S The Silhouette Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
A FIGHT FOR FOOD
INSIDE>>
A DEMAND FOR FOOD ACCESSIBILITY IN HAMILTON PAGES 6-7
NEWS: After Ikram Farah’s disqualification, Muhammed Aydin is the MSU president-elect // PAGE 3 ARTS & CULTURE: Forming habits to help reach new goals // PAGES 20-21 SPORTS: Hilary Hanaka leads the Marauders into the home stretch // PAGES 24-25
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Volume 88, Issue 20 Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018 McMaster University’s Student Newspaper
EDITORIAL BOARD editor-in-chief | thesil@thesil.ca Shane Madill @shanemadill digital media specialist | dms@msu.mcmaster.ca Aaron de Jesus managing editor | managing@thesil.ca Rachel Katz production editor | production@thesil.ca Catherine Tarasyuk online editor | online@thesil.ca Haley Greene sections
Sasha Dhesi news reporter Cassidy Bereskin news@thesil.ca news editor
Emily O’Rourke features@thesil.ca
features reporter
Reem Sheet opinion@thesil.ca
opinion editor
Justin Parker Jessica Carmichael sports@thesil.ca
sports editor sports reporter
& culture editor Daniel Arauz arts & culture reporter Razan Samara aandc@thesil.ca arts
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Madeline Neumann photo reporter Kyle West production coordinator Grant Holt production coordinator Timothy Law production@thesil.ca photo editor
Yvonne Lu social media coordinator Jaime Cook online content coordinator Susie Ellis online@thesil.ca video editor
COVER PHOTO Grant Holt
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LOOKING BACK 10 |
EDITORIAL
Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016 | www.thesil.ca
Editorial Meet your president (for now?) Keeping students in the dark about the recent election disqualification isn’t fair for anyone Ana Qarri Managing Editor
We might be lying to you. We don’t actually know if Justin Monaco-Barnes will be your next MSU President. Given Sarah Jama’s disqualification, which she is appealing this week, it’s possible that if she is successful, the vote recount will tell us that Justin isn’t the winner of this year’s election after all. The truth is that for many people, including most of the candidates, the election isn’t over yet. However, we made the conscious decision to give Justin the presidential cover page he deserves if he is, at the end of it all, still the president-elect. But we aren’t ruling out the possibility of having another presidential face on our cover next week either. From an outsider’s perspective, these elections have been messy. However, more than anything else, we have been surprised by the shortcomings of the rules governing MSU elections. Several things have happened in the last week that point to the need for change in how elections are carried out. The most glaring shortcoming was the public announcement of a candidate’s disqualification without providing clear and detailed reasons behind this conclusion. While the results of the elections were released when the Elections Committee finished their deliberations in the early hours of Jan. 29, the general rules that Sarah Jama broke that led to her disqualification were made public approximately 12 hours later. The minutes for the meeting, however, are still not posted on the MSU website at the time of this writing. It’s understandable given that the Elections Department wants to make sure the information that they release is accurate and that those involved are also full-time students, but the lack of available information does a disservice to both candidates and the student body.
Currently, Jama’s post is the only place where a student curious about the events that have taken place can find a detailed account. The problem with this account is that it is told through the lens of a candidate who is appealing her disqualification. We emailed the CRO to ask her to confirm the details shared by Jama, however, she did not want to comment on the veracity of the post. More than failing to provide students with information in a timely manner, the process as it stands now also tarnishes the reputation of the disqualified candidate. When appeals are filed right before the end of the elections period, the targeted candidate does not have the opportunity to respond to the complaint. In the case of severe violations, the candidate should absolutely have the opportunity to present counterevidence before a decision as extreme as this is made. Unfortunately, the current system allows for campaign sabotage, especially if the Elections Committee is failing to reach out to the campaign in question for information. There have been only two presidential candidates disqualified in the MSU’s history, and the last one, in 2008, was overturned following more than a month of discussion. It is clear that disqualifications are rare and the decision to disqualify a candidate should be carefully examined and as transparent as possible. In a high profile disqualification such as Jama’s — one only has to look at the attention her page’s status on the disqualification has garnered — the current results of the election should not be treated as if they are official. While the MSU Elections Department makes it clear in their post that the results are unofficial, you wouldn’t know that looking at the posts Monaco-Barnes or any of the other candidates made on their Facebook pages. While we sympathize with the Election Department and Committee’s other responsibilities as students and understand that this is a
Several things have happened in the last week that point to the need for change in how elections are carried out. sensitive process, we also think it is unreasonable to keep the student body in the dark so long after this decision was made. If the Elections Department is aware of its limitations, it should not make drastic announcements based on what appears to be incomplete evidence. @anaqarri
to desk flowers.
to endless elections.
to secret sandwich.
to “stand up.”
to the identity of the office ghost.
to graduation’s fast approach (wtf).
to Wally.
to back pain.
to that Daschund video.
to the door’s chronic openness.
to fridge layouts.
to Pokeh haters.
to job offers.
to contactless contact lenses.
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Flett in 1998, Leavitt in 2008 and Jama in 2016 were only candidates disqualified in McMaster Students Union presidentials history prior to this year. Obaidullah and Farah are the fourth and fifth. Leavitt and Jama were both reinstated. This editorial before Jama’s appeal was heard argued for a fundamental change in how the Elections Department communicates with the public about these situations.
WE WANT YOU TO CONTRIBUTE Only one more issue left until reading week! As always, we will continue to accept volunteer submissions, feedback and inquiries. Feel free to send an email to the section you would like to contribute to.
www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
The Silhouette
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News A new president-elect, for now Muhammed Aydin is the unofficial MSU president-elect while other candidates seek appeals Sasha Dhesi News Editor
After deliberating once again, the McMaster Students Union elections committee has decided to disqualify the unofficial president-elect, Ikram Farah. After tallying the votes once again, Muhammed Aydin is the new, unofficial president-elect. As of Feb. 5, Farah has five business days to declare her intent to appeal to the elections committee. Rabeena Obaidullah, who was originally disqualified on Jan. 25 and whose disqualification was maintained, has five business days to declare her intent to appeal to the electoral appeal board. In all cases, the electoral appeal board’s decision is final. Farah plans on appealing her disqualification to the elections committee in the coming days. Obaidullah also plans on appealing to the electoral appeal board. According to the MSU’s announcement, the elections committee did not disqualify Farah on Jan. 25 as they did not believe the violations her campaign had accrued had affected the integrity of the election. After deliberating on Feb. 5, the elections committee reconsidered some of the original complaints levied against Farah and decided she had violated two additional rules, resulting in her disqualification. In particular, they ruled that Farah’s electronic media had not provided a sufficient link to the main Elections Department website. She was also penalized for knowingly violating a rule. If a candidate has one “severe violation”, the elections committee considers disqualification. A candidate is only disqualified if their actions were deemed to have affected the integrity of the election. According to the meeting minutes from the Jan. 25 meeting, the elections committee also considered disqualifying Aydin. Aydin received two severe violations for sourcing campaign
materials outside of the MSU Underground and for deliberately breaking a rule. They ruled that these infractions did not affect the election and maintained the legitimacy of his campaign. They also discussed disqualifying Farah at this meeting, who received severe violations such as incurring more than $30 in fines for the same violation; a fine for deliberately breaking a rule, disrespecting the deputy returning officer of the MSU Elections department and for campaigning in bad taste. According to the minutes from this meeting, her team was “rude” and “obnoxious” towards the DRO when she asked them to stop using unapproved amplification equipment, according to the DRO’s own account. Farah was also fined for “bad taste” due to some of her campaign team smearing another candidate’s platform. During the Jan. 25 meeting, however, the committee felt that these violations had not swayed voters. Following their Feb. 5 meeting, the committee ratified two more severe violations and deemed it grounds for disqualifications. Obaidullah was disqualified during the Jan. 25 meeting because they believed her severe violations compromised the integrity of the election and gave her an unfair advantage. In particular, they took issue with the violations concerning posts in closed Facebook groups, as this not only broke one of their main rules but also could not be traced unless people in those closed groups disclosed them to the elections committee. Evidence presented to the election committee showed that multiple posts had been made on behalf of Obaidullah encouraging people to vote for her, a direct violation of one of the campaign rules. This violation, compounded by others such as mass messages and campaigning in bad taste, were the rationale for Obaidullah’s disqualification. Before this election, pres-
KYLE WEST / PHOTO REPORTER
Farah plans on appealing her disqualification to the elections committee in the coming days. Obaidullah also plans on appealing to the electoral appeal board.
idential candidates have only been disqualified three other times. The last time a presidential candidate was disqualified was in the 2016 election, when candidate Sarah Jama was disqualified. Jama was disqualified for spending over the spending limit and for campaigning in bad taste. Following the appeals process, she was reinstated and came in second place. For now, Aydin is the next MSU president-elect. The exact rationale behind Farah’s disqual-
ification is still unknown as the elections committee has not yet released their meeting minutes from their Feb. 5 meeting. Until the appeals process is over, all results are unofficial.
@SashaDhesi
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NEWS
Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018 | www.thesil.ca
Fighting the opioid crisis with naloxone Individuals and student groups are improving the accessibility of life-saving naloxone training on campus to combat the opioid crisis Cassidy Bereskin News Reporter
Amid the opioid crisis, organizations on campus have been working to make naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of an opiate overdose, more accessible to students and the community. Currently, McMaster students who are not at risk of an overdose are unable to pick up a free naloxone kit anywhere on campus. The pharmacy in the McMaster University Student Centre and Student Wellness Centre do not carry the kit as a result of logistical issues. McMaster students can pick up a naloxone kit at the Shoppers Drug Mart on Main Street West, but they need to disclose their Ontario Health Insurance Plan number to get one for free. Students can also get a kit from Hamilton Public Health, but only if they meet the city’s eligibility guidelines, which specify that kits can only be provided to individuals who have experience with opioid use or are at high risk of overdose. “Eligibility guidelines are in place as a means to ensure that naloxone kits are available for those who are most impacted by overdose,” said Sharalyn Penner-Cloutier, temporary supervisor of harm reduction at Hamilton Public Health. However, groups on campus have been working to ensure that naloxone is available at the university. The McMaster Students Union Emergency First Response Team stocked up on naloxone in September 2017, obtaining both the injection and nasal spray version. “As of yet, we have not had to administer naloxone but we continue to practice our protocol in the event that we ever encounter an opioid overdose,” said Dunavan Morris-Janzen, EFRT Public Relations Coordinator. According to Glenn De Caire, director of security and parking, McMaster Security has been working to ensure that security special constables will carry the drug on duty by April 2018. In November 2017, MSU
Naloxone kits can be found at the Shoppers Drug Mart on Main Street West and throughout the city. MADELINE NEUMANN / PHOTO EDITOR
“As a whole, we advocate for the concept of accessible naloxone kits, and having them available on campus to students in addition to EFRT responders would certainly be valuable.” Sutina Chou Coordinator Student Health Education Centre
Student Health Education Centre spearheaded a harm reduction campaign. One of their pillars aimed at educating students on the signs of opiate overdose and where they can pick up a naloxone kit close to the university. “As a whole, we advocate for the concept of accessible naloxone kits, and having them available on campus to students in addition to EFRT responders would certainly be valuable,” said Sutina Chou, SHEC coordinator. More recently, on Jan. 22, the McMaster Undergraduate Nursing Student Society hosted a free naloxone training event for nursing students in the Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery building.
The event was organized by the MUNSS after Sarah Vance, one of the group’s Education Chairpersons, identified that hundreds students were interested in a naloxone training event hosted by the Mental Health Rights Coalition in Hamilton, which took place on Jan. 24 and was facilitated by Hamilton Public Health. “After seeing [the high demand for the event], I called Hamilton Public Health and the Harm Reduction Team and was given contact information for Margot Corbin, the Public Health Nurse. This training was free from Public Health,” said Vance. The MUNSS’s event consisted of a discussion on the opioid epidemic, signs of overdose and how students are able
to assist in a civilian capacity. “The turnout for the event was successful. We had requests for attendance from various faculties such as BScN, RPN to BScN, RPN, and Medicine. We even had requests for attendance from students who did not attend McMaster, Mohawk or Conestoga,” said Vance. The MUNSS will be hosting another training event on Feb. 26 in MDCL. Opioid use continues to be on the rise in Hamilton, with our rate of use still being higher that of the province. Nevertheless, campus groups are educating students about naloxone and fighting to end the epidemic. @cassidybereskin
NEWS
www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
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The MSU’s pre-budget submission The MSU’s submission recommended the city invest more into major sectors such as transit and and housing Donna Nadeem Contributor
On Jan. 29, the McMaster Students Union submitted their pre-budget recommendations to city hall on how tax dollars ought to be used in Hamilton. The five main areas of investment that the pre-budget submission recommends are transit, student retention and employment, housing, by-laws and waste management. The submission discusses having an increase in Hamilton Street Railway services on weekends and in the summer, and have the 51 bus route running every day of the year. In 2017, the city of Hamilton decided to delay year three of the Hamilton 10 Year Local Transit Strategy. The MSU hopes that the $2.1 million that was ensured for the 2018 deliberations is eventually invested. “Our budget submission
more focused on the ten year transit strategy,” said Stephanie Bertolo, the associate vice president (Municipal Affairs). “Last year the council decided to delay funding year three, and that was due to a number of factors a lot of them for very good reasons. Now we’re just making sure that they do go ahead with funding year three.” Regarding student retention and employment, the MSU would like to see an increase in jobs relating to interdisciplinary fields including political science, economics and labour studies. It is also put forward that opportunities like these should be advertised and made more accessible to students. “The summer jobs program right now is very vague about what opportunities there are. There are jobs for recreation and landscaping, and those are very detailed of what you would be doing, and then there’s
course-specific jobs, where they don’t actually tell you what you’ll be doing, you’re just supposed to tell them what your degree is in and then they’ll try to match you with a job but they don’t tell you what jobs are available and you don’t really know the criteria,” said Bertolo. The MSU suggests advertising on-campus outlets such as TV screens and coffee sleeves in the McMaster University Student Centre because these advertisements would reach over 16,000 undergraduate students because it is a frequent high traffic area. “We’d be advertising just that the jobs are open, because the jobs are open right now and I don’t think that anyone knows,” Bertolo stated. Safety in student housing is a growing concern for the MSU as well. In order to ensure student safety, it is recommended that the city adopt a landlord
licensing system to ensure that they are promoting their buildings as safe and clean environments. “Every landlord [would have] to pay a fee in order to get a license and that just helps fund programs running for the city to do those proactive checks to insure that the unit is up to code,” said Bertolo. The MSU also recommend that the City of Hamilton overhaul the current by-law enforcement tactics used in the neighbourhoods surrounding McMaster. The MSU suggests instead of punitively targeting students, the city should invest in educating students through the MSU Student Community Support Network program and form restorative justice and mediation programs. “The by-law program that was recently increased, they are targeting lawn, snow and exterior by-laws, so its really import-
ant for students to know about like how long your grass needs to be, before you get a ticket for not cutting it,” Bertolo added. Finally, in order to increase the amount of materials recycled, the MSU recommends the city of Hamilton should switch to a single-stream recycling program. McMaster University has adopted a single-stream recycling program as have many other cities including Toronto, Halton and Mississauga. The MSU believes that if the council adopts these five key priorities, then the city of Hamilton will not only be a better place for students to live throughout their undergraduate career but also will intrigue graduates to choose Hamilton as a place to have a family and age successfully. @theSilhouette
Mac’s off-campus residence proposal Currently in its approval stages, the building hopes to add at least 950 beds to the McMaster residence pool Tashy Davidson Contributor
McMaster is moving along with plans to build a residence just off the east end of campus, on Main Street West between Forsyth Avenue South and Dalewood Avenue. Last year, McMaster owned only the section of land on the corner of Dalewood Avenue and Main Street West, but has since bought the rest of the block from scholar properties, so that they now own the full stretch from Dalewood Avenue to Forsyth Avenue and from Main Street West to Traymore Avenue. “McMaster is a land-locked 300-acre campus and we’ve worked hard to find appropriate sites on campus for new buildings. … There is not a suitable site on campus for this kind of project,” said Gord Arbeau, director of communications at McMaster. On a number of building
projects, such as the extension of Ann Bourns Building and the Peter George Living and Learning Centre, the university has worked within its existing boundaries. But the proposed Main Street West residence would not. The university recently began the site plan approval process with the city of Hamilton, where members of affected neighbourhood associations can voice their concerns. If McMaster’s proposal is approved, the next step will be to obtain a building permit from the city of Hamilton. Right now, there is no set construction date since it depends on the outcome of the public consultation. If approved, there will be two stages to the construction process. Phase one would see the construction of a 12-storey, 950-bed residence on the corner of Main Street West and Forsyth
Avenue. Phase two would extend the building to Dalewood Avenue and include 450 beds, but its construction will depend on “demand and market conditions,” Arbeau explained. Either way, the 950- or 1,400-bed residence would become part of McMaster’s on-campus residence system, operating under the same policies and regulations and offering the same programming and services as other residences. In addition to the proposal for the Main Street residence, McMaster has already begun construction of the Peter George Centre for Living and Learning, which will hold 500 beds and open Sept. 2019. Between the academic years 2004-2005 and 2012-2013, fulltime undergraduate and graduate student enrolment increased 28 per cent. These new beds will help to satisfy increasing demand
for on-campus housing. With a current total of 3,578 beds, McMaster “cannot guarantee a residence spot for first year students,” said Arbeau. As a result, McMaster guarantees residence only to incoming undergraduate students with a high school average of at least 83.5 per cent. According to admissions data from 2016, that would leave about 15 per cent of first-year students having to find a home off-campus. In one way or another, many Ontario universities involve high school grades in the residence application process. For some it is a matter of a room guarantee, while others give those with higher averages priority in selecting a residence. For example, some college residences at the University of Toronto base their acceptance decisions on high school grade averages. The higher the demand for a residence, the higher one’s grade average must be to
get into it. McMaster faces the question of how it should fill its existing space while it works on providing more beds. All universities have to make decisions about how to fill their residence spaces, and some choose to put into use the same hierarchy used in admissions. Either way, organizations such as the Society of Off Campus Students have an important social role to fill during this waiting period, especially when it comes to integrating first-year students living off-campus. Bordered by Cootes Paradise and residential streets, McMaster has a lot to keep in mind as its student population grows, and as its infrastructure grows in turn.
@theSilhouette
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FEATURE FEATURE
Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018 | www.thesil.ca
Hungry for change Food insecurity is on the rise within the community, leaving several people hungry for change.
Emily O’Rourke Features Reporter
Food insecurity can be defined by several different characteristics and does not necessarily have one, universal definition. For some, it can mean a lack of physical, economic or culturally acceptable access to food and in extreme cases, it can mean that one’s nutritional food intake is too low. The issue of food insecurity is very much systemic, and is steadily on the rise in Hamilton. Emergency food bank usage within the city from both adults
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While food is often the immediate crisis which causes people to access a food bank, the food bank acts also as a community portal that connects food bank users to other relevant community supports which might help unlock additional help as well. Joanne Santucci Executive Director Hamilton Food Share
and children has risen by 9.5 per cent and 10 per cent respectively from 2016 to 2017. In Canada, the rising cost of living is rising faster than inflation rates, making food more expensive, affordable housing more difficult to find and several aspects of a healthy life harder to achieve for some. While there are several groups who are working to ensure that everyone in Hamilton is food secure, there is still more work to be done.
Helping hunger in Hamilton Several initiatives within the city of Hamilton are working diligently to provide adequate food, nutritional information and resources about food insecurity to those who may be affected by the issue. Hamilton Food Share’s Food Recovery Program takes healthy products deemed surplus by food industry standards and redirects them onto the tables of the people who need it the most. In 2016-2017 alone, Hamilton Food Share distributed over 2.7 million pounds of all food given. Building these partnerships within the food industry establishes a gateway for continuous food donations, while each dollar raised supports families who go hungry within the
community. “While food is often the immediate crisis which causes people to access a food bank, the food bank acts also as a community portal that connects food bank users to other relevant community supports which might help unlock additional help as well,” said Joanne Santucci, Executive Director of Hamilton Food Share. For over 30 years, Neighbour to Neighbour has provided emergency food programs for those in need by offering a unique experience for those who access a food bank. Through a food bank in the form of a grocery store, Neighbour to Neighbour ensures that customers have the agency of choosing their own groceries
for their families. Each visitor is allocated points to spend on key nutritional items such as meat, dairy and produce, as well as non-perishable food items. The Hamilton Community Foundation provides assistance in the fight against hunger in a different way. By providing grants to registered charities, the Hamilton Community Foundation assists charities financially in their work against poverty in the city. In relation to food insecurity, the foundation has provided grants to organizations including Hamilton Food Share and Neighbour to Neighbour, in addition to multiple community garden projects such as the McQuesten Urban Farm, and Essential Aid among others.
FEATURE
www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
37
%
of Hamilton Food Share food bank users are on disability
21
years
the difference in average life expectancy between people with the lowest and highest income
The numbers As household food insecurity is on the rise in Canada, it is linked closely to poorer health status. Those affected typically have more health emergencies and a lower life expectancy than those from affluent neighbourhoods. “37 per cent of our food bank users are people on disability who are now both sick and broke,” said Santucci. “So whether it’s the private sector providing more disability coverage or governments improving benefit rates, we need [a] change that helps encourage everyone to be able to contribute to their full potential.” Every year, Hamilton Food Share collects data on local food bank usage in association with their member agencies to find out if more people are going hungry and for how long. The report, titled Hunger Count aims
to share a snapshot of poverty in Hamilton through demonstrating the statistics they find and comparing them with those from previous years. According to the Hunger Count report, people with the lowest incomes have an average life expectancy of 21 years shorter than those of highest incomes. Without access to appropriate and sufficient food, people living in poverty pay more for medical costs. There are difficult decisions that food bank users face everyday, within over 5,246 households, 75 per cent live in market rental housing. Without regulation, landlords are free to charge excessively for rental units in order to meet the economic need. According to the Hamilton Community Foundation’s Vital Signs report, Hamilton’s rise in rent costs is one
of the sharpest in Ontario. Last year alone, the cost of renting went up by 5.1 per cent. In Hamilton, 80 per cent of households who live in market rental properties are at high or extreme risk of homelessness. The degree of risk lies in the percentage of income to rent ratio. For example, paying 30 per cent to 50 per cent of household income in rent puts households at risk of homelessness. “The issue of food insecurity is directly related to higher level policy issues such as inadequate social assistance rates, the high cost of housing, employment, etc.,” said Sharon Charters, Grant Manager at the Hamilton Community Foundation. “As a community we need to advocate for a social welfare system that ensures a decent standard of living for everyone.”
Food insecurity on campus
39
%
of post-secondary student experience some form of food insecurity
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Food insecurity is not just felt in neighbourhoods within the city. Several students on campus are suffering from a lack of appropriate, nutritious, or any food at all. In 2016, Meal Exchange, a charity aimed at ending student food insecurity, surveyed over 4000 students on five university campuses across the country to better understand students’ experiences with the issue. Their findings demonstrated that nearly 39 per cent of post-secondary students experience some form of food insecurity, with 30.7 per cent of students experiencing moderate food insecurity and 8.3 per cent experiencing severe food insecurity.
Students who are food insecure reported on various barriers to food security, including food costs, tuition fees, housing costs and inadequate income supports. A student-run service, McMaster Bread Bin works towards building more secure food systems within McMaster and the surrounding community. The service offers resources that include an on-campus food bank, a monthly Good Food Box filled with local produce and anonymous assistance in acquiring non-perishable goods. “We do not want students having to choose to miss a meal based on their financial situation or when they prioritize education during busy times,”
said Taylor Mertens, director of McMaster Bread Bin. “We have great conversations and created a real community and talk about food insecurity with these fine folks.” Some financial policies at McMaster create ripples that can lead students to be food insecure, including the late fee policy, which currently sits at $75 if not paid on time for people paying tuition, in addition to increasing tuition rates on campus. According to Mertens, service usage for Bread Bin has increased by 29 per cent over the last eight months, demonstrating how unsustainable this financial model is for students.
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As a community we need to advocate for a social welfare system that ensures a decent standard of living for everyone. Sharon Charters Grant Manager Hamilton Community Foundation
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We do not want students having to choose to miss a meal based on their financial situation or when they prioritize education during busy times. Taylor Mertens Director McMaster Bread Bin
Getting full Despite the active and diligent efforts of individuals and organizations to ensure that nobody within the Hamilton community goes hungry, there is still more work to be done. “The young people of Hamilton are our future,” said Santucci. “Educating students on who is at risk and how they can help will better equip our community as a whole as they become our next teachers, city councillors, entrepreneurs and donors to tackle the tough issues
of the day; like children going hungry in Hamilton.” Individuals looking to get involved with ending the fight against hunger are encouraged to volunteer their time at a local food bank, advocate for increased social assistance rates and a proper living wage, donate food or funds wherever possible and to participate in the fight against hunger by keeping an open dialogue about the issue with loved ones. @emily_oro
C/O DANA HILL MADELINE NEUMANN / PHOTO EDITOR GRANT HOLT / PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
PRESIDENT’S PAGE
February 8, 2018 | thesil.ca
CHUKKY IBE President president@msu.mcmaster.ca 905.525.9140 x23885
The harder you look, the more you see that things on our campus are drastically changing. In the last couple of years, there have been significant changes to curriculum, combined with the introduction of new programs and a transformation of teaching pedagogy. We have seen the establishment of new buildings, the advancement of learning technology, and investments in student infrastructure. There has been an increased effort by the University to indigenize, and to focus on interdisciplinary learning. Moreover, support for international students has expanded, in addition to an increased demand and delivery of student services. I have been at town halls all over campus for various faculties, and they were always met with enthusiasm. Students want to have their questions both
heard and answered. Students are concerned about space on our campus, the price and availability of food options, and the lack of functional outlets on our campus. We are worried about mental health supports, podcasted course availability, and accessibility of our campus spaces. We desire more flexible program structures, more course offerings, and the freedom to explore our diverse academic interests. We want a safe and secure campus. We would like McMaster to continue to strive for an inclusive campus with a strong sense of community. I am pleased that great strides have been taken in this direction. It is essential for presidents to remain connected with students, so we can understand how far we have come, and where we have yet to go. If not met with a level of intentionality, the role of the president can prove difficult and isolating.
We may seem too far away, isolated, or removed from the daily experience of students. We begin to speak policy and are sometimes removed from the impact our decisions have on the communities we serve. This is why we are coming to you, on your time, through an open town hall. There will be presentations from myself and Dr. Patrick Deane, President of McMaster University. We want
we can do better. The town hall will not be scripted or curated. We will be providing students the opportunity to ask questions, and have their questions answered. I hope you take some time out of your busy lives and schedules to attend. The town hall will be in Gilmour Hall 111 from 3 – 4:30 pm on February 15. Free food will be provided, but I trust you will come for the conversations.
In order to improve, we must hear the different perspectives and opinions of students to understand the academic experience, the cultural and political climate, as well as the opportunities and challenges facing you and the communities from which you identify. In order to improve, we must hear the different perspectives and opinions of students. We are open to specific questions, critical commentary, and general comments on how
Our commitment to openness, transparency and student engagement is ongoing. The town hall is another step we are taking to ensure students understand what the MSU does, and how we work to support and advocate on their behalf. I do hope you are able to take advantage of this opportunity and ask the important questions of us.
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@MSU_McMASTER
/MSUMcMaster
TEXT ‘MSU’ TO 71441
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.
www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
EDITORIAL
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Editorial Student opportunity positions need help Some of the most expensive services on campus need updates and support Shane Madill Editor-in-Chief
There are a number of full-time positions open to graduating students that the McMaster Students Union employs each year. Each one for the 2018-2019 academic year are currently up on the MSU website or will be in the coming days and weeks. These range pretty drastically in the responsibilities outlined and the skillsets needed for each considering the services they are attached to, e.g., the Silhouette, CFMU, Campus Events and the Underground. While I would encourage anyone reading this to apply if interested, I would reapply to be Editor-in-Chief myself if returning staff were allowed to during the first hiring efforts, there are a few things you need to know. The first is that the mandated 35 hours of training before the commencement of your employment will likely be untracked and not actually reach 35 hours. While it is convenient that there is no punch card system or anything similar over the course of the regular year, it will mostly be up to you to make sure the union and its hierarchy are held responsible for training you in the job they hired you for. This may get a bit messy
on paper. Despite it not being included in the job description that training a successor will be necessary, each Editor-in-Chief has been trained by the previous one. This will likely not be too much of a worry given the presence of supervisory and management staff for most places also running a Student Opportunity Position. It is still worth asking about in the initial interview to make sure they have a solid training process in place. The second is that your job description is likely outdated. Mine mentions supervising 14 staff members while we have 19. It also lists the need for knowledge in PageMaker and WordPerfect despite the fact the former’s last release was in 2004 and the latter was overtaken by Microsoft Word in the late 1990s. It also references “Assistant Editors”, which is a classification that no longer exists. While everything is roughly correct in terms of general themes, you should talk to whoever is currently in the role to get the best idea of what their job actually entails. The third involves some oddities with the full-time employment policy. Out of those in Student Opportunity Positions
that I have talked to, no one has received a formal performance review as stated in the document. The mid-year review was supposed to take place in November. This also overlaps with the fact that all employees start off on a six-month probationary period for the supervisor to assess their suitability to the position. If successful, they become a regular employee of the MSU. I have yet to be formerly told if I am a regular employee or if I am still on that initial probation. There are a lot of things the MSU meticulously follows when it comes to the policy, especially when it comes to anything leave or financials related, but performance feedback is not one of them for Student Opportunity Positions. Though there are only a few positions like this available, the union’s number of full-time employees is small enough that helping a few out would go a long way in effectively using student levies. Better training, clearer job descriptions and performance feedback are all things that need improvement or more formalized systems. @shanemadill
to braadworst
to bratwurst
to sexy vegetable puns
to missing the booty
to massaging kale to chili with strong handshakes and trace amounts of cocaine to grad school confirmations to pits to Ultra Instinct Shaggy to wrestler followers to bouncy big knit cardigans to cosmic alien highlighter to Jennifer Pawrence to Mel to coffee from Carmen’s Banquet Centre to Monster Breeder
to cold beef patties to moist succulent groundhog with a glass of vermouth and an orange twist to cucumbers on pizza to people who prolong tutorials to being stranded on the side of the highway to heteronormative cars that insist on staying straight instead of turning to irresponsible spending to Polka-less parties to being dragged back into presidentials kicking and screaming to one broken nail
The Silhouette is hiring for next year’s Editor-in-Chief!
All of this could be yours.
The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for overseeing the entire Silhouette media operation, including the weekly print product, the website and all multimedia projects.
Print product
Managing money
Moving forward
Leadership
The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for coordinating and creating the newspaper each week during the school year. This includes making pages on InDesign, helping with layout, writing an editorial and deciding where ads should go.
As Editor-in-Chief, you are responsible for paying bills, preparing purchase orders and creating the budget for the following school year.
Consumer expectations for media are changing. The Editor-in-Chief is the captain of the ship and will set the direction for the Silhouette. You should be comfortable with emerging forms of media and have a vision for the Sil’s future.
The Silhouette currently has 18 paid part-time staff members and one other full-time staff member who is split with CFMU. As Editor-in-Chief, you are responsible for leading this group through training and mentorship.
For more information, visit msumcmaster.ca/jobs!
10 |
HUMANS
Kyle West Photo Reporter
Could you please introduce yourself? Hi my name is Ushma Purohit and I am a fourth-year Honours Life Sciences student. A lot of the work that I have done on campus so far has been focused around humanitarianism. A large amount of social issues and things like that. What made you get involved here at McMaster? I’ve always been involved in extra curriculars from middle school all the way through high school because I feel like a lot of the learning you do is a combination of inside and outside the classroom. The outside learning complements the schooling and it becomes a large component of your professional development. And, also I have always been very interested in humanitar-
Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018 | www.thesil.ca
ian work. I have created a few initiatives in the past when I was in high school and I really wanted to do something like that here at McMaster on campus and that is why I wanted to get involved. What do you think you have done to make a change here at McMaster? One major project that is very close to my heart which I have worked on is called She’s The First, which is essentially a chapter of the organization and it is the very first one in Canada. What is She’s The First? Essentially it is a non-profit that raises funds and awareness for the education of girls from lower-income countries. What She’s The First
McMaster does is not only do we help raise these funds and awareness, but we also focus on a lot of local initiatives such as the Native Women’s Centre in Hamilton or the other groups in the McMaster community. And, creating the club, making the first Canadian chapter, just going through that entire process is extremely important for me because it is going to exist even after I leave. It is like my little footprint on campus.
What are some of your other accomplishments? I’ve been a part of a lot of social issues clubs on campus. Currently I am the chair of the Social Issues Division so I am culminating a lot of what I’ve learned throughout the process of being here for four years and trying to mentor and help out the other presidents so they can do the same thing that I’ve done. How does it feel to be nominated for the Women of Distinction award? It is very humbling to be honest because I remember last year when I read the nominees list it was a lot of my role models that I look up to. It was really great to see them all together on one list. And then to be on that list alongside people this year that I still do look up to quite a bit is just an honour to be considered on that same level as them. It is the equivalent feeling to winning. Who has inspired you? There are a lot of people. A large amount of the people who have helped me throughout the process of being nominated for the Women of Distinction award and my references are individuals who have played a large part in my growth. They have helped me become more confident in myself and helped me grow in different areas in my life. For instance when it comes to my research I’ve been working with a professor, Dr. Wilson. She won the Women of Distinction award for science in the past. She was one of my references and she was the person who introduced me to the idea of being nominated. She has helped me a lot professionally too, which is great. Helping me grow as a student leader and then more broadly as a person as well. Especially staff and faculty are the ones who I find myself looking up to the most. I really aspire to be like them one day and then also all the other nominees as well.
Ushma Purohit Life Sciences IV
What change would you like to see here at McMaster in the future? There is a lot but if I wanted to narrow it down to a specific point associated with the work that I’ve done the progress that I would love to see would be surrounding feminism. A lot of the work I have done has been centered around intersectional feminism. We have done local advocacy but I think a gap that we have faced a lot is having male interaction when it comes to these issues. We’ve struggled to reach out to the male population at McMaster and get them involved, interested and really wanting to become a part of that conversation. One thing that I would love to see is everyone trying to talk about these issues and not having a one sided engagement.
“I’ve always been involved in extra curriculars from middle school all the way trhough high school because I feel like a lot of the learning you do is a combination of inside and outside the classroom. The outside learning complements the schooling and it becomes a large part of your professional development.” Ushma Purohit Life Sciences IV
facebook.com/HumansOfMcMaster
www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
The Silhouette
| 11
Opinion Littered McMaster land McMaster’s natural grounds are being destroyed by students’ apathy
GRANT HOLT / PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Nature at McMaster Contributor
In 1941, McMaster Chancellor Howard P. Whidden said that the Westdale property’s “beautiful surrounding and natural setting” was one of the most important reasons that McMaster University relocated from Toronto to Hamilton. The vision for this move, as summarized in a quote published in the Hamilton Spectator in 1929, was that academic pursuits would be supported by Cootes Paradise. It is this co-dependent relationship that intended that McMaster students would be able to enjoy cool ravines and marsh meadows in their backyard to meditate and muse. At the time, Hamilton proved itself a generous host of higher learning in having McMaster be located where it is now. I believe that both McMas-
ter and Hamilton are still very much the “generous hosts of higher learning” that these early writers hoped for, however, it seems that higher learning did not traverse outside the classroom walls, despite the increasing amount of stewardship and conservation work pursued by these two parties. The nature surrounding McMaster has become a dumping ground for student trash instead of academic contemplation.
The nature surrounding McMaster has become a dumping ground for student trash instead of academic contemplation.
For instance, in a September letter, the Royal Botanical Gardens expressed their alarm regarding the amount of litter accumulating on Chegwin Trail just behind Brandon Hall. At the time of this discovery, RBG was monitoring and collecting data about at-risk species, and unfortunately filled a full clear bag of single-use recyclable drink bottles and half a bag of non-recyclable garbage, including broken glass and four reusable drink bottles from the trail. Unfortunately, the more litter there is, the more people feel it is acceptable to add to the pile. At this rate, the RBG does not foresee themselves being able to keep up with the current garbage deposition rate before “McMaster’s less respectful students turn Chegwin Trail into a landfill”. Ecological restoration work on this sensitive and world-re-
nowned wetland is unattainable unless the McMaster community adopts a co-dependent attitude between our community and nature. Unless this happens, it seems that the “Chegwin Trail landfill’’ will inevitably become a reality on this campus and students will no longer be able to enjoy this beautiful trail. The solution I personally foresee i the theory of “placelessness”, a philosophy that re-imagines how people should view their relationship to the land that Dr.Coleman suggests in his book, Yardwork. As placelessness suggests, our relationship to nature depends upon good manners: courtesy, respect and gratitude. As students, we belong to McMaster, Hamilton and Cootes Paradise, which is a large part of our community and our location. By doing this we will better ourselves and the environment
we interact with. As our ancestors believed, learning and nature come hand in hand. As an institution that prides itself for innovation and respecting our land, students at McMaster should learn to live up to McMaster’s reputation by showing greater effort in respecting their environment and appreciating the ground that McMaster was built on, because at this rate, McMaster’s beautiful backyard may not be there for our future generations.
@theSilhouette
MAC BREAD BIN
Food Collective Centre MONDAY TO THURSDAY 11:30AM TO 3:30PM REFECTORY BUILDING Community Space below Bridges Cafe Visit msumcmaster.ca/macbreadbin MACBreadBin
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McMaster Students Union’s
EVENTS CALENDAR Student Life Enhancement Fund
Idea Submissions January 10 to February 9 Where: enhance.mcmaster.ca The Student Life Enhancement Fund will take submissions, until February 10, for ideas to help enhance student life and/or student services on campus. Last year, thanks to the ideas and subsequent voting by McMaster students, new seating, charging stations, compost bins, and enhanced sound systems are currently being installed in the Student Centre. The SLEF fund has also bene used to pilot student centred projects, like the Peer Tutoring Network. For more info visit:
enhance.mcmaster.ca
Stay Connected:
Indie Night Friday February 9, 2018 Where: TwelvEighty Bar & Grill Featuing: The Kents, Dizzy, 2017 Battle of the Bands winners; Post Romance and Emma Vandyk. Door time: 8 PM. $5 before 9PM. $10 after 9PM. 19+. All guests must be signed in by a McMaster student. 1 guest per student. No guest list available.
Treat your Valentine OR “Pal”-entine for an intimate three-course meal followed by the sweet serenade of Craig Cardiff. Craig's charming wit and customized love songs will have you leaving full of warmth and smiling into the next morning. Aren't interested in coming for dinner? No problem, tickets for the show only are also available. For more info visit:
msumcmaster.ca/campusevents
An Evening with Craig Cardiff WednesdayFebruary 14, 2018 Where: TwelvEighty Bar & Grill’ MSU Campus Events presents An Evening with Craig Cardiff for another year on Valentine's day.
/MSUMcMaster
Check out the full Events Calendar at: msumcmaster.ca/events
@MSU_McMaster
msumcmaster.ca
OPINION
www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
| 13
Deconstructing MSU voter turnout We can’t solve the voter turnout problem until we understand what’s causing it Cassidy Bereskin News Reporter
Voter turnout for this year’s McMaster Students Union sat at 28 per cent, reflecting the first time in five years that less than 40 per cent of the undergraduate student population voted in an MSU presidential election. While this year’s low voter turnout rate is a problem, it is unclear why this problem emerged in the first place. As highlighted in a news article from the Silhouette’s Feb. 1 issue, the last time the MSU saw a similar voter turnout was in 2013, when 29.3 per cent of the MSU voted for former presidential candidate David Campbell. This year’s low voter turnout rate is a problem as it weakens the MSU democracy and makes MSU policy less reflective of McMaster students’ voices. The MSU needs to do more to find out why this is the case. While it would be easy to cite student apathy as the main factor, doing so would only be speculating as it would be impossible to prove that after five years of persistently high MSU presidential voter turnout rates, an arbitrary increase in the amount of apathy was the driving force behind this year’s drop in the number of votes. It also seems implausible.
This year’s low voter turnout rate is a problem as it weakens the MSU democracy and makes MSU policy less reflective of McMaster students’ voices. According to a Maclean’s article from 2012, in 2009, the last year that the MSU presidential election was conducted via paper ballots as opposed to online voting, voter turnout sat at 13 percent. In the years following the transition from in-person to online voting, however, the turnout rate improved significantly. After the McMaster Students Union made the transition to online voting, which enabled
GRANT HOLT / PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
students to vote through their laptops, iPads or smartphones for the first time, turnout increased 22 per cent the following year, 24 per cent the next year, and 33 per cent the year after. Other Canadian universities also witnessed this trend. For instance, the University of Windsor Students Alliance saw a 42 per cent voter turnout increase after it made the transition to online voting. In addition, when they switched to online voting, Wilfrid Laurier University, Queen’s University, the University of Western Ontario, Simon Fraser University, Brock University and the University of Manitoba saw their respective turnout rates spike. While the cause of these increases is elusive, the strong correlation suggests that the switch to online voting, which improved the convenience and accessibility of voting for stu-
dents, significantly contributed to the increase in turnout rate. To identify the most plausible explanation for this year’s low voter turnout, it is essential that we first look at concrete policy changes that have also been implemented at other universities. If a major policy change, such as the switch from in-person to online voting, did not occur this year, we should examine McMaster-specific policy changes and other actions that have been taken. For instance, in 2011, Queen’s University started to embrace “Do It Yourself ” videos, which sparked renewed conversation about the election and likely contributed to the increase in voter turnout. According to an article in the Varsity, at the University of Toronto, voter turnout rates typically increase when the presidential candidates invest
more effort into campaigning and engaging students outside of the student union. Rather than invoke voter apathy and claim that the only remedy is social change, we need to do more to understand what factors may have contributed to the turnout for this year’s election to make sure that it does not happen again. Not to blame the candidates and say that the problem is not student apathy, but considering the trend at the University of Toronto, we should be asking ourselves: Did the candidates campaign in ways that they traditionally have not? Did they campaign at as many classes as they did last year? Did they all promote the debates? Did they show up at the debates? How did their debate performances compare those of the candidates from previous years? Students may be apathetic and disengaged from the MSU,
but we need to do more than complain about it. By understanding how policy changes contribute to voter turnout, we can reverse those policies or prescribe new ones. It is only after we gain a more nuanced understanding of the problem that we can remedy it.
@cassidybereskin
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OPINION
www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
| 15
Faculty representation at McMaster Equitable representation on campus plays a role in career opportunities
C/O Student Success Centre Jordan Graber Contributor
There tends to be a certain amount of stereotyped differences between the two programs, which seem to exist in the shadow of science, technology, engineering and math programs. This creates issues with equal representation for programs at McMaster and career opportunities for students’ experiential development. STEM faculties seem to gather more attention and interest than their artistic counterparts. As a humanities student, whenever I get the question, “What kind of job can you get with that?”, it is upsetting to have to repeat the same response. This question might be a product of the perceived levels of difficulty within different programs which seems to define the kinds of people who might reside in each program. However, it is this exact perception that creates minimal representa-
tion for students who are not STEM majors. Humanities programs are often perceived to be “easier” than STEM programs and are given less respect in terms of faculty representation on campus.
Ultimately, it is not for others to decide which faculty or program will define one’s personal enjoyment or success. In no way am I trying to discriminate against the STEM faculties, as these programs lead to important careers that will create a change in society. However, other faculties deserve to be commended
for their dedication to careers that are not valued as much as others. Ultimately, it is not for others to decide which faculty or program will define one’s personal enjoyment or success. Discrimination amongst majors is a growing problem and needs to be addressed, as it essentially degrades one’s expectations of the future. This is an issue in many universities and this trope has been adopted somewhat unanimously. While the STEM programs are extremely important to the progression of society, there is also equal importance in the majors associated with the arts. Despite this knowledge, there continues to be the association that one is inferior to the other. This assumption makes things more difficult for students in humanities, social science or related faculties, especially considering that we are just starting out and have a fraction of a clue of what we’re doing.
The stereotype that discusses the differences between faculties does tend to be displayed through college and university events such as career fairs, as shown in the one that was held last week. On Feb. 1, Mac participated in another career fair for students looking to find opportunities to gain career-oriented experience. The fair was meant to provide opportunities for all interest and all needs, including internships, co-ops, summer positions, part-time positions and even full-time opportunities. This was meant to give students insight to where their degrees would take them in the future, as well as open doors to finding career related work experience in Hamilton. However, upon attendance, it seemed that most of the companies that attended were STEM-related, unless you are a post-grad who is looking to teach in Taiwan. As a student in humanities, I find that the lack of equitable faculty representation to be rather unfair.
As one of the main outlets to find jobs during the summer break, it should be ensured that these career events hold a diverse number of options for all faculties to ensure that students are proud of whatever program they choose to represent. As this career fair was not a faculty specific one as some faculties have, equitable representation and opportunities were expected. Though the Student Success Centre attempts to provide work-related opportunities for all students, McMaster needs to do better in making all programs feel equipped for the future and valued as students.
@theSilhouette
TWELVEIGHTY BAR&GRILL
B R O U G H T TO YO U B Y M S U C A M P U S E V E N T S B R O U G H T TO YO U B Y M S U C A M P U S E V E N T S B R O U G H T TO YO U B Y M S U C A M P U S E V E N T S
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14
CRAIG CARDIFF
An Evening with Craig Cardiff $30 DINNER & A SHOW | $5 STUDENT TICKETS | $10 GUEST TICKETS DINNER: 7:00PM | SHOW DOORS: 8:00PM ONLY AT TWELVEIGHTY BAR & GRILL | TAXES AND GRATUITY INCLUDED
The Silhouette | 17
www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
Arts & Culture It’s bean 10 years Hamilton’s Relay coffee roasters celebrates anniversary and reflects on humble origins as Red Hill Coffee Trade Adrianna Michell Contributor
For the past ten years, Relay Coffee Roasters has been bringing quality cups of ethically-produced coffee to the hands of Hamiltonians. Throughout the decade the husband and wife team behind Relay have seen their roastery grow into the thriving business that it is today. Relay Coffee Roasters first set up shop in Hamilton in 2008 under at the name Red Hill Coffee Trade. At the time, Hamilton wasn’t the city it is today, with its booming restaurant industry and influx of creatives and business owners. Instead, the Hamilton that Relay co-founder Jason Hofing moved to had only a few restaurants and cafes, and lacked a well-known coffee roaster. Relay’s current reputation in the city’s food scene took years of relationship building with community members and restauranteurs. Hofing remembers the challenges of Relay’s beginnings, recalling a lot of polite declining of his services. The few restaurants and cafés in the city already had established relationships with coffee providers. “We had to… build a name for ourselves as a roaster. We had to get cups of coffee in people’s hands,” explained Hofing. To create a reputation for themselves and get cups to the community, the team tabled at Art Crawl. Monthly, the roasters set up a stand in front of Christ Church Cathedral in the artists market. Since their first Art Crawl in 2009, Art Crawlers have come to depend on a cup of well-crafted coffee to enjoy while
exploring the local arts scene. As the roastery grew, so did their lineup of events and restaurants. Relay has attended the Festival of Friends and Supercrawl, and has partnerships with the Hammer City Roller Derby, SACHA’s Chocolatefest, the Hamilton Philharmonic, and the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Early days saw partnerships with the Twisted Lemon in Cayuga, Papa Leo’s and Jack and Lois. In 2011 Relay’s coffee bar opened in the Hamilton Farmer’s Market, marking the first retail location for the company. Next came the coffee bar on Concession Street, and with that their rebranding as Relay Coffee Roasters. “That’s a really fun part of this job too,” says Hofing, “teaming up with a lot of these organizations and events. I feel like the community really sees us as a positive influence.” After ten years of growth, two coffee bars, and countless festivals, Hofing reflects on what first brought him to roasting: a love
of coffee. “One of the reasons that I started is that I wanted to make a business that did good for the people we were roasting for, so our local community and [coffee] farmers.” All of Relay’s roasts are fair trade and certified organic. To Hofing, making sure that the coffee beans are fair trade and the farmers are paid a fair wage is important. Over time, the company’s love of coffee has grown into a love of creating. Restaurants that source their coffee from Relay incorporate the roasts into their recipes, using the blends to create exciting culinary collaborations. Most recently, Relay teamed up with Merit Brewing to create a coffee porter for the brewery’s Unstrung Hero series of beers. Hofing’s goal for Relay is for it to be Hamilton’s favourite coffee roaster, but he recognizes the work necessary for the company
and its relationship with the community to grow. Relay soon may expand to
“One of the reasons that I started is that I wanted to make a business that did good for the people we were roasting for, so our local community and [coffee] farmers.” Jason Hofing Relay Coffee Roasters Co-founder
a third coffee bar and will be adding new origins and blends to their roster this year. A decade in, Jason Hofing and his wife Rachel have learned that nothing really goes according to plan. When the duo first moved to Hamilton they thought they would build a roastery with ethical, flavourful origins — now they have expanded to blends and opening coffee bar, all while cultivating a community of restauranteurs and locals that share their love of a good brew. With their sustainable, unique roasts, Hamilton can hopefully look forward to another decade of Relay Coffee.
@theSilhouette
TIMOTHY LAW / PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
A&C
Some like it HOT 18 |
Daw Sauc so n’s Ho e is t tu r n up t i h taki e heat a ng ng t he w nd o by s to r m r ld
Hess Sahlollbey Contributor
Hot sauce is arguably the most internationally varied and popular condiment in cooking. So popular that you would be hard pressed to find a diner or restaurant that doesn’t have it in a condiment caddy next to ketchup and salt and pepper. Brodie Dawson, a Hamilton born and raised entrepreneur, is a global player on the international scene and is carving out a name for himself with his signature line: Dawson's Hot Sauce. Despite the rabid success of his product among locals and international hot sauce connoisseurs, Dawson had no background in entrepreneurship, or the culinary arts. "When I stopped playing in my band, I got really bored and started picking up weird hobbies and trying stuff out like making my own soap and ChapStick instead of watching TV all night," said Dawson. This eventually extended to making his own condiments that he shared at barbecues, pool-parties and sharing as gifts around the holidays. The positive reception from friends and family eventually led to Dawson designing a logo and transitioning from hobbyist to entrepreneur. After slowly developing his business and refining his hot sauce sense, he began formally selling his sauce in November 2013 with a launch party in Club Absinthe. However that first night would take an unfortunate turn — Dawson's office was broken into later that night and all of his generated revenue was stolen. Despite a discouraging
start, Dawson’s business steadily grew. An industrious and staunch businessman, Dawson is no longer learning on the fly. Purchase orders continue to pile in and his business becomes more efficient.
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“When I stopped playing in my band, I got really bored and started picking up weird hobbies and trying stuff out like making my own soap and ChapStick instead of watching TV all night.” Brodie Dawson Entrepreneur
As things continued to flourish, it dawned on Dawson that his hot sauce company was running parallel to the revivification of the downtown core and the demand for higher quality products. Dawson decided to cold-call local businesses and presenting his product. His business was gaining momentum, and his sales began to snowball, which lead Dawson's father joining the team and the hiring of additional staff members to handle marketing, packaging and cooking. While the artisanal and hand-made aspects of the product make for an excellent
retail product, the Cannon, an Ottawa Street coffee shop, has incorporated Dawson’s sauces into their menu items. The product has fared well in Ontario, but the largest growth has been in Quebec and in the United States. Vegan and gluten-free, the sauce is now sold internationally with carriers in three different continents. The inclusion of the sauce on the popular YouTube show “Hot Ones” garnered even more attention. The show features Sean Evans and his celebrity guests eating progressively hotter chicken wings prepared with sauces that get progressively hotter. "I have been sold out that sauce and consistently backordered since it's been featured on the show. It's really crazy right now especially since it’s been less than a month," said Dawson. The reception of the sauce has been positive amongst hot sauce enthusiasts who actively send feedback and communicate with Dawson. "With Reddit, people buy it and bring it home and talk about it. It’s really fun to see people responding well," said Dawson. Hot sauce is now Dawson’s full-time job, and he admits that it has been just as life-consuming as any entrepreneurial venture. But with an avid following of online and local heat enthusiasts, he can continue to explore push the envelope with new peppers, new flavours and new levels of heat. @theSilhouette
Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018 | www.thesil.ca
A&C
www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
| 19
Caribbean-Style Pepper-Sauce
RECI
PE!
Here is a simple, and delicious recipe for a basic hot sauce to try at home Are you a hot sauce fanatic? Addicted to that fiery sensation you feel when you take a bite of your favourite spicy dish? Whether it’s a drop of Tabasco on that cheesy slice of pizza or
Nick Sahlollbey Contributor
You need a blender, a small pot and a high pain tolerance. As students, we don’t always have the time or resources to keep a fully stocked fridge. Fortunately, there’s a lot of flexibility as far as ingredients go. The first thing one needs to consider is how spicy they want their sauce to be. If you’re a newbie, you don’t want to make something overwhelmingly spicy that you can’t handle — this is why choosing the right pepper is important. As we’re going for the Caribbean taste, I wouldn’t recommend anything less intense than scotch bonnet peppers. The use of these peppers are good for individuals with a moderate tolerance with spice. What many people don’t know is that the heat bulk of the capsaicin — the chemical responsible for the heat and pain sensation — is located in the seeds, not the cortex. What does this mean for the weak-hearted? Just take out the seeds if you want to want to make your hot sauce even less spicy. Habaneros are a very popular choice, and a personal favourite of mine, as they perfectly combine a sweet taste with bold heat. Advanced spice eaters with a high tolerance can add ghost peppers. If you want to punish yourself, go for Trinidad Scorpion or Carolina Reaper peppers. To make a cup (250mL) of hot sauce you only need about twelve peppers in total. This is a good time to make a very important disclaimer, please read carefully. Hot
peppers secrete very irritating compounds and should never be handled without gloves. Direct contact with skin or eyes will cause discomfort and pain, sometimes lasting up to a few days. Never try to use your hands to pick out seeds either — trust me, it won’t end well. Now that you have your chosen your pepper it’s time to actually make your hot sauce. What you decide to put in it is up to you but there are a few key ingredients you want to have: two tomatoes, six baby carrots, two crushed garlic cloves and a touch of vegetable oil.
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Direct contact with skin or eyes will cause discomfort and pain, sometimes lasting up to a few days. Never try to use your hands to pick out seeds either — trust me, it won’t end well.
Although you can make great tasting hot sauce with these simple ingredients, you may add the following: half an onion (diced), one tablespoon of brown sugar and some herbs (parsley, basil, thyme).
secret: it’s not very hard. I will teach you how to make the perfect hot sauce without any fancy equipment — you don’t even need to have any cooking skills.
Making the sauce Once you’ve got your ingredients chosen, put them all together in a blender or food processor. You may add a quarter of a cup of water to facilitate the blending process, but it should be fairly smooth because of the tomatoes. Last you want to add in some seasoning; I said you don’t need a fully stocked kitchen to make your hot sauce, so an all purpose seasoning mix should do. Alternatively, you may season with salt, onion powder, black pepper, nutmeg and cumin. Once you’ve got your pepper sauce paste, transfer it to a small pot and let it simmer for a minimum of 15 minutes. Some argue that cooking it will reduce its level of spiciness, while others vehemently contest this notion. That said, cooking it will definitely give it the smooth taste we’re looking for — just be sure to ventilate the room as some people may have difficulties handling the fumes. If you did want to reduce the heat level, it should be done by diluting the sauce with more tomatoes or removing the seeds. And there you have it, you made your own hot sauce! Remove the pot from the heat and enjoy your sauce when it comes to a cool — refrigeration may expedite this process. It may take a while to get the proportions just right for your taste, and even longer for you to get used to handling the heat, so have some patience with it. The key is to embrace the pleasure, and pain, of the process.
Scotch bonnet peppers
Choose your pepper
What you’ll need
ghost peppers in your stew, most of us like a little bit of kick in our food, yet very few of us have actually thought to make our own hot sauce. Well, I’m about to let you in on a little
1.
Ingredients -Your choice of peppers -2 Tomatoes -6 Baby carrots -2 Crushed garlic cloves -Vegetable oil Optional -Half an onion -1 tbsp Brown sugar -Herbs
Instructions Put all ingredients together in a blender or food processor. (You may also add a quarter of a cup of water)
Habanero
in some season2. Add ing You may season with salt, onion powder, black pepper, nutmeg and cumin.
Ghost peppers
Trinidad Scorpion
3.
Once you’ve got your pepper sauce paste, transfer it to a small pot and let it simmer for a minimum of 15 minutes.
4.
If you did want to reduce the heat level, it should be done by diluting the sauce with more tomatoes or removing the seeds.
5.
Enjoy the heat!
20 |
A&C
Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018 | www.thesil.ca
Don’t give up on your resolutions How learning to form habits can help you reach your goals
Razan Samara A&C Reporter
Even though starting a new year with a renewed sense of direction can be refreshing, a dispirited little voice ends up convincing me that my attempts at turning my life around will end in bitter disappointment. From this comes my love-hate relationship with New Year’s resolutions. I even marked the beginning of this year with a picture of Dr. Evil making air quotes around ‘new year, new me’ hastily pasted over a printout of my class schedule. It wasn’t until I started learning about habit formation that I realized my approach to resolutions was all wrong. I wanted to create big change in my life, yet I had no tangible idea of what I wanted to change nor the motivation. Charles Duhigg, author of the New York Times Bestseller The Power of Habit, breaks down habit formation into a cycle of three steps: a cue, routine and reward. But if habit formation was that easy, then you’ll still find the Pulse packed after January.
Human nature is complex and researchers are still trying to unpack exactly how habits are formed, but according to Prof. Ayesha Khan from McMaster’s Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, Duhigg’s cycle is a good place to start. “It’s important to develop a good habit. I think sometimes we go through life aimlessly not knowing the strategies that help us be our best selves. … What I think it ultimately comes down to is having some sort of system or some sort of strategy to be able to implement the things that actually help you be successful,” explained Khan. The recipe for forming habits is not clear-cut but it has some essential ingredients, such as starting small, defining a time and place that makes the activity itself convenient to practice, and most importantly, finding a pleasure component that drives you. These strategies can be applied to all of your resolutions, whether it is making a habit out of flossing, preparing for a marathon, regularly meal prepping, or in my case, learning a new skill.
GRANT HOLT / PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
A&C
www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
“Not only should it be positive, but also something that brings this element of excitement and fun, and I think you’re more likely to stick to it. But you also have to sit down, reflect and be creative,” said Khan. Feeling that my creativity has been hindered lately, I decided to give myself two weeks to implement a cue, routine and reward in order to pick up sewing. I set aside one hour every morning to learn all about the skill and practice with an end goal of making a t-shirt from scratch. “If something feels good, you are more likely to repeat it,” Khan explained. “The trick I
RAZAN SAMARA / A&C REPORTER
think is to figure out what is the pleasure element of it that will help you go back on a regular basis. In the case of [learning to] make a t-shirt, maybe the gratification that you feel after you make the t-shirt is [the reward].” Your dentist complimenting your freshly flossed teeth, the endorphins that kick in while training for a marathon and the satisfaction of having saved a little bit of money by making your own meals can all be motivating factors that reinforce habit formation. Each person has to find the right reward that will work well for them, but sometimes it isn’t as easy to find pleasure in
a task. Khan decided to practice mindfulness meditation last year after reading studies on how it can lead to fundamental changes in the brain, but she had a difficult time defining the pleasure component. “Most people use breath as an anchor for paying attention. … You’re able to have a little bit more clarity of the thoughts [and feelings] that you are having. … I was really intrigued by this idea and who doesn’t want to have a better system to maintain their attention,” said Khan. “Initially I wasn’t able to figure out a reward, until I found an app. This app would show me the number of mindfulness minutes that I had on a regular
basis. I’m not a competitive person but I do like to see progress.” Khan was captivated by seeing her mindfulness minutes grow. She wanted to see the numbers rise, so she continued to meditate, until it eventually became a habit. The reward led her to practice day after day. In fact, in the past two months, she’s garnered over 1,300 minutes. As for myself, the concept of learning to make something that I can wear was my reward. It made me eager to watch online tutorials during my one hour sessions and I was overcome with excitement during my tour of Fabricland as Tracy, the sales associate, took me from rack to rack teaching me about different materials. Perhaps I got ahead of myself while getting lost in the beautiful prints on cotton, rayon and polyester because as soon as it came to actually making the t-shirt, the experience was nothing short of a disaster. I dedicated a great deal of time making templates of my t-shirt on paper, only to realize that eyeballing a few of my measurements would lead to disproportional sleeves. Cutting is also not my forte as exemplified by the unintentional v-neck. I was still hopeful as I
| 21
pieced everything together in Needlework, a fabric shop and creative workspace on James Street North — that is, until it was time to add the sleeves. Somehow I managed to sew them on with extra material peeking out all around the armhole. My co-worker suggested they looked like ruffles as I stood over my floral mess, contemplating whether I should laugh or cry. I laughed and started all over again. “You have to appreciate that habit formation is super complex and there’s no one formula that you just have to do. This also means that you’re a little compassionate towards yourself when you’re not able to form a habit. You have to re-strategize or you say, ‘I’m going to begin again,’” advised Khan. Understanding how habit formation works brings me one step closer to setting and successfully reaching goals and resolutions. Even though the t-shirt would’ve been better off as a misshapen tank top, I learned from my experiences, and I’m proud of myself for setting a goal and seeing it through. Here’s to more t-shirts in the future! @theSilhouette
22 |
GAMES
Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018 | www.thesil.ca Puzzle 1 (Easy, difficulty rating 0.34)
5 1 4
2 4
9
8
5
6
1
9
2
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1
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8
9
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9
4 2
2
9
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Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Wed Feb 7 22:18:08 2018 GMT. Enjoy!
Puzzle 2 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.50)
2
9 8
5
2
3
4
Across 1. Baking chamber 5. Lacking brightness 10. Primates with short tails or no tail 14. Oscar ____ Renta 15. Part of ICBM 16. Director Riefenstahl 17. He loved Lucy 18. One’s native country 20. Rate 22. Main arteries 23. Hams it up 25. Italian wine center 26. Make possible 27. Feeling of self-importance
1
28. Flat sound 32. Author Morrison 33. Agnew’s old boss 35. Coup d’____ 36. Tint 37. Title of a knight 38. Genetic messenger 39. Breakfast brand 41. Blue book filler 43. TV’s “Nick at ____” 44. Perlman of “Cheers” 45. Sever 46. Handy 48. Travel on 50. Northern Ireland province
51. Outer defence of a castle 54. Deflect 55. Full of remorse 557. Support beam 61. Clapton of rock 62. Author Calvino 63. Nitti’s nemesis 64. Blink 65. Scrawny person 66. Adventurous exploit
8 3
6 3
5 4
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Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Wed Feb 7 22:18:08 2018 GMT. Enjoy!
Puzzle 3 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.50)
8
9
4
3
5
Down 1. Like one and three, e.g. 2. Neckline shape 3. Windy City trains 4. Capital of Kenya 5. Ten plus five 6. “Delta of Venus” author Nin 7. Sock ____ me! 8. O.T. book 9. Federal crime 10. Court order 11. ____ moss 12. Sicilian resort 13. Caesar and others 19. Deteriorate 21. City in GA
2 7
1 9
5
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1
2
9
4 23. Adequate 24. Riding school 25. Greek marketplace 26. Old anesthetic 27. Be 29. Bitter conflict 30. Persian musical instrument 31. Madame de ____ 34. Point in question 40. Pivot for an oar 41. Molting 42. Christmas item 43. Bedroom mosquito protection 47. Georgia, once: Abbr.
49. Comparative suffix 50. Tonsil neighbour 51. Make beer 52. Ethereal: Prefix 53. Cry from a hacker 54. At a distance 56. And so on: Abbr. 58. Honey insect 59. Donkey 60. Queue after Q
5 7
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Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Wed Feb 7 22:18:08 2018 GMT. Enjoy!
4
The Silhouette
www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
| 23
Sports At the top of his game OUA Athlete of the Week Ben Zahra is already a standout on the wrestling team and has his eyes firmly set on increasing his medal count
THE SILHOUETTE PHOTO ARCHIVES Griffin Marsh Contributor
The Ontario University Athletics’ wrestling season is a grueling affair. Opportunities present themselves through October, November and January, eventually building to the OUA Championships in February. For McMaster wrestler Benjamin Zahra, the season has certainly been taxing, but has resulted in a rewarding season that is worth writing home about. As Mac Wrestling heads into the OUA Championships this weekend, Zahra is coming off of an OUA Male Athlete of the Week Award at the end of January, and a perfect performance at the Ontario Junior Championships. Zahra’s performance at the Junior Championships led to a gold medal in the 79 kg category, posting three clean performances, as he did not give up a point all weekend long. This performance was even more impressive as it was not Zahra’s first gold medal on the season, adding to his 86 kg Senior Championships gold
medal in November. Zahra has already established himself as a top athlete, performing at the top of his game in two weight categories, against two different age categories. He is a wrestler who begs more attention. However, Zahra is not about to rest on his accomplishments anytime soon. There are still key challenges ahead this season and Zahra treats each practice as an opportunity to work on his technique and continually improve. “My motivation this season has just been to focus on pushing myself as hard as I can in practice to get better,” said Zahra. “I have been able to push aside all the season’s distractions and really focus on trying to get the best performance out of myself in every practice so that I can be in the best condition for competitions.” Zahra’s athletic ideology reflects a mindset that was also echoed by head wrestling coach, Cleo Ncube. Coach Ncube, in his first season at McMaster, brings the mentality of the former Olympian he is, instituting a strict
and demanding schedule that challenged many members of the team in the early stages of this season. Zahra took this challenge and ran with it, still constantly checking in with his motivations and drives. “It’s a sport that forces you to push yourself harder than you ever thought you could push yourself, which can be very hard,” Zahra said. “This makes the flashes of success throughout the season that much more enjoyable.” “The motivation for me is the joy I get from the sport,” Zahra added. “It’s important for me to find enjoyment in wrestling because in the big picture, that’s why I have always wrestled.” Even with what Zahra has accomplished up to this point, he is still looking for more, looking beyond this weekend to the National Championships. Still, one of Zahra’s strongest traits seems to be his poise and focus. He clearly has lofty ambitions, but they are all kept in perspective with clear attention being paid to the small things.
“At the start of the year my main goal was to win the junior national championships at the end of year,” said Zahra. “Although I think this is a goal I am capable of achieving, I have really tried not to focus on it too much throughout the season. Instead, I have set goals for myself in practice that I know if I follow will give me the best chance of becoming a national champion.” This mindset is one strongly advocated for by Ncube. The wrestling team’s head coach regularly emphasizes the importance of personal growth and consistent effort, not simply a focus on results. Coach Ncube added that this mentality has been paying off dividends in his eyes, having seen dramatic improvements throughout the roster. “Up to this point the season has been good,” Zahra added, reflecting on the season. “I have had a chance to compete in many of the university open tournaments along with both the senior and junior provincial championships. I have not had much of a chance to reflect on
the season because of the busy tournament schedule, but overall I am happy.” Looking ahead, the OUA Championships are on Feb. 11 and Zahra is focused on another key performance. “For this upcoming OUA championships my goal is to compete the best I can and hopefully have an excellent performance,” said Zahra. “This is the same goal I have going into every tournament because it is the one thing I am in complete control of.” This idea of complete control is something that runs through of Zahra’s competitions. It feels like at this stage in his young career he is in control — in control of his regime, in control of his preparation and in control of his game. Week in and week out, he is in charge. This is a McMaster athlete to keep your eye on, this weekend and beyond.
@theSilhouette
24 |
Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018 | www.thesil.ca
SPORTS
The Hanaka impact Mac’s star guard Hilary Hanaka brings grit and experience to a star-studded women’s basketball team through a dominant season
Jessica Carmichael Sports Reporter
The McMaster women’s basketball team has returned from Thunder Bay, the last stop of their five-city road trip, and are now sitting comfortably in first place of the Ontario University Athletics West Division. One of the biggest contributors to the team is fourth-year guard Hilary Hanaka, who leads the team with an average of 16 points per game. Though she is now a key component of the winning team, Hanaka did not find it easy to assimilate to university-level basketball coming from high school during her first year as a Marauder. “I actually found it to be a lot different than I thought it would be,” said Hanaka. “The pace at the university level and the speed of the game is so much different than in high school, but it’s still a lot of fun.” One of the biggest changes coming to Mac was leaving her sister Julia Hanaka behind after playing together for two years
at St. Mary’s High School. So when her younger sister made the decision to play for McMaster in Hilary’s third year, it was everything she could have ever wanted. “When we realized we were actually on a university varsity basketball team together, especially because this doesn’t happen that often, we were so ecstatic,” said Hilary. “Now it’s just so much fun. I think I get more excited to see her succeed than I do myself.” In the duo’s first year together in maroon, the younger Hanaka did not get the minutes she hoped for. But in her second year, with the departure of many senior players, her opportunities to play increased. “Being able to get those
“
When we realized we were actually on a university varsity basketball team together, especially because this doesn’t happen that often, we were so ecstatic.” Hilary Hanaka Fourth-year guard McMaster women’s Basketball Team
SPORTS | 25
www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
minutes on court with her has been so memorable to me,” Hilary said. “The first time we played together, I passed to her and that led to her scoring her first three and it was just an amazing feeling.” As someone who does not show a lot of emotion when she plays, watching her sister in that moment made it impossible to keep a grin off her face. “Seeing her hit that shot and how happy she was made me so happy,” Hilary added. Julia is not the only younger player benefiting from having her older sister leading the way. As such a key component on the team in her fourth year, Hilary and the other seniors have been leading by example both on and off the court for the younger players. “When I first started, I looked up to Danielle Boiago who was one of my senior veterans when I came,” said Hilary. “She was always the first to every ball during the game and the first [one in] and last one out of the gym.” Now that she has become a senior player, Hilary hopes to set an example at all times to show the younger players that success does not just come to you naturally — you have to work for it. “The younger girls are starting to realize it, especially the ones who have had to step up the last few games,” said Hilary. These games include the games the veteran guard was sidelined because of to a knee injury. “I was playing on a sore knee for a while and in one of the games I was hit,” Hilary said. “I continued to try and play and practice on it but finally I was like, ‘this knee is too bad’.” After having it examined further, she learned she had torn a ligament on the lateral side of her knee. “I’m trying to play through the pain as best I can right now and at the end of the season I’ll take care of it,” said Hilary. So far, the elder Hanaka has definitely been playing well through the pain. She was awarded the Pita Pit Athlete of
the Week upon her return to the hardwood. With an 11-game winning streak and only four losses this season, the Marauders will more than likely remain in first place in their division. But Mac’s starting guard knows they cannot let it get to their head. “We have to just take each game as it comes and not get too ahead of ourselves,” said Hilary. “Whatever game is next is just as important as the one after that, so just going into each practice and game with that mindset to get us in the position we want to be in come playoffs.” Prior to the Thunder Bay road trip, Hilary knew that getting two road wins would be crucial for the last leg of the season. “It’s always hard to play away from your home court and in someone else’s gym,” the guard said. “Our main focus is just to play our own game and focus on our own stuff, rather than trying to break down each and every one of their offences, because in the end it’s what we do that will lead us to our success.” With three games left in the regular season, it is up to Hilary and the Marauders to remain in the number one spot. “Right now we are just making sure
we are focusing on our reads and making sure we have that defensive rotation we have been talking about all season,” Hilary said. “If we do that, I think we’ll be more than okay.” With Hilary leading the way, the McMaster women’s basketball team is on the right road to suc-cess this season. “I hope that I can remain being an impact player on and off the court,” said Hilary. “I just want to bring that excitement to the team and make sure they’re aware that we have so much potential and if we bring that confidence within each other and in ourselves each and every game we’re going to be okay no matter who is against us.” Being that impact player is nothing new to the venerated guard. With a promising future on the horizon for the Marauders, this will not be the last we hear of Hilary Hanaka.
@ JaayCarmichael
y r a l i H Hanaka fun facts One surprising fact… “One thing that shocks people is that I’m a dancer.” Surprised team and coaches with a tap routine during their trip to Taiwan.
If she had to choose one other sport… Although she’s not a good skater, if Hilary had to choose one other sport that wasn’t basketball it would be hockey.
Favourite basketball player Surprisingly doesn’t watch a lot of basketball, but she likes Michael Jordan since he tackled so many different challanges to get to the place he is today.
In 10 years… “Hopefully raising a family in a house of my own, probably not playing basketball other than a women’s league.”
C/O RICK ZAZULAK C/O JULIA HANAKA
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SPORTS
www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
| 19
Born to run
In only his second season at Mac, long-distance specialist Sergio Raez Villanueva has already made a name for himself in the national track community Justin Parker Sports Editor
For the fans who frequent the Marauders website, one name has continued to appear on the front page throughout the school year. No, it is not a point guard, an outside hitter or a quarterback. It is Sergio Raez Villanueva. Villanueva is a rising star on the cross-country and track team at McMaster, and since arriving at McMaster from McGill following an illness, his name has been hard to miss. The second-year biology major earned his third Pita Pit Athlete of the Week honours on Jan. 15 following a gold medal at Windsor’s Can-Am meet. There, Villanueva posted a converted time of 3:50.51 in the 1500m event, which is currently Canada’s third fastest time at that event and the fourth-fastest in McMaster history. Villanueva also ranks seventh in Canada in the men’s 3000m track events, the only Marauder to rank nationally in the top 12 in any category. “I tend to not think much when I’m running,” Villanueva said. “I think it is partly because I do not want to get super nervous. I find my best races have been when I just went and I was like, ‘hey it’s going to be a fun race, I have no expectations, I’m going to give it my best shot’. I’m thinking right now of a 10km race that I did in 30 [minutes] flat, still my best time to this day. That race I was like I got nothing to lose, I’m just going to run and have fun. Turns out it was still one of the best races I have ever run in my life.” His excellence in the indoor season is really no surprise to anyone as that is Villanueva’s specialty. The bigger change for Villanueva this year was
adapting the uneven terrain of outdoor running. “I’m more of a track guy since it’s just a flat surface, even ground,” Villanueva said. “I’m more of a top speed person that if it’s even ground, I can grind it out. However, when we started cross-country [coach Paula Shnurr] and I talked, and she said [I] should try focusing [my] off-day runs more on the grass. So that’s the one thing that I really changed this year. Every day I was just going to a park and [running] loops on the grass. And it seems to have done something because that was the best cross-country season I’ve had.” The statistics back the deception up as Villanueva earned himself a Second Team All-Canadian distinction after running the 10km event in 31:43.42 at the U Sports Championships, good enough to place him eighth overall in the country. The drive to win starts at practice and is not lost on the team’s coaching staff. “Sergio is very driven and focused but more importantly he just loves to run and race,” said Schnurr. “He is very talented and works hard in practice — at times I have to encourage him to slow down. Sergio is not afraid to lead races and make the pace tough for his competitors. He is fearless. His goal is to run faster than the last race and he is always looking to make each race his best.” Villanueva has always said he prefers the longer distances, like 8km and 10km, with the 1500m being the shortest he likes to run. So it only makes sense he took a long road to get here. Despite his winding path to Hamilton, McMaster always managed to stay on Villanueva’s mind. “Even before I went to McGill
C/O JAMES KING
C/O RICK ZAZULAK
I was always between McMaster and McGill,” Villanueva said. “It’s funny because the summer before I went to McGill I had this placement at McMaster and I contacted Paula like, ‘Hey, I’m around so maybe I could join some practices’. To me this resonated from the very beginning — Paula was just so welcoming from the very beginning and the team was a so accepting, even though they knew that I was going to McGill at that point, they were just so accepting to have me that summer and train with them. I went to McGill and then that whole nonsense happened I recovered and contacted Paula, got back into training because I had a whole year before I started school. That year Paula got me in shape and I managed to do a track race on 10km, and I went to Poland for the World Juniors. So what I’d like to say is that it’s thanks to Paula and the team really — they were so welcoming. It was great being around those guys and we all work together and prosper together and get better together. Who I am now as a runner is thanks to them.” The change in venue for Villanueva was never a rocky experience for the young runner. “The only disappointment for Sergio was that he had to sit out a year before he could compete for Mac,” added Schnurr. The fact that he could ease into the community coming from another program is a testament to the track team, and the university community at large. “The McMaster community is
great,” Villanueva said. “Not only the team but just the community in general honestly. The bumpy stuff was just like you know the paperwork for transferring. Once I got in and it was kind of smooth sailing. I don’t know what else to say to be honest. McMaster is a very welcoming community. I had no problems adapting or starting again at McMaster. So I’m very grateful.”
“Sergio is a team leader, very accepting of everyone on the team. A very kind and thoughtful individual — there is no one like him.” Paula Schnurr Head coach McMaster track team Villanueva grew up in Peru where he spent most of his time playing tennis. It was only in Grade 8 when his family moved to Canada that he discovered cross-country running. He began to seriously train after joining a club in high school and the rest is history. He even represented Ontario in the Canada Summer Games where he got to meet athletes from all sports. While Villanueva has his sights set on making the U Sports Championships, he
is focusing on improving in the 3000m race right now in addition to the 1500m. While he will focus on statistical improvements during practice, Villanueva also brings the intangibles to every training session. “Sergio is a real pleasure to coach,” Schnurr said. “When he is absent from practice it is noticeable. He always has a smile on his face and is happy to be at practice. He is extremely supportive of his teammates and in general makes people feel at ease when he is around them.” The team has only two more competitions to get their reps in before the provincial and national championship meets. When they hit the road towards Boston and then Toronto, the team will only continue to improve. “The future’s pretty bright,” said Villanueva. “We’re really eager for the next coming years as the team’s progressing very, very well. We came third at U Sports as a team in cross-country recently, and we are really excited to try to get to the podium soon.” Yet regardless of the results, the track team has proven with star athletes like Villanueva that they have a program that is welcoming to all new athletes, and they are successful because of it. In the seasons ahead, Villanueva will continue to be a mainstay on the Marauders home page. @justinparker81
OFFICE GOSSIP TOO HOT Air conditioning in the basement broke days ago and no one fixed it C12
THURSDAY
THE
HAMILTON SPECULATOR Placing bets on the Puppy Bowl since 1934
Februar y 8, 2018
NOTSPEC.COM
University technology feedback session goes exactly as expected Free pizza was not enough to boost students’ poor perceptions SAINT PETER VEGAS I prefer quills for my bookkeeping
The legends of how terrible the university’s course management systems are have spread internationally, but it took until now for the university to realize and test this hate. A few recent feedback sessions conducted by the university allowed participants to throw rocks at physical representations of the service. The university then gauged these throws on a scale from one to ten based on effort and strength to determine exactly how much students hate the systems. “We found a lot of good data. The average ended up being about a 6.8, which means
that most students would be able to break a window or two, but a full-scale riot is not anticipated in the near future,” said Jen Barber, the head of the IT department. It is unknown how much the free pizza provided a boost to the rankings, though it is hypothesized that these increased the amount of rage as the “does pineapple belong on pizza” debate was invoked by its random distribution. The university will opt not to spend any additional money on the systems as they have already wasted millions getting to this point.
INSIDE ARE CRAIG AND THE HORSE STILL THE PRESIDENT-ELECTS? A LOOK INTO THE BEAUTIFUL WORLD OF APPEALS A2 LOCAL CANDIDATE FINED FOR NON-SANCTIONED PENS AND CANDY LABELS A4 HONESTLY, I’M PRETTY SURE IT’S A CONSPIRACY TO ANNOUNCE GIANT NEWS HOURS BEFORE THE GLOSSY PAGES NEED TO GO TO THE PRINTERS A5
The photo decision was between this and a tire fire for how to best represent the university’s course management systems.
Someone applied to every students union job No effort was made to each individual application SAINT PETER VEGAS Hiring is my favourite pastime
Every year, a large number of positions for the local students union go up. Every year, some weenie decides to apply to as many as possible. Maybe this is the year someone does not recognize their lack of general work experience, lack of involvement with the service or inability to tailor their application to the job. “Dear recipient,” the copy and pasted cover letter stated. “I am excited to apply for the position. I believe my accomplishments listed in this cover letter, despite being word for word what is written in my
Anything as long as it’s free
The one with as much meat as possible
Is a calzone a sandwich?
Vegan
Any pizza ordered for the office
I only eat pizza to fill the void in my heart
All of the above
SEE MY TRUNKS/YAMCHA/TIEN TEAM ON THE MEAN STREETS OF DRAGON BALL FIGHTERZ B4
MSU FAILS TO USE #MSU_Elec IN A POST DISQUALIFYING A CANDIDATE FOR NOT USING #MSU_Elec ENOUGH C3 EVERYONE YOU EXPECTED TO BE NOMINATED FOR A JUNO IS C4 VANCOUVER SEEMS LIKE IT WOULD BE A REALLY NICE PLACE IF YOU WERE A BILLIONAIRE, BUT ANYTHING LESS WILL GET YOU A BROOM CLOSET OF SPACE AT BEST D1 WHAT DO YOU THINK AN ELECTIONS COMMITTEE PARTY IS LIKE? D3 This is a photo of me interviewing a freshman for one of our reporter positions. The majority of applicants will not make it this far.
POLL: What’s your favourite kind of pizza?
I’M TRYING TO FIND SOMEWHERE TO LINE UP FOR THE BLACK PANTHER SOUNDTRACK RELEASE B3
MSU ADVOCACY SUCCESSFULLY ADVOCATES FOR THE MSU TO PAY ATTENTION TO THEM C1
resume, make me a good fit for this position. This opportunity would help me out a lot. I look forward to hearing from you.” This continued for about fifty applications. The hierarchy was irrelevant as entry-level positions and management positions alike were applied to. Moving forward, the applicant will leave a one-star review on the relevant Facebook pages for every position that denies them, then trash talk them whenever the possibility comes up. They will then reapply next year with the exact same process.
I only eat the crust
NOW TAKING BETS ON WHETHER NEXT WEEK’S SILHOUETTE COVER WILL BE ABOUT SEX AND THE STEEL CITY OR PRESIDENTIALS B1
Tweets to the Editor That Tom Brady fellow got robbed!
Do people against pineapples on pizzas ever eat pineapples anyway?
- Jason, 34, hates the Eagles
- Dylan, 21, doubts the anti-pineapple side
APPLY FOR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF D5 PER ISSUE: At least one person who wants to order Jamaican patties
Disclaimer: The Hamilton Speculator is a work of satire and fiction and should not under any circumstances be taken seriously. I know you all missed us after being sell outs for a week. We’re back until we get more money again, don’t worry.