The Silhouette - March 31, 2016

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INSIDE >> BRINGING REFUGEE FAMILIES TO HAMONT// PAGE 8 How to buy less and buy better pg. 21 What’s next for Troy Joseph pg. 25

Nope.

The Silhouette Thursday, March 31, 2016

Some dream programs are actually nightmares.

A look at student dissatisfaction on campus. Page 4

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Volume 86, Issue 26

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Last issue of the school year!

Thursday, March 31, 2016 McMaster University’s Student Newspaper est. 1930

LOOKING BACK 1930

EDITORIAL BOARD

In the last issue of 1999, Silhouette staff summarized some of the important moments in the paper’s early history. The 1930s saw the creation of a number of university and college newspapers across the country, with McMaster’s student publication being one of them.

The name “The Silhouette” was selected because the publication was meant to be more than a reflection of the news, it was supposed to be critical and express student opinion.

editor-in-chief | thesil@thesil.ca

Amanda Watkins @whatthekins managing editor | managing@thesil.ca

Ana Qarri @anaqarri production editor | production@thesil.ca Michael Gallagher @michaelradar online editor | online@thesil.ca Shane Madill @shanemadill sections

Rachel Katz @RachAlbertaKatz news reporter Patrick Kim @patrickmkim news reporter Alex Florescu @alexxflorescu features reporter Daniel Arauz @DanielArauzz opinions editor Talia Kollek @TaliaKollek sports editor Sofia Mohamed @itssofiaAM sports reporter Jaycee Cruz @_jayceecruz lifestyle editor Jason Woo lifestyle reporter Michelle Yeung @yeung_m andy editor Tomi Milos @tomimilos andy reporter Vannessa Barnier @vjbarnier news editor

media

Jonathan White @j_white.jpg (Instagram) photo reporter Yung Lee video editor Philip Kim social media coordinator Esther Adjekum @esturr

photo editor

contributing staff

Sunanna Bhasin, Nick Bommarito, Steven Chen, Christine Chow, Charlie Coë, Trisha Gregorio, Madeline Neumann sales ad manager | sgiordan@msu.mcmaster.ca

Sandro Giordano

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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 and editorials expressed in The Silhouette are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board, the publishers, the McMaster Students Union or the University. 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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www.thesil.ca | Thursday, March 31, 2016

Planning for the second annual Light Up the Night Page 6

The Silhouette

News

A growing voice

| 3

20-for-20 program aims to lend a helping hand to recent Syrian refugees Pages 8-9

With women making up seven of the ten VP candidates, increased publicity isn’t the only change this year

Canadian campus news Emma Mulholland Contributor

Law faculty members at Université de Montréal demand review of arms deal Students gathered at 1280 on March 29-30 to meet the 10 candidates running for the three Vice-President positions within the MSU. C/O KAREEM BAASSIRI

Patrick Kim News Reporter

With as much scrutiny and attention as there has been on electing Vice-Presidents this year within the McMaster Students Union, it’s easy to miss a lot of the progress that’s been made compared to previous years.

Most recent and public of these were the VP Meet-andGreet events, a chance for the 10 candidates variably running for VP Administration, Finance and Education to get to share and connect with the general public.

“I think it is very good for outreach, it is a good change for ... MSU members to come out and get to know their VP candidates and to inform and advise their SRA members who they want as their VP candidate,” said current MSU President Ehima Osazuwa.

As a showcase of the candidates, it’s a fresh addition to improving transparency for roles that earn nearly $40,000 in salary over the year and are chiefly responsible for the dayto-day functions of the MSU, a multi-million dollar organization.

But the freshness is perhaps also a result of the diverse pool of candidates that are running for each of the positions; amongst the 10 candidates running for three spots this year, seven of them are female, with one of the positions guaranteed to be held by a female.

With a strong possibility that women will even make up half of the Board of Directors next year, it’s one of many areas that candidates hope are starting to become more open for any and all individuals.

The issue of women in governance has been a topic of debate within the MSU to varying degrees, and recent initiatives like MSU and You have been trying to encourage and support women to run for leadership positions within the union.

As Giuliana Guarna, current VP Administration explained, the emphasis to her is not about ensuring women are filling a certain quota of roles; rather, it’s the process of establishing equal opportunity and support for women and others who aren’t fairly represented at a governance level.

“I think people underestimate how important it is to literally be able to see someone who looks like you, who talks

like you and who has the same values as you in these leadership positions,” said Guarna.

“If you were a first year last year, and you see four men on the BoD, that’s isolating. Just visually, you don’t see yourself there. No one’s explicitly telling you that that’s not for you, but there’s that implicit messaging that maybe that’s not where you’re supposed to be.”

As Guarna also noted, this hasn’t been an issue of competency, as the Part-Time Managers who manage the various services within the MSU have historically been predominantly female. Next year, women will make up around 15 of the 20 or so PTM positions, a consistent trend in the history of the MSU. As a current PTM herself, VP Administration candidate Nishan Zewge-Abubaker commented on the increase in female candidates, stating that “It’s kind of an indication of [how] people are feeling encouraged to run for these kinds of positions.”

This pattern of female organizers behind the scenes is even further evident when recognizing that four of the 10 candidates running for VPs previously worked as a campaign manager during Presidentials

this year.

It’s an exciting prospect to see so many qualified and diverse individuals come from a variety of backgrounds, and several of the candidates explained how encouraging and important it’s been to see role models from before.

Said VP Finance candidate Miranda Clayton, “Seeing [former VP Administration] Anna D’Angela in my first year in the MSU actually made a bigger impact than I initially thought; I realized that’s where I’ve seen the most women.”

“I had to talk myself into running for VP Finance, because I’ve never seen a woman be successful in this role.”

Shaarujaa Nadarajah, another VP Administration candidate added, “We want more women in governance, we want more females in high leadership positions.”

The Student Representative Assembly for the 2016-17 year will decide the VPs for next year over a two-day period from April 2nd to 3rd.

With files from Saad Ejaz. @patrickmkim

Faculty from the uMontréal Law have filed for a judicial review of the Canadian government’s $15 billion deal for the sale of military equipment to Saudi Arabia. The Liberal government has said that it will maintain the contract that had been previously signed by the former Conservative government.

Lethbridge College announces AGCO partnership Lethbridge College has become the first Canadian post-secondary institute to sign a partnership with AGCO Corporation, an agricultural equipment company. Similar partnerships are in place in universities in the United States; the agreement will open up new apprenticeship opportunities for Lethbridge students.

Canadian business schools struggle with crowdfunding education Canadian business schools are struggling to include crowdfunding into their curricula, despite its regular use as a method of raising capital. Professor Simon Parker with the Ivey Business School suggests that the difficulty is due to the extreme variability in crowdfunding regulations from region to region in Canada.

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FEATURE

Thursday, March 31, 2016 | www.thesil.ca

Program Rachel Katz News Editor

Daniel Arauz Features Reporter

During the fall term of 2015, McMaster University sent students in Level II and above a survey, asking them to evaluate their undergraduate experience thus far.

The Student Satisfaction Survey, created by the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, touched on a variety of different themes including resource availability, teaching quality and overall satisfaction with students’ chosen program of study.

The majority of the survey was multiple-choice with occasional boxes giving students the option of providing further comment. Since McMaster did not independently create the questionnaire, the survey only queried students’ overall university experience and general satisfaction.

With many students switching programs multiple times, McMaster has failed to create a system that asks targeted questions about academic experiences or gives students the chance to address their program-specific concerns. The OUSA survey may have brought up concerns about education in Ontario, but on our campus, there is no clear avenue for students to express their dissatisfaction without red tape getting in the way.

According to a recent four-year study by the National Centre for Education Statistics, 80 percent of undergraduate students in the United States change their majors at least once over the course of their education. A comparable study has not been completed in Canada, but with post-secondary teaching standards being

comparable, and often ranked to be lower than those in the States, Canadian students likely face a similar level of indecision and dissatisfaction.

While the University does offer course evaluations and shared this survey as a stride to address student satisfaction, there are still numerous students who feel unfulfilled with their programs and degrees. The Silhouette sits down with four students who have had disappointing academic experiences to address the three main reasons why they feel or have felt dissatisfaction in their programs — waning interest, a lack of university guidance and the perpetuation of a harmful academic culture.

A CHANGE OF PACE Shivani Seth, currently a second-year Philosophy and Biology student, found herself looking away from her initial program of study, Chemical Biology. Seth found that despite her love of the field, ChemBio’s focus was far too narrow. Seth was looking for a more holistic experience and she did not share the aversion to essay writing and formal presentations that her peers had.

“I remember one day in class we got a lecture on how to write: grammar, spelling, filler words, and I just sat there like, ‘we are getting a lecture on this.’ I think that’s when it hit me that maybe, what I like to do is different from what the rest of the class liked to do and I think that became more pronounced over the year.”

Upon realizing that the program was not her fit, Seth chose to transfer into a program in a completely different faculty — a decision that didn’t come without challenges.

“It was horribly difficult,” said Seth. “Switching to a whole different

Faculty of Humanities, it felt very bizarre. I had to acknowledge I was giving up on previously earned credits. Some would be counted as electives … it was hard to swallow what I was giving up because it means I spent time in another field, basically building my way up there to find out I have to restart at the bottom of another field.”

Unlike Seth whose program was too narrow, fourth-year Honours Life Sciences student Umair Majid considered switching from his program during second year when he felt that the open-ended nature left him without a clear direction. The actual structure of the program streamlined Majid into a vague curriculum that wasn’t what he had in mind. With little guidance from academic advisors and administration, instead of switching programs, Majid looked to extra-curricular activities to find fulfillment while at McMaster.

For students who find themselves interested in their field of studies, but still not completely fulfilled, switching programs can be an extremely difficult decision. For some students, clubs have been the only way to find full satisfaction with their academic experience.

“I spend more time doing non-academic work than academic work. It’s about a 90/10 split, and that 90 percent basically makes my university experience so vibrant because the majority of those things are related some way to my studies.”

Majid used the program’s once overwhelming flexibility to orient his studies to those non-academic activities.

Majid eventually became involved with lobbying for a new Life Science course and the start of the student organization “Overcome the Gap.” However, his faculty did very little

to promote these non-academic opportunities for students looking for more guidance, yet it is a viable option for people struggling to fit into the broad program.

“The Life Sciences program did not provide the resources or the opportunities to take the knowledge I necessarily gained from all these different courses. I had to do that myself.”

THE RED TAPE As with any other large organization, there are a number of areas where university resources can stumble and fail students.

For Seth, it was her own expectations of the curriculum. But for Majid, it was his academic advisors and a lack of guidance from the university.

He found that due to the unspecified nature of the Life Sciences program, the advisors in the Faculty of Science were unable to help him and other students find some direction within the program.

“They should really do a better job at transitioning once you get your acceptance letter.”

Tobi Abdul Class of 2015 “I feel that in the Life Sciences program they don’t understand what students go through,” he said.

According to Majid, the department makes occasional use of a bulletin board and email blasts, but the majority of information relates to environmental science, which is not necessarily the focus of the majority of students in Life Sciences. For him, research into his own program of study was of great interest, but not all students have the time or ability to make that a priority.

FEATURE

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, March 31, 2016

| 5

dissatisfaction Vague curricula, administrative challenges or unhealthy classroom habits, four students weigh in on how they dealt with an unsatisfactory program experience “To put it very simply, the students want something but … they don’t know where to reach out and they don’t know how to navigate [their program],” he explained.

The Faculty of Science currently provides five academic advisors for its roughly 6,000 students.

While support staff are expensive to uphold, and asking for more advisors may not be feasible, there should still be other methods of guidance available to students so those asking questions are able to find answers.

Tobi Abdul, a recent graduate of McMaster’s Communications program, also found that information about her program was hard to come by, and the academic advising network wasn’t putting out the most helpful information.

She initially accepted an offer for Social Work at

McMaster, not realizing that unlike most other programs of its kind, Social Work was not a direct entry program.

“I like to look up everything,” she said, referring to the extensive university research she did in Grade 12. “And the fact that I didn’t realize Social Work wasn’t a [direct entry] program means that I wasn’t well-advised …

I just didn’t have enough information.”

The small amount of information readily available to incoming students tarnished her experience getting started in the program. The lack of information prevented Abdul from entering her initial program of choice, but luckily, she eventually found a program and system that worked well for her.

“In my last year, I did really enjoy school. I got to take my independent study, I took classes that I wanted to, and at that point I knew how to write about what I wanted to while staying within the guidelines. It just came with a lot of experience, but I guess the end was better than the beginning.”

In addition to her early administrative challenges, she also found obstacles with Student Accessibility Services.

“I also had an ADHD diagnosis when I was 15, and when I got my admissions package, they made it seem like ADHD wasn’t accommodated because technically it’s not a learning disability,” said Abdul.

“I did first year twice because I just dropped so many classes I didn’t have enough credits to go into my second year because I feel like I wasn’t well-advised … they should really do a better job at

transitioning once you get your acceptance letter.

That package should come with a list of things you need to know and not just the [link to] the website. They need to let students know what to look for. They need to change the way they lecture.

They need to change the culture around lecture.

It puts one learning style above others and it makes it difficult for people who don’t learn that way.

There are professors who don’t have to use slides and that’s not fair. There are no requirements.”

TOXIC CULTURE While some may be able to transition out of an unpleasant academic situation with personal or academic changes, many students get caught in an unhealthy cycle that makes it difficult for them to want and accept necessary change.

Despite it not being everything she wanted, Seth clearly loved her previous program. “[ChemBio was an] interesting program, great program, but just maybe not the best fit for me,” she said.

While she found the material engaging, Seth was concerned by the lifestyle she and her classmates seemed forced to adopt. She described a routine where she consumed large volumes of coffee to stay awake to get work done. While other Chemical Biology students went to greater extents to minimize the amount of sleep they required.

“Everyone was on caffeine pills,” she said.

Chemical Biology students are certainly not the only group under this pressure. Helen Zeng offers another frightening version of this scenario.

A second-year student in the highly competitive Bachelor of Health Sciences program, she found the mentality it breeds in students to be unhealthy and unsafe.

“I find that all my Health Sciences spaces tend to be much more stressful and anxiety induced … I have seen people who have developed anxiety issues … because of being in the program,” said Zeng.

She added that many of the students in her cohort refuse to even acknowledge the level of stress they are experiencing. “It’s almost like it’s a point of weakness … I think it makes it a very toxic environment to be in because that kind of stress can make you hate the things you’re learning, hate the program and get excessively stressed over very small things,” she said.

In a 2013 nation-wide survey on post-secondary students, 86.9 percent of students surveyed said they were exhausted, 56 percent felt overwhelming anxiety and nearly 10 percent had seriously considered suicide. There is clearly a problem with the way students are internalizing and reacting to stress, but many students can’t seem to let go of this harmful culture that is following their education.

“It’s competitive and it’s petty and I see people doing these things that I don’t think they should be,” said Zeng.

PRESENT DAY Whether students make the leap to a new program or stay with their original choice remains a highly personal decision that may still present its own challenges.

Ultimately Abdul was far happier in McMaster’s Communications program, however it took until her final year of school to feel satisfied.

Majid provides another case study of making his original program work for him. Now about to graduate, he feels he has a somewhat narrower sense of what he wants to do — education policy being on the list.

He has helped revamp the Honours Life Sciences program, spinning his dissatisfaction with the program in a way that helps future students get more out of it.

Even Zeng, despite the unhealthy environment she has found in her program, has no plans to switch out. “It’s just studying alone or getting time outside of the program … I find that getting away from that and studying on my own is beneficial.”

While Abdul, Majid and Zeng all found ways to shape their program to meet their needs, Seth has so far found that she is happier in Philosophy and Biology. However, she is still apprehensive about whether switching was the right move. “I’m that puzzle piece that doesn’t know which puzzle I belong to. I’m watching everyone build their way up and here I am trying to figure out what I want to start working on and where I actually belong,” she said.

Seth acknowledges that her problem is one felt by many students. “I don’t think anyone at the end of the day knows if they’re doing the right thing. As easy as it is for me to say that everyone else has found that puzzle they belong to, I don’t think that’s necessarily true.”

6 |

NEWS

Thursday, March 31, 2016 | www.thesil.ca

Sparking student interest Rain or shine, Light Up the Night returns to McMaster’s campus next Friday for an evening of events, rides and of course, food

This year marks the second coming of the MSU’s newest tradition.

C/O ALEX YOUNG

Alexandra Florescu News Reporter

On April 8, McMaster students and alumni can celebrate the culmination of another year’s worth of classes at the second annual year-end block party, Light Up the Night. The first Light Up the Night event was rained on, but many of its events still carried on. This year, students will hopefully have a chance to ride the carnival rides, as well as enjoy the fireworks show at night, provided that the weather holds up.

If it rains again this year, there is not much that can be done in terms of rides and fireworks. There are too many variables that need to be changed in such short notice.

However MSU President Ehima Osazuwa assures that there are many indoor activities such as a coffee house, the games room in MUSC and the Last Lecture featuring George Stroumboulopoulos that will not be cancelled. The MSU will keep their eye on the weather and will have a better idea of what the day will look like as we approach. If the future looks stormy, they will plan to ensure that students are given the year-end celebration they were looking forward to.

“What’s new this year?

There is more free food, hopefully the weather is nice this year … it’s a very inclusive event — there is a coffee house, there are rides, there are games, you can win free things. There are indoor and outdoor activities. I think everyone can find something that they enjoy,” said Osazuwa.

If the weather is good, the MSU expects about 10,000 people to attend. Rides are free for McMaster students, and those

“Planning for the event was a wild ride, with consultation with many partners.

But everyone seems to be excited for it.“ Ehima Osazuwa MSU President wanting to bring friends from outside of McMaster can also ride for free as their plus one.

The event was planned by the MSU, Student Success Services and the Alumni Services but was supported by funding from various sources and even faculties at McMaster. Light Up the Night will be an annual endeavour for the foreseeable future, and the budget has already been set aside for the coming year out of MSU funding.

Osazuwa recognizes the effort that went in to make Light Up the Night happen. “Planning for the event was a wild ride, with consultation with many partners. But everyone seems to be excited for it.”

When asked what Light Up the Night means for students at McMaster, Osazuwa talked about two things. “A goodbye to a long and amazing year, but it is also bringing people together because there are 10,000 people in one particular place at one particular time, and that doesn’t happen often. There is a sense of community, there are also alumni and community partners coming to the event.” @alexxflorescu

Style at Mac Charity Fashion Show

Bridges - McMaster EWB Appreciation Gala

When: March 31, 2016 from

When: April 01, 2016 from

06:00PM until 10:00PM

03:30PM until 06:30PM

Where: Cotton Factory

Where: Bridges Cafe

paintings that will later be arranged in a

Price: Regular ticket- $15.00 | Business Class

Join McMaster EWB at Bridges Cafe as we

collage. There will also be free cupcakes!

ticket- $20.00 | Hosted by: Style at Mac Club

thank our partners and members that helped

All are welcome and free parking is avail-

Please note:

make the 2015-2016 school year a success! We

able to those joining us from the com-

•

Transportation is available from the front

will celebrate all of our achievements from this

of DBAC/IWC at 6.00pm sharp to arrive

year, hear from the outgoing and incoming

munity. To get a parking voucher, please

the venue at 6.20pm and leaving the

President(s) and introduce the new 2016-2017

venue at 10.00pm sharp.

executive team for the chapter. Please contact

ferent perspectives on peace through the arts. The event will begin with a performance from the McMaster Choir, followed by a drop-in event where members of the community are invited to contribute to

email Teddy at saulles@mcmaster.ca.

muhithmr@mcmaster.ca for more information!

The Spring Peace Symposium When: April 05, 2016 from

08:00PM until 11:00PM

Bridges MAAP Coffeehouse

Where: Bridges

When: April 04, 2016 from

Where: Gilmour Hall #111

All welcome to enjoy some live music and join

08:00PM until 11:00PM

(Council Chambers)

in with vocals and instruments! We take song

Where: Bridges Cafe

To all those interested in learning about peace!

MacBEAT Jam When: March 31, 2016 from

suggestions from members and jam them out in an inclusive welcoming environment!

Contact macmusicnet@gmail.com for more information!

Spectrum Student Startup When: March 31, 2016 from 05:30PM until 08:30PM Where: CIBC Hall - MUSC 3rd Floor Join us as McMaster’s top student entrepreneurs compete for more than

On April 4th, MAAP & BHSc will be hosting a coffeehouse for Autism Awareness Day. Come out and hear some great performers and learn more about autism! Contact mohanam@mcmaster.ca for more information!

for People’s Choice - $5,000!

Free food and drinks to those that register!

The Spring Peace Symposium will be held on April 5th from 2:00-6:00pm in Council Chambers #111 in Gilmour Hall. It is a free event open to all students on campus to showcase some of the hands-on peace projects that are happening in the Peace Studies department and the

Peaces of McMaster Showcase

broader Hamilton community. There will be

When: April 05, 2016 from 12:30PM until

There will be refreshments provided and lots of

03:00PM

like-minded folk interested in peace, sustain-

Where: MUSC

$105,000 in cash prizes.

Help these startups by attending and voting

02:00PM until 06:00PM

McMaster University Student Centre, Donaldson Marketplace The Peaces of McMaster Showcase brings the community together to express dif-

workshops, presentations, interactive displays and wellness activities for all who attend.

ability, happiness and health.

8 |

FEATURE

Thursday, March 24, 2016 | www.thesil.ca

20 for 20 Alexandra Florescu News Reporter

Since the federal government’s initial announcement of refugee resettlement in Canada, many Syrian refugees have made it to Hamilton; however, the process has been neither short nor easy. Faced with language and cultural barriers, settlement is a process that’s dependent on the help and efforts of the larger community. McMaster students volunteering with Wesley Urban Ministry and professors helping to sponsor families through the 20 for 20 organizations are no strangers to the new members of the Hamilton community.

For the rest of us, it is high time we welcome our new neighbours.

20 FOR 20 The 20 for 20 project was modelled after the approach that Ryerson University took in partnering with Lifeline Syria to sponsor 75 refugee families.

At Ryerson, most families are sponsored by groups of five, each including one professor

who often singlehandedly contributes $5,000 for their sponsorship group. Since the conception of the equivalent of this initiative in Hamilton, 20 for 20, the organization has undergone major changes.

One month ago, the focus shifted from asking large companies to sponsor a family to approaching smaller business or individuals in the community.

The organization also established new team of volunteers called the Resettlement Team.

Volunteers under this title will work with the Wesley Urban Ministries to provide assistance to government-assisted refugees already making Hamilton their home.

Hayley Welham, the project manager of the initiative, recognizes this as a better use of volunteer effort.

“A lot of people at McMaster wanted to help immediately, kind of hit the ground running.

So we thought the best way to encourage people to stay on for the long haul was to show them that they can make a difference right away.”

The Immigrants Working

Welcom to Ham

Following in the footsteps of Ryerson University, the 20 coming to Hamilton. The Silhouette sits down with Ahm

“A lot of people at McMaster wanted to help immediately, kind of hit the ground running.

So we thought the best way to encourage people to stay on for the long haul was to show them that they can make a difference right away.”

Hayley Welham 20 for 20 Project Manager Center currently has 30 applications for private sponsors on file from Syrian families. Up until now, 22 of these families have been matched with sponsors. The 20 for 20 project is working towards finding sponsors for the remaining eight.

Next on the list is a couple with

a background in engineering and expecting a child.

When asked about the pressure of time, Welham attests that it has lessened. “There was more of a pressure when we started, because the government was welcoming refugees very quickly. Applications were being turned over every week at the beginning of January. Since we have hit the 25,000 mark, it has slowed down application processing … There is an urgency but not the same as it was before. It’s a long term project.”

KEEP ON SMILING Ahmed, a 31-year-old Syrian refugee, arrived to Hamilton 40 days ago. One of many Syrian refugees supported by the government, he has travelled here with his sister and father. His life before stepping on Canadian soil has shaped who he is, and his perspective on his new life in Canada.

At his temporary residence in a Hamilton hotel, Ahmed talks to the 20 for 20 or Wesley Ministries volunteers. But at one point in his life, he was a volunteer himself. For two

years, he volunteered in Jordan, providing psychosocial support for International Relief and Development and as a general volunteer for Oxfam. He believes organizations should coordinate volunteers here into groups first for health, second for sports, third for travel and fourth for psychosocial support.

Ahmed wishes there was more support in the latter area.

“Me and all my family are happy,” Ahmed said of his arrival in Canada.

“I put a smiley face in Jordan all along the wall. If you came to my office, you would see a smiley face, smiley face … And my backpack, and my laptop, smiley face … Smiling is very important in life. What has happened, you should smile.

Maybe you [will] feel better.”

NEW CHALLENGES Starting anew in a strange country is not easy. Things that come naturally to those who have lived our whole lives in Canada are novel, exciting and also daunting to newcomers.

Starting life in Canada is hard, because many things are polar

FEATURE

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, March 24, 2016

learning how to navigate their surroundings.

Ahmed wishes to return to his studies. “I would love to work in business and management, but I don’t have my certification. I think it’s difficult.”

Ahmed’s love of studying is apparent. “I came with Hayley to [the interview] because I love studying, I love university. If you don’t study, it’s a hard life … In our country, at the doors of the school it reads ‘school is second mom.’ Everyone has two moms: your own, and school.”

me milton

PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT

0 for 20 project seeks to assist Syrian refugees med, a young man who recently came to Hamilton.

C/O 20 FOR 20

opposites compared to refugees’ native countries, from language, to work, to transportation, to appointments. “Everything is different. I don’t speak my country bad or your country bad, no. Different. Like two brothers, they are not the same.”

Yet the reason refugees were drawn here is apparent. “I think Canada is better than any Arabic country. I am happy for us. Now I can start my life here. I have a plan in my mind that needs three years to be established … It’s so hard. I need support.

Everyone needs support because we are strange in this country.

For example, when paying for the bus, I don’t ask about transfer. Next time, someone tell me take transfer to come back free.

We are strange here, we don’t know anything, but we learn.”

Ahmed attributes much of the ease in the process of acclimatization to McMaster students volunteering with 20 for 20 or Wesley Urban Ministry. By sharing their experience, volunteers can impart knowledge that is not always explicit.

A bit of the unfamiliarity is attenuated by volunteers who can

share their experiences, acting as liaisons between the refugees and the country they find themselves in. By breaking down the language barrier, volunteers who speak Arabic are further able to establish common ground, to which Ahmed can attest. “If [volunteers] know English and Arabic, I relax when I am in contact with him.”

BASIC NEEDS Starting from the moment that the first refugees landed in Canada, organizations have prioritized housing and health care.

For Ahmed, the opportunity for better health care hits close to home. Currently 62 years old, Ahmed’s father suffers from multiple sclerosis. In Jordan or Syria, there were no treatments available to him. Ahmed believes that they have found the treatment here.

While these basic needs are critical pillars in refugee settlement, emphasis has yet to be placed on mobilizing refugees.

The possibility of reaccreditation programs for those who come from an educated background is being considered. The focus

is starting to shift to education and providing resources beyond basic needs.

“We can get used to life here.

Maybe in one year, any family can get used to life here and we may not have any problem.

The system here is very good. We missed a system.”

Ahmed Syrian Refugee Even through daily dialogue in their interactions with refugees, volunteers are able to offer some support in language development. For refugees who are active and seek to learn more about the new environment they find themselves in, they inevitably learn new things every day.

Yet many want to go beyond

Welham admits that it can be difficult to predict what will be help people trying to settle in.

“I think the hardest thing for the volunteers so far has been identifying where the needs are, because I don’t know if any of the volunteers come from traumatic backgrounds, but I know I don’t. So going into a situation with hundreds of people who probably all have very traumatic histories, not being able to necessarily relate on that level makes it really difficult to identify what the needs are. We can identify the obvious ones, like helping the kids stay active and learn English, but something like psychosocial support isn’t necessarily at the forefront of our minds in terms of services we can provide.

You can’t relate to something you haven’t experienced, so it’s hard.”

While they are not always needed, Ahmed stresses the importance of such supports.

“I think it is very important to care about psychosocial [aspects].

Many things happened to families in Syria that were bad. Maybe [they] lost a father, mother or brother.

Maybe go to prison. No one knows what has happened, may-

| 9

be many families don’t speak about it, but many families it hurts inside. They need support psychosocially.”

A BRIGHTER FUTURE Ahmed believes the future lies in nurturing the younger generations. “I think kids are all things in life. When kids grow up, they make everything. If we care about kids, in the future, we can relax. If we don’t care about kids, we will have a bad future. Canada is good about this point. Canada teaches kids everything, school, sports, swimming, basketball, everything.”

When asked about the main differences between his home and Canada, Ahmed laughed. “Too much. So much,” he said. “We can get used to life here. Maybe in one year, any family can get used to life here and we may not have any problem. The system here is very good. We missed a system.” @alexxflorescu

et g o t ? t d n Wa volve ng in e by visiti 20 or fo r m 0 n 2 Le a r t o n . c a / mil a h i wc hem t d m/ in o f c r . k O oo b e c t a t f a 0 p ro j e c r2 2 0 fo

10 |

NEWS

Thursday, March 31, 2016 | www.thesil.ca

Peter Mascher broadens McMaster’s horizons After an enlightening trip with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, this McMaster faculty member returns to campus with new ideas about research Emile Shen Contributor

Peter Mascher is both the William Sinclair Chair in Optoelectronics and the Associate Vice President of International Affairs at McMaster. These two equally exciting positions may seem dissimilar at first, but engineering, university education and global partnerships with institutions are crucial right now.

Mascher explains that because we live in a global environment, “McMaster should provide students with not just discipline-specific education, but students need to understand how they both as persons and educated peoples in a particular

discipline, fit into the global environment.” In the two years since he was appointed to the VP International Affairs position, Mascher has focused on broadening our international connections with regions and countries that we haven’t previously engaged with. His global consciousness is present in his office, where there are dozens of artifacts and souvenirs from several continents.

Although Premier Wynne’s delegation was primarily focused on creating business partnerships, relationships were also built between Indian Institutes of Technology and Ontario universities. IITs are considered the top level of university in the Indian system, including dis-

ciplines like finance, medicine, mathematics and engineering.

Mascher shares that, “The fact that universities and colleges were invited to participate shows that the Premier does place an importance on high education.”

In India, Mascher signed cooperation agreements with five prestigious IITs in New Delhi, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Mumbai. McMaster has had a relationship with some of these schools already because since IITs have produced high-calibre graduate students who attend school abroad.

Mascher explains that, “Now, as the IITs are becoming important research institutions, these common interests on a research

level are better at building partnerships.” Furthermore, signing these agreements broadens the opportunity for student mobility and internships for McMaster Students.

Mascher signifies that “there is going to be more and more room for graduates who have a broad spectrum of knowledge and experiences.”

Building these opportunities, therefore, is hugely beneficial.

His advice to students is that, “large international companies that want people who aren’t afraid to spend time in another country. They want people who are comfortable being a member of a team where members come from different backgrounds.”

“Now, as the IITs are becoming important research institutions, these common interests on a research level are better at building partnerships.”

Peter Mascher Associate VP International Affairs McMaster University

C/O WWW.RESEARCH.MCMASTER.CA

THE DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Learn Biblical

HEBREW@MAC First Year Hebrew: 2A03, 2B03 Second Year Hebrew: 3A03, 3B03

Find out more at: religiousstudies.mcmaster.ca/undergraduate-program

HUMANS | 11

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, March 31, 2016

If you could go back and give your first-year self any advice, what would it be and why?

I would tell myself that everything gets better over time. In the beginning of first year, I felt really homesick and lonely.

My grades weren’t as good as I thought they would be, I wasn't used to living without my family, and I didn’t know many people coming to Mac. I still feel that way sometimes, but it's much better since I learned how to deal with it.

What do you miss most coming to university?

Not studying and still being able to get an A.

Neha Medak Medical Physics II

Nerina Byramji Communication Studies II

What are you looking forward to the most?

experience and information about teaching.

I'm looking forward to starting work! I am going to be working for a tour company this summer. My main job would be to take grade eight students on tours around Canada. I’m already working now as I need to learn and memorize the Canadian History, even if I am not the biggest fan of it. But, I love working with kids and I wanted to be a teacher for the longest time.

I’m not sure what I would want to teach, but I think this summer will give me more

What is the one bad habit that you have?

Binge watching TV. I watch over 15 shows ... I have a little bit of a problem.

Yung Lee Photo Reporter

If there is one thing you would die for, what would it be?

It would be my faith. Being Catholic has become who I am and not just a simple way of life.

During the retreat that many Mac peers helped me raise money for, I experienced what people mean when they say “God loves me.” It never meant anything to me until I sat in the silence and was showered with a peaceful hug of humbling, unconditional, incomprehensible love for the little insignificant and flawed me, and it brought me to tears of mystified joy and relief. I can lose everything and still be happy, but without my faith, I am nothing. I don't know what would have become of me if it weren’t for Him. Although I cannot say that I understand everything, I can say that I have confidence that I will be okay with God at my side.

YUNG LEE / PHOTO REPORTER

Natalie Cheng Nursing II

12 |

EDITORIAL

Thursday, March 31, 2016 | www.thesil.ca

The most wonderful team A few special thank you’s to the team that made Volume 86 possible. This year’s paper was a success thanks to all of your hardwork and dedication.

AQ

MG

SM

RK

PK

I still remember when your first-year self rolled into our InsideOut meeting ready to help write something for our Sex and the Steel City column (lol). Thank you for all that you have done this year. It’s been a pleasure working with you and seeing you grow into the intelligent and hilarious person you are today. Although, let’s get real, you were always that person. Looking forward to many more memories and collective babies.

There are few people in this world who I can say started off as a drunken St. Patrick’s Day hangout and ended as a lovely business colleague. Actually, there is only one person I can say that about. Thank you for all of your hard work, it’s been great working with you and getting to know you over these past two years and I look forward to our many drunk, sober, professional and other hangouts to come.

I still don’t completely believe that you have both a sister and a dog. Your silent stoicism has been something to witness this year, but regardless of your mysterious demeanor, I always knew that when I needed you, you would be there. Thank you for everything, you’ve been a great part of the PTM team this year and I can’t wait to hear future Sil stories from you!

I hate myself for wanting to call you small but mighty, but I’m going to do it anyways.

You have been such a great presence in the office and have done a kickass job managing your section and your team.

You faced every challenge with grace and made my life easier — thank you for that. It’s been great getting to know you better this year, and I hope as the years go by we can still grab a mojito pitcher together!

It amazes me that someone who excels so far in the sciences can also be such a proficient and talented creative writer. You’ve been an excellent reporter to be printed alongside, and I look forward to hearing about your next steps.

AF

DA

TK

JW

MY

It’s been a pleasure working with you this year. You’ve written some great pieces and I especially commend you on your feature this week. You’ve really grown as a writer this year, and I hope to see you continue to develop your interests in writing as the years go by. You are an asset to the paper.

I want to say that I see a lot of myself in you, but I think that’s more of a boost for me than you. You’ve grown a lot as a writer this year, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for you next. You’ve been a great presence around the office and thank you for all of your effort this year. I will truly miss walking into the office to find a sleeping Daniel on the couch.

From the moment we interviewed you we knew that you would click right into the position, and the office. Thank you for always being so efficient with your time and making all of our lives a bit more manageable. It’s been great getting to know you this year and best of luck with your many adventures!

You know that if the office were stranded on an island the PTMs and me would totally dip — but I can guarantee that we would take you with us. I’ve loved the chance to get to know you over these last two years, and you’ve done a great job with Lifestyle.

Looking forward to keeping up with your many future successes!

The fact that you are still in fully functioning condition this year actually amazes me. You are a force to be reckoned with, and I admire your commitment to pull through with your duties even when your shoulder was constantly dislocating itself (among other things). I can’t wait to see what you have in store for your future.

SM (2)

JC

TM

VB

EA

You are the person I would vote most likely to write an entire section. This was a tough year for Sports, but you pulled through with strength and a sense of humour. You’ve been a great person to get to know this year, and I really respect you.

The amount you did each week still blows me away, and I look forward to hearing about your future work and endeavours.

Your name has been turned into an adjective in this office. Your distinct style has helped you grow into an exceptional reporter, and your cheerful demeanor has helped keep spirits high in your section and elsewhere.

Great work this year, looking forward to seeing more of your Sports writing in the future!

I still vividly remember your early office days blasting Josh Groban behind me and Miranda. It’s definitely a fond memory and I’m glad you’ve been able to be part of the team for this long.

Andy has seen some changes over the last few years, but I know you’ve tried your best to maintain its original appeal.

Good job this year, I look forward to seeing your next steps.

I know this year had its challenges, but I think you did a great job working through it all.

You’ve definitely been a fun social presence around the office and I know you’ve made a lot of the staff feel more comfortable and excited to be in the space.

Good job, I look forward to hearing about your future plans.

You managed to hit this year out of the park even though your position was something new and no one knew where it would lead. You’ve done a great job engaging our readers and its been a pleasure getting to know you. I look forward to staying in touch in the future, and naturally, playing mas’ together at future Caribanas.

JL

Volunteer Contributors

SH

Even though you’ve been gone for a semester I still appreciate all that you did. You are extremely talented and full of potential, can’t wait to see what skills you bring from Leeds!

Thank you for all of the time you have commited to our paper.

Without your work, we would be unable to put forward the size and quality of paper we do each work. Writing unpaid can be an annoying challenge, but I hope to see many of you move up in The Silhouette’s ranks and take on larger roles as the years go by.

It’s been a long time coming, but best of luck with next year, I know you’ll do a great job! You were one of my first friends at The Sil, and I have the utmost respect for you. I look forward to hearing about all the shenanigans you get into next year! We’ll chat soon.

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, March 31, 2016

The Silhouette | 13

Editorial Earning my B.Sil Working at The Silhouette has been more than just a job

The Silhouette staff has always jokingly said that working in this office merits you a second degree majoring in The Sil. After having worked here for four years, nothing feels truer.

Every week the staff at The Silhouette churns out another paper. It’s considered small compared to most weekly papers and magazines, but an impressive feat for a student newspaper. We’ve worked unpaid overtime almost every single week that we’ve been here, and often use every moment that isn’t dedicated to schoolwork to edit and write articles, layout pages, shoot photos and videos, and hang onto some semblance of sanity for dear life.

I remember walking into the office in my first-year and sheepishly hovering around the door until someone asked me if I was looking for something.

And I was looking for something. I was looking for my place at this University, and luckily, I found it.

During the four years of my undergrad, I never quite fit into my program. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life, and I was desperately in search of a place where I could feel both welcomed and challenged with new tasks.

The Silhouette was that place for me, and during my time here it has been more than an office. I’ve gained valuable life experience, met amazing friends, and have truly felt welcomed at our University.

For those of you reading and empathizing with the struggle to fit into your program, I cannot encourage you to join clubs more. McMaster’s larger faculties may not always provide the best learning environments, but our student body has gone above and beyond to create a system of clubs and services that can cater to all students.

Had it not been for The Silhouette, I may have dropped out of school in my second year, and who knows when I would have mustered up the strength to return.

Over the years I’ve seen four different staffs enter and leave this office. Each cohort has taught me innumerable lessons and inspired me by their work ethic. Whether it was a lesson in fact-checking, writing for a diverse audience, using my stories to send a compelling message, or simply knowing when to give up, I’ve learned more in this basement office than I could ever put to paper.

The Silhouette has been going strong for 86 years, and that is in thanks to the amazing people that have walked through these doors.

I would like to take this time to send a special thanks to the MSU for keeping us around for all these years and standing by our side even though many would like to think print is dead.

A huge thank you to all of my partners in crime over the years — SG, MB and JR — for keeping me sane. A shout of appreciation to our previous staff members and EICs for believing in me enough to keep me around this long. SC, JW and AT, thanks a million.

And the biggest thank

you to our amazing staff and volunteers for making this year memorable and successful.

This is really cheesy, but I’m happy to say I’ve now successfully earned my second degree, a B.Sil, and I can’t wait to witness the cohorts to come next.

JWD

YL

PK (2)

CC

TG

You’ve gone above and beyond this year to bring photo up to the level it is today. We are constantly receiving compliments about our covers and content, and that is largely in part to your dedication and talent.

Thank you for all that you have done this year, we all owe you a big one.

Even though you joined our staff later on than most, you’ve still managed to deliver a level of quality and commitment that shows seasoned experience. It has been a pleasure working with you and seeing your photos every week. I look forward to seeing where your talents take you!

You have been such a wonderful person to have around the office. Even though at times you were stressed, you always tried your hardest to pull through and bring something quality to the table. Our families are literally neighbours so I hope to see you in the near future and find out what’s next along your path!

Your articles have struck a chord with me on more than one occasion. You have a strong voice that translates well into reflective pieces — something that very few writers have. I look forward to keeping up with your future writing!

You are a fantastic writer. And I don’t mean “a fantastic writer for a first-year student.” You have a natural ability and I hope you act on that as you choose your next steps and your career path. I genuinely look forward to reading your future articles!

SB

MN

SC

NB

SG

It has been such a pleasure having you around the office this year and it has been a treat to see you grow as a writer. You are a truly genuine person that isn’t afraid to be herself and speak up. I can’t wait to see what you have planned next!

I honestly think we are kindred spirits. We didn’t have too many chances to talk this year, but from the moment I met you, I liked you. It’s been a pleasure working with you this year, and I look forward to seeing your work in future papers to come.

Also, congrats on this fantastic cover shot!

I am so impressed with the variety of articles you were able to write this year. As a first-year in a busy program you really went above and beyond to be part of this team. Great work!

We haven’t had much of a chance to chat this year, and I know you wanted to be around the office more, but thank you for making the effort. We had a different structure this year, so the extra layout help was much appreciated. Good luck, I look forward to hearing about what you do next!

From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for everything you do. A lot of our staff members don’t realize the effort you’ve put into helping The Sil grow, but we all appreciate it.

You’ve been a great person to get to know in the MSU and I’ll miss chatting with you come next year! Good luck with everything, and I hope we can keep in touch!

Amanda Watkins Editor-in-Chief

to Al, for the sweet photo.

to hopefully breaking the curse.

to the Maroons.

Your sounds will be missed. Sort of.

to never having a full thumbs down week.

to getting out earlyish. to Morgan and Gizelle, our interns. to the fact that we have interns. to our tiny miracle.

to Salomon and Novak. to not having to do the Livestream. to NASH. to the FriendSHIP. to Golden Brown (and Pokeh).

@whatthekins

Thursday, Mar. 31, 2016 | www.thesil.ca

The McMaster Students Union

PRESIDENT’S PAGE PRESIDENTIAL

Q&A

MSU President Ehima Osazuwa had some questions for President-elect Justin Monaco-Barnes.

How does it feel to be President-elect of the MSU? It feels great to know that I am in a position that can bring a real, tangible change not only to our campus, but also to the community as a whole. My platform focuses on impacting stuWhy did you decide to run dents’ lives not only while they for MSU President? are here at school, but also long In a nutshell, my reason for after they graduate. My plans running for MSU President was for a sustainable campus, for to gain the opportunity to en- example, allow us to address enhance the McMaster experience vironmental issues in the short for all students. This leadership term, while also setting up furole gives me the opportunity ture McMaster generations to to support and empower those lead healthy, prosperous lives in around me, as well as to work this community. with extremely passionate indiWhat are you doing to viduals who care deeply about make sure you are prepared this organization and what when you take office? it represents. I want to make Even though my first day in sure that office is every stuMay 1st, By continuing to grow and dent feels I have improve as an organization, at home already as soon as began the MSU will in turn improve they set to work the daily lives of all students. foot on on a few campus. of the Approachability and under- projects that I promised in Janstanding are the marks of a great uary. For example, the Pulse leader. It is my goal not only to expansion really resonated with embody those characteristics many students. Knowing that on a daily basis, but also to in- this project will take more time spire them in others. than others, I have already be-

“

”

The President’s Page is a space sponsored and used by the McMaster Students Union (MSU) Board of Directors (BoD) to communicate with the student body. It functions to highlight the Board’s projects, goals, and agenda for the year, as well as the general happenings of the MSU.

gun meetings with individuals from Athletics & Recreation in order to speed up the process as much as possible.

What is your vision of the MSU? My vision of the MSU is to create an environment wherein we constantly challenge our- choice exam, the answers I genselves in order to become the erally get wrong are the ones I best versions of who we are as scratch out and change to somea whole. thing difErnest ferent. SecHemingond, SRA Approachability and way put members it best should ask: understanding are the w h e n how well marks of a great leader. he exequipped is plained this individthat true ual to supnobility doesn’t come from be- port not only the President and ing superior to others, but rath- their goals, but also the goals of er from being superior to one’s the organization as a whole? former self. By continuing to Superman or Batman? grow and improve as an orgaPersonally, I grew up readnization, the MSU will in turn ing Deadpool, so neither? Also, improve the daily lives of all I think the real question is: who students. would win in a battle between What do you think the SRA Superman and Goku? (Hint: should look for this weekend Goku). when they elect next year’s Favourite animal?

Vice Presidents?

Dolphins. If you truly love Two main things. First, it is dolphins as well, I suggest you important to always follow your avoid visiting places that keep gut with decisions like this. I these beautiful mammals in often find that on a multiple captivity.

“

”

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, March 31, 2016

Celebrity hair appropriation

The Silhouette | 15

Opinion

Page 17

Page 18

A hairy situation Sunanna Bhasin Opinions Columnist

Summer is approaching fast, and that means it’s either time to bring the dusty old razor out again, or leave your body hair as it is. Judgemental looks from other women or raised eyebrows from men are bound to make an appearance along with hairy legs. Women are expected to be hairless everywhere aside from the tops of their heads. It feels like the only alternative is to let everything go au natural, and be fiercely proud about it. I’ve got a third option: why don’t we stop caring entirely about other people’s body hair?

Speak ill of the dead

Shaming someone for the way they manage their body hair says a lot more about the shamer than the shamed.

I have a lot of hair. I’ve been told that I have been blessed with a thick head of hair and should be thankful. While I am quite grateful, what my admirers tend to overlook is that when you have thick hair on your head, you probably have it everywhere else too. I’m not a fan, so I do what many other girls do and shave or wax it — as is my choice. Still, like many others, I remember a not-so-fond memory of being teased for having to shave back in elementary school. It had an impact on me.

Body hair shaming is entirely socially constructed.

We teach our daughters from a young age that they need to get rid of their body hair. Just as we wouldn’t force a woman to wear make-up against her will, we shouldn’t be forcing women to remove or keep their body hair.

I was a victim of the body hair double standard: make sure it’s beautiful atop your head, but pretend it never exists anywhere else. I’m not sure who came up with the absurd notion that women are magically endowed with hairlessness, but I’ve got news for you: most human beings have some form of embarrassing and inconvenient hair somewhere on their bodies.

Whoever is without hair amongst us, let them be the first to cast the razor Why is our head-hair considered so much more acceptable and attractive than our leg hair?

The way you treat other people based on their body hair can have a very serious impact on how they feel about their bodies. This is not a decision to be made by anyone other than the owner of said body hair. It’s a matter of respecting people’s choices and allowing them to make their own decisions.

When people are unhappy with their bodies, they make an effort to change them. Similarly, if a woman is unhappy with their body hair, then who are we to make statements about how much of a feminist she is based on her choices? No matter how

I was a victim of the body hair double standard: Make sure it’s beautiful atop your head, but pretend it never exists anywhere else. feminist your politics, you do not have the right to tell a woman what she does with her body.

We need to quit the body hair shaming and let women choose whether they want to love it or lose it. @SunannaB

16 | | OPINION

Thursday, March 31, 2016 | www.thesil.ca

No regrets Advice from a regretful writer

Ana Qarri Managing Editor

Every few months, we get a message from a student or alumnus who wants us to take down something they’ve writ-

C/O PENCILS.COM

ten for the paper. Our policy around removal has always been that if the published article poses a safety risk or creates any other form of danger, we’ll take it down or take your name off the article as requested. Otherwise, we will work with the per-

son to find alternative ways to mitigate their discomfort with having the article published.

Sometimes their requests are unreasonable — for example, requests to take the article down because the writing was bad, the author no longer

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Wanting to delete articles you’re not proud of is fundamentally misguided. It speaks to a lack of understanding of individual growth. you to own up to it.

If you fear a damaged reputation because you reported true facts, all I can say is: that’s too bad. The Silhouette won’t censor itself to help you clean up your public image. These situations can vary in severity, but they all speak to the need to act ethically, kindly and wisely in all aspects of your (public) life. This is especially true for student politicians.

While student newspapers and organizations are less serious and more forgiving than their “real world” counterparts, they’re still no joke. It’s a reality that’s not meant to scare you, but to inspire you to make the best of your time here. Put a lot thought into what you write and how you act. Stand up for things you believe in, but be open to changing your mind. If you make mistakes, the best thing to do is to own up to them. Even if we delete your article from our servers, rest assured that the internet at-large is not such a forgiving place.

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agrees with an opinion article they submitted or that a true fact published in the paper will damage someone’s reputation.

I understand these concerns.

Now that all of The Silhouette’s articles go online, student’s writing, or the news about their on-campus activities is no longer just under university-wide scrutiny. Anyone around the world has access to it. This has been great for many of our writers and articles. We get readers from unexpected countries (as far as Australia!), and have expanded our readership significantly. It also means we get more complaints from people who don’t want the articles they wrote or are mentioned in to show up in their Google searches.

Wanting to delete articles you’re not proud of is fundamentally misguided. It speaks to a lack of understanding of individual growth. Whether it’s because your writing wasn’t as good as it could be, or you said something you don’t believe anymore, your acknowledgement of both shows how much you’re grown and improved as both a writer and a person.

Publishing a controversial opinion in any online platform is an important decision. You have to be prepared for the backlash and the feedback, and be ready to defend your point of view. If you change your mind later and realize that you don’t even know the person who wrote those horrible things, then it’s up to

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OPINION | 17

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, March 31, 2016

Boxed in

When a hairstyle is more than meets the eye

Kylie Jenner recently came under fire for her “boxer braids.”

C/O INSTAGRAM

Jezerae Stewart Contributor

Very recently, my hair was braided into long box braids, and I have been given countless compliments on it. Despite the fact that I am extremely self-assured I have to admit it feels nice to hear such kind words, especially since I was so apprehensive to get the braids done the first place.

My concerns did not stem from inexperience. My hairstyles have changed over the years and braids have been a reoccurring look for me. They are low-maintenance and help keep my hair from drying out.

Last year I wore my hair in braids for the first time in six years — the longest time I had gone without them. Initially I didn’t hide my braids, but I

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wasn’t showing them off either.

I avoided taking pictures when out with my friends because I was afraid that people would judge my tresses before getting to know the person they were attached to. I didn’t want to be seen unkempt, unprofessional or undesirable. Having these ridiculous traits associated with braids, cornrows or dreads is not an uncommon experience for people of colour. A student from Claflin University in South Carolina was told that if she wanted to be successful in her internship that natural Black hairstyles, or “nappy [hair]” isn’t “happy here.”

Most of all I am upset knowing these stereotypes were influencing the way I feel about myself. In some respect, they always have. In the past year I’ve considered the influence of

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cultural appropriation and assimilation in my life. Dominant races are called ‘trendy’ when wearing cornrows or hoop earrings, whereas people of colour are labeled ‘ratchet.’ This is what cultural appropriation looks like. Kylie Jenner’s ‘boxer braids’ were labeled as a workout hairstyle, which completely disregarded the origin of the hairstyle. Just because the braids are commonly worn amongst female boxers and UFC fighters it does not mean we should call it anything other than what they actually are called — cornrows.

I have avoided wearing sneakers, big hoop earrings, headscarves or anything that would signal my “blackness” as if it was a measure of my style. The fact that I feel inferior to White people when I wear braids stems from racism and assim-

ilation. Instead of embracing the natural texture of my hair, I continue to treat (and damage) it to fit in. One could say that my personal experiences alone are not a reflection of societal attitudes towards black hairstyles, but as the Claflin University student can attest, this issue is bigger than myself.

Maybe it was Beyoncé’s release of Formation or my recent obsession with Zoe Kravitz, but I am currently rocking box braids, wearing the latest addition to my sneaker collection (Nike Air Max 90’s if you must know) and for the first time in a long time I feel empowered.

I am packing up the cultural normalcies that fostered my insecurities and sending them in a box to the left. The culture our society emulates will no longer make me feel like less than my-

I avoided taking pictures when out with my friends because I was afraid that people would judge my tresses before getting to know the person they were attached to. self for embracing a part of my culture. At the end of the day I cannot tell another person how to dress or wear their hair, but hopefully different perspectives will facilitate understanding and respect for all expressions of culture.

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18 |

OPINION

Thursday, March 31, 2016 | www.thesil.ca

Speak ill of the dead Respectful mourning isn’t a problem, selective mourning is Talia Kollek Opinions Editor

The body of Toronto’s controversial mayor Rob Ford lay in repose in City hall for a week-long visitation, followed by a full funeral procession. C/O MACLEANS

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If one more person tells me to posthumously respect Rob Ford I’m going to lose it. Even if we disregard him lying about smoking crack, he was objectively a bad mayor. He was accused of drinking in his city hall office, verbally and physically abusing his staffers, and frequently missing work. This is a man who said that he felt sympathy for cyclists, but stated that their deaths were “their own fault at the end of the day.” He claimed that he “didn’t understand a transgender … is it a guy dressed up like a girl or a girl dressed up like a guy?” and that Asian people “sleep beside their machines” and “work like dogs” (I believe this was an embarrassing attempt at a compliment). Here was a man who — as mayor of Toronto — skipped the pride parade almost every year of his term, despite the flag raising taking place directly outside his office. This list is by no means exhaustive.

Despite his controversial history, there have been calls to memorialize Ford. A poll demanded a statue of him in Toronto. His casket was displayed for visitation with an honour guard in city hall for the week before his full funeral procession. This is completely unprecedented for a mayor who did not die while in office.

This level of respect for the dead is selective. Media outlets had no problem portraying Michael Brown or Trayvon Martin — Black unarmed teenage boys — as suspect or criminal after they were killed. I’m willing to bet that Fidel Castro or Robert Mugabe will not be gifted with sympathetic eulogies. Who we choose to honour posthumously has nothing to do with reputation or controversy. If it did, Ford would not be viewed as a remotely sympathetic figure.

It has little to do with lifetime achievement, as Ford’s state funeral is eclipses other former Torontonian mayors, including others who were significantly more effective at their jobs.

I can’t even begin to fathom how it feels to prematurely lose a parent.

However, dying does not absolve you of your sins.

Posthumous respect is dependent on race and power.

Would we have cared about Ford’s death if he had been a crack smoking racist office worker? How would we have treated Ford if he was a criminal Black mayor? We seem to only be comfortable respecting the dead when they are powerful White men, regardless of virtue.

This begs the question, why do we feel the need to absolve him in the first place? Do we feel sympathy for his family?

Do we feel guilt for the ways we treated Ford when we was alive?

We have nothing to gain from rehabilitating Toronto’s most infamous mayor, yet we have everything to lose. What does it mean when a city that prides itself on diversity and acceptance gives a full funeral procession to a racist homophobe? Why are we more sympathetic towards him than we are towards the people whose lives he negatively affected?

No one should have to suffer the impact of cancer the way the Ford family has. I can’t even begin to fathom how it feels to prematurely lose a parent. However, dying does not absolve you of your sins.

In the age of information it is often easier to cling to uncomplicated narratives: a man is dead and he has left behind a family and a legacy. We feel we ought to mourn. Forgotten are the consequences of his actions.

Behind every one of Ford’s ignorant comments was very real prejudice that directly impacted his constituents. His death has not changed this. Even if we can reverse the damage he has done, I will continue to speak ill of the dead. @TaliaKollek

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The Silhouette | 21

Lifestyle

The design ethos of Dieter Rams: Less is better Page 24

How to deal with rejection Page 24

Graduating into the unknown As the class of 2016 ponders their future and writes their last exams, it’s important to say goodbye to McMaster Jason Woo Lifestyle Editor

“What are you doing next year?”

As graduation looms over the graduating class of 2016, we are confronted with this question asked by friends and family. For some, the answer is straightforward — I’m going to graduate school or I have a job lined up. But for many the answer is barely known, and the future consists of silhouettes you can scarcely make out.

Throughout our lives and especially in our time at McMaster, we’ve all gone through momentous periods of change, where we’ve matured and begun the

process of becoming a functioning adult. But now it seems like none of it compares to what’s coming next after we throw our graduation caps into the air.

For many, graduation will be the first time that our lives are not following a linear narrative, where we’ll be tossed out into the job market with our student debt, where we have to look for a place to rent and where we have to finally learn to do our own taxes. I’ve been told that it’s not easy, and as someone going through this same process, I don’t have comforting words to say, except that we should approach it with optimism and excitement. If we have to go through this period of transition, we might as well

S

. . .

T HI

try to make it fun.

Haven’t spoken at length about graduation with quite a few of my friends, one thing I noticed was that some jaded people approach graduation with disappointment and cynicism. I’ve heard many variations of the “I’m going to graduate and wipe my ass with my Bachelor of Arts because that’s all it’ll be good for.” To these folks I want to say that you shouldn’t discredit everything you’ve learned in your years at McMaster. It may not have been the key to a job and adulthood as promised, but it was not for naught. Beyond your academic growth, think of the relationships you’ve made, all the things about the world

that you’ve learned. Without my time at McMaster, I would be blissfully unaware of what intersectionality means, and still subscribe to an overly simplistic and insufficient understanding of oppression. University made you a better person.

Was university what I expected? Not really. I was told that I’d make lifelong relationships here, and while there are a few people I love dearly, the truth is that I probably won’t talk to a majority of the people I met at Mac once we go our separate ways back to where we’re from. In the first year after graduation, visiting Facebook and LinkedIn will be difficult as you see where all your friends are going and you feel

the need to compare yourself and see how you stack up on an arbitrary scale. You won’t be in the same place anymore, all working towards the exams in April.

On top of all of this, there’s the usual deluge of assignments and tests due in March, as well as the realization that you’re going through a lot of lasts: last midterm, last formal, last coffeehouse. It’s a difficult time, but you’ve already made it this far.

There’s no two ways about it; we’re leaving a community that was probably the most understanding and accepting.

You’ll never experience this again. But like Dr. Seuss said, “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

22 |

LIFESTYLE

Thursday, March 31, 2016 | www.thesil.ca

Stranger

danger

?

C/O THESITE.ORG

Jennifer La Grassa Contributor

As children, we’re told to never talk to strangers. This firm command from our teachers and parents could be what has potentially engrained the avoidant response that we express when confronted by someone who is unfamiliar. When someone approaches me and asks “Do you know where the nearest (insert a location) is?” my brain automatically conjures up the memory of my mom firmly saying, “Don’t talk to strangers!” the first time I ever walked home from school by myself.

With my mom’s voice ringing in my ears, my initial reaction to the stranger’s inquiry involves a shoulder shrug accompanied by a headshake, as I briskly walk away. Up until recently, this was the way I handled being confronted by, what I’d hope were, innocent strangers who simply lacked a GPS. It wasn’t until I entered

university that strangers became of great interest to me. Granted most “strangers” you meet in first year aren’t all that strange, as they are also 18 years old and just about as naïve as you are.

But it’s not enough to just meet a person for them to no longer be a stranger. I’ve met so many people during my three years at McMaster and yet the most I know about any of them from the conversations we’ve had is their name, program and maybe their hometown. To my team leaders, fellow classmates and professors, even though I may see you every day and exchange small pleasantries with you, you’re still just as much of a stranger to me as I am to you.

Why is it so difficult for us to have meaningful conversations? It’s almost as if we have to wait until we become completely familiarized with a person before we can escape that “small talk” phase of the relationship and actually have a substantial conversation. I

recently read a New York Times article whose author expressed how exhausted he was of having meaningless conversations about what someone does for a living or how the weather was that day. If you know me, then you would know that when I have absolutely nothing to say to someone the first thing I’ll bring up is the weather. Even though I know it’s such a poor conversation starter, it’s my goto line when talking to people I don’t know well enough.

The author goes on to say that it’s really about how we phrase the question that will draw a different response from our co-conversationalist. He claims that instead of asking, “what do you do for a living?” we should ask, “what work are you most passionate about?” and rather than say, “where have you traveled to?” we should ask, “what place that you visited most inspired you and why?” Although this may seem intimidating to some, it is these

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types of conversations that truly allow us to connect with others.

I decided to test out the author’s suggestions and the universe must have really wanted me to, as it gave me two opportunities to do so recently.

On my bus ride to Toronto, I ended up sitting beside a firstyear McMaster student who decided to strike up a conversation with me. We conversed the entire road trip through which I learned, among many other things, of his transition into first year, his relationship with his sister and what he found most interesting about his program.

We walked to the subway together and before we parted, it dawned on me that I had just learned so much about a person whom I had only known for forty minutes and whom I would probably never see again.

That same weekend, back in Hamilton, I had taken the wrong bus with a friend and at the last stop in Dundas, the young driver looked over at us

and exclaimed, “you took the wrong bus didn’t you?” This led into a conversation about how he got to be a bus driver at the age of 25 and how life has so many unexpected turns that lead you to so many unexpected places. The willingness of the bus driver and the young McMaster student to open up and share a small fraction of their life taught me so much about myself and has changed the way in which I will conduct future conversations.

What’s most important is to be open to having these types of conversations. We shouldn’t pass someone off as being weird if they start asking us in-depth questions, unless they start asking for your address or credit card number, in which case quickly walking away in the opposite direction would be the appropriate response. There is so much we can learn from each other, if only we take the time to do so.

LIFESTYLE

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, March 31, 2016

| 23

Dealing with

REJECTION

C/O BUZZLE.COM

Christine Chow Lifestyle Writer

After weeks of ogling from afar, everything seemed like it went well when you finally met in person. You dressed to the nines. You felt like you made a connection. You radiated confidence, proved you were educated on all the relevant topics and you laughed at all the right moments. But they still haven’t called you back. You wait a day, then two, then a week. Still nothing. You start to wonder if maybe you didn’t come off as great as you thought you did.

Even worse, maybe they’ve found someone else. You think about nudging them with something along the lines of “I was wondering if you thought any more about last Saturday,” but eventually decide against it. You don’t want to look too desperate.

And when they finally do reply, it’s with the words you’ve always

been dreading. So you pull out that pint of ice cream and bawl in front of last week’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy, trying hard not to question your self-worth. You just weren’t good enough for them. You didn’t get the job.

I’ve played out this scene so many times that, if I lived in the Harry Potter universe, it would be probably be my Boggart. In fact, I used to be so terrified of rejection that for the majority of my first year at McMaster, I kept my head low, and I refused to apply for anything and everything. Consequently, while my friends volunteered in Peru or earned money from either parttime jobs or their co-op term, I spent much of my summer in a slump. Only one good thing came out of it, and it wasn’t the abysmal grade I received from sacrificing my June and July to the godless art of physics: it was my determination to make the following summer fruitful.

Somewhere along the way, I

realized that you simply cannot escape some kind of application for most of the things you encounter over the span of your university career. If you need a summer job, you have to apply. If you want to become a Welcome Week rep or a CA in residence, you have to apply.

If you’re looking for a research position in a professor’s lab, you have to apply. Whether it’s a co-op job, an internship or even a higher-level entry program, your fate is inevitable. One way or another, you’ll have to apply.

Taking the initiative to apply for new opportunities can be daunting. For someone who lacks confidence or struggles with social anxiety, the mere thought can be incredibly off-putting, if not insurmountable. After all, what’s the point of going to the trouble of applying for something, if you aren’t likely to get the position anyway? Why waste your efforts, when they can probably be

better spent elsewhere? Why set yourself up for what can only be imminent disappointment?

I’ve been ignored a handful of times, and I’ve been rejected far more than I care to admit.

I’ve had interviews where I tripped on my words, only for them to untangle once I left the room with my reputation unsalvageable. I once had an interviewer laugh at me because I was so unprepared, and there have been times where I didn’t end up with the position even when I felt that my interview had gone better than I could have ever hoped for.

I can say with the utmost certainty that I detest applications with the passion of a thousand fiery suns, and yet I still continue to put myself through it at the expense of my own comfort. While that might just mean I have masochistic tendencies, the more I face my old fear of rejection, the more it becomes clear to me that getting

rejected isn’t my Boggart at all: my Boggart is never knowing whether I would or wouldn’t be rejected because I couldn’t find it in myself to try.

The worst thing we can do to ourselves is to let our own self-doubts dictate what we believe we’re capable of.

Just because you might not get a job doesn’t mean you won’t ever get a job, and just because you weren’t considered good enough for one position doesn’t mean you aren’t good enough, period. You are. If there’s something you’re interested in, you have to try. Maybe you’ll surprise yourself, and if you don’t, something else will come along.

Whether it’s in the context of other people or your career, while rejection is an inevitable part of life that everyone has to deal with at one point or another, it’s not the end of the world.

Armageddon is. And when it arrives, I know I’d like to have something to show for it.

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LIFESTYLE

Every aspect of our world is designed in one way or another. From the appliances in our kitchens to the clothes on our backs, every switch and button has been meticulously considered and executed. Design — whether it be in buildings, laptops or can openers — weave through the fabric of our lives.

But things have changed.

Today, we live in a throwaway society. We create and consume in abundance, forgoing detail for convenience. The mass production of virtually every product we use has fuelled a capitalist society that cares little for how things are made, only for how much revenue they garner.

We gravitate towards products that give us more. The bigger, the better. The more functions, the better. The more we can afford to buy, the better. Gone are the days where good design, rather than cheap design, took centre stage in blueprints and on drawing boards.

In the world of design, there are few who have created as lasting an impact as Dieter Rams. Widely considered as one of the most influential designers of all time, and one of my personal idols, Rams is a visionary like no other. Nearly every product design created by him continues to be considered a classic today. In a society that is in a perpetual state of flux as a result of cultural and technological developments, that’s staying power.

From an early age, Rams was strongly influenced by his grandfather’s role as a carpenter. After training as an architect in Germany in the early 1950s, Rams was recruited by the German electrical products company, Braun, in 1955. Follow the death of Erwin and Artur Braun’s father, Rams was tasked with modernizing the interiors of a company that continued to launch revolutionary products for households across the globe.

Soon, Rams became a star student of the Ulm School of Design and quickly became involved in product design at Braun. Due to his incomparable talent and eye for innovation, he was appointed as the head of design of Braun from 1961 to 1995. Along with the rest of his design team, Dieter Rams became the man responsible for many of the greatest domestic electrical products of the twentieth century.

Braun asserted itself as a leading

Thursday, March 31, 2016 | www.thesil.ca

consumer products company under the expert guidance of Rams. However, in the late 1970s, the designer became increasingly perturbed by the state of the world around him. He began to see his surroundings as “an impenetrable confusion of forms, colours and noises.”

Conscious that he was a prominent contributor to that world, he asked himself: is my design good design? He did not want to thoughtlessly feed into a world that was turning design into nothing more than dollar signs. To him, that was dishonest and irresponsible.

Rams wanted to advocate for a purist, almost imperceptible design; products that fit seamlessly into the lives of those who use it. As such, he came up with ten principles for good design. Often referred to as the “ten commandments of good design,” these principles remain as timeless fundaments of design theory and practice today: Good design is innovative. Good design makes a product useful. Good design is aesthetic. Good design makes a product understandable. Good design is unobtrusive. Good design is honest. Good design is durable. Good design is consistent to the last detail. Good design is environmentally friendly.

Good design is as little

design as possible.

If you have used one of Rams’ products, you would have likely been able to check

that conserved resources and minimized physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product. All ten principles boil down to one thing: less but better.

Simplicity allows for products to be elegant, supremely versatile and free of the burden of non-essentials.

Although the current reality is that most companies do not consider good design when pushing out products to the public, there are some that do. Apple is a prime example. Both Steve Jobs, the late Apple co-founder, and Jony Ive, the company’s Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, were outspoken admirers of Rams’ work. If you compare some of Rams’ creations with Apple’s products, the similarities are astounding. It is fascinating to see the parallel between Braun’s speaker and Apple’s iMac. Thankfully, many newer start-ups and up-andcoming companies are now returning to the seeds that Rams had sowed. Unlike big, corporate giants, these new businesses recognize a gap in the market for carefully considered and expertly crafted products that reduce everything to the basics.

Some examples that come to mind include Cereal Magazine, a store in Los Angeles called Formerly Yes and Vitsoe, a shelving company that Rams himself designed for. For these owners, Rams’ tenth principle — less but better — is their motto, and simplicity is their aim. They’ve adopted a new kind of social responsibility: to reduce products to their simplest form, thereby providing consumers with the best product possible.

Dieter Rams’ design ethos extends far beyond design — it is a

Less is more Michelle Yeung Lifestyle Reporter

off the boxes beside each of the aforementioned principles.

Each and every one of his creations are aesthetically pleasing, user-friendly and exceptionally practical. They are beautiful without being fashionable, and therefore never appear antiquated. There is no use of big buttons or bold colours or abstract lines; nothing detracts from the product’s function, which is clear and self-explanatory. The inherent simplicity of the design makes the product smart as it is able to express its function by making use of the user’s intuition. Perhaps one of the most important principles of the ten is the one that considers the preservation of the environment. Rams made it his primary goal to offer products to consumers

philosophy that also applies to life. With so many new products being offered to us, it has become almost second nature to want more and to buy more.

Abundance has become a sign of wealth; new versions of appliances, phones and clothes are readily available at a moment’s notice. We feed into this mindless cycle of producing more, buying more and, as a result, throwing away more. This produces both environmental noise and visual noise, exerting very real and tangible effects on our lives. Rarely does anything in our lives remain permanent anymore.

Consumers have been programmed to jump at the sight of a sale sign, and to scope out deals in order to buy as much as they can. It is therefore unsurprising to me that friends of mine would widen their eyes or even chastise me when I purchase an item of clothing that is more than what they would consider as “a steal.”

Buying less clothes but buying better clothes is a way in which I’ve adopted Rams’ principles into my life. Instead of spending a certain amount of money on many articles of clothing, consider spending the same amount (or perhaps saving even more) to invest in one high-quality piece. This will not only ensure that you will love whatever it is you buy, it will also lead to less clutter in your closet and save you time in the mornings when getting ready, reducing the burden of choice.

Buying less and buying better should extend into every part of our lives as consumers.

The next time you buy a top, cooking knives or perhaps even a couch, remember Dieter Rams’ ten principles. Good design should be so simple, fluid and considered that they almost camouflage into your surroundings. They should make you feel a deep, lasting satisfaction at the mere thought of owning them. It is not only our responsibility to ourselves, but also our responsibility to society to refrain from perpetuating a harmful consumer mindset that focuses on abundance.

In truth, simplicity is something we should adopt into every facet of our busy lives. Less is more, and less is always better. @mich_ yeung

LIFESTYLE

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, March 31, 2016

| 25

Arranged love knows no bounds Sasha Dhesi Contributor

“Arranged marriage.” The phrase probably causes a shudder down the spine of anyone from a culture who practices it but grew up in the West. I’ve seen countless Indian-American comedians joke that they wouldn’t even let their mothers pick their clothes, let alone their spouse, and it’s a sentiment I share. The cultural difference between my mother and I means we’re always at odds about things as trivial as how I should do my eyebrows to the more serious career decisions.

But you’re speaking to a girl who has seen a dozen romantic comedies a year and can’t bring herself to make a Tinder account because it just feels too much like I’m giving up on romance. An arranged marriage just doesn’t make sense for me, but after watching my parents grow and change through their relationship, I’ve learned that an arranged marriage may have an undeserved reputation.

My parents don’t have a romantic story. There was no meet-cute, no elaborate story to satisfy my inquisitive ears growing up. No, my parents had a boring arranged marriage. My parents met a few weeks’ prior to their wedding and have been married now for about 22 years.

With all that said and done, I couldn’t tell the difference between my parents’ marriage and those of my friends whose parents had “love marriages.” It became increasingly clear that what made their marriage work wasn’t some grand romantic love that carried them through every fight but rather a willingness to adapt.

Now it should be noted that many people stay in arranged marriages for the wrong reasons. In most South Asian cultures divorce is heavily stigmatized, so people often stay in unhealthy or abusive relationships out of cultural pressure. I personally know of many toxic couples that are only together to avoid the community backlash.

These issues aren’t due to the arranged marriage though. I doubt anyone decides to abuse someone because they didn’t specifically choose their spouse.

Arranged marriages don’t magically solve the issues that may arise, but it’s not necessari-

ly the part of the equation that’s causing issues.

The main reason why my parents seem to do so well together isn’t because they’re made for each other or that they’re soulmates. Rather, they’re happy because they’re willing to listen to each other and adapt to each other.

Because they had an arranged marriage, they had very little expectations about what the other would be like, and didn’t have these idealized images in their heads of what the other should be like. Instead, they went into their marriage willing to compromise.

We often go into relationships with this concept of the ‘perfect’ person, who accepts you for everything you are. But you’re never going to find that because you yourself are not perfect. It’s ultimately unfair to assume that someone should bear the weight of your flaws.

This also ignores that you’re never going to find a person who doesn’t have some sort of tick that bothers you. Any sort of long-term relationship is a commitment to that person, warts and all, but we get so wrapped up in this ideal “the One” who’s going to take care of all of your faults without having any of their own. What you want isn’t a lifelong partner, rather someone who’ll let you stagnate completely. But those in arranged marriages usually don’t have this mindset. Dating usually requires a level of idealization to work, but an arranged marriage takes it out of the equation completely. Instead, you’re left with a person who you have to listen to in order to learn how to be with them.

While I don’t have some wonderful story to share about how my parents met, I do get to come home to them sharing a loveseat together while they watch the news, and listen to one lament about how they miss the other when traveling.

While I am not going to have an arranged marriage, I don’t think we should bash them altogether. Whether it’s arranged or not, the only way to sustain a relationship is to willingly adapt to your partner and grow with them. For those who are comfortable with it, arranged marriages are definitely an option that can lead to an incredibly fulfilling life.

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GAMES

Thursday, March 31, 2016 | www.thesil.ca

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DOWN 1. Invoice 2. Out of port 3. School friend 4. Barbie’s guy 5. Accompany

6. Shop 7. Smooths wood 8. Otherwise 9. Time unit (abbr.)

10. Discomfort 11. Kitchen stove 12. More congenial 13. Toboggans 19. Satire 21. Corned beef dish 24. Smelling organ 25. Final 26. Woeful cry 27. Telescope glass 28. Headliner 30. Infant 31. Keats’ “before” 32. Movie showing 33. Length times width 34. Await judgment 36. Arrived 37. Ventilates 39. The Devil 40. Reach across 41. Bedding 42. Planter 43. Christmas visitor 44. Primp 45. Married again 46. Not fancy 47. Actress ____ Blair 49. Furthermore 51. One time only 52. Grateful ____ 54. Tank filler 55. Actress ____ Farrow

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, March 31, 2016

The Silhouette | 27

Sports Where beats meets basketball McMaster Basketball’s Troy Joseph looks ahead at the opportunities that await him

JON WHITE/ PHOTO EDITOR

Sofia Mohamed Sports Editor

For as long as McMaster Basketball guard Troy Joseph can remember, he has had two loves: basketball and music.

Starting to play basketball at the age of 10, the friendships he made through the sport were one of the biggest reasons he loved it so much. The same guys he played with in the front yard or in the school gym became long-time friends. Now, they either play alongside him or in different leagues all around the world. Still, basketball was that glue that kept a lot of his friendships together.

With his final year of eligibility up this season, Joseph hangs up his university jersey with McMaster. But Hamilton was not always home for him.

Before making a name for himself in the Steel City, the Ajax native spent two seasons playing for the Long Island University Blackbirds in Brooklyn, NY. While playing Division I gave him the NCAA March Madness experience and championship trophies, the return for Joseph was a natural fit.

While the coaches, practices, programs and structures were a bit different, Joseph came to McMaster with a bit of his past playing alongside him.

Aaron Redpath and Leon Alexander, both players on the McMaster Men’s Basketball Team have been long-time friends with Joseph and have gone from court to court with him.

While the end has come for Joseph at McMaster, he is looking to play professionally. In talks with agents, he is working towards making the best possible decision for his future.

“I didn’t notice the importance of sports until now looking back at the friendships, the connections and challenges you go through.”

Troy Joseph Forward, McMaster Men’s Basketball Whether it’ll be solely about basketball or music or a mesh of both is completely up to him.

“I’m not going to chase it just to chase it, it has to make sense to me,” said Joseph.

While music and basketball help inspire Joseph, he also contributes to his community through charity and is in the

works of creating opportunities for children to play sports.

“I want to help single parents with kids who play sports.

I know what it’s like to be in a single parent household trying to play sports. It’s expensive,” said Joseph.

Family has always been a huge support for Joseph and has inspired him to reach new heights.

“My mom stayed in Brooklyn just to watch my games. My dad pushed me to learn through sport and to give back,” said Joseph of his parents.

Seniors Night, the last home game at the Burridge Gym to celebrate the senior athletes, was a special one for Joseph.

“It was a good experience, especially with Leon and Aaron, it felt good being out there with them,” said Joseph.

Looking back, Joseph is

proud of the way he ended his eligibility. He was named a Second Team All-Star for his efforts this season and was the second highest scorer this season for the McMaster Men’s Basketball team. Starting this season came with more minutes for Joseph that allowed him to produce efficiently and helped him grow into a leader on and off the court.

“I didn’t notice the importance of sports until now looking back at the friendships, the connections and challenges you go through,” said Joseph.

Whether it’s because of his talent on the court or through his verses, Marauders can expect to hear more from Troy Joseph.

@itssofiaAM

THANK YOU FOR A GREAT SEASON! We can’t wait to play with you again next year!

SPORTS | 29

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, March 31, 2016

Player profile: Lauren Mastroluisi

C/O YOUSIF HADDAD

Jaycee Cruz Sports Reporter

If you head west on the 403 from Hamilton, you’ll discover a gem nestled on the western part of the Golden Horseshoe.

It’s a stone’s throw from McMaster and might as well be considered the university’s backyard.

Welcome to Ancaster, ON, home to Lauren Mastroluisi.

Mastroluisi went to Ancaster High from 2007-2011 and was a multisport athlete who played basketball, water polo, badminton and tennis in addition to volleyball. She played club for Burlington’s Defensa and won club nationals in 2011.

Head Coach Tim Louks heavily recruited Mastroluisi since grade nine. She received high interest from Guelph, Laurier and even got some notice from the NCAA’s Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green. But when the time came to choose, Mastroluisi went with what she knew her whole life.

Her entire family went to McMaster.

“My parents and my brothers went here. My brother

played football for Mac and my dad played hockey for Mac. It’s a Mac family,” said Mastroluisi.

“My parents always told me I could go wherever I wanted, but something pulled me here because I knew how much everyone in my family loved it.”

As a student-athlete, nothing says welcome to the university level like playing in front of a roaring home crowd. One of her favorite memories came from her rookie season when McMaster hosted the Women’s CIS Championships.

“We played No. 1 Alberta in the quarterfinal and we were ranked No. 8. We walk into the gym and the roar of the crowd was insane. There were so many people there,” said Mastroluisi.

“I had an adrenaline rush for the next two weeks. I was shaking. It was the most fun and we took a set off them, which was hype. Taylor (Brisebois), Mira (Krunic) and I started that game, which was huge because we were little first years. It was wild.”

In her career, Mastroluisi made two CIS Championship appearances (2012, 2014) and won an OUA banner in 2014.

She was named to the CIS and OUA All-Rookie team in 2011 in addition to being named McMaster’s team MVP and OUA First Team All-Star in 2015.

Her fourth year was her best one yet.

“I think that, physically, it was my best year all-around. I was in my best shape. I started to understand the game more,” Mastroluisi said. “Instead of just hitting the ball I would start hitting shots. I would see the court better.”

It was in those senior years that she developed her biggest skill at Mac. “Playing for Mac taught me patience. Coach has really pushed the concept of patience on us. Slow it down, take a breath, see and know what you’re doing,” said Mastroluisi.

“When you’re in a game you can get caught up with the crowd and everything, but taking a breath and being patient has been huge.”

On the topic of patience, Mastroluisi is in a season of life that requires just that. When volleyball has been life for 11 years, it takes some time to transition into your next step.

Upon graduation, she hopes to go to teacher’s college. Her passion to invest in kids’ lives can be traced back to her time volunteering at the Hamilton Boys and Girls Club.

“Community outreach has been big for me. I’ve been involved with Mac Athletes Care since first year. You just hangout with kids and help them with anything they need,” Mastroluisi said. “It’s like being a big sister.”

Her desire to invest in the next generation stretches from the court to the classroom. She cited her Defensa coach, Rob Fernley, as her inspiration.

“He puts so much effort into making sure that his athletes are the best that they can be. I think six out of the 10 girls on my club team played NCAA Division I and did well,” Mastroluisi said. “He was into developing potential. I want to be the type of coach that sees something in a kid and trusts my instincts on their potential.”

McMaster teammates Ina Onat and Rebecca Steckle think Mastroluisi is a natural when it comes to identifying the best in others. From the testimony of her friends, teaching and

coaching seem to be the perfect fit for her.

“She sees the potential in those around her and encourages them to be their best selves, whether it be in volleyball or in life. She is full of life and has left her mark on each one of us,” said Onat.

“She is the life of the team on the court. I would argue that there are very few people who are able to truly make others believe in themselves, but Lo is one of them. She has the uncanny ability to allow you to be yourself and have complete confidence in who you are and what you bring to the team,” said Steckle.

“Although Lo has been influential on the court for the past five years, it is her friendship and love for people that will continue to change lives, like it has mine. She is a rare breed.”

As she transitions into the next season of her life, Mastroluisi walks away from McMaster bleeding the only color she has known: maroon. @_jayceecruz

30 |

SPORTS

Thursday, March 31, 2016 | www.thesil.ca

What sports writing taught me

As my sports writing year comes to an end, I look back on what I have learned as a writer Jaycee Cruz Sports Reporter

JON WHITE/ PHOTO EDITOR

I “chairish” our time together, but it’s time to move on.

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This marks the end of my second year writing for The Silhouette. Last year was the first time I ever got my feet wet in the world of sports writing. It was something I wanted to get into since high school and McMaster gave me a great outlet.

This year I was the Sports Reporter for the school paper and got a better feel of what sports journalism as a job felt like in a university setting.

This opportunity has allowed me to have conversations with people I never thought I would talk to and develop a love for my school I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. It has opened doors that would’ve remained closed. I don’t know what my McMaster experience would be like if I didn’t walk into The Silhouette’s office in September 2014.

A little initiative on my part went a long way.

One of the first things I learned at The Silhouette was that my job wasn’t to write recaps or “gamers.” That’s boring and it would be a waste of my time and your time. As a student writer on a university campus that has teams that participate at the provincial and national levels in the OUA and CIS, I have a landscape full of potential content awaiting me. Access to student-athletes, coaches and games were at my fingertips. I have unique inside access to these things because I am a student here. Outside journalists don’t have this access.

I had classes with student-athletes and made friends with them even before getting this writing job. I learned right away from my former Sports Editor Scott Hastie that I should not hesitate to take advantage of the opportunities I have right in front of me. I started to meet with coaches and student-athletes regularly and quickly learned that, while they do hold respected positions in the sports world, they are human beings with stories.

They are not that much different from you and I. The more I talked to these people and wrote about them I started to see it as more than a

This opportunity has allowed me to have conversations with people I never thought I would talk to and develop a love for my school I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. It has opened doors that would’ve remained closed. job. I genuinely enjoyed getting to hear their thoughts and understand their perspectives. As time went on my interviews felt more and more like conversations, which by the way, is how it’s supposed to be. I remember being nervous before some of my first interviews back in 2014, but now I just embrace each one as another chance to understand a person and their profession. Scott Radley, from The Hamilton Spectator, told me that a good sports writing piece will have the ability to make someone who wasn’t at the game or someone who knows nothing about sports want to read what I wrote.

Regardless of age or background, humans like to read about other humans.

Telling human stories is when the best writing comes out. It doesn’t even have to be sports.

Sports Reporter is my job title, but what I’m doing is telling the stories of human beings through the language of sports — a language I just so happen to speak.

This year I came to this realization: it’s about relationships and people.

It always has been and it always will be no matter what my job title is.

@_jayceecruz

SPORTS | 31

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, March 31, 2016

What does it mean to be a

“I think it’s great here. When you’re an athlete here, you just become friends with other athletes easier.

Everyone is a bit more welcoming because they understand your situation and lifestyle. It’s just fun at Mac. As the years went on, I fell more and more in love with Mac, the people here and everything it had to offer. When it comes down to it, I think it’s about whom you’re experiencing things with and not necessarily where you are. It’s about the people and I met great people at Mac.”

>>

MARAUDER?

Read what some McMaster senior athletes have to say about their experience playing in Maroon

Taylor Brisebois McMaster Women’s Volleyball

>>

“It has been the best experience ever. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Everyone in my family went to Mac. I’m glad I went here because I knew how much everyone in my family loved it .”

“Being a leader.

Being a team player.

Holding yourself accountable on and off the court.”

Troy Joseph McMaster Men’s Basketball

Lauren Mastroluisi McMaster Women’s Volleyball

>>

“ As a Marauder, you get out of the sport exactly what you put into it. When you are training, when you are competing, the playing field is equal. You are not judged based on the colour of your skin or the commas in your bank account and that’s what I love.”

“A Marauder is someone who competes, sacrifices and overcomes obstacles on the endless pursuit to success.”

Aaron Redpath McMaster Men’s Basketball

Rina Charalampis McMaster Women’s Rugby

“I feel privileged to be at Mac and play on a team at this high-calibre level. Right when I got the offer from Mac I knew I was coming here. I went to camps here in high school and fell in love with the atmosphere. Nowhere else I looked compared to Mac. I love Mac.” Alex Elliott McMaster Men’s Volleyball

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www.thesil.ca | Thursday, March 31, 2016

A proposed home streaming service has the movie industry divided Page 35

The Silhouette | 33

andy

Why you should pick up a print subscription of your favourite magazine Page 37

Review: Batman v Superman

Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill square off in a directionless, big-bucks studio affair.

C/O WARNER BROS.

Hess Sahlollbey Contributor

If my tickets were refundable, I would’ve left the theater after five minutes and asked for my money back. What should have been a simple grudge match between two orphans before they team up to face a greater evil is encumbered by a lengthy and superfluous political story and abstract metaphors.

While Man Of Steel was an effective introduction to Superman, Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice can easily be surmised as Warner Bros. attempt to address the faults in Man of Steel. While technically a sequel, it rehashes the same themes, ideas and symbolism but with a much darker tone.

This over-reliance on previously used material is what ultimately causes this movie to fumble out of the gate. The darker tone also adds a sense of hopelessness that creates an unattractive package.

Zack Synder is a man who’s not unfamiliar with adapting comics to the screen. His past credits on 300, Watchmen and on Man of Steel easily prove that.

However a poorly measured am-

bition to pay homage to Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and Dan Jurgens’ The Death of Superman is what ultimately led to the direction losing its way.

Snyder’s view is clearly on that depicts Superman as a poorly stitched together Christ­-figure, while Batman comes off as a billionaire fascist.

While Man of Steel gave hints to Superman being regarded as a messiah, the symbolism and metaphors in that film were subtle. In BvS however, the references are overly pleasant and forced. One element that allowed Man of Steel to succeed was the solid story-arc. Clark Kent/Kal-El struggled and grew with a culminating scene where he overcame severe odds, defeated the evil Kryptonians and ultimately found his place as Earth’s saviour. Batman V Superman, however, doesn’t have a plot that can be recounted in a few sentences because there simply isn’t one. It’s a string of beats that are poorly tied together to form an abstract narrative.

Multiple convoluted plots in the story falter near the middle of this film because the acts also fail to smoothly transition from

one to the next. Superman and Batman find themselves in a situation where they must fight each other and only stop when a CGI Doomsday shows up.

A poor plot could be forgiven by strong characterization, but BvS mostly comes up short in that aspect too. Superman is a character that’s simply there but has no presence. The bulk of his scenes see him engaging in self-loathing and are a regression from all the emotional development he had in Man Of Steel. He has the least amount of dialogue and spends the majority of the film transitioning from one place to the next, gathering what is often irrational advice.

Henry Cavill gives a paper-thin performance with no depth.

It’s a stark juxtaposition to his endearing performance in Man Of Steel.

When Ben Affleck was first announced as the new Batman, there was significant backlash online from fans. Even I was unsure whether or not he could pull it off, but his was one the stronger performances in the film. While Batman’s methods of crime fighting were questionably brutal in comparison to

previous depictions of the Dark Knight, Ben Affleck easily blurs the line between himself and the character. Jeremy Irons is equally delightful as Batman’s trusty butler, Alfred. His portrayal of Alfred sees him as more of a hand’s on mechanic, while also delivering some of the wittiest lines of dialogue in the film.

Jesse Eisenberg who takes on the role of Lex Luthor, is a different story. While at first he appears as a Mark Zuckerberg-type billionaire with a sinister agenda, his ramblings make his character come off as more cuckoo. Historically the character has been portrayed as a super-genius obsessed with greed and besting Superman.

In BvS however, his motivations aren’t just unclear, they’re non-existent. Eisenberg’s most captivating scenes are those where he operates silently because his conversations are filled with nonsensical biblical and theological ramblings. This dialogue again ties back into the movie’s overabundance of depthless symbolism.

The real star of this film however was Gal Gadot. She is an absolute show-stealer

anytime she’s on screen. Gadot’s depiction of Wonder Woman is sexy, mysterious and most importantly sparse. She has few scenes in the movie but always leaves you wanting more. Gadot’s role in the film is the only place where Zack Snyder seems to be aware that less is more.

It should also be noted that it’s the first depiction of Wonder Woman on the big screen and sets the bar very high for whatever comes next. The same can also be said of Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa and Ray Fisher who all appear as Barry Allen/Flash, Arthur Curry/Aquaman and Victor Stone/Cyborg respectively. We get brief peeks that leave us wanting more.

Despite months and anticipation and millions of dollars of marketing, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is ludicrous in its reasoning and plot. A film whose purpose is to launch an expanded cinematic universe, the film has slivers of brilliance, but does everything else in the most inefficient manner possible.

34 |

ANDY

Thursday, March 31, 2016 | www.thesil.ca

The Andy approval matrix

COMING UP IN HAMILTON

The best and worst in arts and culture. This is a concept borrowed from New York Magazine. We hope they don’t mind.

MUSIC

BALTIMORE HOUSE APRIL 1 > Riddim Riders APRIL 2 > Night Drive

HIGHBROW Kim took another nude selfie, this time with Emily Ratajkowski, to show slut-shaming detractors they can’t stop her.

APRIL 3 > Gorgeous APRIL 7 > XPRIME THE CASBAH

Warren Chiu’s Dragon Boats at Science World painting was stolen in broad daylight from a Vancouver art gallery.

The work was worth $4,000.

APRIL 1 > Toadhouse APRIL 2 > Risky Business APRIL 5 > Uncommon Journey

Drake covered Nico’s “These Days”. It’s an odd move from the currently grimeobsessed rapper, but he makes it work with his own lyrics.

ABSINTHE

APRIL 1 > Verbal Violence tour APRIL 2 > Downstream Gutter

FILM WESTDALE THEATRE

Stephen Smith went in on D’Angelo Russell for releasing a video of teammate Nick Young speaking about cheating on Iggy Azaela, saying “he’d never be trusted again.”

Sorry, what? Who was practicing infidelity?

> The Big Short

> Born To Be Blue

> Brooklyn

There’s a petition to name a Queens park after the late and great Phife Dawg. Don’t sleep.

Chris Brown hasn’t learned to check himself yet (See: his comments about Kehlani.)

Vogue is giving Kendall Jenner her own issue, sort of. She is covering a special issue that will only be sent to subscribers who live in NYC and L.A......yawn.

James Corden texted Leo DiCaprio from J. Lo’s phone on an episode of Carpool Karaoke. Hilarity quickly ensued.

BRILLIANT

DESPICABLE

APRIL 1-7

Diana Taurasi had to fire back at those calling for the WNBA to lower its rims, saying, “Might as well put us in skirts and back in the kitchen.”

Fetty Wap is now a proud father. Can’t wait for a song in his daughter’s name.

R&B singer Kehlani is fine after being hospitalized in the wake of a possible suicide attempt. Let’s hope the talented musician gets through what’s bothering her.

ANDY | 35

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, March 31, 2016

“Screening Room” is causing waves in Hollywood Napster-founder, Sean Parker, intends to bring movies to your home on the day of their release for a competitive fee

Movie theatres might be in for some stark competition with big-name directors backing the new streaming service.

Joe Jodoin Contributor

Earlier last week, Napster-founder Sean Parker announced his plans to release a video streaming device that will allow people to watch newly released movies at home the same day that they are released in theatres.

The box itself would cost $150 to purchase and install, while each viewing of a movie would cost $50. This may seem expensive at first, but there are many scenarios where such an option would be significantly cheaper than a trip to the movies.

Famous and influential directors such as Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Peter Jackson and Martin Scorsese have come out in favor of the device, and actually serve as shareholders in the company. However, directors such as Christopher Nolan and James Cameron are very much against it, since it would negatively impact the ways movies are made and experienced.

Screening Room is so controversial amongst the industry because the pros and cons are

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One of the main benefits would be that it aims to capture an audience that doesn’t already go to the theatre, such as families.

A family of four would usually need to spend more than $50 on tickets alone, while also needing to spend money on fuel and concessions. If my five roommates and I all split the money to watch a new movie together on a Friday night, it would turn out to be relatively cheap and easy compared to a trip to the theatre.

It would also serve to eliminate all the problems with going to the movies. You wouldn’t have to worry about waiting in lines, trying to find good seats, or even running late and missing part of the movie. You also wouldn’t have to deal with other audience members, who may be talking or texting on their phones. Bathroom breaks would also be possible, due to the ability to pause the movie, and you would have a 48-hour window to finish the movie in case there is an emergency (although you are only able to watch the movie once within this time period).

There are also reasons why

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Screening Room is feasible for theatre owners and the studios.

Twenty of the $50 would go to the studio that made the movie, and when you rent a movie, you will receive two free tickets to a movie theatre. Since theatres make their money off concessions (and not the tickets), this provides encouragement for people who don’t normally go to the theatre. People should then feel more comfortable about buying snacks, since they got their tickets for free. It also provides people with a chance to see movies that aren’t playing in a theatre near them. I recently had to go to Mississauga to watch three movies, which I would have rather watched at home.

Let’s break it down. If I wanted to see a movie with my mom, we would spend $50 on a movie and get two free theater tickets. The two tickets would be worth $24 each, so we would really be spending only $26, which adds up to only $13 a person. This is only slightly more expensive than going to a theatre, yet I would have the comfort of watching the movie in my own home.

A lot of people hear the $50 price tag and immediately dismiss the service as too expensive, and the $150 cost for the box itself doesn’t help, but in the long run it could be worth it.

This device would also not be useful for people who are happy to wait for a much cheaper option to watch their movies, such as a digital download or on DVD. I’m someone who always needs to see movies as soon as possible in good quality, but people like me are a rare breed. Screening Room also plans on being the one and only video-on-demand box on the market, which will encounter problems since other companies offering VOD services have contracts with major studios.

This issue would need to be resolved before the product hits the market.

Finally, Screening Room would not only change the way movies are seen, but the way they are made too. Filmmakers such as Cameron and Nolan are against this device, because they specifically design their works as movies that need to be experienced in the cinema. Whether this is because the movie is shot

on film, or because of surround sound, or 3D, an artist should have the right to have people see their movies in the way they intend them to be seen. Studios also specifically make movies that people will want to see in theatres, because that’s how they make most of their profit. If audiences transition to mostly watching movies at home, things like bombastic action, special effects and sound won’t matter as much.

In an age where more and more people are investing their money into home theatre systems, Screening Room may seem like a path to the future.

However, this is also an age of piracy, Netflix and Bluray, where people have many cheaper alternatives to accessing infinite amounts of media and entertainment. While Screening Room is attracting a lot of attention and controversy right now, if it ever does hit the market, I doubt it will be anything more than a niche product, aimed to attract families and movie obsessives. Don’t expect to see all the movie theatres getting torn down anytime soon.

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ANDY

Thursday, March 31, 2016 | www.thesil.ca

Self-publishing has led to much needed diversity

With more writers of diverse literature opting to self-publish for lack of traditional opportunies, we have to examine why their narratives are being cast aside

Trisha Gregorio Andy Writer

Modern writers are forgoing the printing press and self-publishing.

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At the recommendation of a friend, I started 2016 with a series called All For The Game. The first book was free on iBooks, and the other two books in the trilogy were less than a dollar each.

Although I was confused why they were so cheap, I didn’t pay much thought to it. It wasn’t until I was halfway through the second book in the trilogy that I found out it was self-published, and at that point the occasional typos and the unexpectedness of the character backgrounds started to make sense. A particular one was that the trilogy, in the barest of summaries, features a sport loosely based on lacrosse. In this case, however, the author took some liberties and applied her own changes.

The most significant changes were that each team can be open to both male and female players, and that each team can contain a mix of both. In fact, one of the founders of the sport itself is a woman.

This was information I tucked away for further musing until earlier this month I stumbled upon another self-published book, The Posterchildren.

It’s a superhero story with a POC main character and diverse sexualities throughout the board. A friend informed me, after I’d started telling them about the book, that the author had gained a substantial following in the fanfiction community, and that the book itself was largely influenced by already existing material from the DC Universe.

This got me wondering, then, if an author needed to self-publish to guarantee that their book, which features people of colour identifying as members of the LGBTQ community, will be published. I think the answer might be yes.

Of course, there are nonself-published books out there featuring diverse characters.

That’s not to say, however, that the world of fiction isn’t lacking at all in diversity. The LGBTQ genre of fiction mostly features gay men, and a significant share of the genre are stories with unnecessarily tragic endings to cater to a teenage audience ready to gobble it up and cry about their doomed OTP. There’s also always the well-written coming

Some mainstream authors look down on what Forbes is now referring to as “indie publishing.” out stories, and while some of these stories are needed, it doesn’t make sense that the genre is, quite literally, defined by coming out and tragedy. It doesn’t make sense that, while the rest of the YA genre gets yet another girl-falls-in-love-withbad-boy series, the LGBTQ genre continues to struggle with redefining itself with other aspects of fiction such as lesbian superheroes. As a consequence, some authors have to resort to self-publishing to incorporate some diversity into a genre that’s overshadowed by mainstream stories.

Some mainstream authors look down on what Forbes is now referring to as “indie publishing.” A lot of the publishing process can be credited to the editors and publishers themselves, but I highly doubt it’s fair to dismiss self-published authors for that reason. Yes, there might be typos and awkward parts due to lack of professional editors, and it might be hard to find these stories without it being through a recommendation.

However, no matter how much more diverse the fiction world is beginning to get, it will still be difficult for some authors to find the grounding they need to provide the representation they can. Getting published is hard enough as it is, and harder still for authors trying to release protagonists identifying with the asexual spectrum and sports with strong female players playing alongside “the boys.”

We shouldn’t look down at these self-published authors and scoff at them. There might come a time where self-publishing is the new mainstream, but I hope that, if that time does come, diversity and representation of minorities will have been properly incorporated into mainstream fiction.

@tngregorio

ANDY | 37

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, March 31, 2016

Do people still subscribe to magazines?

Not just a physical version of Internet reading, paper magazine subscriptions can lead to more productive reading

Inside the New York City office of The Paris Review, a quarterly magazine that specializes in literature.

C/O REFINERY 29

Vannessa Barnier Andy Reporter

In January, I bought a year subscription to The Paris Review, a quarterly literary magazine filled with the work of authors who are finding their place in the literary world. Since then, I have received two issues, and I cannot praise the periodical enough.

Ordering a magazine in the first place is perhaps an outdated action, but my decision was not in vain. I think that there is a place for magazine subscriptions in 2016, and I think that TPR is the magazine to subscribe to, especially when you fit into the same categories as I do (see: busy student).

One of the major pieces that enticed me to subscribe was an interview with Gordon Lish, where he talks about the art of editing. It’s small features like this that aren’t in my line of sight unless they’re lying around. That’s the difference between a physical magazine and articles online: it’s easy to casually pick up a copy and flip through it rather than load yet another tab in your web browser amongst the many sources you’re shuffling through for

your essays.

In the latest issue, #215, I excitedly read the poems by Mary Jo Bang and John Ashbery to anyone who would listen.

I am personally interested in poetry, but TPR is evenly balanced in different genres. The rest of the writing found under different subheadings is interesting to me, and, realistically, if it weren’t in this collection, I wouldn’t likely stumble across it by another means. I think this is part of the appeal of TPR: it seamlessly yokes together a plethora of different types of writing that are presented to the subscriber, leaving them to explore everything mailed to them in each season’s collection.

Even as a casual reader, TPR is a good literary “magazine” to subscribe to. If you’re a busy student — like I know you are — going out of your way to find new and interesting pieces of writing is simply out of the question. I’ve loved letting TPR select writings for me to peruse between classes and awkward amounts of free time I have in my scheduling. And the fact that I don’t have to go out anywhere to grab a copy is yet another bonus for someone as lazy as me.

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THURSDAY

THE

HAMILTON SPECULATOR Reusing Speculators since 1934

MARCH 31, 2016

NOTSPEC.COM

You know what type of week it is again!

Yeah, we’ve shared this crying laughing emoji mask before, so what.

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20 HUGHSON ST. S. HAMILTON

905-522-9799

FINDLAYLAW.CA

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS A free service provided from Findlay Personal Injury Lawyers for non-profit agencies and groups

HELP LEEANN RAPPEL TORONTO CITY HALL Help Findlay Personal Injury Lawyers grant magical wishes for children in Toronto & Central Ontario by donating to Make-A-Wish® Rope for Hope rappel!

On behalf of Findlay Law, Leeann is putting on her safety helmet, and participating in the Make-A-Wish® Rope for Hope rappel on June 10th. As part of the Toronto Climbers team, she intends to rappel 30 floors down the side of the Toronto City Hall. But she can’t do it alone – she needs financial support to get her there. Please consider making a donation online!

How to support my rappel and local wish granting initiatives

1.

Visit www.ropeforhope.ca and click on “DONATE TO A RAPPELLER”.

2.

Enter Leeann Carey-Corbeil in search criteria, and press “SEARCH” button.

3.

When my name appears in search results, click on “View personal page”.

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To donate and get a tax receipt, click on “SPONSOR ME NOW” button.

Any gift you can give is greatly appreciated. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Would you like to be featured in Community Connections?

Send your request to Leeann Corbeil, Director of Community Partnerships. E: leeann@findlaylaw.ca

P: 905.522.9799 ext. 248

Findlay Attorneys. 20 Hughson St. S., Suite 510, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 2A1 Findlay Attorneys will determine which agency or group will be included based on a first come, first serve basis and at the discretion of Findlay Attorneys. Findlay Attorneys cannot guarantee inclusion of any materials submitted and therefore accepts no responsibility for any ad or information exclusion. Materials should be submitted at least two weeks prior to date of publishing.

WAIT! Last Year?

Don’t leave before you check these out!

END OF YEAR TO-DO LIST: 1. Attend Light up the Night – April 8 and make more MAC memories with friends!

2. Ace exams ; ) 3. Check out deals you can get through the Alumni Office like replacing your student health and dental insurance with the alumni program through Manulife Financial www.manulife.com/mcmaster, or insuring the new work wheels with discounted auto insurance with TD Insurance Meloche Monnex melochemonnex.com/mcmasteralumni.

Still looking to find your post-graduation path?

Ask for advice from over 700 alumni mentors at mcmaster.evisors.com.

We’ve got you covered. And we’ll keep you connected – virtually and through social, career focussed and professional development events. Keep in touch and we’ll be there for you!

alumni.mcmaster.ca