The
Silhouette McMASTER UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013 VOL. 84 NO. 3
Wondering who the Eagles are? The Disney Channel has landed on campus to film a new movie. See Disney, page 3.
Starbucks set to make a splash in MUSC Soon, grande mocha lattes, caramel macchiatos and strawberry frappuccinos will be mere footsteps away with the arrival of the high-end coffee chain, Starbucks, on campus. See Starbucks, page 3.
KAREN WANG GRAPHICS EDITOR
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Replacing Quinlan
Library hours
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Summertime “staycation” itinerary PAGE 7
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Meet Joel Plaskett
Thursday, August 8, 2013
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Come and see what’s new!
Quality, Freshness and Selection! You’ll find… Joe Fresh, full-service Pharmacy, Garden Centre, PC* Financial Services, all of your favourite grocery products
and more!
NEWS
News Editors Julia Redmond, Tyler Welch & Stephen Clare Contact news@thesil.ca
Thursday, August 8, 2013
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Disney films teen flick at Mac Starbucks to move in Jemma Wolfe Executive Editor No, don’t worry, the Marauders aren’t changing their name to the Eagles. Rather, the Ron Joyce football stadium has been home to a Disney Channel film crew for the past week. Disney and the McMaster administration are being tightlipped regarding production details, but a Global News article confirms that an alternative title
for the film is How to Build a Better Boy and that the plot revolves around a group of teenagers and an android prototype that they’ve stolen, that turns out to be more dangerous than they were prepared for. The cast includes young Disney stars China Anne McClain, Noah Centineo, Kelli Berglund and Matt Shively. Working under the name Paris, as crew signs around campus detail, the scene being shot revolves around a football game at
a fictional McMaster High School. Allegedly, when Disney arrived on campus, they liked the McMaster name and eagle logo so much that they sought and received permission to use it, and re-wrote the script to incorporate the McMaster name. The shoots, which have largely been happening over night, began last Friday, August 2, and are set to wrap on Friday, August 9. If the weather is uncooperative, however, this time frame is likely to be extended. Filming on campus is typically allowed from May through August only, so as not to interrupt the regular undergraduate academic sessions. Previous films to have been shot at McMaster include several of the American Pie sequels, Max Payne and Casino Jack.
C/O JANELLE MONTAGUE
to MUSC in October
Jemma Wolfe Executive Editor Shortly after the abrupt closure of the McMaster University Student Centre location of Williams Fresh Café in June, Hospitality Services announced what many students have long hoped for: a campus Starbucks. Dale Adams, Associate Manager of Hospitality Services, is the project lead on the incoming Starbucks. He offered insight into the decline of Williams, and what Starbucks has in store for the now-vacant space in MUSC. “Simply put, the [Williams] business started to decline and we felt we needed to make a move. We checked out other proprietors and decided to go with Starbucks. It was the best fit,” he said. Transitioning to Starbucks has actually been several years in the making. “The decision had been tossed around for about two years now and last year it didn’t work out so we continued with
Williams. This year we’ve made big steps and are moving forward with it,” Adams explained. Construction is set to begin at the end of August, and Starbucks won’t be opening its doors until at least the end of October, or more probably, early November. The remodeling will retain the basic structure of Williams’ previous setup and the tables and chairs will remain, but the enclosure is going to be altered to achieve the now-iconic Starbucks look. For those looking for autumn employment, Adams hinted that Starbucks could be on one’s list of prospects. “The baristas will most likely be students,” he said. “We might do a small job fair… It depends on how many employees we’re looking to bring on.” What we can probably be sure of are the long lineups and hallway congestion that heralded the first few weeks of Booster Juice being in business. That, and light wallets.
MAPS brings in new Executive Director Jemma Wolfe Executive Editor The McMaster Association of Part-time Students (MAPS) Executive Director’s seat is occupied once again – but not by Sam Minniti. His replacement, Kyle Johansen, is a corporate crisis professional who has been brought in to pick up the pieces and get the organization back on its feet. His mandate is simple: to expedite the implementation of solid governance, operational transparency and financial accountability. It’s the execution that’s going to be complex. “The current board – who are exceptionally dedicated individuals – were put in the difficult position of learning about a problem while simultaneously trying to solve it,” Johansen explained. “My objective is to look at what was missing that allowed the problems to occur, and using my experience and current best practice evidence, create a new approach that attends to the original issues, and proactively protects the organization going forward.” In light of the allegations of financial mismanagement of MAPS, the mandate of financial accountability is perhaps the most
pressing. Johansen addressed two major goals in terms of addressing this issue. He emphasized how important it is “that the reporting of quarterly and annual financial statements should be intuitive to a non-finance person and show how money was spent in relation to the organization’s mandate.” He also identified the second element of financial accountability as “placing reasonable limits on any one person’s authority to spend money, as well as implementing changes that would require increasing support by the board – and in some cases the membership – for significant spending decisions.” This comes as no surprise following the allegations regarding personal spending of Association funds that MAPS came under fire for earlier this year. One project that will directly affect student experience is Johansen’s aim to connect the organization with the part-time students that feel alienated from it. “The Board and I are looking at ways to increase the level of engagement with part-time students. My work with local health integration networks showed me how necessary it is to understand the issues and concerns of those you serve,”
Johansen said. “And as much as I will enjoy helping the Board make MAPS a leader in student government best practices, I will get the most satisfaction from knowing that MAPS will continue for another 35 years as a valuable, relevant, and responsive advocate.” Johansen, a Mac alumnus, has been hired on to achieve these goals during a threemonth temporary term. Any potential extension to Johansen’s contract would be limited to getting the organization back on track, not leading it longterm. It remains to be seen who the permanent face of MAPS will be. As Johansen explained, “My skills and experience are best suited to bringing organizations into alignment with members’ expectations,
“
The current board... were put in the difficult position of learning about a problem while simultaneously trying to solve it.” Kyle Johansen, Executive Director
YOSEIF HADDAD SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR
public policy requirements, and building the mechanisms that will ensure the organization maintains that alignment.” “Whoever assumes the permanent role of Executive Director
will be responsible for using those mechanisms and being accountable based on them. To use an analogy… I am really good at building the ship, but not very interested in sailing it.”
EDITORIAL
Executive Editor Jemma Wolfe Email thesil@thesil.ca Phone 905.525.9140 x22052
Thursday, August 8, 2013
The Silhouette
McMaster University’s Student Newspaper
Editorial Board Jemma Wolfe Executive Editor Scott Hastie Managing Editor Andrew Terefenko Production Editor Anqi Shen Online Editor Julia Redmond Senior News Editor Tyler Welch Assistant News Editor Stephen Clare Features Editor Sam Godfrey Opinions Editor Laura Sinclair Senior Sports Editor Alexandra Reilly Assistant Sports Editor Amanda Watkins Senior InsideOut Editor Miranda Babbitt Assistant InsideOut Editor Bahar Orang Senior ANDY Editor Cooper Long Assistant ANDY Editor Yoseif Haddad Senior Photo Editor Liz Pope Assistant Photo Editor Ben Barrett-Forrest Multimedia Editor Karen Wang Graphics Editor Emily Scott Video Editor Sandro Giordano Ad Manager
Making waves in gender politics
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Jemma Wolfe Executive Editor
This summer, my parents put a pool in the backyard. Now that it’s here, and despite the cost of putting it in, the secondary spending phase of wanting to purchase every accessory imaginable has kicked in: floating basketball net, fountain-cum-disco-light-show, blow-up air mattresses… you get the picture. And yet, it was the purchase of a standard pair of goggles amidst the excessive pool toy glory, that made me more quietly angry towards a piece of plastic than I’ve felt in a long time. I’ve never thought of goggles as in any way political. They’re utilitarian devices that seem pretty innocuous in the scheme of things. But when the three different types stocked for purchase are “children’s,” “women’s” and “adults’”, something political is being said – and I don’t appreciate it. In case you didn’t catch that, by making a distinction between goggles made for women and goggles made for adults – not “men,” “adults” – the company in question is implying that women are not adults, that women somehow have different goggle needs than adults, and that selling the exact same model of eyewear except in baby blue and pink rather than the adult black and grey, is somehow indicative of a person’s gender. It’s not hard to dispute any of those claims. Women are legally adults past the age of 18 – as are men, women’s skulls aren’t much different than men’s, and pastels versus shades have nothing to do with anatomy. So the question remains, why did that company differentiate their product lines? When I called to find out, they explained that the ladies ones come in different colours and are slightly smaller to fit a woman’s face. Generalizations on face shape aside, that doesn’t explain why women are placed in a category distinct from adults. For how is one over-the-phone customer service representative supposed to explain to me the history of patriarchy and how its strange and far reaching effects came to influence the minds of passively sexist men – and probably women – who designed the product packaging, who approved it for sale, and thought nothing of what those two little labels mean. A few months ago, a video of Ellen DeGeneres ripping into Bic pens on her talk show went viral. Her scathing attack on Bic’s new line of women’s-only pens “For Her” was humourous, poignant, and sad in that such a product would actually exist to necessitate that segment of her show. “We’ve come a long way, baby,” she quipped. I echoed her frustration in the swim section at Walmart. To a point, they’re just goggles. And I recognize that. But it’s little things like this that worm their way into our collective subconscious and have a big impact on how we see the world. It is because of our repeated exposure to images and products and situations that quietly, subtly, put down women that we don’t notice – and don’t care – when obvious attacks on women’s rights stare us straight in the face. That’s why half of all women in Canada will experience physical or sexual violence, and why many women still make 77 cents for every man’s dollar, and the abandonment of female newborns for preferred male offspring is still a major problem around the world. Next month will see the (re)introduction of a feminist-focused column into The Silhouette’s opinions section. I encourage you to write for it on any variety of topics under the umbrella of feminism, i.e. the struggle for equality of all people no matter their gender, colour, or sexual preference. Share your stories, your frustrations, your involvement in good things that are making a difference. Write about who’s creating change, and who’s not but should be. Write if you’re male, female, trans*, queer. Write from a respectful and informed place. And in the mean time, don’t let the goggles get you down.
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to long weekends.
to long weeks.
to mill lake.
to canker sores. ouch.
to my sister, for her 18th birthday. where did the time go?
to cold tea.
to getting the pots and pans. finally. you’re all invited for a celebratory dinner.
to haircuts.
to harvey specter.
to pythons.
to sleepover parties. to no-pants parties.
to carcinogenic deodorant, and poor alternatives.
to the slow cooker.
to time differences.
to watermelons. f-yeah.
to photo gags.
to sorbet, sans milk. to chocolate vanilla creme sandwich cookies. but definitely not to oreos. to j.p. and m.h., for dropping by. it’s been awhile. to the royal baby, gender aside.
to technology.
to being too young to lawnbowl.
to this vast expanse of unoccupied office space. hurry up, september. to the search for the perfect travel mug. to my only mail being bills. to the russian government’s stance on love.
Write For Us
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Contributions are always welcome. Email the appropriate section to pitch stories and receive article assignments.
The Silhouette welcomes letters to the editor in person at MUSC B110, or by email at thesil@thesil. ca. Please include name, address and telephone number for verification only. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters and opinion articles. Opinions expressed in The Silhouette are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board, the publishers or university officials. The Silhouette is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the McMaster Students Union. The Silhouette board of publications acts as an intermediary between the editorial board, the McMaster community and the McMaster Students Union. Grievances regarding The Silhouette may be forwarded in writing to: McMaster Students Union, McMaster University Student Centre, Room 201, L8S 4S4, Attn: The Silhouette Board of Publications. The board will consider all submissions and make recommendations accordingly.
Volunteer meetings are held weekly, per section, during the regular school year. Look for times in September, 2013.
OPINIONS
Editor: Sam Godfrey Contact: opinions@thesil.ca
Thursday, August 8, 2013
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Dealing with stealing
FEEDBACK If you had something stolen from you would you bother reporting it to the police?
Yes, if it was a really valuable or meaningful item. SAM GODFREY OPINIONS EDITOR
Tyler Welch Assistant News Editor When your bike is stolen, what is your first move? Do you call the police or try to track down the culprit yourself with Liam-Neeson-like skill and tenacity? Or do you simply walk and bus everywhere, mooching rides when you can, until you finally give in to your desire and fork over a pile of dough for a new bicycle? What about when you see a series of mysterious transactions on your credit card statement? If you’re me, I go straight into problem solving mode. My bike was stolen, I get a new bike; credit card issues, void the card. I have no desire to wait at the police station for some officer who doesn’t want to be doing paperwork anyway, to take my statement - my plea for justice - and file it away. I feel like it is a waste of my time. I have no faith that the random guy who took my
bike will be found, and even less faith that he would be punished if he were. A Stats Canada report released on July 25 announced data from a study showing that Hamilton is one of the country’s star performers when it comes to falling crime rates. While the overall crime rate in Canada fell by three per cent in 2012, the numbers were far more impressive in Hamilton specifically. Overall crime is down seven per cent, while violent crime rates and robbery rates have fallen 19 and 14 per cent, respectively. The only stain on the report was the figure for identity theft in the city. The report notes a 52 per cent rise. This got me thinking. The title of the StatsCan assessment (Police-Reported Crime Statistics in Canada, 2012), as plain as it is, does contain a bit of intrigue. What would a report look like if crimes were included that had
gone unreported? If some sort of Big Brother saw everything and being compiled a report, how different would the numbers be? I think the fall of violent crime rates is wonderful. I am proud to live in a city that is working to eliminate violence and even more proud to live in one that is succeeding. But is non-violent crime actually occurring less frequently or are victims simply reporting their stories less often? For all the times I have heard someone complain about a stolen bike, iPod or cell phone, I have seldom heard a story that involved any agency of law enforcement, and I have certainly never heard a success story citing a convicted criminal or a recovered item. When I realized that I was a victim of identity fraud, I thought to myself “How do I fix this? Am I going to have to pay for this? What’s for dinner?” The police didn’t even cross my mind.
Does anyone really believe that reporting something stolen or calling in an identity theft will make a difference? We are so certain that the cops won’t do anything about fraud that it is the only police-reported crime category that went up in 2012 - even the criminals know that they will get away with it. There are more questions than answers when it comes to crime and, with public debate surrounding topics like George Zimmerman, sexual violence and the effectiveness of law enforcement, this article could go on for reams. One thing I know for sure is that I am a firm believer in the benefit of an effective criminal justice system and in allocating the resources to make one a reality. Yet I also know that the next time my identity is stolen, or a piece of my property is taken from me, I won’t report it - it’s just a waste of my time.
Sam Cooper Multimedia and Communication Studies IV
Yes, if it was important to me. Emily Trudeau Arts and Science IV
If it wasn’t anything significantly personal, probably not. Mark Lee Health Sciences IV YOSEIF HADDAD SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR
Quality over quantity when it comes to library hours Julia Redmond Senior News Editor Not all of my Saturday nights are that exciting. I have to admit it. I have certainly spent many a weekend night bleary-eyed and hopped up on caffeine in order to write a paper that should have been done days earlier. We’ve all been there, I think. So when MSU presidential hopeful David Campbell offered up a potential extension of library hours, I was excited. And I doubt I was the only one. With limited weekend hours (Mills stays open to 5:45 on Fridays and Saturdays, as do Thode and HealthSci), McMaster has not exactly been accommodating. On July 12, after two months in office as president, Camp-
bell and the MSU were able to reach a deal with the University Library for new hours. Such an announcement should come as welcome news—and yet, something isn’t quite right. The announcement on the MSU website claims the hours will “dramatically increase.” Mills Learning Commons is to offer 24/5 access starting midsemester (early October in the fall, mid-February for the winter), while Mills and Thode will extend their hours on Friday nights, remaining open to 9:45 rather than the standard 5:45 pm. Innis will follow suit during exam periods. While it’s commendable for
Campbell and his team to tackle a project such as this, as an avid user of the library I’m left disappointed. Sure, time-wise the increase is dramatic. But such an increase is easily achieved by offering up Learning Commons til the wee hours of the morning on weekdays. It surely is easier to staff a single-room study area than it is to keep an entire 6-floor library up and running. Though while it makes sense from a library’s perspective, for the students this solution just isn’t good enough. It’s all well and good to extend hours, but studying in the middle of the night is not a good solution for anyone. A stopgap measure like this appeals to a cramming culture that is definitely not a healthy part of an
academic career. It suggests that what students need is a place to binge on information right before a midterm, not a consistent place to work all year long. The exam hours that have been in place for years have encouraged this too. Maybe for some 24-hour access to Thode is helpful, but I’m left wondering why the focus is only during exams, why there’s not more done in the weeks leading up, when the workload is heavy and students are in the midst of final assignments and papers. One noteworthy success of the new hours at least is the extension of Friday nights. Finally it’s acknowledged that Friday too is a night to work for many, and that midterms are scheduled on Saturday mornings.
But being a student truly is a full-time job, and Campbell and the University Library would be smart to recognize that and negotiate for longer hours on weekends, too. It’s clear that we can’t magically create a solution to the need for study space and the proper services for students. After all, the people running the library are only human. But comparing Mac’s library hours to those of other schools, it seems an entirely reasonable feat to accomplish. At a time when McMaster’s campus is bursting at the seams and students are forever in search of study space, I can only hope that such a feat does become a priority, and that this announcement is one of many steps in the right direction.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
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Mad Pride Hamilton Alise deBie The Silhouette
We invite you to discover Vietnamese and Thai food at its finest; dishes made with fresh ingredients and unique blends of flavours and spices. Located in the
For the last year I’ve been living in alternate realities. Tamasin Knight, a critical psychologist from the UK refers to people like me and her as folks with ‘unusual beliefs’. I like this framing better than ‘delusions’. My beliefs are as real as anyone else’s – they just aren’t shared by the majority. On July 27 I attended the first ever Mad Pride Hamilton celebration. There was a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party with snacks and wacky hats, an open mic for spoken word and musical performances, a market where Mad artists sold their work, and an interactive crafts station. It was fun and festive instead of dark and depressing like most ‘mental health’ events. Mad Pride is created by Mad (as in ‘madness’) people and consumer/survivors of the mental health system to celebrate our lives and community. One of the things I deeply appreciate about Mad Pride is how it offers alternative understandings of madness. Like Tamasin Knight, Mad Pride moves away from medicalizing experiences under psychiatry to promote other sorts of framings. These Mad positive and neurodiverse approaches do not pathologize me. Instead of being seen as someone who is ‘sick’, I am seen as someone who diverges from our traditional narrow, exclusive and discriminatory idea of ‘normal’. I need the world to be different so that I can thrive as the person that I am. Another aspect of Mad Pride that I value is how it provides space for the Mad and consumer/survivor community to
gather together. My experience in school classrooms where my disability and accommodation needs make me feel very isolated from my classmates. But at Mad Pride Hamilton, my experiences weren’t so unusual. They were worth sharing and celebrating, and people accommodated me naturally, with skill and expertise. Fostering pride isn’t always easy, especially when we lose loved ones and friends within our Mad community and experience ongoing poverty, discrimination, isolation and violence. I want things to be less difficult, to experience some relief from figuring out how to navigate systems that aren’t built for the way I think and feel and need to act. A lot of the time society perpetuates negative ideas about people like me so it’s not unsurprising that I can feel shame for how I live and who I am. But when this happens, Mad Pride still offers me something. Instead of focusing on individual pride in myself, I can focus on pride in my Mad community, in my relationships, in all of the spectacular things members are creating and doing, in the arts, culture and heritage of Mad people. These are my people, they are fantastic, and I belong with them. I can celebrate my friend’s comic book launch or the new buttons we have designed. I can treasure the lovely ways community members have found to support me. I can appreciate all of the things I’ve learned from my community and all of our important advocacy projects and peer support initiatives. I can celebrate our lives instead of just mine.
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INSIDEOUT
InsideOut Editors Amanda Watkins and Miranda Babbitt Contact insideout@thesil.ca
Thursday, August 8, 2013
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InsideOut Presents...
Unpaid internships, whiny customers, and slaving away just to pay rent; these are the hardships of the working summer student. After four long months of endless shifts and gruelling work, you deserve a break - go on, get outside, bust a move and twerk. Whether you were retail’s bitch, camp counselling for pennies, or attempting to “figure out” your life, it’s been a long summer for all. Hang up your towel, don’t give a damn, and turn your back on strife. Follow this guide, it will be your yellow brick road; kick off your crusty ruby slippers, now’s your chance to unload. And listen, this week is not about school, or money, or troubles, no, no. You only live once, that’s the motto, yolo. – A.W.
9:00 a.m. MAKE PANCAKES (or buy pancakes...) Breakfast is the most delicious meal of the day. Don’t question it, breakfast food is the best. Start your week off right with a pancake party. Invite over your top five and make pancakes from scratch with each person bringing a different fun ingredient like blueberries, chocolate chips or bacon. And if you end up f*cking up the batter, fret not, you can still buy pancakes. Maple Leaf Pancake House 1520 Main St. West Pancakes- $6 + West Town Bar & Grill 214 Locke St. South Pancakes- $7 1:00 p.m. HAVE A WATER BALLOON FIGHT Super-Soakers are not a thing of the past, and chances are, you probably still have one floating around your garage or crawl space. Pick up some balloons from Dollarama, and you are in business. Lucky for us, Hamilton has an array of open, natural areas; use these spaces to their full potential and embrace your inner insane toddler. Just remember to pick up the balloon debris after; we don’t want pigeons choking. Oh, and don’t wear white - use your head.
11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. VEGETATION PERIOD After an exhaustingly adventurous day on Monday, treat yo’ self to a relaxing morning and afternoon. Sleep in, order in, watch Netflix, do whatever you want. Best Canadian Netflix Choices: - Homeland (TV Series) - Orange is the New Black (TV Series) - Undeclared (TV Series) - Saved (Film) - Ruby Sparks (Film) 10:00 p.m. STARGAZE There is a possibility that you will have to leave your house for this activity, but I think it might be worth it. Grab a blanket, your lover, and a box of wine, and head to a place where city lights are few and far between. Or, if you don’t have a lover, grab a few blankets, a group of friends, and a box of popsicles, and head to a place where city lights are few and far between. Chedoke Golf Course and Confederation Park usually seem to do the trick. But don’t go alone, remember, this is still Hamilton... And if you
really don’t want to leave your house, download the app “Star Walk” ($2.99), turn off your lights and look up at the view of your iPad.
9:00 a.m. RENT A BIKE After lazing around for a solid 24 hours, it’s time to embrace physical activity once again. If you don’t already have a bike, rentals for day trips are reasonably priced. Freewheel 9 King St. West (Dundas) 226-533-1632 24hr rental- $30-$40 Downtown Bike Hounds 19 John Street North 905-525-9497 24hr rental- $35 1:00 p.m. GO HUNTING I do not mean this in terms of killing small animals, that is illegal unless you have a license. Ok. Go hunting for the best. The best coffee, the best poutine, the best pastry. Use your newly rented bike and spend the day hopping through town. For coffee hunting, you could hit up Homegrown Hamilton (27 King William Street), My Dog Joe (1020 King Street West) and Johnny’s Coffee (129 Locke St. South). 9:00 p.m. ENJOY LIVE MUSIC Unfortunately, by this time you’ve missed pretty much all of southern Ontario’s music festivals. But, there are still local venues busting out some tunes. Now that you’re wired from coffee hunting, visit The Phoenix, which offers live shows every Thursday. And a run through Hess on a Wednesday night will surprise you with a wonderfully chill music scene. And bonus, both are bike-able locations.
12:00 p.m. BRUNCH AT THE HARBOUR If you want to be fancy, the newly opened Sarcoa boasts a reasonably priced lunch menu with Chicken and Waffles, and Shrimp Po-Boys. Sarcoa 57 Discovery Drive 905-528-5757 Lunch Menu: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. $9-$20 10:00 p.m. THROW A PRIVATE KARAOKE PARTY We know that Tuesday night is typically karaoke night, but singing Cyndi Lauper around a bunch of drunk strangers just doesn’t feel right. There may not be many private karaoke bars in town, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make your own! Plug your laptop into the HDMI port of your TV and scramble together a few favourite lyric videos from YouTube. Or, if you really want to impress your crowd, rent a karaoke machine. Ruby Rentals 518 Alberton Rd. North 905-304-7464 Karaoke Machine rental- $95 OR GO TO THE DRIVE-IN Become nostalgic about an era you weren’t even a part of! Starlite Drive-In 59 Green Mountain Rd. East 905-662-4800 Now Playing: Turbo/The Wolverine The Smurfs/ Grown-Ups 2 2 Guns/ Red 2
10:00 a.m. LEAVE Get out of this place, go to another city! As much as I love Hamilton, sometimes a change of scenery is necessary. Lucky for our location, it’s pretty easy to wander for a reasonable price. Toronto You can take the #47 GO Bus to Yorkdale and then subway your way to Union. Or, take the Hamilton/Toronto express from King at Queen to Union. Stay at The Drake Hotel (drakehotel.ca) for a 100% urban experience including an underground theatre and garageturned restaurant. Estimated cost of transportation and accommodations for two: $300 Jordan, ON More conducive for drivers, take a 45 minute drive to this NiagaraOn-the-Lake town (20valley.com) and crash at a bed and breakfast. While there for the weekend, hit up some vineyards and do some wine tastings. Also don’t forget to stop into town and buy fudge from the Heritage Gift Shop (3836 Main Street, Jordan). Estimated cost of transportation and accommodations for two: $400
S 8 INSIDEOUT
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Alternative pathogen detection technology Mac researchers awarded for bioactive paper application in asthma and COLD diagnosis
Bioactive paper is an emerging field of research across the world. It includes a range of potential paper-based tools that can be used for analytical techniques in place of elaborative and
often costly laboratory devices, with one of its most important and promising functions being pathogen detection. Two of McMaster’s own researchers, Dr.Nair and Dr.Brennan, have received a $600,000 Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)
award for the development of a bioactive paper for patients with asthma and chronic obstructive lung disorder. Dr. Nair, an AllerGen Investigator, is the CIHR Canada Research Chair in Airway Inflammometry and Associate Professor of Medicine at McMaster University. Dr.
Brennan is a Canada Research Chair in Bioanalytical Chemistry and the Director of McMaster’s BioInterfaces Institute. Treatment strategies for patients based on quantitative eosinophil cell- a type of white blood cell- counts provide a significantly better outcome than current diagnostic techniques that focus on airflow and patient symptoms. The bioactive paper produced will measure the levels of an eosinophil-specific protein that is secreted in sputum – mucous in the lower airways. The problem, however, is two-fold. The results of eosinophil cell counts are not available immediately using current technology, nor is the technology readily accessible. To overcome these challenges, the research team hopes to take the current technology and develop a simple
paper-based detection as a lowcost and readily available alternative for diagnosis. “This test has the potential of a global application in both resource-poor and resource-rich countries in doctor’s offices, outpatient clinics, and by patients themselves for self-management,” says Dr. Nair. The team’s goal is to create an effective strategy where patients can actually self-adjust the dosage of their own medication based on the quick results of the bioactive paper. The research team has been awarded with $600,000 over a period of three years to further research on this biosensor based at McMaster University. There is no doubt that applications of this bioactive paper will benefit patients and health providers on a global scale.
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SPORTS
Editors: Laura Sinclair & Alexandra Reilly Contact: sports@thesil.ca
Thursday August 8, 2013
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Without Quinlan, can Mac dominate the OUA? Alexandra Reilly Assistant Sports Editor McMaster’s 2013 Vanier Cup loss to the Laval Rouge et Or proved to be not just a scoreboard loss for the squad; rather, it symbolized so much more. It marked the end of an era for the McMaster football program. After taking his knee in the maroon uniform, #12 played his last game as a Marauder and finished his five-year leadership role with the McMaster Football Program. Now, McMaster has to face their first season without their superstar quarterback. With Quinlan out, Marshall Ferguson will now take over as the leader of the squad for the 2013-14 Season. In his three seasons as the back up, this Kingston native quickly become an important figure for the Marauder football family. Although he has only served as backup so far, he has thrown over 1,600 yards total in his time with the Marauders. Ferguson also proved his skill after he was asked to attend the annual EastWest Bowl this year. During this year’s off-season, Ferguson was able to attend training camp with the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders where he was able to gain valuable skill and knowledge from Calgary’s offensive coordinator Dave Dickenson. With a more skilled playbook in his hands and a once-in-a-life-time experience at CFL training camp, Ferguson will come into the start of the season stronger than ever, with a Vanier Cup caliber team to back him up. After sitting down with the Marauders own #67 Bryce
Hudson, I gained some valuable insight into the upcoming season and his thoughts about his new leader Marshall Ferguson. “Marsh is a great guy and an excellent leader,” Hudson enthused. “He has a full understanding of our offence and is definitely the guy that we need after losing Kyle Quinlan.” Not only does Ferguson possess a fighting personality but he proved himself to the world when he was given the grueling duty of stepping in for a suspended Quinlan during the 2011-12 season. “He clearly held the ability to start two years ago when he lead us to a 3-0 record versus Guelph, Windsor and Waterloo while Kyle was out,” said Hudson. “Since then, he has only gotten more practice reps, more game snaps and the ability to experience the CFL, as he attended the Calgary Stampeder’s training camp,” he added. Opting for a coaching role this year at McMaster, Quinlan will use his valuable knowledge of the game to support Ferguson as he comes into his own as quarterback. Now that the torch has finally been passed down to #2 in maroon, Ferguson will soon begin to deal with the pressures of leading an entire squad - pressures Quinlan dealt with for years. The team is looking forward to their new beginning under the leadership of a this hardworking Marauder. Although all good things must come to an end, this end is now the start of a new beginning for the boys in maroon and for our former quarterback and school hero Kyle Quinlan.
Kyle Quinlan’s agility was one of his many winning traits that the team will miss this season. C/O JEFF TAM
McDonald runs her way to Junior Pan Am Games Laura Sinclair Senior Sports Editor The future of Marauders track and cross country lies in the hands of Madeline McDonald, who competed in her specialty event, the 3000m at the National Track and Field Championships in Quebec a couple of weeks ago. McDonald ran her way to a 9 second personal best, with a time of 9:32, which has qualified her for the Junior Pan Am Games in Colombia this August. McDonald is no stranger to international competition, as she has competed at the World Cross Country Championships in Po-
land this year. In order to get the chance to compete at this level of competition again, Madeline knew that she would need to have a flawless race. “Pan Ams was the goal going into Junior Nats - I had to finish within the top two. I was also hoping for a good race and hopefully a personal best,” said McDonald, who will be going into her second year at Mac this fall. Her hopes of running a great time and finishing within the top two ended up happening quite easily for McDonald, who stuck with her World Cross Country Canadian teammate Madeline Yungblut throughout the entire
race. “The goal was to try to hang onto her as long as possible. In the end, she still had a bit more left. She did a fabulous job leading the whole race, and I wouldn’t have been able run as fast without her,” said McDonald. McDonald finished the race in second place, only one second behind Yungblut, and finished a full 10 seconds ahead of the third place finisher, Heather Petrick. The National Championship race means that McDonald is in for another experience of travelling the world, which is nothing new to her, having competed in the NACAC Cross Country Championships in Jamaica in
January, and the World Cross Country Championships in Poland in March. “Both experiences traveling with team Canada have been unique and extraordinary. We get to meet and work with a group of like-minded and driven athletes, coaches and staff,” said McDonald, who is also excited to interact with athletes from different countries “We get a taste of the local culture and landscape and people. We interact with athletes from around the world, who share a common passion for running.” After the Junior Pan Am meet in August, McDonald will have to make a quick transition to
cross country running to prepare for a big season with the Marauders, which will have her as the powerhouse runner and leader much like Victoria Coates and Lindsay Carson last year. The season will be one of rebuilding, as five out of the top seven best runners from the girls cross country and track team have graduated. “We’ll have some big shoes to fill,” said McDonald. McDonald will be heading to Medellin, Colombia in late August to train and then compete on August 23-25. The world-renowned meet will be her last chance to compete for Canada at the junior level.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
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ANDY
Editors: Bahar Orang & Cooper Long Contact: andy@thesil.ca
Thursday, August 8, 2013
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Supercrawl’s super lineup Stephen Clare Features Editor
This year’s Supercrawl features a lot of new and exciting talent, making for what should be a fantastic weekend. Get prepped for some of the acts with these quick rundowns. These are just seven of the dozens of great acts from all across Canada and the northeastern United States. For a full list go to supercrawl.ca Get pumped: the only way to prepare for this show is to check out Doldrums’ latest release, Lesser Evil
Doldrums, aka Airick Woodhead, released the critically acclaimed album Lesser Evil in February of this year. Listening to it one has to wonder what greater evil exists in Woodhead’s brain that this frenetic, disturbing electric record is classified as “lesser.” Woodhead has said to have been inspired by musing about drugged-out mental patients sharing dreams. This twisted fantasy shows, especially in the creepy track “She Is the Wave.” Fucked Up is a punk band as hardcore as their name suggests. Thrashing melodies compete with raw vocals and pounding drum beats in their breakneck sound. Their show promises to be energetic, at the very least. Get pumped: Fucked Up’s discography is expansive and inconsistent. Listen to 2008’s The Chemistry of Common Life, and if you like that search out more of their stuff.
Get pumped: check out “Fall for You” and “New Summer,” both Friday’s lineup is from Ultramarine led by Montreal’s Young Galaxy. No Hamilton’s own Cowlick is sure doubt their set will to be a big draw on Friday night. mostly draw from Their shows at past Supercrawls their latest release, have been packed - and for Ultramarine, from good reason. The band is finally April of this year. getting some wider recognition No complaints for their album Wires after years there: Ultramarine of grinding it out in the Hamilis a slick record ton music scene. of laid-back synth grooves and muted lyrics, bolstered by subtle Caribbean Get pumped: listen influences. Young to their album Wires, Galaxy is on the especially “Conflict up-and-up. Don’t of Interest” and the miss this show. title track
Get pumped: Listen to his 2007 release, Ashtray Rock
Joel Plaskett is a well-known Canadian musician from the Maritimes, performing since the mid-‘90s. Only recently, though, has he come into the public eye, and in the last few years collected an absurd amount of Canadian music awards (seriously, check his Wikipedia page).
For the last two decades, Yo La Tengo has been pretty consistently releasing sweet indiepop tunes, but never quite cracked the mainstream. That said, the band’s a critical darling, has a strong cult following, and you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who honestly objects to their laid-back, indie groove. They are well known for their cover songs, which will probably feature prominently in their set.
Get pumped: “Stockholm Syndrome” and “Autumn Sweater”
Get pumped: Gotta be their album Little Mountain
Vancouver’s Said the Whale headlines Saturday night. They have only been around for five or six years, but are only getting bigger after winning a Juno Award in 2011. They just released a new EP in June, and their set will pull from 2012’s Little Mountain. Their cool indie rock sound will make for a great show.
Chris Ferguson on bringing a jazz festival to the Steel City Bahar Orang Senior ANDY Editor All it took was one inspiring trip to Detroit for Mac alumni and jazz aficionados Chris Ferguson and Emily Milko to decide to bring the sound back to Hamilton with them. Together, they’ve founded the Steel City Jazz Festival, which will kick off for the first time late this month. ANDY caught up with Chris Ferguson this week to learn more about the Festival and about his love of jazz. What in particular did you find inspiring about the Detroit Jazz Festival? “Detroit’s obviously got a lot of problems, but the DJF is a world-class festival and every show is offered for free. I got to see Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Pat Metheny and a whole lot more, all for free. Any
one of those artists could headline the Toronto Jazz Festival and the tickets would be $80 or more. Detroit might have a lot of economic problems, but it also has one of the richest musical histories of any city in the world, and you could tell that the performers were really honoured and happy to play the Festival to support the city.” What are you hoping to recreate in Hamilton? “I don’t have any crazy expectations of rivaling the DJF, but there are two aspects of the festival I hope we can recreate: the sense of community and the accessibility. You could really tell how proud the performers, organizers and audience members at the DJF were of their city and its history with music. Hamilton’s got an amazing music community too and I know for a fact that same pride exists here. I hope the Steel City Jazz Festival helps to
celebrate the jazz community in Hamilton and maybe introduce a few new people to jazz music and local jazz musicians. We’ve got one free show, and the rest are all $10 or less. My hope is that tickets are affordable enough that anyone who wants to come can come.” How did you get into jazz? “I started playing alto saxophone when I was about ten years old. When I was in grade seven I had the chance to join a group called the Halton Junior Jazz Ensemble on baritone sax, which I was nearly the same height as at the time. That was my first major exposure to jazz music, and after that I played in a few more Big Bandstyle jazz groups. After a while I
started getting seriously interested in exploring the history of jazz music and learning about all the jazz greats. I took private lessons and my teacher introduced me to lots of different artists. My band Haolin Munk got started about two years ago playing jazz standards at house parties.” What is special or unique about jazz to you as a musician? “There’s tons of reasons that I love jazz, but I guess as a musician, playing jazz gives you a musical vocabulary that you can use anywhere. That’s why ‘Jazz’ is such a broad term, because so many musicians have taken the same principles of improvisa-
tion and the blues and expanded them and applied them in new ways, and in the end the different kinds of music you end up with are barely recognizable as having started from the same place. My band Haolin Munk takes ideas from jazz and applies them to hip-hop, which we also all really love and is really similar to jazz music. I don’t rap or make beats, so playing jazz and using that musical vocabulary is the only way for me to contribute to hiphop in a way that I think is cool and relevant and meaningful.” The inaugural performance of the Steel City Jazz Festival will be a free show at the Hamilton waterfront on August 22. The Festival will continue to feature local acts until August 25. Catch Haolin Munk at Homegrown Hamilton on August 24 at 9 p.m. For a full schedule of the festival, visit steelcityjazzfest.com
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Joel Plaskett to bring his scrappy happiness to Supercrawl 2013 Jemma Wolfe Executive Editor Joel Plaskett is a busy guy. I caught up with him while he was in his Dartmouth, Nova Scotia studio. He was in the middle of recording a Mo Kenney remix during a free bit of time between gigs. Lately, it’s been a lot of summer festivals and small-town bars, then back to the studio – a brand new one he’s been working on building for the past six months. But he likes the variety, and the movement from place to place. “There’s a real merit to playing different sized places,” he told me. “It keeps you on your toes.” As a Maritime musical icon, Plaskett is in demand. And he’s just as happy opening for Paul McCartney as he is playing a show for 100 people. “It’s not so much about numbers as it is about energy,” he explained. “You could be in a giant room that’s half full, or you could be in a tiny room that’s packed with people, and often the room that feels packed is better even though there might be half the people.” His performance delivery is also always in flux. “I go from playing solo, to with a band, to as a duo. There’s a lot of variety in that regard, too,” he said. When he touches down in Hamilton on Sept. 14 for Supercrawl, he’ll be playing with his band – a bassist and a drummer – who he calls The Emergency. Together, they’re billed as the Joel Plaskett Emergency, and they’re just as excited to come to Hamilton as Hamilton is to see them perform at the James Street North event. On the subject of playing in Hamilton, the Scrappy Happiness musician stressed, “I’ve had nothing but good experiences. I’ve always liked Hamilton as a place, too.” He compared Hamilton to Halifax for their grittiness and industrial roots – a parallel that makes him feel at ease in the Steel City. He’s especially looking forwards to playing alongside friends and musicians that he admires at Supercrawl. In particular, he enthused, “I’d love to see Fucked Up again. I saw them once at the Polaris Awards. It was great.” They are also set to perform Saturday night, albeit on a different stage. He’s pretty sure that this will be his first outdoor show in Hamilton, and it’s a fact that excites him. “It’s great. It keeps the city fresh. I don’t know what to expect when I go there, compared to other venues I’ve already played. It’ll be a good surprise,” he said. He may not know what to expect from Hamilton, but we know what to expect from him: energy, quirky musicality, and a very fun time.
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