’t find anyone who wanted to go with me, made me feel really awkward and I couldn’t enjoy the music. I was barely even listening to it. All I could think about was how I looked to other people. I was painfully aware of every little movement I made. As time passed, I began to relax and danced in beat (at least I think I did). I forgot about everyone else around me. Later, I wondered why I felt so uncomfortable. As it was, I didn’t want to dance alone. In the first few moments, I was afraid of people judging me. Which doesn’t make much sense, as people were there for the music and couldn’t care less about what a random girl was doing. I realized that I was so used to doing things with people – from restaurants to grocery stores - that it felt out of place to be doing something on my own. As a socially awkward human being who hides in her room when too many people are over, it doesn’t really make sense that I would react that way to going somewhere on my own. I should have been okay with doing things by myself but I wasn’t. I find comfort in solitude, but this didn’t seem to apply once I stepped out of the house. What is it about being alone that freaks people out? Rarely have I ever gone into a cafe or restaurant and seen someone sitting by themselves, unless they had a book to read or work to do. Why are we so afraid of being judged about being alone that we have to make it seem as if we are engaged in other activities? Why is it that every time I do see someone enjoying a quiet meal by themselves with no distraction in front of them that I think it to be extremely strange? It is funny how we’re conditioned by society to believe that we need others in order to be able to do things. We really don’t. It is perfectly okay to be by ourselves. We don’t need the validation of the presence of others in order to go out and have fun. The next concert I went to by myself, I danced as if no one was watching. Perhaps people did see how ridiculous I looked, dancing alone. Perhaps they laughed at me. But it didn’t matter. I didn’t care how I looked. I forgot about the rest of the world in that moment and in doing so, had the time of my life.
theSil.ca
Thursday, March 20, 2014
OPINIONS
A9
Friendzoning and kissing
colour page! SILHOUETTE FILE PHOTO
Relationships can take on many forms and it’s important to recognize all of them for their beauty
Sam Godfrey Managing Editor “This is my boyfriend, and this is my girlfriend.” My friend gestured to the tall boy standing to her right, and then to me, standing to her left. Repeating a scenario we’d played out before, the tall boy and I waved politely, offering no explanation for our introduction. The sentence is straightforward enough, and yet was met almost without fail by confusion. People tried to reconcile their notions of sexuality, romance, relationships and nomenclature all at once. They seemed unable to slot us into their hierarchy of relationships without a clear indication of which of us – (or maybe neither or both) – were having sex with each other.
This simple interaction speaks to many widely held preconceptions of relationships, several of which I find to be not only annoying, but in many cases harmful. Primarily, I think it speaks most clearly to a societal focus on ‘couplehood’ as the most important and desirable form of relationship. By ‘couplehood’ I mean the state of being in a romantic, sexual relationship with one other person. But why should this be assumed to be the highest form of relationship? Is there something about romantic or sexual attraction that makes it inherently superior to platonic bonds? Of course not. But when those assumptions are in place, like any generalized assumption, they have negative impacts. They can be mere annoyances, like people asking your partner something on your behalf, as if being in a sexual/romantic arrangement with someone makes the two of you a single organism, negating the need to interact with both of you. But they can also be more detrimental than that, hav-
ing the very real ability to erase the possibility of other forms of relationships. Consider the scenario I described above, where my friend introduced both a boyfriend and a girlfriend. By introducing me as her girlfriend, after she had already introduced a boyfriend, people became confused. Either I was not her girlfriend, or he was not her boyfriend. The need for this clarification posed absolutely no effect on them to save to be able to better classify us in their minds. And what of polyamorous relationships? What if we were in a lovely three-person triangle of romance and sexual attraction? For the majority of people, considering this form of relationship is not even on their radar, let alone within their ability to accept it as legitimate and healthy. And to consider yet another perhaps atypical type of relationship: what of those formed by people who simply do not, can not, experience romantic and/or sexual attraction? They are people too, and their love and intimacy
is not any weaker because of these stipulations. To think or say so would be close-minded, hurtful, and condescending. My friend chose to use people’s preconceptions of relationship hierarchies to her advantage, choosing her words to indicate not the type of relationships she was in, but rather their importance to her. She wanted to make it clear that, regardless of who she was having sex with or not, the both of us were incredibly loved by her, and she incredibly loved by us. Let me make it clear that I am not harping on sexual/romantic couples. They’re wonderful! Even considering the theory of infinite universes, there exists no version of myself where I don’t love people in love. It’s beautiful, it’s special and it makes them happy. I would be a terrible person to say that their happiness is built on a sham. More than that, I’d be completely wrong. For some people, a sexual/romantic relationship is the most important relationship, and their partner is the most important person to them. What I am saying is that for many other people, this is not the be-all end-all of human interaction. I am saying that we should all consider that being in love isn’t necessarily confined to sexual/romantic relationships. I am saying that for many people, couplehood is one relationship among many, each as special and unique as the rest, each having importance dictated by things other than feelings of romance and sexual attraction. Some of you may still be asking, “So are you her girlfriend? Or are you just friends?” Well, no. To both. She’s not my girlfriend and I’m not hers. But to preface the word ‘friend’ with ‘just’ is equally inaccurate. We are friends, we love each other, we’re in love with each other. I’m not asking you to feel guilty about your own relationships, or saying that you’re wrong if romance and sex help you feel close to a person. What I am hoping is that you’ll consider changing the way you think about relationships: those of others and your own. Consider that for myself, and many others, there is quite simply no such thing as “just friends”.
Relationships How one defines their intimacy allows unique expressions of love. Though everyone’s relationship differs on how they personally experience their romanticism with another, here are some of the many types of relationships beyond the conventional.
Committed Involves exclusion and openness. The boundaries are defined within the couple themselves. Not necessarily serious.
Polyamory Multiple long-term sexual partners are the name of the game. Refers to any biological sex or gender identity. Need not be exclusive to one sex; multiple genders are possible.
Casual The willy-nilly of intimacies. There are no rules or boundaries. No less intense than the others.
Open Perhaps the most confusing, open relationships are committed, but the two involved can see other people if they wish.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
theSil.ca
OPINIONS
A10
Debating the ethics of BDS
KAREN WANG / GRAPHICS EDITOR
Some argue Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions (BDS) delegitimizes Israel while others argue that it advocates for Palestinians and their rights Edward Lovoquintanilla The Silhouette Within the occupied territories of Palestine, Palestinians are continually displaced from their homes; their olive harvests uprooted; mothers, sisters, and daughters are abused; children are arrested without trial; living in disconnected ghettoes that bear a stark resemblance to South Africa’s bantustans. Along with Palestinian civil society, prominent South African anti-apartheid activists Bishop Desmond Tutu and the late Nelson Mandela have called upon us to endorse the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions (BDS) campaign. Its aim is to pressure the state of Israel to put an end to its military occupation of the Palestinians and its discriminatory policies. Noble students around the world stood by the side of Nelson Mandela and the ANC as they endorsed the BDS campaign against the apartheid regime of South Africa. We must now do the same, as we are called upon to endorse BDS. The student unions’ support of Mandela was instrumental in the struggle for black liberation.
Mandela recognized the essential link between Israel and South Africa, as the former did not abide by the UN arms embargo against the latter. Birds of a feather flock together: Israel and South Africa, as well as their oppressed peoples. Let us stand together against the oppressive Israeli regime and pressure them into ending their military occupation of and discriminatory policies towards the Palestinian people.
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“Birds of feather flock together: Israel and South Africa, as well as their oppressed peoples.”
FREE
HONDA 1988 GL1500 MOTORBIKE If you are interested and for more details CONTACT: (petermaris@live.com)
Alon Coret & Sarah Silverberg The Silhouette BDS (Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions) is a hateful and illegitimate campaign that seeks to hypocritically single out Israel, the only liberal democracy in the Middle East. In this light, BDS has no place on our campus. The MSU should not be taking political stances on complex and polarizing issues that stand to divide our student body. This movement runs counter not only to peace and progress, but also against the values of mainstream, Canadian students who value moderation, peace and tolerance. While offensive and discriminatory in its rhetoric, the BDS campaign on Canadian campuses is failing, and has had no practical impact on university decisions. In fact, not a single North American university administration has endorsed BDS, and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) just this year signed a Memorandum of Understanding with its Israeli
counterpart calling for increased collaboration. BDS has been criticized across the political spectrum by Canada’s three largest political parties. For example, it was deemed “grossly unacceptable” by NDP leader Thomas Mulclair. It has also been rejected as a tactic by well-known critics of Israel, including Norman Finkelstein, who deemed it a “hypocritical, dishonest cult.” Even the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is opposed to BDS: “We do not ask anyone to boycott Israel itself… We have relations with Israel, we have mutual recognition of Israel.” If BDS were selectively imposed on Israel, it would collectively punish every Israeli (Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Druze, Atheist) regardless of their political views. This is unacceptable. This includes Israeli goods, Israeli agriculture, and Israeli academics. It seeks to burn bridges, rather than build new ones; it seeks to censor universities, knowledge and free
speech; it unfairly discriminates against an entire people based on their nationality and nothing else. For all intents and purposes, it undermines the rights and views of anyone who supports Israel and believes in their right of self-determination. It has also led to hate crimes on other campuses; surely we do not want such an atmosphere to be created here. The BDS campaign delegitimizes, demonizes, and applies a double standard against the State of Israel. It is not about peace, since it blames Israel exclusively for the conflict in the Middle East; it emboldens the Palestinians in their non-compromising stance, further reducing the chances of a peace agreement. BDS promotes a single story, which dangerously ignores the balance of voices needed when addressing such a complicated situation. If you are a critical thinker, an open-minded global citizen, a supporter of liberal values, and a student interested in dialogue and learning – say no to BDS.
theSil.ca
Thursday, March 20, 2014
OPINIONS
Failing the G test is a bitter pill to swallow
A11
A letter to you, baby Kacper Niburski Opinions Editor Dear baby,
KAREN WANG / GRAPHICS EDITOR
Sarah O’Connor Staff Reporter Last Friday I failed my Level Two Road Test. I’ve told only a handful of people about my failure, though now of course I’m telling the Silhouette’s entire readership. My friends and family have told me it isn’t a big deal. Most people fail the final road test the first time, and Hamilton is apparently notorious for failing potential drivers the first time. I should try Burlington instead; apparently they have a better reputation. People tell me that it just wasn’t my time to be fully licensed, there was some other divine reason as to why I was meant to fail my test the first time. I wasn’t ready, I just needed a few more months practice. But I was ready. Or at least I felt ready. I drove regularly, around the city and on the highway and took
a practice test with my instructor during reading week. He told me to review the three-point-turn and I was good to go. Apparently not though, because when I took my test after waiting half an hour for my invigilator, I lasted five minutes on the road before she instructed me to turn back into the driving test centre. I parked crookedly in the parking lot, panicked and aware of my failure. “Just let me straighten out the car,” I told her ready to put the car in reverse. “Just park the car.” She then instructed me on where I could rebook my test, left my car, and walked back into the building. I knew what I did wrong: I treated a four-way intersection as a four-way stop by mistake, slowed down, and then took off someone’s right of way. I would have liked to hear her tell me my mistake, or at least ask me if I
knew what I did wrong and tell me how to fix it for next time. I was being cautious because I know most drivers forget about the special little blinker that notifies other drivers you will be turning. I was cautious because it was my final test and I thought being cautious was better than rushing into something and risking an accident. But that didn’t stop my invigilator from marking off that I completed a dangerous action, and had inadequate skills to complete the test. Test Terminated, my test document read. I made a mistake. A stupid stupid mistake fueled on a half hour’s worth of anxiety and my own self-doubt. I cried, of course I cried. I ran back to the building of the driving test centre and told my parents I had failed. They soothed me and comforted me, but it didn’t stop me from feeling like a failure.
I’m a bit of a perfectionist in that way I guess. I had passed my previous two tests on the first try after much hard work and assumed that by working even harder for this test I would also pass on the first try. When I work hard for something I expect success and I’m only beginning to learn that even when you try your hardest you don’t always succeed. That stuff is only good in fairy-tales. My dad told me that it’s the tragedies and disappointments in life that we learn most from and which shape us, not the good and blessed moments. And in that I believe him because even though I feel like a failure I know that I will get back in the car and drive again, I will take the test again, and I this time I will pass. Until then, I’ll just have to get used to the fact that everyone fails, even when you try your hardest failure is sometimes inevitable.
Setting stigma aside Women are putting their sexuality to work on their own terms
JOY SANTIAGO / THE SILHOUETTE
Rebecca Davis-Purcell The Silhouette The other day, I stumbled upon an interesting opinion article on the internet. A university student was defending her decision to work as a porn star as a means to pay off her hefty tuition costs. Now, when I first realized what the article was regarding, I was immediately overcome with feelings of pity. As thoughts along the line of “poor girl,” and “she must have had a terrible childhood,” raced through my mind, I read on. A couple paragraphs into the article, it occurred to me that my initial impression was far from accurate—the article was hardly a cry for help, quite contrarily it was a declaration of empowerment. The young writer was challenging these conventional views regarding the sex trade—her stance on the issue was definitely a feminist one, but quite alternative, to say the least. We live in a society in which status is key and image outweighs substance—one in which professionalism refers to a nine-to-five office job, and where “creativity” and “self-expression” are conveyed through a preference of ketchup or mustard on a lunchtime hotdog. Acknowledging all of this, the author of this article
emphasizes her main dispute: regardless of social stigma and societal stereotypes, working as a porn star provides her with a self-sufficient means of putting herself through university and empowers rather than degrades her. Working as a part-time porn star is her decision, not her fate. While most of us would not consider jobs in the sex-trade to be a staple of feminist empowerment, this young woman does have a point. If getting paid to provide erotic entertainment is her decision and if it is truly her medium of artistic expression, then how is that any worse a situation than one in which an employee of a socially-accepted industry is forced into acting in a way that is not her decision? When I was a child, my parents would take me out to All Star Wings every Wednesday night—the wings were juicy, the atmosphere was fun, and most of all, the service made my visits! I remember admiring the waitresses, dressed impeccably in their matching skirts, greeting us with their cheerful spirits. Little did I know those glamorous wingjoint workers hardly lived a life of glamour. Entering the world of parttime jobs came as quite a shock. I had a friend who worked at All Star, and hearing her insider’s per-
spective of my childhood-fantasy job presented the hard truth we women are faced with: women are too often subject to emotional labour and exploitation in service-sector jobs. My friend’s waitressing job entailed not only providing good customer service and quick waiting skills, but also offering a pretty sight for customers to ogle over while choking down some wings and sloshing down a few beers. Little did she know upon being hired that she could have her hours cut for neglecting to flirt with male customers or failing to apply makeup. My friend did not sign up for a job in which the requirements included a total disregard for her morals in order to save up for a university education. Although my friend being subjected to hiking her skirt up or throwing an overly-intoxicated man a wink may sound like a mere inconvenience, she was not comfortable with how she was being forced to present herself or her body. However, reverting back to the scenario of the university porn-star, that young woman was using her body the way she wanted to use it—influenced by nothing but her own prerogative. Emotional labour is a serious issue which leads to exploitation of low-paid care and
service workers. If inequality in the workplace is supposedly diminishing then why do the statistics come up short? Timothy Noah, a respected journalist, explains that men earn 60 percent more than women in the fastfood workforce, 73 percent in the tipped workforce, and 83 percent in restaurant-service jobs. This is not an issue of feminism, this is an issue of human rights; women are simply expected to put in emotional labour for free, while men get a pay boost when asked to do the same thing. Yes, people can persecute sex-workers all they want, but at the end of the day, aren’t we meant to be protecting our fellow workers rather than sparing ourselves the trouble of expanding our minds to a socially-progressing world as we selfishly strive to preserve the sanctity of “professionally acceptable” jobs? Because if we recognize the priority of protecting and supporting our fellow workers, societal stigma aside, it will become clear that the vulnerable young ladies working at the local All Star wing-joint are the ones we really need to stand up for—they are the ones being taken advantage of— but, most terrifying of all, more often than not they don’t even know it.
Welcome. This is the Earth. It’s a big, big place with little, little people. I’m on it. And now so are you. None of this makes sense to you, of course. Right now you’re just a rubbery jumble of Jello wrapped up in human flesh. What else can I expect from you besides the occasional burp and belch and bumbling bellow? Don’t think of that as an insult, baby. It isn’t. Most of the time, I can’t understand these words myself. Imagine that. I look back on these clunky sentences like tombstones and I wonder who the heck wrote all this because I definitely wouldn’t. I’d be more careful, more caring, and less self-indulgent. There would be flow. No fragments. Things wouldn’t run on and on and on and I’d ensure that in each sentence, from the first to the last to every awkward middle bit, I’d be less exhausting. And I wouldn’t bridge my thoughts with worn colloquialisms like and so on. And so on. One day you’ll have these thoughts of inadequacies too, baby. It’s inevitable. You see – this is a funny circle you have plopped yourself onto. We don’t know much about much despite waffling around for some thousands of years. Of course, we don’t admit this to anyone, ourselves included. Though we’re wrong more often than we’re right, and we’re probably wrong about that too, we live every day as though we were a godsend. The world is our oyster and goddammit if we aren’t the shining pearl at the center. But this, baby, is wrong. Know this. We’re all pretty much the same, no one person better than the other, and we’re all just sifting around trying to make sense of the world. Some of us are better than others. Some of us have opportunities to do so that others don’t have. And some of us forget that we have either. That leads me to the one truth that I have learned, baby. It isn’t much, but it’s enough. In fact, it’s all we have after everything. Try. Really – that’s it. Try, try, try in that order. Again and again and again, get up, do your best, and see what happens. Even if you fail. Especially if you do. Because if you do else-wise, you’re going to keep moving, doing, and wearing hats like you always do, and you’re life is going to clop, clop, clop away, and then you’re going to wake up and maybe you’re 30 which is eons away for you now, baby, and maybe you’re eating cereal and you’re wondering where time went and what did you do with it and you’re going to look back and see a place tickled by sunshine, a place where you used to be happy. You’ll ask yourself if that place is still like that, all rosy and beautiful, but then you’ll recall with a laugh that you aren’t like that anymore and the swing is too small and the jungle-gym is actually a man-made construction and you forgot how to fly a kite. The cereal will be soggy by the end of it. But you still have a lifetime left to live, baby. Don’t get bogged down. Make mistakes. Have success. And do both as much or as little as you want to do. You, and only you, make your fate. It’s yours after all. And don’t listen to people telling you otherwise. Especially to people who give you advice. They know nothing. Warm regards, Kacper
“
“Try. Really - that’s it. Try, try, try in that order. Again and again and again, get up, do your best and see what happens. Even if you fail. Especially if you do.”
BE T TER BELIEB IT Justin shows us the ease with which a petulant child ruins his career C1
THURSDAY
THE
HAMILTON SPECULATOR BLOWING DUDES IN THE FOREST SINCE 1934
LOCAL
Ten tops lay down the top ten ways to tentatively top your tenuously topless tents A3
WORLD
NOTSPEC.COM
MARCH 20, 2014
LOVE
Supreme Court upsizes to Ultra Supreme Court; forgoes fries with that A8
Teenagers are having more sex than ever before – it's still weird though B5
The Quintessential Bracket Bracket From parantheses to construction equipment, there has never before been a consensus on the absolute best type of bracket. Well, we polled the masses, and the month-long showdown is over.
A projecting fixture for gas or electricity.
A shelf or shelves so supported.
In shipbuilding, a flat plate, usually triangular with a flange, used to unite and reinforce the junction between two flat surfaces meeting at an angle.
A support, as of metal or wood, projecting from a wall or the like to hold or bear the weight of a shelf, part of a cornice, etc.
In gunnery, range or elevation producing both shorts and overs on a target.
[
}
Construction and Piracy
Shelves and Stairs
Any horizontally projecting support for an overhanging weight, as a corbel, cantilever, or console.
(On a staircase) an ornamental piece filling the angle between a riser and its tread.
A wire device fitted in the mouth to straighten the teeth. To make a tree diagram estimating the outcome of a series of games in a sporting tournament.
One of two marks [ or ] used in writing or printing to enclose parenthetical matter, interpolations, etc.
To furnish with or support by a bracket or brackets.
One of two marks [ or ] used in writing or printing to enclose parenthetical matter, interpolations, etc.
To associate, mention, or class together: Gossip columnists often bracket them together, so a wedding may be imminent.
Parentheses of various forms indicating that the enclosed quantity is to be treated as a unit.
To make a tree diagram estimating the outcome of a series of games in a sports tournament.
<
)
Gettin Verby with it
Grammar, Math & Money
In photography, to take (additional shots) at exposure levels above and below the estimated correct exposure.
A grouping of people based on the amount of their income: the low-income bracket.
A class; grouping; classification: She travels in a different social bracket.
The top eight shades of grey You've seen them in movies, books and Home Depots, but do you really know which hue of neutrality is best for you? Count down the eight most prolific shades of grey with The Speculator!
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Slate
Steel
Stone
Ash
Off-Ash
Ash Light
Brash Ash
Gray
A perfectly calm, ocean-breeze flavour of grey. Perfect for those who can do anything, but choose to do nothing.
For the iron worker in all of us, this shade exemplifies the plight of the proliteriat. It is also suitable for children's walls.
Truly the foundation for all life on Earth, this grey aims to make the viewer fall into deep cycles of introspection.
Like the remains of an orphanage after a nightlong fire, this grey has no prospects and is often ignored by society.
Nonconfrontational while still aiming to please, this grey is everything you'd want in a colourful conversationalist
Mostly the same as Off-Ash, but without the racist undertones.
Now this is a grey that is not afraid to poke holes in the fabric of society. Watch out, corruption!
Unafraid of grammar rules and spelling tradition, this shade scoffs at vowel segregation. It's grrrrrey't.
WEATHER HIGH: SPASTICITY LOW: LITERARY RIGOR Iam mortuus sum non sum, sed ego satis ualebat nec minori. Si os capitis lectionibus epistulis habito quia tunc accidit bonorumque ubi positus erat.
THIS SHIT IS GOLD Shit Hastings prepares to train for
SPECU
the 2016 summer games with a strict regimen of laxatives . SEE ONLINE
OLD BUT BOLD NEWS A2
SLICE OF LIFESTYLE B11
SAD YET SOMEHOW BAD
THE SPORT AUTHORITY C3
EDITORIALS A6
FARTS C7
DAMN, IT'S REAL FINE TO
SPECULATING ISN'T EASY
OPINE B2
WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY
DEATH AND WAXES B7
FACTS IN THE WAY D1
Disclaimer: The Hamilton Speculator is a work of satire and fiction and should not under any circumstances be taken seriously. Unless you’re into that sort of thing. Then do what you want. I’m not your dad.
PER ISSUE: A roll of protagonist's foil
INCL. HST, PST where applicable.
theSil.ca
Thursday, March 20, 2014
B1 Editors Amanda Watkins & Miranda Babbitt Email lifestyle@thesil.ca silhappens.tumblr.com
B3
Phone 905.525.9140 x27117
S
THE
BURSTING BALLOON OF WINTER Novelty springtime hobbies to test out once the procession of exams comes to an end
Sil editors reacting to the bursting of the winter balloon
YOSEIF HADDAD / SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR
BALLOON ANIMAL MAKING Balloon animals are a rare art form coveted by psycho clown men and tiny children. If you would like to join this festive group of people, try your hand at balloon animal making! With a few simple tools-
some long balloons and your hands- you can practice balloon animal making wherever you go. Be it at home, the library, or on the bus. this hobbie is easy to travel with!
Make your own balloon sword! (Not technically an animal, but it is an easy task for beginners)
Twist six spheres towards the base of the balloon.
PADDLE BOARDING If you’re near any body of water this summer, paddle board it up! You can feel like the beach bum you’ve always wanted to be by running in slow motion towards the waves with a surfboard tucked under your bronzed, athletic arms without the terror of tackling waves head on because you’ll only be balancing on the board with a paddle. Seriously though. That is all you do. Stand on a board, paddle, and just take in the sweet, sweet sun.
START A BLOG When the days get long and you’re no longer a stranger/vampire to the sun, it seems like every moment is worth capturing, at least on your instagram. Why not transfer these efforts to a blog? The blogging community is huge, so you’re bound to find someone (even if it’s your BFF or doting mother) to think your posts are worth more than a fleeting scroll through.
PLANT A GARDEN Allow nature to grow and nurture your soul by planting a garden. It needn’t be a large garden, just a few pots or a planter will be enough to keep your green thumb thriving. A few easy plants to test out are Marigolds, Pansies, and BlackEyed Susans. For edible goods, try out tomatoes, green beans or strawberries.
Twist the spheres around eachother and voila!
theSil.ca
SEX andthe STEELCITY Amanda Watkins LifeStyle Editor “Do you have any single roommates?” is a phrase that leaves my mouth way more often than it probably should. As a member of a currently extremely single group of friends, I am constantly on the hunt for eligible bachelors and bachelorettes. But when is it ok to set people up? How do you pull off a set-up without being extremely awkward and uncomfortable? Here are a few tips to help your attempts at playing cupid go as swiftly as possible. BEING SINGLE ISN’T ENOUGH “You have a single friend?
Thursday, March 20, 2014
LIFESTYLE
B2
Matchmaking 101 How to set up your friends without being weird I have a single friend too! We should definitely set them up!” No. Simply having singleness in common is not enough for a spontaneous pairing to work out. Look for at least one common interest or a similarity in values before jumping on the matchmaker bandwagon. You should also ensure that the two parties involved are actually interested in being set up. If one (or both) isn’t too keen on the somewhat blind date, then don’t follow through with it. PREPARE FOR REPERCUSSIONS Once you’ve found two people who seem to be relatively willing to meet one another, prepare them and yourself for the
possible outcomes. Do you know both people well? Do the two parties know each other already? Would either of them be hurt if the match didn’t work out? Is one party more invested than the other? If this set-up doesn’t work out, are any friendships going to be ruined? If this set-up does work out, are any friendships going to be ruined? CHOOSE A CASUAL VENUE When you’re arranging a time and place where the two of them can meet – especially if they have never met or spoken to each other before – ensure you’ve selected a casual and well-populated location. Also, go along for the ride. Briefly third wheel when
they first meet to introduce them to one another, especially if you’re their primary “something in common”. And if you can, bring along a mutual friend or your significant other and create a double date of sorts. It will be helpful to have another person making conversation and ensuring your lonerish presence isn’t awkward. DON’T LINGER Once you’ve arranged the setup, don’t hang around too long. If you’ve planned to accompany them on a double date, stay for the needed duration, but if they seem to be hitting it off, don’t hesitate to head out and leave them to their own devices. The same can be said for
after the initial match happens. If they’re hanging out more and begin seeing each other, don’t pry for information or try and integrate yourself into the relationship. I know you’re invested in the outcome of the pairing, seeing as you planned it all along, but give them some space – no one likes a cock block. @whatthekins
Dear fast-growing hair, Jason Woo The Silhouette It’s two in the morning on a cold March day. Midterms, applications and assignments pile on top of each other, slowly taking over my life. Time blends together, hell freezes over, and I just ran out of coffee. Stressed, I run my hands through my hair. They get caught in between the weirdly long and kinky strands. I swear I walked straight out of the salon, humming Kanye West, just a few weeks ago. Ask any boy you know who has any sort of quiff and they’ll let you know how annoying it is when their hair grows out, which for me is faster than I can get a hold of my barber. Looks aside though, having long hair is just really annoying. It gets in your eyes and it goes where the wind blows. Fast growing hair, you re-
ally do have a mind of your own. Gel and hairspray got nothin’ on you. The wise Shoshanna of HBO’s Girls once said that it was a gift to be blessed with relatively fast growing hair, but for ladies, fast growing hair knows how to get under (or out of?) their skin as well – in the form of body hair. Why must you grow so quickly? Don’t you understand I look like a gorilla when you come out in force? Why must you defy me and grow even quicker when I shave you? If you just behaved, girls wouldn’t need to wax you, which can only be as painful for you as it is for them. And then there’s you, fast growing pubic hair. Actually… everyone hates you so much that I’m not even going to bother with you. Don’t think I forgot about you facial hair. Why must you
grow so quickly but in such random dirty patches on my chinnychin-chin? I’ve come to terms that I can never have any sort of facial hair long ago – just ask any one of my high school friends about the disastrous exam ‘beard’ I had that one year. It still gives me, and many others, sweat-inducing night terrors. You probably don’t care even as you read this, fast growing hair. But I guess like Miley Cyrus, you just can’t be tamed. I would love to talk more, but I have to go get my hair cut now. Yours truly, Guy-who-seriously-can’tpull-off-a-buzz-cut
theSil.ca
Thursday, March 20, 2014
B3
LIFESTYLE
Making sense of making out
peer-based
health education & resources
When are public displays of affection appropriate on campus? Alon Coret SHEC Public displays of affection, a.k.a PDA, are a range of romantic behaviors carried out by two (or more) people in a public space. This is the typical definition you might find in a dictionary, but it’s important to recognize the subtleties and varieties of PDA and the meanings behind them. What PDA constitutes of is very much culturally and generationally defined. For instance, whereas the average Canadian might consider public handholding and hugs inoffensive behavior, more traditional East Asian cultures could very much label them as “unsightly.” Although such attitudes are rapidly changing in places like China, South Korea and Taiwan, the issue is still very much at the forefront of public debate. In 2009, Nanjing University (in China) instituted student patrol officers to prevent any sort of public displays of affection (hugging, holding hands, or getting ‘too intimate’ in any way). This decision sparked a major controversy, demonstrating the tensions and changing perspectives about this issue. Sexuality also has a role in our perceptions of PDA. Whereas some may deem a heterosexual couple kissing in a park acceptable, two men or two women doing the same might elicit a different response. Even without having to search up official statistics, it is common knowledge that members of the LGBTQ* community are likely treated more harshly for their displays of love and affection; their romance is tolerated “so long as it’s kept out of sight.”
This highlights the importance of events such as Pride Week, which celebrate all relationships along the gender and sexual identity spectrum. SO WHY DO PEOPLE ENGAGE IN PDA? In order to answer this question effectively, one must ask a follow-up question: Is it an active decision (wanting to show), a passive decision (not caring about being seen), or a mix of both? If it’s an active decision, then there could be all sorts of explanations (e.g. “it makes it more exciting/hot” or “I want to show them all how I kiss my BF,” etc.). On the other hand, if it’s a passive decision, then we’re simply dealing with people who don’t care about being seen, and that’s that. SHOULD PDA BOTHER US? Personally, I find PDA quite bothersome, but I am also bothered by the fact that it bothers me and wonder whether it should or should not bother me. As soon as I think, “Wow, get a room!” a second thought comes to mind: what if this is the only place where they can do this? What if their parents/cohabitants are so opposed to their relationship (or don’t know about it) that MUSC is really the best place for cuddles and kisses? When I see two people making out in public (or go beyond), I get annoyed by their immodesty. Does that make me a prude? Or does that make me someone who just likes sexually neutral public environments? I am also surprised by people’s ability to be so intimate as they are being watched (and possibly judged)
“
“As soon as I think, ‘Wow, get a room!’ a second thought comes to mind: what if this is the only place where they can do this?”
silently. But then again, what if the decision is an active one? A quick internet search shows some of the top complaints against PDA: “it’s gross,” “this stuff should be private,” “show respect for yourself/others/boundaries,” “keep it away from my impressionable child.” SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED BELIEFS There are no ‘right’ answers on how to conduct PDA (or not), or what form of public romance can be legitimately criticized; thus, it remains up to our common sense and judgment. This is because ‘discreetness,’ ‘modesty,’ and ‘appropriateness’ are not in themselves absolute morals; rather, they are socially constructed values. What we deem ‘okay’ and ‘not okay’ changes across time and place, about behaviors in general and PDA in particular. If all of this has been confusing to you, that is fine. I’m also confused. Try to think about it as you walk through campus between classes, or as you stroll through a park on a warm summer night…just beware of the distractions.
YOSEIF HADDAD / SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR
Are you a campus kisser? When is PDA acceptable, and when should couples take their matters to a more private space?
Samuel Ifekwe Second-Year Process Automation Technology, B. Tech
What is your favourite snack food? Cookies! What is your favourite building on campus? MUSC, for sure.
LIZ POPE / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
Thursday, March 20, 2014
theSil.ca
LIFESTYLE
B4
Diaries of a mall rat
Silhouette volunteer Patrick Tu heads to Jackson Square to scope out some accessible mall-approved trends
SIRENS
URBAN PLANET
Ardene has infinity scarves with bright colors and floral patterns. Cheetah and Aztec print harem pants are also donned by a few mannequins. T-shirts with funny prints were also popular among the mall crowd. Dogs/cats as celebrities and shirts plastered with ‘fashion blogger’ are good for a laugh. Sweatpants for comfort with Los Angeles emblems keep you dreaming.
At Bluenotes you’ll get your super stretch jeggings and super soft stretchy denim. For guys, a pair of dark wash jeans, a collared flannel shirt, a blue hoodie and black jacket will keep you looking cool.
Avoid Sirens. If you get one of their long sleeve shirts with stupid prints like ‘#CRAYCRAY; Party Sleep Wake Up Naked’ or ‘The Higher The Heel The Closer To Heaven’ you deserve the worst adjectives to describe your life choices.
At Urban Planet, girls can get cute skirts with black and white patterning, and trendy grunge denim vests. Pastel-coloured spring dresses will definitely make you feel nice, and you might want to pick up a floral pattern blouse and put a white wool sweater over. Long sleeve shirts with awesome cityscape prints of Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Berlin will make you feel like an all-star.
sCat T’
irt- $18 Sweatsh
BLUENOTES
16
McMaster students can avoid some of the daily problems of student life by bringing a bit of glamour to campus. As the snow melts, the nice shoes come out and wardrobes begin asking for more attention. What’s popular for girls right now is black and white, pastel colours, and floral prints. There are a lot of wide-legged hippie-style pants right now, crop tops and headwraps (headbands that look like scarfs or just wearing scarfs as headband). For guys, there are more floral prints too but also colorful Aztec prints. The spring season brings spring closet cleaning, stay as fresh as possible by shopping at popular stores while staying on top of that measly student budget.
ARDENE
Patterned s hirt$
Patrick Tu The Silhouette
20
2 for $
How to play M.A.S.H. If you’ve never
DON’T BE CROSS
M.A.S.H.
ACROSS
DOWN
1. Arid 5. A kind of macaw 10. Unwanted email 14. Dainty 15. Claw 16. Fit 17. Contagious 19. Not legs 20. Hemp 21. Relieves 22. Garbage 23. Gist 25. Wall climbers 27. Greatest possible 28. Unceasing 31. Fixes 34. Irate 35. Foot digit 36. Historical periods 37. In a cold manner 38. In order to prevent 39. N N N N 40. Grimy 41. Snouts 42. Waste 44. Be unwell 45. Smidgens 46. Praise vociferously 50. Means 52. Flavor 54. Ribonucleic acid 55. Notion 56. Belonging to the past 58. The bulk 59. Less friendly 60. Not straight 61. If not 62. Russian emperors 63. Poems
1. Impale 2. Sea eagles 3. Jazz ostinatos 4. An uncle 5. Stick on 6. Lift 7. Maguey 8. In a stirring manner 9. Autonomic nervous system 10. Distributed equally 11. Leeches 12. Charity 13. Netting 18. 100 to a dollar 22. Small 24. Terminates 26. Extremely 28. Pieces 29. Schnozzola 30. Obtains 31. A fitting reward (archaic) 32. Sea eagle 33. Spitefulness 34. The study of sounds 37. Greek letter 38. Take it easy 40. Seats oneself 41. More pleasant 43. Spin 44. They play roles 46. Daisylike bloom 47. Cambered 48. Absurd 49. Milkshakes 50. 10 cent coin 51. False god 53. Largest continent 56. Best seller 57. Nigerian tribesman
played this middle-school classic, M.A.S.H. is the game that predicts the future. Playing with a partner, have them draw tallies in the box until you tell them to stop. Whichever number you land on is your “magic number”. Around the edges of the box, lay out categories that could be a part of your future. On the right, have your partner write down four possible spouse names. Along the bottom, write four possible career choices. On the left, write four numbers (the higher the better) that will represent your future number of children. The “M.A.S.H.” at the top stands for Mansion, Apartment, Shack and House and will be your future living arrangements. Have your partner count across all the numbers, starting with “M” and crossing out each choice that lands on your magic number. The last choice to be crossed out in each category is your future!
theSil.ca
Thursday, March 20, 2014
B5
LIFESTYLE
RESTAURANT REVIEW
Koosh Bistro
1047 King Street West
AMANDA WATKINS / LIFESTYLE EDITOR
Amanda Watkins LifeStyle Editor When most students first move to Hamilton, Westdale is the first place they learn to travel to, and Bean Bar is the only place they’re willing to eat. But often overlooked by its small size and strange placement between clothing stores catered towards middle-aged women, is Koosh Bistro, a long-running Hamilton restaurant serving up Italian-style cuisine and a large selection of both imported and domestic
wines. I first went to Koosh during a recent snowstorm when I found myself temporarily stranded in Westdale. There was one other group of people present when I entered, and contrary to the bitter and heartbreaking weather, the hostess was friendly and welcoming. The small restaurant had enough seating for probably no more than 30 people, but its small setting managed to pack historical Hamilton trinkets and paintings, and a rotating gallery of artwork
that changes every few months to showcase a different local artist’s work. Upon sitting down, I was provided with a generous amount of complimentary bread for one person, and I then proceeded to order puttanesca sausage pasta. When I first looked at the menu, I was taken aback by the prices and realized why most students tended to veer away from it. With most pastas weighing in around $20 and entrees in the same price range, I began to hesitate about my poorly thought out
polar vortex lunch plans. But, I was soon pleased to see that they had a lunch menu that included an identical selection of pastas (unfortunately no entrée options) with halved prices. Their lunch specials were definitely more wallet friendly, and they provide a 10% student discount until 4 pm on weekdays. The pasta was pretty standard and as pasta generally is, it was a satisfying eat. The “Koosh Coffee” I ordered post-luncheon was really rich and super tasty. And as a bonus, it was spiked, so it really
couldn’t go wrong. Although it may not have the accessible prices that most Westdale hotspots offer students, Koosh provides a homey and romantic atmosphere that is bound to impress your date on a night on the town, or your parents when they decide to investigate why you chose to move to city known for its pollution levels. Koosh is the cushion of the steel city. @whatthekins
Thursday, March 20, 2014
theSil.ca
B6
LIFESTYLE
Outsmarting the gym
Here are just a few ways to get your blood pumping without pulling out the dough. Miranda Babbitt Assistant LifeStyle Editor
@mirandababbitt
Become a yoga nomad Pull up a Pilates video
The beautiful thing about the practice of yoga, however, is that the emphasis isn’t on losing weight or getting ripped. Throughout the whole practice, you’re constantly reminded on how each pose is influencing your body and mind at that very moment. In fact, the body and mind become very much linked (in the least cheesy way possible) as your workout shifts to a motive of reducing stress, battling anxiety and cultivating inner health.
WHAT:
Pilates is similar in nature to yoga, but it emphasizes the core.
WHY:
Type in “Pilates” on YouTube and you will be flooded with a series of teachers with varying excitement levels. Some might be hard to stomach, but for some reason the more excited they are, the more you may feel the need to take on the challenge. After all, if someone is talking a mile a minute throughout the whole routine, you should be able to get through it yourself if you’re just giving the occasional wheeze. One particularly excitable Pilates teacher is Callie from Pop Pilates. Yes, she divulges the most unnecessary information to your workout possible, but that could be the secret to the success of her followers. This chit-chat nature is a surprisingly effective distraction when your abs are on fire and your heart is considering filing a complaint for any future decision to watch a Pop Pilates video.
U O Y T O G S THI
WHERE:
www.blogilates.com
ila tes
.co m
www.yogatoday.com
ww w. blo g
WHERE:
o c/
to da y.c om
WHY:
Not wanting to sacrifice 40 minutes of my day to go to and from the gym and intrigued by the meditative qualities yoga is rooted in, I opted for a nifty little site called Yoga Today. It promises a new video every day, cycling between different varieties of yoga and teachers.
ga
WHAT:
ow c/
.yo ww
Hiking with Mama Nature WHAT: Hiking involves getting out to the great outdoors and doing some inadvertent soul-searching. You climb up hills and mountains of all sorts, dipping in and out of mysterious (but safe) trails.
WHY: Hiking will work all aspects of your body, while cranking up that cardio intensity to as high as you want it to be. Whether you’re running up the trail, or stopping to smell the flowers, being outside can both elevate spirits and provide ample distraction from the often monotonous activity of exercising.
WHERE: Again, look outside. But maybe not right outside your door, as hiking doesn’t really work with sidewalks.
Run, Forrest, Run! WHAT: A fast-paced version of walking, often seen in movies such as the critically acclaimed, Forrest Gump.
WHY:
Running doesn’t stand for nonsense. You just start. If you’re craving a buddy to help you keep going, a running app called RunKeeper is a swell replacement to not only a friend but a track coach too. Keep your music playing while getting your progress continuously tracked at ten-minute intervals from, as far as computer voices go, a relatively noncreepy female voice. And this woman is not going to be down for an “insta break” to alert the world you and your friend are #runningbuddies. (Actually I wholeheartedly advocate #runningbuddies, but make you sure pick someone with similar fitness goals if you want to make the most of your workout!)
WHERE: Look out your window! Unless you prefer running around your room like a mouse, which is also somewhat effective.
theSil.ca
Thursday, March 20, 2014
B7 Blair Morgan is going to Uganda for cross country championships
B8
Editors Laura Sinclair & Alexandra Reilly Email sports@thesil.ca @SilSports Phone 905.525.9140 x27117
S BASKETBALL
Three Marauders say goodbye The women’s basketball season is over, and for three of the team’s key players, that means the last year of their five-year eligibility - the end of their McMaster basketball career Scott Hastie The Silhouette For the vast majority of Canadian Interuniversity Sport athletes, their university career is the final stage of their serious sporting life. Sure, there will be recreational leagues, pick-up games and being a spare body at practices for other teams. But none of those compare as a level competition. In professional sports, athletes struggle to figure out when their careers are really over. Steve Nash has battled the decision in Grantland’s one-of-a-kind documentary series, The Finish Line. Student-athletes are giving an end date. You get five years of eligibility and that’s it. There is some leeway; you can redshirt a year or take time off to rehabilitate from injury. Three Names Liz Burns, Vanessa Bonomo and Hailey Milligan are three players on McMaster’s women’s basketball team who have seen their five years of CIS action expire. They rebuilt the culture for Mac basketball, emphasizing a family feel and doing away with alienating traditions like rookie duties. The trio leaves the program better than they found it, and they leave with three distinctly different mindsets. Liz Burns Burns, a Hamilton native, says that the half-decade flew by. “It went too fast. I remember coming in for summer camps in my first year … you remember all of it and it goes by so quickly. That’s what [the seniors] kept reiterating to the girls when we were done in Windsor – enjoy every second of it,” said Burns. McMaster ended the season with a playoff loss to the eventual CIS champions, the Windsor Lancers. In conversation, Burns seems to be battling two opposite
“
“It went too fast. I remember coming in for summer camps in my first year - enjoy every second of it.” Liz Burns, Guard - McMaster Marauders women’s basketball team
play anyways. She does everything a team needs a leader to do. Bonomo talked at length about how her recruiting class made a conscious effort, with the guidance of Coach Burns, to create a more welcoming locker room. The guard says that it’s that the team was not welcoming before, but questioned how a rookie is expected to perform well in a completely fresh environment while also taking on the menial duties given to firstyear players. Part of the duties of a leader is to ensure there is someone else ready to take the reigns. Bonomo is confident that there will be no noticeable change in the department. “The best example [of change] is making the scrimmage teams. For the past three years, I divided up the teams. But now, I’ve taken a back role and let other people step up like Rachael [Holmes] and Isabel [Ormond]. They are ready to be in the leadership position,” said Bonomo. After graduating with a degree in Life Sciences, the fifthyear will be heading to Conestoga College for respiratory therapy. Bonomo expects to still be around the team and aims to come back to McMaster to catch the weekend games whenever she can. Before heading off, she’s planned a month-long trip to Australia to “get some travelling done.” She said that going to Thunder Bay does not really count as travel
emotions. She knows that it’s over, and she misses being around the team. All three players said that it’s hard to really grasp what they no longer have until September, when they are no longer doing lifts in the Pulse or co-ordinating scrimmages in the Burridge Gym. While talking at the OUA Final Four near the end of February, Burns said the feeling of being done had not hit yet. The basketball season can hardly be called a season – starting in September, the team has pre-season testing, practices, lifts and tournaments. The team consumes your life, for better or worse. Once the season ends, players turn to spend more time with family and non-basketball friends who they have not had much time for since the summer. Factor in schoolwork and possibly a job, there is no true “break.” There’s a palpable sense of acceptance that appears to come with the end of a career, though. “I don’t have to do anything that I don’t necessarily want to do. There’s goods and bads to that, for sure,” said Burns. “I don’t know if the end brings a sense of relief, or that it’s just a change. You have an opportunity to reassess and figure out ‘OK what am I going to want to do with my life? Where do I want to have my new focus?’” And for the fifth-year senior, that new focus is to be determined. Burns plans to take a year off from school to work and travel. An MBA is a goal of hers, but the specifics of where she wants to study her focuses are something she plans to figure out in the upcoming year. An abundance of free time will give Burns the opportunity to try out different things. She will still play basketball, whether that’s pick-up with teammates or with friends made in the rabid Hamilton basketball community, but Burns says she has time to try new sports like beach volleyball or play golf with her father. With all these plans and ideas for her post-varsity life, it can seem like Burns was ready to move on. In reality, the Economics graduate is completely satisfied
with how she spent the past five years. “I wouldn’t change anything for the world. This has been the best five years of my life, hands down,” said Burns. Even though her time is finished as a university basketball player, there are still lessons learned through the sport that will stay with her well beyond her collegiate career. Burns believes sport is a metaphor for life, and she’ll apply the skill sets gained in athletics to other areas of life. Around half the weekends for a varsity basketball player incorporate some sort of travel. Distance varies; McMaster competes with teams like Brock who are only a 45-minute bus ride away, but also have to take a trip to Thunder Bay, Ont., every other year. Between travel, school work, practice and having any semblance of a social life, athletes have less time for self-reflection than the typical undergraduate student, which is part of the reason Burns is taking a year off.
when asked about it in the interview. From a long-term perspective, the under-12 girls coach wants to remain around the McMaster program and hopes to join the coaching staff eventually. Bonomo is eager to learn about the other side of the program – the side players don’t get to see.
with the squad and she prepares to play overseas. There was a wellearned two-week break following the playoff loss for the player who finished second in minutes played per game, but now, Milligan is back in the weight room. “I’m doing hot yoga, cross training and a lot of spin classes. I’m trying to give my body a break from the physicality, but still improving my cardio,” Milligan said. The women’s program had great chemistry this year, and Milligan played a big role in that. Without a doubt, she was the most demonstrative player on the court, celebrating andone plays of her teammates just as emphatically as her own. But Milligan’s impact expanded well beyond the hardwood, and what she accomplished at McMaster is not something measureable like points or rebounds. A trip to the east Hamilton would alter the way Milligan viewed her role as a Marauder. “I was introduced to a situation at the Hamilton Boys and Girls club in the east end, and I really saw a need – a need for a McMaster connection, a need for strong female athletes, a need for basketball. The vehicle of sport can do so much. I just kind of ran with it,” Milligan said. She says without the support of her coaches and teammates, building that connection would not have been possible. Part of the inspiration to create change was based on her childhood. In her own words, Milligan grew up in an unfortunate situation. Her background was rough, her family falling to pieces. Yet, she was still successful and instead of sitting back and being content with her accom-
Hailey Milligan On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is Hailey Milligan, McMaster’s all-time leading rebounder. Milligan led the country in rebounds per game, finished fourth in field goal percentage and seventh in scoring per game. She was not voted in as an All-Canadian (which is frankly, a joke), but received the Sylvia Sweeney award – an award recognizing excellence in academics, basketball and community involvement. If Milligan had to choose between the two, she would take the Sweeney award without a second’s hesitation. The first-time McMaster winner is one of the few CIS athletes who has an opportunity to play their sport at a professional level. “I’m looking into Europe right now. I’ve been talking with a few different sports agencies and putting together film for my player profile. My coaches have been very helpful in terms of giving me the right questions to ask and what to expect. I would definitely say Europe is my number one option right now,” said Milligan. It’s hard for the graduating post player to wrap her head around the fact that she will not be representing the Marauders next year, but she still has close ties with the team. Milligan has been granted permission to continue practicing and working out
Vanessa Bonomo For Vanessa Bonomo, her five years with Mac only confirmed the passion she had for hoops. She echoed Burns’ enjoyment of free time, but said she coaches an under-12 rep basketball team in Dundas. Over the past weekend, Bonomo headed to Michigan with the team. The point guard said that she found the change of pace from all basketball, all the time, to virtually no playing responsibilities different than what she expected. “It was a lot easier than I thought. Obviously, it’s different not having somewhere to be, but you do fill up the time pretty quickly with having a chance to see your family more or seeing friends that aren’t on the basketball team,” said Bonomo. For the past two seasons, Bonomo was co-captain for the squad. She says that the fact her career is over has not really hit her yet, but for a different reason than her teammate, Burns. “I’ve still been scrimmaging with the girls a little bit, but I
think the feeling will hit in September, when we can’t put on that jersey anymore,” said Bonomo. Basketball-wise, she is not finished. Bonomo wants to still play, and says that being from Hamilton gives her the opportunity to play in a lot of leagues to get the competition. There will be a drop off in the level of play between recreational leagues and the OUA West, which was the strongest conference in the country this year, but Bonomo says the competition is what she will miss the most. When your options are between “lower competition” or “not playing at all”, it is a fairly easy decision. While talking via phone on March 19, the point guard changed her tune slightly. Up until this point in the conversation, it seemed like Bonomo was not really ready to hang up the Maroon and Grey. But, after being asked about the previously mentioned Steve Nash documentary, the fifth-year offered some brutal honesty. “Five years kind of drains you. By the end of this year, I had given it everything I had,” said the co-captain. That is not to say other players did not give the maximum amount of effort, but doing it for five straight years can take a mental and physical toll. She admits that in a few more weeks, she may be itching to do lifts and get back into basketball mode, but for right now, Bonomo is accepting the reality. The collective group of Marauders departing the program leaves a leadership hole, but Bonomo may be the most significant loss. A point guard is instrumental to running a team’s offense, dictating tempo and finding the right players at the right time. But Bonomo goes beyond that. In a crucial regular season game at Wilfrid Laurier University, the fifth-year played 39 minutes. That amount of playing time is impressive enough, except Bonomo slept for the entire trip through bumpy roads, on a school bus instead of a coach bus. As the team pulled up to the school, Bonomo rushed off the bus for fear of being sick. Head coach Theresa Burns said that her point guard had hardly slept the night before and was battling the flu. Bonomo said she was going to
plishments, Milligan decided to use her story to inspire others. A departure to Europe is a number of months away, but the English graduate knows she will have to say good-bye to the group she has invested a lot of time and energy into. “It’s tough. Knowing I’ll leave the youth I work with and won’t really be back until Christmas is just tough. But I’ll still be involved, just in a different capacity,” the Brantford, Ont. native said. Milligan has to gear up for Europe, and the transition can be especially hard if expectations are not set up properly. Taylor Chiarot, a former Marauder, is a close friend of Milligan’s and the two have discussed what the realities are when playing professional basketball overseas. McMaster’s coaching staff has also been able to guide the two-time OUA firstteam All-Star.
#5 Vanessa Bonomo.
#7 Liz Burns.
Moving Forward Between the three players are three very different storylines. One has been able to use her university playing career as a launching pad to get paid to play, another has confirmed her love for the game and wants to get into coaching, while the last enjoyed every second of her hoops career but is eager to see where her life heads next. CIS careers are finite, but that doesn’t mean the possibilities are. In Liz Burns, Vanessa Bonomo and Hailey Milligan are representations of three potential paths an athlete can take. What they all share is complete satisfaction. @scott1hastie
YOSEIF HADDAD / SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR
#12 Hailey Milligan.
SPORTS
Thursday, March 20, 2014
theSil.ca
B8
Captain Morgan to take on the world Marauders cross country captain Blair Morgan is headed to the FISU World Cross Country Championships in Uganda, Africa
Laura Sinclair Sports Editor A couple of weeks ago, Blair Morgan had no idea that he would be racing at the FISU World Cross Country Championships in Uganda, Africa. Morgan – the Captain of the Marauders track and cross country team – was named one of the alternates of the team after his stellar race at the CIS Cross country Championships in November that saw him place 11th overall. This top 15 finish solidified his spot as a CIS all-star. “I found out about a week afterwards that I was an alternate for the race,” said Morgan. “I was actually the second alternate, because Lionel [Sanders] was the first alternate.” Sanders – a veteran runner on the Marauders cross country team – finished 10th overall at the CIS Championships, just two seconds ahead of Morgan, making him the first option as an alternate for the Canadian team. Six people were named to race at the International meet, but after Ryan Cassidy – a runner from U of Vic was declared as being injured – Sanders was next in line to be named to compete. “They were going to ask Lionel, but they heard he wasn’t interested, so they called me, and after that it took a couple weeks for them to get confirmation that they could enter me because it was past the entry deadline, so it was a couple weeks of just waiting,” said Morgan. Morgan got the call that he
would be racing on March 6, and he needed to alter his training from shorter track distances, to longer cross country distances in the short period of time. But he was prepared, just in case. “I got all the vaccinations I needed before I found out I was going, so I made arrangements before, basically as if I was going,” said Morgan. Qualifying for the FISU Canadian cross country team was just the cherry on top of some of the major accomplishments that Morgan has achieved this season. Morgan – an extremely dedicated student-athlete – has improved tremendously this season both in cross country and on the track, shocking everyone in the competitive running scene in the process. Last year, Morgan finished 36th at the OUA Championships, and 46th at the CIS Championships. This year, he finished 6th at OUA’s, and 11th at CI’s, dropping off an outstanding 35 places, and practically a minute and 15 seconds off of his time at the CIS Championships. “I was at a plateau, but then I upped my mileage, and it got me going up,” said Morgan. Triathlons are Morgan’s main concentration in the summer months, but for the summer leading up to this year’s cross country season, he did things a little differently. “I finished my tri season early to get ready for cross and I was training pretty hard, but I wasn’t
expecting what happened,” said Morgan. Along with upping his mileage, Morgan credits this year’s massive improvements to swimming over the cross country season to prevent injuries, and to his core work-outs with the rest of the Marauders team. After a long season of hard work and extremely impressive results, Morgan will now get the opportunity to compete alongside some of the world’s best collegiate runners. In such a high-level, prestigious meet like the FISU World Cross Country Championships, Morgan has one goal in mind: to not be the last runner sporting the Canadian singlet to cross the CIS 2013: 11TH- 31:54 finish line. “There’s a couple of guys that I raced with in the fall cross country season. I’m just going to try and run with them and see how it goes,” said Morgan. Although the meet will be filled with future Olympians and extremely talented runners OUA’S 2012: 36TH- 34:28 mainly from the host-continent TH of Africa, Morgan will fare well in CIS 2012: 46 - 33:13 the competition, as he is a primary example that hard work really does pay off.
Blair’s 10K Improvement
@Lsinkky
OUA’S 2013: 6TH- 33:37
Marauders in red and white Maddy McDonald
Maddy McDonald has been given the opportunity to represent Canada a total of three times. After qualifying for the Canadian junior cross country team in 2012, she got to compete at the North American cross country championships held in Jamaica. From there, she competed at the world cross country championship in Poland. Last summer, she competed at junior Pan Ams in Colombia.
NACAC XC- 4th place WORLD XC- 47th place JUNIOR PAN AMS- 2nd
Connor Darlington
CO/ PETE SELF
Lindsay Carson
Andrew Yorke
C/O MICHAEL SCOTT
C/O MICHAEL SCOTT
C/O ANDREW SWANSON
Connor Darlington is also someone that has had the opportunity to compete for Canada a couple of times. He competed at the North American cross country championships in 2011, and from there the team qualified for the world cross country championships in Trinidad and Tobago.
Lindsay Carson is a decorated athlete that has had the opportunity to compete for Canada numerous times. In her final year as a Marauder, she got the opportunity to compete in the senior race at the North American cross country championships in Jamaica and the world cross country championships in Poland.
Andrew Yorke’s main sport is the triathlon, and his abilities in the sport has given him the opportunity to wear the red and white singlet in multiple occasions. He was named an alternate for the Canadian Olympic triathlon team in 2012, and his main goal are the 2016 Olympic games held in Brazil.
NACAC XC- 2nd place
NACAC XC- 9th place
WORLD XC- 68th place
WORLD XC- 60th place
Sarasota Bradenton Triathlon- 1st overall
Laura Sinclair Sports Editor
Paula Schnurr
Paula Schnurr’s accomplishments on the track surpass all of the Marauders. A former Marauder herself, she got the opportunity to represent Canada in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic games, where she ran her personal best in the 1500 m- an incredibly fast time of 4:04. She was injured during the games in 1996, and still managed to run an impressively quick time. She is now the head coach of the Marauders track team.
ITU Pan American Cup sprint race- 2nd overall
1992 Olympic Games, Barcelona, Spain- 4:04
Ranked 49th overall in the world
1996 Olympic Games, Atlanta, United States of America
Thursday, March 20, 2014
theSil.ca
SPORTS
B9
WINTER SPORTS RECAP Hailey Mulligan enjoyed a career high 18 points per game and was named the recipient of the Sylvia Sweeney award
Marauder swimming enjoyed their best season finish in team history this year. C/O FRASER CALDWELL
Men’s basketball managed to get to the CIS final 8 tournament and placed amongst the top team’s in the nation
YOSEIF HADDAD / SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR
Men’s volleyball pulled off a third place finish despite being undefeated in the regular season
Women’s volleyball was another marauder team to make it all the way to CIS this season. YOSEIF HADDAD / SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR
SPORTS
Thursday, March 20, 2014
theSil.ca
B10
Women’s rugby grabs 7’s title After starting the tournament on a losing streak the Marauders were able to re-group and grab their first ever National Rugby 7’s Championship title this past month Alexandra Reilly Assistant Sports Editor March proved to be a very big month for the McMaster women’s rugby team as they travelled to Langford, B.C. on the weekend of March 7 to compete in the Rugby 7’s tournament, which took place at Westhills Stadium. For the Marauders, it was all about getting hot at the right time. The Marauders were faced with Lethbridge as their opponent on March 9 where they defeated their rival squad 24-7 for the Championship title. McMaster did not start off their tournament run on a high note as they dropped their first two games in pool play on Friday, losing to UBC 27-17 followed by another loss to Lethbridge by a score of 17-15. In the final day of pool play, McMaster was edged once again by their opponents; this time it would be the Guelph Gryphons handing the Marauders a close 15-14 loss on Saturday afternoon. Guelph would be the thickest competition for the Maroon and Grey as the Gryphons entered the tournament as two-time defending university champions in Rugby 7’s. Despite a bout of winless bad luck, the Marauders were able to advance into the crucial elimination phase where they shocked everyone by pulling out a win against the favored Guelph Gry-
C/O RUGBY CANADA
phons by a score of 12-10 in the quarterfinals. Regina Charalampis and captain Cindy Nelle’s would hold tries in the quarterfinal victory and Stephanie Black would be credited with the important conversion proving to make all the difference in the outcome of the quarterfinal match. McMaster’s hot streak would continue as they would dominate against Alberta, beating them 35-0 in the semi-finals which would then advance them to the championship game against Lethbridge on the Sunday. Stephanie Black, Kailyn Jones, Emily Ricketts and Saffara Whitley-Hoffelner would get tries for the Marauders followed by two conversions by Black which would prove to be enough to fend off Lethbridge for the title. Mac would ride their momentum all the way to the winner’s circle as they grabbed their first ever national Rugby 7’s title, bringing it back to Ontario once again. McMaster All-Canadian and
team captain Cindy Nelles would score four tries in three tournament games and would be named Outstanding Player of the Tournament. With hope thought to be
lost in their tournament run, the Marauders were able to persevere and come home with their first national title, knowing they were able to prove their competitors wrong when it came to their
strength, endurance and teamwork. @Miss_AReilly
Captain Cindy Nelle’s accepts her award for Outstanding Player in the 7’s tournament C/O RUGBY CANADA
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theSil.ca
SPORTS
Thursday, March 20, 2014
B12
OPINION
The broken basketball system There is a lot that can be done to enhance the seriously flawed CIS Final 8 Tournament format Scott Hastie The Silhouette The Canadian Interuniversity Sport Final 8 tournaments for men and women’s basketball are broken. Not just a little broken either. It’ll take more than a band-aid solution to fix it. If you’re constructing a list of issues with the championship tournament, I really don’t know where you would start. The seeding is blatantly flawed, a berth is gifted to the team that hosts and really, the best teams don’t make it. In CIS hoop circles, the conversations when critiquing the tournament typically ends up in the same spots: is the tournament about getting the best eight teams in the country, or representing the country as equally as possible? Well, I’ve created a loose idea on how it can be both. I really don’t think that equal representation should matter, but I know that it always will. Allowing conferences to have one of eight spots despite their teams being perennially bad creates a boring product and useless games. Yes, Reseau du sport etudiant du Quebec, I’m looking at you and your 1-10 record in men’s Final 8 quarterfinal games over the past 11 years. My suggestion is to expand the tournament back to 10 teams, but abolish the current caveats the CIS has on the seeding. The CIS had this format from 2004 to 2006, and it is unclear why they moved away from it. Attempts to contact the league and some outside historians of the tournament did not provide any help. Some of the aforementioned stipulations for seeding are conference champions cannot be seeded lower than sixth and the host receives an automatic berth in the tournament. Both of these would be gone. We saw seeding issues this year, where McGill and Saint Mary’s were thoroughly pumped by lower-seeded teams. I can’t believe I have to say this, but when you put a floor for seeding
four of the eight teams, you ruin the meaning of the seeds. Under the revamped Final 10, a committee of CIS officials and coaches would determine the seeding for the following six teams: the OUA and Canada West finalists, RSEQ champion and AUS champion. The OUA and Canada West conferences are much larger and have performed better over the past handful of years, so giving them each two spots raises the talent level at the tournament. The last four teams would be wild card teams – the best of who did not get an automatic entry. Instead of using the criteria that the CIS currently uses, I want the wild card teams to be determined using Simple Ranking System. SRS is a formula that attempts to give a number value to teams based off their margin of victory and quality of opponents. Currently, the league tries to do this by giving the decision committee the ability to determine that a record may be better than the wins and losses show because of the quality of opponents. The logic with my idea is that the formula boils down the real record of a team into a number. SRS also weighs recent games more heavily, which means that teams that have rounded into form will have a better opportunity to make the playoffs. That equals better basketball teams in the tournament, which means better competition. Everyone wins. A sidenote on current CIS criteria: should we place emphasis on a team’s whole season? The CIS likes to reward a “body of work,” but I’m sceptical. I want the best teams at the end of the year, not the team that was awesome in October pre-season action. And what about injuries or transfers who are eligible halfway through the season? If a team is absolutely hoopin’ in February, shouldn’t we want them in the tournament? Those final four teams would be seeded in their own mini-bracket, where the team
with the highest-ranked SRS team plays the lowest ranked. The winners of those games move on to the Final 8 bracket, and the team with the biggest margin of victory plays the No. 2 overall seed. If you were the loser of the play-in game, your nationals experience is over. This idea makes the first games a little more interesting because even if it’s a blowout, you’ll see teams posturing for who they want to match-up with in the next game. What happens if they are throttling someone but want to play the No. 1 team instead of the No. 2? Madness ensues, probably. From there, we roll with the normal Final 8 format and the fifth-place game gets reinstated. I’ve pitched the idea around to some other followers of the league, and one rebuttal I’ve got is that the No. 1 and 2 teams have less time to prepare. With the size of coaching staffs, I think it’s fair to assume that it would not be a problem. Plus, those seeds get a team that has already played one game, giving them a fatigue factor. The aim of all of this is to get the best teams in the tournament while representing all of the conferences. It would be great if there were nation-wide parity, but that really is a pipe dream. Even if this format doesn’t satisfy some, I don’t think it’s a stretch to propose change. Throwing out ideas like this can get people talking. It’s time for the CIS to start listening, because what they have right now isn’t working.
NCAA attendance is attracts anywhere 6,000- 25,000 a game, and can get in the 30-,000- 40,000 range at playoff time
CIS attendance attracts anywhere from 350-900 people in a game
@Scott1Hastie
McMaster Quidditch team is on the rise
CO/ QUIDDITCH TEAM
Miranda Babbitt Assistant LifeStyle Editor In the field ahead, you can make out what might be a good ol’ fashioned game of frisbee. There are blurred images of the hurried fella you saw on the way into Mills and the girl who was behind an array of cupcakes in the student center, each of them with their legs propelling them forward, but with a broom inconveniently held between their legs. You second-guess yourself, reconsidering the logic of that situation. Now you see a collision of epically hilarious proportions as a spritesized girl crashes into a looming opponent in an attempt to snatch a ball away from him. Behind him, there are three smaller balls being thrown with equal parts force and desperation and three hoops on either side of the field. And, of course, a sprinting figure squeezed into a gold spandex suit is sprinting in and out of the field out of nowhere. He might have just stumbled upon the game from a parade of some sort, but now that one of the players notices him and starts to sprint
towards the gold little man with startling ferocity. Yeah, everything still doesn’t make sense. To any newcomers, place your logic aside and fantasies ahead: this is the game of Muggle Quidditch. Muggle Quidditch is the adaptation of the familiar game from the Harry Potter series into the real world. It consists of two co-ed teams, each with seven members in charge of specific roles, and is most definitely a full-contact sport. In fact, Quidditch incorporates elements from a variety of sports, such as rugby, dodgeball, tag, wrestling and lacrosse; it’s a sport by no means lacking in a physical demand. The rules of the game, although they can appear daunting from the sidelines, are really quite simple too. There are three chasers who score with the quaffle (a slightly deflated volleyball), a keeper who protects the hoops and can also play chaser, two beaters who use the dodgeballs to “beat” people, causing them to dismount off their broom and run to their home hoops, and one seeker who catches the snitch. Each goal from the quaffle is ten
points and the elusive snitch is thirty points. The snitch is perhaps the most amusing part of the game as a person dressed head to toe in gold (generally speaking) represents the fleeting gold snitch from the Harry Potter series. He is given time to hide before the start of the game while the teams close their eyes, but the audience is lucky enough to see the snitches strategically choosing spots to hide among campus. Nearing the end of the game, there’s a high chance you’ll see a snitch madly
“
“It has been incredibly popular and competitive in the States, and due to the close proximity of teams, Canadians wanted to be just as good, if not better” Jessica Donat, President of McMaster Quidditch team
sprinting from the clutches of the seekers. All this glorious madness can be seen at the Marauder’s Cup coming to McMaster grounds on March 29, bringing nine teams from across the Ontario region: York University, Ryerson University, Fleming College, Guelph University, Waterloo University, University of Toronto, University of Toronto Scarborough campus, University of Toronto Mississauga campus, and Valhalla. The McMaster team has some high chances of placing in the top three, as revealed by the president of the McMaster Quidditch Team, Jessica Donat, which she says is thanks to the sport rising in popularity and competitive spirit. “Our team has grown from just one line with a few subs to three lines, each chosen from a series of selective try-outs,” says Donat. And, of course, it’s also due to the friendly competition between Canada and our southern neighbors. “It has been incredibly popular and competitive in the States, and due to the close proximity of teams, Canadians wanted to be just as good, if not
better.” Although Quidditch appears to cater to a niche audience, the players are surprisingly widespread in their interests. Of course, you will find a cluster of Harry Potter die-hards in each team, but “as popularity grew and people learned how physically challenging it was, there were a wider spread of people trying out.” As the sport gains more recognition from the media and students alike, it appears to be making a transition from the most tangible form of Harry Potter fandom into a lasting sport, only rooted in fantastical traditions. Donat attests to this, saying, “The Harry Potter series had such a strong impact on individuals [of this generation] that it won’t die out. Our generation is still reading the books and I believe when the time comes, we’ll be reading the books to our children.” So hold onto your books and dust off that broom stick – Quidditch is here to stay. @mirandababbitt
i wish for
theSil.ca
Thursday, March 20, 2014
ANDY E-mail: andy@thesil.ca Meeting Time: Wednesdays @ 11:30 a.m. Phone: (905)•525•9140 ext 27117
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Senior Editor: Bahar Orang Assistant Editor: Cooper Long Contributors: Michael Gallagher, Tobi
Abdul, Nicole Vasarevic, Erica Reichl
Cover: Bahar Orang
What's hot and what's not hammer edition
coming up in the hammer •mar. 20 | the pack a.d. •mar. 21 | the wooden sky •mar. 22 | the fatties •mar. 24 | bend sinister
homegrown hamilton music
•mar. 22 | pete van dyk •mar. 28 | marina marina
getting hammered (the drinking one)
this ain't hollywood •mar. 20 | harlan pepper •mar. 21 | black collar union •mar. 22 | almost zero •mar. 27 | do good assassins
club absinthe •mar. 21 | road to pouzza #2 •mar. 22 | 5 bands 5 bucks •mar. 25 | vivid eye •mar. 27 | prophets
cinema
MC Hammer
westdale theatre • until mar. 26 | inside llewyn davis • until mar. 27 | particle fever • until mar. 27 | 20 feet from stardom
mcmaster museum
art
hammerhead sharks
ham sandwiches
reading list
the casbah
Hamilton!
"Sledgehammer" Peter Gabriel
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•until may 3 | margaret watkins: domestic symphonies •until mar 29 | jon w. ford: house not a home •until mar 29 | françois dallegret: beyond the bubble •ongoing | antiquities •apr. 8 - 26 | chiasmata: summa 2014, graduating art student exhibition
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one for the road C6
book bag
C7
playlist
C8 outdoor concerts
The Cover Story “If people did not love one another, I really don't see what use there would be in having any spring.” - Victor Hugo
theSil.ca
ANDY
Thursday, March 20, 2014
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THE BIGGEST TICKLE (YET)
A spring reading list to look forward to The Sil staff shares some books they return to again and again
Miranda (Assistant Lifestyle) To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf “The first time I couldn’t get anything, the second time it became my favourite.”
Karen (Graphics) 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez “I could read it 100 times.”
Kacper (Opinions) Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger “It has a fucking merry go round.”
Jemma (Executive) High Fidelity by Nick Hornby “I’ve read it like four times.”
Cooper (Assistant ANDY) Something Wicked this Way Comes by Ray Bradbury “It really captures the changing of the seasons.”
Bahar (Senior ANDY) The Great Fires by Jack Gilbert “The poems are simple and beautiful.”
Anqi (Online) As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner “Because of the sentences.”
Amanda (Senior Lifestyle) The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank “There’s a short story for every phase of life.”
Laura (Senior Sports) Heavier than Heaven by Charles R. Cross “I like biographies of rock stars.”
Sam (Managing) Maus by Art Spiegelman “A perfect example of why graphic novels are underrated.”
the
big
tickle what is a book you never finished? LIZ POPE /ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
Aliya S.
Azra D.
Alina B.
Het A.
Shishir P.
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
“Too many to remember”
“Heart of Darkness”
“I hardly start a book”
“Life of Pi”
theSil.ca
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Erica Reichl The Silhouette One for the Road is an exhibition organized by Museum London and is currently on view at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. The AGH promises to deliver on a grand scale, and that it does, featuring a whopping total of 64 sculptural, model, and paper works of various sizes. Upon entering the first gallery space housing the exhibit, one is immediately greeted by what is arguably the star of the show—Adams’ “Artists’ Colony” (Gardens) (2012). It is a diorama of sorts, made up of scale model parts and feels immediately familiar to anyone who spent countless childhood hours poring over I Spy puzzle books. Displayed alone in the room under rectangular glass so as to be viewed in the round, the model contains myriad miniature figures of people interacting with each other and with their surroundings. Assortedly attired figures of men, women, and children frolic and forge their way through a colourful milieu of multiple locales such as a harbour, a boardwalk, and an industrial island of high-rises made from repurposed train cars. But even amidst all of this human development there is nature to be found: forests fringe the outer corners of the diminutive cityscape. The parenthetical gardens implied by the work’s title pop up anywhere from the roof of a building to the top of a barge at sea, often accompanied by a herd of grazing livestock. Whether this work illustrates a human conquering of the natural flora and fauna, or else a re-encroaching of nature into society is difficult to say. The ambiguity creates tension within the work, one that is carried throughout the rest of the exhibition. Co-curator Melanie Townsend describes Adams’ oeuvre as a “quirky, humorous body of work that illuminates the often-contradictory preoccupations of contemporary society.” Indeed, these contradictions abound in One for the Road, and having to sort through the visual overload causes one to become hyper-aware of its implications. While his models contain a multitude of industrial signifiers such as building cranes and train tracks, Adams’ human figures casually eschew management of them, rather opting to engage in various leisure activities: anything from playing poker to scuba diving. This contrast is also heightens the tension and raises questions about what we as modern society should be doing: advancing through technology or stopping to smell the roses, so to speak? “Artists’ Colony” uncannily validates both viewpoints. Be sure to try and spot the sombre funeral taking place on a hill overlooking a simultaneous monster truck rally, or the campers snapping photographic mementos as their campsite is attacked by grizzlies. This sort of irreverence is characteristic of the humour for which Adams’ work is known, and it is such wit that prevents his art from being pedan-
tic. However, one point of contention I do have with his models are their glaring lack of any figures not of white ethnicity. For an artist so intent on including references to Canadiana in nearly all of his work (even the intangibly Floridian Gift Machine (1988) features a couple of superfluous hockey pucks branded with Canadian Tire logos) one might think Adams would be more astute in his representation and rendering of a society which also reflects Canada: a multicultural country. Least worthy of mention are Adams’ works on paper; while valuable in the context of prep drawings, their wildness and unrestraint do not hold their own in when compared to the the meticulous precision of his models. And quite honestly, they felt like filler pieces. This is not to say that the exhibition would have been better without them, merely that they become unremarkable in the grand scheme of the gallery. Artists’ Colony is the ultimate reward of attending this exhibition. While I feel that it would perhaps have had a greater impact had it been shown at the end of the exhibition as the culmination of Adams’ process, I can understand the rationale behind employing this piece as the viewer’s initial introduction to Adams’ work. It certainly alerts an audience as to what to expect of the exhibition, and, I would venture to say, even acts as an advisory of the level of viewer engagement necessary to get the most out of it. Finally, I would like to address the compelling aspect of the exhibition’s title. The phrase ‘one for the road’ suggests an impending journey of movement or travel, yet the exhibition itself is undeniably static. One of “Artists’ Colony’s” central features is a square stack of multiple train cars filled with commuters who are quite literally off the rails; divorced from a track there is nowhere for them to go. “Toaster Work Wagon” (1997) consists of multiple paired bicycles which appear fused together at a common back wheel, rendering them fascinatingly symmetrical but essentially unrideable. Even the one mechanized aspect of the collection, the model trains which wind through the enormous cavern of the industro-futuristic sculpture “Travels Through the Belly of the Whale” (2013), is stuck in an endless loop, always coming back to where it started. The tension born of these fixed, stationary pieces starts to become palpable in the gallery, and contradicts the exhibition’s multiple ideas of and references to roads, travel, vehicles, mobility, and transience. With this in mind, perhaps One for the Road is not a road we are meant to travel down at all. Maybe it is not meant to take us to a logical conclusion, but rather do for our minds what gasoline does for a automobile. One for the Road is an experience we are meant to take home in thought, operating our own intellectual vehicles and paving our own roads out of what we learned from Adams’ devised contradictions and social commentary.
ANDY
a current exhibition by Kim Adams at the Art Gallery of Hamilton
one for the road
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theSil.ca Tobi Abdul Staff Reporter Writers have the unique ability to put our emotions into flawlessly accurate words, especially when we’re struggling to describe or understand them. Books can make us feel less alone in the world when we consider that at least one other person on this planet knows how we’re feeling, even if we may not know them directly. I’ve always been a “shut-outthe-world” type of person, and often times, I comfort myself with a good book. Mental illness or not, everyone experiences the ups and downs that come naturally with life. Slumps happen and that’s okay, but my way out is to get lost in a good book. Whether they give me a sense of self-understanding or a sense of connection, books are my go-to when feeling down. These books in particular have helped me when I needed a little pick-meup.
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ANDY
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
I first read this book in the ninth grade and have reread it several more times since then. Never has a protagonist been so relatable. I couldn’t help but feel connected to Charlie as a character and marvel at the way John put indescribable feelings on paper and made them come alive through a band of misfits. Perks was there for me at a time in my life when I was changing at an uncontrollable pace and at a time when growing up didn’t make much sense. Fast forward seven years later and growing up still doesn’t make much sense. No matter what age you’re coming into, Charlie’s letters will give you hope for a time when the good days outweigh the bad days and give you comfort in the fact that the bad days don’t always disappear for everyone.
Relatable quote: “I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Or just not exist. Or just not be aware that you do exist. Or something like that. I think wanting that is very morbid, but I want it when I get like this. That’s why I’m trying not to think. I just want it all to stop spinning.” Favourite quote: “All the books you’ve read have been read by other people. And all the songs you’ve loved have been heard by other people. And that girl that’s pretty to you is pretty to other people. and that if you looked at these facts when you were happy, you would feel great because you are describing ‘unity.”
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It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini For the moments in life when For the moments in life when you just feel down for no reason, this book will make you feel a little less crazy. At a particularly low point in my life, I wandered into a Barnes and Noble in Orlando, FL on vacation a few days from Christmas. I was feeling devoid of all Christmas spirit and wanted an excuse to hole up in my room for a couple of days. I didn’t expect to find a book that I could connect with so much. This book is an honest depiction of a stay in a
mental health facility and what it’s like to face mental health issues as a teenager when there doesn’t seem to be a “legitimate” reason for your sadness. As a quasi-memoir by an author who passed away in December, this account has become even more meaningful. Relatable quote: “I work. And I think about work, and I freak out about work, and I think about how much I think about work, and I freak out about how much I think about how much I think about work, and I think about how freaked out I get about how much I think about how much I think about work.” Favourite line: “I don’t know how I can be so ambitious and so lazy at the same time.”
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Looking for Alaska by John Green
Some may find me a little morbid for putting this book on here considering that it centers around a death, however, this book taught me that we all suffer and we may feel like we’re stuck in an endless cycle of suffering, but there is always a way out even when there doesn’t seem like it. This book also fuels my fascination with last words. Relatable quote: “Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. (...) You spend your whole life stuck
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in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.” Favourite quote: “We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are. We cannot be born, and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and manifestations. They forget that when they get old. They get scared of losing and failing. But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail.”
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My Age of Anxiety by Scott Stossel
Using anecdotes, history, psychology, and science, Scott Stossel writes a brilliant piece of nonfiction that makes me feel normal. When I can’t understand why being in a crowd makes me hyperventilate or why I suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, this book is a great comfort as it provides scientific reasons.showing how other people manage it. Relatable/favourite quote: “To some people, I may seem calm. But if you could peer beneath the surface, you would see that I’m like a duck--paddling, paddling, paddling.”
Books on the brain A book bag for a mental pick-me-up
theSil.ca
ANDY
Thursday, March 20, 2014
C7 by Michael Gallagher
7 Tips for the Perfect Party Playlist 1. Don’t be a music snob – This one seems silly, but I can’t tell you the number of parties I’ve been to that play songs that the host likes, but just aren’t good party songs. Sure OK Computer was a masterpiece, and Led Zeppelin released a ton of great albums, but filling your playlist with your favourite songs, while ignoring others’ tastes is an easy way to create unwanted tension.
4. Pick songs that people will sing along to –There is a reason people put on songs like “Party Up” by DMX. There is always one drunk person at every party willing to scream “y’all gon’ make me lose my mind up in here, up in here” and that person my friends, is very useful to you. Never forget to invite that person.
2. Know your audience – Since you are the one planning the party, make sure you have a vague idea of the music your friends like. If you’re inviting fans of country and all you’re playing is an endless stream of dubstep, you’re in for a bad time.
3. Mix it up – In fact, even if your friends are all ridiculously into dubstep, like fast food, too much of a good thing can make you sick. Sure dubstep is the perfect music for awkward guys who are too afraid to dance, but you can only hear so many wub wub’s until your guests are sick of it.
5. Play up the nostalgia – Much like knowing your audience, too many great party songs get buried under new top 40 hits, and an easy way to get people moving is playing a great song they forgot about. “Hey Ya” by Outkast, “Ignition Remix” by R. Kelly and pretty much anything from the 90s are just some examples of party gems that help break the ice.
6. Go with what people love – Much like songs people will sing along to, this advice is fairly straightforward. People want to hear their “jam”, so it’s up to you to know what those songs are, and provide them.
7. Relax – The music of a party is important, but a lot of other stuff goes into people having a good time. Nobody likes the controlling host who won’t go with the flow. Try to relax and make the most of the night.
theSil.ca
ANDY
Thursday, March 20, 2014
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LIVING LIVE
Let’s take this outside
Outdoor concert season is coming. Are you ready?
by Nicole Vasarevic
Summer is just around the corner (or at least we hope) which means more concerts and festivals out in the sunshine! However, doing it Woodstock style does come with its ups and downs.
PROS
CONS
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SUNSHINE! What is better than laying on the grass, having your favourite band just a few meters away and the sun beating down on your face?
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The elements may not always be in your favour. Outdoor concerts are on, rain or shine. All you can do is cross your fingers and hope for anything but torrential downpour.
venues 2 Outdoor are usually general admission which often means cheaper tickets. the festival is in town, 3 When so are the food trucks! The greasiest and yummiest hot dogs and funnel cakes at your finger tips. room 4 More for activities. Festivals not only have your necessary stages but also have beer tents and promo tables (hint hint free merchandise).
bathrooms and - dare I say 2 Dirty it - porta-potties. The outdoors also bring dirt and grime that people trudge into the already nasty bathrooms. dreaded numb bum. 3 The Many outdoor venues
andy
don’t offer seating so get ready to sit on the ground for a very, very long time.
Don’t let numb bum get to you.
Stay hydrated, or you’ll miss out on some sweet jams when the thirst kicks in.
new people is easier than one-two5 Meeting three. Not being forced to sit between two sweaty strangers gives you more space to walk around and socialize with other fans. Meet, greet, eat and take a seat. Outdoor life is coming.
are not made of titanium. The sunshine, heat 4 We and excessive dancing will wear you out to the point of total exhaustion. TIP: Stay hydrated! All outdoor concert venues have free water refill stations so bring your water bottles.
Published on Mar 28, 2014
The March 20 edition of the Silhouette, McMaster University's student newspaper.
