The Silhouette - Oct. 10, 2013 by The Silhouette

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Silhouette McMASTER UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013 VOL. 84 NO. 9

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New prayer space for Strengthening cyber security Muslim students INFRASTRUCTURE

Tyler Welch Assistant News Editor How many times a day would you like to take the shuttle and go to Lot O, one of the most remote parts of campus? Once? Maybe three times? Certainly not five, right? That is what faced the McMaster Muslim Students Association in March of 2013. Before the demolition of Wentworth House, the MSA had prayer, storage and office space in the building. “The prior MSA office had a room for brothers and sisters, and it was connected with a door in the middle,” said Zarak Aslam, the MSA’s public relations representative. “The Wentworth space was great—very central, and the room set up was such that you could very easily interact between brothers and sisters.” When news of the building’s impending demolition reached the MSA and other tenants of Wentworth House, like MACycle and the Photo Club, they were told that an adequate replacement would be found. Initially, a temporary structure near Lot O was suggested as a space for the MSA. Lot O is one of the most far-reaching points on campus—accessed via shuttle, taking passengers over the bridge behind Mary Keyes Hall. Because space can be hard to come by, this was seen to be the only option for the University. The problem is that many Muslim students pray five times each day—a ritual made incredibly inconvenient if one needs to shuttle to prayer every time. Once word got out about the troubles

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UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE ELECTIONS

facing the MSA’s acquisition of new space, McMaster and Facility Services began to reach out and look for more feasible solutions. “After the article was written in The Silhouette last year, things got moving… It brought attention to the problem. Not only our problem, but also the other organizations in that building,” said Aslam. He continued: “[McMaster] was willing to do whatever it took to get our accommodations set up.” Between April and August of 2013, while the school was less crowded, Facility Services worked to ensure that a new space would be ready for September’s arrival of students. Now, two former classrooms in T13—the bunker-type building next to the Engineering Technology Building—are devoted to the MSA, to be used for storage, meetings and daily prayer. The University even paid for changes to be made with the aim of accommodating the club. Carpeting was installed (necessary for men and women who spend their prayer time kneeling) and other adjustments made. “[Facility Services] let us choose what kind of carpeting, we were able to get that in—they installed that over the summer,” said Aslam. “Since we are in two rooms now, they even offered to set up an intercom in-between. So now we have the speakers and the microphone going between rooms.” When the Fall term of 2013 began, the room was prepared for occupancy.Of the transition, Aslam said, “We are pretty much settled in and things are going well. Honestly, it’s been a great blessing.” @TylerWelch4

Faced with an increase in cyber attacks, Mac expands IT security services Stephen Clare Features Editor McMaster has beefed up its cyber security infrastructure. The university’s Technology Services department now employs four full-time Information Technology security specialists, compared to only two in the past. The change comes amid growing concern over the prevalence and severity of hacking attempts directed at post-secondary institutions. “[Attacks] happen daily,” said Paul Muir, McMaster’s new Systems Integration Specialist. “And [they] happen to a lot of systems across campus.” Many of these attacks are relatively unsophisticated, and rely on tricking users into giving up personal information. “We see the vast majority of compromises coming in through the vectors of phishing and bad, malicious websites where bad code gets run on your computer without your knowledge,” said Richard Godsmark, the senior manager of the IT Security department. Godsmark came to McMaster from Wilfred Laurier University to help develop the

DINNER ETIQUETTE

university’s security systems. cated “hacktivist” attack. HacktivThe fact that many people are ism is a growing phenomenon in not aware of all the dangers they which tech-savvy internet activface when casually browsing the ists band together and target the internet makes it easy for hackers. websites and data of organizations “When you’re on the interor companies whose policies they net, you feel you’re in a safe place find objectionable. […] and so the chances of being Last September, one such munged online are far greater, group targeted the top 100 uniand you may not necessarily versities in the world in protest know it,” explained Godsmark. of rising global tuition fees. They For this reason, IT Security successfully broke into some of spends their time not just directly McMaster’s systems, although stopping hackers, but also tryGodsmark says they comproing to educate people on campus mised no sensitive data. about how to protect themselves “What they ended up seeon the internet. October is recing wasn’t actually core systems, ognized internationally as Cyber it was a couple of faculty servers Security Awareness Month, and that in reality had some stale inthe department is using the event formation in them.” to kick-start some local initiaHowever, the main goal of tives. Primarily, they are trying to the attack was not necessarily to boost their campus presence with steal important university data. a poster camRather, “it paign, active demonstrated Twitter account the fact that and weekly Mcthey were able Master Daily to access our “Everyone has a role in News posts. information,” security, whether they Godsmark said Godsmark. know it or not.” encourages This year, people to be there are twice more aware of as many IT Richard Godsmark, Senior the informaSecurity speManager of IT Security tion about cialists as there themselves were at the they post ontime of the atline. tack. “The great thing and the “We’re here to protect not worst thing about the internet is only the intellectual property once you put it there, it’s there, of the organization, but the priand it’s very hard to pull that vate information of individual information back out,” he said. students, staff, and faculty,” said “Everyone has a role in security, Godsmark. “It’s very important.” whether they know it or not.” The need for a new strategy @featuringsteve was thrown into sharp relief last year when McMaster was targeted as part of an ambitious, sophisti-

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GETTING PULLED IN BY GRAVITY

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the S ’ T N E D I S E R P E G A P Six Awesome Things the MSU Does With $26 Jeff Doucet VP Finance vpfinance@msu.mcmaster.ca

ext. 24109

& Anna D’Angela VP Administration vpadmin@msu.mcmaster.ca

ext. 23250

If you are a first year student, six weeks ago you were stepping on to this campus about to start your McMaster adventure. With MacPass in hand, you attended events, picked up some McMaster swag and met some new people. For many of our upper year students, you may have been repping or preparing for another year. We hope you all had a memorable week and a great start to the year! Now, throughout the summer, we worked hard to plan and prepare for the best experience possible. In order to do that, each year since 2012, Level I students are levied $110 for the Orientation fee. This fee is distributed amongst various campus partners including the MSU, the Student Success Centre, faculty societies, as well as Residence Life / Society of off-Campus Students (SOCS). All of these groups provide some level of programming during Welcome Week. Of the $110 Orientation fee, the MSU receives $26 dollars per student, which we direct solely towards programming and events for Welcome Week. MAConnector, Airbands, Faculty Fusion, Clubsfest, Sidewalk Sale, Shinerama, Charity Casino and two massive outdoor concerts are great examples of how the MSU spent our $26 portion of your $110. We do all of this with less than 25% of the Orientation fee levy. If you think about it, attending a DJ Tommy Trash concert, as more than 5000 first year students did for free during Welcome Week, would have cost much more than $26! In addition to the two concerts, the Airbands competition brought in over a thousand first years and reps to Faculty Hollow to see faculties and residences put on some amazing performances. As well, this year’s PJ Parade was bigger and better than ever, gaining positive reviews from both students and community members. All of these events serve as important parts of the annual MSU Faculty and Residence cups, and are brought to you by MSU Campus Events and its subsidiary audio/visual service AVtek. Each Welcome Week partner (outlined in the graphic below) is responsible for providing a list of expenses outlining their respective use of the Orientation fee. Orientation fee spending audits are due from all partners on October 15th. We hope you had an amazing time during Welcome Week, and that the 2013-2014 school year is off to a fantastic start! The MSU will continue to work hard to give first year students the best experience possible during Welcome Week. If you feel like reliving the memories, make sure to check out our Facebook page (fb.com/MSUMcMaster) for photos from all of these events. If you’re interested in getting involved next year, the planning for Welcome Week 2014 has already begun!

$15

~ MSU

$11

~ SWAG

Level I students pay a fee of

$110

(Faculty T-Shirts/Welcome-Bag)

$33

$110

$26

for their MacPass:

~ STUDENT SUCCESS CENTRE ~ OFF CAMPUS/ REZ LIFE

$25

~ FACULTY

Breakdown of the MSU Portion

$26

Spencer Graham VP (Education)

David Campbell President

Anna D’Angela VP (Administration)

Jeff Doucet VP (Finance)

WHERE DOES YOUR MONEY GO?

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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EWS

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

Editors Julia Redmond & Tyler Welch & Stephen Clare Email news@thesil.ca

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Lab work not just for science class Launch of Mac’s of new Social Innovation Lab designed to foster student problem solving J.J. Bardoel Silhouette Intern From world poverty to a vertical garden in downtown Hamilton, the McMaster Social Innovation Lab looks to allow students a haven for solving problems and expanding on ideas that could potentially benefit others on campus. Michael Hewlett and Brianna Smrke, co-directors of MSIL, had the vision of creating a place where students could be given tools to become better problem solvers. “The Social Innovation Lab is an inventor’s workshop for undergraduates” said Smrke. “It is a space where students can come and apply their knowledge from what their learning in class and what they already know to solve some kind of real problem, big or small.” The Lab has accumulated a group of 30 volunteers who will help students in having their vision come to life through planning and prototyping. The pilot project is partially funded by the Forward with Integrity fund, and partially by the Student Life Enhancement Fund. “We’ve had two rounds of Forward with Integrity funding. First, was with the workshop in the spring for different people in the University to see if they were interested in supporting this idea

further,” explained Hewlett. “What that really helped us do, was give us a little bit of support by people saying ‘We think you have a nugget of something good here, develop it a little bit further.’” The second part of their FWI funding was used for development over the summer, and the Student Life Enhancement Fund money will be used for pilot projects in the fall and spring. The team prepared for the

Hadfield to teach at Waterloo H.G. Watson The Cord WATERLOO (CUP)-Famed Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield gets to add a new line to his already extensive resume this fall: professor. The University of Waterloo confirmed today that Hadfield has joined the faculty as an adjunct professor of aviation, cross-appointed to the faculties of environment, science and applied health sciences, through August 2016. “This is an amazing opportunity for students to have access to his career experience and knowledge,” said Ian McKenzie, director of aviation programs at U of W. “He has tremendous enthusiasm for engaging students in learning.” Commander Hadfield has become an international celebrity after tweets and videos taken during his 5 month long stint on the International Space Station (ISS) went viral. Since returning to Earth he has embarked on several educational tours and has a book, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, coming out this fall. The deal to bring U of W alumni Hadfield to the aviation department took shape after Hadfield announced his retirement from the Canadian Space Agency earlier this year. McKenzie explained that Hadfield’s long

C/O BRIANNA SMRKE

The McMaster Social Innovation Lab welcomed students for its launch on Oct. 2.

standing relationship with the university and the surrounding community were driving forces in bringing him to the school. “He was actually here in 1982 as a NSERC post-graduate in mechanical engineering,” McKenzie said. Hadfield was also married in Waterloo and his first son was born here in 1983. Over the years he has given several lectures on campus, including a downlink from the ISS in February of this year. Because of his current schedule, U of W officials expect that Hadfield will only have limited time on campus until the fall 2014 semester. Once there, his role will be a mix of research, advising and teaching within the university’s Bachelor of Environmental Studies and Bachelor of Science programs in aviation. Aviation students at the university also take practical flight lessons at the Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre as part of their degree requirements. “[He] has flown over 70 aircrafts,” said McKenzie. “With Chris’s practical experience with flight and as a pilot this will be a great asset for our students.” Prior to joining the CSA, Hadfield was a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot and test piloted several experimental aircraft in both Canada and the US.

launch over the summer, with Smrke being granted a travel scholarship from McMaster to travel to India in order to observe a social innovation lab there. Their official website has a feature, dubbed the “problem bank”, which has a varying collection of potential problems for MSIL to work on. The co-directors emphasized that no one problem is of a higher priority than another. “I would say that we do not

really have a priority and that’s the point of the bank being so open,” said Smrke. “We’re really trying to get different kinds of people in the space at the same time.” The Social Innovation Lab is currently working on a wide spectrum of projects, some of which are focused on campus life, others on issues regarding life outside McMaster. One project had the team brainstorm ideas to reduce the waste of food on

campus, which led them to set up Twitter and Facebook pages, and after events, can be contacted to take the food. Another has them preparing a fundraising campaign for a student who has ambitions to go to Africa. MSIL, currently located in Thode B117/A, is still developing the workshop for students. The space has tools for members to learn how to create prototypes on budget, with light hardware, utensils to draw, as well as space for students to keep their ideas stored in the room. Hewlett and Smrke, who hosted the soft launch of their space on Oct. 2, are optimistic for the project’s future. “I’m really grateful to the McMaster community, we’ve received so much support so far and I really hope that we can provide a good return on the investment that has been put into us,” said Smrke. “I’m looking forward to seeing what will come about in the space, how people are changed by it and how people change the space, how the people take ownership of it, so it becomes a McMaster thing, not just something we’re both involved but something the whole campus sees as a place to try out their ideas.”

PHOTO Many students spend the summer after graduation travelling. Fewer do so while researching and recording a documentary film. Upon graduating from the Arts & Science program last Spring, Jackie Brown and Ros Pfaff were awarded a $17 000 portion of the “Drs. Jolie Ringash and Glen Bandiera Renaissance Award.” They used the grant to travel across Europe and North America investigating “creative community spaces,” and on Oct. 7 presented their findings in the form of a documentary screening followed by a Q&A session. Pfaff, one of the winners of the inaugural Renaissance Award, talks to guests at the presentation.

PHOTOS C/O YING SHAN

Students and community members gathered to see the results of the Pfaff and Brown’s research.

CANADIAN CAMPUS NEWS Christie Chan The Silhouette

University of Toronto in Times top 20

Students rally at University of Windsor

Carleton lanches Strategic Integrated Plan

FNU unveils communitybased program

UW summit recommends changes to high school

The University of Toronto is now ranked at No. 20 in the latest rankings from Times Higher Education, moving up one spot from its previous ranking. Other Canadian universities have moved spots. The University of British Columbia and McGill University have both dropped a single place. On the other hand, McMaster has lost four places coming in at 92nd. A drop may not necessarily indicate that a university has gotten worse, but that others have improved more quickly. Phil Baty, editor of the rankings, said that the performance of Canada’s top schools this year has “defied the gloom last year that suggested there was a downward trend.”

Several hundred students attended a rally organized by University of Windsor Students’ Alliance in light of a strike that has disrupted the school. The ongoing strike has resulted in lab closures and class cancellations. Robert Crawford, UWSA president, says he wants “to inform students of their rights during the strike” and “to strongly encourage both sides to return to the bargaining table.” The Canadian Union of Public Employees 1393, representing 282 Windsor employees, has been on strike since Sept. 8. The UWSA said that it is remaining politically neutral by taking a pro-student approach-not supporting the union or the university.

Carleton has finalized a new strategic plan that will guide the university for the next five years. It will focus on linking global and local in its future endeavours through the concept of “Sustainable Communities - Global Prosperity.” It also identifies four themes the school should be become known for. The plan was developed through a strategic planning consultation process and has taken into account input from the university’s community. The university hopes that it will grow Carleton’s reputation as a world-class comprehensive institution “dedicated to outstanding research, teaching and service to society.”

First Nations University has launched the Indigenous Access and Transition Education Certificate (IATEC) program on the Piapot First Nation. The10-month program is designed to better prepare students for post-secondary education in their home communities. It also recognizes the difficultly of the transition made by students from first- to second-year studies.Students will take transitional courses in English, science, and math and can earn 30 university credits upon completion of the program. Lynn Wells, Vice-President of Academics, says the program is “designed to help people transition back to university.”

The Equinox Summit: Learning 2030, a product of the Waterloo Global Science Initiative, was held last week at the University of Waterloo. Participants came from almost a dozen countries around the world. Topics discussed include the use of technology in the classroom, student engagement, local autonomy and teacher training. One ecommendation is to remove categorization by age and replace them with groupings based on ability and area of study. “The current model of grade levels and ages is flawed. We need to progress students through high school, not by their ages, but by the stages they’re at,” said Summit participator Greg Butler.

theSil.ca

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

DITORIAL

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

POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION

Academics or experience? Controversy in the DeGroote School of Business has reignited the old debate over the value of degrees versus industry experience

to all things oxford.

to miley’s grammar.

to blasting the tunes (for m.h.)

to that coat.

to postcards from haarlem that stuck around. to riggins the hamster (office pet?). to c. wonder l. to office supplies.

Jemma Wolfe Executive Editor The recent mess in the Faculty of Business that has resulted in the suspension of five professors is shocking for the high-profile nature of the situation, while simultaneously being unsurprising for the issue that it’s over. The hostile work environment described in the documents that have been released so far concerns differing opinions over who is worthy of tenure and leadership positions: those with doctorate degrees or those without - but with extensive industry experience. The faculty feud is indicative of two things: one, that bullying, infighting and plotting are not left behind at high school graduation; and two, that the debate between higher education and work experience is not over, and is worth revisiting. As upper-year students begin

submitting their applications to Masters programs, post-grad college programs, second degree programs and continuing education, questioning – in our personal lives – what the DeGroote professors questioned becomes an important conversation to have with ourselves. With the job market becoming ever more competitive, many students are turning to post-grad studies as the inevitable next step. Friends of mine in this position are either uncertain about what they want to do so they figure more schooling will give them answers, or they know what they want to do but are convinced competition is too fierce to get anywhere without more education. Maybe this is an appropriate approach. But maybe it’s not. As I begin to search for jobs for when my time here comes to an end, I’m repeatedly reading about the amount of years in the field that

companies are looking for. A degree, from a variety of potential programs, is required – but it’s not the emphasis and it’s non-specific. I’m currently trying to decide if I ought to go back to school – do a post-grad college certificate and amp up my credentials – or just try to directly enter the working world. If the turmoil in DeGroote can be any lesson to me, perhaps I should just try my luck with finding a job and focus on industry experience rather than more years of theoretical knowledge. Easier said than done, of course, when you need experience to get a job and you need a job to get experience. Still, perhaps more students will start choosing job experience to precede their names, rather than more letters to go behind them. @jemma_wolfe

to hoco and t-shirts. to the midnight poutine bar.

to being at the front of the line. to the prethanksgiving blues. to mis-interpretations of the turkey dump. to rogers, for the service outage. to red-light (district) filters. to the flies. how?

to a charlie brown christmas, in october.

to hoco naps. no 1280 for s.h.

to things to be thankful for.

to headline deliberations.

to breaking the graphics streak.

to the athlete’s foot.

to the staff reporters. welcome to the team.

to no green on the field.

to teriyaki’s return.

to figuring out the future.

to not having classes.

to the weather.

to autumn leaves.

to secrets.

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NEWS: “Five McMaster Business profs suspended for toxic behaviour” by Anqi Shen. First published on Wednesday, Oct. 2.

SPORTS: “The Gryphon Experience” by Laura Sinclair. First published on Thursday, Sept. 26.

LIFESTYLE: “The perks of eating locally” by Amanda Watkins. First published on Thursday, Sept. 26.

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.

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New app is on point Mac student creates mobile app with hours and locations of buildings and services on campus Michael Ryu The Silhouette In December 2011, Thusanthan Kannan stayed late on the McMaster campus and was looking to purchase refreshments from a Tim Hortons. Unfortunately, he did not realize that every establishment was closed for the night. Frustrated, Kannan had an epiphany, realizing he “could have saved… so much time and energy if [he] had only known the [opening and closing] times beforehand.” After consulting his close friends, Kulwinder Billen and Jerry Oku, the trio decided to remedy this problem through the creation of a new Android application, MacPoint. MacPoint is an application catered to “anyone that spends their time on [McMaster] campus,” said Billen. “The app allows one to be able to recognize and find the various buildings and hospitality services throughout campus. And on top of all this goodness, each point of interest we have covered will present its respective hours of operation.” The production of the app began in the summer of 2012. The trio met many difficulties along the way, explained Kannan. “We were going into Android development from scratch and without any prior knowledge… so it took us a lot of time to understand and master what we were doing.” Also, being students, Kannan, Billen and Oku had many other commitments, considerably

slowing down development of the software. Eventually, a functioning application was completed in April 2013 and with a few minor updates, the application was released on Sept. 11 of this year. So far, the app has been met with generally positive reviews. “I like the app’s functionality but it tends to crash relatively often,” said McMaster student Jozef Bednarski. Fellow McMaster student Claudia Aparicio said, “It looks great, really useful. It would be better if each building marker had the [building] acronym on it though. It’s hard for first-year students to navigate through the map if they don’t know the building names.” Online reviews on play.google.com and reddit.com provided similar feedback, stating that the application is practical, useful but relatively unstable. When asked about future plans considering the application Oku said, “We plan on expanding and adding more features which will be of great use. Currently, our main issue that needs improving is our aesthetic and visual layout of the app. Also, we need to add more control over which type of markers to view based on the user’s decision. At the end of the day, we just want to enrich and improve the day to day routines and experiences on campus.” MacPoint can be found on the Google Play store and is only currently available for Android mobile phones.

DID YOU KNOW that three Canadian teenagers took their lives this past year due to cyberbullying? We are conducting a study to understand cyberbullying on Facebook and how to prevent its damaging consequences. Please help us help teenagers and young adults that are experiencing cyberbullying, by filling an anonymous online survey.

To volunteer for this study, please go to the following link:

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Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

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theSil.ca

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

NEWS

Building for the future of Mac Abhi Mukherjee The Silhouette For engineering students, a new building on campus may make experiential learning more accessible, now that a full $8.5 million in funding has been raised. But students currently paying into the $50 per year levy will not see the building completed until 2016. The Engineering Center for Experiential Learning, or ExCEL for short, was an initiative that was introduced during the 20112012 academic year and voted on to go ahead in March 2012. The 25,000 square-foot building was able to complete its funding in September 2013, upon receiving a $3 million contribution from Hatch, a Canadian-based Engineering giant. The University has stated the construction is set to begin in spring 2015, to be completed in 2016. The initiative was to introduce a new building on campus, located beside John Hodgins Engineering Building, to house workspaces for engineering student clubs and societies, design studios, display spaces and student lounge areas. The project’s main mandate is to

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“ETB was originally intended to be the ExCEL building. I am really happy that we are finally making it into a reality now.” Ben Kinsella, VP Academic of the McMaster Engineering Society

enhance the learning experience for the students in the Faculty of Engineering through experiential learning and collaboration. But building a new structure on campus is no small project, and the ExCEL building has been no exception. Roughly a quarter of the $8.5 million required will come from the students in the Faculty of Engineering, following a student referendum vote that decided a $50 levy per engineering student per year would be acceptable. Starting this academic year, undergraduate students in the Faculty of Engineering will pay a $50 levy that goes towards the development of the project. The levies will continue to be collected over 10 years.

“Right now we are in the process of hiring the different engineering and construction people. Ideally it takes a year and a half to plan and design a project and another year and a half to execute it,” said Ben Kinsella, VP Academic for the McMaster Engineering Society. “But since we have already contributed so much in terms of the design of the building, we are hopeful that the project will be complete sooner than the estimated 3 years,” Kinsella said. The layout of the building is currently under rough speculation and subject to change once an architect is hired. Kelton Friedrich, project coordinator for the ExCEL building, provided some preliminary numbers. The building would have four floors. The first floor would be 6000 sq. ft., a third of which would most likely be a large project storage area, for projects such as the Solar Car and Mini Baja. The remaining 4000 sq. ft. on the first floor may be an assembly area, with movable tables for smaller projects. This assembly area could be used by clubs, teams and for capstone projects. The second floor has been proposed to be 6000 sq. ft. in size. About a quarter of the

second floor would be for an Engineering Student Lounge. Two-thirds of the second floor has been proposed for group meeting rooms and offices, club spaces, building support staff offices and McMaster Enginieering Socity offices. The third floor will be 6000 sq. ft. in size. About a third would be allocated for storage lockers and the remaining two-thirds would be used as group meeting rooms and an engineering design studio. The fourth floor will be used as a “mechanical space,” according to Friedrich. The building will also have a slanted roof that will be used for solar cell panels; the building is to be designed as being sustainable and energy efficient. Friedrich and Kinsella, two people on the project’s steering committee, help to set goals by recommending how to allocate the resources provided. “ETB was originally intended to be the ExCEL building. I am really happy that we are finally making it into a reality now,” said Kinsella. Aside from project leaders, engineering students have differing opinions on how their money is being invested. “We are just paying for the future undergrads. The more

reputation the MES has, the better reputation the program will also have and employers are only going to look at the reputation of the school at the time they are hiring you,” said Chris Ko, a level III software engineering and game design student. “ExCEL will benefit all engineering students as it will be home to student clubs and societies, design teams and more. I believe it is a great idea and it will enhance our learning experience,” said Labeeb Hussain, a mechanical engineering student. “As a student who has been heavily involved with the car teams on campus, I can tell you lack of workspace is a huge concern. The workspace we get is often adapted from previous uses, and was never intended for car teams,” said David Drake, a fourth-year electrical and computer engineering student. “[A new building] means that we can build our cars better. We can provide more benefit to students and we can better represent our school at our competitions. I am pro ExCEL for this reason.” “It will help people learn and compete better on a global level,” said Mohit Sharma, a fourthyear electrical engineering and management student.

BEN BARRETT-FORREST / MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

The story behind the statue Aurora Coltman Silhouette Intern Spending time on campus means that you may not notice things around you. One such overlooked feature of campus is the White Lady, the marble statue with the Gene Simmons-like mask that existed in the shadows near the daycare at the former Wentworth House. Now, in the midst of the construction, she sits behind the Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery, her history slowly being forgotten by those who pass by. Despite our curiosity, few people know the whole story behind the White Lady. The statue, built between 1959 and 1962, was designed and created by the artist Elford Bradley Cox (1914-2003), a Canadian sculptor born in Botha, Alta. His primary mediums included limestone, marble, alabaster, wood, precious and semi-precious stones, porcelains, and various metals. Cox sculpted everything from animals seen in

Canada – bears, lynxes, owls – to the human figure – several torsos, stylistic faces. Cox started the statue in 1959 when a Canada-wide art competition was begun for a “sculpture of a family group” that was to be placed outside the City Hall in Hamilton, Ont. Six sculptors, Cox’s among them, were promised $250 each, and submitted models for consideration to the jury. It was decided on Jan. 19, 1959 that Cox would receive the award, and create a sculpture to adorn City Hall. Only members of the jury had ever seen the draft for the statue, meaning it was to be a surprise at the unveiling. However, the statue was never placed in front of City Hall due to controversy between city officials. Despite research by the McMaster Museum of Art and other interested parties, what happened to the statue afterwards was never fully discovered. It did end up at McMaster, and there are two theories as to

how. The first theory, the only proof being written in a letter by Dr. George Wallace, a McMaster professor from 1960-1985, wrote that William Kilbourn, another professor, and one of the members of the jury for the competition, suggested that McMaster University, “recompense [to Cox] and [place] it in front of Wentworth House.” An alternate theory suggests that Lloyd Kyles, architect of Wentworth House, was the donor of the Cox sculpture. Whatever the case, it is clear that Kyles was involved in bringing the statue to McMaster in 1962. Plans to place her on the circular patio outside former Wentworth House failed, as she was not ‘appropriate’ for the setting, looking apparently unappealing against the brown brick, and being considered scandalous for the figure’s lack of clothing. The statue wound up next to its final resting spot next to the nursery. The White Lady was moved

AURORA COLTMAN / SILHOUETTE INTERN

slightly in 2001 when art conservator Sandra Lougheed was invited to repair the statue by the McMaster University Future Funds project. As the statue had been secluded, taggers had taken the opportunity to cover its torso and face in black acrylic paint. Lougheed took it upon herself to restore the statue to its former

glory, fixing cracks, cleaning dirt and mould from the surface, and peeling away the acrylic paint. Naturally, vandals reclaimed it mere weeks later, replacing the Gene Simmons mask with almost an exact copy. There has been no discussion since of restoring the White Lady.

theSil.ca

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

PINIONS

A7 Editor Sam Godfrey

Email opinions@thesil.ca Phone 905.525.9140 x27117

VOTE! Undergrad representitive

Being an ally

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KAREN WANG / GRAPHICS EDITOR

E H T H T I NOUGH W

Harmful hyperbole

! ! ! S N O I T S E U Q

Bahar Orang ANDY Editor I find myself constantly worrying about the future. Where am I going? What will happen after I graduate? Will I ever be able to figure it all out? What are my passions? How am I going to make money? Will I be a sellout? Will I be okay with that? Who am I going to be in five years? How many regrets will I have? Will I make the right decisions? What are the right decisions? What are even my options? Will I ever shake this feeling that I need something more? Will I ever truly be content with my life? Will I ever live up to my potential? What even is my potential? Will I ever forgive myself for my past mistakes? How much will those mistakes affect my future? What’s my GPA? Why does my life revolve around my GPA? What if I had spent more time on that one stupid essay? Would I have more opportunities now? Have I already fucked everything up? Will I be mediocre? Is there anything wrong with being mediocre? Does mediocre even mean anything? Should I be going out more? Should I be going out less? Am I a disappointment? To myself? To my family? Should I worry about wrinkles and wear more sunscreen? Why does everyone seem to have all their shit figured out? What’s wrong with me? Am I just slower than everyone else? Do I just take longer to realize what’s important? Does it even matter? Does

any of it even matter? Aren’t we all just tiny, insignificant specks in a gigantic and relentlessly futile universe where none of our lives will ever truly amount to anything and in only a matter of decades I will be erased from the earth, totally forgotten? So why do I take myself so seriously? I feel like there’s something chasing me all the time. I feel like it’s always been chasing me, but it’s been too far behind for me to worry except for some random, unperiodic panic attacks. But recently, I’ve slowed my pace, or maybe this thing that’s chasing me has started moving faster. Either way, I know that it’s gaining on me and that very soon it’s going to consume me whole. When I’m reading or writing or drinking or in the middle of a yoga pose, my heart beats unusually fast and I succumb to a kind of anxiety that erupts from the very pits of my gut and spreads to my shoulders and knees and fingertips and even slow, deep breaths don’t do any good. I ask myself, is this an emotional breakdown? And then I only want to scream, “ENOUGH WITH THE QUESTIONS!!!” Everyone tells us that we’re overreacting, that we have time to figure it out, that we should enjoy these years. And everyone mocks the twenty-somethings and finds us vain, arrogant, self-indulgent, dramatic, immature, ignorant, ungrateful and exploitative of technology. But school, is hard. Figuring out your life, is hard. In my brain, I understand that I have time to make mistakes and learn from them. But in my stomach, in my heart, in that place where fears, insecurities, mental health issues,

paranoia, and anxiety (damn that anxiety) are all produced – I feel like time is running out, and that my life is a ticking bomb, and that if I don’t find the perfect solution to all these so-called imaginary problems immediately, I will be a failure. And then I sometimes wonder if ambition is overrated. I spent long stretches of time this past summer being gloriously lazy and carefree. I went for long runs and long picnics. I learned how to paint and then I spent many nights awake painting and slept in like it was Saturday and the day after my last exam. I only read when I felt like it. I wasted a lot of money on brunch. I spent hours in the kitchen cooking Indian dinners. But everyone around me was moving, doing, studying, accomplishing. I felt guilty. Did all their movements and accomplishments mean that their summers were inherently more meaningful? And mine was silly and frivolous? What if there was a freak accident and the world was wiped and tomorrow we were all lying in our deathbeds? Would I regret my indolence? When I am in my most meditative state, when I feel old and wise and can see clearly – I decide no. I decide that in the minutes leading up to my death, I would probably wish for just one more morning where I could wake up after 10 and make a giant cup of coffee and sip it until lunch while rereading Harry Potter. @baharoh

Sophia Topper The Silhouette If you feel that life is not worth living, and have felt that way for quite some time, then you may have depression. If you do poorly on a test, you are dejected. You are not depressed. If you are driven to distraction every time a volume dial isn’t left on a multiple of five, you may have OCD. If you like to have all your dirty laundry in your hamper, then you are a tidy person. You do not have OCD. Our culture is consumed by hyperbole. You aren’t hungry — you’re starving. You hit your snooze button a million times this morning. Your backpack weighs more than an elephant, because your laptop is from the Stone Age. Things are never good enough the way they are. Everything needs to be extreme, to be epic. This inflation is fine for mundane complaints, but when it starts to extend into subjects such as mental health, it becomes problematic. The language we use to describe ourselves and our feelings has implications that reach far further than some angsty Facebook statuses. Saying that you’re “depressed” because Breaking Bad ended negates the actual depression that I feel because my brain chemistry is messed up. I’m not just griping because I want to feel special and exclusive. The appropriation of mental illness is troubling because it obscures the actual cries for help. When someone says “I’m really depressed and overwhelmed right now,” they should be met with

concern, empathy, suggestions to visit the Wellness Centre, open arms and minds, not “yeah, me too, I only got a C on that paper!” Generally, if you can fix your mood with a trip to Yogurty’s, you are not depressed. It is incredibly difficult to come forwards and ask for help, so please don’t trivialize it. The appropriation of mental illness goes beyond depression. Think of all the times you’ve heard people describe themselves as “OCD.” First, no one is OCD—that’s like saying “I am chickenpox.” OCD is a potentially debilitating illness that causes intrusive unpleasant thoughts if certain compulsions are not recognized. Liking exactly two and half sugar cubes in your tea is just picky. Likewise, ADD and ADHD are medical conditions, not trendy excuses for laziness or always checking Facebook. It’s important not to obscure the needs of people battling mental illness just to attempt to make yourself stand out. It’s even worse when this language contributes to the stigma. Calling the weather “bi-polar” may not seem like a big deal, but it plays into all the negative stereotypes of the disorder. Same with calling some a “Schizo”: it’s obviously rude, but it also attributes negative behaviour to the disorder that doesn’t even fit the diagnosis. Using clinical definitions does not mean you have a varied vocabulary. It means you are obscuring the seriousness of actual issues. If someone tells you they are depressed, reach out. Take it seriously. Don’t let hyperbole prevent you from helping someone in need.

FEEDBACK How are you spending your long weekend?

Opinions Editor Sam Godfrey talks about her annual tradition during her favourite holiday.

BIRTHDAY, A9

“Playing League of Legends.”

Namir Jalanko, Biochemisty IV

“Working, Halloween Haunt and spending Monday with my family.”

Aula Mustafa, Political Science III

“On the beach,”

Kathryn Morrison, Arts and Science / Philosophy IV

YOSEIF HADDAD / PHOTO EDITOR

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

theSil.ca

OPINIONS

The burden of education Ana Qarri The Silhouette

KAREN WANG / GRAPHICS EDITOR

Something to say? The Opinions section is always looking for new contributors. If you’ve got some thoughts on world events, campus goings-on or even some reflections based on a cute anecdote, we’d love to read them. Volunteer meetings are at 1:30 on Tuesdays. If this time doesn’t work for you, just send an email to Sam Godfrey at opinions@thesil.ca to let us know you’re interested, set up a meeting or discuss an article idea.

Queer and trans* topics rarely come up in my class discussions (which is an issue for another day), but often when they do, I find that I voluntarily take on the role of makeshift educator. Just recently in one of my tutorials, someone brought up the Belgian man who was granted permission for euthanasia after an unsatisfactory sex change surgery. What followed could be described as a very awkward, uncomfortable silence and a few unpleasant reactions. A lot of people aren’t necessarily as exposed to discussions surrounding topics of gender and sexual diversity as I am, which is why I will often reluctantly excuse and overlook these signs of prejudice and ignorance. While rude and offensive, these moments serve as reminders that there’s still work to do, awareness to raise and people to educate. I know that a lot of people in the Queer community and other marginalized groups don’t hold the same view about the process of educating privileged folks. I completely understand this perspective; having to constantly repeat your story, the same information; the same facts that are easily accessible online can become frustrating. Sometimes you wish people would take the time to learn about issues that don’t directly affect them.

Unfortunately, as we all probably know, this isn’t the case for most individuals who are privileged in one way or another (myself included with respect to certain privileges I hold). Becoming an ally to a group is an extensive process – one that never really ends. As someone who isn’t experiencing what the people you’re supporting are experiencing, your activism looks different from theirs. The process will definitely consist of a lot of mistakes, especially at the start. However, everyone has to start somewhere, and for some people it may be that time they spent five seconds listening to the uncomfortable silence of their tutorial room. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt during the first few moments of this “process.” Even if I was offended by the reactions, the eye-rolls and the sounds of confusion, I don’t like to point fingers or start yelling (at least not right away). Privileged people have spent their whole life in a society that has taught them that things are a certain way, and I think expecting a two-second paradigm shift to take place isn’t realistic. That’s why I like to begin the process by educating. Some people are very receptive, and others not so much. And I think it’s at this point, after I’ve attempted to educate someone on issues they aren’t familiar with, that I can begin to make the distinction between

those who have good intentions and are trying to be allies, and those who don’t. The latter, of course, can be incredibly unnerving, and it can be another reason why members of marginalized communities don’t like having the burden of educating privileged people placed on them. However, I think it’s important to recognize the difference between well-intentioned folks who might be asking ignorant questions in the process of learning, and those are intentionally offending and refusing to learn/ unlearn. That’s not to say that members of marginalized groups owe anyone any sort of education. In the end, it’s up to the person and not the entire community. Everyone has different experiences with oppression, activism and advocacy, and educating should never be an individual responsibility. So when someone is talking about a group of people you’re not very familiar with, listen. When you hear terms you’ve never heard before, try to remember them. If someone is getting up the courage to educate a room full of strangers on a topic they’re intimately familiar with, respect them. These aren’t hard rules to follow, and can make the discussion have a positive tone, while also making the burden of the educating that a lot of marginalized people feel obligated to provide much more bearable.

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

theSil.ca

OPINIONS

I WAS A SEVEN-POUND TURKEY And other truths about my birthday through the years

Sam Godfrey Opinions Editor For me, Thanksgiving means more than turkey, family and colonialism. It’s also a built-in societal reminder that my birthday is coming up, sometimes even coinciding exactly with Thanksgiving Day. And as my parents will never cease to remind me with their favourite joke, Oct. 11, 1993 was one of those days: I was their seven-pound turkey. (Yeah, that razor wit is genetic.) This year my birthday doesn’t fall on Thanksgiving Day, but it is significant for another reason. Those of you counting at home may have noticed that this year marks my twentieth. On October 11, 2013, I will have been alive for 20 years. Yessiree, leaving my teenage years and entering my third decade of life. The big twooh. Growing up. A bona fide adult. Or at least, that’s what people tell me, as I sit here in the office with smears on my glasses, a bracelet knotted on my wrist and no shoes on my feet because I’ve once again forgotten them at home because I rollerblade here. Is there some expectation for this to change, once I officially outgrow my teenage-hood? Those around me who I’ve witnessed take the jump into their 20’s have all faced it very grimly. It weighed on them for days, sometimes weeks before the big day, as they lamented leaving their youth behind. With my own entrance to adulthood fast approaching, I feel like I’ve missed the anxiety-laden boat. Am I supposed to be relishing my last days as a teenager? What does that entail, because if it means staying out late, you can count me out - I am super sleepy.

Do I have to do something impulsive and rebellious? I’m not even really sure how to rebel against my parents. Maybe by inefficiently stacking the dish rack, or not carpooling? I guess I’ve never been very good at being a teenager. Aside of course from the drinking, cursing and terrible music. Unless I’m confusing teenagers with sailors. But with the apparently momentous end of this hormonal era, I keep trying to find the meaning in this birthday that everyone tells me is there. The last time I got really excited for a birthday was my twelfth, because I was allowed to ride the bigger go-karts at the local track. The last time I got really nervous for a birthday was my sixth, because I didn’t know if my school friend and neighbourhood friend would get along at my party. My twentieth birthday brings neither the joys of a new motorway nor the stress of hosting two (2) people for a belligerent, cake-fuelled afternoon. Adulthood doesn’t spring itself on a person. It sneaks on, layer by layer. Each layer covers the ones underneath. But doesn’t get rid of them. I am just as much composed of my 10-year-old self as I am my 18-year-old self. Sure, they’re buried deeper and don’t show as much, but my 19-year-old self would be hollow without them. When my twentieth rolls around, soon as it may, it will fit snugly into place. I’m not leaving behind my teenage years, they’re here to greet my 20’s. And 30’s, and 50’s and so on. And thank goodness, because I’ve still got some hell to raise. @samwisegodfrey

Bouncing back from life's lows Aurora Coltman Silhouette Intern During the summer break, I visited Japan on my own. But this is not another travel story. It’s actually about what happens after the adventure, when the adrenaline and the jet lag bring you straight back to a jarring reality of obstacles, stress and responsibility. But let me finish my introduction. I visited Japan. Going there, I had a suitcase inside a suitcase, pre-emptively solving the problem of how to bring back an extra ton of souvenirs. Among these souvenirs was a particularly treasured little item for myself. That item is a Daruma doll. Darumas are symbols of perseverance and good luck. Given as gifts, they are signs of encouragement. However, there’s a certain trick to working the magic of a Daruma doll: you must paint an eye. Yes, only one eye. Daruma dolls are typically given with

blank eyes – entirely white. It is supposed to be that you make a wish, and when wishing on the Daruma doll, you paint one eye. When you fulfill that wish, you paint the second eye. And here’s a neat little tidbit: if you knock a Daruma doll over, it springs right back up. This is supposed to suggest that no matter where you’re going in life, you are somehow still on track in fulfilling your dream. You fall in life’s lows, but you always stand right back up. A lot of people will probably scoff at that; label it unrealistic, a romantic notion. And I sort of agree. But the romanticism is what makes painting the eye so attractive: fulfilling a dream. Most of you know by this point that it isn’t always the downs of life that drain the most – it’s recovering from those downs. Most of you out there don’t own your own little Daruma dolls; you don’t have a constant reminder that you’re on track with your dream - that you’re go-

ing to stand back up again. Well, you’re probably most definitely scoffing now, am I right? But how about I share a little secret? I have a dream too, just like most of you. That doesn’t mean it’s a clear dream. It is by no means “I want two and half kids, a happy marriage, and a white picket fence.” Firstly: heck no. Secondly: there is so much more to my dream than clear-cut words. Mine’s a hazy little outline. Maybe to someday be not a paying guest at comic-cons and music festivals, but to someday be a guest, to be invited because someone somewhere happened to recognize talent among hard work and effort. Which seems to me to be a near-impossible dream. But then again, if I don’t give it a shot, and if I don’t recover from the downs, I’ll never know. So when you step out to pursue your dream, give it your best shot, and remember: always spring back up.

The Daruma doll is modeled after the founder of the Zen sect of Buddhism, Bodhidarma.

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

theSil.ca

OPINIONS

Learning to forget Kacper Niburski The Silhouette The first thing you learn is that you can’t expect things. They won’t text you goodnight. They won’t tell you about their day. Your phone won’t ring no matter how many times you check it. In a way, their memories won’t last either. In two years, they won’t remember that day in the park or how the sun glimmered underneath that waterfall or all the silly faces you made in one of the many photobooths. Days like December 18 or October 16 will go unnoticed, their significance even more so. You’ll understand that in order for one to remember, another must forget. You learn to hate the cliché “finder’s keepers, loser’s weepers.” Your song will play on the radio. Little notes will clutter in your closet. A whole life will haunt you in each and every step because you made sure that in each and every step, they were your life. You used to know everything. You had a personal invite into their troubles and success. Now you are strangers and nothing more. You learn that’s the way it goes, and

you learn that no matter what you do, what you say, or what you feel, some things are final – goodbye being one of them. You learn that not everything needs an explanation. Sometimes words just weigh down the gravity of the scenario. It’s not that some things are indescribable. Certainly they can be defined, measured, and quantified. Rather, you don’t want to characterize how you feel or what it meant to you. All the good words have been stolen, and even those offer little condolence. Besides, those words are just another way to describe the world. Before you simply described it with their name. You learn that some days drown into the night. By the time the sun swings itself into a cheery blossom, you forget why you were out in the first place. You visit one bar. Another. You learn that sometimes a name is all that is needed to start a relationship. So the names pile on and on and you tell yourself that it takes someone to get over someone else. All you need is another pair of lips. Or another body in between the little naked spaces of your bare body. Then one day, as the dawn peeks through the blinds and finds you

in a bed that is not your own, staring at the stenciled symbols in the ceiling and wondering if you should get up now or later, you learn that you loved what you lost and hate what you found. You learn that you can’t take this burden by yourself. You’ll have to tell someone. Anyone. The unimposing relationship you were in, the comfort you found, the happiness you discovered. All of it. The beginning. The end. Every sweet middle bit. Because you’ll learn that only until you talk about them and what happened – the way they played with your hair, the way they caught you in the most unflattering pictures, the way they talked to complete strangers like long-lost friends – you’ll never be able to think about anything else. You learn that the saying is true: love and death are the only things that have the power to change everything. In a way, it makes you laugh: your love has died. So you are left only with the memories, the soft kisses, and the days cradled in each other’s arms. You are left with everything you had, everything you felt, and everything that can be no more. In the end, you are left with every-

thing that has to change. Most of all, you learn to forget. Forget those letters you wrote. Forget that you said you missed them, and that you meant to say is that you loved them. Forget that you were once afraid to use the word love. Forget how they liked when you kissed the back of their ear. Forget their laugh. Forget how their tears matched the rain. Forget that you wrapped your arms around them, buried your head in their hair, and that you held your breath because you just wanted to stay there forever. Forget that you are still waiting for forever to start. And always – no matter the day, the weather or the lingering thoughts of doubt – remember to forget.

BEN BARRETT-FORREST /MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

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theSil.ca

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

OPINIONS

A11

These candidates deserve your attention With only one representative for 25k undergraduates and millions on the line, University Planning Committee elections should really matter to students of Governers, the University Planning Committee, or all three. True to its name, the University Planning Committee deals primarily with academic planning and the management of University resources. It also acts as an advisory board to the senior administration of the University. UPC is a joint committee of the Senate and BoG and is unique to McMaster; other schools with the bicameral system that Mac has do not have the equivalent of

Jordan Cole

Gabriel Cicchi

Chantal Labonté Rahi Turab Honours Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, Level IV

Life Sciences Level I

Ken Seville

Why should students care about UPC elections? I feel students should always be interested in the future of education, and that is what the UPC is. The student voice is what will help shape not only the experiences of future generations, but the school’s atmosphere itself.

Why should students care about UPC elections? The UPC elections are vital to McMaster students as the committee discusses specific aspects of student life (academics and their allocated resources).

Why should students care about UPC elections? These elections allow undergraduate students to have a voice in all the planning that the university undergoes, this directly affects their education and experience at McMaster.

Why should students care about UPC elections? Students should care about UPC elections because the entire undergraduate class only gets one representative to be their voice in the UPC, which makes it even more of a shame when so few people actually vote.

Why should students care about UPC elections? UPC decisions affect all aspects of your university experience. As a joint committee of Senate (academic) and the Board of Governors (financial), the UPC is the senior planning body of the university and is responsible for ensuring that academic and financial planning are congruent when recommending McMaster’s nearly $1 billion annual budget.

Honours CMST & Multimedia, and Political Science, Level II

Why are you running for UPC Undergrad rep? I am running for UPC undergrad rep because I have had multiple experiences to not only share the student voice, but to stand up and protect it from interests that do not have it in mind. I want our future to be secured and protected by one of us. Why are you the best person for the job? I am the best person for this job for one reason: interest. Without an interest in future university planning we will not have the same environment within our school that we are used to, interest is what drives passion, and that is what I will bring to this position.

VOTE!

Honours Commerce Level IV

Why are you running for UPC Undergrad rep? As I enter my fourth year at McMaster, the education I have experienced has given me a clear understanding of what needs to continue, start, and stop happening. Why are you the best person for the job? I am a multifaceted student who’s passion, motivation, and achievement oriented persona makes me an ideal candidate for this position.

Why are you running for UPC Undergrad rep? The McMaster community has given me so much in my time here, I want to give back and make the experience better for my peers and future students. Why are you the best person for the job? As a fourth year student, I have been involved in a variety of things on campus (academic, clubs, faculty societies, residence), these well-rounded experiences will allow me to effectively represent a large amount of students on a variety of important topics.

UPC. With such significant issues on the table — and a hefty budget along with it — the one seat that undergraduate students (fulltime, part-time and continuing students) are allotted should be filled by the right person. Undergrads should take the time to inform themselves, and vote accordingly.

“

For the first time in a long time, there’s a lot of interest in higher-level University elections. Five candidates are competing to be your next University Planning Committee undergraduate representative. I find this really exciting. And so should you. The role of the University Planning Committee in greater University governance is a critical

one — but often unknown or underrated by students who are exclusively caught up in McMaster Students Union politics. What is perhaps unknown to such students is that major academic and financial issues that MSU representatives promise to attend to are all under the ultimate jurisdiction of larger governing bodies. Decisions relating to tuition, academic programs, budgeting, etc. all must be approved by the Senate, the Board

Jemma Wolfe Executive Editor

@jemma_wolfe

Why are you running for UPC Undergrad rep? I am running for UPC undergrad rep because I saw the call for candidates in the Silhouette and realized that if no one else was going to run, as an able first year, I have a responsibility to try and represent my undergraduate class. Why are you the best person for the job? I believe I am the best person for the job because I have experience working in many clubs and committees along with an interest in how planning and administration works for the students at McMaster.

To see the full resumes of the five candidates and to vote for who you think would be the best representative, go to http://www.mcmaster.ca/univsec/elections/upc/upc3.cfm. Voting runs from Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 8:30 a.m. until Thursday, Oct. 17 at 4:30 p.m.

“With such significant issues on the table... the one seat that undergraduate students are allotted should be filled by the right person”

Social Sciences Continuing Education

Why are you running for UPC Undergrad rep? I have prior experience as an elected representative on both the SRA and MAPS and wish to step up to university wide representation. Why are you the best person for the job? The task of representing the diverse interests of all undergrads is too big for one person. To overcome this problem I have developed a web based technology called Democravise, that facilitates university wide consultation with all undergraduate stakeholder groups, including the MSU, SOCS, and MAPS. This unique technology was developed at Mac and ensures all critical questions are asked before decisions are made.

PHOTOS BY YOSEIF HADDAD AND ANQI SHEN

Canadian trafficking laws reflect apathy Jamie Murdrick The Silhouette It can be difficult to attract a large group of volunteers at McMaster. There are so many different groups vying for students’ attention and often, there is so little guidance. While international human trafficking is another important issue, it is critical to note the there are laws that protect immigrants from the harsh world of human trafficking in Canada. However, there are no laws protecting Canadian citizens from this terrible act. Rather than being criminalized, people who are found to be a part of these circles merely get fined. This is an insignificant and meaningless price to pay considering people are being used as mere means to money. The Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative originated this year. And while they do get some guidance from their funding and resource partners at Ontario Public Interest Research Group McMaster, they rely on their student volunteers to help with the groundwork. One of the biggest obstacles this small program faces is

the stigma surrounding human trafficking throughout Canada and right here in Hamilton. The co-founders of HTAI, Sukhbir Thind, a fourth-year Honours Life Science student and Letizia D’Alimonte, a fourth-year Honours Communications student, are trying to reach out not only to McMaster, but also to high school students - a task proving to be much more difficult than anticipated. “I think they’re in denial of it,” says Thind, when discussing the challenge of reaching grade 11 and 12 students across Hamilton. People do not want to believe the streets of their city are littered with this issue, so they ignore the problem in the hopes that bliss will follow their ignorance. This denial occurs despite the fact that, in 2011, 89 per cent of all human trafficking victims in Canada were Canadian aged 12-22. It is important that all students become aware of this cultural imperfection, and that this awareness will hopefully lead to change. The focus of the volunteer-based HTAI is on domestic human trafficking awareness. The founders of HTAI got the

idea to start this social awareness group from “Walk With Me,-” a Hamilton-based group that helps people who are currently being trafficked. From January to August 2013, they received 92 crisis calls from victims and police, and 126 tips/calls from the public, the large majority of which were from the Hamilton area. The purpose of this group is to spend their days picking up and aiding victims. Although this group helps those affected by trafficking, it deals with a “lack of awareness,” explains D’Alimonte. “Everyone is too busy doing work, they are leaving no time to promote the cause.” This is where HTAI comes in. The group intends to allow high school students to become aware of this issue, and perhaps set up HTAI juniors across Hamilton, eventually having these groups put on their own presentations to their classes and schools. We have stereotypes about how Canada and Hamilton appear positively, but this optimistic attitude can blind us on important issues.

C/O SIL FILE PHOTO

NOTSPEC.COM

WEAVING SEASON Basketball fever is almost in full swing; WNBA fans sick of obscurity B1

THURSDAY OC TOBER 10, 2013

HAMILTON SPECULATOR THE

CHEATING THE TURING TEST SINCE 1934

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Switzerland adopts “fuck off” immigration law A5

Ten reasons you should be more careful with fingers C1

Beaming THE STRUGGLE with pride AGAINST Guy speeds BMW down Sterling, everyone impressed

TRANSPHOBIA

SHIT HASTINGS Middle-class Speculator

A McMaster student was seen driving his BMW 70 km/h on Sterling St. this week, and the student body cannot stop talking about it. “I saw that Beemer flying down Sterling, and I said ‘woah, cut me a slice of that pie,’” said Trevor Kosmo, a fourth-year kinesiology student. By driving the car significantly over the speed limit, the driver solidified his spot as one of the coolest and toughest people on campus. Some critics argue that the student’s increased coolness comes at a cost. There is a heavy family presence there and a loud car going too fast could anger some of the locals. However, The Speculator found this not to be the case. “My five-year-old kid loved to see that. He was just thrilled to see someone recklessly drive down the street with construction workers, bikers and skateboarders all around. And the car isn’t obnoxious at all - I think taking the muffler off really improves the neighbourhood vibe,” said Sam Trout, a Westdale parent. “I’m glad this example exists for my son. After all, nothing is cooler than driving your father’s $50,000 dollar car too fast.” The brief speeding stint will likely pay major dividends for the student. Early poll suggest the Sterling racer is a lock for the 2014-2015 MSU Presidency.

Transphobic demonstrations have become more violent as the city of Hamilton continues to ignore the issues.

Local anti-transportation activists are up in arms against city’s support of riders’ rights TIBERIUS SLICK Transmorphic Speculator

The city of Hamilton was dealt a dirty hand earlier this week, when the many took to the streets to demonstrate against the rights of the few. The group, now going under the moniker of “Hamiltonians Against Transit Support” (HATS), gathered around the MacNab bus terminal late Monday night and began damaging city-owned buses in an attempt to delay discussion of rider’s rights in city hall. “We feel that city councillors have been too hasty in deciding that people who take the bus

should have the same set of rights as the rest of us who live good, clean lives and don’t consort with their kind,” said Jacob Raleaux, chief co-ordinator of HATS. The demonstrations come hot on the heels of a recent council decision to to allow bus passengers a safe space to discuss their issues in a judgment-free environment, in the form of a Safe Transit Development centre scheduled to be built in early 2014. The Hamilton Street Railway Commissioner, Boxcar Bill, has assured demonstrators that this iniative will not conflict with their existing lifestyle choices. “We’re not shoving anything

down anyone’s throats. This centre is an optional space for bus riders to congregate and be away from the leers of drivers and pedestrians alike,” said Bill. “This won’t lead to dogs walking their owners, or Jackson Square shoppers being presentable human beings. Those are wild accusations and all people should be allowed to get to work however they please.” The city will not acquiesce to the list of demands set forth by HATS and will continue to fight for passenger rights. “If the city won’t stem these perverted rights discussions then we’ll just have to get increasingly

HSR Commissioner Boxcar Bill more noticeable in our protests until Hamilton gets some common sense. Some people are just not fit for society, and it seems only we realize that,” said Raleaux. Hats off to you as always, Hamilton.

Editorial

Quebec should follow Colorado lead

Sterling will now be host to a myriad of the worst kind of person. Absolutely the worst.

ARNAUD LÉCLAIR L’ Évaluateur Montréal

The recent developments in Colorado have put into perspective just how close to our hearts the issue of seccession has become.

WEATHER HIGH: HYPOCRISY LOW: TAKING RESPONSIBILITY I can have my cake and eat it too, but if anyone else does I’m going to flip my shit.

Chickenshit

SPECU

Suggestive Fruit SALE!!

DAYS ONLY!

It is always in the back of our minds; the possibility that should Quebec secede from the Canadian confederation. The real question is, should we even stop them? Hear me out. What has Quebec ever really done for us that couldn’t be supplemented by good old-fashioned expensive imports? Ancient Canadian politician Tommy Douglas put forward an interesting analysis of how the provinces co-interact. “Canada is like an old cow. The West feeds it. Ontario and Quebec milk it. And you can well imagine what it’s doing in the Maritimes.”

Shit Hastings stands in front of a moving train to impress our interns, but considers not doing it too. See ONLINE

The point I’m getting at is, why should we have two provinces milking the same cow? (Maritimes aside, they are an issue we’ll have to deal with in due time, but for another day.) If you’ve ever watched two farmers fight over a battered utter than you might have an idea of the kind of difficulty that arises when it comes times to make that cow look presentable on the world stage. Should Colorado successfully divide into two states lost in obscurity instead of one, then I suggest Quebec start putting in the paperwork to go their own way

LAYING PIPELINE A2

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Prices effective only on a case-by-case basis. Should you desire to challenge our policies you may speak to a store manager and they will put you in your place. Not available in Ancaster locations.

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.

theSil.ca

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

IFESTYLE

Thanksgiving Funsies

Editors Amanda Watkins & Miranda Babbitt

Email lifestyle@thesil.ca Phone 905.525.9140 x27117

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ETIQU ET T E G LAS SWARE When taking part in what could potentially be a fine dining experience, the glass(es) to your right will belong to your table setting. The right-most glass will be your wine glass (if you enjoy the drink). If drinking wine, be sure to hold your glass from the stem, and not from the bowl. Also try to refrain from swishing your beverage around your glass, this could end poorly for anyone wearing white, and is usually not well-received by connoisseurs. Respect your beverage.

FOR T HE EVERYM A N This Thanksgiving, revise your manners

FO O D WO RRIES Wait until your hostess has started eating before you take a bite. Do not intercept a pass. When someone is passing around the roll bowl, simply wait your turn. Don’t blow on your food. Hold it discreetly into the open air to let cool. When leaving the table, excuse yourself and place your napking to the right.

SILVERWA R E Conventionally the spoon and knife will go on the right side of the setting with the knife facing inward. The forks will go to the left, since most guests are right-handed and will reach for the fork with their left hand. As you can see, we screwed that up in this picture. In terms of forks, start from the outside and work your way in. Once you’ve started eating, your cutlery should stay on your plate and never touch the table again. Never. When finished your cutlery should be placed at the bottom right, pointing towards the top left.

S ALT &PEPPER When passing the S&P, the two always move together as a couple. Don’t take just the one and break their poor seasoning hearts. Once you have the couple, try your food before you season it. It can come across as rude to re-season something before you’ve tasted it. PHOTO C/O ELIZA POPE/ ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR GRAPHIC & TEXT/ AMANDA WATKINS/ LIFESTYLE EDITOR

FAN CY N A P K I N FOL DIN G! The Fr ench Fol d

TH E F I NAL P RO D UC T!

ST E P 1 :

Get a napkin. Obv. Fold it diagonally.

STEP 2:

Fold the top corner down towards the middle of the bottom side.

STEP 3 :

Fold the right corner down towards the center of the newest flap.

theSil.ca

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

LIFESTYLE

Brittany Farr

First-year Social Sciences

WEARING: Jacket - Forever 21 Sunflower pants - Element Boots - Spring ONE SEASON OF CLOTHING TO WEAR? Summer. A lot more things can go with shorts! FAVOURITE STUDY BREAK? Listening to music and going on tumblr.

YOSEIF HADDAD / PHOTO EDITOR

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Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

theSil.ca

.io

Emma Suschkov The Silhouette Okay, maybe you’re not really zombies. But the similarities are striking. You shuffle around mechanically. You’re clumsy and you don’t seem to take any notice of the world around you. Okay, you’re not exactly walking around moaning “braaaiinns,” but, like

LIFESTYLE

Dear Zombies, zombies, you’re generally unresponsive to people talking to you (and most other stimuli). I’m looking at you, walk-texters-tweeters-facebookers and whatever else you hooligans are doing on your phones when you should be focusing on the task at hand. That task is walking around with at least the dexterity of a toddler. And don’t give me that spiel about how good you are at

texting while walking. You’re not. Obstructing the path of fellow human beings, that’s what you’re good at. Being in a rush is understandable, but is that text of such immediate importance that you would risk walking head-on into people/doors/anything that doesn’t leap out of your way? If it were that important you’d be getting a phone call, not a message.

So just wait until you’re not walking through a crowd to answer it, or even step out of other people’s way for a second – novel ideas! What if, while walk-texting, you forget that you’re supposed to make sure you’re not in danger when you cross the street, and you get hit by a bus and DIE? Or a cyclist and get INJURED? Or another person and get CHASTISIZED? Are any of these horrible

The turkey dump

And no, this article has nothing to do with feces Amanda Watkins LifeStyle Editor Fall is the perfect season to fall out of love. Plants are slowly dying. Midterms make you feel like you’re slowly dying. You might as well use this time to also write out the epitaph for your heart. Right around the time when the leaves start changing and the weather begins to shift, some of us may be experiencing another surprising and potentially unwelcome change — getting dumped. With a cold autumn comes a cold heartbreak. And on that weekend when we should be carving into turkey and giving

thanks for all the joys in our lives, you may actually be sobbing alone in your room listening to Simon and Garfunkel and binge-eating McDonald’s. The “turkey dump” is a phenomenon sweeping across the nation. Wiping out long distance relationships all over North America and working to abolish the term “high school sweetheart” forever. Blatantly defined, the turkey dump is when a university or college student comes home after their month and a half of freedom and decides to put an end to their high school relationship. Come Thanksgiving weekend, many a couple will reunite and quickly

thereafter, break ties. Now regardless of whether you’re the dumper or the dumpee, the turkey dump will take some effort to get over. You’re saying goodbye to the person you naively believed to be your soul mate on a weekend meant for celebration, and that’s gotta hurt. So here are some words of encouragement to help you get through this tough time and find something new to be thankful for this holiday season.

THE DUMPER

So you’re planning on turkey dumping your significant other? Or should I now say insignificant

other? Regardless, good on you. Working up the courage to put an end to something that once seemed promising is a difficult task. If you find that your relationship has been growing weaker, or your wandering eye may potentially become a problem, ending the bond is a good idea. But remember, let your partner down easy (read: an e-card is not the way to go). Getting dumped over thanksgiving dinner can’t be easily sugar-coated.

THE DUMPEE

So, you think you might be getting turkey dumped by

options worth it? Especially since, if you die in a bus accident, you increase your chances of becoming an actual zombie instead of just impersonating one in inconvenient settings. So please, zombie-wannabes, put the phones down for a minute and return to humanity. Best, Irritated Emma

SEXandthe STEELCITY your significant other? We’ve all experienced the cut and run at one point in time or another, so there’s no need to feel ashamed or embarrassed. Dissolve your sadness in gravy and stuffing. Bask in the glory of copious amounts of food. This may be the only time in your life when emotional eating will be socially acceptable. If you are neither the dumper or the dumpee, be thankful that this holiday season you aren’t the one falling out of love. Enjoy your dinner and send hopeful wishes to those experiencing the wrath coming from the tail end of the turkey.

confessions of a

Tightrope Walker

Rick Kanary The Silhouette I was on the number 51 on my way downtown. I turned to my trusty Samsung Note II and opened the ‘Games’ folder for something fun to do to pass the time. Usually, I will catch up on my readings for school when I’m on my way to campus in the mornings because the bus is usually less busy and, subsequently, more peaceful. This bus was packed though, so I decided to do something more, shall we say, recreational, because my personal space was being invaded. This was more likely because it meant that I wouldn’t have to stare aimlessly at signs, avoiding eye contact, and I would have a valid reason to avoid engaging in conversation. Who am I kidding? The truth is, I’m addicted. Candy Crush calls to me in

my sleep. I frequently find myself with phantom itches, comparable to a jones-ing heroin addict, that only subside with the appearance of the lanky ringmaster lookalike that stands smiling on the splash page for the game. Evidence of the epidemic presented itself en route from McMaster when the 60-something man to my left peeked over my shoulder and chuckled. “Addictive, isn’t it?” On another bus ride, a young man sitting in front of me swiped his lock screen at the same time as I did and our devices played the same theme music almost in tandem. We looked at each other with a certain clandestine glee. There has been an unquestionable, exponential surge in technological advances in the past decade. Personal data devices are an inevitable reality, particularly for those fortunate enough to have the economic and cultural capital to be attending a post-sec-

ondary institution as prestigious as ours. Laptops are overcoming handwritten notes, and with this comes the unfortunate distractions of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and their ilk. While your professors gallantly impart the most prolific lecture material possible, they have no choice but to accept the digitization of their students’ learning processes. After these encounters, I have been more aware of the habits of my fellow public transportationists. I take time to evaluate the ratios of digital involvement and interpersonal involvement. I’m sure each of you can agree that attest to the number of people with their heads buried in the digital sands continues to increase. Facebook memes indicate that the zombie apocalypse is already upon us, with evidence provided in the form of photos of entire dinner parties focused

on their phones and paying no attention to each other, or a queue of youngsters walking down an urban sidewalk, heads down either texting, browsing, surfing; and generally being isolated and disconnected, however the illusion may veil itself. This illusion has bled into our institutions too; even with a laptop in front of her with multiple browser windows open, a young lady beside me in lecture pulls out her phone to browse another site. Metaphorical jaw agape, I considered how I hadn’t seen her actually look at the prof once, meanwhile she had been robotically taking notes on her MacBook Pro the entire time, carrying on a conversation with her friend beside her, texting some guy, and was now browsing her phone’s internet. I can identify the value of multi-tasking, but my argument is that something important gets

lost in the dilution of attention. Even with all of this being said, I am still a true lover and advocate of technology. I have the newest gadgets possible; I enjoy playing my GTA V, Borderlands 2 with my oldest son, surfing the social networks, and any other ethereal plane you can possibly imagine. However, I have learned, through a drawn out series of consequences, to gauge my techtime by one value: Purpose. I am not advocating puritanism. That would be a confining, boring and passionless existence. What I am advocating is a clarity of purpose — purpose with a clear direction and a valid destination in mind, a destination of mutual benefit. Tools themselves have no purpose except in their use. That is why tools are developed, isn’t it?

SIMPLY SUDOKU Check thesil.ca for solutions to all puzzles featured.

C/O CUPWIRE/ Puzzles provided by WebSudoku.com (http://www.websudoku.com). Used with permission.

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

theSil.ca

LIFESTYLE

GET I Z E D N A G R O Miranda Babbitt Assistant LifeStyle Editor By October, most of us have midterms splattered like bullet shots across our calendar. It’s a violent, yet universal truth. Now don’t get me wrong. I am very much a fan of the several weeks marked by transitioning colours that blend so perfectly into the backgrounds of our Instagram documentations of Pumpkin Spice Lattés. But this fine autumn month, sprinkled with midterms like the cinnamon atop your latté generally demands a heavy overhaul of organization systems. Gone are the days of taking apart your entire desk and piles of binders and notebooks before the eve of the midterm, because LifeStyle is going to get you as organized as you are in your dreams! (Just go with the flow in that you dream of organizing your desk.) First up, tackling the workspace. Everyone knows that clutter is a distraction. Suddenly that note you doodled on in last week’s lecture becomes a

piece of art worth some serious contemplation. There is no time for philosophical and slightly narcissistic musings over your own doodle. Remove any and all clutter! A clean space is a clean mind, and a clean mind can stow away all of the lovely information you wish to keep there much more efficiently. You don’t have to necessarily purge yourself of all clutter, some may be worth a lot of money one day, but at the very least put it aside for the couple hours you’ve devoted to studying. Grab a basket or box and place it underneath your desk. Currently, my textbooks, binders, and notebooks alike are in a dangerously high pile atop my printer. This is not an organization tip to abide by. In fact, you should avoid it all costs. If you were to follow in my future footsteps though, they would take you to the land of all things Swedish – IKEA. Several pieces are of minimal cost and worth crucial investment. I’m going out on a limb here saying that a magazine rack, or some shelving unit at all, is pretty much vital to your

academic existence. Fortunately, staying on a budget is never an ordeal in IKEA, and we’ve even compiled a few must-see items for you on our tumblr. Now that your desk appears less like a pigpen (no judgment here) and more like a high-powered CEO’s office (your Porsche is waiting outside), let’s get down to the mental business of eliminating your technically immortal enemy known as procrastination. A business cannot run smoothly without some concept of time, because how could you forget? Time is money, and time is precious. Without visualizing how many days left until that next midterm or assignment, it could be disturbingly easy to slip into the lackadaisical yet urgent state of catching up on (insert your weakness in terms of TV shows here). A day timer and calendar can be used to squash this temptation, especially if you colour code each test date in a colour that screams out, “URGENT” to you, like blood red or bellowing blue.

On the note of visualizing how much time you have left, make your goals and prizes just as eye-catching! If there is a post-midterm celebration requesting your attendance, draw yourself and your friends as a rowdy bunch of stickmen with joyously colourful letters saying, “FUN AWAITS.” Or a simplistic print out of a dessert you will soon devour. Last but not least, the world of technology can be rewired into a palace of productivity. Apps are now your angels. The Ananke Timer will reveal your weaknesses – both the known and the unknown – in that it shows you just exactly how much time you spend on “Facebook breaks” after all. Secondly, there’s Stay Focused, which sets a time limit

on certain websites before it blocks you for the day. Suddenly tumblr became a precious commodity to me. Lastly, the most cruel and twisted of all for any one who is deadly serious about stopping procrastination in its tracks: Write or Die. Essentially you can be on gentle mode, normal mode, or kamikaze mode, dependent on how serious you are. Gentle mode simply gives you sweet reminders if you stop writing. Normal mode ensures continuous writing with an alarm. Kamikaze mode will literally erase what you wrote if you choose to stop writing. A little masochistic for my liking, but everyone needs a little (correction: deathly) push, right? Keep on studyin’ and keep on smilin’ (to the best of your ability). Be sure to check out our tumblr for some sweet additions to organizing yo’ life (including some playlists to choose from to get the brainy juices flowing). @mirandababbitt

D.I.Y.

What happens on Pinterest...

stays on Pinterest.

X Tobi Abdul The SIlhouette Pinterest can turn even the most un-creative person into a craftsman extraordinaire. Pretty snapshots and relatively simple instructions give off the impression that anything is possible and everything is easy. Soon after making an account, you find yourself spending hours looking at DIY crafts and recipes, vowing to try every single one. And as much as everything seems extremely doable, there are some pins you shouldn’t waste your time trying.

Sharpie mugs

As a Christmas present, I decided to make all my friends personalized mugs. There were tons of Sharpie decorated cups floating around the Pinterest-sphere so I thought it’d be easy enough. The markers were streaky but after a while, I finished my design and baked it in the oven. The heat caused the marker to run and smudge and the cup burnt around the edges.

It wasn’t too bad and I fixed the smudged marker and gave it to my friends. I made one for myself and after one wash, all the sharpie had faded and some was beginning to wipe off. It’s not really “permanent” it’s more like “permanent as long as you don’t use the cup for cup-like things”. Sorry to break your bubble folks, but some things on Pinterest are just meant to stay on Pinterest.

Daring desserts

It’s easy to forget how artistically challenged I am when looking at all the pretty pictures of decorated pastries on Pinterest. But once I attempted to make my own rainbow cake in a jar, I realized that these “easy treats” aren’t easy. At all. Maybe if you have a Fine Arts degree from OCAD or a baking diploma from George Brown, but what I end-

Baby face-offs

Whether you want to admit it or not, we have all scrolled through the endless family photos on Pinterest, ooh-ing and aah-ing where appropriate and vowing to do the same when we have our own kids. Please don’t. As much you may want to stick your kid, sibling, cousin, or any other baby in a pumpkin and take their picture, please refrain from doing so. In theory, this picture is adorable. In actuality, this is one of the worst projects ever. Babies aren’t the easiest models to work with. They cry, squirm,

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ed up with was a jar of brown looking goop. There are so many creative food ideas on Pinterest that seem very doable: spaghetti through hot dogs, s’mores inside a cookie, but they are all big fat lies. All you’ll get is a high calorie plate of disappointment and sadness. Stick to the roast chickens and pastas and leave the creative baking to the professional moms of Pinterest.

and don’t function well when stuck into things that limit mobility — especially when said things are gooey and slimy. How do you even fit them in there? Short of sedating the baby, I don’t see this working at all. Save yourself (and the kid) the frustration and wasted time. Just accept that you are never going to get your children stacked on top of one another, or wrapped up in Christmas lights, or looking gleeful as they’re being tossed into the air. Just stick to a Wal-Mart studio, florescent lights and Photoshop.

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

theSil.ca

LIFESTYLE

Be thankful for fashion

Your perfect Thanksgiving dinner outfit

How to add Mac Farmstand’s delicious fruits & vegetables to your Thanksgiving dinner

$3 0

Amanda Watkins LifeStyle Editor Thanksgiving dinner is predictable. You’ve got your roasted turkey, tin can-shaped cranberry sauce, and squishy JELLO-like pumpkin pie. It’s all very delicious, but a change can be too. Mac Farmstand offers a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables that can easily be incorporated into your standard Thanksgiving meal to jazz it up and inject new flavours. Here are two easy recipes that can be thrown together with the help of Farmstand ingredients. @whatthekins

Girls aren’t the only ones who get to play with fashion these days. Our handsome boys have more options than ever before when deciding what to wear. For the gentlemen, we have a pair of navy trousers, a great neutral to carry through to every season. Look for these in a slim cut to maintain a put-together look. The only natural option for fall is to channel your inner lumberjack and rock a plaid flannel button down. They come in a wide variety of colour schemes so choose your favourite. To top it off (literally), we’ve added a light fleece sweater in light grey. Wear the sweater so the collar and a small portion of the neck of the flannel are showing. Cuff the sleeves of the flannel over the sweater to tie it all together. Add a pair of faux fur lined moccasins to keep the outfit comfy and casual.

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This Thanksgiving, you may find yourself at a get-together with friends or family. And if it’s been a while since your last family reunion, get prepared for the constant “I can’t believe how grown up you are,” or “I remember when you were only this tall.” Regardless of whether you have seen these party attendees two weeks ago or two years ago, a get-together calls for you looking your best.

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Brianna Buziak The Silhouette

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No matter what, you can’t go wrong with a denim shirt (unless it’s paired with matching jeans). We’ve paired a light denim button down with a textured cranberry skirt. The colour of the skirt fits in with autumn beautifully and should you happen to spill some cranberry sauce on yourself in the middle of dinner, it may just go unnoticed. Tuck the shirt into the skirt and roll up the cuffs of the sleeves a few times for a more relaxed look. For when the night gets a little chillier, add this knitted shawl cardigan for a warm and cozy look. This statement necklace inspired by autumn leaves compliments the outfit by incorporating the cranberry colour from the skirt into another element of the outfit. Since the meat and potatoes of this outfit are basic, have fun playing with the accessories. Patterned tights are always a great go-to accessory to add extra style and warmth once the temperatures start to drop. Perfect for an autumn evening. The final touch to any outfit is the shoes. Nothing says fall quite like a pair of lace-up oxfords. Keep the heel small so you can mingle around the room and aren’t glued to the couch because your feet hurt. Enjoy the season of fashion and socializing.

Old Nav y

GIRLS

FARM FRESH RASPBERRY SAUCE INGREDIENTS:

GOLDEN DELICIOUS BAKED APPLES INGREDIENTS: - 4 large apples (Farmstand) - ¼ cup brown sugar - 1 tbsp. cinnamon - ¼ cup chopped pecans - 1 tbsp. butter - ¾ cup boiling water - Honey (Farmstand)

YIELD: 4 servings DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat your oven to 375

degrees F. While your oven is heating up, core your apples, making sure you remove all seeds. Leave about 2.5 cm of apple at the bottom of the fruit, and gauge the

cored centres to be around 3 cm in diameter.

2. In a bowl, combine the sugar,

- ¼ of an onion, finely chopped (Farmstand) - 60 mL red wine - 1 chicken bouillon cube or small chicken stock pot - ½ cup water - 30 mL honey (Farmstand) - 5 mL corn flour mixed with water - 45 mL raspberries, mashed or gently pureed (Farmstand)

YIELD: 4 servings

DIRECTIONS: 1. Sautee onions in a pan on

medium heat until tender. Add red wine and allow to cook for a minute or two.

2. Mix in chicken stock, water and honey.

3. Let simmer for 5 minutes.

Reduce heat and stir in flour paste and raspberries. Let simmer for 5 minutes or until thickened.

cinnamon and pecans. Place your apples in a baking pan and stuff each fruit with this newly created mixture. Top each apple core off with a pat of butter.

3. Add the boiling water to

the bottom of the pan and bake for around 30-40 minutes, or until apples are tender (read: not mushy, that’s dutty). Remove your apples from the oven and baste with the juices from the bottom of the pan. Drizzle a small amount of honey over each apple.

AUTUMN BUCKETLIST

Jennifer Bacher The Silhouette Fall is here! The leaves are changing, the temperature is dropping, and everything is pumpkin spice. Here are some things you must do before you dig out your mittens and toques because winter is coming.

Cut out this enticing list and check off each activity as you go

•ManyCRAFT SHOW neighbouring towns host

outdoor craft shows such as Ball’s Falls in the Niagara region this weekend. http://www.ballsfalls.ca/whats-on/ thanksgiving-festival/

•PickVISIT A LOCAL FARM •WhyGOnotFOR A HIKE some apples and carve a take a study break by pumpkin. Dyment’s Farm, Sydenham Road, Dundas

exploring the outdoors. Go to Webster’s Falls (located at Spencer Gorge in Greensville) or walk along the Bruce Trail.

•Nothing’s HALLOWEEN HAUNT better then getting

•WalkHAUNTED HAMILTON •ThisRAIL TRAIL RIDE around the downtown area 32-km trail starts in Ham-

•ThisROCKTON’S FAIR fair first started in 1852 and

•LAKE NIAGARA- ON- THEHERITAGE

chased around Wonderland and riding roller coasters at night.

is not to be missed. Rides, food trucks, and a demolition derby are just some of the many events. This fair runs from Oct. 11 – 14. More info can be found at http://www. rocktonworldsfair.com

at night and learn some creepy history. Visit http://hauntedhamilton.com/ghostwalks for tour times.

DISTRICT

Visit the many shops on Queen Street and have some Cows ice cream before it gets too cold!

ilton and ends in Brantford. The trail starts on Main St. W and Ewen Rd in Hamilton but there are many access points, such as on Emerson street before Ward Ave.

•HOUSES MORE HAUNTED

Nightmare on Elmore is a Hamilton favourite that has been around for six years! Visit any five haunted houses hosted by Screemers. They open Oct. 19. http://www.screemers.ca/hamilton/

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

theSil.ca

PORTS

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

@silsports

Phone 905.525.9140 x27117

Volleyball

Rugby

B11

Mac fends off Lions once again William Lou The Silhouette Coming off a pair of poor outings against Windsor and Guelph, the McMaster men’s soccer team desperately needed to get their season back on track with some wins in last weekend’s double-header. All that stood in their way were the UOIT Ridgebacks and the CIS leading York Lions. The Lions are undoubtedly the class of the OUA. Coming into the game the Lions (9-1-0) averaged an OUA best 3.8 goals scored per game while allowing only 0.5 goals per game. Their only blemish came on Sept. 13 when they dropped a hotly contested 1-0 match to the Marauders. On the other hand, the Marauders were in a tailspin. In their previous match against the

Guelph Gryphons, McMaster spent the majority of the game backpedaling on defense, rather than striking on offense. A couple of lucky bounces resulted in the game ending in a 2-2 draw, but the Marauders were far from top form. York came out firing in the first half of Saturday’s match. The Lions outshot the Marauders 8-2 in the half, but goalkeeper Angelo Cavalluzzo stood tall and kept York off the score sheet. McMaster netted its lone goal in the 44th minute off a fortuitous own-goal by York’s Arthur Casupanan. With the slim lead in hand, McMaster tightened its defense in the second half. The extra emphasis on defense worked as York only managed 6 shots in the second frame. Cavalluzzo stopped all 8 shots on target as McMaster escaped with a 1-0 victory, hand-

ing the Lions their first home loss since 2009. “It’s been just an all-around defensive effort by our team, communication and hard work were big keys to our success,” said co-captain Patterson Farrell. “Everyone is on the same page and knows what was needed to be done,” Farrell added. Good goaltending was an important factor in McMaster’s victory against the Lions and Cavalluzzo’s efforts in the win were commended by teammates. “When you have a goalie as good as Ang, you’re already put in a great position to win games,” said Farrell of Cavalluzzo’s work against York. “At times when we haven’t been playing our best he’s been there to make some big saves to keep us in games,” Farrell added. They followed up their win

against York with a victory over the UOIT Ridgebacks on Sunday. Gersi Xhuti and Nate Morris netted a goal apiece as the Marauders cruised to an easy 3-0 decision. They currently sit fourth in the OUA with 26 points (8-2-2) and are within striking distance of the top-ranked OUA contenders, which includes Guelph, Ryerson and York. At times the Marauders have looked dominant, but they’ve also shown the propensity to flounder. Head Coach Dino Perri said that is was all about finding consistency. “We have a few weeks left to find that consistency,” said Perri. “If we can play consistently on both offence and defense, then I would say our chances [in the playoffs] will be quite good”. Coach Perri believes that when the Marauders are playing at their best, the team can go toeto-toe with any competitor in the country. “The reality is that we are two time defending OUA champions

so our expectation is to be able to compete with and beat anyone at anytime,” said Perri of his squad. Perri knows that in order to win, the team must play with consistency and both create and finish quality scoring opportunities while limiting their opponents chances to score. It’s all about better decision making on the field.

“

“If we can play consistently on both offence and defense then I would say our chances [in the playoffs] will be quite good.” Dino Perri, head coach of Marauders men’s soccer team

C/O ROBERT DA SILVA

Mac moves onto the next one Alexandra Reilly Assistant Sports Editor With major playoff implications on the line for McMaster, the Maroon and Grey stepped up and crushed the Waterloo Warriors, 66-3. The stakes were high, with a loss almost guaranteeing a tough quarterfinal playoff game on the road against a CIS-ranked opponent. Mac responded with the most points and largest margin of victory of the Stefan Ptaszek era. McMaster was given the opportunity to showcase what they are made of and prove why they have one of the best defensive backfields in the country. McMaster has led the OUA in interceptions for the past three seasons and the Homecoming picked up on that trend. Keldyn Ahlsted led the way with interceptions, snagging three and grabbing the OUA Defensive Player of the Week honours. More notably was the emergence of a Marauder ground game. Coming into the Waterloo game, McMaster ranked secondlast for rushing yards per game. Kasean Davis-Reynolds cured the five-game touchdown dry spell. “I had a big feeling of relief,” said Davis-Reynolds. “It was due time that we put up a great performance as team.” Looking ahead to the Oct. 12 matchup against the Laurier Golden Hawks, McMaster will need to continue their dominance. In Laurier’s past two games, they have held a 10-0 on the No. 1 ranked Western Mustangs before losing 45-24 and suffered a narrow overtime loss at Queen’s Homecoming. Their latest loss puts them at 1-6 and confirms that they will miss OUA playoffs for the first time since 2002. However, McMaster is not taking the

Golden Hawks lightly. “Laurier has a great program with a lot of guys that can make plays so to know that we have just as many guys ready to make plays at any point of the game definitely boosts the confidence of myself as a player and for us as a team,” said Davis-Reynolds. Mac will be heeding the Ptaszek adage: “The only game that really matters is the next one.” Now that the team looks to have ironed out the kinks, the squad can look to climb up the OUA standings. Currently, they sit at 3-3 – good for sixth in the OUA. The Maroon and Grey will be battling for a playoff position against the Windsor Lancers and Ottawa Gee-Gees, both of whom are 4-3. @Miss_AReilly

“

“...it was due time that we put up a great performance as a team” Kasean Davis- Reynolds, Running back for the McMaster football team.

ELIZA POPE/ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

theSil.ca

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

SPORTS

Mac brings home preseason gold

C/O MICHAEL P. HALL

Laura Sinclair Sports Editor When asked about the ability of his team this season, Head Coach Tim Louks does not just give the typical cliché responses. Rather, he gives a run-through of what they were like last season, and what improvements have been made that have gotten them to where they are, and what they are now - a CIS medal contending team. The Marauders swept the competition in a field of highly competitive teams at the Preseason Gee-Gee Classic in Ottawa this past weekend- which is a tournament that hosts some of the most dominant teams in the OUA and AUS, but these powerhouse teams were no match for the Maroon and Grey, who won all of their matches in the tournament. “It’s just a building block, for sure it’s a building block, it’s part of a larger plan” said Louks. “We had a vision of what we wanted to try and accomplish through the course of the tournament, and, as I say, the girls all the time would play to win, all the time.” And this was no overstatement. The Marauders made it to the semi-final by toppling over the Brock Badgers, the Sherbrooke Vert-et Or, and the St. Mary’s Huskies - a powerful team that was runner-up last year in the AUS finals. Louks was proud of the team’s win, and thinks they will only get better and more skilled, as the members prioritize to improve in their game. “I believe the players have lots of opportunity to address some of

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

vs. RYERSON RAMS OCT 19 | 1 PM

at WINDSOR LANCERS OCT 25 | 6 PM

at WESTERN MUSTANGS OCT 26 | 6 PM

vs. TORONTO VARSITY BLUES NOV 02 | 12 PM

vs. LAKEHEAD THUNDERWOLVES NOV 08 | 1 PM

vs. LAKEHEAD THUNDERWOLVES NOV 09 | 1 PM

at GUELPH GRYPHONS NOV 15 | 7 PM

vs. BROCK BADGERS NOV 17 | 1 PM

their, sort of, individual agendas, which is sort of going to keep making us deeper in terms of skill and stuff like that, so, it was a great win.” The team made the trek to Winnipeg two weeks before, where they managed to come home with a bronze medal while up against some fierce Canada West competition. In the eyes of coach Louks, they have already made some big steps in improving from the tournament, just one week later. One of these big steps has included the team-building that has taken place from spending time with one another, both on and off of the court. “As a group, as a team… they’re still looking, still building an identity for this year what the team is kind of going to anchor itself on; they’re getting to appreciate each other a little bit, and those are the things… just bumping shoulders, and connecting, and going on bus trips, and plane rides… It’s a necessary thing to occur,” said Louks. In terms of supporting one another, and creating positive energy for the team, Louks thinks that he is working alongside some great personas and student athletes that all seem to be getting along well as a team unit “It’s probably the most collected group I’ve seen in a long, long time,” added Louks. Other than the bonding of the team, the biggest difference of this year’s team for Coach Louks are the players that have graduated, and the players that have come in, that have made the team younger, and deeper overall. Out of these young players,

Louks has named five to the roster that have all contributed on the court in the preseason tournaments. “Carly Heath was on the floor as a libero - first year out of Calgary in the fifth set against St.Mary’s…Sophie Bukovec played, Maciee Sorrensen played, Joanna Jedrzejewska played, the only player that didn’t get minutes but played in the semi-final was Caitlin Genovy, and that’s predominantly because we have three setters, and two of them are fifth years so she’s going to have to be patient in that,” said Louks on the depth of the rookies. Although Coach Louks is the head coach of a dominant team, he understands the stresses and challenges that they will face down the road that may interfere with the season - but he does not want these challenges to get in the way of the primary goal: which is and always has been, to win a provincial and national championship. “Few, if any will be pro, few if any will go national level, but all will compete at the university level if they choose to and graduate out of here and life will trump the game, and we get it, that’s the priority” said Louks. The team will prepare to do well, and win key matches with the help of some standout performers that were recognized in the Gee-Gee tournament as MVP’s. “Certainly the recognition needs to go to all of them because they all had played. If you look match to match situations, everybody got opportunities,” said the former Canadian men’s national volleyball player.

The team will now look forward to an exhibition game on Thursday at the Thanksgiving Classic at the Burridge Gym, before they tackle the rest of their season that kicks off Oct, against the familiar Ryerson Rams - the same team that knocked the Marauders out of the quarterfinals last season. But this season will be different from last. Coach Louks knows that there will be no disappointment, as there may have been in previous seasons. He is confident in the abilities and progress of his team, and believes that the idea of an OUA and CIS medal is not far out of reach. The Marauders exciting season gets underway on Oct. 19. In the Burridge Gym.

WHO’S IN... JOANNA JEDRZEJEWSKAOH- 5’7 CARLY HEATH- LIB - 5’7

MAICEE SORENSON- M6’0 SOPHIE BUKOVEC- OH -6’1 CAITLIN GENOVY- S- 5’8

WHO’S OUT...

@Lsinkky

“

“It’s probably the most collected group I’ve seen in a long, long time...” Tim Louks, Head coach of Marauders women’s volleyball team

LAUREN SKELLY- OH-6’0

MEAGAN NEDERVEEN L- 5’7

SHANNON MCROBERT M- 6’2

KAILEE STOCK- OH- 6’0

theSil.ca

SPORTS

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

Women’s rugby sits second Alexandra Reily Assistant Sports Editor It was a big weekend for women’s rugby as the team defeated their quarterfinal opponents the York Lions with a crushing 64-7 score. As this was the team’s final OUA regular season game, the win was crucial to the future of the squad’s season. The win now sets up a conference quarterfinal game against that very same squad on Oct. 11. The Marauders showcased seven talents in the match against York with Stephanie Black, Rina Charalampis and Madolyn Vande Pol each scoring a pair of tries. Lauren Crampton, Emily Ricketts, Emily Cameron and captain Cindy Nelles each adding individual tries in the game. Black led all the Marauders scorers with 24 points, adding seven converts to her pair of tries. McMaster was the first to draw blood in the match and amassed an early and unanswered 24-point lead. York would soon put an end

to the Marauder run with their only try of the afternoon followed by a successful convert from Alexis Boltsis which brought the Lions within 17 going into the second half. That is the only life the Lions would show all game, as the Marauders would pounce on every opportunity to bring the score further out of York’s reach. The Marauders would fire another 40 points in the direction of the York Lions to put an end to a successful afternoon. Black added 20 points in the second half alone after breaking through for both of her tries and notching a total of five converts helping the Marauders to secure an easy victory. Mac will anxiously welcome back the Lions on Friday afternoon on the Back 10 Field. The conference quarterfinal matchup is set to kick off at 1:00 p.m. @Miss_AReilly

C/O FRASER CALDWELL

Rugby sinks against undefeated Gaels Although the outcome was dismal the Marauders gave the Gaels a run for their money

RECAP MEN’S SOCCER OUA EAST

OUA WEST W | L | T | PTS

C/O FRASER CALDWELL

Laura Sinclair Sports Editor Although the Marauders lost against the undefeated Queen’s Gaels in Kingston, Ont. on Oct. 5, the game was not at all bad for the Maroon and Grey contingent that gave the Gaels a run for their money. The Marauders knew what they were up against at the Gaels home turf on the Saturday afternoon, so they made sure that they did not make any mistakes to hand the home team the win. “We knew that we were going to be in tough against Queen’s and so there was a large emphasis placed on doing the simple things right,” said Marauder captain, Andrew Ferguson. “Against a team like that, one mistake can cost you the game and so we could not give them any extra motivation or momentum to work with.” The Marauders got to the lead in the first couple of minutes of the game, with a penalty kick. But their lead was short-lived, as the Gaels then scored a try and a successful conversion. The Tri-colour team began to extend their lead with multiple conversions and tries, but the Marauders narrowed the lead after the McMaster’s Cam Stones scored a try and Ferguson made

the conversion shortly after. In the second half, the Marauders began to make a comeback that Ferguson was very proud of. “In a game where we were outscored heavily in the first half, I think that the boys showed a ton of heart in mounting a comeback in which we were evenly scored in the second half,” said Ferguson. McMaster’s Richard Ormrod scored a try, and Ferguson made the conversion once again. After the Gaels scored another try and a conversion, the Marauders Cam Stones scored his second try of the game, and Andrew Ferguson made the third and final conversion for McMaster. But the Marauders could not compete with the undefeated team, that made multiple scoring plays in the last half - brought them to a score of 50-24. The next three games of the season will be very important for the Marauders, as they will be the make or break point for the team. “These last few remaining games are crucial for our seeding going into the playoffs. If we winout the season, this will give us a bit of momentum behind us and hopefully give us a chance to iron out the last few kinks within our play,” added Ferguson. The Marauders will be look

to rebound in their next game this on Oct. 11, when they will play the Laurier Golden Hawks in Waterloo, Ont. @Lsinkky

RYERSON CARLETON LAURENTIAN QUEEN’S TORONTO NIPISSING TRENT RMC

9 7 5 5 2 2 1 1

0 2 2 2 4 7 8 7

1 2 3 2 4 1 2 1

28 23 18 17 10 7 5 4

W | L | T | PTS GUELPH YORK MCMASTER WINDSOR LAURIER WESTERN BROCK UOIT WATERLOO

Andrew Ferguson, Captain of Marauders men’s rugby team

4 0 2 4 3 2 3 1 1

28 27 26 22 18 14 6 4 4

OUA WEST W | L | T | PTS

“...I think that the boys showed a ton of heart in mounting a comeback in which we were evenly scored in the second half”

1 2 2 2 3 5 8 10 10

WOMEN’S SOCCER OUA EAST

“

8 9 8 6 5 4 1 1 1

OTTAWA TORONTO CARELTON QUEEN’S LAURENTIAN RYERSON RMC NIPISSING TRENT

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

0 2 2 1 3 5 6 6 11

2 1 2 3 3 1 1 3 0

26 22 20 18 15 10 7 6 0

W | L | T | PTS WESTERN GUELPH LAURIER MCMASTER UOIT WINDSOR YORK BROCK WATERLOO

6 7 6 4 5 4 3 2 2

0 5 2 3 5 6 3 6 9

5 1 3 5 2 2 5 4 1

23 22 21 17 17 14 14 10 7

FOOTBALL

WOMEN’S RUGBY

OUA

OUA W | L | PTS

WESTERN GUELPH QUEEN’S WINDSOR OTTAWA MCMASTER YORK TORONTO WATERLOO LAURIER CARLETON

7 6 5 4 4 3 2 2 1 1 0

0 0 1 3 3 3 4 4 5 6 6

14 12 10 8 8 6 4 4 2 2 0

W | L | PTS QUEEN’S GUELPH MCMASTER WESTERN WATERLOO YORK TRENT BROCK LAURIER TORONTO

5 5 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 0

0 0 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 5

25 24 16 16 14 10 9 5 5 1

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

theSil.ca

SPORTS

B10

Mac on the mark for OUA Championships Laura Sinclair Sports Editor

PHOTOS C/O PETE SELF

With just two weeks remaining before the OUA championships, the Marauder cross country team will have one more tune up race before taking on the best runners in the province. The Maroon and Grey squad will lace up their spikes as they toe off against the best runners to the east in the Quebec Student Sport Federation/Atlantic University Sport meet in Montreal this coming weekend. “The team raced at the McGill Open about 5-6 years ago but this is the first time doing the QSSF/ AUS Interlock,” said head coach Rory Sneyd. The Marauders have never competed in any other conference in Canada before, and this will be their first time this season to get a sneak-peak at some of the talented runners from the east-coast, some of whom will also be in London, Ont. on Nov. 9 at the CIS Cross Country Championships. “We are actually party-crashers coming from the OUA. We felt that we wanted to see our athletes perform two weeks before the OUA Championships so we can make the best decisions in terms of who we put on the line on October 26th,” added Sneyd. The upcoming race on Oct. 12 will serve as a test; a last tryout before the coaches make a collective decision as to who will be among the top seven runners on the start line for the men’s and women’s side for the OUA Championships in Hamilton. Although the team has only competed in two races so far, Coach Sneyd has given credit to the determined runners on the team that continue to impress in races, and are consistently running great times. “Blair Morgan is very consistent. He was our first runner at Western and was our third behind Sanders and Taylor Forbes at Guelph,” said Sneyd of the men’s captain.

As for the women’s side, there are two runners that stand out in Sneyd’s mind as being spot on in both races and workouts. “Emily Nowak and Kierstin Myers have been good in both the races. I think they were a tad better at Western than they were at Guelph but it seems as though they are pretty steady,” added Sneyd. On the women’s side, Sneyd gave Maddy McDonald credit for her performance amongst some of the best runners in the country. “Maddy was duking it out with some athletes who had already raced a few times or had done some harder workouts to ‘sharpen up’ slightly. Maddy’s focus is on being fantastic at the championships and I think she started off at a great point,” said Sneyd on the Junior Pan Am Games silver medal recipient. On the men’s side, Sneyd was impressed with Sanders and Forbes, two triathletes that worked their way up through the pack multiple times in the 10km race “Sanders went out a bit too hard but showed some nice grit holding it together on a rough third lap. He was actually closing on people on the fourth and final lap. Taylor ran really controlled and there is more there. We think he can be a really dangerous competitor when the championships roll around,” added Sneyd. When the championships do come around, the Marauders team will show their full potential – something they have not done all season. “We have not shown all our cards on the men’s side but I think most people out there are aware that we have Connor Darlington and Taylor Reid waiting in the wings,” said Sneyd on the strong runners On the women’s side, the two top runners on the team have not ran in the same race yet. “We have yet to run McDonald and Courtney Patterson in the same race. I think the rankings

are fair based on what the teams have shown thus far,” added Sneyd. Given the potential the team has going into the OUA Championships, Sneyd still acknowledges that there is quite a bit that the team still needs to work on in order to peak at the very competitive race. “They’ve been working together fairly well in races but I think this is something that can be improved,” said Sneyd. “You never want to run your teammates’ race instead of your own but if you can find each other out there and help each other, that’s obviously going to help the team score.” The team will have to look to adopt this strategy at the OUA Championships, as the meet next week will not showcase the entire marauders squad, with Sanders for the men, and Kierstin Myers, Charlotte Ward, Phoebe Cseresnyes and Chelsea Mackinnon all out of the lineup this Saturday. After this weekend the team will turn their focus to the upcoming OUA championships, being run on home turf in Hamilton. @Lsinkky

“

“I think the rankings are fair based on what the teams have shown thus far...” Rory Sneyd, Head coach of Marauders cross country team

2013 McMaster United Way Campaign Help McMaster reach its goal of raising $300,000! How you can contribute: • Pledge to the campaign on our site: www.workingatmcmaster.ca/uway

• Bid on great items in our online auction: http://auction.mcmaster.ca (Oct 14-28th)

• Drop your change in the donation boxes by cash registers at hospitality locations around campus.

• Spread the word and stay up to date on campaign events by following us: Facebook

Twitter

@MacUnitedWay The Power of an

HAMILTON BRAIN INJURY ASSOCIATION

OCTOBER 2013

Upcoming Schedule of Clubhouse Activities

WELCOME SURVIVORS, CAREGIVERS, & LOVED ONES! Here is a list of groups, activities, clubs, seminars and workshops available for October. If you wish to participate and/or volunteer please contact us at any time! Take note that we are beginning a third Support Group on Wednesday afternoons and we are starting up our Young Adult Support Group!

or visit our website for our online calendar and details: www.hbia.ca

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.

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

theSil.ca

B12

SPORTS

FEATURE

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD Ontario Athletic scholarships put universities in a difficult position when the rest of the country can put better offers on the table

“

SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS BY GENDER

ster Univers i

Western On

59% U ordia nivers nc

ity

y of sit er

ity of Man it

Maintain B average 70%+

f British C ol

rs ve

80%

rio ta

o ity

69%

Maintain C+ average 65%+

63%

b um

Strict Nomination Process University funds limited

sité Lav iver al Un

ity of Wate rl

High school A average 80%+

ity of Guel

rs ve

50%

63%

Excellent Performance Athletic Prowess Maximum Award $4,000

ens Universi t ue

Un i

High school A average 80%+

Un i

Ontario Requirements

Maximum Award $4,000

MALE FEMALE AFA EQUIVALENCY % 2011-12 ty

Awards office compliance Varies by school

Canadian Requirements (outside Ontario)

give them the most you can give them,” Giles said. “Often that’s the situation and it comes down to where do you really want to go to school?” According, to Giles and the 2011-12 AFA report, McMaster sits with the highest total AFA equivalency provided in the OUA, with an equivalency of 66.9 per cent. “If you look, we are now number one in Ontario for AFAs. And that was a decision we made two years ago,” Giles said. “We wanted to up our game in terms of compete-level and we wanted to recruit better, and in order to recruit better, we had to give out more AFAs.” The next highest university in Ontario is the University of Windsor with 61.7 AFA equivalency provided. The lowest university in Ontario is Trent University, who only provided 0.7 AFAs in the 2011-12 documented year. “It’s an uneven playing field, and so it’s very frustrating, but all we can do is be competitive within Ontario and let the rest of the country do what they do,” Giles said.

CIS SCHOLARSHIP REQUIREMENTS

While the rest of Canada $5,581. “Our AFAs are so much works on the same general rules different than the rest of Canada,” outlined by the CIS, the province Jeff Giles, director of athletics at of Ontario works a bit differently. McMaster University, said. “We Between the Ontario university are at a significant disadvantage presidents and the OUA conferin Ontario. So, in many cases, ence, there were revisions made to we give out $4,000 more than we the scholarship protocol. The two probably should.” major differencAccording es are that Onto Baxter, the tario university Ontario universtudent athletes sity presidents “It's an uneven playing must keep an believed that the average of 70 per field, and so it's very Canadian cut cent throughout frustrating.” off was too low their tenure at for proceeding the respective athletes, so they Jeff Giles, Director of Athletics university, rath- McMaster University raised it to 70 er than 65 per per cent. “That’s cent like their the benchmark country counand it’s 70 per terparts, and also that they can cent as you go through. The rest only receive up to $4,000 rather of the country is 65 [per cent], than the entire tuition and fees. which is the CIS rule. But it’s the According to Statistics Ontario presidents that said the Canada, for the 2012-13 acaacademic standard of 65 is not demic year, average tuition in good enough,” he said. Ontario was $7,180. The highest Both Baxter and Giles exAFA in Ontario then would leave pressed that due to the restriction over $3,000 up to the student to of $4,000 given to a potential athcover on their own. The tuition lete, this causes issues in recruitaverage of Canada as a whole is ment in Ontario. “You can only

follow the CIS rules with respect to continuation of a scholarship, which is a C+ average and with the entering awards that’s 80 percent,” said Love. “And then there is a requirement to retain that C+ average to have [the scholarship] continue in the following year.” For most schools, the athletics department must also comply with their respective awards office. Depending on which requirements are most restrictive, the AFA could be altered. “We comply with [University of Alberta’s] award policy as well as CIS award policy, so generally speaking, whichever is more restrictive, which is usually the CIS regulations,” said Katie Spriggs, associate director of athletics at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alta. Every university in Canada is encouraged to comply with CIS rules and regulations when it comes to athletic scholarships in order for the student athlete to receive the money. However, not every institution follows the same rules, and not everywhere in Canada has the same tuition fees.

Un iv

As per CIS regulations, there are a few requirements that must be met in order for a student athlete to receive an AFA or athletic scholarship. Firstly, the student has an “excellence in performance” that the school wants to bring in for the upcoming year, according to Drew Love, director of athletics at McGill University in Montréal, QC. As well, student athletes entering university from high school must have at least an 80 per cent average to receive an AFA in their first year. If this is achieved, depending on the budget of the particular school and sport, then a nomination process will be completed. In order to be eligible to have the scholarship continue, the student athlete must maintain an average of 65 per cent or higher in their university studies. For everywhere in Canada except Ontario, this AFA can dramatically vary. A student entering can receive no financial aid in way of an AFA or athletic scholarship, all the way up to getting their full tuition and compulsory fees paid for. “We

ODD ONE OUT

CIS RULES

C/O RICHARD ZAZULAK

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WATERLOO (CUP) - Consistently, athletic programs across Canada are searching for means of making their respective school competitive, but also trying to maintain a common ground between athletics, academics and financial stability. Enter athletic financial awards. These awards are given out throughout the Canadian Interuniversity Sport to student athletes at

the 55 universities across Canada, and are useful in the recruitment, retention and financial aid of the student athletes. “There are a lot of layers to the scholarships,” Peter Baxter, director of athletics at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont., said. But where does the money come from? What limitations are there? There are certain rules and components of the student-athlete’s academic and athletic lives that help determine which athlete will get funded and what sport receives the most.

Univ er s

Shelby Blackley CUP Sports Editor

Ontario athletes have an extra financial obstacle to overcome if they are to play on even terms with the rest of the country and bring home the trophy.

58%

57%

72%

PHOTOS C/O RICHARD ZAZULAK

GENDER IMBALANCE According to the 2011-12 AFA report, a lot of schools do not provide the same athletic funding to both males and females. Some schools have the issue of dealing with the high demands of a varsity football team, while for others it depends on the personal team budget and how they allocate it. According to Baxter, naturally the CIS tries to get as close to a 50 per cent split of funds between males and females. “When you distribute it, it has to go between a ten per cent window,” Baxter said. However, the AFA report displays incredibly skewed ratios. “We try to keep it balanced between male and female, and some of us do a better job of that than others,” Giles said. “Because [McMaster has] football, it adds a real challenge for us.” Currently, the AFA equivalency ratio — in percentage — at McMaster is 63 per cent to 37 per cent in favour of males. Laurier’s ratio is 56 per cent to 44 per cent, also in favour of males. The biggest issue in distributing the funds equally is football. Football naturally has about 90 student athletes, with about 47 receiving some type of funding, and is one of the biggest recruiting classes and sports in the CIS. As a result, a large portion of AFAs and athletic schol-

arships are put toward football. In fact, according to the second portion of the AFA report, the total dollar value in 201112 toward men’s football was $2,082,623. The average award value of a football AFA recipient was approximately $3,568 — the highest of all sports in the CIS. The next closest dollar amount in athletic scholarships provided is men’s hockey at $1,752,211. The highest women’s sport is women’s basketball, which received $1,241,575 in AFAs in 2011-12. “The greatest difference is, if you took men’s hockey and men’s football out [of Alberta], we’d be skewed in favour of women,” Spriggs explained. “But we’ve had our men’s hockey and football teams for over 100 years.” Alberta’s ratio in the 2011-12 report was 63 per cent to 37 per cent in favour of males. However, Spriggs also explained that the Alberta’s athletics department is working toward finding a solution to the major skew. “We’re doing some internal proactive measures [to bring it even]. We’re dedicating some funds that would be otherwise open to all to women; also we’ve had some fundraising initiatives for female athletes.” At McMaster, Giles is even considering adding a new program on the women’s side just to even out the skewed funds toward the

men. The total dollar amount in 2011-12 for men was $7,432,486, while the total dollar amount for women was $5,299,704. The biggest gender imbalance in the AFA funds, however, was reported from Laval University. In 2011-12, Laval’s ratio was 80 per cent in favour of men and only 20 per cent in favour of women. This could be attributed to the use of recruitment tools at Laval, especially for their consistently dominant football program. “The other consideration in sports is that you’re going to get a return on your investments,” Dickie said. “You can’t be all things to all people; dollars are hard to come by.” “It depends on the sport. In some cases you don’t have to offer a lot of AFAs to get the best athletes and in some cases you do. It depends sport by sport,” Giles echoed. However, there are a few schools that reported not having an issue with the gender imbalance. Most notably was Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., which was reported perfectly even at a 50 per cent balance in 2011-12. Queen’s was the only school to be entirely even in the CIS. The next closest was Ryerson University in Toronto, Ont., which has a 51 per cent to 49 per cent ratio in favour of females — one of very few in the CIS.

Average tuition in Ontario in 201213 academic term

$7,180* Maximum award allowed by national AFA restrictions

$4,000 Although there are still issues for universities to figure out when it comes to allocating funds from athletic scholarships, all athletic directors agree that they are significant tools for recruitment in athletics. “It’s significant for sure and it’s a constant challenge for us and most schools in Canada,” Richard said. “Obviously we’re all striving to continue to grow our athletic awards and I think it’s important that we do because the student athletes are spending so much time doing it,” Love said. As tuition in Canada continues to increase, so does the demand for athletic scholarships and AFAs. Athletes work to maintain their scholarships to play at a reputable school, which puts money towards its athletics. According to Spriggs, the majority of recruit-

*Athletes are

expected to provide the average remainder of $3,180 and are only allowed the $4,000 maximum scholarship despite Ontario having an additional $1,599 on the national average rate.

ments can decide what school they’d like to attend when they’re told “up front what to expect.” This could mean their expected amount in money, the added bonus of staying local or a use of funds in retention methods. “[Alberta is] in favour of using athletic scholarships as a means of supporting student athletes,” she said. But, as Giles put it, these AFAs and athletic scholarships come down to one thing for both the student athlete and the university athletics program — success. “Like most schools, we play CIS sports to compete and do well, you don’t compete to be average,” he said. “So if increasing AFAs for a coach that says they’ll do better and recruit better and have a better performance, then we can do that.”

theSil.ca

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

ANDY E-mail: andy@thesil.ca

ndex coming up in the hammer westdale theatre

•oct 10 •oct 11 •oct 16

•oct 15

this ain’t hollywood •oct 24 •oct 25 •oct 31

the royal oui broken issues halloween party

dr. disc •oct 11

Assistant Editor: Cooper Long

Phone: (905)•525•9140 ext 27117

Contributors: Palika Kohli, Lene TrunjerPeterson, Nimra Khan, Michael Gallagher, Shane Madill, Alex Sallas

Cover: Liz Pope

an alternatorial C4 C5

gravity

brian prince bookseller •oct 16 •oct 7

authors after hours the art of the steal

art gallery of hamilton "raise the roof" concert series

Senior Editor: Bahar Orang

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

the casbah dead city soul revue harlan pepper alanna gurr

•oct 17 three metre day •oct 18 chris banks poetry

zooey & zombies C6

rome wasn't written in a day

album reviews C8

film reviews happy birthday john Part of me suspects that I'm a loser, and the other part of me thinks I'm God Almighty. -john lennon

THE COVER STORY The photo is a multiple exposure, taken in-camera. First, a silhouette was taken with a blown out sky and a shot of the vibrant leaves was laid on top, to create the look that her head is made of leaves! Most DSLRs have this function, but you can also overlay the two images in photoshop!

theSil.ca ALTORNITORIAL

ANDY

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

Pacific 1967: where creative writing meets visual art

Bahar Orang ANDY Editor The following account is told from the perspective of a fictional character and was directly inspired by a painting from Alex Colville, a highly influential Canadian artist who died this past summer. A girl I used to love once advised me to imagine my eventual demise at least once a day. She explained that it might make my mortality feel tangible, and I could then more fully appreciate this living, breathing life. That evening I imagined myself being hit by a car as I crossed that same quiet street I cross everyday. Then I thought about a disease, an incurable, relentless disease that would consume me – slowly, painfully – organ by organ. After that I began seeing myself murdered in a hostage situation at a supermarket. I would be trapped with four other unlucky individuals (a single mother, a pimply cashier, an elderly man who had wandered in by mistake, and a small child who had run back in because his father was tired and had scolded him particularly harshly a few moments earlier). And when I carefully reached for a large soup can to throw at the murderer’s head, she would turn around and pulled the trigger without regret. It was strange that eventually, the perpetrator in each case became the girl who offered me this innocent advice. I saw her sharp green eyes widen and her slender arms flail frantically as her car

came at me – the last blow. I smelled her sweet, earthy sweat as she visited me day after day in the hospital, but less and less, until she was gone and I was gone. I heard her quick inhale that might actually have been an exhale as she whipped around and shot me dead somewhere in the “beans and rice” aisle. She would use the gun in this painting. She said she loved this painting, but I sometimes wonder now if she was lying. I visit it regularly and I have never seen her in or near the building. But I feel inclined to stand guard, to watch and wait and check that she has not yet taken the gun. Our brief encounter was entirely pointless. She came and went with the frivolity of a little bird taking flight. I was an accidental landing. She mistook me for a bird feeder. But I had no seeds, no nourishment to offer. And so she flew, and as the leaves turn from green to yellow, she must be flying south now. Surely she would stop for the gun on her way. I’ve considered taking the gun myself. If I reach out far enough, I could probably steal it soundlessly from the table. The crashing of the waves would mask any noise I do make in the process. The shirtless man would never know. Where is his shirt anyway? I can see the bones in his back and I feel unnerved. I always need to reach behind and feel my own bones. I need to be sure that they are there. The longer and harder I look at this man and his sharply sculpted back, I feel myself fading away. The painting is the reality, and my world, my silly little

world, is a poorly done artwork that has aged, tarnished, and will soon be disposed. If I took the gun, I could hold it and have it and soon enough she would come find me in my home. And in the moments before my eventual demise I would look at her, look at this terrifying girl who had been the silent storyteller in the visions of my own death. In that moment, everything would be motionless and she too would turn into a temporary painting. And I would drop the gun so that I could put my finger on her face, and trace it down from her forehead, to her nose, to her cheek, and then touch the beauty mark under her right eye. I would see a tear forming, falling, and finally trickling down my finger with more poetry than all the greatest paintings every painted. But she would be swift, and she would swipe the gun, and with her tear on my finger, I would meet my eventual demise. She would return the gun to the shirtless man. They would walk along the sandy shores of the grey-blue waters together. And perhaps once, before her own inevitable death, she might come visit the painting that was my death. Maybe then, too, a tear would fall down her wrinkled face and she would marvel at the wound she had inflicted. I hope that there will be fear and sadness in her heart as she looks upon the violent scene that had unfolded in the loneliness of my quiet apartment. She might realize that her advice had gone astray. @baharoh

PACIFIC 1967, ALEX COLVILLE

the

big

tickle best movie for a study break? YOSEIF HADDAD/ PHOTO EDITOR JJ BARDOEL /INTERN

Akshay G. “Anchorman.”

Piratheep Y. “The Avengers.”

Kristen D. “21 Jump Street.”

Adam F. “Liar, Liar.”

Kate F. “Serenity.”

theSil.ca

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

ANDY

complaints about New Girl are getting old Palika Kohli The Silhouette

New Girl is one of the most popular shows on television today, with a huge fan following and almost as many critics. Starring Zooey Deschanel, the show is centred on her character, Jess, and her hilarious antics as she tries to adjust to a major change in her life. The series began after she breaks up with a longtime boyfriend and moves in with three men after finding their apartment on Craigslist. The strongest aspect of the show is the character relationships and the quality of

dialogue between them. New Girl is the kind of show where, if you’re watching it on your computer, headphones are a must. Witty muttered comments abound, and the characters commonly make both pop culture and more obscure references. The viewers watch Deschanel, queen of all things hipster, play Joni Mitchell’s “River” on repeat to get over a break up, and later do the same by listening to Taylor Swift. This variety, which arguably all still adds to the “manic pixie dream girl” image of the quirky, cutesy girl that Deschanel personifies, is easy to overlook. Many critics view her image as anti-feminist, a position based off her love for all things feminine, ranging from

knitting to cupcakes. Her career as a teacher is one that has also been knocked – instead of taking the view of her job to be one of the most important and influential positions in society, it has been said to add to her overall image. Apparently, she is not an empowering female, and can only deal with children, as she is unable to cope with other adults. The writers have done a fantastic job of combating this view. As the show has developed, we have seen Jess stand up for her interests, allowing that baking cupcakes and loving ribbons do not make her any less of a feminist than a female lawyer who dresses up in business suits everyday. There is a weird expectation that “funny females” should be

C4 & C5

feminists, and must somehow assert that females can be as funny as males. New Girl tries to transcend that idea – females are funny, and so are males, and people’s personality traits, interests and preferences do not make up their political and worldviews. It allows adults to act as themselves, whether they act ‘childishly’ or in a more ‘mature’ manner, as perceived by society. It emphasizes that all things are relative and that it is a woman’s (and a man’s!) prerogative to change her mind. But most importantly, it shows the importance of human relationships: how strong ones can transform our identities.

SILHOUETTE STOCK PHOTO

hammer city comic con brings zombies to life SILHOUETTE STOCK PHOTO

“I’m just being myself. There is not an ounce of me that believes any of that crap they say. We can’t be feminine and be feminists and be succesful? I want to be a fucking feminist and wear a fucking Peter Pan collar. So fucking what?” - Zooey Deschanel, quote from Glamour

Lene Trunjer-Petersen The Silhouette Hamilton’s first annual Comic Con, the Hammer Town Comic Con, took place at Hamilton Convention Centre last Saturday. I must admit that I found myself in unfamiliar territory, this being my first Comic Con. Spidermen in every size, R2-D2s, zombies, stormtroopers, Iron Man just to name a few, were literally crawling out from every corner. I went there to do an interview with Kylie Szymanski, a.k.a Penny Blake, the Governor’s daughter from the hit series The Walking Dead. Frank Darabont developed the series in 2010, inspired by the comic books of the same name, developed in 2003. At the end of season three, the season final had 12.4 million views in US alone, and it’s safe to say that The Walking Dead has become a pop-cultural phenomenon.

Here I was face to face with a sweet, brown-haired girl, who looked nothing like the zombie girl Penny (luckily). Her role in The Walking Dead was her debut, but you could not really see that, in the natural way she smiled and greeted her fans. I was of course very curious of how she felt about being a popular zombie girl, and asked her a few questions. How did you prepare for being a part of The Walking Dead? “It’s kind of hard to prepare, because you don’t really know what you are getting into. Whenever I got to the set, I had no way of knowing what they wanted so I just had to try my best.” Do you think that Penny had any thoughts at all? “If she did have any thoughts, it might have been don’t kill me, I’m still a human. Something like that… I’m still human, don’t

kill me – I love you. I don’t know, good question, I never thought about that.” How did you want to portray Penny? “Well, I tried to get into the character as much as I could. I didn’t try to be [me] but I tried to be that zombie girl, the Governor’s daughter and try and act as what might his daughter actually be if she was a zombie but still partially be herself.” At this time, a fan dressed in a military outfit interrupted us. He was completely overwhelmed by the sight of Kylie and barked, ‘you are the Governor’s daughter’. He had just finished all three seasons and needed to say how much he loved the show. Yet another guy came up and got her autograph and a picture. So naturally I needed to know how she felt about her fans. “I like it. It’s kind of interesting even to me. I get to see to see how cool they are and how much they love the show. It’s amazing.”

Back to the interview again, I asked her if she thought that Rick and everybody were going to survive? “Maybe. The Governor has gone pretty crazy now, so you never know what’s going to happen when he is going crazy. His is just a crazy guy after I died. He already lost his wife in a car accident and now he lost his daughter and now he has nothing left, so he is going crazy.” What’s next? I’m doing some acting classes and a couple of auditions. We don’t know what’s coming up next. Not yet. But it’s so amazing how much I like acting. It’s so cool. The new season returns Sunday, Oct. 13 to AMC.

theSil.ca

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

ANDY

Rome wasn’t written in a day

ANDY speaks to author Kate Quinn about her gladiator-era epic, Empress of the Seven Hills Nimra Khan The Silhouette For all the history buffs on campus, if you don’t already love learning about Ancient Rome, then Empress of the Seven Hills will pull you in. Personally, I’ve been bitten by the Rome-bug ever since reading it. Just tell me that you aren’t hooked after reading this intro excerpt: “When I was thirteen, an astrologer told me I’d lead a legion someday, a legion that would call me Vercingetorix the Red. Astrologers are usually horseshit, but that funny little man was right about everything. But why didn’t that astrologer tell me any of the important things? Why didn’t he tell me that Emperors can be loved, but Empresses are only to be feared? Why didn’t he tell me I’d have to kill the best friend I ever had—on the orders of the worst man I ever knew? And why the hell didn’t he tell me about the girl in the blue veil I met the same day I got all these predictions?” I expect that you’re now turning to your friend and telling them to read this, wondering how you’ve lived your life without picking this up yet. I hardly blame you. I recently caught up with the writer of the series, Kate Quinn, who said of university, “I was a freshman in college when I wrote what was to become my first published book. I was 3000 miles away from home; I knew no one. So I escaped into ancient Rome instead.” Empress of the Seven Hills, the first book I’ve read by Quinn, follows the life of an ex-gladiator, Vix, and Sabina, the en“I was chanting daughter writing of a senator who novels since knows that she wants adventure I was 10 out of life (and years old” how she can get it). The characters in this book are followed as they change, grow, and occasionally make some stupid decisions. Vix and Sabina inevitably form a romantic relationship, but in a very unconventional way. Vix is very crude, and he knows it. It makes it a joy to read his conversations, especially with Sabina, in which they can go back-and-forth. Despite their disagree-

ments, one thing they can agree on is that they are both strongly devoted to an adored Emperor of the time, Trajan. I assure you, the reader is pulled in to love Trajan and feel just as devoted to him, too. When asked if she’s heard of any common misconceptions about certain historical figures or events, Kate Quinn said, “Writing about the Borgia family has been an education in historical misconceptions. So many rumours swirl around them, the poison! the incest! the murders! And yet, how much of it was true, and how much of it was bad press? It’s a novelist’s job to decide where you think the truth actually lies in all that storm of rumour.” A character that actually surprised me was Titus, a man who knows that he isn’t handsome, but is very smart. He is a bit of an underdog, comparable to Neville Longbottom in Harry Potter. However, just as Neville surprises the audience, so does Titus. Be warned for the incredible cliffhanger at the end that made me scream “THIS CAN’T BE IT,” making me realize that I had become invested in these characters’ lives without even knowing it. This is a fast-paced book that continuously has new challenges and lots of action. I was able to learn so much about Rome itself, including both the political and social sides of things. Quinn is able to lavishly describe the politics of war and battle, from the grit of the soldiers in camp, to the work the captain’s had to do. For someone who’s spun such witty stories, I asked, is writing novels something you always knew you were going to do? “I was writing novels since I was 10 years old,” Quinn said. “It wasn’t something I ever thought about; it was just something I did. I didn’t know that I’d end up writing novels for a living, but I knew I’d always write them whether I was paid for them or not. It’s a compulsion!” The enemies that the heroes face are always reoccurring and very believable. This includes the schemes set up by the Empress (oh, I hated that woman), along with Hadrian, Vix’s mortal enemy (I felt like I was part of Vix’ posse whenever he managed to take a go at Hadrian). There is an angle for every side of the story, something that everyone can enjoy and become attached to. So this raises the question, which historical Roman figure should the public

know more about? “The middle three of the Five Good Emperors are all fascinating men, and yet they aren’t written about very much in historical fiction. We know about Marcus Aurelius, but the three men who came before him were titans: Trajan, who was such a war machine that he expanded Rome out to its widest-ever parameters, yet was so personally beloved he could walk around Rome without a bodyguard; Hadrian, an enigma wrapped in a mystery who fell in love with a commoner; and Antoninus Pius who appears to be the boy next door who somehow became the most powerful man in the world. I love all three of these men!” I’ve probably got you flipping tables out of your way trying to find this book at a bookstore, but even if I don’t, I recommend that everyone pick up this book, either to continue your love for historical fiction, or to start it. There are also so many shows based on Rome. I loved the Starz Spartacus series. Kate Quinn had some of her own suggestions: “HBO’s Rome is marvellous; the end of the Republic and the rise of the Empire as seen (sumptuously, violently, gorgeously) by two best-friend legionaries. And the mini-series I, Claudius, which introduced me to ancient Rome and which has held up magnificently to the test of time!” Recently, Kate Quinn stepped away from Rome for a bit to explore the life of

the Borgias in The Serpent and the Pearl, while the sequel to Empress of the Seven Hills is in the works. The final question to ask would be, of course, what are some common misconceptions about authors? “I think the most common misconception about writers is the workload, that it just involves drinking coffee at Starbucks while doodling in a notebook and waiting for inspiration to strike! I work harder, longer hours at this job than I have in many offices: usually about five hours of writing, plus another three to four for research, business and publicity. Being a writer is hard work, even if it’s also fun work!”

theSil.ca

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

andy’s album reviews Michael Gallagher The Silhouette

Pure Heroine Artist: Lorde I, like many readers, have heard the chart topping song “Royals” by Lorde. It is catchy, creative and deserving the number one spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart. What I did not know, however, was that it doesn’t end there. Shane Madill The Silhouette

My Name is My Name Artist: Pusha T Old Artist: Danny Brown Pusha T’s My Name is My Name and Danny Brown’s Old should be your front-runners for hip-hop album of the year. It is honestly that simple. Contrasting both, however, provides perspective on two entirely different experiences and styles that operate on opposing sides of the hip hop spectrum. Pusha T’s My Name Is My Name is classic hip hop lyricism with modern production. He balances being faithful to the streets that raised him and his new found prosperity, a classic dichotomy for rappers. These themes are further supplemented by the production from a more established tier of artists, primarily Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. Pusha T raps about his place in the music scene and how this is his time to rise up to greatness. He raps about women and, more often than not, with surprising emotional sincerity. He raps about Michael Gallagher The Silhouette

Changing of the Seasons EP Artist: Two Door Cinema Club After two strong albums in Beacon and Tourist History, Two Door Cinema Club, the three-piece indie rock band from Northern Ireland is back with their new EP, Changing of the Seasons. The EP retains elements of their older music, while showcasing an emerging new style. The title track, “Changing of the Seasons,” is by far the most similar to their past output, with bright, catchy guitar riffs alongside a killer beat. This, however, is where

Let’s make it clear: Lorde is in no way a one-hit wonder. Her debut album, Pure Heroine, proves that “Royals” is not the only exquisite song the 16-year old solo artist can create. Yes, you read that right; this girl is only 16 and is already making her name in the music industry. Her age is actually what makes Pure Heroine such an interesting album, as it represents a culmination of multiple contemporary influences, including Kanye West, Bon Iver, SBTRKT, Alt-J and others. The result is a sound that nonetheless feels fresh, giving Lorde a distinct style that separates her from the rest of pop music. Her writing partner and producer, Joel Little, complement this youthful vibe. Little’s experience in the industry and Lorde’s creative energy makes the album fantastic. pushing drugs to get by in the streets and how these drugs affect strangers and friends. Though these are all relatively common themes in hip hop, the overall polish of his craft and the production leave this album achieving relative greatness. Danny Brown’s Old, however, combines alternative lyricism with alternative production. XXX, his previous mixtape, was essentially about his personal experiences with hardcore drugs and his realizations about what these seemingly positive experiences were actually doing to him. Old represents the relapse and breakdown of Danny Brown into the person he used to be. The escapism that drugs provide from his struggles, such as near-suicidal depression, takes control and consumes him. Unlike the beginning of XXX, he is fully aware of the consequences of taking these drugs, but does not care because the benefit of temporarily forgetting his experiences keeps him in the vicious cycle of dependency. It is a harrowing experience to hear him speak from his heart about all of his conflicting emotions and experiences. Fear, depression and pain are the core of this album, though they are masked under the veil of drugs and the resulting trip. The contrast between these two albums demonstrates how hip hop can achieve greatness through multiple approaches, and how the genre allows for a wide variety of stories to be represented. If you are just a casual fan of hip-hop, the recommendation is that you experience and attempt to internalize both of these albums.

the similarities end, as the remaining two songs potentially mark the emergence of a different style for the band. “Crystal” is a perfect example. The pacing is slower, featuring drum pads and even a vocoder backing Alex Trimble’s voice, while the guitars and punchy beats fans are familiar with are nowhere to be found. Regardless, the song shows off the band’s ability to create strong melodies, proving they are not limited to one style. Similarly, “Golden Veins” mixes it up, showing off the voice of guitarist Sam Halliday, something not previously emphasized by the band in the past. So, what does this mean? Well, given the size of the four-song EP it’s hard to tell if these songs represent the emergence of a new approach for the band, or are simply outliers that do not fit the style of their next project. Either way, fans should be happy. Two Door Cinema Club has once again proven they know how to make remarkable music.

ANDY

theSil.ca

ANDY

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

Gravity’s Cooper Long Assistant ANDY Editor

Gravity Director: Alfonso Cuarón Star Trek’s optimistic vision of interstellar travel is said to have inspired countless young people to pursue careers in space exploration. Indeed, Mae Jemison, the first AfricanAmerican female astronaut, has specifically cited the original television series as an inspiration. With Gravity, director Alfonso Cuarón has crafted a science fiction film that has precisely the opposite effect. Not only did Gravity make me never want to become an astronaut, it even made me hesitant to look up at the night sky outside Westdale Theatre. The film opens with a title card that declares, “Life in space is impossible.” For the next 90 minutes, astronauts Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) desperately attempt to defy this proposition. During a spacewalk, the two are separated from their shuttle by a fusillade of debris and sent careening into darkness. Although space is a void, however, it is nonetheless filled with dangers. Suffocation, incineration, freezing and drowning each come to threaten the duo. Cuarón and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki film the wayward astronauts with a breathtakingly mobile camera. As in Cuarón’s previous film, the wrenching dystopian thriller Children of Men (2006), these sweeping camera movements are also coupled with long, seemingly unbroken takes. Gravity’s opening sequence is so dynamic that it makes Orson Welles’ famous tracking shot at the beginning of Touch of Evil (1958) look like an amateur home video. Sadly, Gravity’s script is not quite as fluid as its cinematography. The astronauts’ struggle for survival con-

tains a few predictable moments, and both characters seem a tad too archetypal. Kowalski is an unflappable veteran on his last mission, while Stone is a nervous new recruit, which makes them an unfortunately clichéd combo. There are several haunting scenes in the film where spacecraft are silently shredded in the vacuum of space. During these moments, I began to wish that Gravity would abandon Stone and Kowalski’s clunky, faux-pro-

found dialogue altogether and transform into a silent film. That said, in her most compelling moments, Stone does succeed in channeling the relentlessness of science fiction cinema’s greatest heroine, Ellen Ripley. The two women also seem to prefer a similar wardrobe underneath their spacesuits. In addition to continuing Children of Men’s virtuoso use of long takes, Gravity carries forward that film’s preoccupation with ideas of fertility and rebirth. In Gravity’s eeriest shot, Stone’s levitating body is clearly posed to resemble a fetus, complete with an insulated hose in place of the umbilical cord. Later imagery likewise suggests a life form crawling out of the primordial soup. Despite its imperfections, Gravity’s screenplay resonates with such visuals. The astronauts’ plight vividly demonstrates how the desolation of outer space can reduce human beings to a childlike state of clumsiness and vulnerability. Yet, Cuarón complicates this reading by setting up a fascinating tension between the powerlessness and the agency of the astronauts. The debris that strands the pair is the result of an accidental chain reaction, and Stone was driven into the space program by a similarly fluky personal tragedy. These events point towards a random and uncontrollable cosmos. At the same time, however, they are able to repeatedly stave off death through careful problem solving and deliberate action, which suggests a universe ruled by order, not chaos. The success of Gravity certainly owes little to serendipity. In an interview with Wired, Cuarón revealed that production took an arduous four and a half years. Audiences should be grateful for his dedication. Cuarón has delivered a technical masterpiece that is so suspenseful and intense that it has a physical impact. You don’t just watch Gravity; you feel its pull.

a formula for success

Alex Sallas The Silhouette

Rush Director: Ron Howard Rush is a nicely paced and well-acted racing film that’s more about the characters than the cars. Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl star as Englishman James Hunt and Austrian Niki Lauda, both Formula One

drivers and both at the top of their game. The similarities end there, though. Hunt is a ladies’ man – brash, fond of alcohol and partying, while Lauda is reserved – obsessed with technicalities and every detail of his car. Of course, a huge rivalry develops between these two men, diametric opposites in terms of personality and attitude, but both sharing a love for the track. The racing scenes in Rush are very well done and appropriately thrilling, but its the characters to which the film devotes much of its time, and rightfully so. Both leads put in great work, while the supporting cast,

featuring Olivia Wilde and Alexandra Marie Lara, do the same. The visual effects are very good, especially in one scene involving the draining of lung fluid, and Ron Howard directs the film skillfully, getting a lot out of his actors and filling the film with a nice variety of camera angles and shots. Rush never drags but I would have liked to see a few of the aforementioned supporting characters developed a little more. Some of the earlier race scenes could have been trimmed a little to make room for this. All in all, while Rush may not be a perfect film, it is still a very, very good one.