Defeat
Debate
Delay
The defending champion McMaster Marauders lost to the Laval Rouge et Or 37-14 in the Nov. 23 Vanier Cup
Is Israel justly defending itself against terror, or are Palestinians the victims of an unfair siege? Read both sides of the story
From Youtube to origami, InsideOut offers the best methods of procrastination to get you through exams
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The Silhouette
MCMASTER UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
www.thesil.ca
Thursday, November 29, 2012
EST. 1930
Getting you through the exam time blues.
Vol. 83, No. 17
Greatest Hits: To celebrate McMaster’s 125th birthday, we look through The Sil’s archives to see how it reported on the biggest events in the University’s history. See D1-D4 for a special insert
Minors to be barred from TwelvEighty club nights SRA’s changes to all-ages policy will take effect starting next school year Sam Colbert Executive Editor
Starting in May, no one under 19 will be allowed into club nights at TwelvEighty. The rule change does not apply when the campus bar is acting “in the capacity of a restaurant or a bookable venue.” Campus groups that book the space for an evening event, then, could invite students of all ages. But when TwelvEighty is operating normally as a nightclub, which it typically does on Thursday nights, no minors will be permitted to enter. “We’re going to have a little shift in how we operate the nightclub now. Time will have to tell what that means in terms of our operations, in terms of our reach,” said Derek Spekkens, service manager at TwelvEighty. The change was made at the Nov. 25 Student Representative Assembly meeting, where members decided that the risks of letting 17and 18-year-old students into the
YOSEIF HADDAD SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR
TwelvEighty will continue to allow campus groups to book all-ages evening events at the venue.
club outweighed the rewards. The original proposal was to make the change effective Jan. 1, but members were wary of upsetting current underage students and preferred to wait until a new crop of first-years come to McMaster. Currently, the bar allows a maximum of 25 underage patrons in at a time on typical club nights. Before Spekkens and other members of the management took
over, around when Quarters was re-branded to TwelvEighty in 2009, up to 50 minors were permitted to enter. He explained that, to make the club nights more manageable, that number was decreased, and all patrons (not just underage ones) were given coloured wristbands to help bartenders make age distinctions. Alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic ones are also served in different
sized cups so that security can tell if a minor is holding an alcoholic beverage. “There have been steps to try to improve the offering and still keep it inclusive,” said Spekkens. But now that the SRA has made the change, “it will be our challenge as managers to keep this place a thriving business entity.” SEE MINORS, A4
Marching band fee headed to referendum SRA passes motion to allow club to ask for a levy of $0.90 per student Sam Colbert
“We’ve been doing a lot of it on our own,” he said, “but it’s gotten to Executive Editor the point where we need funding to Three years ago, Joshua Patenaude continue on.” attended the very first general meetWhen the student body votes ing of the McMaster Marching for the McMaster Students Union’s Band. next president in January, a referIt was small then. It had just re- endum question will appear on the ceived ratification as an MSU club, ballot. It will ask whether students and was finding its feet with meager are willing to pay $0.90 each annufunding and only a few members. ally (indexed to CPI) to support McBut now that the Band has Master’s marching band. grown in size and in reputation, If passed, the fee would provide Patenaude, who is now group’s the band with close to $19,000 next president, feels that it’s time to move year. forward. The money would go to costs
like buying and repairing instruments, renting practicing space, investing in new uniforms, paying instructors and covering fees charged to play at certain events. “We think this [money] will go a long way to sustain the band and to keep it open to the McMaster community,” said Patenaude. Western University has had a marching band since 1938. The Queen’s Bands have been around since 1905. Students wishing to join the marching band will continue to pay a membership fee, likely in the
SAM COLBERT EXECUTIVE EDITOR
The McMaster Marching Band performs on Sterling Street for Open Streets McMaster in September.
$65-$75 range, said Patenaude. The added money will, though, make the band more accessible in other ways. Members will not have to provide their own instruments, and the size of the band could expand to upwards of 70 people. “If you have a passion about music, if you have a passion about committing to the spirit of McMaster, we want to make that a reality for you. We don’t want obstacles in the way,” said Patenaude. The referendum was approved by the SRA at its Nov. 25 meeting. In order to get a referendum on the presidential election ballot, a student must either collect the signatures of three per cent of the fulltime undergraduate student body (roughly 600 signatures) or get approval from the SRA. As they put together a proposal for the latter, the Marching Band was also collecting signatures. By the meeting, they had collected 391. The Marching Band had initially asked the SRA to approve a proposal for a $1 fee per student. According to their budgeting, that number would cover operating expenses while leaving a little wiggle room for growth or unanticipated capital purchases. The Assembly chose to instead approve $0.90, which would only cover the expected operating costs. Balloting for the MSU presidential election, and for the referendum, will take place from Jan. 29 to 31.
Paradise found: Mac adds Cootes buffer zone near lot M Julia Redmond Assistant News Editor
If you looked at early photos of the McMaster campus, you might notice that it looks drastically different than it does today. In the 82 years Mac has spent in this city, the school has grown, more buildings were put up to accommodate the growing population, and the campus expanded to take up more of the surrounding area. But in early November, the administration took a major step towards bringing Mac back to its roots. The President’s Advisory Committee on Cootes Paradise (PACCP) announced on Nov. 9 that a 30-metre buffer zone would be created between parking lot M, on west campus, and the nearby Ancaster Creek. The implementation of the buffer will mean the lot will lose 318 parking spots, according to the Hamilton Conservation Authority. The lot currently has 1,400 transponders for staff and students, and approximately 1,300 spots. According to Gord Arbeau, McMaster’s Director of Public and Community Relations, the use of the lot is spread out over the week, so the loss of the additional space is not expected to have an effect on the availability of parking. The area that is now occupied by parking lots M, N, O and P was the floodplain area for Ancaster Creek. It wasn’t until McMaster took possession of this portion of the Royal Botanical Gardens land in the 1960s that the floodplain was paved. Randy Kay, a local environmental activist, said this change has been a long time coming. “This is a very integral part of the puzzle,” he explained. “It is a huge, important piece of the larger Cootes Paradise recovery.” Kay is the organizer of Restore Cootes, an environmental group dedicated to the revitalization of the area surrounding McMaster. The group has been leading “Ponds to Parking” hikes since December 2011 to spread awareness of the issue. Kay also submitted a letter to the University Planning Committee in March 2011 encouraging the administration to take on the wetland restoration project, but did not have any success at the time. SEE BUFFER, A4
Design
Jeremy Freiburger is repurposing Hamilton’s old buildings to suit the development of the arts community See C3