PIRGSPECTIVES February 2016

OPIRG MCMASTER

FEBRUARY-2016

PIRGSPECTIVES newsletter of OPIRG McMaster

Scanning the Past: Meet Tyler Craig OPIRG’s student history archivist digs in to the digital OPIRG is happy to introduce Tyler Craig, a third year History student working with us this term as part of a history placement course.

Tyler is assisting with the digitization and archiving of documents related to the history of OPIRG. To enhance the paper documents he will be interviewing former members to help reconstruct the history of the organization at McMaster, ideally for use as podcasts.

EVENTS & WORKSHOPS

check out OPIRG’s event calendar at www.opirg.ca/ calendar

After Tyler graduates he plans on pursuing graduate studies. Outside of school he loves playing bass and by his own admission spends most of his time at the local pool hall.

Check our history blog: opirgmcmasterhistory.blogspot.ca/ Looking for volunteer opportunities with OPIRG? There are three streams of volunteering:

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WORKING GROUPS

GENERAL VOLUNTEER

BOARD OF DIRECTOR

Each social justice or enviro-themed group sets their own schedule and is free to join

Help with graphics, write for our blog or create a general resource centre: when you can!

Serve as a volunteer member of our board — all decisions made using consensus

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CUP OF CONNECTIONS

Weekly drop in for tea/coffee #fairtrade Thursdays 2-3pm MUSC 229 OPIRG.CA

Get a free account and get weekly event listings, invitations, and updates Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Blogger

PIRGSPECTIVES FEBRUARY 2016

MORE IN DEPTH ARTICLES AT OPIRGMCMASTER.BLOGSPOT.CA 3. Lot Size and Complexity of Property Maintenance Contrary to laymen beliefs, for a standard lot there needs to be 1.5m of space from the driveway, 1m from the sidewalk, and up to 3m from the house itself. Regarding the complexity of property maintenance, the relatively small increase in property maintenance would be compensated by the increase in property value a tree would add.

Top 5 Reasons People Say No to a Free Tree

By Harshal Patel With OPIRG’s Street Tree Project (STP) officially wrapped up for 2015, as student staff I find it important to reflect on how we might advance projects and plan ahead for an even more successful year! Going door to door there were many different reasons why homeowners opted not to order a free street tree. Here are the top 5 reasons:

4. Blocking Sunlight Shade from trees can help cool the home in summer (resulting in energy savings) while letting light through in winter with the leaves off. Although many trees may eventually shade homes, there are many trees the Street Tree Program offers that have a relatively small spread, which would be the best solution to prevent excessive shading of the home or other plants.

1. Interference of Root System with Home Foundation and/Or Water Pipelines This is mainly a concern for homeowners with large trees or with older homes that use the original piping. Newer piping is typically made of steel, copper, and plastic; the only reason why tree roots would disrupt the piping would be due to a preexisting crack in the piping, resulting in roots navigating themselves towards this water source.

5. Belief that Volunteers Represent a Scam or a For-Profit Corporation Although most people are quite friendly towards our volunteers, we do get many homeowners who refuse to speak to us because they “don’t want to buy anything!” Moving forward, we are hoping to become more recognizable due to awareness of the Street Tree Program and OPIRG McMaster’s Street Tree Project.

2. Past Damage to Private Property by Trees This mainly involves past negative personal experiences. Fortunately, the STP maintains the trees, but smaller tree species are available that would not cause significant damage in the unlikely chance of the tree falling or breaking branches.

For the full article visit opirgmcmaster.blogspot.ca.

A LOOK BACK INTO THE ARCHIVES: OPIRG HISTORY BLOG A trying moment in the history of OPIRG at McMaster, the first week of February 1980 introduced to McMaster University a referendum on the discontinuation of the automatic collection of OPIRG fees.

Letters were published that embodied back-and-forth attacks, publicizing an argument that arose mainly from the complaints of the McMaster Engineering Society regarding payment of OPIRG fees by Engineering students.

What had began as an issue between OPIRG and the Engineering Society eventually became a full-scale referendum.

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