The Silhouette - October 25

Page 1

ANDY digs up the most unwatchable of holiday “horror” films.

SPORTS

ANDY

Halloween Issue

Coming off of their perfect season, the Marauders prepare for the playoffs.

See C1-C8

See B1

The Silhouette

MCMASTER UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

www.thesil.ca

Thursday, October 25, 2012

EST. 1930

Let’s get ghoulish.

Vol. 83, No. 12

LRT plans go off the rails

Direction needed from City as it awaits response from Metrolinx

PSE panel criticizes MTCU plan NDP association hosts Mac talk Ryan Sparrow The Silhouette

$5.1 Million.

ANDREW TEREFENKO PRODUCTION EDITOR

Anqi Shen

Online News Editor

With millions invested in preliminary research on a light-rail transit system in Hamilton, the City is under pressure to move the project forward. Over the past five years, Hamiltonians, councillors and McMaster representatives have been making the case to the province for LRT in Hamilton. LRT would provide train access every two or three minutes to downtown Hamilton. The system is expected to benefit Hamilton com-

OPINIONS

muters and frequent users of the B-line bus route. As part of a downtown renewal plan, LRT also has the potential to draw more students to the downtown core. Recently, Mayor Bob Bratina has come under heavy scrutiny by community members for not pursuing the initiative more aggressively. Complicating matters further, Dalton McGuinty’s resignation last week as leader of Ontario’s Liberal Party means LRT supporters likely have to wait even longer for action. “There’s a lot of uncertainty right now. I wish I could say this

could happen very soon, but with the economy and Ontario’s political situation, I don’t think we’re going to hear back definitively from the province until 2014,” said Brian McHattie, Hamilton city councillor for McMaster’s ward. Given the amount of time and money already spent on the initiative, many are seeking clarity on whether LRT is on track to happen. Research suggests there are social and economic benefits to having light-rail transit in Hamilton. According to a 2010 operational review by the HSR, bus ridership in the east-west direction that

LRT would encompass was roughly 13,000 per day. “The B-line is by far the busiest line we have in the city,” said McHattie. “Sometimes you’ll see buses pass by their stops because they’re too full. LRT would be able to carry many more passengers, and it would be faster.” To date, $9 million has been invested in preliminary research to make the case for LRT. The province has designated $3 million for a required Environmental Assessment. SEE PROVINCE, A4

The path to moving forward How is experiential education framed in Forward with Integrity? Aissa Boodhoo-Leegsma Senior News Editor

Sepia tones of wealth There’s more to being rich on Instagram ... or is there? See A11 INSIDEOUT

It’s been just over a year since McMaster’s president Patrick Deane issued his visioning letter, “Forward With Integrity,” to the McMaster community. The letter introduced new strategic priorities for the University. It planted notions of “a student-centred research intensive institution,” “internationalization” and “experiential learning experiences” in the forefront of the campus’ consciousness. FWI stated that McMaster had an obligation to engage with the community and enhance student experience by increasing self-directed and interdisciplinary opportunities. Following the release of the letter last September, four task forces were formed to examine McMaster’s current environment. The task forces were responsible for making recommendations to improve the institution’s standing in the fields of

Community Engagement, Student Experience, Internationalization and Research. The task forces concluded their work in May 2012 and compiled their findings and recommendations into four separate reports. Broadening Experiential Opportunities The Student Experience Task Force report explored how to increase experiential opportunities. The term “experiential education” often implies a co-op or internship type experience that involves “learning outside the classroom.” The report sought to broaden this definition and re-envision how experiential opportunities could be offered to all students, regardless of faculty. Several faculties already provide experiential opportunities. The Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Life Sciences provide academic or co-op placements, while opportunities for co-curricular activities

exist in Arts and Science, Integrated Science and Health Science. Smaller programs and faculties such as Arts and Science and Integrated Science have had experiential components embedded in their curriculum since their inception. Both of these programs have also been at the forefront of submitting proposals for new interdisciplinary courses that feature field work and co-curricular experiences. Carolyn Eyles, director of the iSci Program, spoke about the new ARTSCI/ISCI 3EI1 course, which was developed as a result of the renewed focus on interdisciplinary and unique experiential courses. Students taking the course participate in a field trip to the world’s largest known cave system in Kentucky. For Eyles, courses like these are about being flexible in providing learning and research opportunities to students not normally available in lecture-based format. SEE LEARNING, A3

TIMELINE OF INTEGRITY ►

Haunted Out Urban exploration of Hamilton can be haunting. See B7

President Deane publishes Forward with Integrity letter

Task Force reports on general progress

SEP 2011

MAY 2012

Emerging Landscapes follow-up report to FWI

Mac’s Strategic Mandate Agreement submitted to the Ministry

JULY 2012 SEP 2012

On Oct. 23, representatives from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) - Ontario, the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) - Ontario, and McMaster faculty member, Peter Graefe, all spoke out against the purposed changes to the post-secondary education sector. Also on the panel was NDP politician, Theresa Armstrong who is the NDP critic for the Ministry of Training, Colleges and University (MTCU). The panel was organized by the NDP Riding Associations of Ancaster-Dundas-FlamboroughWestdale and Hamilton Centre. The event was attended by approximately 40 people. While there were some students in attendance, there was a noticeable lack of participation from McMaster New Democrat Club with only one member of the club who attended and then left early. Janice Folk-Dawson, Chair of the Ontario University Workers Coordination Committee of CUPE - Ontario criticized the Ministry’s plans and called “for the establishment of a true consultation process with wide ranging discussions including chronic underfunding to post-secondary institutions and a discussion of tuition and auxiliary fees.” Peter Graefe, a Political Science professor, criticized the three semester a year plan stating, “As much as people think I’m at home sunbathing myself during those [summer] months, I’m here most days involved in work related to research.” He also addressed the Ministry’s suggestion about three-year degrees. “Three year degrees, is there a demand for that? We have been seeing three year degrees shut down across the province for a lack of demand for a variety of reasons.” “When we talk about scarce public resources we have to realise that it is a myth, the income tax for people making over 500,000 dollars was introduced and next thing you know we got an extra 500 million in revenue” said Mike Yam, CFS-Ontario researcher. “I know a lot of labour unions and progressive economists talk about reversing corporate tax cuts; for sure if they were back to 2009 levels we’d have an extra two billion plus dollars in government coffers that could provide for all undergraduates in Ontario to go to school for free.” Theresa Armstrong, the NDP Critic for MTCU, gave a uniformly scripted speech, which provided little insight into the Ontario New Democrat’s plans outside of re-stating their election promises. Dan Fahey, a third-year Integrated Science student, felt upset with the lack of a comprehensive vision presented by the NDP stating that he, “felt underwhelmed by Theresa Armstrong’s performance, when the stakes are so high with the attack to education that we are facing.” “I thought Mike Yam said the right things. That we need to build solidarity between students and staff on campus and it’s going to take a lot of work.”


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