The Silhouette - Oct 6

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McMASTER UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWSPAPER / THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

The Silhouette

YOUR VOICE ON CAMPUS

Est. 1930

VOLUME 82, NO. 8

Deane focused on program quality to know the university and trying to understand what our strengths are and how we should think about the Nearly a year and a half into his future for the university and where term at McMaster, President and we should be going,” said Deane in Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane an interview on Wednesday, Oct. 6. says he’s settled in to the McMaster With an emphasis on the qualcommunity, and after spending a ity of education at McMaster, its year getting to know the university, relationship with the surrounding Deane is looking ahead to the insti- community, and research, Deane tution’s future has outlined a direction for the uni “I spent last year trying to get versity in the coming five years. In a Farzeen Foda

Senior News Editor

letter addressed to the university, he expressed his vision in the hope that his words will illicit discussion and reflection among faculty, to engage those who can effect change.

While McMaster stands at this time with a history of excellence with respect to research, quality of education and external relations, the University has immense potential resting in its future. “Because we are already very active in each of

these areas, I don’t have to reinvent it,” said Deane, acknowledging the fact that McMaster is already an extraordinary institution. The intent is to build on what McMaster has already achieved and refine those areas that can push the University to greater heights “What I’m interested to see is whether departments can take this letter to heart and turn their critical minds upon their programs,” said

NOT ON OUR WATCH: McMaster fans join in the festivities at Mac Homecoming. See SPORTS for more.

Deane. Once some ideas have been established, a team of faculty interested in taking on an administrative role will have the opportunity to consolidate the ideas, to develop a more specific direction.

“The purpose of this whole thing is to make the undergraduate experience at this University the best you can have anywhere, and the great thing is that we’re well • PLEASE SEE DEANE, A4

INSIDE THE SIL ANDY

ANDY CHECKS IN WITH FRENCH CANADIAN ROCKERS MALAJUBE AS THEY HEAD TO HAMILTON. SEE D8

OPINIONS

Election campaigning wraps up Party leaders hit the road to gather last-minute votes Brian Decker Executive Editor

Polls differ on voter intentions: Wednesday’s last-minute campaigning in the Ontario provincial election comes with the voter intentions still very much up in the air, with a new poll suggesting the Liberals nearing the possibility of a majority government.

An Ipsos Reid poll conducted for Global News, CFRB NewsTalk 1010 and the Ottawa Citizen suggested Wednesday 41 per cent of decided voters are prepared to support the Liberals, with 31 per cent supporting the Progressive Conservatives and 25 per cent leaning towards the NDP. The Liberals won a majority in

2007 with 42.25% of the popular vote. As late as July, poll suggested a hefty double-digit lead for the Progressive Conservatives.

A Toronto Star Angus Reid poll, however, painted a very different picture, suggesting a 36 per cent total for the Progressive Conservatives, a 33 per cent total for the Liberals and 26 for the NDP. The Star poll is a statistical dead heat, accounting for margin of error.

Party leaders hit the road again: With one day to go in campaigning, Ontario’s hopeful governing parties dug in their fingers and repeated their core messages to try and haul in as many votes as possible for the Oct. 6 provincial election.

On Wednesday, the parties stuck

to their core messages in hopes of rising to the top of what has largely been a campaign season without a clear favourite.

NDP leader Andrea Horwath spent the day on an eight-stop journey across southern Ontario from Niagara Falls to Oshawa. Horwath told the Canadian Press the result of the Manitoba election on Oct. 4, which saw the NDP re-elected with a majority, was a “smart choice.”

PC leader Tim Hudak spent the day at six stops around of the GTA, and stayed on message by trashing McGuinty’s record of breaking election promises. “Do you want four more years of the same under Dalton McGuinty, or do you want change with a PC government?”

Hudak told the Globe and Mail.

THE ‘ETHICAL OIL’ CAMPAIGNS ARE IGNORING THE ETHICAL PROBLEMS OF THE TAR SANDS

SEE A7

INSIDEOUT

McGuinty made three stops on Wednesday while positioning his party as the only one suited to manage Ontario’s fragile economy and health care systems. “The Horwath Hudak PCs will take Ontario off track,” said a Liberal press release.

Bratina endorses Grits: Hamilton mayor Bob Bratina entered the fray on Wednesday, going outside of traditional protocol to endorse Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal party.

Bratina cited the Liberal party’s commitment to all-day GO train service being expanded to Hamilton as a reason for supporting the party, saying electing the Liberals offers the “surest way to continue the progress of the last four years.”

SAY TATA TO THE TATTOO TABOO: INSIDEOUT LOOKS AT THE CHANGING STIGMA OF BODY INK. SEE C6

SPORTS

LONG ROAD BACK: Faced with a dangerous staph infection, Mac runner Andrew Yorke’s career - and life - once hung in the balance. Now, he’s overcome all odds to become one of the best triathletes in the world.

Fraser Caldwell tells his story on page S4

MAC QB MARSHALL FERGUSON POLISHES OFF HIS THIRD WIN IN THREE STARTS SEE S2

the

PRESIDENT’S PAGE Duncan Thompson VP (Finance)

Katie Ferguson VP (Administration)

Matthew Dillon-Leitch President

Alicia Ali VP (Education)

McMASTER STUDENTS UNION RELEASES FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010-2011 MSU performs above expectations and sets positive trend towards the future

Duncan Thompson VP (Finance) vpfinance@msu.mcmaster.ca ext. 24109

This year, the McMaster Students Union (MSU) received its audited financial statements from KPMG LLP (examining the fiscal year 20102011). Having had our statements reviewed by Deloitte for the past several years, it was time to get a new perspective, a common strategy in order to keep our books professional and accurate. By performing an annual independent and impartial audit, the MSU is able to maintain a high level of accountability for our financial actions during the fiscal year, as well as present an accurate, transparent document for public release. I am pleased to report that numerous positive trends were indentified in the MSU’s audited statements for the fiscal year of 2010-2011.

For the past few years, the MSU experienced a tendency of increasing expenditures at a greater rate than our revenues could match. This trend culminated in a deficit of $958,190 in the fiscal year of 2009/2010. That deficit was a result of several things, but the largest single contributing factor was the $678,192 deficit accumulated by the student health insurance plan, incurred that year.

In 2010/2011, focus shifted and our budget got an updated look. The budget drafted was intended to create an accurate financial guideline for the organization. Said budget projected a loss of $402,309 for the fiscal year of 2010/2011. In early 2010, this painted a relatively negative picture and demanded action to steer us back on course and see positive results.

Expectations were set by the Board of Directors during 2010/2011 to lower expenses by 5% regardless of an increase in sales, in order to guarantee a positive result at the end of the fiscal year. That being said, the management teams of our services and businesses stepped up in a major way and realized some very impressive changes. The projected budgeted deficit of $402,309 was overcome

significantly. In fact, the MSU was able to improve upon that figure by $253,231. A deficit of $149,078 was achieved.

Furthermore, what is so promising about this figure is that it incorporates all activity of the MSU and its funds. If you take a moment to examine the financials of each fund separately, you’ll find that the Operating Fund, which constitutes all business and service transactions of the MSU, reported a surplus of $68,468. Furthermore CFMU Inc. reported a surplus of $136,160. The deficit we achieved is mainly the result of the health and dental plans offered by the MSU. Combined, the two insurance plans represented a total loss of $353,927 in 2010/2011. Fear not however, this issue has been corrected, I will explain how in just a moment.

First, let me be clear that the ‘loss’ seen in the two plans does not affect the daily finances of the organization, as there are dedicated funds for both plans, accrued over time by the very same insurance plans, which are used to buffer the MSU in situations such as this, giving us time to correct the

problem. This loss was mainly due to the rising cost of administering the two plans. In the 2009/2010 fiscal year, the plans saw a large increase in claimants as compared to years prior, meaning more students were using the MSU operated health and dental plans.

Due to the increase in the number of claimants, premiums increased to keep up with demand. However the student fee was not adjusted to match the increase, therefore users of the plans were paying less than it cost to actually insure them. This issue has since been corrected and the plan’s admin fees have been altered in order

to match actual premium costs. We As I mentioned earlier, during can expect that due to these efforts, the year in question we saw significant the health and dental plans should improvements to the business operate smoothly for 2011/2012. It is operations of our student union. important to note that even with a fee TwelvEighty saw an increase in sales increase, both plans remain optional of $268,851 over the previous year, and any student wishing to opt- while managing to simultaneously out may do so by decrease costs September 30th of by $30,000. This each year to receive achievement a full refund. I’m resulted in a $300K very happy to report improvement that this essential over the results If you take a mostudent service is of 2009-2010. ment to examine once again back on Furthermore, the financials ... the track.

Underground Operating Fund, During the Media & Design, which constitutes auditing process, a service whose our accounting results are very all business and practices are important to service transacexamined and issues me personally, tions of the MSU, or deficiencies managed a net reported a surplus are identified in profit of $14,804 of $68,468. order to make in 2010/2011, sure we have the while the previous opportunity to respond before they fiscal year saw a loss of $6,468. Once turn into serious problems. This year again, these results demonstrate a I’m proud to report that no significant very strong turn-around from two internal control deficiencies were years ago to the fiscal year 2010-2011. reported. KPMG identified a few Lastly, Union Market was another small issues that we should correct area of great improvement. During 2010/2011, Union Market reported net revenue of $70,260 where as the previous fiscal year 2009/2010, they reported net revenue of $1,734.

That represents more than a 4000% positive change from two years ago to last year.

All of the changes listed and presented here represent outstanding positive steps that are being taken by the organization to once again reach profitability. I look forward to continuing in the positive direction with the help and support of every member of the organization. We have in order to be more effective. One already made efforts to adhere to a 5% such issue is the lack of an investment cut on expenses this year, as often as policy. Currently, the MSU does not possible. We are looking at systems have an investment policy regarding to more closely monitor spending how investment is done and what vs. allocation, and we are constantly kind of risk the organization is willing striving to improve sales & service to assume within our investment delivery. Expect great service and a portfolio. Furthermore, nothing good financial year from your MSU in exists to align our mission and goals 2011/2012. with our investment strategies as an organization. This is something that Please visit the MSU website can be undertaken and most likely (www.msu.mcmaster.ca) to review developed this year and will give us the complete file: Financial an organizational position on risk Statements of McMaster Students tolerance and investment practices Union Incorporated, year ended moving forward.

April 30, 2011.

“

It’s Election Day in Ontario. Here at the MSU, we don’t care who you vote for, we just care that you vote. Vote today! www.votinggetsresults.ca

www.wemakevotingeasy.ca

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.msu.mcmaster.ca

THE SILHOUETTE • A3

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

Newsbites

McMaster Peace Week

Complied by Dina Fanara, Karianne Matte, and Alex Rockingham.

Illustrations by Joy Santiago New cell tower installed at Mac A new cell phone tower was installed on the roof of Togo Salmon Hall on Sept. 28 in hopes of improving service for users of the Rogers wireless network. The project, a joint initiative between Rogers, University Technology Services and McMaster Purchasing Resources, is aimed at fixing recent issues users of the network have had with placing and receiving calls and using the BlackBerry Messenger service on campus.

Study gives insight into smokers’ addictions

JEFF TAM / SILHOUETTE STAFF

The memory and works of Gandhi were honoured by the McMaster community at an outdoor reception held on Oct. 3.

Gandhi’s peace efforts recognized

A University of Western Ontario study has provided answers to why smokers may become addicted to nicotine after their first cigarette. Scientists discovered which specific dopamine receptor subtype in the brain determines a person’s initial sensitivity to the drug and, as a result, were able to manipulate the receptors to control whether the nicotine was processed as rewarding or aversive.

Unveiling of statue at the heart of McMaster campus symbolic of University’s international ties “Through honouring Gandhi,” added Peace Week continues until Oct.7 and Singh, “McMaster shows its commitment to will feature numerous events, including live students’ development and their future readi- music during lunch, evening workshops and McMaster’s Peace Week began with the un- ness for local, national and international en- a candlelight vigil to stop violence against veiling of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi on gagement in making a better world for us all.” women.

Oct. 3 outside the McMaster University Stu- The Peace Festival aspires to promote In politically and economically tumultudent Centre. Patrick Deane, President and nonviolence, peace and justice while provid- ous times, Singh shared what he felt was GanVice-Chancellor of McMaster, and Preeti ing an avenue for various peace and human dhi’s most relevant teaching for McMaster Saran, Consul General of India in Toronto, rights organizations within the local com- students: “Understand your enemy’s position were present at the event. munity to become collectively visible. to help make your enemy your friend.”

The statue, donated by the Government Following the theme of exchanging Education and the quest for knowledge of India, will reside permanently in Mills Me- dialogues and resources, Singh also hoped were held in high esteem for Gandhi throughmorial Library, promoting efforts to spread that “students become energized by seeing out his life and journey.

Gandhi’s legacy of peace. the statue and that Mills Library, which Being an academic himself, he recog McMaster’s Peace Week is part of the also houses Bertrand Russell’s papers, will nized the importance of education and imAnnual Gandhi Peace Festival and Peace become an educational pilgrimage for stu- parted that wisdom to his followers as he led Walk, which celebrated its 19th year on Satur- dents and visitors.”

India to independence. day, Oct. 1.

“The statue will serve as a constant reminder that honesty, integrity and hard work will pay off in more ways than one,” said Dr. Rama Singh, a professor of Biology and Peace Studies and Chair of the Peace Festival. “It will help build character.”

Prior to the unveiling, Deane echoed some of Gandhi’s words, and expressed how this representation of Gandhi is symbolic of the views that McMaster upholds with reDina Fanara spect to education.

Upon commencing his lecture, Folk ex “This underlines the importance of Assistant News Editor pressed how impressed he was with McGandhi, not only as an historical figure, but as Master. He commended the campus for a symbolic representation of him at the heart Among the many highlights of this year’s having a rare community that is very conof our campus, because of course, Gandhi’s Peace Week was the 14th Annual Mahatma nected to the teachings of Gandhi. One of his values must be our values as an institution Gandhi Lecture of Nonviolence. The title of first points of discussion was his fascination that seeks to shape and form a desirable soci- this year’s lecture was “Toward a Nonviolent with Gandhi’s “romance with the politically Geopolitics: Attainable and Necessary”. ety for us all in the future.” unimaginable.”

McMaster has, in recent years, begun Prior to the lecture presented by Richard Folk spoke on a number of Gandhi’s expanding its reputation globally with num- Folk, professor of Politics and International views, including his strongly held belief that erous partnerships and has strengthened rela- Affairs at Princeton Univerthe Jews in Nazi Germany tionships with institutions around the world, sity, Nibaldo Galleguillos, should have stayed in the most notably in India. Deane reflected on the professor of Political Sciand non-violently The goal of this country recent Research and Development Forum at ence at McMaster University, defied Hitler’s regime.

McMaster, which featured leaders from high- introduced this year’s installecture series is He believed that this ranking institutions around India as well as a ment of the lecture series. peaceful defiance of the Nazis According to Gall- to further develop would have eventually led host of other countries.

“We’re in the process of building our re- eguillos, “the goal of this them to see the error of their the concept lationships with Indian universities, and most lecture series is to further deways, resulting in the end and practice recently at our successful Research and De- velop the concept and pracof the mass genocide, that velopment Forum we met with and planned tice of nonviolence through claimed the lives of millions of nonvioence to cooperate with deans from five or six top dialogue.” of innocent civilians. through The lecture series “was Indian institutions.”

One focal point of Folk’s Deane further explained, “it is important initiated by the India Canada lecture was Gandhi’s hostildialogue.” on an occasion like this to reflect on some of Society of Canada, and is ity towards modernity, as seen the details on our relationship with India, as funded almost exclusively by through many of his demonan institution,” crediting initiatives of Mc- private donations.” strations and teachings throughout his life.

Master’s Centre for Peace Studies, as well The speech was intended to honour Gan- Gandhi felt that the atomic bomb was the as research relationships with several Indian dhi’s life-long achievements and ground- most diabolical development by science to breaking works in nonviolence. schools. date.

Echoing the 2011 Festival theme of “No This year’s lecture was presented by Throughout his life, Gandhi consistently to Fear – Yes to Peace” on Oct.4, Professor Folk. Folk officially retired from Princeton in demonstrated against and questioned social Hilal Elver, Visiting Fullbright Professor at 2001, but has since continued to give lectures and political norms, holding a firm faith in McGill University, spoke about “Reflections on a part-time basis. He will return to teach- what he believed until his death. ing next year as a professor of Politics and Folk stated that, “the political greatness on Islamophobia in North America”.

The lectures and events held throughout International Affairs. of Gandhi was his mastery of ‘politics from the week aim to serve as ways to remember As prefaced by Dr. Nancy Doubleday , below’.”

Gandhi and to follow his principles in a time professor of Peace Studies at McMaster, Folk Gandhi’s leadership was such that he is the author of over 20 books in the fields of acted on the ground level, at the same level as of global unrest and turmoil.

“Educational institutions around the peace studies and political sciences, and has those whom he intended to help. world are rediscovering Gandhi and his phil- previously served in a volunteer position on He maintained this leadership style thrugosophy of peace, nonviolence and communal the Human Rights Council of the United Na- hout his journey to independence, until his astions. harmony,” said Singh. sassination in 1948.

Bushra Habib The Silhouette

Annual lecture incites dialogue on nonviolence

Hamilton Police on the hunt for female muggers A Hamiltonian woman was assaulted and robbed by two other women in a parking lot near Hess Village on Sept. 29. Police said that the woman was walking to her car in a parking lot near Main Street West and Hess Street West at around 1 a.m. when she was attacked.

Police said one of the aggressors was a white female of small build, and no description of the other suspect was available.

Running may slow the effects of aging: Mac study According to a recent McMaster study, a regular routine of exercise can prolong lifespan, even in the face of a family history of disease. Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky and his colleagues at McMaster are gathering volunteers for further research in the wake of a groundbreaking study that showed a group of black mice to be in significantly better health in the face of aging and poor lifespan genetics.

Justin Crane, a doctoral student in kinesiology, is recruiting participants to see whether regular exercise would have a similar effect on humans.

First Year Council election results Congratulations to those elected to the MSU First Year Council for the 2011-2012 academic year. Chair Kurtis Berg, Vice-Chair Jimmy Long, Events Director Lindsay French, Communications Director Sarah Simpson and Advocacy Director Christine Ung each put forth an excellent campaign effort. A detailed breakdown of the election results is available on the McMaster Students Union website.

A4 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

Academic Engagement

Farzeen Foda

Senior News Editor

JOY SANTIAGO / MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

Every research project starts at Wikipedia. It’s every physician’s go-to spot for quick information, and it’s every academic’s dirty little secret.

Executives from the online encyclopaedia came to McMaster on Oct. 4, hoping to change the way students and faculty view the resource.

Since its inception in 2001, Wikipedia has grown considerably in its depth and popularity among health care professionals and the general population. That rise to fame has of course met with immense scrutiny and criticism along the way.

Every student has been told never to cite Wikipedia in their research papers, and professors are well-versed in the regular speech about assessing the credibility of online sources of information.

The potential for Wikipedia in the classroom, however, is immense.

Christopher Mackie, Associate Medical Officer of Health for Hamilton’s Public Health Services, Jonathan Obar, professor of communications studies at Michigan State University, and James Heilman,

emergency medicine physician and president of Wikimedia Canada, gathered with McMaster students and faculty for a discussion about how the editing feature of the online encyclopaedia can be a teaching tool as well as a route for universities to share their knowledge on the online platform.

Each month, 150 to 200 million views on the English-language Wikipedia are medical queries.

With 365 million readers and an estimated 14 per cent of those viewers visiting the website daily, it is imperative that academics get on board.

“This is where the world is getting its information. Thus, this is where we need to be providing said information,” said Heilman.

“I believe strongly that physicians have an obligation to their population to provide accurate healthcare knowledge. A lack of health information is a public health issue and one that Wikipedia seems best situated to address.”

While Wikipedia may be used as a place to begin for medical queries, the same applies to academic work.

“It is a starting point, a method to get a quick overview of the topic at hand, and for an overview of the available literature,” said Heli-

Celebrating Diversity

Mac tunes into sitar culture

man. “The people who have gotten in trouble from using Wikipedia did not verify its content.”

He added, “With respect to the use of Wikipedia as a reference in academic research, yes I think this should be strongly discouraged.”

Obar echoed a similar sentiment, explaining his discontent with students who cited Wikipedia in their assignments.

He also noted that, “as a teaching tool, Wikipedia is one of the most innovative tools.” Obar suggested having students make submissions to Wikipedia so that both research and writing skills are being developed, with the added media literacy component, and so that feedback can come from both professionals and non-professionals alike.

“I hope to see students’ assignments increasingly including improving the content of Wikipedia rather than having a student put in work to write a paper that ends up in some prof’s drawer, never to be read again,” said Heilman, explaining that engaging students in online academia through Wikipedia can give them the opportunity to write something that can make a difference.

A 2010 pilot project run by Wikipedia recruited professors to

get their students involved with the process of editing submissions in an effort to improve the credibility and reputation of Wikipedia. Over 800 students were involved in the project from a range of American universities.

Once submissions or changes are made to Wikipedia, there is a team of individuals dedicated to verifying the information in each and every article.

The current peer review process is not very formal, however, and relies heavily on overall consensus when evaluating edits made to submissions, resulting in as few as one quarter of all articles being deemed high quality.

It is for this reason that Wikipedia is reaching out to universities to contribute their skills and expertise in increasing the quality and credibility of the information available through the online encyclopaedia.

In an effort to engage university students, a $1,000 scholarship has been established by Wikimedia Canada.

The scholarship will be awarded to the student who makes the most significant contribution to a diseaserelated article on Wikepedia.

The deadline for the application is Feb. 28, 2012.

‘Holistic view’ needed • CONT’D FROM A1

and try to find a way to strengthen those programs without necessarily capping enrolment or making more exclusive programs,” said Deane, explaining that reducing enrolment may not be the best route to the envisioned change.

McMaster’s considerable growth in research has garnered immense support and recognition, leaving the University well equipped to thrive in this area.

Deane noted that if the current government remains in power, universities will be expected to sign a Strategic Enrolment Agreement, thus differentiating universities into research intensive institutions and more teaching oriented schools.

Deane stressed that McMaster is not an institution in which research occurs independently of education and as such, a compromise in either area puts the success of the University in jeopardy.

With his letter to the University, Deane hopes to spark discussion about how the undergraduate experience can be revitalized to bring McMaster to the top of its calibre. This will require new ways of thinking about teaching and learning, “in the old days, the model of a professor standing at the front of the room talking at you made some sense because you didn’t have that direct access to information that you do now,” said Deane, crediting the numerous ways technology has found its way into the classroom.

Deane stressed a more holistic view with respect to invoking change to undergraduate education, encouraging the University to look at the whole degree rather than just individual courses.

In his letter, Deane sets the tone for sparking change, however he noted, “I don’t want anyone to see this piece as a demand for junking all the old stuff, and putting in the new, and the only thing that is good is the new. That is not what I’m about at all. I think there are things we do very well and we want to retain them.”

equipped to do that because of our history with research and the kind of city Hamilton is. Not every city will give you the opportunity for city engagement the way this one does, and in the process you can improve the city,” said Deane, alluding to the intricate interplay between the three factors.

In the process of developing new ideas, Deane hopes that those involved will not hesitate to ask questions and will be open to experimentation. “I want people to feel free to experiment. Not every experiment will work out, and some will be great,” said Deane.

The University currently boasts numerous benchmark programs that have been used as a platform for the ideal learning experience. The Bachelor of Health Sciences Program, the Department of Arts and Sciences and the newest addition, the Integrated Science Program exhibit a range of learning techniques, including experiential learning as well as problem based learning.

One key feature of these programs is that they have limited enrolment, which is credited as the root of the successes of these programs. The large class sizes representative of other more general programs are often limited in their capacity to include more interactive Partha Bose playing a sitar, a traditional instrument of India, as part of Culture Days at Mac. teaching styles, as methods incorporated in the smaller programs simply do not work.

Julia Redmond tune, but you won’t feel the waves,” the sitar music. “I don’t know why Deane acknowledged this barThe Silhouette Bose pointed out as he plucked out we move, but we move,” Bose com- rier, noting that while many tech the notes of such well-known pieces mented between songs. niques cannot be translated to a In the midst of the excitement of as “Fur Elise” and the Sound of Once the lecture and demon- larger classroom setting, numerous homecoming weekend, there was Music’s “Do Re Mi”, which he de- stration portion was done, Bose and methods can. With collaboration an oasis of calm and music. scribed as “flat.” his accompanists devoted the rest of between faculties and departments, Renowned sitar player Partha He used this as a basis for com- the session to playing Indian music. these ideas can be shared and new Bose came to McMaster on Oct.1 parison to Indian folk music. Note Not only was the music he pro- options can be considered. for a lecture and performance. His ornamentations, or alankar, as they duced beautiful, his instrument was, Given the success of smaller, presentation gave the audience a are called in India, are the key dif- too; the sitar, a long-necked, fretted more exclusive programs, the shift taste of classical Indian music. ference between Western music and instrument, called to mind an acous- to developing more such programs Students, faculty, and commun- Indian music, adding flavour and tic guitar or a banjo, but it produced may seem to be a natural next step, ity members alike gathered in the colour that don’t exist in the West. a much richer, exotic sound. Bose however, “one of our goals as educaEwart Angus Room of the Health In playing examples of Indian played the complex-looking instru- tors is to make sure that our general Sciences Centre for the session, folk music, Bose showed the intri- ment with the serenity and ease of a programs are outstandingly good, which took place as part of Culture cacy of the genre to the audience. true professional.

Days at McMaster.

“The Boatman’s Song”, a tradition- Not to be underappreciated was Culture Days is an annual, al folk tune, showcased the haunt- accompanist Indranil Mallick, who volunteer-led event that gives Can- ing reverberation that is character- played the tabla, two small drums adians the opportunity to expose istic of the sitar. Though a relatively that traditionally accompany the themselves to the arts and culture in pedestrian song, it was decorated sitar. He produced a diverse range their communities through lecture, with trills and slides. of sounds with speed and rhythm performance and demonstration. “They’ve seen, smelled India,” that repeatedly drew cheers from Last year was its first year.

Bose said of the folk musicians who the audience.

Bose hails from Calcutta, India. play such pieces, “so they use orna- As well as being a lecture and His training on the sitar has been mentation instinctively.” performance, the event served as going on for decades, and he’s spe- The song, like others on the a fundraiser; donations were welcialized in Indian classical music. sitar, was meant to evoke the feeling comed for the purpose of buying a Sitting cross-legged at the front of waves. Bose, an experienced per- water ambulance for people in need of the room, surrounded by instru- former, was able to whisk his audi- in the Sundurbans area of India. ments, he talked through the con- ence away and give them a taste of The event was sponsored by cept of “note ornamentation”. his nation. The audience listened in- The Malhar Group, a not-for-profit To explain the idea, he began by tently, nodding and humming along. arts organization dedicated to proplaying traditional Western music Both audience and performer moting Indian music, and was run on the sitar. “You might like the were moved by the intricacies of in partnership with OPIRG. Patrick Deane reflects on the future of McMaster University.

YULIN HU / THE SILHOUETTE

SILHOUETTE FILE PHOTO

THE SILHOUETTE • A5

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

Provincial Election

Feed back

Mayor endorses Who do you political think will win in upcoming candidate the provincial elecBrian Decker Executive Editor

Controversy erupted on Wednesday, Oct. 5 when Hamilton mayor Bob Bratina announced his endorsement of the Ontario Liberal Party in the Oct. 6 Provincial election, prompting criticism from councillor Terry Whitehead.

Bratina announced his support for the Liberals on Wednesday, saying they were the only party that had approached his office about implementing all-day GO Train service to Hamilton.

“The surest way to continue the progress of the last four years and ensure the fulfillment of commitments to GO service… is to return the McGuinty government with a majority,” said the mayor at a Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce meeting held on Oct. 5.

It was an unusual move, as municipal mayors traditionally stay away from the endorsement of particular federal and provincial parties.

The endorsement prompted an email from Ward 8 councillor Terry Whitehead, who accused the mayor of hypocrisy after having holding the councillor accountable for acts of partisanship in his role on the Fairness to Hamilton Committee.

“The mayor today endorsed the Provincial Liberal government and has entrenched himself in partisan politics,” said Whitehead in the email. Whitehead asked Bratina to resign from the Fairness to Hamilton Committee.

Bratina responded by stating that the Fairness to Hamilton Committee will not be meeting until after the election, that his endorsement would have no effect on the committee and that Whitehead should apologize publicly for his statement.

“I’m asking [councillor] Whitehead to apologize publicly for the dishonourable statement he made and commit to working in an open and positive way with the Mayor and Council in the best interests of the City,” said Bratina in a response.

Bratina said that neither Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives nor Andrea Horwath’s NDP have been in contact with him about expanding GO service to Hamilton.

“I’m convinced these initiatives will be lost if this government is not returned,” said Bratina as part of his endorsement.

The Liberal GO Train plans promise twoway, all day service seven days a week and are planned to create 68,000 jobs throughout Ontario.

tion?

Compiled by Ricardo Padilla and Farzeen Foda

The Conservatives - Simon Filice

The Liberals - Christina Pugliese

Research Partnerships

Funding for Mac professor Kacper Niburski

Assistant News Editor

While the automotive industry remains in doldrums, McMaster University, through collaboration with Ford Motor Company (Ford) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), is driving into the future of hybrid powertrains technology.

On Sept. 26, a $2.5-million partnership between McMaster, Ford and NSERC – the NSERC/Ford/McMaster Industrial Research Chair in Hybrid/Electric Vehicle (HEV) Powertrain Diagnostics – was announced, to which professor Saeid Habibi, recipient of the Research Excellence Award on Green Auto Powertrain, was named inaugural chair.

The funding, which will be distributed over a five year period, comes as a response to the anticipated McMaster Automotive Resource Centre (MARC), which was announced on Aug. 24.

Calling for 80,000 square feet of space, with a footprint of 50,000 square feet and an upper level of 30,000 square feet, MARC is to be built at McMaster’s Innovation Park.

The current location was home to the appliance manufacturer Camco, and as such, much of the withstanding structural integrity can be maintained with comparatively little demolition.

The MARC further requires more than $26 million in funding – $22 million of which will be necessary for renovations and construction while $4.7-million would facilitate various equipment needs.

The funding announcement by NSERC, Ford and McMaster is one of the many expected to cover the equipment needs segment of the MARC required cost.

Much of the $2.5-million will focus on the research spearheaded by Habibi. In addition to being the inaugural chair-holder of the fund, Habibi is the chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McMaster, as well as one of the foremost researchers named in the Province’s $26-million Green Auto Powertrain initiative announced in 2008.

Habibi’s research focuses mostly on the development of diagnostic strategies for advanced vehicles run on hybrid powertrain systems. Among the many projects, in-vehicle monitoring and fault detection systems stand as the most noteworthy.

“This is an incredible opportunity for our students and researchers to work on industrially relevant projects with their peers at Ford,” said Habibi. “Their findings will significantly impact the future generation of vehicles.”

Patrick Deane, McMaster’s president and vice-chancellor, agreed.

“These types of collaborations demonstrate how universities transfer their knowledge and ingenuity directly to industry and society,” he said. “Ford, NSERC and my colleagues at McMaster have demonstrated vision and leadership in supporting this work in Canada.”

With the establishment of the MARC, which should be completed by 2011 and employ between 120 to 150 people, only more of these “collaborations” are expected.

A6 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

EDITORIAL

editor’s extension: 22052 letters: thesil@thesil.ca

Don’t let this protest go to waste

The Silhouette McMaster University’s Student Newspaper

TheSil.ca

Have you heard of the Occupy Wall Street protests? Maybe you’ve heard that they’re coming to Toronto soon.

Maybe you’ve heard that they don’t have a coherent message, or that it’s a bunch of hippies getting in the way of things.

In case you haven’t, the protests are a sort of fusion of ideas from environmental protest to anti-capitalism to (most prominently) a cry for an end to income inequality. It’s not about any one of those messages, but, at the same time, it’s about all of them.

Protests under the Occupy Wall Street name have been taking place in New York and across the United States.

Next week, it will be coming to Bay Street in Toronto.

You may not have heard of Occupy Wall Street because many mainstream media outlets haven’t decided how or if to cover it. In fact, if you’re like me, you may have heard that mainstream media outlets were not covering Occupy Wall Street before you even know what the protest was.

It’s really a disenfranchised group looking for answers to why their world is bleak and hopeless when it should be a breeding ground for prosperity. Instead of cementing their status in the working world as young adults with careers and families and lives, they’re trying to get their foot in a harsh, shuttering door.

Beyond their own hardships and grievances, it’s a group looking for broader change to the financial system that, increasingly, looks unable to carry the burden of keeping America’s significance alive.

Rightly or wrongly, much of the established world has turned its back on the protesters. Mainstream media have been reluctant to give salience to the protesters’ message and quick to dismiss the protests on the grounds that they don’t have a coherent message or realistic goals.

For many involved and even some who aren’t, it’s a worthy cause – whatever it is. Wealth inequality has always been a problem, but perhaps hasn’t ever caused a boiling point of anger like has recently, and the foundations of the banking system are unsustainable and dangerous in trying to keep the economy afloat.

But here’s the tricky part: a significant portion – but not everyone, since the cause is so fragmented – want to go on a witch hunt and find a few bankers to blame for the mess we’re all in.

It’s their argument that since a small part of the population owns a disproportionate amount of wealth, a similarly small group must be to blame for this mess.

That sounds great. We’ll find someone to blame for the failures of global markets. Find ‘em, get rid of ‘em, and poof! We’d have a solution.

It would also be great if the East African famines were solved by a bake sale.

But a global economic problem can’t be solved by getting rid of a few supposed bad apples.

Are there individuals who work in the financial services sector who have acted irresponsibly and contributed to the poor state of the global economy? Sure. But going on a hunt to find them and blame them while needlessly harassing innocent bankers and financial workers (shocker – they’re not all evil! Some of them are, believe it or not, decent, hard-working, honest people) is not going to help.

At its heart, this is a decent cause. Even without a specific aim, it’s a powerful statement for social and economic change, an effort that has lacked tangible support from any significant group for years.

It’s got the power to change real hardship for people instead of being nightly fodder for jokes on the Daily Show and Colbert Report.

But if that’s going to happen, this movement not only needs to figure out exactly what it wants and who it’s going to try to influence. It needs to do that not only to give its message some power, but to make sure it doesn’t get dismissed as a bunch of hippies who want to lock up some fat cats in suits.

Whatever they end up calling it, the message of Occupy Wall Street can be a sane and sound request. There are obvious problems with the economic state of the western world and it’s long overdue that active members of society stop twiddling their thumbs and start exercising their civic influence on the problem.

Here’s hoping they get it right.

Editorial Board Executive Editor... Brian Decker Managing Editor... Sam Colbert Production Editor... Jonathon Fairclough Senior News Editor... Farzeen Foda Asst. News Editor... Dina Fanara Asst. News Editor... Kacper Niburski Opinions Editor... Andrew Terefenko Sports Editor... Fraser Caldwell Asst. Sports Editor... Brandon Meawasige InsideOut Editor... Natalie Timperio Asst. InsideOut Editor... Cassandra Jeffery Business Editor... Sonya Khanna Senior ANDY Editor... Jemma Wolfe ANDY Music Editor... Josh Parsons ANDY Ent. Editor... Myles Herod Senior Photo Editor... Tyler Hayward Multimedia Editor... Joy Santiago Asst. Photo Editor... Ricardo Padilla

Silhouette Staff Sandro Giordano, Ad Manager

• Brian Decker, Executive Editor

Legal The Silhouette welcomes letters to the editor in person at MUSC B110, or by email at thesil@thesil. ca. Please include name, address, and telephone number for verification only. We reserve the right to edit, condense, or reject letters and opinion articles. Opinions expressed in The Silhouette are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board, the publishers, or university officials. The Silhouette is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the McMaster Students Union. The Silhouette board of publications acts as an intermediary between the editorial board, the McMaster community, and the McMaster Students Union.

Grievances regarding The Silhouette may be forwarded in writing to: McMaster Students Union, McMaster University Student Centre, Room 201, L8S 4S4, Attn: The Silhouette Board of Publications.

The board will consider all submissions and make recommendations accordingly.

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Write for the Silhouette e-mail thesil@thesil.ca or come down to MUSC B110

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to gummy bears. to random drug tests. to the veiny monument on our wall. howdie pardiner! to the return of the nhl. primtime isn’t the same without pucks. to todd’s timbits. infinitely better than future doughnuts. to 1280. no, that’s not a typo. to steve jobs. to doctober.

Check out our paper in brilliant PDF format at our website

TheSil.ca PLUS stay tuned in the coming weeks for our new and improved website to serve all of your sil-ly needs.

We promise we haven’t sold the URL for free burritos at Jimmy Gringo’s.

If we could, we would have done it already.

AND ALSO...

Tune in to the Sil’s radio show every Thursday at 1 p.m. on CFMU, 93.3 on your dial, cfmu.msumcmaster.ca on the web.

did we upset you this week? are we blantantly offensive and unworthy of print? is this paper only good for making into a pirate hat? let us know. send us a letter and we’ll publish it right here on the editorial page. just don’t be too mean to us. thesil@thesil.ca

to squirrels running by home plate. to baseball (*james earl jones’ voice*). to fraser. a rat bastard you are not, sir.

to sam’s crushing harshness. to dying cell phones. to ‘80s high school djs. to sassy pants. you know who you are and you know what you did. to back hugs. to harrassing ethnic minorities in the office. it’s all fun and games until someone loses their dignity. to way too soon steve jobs jokes. to the nba lockout. fffffuuuuuuuuuuuuu... to fruit fly colonization. to the fruit flies who insist on eating my bananas before me.

to voting.

to my jimmy gringo’s bank diet.

to @fakedonnaskelly.

to bobbleheads.

to green’s food bank diet.

to debit cards. just because.

to ‘oh, the bus is coming!’ as my pitch for a new student-themed arkells single.

to no flak this week. booooring.

to scott feschuk. to too much moneyball.

to the lack of ‘80s music in the office this week. to the post-1280 colon protests.

THE SILHOUETTE • A7

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

OPINIONS

production office extension: 27117 opinions@thesil.ca

A crude oncoming occupation Andrew Terefenko Opinions Editor

I thought we knew better. Thought we had the higher cognitive functions that allowed us to surpass the baser needlessly rebellious instincts of our southern tea party neighbours.

Clearly, I thought wrong, and the reason is simple.

“Occupy Wall Street” is a movement sweeping America with its message of protesting the injustices of corporate America against the “99 percent” blue-collar rest of the country. That same movement spread to other major cities in the country, and manifests in the form of mass rallies in front of big financial organizations.

If it was contained there, this would not have been such a personal issue to me, but sadly, the reach of this movement is damning.

Come next week, Occupy Bay Street is starting in Toronto as a show of solidarity with our first-world “victims-in-arms” of big business. This is not a good idea.

For starters, the only reason the banks get bailed out in times of crisis, instead of the government handing you a personal cheque, is because the banks have YOUR money.

The stability of any civilized nation is largely dependant on the banks that keep its money flowing through the services that need it. It may seem cold that Obama would rather give billions to already-billionaires than give you a four or five-digit lump sum, but if those banks crash and burn, trust me in the fact that you would miss them not too long afterwards.

Then there is the protest itself. The stupid, rash, abhorrent plan of planting a mess of feet in front of an arbitrary location and shouting to “be heard.” Not that I am denouncing the idea of protesting injustice and speaking out against evildoers, but this is not the right way to go about solving this issue.

Protesting the banks, not letting workers in, disrupting the police force and harassing the institutions is only serving the purpose of slowing the recovery effort down. By protesting the evils of Wall Street, Bay Street, and that last street in Monopoly, you are making things worse every day in the manner that you people go about it.

There are things you can do though, that are not obstructive, stupid and just plain misguided. If you want policy to change, attack the policy makers. Write letters to your representative politicians and premiers and go

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The protesting of major financial centres around the world is an absurd way to try and spur real changes in the economy. camp outside of parliament if you insist on doing something outdoors-y instead of civil.

Occupying Bay Street is the equivalent of using a lawnmower to remove weeds instead of ripping them out at their roots. You are only making yourself feel better temporarily, but you are not working towards real change.

I will be damned if I let these venomous ideas enter the Great White North. We are supposed to be the level-headed hat of North America, and when we fall so easily to the temptation of these grand, fruitless movements, it makes the rest of us look like assholes.

We feel bad, I get that. People are losing do so for the next few decades. We so rarely their jobs, the economy is make it seem like we are a showing no immediate sign unique, independent country, of turning around, and we Things will get better and every day I feel a little so badly long for that time more like a citizen of just if we just stop where we could have five another northern state in the credit cards as a joke and not shouting so damn U.S.A. as a necessity. Things will get It is a bad idea, and come loud, and start better if we just stop shouting October 15th, anyone who thinking of ways to so damn loud, and start thinkshows up to Bay Street with a ing of ways to fix this mess. sign and a bone to pick should fix this mess.

Stop making me feel so also bring their passport, bebad for loving this country cause the next step is for them guys, I really like living here and I plan to to get out of my goddamn Canada.

Parody killed the original Adult cartoon comedies distorting youth perception for satire of well-known classics Erin Chesney Silhouette Staff

There is a new type of television genre that has enjoyed increasing popularity over the past decade or so: the mature cartoon comedy. Shows such as The Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park have become favourites of many of today’s youth and for a good reason; the mixture of hilarious dialogue and slapstick comedy is a sure-tell combination for successful TV. Both of my high-school brothers adore watching these types of shows. There are times when my family is in the car and a song such as “Rocket Man” will come on the radio. It is to this that one of my cute but naïve brothers will respond, “That is the song from Family Guy.” To be completely honest, at first I found these shows to be less than stimulating. Not only did I find the slapstick comedy immature, but my brothers were convinced that Stewie is the artist responsible for this Elton John classic. However, upon giving it further consideration, I began to realize that shows such as Family Guy are my brothers’ only exposure to these types of references.

Creators of these types of shows are on to something. They are subtly including important pop culture allusions that kids would not have been interested in otherwise. Many times I will turn on such programs to hear reference to famous

musicals, historical events and classic literature.

From this perspective, it appears that this genre of shows is subconsciously enriching the minds of their viewers.

The Simpsons is a perfect example of the positive affects these shows can have on society.

Created by Matt Groening, the show satirizes the modern middle-class family and touches upon many issues of American society and the human condition in an ever so comical way. In addition, The Simpsons includes many pop culture references, including full episodes with plots that are based on a variety of classic literature. When Homer is saying “D’oh,” he might be acting a parody of The Raven, Hamlet, Lord of the Flies or many others, which leads me to believe that perhaps Groening has tapped into a means for getting this generation interested in the classics.

Although concealing meaningful content in a entertaining fashion is an innovative idea, I believe there is a step that is being forgotten.

Perhaps as the older, wiser generation we have a responsibility to the younger generation to introduce them to the originals that have been parodied by these types of television series.

By showing our little brothers the original versions of classic songs or lending our little cousins the books that are similar to that episode of their favourite show, maybe we will be able to preserve some of the classic popular western culture that is slowly being forgotten by kids these days.

Getting ethicoil Ryan Mallough Silhouette Staff

The “Ethical Oil” campaign, a venture started by former Director of Communications to Jason Kenney and Conservative message guru Alykhan Velshi, has garnered international attention over the past week after a war of words broke out between between Saudi Arabian and Canadian officials.

The campaign aims to rebrand Canada’s Alberta oil sands as the ethical choice for foreign import against oil from countries with dictatorships or poor human rights records, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela.

Promotions for the campaign label foreign oil as “conflict oil” and allege that buying conflict oil funds, among other things, supports dictatorships, the stoning to death of women and the genocide of indigenous peoples.

While the campaigns claims are not completely unfounded, it ignores the central controversy surrounding the oils sands: the environment.

There is no question that international ethics and human rights are important, and should have some impact on foreign trade. However, any conversation about ethics around oil must include the environment. When • PLEASE SEE ETHICS, A8

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

This Week in Opinions Smella Donna

Follow Up

The PC Prison

The local Progressive Conservative candidate is causing some of our alarms to sound.

What is she doing to make us hate her so much?

The world is too quickly being flooded with leader personalities. Is there nobody left to follow those leaders and make their plans real?

Tim Hudak wants to put the country’s prisoners to work in regular labour shifts for no pay. Opinions explores this injustice.

Pg. A9

Pg. A11

Pg. A8

A8 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

The stink on Skelly

Ethics behind the oil: the foreign petrol story • CONT’D FROM A7

JONATHON FAIRCLOUGH / PRODUCTION EDITOR

Donna Skelly is a ghost when student issues are concerned, as we saw last time.

Kacper Niburski

Assistant News Editor

This was supposed to be a news article. It was supposed to be factual, cutting edge stuff.

As far as a journalist is allowed to admit, I was bent to join your cause, Donna Skelly.

I felt that if I could only tell the story right, then you’d surely have a chance of winning the riding of Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale (AFDW) as the Progressive Conservative candidate. To be quite frank, I truly did want to represent you. I really did.

Believe it.

But when you failed to come to the AllCandidates debate, when you disregarded the repeated attempts to establish contact, and when you agreed to policies such as the Niagara-GTA highway that will destroy much of the farmland in your riding, I had but one choice.

My choice, readers, this is the truth: if it’s smelly, it must be Skelly.

As a television broadcaster for 22 years, don’t let her TV personality delude you.

Behind that wide smile, those caked-on features and a pair of brown beady eyes is a woman who joined the ballot late April 2011. To do so, though, wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was what most people are like off camera: ugly.

The beginning of Donna Skelly’s political career was no different. It was nothing short of a knife fight.

Before Donna ran for the AFDW riding, there was Chris Corrigan. A man of valor and bravery, Chris was a retired army colonel and an Associate and Director with a Toronto-based corporation, Forrest & Company. On top of that, he was a frequent lecturer at McMaster University and a supporter of student’s alike. Whether under machine gun fire or over corporate meetings, Chris was a tested, and most importantly, a proven leader. He did what he had to do, and he did it well.

Then, we have Donna. No war. No corporate grit. Just makeup, cameras and reading lines someone else wrote for her; a puppet, nothing more.

But I get it. I really do. Donna has the glitz and glamour of the television on her side. Chris doesn’t. She has the looks. Chris doesn’t. She is relatable to blue-collar fam-

ilies. Chris isn’t. It’s obvious.

Why have a sacrificial lamb when you can have a glamour pony?

And like a pony would have, Donna galloped onto the political stage. Soon she became the moneymaker and the rent payer, receiving plenty of funding from various sources. Unlike Chris, she had a chance of winning.

That was why she was chosen. She was supposed to be the Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Ronald Reagan of the AFDW riding.

In short, her success was almost guaranteed; she was a star. All one had to do was connect the dots of her constellation.

But even a star explodes. When it does, its light shines back at us like a reminder of what could have been. Donna is, and was, no different.

As voters, we gaze upon Donna – the supposed star – and what we see back is not a source of light, but an empty darkness of the political variety. While she was wrapped in being a local celebrity – and milking that prestige for what it’s worth – we were stuck on Earth left only to stargaze. Up there, she remains, and up there, she has forgotten us she has forgotten the people she promises to represent.

I say this for three reasons. The first is that she parachuted into the election in an undemocratic process on the back of a legitimate candidate, without an opportunity for party members to even vote.

Then she supported various policies, the most notable the Niagara-GTA highway, which will pave highways into the rural farmland for which the riding is known.

Then, most recently and most troubling, she failed to address the youngest of her riding – the students, the generation that will be affected by any policy she chooses.

Although she describes herself as “a mother of two, who knows the challenges facing families today,” she is far from them.

She can very well discuss the rising tuition as a problem that affects her and her children, but she failed to put her words into action.

She did not show up for the debate. She did not let her voice allay the students’ worries and anxieties in an unsure world. There were no words of wisdom, no promises of hope. Instead, an empty chair replaced her.

It did all the talking she ever could.

“Know what I really hate?

Irritable farmers who keep me from their goats. Now thanks to Ye Olde Silhouette, the entire hovel can appreciate my ire for authority!

Throw a message turdling at opinions@thesil.ca to fight the farmer menace with me!”

-Goat-eating goblin

the environment is affected as heavily as it is in the case of the oil sands, the impact is not just on the immediate area, but on the country – even the globe – as a whole. Is it ethical to produce runoff so toxic that it killed a flock of birds that landed in an adjacent pond in 2005?

How about considering that production of a single barrel of tar sands oil produces three times more greenhouse gas emissions than a barrel of conventional oil?

Or that the toxic emissions from the oil sands are equal to a major oil spill occurring every year?

Human rights issues are a problem, and one that must be taken seriously; however they are isolated problems that affect the peoples of the country in question. Pollution from the oil sands degrades the environment of the entire globe. That is undeniably an ethics issue.

While the Alberta oil sands produce enough oil to satisfy all of Canada’s consumption needs, the eastern provinces continue to import oil from foreign countries. In fact, around 55 per cent of Canada’s crude oil came via import in 2008 from countries including Saudi Arabia and Venezuela – two countries identified as producers of “conflict oil”.

Canada cannot meet its own oil require-

ments, let alone those of the rest of the world. What kind of message does it send to Canadians and to citizens of other countries to say that we stand for “ethical oil” while at the same time importing large quantities of “conflict oil” on a daily basis? Until Canada stops importing “conflict oil” it is in no position to point fingers.

It should be obvious that Canada is a morally superior nation to a dictatorship.

However, moral superiority does not make a product any less dangerous.

The premise of the Ethical Oil campaign resembles My Little Pony pitching cigarettes to children. Sure, the product is harmful, but hey, those ponies have otherwise excellent moral values, and that makes it okay. A nation should not rely on its foreign reputation to sell harmful and possibly dangerous goods.

A successful campaign also creates a dangerous precedent. What is to prevent the government from advocating “Ethical Asbestos” or the Ethical Clubbing of Baby Seals campaigns?

The Ethical Oil campaign draws attention to serious issues countries should consider concerning where they are getting their oil from; however, that includes taking into account environmental considerations.

On the issue of the environment, their message is clear: Ignore the man behind the curtain.

THE SILHOUETTE • A9

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

When we are all leaders, who’s to follow?

Brianna Smrke The Silhouette

We’re living in a cult of leaders. The founders, innovators, the lone thinkers, sitting apart and constantly producing are glorified, mythologized. We are told to become these people, to leave our mark – that setting a new course is the only option. If we want accolades or respect, it comes from being first, notable and different.

But what are the implications of a world where leadership is king? This year, there are 271 ratified MSU clubs. The internet is choked with millions of blogs. Entrepreneurial start-ups and non-profits abound. Never before, arguably, has there been such a proliferation of initiatives, groups and ideas, in this country or beyond.

And what have these numbers given us?

Not results but redundancies, overlap and miscommunication. Resources have been diffused and squandered, words thrown out to empty rooms. Instead of laying our efforts like bricks to turn existing structures into towers, we’re inclined to plop them boldly where none have gone before, creating an array of stumbling blocks. By becoming a nation – even a world – of leaders, we’re doomed to keep tripping over mediocre schemes, likely missing those that are genuinely innovative. We’ve erred by neglecting our responsibility to follow.

And I don’t mean following in the unquestioning, conformist and disparaged sense. If anything, being an engaged follower requires a grasp of our limitations. It means admitting that we aren’t infallible, that there • PLEASE SEE FOLLOW, A10

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Conformity may be an ugly word, but if no one conforms, nothing gets done.

Faster than light Abbas’ bid to the world lion light years from Earth.

The neutrino experiment comes at an interesting point in our evoRecently, news reports revealed lutionary understanding of the unithat scientists in Europe conducted verse. Though we have come a long an experiment whereby fundamen- way in the last hundred or thousand tal subatomic particles, known as years, we must remember that what neutrinos, were sent from a lab in was once labeled as nonsense, as Switzerland to Italy – a journey of heresy and as extremely insulting to 730 kilometers society at large throughout our his What is notable about this is tory, was later proven to be otherthat the particles arrived 60 nano- wise as our intelligence evolved. seconds faster than anticipated, and And yet, the fact is that the laws of that this difference meant that they the universe are not what changed, had actually travelled faster than but simply our feeble understandthe speed of light. While examina- ing of them. tions of the results were carefully Though one can laud the need scrutinized, naturally some skepti- for scientific verification when cism remains as we try to wrap our seeking answers and the truth, scihuman minds around such incred- ence as a tool is only as useful as ibly large concepts, relative to our our brains and sensibilities have usually mundane concerns. allowed us to develop. Since the It is not clear whether or not world is such a mystery, it also begs the findings will hold up. In Ein- of us to make choices based on stein’s famous equation of E=mc2, faith, since living on this plane of c, light speed, is the maximum existence is quite often an exercise speed at which all in walking blindenergy, matter and folded. We can lay information in the out the pros and It’s easy to get universe can travel. cons, but ultimately caught up in the Confirmation that life is a gamble and this experiment was illusion that we are things always survalid would chalprise us. now the centre of With the aplenge Einstein’s theory of relativity our world, and that proach of 2012 upon of 1905. for the first time in us, the mainstream Then again, joke has been to history we control misconstrue and there is enough speculation in the distort the prophour destiny. scientific communecies of the Mayans. ity today to suggest It has been widely that even if these results were off, rumored that the world will end, the idea that particles could, in fact, and that when this doesn’t happen, perhaps travel at a speed faster than or doesn’t seem to have happened, light is certainly possible. Doing so, that we can continue right on partysome posit, would bend the fabric ing and abusing our planet. Unof space-time, though the complex- fortunately, it doesn’t work like ities of touching on this further are that. completely beyond the scope of this Because we now live in urban article. centres which block out the stars, What makes this experiment and we’ve been relieved of the task noteworthy to me, however, is that it of following cycles of the sky neis a reminder of just how extremely cessary to successfully grow our vast our universe is and how utterly food and survive, it’s easy to get trivial some of our worries seem caught up in the illusion that we are when compared to the infinite ex- now the centre of our world, and panse of space and time. The speed that for the first time in history we of light has been measured to be a control our destiny. little over 186,000 miles (300,000 Yet the fact is that our species km) per second. That means that lives within an ever-changing unilight from earth would reach the verse, and whether the world ends moon in less than 2 seconds. as we know it in 2012 or not in our When we talk about light years, lifetime doesn’t change the fact that we up the ante to multiplying that we impact our planet and beyond speed by the number of seconds every single second through everyin a calendar year. The reason as- thing we do. Because we often don’t tronomers use light years as units directly see the effects of the good of measurement is that the distance or bad things we put in motion, it’s one light year alone represents is easy to forget this. But with breaka number so large that it becomes throughs in science and what have quite impractical to think in those become increasingly obvious cliterms. A light year is a distance of matic changes, some say we are just under ten trillion kilometers. continuing to enter a new age.

Redshift quasars are known to be When you consider that there over 10 billion light years away, are more stars out there than grains underlying the need for this term. of sand on earth, you might begin to In comparison, the Andromeda admit that the possibilities are endGalaxy is a relatively close 2.5 mil- less.

Rob Hardy

The Silhouette

Mozafer Rajabali The Silhouette

There is a sense of euphoria reigning in the Middle East right now. One might say that the quintessential rule of people will begin to blossom in some of these quasi-monarchial countries.

Of course, the dividing issue throughout recent history has been the Palestine-Israel conflict. Countries have made alliances and destroyed relationships depending on which side of the fence they are on.

And again, this is dependent on any direct benefit they attain.

Mahmoud Abbas, the internationally recognized Palestinian president recently gave an emotionally unwavering speech at the UN, much to the dismay of the American-Israeli population. Of course, any analyst would tell you that Abbas was fully aware of what was to unfold in the future – a rejection of the Palestin-

ian bid for statehood at the United Nations Security Council. Then again, he applied.

Not long ago, the much-maligned Palestine was dealing with two conflicting parties – Hamas and Fatah. Hamas is now the democratically elected government of the Gaza Strip – and Fatah was, until recently, the declining party led by Abbas himself.

These two parties have been at loggerheads for quite some time, and the situation looked like it was calming down just a while ago, with Hamas getting the upper hand by winning the elections in Gaza. However, with Abbas’ recent endeavors, he stands a very good chance of winning the next elections.

One has to wonder. He knew the bid would fail at the Security Council. He knew America would veto it. He was fully aware that it would lead to further wrath from the Israeli forefront. Yet he was aware that • PLEASE SEE MAHMOUD, A10

?

A10 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

“It is basically a group of people screaming an opinion.

What else is there left to do?”

Do you feel that protesting is effective?

-Elizabeth Barr, Kinesiology

Follow the leader, please We’ve got enough leaders, time to follow key objectives.

Of course, there are examples where following will not work – are gaps in our understanding indeed, where it should not be and that someone else may have considered. But these are few and a better method of approaching ultimately imbalanced by the lack a problem. It means recogniz- of support for genuinely exciting ing that most things worth doing ideas. Approaching situations with aren’t finished alone. Following the desire to build rather than demeans recognizing the power we molish can accomplish much.

Still, for there to be followwield.

Our steps can start the process ers there must be leaders. You by which a few footprints in the Kant mess with that categorical woods become a well-worn path. imperative, but this nagging little Instead of diverging and diffus- paradox can be sidestepped with an important qualiing the efforts of a multitude into Instead of laying our fication. Never did I intend to suggest trails that traipse and peter out, efforts like bricks to that following is the sole method following lets us turn existing of changing the channel energy structures into world – just that it behind an idea so towers, we’re deserves more than it – and we – can a quick dismissal. actually get someinclined to plop Ultimately, we where. them boldly where can turn the leader There is also none have gone follower dilemma nothing about into a single quesbeing a follower, before. tion: Do I want to especially an enbe effective or do gaged one, that says you cannot change or influ- I want to be known? It’s not imence the idea you are following. possible for these two things to Becoming part of this dialogue overlap, but in most cases, it’s unallows you to assert your individu- likely. ality in a manner that maximizes If the latter is more important to you, before stepping up, step its potential impact.

Think of how much more ef- back. Instead of distancing yourfective the activities of the thou- self from others, embrace their sands of charitable organizations goals and abilities. Be sure that in Canada would be if more joined the path you’d like to clear hasn’t forces, streamlined their missions already been travelled before you and started working towards a few wildly start hacking in the bush.

• CONT’D FROM A9

Feedback

“It brings awareness. The most violent ones are the most publicized, which is bad.”

-Danielle Vitali, Life Sciences

“Depends on the method.

If people are going over the line, it is not effective.”

-Anthony Gatti, Kinesiology

Mahmoud and Obama’s mood U.S. Pres backs out of his previous plan: “a slip” • CONT’D FROM A9 he would receive the full sympathy of his people, of the international community as a whole, and maybe even get a foothold into the next elections.

On the other side of the story, you have the democratic leader of the United States. Barack Obama is still viewed as the symbol of change, although bringing about change is a totally different thing.

Like most American presidents have in the past, he is running for a second term.

A few months ago, Barack Obama and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave speeches in Washington for a pro-Israeli lobby called AIPAC. Both leaders promoted continued support for each other, and claimed a genuine desire to foster an better relationship. What was really interesting was to see Obama’s stance on the Palestine-Israel issue.

Obama in his first speech to the lobby claimed that the only way forward was for the borders to return to the 1967 agreement

“If your protesting is causing a problem, you’re taking away from your cause.”

-Ian Chisolm, Med. Radiation

between the two countries. This would mean that any illegal land that Israel had attained had to be given up to the Palestinians. A little later, Benjamin Netanyahu took to the stage and thrashed Barack Obama, for attaining a peace settlement based on the 1967 borders was totally inacceptable to him. The crowd erupted in support.

Obama, who later gave a second speech, went on to clarify that he only meant that the two countries should sit down at a table and come to an agreement like they had in 1967. To some, his earlier comment was revealed as a Freudian slip. To others, Barack Obama had retracted his words. If he had, it was purely in the interest of his country. He needs the support of AIPAC, and he needs its political backing when he runs for election again next year.

You might call it a shift in the balance of power, a disaster of epic proportions, or something else. The truth is, people tend to be selfish and greedy. To what extent, well that’s for you to decide.

Compiled by Andrew Terefenko and Ricardo Padilla

“Depends on the management.

It could go either way without strong leadership, and in the end people might get upset.”

-Amanda Spagholo, Commerce WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Obama too readily retracts statements that get him bad press.

THE SILHOUETTE • A11

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

Tele-manners Edward Guloien The Silhouette

Eric Gillis

The Silhouette

As an integral part of his campaign platform, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak discussed the idea of forcing prisoners residing within Ontario correctional facilities to partake in unpaid forced labour – emphasizing the idea that Ontario families work hard, and prisoners shouldn’t be given a “free ride”.

I don’t disagree that Ontario families work hard, and I commend the leader of the Progressive Con- Tim, your prison idea is downright criminal. servatives for recognizing this fact.

I do, however, disagree entirely with his plan our society. to force Ontario’s prisoners to work unpaid If this integral part of the Progressive compulsory full-time jobs, for several rea- Conservative’s platform is allowed to go forward come election day, it will serve only sons.

First and foremost among my reasons for to further decrease a prisoner’s respect for being against this plan is that it is in direct society for allowing them to be subjected defiance of the United Nation’s Basic Princi- to such demeaning punishment, and will, if ples for the Treatment of Prisoners. Principle anything, provide to them a mistaken moral Eight of this resolution states, “Conditions justification of further defiance of the law. shall be created enabling prisoners to under- Allowing this to go forward will assert take meaningful remunerated employment that we as Ontarians believe that forced which will facilitate their reintegration into compulsory labour is a justified means of the country’s labour market and permit them punishment for our prisoners. to contribute to their own financial support Can we truly claim to be a free democratic society, if we’re willand to that of their families.” ing to support what is essen It’s quite clear that HuCan we truly claim tially slavery? dak’s plan of forcing unpaid One should note that this labour on Ontario’s prisonto be a free province’s prison base is ers with a workload that is the equivalent of a full-time democratic society, made up entirely of prisoners if we’re willing to that have been sentenced for job is a complete defiance no longer than two years, as and violation of this prinsupport what is sentences that are any higher ciple.

On top of the fact that essentially slavery? than two years are within the jurisdiction of federal and not such a plan runs contrary to provincial penitentiaries. a United Nations resolution, promoting a goal of instilling fear of pun- With such minimal sentences, the nature ishment in prisoners, rather than focusing of the crimes being committed is not anyon their rehabilitation and normal reintegra- where near the level of severity with which tion into society through an educated under- Tim Hudak is making them out to be, in hopes of manipulating voters. standing of their actions, is flawed logic.

A prisoner should not be taught to feel One should consider that in theory, one alienated from the society around them, but could land such a prison sentence for the theft of a mere chocolate bar. Is Tim Hudak to learn to become part of it.

The goal of prisons should be to im- truly so lacking in ethics and basic human prison those convicted of crimes, and then, decency as to believe the theft of a mere throughout the course of their sentence, chocolate bar is deserving of uncompenteach them why their actions are not ac- sated forced labour that bears a strong receptable within society, so that they have an semblance to slavery? actual understanding of why their actions I wonder, are we Ontarians truly willing were considered criminal and to ultimately to support such a blatant injustice against increase their respect for the expectations of basic human dignity?

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

already had to pay for the iclicker.

Since the program is not technically mandatory, my teacher suggested that you I’m sure everyone has heard of the iclicker, could just forfeit five per cent and have it but what you may not have heard of is its added to the 30-per cent exam. Sounds like a less popular cousin, Top Hat Monocle. It’s a great set of options. Pay $40 plus the service program developed at the University of Wat- changes of your cell phone provider for five erloo that has essentially the same purpose per sent in give awayas the iclicker. That is, it’s used to answer marks or add that to questions presented in class, except instead your exam. Is it of a neat little piece of plastic with just me, or does buttons on it, you get to use your it seem like I’m phone, laptop or iPad. literally paying Now here are my probfor my grades? lems with this technolThis is supposed ogy. It claims to be to be university, not better because you Ace Academy. might forget your

What I’m woniclicker, but bedering is where the uniformcause we’re ity is throughout the school. students we Pick one piece of useless, over will always priced, multiple-choice technology have our and stick to it. phones. I guess Why is it necessary for me to buy multhat’s true, except tiples? To make matters even worse, the for that one guy in my subscription isn’t offered at the book store class who doesn’t have a for whatever reason, meaning that you either cell phone on principal. But have to have your own credit card or call he can just get a pay as you go your parents and waste a perfectly good phone right? Then pay $20 for a year or $40 credit card favour that I would much rather for a five-year subscription to the website. put towards a concert or online shopping After that, here’s hoping than Top Hat Monocle. you have a good cell phone The worst part is, after plan, because you’re going putting aside my morals You’re going to to be charged American about how wrong this feels be charged Idol-style for every text and just buying the stupid message answer you send American Idol-style thing, sometimes it doesn’t in. And if you were thinking for every text mes- even work. That, to me, just you would try to save some seem fair. What I’m sage answer you doesn’t cash and just use the internet suggesting is some sort of send in. option, think again, because rebellion against this awful in my classroom there’s no piece of technology. Because wi-fi signal. In a nutshell, even though right now only you pay for the subscription, then you pay nine classes at McMaster use it, you could per text message, and in some cases you’ve be next.

Lauren Murphy

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The Silhouette

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In the coming weeks Opinions will soon roll out a brand-new debate column! If you have any ideas for topical issues for our debaters to argue, send them to opinions@thesil.ca. If you’d like to participate we can also send you details!

The iclicker was bad enough, stop changing formats now!

U

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Top Hat Monocle a frustrating choice

O

like there is some sort of prioritizing authority to do so. Empowered by our overpriced monthly plans, we suddenly had the right to interrupt conversations to double check that no one we cared about still hasn’t texted us back yet.

It turns out we all missed the lesson when we get chewed out for talking on our grandma’s rotary phone while she’s telling a nice story about how her prized peanut butter cookies saved world hunger. And so instead of being thankful for the unforgettable friendships we have shared, we will crowd around the turkey table with hats off, fingers interlocked, praising Telus, Rogers and Alexander Graham Bell.

Though not all is lost. We can employ phone manners in these phone dorks through strict regiments and endurance challenges.

Classes will be mandatory for anyone who purchases a plan longer than one year from any major phone company. The courses, offered at local colleges and adult learning centres, will give you your cell phone certificate upon passing. Anyone carrying a smart phone or Blackberry will require a more intensive program with many more tests and an in-pocket walkabout.

This is where you walk around all day about your regular routine, but an authorized tester will follow you around monitoring, documenting and grading your phone usage on a scale of casual to Jersey Shore meathead.

Upon authorization of appropriate phone etiquette, graduates will receive an up-todate license that must be renewed every five years. It will be proof from the government that you aren’t a total douchebag when it comes to the relationship between you and your phone.

Of course, some will have trouble adjusting. They’ll pay fines and be thrown in prison for teleslaughter and first-degree texting. They’ll go to rehab for phone addiction and eventually remerge with humanity. Slowly, phone manner problems will become a thing of the past; phone manners will become second nature, like looking both ways before crossing the road. And all will be restored.

Or you could just stop texting so much.

H

SILHOUETTE FILE PHOTO

new tables: Learn your manners soon!

SI L

Put your phone back in your pocket. It didn’t even vibrate.

If I’m talking to you, then you’re one of the many with annoying cell phone habits. Here’s another habit you do that pisses people off.

Your friend is telling you the meaning of the figures hidden on the side of the threading on a light bulb, and you flip open your phone. I’ve seen you do it, even if it’s just to check. All your eye contact directed to your tiny screen and your response capacity reduced to a vague “yeah” or “mhmm”. Did you think nobody noticed?

I know I would rather be checking my empty Phone are the inbox than listening to you blather on about something that only your diary could care about, but unlike you, I don’t act on my every impulse.

This whole phone attachment thing has gone too far. Where have our morals gone? Our etiquette? Moreover, our attention span?

Hold on, my phone just made a noise.

It’s probably nothing important, but this won’t stop me from prioritizing it over just about everything else. Where was I? So you tap on your keypad for a bit then come back to the outside. You’ve forgotten you were actually talking to a real, live person. When put in this situation I frequently find myself wanting to ask, “Would this conversation be easier if I texted it to you?”

People just seem addicted to their gadgets these days. You would probably have a tough time leaving the house without your iPhone, laptop or your GPS. I bet when it runs out of batteries, you shush your technology to sleep, cuddle it real tight and repeat the phrase, “It’s okay baby, you’re going to make it. It’s okay.”

I blame the lack of technological manners imposed upon us. This technology is so new that we haven’t even figured out that without a distinct set of guidelines to follow, we are doomed to become a generation unable to recall the definition of impulse control. Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt excluded because someone can thumb the buttons on their phone with more enthusiasm then they can put into topics of your conversation. Leave your hand up if they quietly chuckle without saying what is so damn funny. Add up everyone’s hands and you can see that impulse control is the least of our concerns; just look at all the hurt feelings.

I know our mothers would be upset too.

We grew up with them teaching us proper etiquette in a variety of situations. Their hope was that we would apply rules of etiquette to future scenarios. I distinctly remember my mother explaining how imperative it was that I was quiet while the telephone was in use.

Well mom would be proud, but I don’t think she pictured it quite like this. We’ve somehow got it into our heads that we are obligated to answer our phones, immediately, regardless of company or situation,

Hudak sentences cons to nine to five

A12 • THE SILHOUETTE

SpeculatoR The Hamilton

Thursday, October 6, 2011

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

INSIDE THE SPECULATOR BREAKING NEWS: Black turtlenecks drop out of fashion Windows CEO: “Well, this is awkward.”

Clogging colons since 1930 .

F

From the desk of the late Steve Jobs: Tiberius Slick Speculator

Dear “Friends,” I am writing to inform all the people who have been influenced by my vast array of inventions, devices and $400 paperweights over the years: I could not have bought nearly as many black turtlenecks as I have without your help, and for that I am momentarily grateful.

In light of that fact, I must also clear up some confusion that I have noticed in the digital sphere recently. Some of you, namely Steve. handJobs@microsoft.ca, have gotten under the impression that you are better than me. I feel it is my duty to inform you that you are wrong.

I am just that much better than all of you, in every possible respect, that I would not know where to start the details. It would be like listing the reasons you are better than that masturbation-fuelled stain you accidently left behind in the eastern European maid’s orthopedic shoe that one time. Theoretically, of course.

Some thoughts: I am better than you because I have taken the questionable combination of sweater and jeans and brought it to the sensation it is today. I am better than you because I use a lower-case letter in the front of my product names and refuse to

capitalize them. I am most definitely better than you because of the sheer amount of modesty that erupts from my billion-dollar nostrils every time you watch me on stage.

To my family: You were all such a great inspiration, I love you all and I wish you actually bought my products instead of your all-toosubtle hinting at freebies.

To the employees of Apple: You are not yet unbound from your predestined century of waking slumber, but when the dark lord is birthed anew you will be given a most preferable seat on his congress of chaos and misdemeanors.

To Bill: I still think you are the one who robbed me at knifepoint that one night in Albuquerque, and I hope that watch rots off your wretched wife’s bony claws. Also, the deer we fear is growing ever near. Do what you must.

To the rest of the impressionable youth that so readily absorbed my teachings: You defended my honour in a fashion most fanatical, so I will entrust in you a grave secret. I am also better than you, and I don’t really feel the need to explain why, but your wallets can sit you down and break it down for you if the need arises.

My dearest friend, The United States of America: I have only these passing words to say: I could not have exploited the economy in such great magnitude as was possible to in your great lands. Had I tried this in Europe, I would have likely got-

Skizzy Images

Steve Jobs, seen here, is dead. ten the Inquisition treatment, and rightly so.

My “friends,” love is better than fear. Unfortunately, love is somewhat out of our budget for this month, so we have to work with what we have. Not my budget, of course. It would take me some-

where in the neighbourhood of seventeen lives to spend the fortune I have amassed at your expense, but that is not my point. Optimism is what drives us forward, so always look forward to my next reincarnation to worship like the Sun-God himself.

With your help, I’ll change the world, but only by a few barely noticeable aesthetic additions with each passing iteration.

So long ssholes, Steve “Motherfucking” Jobs

“Occupy Hamilton” is an ultimate failure Kingsley Morris Speculator

This protestor knows his typography.

Skizzy Images

In light of the recent protests in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and now Toronto, a bunch of shit-eating intellectuals from James Street (in cooperation with Westdale bicycle club) thought it would be a good idea to protest against corporate greed and social inequality deep in the heart of Hamilton.

Barton Street, famous for its fabulous architecture, Chinese food, and beautiful women, was host to an abysmal turnout this past Wednesday as literally tens of people showed up to “stick it to the man”, as one Alpaca-fur toting miscreant put it. We couldn’t get his name, though he kept claiming he was “Anonymous” and that he was legion – even though his mother still buys his groceries.

And “stick it them” they did, as the small group of protestors managed to kick over a traffic pylon, spoil Mrs. Sotheby’s raspberry bush, and block an entire bike lane on James Street North. Bike traffic was at an absolute standstill for approximately 13 seconds until the

cyclist realized that he could dismount his bike and continue cycling on the other side.

The protestors were seen carrying signs with assorted, and sometimes cryptic messages. Some of the notables include: “Bring back Harvest Burger”, “Stelco killed John Candy”, and our favourite “Give fleece a chance”.

When asked what exactly they were protesting against, most of the crowd grew silent and pondered for a short moment before returning to their anti-Keynesian chants. Egon Spengler, a recently laid off café barista, did have an answer though: “We’re like, tired of having to work before 9 am. And THE SUITS ,MAN. Those guys at Jackson Square who wear suits and listen to their bourgeois iPods and wear their fancy Aldo shoes. Cha, we’re tired of their self-righteous ironic post-modern existentialist fallacy.” Spengler was unable to expand on his last point, instead mumbling away what sounded like “post-modern twinky man…”

At one point of the protest a passerby was struck with a 3-page leaflet. It was at this time that au-

thorities were forced to follow Hamilton By-Law 318, clause 9, which specifically prohibits the use of leaflets as weapons on Wednesdays after 3pm.

Mayor Bob Latina retaliated quickly to the reckless act of violence, as well as the temporary closure of his favourite massage parlor on Barton Street, by issuing a direct order for the Hamilton Assault Guard (HAG) to take control of the protest.

HAG was assigned with the task of luring the protestors into the basement of East-Hamilton Radio, where they were to be beaten, gagged, and tickled until the mob dispersed. Before this could be done though, word spread that the Mulberry Café was giving away gluton-free gingerbread muffins and “Occupy Hamilton” was no more.

With efforts on the way to correct the traffic pylon and fix Mrs. Sotheby’s raspberry bush (I know what you’re thinking and you’re sick), “Occupy Hamilton” will stay in our memory for hours, even minutes, to come.

Reporting live, from the Snooty Fox, this is Kingsley Mor-

“What Did You Learn This Week, Ringo?”

“Golden showers sting your eyes.”

Disclaimer: Stories printed in The Hamilton Speculator are fact. Any resemblance to persons real or dead is likely intentional and done out of spite. Opinions expressed are those of The Speculator and if you disagree with them you are wrong. And stupid. Possibly ugly as well.

S1 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

The Silhouette

SPORTS

YOUR SOURCE FOR MCMASTER MARAUDERS SCORES, STORIES, UPDATES AND ANALYSIS

HOMECOMING “W” FOR MAC

Triathlete Andrew Yorke is quickly gaining recognition and climbing the international ranks. Details on S4.

CROSS COUNTRY

Cross Country runs for a strong showing in Chicago, See S3.

HALL OF FAME BANQUET

Mac beats up on Waterloo 46-20 at Ron Joyce. Details on S2.

Pinball Clemons highlights celebration of sport, See S2.

S2 • THE SILHOUETTE

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame inductees honoured at banquet

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

Football

Mac wallops Waterloo

Fraser Caldwell Sports Editor

On Sept. 30, McMaster enshrined several of its sporting legends, and celebrated the groundbreaking football dynasty that brought the Marauders into OUA and CIS contention at the turn of the century.

In its inaugural ‘Celebration of Sport’ banquet, the university recognized this year’s six inductees into the McMaster Athletic Hall of Fame while taking time to champion the program’s new initiatives.

Two of those inductees were decorated former Marauder quarterback Ben Chapdelaine and his former coach Greg Marshall, who guided the Marauders to their first taste of Yates Cup success in 2000. The two repeated the feat in 2001 as part of Mac’s Yates Cup four-peat, but were unable to take the ultimate step and clinch a Vanier Cup title as national champions.

Along the way, Chapdelaine wracked up a bevy of personal honours, being named the OUA Rookie of the Year in 1997, and following that with four consecutive honours as a First Team OUA All-Star.

The CIS recognized the quarterback’s stellar 2001 season by awarding him the Hec Crighton trophy as the top football player in the country. By the time his five years in Maroon and Grey were complete, Chapdelaine had amassed the most passing yards in CIS history.

The quarterback’s fellow male athletic inductee on Sept. 30 was cross-country and track star Roger Martindill. The reclusive Martindill very nearly missed his own induction, as McMaster staff managed to contact him only three days before the event.

A graduate of McMaster in 1981, the Marauder runner medaled twice at the 10k distance on the provincial level, garnering a gold medal in his rookie season in 1977 and a silver during the 1980 campaign.

His first-year performance led Martindill to be recognized as the McMaster track team’s • PLEASE SEE CLEMONS, B7

JEFF TAM / SILHOUETTE STAFF

Running back Jimmy Hill chipped in 120 yards on the ground in McMaster’s 46-21 homecoming victory.

Brandon Meawasige Assistant Sports Editor

Marshall Ferguson may have enjoyed his final game at the head of the Marauder offence this season.

But if that is indeed the case, the sophomore quarterback can be very proud of what he achieved in his three-game stint under centre.

In front of a Ron Joyce sellout crowd of 5,210 Marauder faithful, Ferguson started the last game before the return of OUA All-

Star Kyle Quinlan from suspension. Ferguson would go on to lead McMaster to a third straight victory, trumping the Waterloo Warriors by a score of 46-21.

During his three starts as the leader of the Marauder huddle, Ferguson has been a pleasant surprise, throwing for over 800 yards, eight touchdowns and only two interceptions.

The sophomore quarterback was not the only Marauder to get an opportunity to spot start over the past three games. With veteran running back Joey Nemet out with a

leg injury, the rushing load has passed to a pair of young players in Jimmy hill and Chris Pezzetta.

The run-by-committee strategy used to replace the production of Nemet has paid dividends for head coach Stefan Ptaszek.

Jimmy Hill rushed for 120 yards on Saturday against Waterloo, while rookie Chris Pezzetta enjoyed his second straight triple-digit rushing performance, scampering for 135 yards of his own.

• PLEASE SEE ROOKIE, B8

THE SILHOUETTE • S3

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

Cross-Country

Women’s Rugby

Mac reaches podium in Chicago

Mac ekes out narrow win in Kingston

Fraser Caldwell Sports Editor

They’re still working out the kinks, but the Marauders are beginning to look very promising as their young season unfolds.

The McMaster cross-country squads travelled to Chicago for the Loyola Lakefront Invitational meet on Oct. 1, and each group enjoyed considerable success south of the border.

The no. 2 women’s team in Canada placed second in the Illinois capital, losing out to one of the best squads in the NCAA’s Division 1 in the form of no. 27 Iowa.

In her second race as a Marauder, veteran racer Lindsay Carson finished as the runner-up in the women’s 5k event with a time of 17:26. She was followed by teammates Victoria Coates and Jillian Wyman in 7th and 8th respectively, with the two members of the Maroon and Grey clocking in within a second of one another.

Sarah Haliburton (15th) and Stephanie MacNeill (17th) completed the scoring for the Marauder women.

On the men’s side, CIS no. 10 McMaster rounded out the top three at Loyola thanks in large part to a third-placed finish from Andrew Yorke. The fifth-year senior completed the 8k race in 24:55 to climb the podium in Chicago, only five days removed from finishing fourth in a pro-level triathlon in Buffalo, NY.

Also scoring for McMaster were Taylor Reid (15th), Graham Bowes (16th), team captain Cory McCurry (68th), and rookie Zac Brown (71st).

While they entered the Chicago event as the tenth-ranked men’s team in Canada, the Marauders outperformed the thirdranked Western Mustangs, who finished two places back in fifth. McMaster’s impressive showing translated to an improved ranking of sixth in the CIS poll published on Oct. 4.

For her part, Carson is relieved to be back on the competitive circuit, after a disastrous series of injuries kept her from running in any form for the better part of a year.

“It was very frustrating,” stressed the veteran Marauder. “I had to sit out for a year initially because I transferred [from Guelph], but I at least wanted to train with the team. But in my very first run in Hamilton, I rolled my ankle and ended up breaking

Ben Orr

Silhouette Staff

PHOTO C/O PETER SELF

McMaster’s Andrew Yorke (left) finished third in the men’s 10k race. it. That put me out for most of cross-country season.

“In the winter, I ran into some back problems. It was one injury after another. So I’m very thankful and counting my blessings that I’m injury-free now, and I’m taking things very cautiously because while I’m running for the team I don’t want to blow it and hit another setback.”

The opening race of McMaster’s 2011 season saw Carson return to the trails in a competitive fashion for the first time in roughly two years, and she admits that sixthplaced finish in London exposed some expected rust on her part.

“It was probably one of the worst races of my life,” declared Carson of her Sept. 24 effort. “I was totally out of it, and I’d forgotten how to hurt. I was running well but about halfway through I really forgot what it meant to dig in for that little bit extra.

“Everything comes easily to you when you’re in the shape of your life and winning everything. But I’m more of an underdog this year because of my injuries, and

I’m probably not as fit as I was. So I need to approach my races and my running a little differently.”

While her result in Chicago encourages Carson, she still maintains that there is work to be done as she strives to regain the position she once held atop the CIS hierarchy. But the second-placed finish provides a much-needed boost of confidence for a runner reacquainting herself with the rigours of competition.

“I was still in eighth place or so with a kilometer to go, which really shouldn’t be the case,” Carson pointed out with regards to her Oct. 1 run. “Going from Western to Chicago, I probably lacked a little bit of confidence because I ran so terribly in London.

So the race was a big confidence boost for me, and I’m very happy with the secondplaced finish there.”

With performances steadily improving across the board, Carson and her teammates will look to continue their progression when they next compete at the Mustang Open in London on Oct. 6.

A single score, some cold weather and a generous missed kicked proved to be everything the Marauders needed to beat one of their closest rivals.

The McMaster women’s rugby team remained undefeated on a cold Saturday afternoon, eking out a 5-3 win over the previously unbeaten Queen’s Gaels on Oct. 1.

Alex Fairgrieve scored the lone score for the Marauders in the low-scoring nail-biter. The win gives the Maroon and Grey a 4-0 record and sole possession of first place in the OUA’s Russell Division. The Gaels drop to 3-1, forcing them into a tie with the Trent Excalibur for second place.

The low-scoring affair bucks the previous trend of blowout wins on the part of the Maroon and Grey, as Mac had scored over 30 points in all of their games before the match in Kingston. The Marauders had had outscored their opponents 179-39 through three games, and the two-point margin had coach Cam Mitchell pacing the sidelines on Oct. 1.

“Obviously we’re happy with the win but I think I almost had a heart attack,” said Mitchell. “You don’t see too many 5-3 games in rugby anymore, and we could have lost it even up to the last play. They had a kick to win it at the end that they missed.”

Mitchell acknowledged that his team couldn’t simply be happy with squeaking out a victory on the road, despite the undefeated record the win brought with it.

“While we’re happy with the win obviously, we played just well enough to win and no more than that. So going forward to win the big games we’ll have to improve our game.”

Mitchell praised the effort of Varsha Tripathi, who shined in the defensive stalemate.

“She would be my woman of the match. She was making cover tackles all over the field, holding onto the ball, and • PLEASE SEE WIN, S7

S4 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

THE SILHOUETTE • S5

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

Feature

Yorke yearns for Olympic dream Now one of the best triathletes in Canada, McMaster’s Andrew Yorke has recovered remarkably from a life-threatening injury Fraser Caldwell Sports Editor

PHOTO C/O PETE SELF

Andrew Yorke has moved onto Team Canada’s Olympic triathlon radar after a Sept. 24 performance in Buffalo saw him beat out top professionals.

Right now, he’s one of the best triathletes in the country, and yet there was a time in Andrew Yorke’s young career when not only his future in the sport, but his life itself hung in the balance.

On Sept. 26, Yorke finished fourth at the U.S. Pro National event in Buffalo, NY, beating out many of the top triathletes in the world in the process, including American Olympian Jarrod Shoemaker. That result is just the latest in a series of remarkable performances over the course of the 2011 season that has announced Yorke’s arrival on the international stage.

But turn back the clock four years, and the blossoming star was unable to complete the simplest of workouts.

After closing out his first year of school and competition at McMaster – where he runs with the cross-country team and swims with coach Andrew Cole’s varsity squad – Yorke was racing in the 2007 national championship event when he was forced to pull out with back spasms.

Upon inspection, the problem turned out to be much worse than a simple spasm.

Yorke was diagnosed with a life-threatening staph infection in his spine, and rushed into emergency surgery. With the risk of the procedure, the Marauder explains that for a time, life itself was his only concern.

“When I found out about the infection, I was told that I would need surgery right away,” said Yorke. “The doctors said that in all likelihood, I would die or be paralyzed.

“At that point you just don’t know.

Everything else goes on the backburner and you have no control.”

Yorke would survive the procedure and the immediate risks afterward. And he not only returned to training, but did so remarkably quickly – in fact, too quickly.

“The weird thing was that I came back really quickly after the procedure,” commented the Marauder. “I was back running and

within weeks I ran a best time on the track.

And then the setbacks started happening, when I was maybe pushing myself too hard.

“I was having stress fractures and low iron levels. They were things I’d never had before. I was always the consistent guy; I just kept going and never got banged up. I went from believing that I could compete again to realizing that I couldn’t even run for 20 minutes without pain.

For Yorke, the situation became an existential question about his future in the sport.

“How could I train to be one of the best in Canada and the world if I couldn’t even do the work?” he said, wondering aloud the question confronting him at the time.

His struggle to return to form was a prolonged one, and caused Yorke to contemplate quitting the sport he loved. But after deciding to continue with the support of his coaches, the Marauder enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2010.

His returned prowess on the triathlon circuit led Yorke to be named as Triathlon Canada Magazine’s Under-23 Athlete of the Year, and marked a turning point for an athlete who had been on the brink of admitting defeat only a few short years earlier.

It is a remarkable turnaround, but as the Marauder himself explains, his renewed success comes at a hefty price. In balancing a full-time course load and the demands of training in three separate disciplines, Yorke is an exceptionally busy man.

He realizes however, that such is the burden one carries if they wish to thrive as a high-performance athlete.

“It does get a little hard,” Yorke admits of his workload. “There are some late nights with schoolwork, and I’m not the most time-efficient person, so I’ve had to work on that. But I’ve always known that if I wanted to be good I had to do the work.

“As long as I show up and put my head down, it’s going to pay off. It’s hard, and you’re tired, and you don’t want to do it everyday. But you put your head down and you do

Men’s Rugby

“The doctors said that in all likelihood, I would die or be paralyzed” it.”

If there is one respite Yorke has while at McMaster, it is that several of his club teammates from the C3 outfit in Caledon, ON have joined him in donning the Maroon and Grey, including third-year racer Taylor Reid and

rookie John Rasmussen.

Coached by decorated instructor Barrie Shepley, who helped Simon Whitfield to the world’s first Olympic gold medal in triathlon in 2000, the C3 team is one of the most promising such organizations in the country.

PHOTO C/O PETE SELF

Yorke works with the Mac cross-country team in the fall to improve his run split.

For his part, Yorke indicates that the inclusion of his teammates within the McMaster framework allows him to learn, teach, and to show his competitive spirit.

“We’re all pretty good friends,” said Yorke of the C3 contingent. “But I’m a pretty competitive guy. So sometimes I might strain that relationship because I want to win. It’s good to have those guys along because misery loves company.

“I learn a bit from them, and maybe I can teach them a thing or two because I’ve been around for a while.”

After his recent successes, Yorke is beginning to garner the attention and respect of some of the veteran triathletes that blazed the Olympic trail he hopes to travel one day.

Chief among those is Whitfield himself, who served as the example for Yorke and so many other young Canadian triathletes of his generation with his unforgettable finish at the Sydney Olympics.

However, Yorke indicates that beneath the myriad achievements, Whitfield is just another family man with valuable advice.

“It’s cool to be recognized by him because he’s a Canadian legend both within the triathlon community and outside of it,” said Yorke. “Simon’s done it for a while and done it really well. But as you meet people in the sport, you realize that they’re ultimately just regular people.

“It’s nice to be recognized by him and get the chance to hang out with him and talk with him. But it’s not a matter of idol worship.”

It is important to maintain that distance, because as Yorke explains, one has to take a cutthroat approach to his fellow athletes if he is to succeed on the triathlon circuit.

“You’ve really got to kick them while they’re down,” the Marauder said of his competition.

“You’ve got to take your opportunities when you get them. Because you’ll never have a race where a field of 65 or 70 guys is completely injury free, motivated and the fittest they’ve been that year.

“If you execute at the right times, that’s when you start being noticed and putting yourself in the position to make Olympic teams. It’s all about performing when you need to.”

Yorke is hoping that the sort of execution he has been exemplifying in recent months will continue, as he looks toward a serious run at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

In the meantime, he will enjoy his final year of eligibility on the trails and in the pool as a Marauder, and continue to search for further inroads on the international triathlon circuit.

Overhauled roster does the job Maggie Cogger-Orr Silhouette Staff

Despite fielding a radically overhauled team, the Marauders managed to make the most of their homecoming contest on Oct. 1 and secure a 24-20 win over the visiting Brock Badgers.

This week’s line-up up saw several changes, as players with nagging injuries were rested and other players came back from injuries.

In the forwards, with 8-man Tyler Ardron attending a Canadian Senior Men’s Sevens camp and Mike Sheppard being given time off to rest a shoulder injury, the back row saw Cam Stones return to 8 with veteran hooker John Williams slotting into the open side jersey and rookie Taylor Wilenski taking up blind side duties.

Filling in at the hooker position was versatile utility forward Ryan Natale, who can occupy almost any forward position.

The backs saw the return of Chris Gordon, a rookie standout on the wing from last year, who came back from injury hoping to add some elusiveness and pace to the McMaster back line.

The biggest change was the move of OUA All-Star scrumhalf Andrew Ferguson into the flyhalf role as the Marauders looked to improve their distribution of the ball, while third year Chad Strapp suited up in the 9 jersey for the game.

Veteran Sam Roberts was moved back into his usual role at inside centre while rookie Mac Chown was his counterpart at outside.

The game opened with strong play coming from the Maroon and Grey, with a big lineout drive that was unfortunately penalized.

Although their momentum on offence was noticeable, the Marauders struggled throughout the game with the defence at scrum and lineout time.

The scores would go back and forth throughout the game, with Ferguson slotting an early drop goal and powerful winger Grant Schneider muscling his way over the line for a try at the 30 minute mark.

• PLEASE SEE MAC, S8

S6 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

Women’s Soccer

Men’s Soccer

Marauders drop points Western denies Mac in London Trip to Western represents missed opportunity Fraser Caldwell Sports Editor

Natalie Brace lived up to her name over homecoming weekend, potting two goals over the course of the Marauders’ two games on Sept.

30 and Oct. 2.

The native of Warwickshire, England, who finds herself at McMaster this season as an exchange student, began her weekend scoring in Windsor, where her team met the Lancers for the second time in this 2011 campaign.

A ‘brace’ is an English term for scoring two goals in a game.

On a cold and windy night at the Lancers’ Alumni Field, the visiting Marauders dominated possession and applied heavy attacking pressure throughout the contest.

This aggressive approach on the part of the Maroon and Grey began to pay dividends in the 26th minute, when Brace opened the scoring with a low drive from the edge of the 18-yard box.

After the Lancers failed to capitalize on a foray into the Marauders’ box in the 59th minute, the visitors made their hosts pay for their wastefulness only a few short minutes later.

Second-year midfielder Emma Mangialardi saw her 62nd minute effort bulge the back of the net after being picked up by a particularly savage gust of wind at Alumni Field.

The Marauders succeeded in maintaining Brittany Duffey’s clean sheet, and secured an identical 2-0 result on Sept. 30 to the one they had achieved against the Lancers in their season-opening match.

The Maroon and Grey continued their weekend exploits

on Oct. 2, as they travelled to London to battle the Western Mustangs, who have struggled for form thus far this season.

The Sunday afternoon contest appeared to be a golden opportunity for McMaster to add three more valuable points to their tally, but Western was not to be denied on home soil.

Although the Mustangs remain a losing outfit on the season, and have hovered just above the basement of the OUA’s West Division throughout, McMaster could not manage to grab points in London on Oct. 2.

Despite a second goal in three days from Brace, the visiting Marauders were unable to overturn the two-goal advantage Western built in the first half thanks to consecutive goals from their Dutch forward Marjolein Buiter.

McMaster’s weekend split sees their record move to 4-4-1 and ensures that they cling to third position in the OUA West standings for the time being.

However, if they wish to remain in a playoff position, the Marauders know that they will need to be more ruthless when presented with the opportunity to clinch points against less accomplished opponents.

Fortunately for the McMaster squad, they will be able to search for those much needed points on home soil.

After completing an extended series of road games, the Marauders will enjoy a four-game home stand beginning on Oct. 7 when the team welcomes the York Lions to Ron Joyce Stadium.

They follow that match with a Sunday afternoon contest against the Guelph Gryphons on Oct. 9. Game times are 6 p.m. and 1 p.m. respectively.

PHOTO C/O CHRISTOPHER CHANG

Captain Anthony Costa returned to the Mac lineup and scored Brandon Meawasige Gersi Xhuti opened up the scoring Assistant Sports Editor with his 5th minute goal and the game was all but settled by minute The stretch is on for the Maraud- 83 when captain Anthony Costa ers with only six games left in the scored the 4th goal of the game. regular season. And the men’s soc- Hoping for the same type cer team currently sits second in success on Sunday the Marauders the OUA West standings behind travelled to London to play the the Toronto, York and Carleton.

Western Mustangs at TD Water After a scoreless draw house Stadium. against the UOIT Ridgebacks on For the second game McSept. 25, the team went into the Master opened the game’s scoring weekend with a chip on their shoul- with a tally in the 5th minute by der. The team played two games in Paterson Farrell.

3 days.

Unfortunately, the Mus On Sept. 30 the Maraud- tangs responded with a goal before ers travelled to Windsor to take on the end of the first half, with Dylan the Lancers at Alumni Field. Mc- Marcos scoring in the 35th minute.

Master shut out their opponents With an opportunity to with an onslaught of goals, which take control of the OUA West resulted in a final score of 4-0. standings, McMaster played strong

at Windsor on Sept. 30. defense to keep the game knotted up at one.

However in the games 67th minute, Western’s Rudy James broke through the Marauder lines and scored to put the Mustangs ahead by 2-1, the games final score.

After the heartbreaking loss to Western, men’s soccer must rebound and prepare to host the defending national champion York Lions.

When they met earlier in the season, the Lions handed McMaster their first loss of the season defeating them by a score of 1-0 at York Stadium in Toronto.

The top of bracket matchup will be a big step for both teams moving towards the playoffs.

THE SILHOUETTE • S7

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

Hall of Fame

Women’s Rugby

Clemons gives keynote at Celebration of Sport

Win keeps Mac in top spot

• CONT’D FROM S2 Player that season.

On the women’s side, McMaster inducted 2001 graduates Amy Apps and Sarah Laudenbach, who enjoyed standout varsity careers on the soccer pitch and in the pool respectively.

For her part, Apps was a two-time OUA All-Star and First Team All-Canadian in 1998 and 1999, and won the honour as her team’s Most Valuable Player in 2001. After her successful Marauder career, Apps – the granddaughter of fellow McMaster Hall of Famer and Toronto Maple Leafs legend Syl Apps – enjoyed a lengthy professional career with the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Fellow female inductee Sarah Laudenbach was an integral part of a Marauder swim team that won three consecutive OUA titles from 1998-2000. She won six individual medals at the national level and another three as part of relay teams. In perhaps her single greatest year, Laudenbach was the CIS champion in the 200m freestyle event and was named as McMaster’s Female Athlete of the Year.

In addition to Coach Marshall, former McMaster President Dr. Peter George was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the builder category. George was recognized for his constant advocacy of McMaster’s athletic programs, and his fundraising and building efforts that resulted in the construction of the David Braley Athletic Centre and Ron Joyce Stadium.

The celebration banquet was capped off with a keynote speech from legendary CFL running back Michael ‘Pinball’ Clemons, who exhorted those in attendance to live and play with a sense of appreciation, dignity, and respect.

It was a fitting bridge between the past accomplishments being celebrated on the night, and the many competitive highlights expected from the Marauder community this season.

JEFF TAM / SILHOUETTE STAFF

Natasha Turner and her teammates prevailed in tight 5-3 decision against the Gaels at Kingston on Oct. 1. balls, and handling errors because of the putting more points on the board.

• CONT’D FROM S3 temperature.”

“Practice will be similar to what

The victory in Kingston comes a it’s been like all year, but we’ll be focusplayed a very aggressive game.”

Queen’s’ Bronwyn Corrigan scored year after a regular season loss to the Gaels ing a little more on quicker balls. [Queen’s] the Gaels’ only points on a penalty. During adversely affected the Marauders playoff were able to pressure us and force turnovers a season that has seen huge scores put up all seeding. However, the team is not resting on whereas if we can have quicker rucks we should be able to pressure [Trent] more on around the OUA, this match was clearly an its laurels.

“I think we still have more to prove, offence.” anomaly. In fact, this was the first match Elsewhere in the OUA, upstart Wawon by a single-digit score. Mitchell ex- I don’t think we can just be happy by just plained it was partially due to the opponent, bettering last year’s result,” said Mitchell. “I terloo faltered in a 34-29 loss to Toronto, think we still want to keep playing and keep Guelph flexed their muscles in a 68-0 drubbut also to the calendar.

“I think it was two evenly matched winning games as we try to place as highly bing of Brock, Western shut out Laurier 61-0 and Trent edged York 17-12. Guelph continteams, who both played very strong de- as we can.”

The effort will continue against the ues to dominate the OUA Shiels Division, fence,” said the Marauder coach. “It was also the first cold day that we played on so Trent Excalibur on Oct. 7 in Peterborough. and is ranked second in the nation. McMasthe hands weren’t as good; a lot of dropped This week the coaching staff is focusing on ter is ranked fifth in the latest rankings.

S8 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

Football

Men’s Rugby

Rookie backs provide spark

Mac survives home scare against rival Badgers

• CONT’D FROM S2

His work during the 2011 campaign has allowed the humble rookie to become the team’s leading rusher, surpassing Nemet with his homecoming performance.

Despite his success, Pezzetta takes little personal credit for the yards he has amassed.

“The line and receivers made good blocks downfield today,” commented the rookie runner. “Its all the other guys out there with me getting the work done.”

Pezzetta added that his path to success is an easy one, and one that leads through the skilled offensive linemen in front of him.

“I just need to follow those guys, they led the way today,” said the running back.

Both Pezzetta and his fellow tailback Hill seemed to feed off of one another’s energy. Gaining 250 yards in a game from any backfield can be considered a great success.

Pezzetta, in addition to his offensive line, attributes the success of McMaster’s running game to the chemistry he shares with Hill.

“I really like Jimmy and his personality, that helps the way that we play together. He trusts me when he has to running behind me when I have to block for him and I trust his blocking when I’m running behind him,” said Pezzetta.

That trust is the driving force of the Marauders’ running game right now and coach Stefan Ptaszek is very pleased with the results.

As the long-time bench boss pointed out, the game against Waterloo allowed the Marauders to “get a lot of young guys into the game and give them a chance to start.”

On the day, the Marauder offense gained a total of over 600 yards. Selecting a single player as the standout would be a difficult task. Star receiver Michael Dicroce caught six passes for 144 yards, adding a touchdown to earn himself the Mark Timpany Trophy, given to the Marauders’ most valuable player in their annual homecoming game.

Matt Peressini added two touchdowns of his own to the offensive showcase.

For their part, the Marauders’ de-

JEFF TAM / SILHOUETTE STAFF

Marshall Ferguson passed for 284 yards and three touchdowns on Oct. 1. fence once again impressed, continuing its trend of dominating opposing offences with a mix of stout run defence and a formidable secondary.

Cornerback Steven Ventresca had a spectacular interception while the Marauder front seven terrorized the Warriors backfield.

If there was an area in which the Marauders struggled on Oct. 1, it was the realm of discipline. The Marauders racked up an OUA record 327 yards in penalties.

Ptaszek attributed the problem of “the offsides, too many men, and procedure

penalties” to the youth-dominated lineup.

What worried the Marauder coach were the penalties that indicated a lack of personal control on the part of his players.

“We will have to look at the unnecessary roughness penalties,” Ptaszek indicated. “Because that’s a discipline issue.”

After a short week of practice, the Marauders prepare to host the University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Oct. 6. The game will see the return to the McMaster lineup of star quarterback Kyle Quinlan from his three-game suspension.

• CONT’D FROM S5

Unfortunately for the Marauders, they would bobble the ensuing kickoff and the Badgers would use the mishap to grab a try of their own before half time. With Brock flyhalf Hugh McDonell missing the convert, the half time score would stand at 10-5.

McMaster came flying out of the gates in the second half and would capitalize after a line break by Cam Stones led to Wilenski’s first career try as a Marauder.

Ferguson would continue his excellent kicking on the day to make the convert and put the maroon and grey up 17-5.

The next 20 minutes of the game were dominated by the Badgers, as they strung together multiple attacks deep in the McMaster half. In spite of coach Phil White’s attempt to inject some fresh legs with substitutes Ben Patterson, Andrew Muir and Jon Collins the pressure would be too much as Brock would put up two tries during their second half period of dominance.

However, McDonell could not channel any of Ferguson’s kicking prowess and would miss both converts.

Defensive structure and first up tackling would truly be the downfall of the Marauders on the day, as Brock was able to score in the corner off a centre scrum in the McMaster half. After another missed McDonell kick the score sat at 24-20 in McMaster’s favour with 10 minutes to play.

The maroon and grey would gather their composure and a great clearing kick by substitute Craig Leveridge would seal the victory.

Although it wasn’t the prettiest of wins, the team will look to build from the Oct. 1 result and continue to improve on their defence. If the Marauders can improve their defensive structure and make their first up tackles, they will hold their place as one of the teams to beat in the OUA.

Oct. 7 sees the Marauders take on the struggling University of Toronto Varsity Blues who are winless so far in their 2011 campaign.

THE SILHOUETTE • C1

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

INSIDEOUT

production office extension: 27117 insideout@thesil.ca

Moving forward with DCD

Physiotherapy plays a key role in Developmental Coordination Disorder

JOY SANTIAGO / MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

Everyday activities that are second nature to most of us are difficult for children with DCD. Therapy, particularly at a young age, can go a long way.

Natalie Timperio

Senior InsideOut Editor

Think back to this morning. Before leaving the house, what did you do?

Your morning ritual probably consisted of eating and dressing, in addition to numerous other small tasks that you pay little or no mind to – after all, you have been doing these things with ease for quite some time now.

But what do such day-to-day tasks like eating and dressing have in common? Movement.

Your daily routines are comprised of many movements, most of which are very easily performed,

such as tying your shoes, brushing your teeth, biking to school and taking notes in class.

You likely learned to do these things without much difficulty, so they seem to come naturally now.

But what if such simple movements such as tying your shoes were not second nature to you? What if simple tasks proved troublesome each and every day?

For at least one child in nearly every Canadian elementary school classroom, this is their life.

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a motor skills disorder affecting five to six per cent of school-aged children.

Lisa Rivard, physiotherapist for the CanChild Centre at McMaster University – a research and educational centre focused on childhood disabilities – says that DCD causes motor skill development in children to be delayed. “Even when they develop their motor skills they may be very poorly able to do them, so DCD tends to affect their ability to perform everyday tasks,” she explained.

Unfortunately, DCD often goes undiagnosed. Rivard explains that there are certain criteria that need to be met in order for a child to be diagnosed with DCD, which can be found in the Diagnostic and Statis-

tical Manual of Mental Disorders.

“One of the difficulties, however, is that not everyone knows the definition of these criteria in books.

So, say for example, many physicians may not be aware of the criteria for the diagnosis so it tends to be an under-recognized and therefore under-diagnosed condition,” said Rivard.

This rings particularly true in the case of Liz Molinaro, who is mother to 11-year-old Tomas, a patient of Rivard. “I always knew from the beginning that there was something not right [with Tomas] but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

When he was a toddler I started

asking questions and taking him to different health care professionals ... my family doctor put me in touch with an occupational therapist who basically said that [Tomas has DCD].”

However, as Rivard stresses, a diagnosis for DCD must come from a physician or psychologist. So in the case of Molinaro, seeking a correct diagnosis for her son proved difficult.

“Finally we started going to a paediatrician who had never heard of [DCD] before ... even though the occupational therapist knew about • PLEASE SEE PHYSIOTHERAPY, C2

MFNSA’s third annual Pow Wow stand of First Nations-inspired food (including delicious Three Sister Soup and strawberry juice), adOn your way to class on Sept. 30, mired the performance of great culdrearily enduring the last few hours tural music and dance and picked up of academia before the start of some merchandise similar to First homecoming weekend, you may Nations items and clothing. have noticed the people dancing The McMaster Annual Pow in colourful costume outside of the Wow event, run by the McMaster JHE. First Nations Students Association, Those of you who did more than raises awareness for the presence of turn your heads would have seen a Indigenous people on campus and Amanda Teseo The Silhouette

in surrounding communities. Several groups were invited to perform at McMaster.

The performing groups include people from around Ontario, including Kitchener, St. Catherines, Hamilton and the Six Nations Reserve.

They put on a great performance, featuring dance and music. It was a beautiful expression of culture and community.

I had the pleasure of meeting one of the key performers in the Pow Wow event who lives on a reserve in Kitchener.

She stood at 5’2” with a posture portraying strength and pride. She announced her name proudly to me as Andrea Misquadis or “Auntie”.

She spook with great detail and honesty about her hardship, bringing me halfway to tears. In dealing with the sudden death of her eldest

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son to taking care of her mother, Andrea explained how she uses dance as a sort of release, a means of channeling her hardship.

The Pow Wow was more than just a show; it was a meaningful expression for many of the performers.

Everyone has means of letting out emotion, whether it’s bingeing • PLEASE SEE CELEBRATING, C3

C2 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

ThreadCount Colin Rose Fifth year Sociology and Business

Photos by Tyler Hayward and Ricardo Padilla

Shirt :BananaRepublic $90 Tie: Little Black Tie $70 Watch: Timex $60

Style: Business casual Favourite quote: “Just watch me.” - Pierre Elliot Trudeau Favourite band: The Killers What do you look for in a significant other? A sense of humour

Physiotherapy helps with DCD • CONT’D FROM C1 this more than the paediatrician, we still needed a doctor to sign off on the diagnosis.

So I basically had to educate the paediatrician,” said Molinaro.

Despite initial difficulties, however, Molinaro says that Tomas is progressing well and has benefited greatly from different kinds of physiotherapy.

Rivard explains that physiotherapy plays an important role for those with DCD. It includes “the identification [of DCD], helping children themselves with the actual tasks they need to learn how to do, and also encouraging others to keep them active.”

Physical activity is important for those with DCD as they are at a greater risk for obesity, since they tend to avoid physical activity.

However, someone with DCD may still find success in certain physical activities, such as Tomas who, as Molinaro explains, has taken well to indoor rock climbing. And although DCD is a lifelong condition, those diagnosed may still lead fulfilling lives.

In fact, Rivard says that as children grow they are able to do many of the same things their peers are able to do, they just require different strategies to help them manage daily tasks.

Despite challenges and teasing at a young age, “now that Tomas is almost 12 he can self-advocate and educate people ... now his friends are trying to understand it,” said Rivard.

Indeed, understanding DCD may be half the battle.

Molinaro encourages parents and those who may suspect their child to have DCD to not waste critical time, as early intervention is key to ensuring the success of someone afflicted with this particular disorder.

Both Rivard and Molinaro stress that with the proper knowledge and support, DCD can be quite manageable and need not be detrimental to leading a successful life.

For information on DCD or another childhood disability please visit www.canchild.ca or call CanChild Centre at (905) 5259150 ext. 27850.

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THE SILHOUETTE • C3

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

SEX and the STEEL CITY

Divulging the dating world Prevent future debacles and familiarize yourself with these dating guidelines Miranda Batterink The Silhouette

In my prepubescent years, I was mildly obsessed with Archie comics. I don’t use the word “obsessed” lightly; there is no other word to describe how my preteen self (and, to an embarrassing extent, myself in the years beyond as well) felt about Riverdale High and its counterparts.

The storylines are all the same. Archie and Betty go to the drive-in. Veronica and Archie go to the school dance. Reggie and Veronica drink strawberry shakes at Pop’s.

Everyone has an inter-dating, monogamyhating, jalopy-rockin,’ grand old time. And I would devour those Pals n’ Gals Double Digests like an adolescent boy with a Playboy magazine.

And then, somehow, we all grew up and went to college or university and Archie stayed in high school. For us, things suddenly got more complicated. Dating stopped being about crushes and school dances and newly acquired drivers’ licenses. And somewhere between the cryptic text messages, Cosmo advice columns and Facebook profile overanalyses, we seem to have lost the art of courtship.

Dating became less like a Riverdale disco dance and more like a high-stakes job interview. Except the ultimate goal isn’t to get employed, it’s to get laid.

Few circumstances can cause more social anxiety and feel than this high-intensity interview scenario of a first date, which, ironically, is not necessarily even acknowledged by both attending parties as existing (as is most clear from the commonly asked and often nauseainducing question, “Is this a date?”).

So in lieu of several recent technological phenomena and the increasingly blurred lines between friendly excursions, casual encounters, romantic outings and full on raves, here

you have some rudimentary guidelines for what actually constitutes a date – because it seems many of us are unsure these days.

If either parties changed their shirt beforehand, it’s probably a date. If you’re unsure if it’s a date and you’re worried it’s a date and you’re kind of hoping it’s not a date, it’s definitely a date.

If your partner is checking their phone, sending texts, or answering calls, you should hope it’s not a date. They are not only a terrible date but probably a terrible person as well.

If the night ultimately ends up in the presence of kegs, incoherent peers, or walls spattered with projectile vomit, it’s most likely a fun time but certainly isn’t a date.

If the invitation was sent after midnight and contains unclear texting or slurred speech, it’s not a date. That would be a booty call.

If, while on a dinner outing, your partner shoves multiple garlic loaves into their hoodie pocket while muttering something under their breath about goddamn inflated patisserie prices on what you thought was a first date, it is not even a little bit. You are, in fact, deeply, deeply in the ‘friend zone’, which, incidentally, is about as easy to get out of as the self-locking bathrooms in the basement hall of BSB. It’s okay, it can be difficult to tell. Locations clearly intended for dates are a thing of the past. Drive-in theatres are all but eradicated, and there are currently five roller skating rinks in the entire province of Ontario. I don’t even think they make disco balls anymore.

So in a post-Riverdale era, where is a prospective couple to go to hold hands and make out and have a low-key, stress free, but undeniably legitimate date? Archie Andrews, should you ever graduate from high school (and I hope you do, because it is a fascinating world out there), you’ll have no idea.

Leave the phone at home, or at least wait until your date takes a potty break.

JOY SANTIAGO / MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

Celebrating indigenous culture

JEFF TAM / SILHOUETTE STAFF

Captured here is a woman in traditional First Nations dress.

• CONT’D FROM C1 on chocolate, calling up a friend, playing video games, or punching a wall. These people make an art out of it. Watching them dance and sing was being part of an intimate and raw moment with them.

Speaking to some of the performers, I saw our university through foreign eyes; how busy we all seem, how beautiful the campus really is.

Every one of them expressed a sense of awe towards all the students rushing to class,

describing us as purposeful and important. In reality, we should look upon them with awe as well. They live with a great philosophy see life as a personal journey. Dancing and singing are their ways of appreciating each day and living with gratitude. Life becomes less about the past or goals, and more about the present.

At least, that’s what stuck in my mind as I rushed to class at the conclusion of their show. How many of us, in our goal-oriented society, appreciate the journey and not just the destination?

C4 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

IntheKitchen

Thanksgiving maple apple turkey This week’s rating...

Mera Qamar The Silhouette Tired of having the same old turkey meal every Thanksgiving Day? Spice up your dinner with this savoury Apple Maple Turkey dish.

Good as they may be fresh, cooked apples provide the most exquisite flavour to this turkey recipe.

The sweetness of the apples and maple syrup add a mouth-melting savoury flavour to the turkey that will heighten your taste buds. This recipe is simple, delicious, easy to make and is not time-consuming.

What’s in it?

3 tablespoons of olive oil or melted butter 8 small turkey breasts or drumsticks 1 ½ cups maple syrup 2 cups water 6 Granny Smith apples (peeled and sliced) 1 pinch salt and pepper ¼ teaspoon cinnamon 1 tablespoon lemon zest How do I make it?

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan for about one minute on high heat 2. Add the turkey and cook for 20 minutes on both sides until it turns golden-brown TIP: Make sure to cover the saucepan so that liquids will remain in the turkey and not dry out 3. Add some salt and pepper for some extra flavouring 4. Peel and slice the apples into long slices or chop the apples into small cubes 5. Turn the temperature down to medium heat 5. Add the apple slices, maple syrup and water into the saucepan and let it simmer for 4 minutes TIP: make sure that the turkey is

MERA QAMAR / THE SILHOUETTE

Instead of the traditional stuffed turkey try something new this Thanksgiving, such as the maple apple turkey. soaked in all the juices 6. Add a pinch and cinnamon with some of the lemon zest and let it cook for 1 minute 7. Serve with some steamed vegetables such as salary and carrots or baked potatoes 8. Bon appétit!

What if I’m using a full turkey?

It is possible to make this recipe with whole turkey, but it will take at least 3 hours to cook in the oven at 350°F. When roasting the turkey you must follow three important procedures. First, you must keep the

turkey soaked in the juices so that it will not lose its tenderness. Second, make sure that the turkey is covered with aluminum foil while roasting.

Third, do not add the apples until the very last minute of cooking so that they won’t become too tender and lose their original texture.

dents are busy and generally resort to meals that take less time.

But if you’re an individual who loves cooking and is willing to set a side the time to prepare a meal, then apple maple turkey is the dish for you. This exquisite meal is perfect for entertaining, as it serves eight and is relatively versatile with What’s the end result? all types of foods; you can pair this The meal takes approximately with rice, potatoes, a nice salad – 20 minutes to prepare and 45 min- the opportunities are endless. utes to an hour to thoroughly cook, If you’re not preparing this which could be an exceptionally meal for you friends, then you’ll long time for most students. Al- have plenty of leftovers, which is though the meal is delicious, stu- perfect for the average student. Eco-

Word of the Week Thanksgrieving Definition

The distress one experiences upon stepping on the scale after consuming gluttonous amounts of food and drink during Thanksgiving.

Used in a sentence

“My goodness, 182.5 pounds! I feel a serious sense of Thanksgrieving right now.”

nomically, this meal is quite feasible. Your local grocery store should have plenty of ripe Granny Smith apples, turkey thighs and syrup for a relatively low price. Turkey is usually a dry meat, but in this meal, the apples and syrup provide a delectable texture and taste that enhances the flavour of the turkey.

All around, this meal is a crowd pleaser and an interesting twist on your standard oven-roasted turkey. If you’re staying home this Thanksgiving, why not try it out?

It’ll make being alone a little less depressing.

THE SILHOUETTE • C5

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

TechBuzz

The book has a new face Facebook’s new look is sure to spark some conversation Rishi Bodalia The Silhouette

Facebook has been around for just over seven years, and has become one of the hottest social networks to date.

A few weeks prior to Facebook’s Sept. 22 developers conference, known as f8, Google unleashed its own social network called Google Plus. Facebook reacted to this new service of Google by upgrading their user interface (UI) as an attempt to make it more user-friendly.

There are many people that adore the new UI and all the information presented on the news feed, but, of course, just as many people detest it.

The news feed includes two key features; Top Stories and the Ticker.

The Top Story column pushes news about your friends on Facebook that might be relevant (according to an algorithm of what you like, hide and other activities that you perform) to you. The other feature is the Ticker, which is analogous to a Twitter feed.

The Ticker displays all of your friends activities, including liking a post or picture, commenting, adding a friend, being tagged in pictures and more. The Ticker provides users with an abundance of information in relation to their friends.

The aim of the Ticker is to engage you not only with your friends but with the Facebook site as well.

Your Facebook profile will

SILHOUETTE FILE PHOTO

Facebook has changed once again, this time the new look is quite drastic with new interface features and applications. drastically change in the next week or two. The new profile layout is called Timeline and conveys a variety of information in a graphical and chronological layout. There are a couple key features on the timeline; Cover, View, Activity Log and Wall.

The first and most obvious feature is the Cover. The Cover by default is the last picture that you are tagged in, but you can change the image to something that best represents you. For example, it could be you devouring a slice of pizza or at the beach with friends.

The next change is called The

View, which displays your profile picture, information (where you work, where you went to school, your current city, etc.), photos, friends, likes and any subscriptionbased apps. The View panel offers a personal overview to your friends based on your own interests and subscriptions.

The Activity feature can be as cool as it can be scary. It is a private log of your Facebook activity (likes, comments, posts and more) from the time you joined Facebook until the present.

The Activity log allows you to monitor and sensor your activity to

the public. It allows you to feature an activity, allow and not allow an activity, or delete an activity altogether.

But the biggest change is the Wall. The Wall allows your friends and family to see your activity on Facebook in a chronological order.

With the timeline, you can now add pictures, list your parents and even provide a story of your birth.

Each activity on Facebook is displayed as a node on your timeline, but if you feel that a post requires peoples’ attention, you may expand the post and feature it on your timeline.

Another neat, yet freaky feature is that your friends have the ability to view this timeline.

In the top corner are years and months listed, so your friends can easily creep around your profile and view your posts from both past and present.

These are just some of the changes to Facebook that will soon come into effect. Originally, the changes were to debut on Sept. 30, but due to trademark infringement with Timelines.com, it has been delayed until further notice. So keep your eyes peeled for a Facebook profile change!

Thou shall be a good housemate Monica Bialobrzeski The Silhouette

Thou shall wash thy dishes. It’s a no-brainer, but seems to be the biggest problem among all roommates.

In less than twenty-four hours, the dish sink always seems to be overflowing, with no one owning up to his or her respective mess.

Even when the dishes finally get washed, the rack resembles an ongoing game of Jenga, and we all know how that one ends. If you want to be a good roommate and prevent an instant headache for your fellow roomies, wash and put away your dishes. All you need is five minutes, so get to it.

Thou shall listen to thy music at a reasonable level. Let’s face it, there’s nothing like coming home after a long day, finding a perfect tune and having that sweet melody bounce off the walls of your little cubical-sized room. It doesn’t help if you’re like me and feel personally obligated to add your own full set falsetto into the equation.

However, your roommates will be the first to classify your attempt to cancel out external noise as … well just that; noise. Keep your music at an enjoyable level, but a level that won’t quickly and harshly seep through paper-thin walls.

JONATHON FAIRCLOUGH / PRODUCTION EDITOR

Sometimes living in student housing can be down right chaotic so try making it a little easier and be a good house mate.

Thou shall not steal thy roommates’ belongings. If something is ever mysteriously missing, you can only blame it on the “house ghost” for so long. Whatever the item is, make sure to always ask for permission if you want to use, borrow or eat something of your roommates’, unless they have previously stated otherwise. This avoids future stealing wars, catfights, or having to use

your bedroom as a kitchenette.

Thou shall attempt to settle disputes like “adults.” The last thing any one needs is added stress from roommate arguments and complications. Two-way communication and active listening is key here. Leaving disputes unsettled will have you walking on pins and needles at a place that is supposed to be called home, so try to deal with things im-

mediately.

Thou shall try to maintain thy moans to a moderate level when fornicating.This one’s pretty selfexplanatory. Give respect to having a good time, but the humour of it dies immediately after the first offense so try to keep it on the hushhush, or do it when you’ve got the house to yourself.

Thou shall have a good time.

Four years of university will fly by, so be sure to make some room for the good times. When else will you have the opportunity to live in a shitty, run down house with a bunch of university students. Make the most of these interactions and you just might be lucky enough to make some pretty spectacular friendships and once-in-a-lifetime moments by the end of it.

Election Day Oct. 6 at 9:30 a.m.

Come out and be part of change. Voting stations will be set up across the province. If you’re not from Hamilton you can vote in CIBC hall. Just visit www.wemakevotingeasy.ca to find out where your polling station will be located and bring your ID. Thanksgiving Club Party Oct. 6 9:30 p.m. at TwelveEighty Come out and celebrate Thanksgivnig with up-and coming Toronto DJ TRIO, Keyes N Krates Cover is $4.50.

International Observe the Moon Night Oct. 8 at 7:00 p.m. in the Burke Science Building (Planetarium) Join in and learn all about the moon.

To make a reservation visit www.physics.mcmaster.ca/planetarium

C6 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

Tata to the tattoo taboo

Regardless of the stigma, tattoos continue to grow in popularity Of course, tattoos did have their own moment of lame-o-phobia. Remember the arm band tattoos of the ‘90s?

Tattoos, once considered a tacky part of That was definitely a low point in the hiscounter-cultural societies, have now become tory of tattoos. But now, tattoos have got their a popular form of body art and self expression cool streak back. With shows like Miami, by all types of individuals.

L.A., and New York Ink, tattoos have become There have been stigmas attached to get- part of popular culture, as opposed to the ting a tattoo, along with stereotypes about the counterculture that they represented so many people who get them. years before.

But these days, the world does not seem Just walking down the street, people rantoo judgmental of getting ‘tatted’. ging from punks to preps have all kinds of tat It’s not as if you have to be part of a cer- toos, from the full sleeve to just the wrist. tain group to get a tattoo, nor does it mean that There is the classic reason of why the having a tattoo makes you part of a certain older population believes that people, particugroup. They’ve now become larly young people, should more commonplace than ever. not get tattoos.

If you’re interested in get- There are more and The biggest concern is not ting inked, it might be interestbeing able to get a job. Older ing to know the history behind more people getting generations, who are holdtattoos, and some of ing on to old stereotypes, the art of tattooing.

In the 1950s, getting a the designs can actu- still feel that if a person has tattoo probably meant two tattoos, they are not employthings: you either spent time ally be very beauti- able. in the big house or were part ful. They can be an “They’re irresponsible,” of a greaser gang. aspect of aesthetic “they do drugs,” “they are There was a massive rebellious,” these are still stereotype around people who pleasure rather than sometimes presumptions asgot tattoos and what their per- a mark of rebellion.” sociated with people with sonal lives must have been tattoos. like.

But for the most part, these Later, into the 1960s and 1970s, tattoos presumptions have pretty much dissolved became the mark of rock stars, punks and into nothing, since now tattoos are viewed other members of American musical counter- more as body art or a fashion statement than a culture. gang symbol.

But this stereotype has died out over time, The stigma of what it means to have a as the subcultures became more integrated tattoo has changed over time and has now into pop culture, making the rebellion of the become a normalized aspect of culture. They past the standard of fashion and music, par- are more acceptable and the stereotypes surticularly among young people. rounding them have begun to fade away.

Even the most virtuous and non-rebel- There are fewer assumptions about the lious of people are getting inked. people who get tattoos, and now, even your There are more and more people getting employer may have one. tattoos, and some of the designs can actually The culture surrounding tattoos has be very beautiful. become more inclusive, allowing more and They can be an aspect of aesthetic pleas- more people to decorate themselves with ure rather than a mark of rebellion. beautiful body art.

Jenna Shamoon Silhouette Staff

Tattoos are a significant aspect in many people’s lives.

TYLER HAYWARD / SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR

InsideOut Tidbits Taj Mah-who?

The creation of the Taj Mahal remains a mystery to this day.

Nobody knows who built this spectacular, ancient masterpiece.

The names of the architects, masons, and designers that were thought to be its creators have been proven false.

Be safe, use dung

Contraceptives are an easy and hygenic way to prevent unwanted conception. But family planning wasn’t always so appealing. The first known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by ancient Egyptians in 2000 B.C.E.

The kiss of deaf

A woman in China partially lost her hearing after her boyfriend ruptured her eardrum with a passionate kiss. Apparently, the kiss reduced the pressure in the mouth, pulled the eardrum out, and caused the breakdown of the ear.

THE SILHOUETTE • C7

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

Turkey tips What you should know about abortion Carla Brown SHEC Media

An unexpected and unwanted pregnancy can be a terrifying experience for university students. If you or a partner is pregnant and considering terminating the pregnancy, here’s what you need to know.

First, you should know that an abortion is not your only option if you’re experiencing an unintended pregnancy. If you choose to carry the pregnancy to term, you can parent or place the child up for adoption.

If you’ve decided not to carry the pregnancy to term, make sure your choice is something that is yours alone. Abortion clinics in Canada must provide counselling and ensure that a woman asking for an abortion is not being coerced. If you or a partner are feeling pressured to have an abortion that you don’t want, you should consider speaking to a counsellor at the oncampus Student Wellness Centre.

Abortions are time sensitive.

In Ontario, abortions are fully covered by OHIP until the 20th week of pregnancy. However, more than 90 per cent of abortions performed in Ontario are done towards the end of the first trimester, or 12 weeks, of pregnancy.

Both medical and surgical abortions are performed in Hamilton.

Medical abortions can be performed before five weeks gestation using methotrexate and misoprostol. In this case, methotrexate, which stops the development of the embryo by stopping the production of folic acid, is administered orally or by injection at a doctor’s office. You would then be sent home with misoprostol, which is inserted vaginally three to six days later. This causes the uterus to expel its contents, which feels similar to heavy menstrual period and can cause cramping. At some clinics, you may be required to pay the cost of the drugs, but your MSU health insurance will cover 80 per cent of that cost.

If you’re not a candidate for a medical abortion, a surgical abortion will be performed. A firsttrimester abortion is an out-patient procedure done under general or local anaesthesia. The procedure involves the insertion of a tube into the uterus. Suction is then applied to remove the contents of the

uterus. This procedure takes five to ten minutes, and less than one per cent of women experience complications.

A second-trimester abortion is a more invasive procedure involving two visits to the hospital. At the time of the first visit, thin rods of dried kelp, called laminaria tents, are inserted to expand the cervix.

These tents are held in place with a tampon overnight. You may experience some cramping as your cervix dilates. At the second visit, the doctor uses a speculum to open the cervix and remove the contents of the uterus. Local anaesthetic and ‘laughing gas’ will be provided.

In Hamilton, women can obtain abortions at the Juravinski Hospital Women’s Clinic, located at Juravinski Hospital, formerly known as Henderson Hospital. You can call the clinic to book an appointment at (905) 389-5068. As well as time with a counsellor, you will receive an ultrasound to determine the gestation of the pregnancy, as this information is required in order to determine what method of abortion is right for you. You are not required to view the ultrasound. Immediately before the procedure, you will meet with a nurse who will explain the procedure in detail, answer your questions and discuss follow-up care and future birth control options.

Abortion may not be the right choice for every unintended pregnancy, but if you are considering termination, this article may help you make an informed and timely decision. If you are concerned that you might be pregnant, and it has been less than 72 hours since sexual activity, you can take an emergency contraceptive pill (ECP). An ECP can be obtained from Campus Health for $15 with an appointment or from the Pharmacy in MUSC for $40. These pills do not induce abortion, but rather prevent implantation of an egg, and are more effective the sooner you take them.

If it has been 14 days since you had unprotected intercourse, you can have free pregnancy tests administered at the Student Health Education Centre (SHEC), which is located on the second floor of the student centre. SHEC also has a library with books and pamphlets about pregnancy options, as well as confidential peer counselling.

Thanksgiving weekend is just around that corner and for most that means copious amounts of food and slightly eccentric family members. With the joy of festivities lingering in the air, be sure to make the most of you’re holiday and follow these fun tips to enhance the long weekend.

1) If you’re going home for the weekend by bus, make sure to show up at the station at least a half hour before the departure time. It sounds ridiculous, but you won’t regret your decision when you’re the first in line with 80 people behind you.

2) Thanksgiving is a time to indulge, so make sure to wear those stretchy track-pants .

3) BYOTF. (Bring your own tofurkey.) You can’t count on Grandma to cook up vegetarian food on thanksgiving.

4) Bring a bottle of wine. It’s pretty funny seeing Grandma drunk on bubbly and it’ll take away the headache you’re bound to have from your obnoxiously loud aunt.

5) During dinner, avoid conversations on politics.

They never seem to end well.

6) When dinner’s over, conveniently fall ill to some immediate sickness; you’ll get out of doing the dishes.

7) Always separate your food into individual containers. No one likes their mashed potatoes intermingling with their stuffing.

8) Don’t succumb to the sleepy power of turkey, or else you’ll miss Grandma’s famous apple pie.

9) Enjoy the festivities, don’t drink and drive, and have fun with your friends and family.

THE SILHOUETTE • C9

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

BUSINESS

production office extension: 27117 business@thesil.ca

Nip resumé bloopers in the bud Avoid resumé faux-pas by following these helpful tips

What’s the Biz in the world market?

Housing Prices in Canada According to the House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast prepared by Royal LePage, home prices in Canada “remained unexpectedly resilient” in the third quarter amidst low interest rates and a stable domestic economy. The data obtained indicates an increase in the average cost of a detached bungalow in Canada by 7.8 per cent, to $349,974. The Canadian national price of a standard condominium and two-storey detached home also rose 5.7 percent to $239,300 and 7.7 per cent to $388,218, respectively.

Prices in Atlantic Canada as well as Toronto rose, while home prices remained steady year-over-year in Calgary and Edmonton.

Butter Shortage in Sweden A recent surge in the popularity of butter in Sweden has resulted in a national butter shortage. The increased demand in butter is due to the recent low-carb diet craze invading Sweden in addition to the decline of the dairy industry. The production of milk in Sweden has plummeted 1.5 percent in the last 20 years compared to a growth of 18.2 per cent in the demand for butter alone. The Swedish Dairy Association plans to increase annual milk production by 18 per cent to counter future shortages.

Primping your resumé effectively can help you shine above other applicants.

Shama Kassam The Silhouette

Writing a resumé effectively is an important skill, and especially in a time where graduate jobs are scarce, everyone is looking for what to do to make their resumé stand out.

First of all, it’s not an arts and crafts project. Usually, employers are not looking for strange bells and whistles on a resumé. What they are looking for is a clean, crisp to-thepoint resumé that highlights what you can bring to their company.

Using glitter borders and smiley face bullets are not going to give you the edge that you think it will.

Secondly, be sure to edit your resumé. There are horror stories of people submitting resumés without deleting someone else’s editing including comments such as “I don’t think you want to include this” or people misspelling the word proofreading under skills and abilities.

Editing your resumé shows, through action, a strong attention to detail and at a professional level, this is

not optional.

Many employers would instantly discount a resumé with spelling or grammatical errors, or even formatting errors, especially if there are many qualified applicants for the same position.

Next, if you don’t already have one, create a professional sounding email address. Nobody wants to hire lovesbeer69@hotmail.com. A safe bet is to use your McMaster/ MUGSI email address.

Make sure you keep the information relevant. People often make the mistake of padding their resumés with extras in the Achievements section but listing Prom Queen of 2009 is not necessary. Neither is “can hold my breath underwater for 2 minutes” when applying for a bank teller job.

Be focused on the job you are applying for and tailor your resumé as such. Make sure the resumé is an appropriate length. It can’t be half a page, but it is unlikely your job and volunteer experience warrants a resumé that is longer than 2 pages.

Most job positions require a cover letter and employers may not want to read a 4-page cover letter followed by a 6-page resumé.

When applying for a job, you’re often competing with hundreds of other equally qualified applications, so how do you make sure your resumé sets you apart from the others?

According to The Undercover Recruiter, a UK-based website/ blog designed to meet the needs of job seekers, career advancers and anyone needing information on this type of stuff, they mention a few things to do to ensure your resumé will stand out, and here are a couple of interesting suggestions: Make your resumé keyword rich: The people who review your resumé have likely looked at tons of others in the same sitting and may start to just scan for keywords.

Speak to certain specific aspects of the job description and use the correct terminology for that field.

Make it easy for employers: Font, legibility, spacing and

JOY SANTIAGO / MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

formatting are crucial. Though employers do prefer a professional type font, you may want to consider stepping outside the box and using a slightly different font to catch the attention of the reader who may have read tons of resumés already.

On that same note, it is very important to not branch out too far and use Wingdings, but something a little different may make all the difference.

Add a link: With social media being as pervasive as it is, attaching a link to your LinkedIn or Facebook profile may be an interesting touch. Many employers will do an internet search before hiring a person so on that same note, make sure everything on your personal profiles are employer appropriate Keep in mind that, for employers/recruiters, after reading a pile of resumés, they all look the same.

Work to make yours stand out, within the boundaries of professionalism of course, and try a new unique creative way.

Research In Motion Research In Motion execs have not reported purchasing the company’s shares since July 2010, indicating insider scepticism regarding the company’s prospects. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, RIM insiders sold stock at least 11 times over that span. Despite news of the lack of share purchases RIM execs have recently conveyed increased confidence levels, stating the prospect of rebound is imminent. RIM advanced $2.60, or 12 per cent to $23.60 Wednesday afternoon. Although Research In Motion top executives have been shy in purchasing shares, other executives of Canadian companies have taken advantage of falling stock prices, including RONA Inc. Chairman Jean Gaulin.

Tech News India has launched the supposed “cheapest tablet in the world” Wednesday, to be sold at a price of approximately $60. According to Telecoms and Education Minister Kapil Sibal, the tablet, Aakash, aims to provide poor individuals in India access to the digital world that would not otherwise be easily accessible. A pilot run of 100,000 units will be provided to students for no fee. Features of the tablet include video conferencing capabilities, two USB ports in addition to a three-hour battery life.

Hamilton hops on the technology bandwagon The tech industry in Hamilton is an unexpectedly rapidly emerging hotspot Kevin Browne The Silhouette

Web and mobile startups are Hamilton’s hot new industry, and there are some great opportunities coming up for students to join in on the fun.

Sounds like a faux pas, doesn’t it?

Isn’t Hamilton the city of smoke stacks and steel? Well, not anymore.

Now its becoming a software city, a digital media city, an art city ... an innovation city. If you need evidence, look no further than the story of Weever Apps.

Andrew Holden and Robert Porter started Weever Apps by taking a walk on the Bruce Trail and discussing the future of the mobile web. They saw app stores that locked out small businesses and non-profits with high app development costs.

Weever Apps was built to take your website and for a few dollars a month, painlessly turn it into a mobile web app that looks and feels like a native app across all different mobile platforms.

Last March at DemoCampHamilton1, a tech startup event, Weever Apps was demoed; the event was basically show-and-tell with software.

Andrew and Robert had 5 minutes to demo in front of 100 people at Slaintès Irish pub, at the time the biggest gathering of Hamilton’s software community.

Since then Weever Apps have moved into the McMaster Innovation Park and they have been hiring a variety of new people - including students.

But the most exciting thing happened just a few weeks ago on Sept. 14 at an event called Lion’s Lair, where ten startups competed for cash in front of a judging panel of Hamilton’s finest entrepreneurs.

Andrew and Rob won the top prize of $50,000 in front of over 500 Hamilton innovators.

A lot of local tech workers have left for greener pastures in Silicon Valley. It hurts a lot when the city you love can’t provide opportunities for the people who deserve jobs and development.

Seeing Weever Apps win was a statement that we are headed in a new direction as a city.

It’s not just a story about Weever Apps - everything about the local tech industry is changing now.

Startups are expanding, incubators are being created and people are realizing something special is happening here. Mark Elliot at VA partners has deemed Hamilton the ‘next startup hotspot.’

Students can be creating these startups themselves. They can be like Waterloo’s Ted Livingston who created Kik Messenger, his software hit one million users in just 15 days, and he donated one million dollars back to his VeloCity incubator at the age of 23.

On the weekend of Oct 21-23, Hamilton will have its first Startup Weekend, which is a non-profit event taking place around the world.

The event is based around business people, designers and developers coming together to create web or mobile startups in one weekend; the weekend’s winners get an automatic spot at DemoCampHamilton4.

DemoCampHamilton3 boasted a crowd of over 200 individuals

SILHOUETTE FILE PHOTO

C10 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

I choose you!

Ash wants you to write for the sil business section.

If you love writing and think you have a knack for business, come out to our weekly meetings: Thursday at 1:30 in MUSC B110 or contact us at business@thesil.ca

Who would have thought...

The first owner of the Malboro Company died of lung cancer.

The founder of McDonald’s has a Bachelor degree in Hamburgerology....yes, it’s a real thing.

Saving for your future security Putting away today will benefit you tomorrow Rachael Ramos The Silhouette

For many young adults, saving money isn’t easy. The mentality of ‘spend now, pay it off later,’ is pretty common, with one problem: the ‘pay it off later’ part isn’t so easy.

Once you’ve graduated, the next step is to look for a job so you can finally gain financial sustainability. The thing most students don’t realize is that being hired right after graduation is not always guaranteed. Often, it takes several weeks, months, even years.

Students need to realize that the present is the best time to start saving up for the future.

Saving has many faces; whether you’re putting away pennies in a piggy bank or making your first investment, there are many ways to let your money grow.

If you carry a part-time job, every paycheque you should put $15-$25 into your savings account.

As well, you can start an RRSP fund or even invest in mutual funds.

If you are consistent, watch your savings grow.

Even the smallest contribution will make a difference and set a foundation for your future.

“I invested in my work’s RESOP plan, and within a year already I contributed over $3,000,” says part-time bank employee Reanna Bangcaya. “This will definitely be beneficial, especially when I want to put a down payment on a home!”

Make sure to ask your boss if there are work investments such as RESOP and RRSP plans. Small contributions made now will definitely help you in the future.

If you own a Visa use it only

for emergency purposes. Swiping a card is the easiest thing to do, but this can lead your card being maxed out and it will become harder to pay down the amount.

Don’t get used to using your visa and make sure it is your last resort as a form of payment.

“I actually maxed out my Visa within the first two months of receiving it in the mail,” says bank teller Daniel Lee. “This was a mistake which I learned the hard way.

I’m still paying it down and it sucks when majority of my pay goes to paying off my credit card.”

Try to make more than the minimum payment on your visa as paying interest is always the killer!

One last tip: limit your daily spending with food. Go grocery shopping and pack your food the night before. Grocery shopping is relatively cheaper in the long run and the $10-$20 you spend on food throughout the day adds up.

Even $1.60 a day spent on coffee will amount to a money-draining amount of $48 per month. There aren’t many students who couldn’t find a good use for $48.

With student loans, OSAP and line of credits, try and do as much as possible to minimize the pile of debt that you may be already in.

Your local bank can provide you with more ideas and information on how to save your money.

Saving money is not an easy task. Truth is it takes a lot of discipline to control one’s spending.

But remember, in the end it will be worth it.

The broke student syndrome is only temporary but reaping the rewards of continuous savings will be worthwhile once you have become an established adult and can afford the luxuries of life.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

THE SILHOUETTE • C11

HAMILTON & DISTRICT EXTEND-A-FAMILY VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES “ S H A R E A S P E C I A L FRIENDSHIP!”

B U DDY PROGRAM We have over one hundred children and teens with special needs waiting to spend time with a volunteer buddy. Matched buddies spend eight hours a month pursuing a hobby, playing sports, or enjoying other activities in the community.

Gain volunteer experience, have fun, and share a special friendship with a young person with special needs!

R E C R E AT I O N P RO G R A M We offer a minimum of six recreation events each month, providing respite and opportunities for fun and friendship in the community.

We bowl, play laser-tag, go rock-climbing, and challenge each other in all sorts of fun ways.

We have a great bunch of volunteers who assist at these events and are always happy to welcome more!

INTEREST E D ?

V I S I T OUR WEB-SITE, FIND U S O N FAC E B O O K O R CONTACT U S ! www.extendafamilyhamil t o n . s y n t h a s i t e . c o m 905.383.2 8 8 5 eaf@execulink.com ( B u dd y P ro g r a m ) e af.connect@gmail.com (R e c re a t i o n P ro g r a m )

Sunday, October 16, 2011 1:3 Canadian women and 1:6 Canadian men will experience sexual assault in their lifetime.

45% percent of female college and university students say they’ve been sexually assaulted since leaving high school.

The victim and the accused are known to each other in 82% of cases – as friends, acquaintances or family

But… I am not alone!

SACHA (Sexual Assault Centre, Hamilton& Area) is there with 24-hour confidential support, information or accompaniment @

905-525-4162

www.sacha.ca

Join one of the most fun, most scenic runs around.

Help give cancer the bum’s rush!

Promoting Awareness and Prevention of Colorectal Cancer and Supporting Wellwood

Effort Trust 1K Kids Run (9:30 am) • 5K Walk/Run & 10K Run (10:00 am) Special rate for Mac students and a discount for teams!

BEFORE OCTOBER 14 Student rate = $20 Teams of less than 10 members = $18 each Teams with more than 10 members = $17 each

AFTER OCTOBER 14 Student Rate = $25 Teams less than 10 members = $22 each Teams with more than 10 members = $21 each

Contact Wellwood: 905-667-8870 or email wellwood@hhsc.ca 860 King Street West, Hamilton

culture days • malajube agh film festival • r.e.m.’s breakup

andex

thursday, october 6, 2011

Senior Editor: Jemma Wolfe Entertainment Editor: Myles Herod Music Editor: Josh Parsons Contributors: Imran Motala, Nolan Matthews, Paul Fowler

Cover: Jonathon Fairclough

this week

oct. 14

Elliott Brood This Ain’t Hollywood 9:00 p.m.

oct.14

EMA The Casbah Lounge 9:00 p.m.

oct.17

Skullcrusher This Ain’t Hollywood 9:00 p.m.

oct.21

music

Blackout Party The Casbah Lounge 8:00 p.m.

oct. 22

photo of the week...

in the hammer

Matt Good Hamilton Place 9:00 p.m.

oct. 27

rest in peace steve, pesto, the powdery touch of timbits, too much poutine, diamond dogs, smudgy lenses, wool, A2L, kraft dinner for matthew, the promise of turkey, long weekend yeahhhh, feeling submerged, myles’ mythical drug test, tomorrow’s election, galen weston, missing rings and kites, roman numerals, life

Male Bonding The Casbah Lounge 8:00 p.m.

oct.29

now

andy’s ticks

John Mellencamp Hamilton Place 9:00 p.m.

sept.21-oct.8

theatre Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure Theatre Aquarius

opening

film

Real Steel Ides of March Dirty Girl

we’ll clear your record if you...

write for andy!

meetings are held on tuesdays at 2:30pm in musc b110 e-mail your submissions to andy@thesil.ca

I’m the only person I know that’s lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year.... it’s very character-building.

TYLER HAYWARD / PHOTO EDITOR

musc b110

editorial

thursday, october 6, 2011

the silhouette’s art & culture magazine • D3

myles’ summer of PAs and sunny days A movie set is a microcosm. Dictated by producers and assistant directors, its atmosphere can fluctuate from good vibes to incessant stress, depending on the superfluous concern of an actor’s ego and whether their espresso beverage meets par.

I lived it – the trial and tribulations of a PA (production assistant), overseeing the specific purchase of peanut butter (for craft services) to the esteemed position of pet-sitting for an actresses’ shih tzu.

For three weeks in July, this is what mattered in my life.

The genesis of my journey began with a friend in the film industry. While at a party, he disclosed that his next gig was to shoot in Parry Sound – a town of natural beauty, but abominable restaurants, as he would put it.

“My cottage is in Parry Sound. Can you get me on?” I asked. “Let me talk to the producer,” he replied.

Days later, the call came. A gruff, French-Canadian accent echoed from the receiver. His name was Danny Rossner – a Quebec producer of prominence, whose Steven Spielberg resemblance would end up duping countless, awestruck townsfolk. It was a mix-up that he would revel in, and not remedy.

I was hired immediately. Combined with access to a vehicle, my cottage residency and geographical grasp of Parry Sound proved pivotal, particularly being within proximity of

the film’s production headquarters – a once burgeoning mall, now vacant relic, save for a Northern Getaway and Hart department store.

Little did I know, my expectations were to exceed any palpable information delineated by Mr. Rossner, who imparted the film’s synopsis as being a small, independent comedy.

Arriving on a sweltering Thursday in Northern Ontario and without a clue of what the film embodied, confidence was drawn from mere scraps of data: names of a few crewmembers and that day’s shooting schedule. With a seemingly quaint beachside café teeming with bodies, mostly dressed in black, I knew I was safe. Acceptance was instant, as the brethren of production assistants greeted my entry. There was Anthony from Owen Sound, Aaron from Vancouver, and Matt and Dan from Montreal, who together fronted an electro-pop outfit named The Breezes.

Matt, our wayward leader, put me to work. Upon assisting my fellow coworkers in lugging props, I first came in contact with the film’s central cast, one female and one male, both of whom were established Hollywood actors, leaving me momentarily speechless.

Without divulging names, I can simply state that she was once referred to as ‘Queen of the Indies’, while he, a Canadian thespian, portrayed two former U.S. presidents.

For the remainder of the day, and the rest of my July sojourn, driving was imperative.

Whether it was groceries, allergy prescriptions or Quinoa for a health conscious actress, I delivered. Entrusted with a rented van, I frequently embarked to Toronto, sometimes to obtain equipment at wee hours only to find myself dozing at the wheel when cruising back.

It also became a time of bonding. Escorting an actress you have never met can be an uncomfortable predicament. For me, I took the opportunity to probe their careers, simply asking, “What have you been in?” Keep in mind, brazen inquiries can backfire. If their filmography lacks distinction, you might run the risk of offending. Other times proved brotherly, like when I gave driving lessons to Aaron, a 15-yearold production assistant, on the last day of shooting. When questioned by a crewmember if we were smoking drugs, I simply smiled, and reassured him that he was the biggest pothead on set.

As buzz of the production swept town, so did location turnovers. First stationed at the local hospital, the film concluded at a rented mansion in its final week, overlooking Georgian Bay. With many crewmembers ravaged by bed bugs from their stay at the squalid mid-town motel, I took my unbitten body and parlayed it into an upbeat attitude.

Aside from maintaining the craft table, my fellow PAs and I took time to survey the actors, camera department and producers at work – picking up nuances of cinematic light-

the big tickle

ing, or the improvisation of a seasoned pro, riffing for the camera.

Restricted to boundaries of the set, actors had no choice but to take lunch with us. One instance, our lead actress let down her guard to reminisce about working with Nicole Kidman – who allegedly acts with her shoulders and body to overcompensate for a plastic face.

A demonstration ensued as we marveled at her comedic facial contortions over a communal, midday meal.

Ever a mellow diva, the actresses’ beloved pooch, Gracie, was always present. If a scene required her talents, the canine’s care was delegated to us, for which she would tease, insisting we were Gracie’s boyfriends. Believe me, it was a dubious honor.

Nevertheless, my summer interlude of 12-hour workdays proved invaluable. Consider what I learned: actresses looking after their figures smoke Benson & Hedges Superslims, you never discuss an actor’s work unless you have seen it (especially if they were the lead), and when jump starting a car – positive always meets positive.

I think the best advice, though, came from assistant director, Allan Harmon – a veteran of the Police Academy series – who told me, “Myles, it doesn’t matter if you start shooting at 6 p.m. or 6 a.m., you always have fucking breakfast for the crew.”

• Myles Herod, Entertainment Editor

what band do you wish had never broken up?

compiled by ricardo padilla & jemma wolfe

“the beatles”

“spice girls” tricia bassoo

j.d. middleton

“rage against the machine” sean welch

“pink floyd”

“alexisonfire” jon harley

kirsten perry

D4 • the silhouette’s art & culture magazine

thursday, ocotober 6, 2011

andy explores the best of the AGH’s film festival

The Art Gallery of Hamilton’s third annual CIBC Wood Gundy Film Festival took over local screens this past week. Films representing a wide diversity of genres and styles from a multitude of countries across Europe, Asia and North America were shown to enthusiastic Hamilton audiences at a variety of area cinemas. Here is a selection of films ANDY got the chance to explore, critique and enjoy.

Meek’s Cutoff Directed by: Kelly Reichardt Starring: Bruce Greenwood, Michelle Williams

Submarine Directed by: Richard Ayoade Starring: Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige

Terri Directed by: Azazel Jacobs Starring: John C. Reilly, Jacob Wysocki

Life in a Day Directed by: Kevin Macdonald

HHHHH

HHHHH

HHHHH

HHHHH

As bleak as its Oregon landscape, Meek’s Cutoff tells the realistic odyssey of 19th-century settlers, entrenched in a desolate pilgrimage against desertlike conditions. Director Kelly Reichardt, an intri­­guing presence on the independent circuit for several years, has now positioned herself amongst the finest with her 2010 feature.

Aided with wagons, horses and ox, three families are led by Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood), a charismatic and scruff, if not wholly unreliable navigator. Claiming to know a short cut, he takes the group over the arid desert, only to find himself lost, his group accompanied by dwindling supplies of water, food and sanity. Alliances fracture even further when a Native American man (Rod Rondeaux) crosses their path, finding the emigrants divided between their trust in an unreliable guide and a figure of supposed evil.

Much of Reichardt’s intention is undeniably valid and sincere, fashioning a rarity of the genre: a female-centric western. Like her other work, there’s little foregrounding of plot, dropping in on our hapless travelers almost by chance. Michelle Williams’ understated performance as the unflappable Emily Tetherow, whose discontent with her circumstances drives her to overthrow Meek, is a study in restraint. Like the other wives, she works a little harder than her husband, gathering wood and food after a long day. In her fastened bonnet, Emily largely keeps her thoughts to herself until a breaking point occurs.

Through her tough performance, we detect a keen intelligence and a strategic patience that comes to define the film.

Keep in mind: while Meek’s Cutoff will not be for everyone, it does convey what it must have been like – with tedium and the frustration – to cross a not entirely conquered United States.

With its stark minimalism of vivid plains and conviction stemming from committed actors, Reichardt’s art matches few others’, leaving us to ponder over its final imagery of vacant stares and a half dead tree.

Submarine, first-time director Richard Ayoade’s quirky new comedy, is a refreshing take on the clichéd coming-ofage narrative.

Set in a British coastal town during the late 1980s, this film follows Oliver Tate, a loner fifteen year old with an overactive mind, as he navigates high school, young love and the deterioration of his parents’ marriage.

From this stock plot springs a surprisingly enjoyable story, made charming by its quirkiness, eccentricity and understated elements.

Oliver is an unusual protagonist: he bullies the chubby girl at school, is shockingly insensitive to his girlfriend when she needs him the most and is awkwardly invasive into his parents’ sex life. He still wins the audience over, though, with his unfalteringly good intentions and adorably pretentious narration throughout the film.

Over a fantastic soundtrack by the Arctic Monkeys’ frontman Alex Turner, we witness Oliver fumble through his teenage years with the mysterious Jordana at his side. Her quiet, intense presence was at times amusing, and other times disconcerting. She is stoic and unaffectionate – another non-normative element of the movie – yet her relationship with Oliver somehow seems to work.

It is in Oliver’s parents, though, that Submarine finds the most depth and the fullest laughs. His father is submerged in depression and feels constantly underwater – an ironic twist to his career as a marine biologist. His mother struggles to overcome her desire for the new age guru next-door neighbour, who also happens to be an ex-boyfriend of hers. The awkward family unit of Oliver, father and mother expose the deeply flawed aspects of every family.

Submarine is worth diving into.

While Terri is a film firmly focused on its title character, there’s no sense that anyone on screen realizes he’s the star.

From its opening shots, our sympathy is drawn to the large teenager (Jacob Wysocki), with his forlorn, almost haunted soul, tending to his ailing uncle before trudging off to school in a pair of pajamas.

Consistently late for class, he faces ridicule by those who do not understand him and perhaps never will.

His behavior, while otherwise normal, can be bizarre at times. When his uncle asks him to set traps for mice in their attic, Terri obliges, taking them out into the woods, gleefully watching a falcon devour the dead remains.

Does this make him immoral? Though he shows remorse, the film wisely stays ambiguous, reflecting upon the curiosity of any teenage psyche.

Luckily, Napoleon Dynamite or Juno comparisons are put to rest when Terri becomes acquainted with Mr. Fitzgerald, played by John C. Reilly. Genuinely concerned beneath the grizzled principle facade, Fitzgerald’s meetings with Terri solidify the movie’s heart and layered humour. It’s a perfect role for Reilly, exploiting his warmth and intelligence, culminating in the film’s best scene, illustrating themes of life and death in a discussion of his secretary’s passing.

Although the movie hits familiar notes of self-discovery, the threat of humiliation is always present.

Terri’s hesitant friendships with two other school misfits further feed his growth. One is Chad (Bridger Zadina), a detention regular, and the other is Heather (Olivia Crocicchia), a pretty blonde ostracized after sexually submitting to a boy in class.

In a well-judged scene that represents the beginnings of Terri’s coming of age, the insecurities of all three characters are fueled in a haze of whiskey and his uncle’s pills.

It is not a cruel film in the slightest, but one that announces affection for its troubled characters, making the natural performances of Wysocki, Reily, Zadina and Crocicchia a must see, and Terri, one of the best film’s of the year.

• Myles Herod, Entertainment Editor

Life in a Day is the insanely ambitious attempt to show that not only does life imitate art, it is art. The result of 4,500 hours of footage from July 24, 2010, Life in a Day compiles the videos of people from 192 countries filming a single day of their existence.

It sounds like a mess, and it kind of is. But it is a glorious mess, filled with so many stories that it’s hard not to connect with at least one.

There are scenes that cover almost every emotion, and Life in a Day is very much a movie of extremes.

There are parts that are beautiful, but there are also parts that are just boring. The film is at its best when it is focused, such as when morning rituals from across the world are shown in succession, or when it takes time to actually give some insight into the lives of the people in the film.

Too often Life in a Day strings together a series of very brief scenes, and these sections rarely provide anything more than a fleeting feeling and some nice scenery to look at.

The middle of the film is thoroughly charming, with a seemingly endless stream of lighthearted and humorous videos. But Life in a Day doesn’t shy away from some heavier stuff, and towards the end it takes a turn toward darker territory.

The moody tone sets up the truly awful ending, consisting of an awkward, self-indulgent confessional that aims for profoundness but lands at the nonsensical.

I found myself wishing the film would return to the lighter and more enjoyable beginning.

Despite the dark ending, Life in a Day is a surprisingly successful experiment and an undeniably unique experience.

• Myles Herod, Entertainment Editor

• Jemma Wolfe, Senior ANDY Editor

• Nolan Matthews

D6 • the silhouette’s art & culture magazine

music

thursday, october 6, 2011

the end of r.e.m. as we know it

assessing the overdue breakup of indie rock pioneers r.e.m.

For fans familiar with R.E.M.’s fabled backstory, that famous chorus of “Radio Free Europe” stings with irony. Even though R.E.M. has sold a staggering 50 million records and had their status as rock legends cemented with an induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in the early 1980s R.E.M. sounded like absolutely nothing on the radio.

In fact, “Radio Free Europe”, along with the rest of R.E.M’s landmark debut album Murmur, began a quiet revolution in the world of popular music. Murmur’s muddy vocals, imperceptibly mumbled by lead singer Michael Stipe, combined with a fluidly melodic bass and 1960s guitar jangle to form a sound that would soon become known as “college rock”.

Throughout the 1980s, R.E.M. explored and developed their unique style, releasing a series of indisputable masterpieces.

Things changed in the early ‘90s after R.E.M. signed a mammoth multi-million dollar record contract and released their trademark single, Losing My Religion. All of a sudden, R.E.M. were the biggest band in the world.

Despite their mushrooming popularity, R.E.M. continued to write quality music without comprising their style or artistic values, until 1997 when drummer Bill Berry bid farewell to the band. Then things sort of fell apart.

Throughout their career, R.E.M. took a staunchly democratic approach to songwriting, with each member of the band

contributing equally and receiving equal credit. The five albums R.E.M. released without Berry range from disappointingly hollow to flat-out awful, and aside from emphasizing Berry’s importance to the band, they contribute very little to the R.E.M. story.

After 14 years of aimless musical wandering without their drummer, R.E.M. finally decided to call it quits earlier this month. It’s about time. It pained me to watch R.E.M.’s pitiful decline over the last decade. It felt like going through a long and hideous divorce, my beautiful love of their early albums obscured by my hatred of their contemporary work. With each new R.E.M. record released after their 1997 expiration date, our relationship grew increasingly stale.

Unfortunately, I needed R.E.M. to

disband before our divorce could be finalized. On Sept. 21, our divorce finally went through and it has filled me with mixed feelings. Re-listening to R.E.M.’s great works of the ‘80s and early ‘90s reminds me of why we fell in love. Although R.E.M.’s post 1997 work tarnishes their discography, R.E.M. did remain a fantastic live band right up until they announced their breakup.

R.E.M. certainly did go beyond their expiration date but does it affect their status as one of the founding fathers of indie rock? I don’t know. I think there’s only one way to put it. “This one goes out to the one I love. This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind.”

• Paul Fowler

thursday, october 6, 2011

community events

the silhouette’s art & culture magazine • D7

westdale appreciates the arts local ‘culture days’ events were ultimately disappointing

Culture Days is a nation-wide, threeday event that takes place across many different venues around Canada.

Established in 2008 by The Canadian Art Summit and inspired

by Québec’s own 15-year-old annual cultural event, Journées de la Culture, Culture Days is meant to unite Canadians, joining our spirits and utilizing our resources to display what we are made of. It is created purely through volunteers helping each other within the community.

An event was held this weekend in our own Westdale village.

Tents were set up on the chilly Saturday morning in anticipation of local townspeople to appreciate obscure art and embrace diverse cultures. A walking tour was held to grasp all of the events and the history of Westdale village.

While walking past the aspiring artists, music played live from many different angles. I spoke to Nicole Christian, who is a blues guitarist. Despite the cold, she persisted in playing, which is no easy feat. She is originally from New York and was called by Donna Reid, the woman in charge of the event, to spread her own cultural background.

Music was not the only thing being performed over the weekend in Westdale. There were also many local artists, such as Milka Vujnovic. She is a lawyer in Hamilton who has been working for 27 years.

Deciding to embrace her great taste in photography, this event was the perfect opportunity to display her creative work. Pictures from our own Churchill Park in Hamilton were shown along with very well-crafted pictures taken in Italy. One could eas-

ily mistake her for a professional.

Along with photography and music, writers had their rightful spot in the fray. Elle Laudan, who after a back injury decided to start writing, was given the opportunity to display her biker fiction. All in all, the event included art exhibits, musical performances, belly dancing and many other events throughout the day.

With so many displays, the lack of diversity was disappointing.

There were not any particularly different works that really challenged the idea of Canada or properly reflected our multiculturalism. There were only a few tents, if any, dedicated to foreign art.

There were also few free samples – almost everything had a price – though I did go home with a lot of pamphlets. It seemed as if a portion of the population, a few voices, was lost in the mix. We could only hear what we’ve already been listening too.

Culture Days had a rich social environment, a friendly atmosphere and a lot of excitement. Local artists are given a weekend to show their work. The people of Hamilton got to look at art of which they may not have been aware. If something caught their eye then they could take a little piece of culture home with them.

There was definitely a missing piece of the cultural puzzle though - hopefully future years will remedy that.

With the hectic nature of today’s society, it’s still refreshing to see a moment of appreciation for the arts.

• Imran Motala

RICARDO PADILLA / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

D8 • the silhouette’s art & culture magazine

music

thursday, october 6, 2011

andy chats with montreal’s predominant francophone rockers

“

We wanted to make a record that was a bit happier, a bit funnier, easier to absorb.”

Montreal’s Malajube is currently one of the most internationally successful francophone bands touring today. Despite constant pressure to conform to the norms of a predominately Englishspeaking industry, Malajube has proven time and again that it can assert its dedication to the French-Canadian language and culture.

Vestiges of its far-reaching success are evident in multiple Polaris Prize nominations over the past few years, a showcase performance at last years winter Olympics and several songs being featured in popular advertisements, including promotions by Rogers Wireless and Zellers.

This week, ANDY caught up with Thomas Augustin, keyboardist and occasional vocalist of Malajube, to discuss the band’s recent success. Augustin discussed both the band’s latest album, La Caverne, and forthcoming projects.

“Of course, being part of an event like the Olympics gives a lot of exposure. It was great. There were a lot of Quebecois bands,” said Augustin happily. “When we first started we were really concerned with the fact that we were selling our songs but we did it because we needed the money to tour. You can’t neglect that anymore, you have to use these opportunities.”

It was inspiring to hear Augustin frequently insist that each of these opportunities was undertaken with the idea reaching the fans as the prime directive. But in spite of all the group’s progress, he was quick to admit that it is incredibly tough for a French-speaking band to break the English market.

“It’s hard to reach the fans.

You have to tour a lot and restate your existence to the fans and the people who follow you in each city. There is openness, but we have to work hard at

it. We always do it for the fans.”

He continued, “we benefitted from the fact that when we started there was a lot of attention on Montreal with bands like the Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade.”

Malajube is currently in the process of criss-crossing North America in support of La Caverne, released in April of this year. “We had a pretty precise goal in making the record.

We wanted to make a record that was a bit happier, a bit funnier, easier to absorb,” Augustin explained. “It’s simpler but more efficient.”

“We are starting to see the preparation for the next album, but we’d hopefully like to release some unreleased outtakes from La Caverne by the end of the year.” Along with a release of extra material, he mentioned the possibility of another full-length album in 2012.

Although Malajube plays in Quebec more than any other province, Augustin praised Canada as a whole for the consistency in audience and continual support Canadians show for the band. He commented that despite the vast tracts of land, Canadians seem welcoming and ready to party wherever they go.

“Wherever we tour in Canada, the Francophones that live there seem to always come out. They mix well with the Anglophones. There is no difference in an audience from Vancouver to one in Toronto. Obviously, I see much more difference in audiences in the States, comparing Texas or Arizona to New York. It’s a totally different vibe.”

Malajube will be performing in Hamilton on Oct. 12 at the Casbah • Josh Parsons, Music Editor