The Silhouette - Nov. 21, 2013

The

Silhouette

Women split weekend games, best start in five years

McMASTER UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 VOL. 84 NO. 15

Is $10.25 per hour enough to get by?

Student unions in Ontario join campaign for $14 minimum wage Anqi Shen Online Editor Several student unions in Ontario have joined the campaign to raise the minimum wage to $14. Antipoverty groups proposed the minimum wage hike in March this year as part of their ‘Fair Wages Now’ campaign.

Alastair Wood, chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students (Ontario), said members voted unanimously in their August general meeting to support the cause. Leading up to Nov. 14, a designated day of action, students joined community groups in voicing their concerns to local politicians.

“The last time we had a minimum wage increase was in 2010.

Since then, the cost of education and living has gone up significantly,” Wood said. “The $14 [was determined] through community consultation to bring full-time workers about 10 per cent over the poverty line.”

Guled Arale, VP (external) for the U of T’s Scarborough Campus Student Union, has been working with community groups to advocate for a $14 minimum wage.

“We had a forum a few weeks ago with 200 to 250 people in Scarborough and it was really good to see that many people working on this issue - not all of them were students, but many were parents of students,” Arale said.

Arale said a minimum wage hike would help students earn a living wage, particularly those working in casual or part-time positions while in school.

“Every year, the cost of living goes up for students, but a lot of students who do work minimum wage don’t see their wages increase,” he said.

In a similar vein, Carleton University’s Graduate Students’ Association recently supported the hike in a presentation to the Ontario government’s minimum wage advisory panel. The panel was formed in the summer and will advise the province on future minimum wage increases.

“A lot of graduate students work as a TA or RA and take other jobs on the side,” said Lauren Montgomery, VP (external) of the Carleton GSA. “If the minimum wage were to be $14, grad students could take on less part-time jobs and put more into their schoolwork and teaching.”

She also mentioned the mounting pressure graduate students face in terms of rising tuition, debt load and, in many cases, childcare costs.

Along with groups such as the Workers’ Action Centre, the CFS-Ontario has submitted recommendations to the province’s advisory panel.

“Just two decades ago, a student could work full-time at minimum wage over the summer at 35 hours a week for 9 weeks, and pay off a year’s worth of undergraduate tuition fees. Today, it would take at least 20 weeks at minimum wage...more weeks than are in the summer,” CFS-Ontario’s submission states.

According to Statistics Canada, 60 per cent of minimum wage workers are under 25 years old, and of those youth workers, 44 per cent aged 20 to 24 attend school. @anqi_shen

LIBRARIES NOT GETTING LEFT

BEHIND The University Library has been working to keep up with evolving student needs and technological advancements.

What’s changing?

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Green Monday

Getting De-stressed PAGE B1

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Death Grips bring the noise PAGE C4

Men’s volleyball continue undefeated streak YOSEIF HADDAD / PHOTO EDITOR

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“I feel like I started yesterday” The Silhouette hears from one of Mac’s most beloved employees as she comes to the end of 37 years of service Julia Redmond News Editor Most people come to Mac expecting to spend four or five years here. But for Vojka Ivanovitch, it’s been nearly 40 years.

As an employee of McMaster Hospitality Services, Vojka has come to be one of the university’s most beloved employees. From her post at Centro’s NeedaSub station, she offers both sandwiches and life advice to students.

“I am here almost 37 years and I feel like I start yesterday,” said Vojka of her time working at Centro.

Hailing from Montenegro, Vojka immigrated to Canada 40 years ago, knowing basically no English.

“When I come… I only know three words [in English]. My name, my last name, and my address,” she said.

With little English experience, she got her first job in the country working at the Rathskeller Refectory, many years before it became Bridges and The Phoenix.

After one year, she moved from the refectory to what would become her second home.

“[They] said to me, ‘Vojka, we need you in the Commons building. We got about 1,000 students who need to be served food.’

And I say, ‘okay, I try my best,’” she explained. “I try my best to learn English, to communicate with people. And the moment I stepped in I feel like I’m home. I don’t know what it is, but that was my feeling,” While the location she has worked in has been the same, much has changed in food services in her time at McMaster.

“Looking at the Commons now, and looking Commons thirty seven years ago, it’s a huge difference, because today I don’t know what we’re missing here.”

Vojka’s pride in her workplace became clear when The Silhouette sat down with her. In fact, there was hardly any sitting involved, as she insisted on showing off the amenities that Centro has to offer.

“I think the cafeteria look like a huge hotel sometimes,” she said.

This wasn’t always the case.

Vojka described how, in earlier years while working on the salad bar, there weren’t always a lot of vegetables to be had.

“At that time, the vegetable was more expensive. We got green beans, we got Brussels sprouts, we got carrots. But [something] was always missing because they say ‘oh, it’s a little bit too expensive.’”

Instead, she and Maria, a fellow Commons employee, used to prepare something with fewer vegetables.

“We used to mixing 200 pounds macaroni and tuna salad.

That was the favourite for the students,” she said.

Vojka Ivanovitch, who works at NeedaSub, has been employed in food services at McMaster for almost 37 years.

VOJKA REMEMBERS, A5 JULIA REDMOND / NEWS EDITOR

the S ’ T N E D I S E R P E G PA Improving Food and Catering Options on Campus Jeff Doucet VP Finance vpfinance@msu.mcmaster.ca

ext. 24109

Each year, Maclean’s magazine releases their much anticipated Canadian University rankings. Future students use these rankings as a basis for choosing where they will spend their next four years. The rankings collect student feedback about a number of issues, ranging from teaching quality and class size to ancillary operations such as food quality. The quality and cost of food is often discussed. With undergrads placing such important emphasis on food quality when ranking postsecondary institutions, the MSU recognizes how important food is to the undergraduate experience.

This is why the MSU invests in services such as TwelvEighty and Union Market, which provide low-cost alternatives to our University counterparts. In TwelvEighty, a student can sit down for a meal and enjoy a sandwich and a side for as low as $5.99 and we pride ourselves on selling the best and least expensive coffee on campus at Union Market.

While we offer retail options for students on campus, the MSU is working to expand catering options as well. For the thousands of students who are members of MSU Clubs and/or Faculty Societies who participate in Welcome Week planning or other activities, campus catering costs impact their ability to plan affordable events throughout the year.

$4.99 $5.99

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The current catering system seems to create unreasonable burdens for students, often charging well above competitive rates in the industry.

Penne Pasta w/ Garlic Bread Cajun Chicken Wrap w/ choice of side

In my role as Vice-President (Finance), I have been collecting feedback from students to get a better understanding of the state of catering on campus. Students are appreciative of the 15% discount that Paradise Catering offers to MSU-affiliated clubs and Faculty Societies. As well, when less than forty students attend an event, groups can host a “potluck” in which attendees can prepare and serve their own food. This concept is popular with students and cultural groups, who often hold events to celebrate our diverse student body.

That being said, students have indicated that there is significant room for improvement.

The current catering system seems to create unreasonable burdens for students, often charging well above competitive rates in the industry. Also, in busy times such as Welcome Week, there are not enough resources in the catering department to meet the needs of Faculty Societies. This is not a failure by the University - it would be hard for any single catering company to feed thousands of students at different events throughout a day as busy as Faculty Day.

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Spencer Graham VP (Education)

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Jeff Doucet VP (Finance)

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The MSU has the resources and capabilities to provide students with more catering options, and we will be working with University Administration to expand catering options to students. Though I recognize that the University-based catering operation generates needed revenue for the insitution, I believe that the current system doesn’t benefit all campus groups and I want to find a solution that does. Allowing the MSU to cater to students in the Student Centre (which was built through money generated by students) seems like a fair and reasonable outcome to ensure that students get proper value when hosting events.

The President’s Page is sponsored by the McMaster Students Union. It is a space used to communicate with the student body about the projects, goals and agenda of the MSU Board of Directors.

www.msumcmaster.ca

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theSil.ca

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Thursday, Nov. 21 2013

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Editors Julia Redmond & Tyler Welch & Tomi Milos Email news@thesil.ca

@theSilhouette

Phone 905.525.9140 x27117

VIDEO: UNDERRATED STUDY SPACES ON CAMPUS THESIL.CA

One-on-one with Ralph Nader Political activist, author and five-time candidate for President of the United States Ralph Nader sat down for a face-to-face with Assistant News Editor Tyler Welch Why are you here? Other than selling books, what message are you trying to get across?

The message basically is Canadians have to learn why they have to remain independent of U.S. control. Which is swallowing Canada in so many ways—foreign military policy, corporate policy and so on. And this is why years ago we wrote this book Canada Firsts, it’s all the things Canada led the way with: the first daily newspaper is North America, first credit unions, on and on, science, technology. A lot of it would not have happened if, you know, Canada were just five states or something.

Also, it’s good for the U.S., because we look to Canada as rational to change things in the U.S., like Medicare.

After that, I want to talk about how citizens can become sovereign again, and redirect the country away from its downward slide. It’s almost following the U.S. except in the banking area.

The indicator is more poverty, exporting jobs, shredding public services, cutting back on necessities, giving more tax breaks and subsidies to corporations.

Power is being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. That spells decay and decline, if not worse.

Are things like citizen sovereignty and maintenance of Canada’s independence really possible, or are they just wide-eyed ideas?

It’s easy. What if, suddenly, you were driving on the highway and all the cars stopped because there was a boulder blocking the way, and they all got out of their cars and nobody lifted a finger, and then someone said “Oh this boulder, it’s impossible to do anything about it.” Then everyone agreed except for one, who said, “Have you really given it a try?”

Then he tries, and the big boulder doesn’t move. Then everyone says, “See, it doesn’t move!”

But then what if six or them try to move, or sixteen? And they all give it a shoulder, and the boulder rolls away.

See, it’s all about how many people get involved, how smart they are and what the agenda is.

How many people does it take for real change?

One per cent, for real change, that would be about 330,000 people in Canada, connected together, in all the ridings, with a full-time staff. They can raise for themselves a few bucks each and have a full-time staff coast-tocoast.

Then they’ve got to ask what institution can make the change the fastest, and seek to influence them. In our country [U.S.] it’s the Congress. In your country, it could be Parliament or Provincial Parliament. But one thing is certain, three hundred thousand people is a lot more than the number of MPs. Let’s talk about the emotional change that is needed for that.

First of all, when you work as hard as I do, you don’t have time to squander all kinds of money.

When you do buy all these extra things, is distracts from the focus.

This is serious business, taking measure of these large corporations. A yacht, a fancy car, a fancy house, they’re not compatible with that.

I know somebody that had all these things and more and one day he sold them all. He said, “I bought a lot of things and they began controlling me.”

People are trapped in this pursuit. You know this Snapchat thing? It’s worth $3 billion and they turned it down—they think they can get more. In the meantime, the necessities of life and being ignored; people are going hungry, their housing is bad, their retirement security is shot. You’ve got to get serious, and when you do, you have an incredible increase in quality of life—gratification, joy, challenge, find a different definition of friendship, and by time you’re 65 you don’t have regrets when you look back.

C/O Wikimedia Commons

dent government to do” or “This Many students focus on earning other club will work on that.” something marketable, seeking a good career. You got a law They wallow in their own narrow routine, everyday. That tends to degree from Harvard—pretty magnify personal problems, they marketable—yet you still chose don’t have a larger framework— the activism route. they’re looking through a smaller There’s a certain immaturity that modern industrial nations lens—and that makes them more susceptible to addictions, distracascribe into their citizens untions and to that lethal little thing til they’re almost 30. In a more in their hand simple society, called and people become iPhone. adults and You just take on adult “See, it’s all about how have to talk to responsibilimany peole get involved, one another ties at a much younger age. how smart they are, and more, that’s how students People what the agenda is.” rose in the have to unlearn 60s—they a lot of things.

Ralph Nader talked to each Like the free other. They market. Free? didn’t send teleIt’s rigged in all grams to each other. It’s personal, kinds of ways. Corporations are a conversation. It develops a maon welfare—tax breaks, bailouts. turity that develops self-respect.

You’ve got to ask: “Is it a They have to believe that they can strong democracy, a weak one, a reshape their country, because middling democracy, or is it really they can. just a democracy in name?”

They have to unlearn a lot of Were you ever tempted by the things that have been controlling other route? The good job, nice them, controlling their expechouse, nice car, nice family? tations, teaching them powerNo, it just trivialized your lessness and encouraging them life, that route. So what, you get to wallow in cynicism. There is paid more, big deal. You want to nothing that the ruling classes make zillions? What’s the point? need the most to stay in power The price for that is to further the than widespread public cynicism. ruling class. Harvard Law School Because that involves a withdraw. is like a finishing school for corThe more you become cynical and porate supremacy. powerless, the more power you give away to the few.

There’s been a lot written about you living below your means, Many say that young people are and giving away most of your the most withdrawn from public income—living on a budget that life. True? many people think is impossible.

People say “That’s for the stu-

“

You can’t do this forever. For the next generation of activists, what are the most important issues they will face?

There is too much economic wealth in too few hands, and the few decide against the interests of the many. And, of course, there are the global issues: war, peace, poverty, and climate change.

There’s a lot of backlog here—centuries to catch up on.

But the biggest thing is to structure community and civic values so that corporate values are subordinate to them. Another way to put it is “Markets make good servants, but bad masters.”

Markets need to be servants or a larger framework of human values and human livelihood.

Where do they start?

To do that, you have to start with young students. Give them civic values and civic skills. Teach them about town halls, how the courts work, elections and institutions. You’ve got to start at that level. Otherwise, education is just vocation—just trade school with different names.

What is something that you wish someone had told you in university?

I wish that people told me, or all the law students, that they were heading for highly rewarding, trivial and damaging work.

Instead, they were told that they were heading for highly prestigious law firms where they would be architects of a dynamic economy, and do all kinds of important and good things.

Many of them are now greasing the way for corporate criminals, allowing the exploitation of fossil fuels, blocking the courtroom door for negligently wounded workers.

Timmies adopts sleeves

TOMI MILOS / FEATURES EDITOR

Krista Schwab The SIlhouette Tim Hortons has taken another step in asserting itself as a heavyweight in the coffee industry battle against its rivals. Following in the footsteps of other chains like Starbucks and Second Cup, Tim Hortons has introduced a cardboard coffee cup sleeve for hot beverages that will protect customers against burns in lieu of the traditional double-cup method.

As outlined by official policy, the sleeves will accompany beverages that are hot to the touch, such as tea, but can be requested for use with other hot beverages. The recent switch to sleeves satisfies a demand customers have been making for some time.

Alexandra Cygal, a Tim Hortons representative, explains the length delay saying, “We’ve considered [introducing the sleeves] before… but the one we’ve chosen now uses less material and has tested better than ones we’ve tried before.”

The sleeve endured rigorous testing in focus groups before finally making its debut last week.

To create buzz, Tim Hortons is taking unique measures to introduce the new coffee sleeves.

In the United Arab Emirates, Tim Hortons has partnered with regional newspaper Gulf News to create the “Headline News Cup Sleeve”. The sleeve will be adorned with news-related tweets from the Gulf News Twitter account and updated hourly to feature important events from across the country. This innovative use of sleeves lends added value to a cup of coffee, but is only available in fourteen stores across the UAE. The cup sleeves have since made their way to McMaster where they will be protecting students’ hands from their scalding hot drinks. While they won’t play host to news headlines, the sleeves will be a more environmentally conscious option than the conventional double-cup method many have become used to. There are two sides to the coin, as Macleans reports, with one poster on an online discussion thread suggesting that, “A Real Canadian would simply drink their Timmies wearing their hockey gloves.” Without going to that extent, Tim Hortons could encourage customers to bring their own reusable mugs to cut down on waste.

CANADIAN CAMPUS NEWS Tobi Abdul Staff Reporter McGill launches ambitious sustainability project

UBC continues to handle sexual assaults poorly

U of T take a page from Potter and create invisibility cloak

Zombies run rampant across Dalhousie campus

University of Calgary accomodates stressed students

On Nov. 14, McGill University launched a sustainability project called Vision 2020 that aims to transform the entire campus into a sustainable environment by the year 2020. In order to achieve this, the project researchers are askig students, faculty and staff what they believe the campus will look like in that year. Initiatives include bottle refill stations, several bicycle collectives where students can fix flat tires and other bike problems, and means to check the energy consumption different buildings on campus.

McGill hopes to make the entire campus “fully green” by 2020.

UBC has been under fire this year for their lack of sensitivity regarding sexual assault related issues.

In addition to the now-infamous frosh week chants, the UBC Commerce Undergraduate Society has recently rejected a referendum providing $200,000 for an expansion of sexual assault education and counselling. This decision came around the same time that the RCMP released the sketch of a suspect alleged to have committed a string of at least six sexual assaults around campus this year.

Business dean Robert Helsley said he was “deeply disappointed to learn that the referendum … was unsuccessful.”

It appears as though a cloak of invisibility no longer just exists in the world of Harry Potter. University of Toronto professor George Eleftheriades along with PhD candidate Michael Selvanayagam have designed a “cloak” that can hide objects using electromagnetic fields. This project has been in development since early 2006 and is now seeing results. An item is surrounded with a layer of antennas, which radiates a field that cancels any waves and cancels the reflection, causing it to be invisible to the eye. Eleftheriades and Selvanayagam are continuing work on this project in hope of expanding its ability to cloak even larger objects.

Dalhousie brought zombies to life in the week of Nov. 4 as they held their first-ever humans versus zombies game. This campus-wide game ran between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. and consisted of players running around and tagging other people. Everyone started out as a human, with the exception of one pre-determined zombie among them. Once tagged, the humans became zombies as well, and would try and tag other people. Students could track their progress online or register in teams to improve their chances of survival. The game served as a destress tactic for some students and a manifestation of their fear of a zombie apocalypse for others.

University of Calgary is recognizing the high amounts of stress that students face near the end of semester and are implementing a ‘Stress-less Week’ running from Dec. 2-6. It will include a Puppy Room, but the main event is a Pyjama Day. Based around the fact that students hate to dress themselves, the University is making it socially acceptable to walk across campus in the most comfy pyjamas to try and eliminate the stress around getting dressed in the morning. Bringing back an event that is indisputably missed about elementary and high school, the University hopes to give students a chance to breathe before exam season starts.

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theSil.ca

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

DITORIAL

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Executive Editor Jemma Wolfe Email thesil@thesil.ca Phone 905.525.9140 x22052

TRANSPORTATION

A ticket to ride

MSU’s committment to addressing HSR agreement is important for student life, Hamilton economy

to people who buy ink in bulk.

to my long list of december projects.

to snapchat chaos.

to the bates residence bathroom door burglars.

to the sil’s digital archive. to vojka. to SLEF showcase goodies. to planning trips. to sleepy tuesdays.

Jemma Wolfe Executive Editor For two summers during my undergrad, I worked at an office in the Hamilton downtown core. I took the bus from Westdale Village every morning, and rode the HSR home every afternoon. And every day, I resented having to pay for a service I used endlessly for a small flat-fee during the regular school year.

Call me entitled; in many ways, that’s an accurate description of my attitude towards the absence of a summer bus pass. But when McMaster graduate students have a year-round agreement with the HSR and the summer pass is only available to Mac undergraduates enrolled in summer classes (and still only saves students $16 a month), my

disappointment in the current MSU agreement is warranted.

Now that the MSU-HSR contract is up for renegotiation before renewal, I hope to see some changes.

David Campbell (MSU President) and Jeffrey Doucet (MSU VP Finance) have been pushing hard on the student transit issue since August, and an announcement regarding a new agreement is expected for next week. Major points the new agreement is expected to address include summer service and expanded hours of service through campus to cater to late-night student activity.

I hope the powers-that-be sit up and take notice of the argument that summer and late-night service is important not only to student life enhancement but also to stimulating the

Write me a Letter!

Hamilton economy.

Graduate rentention in a city notorious for appearing heavily unattractive to prospective McMaster students, and for those students then staying within the “campus bubble” while at school, is an important issue for the City to address.

One step towards keeping educated, energetic grads in the city is to make Hamilton more welcoming when they are students, be that encouraging them to stay and work through the summers or to simply explore the city at all hours.

Hopefully the new MSU-HSR agreement reflects students needs and the potential students have for rejuvenating the Steel City. @jemma_wolfe

Students, faculty and community members are encouraged to rant about/reflect on/respond to what the Sil is - or isn’t publishing, in the form of a Letter to the Editor. Send your max. 300 word response to thesil@thesil.ca by Tuesdays at noon.

“To vlog or not to vlog” is not the question SRA members’ actions should speak louder than words

Scott Hastie Managing Editor At the latest Student Representative Assembly meeting, the majority of the meeting time was spent discussing whether or not SRA members should continue to create vlogs.

Those vlogs, buried deep in the McMaster Students Union’s website, are supposed to be a way for the SRA caucuses to communicate with students.

Many members rightly voiced that

students don’t view the vlogs and they should move in another direction.

Google Hangouts, CFMU radio shows and student centre office hours were all proposed. But the SRA’s best option to engage the student body is to create change.

Projects like the Women and Trans* Centre, Bylaw Five and changes to the student health plan pique the interest of students and show what the SRA is capable of accomplishing. It’s creating conversation – ranging from

roommate discussions to comment threads – and creating a name for McMaster’s student government.

Putting together more projects is going to show students that if they want something to change, they need to talk to their SRA representative.

And that’s more effective than any vlog will ever be.

@scott1hastie

Come again?

They may have been published in previous weeks, but these online pieces deserve a second look

Most popular

Most commented

Most underrated

NEWS: “Health Science students take learning outside the classroom” by Rachel Faber. First published on Thursday, Nov. 14.

NEWS: “Study suggests discrepancy between student and employer expectations” by Michael Ryu. First published on Thursday, Nov. 14.

VIDEO: “The making of LifeStyle’s Thread Count” by Emily Scott. First posted on Wednesday, Nov. 13.

About Us MUSC, Room B110 McMaster University 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4S4 E–Mail: thesil@thesil.ca Facebook.com/ TheMcMasterSilhouette Twitter.com/theSilhouette Production Office (905) 525-9140, extension 27117 Advertising (905) 525-9140, extension 27557 10,000 circulation Published by the McMaster Students Union

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Remember to check out our website throughout the week for fresh content daily! We’re no longer Thursday exclusive – we’re your constant source of everything McMaster, every day.

thesil.ca Section Meeting Times News Thursdays @ 3:30 p.m.

Opinions Tuesdays @ 1:30 p.m.

to the fruit fly colony forming in the back room. to feeling helpless in the face of illness - both physical and mental.

to the burgundies.

to tech stuff, as per usual.

to slow cooked ribs. yum.

to my phone’s battery life.

to the girl i overheard saying, “don’t use the ‘q’ word.” and to her friend responding, “but you’ve never even seen quidditch played!”

to hospital scares, and the vibe in the ER at 3 a.m.

to thrifted hauls. to cashmere. to all the possibilities. to leftovers.

to the mystery smell in my office. hmmm. to missing the GO train because everyone in the world was in toronto last sunday. to figuring out my future.

The Silhouette

McMaster University’s Student Newspaper

EDITORIAL BOARD Jemma Wolfe | Executive Editor thesil@thesil.ca Scott Hastie | Managing Editor managing@thesil.ca Andrew Terefenko | Production Editor production@thesil.ca Anqi Shen | Online Editor news@thesil.ca Julia Redmond | News Editor news@thesil.ca Tyler Welch | Assistant News Editor news@thesil.ca Tomi Milos | Features Editor news@thesil.ca Sam Godfrey | Opinions Editor opinions@thesil.ca Laura Sinclair | Sports Editor sports@thesil.ca Alexandra Reilly | Assistant Sports Editor sports@thesil.ca Amanda Watkins | LifeStyle Editor lifestyle@thesil.ca Miranda Babbitt | Assistant LifeStyle Editor lifestyle@thesil.ca Bahar Orang | ANDY Editor andy@thesil.ca Cooper Long | Assistant ANDY Editor andy@thesil.ca Yoseif Haddad | Photo Editor photo@thesil.ca Eliza Pope | Assistant Photo Editor photo@thesil.ca Ben Barrett-Forrest | Multimedia Editor photo@thesil.ca Karen Wang | Graphics Editor production@thesil.ca Emily Scott | Video Editor photo@thesil.ca

Sports Thursdays @ 12:30 p.m.

Olivia Dorio | Distribution Coordinator thesil@thesil.ca

LifeStyle Thursdays @ 10:30 a.m.

Sandro Giordano | Ad Manager sgiordan@msu.mcmaster.ca

ANDY Tuesdays @ 5:30 p.m.

Video & Multimedia Mondays @ 1:30 p.m.

Photo Fridays @ 12 p.m.

Staff Reporters Tobi Abdul Sarah O’Connor Ana Qarri Sophia Topper thesil@thesil.ca

Vojka remembers 37 years at McMaster FROM A3 The food preparation is only a part of the job for Vojka, however. Working in a meal hall that serves mostly first-year students, she has acted as an advisor, a mentor, and a mother away from home.

“I love my job very much, because I am mother, I got a feeling,” she said, suggesting that having a daughter of her own helped her to care for the students who frequent Centro.

“I feel so proud when I am in a line and some people come and they say ‘oh, Vokja, I miss my mother, I miss my father, I miss my brother.’ What else do you gonna do, you just hug them. You say ‘don’t worry, you going to be okay, you gonna love this place.’”

She explained how she loves to give students advice on anything in their life, from personal issues to their futures.

“Sometimes the student come to me and they say ‘Vokja, I like to be a doctor. What I should do, I am in first year here, you are like my mother, can you tell me?’ I say ‘Honey, eat, make yourself comfortable, study, make your mother proud. Live with your dream and you will be.’”

And such advice has been consistent over her many years at Centro. Vojka described how

in Sept. 2013, she encountered a gentleman who was about 50 years old and had been a student at Mac. “He come to me in line and he say ‘Vokja, can I hug you please, you was my best lunch lady. This is my son, he is a student here. Can you please take care about him?’ What else can I tell you, I feel so great. That is my thanks.”

Her encouragement extended as well to the Marauders, of whom she says she is a big fan.

“I tell them, ‘guys, before I retire, you gonna be number one.’

And yes, they was,” she said, citing the success of the Marauders football team at the Vanier Cup in 2011. The team, remembering how big a fan she was, returned to the University to take a picture with her and their trophy.

Even with such love for her job, Vojka admits that she can only continue for so long. With 37 years under her belt, she is looking to retire come April 2014.

“My time is over…pretty soon. I go to retire, because my body said maybe it’s enough. But I was very proud, very happy that I was working for McMaster. This is in my heart and I will keep it for as long as I live.” @juliaeredmond

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theSil.ca

theSil.ca

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

NEWS

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Library tries keeping pace with tech The most significant player in the modernization of academic libraries is the move from print to electronic resources.

Since the inception of e-books “The journals that we get and other online resources Mchave gone almost completely Master’s library has been working electronic because that is where to keep up. the users are…where they can get One of the most practical the article they want at 2 o’clock modernization techniques, said in the morning, even if they’re on University Librarian Vivian Lewis, the other side of the country,” said is simply adding more electrical Wade Wycoff, Associate Universioutlets. ty Librarian, Collections.

“Outlets are huge for us. It is In 2001, the Library had one of our main demands in study around 11,000 journal subspaces. It is very different from scriptions that were available to when I started here 20 years ago,” students and faculty only print. she said. “We have to come up Because of the move to electronic with all kinds of ways to get powpublication, e-journals can be er to different study areas. We run purchased in bundles and are power strips across tables…more more affordable than a decade and more this is what students are ago. McMaster students can now looking for.” access 80,000 different journal With the Library—Mills, titles.

Thode and “It levels Innis (The the playing Health Science Library is run “We have to be all about field in a lot of ways. Now separately)—as serving students now, suddenly the largest WiFi center on even if they aren’t in the we’re getting subscriptions campus, spaces physical library.” of volumes within the and journals actual buildVivian Lewis, University LIbrarian available to our ings are forced users, that rival to adapt to U of T and demand. That Western,” said Wycoff. means, in some cases, allocating The rise in overall journals square footage once given to book does come at a cost, especially for stacks to study space instead. researchers who seek a true print In recent years, Mills has copy. transformed much of the sixth Wycoff said, “We still have floor into quiet study space and about 2,000 print subscriptions, added the Lyons New Media Cenand those are mostly smaller pubtre, allowing student to use relishers who just haven’t moved sources like video editing software on to electronic versions of their and green screen. Thode has also journal yet.” added more open study spaces.

The same transformation is Tyler Welch Assistant News Editor

“

YOSEIF HADDAD / PHOTO EDITOR

happening with books. In 2001, the Library purchased more than 40,000 books in print. In 2012, only 6,610 print books were purchased, in addition to 22,000 e-book titles. The combined total of 28,810 still falls more than 10,000 titles short 2001’s book purchases.

Wycoff says that this reflects

Conservation corridor planned for Cootes Paradise

a focus on serials that many libraries are making.

“More academic libraries are spending more on their journal collection. We have had to shift some resources around,” he said.

“We are also seeing things, like in the sciences, how they are using those electronic resources, they are using journals more. So their

Aurora Coltman Silhouette Intern McMaster University will soon be exploring the method of conservation corridors in its own backyard.

Conservation corridors are plots of land conserved or restored that acts as a bridge to connect multiple plots of larger land. This connection promotes animal movement and migration, potentially bettering living conditions for wildlife.

McMaster professors Susan Dudley and Chad Harvey have organized a group of student volunteers who are working to help create a conservation corridor.

The corridor is situated between the Dundas Valley Conservation Area and Cootes Paradise, off Lower Lions Club Road near Wilson Street.

“McMaster has the good fortune, and it looks like kind of by accident almost, of holding a really nice piece of property that has tremendous ecological diversity on it,” said Dudley, referring to the plot, which was purchased by the university in the 1960s for $1.

However, the plan for the land does not end at transforming it into a conservation corridor – the project will also transform the land into the McMaster Conservation Corridor Teaching and Research Facility. The 48 hectares of land will serve primarily as a research facility for science students, but the space will not be closed off to the public.

Dudley and Harvey hope to be able to employ the Smithsonian Dynamic Forest Plot Technique, in which land is divided into 20 by 20 metre gridlocks. All flora and fauna within each grid will be tagged and placed. As records are updated, it presents an opportunity to show what prospers where, and how to better use the space.

The two professors are able to go forward with their plan after receiving a grant of $5,000 from President Patrick Deane’s Forward with Integrity movement in December 2012, and having the grant matched by the Faculty of Science. Most recently, they received a $140,000 grant from the W. Garfield Weston Foundation.

Dudley explained that with the grant money, the group would

be able to build the gridlock, resettle the trail on the property, manage the space, and provide maintenance for it. They hope to be able to hold long-term experiments on the property in the future, such as scrutinizing the flow of fauna through the plot, and conducting other observatory experiments involving insects and bees.

“What we’re thinking about is we may start to put in native plants, we may ask schools to grow some special plants that you would have to plant in rather than sow as seeds,” said Dudley.

The group of McMaster students and professors have high hopes for the project, and fully intend to realize those goals.

“We have a chance to learn a lot from this site,” said Dudley.

In using their grants and dedicated volunteers, Harvey and Dudley plan to take full advantage of that chance to have the project move forward and to become a leading resource in forestry.

C/O ANDY NYSTROM / FLICKR COMMONS

@TylerWelch4

Gender and mental health addressed at research lecture Kyle Park The Silhouette

C/O JOEY COLEMAN / FLICKR COMMONS

usage pattern is changing, so the money changes to support what they actually want.”

Wycoff believes that the trend will continue.

“Ten years from now, we’ll still have a physical collection, but its footprint will be much smaller,” he said. “The longer-term trend in academic libraries is toward a collection that is almost fully electronic. In the near term, we expect that the Library’s collection will continue to be a blend of print and electronic materials.”

University Librarian Vivian Lewis sees a general move to a more service-based library on the horizon.

“It is also changing how we’re providing services in general. It’s not really just the collections—the libraries are places for service and so it is changing the way that we answer questions,” she said. “If students aren’t physically coming to the library to use the library, we need to support them where they are.”

She continued, “We have to be all about serving students now, even if they aren’t in the physical library.”

“Sometimes we hear someone say ‘I never use the library.’

Reality is that they are using the library all the time, even when they are just accessing Google Scholar,” she said. “Our students and faculty researchers use the library constantly, probably way more than they did a decade ago, when they physically had to put their hat and coat on and walk over.”

On Nov. 15, McMaster Health Sciences, in conjunction with contributions from Canadian women’s health advocate May Cohen, organized a double research lecture featuring the research of Marina Morrow and Don McCreary. Held at McMaster Innovation Park, the two lectures revolved on the relationship between gender and mental health, which addressed issues ranging from the historical discourses on female mental health to the current trends of male body image.

The conference began with Marina Morrow, an associate professor of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University, who presented a lecture entitled “Women’s Mental Health: Beyond Gender Matter” which discussed mental health as a gendered construct.

As the crux of her argument, Morrow discussed the notion of “intersectionality,” a theoretical lens that acknowledges the systemic processes by which mental health is constituted through gender, sexuality, race, class and ability. Morrow proposed that the intersectional approach effectively enables feminist thought to expose inequities within the health system, acknowledge the diverse contexts of women’s lives, and deconstruct the relations of power with regulatory bodies such as policymaking.

Intersectionality is “an emerging research and policy paradigm which seeks to reveal the complex interactions among multiple social categories,” said Morrow.

In exemplifying mental health as “gendered” Morrow provided case study examples on suicide and diagnostic practices.

One such story she spoke on was Amanda Todd, the fifteen-yearold high school student from British Columbia who was bullied to the point of depression and later suicide. Morrow articulated how Todd’s death reflects larger social structures at play in her therapy, that is, how health inequity is part of a “whole social gestalt.”

With diagnostic practices, Morrow argued how the women are main targets of the pharmaceutical industry for anti-anxiety and sleeping pills and bridges this trend to historical notions of women as “irrational and potentially hysteric” in contrast to men.

In addressing the importance of

her research, Morrow stated her intention in having this conversation is to “illuminate social and structural factors that influence the mental health and well-being of women and men.”

Morrow concluded her talk in calling for a social justice framework, a “gender and sex based analysis” on mental health and thinking about new ways to address policy change.

Don McCreary, adjunct professor of Psychology at Brock University spoke on the current research on male body image.

His presentation “Current Research in Boys’ and Men’s Body Image” commented on the erroneous presumption that men and boys are more satisfied with their bodies than females. His findings from numerous research studies suggested the complex many men possess to achieve a “muscular ideal” which he made clear as a culturally constructed ideal.

McCreary terms the psychological disposition “muscular dysmorphia,” referring to one’s belief that they are smaller and skinnier than they actually are.

In contrast to the typical female psyche dealing with being ‘over’ weight, McCreary discussed how males are conditioned with a drive for physical bulk or muscularity. He went on to propose a correlative parallel between muscularity and masculinity whereby men who are ‘bigger’ view themselves as more ‘manly.’

Another study conducted

by McCreary and his colleague Stanley Sadava brought to light the idea that underweight women and overweight men view themselves as healthier than if they were overweight or underweight respectively.

The conference concluded with an acknowledgement of the culturally constructed ideals defining gender. Although muscular dysmorphia is not acknowledged by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

McCreary stated he believes the condition to have significant ties obsessive-compulsive disorder.

In the concluding part of the lecture, McCreary emphasized how masculine muscularity, albeit a “cultural ideal,” possesses the potential for very real psychological effects on the male psyche.

Morrow and McCreary are still continuing their research in unpacking ideas of mental health and gender.

O

theSil.ca

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

PINIONS

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Talking tuiton

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Editor Sam Godfrey Email opinions@thesil.ca Phone 905.525.9140 x27117 Passion, eh?

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Gorging on greens McMaster should consider having its Marauders go meatless once a week.

YOSEIF HADDAD / PHOTO EDITOR

Elizabeth Root The Silhouette Celebrating its tenth birthday, the “Meatless Monday” movement has grown to more than 29 countries since its inauguration at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. This proactive movement has been monumental in inspiring not just individuals, but workplaces, schools and cities to take on this weekly challenge.

Launching this initiative is a step forward to better health, a more sustainable environment and the welfare of animals.

This simple, one-day program can easily be implemented into food services across McMaster University. This is not saying that the entire campus will be banned from serving meat on

Mondays; rather, emphasis could be put on meat-free options for this day. Informative brochures and signage could be displayed to help educate students and inspire them to make positive food choices. Highlighting a meat free special on Monday is an easily attainable action, one that would reap many benefits.

University is a time of development and learning where many students begin to make independent decisions about their own diet and lifestyles. In a longitudinal study done by Tufts University, it is shown that 66 per cent of first years didn’t consume the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables a day, 50 per cent of all students didn’t get enough fiber, 60 per cent were eating too much saturated fats and 59 per cent of

students surveyed said that they knew their diet has gone downhill since they went to post-secondary institutions.

These statistics are problematic in the world we face today, and we must find ways to curb these alarming figures. What greater way to promote healthy living than with weekly reminders and specials of health-conscious food choices. With a focus on meals infused with fresh fruits and vegetables, McMaster’s students would begin their week on an encouraging note, hopefully inspiring them to make positive food and lifestyle choices for the rest of the week.

According to meatlessmonday.com, a reduction in meat consumption, even for just one day of the week, can have

extensive benefits to your health.

One can reduce their risk of heart disease and cancer, fight diabetes, curb obesity and prolong your life. The government could also benefit from this cutback through lowered healthcare spending on treatment of chronic preventable diseases.

By starting Meatless Mondays at McMaster, it would be a huge step to becoming more environmentally sustainable. The United Nations estimates one-fifth of all environmentally deteriorating greenhouse gases come from the meat industry. Water use for meat consumption is also huge (meatlessmonday.com estimates around 1800-2500 gallons of water is needed to produce a single pound of beef). Mac’s environmental footprint can drastically change

with this one-day reduction. All small progresses are baby steps into creating a better planet.

Lastly, there are huge benefits on decreasing meat consumption to reduce animal suffering.

Routine factory farm practices in Canada are beyond horrid, and animals are put through a lifetime of suffering. By reducing the amount of meat on our plates even for just one day of the week, we are directly saving lives.

It would reflect positively on McMaster to take on this proactive initiative, and it would set a precedent for other Canadian schools to follow. Starting a Meatless Monday program at McMaster will snowball effect to healthier lifestyles and sustainable practices.

FEEDBACK What do you do at the end of a bad week?

Opinions editor Sam Godfrey talks about facing disappontment.

DON’T, A9 “Yoga.”

Sasha Amiri, Honours Life Sciences III

“I usually clean, eat food I want to eat, and catch up on T.V.”

Samuel Kim, Health Sciences, Child Health II

“Eat, sleep, rave, repeat.”

Liz Pope, Health Sciences, Child Health II

“Collapse in my bed - take a nap.”

Sonya Elango, Integrated Science and Biology IV

ELIZA POPE / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

theSil.ca

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

OPINIONS

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Middle class shouldn’t miss out on class Stephanie Mascarin The Silhouette Parents often tell their children that they can be whatever they want when they “grow up.” Teachers support this notion, decorating their walls with posters that have slogans like, “your attitude determines your altitude.” The media glamorously portrays young men and women with fun and prosperous careers. Society promotes hard work as the key for success.

What they don’t say, though, is that no one will help you get there.

Obtaining a university degree or college diploma in Ontario should be more affordable for students. As is engrained into children from elementary school onwards, education is a fundamental aspect of having a successful career. But with rising tuition costs it is increasingly difficult for students to afford this education.

Coupled with rising credentialism and increased competition in the job market, this generation of students is faced with more obstacles than generations past.

In Ontario, the average student debt has increased and youth unemployment is higher.

The game is the same as it was for past generations, but the rules have changed; a university or college education is still necessary to obtain a good job, but it is more costly.

Between 1976 and 2012, tuition costs in Ontario have more than doubled, from around $2,500 to $6,600 per year. Although the Ontario government offers the Ontario Student Assistance Program, or OSAP, not every student can qualify for this.

OSAP is a government-funded student loan that is based on “educational plans and personal circumstances.” OSAP does help many students afford school, as they offer a combination of loans and grants that do not need to be paid back until the student’s schooling is complete. In this way, Ontario is making strides in the right direction for making college and university more affordable for students.

However, this loan does not apply to everyone; the amount of money a student and their parents earn during the fiscal year, through their income tax return form, determines if aid is offered and how much. It seems that an education is only obtainable for the upper class and those who are considered by the government to be financially needy. But what about the middle class? What about the average family who earns too little to pay tuition in full, yet too much to qualify for OSAP? In 1990, an Ontario family on average would spend 93 percent of their disposable income on tuition for their child. This equated to about 87 workdays to pay off tuition debt for one child.

This figure has drastically increased to date, with tuition now costing 150 percent of their disposable income to put

a child through school, which translates to 195 workdays to pay back the debt. For families with more than one child, these numbers become staggering. And students often need to obtain graduate or professional degrees to stay competitive, which substantially increases their debt. Students and their families get caught in this trap of needing to obtain an education that they simply cannot afford.

This ties into the issue of student unemployment, as graduates are finding it increasingly difficult to get a job to pay off this debt.

This year, the unemployment rate for people age 15-24 was 15 per cent, which is double the unemployment rate of the general population. When graduates do find a job, it is often in fields that they are either overqualified for or ones that are unrelated to their degree. This is partially due to baby-boomers staying in the workforce longer, which is a variable that the education system cannot control.

However, the system can control how many students are accepted

into programs with a low demand in the economy. Since schools do not do this, there are more graduates than jobs available. Students used to come out of school with a guaranteed job; now they come out with a piece of paper and $30,000 debt. Students are sent out to battle in the real world being told they have ammo, but instead they are given blanks.

It is evident that this needs to change. Imbedded in higher education is the notion of exclusion; part of what makes a degree or diploma so valuable is that it is specialized and elite. However, this exclusion should only be based on academics.

Why should someone’s financial situation affect the level of education they are able to obtain?

Privileging the wealthy, or those who can qualify for funding like OSAP,

over other students is not conducive to societal progression.

Just because someone can afford school does not mean they will benefit society. Excluding a substantial portion of the population from being able to afford an education is limiting society’s potential; perhaps the next Steve Jobs will come from a low-income family.

This generation of graduate students is Ontario’s, Canada’s, and the world’s future. It is a shame that society leaves them so ill equipped to be successful in the real world—successful not only financially, but also personally.

Imagine how productive students could be if they did not have to worry about staggering tuition debt, or if they could enter into the field of their choice. There might be fewer students entering the corporate rat race and more pursuing careers based simply on their passion.

For the sake of graduates and society, hopefully there will be at time when children can be whatever they want when they “grow up.”

SAM GODFREY / OPINONS EDITOR

theSil.ca

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

OPINIONS

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on’t sweat the small stuff Sam Godfrey Opinions Editor I got my first ‘D’ in my first year at Mac. Albeit, it was a ‘D’ plus, but that didn’t matter. It felt like everyone else in my faculty was kicking academic ass, and here I was, barely avoiding a fail. I was pretty embarrassed to tell my peers when they asked.

But I was terrified to tell my parents. I avoided it for as long as possible, dodging every question they left wiggle-room for dodging, changing the conversation oh-so-subtly when I felt they were straying too close to an inescapable course of conversation. However, despite my truly masterful avoidances, there is no escape from the Minivan Inquisition.

My parents were sitting in the front, facing the highway, and I was sitting behind them, facing disownment. When I finally managed to say it – in what I hope was a nonchalant but formal tone – I held my breath for their response.

My mother, a two-time university grad woman who prizes reason, intelligence and hard work, turned to my father and said, “I remember my first ‘D’.”

My father, a double-degreed man with a sharp wit and voracious appetite for books, nodded and said matter-of-factly, “Everyone should get a ‘D’ at some point in their life.”

I don’t know why I was so surprised that my parents reacted so calmly: they’re very reasonable people who have been around for a few years. Long enough to know

what is and isn’t worth freaking out about.

That moment in the minivan reinforced a message my parents had taught to me throughout the years, mostly by example.

Learning from mistakes, not dwelling on them, is the best way to keep moving forward. I know I’m not saying anything new, nothing earth-shattering and monumental, but I thought you might need to here it now, near the end of the term.

Maybe you bombed a test you didn’t study for. Maybe you got a bad grade on a paper you wrote during an all-nighter. Maybe you tried to learn all of Personality in one weekend by listening to the podcasts while you slept, and for some reason still did poorly on the midterm.

It happens to everyone. We all slip up on our studying schedules, or go out on nights before midterms, or convince ourselves that starting an HBO series three days before a paper is due is totally fine and you’ll be able to get it done anyways.

Learn from that, don’t do it again. But don’t beat yourself up for it. Regret is useless. It’s too-little-too-late unproductive.

I think this is something we’ve all heard, and most of us practice anyways. But harder even than getting back up and brushing ourselves off after a mistake is doing the same when we haven’t made one.

Maybe you bombed a test you did study for. Maybe you got a bad grade on a paper you wrote over two months of hard work.

Maybe you tried to learn all of Personality by attending every

single lecture, listening to the podcasts to beef up your notes, doing the practice sets, and for some reason still did poorly on the midterm.

This too happens to everyone. And it’s so much harder to deal with this. Maybe because you can’t just learn to blame yourself and move on, lessons learned. But when there are no positive lessons to learn, you feel like all you have are the negatives.

Take a bit to be sad. Curl up in blankets. Eat something because of the way it tastes. Get a good, tight, warm hug.

Yeah, it is disappointing.

But it’s not the end of the world. It’s not even the end of your world. Remind yourself about the things you’re good at, whether that be chemistry or a video game. Do one of those things. Talk to someone who knows how rad you are, and reminds you of that.

And then keep on going forward.

When I was in the fifth grade, I convinced my parents to let me get an email address. I thought long and hard about what I wanted this address to be. It had to be cool, obviously, and it had to be me. A difficult dichotomy to negotiate, yes, but it finally came to me. I told my father who wrote it down so he was sure to get it write, and later that night he showed me how to log in to my first email account: cheetahgirl@canada.com.

If I can live with that, man, we’re all going to be okay.

Take a nap. Eat a cookie. Talk to a friend.

You got this.

Glass houses and the NSA Kacper Niburski The Silhouette My mom always wanted big, broad, impossibly large windows.

When we moved into our new house after searching for months, that’s the first thing she said. In a subtle tone that only the stress of three childbirths and years of parenting could bring, she said that it was all so very nice – so very, very nice – except for the windows. “They’ll never catch the light,” she said.

And for the most part, they didn’t. On cloud-drunk days, the house was the center of a black hole with the slivers of ambient light being vacuumed into the corners of the windows. And on summer afternoons when the sun would stretch on a smile that beamed endlessly, we still needed a flashlight to navigate some of the rooms in the house.

Living there for a year, I decided to come up with a solution myself. Though I think of my six-year-old self as a boy soaked in sunlight rather than cloaked in darkness, back then I raced towards my mother with bundles of paper and drawings. On an avalanche of disordered sheets of white, I presented my mom a design that would brighten up her day in all senses: a glass house.

I told her to imagine it. Imagine that the windows wouldn’t be a subset of the house, but they’d be it entirely. Imagine that every

day the sun would greet her and me alike with a rosy glow that warmed our feet and toes. Imagine that in all directions the light would be reflected and reflected again from all angles. And imagine that in doing so, the rays of sunshine wouldn’t be blocked by the house but instead pass through it. We would be sunlight entirely, a single point on a wave of yellow, and our house would be lit up daily.

Poring over my scribbles and doodles, frantically pointing to one warped blueprint after another, my mom gently smiled.

“Thank you,” she said. “But not now. Maybe later.”

At first, I was dismayed at her hesitance. Here was the life she craved, one with windows for walls, one where light flooded rather than trickled, where every day would glow unimpeded, and where no matter the location, everything would be illuminated in sunshine. It was perfect not simply because it was what she wanted, but because it was so much more than that.

But through the same nuance she used to veil her original disappointment in the little mousetraps we had for windows, she was trying to tell me that a glass house is not what she wanted.

Only 20 years later, after a flurry of facial hair and braces and etching out my own individuality, did I learn why. The revelation occurred on June 9, 2013 (and

refreshed yesterday with leaks regarding Australia and Indonesia) during a breakfast of eggs and coffee. As the light dripped through our windows and I scrunched around food while watching television, I learned of the National Security Agency’s indiscriminate collection of nearly all forms of data and metadata both foreign and domestic, and more importantly, what my mom was trying to tell me.

Born in Socialist Poland and raised there her entire life, my mom was stressing to a six-yearold Kacper that while light is important, it is not all-important.

There are curtains for a reason, and there will be days when they will have to be drawn, when the light glinting through the glass is overbearing, blinding even.

Though my mother experienced an iron curtain in Poland and though I may be reading into her subtlety with too academic of an interest, I feel that underpinning her words was the innate idea of privacy. Living under a longstanding, parasitic tradition of invasive dictators who minutely scrutinized the actions of the masses for their own political gains – from compiling long, arbitrary dossiers or tracking citizen’s movements with intense vigor – my mother’s experience under a quasi-totalitarian regime led to a deeply ingrained belief of modern-day privacy that is both physical and digital.

The NSA, I feel, have worked against this belief through apparently, though certainly clandestine, democratic means. While arguing against the legitimacy of these constitutional claims is a case law consideration, the important fact is that our private lives have been invaded into for the supposed public good. By allowing analysts to track, chart, dissect and determine relations through our digital data, we are fighting terrorism by ensuring that we aren’t terrorists ourselves.

This, of course, is horseshit.

Forgetting that little data serves to support the claim that terrorists have been foiled by such dragnet collection and that politicians and NSA supporters alike have refused to divulge the extent of the mass surveillance, the spy agencies have succumbed to fullblown myopia. Instead of standing as a vanguard against terror, they have wrought it. By collecting all, people begin to self-censor themselves. They may no longer keep a domain of individuality where they are free to influence themselves from other parties and instead comply with some broader mandate. In the act of being charted up, analyzed, and held hostage by their opinions, they may no longer be autonomous.

The freedom that was supposed to be guaranteed through mass surveillance is limited in the degenerate pursuit of it. For though the intentions were good,

if they were trying to stop the vulnerability against a global threat by surveying all, they have failed because everything has become dangerous; if complete surveillance was a means to ensure hope against fear, then those same invasions – the fear-inducing perversions that senseless violence can cause – have become commonplace; and if it was avoid the sacrifice of liberty in the hopes of security, then they have lost both.

For no matter what is said, the terrorists won when we became them.

My friends shrug indifferently at these revelations. They say they aren’t doing anything wrong so they need not worry.

But I don’t think so. To be guilty before being considered innocent is a slippery slope. Besides not knowing a concrete definition of terrorism or the certain key words that will result in flagging and further government scrutiny, I think back to my mother’s nuance and my crayon-scribbled glass house and I am reminded that the moment you open the window to the world, you’ll catch a cold.

No matter the amount of light that shines, you’ll no longer be private, you’ll no longer be yourself, and one day – maybe after you’ve been scrutinized, judged, and deemed a threat, and it’s cloudy and rainy and thunder is on the way – you’ll pray for blinds.

theSil.ca

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

OPINIONS

A10

Choose your passion, shape your country Canadians today have the unique opportunity to influence our country’s future.

Don’t let apathy get in the way of choosing what that future is.

Arnaud Thia-Nam The Silhouette If there is one thing I have learnt from my expatriation, it is to better appreciate my French status.

More often than not, I would only be asked about stereotypes earned many years ago by people who, I can only assume, were poor representatives of who and what France is really about. Yes, I shower every day, (most of) the French women I know shave on a more-than-regular basis, and even though I miss the sweet taste of overly priced baguettes, I have now gone one and a half years without shedding a tear about it.

I couldn’t help but notice that those who would try to reduce me to a fixed mental image they have of what a French person should be, never actually understood what being Canadian is all about.

And although I cannot blame them for it — after all, one’s identity is sufficiently hard to define — there is always this feeling that something, anything, can be said about it. What makes you more Canadian than me?

Stereotypes often do come from some kind of truth. I would know: France hasn’t won a war single-handedly in eons, and after fifteen months teaching and living amongst Canadians, I can

honestly say that your amiability is nothing less than what you are celebrated for. However, I have yet to be proven that Australians aren’t as welcoming as Canadians. Your politeness does not, can not and should not define you.

Politeness is a polished façade. It is a social commodity that governs over people’s interactions.

When I meet you on campus, even though I do not know you, I will hold the door for you, smile and even answer your greeting.

What part of me truly wants to do all of this, and what part only applies a protocol learnt and mastered in response to the need for social recognition? My humanism, for all you know, could very well conceal my hypocrisy.

In my years of studying various subjects, I have found helpful to resort to differences in order to qualify, or better define, a notion. What, then, differentiates Canadians from their neighbours to the South? There is the obvious answer that while your Constitution holds both English and French as official languages, the Americans have none. Or better yet, that you do not have a President, but a Prime Minister, and don’t engage so often in wars on (insert noun here). To be honest, most of us Europeans could not tell apart an Edmontonian from a

Detroit-dweller, especially if the Talk to each other, try and underlatter exhibits the Maple Leaf flag stand if the vexation you may feel on their backpack. is only yours, or if more people Canada has so much potenrelate to this discomfort in which tial. Its heritage is vivid, its legcase, address it. acy still warm. Your future is yet I hear your disinterest and to be determined, and it can lead drifting away from anything poyou anywhere —from mediocrity litical. Please, in turn, hear this: to greatness. politics, for Yet, I feel better or for something worse, will missing in play a part people from in your life.

“Each and every my talks with Politics does McMaster not have to be one of you should students: dull, it is not be passionate about passion. I am about thinkshaping the future of genuinely ing: “who concerned elected this your country.” whenever I guy?” while ask, “what is watching your passion Mayor Rob in life?” and Ford’s latest hear some people answer “Twitter idiocy on the news. It is about and Facebook,” or even worse “I being involved and using the right have none.” to take action. Authority does not Each and every one of you stem from having been voted in should be passionate about office some time in the past, it is shaping the future of your couna constant renewal of trust in one try. Strike while the iron is hot. person’s ability to act in your best Commit. You have been given an interest. Only you can know what opportunity to attend a post-secthis best interest is. Challenge the ondary institution and gain an authority — it is the only way for outstanding education. Be it in it to be legitimate. Without your Mechanical Engineering, Life confidence, authority is nothing Sciences or Religious Studies, but despotic. “Without the freeyou have the opportunity to make dom to criticize, there is no true a difference in your field. Use it. praise.”

“

Your country’s destiny is yet to be written. What Canada needs is dedication. And although you should be proud of your country, the way I am proud of mine, what you should do, above anything else, is to give your country and fellow countrymen a reason to be proud of it.

What makes you more Canadian than me? Is it your passport?

Is it your way of pronouncing “about” or is it your ability to influence your country’s future?

Know where you come from, where you are now, where you want to be headed and perhaps, too, where you do not want to find yourselves. Do not let the United States test its chemical weapons on your soil as they did during the Vietnam War (with the approval of your government), refuse to pay for winter maintenance on a highway that is not even yours to begin with, but still costs you an average of one million dollars per year (Alaska Highway in Yukon). Do not let your 70-year-old neighbour from down the street cast your vote.

Do not let others dictate what will become of you, but seize your own authority and assert it.

If you are to be Canadian citizens, do for yourselves what no one else will do for you: stand up.

theSil.ca

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

OPINIONS

Thursday, November 21 3rd floor, MUSC, CIBC Hall 11am - 5pm

Would you like to be featured in Community Connections?

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

PH: 905.522.9799 ext. 248

Findlay Attorneys. 20 Hughson St. S., Suite 510, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 2A1 Findlay Attorneys will determine which agency or group will be included based on a first come, first serve basis and at the discretion of Findlay Attorneys.

Findlay Attorneys cannot guarantee inclusion of any materials submitted and therefore accepts no responsibility for any ad or information exclusion. Materials should be submitted at least two weeks prior to date of publishing.

A10

NOTSPEC.COM

BLUE IS THE NEW BLACK Eiffel 65 begins reunion tour across Canada; does not accept green $20 bills as payment for tickets B3

THURSDAY

NOVEMBER 21, 2013

HAMILTON SPECULATOR THE

STRE TCHING THE TRUTH SINCE 1934

LOCAL

Up Stoney Creek without a paddle; Top 3 ways to avoid east Hamilton A3

Editorial actually changes student’s mind

WORLD

Quiet defecation claimed as fundamental human right A8

JUSTICE

Hamilton man gets twenty for being wrong race, social class C4

SOUNDING OFF

Burgundies break sound barrier MUSC was host to a scientific marvel as an underappreciated student group broke the glass ceiling.

TIBERIUS SLICK Vancouver is our Hollywood. Toronto is our New York. Montreal is our Hamilton. Now we can add a new city synonym to the ever-expanding list: Saskatoon is our Nebraska.

Critics are skeptical as Nebraska is a state and not a city, but proponents of the designation are defending the decision as the culmination of hours of thought and research.

“It’s just common sense, really. They are both entirely devoid of redeeming qualities or even cognizant citizens,” said Flynn Poopsie, head of activist group Saskatchewhy.

“I met a guy from Saskatoon once, and I legitimately forgot his name and face within seconds of losing direct eye contact. They are an impressively unimpressive bunch,” said Poopsie.

Saskatchewhy, also formerly known as Saskatchewhere, is focused on creating a new national identity for the oft-forgotten capital, by likening it to a state whose only claims to fame are the invention of Kool-Aid and a museum of rocks.

“I feel that by creating a partnership of referential co-dependance, both cities can be dragged out of obscurity by flouting that very same obsolescence.”

Poopsie isn’t stopping there, as there are plenty of other Canadian cities that desperately require the same treatment.

“When this is over I’m going to start pushing for Halifax is the new Hawaii, and maybe five-six years down the line I can start my campaign to have Iqaluit likened to a street lamp on the interstate. You know, because the lights are on but there’s nobody around for miles.”

HOBART QUINN

WAR!(

Things it is good for

)

Bringing “democracy” to impoverished third-world nations.

Killing time.

Supporting the unstable economy of imperialist warmongers.

Gaining an upper hand in diplomatic pissing matches.

Giving college liberals something to protest.

Uh, oil? duh.

If we don’t check who has the pointiest sticks every few years we might forget who the world superpowers are and accidently live in some kind of global utopia.

Gross.

MUSC atrium left in tatters after spirit squad’s cheer rips through building infrastructure

STRETCH POTACKI Unspirited Speculator

At approximately noon yesterday, a deafening noise resounded across McMaster’s campus.

No, it wasn’t another mysterious “incident” at the Nuclear Reactor. Rather, the origin of the boom was McMaster’s loudest student group, the Burgundies.

It was unclear whether the Burgundies were actively cheering when they shattered the sound barrier, or just engaged in inane conversation in their hovels. In either case, resulting sonic boom shattered all the glass in MUSC atrium, propelling shards into countless Teriyaki Experience noodle bowls.

“This is a proud day for us,”

WEATHER HIGH: JAZZ HANDS LOW: RAZMATAZ Where has all the ceremony gone? If I wanted to watch a athletic competition I wouldn’t have brought my foam finger.

said Burgundies member Royce McKusker, as he bled from both ears onto his jumpsuit.

This morale boost comes during a difficult month for the Burgundies, most of whom received insufficient love and attention as small children. With McMaster’s football team eliminated from the playoffs, the group can no longer pretend that the home game crowds are cheering for them and not Marauders players. This, in turn, makes it especially difficult for the Burgundies to sustain the delusion that even one single student finds them entertaining or valuable.

Still, McKusker is proud of the Burgundies’ supersonic accomplishment. “People think the Burgundies are useless and don’t do anything,” he said.

Downton Crappy

SPECU

Shit Hastings travels to Yorkshire country to have some intrigue in his life; steps in cow shit, loves it. see ONLINE

Saskatchewan’s capital is old hat for a dead city Senior Saskalator

Opinionated Speculator

Among the vast quantity of students campus-wide who read the Opinions editorial last week, one in particular was especially moved.

In an interview with The Speculator, Joseph Gary formally stated that his point of view is now different, after reading the piece. “It didn’t matter that I was morally entrenched in my opinion,” says Gary, “they presented really good arguments.”

Gary says it began innocuously, after going online to have some calm and respectful discussions with fellow internet commenters. But, after reading the incredibly well-written and thoughtful editorial, Gary had to step back and really take a close look at his life and choices.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from a university newspaper," said Gary.

When asked if they would like the opportunity to meet the author of the editorial Gary replied enthusiastically. "Of course! He sounds like a really cool guy! He is a guy, right?"

Saskatoon to soon attune to new boon

Being excessively, painfully loud for no reason is something, right?.”

Royce McKusker “But being excessively, painfully loud for no reason is something, right?” McMaster’s administration is less impressed, however, and hopes to prevent similar destruction in the future.

Plans are underway to relocate the Burgundies’ headquarters to a soundproof dome 500 meters below the Earth’s surface.

TEN HALI-FACTS YOU SHOULD

TAKING BACK THE G-WORD:

KNOW BEFORE GOING EAST A3

IT’S ALL “GREEK” TO ME B4

SUCKING DICK FOR SPARE

MAN MAKES A FLAN D1

CHANGE; CANADA’S NEW

THAT NEW PHILOSOPHY

MIDDLE CLASS A6

DEGREE WOULD GO GREAT

HIS-BAL REMEDIES B1

WITH MY GOATEE G2

DISCLAIMER: Despite what your grade school teachers taught you, there are such things as stupid questions. If you ask the master anything pertaining to semantics, specifics, sonorifics, or even sexual positions, he is obligated to, and will probably thoroughly enjoy, mail you to a part of the world where questions are not only discouraged, but downright illegal if you don’t own land and/or a herd of cattle. Like Mongolio or some shit like that.

Disclaimer: The Hamilton Speculator is a work of satire and fiction and should not under any circumstances be taken seriously. Unless you’re into that sort of thing. Then do what you want. I’m not your dad.

The sun shines twice daily on Saskatoon, but some would say that is thrice too many.

PER ISSUE: 1994 vintage 2$ Canadian bill

INCL. HST, PST where applicable.

L

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

theSil.ca

IFESTYLE

Threadcount

B1

B2

Editors Amanda Watkins & Miranda Babbitt

Confessions

B4

Email lifestyle@thesil.ca silhappens.tumblr.com

What helps you de-stress?

“Going for a long run.”

- Alex, Assistant Sports Editor

“Video games and afternoon naps.”

- Yoseif, Senior Photo Editor

“Giving The National’s ‘High Violet’ a spin on my record player.”

- Tomi, Features Editor

“Pick up where I left off in my book.”

- Andrew, Production Editor “I always cook with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food.”

- Eliza, Assistant Photo Editor

en ta l

illn

es s

“I jam out on my mandolin.”

- Ben, Multimedia Editor

N

ot ici m ng arning signs of w and reacting to the

AMANDA WATKINS / LIFESTYLE EDITOR

Amanda Watkins LifeStyle Editor This time last year, I wasn’t completely myself.

Last November I had my first of many panic attacks. I was at my student house attempting to complete an essay that was due two days later, and I broke down.

I lost control of my emotions and started screaming and crying.

My housemate came rushing to my room because she thought someone had died. I called my parents and my dad drove from Mississauga to Hamilton to bring me home.

I felt hopeless. It was an immense and overwhelming stress and sadness that I couldn’t control no matter what I did.

I talked to my friends and family about the stress I was feeling, and they all assured me that this was a normal thing to happen to someone my age, and that I would bounce back in no time.

But I didn’t. The stress got worse, and suddenly what was once just mental frustration was beginning to disrupt my physical

health. I couldn’t sleep, I would forget to eat, I started fainting and was rushed to the hospital on more than one occasion. I had lost control of myself, and thought that if I ignored the warning signs long enough, they would simply just disappear. In an attempt to turn my life back around, I resorted to unhealthy coping mechanisms that included repetitive, ritualized behavior, such as obsessive counting and forcing myself to stay awake.

The stress was tough, but what I didn’t realize at the time was that I was dealing with something greater than everyday worry.

“Everyone has stress, and especially everyone has stress around exam time,” explained Debra Earl, a nurse with the Student Wellness Centre’s Mental Health Team. “But with people who are exposed to a lot of stress, often depression can result.”

Hearing a word like depression used to describe yourself can be shocking and disheartening. Months after that particular breakdown, my inability to focus

Looking for a place to talk on campus?

and sleep continued, and my unhealthy coping mechanisms became a default. After running from my problem for months, I realized that my symptoms were not going to go away on their own and soon after, I was diagnosed with a combination of general anxiety, depression and early signs of obsessive compulsive disorder.

“People will be struggling with a lot of symptoms, with their anxiety, with their depression, trying to manage it on their own, until it affects their academics.

Then they realize, this is bigger than me, I can’t do this by myself,” said Earl.

When I was struggling with my health last year, the hardest part about finding help was accepting that I had a problem and asking for help. I was always really “normal” when it came to school, so having troubles with stress was surprising and hard to understand. But even if you don’t have a history of mental illness, during times of high stress, anything is possible.

“People who have never

come in before are coming in and its beyond the stage of just dealing with stress, it’s often resulted in an anxiety disorder,” said Earl in reference to a number of students who approach the SWC for help.

Mental illness is not something uncommon among students our age, and it’s not something to be ashamed of either.

In the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey, 17 per cent of Canadians over the age of 15, approximately 4.9 million individuals, perceived themselves as having a need for mental health care in the past 12 months. It’s not a rare problem, yet for some reason, reaching out for help feels embarrassing and over dramatic.

“It would be better if people came in sooner, but most people don’t come in until a crisis has resulted,” explained Earl when speaking about early diagnosis.

There’s no reason to feel guilty, ashamed, or disappointed for feeling sick. It may not be something you have control over anymore and its ok to seek help for it. If I had dealt with my problem earlier on, I probably

would have had a much more positive year and I would have found healthy coping mechanisms earlier on.

Earl encourages students who are having difficulties coping with stress to reconsider their eating and sleeping habits and make time for activities outside of school work.

If your stress is keeping you up at night, interfering with your work, or is making you feel unwell, reach out to a friend, family member, your physician, or one of the many resources on campus. Or even if you find that a friend or relative is acting out of character, initiate discussion, they may just be waiting for someone to approach them.

Running away from your problems is easy at the beginning, but trust me, they’ll catch up to you before you catch up to yourself.

Student Wellness

Peer Support

SHEC

Both located in the basement of MUSC, the wellness centre and lounge offer a safe space to talk.

The wellness centre offers counselling and medical services, open to all Mac students.

The MSU Peer Support Line is a confidential support line open 7 days a week from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.

You can call the support line at: 905-525-9140 x. 28888

The Student Health Education Centre, located on the second floor of MUSC, provides confidential peer support.

@whatthekins

theSil.ca

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

LIFESTYLE

B2

Martin Asante Fourth Year Commerce Student

Shoes: Asos Watch: Citizen Suit: Pinstripe

YOSEIF HADDAD / SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR

Two in one day. What is this madness?

SUDOKU MADNESS Go easy on yourself!

For the masochists.

Reprinted from http://www,websudoku.com with permission

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

theSil.ca

SEXandthe STEELCITY

Relationship syntax Ana Qarri Staff Reporter I care about what people think.

The way people perceived me in social situations during high school and university, has impacted who I am now in a variety of ways.

I think it’s fair to say that, to some degree, this is the case for most people. Most of us want to be well-liked. We want our friends to think we’re decent people and fun to hang out with. In different ways, we all seek some sort of external validation for our actions and decisions.

For me, this became much more evident once I entered the world of romantic relationships.

I found myself wondering if my friends would approve. I began to think that people in my life had to know about the relationship for it to be considered “legitimate.”

When I started to realize that I was doing this, I thought it was all me - a self-imposed need for approval. Recently, however, I’ve noticed that this need is a by-product of the sort of conversations that surround romantic relationships.

The main problem seems to be the notion that there is only one right way to be in a relationship. I’ve seen friends open up about their relationships only to receive questioning looks and thoughtless comments.

Most people subscribe to the physically and emotionally monogamous kind of relationship, and find it difficult to understand anything located elsewhere on the spectrum. I’ve been guilty of this, too. As a ‘monogamist’, it’s taken me time to comprehend that the way I discuss relationships can unintentionally invalidate the feelings and experiences of others.

Implying that your relationship

preferences are superior can be extremely harmful to those who have taken time to come to terms with what they want from romantic involvements.

In addition to judging the type of relationship, the way people act in relationships is also a frequent topic of discussion.

If you don’t do -insert action here- then you’re probably not into each other. Looking at these claims critically reveals just how logically unsound they are, but in conversations these pass off as completely valid observations.

We have to remember that romance and love mean different things to different people. Some couples want to see each other all the time and others don’t. Some like to be affectionate in public and others not so much.

By dictating ways that people act in relationships (within the bounds of ethical behaviour) as either “right” or “wrong”, we put relationships in a box, and limit romantic interactions between people to what we think is normal.

More importantly, we involve ourselves and our opinion in matters that should be in the hands of the people in the relationship.

Unless someone is complaining and asking for advice regarding their relationship, there’s no reason for us to give our unsolicited opinions.

And if you’re like me and have found yourself looking for approval outside of you and your partner(s), take some time to figure out why.

We enter relationships to make ourselves happy, not others, and the language we use when discussing relationships should reflect that.

SEX LIFE REALITY CHECK

“

I know that real life isn’t anything like Glee or Gossip Girl, but maybe all this time I’ve been subconsciously influenced by the media into thinking that many of my peers are like the actors I see everyday on screen.

peer-based

health education & resources

@anaqarri

LIFESTYLE

Nima Nahiddi The Silhouette Going through SHEC’s SEX 101 pamphlet, I was surprised by the fact that 40 per cent of university students have not had sex within the past six months. Movies and TV shows give us a picture of high school and university students having frequent – if not outrageously unrealistic – hook ups. And although I know that real life isn’t anything like Glee or Gossip Girl, maybe all this time I’ve been subconsciously influenced by the media into thinking that many of my peers are like the actors I see everyday on screen.

I decided to look around for more statistics about the sex lives of Canadian university students and get a better picture of what really makes up the average student’s lifestyle.

The most recent survey I found was a joint publication by Trojan Condoms and SIECCAN (The Sex Information and Education Council of Canada), which was full of mixed signals. Trojan Condoms is a huge corporation, with a specific agenda to sell more products. But, SIECCAN seems like a reliable scholarly journal that specifically publishes research on Canadian sexual health. Assuming they’re reliable, here are some of the statistics that I thought were particularly interesting: • 67 per cent of men and 80 per cent of women surveyed said they were ‘happy’ or ‘very happy’ with their sex lives.

• 34 per cent of students described their most recent sexual encounter as being casual.

• 25 per cent of participants never had sex.

• Only 51 per cent of those engaging in sexual activities were using condoms.

It is nice to know that the majority of participants felt good about their sex lives (this includes those who choose not to have sex) and thought that having or abstaining from sex positively affects their overall health. These numbers paint a picture of a very sex-positive environment in Canadian universities. Moreover, the number of ‘casual’ sexual encounters was surprisingly lower than I had expected (maybe I

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need to change what kind of TV I watch).

At first, I thought the fact that only one half of participants use condoms was a very low statistic. Perhaps this was Trojan’s ploy to get us all to buy more condoms?

The study notes that the main motivation for condom use is birth control, and so I can understand that there are other methods of birth control. I personally know a few couples in monogamous relationships that choose a hormonal contraceptive method over condoms. If most people who are having sex are exclusive, then why is this cause of concern?

As many news articles around the study suggest, condoms are not only for birth control but the best method of STI prevention. With the recent rise of chlamydia and gonorrhoea – both of which don’t often have signs or symptoms – it seems as though condom use should be on the rise for Canadian university students.

At this point, I realized Trojan’s marketing campaign has worked very effectively on me. However, there’s also an alternative message that I received from the study: get an STI check before you stop using condoms with your partners.

Even if you only have one partner at the time, you can still give or get STIs from past experiences.

You can also never be certain that your partner is only engaged with you – especially since you can both have different definitions of the term “exclusive relationship.”

I decided to go check out Trojan’s website to get more information on condoms. Underneath the flashy condom and sex product advertisement, there’s a link to their website “weknowsex.ca” This turned out to be an amusing and informative experience. I recommend it for individuals who want very basic information about sex and STIs. The website is also very easily navigable. It felt very honest that the first fact to appear was “only way to stay 100 per cent safe is to not have any type of sex. Otherwise, stay protected.”

Even if the Trojan-SIECCAN study was commissioned to boost sales, I feel as though their goal of “be safe, instead of sorry” also benefits those who choose to buy their product.

Dear November, Jason Woo The Silhouette You are human bromhidrosis.

You are the guy who pees in the urinal right next to mine despite there being other empty urinals.

You are the opposite of Robert Downey Jr. All joking aside, you are the worst. Every year I tell myself that I shouldn’t hold you to such a high standard – after all, Hallow-

een was pretty amazing this year, especially with all the Miley Cyrus costumes parading around. But here you go again, proving me wrong year after year.

In my work-induced fits of anger, I’ve come to realize that I hate you because you’re an incredible tease. The weather is too cold for fall fashion but too warm for winter wear. Sometimes it looks like you might unleash some snow, but instead you either

let the rain drizzle or sprinkle us with some hail.

And then there’s what you do to me and my relationship with school, or lack thereof. With exams around the corner, I should be looking into studying, but instead I am clobbered by a wave of assignments and projects. This in turn means I’m spending an awful (correction: deathly tragic) amount of my time in the library, where I can gaze out the window at 6 p.m. to let my mind innocently wander… only to see nothing but a pitchblack sheet of doom. I don’t understand the trade of one extra hour for what seems like an eternity of darkness.

Sometimes I decide to head over to Starbucks, where Christmas drinks are back and maybe the baristas will comfort me with their recommendation to enjoy a sweet today, to which I always say yes. At the end of my drink, however, I’m really just reminded that it’s November, and alas, these red cups are a part of the teasing nature of this dreadful month.

I’ve also had to retire my bike because it’s too cold, so now I have to walk like a caveman. In my walks, often marked by philosophical musings, I get to see just how drab the world around me is. Most of the leaves have fallen off the trees and the colourful fall

hues have all faded to a monotonous grey.

Maybe I’m not giving you enough credit, November. After all, it’s through collective complaints about you that I have bonded with many friends. Nothing like some good ol’ fashioned talking behind a month’s back to bring us all together.

I would love to talk more about how awful you are, but I have a paper to hand in tonight.

Thanks for that.

Feel free to leave whenever your cold heart desires, A struggling student

theSil.ca

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

LIFESTYLE

confessions of a

Tightrope Walker Redefining Malaysia’s capital past various baggage handling reading and postulating.

Kristin immediately attached vehicles and equipment, evenAmidst this hectic schedherself to Ken, requested his tually finding ourselves in the ule, we did find time to visit the phone number and address, airport to make our way through city, which is quite an incredible The excitement was palpable promised him she would look a security check and retrieve our place, mixing influences from as the 777 from Cathay Pacific into immigration laws and a job baggage. so many different cultures that touched down on the runway in opportunity. She was almost One of my father’s three it was a sensory overload. The Singapore. panic-stricken and I was aghast. associates, a lovely woman by the sights were wonderful, the food All the sights through the You hear stories, through name of Angeline, had already sumptuous, and the people jet’s window were new and excitthe grapevine, through modern made arrangements for a driver thought-provoking. This brings ing, it was literally a jungle out media outlets, in your textbooks, to pick us up from Kuala Lumme to my reasons for feeling there − even at an industrial site but that doesn’t compare to shakpur International Airport and such immense gratitude. like the airport. As I made my ing the man’s hand. I promised bring us to our hotel, which was One evening, while Skypway off of the plane, I was poshim that I would look into the located in KL’s embassy district. ing my girlfriend, Kristin, the sessed with a feeling of grandeur, possibilities, and his gratitude Thank goodness I took as many housekeeper had come in to similar to the awe inspired in a was overwhelming. He returned shots as I could through the cab’s tend to my room. While he was child at Christmas. I just couldn’t to my room the day I was checkwindows because the drive was a making my bed I made my way wait to get out of the confines of ing out, insisting we are brothers, reverie, a quilt of exotic multito my father’s room to pick up a the airport and soak in this wonthat I must help him and his cultural buildings and landscapes few things and Kristin, who had derful and exotic foreign land. family come to Canada, speakmixing Indian, Thai, Chinese, had a few drinks with her friends I successfully made my way ing of our country like it was a and Malay influences. prior to the call, decided to strike through customs to find my mythical place.

The hotel was quite a nice up a conversation with him. father and three of his business I could discuss the differplace with a peculiar architecturWhen I returned, an entire story associates waiting for me with a ences between the two sides of al design. There were fountains unfolded that obviated any right luggage cart. Each of them could the planet, but I would rather throughout the main floor, with to ever question how fortunate sense my new luminescence, and emphasize the similarities. a row of rubber plants growI am. made jovial remarks about it.

We all seek freedom, the ing against a greenhouse style As it turns out, the houseMy father and I needed to catch peace of mind to be able to strive overhang. Much of it was open keeper, who’s name is Ken, had an airbus to Kuala Lumpur in a for more, and the dignity in concept, with various apertures come to Kuala Lumpur on a few hours so we all decided to being self-sufficient. This is not to the outdoors. But, this is work Visa from Bangladesh, grab a quick coffee, sat around a available everywhere to the same not meant to be a memoir of leaving his wife and five-yearquaint cafe table and discussed degree that we experience it here, architecture or travel. I write this old son, whom he had never culture, currency, and travel. I particularly as students at such a particular article to address the seen. He was contracted by an polished up my latte, we said our fine university providing us with overwhelming gratitude I feel agency to work for the hotel, goodbyes, and my father and I the cultural capital that millions to be a McMaster student, and a who had rented him a room at a made our way to the gate for our across the world will never have Canadian Citizen. hostel and paid him the sum of airbus. the opportunity to earn. The This was a business trip, but 900 Ringettes per month, which Once we landed in Kuala years you spend here, learning, I was also committed to keeping totals roughly 330 Canadian Lumpur, we made our way onto growing, living, are invaluable. up on my lectures and schoolDollars, all of which he sends the tarmac into the overwhelmThey are a social and culturwork. Thus my days began early back to his wife and family. ing humidity. As the Canadian al capital worth far more than and ended very late. A lot of my Ken works 12-hour days, I am, I was dressed for our late any mundane printed paper, time was spent presenting trainsix days a week. He shared a few fall weather, which I realized was manufactured good, or presuping modules to Great Eastern stories of his life experiences in clearly counter-productive as the posed precious material.

Life’s team of trainers, and in the Bangladesh that would make blast of heat washed over me. hotel room, smoking, typing, your teeth rattle. Needless to say, We followed the queue

Rick Kanary The Silhouette

C/O RICK KANARY

B4

WEATHER

SUCKS? BINDING DOESN’T HAVE TO

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ALL NOVEMBER LONG ONLY AT UNDERGROUND MEDIA + DESIGN

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

theSil.ca

B6

LIFESTYLE

Little red cups With not-so-little calorie counts* Miranda Babbitt Assistant LifeStyle Editor For many, the holiday season begins only as soon as the first house drapes their house in Christmas lights. For others, it begins once Michael Bublé’s velvety voice croons through every sound system in the city. And for a handful of us, perhaps those most dependent on a nearly religious caffeine fix at the start of every morning, the holidays begin when those little red cups (excuse me, tall, grandé or venti) start parading through the hands of students through university.

S U GA R &

SPICE & EVERYTHING

NICE?

But, my jolly Starbucks customer, are these drinks being kind to us, in the spirit of Christmas?

Will they wait up on Christmas day to receive a big ol’ bag of coal, or a robin’s egg blue box with white satin ribbon? Even though my tummy says otherwise, most of these fellas are most definitely not on Santa’s nice list when he’s thinking in terms of sugar and fat.

Which clearly never happens if you’ve ever left some cookies out to see them all gone by morning, obviously indicating the presence

of Santa. But how else would they taste so delectable anyhow? A gal deserves some sugary goodness from time to time, so even though we’re being hard on our little red cups today, don’t think you can’t treat yo’ self in the holidays. (I do at least three times a week, if that somehow helps.) @mirandababbitt

THREE HOLIDAY FAVOURITES SWEET!

!

N UTM E G G Y

MINTY!

CARAMEL BRULEE LATTE

PEPPERMINT MOCHA

When you hear Caramel Brulé Latté, think caramel macchiato with a dash of gingerbread undertones. If you’re not well read (or should I say well fed) in Starbucks beverages, this is a drink of unabashed creaminess, infused with caramel joy. The whipped cream, sprinkled with caramel rocks, perfects this drink into a thing of perfection.

The Peppermint Mocha holds true to the colour scheme of the holidays. I imagine red and white swirlings of peppermint dancing around in a blend of espresso and chocolate. With a dollop of sweetened whipped cream and dark chocolate curls sitting on top, it can be hard to resist this little elf of a drink.

EGGNOG LATTE Although not an unanimous holiday favourite, the Eggnog Latté has a distinct power over a number of friends. Eggnog is one of those flavours you either hate or love, it seems.

And although I haven’t yet tried this creation, a sprinkling of nutmeg over top of steamed milk, and a touch of eggnog, sounds like something I should treat myself with.

BUT At 430 calories, we would consider this one troublesome, but once that red cup is heartily consumed, you’ve just taken in 35 per cent of your daily saturated fat intake. Or if you so desire to visualize this, first fill your cup with four tablespoons of sugar.

*

But this drink is quite the sneaky devil. Twenty calories less than the caramel brulé latte (sitting at 410 calories), but a whopping 45 per cent of your daily intake of saturated fat says goodbye after you’ve finished this one off. I’m prepping a bag of coal for Santa.

Well, this drink is seriously guilty. I’d even venture out to say criminal, but then I’d be a partner in crime as soon as I try it. It’s charged with 60 per cent saturated fat intake, nearly half of the recommended carbohydrate intake, and sits jollily at 460 calories.

Santa does not endorse calorie counting (and neither do we).

WINTER ESSENTIALS *

Santa does, however, endorse these beauty basics (or at least Mrs. Claus does).

Jennifer Bacher The Silhouette

EOS LIP BALM

This sphere shaped lip balm can be found in any drugstore or Walmart and Target. EOS, standing for “Evolution of Smooth,” is the best new product in the world of lip balm. As 95 per cent organic and 100 per cent natural, this balm keeps your lips smooth and soft without a waxy feel. EOS lip balm comes in a variety of scents and flavours too, so you’re bound to find a fave!

BURT’S BEES CUTICLE CREAM

Help your hands out with some extra love. Nourish and moisturize your nails and cuticles with this all-natural cream. Harsh winter weather and flu season often leaves cuticles dry and cracked (the necessary evil of disinfecting gel). The mix of lemon oil and bees wax will leave your fingers looking healthy and beautiful this holiday season.

$8.00

$3.50

L’OCCITANE HAND CREAM

$31.50

$12.50

Available at Sephora or L’Occi tane stores themselves, L’Occitane hand cream is a must have for this winter season. This super potent and creamy moisturizer quickly penetrates the skin to protect and replenish dry hands. L’Occitane has a special formula of shea butter, honey, almond milk, grape seed oil and coconut oil for lasting soft skin.

This moisturizer will not leave your hands feeling greasy or tight, but will leave a delightful fresh scent.

PHILOSOPHY BODY LOTION

Philosophy offers a variety of fun scents in their 480-millilitre bottles. Ranging from Gingerbread to Magnolia flowers, you are bound to find one that suits your every mood. The body lotion is moisturizing while leaving a light scent. You will not regret investing in high quality lotion this winter. Philosophy products can be found at Sephora and The Hudson Bay Company.

S

theSil.ca

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

PORTS

B7

Editors Laura Sinclair & Alexandra Reilly Email sports@thesil.ca

@silsports

Phone 905.525.9140 x27117

Women’s Volleyball

B12

Men’s Basketball

B11

MARAUDERS OFF TO BEST START SINCE ‘07 However, she was satisfied with the performance of her girls.

“I still like the fight in our team - we were outsized at every position, except for point guardbut every other position, even 21 matched Hailey for size, we were smaller. We fought through it, we handled it, and I liked our compete level. I think we’ve arrived, and we’ve shown the league that we mean business,” said Burns.

The split on the weekend brings McMaster’s record to 5-1, which has them tied for first place in the OUA West with Western, Windsor and Laurier. The girls will travel to Kingston, Ont. to face Queen’s on Nov. 22, before facing the York Lions in Toronto the following night.

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The McMaster women’s basketball team split a weekend double-header against the Carleton Ravens and Ottawa Gee-Gees to improve to 5-1 in the regular season.

On Nov. 15, the Marauders dominated the Ravens on both ends of the floor en route to a gritty 59-39 victory. As usual, the Marauders won on the strength of its OUA-best defense, holding the Ravens to 28 per cent shooting while also forcing them into committing 23 fouls. The offense was carried by the dynamic inside-out duo of Hailey Milligan and Danielle Boiago, who scored 30 and 16 points apiece. The

30-point output was a career high for Milligan, who also nabbed 18 rebounds in the win.

McMaster faced a much stiffer challenge in the second game of their weekend doubleheader.

Coming into the game, the CIS ninth-ranked Gee-Gees were 4-1 on the season, and boasted one of the OUA’s highest scoring offenses. In order to keep their fivegame winning streak alive, the Marauders’ defense would have to stand strong.

The game got off to a frenetic start, with the Gee-Gees hopping out to an early 13-8 lead in the first quarter before the Marauders knotted it at 20 apiece after the first. As usual, McMaster looked to run their offense through Milligan in the post, but the pesky,

12

William Lou The Silhouette

go. The Marauders tried to put the ball in the hands of their best player, but an awkward entry pass in the face of a double team caused Milligan to turn it over.

The Gee-Gees went the other way, drew a foul with less than five seconds in the game, and fifth-year Catherine Traer hit one of two free throws. Out of time-outs, McMaster’s Stephanie Truelove was forced to chuck up a running three-pointer with time expiring, which fell short, giving the Gee-Gees a hard-fought 60-59 point victory. McMaster was led in scoring by Milligan’s 20, while the Gee-Gees’ Stephanie MacDonald scored 29.

After the game, head coach Theresa Burns lamented the loss, saying “I felt like we still had the game within our destiny, in our hands to create, and we just left stuff hanging on the rim, we left layups, we had a terrible shooting night from the field, from the three-point line, the foul line”.

#

YOSEIF HADDAD / PHOTO EDITOR

swarming Gee-Gee defense prevented Milligan from dominating like she did against the Ravens.

The Gee-Gees continued to attack Milligan in the second quarter. Ottawa made it a point of emphasis to drive into the paint in an effort to draw Milligan into foul trouble, and the plan worked to perfection. Milligan committed three fouls in the second and was forced to sit out, which stagnated the Marauders’ offense. Without their post-presence, McMaster shifted to a pick-and-roll heavy offense, but Ottawa’s hedging strategy on the ball-handler stymied the Marauders and forced the team into launching several contested jump shots late in the shot clock. The Gee-Gees led by a score of 32-28 at the half.

Milligan started the third for the Marauders and she looked dominant on both ends of the court. On the very first McMaster possession, Boiago fed Milligan in the post for an easy layup. Milligan put together a stretch where she scored on consecutive possessions, while also blocking a GeeGees shot on the other end.

However, Ottawa’s Stephanie MacDonald matched Milligan shot for shot, scoring nine points in the third. MacDonald’s length and shooting ability made her a tough defensive assignment the entire night, as no Marauder successfully deterred her scoring output. The game was knotted at 47 apiece going into the fourth.

Both teams exchanged baskets for the majority of the final quarter. The Gee-Gees built a sixpoint lead midway through the quarter, but Mac responded with an 8-0 run, capped off by a three pointer from Vanessa Bonomo, to grab the two-point lead with less than four minutes to go. The game was tied at 58 all when McMaster had the ball with 35 seconds to

Men’s volleyball ranked first in the nation Laura Sinclair Sports Editor It was no surprise to the Marauder coaching staff when the Queen’s Gaels were able to catch up to them in the first set, and tie the score 20-20.

“It’s what we fully expected,” said head coach Dave Preston.

What was surprising to the men’s volleyball team was when they were able to dominate the second set, and come out of it a dominating score.

“The second set when we beat them 25-12, we didn’t expect that. We thought we were going to be in a dog fight most of the day.

They’re very talented and very well coached, so we expected to have that tight scenario and it is kind of what we are looking for too,” added Preston.

When the Gaels pressured the Marauders in the first set, Preston saw this as a good thing.

It is always good when the pressured situations require the team to step up to the plate, and to play to the best of their abilities.

“If we are capable of blowing a team out, that’s fine, and we did in the second set. But, I want to know that we can play in pressured situations, so it was good that they were tied at 20. As a coach, I can’t script that stuff, but

it is good for us to know that we can play in a variety of scenarios.”

In this particular scenario, the Marauders were able to come out with a win in three sets – which is a statement of their dominance, and their overall skill level that has pushed them to be the No.1 team in the country.

Preston believes that the Marauders offense is part of what has made them so successful, especially in the game against Queen’s, with Austin Campion-Smith and Jayson McCarthy stepping up, along with the middles.

“I thought our offence was really good again, Austin Campion-Smith was really efficient and Jayson McCarthy was good on the opposite as well. Our middles are quietly punishing teams,” said Preston.

Preston was also able to rotate some fresh legs into the match, with Shayne Herbert and rookie Brandon Koppers being put into the mix to give some of the regulars like Danny Demanyenko, Tyson Alexander and Alex Elliot a bit of a break.

These two athletes were given some valuable minutes that will only benefit them for their future.

“We really work on trying to develop our entire roster because you are going to need it come playoff time. The matches

get so condensed in January and February; things happen so fast.

Rarely can you go through the meaty part of your season with seven guys, so we need that depth.

And if we don’t get those guys the good experience, the meaningful minutes now, then we are not going to have that down the stretch,” said Preston.

Koppers and Herbert did a great job against the Gaels, and stepped up to fill the role of some of the more experienced players on the team “The matches that were taken care of in November are going to pay dividends in February. Those are investments to get guys like Koppers in, especially in his first year against a solid top ten calibre team and playing those meaningful minutes so that when he is in there in February he is very much used to it. Same thing with Shayne Herbert, who has come in every single match and has done a tremendous job for us,” added Preston.

Along with the talented second string players, Preston also credits the Marauders Austin Campion-Smith, who won Big Mac Player of the game for his 35 assists against Queen’s.

Preston says that Campion-Smith stays composed and collected on the court, which is

part of what makes him such a valuable team player.

“He just has such calming demeanour. We play the game very passionately, it is exciting.

He’s the calm, and composed guy.

As the guys are going off around him, he’s the tether. Although you can’t see that all the time, that is what kind of keeps us level. The guys could go off, Austin doesn’t let that occur.”

Preston also refers to him as “the brain” behind the Marauders, as he sees everything on the court, and knows exactly what to do in dire situations “When other guys are playing checkers, he is playing chess.

He is two or three moves ahead.

He knows what he did on that last ball, but he knows what he is going to do with the next two or three balls already. He is that much more intuitive of what is going on. He is our brain. We’ve got muscle, and we’ve got heart and he is our brain” Preston also credits the 6-0 run to the balance of the Marauders, and their ability to distribute the talent evenly amongst each other.

“We are not really reliant on a guy. We have had a number of guys who had stepped up in all six of those matches and our non-conference matches before.

Steve Maar has been a guy who at times has just carried us, Danny Demyanenko, Alex [Elliot] and Tyson [Alexander]. We’ve spread it all around and so our depth and our balance is what has allowed us to be where we are at” Where the Marauders are at now is the number one spot in the entire country, which is huge for the undefeated team that has surpassed the Alberta Golden Bears in the CIS top ten rankings.

The Alberta Golden Bears were able to pull off a win against the Marauders in preseason action, but have now found themselves in rough territory, with a 3-3 record.

The Maroon and Grey will look to keep up their 6-0 record, and keep their No. 1 ranking this weekend, when they will take on the Nipissing Lakers and York Lions on the road. @Lsinkky

C/O JON WHITE

theSil.ca

SPORTS

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

B8

Mac shatters swim records

c/o mcmasterathletics c/o mcmaster athletics

Laura Sinclair Sports Editor The Marauders swim team broke records and reached the podium numerous times at the Tihanyi Division Championships on Nov. 16 and Nov. 17 at Ivor Wynne Centre.

The team finished second overall, just behind the Toronto Varsity Blues, and had several strong finishes and performances across the board.

One of the most notable finishes on the men’s team was from Eric Anderson – who managed to reach the podium a total of four times on the weekend, with three gold medal finishes and one silver medal.

Anderson also managed to break his own record that he set over a month ago at the OUA

Sprint Invitational in the 50m backstroke. At last weekend’s championship meet, he raced to a time of 25.97 seconds.

He also won the 100m butterfly, only four events later.

On the Sunday, Anderson also won gold in a team event, joining up with Konrad Bald, Mo Eldah, and Matt Vogelzang to break a Marauder team record, and win gold in the 200m medley relay.

Anderson’s last events of the meet included the 200m butterfly, where he won silver, and then the 100m backstroke event, where he won yet another gold medal, and broke another McMaster record.

Other than Anderson, another standout performer was rookie Brittany Pask, who won the 50m backstroke, which qualified her for the CIS Championships.

Pask says that the key to her success is visualizing the race the day before it happens, and having faith in her training.

“I don’t really think about it when I’m actually in the water but I will visualize myself swimming the race the day before and looking to what I have to do to reach my goal. I have to remember to trust myself and my training but also knowing that I have an amazing team, coaches and family behind me,” said Pask.

As for the promising goals of the near-future for this talented rookie, she would love to make both the OUA and CIS podiums.

“I would love to reach the podium at CIS and OUA’s in the 50 and 100 backstroke and to represent McMaster the best that I can.”

Pask, along with Alexa Va-

nommen, Natasha Strass-Hundal, and Emily Fung joined forces to win silver in the 200m medley relay.

The Marauders were able to get to 33 podium finishes in the span of two days, which was encouraging for the team and coaching staff.

Next up for the Marauders swim team is a meet in St. Catharines, Ont. where they will take part in the Brock Cup, and strive to top their finishes and swim to some personal best times.

“

“I would love to reach the podium at CIS and OUA’s in the 50 and 100m backstroke, and to represent McMaster the best that I can” Brittany Pask, rookie for women’s swimming

@Lsinkky

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theSil.ca

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

SPORTS

B10

Home-grown basketball hero Taylor Black talks about his rise to Steel City stardom Scott Hastie Managing Editor Taylor Black is the quintessential product of Hamilton hoops.

Growing up in Winona, Ont., a small town wedged between Stoney Creek and Grimsby, Black has played basketball in Hamilton at every level and is now, while donning Marauder maroon, one of the best players in the Steel City.

The fourth-year kinesiology student plays a style that makes the game look easy, but his ascent was anything but. Black played for the Blessed Sacrament basketball program – a Hamilton club that has produced many CIS, NCAA and Canadian national team players – while growing up.

He went to Orchard Park Secondary School, but didn’t cruise his way onto the junior team.

“In grade nine, I made the team luckily. I wasn’t a star player – I barely even played. There were guys ahead of me who were very talented, so I really had to work my way into the rotation,” said Black.

But by grade 12, he shot up ten inches and carved out his slashing forward playing style. He credits Orchard Park teammates like former Marauder Satar Wahidi for being able to go to battle every day in practice and making him a better player.

Universities in both Canada and the U.S. took notice of Black’s talents and showed recruiting interest, including Old Dominion, St. Bonaventure and Cornell.

Despite the high-profile looks, heading anywhere but McMaster was not even a consideration.

“Canada is what made me who I am, and more specifically Hamilton, Ontario. I don’t regret anything I’ve done so far,” said Black.

As a kid, he grew up watch-

ing Mac basketball and remembers seeing now-assistant coach Justin Gunter and his team play in the Burridge Gym. Hopes were high as he entered his first year as McMaster athlete, and he was off to a good start until a blowout game against the Brock Badgers.

“We were up twenty or something. I had what I thought was a wide-open dunk and I went up and just got taken out. It was a flagrant foul and I tried hanging on the rim but slid off. I first dislocated my knee and then my shoulder came out,” Black said.

“I spent probably five minutes on the ground in pain while they tried to put my shoulder back in place. My knee just felt like it was in shock – I didn’t really know it was out or anything like that. But as I stood up, luckily gravity pulled the humeral head (the top of the humerus bone) back in. Usually that doesn’t happen.”

Black would have to go to the hospital, but remembers being humbled by having two prominent alumni in David Braley and Ron Foxcroft looking over the shoulder of the medical staff to ensure that he was getting proper care.

The left shoulder injury would require surgery that took place over the summer, eliminating the opportunity for Black to do any training during the offseason. Missed practice time put some rust on his game, and Black admits to having a poor start to his sophomore season.

But with Adam Presutti, Nathan McCarthy, Joe Rocca, Brett Sanders and Aaron Redpath – or the “Fab Five” as Black called them – joining the team, the home-grown product had to show that he was a big part of the team despite early struggles.

Fast-forward to third year, where Black rode roughshod over

the OUA and earned an All-Star nod. He averaged 14.5 points per game while shooting 50 per cent and grabbing 6.9 rebounds per game. Black would also finish fourth in the conference in Player Efficiency Rating, a sabremetric statistic that attempts to boil down a player’s value into one number.

He has the opportunity and tools to be a CIS All-Canadian, something Black pointed out as a goal of is, but only truly recognized his potential within the past calendar year.

“Immediately after the [playoff] game against Lakehead, the coaches said to me ‘Taylor, that is something you need to bring every game’, and that is what really woke me up during the summer, to be training so I can perform like that every day,” said Black.

The next step for the fourthyear player is to continue to establish himself as what he describes as the “go-to guy” late in games and grow as a leader both on and off the court. He looks to Nathan Pelech to show him how to excel in the role, saying that Pelech is a “bigger leader than I am”.

Head coach Amos Connolly said that his would be Black’s program to lead one day. After a shortened rookie campaign and injury-hampered second season, it was unclear when that time would come, if at all.

But that day is here, and McMaster is on the verge of something big. Just how big that “something” becomes is up to Black. A Hamilton kid bringing a CIS championship banner to McMaster for the first time would be a storybook ending to a turbulent tale.

It’s all on his shoulders, but Taylor Black seems up to the task. @Scott1Hastie

C/O RICHARD ZAZULAK

SPORTS

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

theSil.ca

B11

Marauders have a lot to prove McMaster sits at 3-3 after letting back-to-back games slip away Scott Hastie Managing Editor McMaster’s men’s basketball team took both the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country to the wire, but watched the game balloon out of hand with six minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Ottawa went on a 17-2 run to close out the game and Carleton put Mac away with a 15-8 run.

The Marauders were in a position to win both games, only down one to the Gee-Gees in the fourth quarter and tied with the reigning CIS champions Ravens in the final stanza. But ultimately, a lack of consistency cost McMaster two wins.

It would be easy to walk away with a sense of accomplishment after hanging with two of the best opponents in the country.

But not getting a win is leaving the Marauders wanting more.

“We’ve proven that we can play the best teams in the country tough, what we haven’t proven is that we can beat them. We beat Ryerson – that’s the only thing we can hang our hat on. Coming close to Carleton? Coming close to Ottawa? You can take it is a positive, but that’s not a statement,” said head coach Amos Connolly. “We’re not at the level we need to be.”

In both games, the opponent’s best scorer went nova.

Carleton’s Phil Scrubb put together a jaw-dropping performance for the big crowd, scoring 44 points on 18-29 shooting, along with seven rebounds and six assists.

Scrubb did his damage from deep (five made threes on nine attempts) and getting to the paint and knocking down impossible-to-guard step-back jump shots

The Marauders have proven that they are capable of going toe-to-toe with some of the best teams in the OUA and with a little re-grouping will soon be able to improve on their season.

YOSEIF HADDAD / PHOTO EDITOR

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from fourteen feet.

He scored or assisted on five of Carleton’s seven scores in the 15-8 fourth quarter run.

Connolly said it was the best individual performance he’s seen in the Burridge Gym. The following night, Johnny Berhanemeskel shot 14-21 for 38 points in 36 minutes of play.

His teammates joined him in the hot shooting performance, as the Gee-Gees shot 57.1 per cent on the game. Connolly said it was less of Ottawa’s talent and more of Mac’s failure.

“We gave a team 100 points.

You score 85 points in a CIS game and you can’t win it? There’s a problem there. Obviously, our defence is porous,” said Connolly. In the last minutes, Mac also turned the ball over five times.

For the second week in a row, “intensity” was the buzzword tossed around by both players and coaches at post-practice interviews.

“We need to bring the highest intensity possible. In the first quarter against Ryerson, that was one of the best quarters we’ve played. We need to play with that every game, every quarter,” said forward Taylor Black.

The fourth-year did put some blame on himself, saying that he needs to step up as the “go-to guy” in final quarters and become a better leader on the court.

While the losses are disheartening, there is some optimism in the Maroon camp.

The competition level was the highest both of McMaster’s opponents have faced so far this season.

Although critical of his team’s performance against Ottawa, Connolly offered a light take on the weekend’s losses.

“Are we close or are we far? I can’t figure that out yet. I suppose, if you’re wondering, you must be close. But I couldn’t answer that question definitively right now,” said Connolly.

OUA interlock play wraps up on this weekend against the Queen’s Gaels and the York Lions.

Should Mac win both – which is not expected to be an easy task – they’ll sit at 5-3. Outside of Windsor, the rest of the OUA West is floundering with two wins between the bottom five teams.

But Mac has consistency issues of their own to figure out before being capable of considering themselves streets ahead of anyone else.

@scott1hastie

“

“We’ve proven that we can play the best teams in the country tough, what we haven’t proven is that we can beat them.”

Amos Connolly, head coach of the men’s basketball team

SPORTS

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

theSil.ca

B12

Rookies set the tone for season Women’s volleyball tries to stay consistent Tobi Abdul Staff Reporter The McMaster women’s volleyball team travelled to Guelph to face the Gryphons this past Saturday, Nov. 16 in an attempt to continue their two game winning streak but were met with a heartbreaking loss of 3-1.

Nov. 17 saw them return home to Burridge Gym to face the Brock Badgers where the team seemed to get their rhythm back, taking the game in four sets.

“Against Brock we were better in most aspects of the game,” said head coach Tim Louks.

“We just created a slightly higher level of consistency and our gymnasium is a little bit friendlier for sure.”

McMaster came onto the court prepared to take the win and even out their record after their loss to Guelph.

Brock took the early lead with a 6-3 score, but was not given a chance to push forward as great offense and strategic defence soon gave McMaster the lead by two with a 16-14 score.

The Marauders were able to increase the gap to 22-14, due to amazing serving from Sophie Bukovec who served for seven straight points. McMaster could start to cruise slightly, leaving Brock to try and catch up. McMaster would eventually take the set 25-21.

The second set saw an even battle, with McMaster leading but not by a huge margin. At the technical timeout, the Marauders were leading 16-15.

The Marauders were playing well, with 13 successful kills in the set but Brock was playing their best set all match. Brock took the lead 22-20 and it looked as though they may take the set, but

stellar defence, accurate passing, and consistent serving from the Marauders allowed them to take the set 25-22 and lead the match 2-0.

The third set was McMaster’s weakest offensively as they only had 9 successful kills and a kill percentage of 3.8 per cent. Brock came out with an 8-2 lead, a large part due to McMaster’s subpar offense.

McMaster continued to struggle offensively causing Brock to lead 16-8 at the technical timeout. Brock’s offense gained some momentum and the gap widened to 24-10, with Brock eventually taking the set 25-13.

Despite Brock taking the third set, it would seem as if the set was highly dictated by McMaster who had 18 unforced errors in the game out of 25 points.

“Those 18 unforced errors are specific to outcomes,” said Louks.

“When we’re hitting a ball or if we’re touching a net or any of those kinds of things, we’re in charge of those things. You need to take care of that ball better.

Don’t try and do too much or score every point.”

The McMaster team was back in full swing in the fourth set and they took the early lead of 9-3. The offense that awarded them the first two sets was back and their momentum continued to a lead of 16-8 at the technical timeout. Brock tried to regain control and started to close the gap, eventually reaching 21-15, however McMaster’s offense allowed them to take the set 25-19 and the match 3-1.

It was the rookies who had the best showing during the game as the two leading scorers were Player of the Game Bukovec with 18 points, and fellow rookie Maicee Sorenson with 12.5 points.

With five players being in their first year, the Marauders had to account for the adjustment period.

“There are things every first year player has to go through, balancing an academic work load, being away from home for most of them, and all the things that go with that, practicing every day, a new set of teammates, all of that is a process that they have to stay attached to,” said Louks.

These first years seem to have found their stride and are adjusting to playing with a new team with extreme ease, playing as if they have been a Marauder for years.

“This team has made the adjustment to university as easy as it would’ve been for me. Being here has actually improved my own game because I work so much harder to play well when my family is in the crowd, I don’t get to see them as often, so I need to be on my game impressing them when they are here,” said firstyear player Maicee Sorenson.

“All the players on your team are there to win, everyone around you is so committed to being successful, this raises the level of intensity forcing you to keep up and push yourself as hard as the rest of the team is pushing themselves.”

“The best thing with our team is their support, not only in volleyball but with life,” said another first year all-star Sophie Bukovec.

“The cohesiveness required to be successful can only be accomplished with the love and support by everyone on the team.”

McMaster’s record is even at 4-4, but the team seems to have found a rhythm that works for them both on and off the court.

For future games the Ma-

rauders need to improve consistency and control the rally.

“It’s continuing to be better,” said Louks.

“Our peaks and valleys are a bit large at times and we need to control that.”

“If we can replicate some of the pieces that are helping our performance then that will start to steady out a little bit.”

The Marauders will travel to Nipissing University to take on the Lakers Nov. 22 at 6 p.m. and will then travel to Toronto to play the undefeated York Lions on Nov. 24 in a match that will arguably be their biggest challengethus far this season.

“

“The cohesiveness required to be successful can only be accomplished with the love and support by everyone on the team.”

Tim Louks, coach of Marauders women’s volleyball

@toe_bee

YOSEIF HADDAD / PHOTO EDITOR

RECAP WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL OUA EAST

OUA WEST W | L | PTS

YORK OTTAWA TORONTO RYERSON QUEEN’S RMC NIPISSING

8 7 6 5 4 2 0

0 1 2 3 2 4 8

16 14 12 10 8 4 0

W | L | PTS 5 4 4 3 3 2 0

WINDSOR GUELPH MCMASTER WATERLOO BROCK LAKEHEAD WESTERN

3 4 4 6 4 6 6

10 8 8 6 6 4 0

MEN’S BASKETBALL NEXT UP IN MARAUDER-LAND.....

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL at. QUEEN’S

NOV 22 | 8 p.m.

MEN’S BASKETBALL at QUEEN’S

NOV 22 | 8 p.m.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL at NIPISSING

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL at NIPISSING

OUA EAST

OUA WEST W | L | PTS

CARLETON LAURENTIAN OTTAWA RYERSON QUEEN’S YORK ALGOMA TORONTO

6 6 6 5 4 4 3 2

0 0 0 1 2 2 3 3

12 12 12 10 8 8 6 4

W | L | PTS MCMASTER WINDSOR LAURIER GUELPH LAKEHEAD WATERLOO BROCK WESTERN

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL at YORK YOSEIF HADDAD / PHOTO EDITOR

3 3 3 5 5 5 6 6

6 6 6 2 2 0 0 0

NOV 22 | 6 p.m.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL NOV 22| 8 p.m.

OUA EAST

OUA WEST W | L | PTS

SWIMMING at BROCK CUP

3 3 3 1 1 0 0 0

NOV 23 | 3 p.m.

NOV 24 | 2 p.m.

OTTAWA CARLETON QUEEN’S RYERSON YORK LAURENTIAN TORONTO ALGOMA

5 4 3 2 1 1 0 0

1 2 3 4 5 5 5 6

10 8 6 4 2 2 0 0

W | L | PTS LAURIER WESTERN WINDSOR MCMASTER BROCK LAKEHEAD WATERLOO GUELPH

5 5 5 5 4 3 2 2

1 1 1 1 2 3 3 4

10 10 10 10 8 6 4 4

theSil.ca

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

ANDY E-mail: andy@thesil.ca

ndex

Senior Editor: Bahar Orang

Meeting Time: Tuesdays @ 5:30 p.m.

Assistant Editor: Cooper Long

Phone: (905)•525•9140 ext 27117

Contributors: Shane Madill, Tomi Milos, Palika Kohli, Lene Trunjer-Petersen

coming up in the hammer the casbah •nov 22 •nov 23 •nov 24 •nov 26

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stone river the walkervilles dear rouge hayden

Cover: Liz Pope

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kim's convenience

C4 C5

death grips + reviews

homegrown hamilton •nov 21 pick a piper •nov 23 the plain steel •nov 25 loopy mondays

C6 C7

this ain't hollywood •nov 23 the forgot •nov 26 hello cat piano

palika's bookbag C8

artiques

theatre aquarius •until nov. 23 kim's convenience •from dec. 11 the sound of music

art gallery of hamilton •nov 23 kostanski & richardson •nov 27 salinger

THE COVER STORY One uneventful evening, I went for a long walk and ended up at The Hamilton Retirement Village for Auditorily-Impaired Adults. I saw a small, hand-made sign that said "bingo night this way." I went that way. And here is what I found.

theSil.ca

ANDY

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

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EDITORIAL

kim’s store is everyone’s story Bahar Orang ANDY Editor When I saw Kim’s Convenience at Theatre Aquarius on Friday evening, I couldn’t help but think about my own family for the full two hours.

I am not Korean, I don’t live in Regent Park, nor does my family own a convenience store. But the whole time I felt that Apa, Janet, Umma and Jung were telling my story – my family’s story. When Apa revealed his disappointment with Janet’s career as a photographer, I remembered my own mother’s confusion four years ago: “Why not just science?

Why arts and science?”

When Umma explained how Apa had sacrificed his whole life, his whole self, for his children, I thought of all the stories my father always shares so longingly about his home country. When Janet twisted her father’s arm to squeeze out of him the words “I love you,” I wanted nothing more than to immediately call my parents to remind them how much I care.

The production is hilarious, moving and honest – of-

ten brutally honest. My loud laughter was regularly cut off by a sudden wave of emotion.

The story shifts gracefully from humour to heartbreak and thus offers a highly nuanced and realistic image of Canadian immigrant life.

But it doesn’t always paint a pretty picture. Apa might very well embrace a black husband for his daughter, but he will systematically practice racial profiling while running his business. And in the one instance that we see on stage, the audience gasped when Appa catches a Jamaican man stealing from his store. Janet is a kind and caring daughter, but we still see her in moments of extreme selfishness.

And the story of Jung, the son with so much potential who ends up in a dead-end job with a baby and a girlfriend he doesn’t love, left me wondering about the futility of it all.

Would their life have been different, better, more fulfilling if they had never come to Canada? Was Apa’s life a waste if his children were unhappy and unsuccessful? Could he have done things differently?

Does there come a point when

parents should not be held responsible for the decisions and failures of their children?

When does that day come?

I was the probably the youngest person and I was also very clearly a racial minority.

The room was filled with older, white men and women. And the whole time I wondered – what are these people thinking about? How are they relating to this story? Is there empathy? Do they too feel like they are contained within Kim’s convenience store, that they too can find their own stories somewhere between the aisles and the shelves?

Kim’s Convenience reminded me of the power of theatre - of how a simple, everyday story suddenly becomes startling and special.

Kim’s Convenience is playing at Theatre Aquarius until Nov. 23. @baharoh

the

big

tickle what would you call your convenience store?

LIZ POPE / PHOTO EDITOR

Abha A.

Annoj J.

Atia B.

Corbett S.

Jae Eun R.

“Quick-E-Mart.”

“In and Out.”

“Everything Plus.”

“Corbett’s Convenience.”

“Convenience Store.”

theSil.ca

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

coming to grips

a primer on the industrial-hiphop-noise-punk provocateurs Death Grips

reel short reviews Thaddeus Awotunde

ANDY

Shane Madill The Silhouette Whenever we listen to music, it is difficult to separate the music itself from the circumstances of the artist. What you know about the artist tends to influence your perception of the music. Death Grips, however, bridges this gap between reality and music; they complement one another.

Exmilitary, the initial Death Grips mixtape, was released with a sense of mystery in 2011. The physical cover image, described as a “power object,” was a photograph that one member of the group had in his wallet for ten years without knowing the origin.

MC Ride was also the only known member of the three-piece group at this point. They are now recognized as a three-piece, consisting of Ride, Zach Hill, and Andy Morin.

Although Exmilitary’s followup, The Money Store, was released without any major complications and with critical praise on an actual record label, Death Grips’ subsequent decision to abandon

their international tour to work on their next album angered the label and fans. The content and more industrial production of The Money Store further polarized fans, both those who were expecting something similar to Exmilitary and new fans attempting to get into the band.

This next album, entitled No Love Deep Web, turned out to be what launched Death Grips into widespread popularity. In a rebellious gesture towards their label, Epic Records, who wanted to delay the release of the album until 2013, the group leaked No Love Deep Web to the masses. The now infamous cover featured an erect penis with the album title written on it. The band described this as a spiritual thing, not too dissimilar from Exmilitary’s cover, and further explained how peoples’ hang-ups with sexuality, gender, nudity, and religion were “toxic and poisonous to the human mind, and the development of humans in the modern world.”

This perspective also corresponds to The Money Store’s cover of an androgynous masochist on the

leash of a smoking female sadist.

Death Grips was dropped from the label after this incident and for posting private emails in a Facebook post titled “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOW FUCK OFF.” At Lollapalooza 2013, they never showed up for their performance and instead displayed a suicide note written to them with a child’s learning drum kit in front, which was destroyed by the audience.

On Nov. 13, 2013, Death Grips released Government Plates without any forewarning and for free, similar to the methods they used for No Love Deep Web. The physical release of No Love Deep Web finally took place on Nov. 19.

Surrounded with self-created controversy, deeper societal observations, and a polarization over all of their actions, Death Grips represent the punk ideology of separating oneself from society only to criticize it. This is ironically coupled with an overarching feeling that they do not care about themselves or who they anger, even if who they anger is the intended target of the message.

ANDY’S album reviews Cooper Long Assistant ANDY Editor Surfing Strange Artist: Swearin’ During the 1990s, the Chapel Hill, North Carolina band Superchunk put out an album of sturdy poppunk virtually every year. Swearin’ not only carries forward Superchunk’s fuzzy sound, but also seems poised to become similarly prolific. Surfing Strange arrives a little more than a year after Swearin’s auspicious debut LP and it is a satisfying second lap.

Despite their first album’s strength, Swearin’ has not recorded a complete retread. The hooks are harder to come by on Surfing Strange and the tone is less ram-

Tomi Milos Features Editor Shields: B-Sides Artist: Grizzly Bear

the counselor

stoker

the to do list

le moustache

paranoia

The Counselor - This movie is not a movie. It is like a box of raisins in the existential abyss of cougars dithering in the spiral of the mortal coil. McCarthy in his pyrotechnic wisdom has bestowed upon us a muscular work of philosophical drivel we are not ready for.

Superb craftsmanship as always from Park Chan-Wook.

Twisted gothic thriller with an ominous undertone. It began to progressively go off the rails by the final act, but prior acts spent enough time laying the ground work.

Dollar store quality sex comedy. The comedic material of this would only be able to manufacture a pack of defective prophylactics.

Kafka-esque and comic.

Such a strange premise which almost works the whole way through the film.

It slightly loses steam ending on a whimper of which which leaves you ambivalent.

A techno-thriller that’s as exciting as drinking lukewarm decaf while waiting for pictures of flies having sex to load on a 56K modem.

C4 & C5

Last September found Grizzly Bear operating on all cylinders, with the release of Shields and the beginning of lengthy tour to match one of the most-lauded records of the year.

Although 2013 has seen them triumphantly close out that 105-date tour and retreat to their own separate corners of the U.S. for a well-deserved rest, Edward Droste, Dan Rossen, Chris Taylor, and Chris Bear don’t seem to be taking their foot off the gas pedal anytime soon.

Culling together recordings from their supposedly unproductive excursion to Marfa, Texas, as well as other studio sessions, the quartet released Shields: B-Sides on Nov 12. through Warp Records.

The British label is giving fans the option of either purchasing

bunctious overall. The highest-energy cuts, like the standout “Dust in the Gold Sack” and “Young,” are clustered at either end of the album. Ballads and lumbering, mid-tempo riffs dominate the album’s, nonetheless enjoyable, middle stretch.

Bassist Keith Spencer also contributes vocals for the first time on Surfing Strange, but Allison Crutchfield’s voice, alternatively plaintive and barbed, remains the band’s signature asset. Somewhat disappointingly, Crutchfield, Spencer and guitarist Kyle Gilbride rarely exchange vocals on the same track. Crutchfield often sings of lost love and “grudges unrequited.” It could have been compelling to hear one of her bandmates chime in from

the perspective of either an ally or antagonist.

In retrospect, it feels as though big albums with even bigger marketing campaigns dominated 2013. Yet, Surfing Strange was not teased in 15 second increments on Saturday Night Live, like Random Access Memories, or released early via app, like Magna Carta... Holy Grail or ARTPOP. Swearin’ has crafted a straightforward, thirty-three minute volley of unpretentious guitar rock, and its modest ambitions are actually refreshing.

If Swearin’ drops an album as enjoyable as Surfing Strange each year for the next decade, I will buy every one.

a 2-disc “expanded” edition of Shields, or a 180-gram heavyweight vinyl pressing of Shields: B-Sides that will satisfy any purist.

After picking up the vinyl from Dr. Disc last week, I hurriedly rushed home to give it a spin and was not disappointed.

Running a cool six minutes, “Smothering Green” is a lengthy intro, but one that doesn’t leave the listener in any danger of falling asleep. Rossen’s vocals are soothing only until given a second listen. He chillingly gives a voice to the doubts that plague one’s mind once the glossy veneer of a new relationship has worn off (“We lie awake and think all that we loved and learned just vanished in our sleep”) while extending an ominous warning (“Clear out your mind, and I’ll clear out mine”) to a stormy backdrop of clashing guitars and Droste’s autoharp.

“Taken Down” is billed as a Marfa Demo and evidence of the high standards the band holds itself to if it didn’t make the final

cut. Droste turns in an impeccable display of vocal acrobatics that’s so good it hurts (your heart, that is).

“Listen & Wait” is a slowburner that could very well have been the precursor to “Sun In Your Eyes,” with Bear’s drumming mirroring thunderclaps in a sonic landscape laden with intricate details.

“Will Calls,” another demo from the Marfa sessions, is the clear standout and an example of Grizzly Bear at their cathartic best.

It’s a white-knuckle ride throughout the entire six minutes and fifty-one seconds that’ll have you gasping for breathe once it’s over.

The three remixes available through the digital download are largely forgettable, aside from Nicolas Jaar’s creepily sparse reinterpretation of “Sleeping Ute.” While obviously not up to the band’s lofty standards, B-Sides will tide fans over until the next release.

theSil.ca

The following books serve as a guide to defining my version of the “coming-of-age” genre. What they have in common is that, in one way or another, they have all resonated with me at some point in the past six months. They are listed in as chronological an order as I could possibly create.

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

by J.K. Rowling As a lifelong fan of Harry Potter, I reread the series every few years. That being said, the fifth instalment has never been high on my list—yet this summer, I found myself getting emotional over its pages. OOTP is the turning point in the series, when the story officially gets darker and Harry, having been through horrible experiences, is singled out and ostracized for sticking to the truth.

When I first read this book, I was fourteen or fifteen — the perfect age to develop a crush on the new, hardened Harry, who raged at the world for all his misfortune. This time, I read the book with an adult’s perspective, shaken by Harry’s situation and the oppression he faced. Maybe it was my own life experiences that shaped my newfound understanding and sympathy, or maybe it was my knowledge about the “hero’s journey” and the Jungian archetypes that many of the characters filled. All I know is that this time, I somehow got it. And when Harry had that fateful meeting with Dumbledore in his office, I too understood the difference between being forced into facing our adversaries versus doing so head on and gracefully.

Favourite Quote: “Don’t worry. You’re just as sane I am.”

2. Fangirl

by Rainbow Rowell I read this novel at the precipice of my fourth year, believing it to be the last year of my life where I could happily remain in that hazy area between my comfort zone

ANDY

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

adulthood. Needless to say I was feeling nostalgic, preferring to look upon my years here at McMaster with rose-tinted glasses than to face the colder and infinitely harder future. Fangirl took my hippie glasses off, and reminded me of first year, the last time that future was as frightening and mysterious as it appears now. While reading, I found myself in Cather, the protagonist, remembered how debilitating shyness can be, how difficult it is to be estranged from the ones you love, how hard it is to move on from someone so familiar to you. But she also reminded me of how it felt to find my niche, how the most wonderful relationships can be woven out of our greatest mistakes, and finally, how comforting our favourite habits can be.

Favourite Quote: “Real life was something happening in her peripheral vision.”

3. Anne of the Island

by L.M. Montgomery This is Anne of Green Gables, all grown up.

There was a time when my expectations for the future were clearly outlined in my copy of this worn out, blue book. I would read and reread it in an effort to get even one page closer to my own happy ending. I did not just see myself in Anne — there was a part of me that was (and probably still is) her. I remember learning from Anne’s teacher Miss Stacy that by the time I was 20, I would have my life figured out. And I remember sitting in my room with this book, the day after my birthday almost a year ago, flipping to the scene where I could share my confusion with Anne, relieved that neither of us had any clue what was going on, even after having reached the age of 20. This time when I read the story, I finally realized that Anne’s life isn’t nearly as idyllic as I had once assumed—except that this just meant that I had even more in common with her than I had originally thought.

mind...The trouble is, my mind changes and then I have to get acquainted with it all over again.”

4. Perfect Fifths: A Jessica Darling Novel

by Megan McCafferty I began reading the Jessica Darling series when I was in grade 12, and unceremoniously stopped reading halfway through the series after graduating high school. I recently picked them up again, and finally finished the series, going from the first to the fifth (listed here) in the span of a month. Perfect Fifths is, in a word, perfect. This novel features a mature Jessica Darling; she’s graduated university, has a job, and she’s started to figure things out. I cannot yet envision a time when I will be at a more secure place in my life, and Jessica’s adventures prior to this final novel always served to assure me that no one really does. This book was quieter; there are only three settings; the rest of the story is taken up by either conversation or memory. As I was reading, I was reminded of the importance of things left unsaid, of those people with whom we form everlasting and unmistakeable connections and of the security we can find in knowing that the future is so uncertain.

Favourite Quote: “Excuse our appearances.

We are taking apart yesterday, to make way for tomorrow.”

And: “The tales we tell ourselves about ourselves make us who we are.”

And: “Tongue your mind.”

Favourite Quote: “I do know my own

PALIKA COMES OF (P)AGE: A BOOKBAG

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theSil.ca

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

ANDY

C7

KAREN WANG / GRAPHICS EDITOR

theSil.ca

a fully furnished gallery ANDY speaks to the owner of Artiques, on King St. E. Lene Trunjer Petersen The Silhouette When I heard about the new gallery, Artiques, down at King Street East and Wellington Street, I was curious. The gallery is unique in that the owner, Amanda McIntyre, displays a unique combination of antique furniture alongside its selection of fine art.

When I arrived at the store, I immediately decided that the selection is absolutely worth

seeing. McIntyre said, “it is definitely something unique, and something Hamilton does not have, and we like being different.”

McIntyre also explained that one of the interesting things about having furniture in the gallery is that “the way that you are able to display it and almost stage it makes it almost more tangible for the viewer to see.”

McIntyre herself is an artist, and she has a bachelor’s degree in visual arts from York University and a diploma in interior deco-

ANDY

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

rating, so her areas of expertise are directly related to the nature of this exhibit. Her opening the gallery is effectively a career dream come true. She said, “I have always loved art and that has always been what my passion has been about.”

She also emphasizes another reason for opening the gallery, which was to cultivate the relationship between artists and their communities. She said, “it is such an important connection that you need to have between

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AMANDA McINTYRE, ARTIQUES OWNER

“It is such an important connection that you need to have between the artist and the community.”

the artist and the community, and we were very lucky to be able to display art from varies artist from across Ontario, and make it accessible for local people.”

Before Artiques’ grand opening on Nov. 16, McIntyre reviewed 500 portfolios from artists. She eventually chose artists who were “all very impressive, talented and had experience with exhibiting in Europe and U.S. We wanted talented, unique artists, who also had an interesting CV and work in general. All their

artwork is of unique quality. We like it to be different, just as well as we want a degree of elegance and authenticity in our furniture.”

“We have antique furniture from the 18th- and 19th-century,” said McIntyre. “There will also be custom-made greeting cards, prints and images made by the artists in a wide price range.

Lots of unique things you would not be able to find anywhere else.”

Amanda McIntyre at the Artiques Art Gallery LENE TRUNJER PETERSEN / THE SILHOUETTE