The
Silhouette McMASTER UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013 VOL. 84 NO. 1
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The Great Review 12 Can (or should) it live up to the book?
Wilson Hall is breaking ground New liberal arts building will be an innovative space to work and play Jemma Wolfe Executive Editor Come September of 2015, McMaster students are in for a treat. Thanks to a $45 million dollar grant from the provincial government and a $10 million dollar donation from retiring Chancellor Lynton (Red) Wilson, the L.R. Wilson Hall for Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences is finally breaking ground and is set to open in time for the 201516 academic year. Although the building currently on site, Wentworth House, has yet to be demolished, at a project launch ceremony on Friday May 31, University faculty and government administrators donned hard hats and wielded shovels to formally break ground for the building. Construction is scheduled to be in full swing by early July. The proposed 62,000 square foot building has an extensive list of attributes, including an Indigenous Studies space and ceremonial area, a joint Social Sciences-Humanities student lounge, a 400 seat lecture hall and underground parking. Music and theatre students will be particularly enthused by the 350seat concert hall and a versatile black box theatre that can be configured in a variety of ways to suit performance needs. “We build a space not just for today or tomorrow, but to still be innovative 15 years from now,” said Dr. Charlotte Yates, Dean of Social Sciences at a community open house regarding the building on Monday May
C/O CS&P ARCHITECTS
Renderings show how L.R. Wilson Hall is anticipated to appear upon completion, as seen from the Sterling Street gates. 27.
At only five floors tall, the Hall will still manage to encompass departmental office spaces, graduate research areas, seminar rooms and classrooms while being 100 per cent accessible and featuring transgender washrooms on every floor. The structure itself is also going to be groundbreaking in its design. “We wanted this to be a green building, not only from a sustainability perspective, but also in terms of landscape,”
explained Paul Cravit, President of CS&P Architects, and Project Lead on the Wilson building. This commitment involves tree preservation along Sterling and Forsyth Avenue, a garden level on the top floor of the building and a green roof. In an effort to receive gold certification in the environmental LEED scoring system, the building will be equipped with low pressure plumbing, have bright windows to capitalize on sunlight, and be dimly lit at
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later, the fruits of Finkle’s and the arts students’ labour are finally becoming a reality. The building represents the largest liberal arts donation McMaster has ever seen, and is the only arts-focused infrastructure to be funded by the provincial government in this round of financial allocations. Dean of Humanities, Dr. Ken Cruikshank, knows this investment to be worthwhile. “This building is going to change the way we learn,” Cruikshank promised.
Where are our Marauders now? PAGE
Goodbye, Titles
night. The liberal arts centered space is the result of an initial letter writing campaign to lobby the government for arts funding. Joe Finkle, MSU VP Education 2010-2011, spearheaded the successful letter-writing campaign during his tenure. In 483 original, unique letters, liberal arts students expressed the need for a new academic and performance space dedicated to their specific needs, and sent them to local MPP Ted McMeekin. Years
Don’t sweat the details, Mr. Mayor
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The humans of Hamilton PAGE
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Thursday, June 6, 2013
New diabetes research reveals South Asian birth cohort Humna Amjad The Meducator
We invite you to discover Vietnamese and Thai food at its finest; dishes made with fresh ingredients and unique blends of flavours and spices. Located in the
Within the past few decades, type 2 diabetes and heart disease have become a growing concern in the Canadian population, often credited to our typically poor diets and increasingly sedentary lifestyles. Lesser known, however, is that the risk of developing early heart disease may be linked to ethnicity. In fact, type 2 diabetes prominently affects South Asian people; for example, around 80 million Indians deal with it every day. In Canada, many South Asian immigrants from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are experiencing the onset of type 2 diabetes and early heart disease. With Canada’s growing multicultural population, the relationship between ethnicity and health is garnering greater attention amongst researchers and the Canadian population. Dr. Sonia Anand, Canadian Research Chair in Ethnic Diversity and Cardiovascular Disease and also a professor of medicine and epidemiology at McMaster University, has teamed up with colleague Dr. Milan Gupta to initiate the START study – the South Asian birth
cohort. The current study plans to enroll 1,000 pregnant mothers and follow them and their child for 3 years in order to study the causes of type 2 diabetes that are common within the South Asian population. The researchers think that risk factors for type 2 diabetes actually begin in utero, and by tracking diet, activity, and the genetic causes, researchers will gain more insight into the relation between ethnicity and health. Dr. Anand and Dr. Gupta, in collaboration with the St. John Research Institute in Bangalore, India are conducting a similar study to determine whether migration out of India is related to any changes in the risk of developing diabetes. Together, the two studies aim to investigate whether the risk of diabetes can be located as early as in utero or at the time of birth. Dr. Anand states that the results will allow us to “be in a better position to prevent and treat diabetes as we age.” Even for those that may not be of South Asian ethnicity, such research is essential in strengthening our understanding of the complexities regarding highly prevalent conditions such as heart disease on a global level.
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NEWS
News Editors Julia Redmond, Tyler Welch & Stephen Clare Contact news@thesil.ca
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Thursday, June 6, 2013
Goodbye Titles, hello Campus Store Stephen Clare Features Editor Titles Bookstore is no more. This fall, Mac students will instead buy their textbooks and school supplies from the McMaster Campus Store. The name change comes along with an expanded inventory and renovation of the store’s premises in Gilmour Hall. Donna Shapiro, the store’s director, told the McMaster Daily News that the alterations reflect changes in the bookstore industry. In order to make the shop more relevant to modern student life, the Campus Store will be stocking a variety of new products. The renovations are ongoing and scheduled to finish in July. They will almost double the size of the store, allowing for more course materials to be stocked. No longer will students have to trek down to the Tank for their textbooks. That space will instead become a warehouse. “One of the most exciting things for us at the Campus Store is the consolidation of course materials into one central location,” said Shapiro. Also part of the changes is the closing of the campus post office. May 31 was its last official day of business, and now Canada Post is instead operating an Express outlet. As such, students
News in brief
by Executive Editor Jemma Wolfe and Opinions Editor Sam Godfrey
Full steam ahead for new GO station on James St. N. Under the boiling afternoon sun on Friday May 31 at a press conference down town, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Glen Murray announced plans for a new GO station to be built on James Street North. The station will be constructed nearby the historic Liuna Station and include multi-level parking with 300 spaces, new bus bays, a pick-up and drop-off zone and pedestrian walkways. The station’s main point of service will be to add two more train trips in the morning and afternoon to Toronto on the Lakeshore line, every day of the week. In his speech, Murray stressed the need to catch Hamilton up with other cities in terms of transportation in order to retain McMaster graduates. “Young people who graduate from McMaster look around and see no LRT, they see limited GO service, they don’t see subways in this region, and they look to Chicago and they look to New York… [where] they see good governance [with transportation],” Murray said. The station is set to begin construction in early 2014 and be completed by 2015. Service from the current GO station on Hunter St. down town will not be affected.
Bruce Cockburn donates music archives to Mac
YOSEIF HADDAD SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR
The Campus Store logo is quickly replacing the Titles brand. will no longer have on-campus access to services like PO boxes, money orders, and parcel shipping, though stamps and Xpress post are still available. The interior renovations are just the first phase of a twoyear project. There are plans for both a wheelchair ramp at the storefront and a new entrance to the textbook area to be built next spring. The Health Sciences Bookstore is also being renamed and will now be officially known as
“Campus Store, Health Sciences.” This is not the first time that the store has changed its name and focus. It originally opened in 1931 in Hamilton Hall as the McMaster Bookstore and moved to its current location in Gilmour Hall in the 1960s. In the ‘90s it became Titles Bookstore. For some, though, this latest change is not all good. The new name has been criticized, especially on Twitter, as generic and lacking the character of “Titles.”
At the beginning of May, McMaster libraries received a piece of Canadian music history in the form of singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn’s archival donations to the University. Cockburn donated a plethora of material relating to his long career in the Canadian rock scene. The musician, best known for his 1980s hit “Lovers in a Dangerous Time,” gave up his notebooks, musical arrangements, records, and even three guitars to be collected, archived and displayed for student and community enjoyment. The 67 year old singer hopes to preserve his legacy through this donation, but was humourous in his comments. “It’s nice to think there’s some vestige of what I did in there that’s preserved,” he told CBC Hamilton in an interview. “That said, I worry about inflicting it on some people. Some poor kid is going to have to study that stuff to get his PhD.”
14-year-old whiz-kid to begin first year at Mac this fall Among the 3000-plus high-school students to apply to McMaster’s engineering program this year, Alexandre D’Souza stands out. Not for outstanding grades – though seven A-pluses and two As are nothing to scoff at – but because D’Souza is only 14. Prior to coming to Canada with his family last year, D’Souza was schooled in Bahrain, Singapore and Mumbai, India, and his parents say he always excelled intellectually. At nine, D’Souza scored the top marks worldwide in English and math, and taught himself Arabic numbers before three, just walking around a complex in Singapore with a housemaid. “I don’t really like being judged by people by my age,” said D’Souza during an interview with the Toronto Star on Monday. “I’ve always been younger and had no problem socially.” Let’s just hope he’s prepared for the intellectual, physical, and emotional tribulations that come upon entering first year. Namely, SOLAR.
New names in leadership roles of University admin.
YOSEIF HADDAD SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR
The Canada Post Office has shut down and is being replaced with an Express Post machine.
Recent announcements have revealed replacements to significant vacancies in upper University and faculty administration. In wake of Chancellor Lynton (Red) Wilson’s retirement, Suzanne Labarge will start her term as Chancellor on Sept. 1, 2013. Labarge, a successful Canadian businesswoman and Harvard graduate with a long history at RBC will take over the role as symbolic figurehead of McMaster, presiding over convocations and other ceremonial duties. The Chair of the History Department, Dr. Ken Crookshanks, took over as acting Dean of Humanities following Dean Suzanne Crosta’s abrupt resignation in April. Dr. Crookshanks, who has been at McMaster since 1993, will remain in the role until a new dean has been appropriately selected.
EDITORIAL
Executive Editor Jemma Wolfe Email thesil@thesil.ca Phone 905.525.9140 x22052
Thursday, June 6, 2013
The Silhouette
McMaster University’s Student Newspaper
Editorial Board Jemma Wolfe Executive Editor
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Flushing out gender profiling with transgender washrooms
Scott Hastie Managing Editor Andrew Terefenko Production Editor Anqi Shen Online Editor Julia Redmond Senior News Editor Tyler Welch Assistant News Editor Stephen Clare Features Editor Sam Godfrey Opinions Editor Laura Sinclair Senior Sports Editor Alexandra Reilly Assistant Sports Editor Amanda Watkins Senior InsideOut Editor Miranda Babbitt Assistant InsideOut Editor Bahar Orang Senior ANDY Editor Cooper Long Assistant ANDY Editor Yoseif Haddad Senior Photo Editor Liz Pope Assistant Photo Editor Ben Barrett-Forrest Multimedia Editor
to virgil caine. to volume 84. Jemma Wolfe Executive Editor
to s.c., who showed me how it’s done.
The architect was flustered when he touched on the topic. “The building will have transgender bathrooms on every floor,” he mumbled at the recent L.R. Wilson Hall project open house. A what should have been a moment of pride became a moment of uncertainty. He hesitated, as if to elaborate, and then changed the subject. The moment to explain, the chance to champion, had passed. Transgender. It’s an awkward word. A misunderstood word. Even my spell-check rejects it (yet another indication of subtle, systemic oppression). By definition, it’s a label for people who identify with a different gender than that which they were biologically assigned. The trans* umbrella indicates a general dischord between sex and soul. And after years of societal ignorance, denial, and discomfort to this community of people, McMaster is leading the way by installing transgender bathrooms in its prized new structure. So, what’s the big deal about bathrooms? To many heteronormative people, a trip to them is a thoughtless, bladder-driven experience, free of stigmatization and significance. But as a symbolic public space, bathrooms take on greater meaning. They’re one of the many spaces in public where one’s gender is dichotomously declared and organized. Like licenses and passports and other official documentation currently under fire for their rigid categorization, bathrooms leave no room for gender ambiguity. You go into the men’s, or the women’s. It’s pretty black and white. Yet there’s progress. The MSU’s SRA committed to creating a women and trans* centre this past academic year. Even a recent Air Canada flight I was on was airing Transamerica - not your conventional transatlantic fodder. And now the Wilson building. By installing transgender bathrooms, McMaster is making a concrete statement - literally - that it supports the trans* community, and the variety of human sexuality expressions that an increasing number of people are publicly identifying. We can tout the building’s green roof, goal for LEED certification, and many arts spaces. But it’s the rooms filled merely with pipes and porcelain that makes me proud of McMaster - both as a university, and as a community.
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to pita pit’s spicy black bean special. to this month’s contributors. i couldn’t have done it without you. to inching up the masthead, year after year. to dundas, ontario. my (new) home, sweet home. to housewarming presents. to friends abroad. to office cleanliness. long may it last. to r.p., for the tea and cookies, the roof over my head, and the love. r.i.p.
to ancaster heritage days, for making me wish i was 15 again. to the public health system. you’ve let me down a lot, lately. to humidity, from my hair. to not having any cookware. hello again, takeout. to having nowhere left to climb. to having graduated before wilson hall was built. to the elevator workers’ (need to) strike. to too many shoes. to missed connections. to the post-graduation scatter. to grief.
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Contributions are always welcome. Email the appropriate section to pitch stories and receive article assignments.
The Silhouette welcomes letters to the editor in person at MUSC B110, or by email at thesil@thesil. ca. Please include name, address and telephone number for verification only. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters and opinion articles. Opinions expressed in The Silhouette are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board, the publishers or university officials. The Silhouette is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the McMaster Students Union. The Silhouette board of publications acts as an intermediary between the editorial board, the McMaster community and the McMaster Students Union. Grievances regarding The Silhouette may be forwarded in writing to: McMaster Students Union, McMaster University Student Centre, Room 201, L8S 4S4, Attn: The Silhouette Board of Publications. The board will consider all submissions and make recommendations accordingly.
Letters: 100 to 300 words Submit via email by 5:00 p.m. the Monday before publication.
Volunteer meetings are held weekly, per section, during the regular school year. Look for times in September, 2013.
OPINIONS
Opinions Editor Sam Godfrey Contact opinions@thesil.ca
Thursday, June 6, 2013
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Unpaid, inexperienced
Anqi Shen Online Editor
Ford the mayor Scott Hastie Managing Editor Rob Ford is the politician who will not say die. Now facing his second major scandal in three years of mayoral tenure, the leader of Ford Nation refuses to back down. He’s become the laughing stock of Canadian politics. We’ve reached the point where nothing Ford does or says is truly surprising – his acts are only varying degrees of entertainment. The bigger joke in the fall of Ford is that the Toronto voters elected him in the first place. The shenanigans did not begin when the right-wing city councillor became mayor on Dec. 1, 2010 – they’ve been going on for over a decade. In 1999, Ford was arrested in Florida for a DUI and possession of marijuana. Between then and now, there’s been dozens of homophobic, racist and derogatory remarks made by the Etobi-
coke councillor, both in city hall and in media scrums. For all the mistakes Ford’s mouth has made, it could do one thing right: convince Toronto voters that taxes would stay low. We can laugh all we want at the mayor, but he’s always been this way and Toronto voters should have known that. They were likely aware of Ford’s antics, given that he had five unique scandalous stories following him in the months leading up the election. But more importantly, they also knew that Ford would keep their money in their own pockets. Toronto voters do not have a right to be upset that Ford refuses to discuss the issue with the media, and just turns any press conference into soapbox sessions about the great citizens of Ontario’s capital and keeping their taxes low. They gave up that right when they elected the exact same man into office. They agreed that ignorance was acceptable as long as there are dollar signs.
Don’t blame Rob Ford for being Rob Ford. He’s accomplished the main goal that he promised the voters – a rare feat in the political landscape. And his personality hasn’t swayed in the slightest. Ford is still spewing the same nonsense he always has - there are just more people listening. But the city is in shambles and Ford the Person is bleeding into Ford the Politician. The allegations have seen staff evacuate the mayor’s office and Toronto councillors are claiming that nothing is being done in a timely fashion. The economic centre of the province will have a dark cloud looming over it (and no, it’s not smog) as long as Ford is in office. Toronto voters have created their own mess and there’s no way to oust Ford until the next election. They’ve dug their own grave, and now have to lay in it - all for those sweet, sweet tax dollars. I wonder if it was worth it.
FEEDBACK
Photos by Yoseif Haddad
What do you think of unpaid internships?
They can be useful... but I would do one if I felt you have to be careful of that [the company] wasn’t exploitation of free labour. abusing my free work. Ahmed Hussein, Med. I
Madeline Wilkes, ArtSci V
It depends... some fields may provide great networking experiences while others are just looking for slave labour. Sandra Marques, PoliSci III
Why you should think twice before doing an unpaid internship
Would I rather be unemployed, or work for free? That’s a question many of us face at some point during our time at university and after we graduate. Internship season is well underway and those of us who aren’t already employed are probably looking for positions that will open doors. Job-hunting beats watching another rerun of that show we hate (in theory). But the reality is that a lot of internships for students don’t pay very much, if at all. In industries like arts, culture, and journalism, the supply of internships (even unpaid ones) far surpasses the number of qualified applicants. I’ve come across many enticing job postings that pay about minimum wage, or are unpaid internships, or are labelled as “volunteer/internship” (it’s confusing because I don’t think of the two terms as the same, and yet I see them being conflated or used together more often). Scrolling through job ads, the question comes up again: Sit around for X months or make an effort to gain “valuable experience,” even if that means you’re not earning an income? For some, the answer to that question will be fielded by asking other questions: “Do I need more experience in this industry?” “Will this internship actually provide me with valuable experience?” “Will doing unpaid work pay off later?” For others, the decision hinges mainly on affordability. A recent article in the Guardian contends that “Unpaid internships and a culture of privilege are ruining journalism”—in other words, unpaid internships open the door to those who can afford to be journalists and discourage those who can’t buy their way in. Students who don’t receive financial support need to pay for groceries, housing and utilities before anything else. Taking on a part-time job while doing an unpaid internship is an option, but it’s tiring and it means you’re not at the same start line as everyone else. Transportation costs add up, too. If it’s a two-hour commute per day, that turns out to be a large chunk of the summer—time that could be spent launching a startup, taking a course to get ahead, or just taking time off to relax. It’s not just a moral issue but a legal one as well. Media coverage has been picking up on what kinds of internships are legal and which aren’t. It’s one thing to volunteer for a non-profit organization that you care about—it’s another to replace a paid employee. If you’re doing work you didn’t sign up for or aren’t getting any training out of an unpaid internship, the position may be illegal. When it comes to job hunting, it can be shortsighted to give ourselves ultimatums that revolve around unpaid work (“Should I take this unpaid internship now or do nothing?”). That mentality makes it easier for us to neglect our other options and disregard our potential as self-starters. When faced with a tempting unpaid internship, we should instead be asking: “Why should I take this? Is it the best fit for me right now, and would I get the same out of it as my employer?” Forget everything you’ve read or heard about ‘entitled millennials’ – an unpaid stint is at best an exchange between intern and employer (labour for training and experience). At worst, it’s an exploitative measure that makes it more okay for other companies to keep posting volunteer positions without looking at funding options. Even if you barely have any job experience, I’d encourage you to think twice about digging into an unpaid internship. Ask why you need it, if you really do. If you feel like it is a good fit for you, be upfront about your goals and find out if they’re attainable before you go through with it. Learn as much as you can.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
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Come and see what’s new!
Quality, Freshness and Selection! You’ll find… Joe Fresh, full-service Pharmacy, Garden Centre, PC* Financial Services, all of your favourite grocery products
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SPORTS
Sports Editors Laura Sinclair & Alexandra Reilly Contact sports@thesil.ca
Thursday, June 6, 2013
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FOOTBALL
Marauding Abroad
With a standout season behind them, a handful of McMaster Marauders are being picked up for training camps, as well as being officially drafted all across Canada. These picks come two years off the heels of a CFL mandate which made certain that all professional teams included an under-age player throughout their training camps, in an effort to give young Canadian players valuable experience and exposure. Check out where seven key Marauders are planting their feet later this year.
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#12 Kyle Quinlan QB 6’3” 210 lb
Daly was signed by the Hamilton TigerCats and was the overall 45th draft pick this season.
The OUA Athlete of the Year award winner was part of a TigerCats training camp and received a tryout for the Montreal Alouettes. He will be returning to Ron Joyce stadium this fall in a coaching role.
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#52 Ben D’Aguilar DL 6’2” 240 lb The Stampeders have signed D’Aguilar as the 13th overall pick in the 2013 CFL Draft. A Philosophy major, D’Aguilar is leaving his home town of Hamilton and joining three other draft picks.
#8 Mike Daly DB 6’1” 182 lb
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#2 Marshall Ferguson QB/P 6’2” 200 lb This Kingstonian Political Science major is going to be present at the Calgary Stampeders’ training camp as their underage quarterback.
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#88 Spencer Moore WR 6’4” 230 lb Moore is currently set to participate in the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ training camp, but has not yet officially joined the team in any way.
ANDREW TEREFENKO PRODUCTION EDITOR
#1 Michael DiCroce WR 5’11” 190 lb
#59 Matthew Sewell OL 6’1” 335 lb
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DiCroce, a Hamiltonian Sociology major, has signed a deal with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as the 29th overall draft pick.
Sewell, despite being offered a deal with the Toronto Argonauts, has instead opted to remain at McMaster to pursue a Business MBA in an accelerated program.
New volleyball recruits look to win it all Laura Sinclair Senior Sports Editor The McMaster Marauders men’s volleyball team has easily just become the most dangerous team in the CIS. With the announcement of some new talented recruits in Georgetown’s Brandon Koppers, Hamilton’s Pawel Jedrzejewski, and Toronto’s Andrew Kocur, the Marauders are a force to be reckoned with heading into the 2013-14 year.
The already extremely talented team just got off from a very successful season, finishing second in the CIS Championships and first in the OUA’s - an achievement that Coach Dave Preston hopes to surpass for the upcoming season. “It’s very difficult to top…but we’re going to try and do it. Really the only way to do it is to win a national championship, and that’s what everyone is focusing on right now,” said
Preston, the 2013 CIS Coach of the Year. Brandon Koppers, a 6’7 hitter and Ken Davies Memorial award recipient, officially signed with the Marauders last month, and according to Coach Preston, he is the perfect fit for the Maroon and Grey. “Brandon is what I would consider to be the epitome of the student athlete for McMaster University,” said Coach Preston. “He is intelligent, he’s
big, he’s strong, he’s got great character, he plays the game for the right reasons, he is the prototypical guy that we look for, and the beauty is he is walking into a program of guys that are exactly like him.” Koppers, a Christ the King Secondary School graduate who plans to major in business, has also been named to the 21U Men’s Canada Summer Games team, where he will be competing alongside four other
Marauders: Jori Mantha, Dan Groenveld, Austin CampionSmith, and Alex Elliot. The team will be competing this August in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Coach Preston is also very excited about recruit Pawel Jedrzejewski, an award-winning graduate from Cathedral High School here in Hamilton.
SEE FRESH, 8
Thursday, June 6, 2013
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CIS, Sportsnet announce six-year deal Fresh volleyball talent Alexandra Reilly Assistant Sports Editor It comes as no surprise that Rogers Sportsnet and Canadian Interuniversity Sports have reached a six- year agreement for the expanded coverage of men’s and women’s CIS Sports headlined by the Vanier Cup game in November. The agreement begins this season and runs through until the 2018-19 academic year. The agreement will also highlight all major games including the football national semi-finals (Mitchell Bowl and Uteck Bowl), women’s and men’s hockey championships and both men’s and women’s basketball championships, just to name a few. The agreement, which was settled on May 29, 2013, will have The Score remaining as one of the primary hubs of the CIS coverage unit, which has been covering Canadian Interuniversity Sport since 2002. “This is a historic day for University sport in Canada,” said Pierre Lafontaine, Chief Executive Officer of the CIS. “This expanded, long-term partnership with Sportsnet will help elevate the CIS brand and
provide our 11,000 student athletes, 700 coaches and 54 member institutions the recognition they deserve.” It will serve to shine a light on the many outstanding accomplishments of our student-athletes who will move on to become future leaders in this country and around the world.” In addition to the many men’s and women’s events to be broadcast, Sportsnet will become the exclusive advertising home of the historic annual Vanier Cup, showcasing the best in Canadian University football. The 2013 Vanier Cup will take place on Nov. 23 at Laval’s home stadium in Quebec City. CIS athletes have definitely proven themselves amongst the ranks of the world’s top athletes and will be able to receive the broadcasting coverage they deserve now and in the years to come. “CIS is a highly valued, long-term partner, and we look forward to working with them to significantly increase the profile of Canadian university sports and expose the country to some of our best athletes and stars in the making – along with sharing the game-day excitement from
campuses across Canada,” said Vice-President, Programming at Sportsnet, Navaid Mansuri. “The sky is the limit from here,” he added. Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the primary governing body for Canadian University athletics. Every year there are 11,000 athletes and 700 coaches from 54 different universities vying for 21 different national championships in 12 different sports. The CIS provides high performance opportunities for worldclass Canadian University athletes. Coverage for the 2013-14 season features 13 events beginning with football in September. Further broadcast details are pending and an announcement will be made in the coming weeks.
“This expanded, long-term partnership with Sportsnet will help elevate the CIS brand...” Pierre Lafontaine, Chief Executive Officer of the CIS
FROM 7 The impressive local boy, who only a couple of years ago was forced to take a break from the sport he loved due to an accident on the court which punctured his right kidney, is now better than ever, and according to Coach Preston, is sweeping up awards not just within his high school, but within the province. “He is receiving the city top athlete and ambassador…he just received the award from OFSAA for top student-athlete in Ontario. It’s ridiculous what this young man is achieving,” said Coach Preston. The third addition for the Marauders team is Toronto native Andrew Kocur, who has transferred to McMaster University for the 2013-14 year from the University of California, Santa Barbara. The St. Micheals College graduate and economics major is cleared to compete for the upcoming season, which is a rare and fortunate opportunity for Kocur. “He went down on a scholarship last year, and for a number of reasons it just wasn’t the right fit for him, so he’s transferring to McMaster next year, and has been declared eligible to play already
so he doesn’t need to sit out a year for a transfer as he normally would,” Coach Preston explained. Kocur was previously a member of the Crush Volleyball Club, a six-time Canadian national champion, a three-time national and provincial MVP, and was named to the Canadian All-Star team six times. Although Coach Preston’s major focus right now is winning a Junior World Championship in Turkey this August, he has not lost sight of the future of Marauders volleyball, and of his excitement with the team that he will be coaching for the 2013-14 school year. When it comes to the recruits, Preston believes they will provide incredible depth to the roster. “Between those three guys coming in we’re rock solid,” he said. As for the rest of the team, Preston believes that he is just lucky enough to get to coach such an outstanding group of young men. “I do have a lot of faith in these guys. I have a lot of confidence in these guys. Every coach around would love to coach these guys and I’m just very fortunate to be that guy.”
INSIDEOUT
InsideOut Editors Amanda Watkins and Miranda Babbitt Contact insideout@thesil.ca
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Anqi Shen Online Editor Francis Kabisoso has mastered the art of talking to strangers. The 22-year-old photographer is easy to talk with but isn’t overly talkative, any nervousness overrun by the calm of someone who knows what he wants. You’re more likely to know him as Francis Fiction, the name he uses to credit his work online. Most people who have seen his work don’t know it’s a stage name. “I didn’t put a lot of thought into it. The words just sounded good together,” he said. “I like alliteration. Francis Fiction. Humans of Hamilton.” Since coming to Hamilton in 2005, Kabisoso has started several creative projects, including ‘Humans of Hamilton’, a blog and Facebook page chronicling the lives of Hamiltonians one photo at a time. The project started out as a little-known Tumblr blog called Fiction 365. When a friend showed him the popular Humans of New York page, Kabisoso liked the idea and ran with it. He began approaching people he didn’t know and asking to take their photos. He captures them in transitory
moments— running errands, sitting on a park bench, taking a stroll with their girlfriend or boyfriend—and captions the photos with their favourite quotes, or if he doesn’t remember, words that resonate with him. These days he’s trying to get the shot in one take. “You have to do that if they’re busy or walking by,” he told me after taking a snapshot of a friendly woman we passed on James Street S. Kabisoso has had a passion for the arts for as long as he can remember. He was born with scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine that compresses it on one side, causing back pain and difficulty breathing with overexertion. “I couldn’t really do much physical activity, so I relied on writing and anything artistic that didn’t involve situations where someone could hurt me.” In high school, Kabisoso got into creative theatre and participated in the Sears Drama Festival. After getting his diploma, he enrolled in Niagara College’s
broadcasting program, but found that it didn’t suit his passion for film. He wanted to meet people and travel. Thinking that tourism was his calling, he started taking classes at Mohawk College. That didn’t live up to his expectations either, so he told his parents he would drop out again. “I trust my instincts,” he said. “When I want to do anything, I don’t go by what my parents or anybody tells me, I just do what feels right for me in my life.” Kabisoso went out and bought a Canon T3i, the camera he still uses, and started by recording videos of himself. “I took it to church once and took a couple of photographs, and I really liked it. I decided to create a Facebook page so I could start posting them. That way I didn’t have to send the photos to everybody.” His Humans of Hamilton Facebook page has since garnered a following of more than 800. Earlier this month, he used the platform to launch Human Stories, a documentary series about connections between Hamiltonians. Eager to juggle both projects, Kabisoso paired up with his friend, Kyle Dowie, to start producing segments. They’ve shot three episodes and combined two that were similar in theme. “Sometimes when I talk to people, I get home and I want to write down something they said, but I can’t really remember it. So I thought I should start to make videos. No one can tell your story better than you can, right?”
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“I’ve learned so much more from all these strangers than I’ve learned at school.” Francis Kabisoso, founder of “Humans of Hamilton” at Gore Park ANQI SHEN/ ONLINE EDITOR
At first, Kabisoso was anxious about asking people for interviews, even though he’d been taking photos of strangers. “Rejection sucks,” he said. “Some people say no, but I’ve just learned to not take it personally.” “When we do interviews, it’s not formal at all. This is the thing I tell everyone—they say, what do you want me to do, how do you want me to stand—and I say, just be.” “How do you get strangers to open up to you?” I asked. He chuckled at that. “Smile?” “I can’t really say what it is that I do – I just talk to them like they’re human, like they’re my friend, and they just kind of open up,” he said. “You start with just like, how was your day, and just move on. The material we use doesn’t even start from the hour mark, but we talk for an hour, two hours. It’s really, really hard to try to condense that into five minutes each. But I think you get more honesty that way.” “The thing is,” he said, “People want to be listened to. People at some point in our lives feel like we want to be sort of validated, to know that our lives really matter to someone.” Kabisoso works on his creative projects in his spare time and says none of his previous jobs had anything to do with photography. Since last October, he’s been working part-time at Canada Post’s call centre.
“It’s made me that much more compassionate because I’m talking to people all day on the phone and I hear what they’re going through,” he said. This fall, Kabisoso will be attending Humber College, where he’ll study creative photography. When people ask him what will become of Humans of Hamilton, he’s at a bit of a loss. He knows he won’t be in Hamilton forever and that passing it off to someone else is probably the best way to go. “I get scared ‘cause when people message me, they’re like, Francis: don’t ever stop doing this, and I’m like, don’t do this to me.” For now, he’s still rolling out photos and videos one at a time, having learned more from strangers than he’s learned in class. “A lot of times I go to Gore Park and there are certain people that are sort of just sitting there. Sometimes I feel like they’re just waiting for someone to talk to them because there’s something on their minds that they want to let out. And so I go there and start a conversation.” In spite of his body of work, Kabisoso is uncomfortable with the title of ‘artist.’ “People call me that and I don’t really consider myself that at all. The only thing I would call myself is a storyteller. I feel like I will get there sometime but calling me an artist right now—I’m on my way, I’m getting there.”
S 10 INSIDEOUT
Thursday, June 6, 2013
RESTAURANT REVIEW
Express 1034 King Street West
Express: Italian Eatery
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AMANDA WATKINS SENIOR INSIDEOUT EDITOR
Jemma Wolfe Executive Editor The Sterling Street to Paisley Avenue block along King Street West hasn’t had much luck lately. A string of rapid store openings and closures – Westdale Café, The Green Grocers, DLR’s second storefront, to name a few – has left me with a sense of trepidation whenever a new business sets up shop. The Express Italian Eatery is one such restaurant to recently make an appearance on the block and try its chances. The casual dining house is the second location for the Hamilton business, which opened a branch in Westdale this spring following success at the Stoney Creek location. On my Tuesday evening visit
with a friend, the restaurant was very quiet - we were the only customers for the majority of our meal. This led to awkward hovering by well-meaning but slightly too present servers. While attentive service is desired compared to restaurants where you have to practically chase down your waiter or waitress to get what you need, the Express experience was a little uncomfortable and stifling. The food, however, made YOSEIF HADDAD SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR
the visit worthwhile. We started with the Arugala Pizza. With a garlic and oil base instead of tomato sauce, and toppings that included pancetta, red onions, Asiago cheese and of course, arugala, it was bursting with full-bodied flavour. What really stood out was the crust. Sweet and savoury and paper thin, the crust has the look and feel more of pastry than dough. At $14 it’s The Express’ priciest pizza but it’s worth it. We followed the pizza with its other traditional sibling, the calzone. The Margherita
Calzone, which will run you $13, was less impressive. The dough was fluffy and flavourless – a far cry from the light, crisp pizza crust that we’d just enjoyed. The insides, a mix of tomatoes, onions, cheese and garlic, weren’t bad. But they weren’t remarkably good, either. And the tomato dipping sauce that accompanied it was lacklustre. The atmosphere of the restaurant was a strong point, however. The open concept set up, dark wood furnishings and comfortable-chic interiors made for a relaxed setting. It was a nice change from the Westdale standbys – the Bean Bar and Snooty Fox, etc. – that I frequent but have tired of. Go for the pizza and stay for the ambiance. It’s definitely worth a try. Yet I still can’t help but wonder how long it’ll last.
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ANDY Editors Bahar Orang & Cooper Long Contact andy@thesil.ca
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Thursday, June 6, 2013
Laying the music to Rest
by senior andy editor bahar orang
Hamilton’s The Rest played their second last performance in Toronto at The Drake Hotel on Tuesday June 5. They began the show with a meaningful rendition of “The Last Day” and I felt certain that they were singing about these final moments of a 10-year long career of three albums and 328 shows. There was a surreal, romantic quality in the crowd’s energy – not
unlike their music, which somehow sounded even larger, more layered and lyrical on this last day. The whole experience was incredibly intimate, and when they played “Always on my Mind,” I felt a curious impulse to grab hold of a nearby stranger’s hand. I didn’t, but I truly wouldn’t have found it too peculiar if the whole audience quietly and casually started holding hands and swaying from
side to side, and missing the beat all the while. Lead vocalist Adam Bentley even told us, “Endings are hard, but you guys make it easier.” The band seemed to play with a heavy heart. After just one song Bentley confessed, “you know if I cry, it’s not a PR stunt.” And their music seemed the perfect soundtrack for memories, goodbyes, and all things bittersweet. They played songs from
their earlier albums, but most of the show came from Seesaw, their third and final album. This last album seemed cursed. Their friend and producer passed away just before they began recording, and once they had finished, they lost everything because of a technical glitch. The album was eventually recovered, but the grueling journey only added to the music’s poetry and
significance, which became more intense as they sang those songs for a last time. They have been a lovely, uplifting indie-rock gem for the past decade. They will return home for their final show at Dundas Valley Montessori School on Saturday June 8. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Daft Punk vs. Classixx
a summer dance music deathmatch by assistant andy editor cooper long Whether one’s memories are “random access” or not, it is difficult to recall an album that has been as carefully and relentlessly hyped as Daft Punk’s most recent LP. Indeed, the release of Random Access Memories was preceded by seemingly endless teases, trailers, and YouTube interviews with the band’s collaborators. Thus far, Random Access Memories’ commercial success appears to have validated this gargantuan build-up. Yet, Daft Punk was not the only duo to release a luscious, backwardslooking dance record last month. After many years of remix work, Los Angeles-based producers Classixx unveiled their debut full-length, Hanging Gardens, in mid-May. Although the hype surrounding Random Access Memories certainly overshadowed the release of Hanging Gardens, both albums brilliantly meld disco, funk, and electronic music. Putting aside pre-release hysteria, how do they compare in terms of their potential as the soundtrack for your summer?
Best song for blasting with the car windows down:
Most seductive slow jam for around a campfire:
Most inspirational instrumental for summer studying:
Some songs are so euphoric that they demand to be shared with everyone else on the QEW. Random Access Memories’ lead single “Get Lucky” is one such anthem. Indeed, rhythm guitarist Nile Rodgers turns four chords into over four minutes of unpretentious pop bliss. Furthermore, even if you forget to bring your iPod on your road trip, “Get Lucky” will be easy to find on the radio. Should it begin to feel overplayed, however, Daft Punk recycles the same musical sinews on the earlier track, “Lose Yourself to Dance.” On the subject of overexposure, the catchiest cut from Hanging Gardens is almost four years old. Originally released in June 2009, “I’ll Get You” remains a chugging, nu-disco masterwork that never stops asking, “Do you like bass?” The answer is still “yes.” Nevertheless, “Get Lucky’s” novelty will probably have it pumping out of more car stereos this summer.
Although the two albums are each bursting with guaranteed dancefloor-fillers, both Daft Punk and Classixx regularly drop the BPM. On Random Access Memories, “The Game of Love” is the first and best of these chilledout interludes. With its wah-wah guitars and vocoders, the song wavers between cheesy and affecting. Indeed, the vocals may have been what New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones had in mind when he asked, with regards to Random Access Memories, “does good music need to be good?” The question is also somewhat relevant to “Long Lost” from Hanging Gardens. The falsetto guest vocals from Active Child are similarly cloying. Yet, the flute-like synths manage to instill the song with an appealing tropical ambience.
With many students taking summer classes or prepping for admissions tests, the upcoming few months are unlikely to be a constant dance party. If you find yourself confined to a study carrel this summer, expect to hear Daft Punk’s “Contact” spilling through your neighbour’s headphones. This perpetual motion machine of a song strongly recalls the grinding, repetitive compositions of Daft Punk’s much-maligned previous LP, Human After All. In contrast, the wordless title track from Hanging Gardens fleshes out a simple Fleetwood Mac sample with varied and increasingly propulsive synths. Although perhaps less intense than “Contact,” the methodical “Hanging Gardens” will surely help you focus on your textbooks, and not the summer breeze drifting through the window.
Advantage: Random Access Memories
Advantage: draw
Advantage: Hanging Gardens
Thursday, June 6, 2013
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REVIEW
A Gatsby for the rest of us
Andrew Terefenko Production Editor I am probably in the vast minority when I say that The Great Gatsby as a book failed to inspire any sort of interest for me. It was drab, droll and — I’m not going to mince words here — consistently boring. It is for that very reason that I score Baz Lurhmann’s foray into decadence so highly. He took a source material that is largely unappealing to the youth
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of today, and gave it the modern twist it needed to really keep an audience’s interest for the twoplus hours it demanded. I was skeptical at first at some of the casting choices, namely Tobey Maguire. I just couldn’t bring myself to imagine a former (terrible) Spider-man filling the shoes of the star-struck Gatsby admirer. While I still believe he was the weak link in the film’s line-up, the rest of the actors pulled their weight and then some, really bringing the characters to life from their dramaridden pages. While we’re there, let’s talk
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The movie was made for people who hated the book. Well, I think the book wasn’t all that great.
Leo. DiCaprio has been in the pockets of popular directors for the past decade, and for good reason, as he has a seemingly
The Great Gatsby (1974)
Jack Clayton’s attempt at visualizing the novel went over better with fans and critics, but overall felt like it dragged on and had a real sleepy vibe to it. But it’s the movie the booklovers wanted, so why not go back and give it a watch if Leo didn’t tickle your fancy?
70’s Jordan Baker in her element.
endless range of emotional control, and can look out a window for hours without cracking a smile. He played off of Maguire’s unassuming Nick Carraway beautifully. It was almost enough to forget he once painted Kate Winslet naked aboard a doomed cruise liner. Almost. For all Luhrmann has done for the characters, settings and themes, his really risky move was his choice of soundtrack. The party scenes at Gatsby’s mansion were littered with the stylings of Jay-Z, Beyonce, xx and generally the kind of music you would hear in a street racing movie,
Jay and Daisy alone at last.
much rather than a 1920s drama about missed connections. But it worked, as it never felt out of place, since the message was untouched; the untamed degeneracy of the galas was firmly entrenched and the music only made it that much more believable. With the dust of criticism settling, general consensus is that the movie was made for people who hated the book, as die-hard fans seemed offended by the ‘cheapening’ of the movie’s original values. Well I say, cheapen away, because the book was not all that great.
The incorrigable Nick Carraway .