The Silhouette - September 20, 2018

S The Silhouette

Thursday, September 20, 2018

ON THE

CRAWL An inside look at Hamilton’s tenth annual Supercrawl

14-17

INSIDE>>

NEWS: McMaster’s possible ban on plastic straws // PAGE 3 ARTS & CULTURE: Local photographer gives a face to basic income pilot project // PAGE 15 SPORTS: McMaster Men’s Rugby hoping to build upon last year’s provincial bronze win // PAGE 22-23

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Volume 89, Issue 6

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Thursday, September 20, 2018 McMaster University’s Student Newspaper

LOOKING BACK

EDITORIAL BOARD

September 23, 1955

editor-in-chief | thesil@thesil.ca Emily O’Rourke @emily_oro digital media specialist | dms@msu.mcmaster.ca Aaron de Jesus managing editor | managing@thesil.ca Sasha Dhesi @SashaDhesi production editor | production@thesil.ca Hamza Furmli online editor | online@thesil.ca Yvonne Lu sections

Cassidy Bereskin news reporter Ryan Forrest Tse news@thesil.ca news editor

features reporter

Hannah Walters Vida

features@thesil.ca opinion editor

TBA

opinion@thesil.ca

Justin Parker Jessica Carmichael sports@thesil.ca

sports editor sports reporter

arts arts

& culture editor Razan Samara & culture reporter Rya Buckley aandc@thesil.ca media

Kyle West Catherine Goce production coordinator Sukaina Imam production coordinator Sabrina Lin production@thesil.ca photo editor

photo reporter

Sasha Roshan Martin Burwell online@thesil.ca

video editor

social media coordinator

COVER PHOTO Kyle West Kayla Da Silva

CONTACT

LEGAL

MUSC, Room B110 McMaster University 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4S4

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. Letters should be 300 words or less.

We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters and opinion articles. Opinions and editorials expressed in the Silhouette are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board, the publishers, the McMaster Students Union or the University. 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.

Editor-in-Chief (905) 525-9140, ext 22052 Main Office (905) 525-9140, ext 27117 Advertising ccpc@mcmaster.ca 8,000 circulation published by the

September 21, 1995

History repeats itself

In 1995, a group of Hamilton residents who were angered over policies being introduced by the Harris government marched on Queen’s Park to make their message heard.

Almost exactly 23 years later, hundreds of people stormed Queen’s Park to protest the Progressive Conservative’s new bill that trumps the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and downsizes Toronto’s city council.

WE WANT YOU The Silhouette is always looking for editorial volunteers. Visit our office in MUSC B110 during a section meeting, or email a section editor for more information!

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018

The Silhouette

| 3

News McMaster to keep plastic straws, for now The university aims to consult the MSU and EIO about a campus plastic straw ban

McMaster Hospitality Services believes a strategic and holistic approach needs to be taken to determine its stance on the plastic straw debate.

Daniella Mikanovsky Contributor Cassidy Bereskin News Editor

Over the last few months, there has been a push by organizations, countries, cities and companies globally to crack down on plastic straws, products that studies show are contributing to the nearly nine million tons of plastic that infect the oceans annually.

With anti-straw advocacy afoot, Canadian restaurants including Harvey’s and Swiss Chalet have announced plans to axe or restrict single-use plastic straws. Ontario universities such as the University of Guelph and Western University are eagerly ridding their campuses of the utensils.

While corporations and organizations have largely been in favour of abandoning plastic straws, disability advocates have pushed back against these efforts, citing the importance of plastic straws for people with physical limitations.

There are also groups challenging the movement on

KYLE WEST / PHOTO EDITOR

environmental grounds, arguing that paper straws, which are being embraced as plastic straws vanish, are accelerating deforestation, the second leading cause of climate change.

When asked about McMaster’s stance on the plastic straw debate, Chris Roberts, director of McMaster Hospitality Services, said the university is also considering a plastic straw ban.

However, MHS will not commit until it engages in nuanced discussions about the effects of a plastic straw ban on stakeholders including students who need them for accessibility reasons.

“It is important for us to take a strategic approach through the understanding of impacts to all stakeholders as opposed to making a reactive decision,” said Roberts.

In a statement on the MHS website, Roberts outlines limitations to a plastic straw ban and stresses the importance of consultations with the McMaster Students Union and Equity and Inclusion Office.

“We need to take into con-

sideration all of the stakeholders in the customer base, including those who rely on straws as a result of physical limitations.

We need to fully understand the broader systemic sustainability issue and how a more holistic approach may have a greater impact for our customers, community and environment,” reads part of the statement.

Stephanie Bertolo, MSU vice president (Education), says the union appreciates Robert’s commitment to considering the needs of marginalized students on campus.

“The MSU supports the university’s efforts to become more environmentally sustainable but asks them to do the proper consultation to ensure their initiatives do not interfere with the accessibility of our campus,” she said.

The EIO’s stance on the issue is notably similar to the MSU’s.

“We are pleased to see that Hospitality Services is expressing mindfulness and consideration of the implications on mul-

tiple stakeholders and that there is explicit mention of plans to consult with particular marginalized communities,” said Arig al Shaibah, associate vice president at the EIO.

“From my understanding, students were more than welcome to the idea of banning straws,” Mohammad Aziz Teaching Assistant for SUSTAIN 3S03 Unlike at Guelph and Western, where there have been vocal pro-straw-ban voices, the movement has not gained the same traction at McMaster. This is evidenced by the fact that there has not been a #StrawsSuck campaign here, at least not a visible one online.

According to Abbie Little,

the coordinator of academic sustainability at the McMaster academic sustainability programs office, however, in the SUSTAIN 2S03 and 3S03 courses, discussions about plastic straws were polarized.

Mohammad Abdul Aziz, a Teaching Assistant for the 3S03 course, says there were quite a few ardent pro-ban students in his classroom.

“From my understanding, students were more than welcome to the idea of banning straws,” said Aziz. “Students believed that eco-friendly practices are not adopted in one fell swoop but need minor introductions to the consumers of multi-national corporations.”

While it looks like a straw ban will not be implemented at McMaster, Roberts did not say the university is committed to the status quo indefinitely. Only time, research and MSU and EIO consultations will tell what lies in store for the future of plastic straw users on campus. @cassidybereskin

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NEWS

Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018 | www.thesil.ca

Part 1: Meet your Ward 1 candidates This is the first part in a series that will profile the 13 candidates running for councillor in Ward 1 Ryan Tse News Reporter

As the Hamilton municipal election looms, The Silhouette will be interviewing Ward 1 candidates about their platforms and why they believe McMaster students should vote for them. This week, we are featuring Jason Allen, Sophie Geffros and Linda Narducci.

Jason Allen Ward 1 candidate Jason Allen describes himself as a lifelong volunteer and community leader. In the past, Allen served as the president of the University of Calgary students’ union. He was also the president of the Down Syndrome Association of Hamilton. Allen also served on five different neighbourhood association committees and the participato-

“As a former student leader, I understand many of the unique challenges in trying to pursue an education while at the same time living away from home for the first time.”

Jason Allen Ward 1 candidate

ry budget committee.

Allen’s platform is focused on safe and reliable transportation, safe neighbourhoods and responsible development. With respect to transit, Allen wants to hold city council accountable for their promised increased investments and wants there to be more ‘appropriately sized vehicles.’

Allen’s strategy for keeping student housing affordable entails supporting mid-rise developments near the university.

Other student-related priorities for Allen include attending McMaster president’s advisory committee on community relations meetings and educating students about tenant rights.

“As a former student leader, I understand many of the unique challenges in trying to pursue an education while at the same time living away from home for the first time,” said Allen.

Sophie Geffros Ward 1 candidate Sophie Geffros is the working youth coordinator for the Ontario New Democratic Party, where they help young people access resources and protect their labour rights. For over a decade, they organized rallies, advised on policies and worked with city council.

This year, Geffros helped organize and facilitate the Elect More Women campaign and the Women’s March Forward rally. They were also one of the founders of the McMaster Stu-

“I am very aware that LRT will be life-altering for McMaster students and faculty, as well as for the residents of West Hamilton in general, when we wish to access services, retail outlets, and resources in the downtown core and the East End.”

Hamilton in general, when we wish to access services, retail outlets, and resources in the downtown core and the East End,” said Geffros.

Geffros believes their firsthand experience with the issues affecting students will aid them.

“I can promise that over the next four years, everyone will be a priority,” said Geffros.

Linda Narducci Ward 1 candidate

Sophie Geffros Ward 1 candidate dents’ Union Maccess service, focused on supporting students with disabilities.

Geffros’ three main priorities for Ward 1 are safe and affordable housing, reliable transit and cyclist and pedestrian safety.

Regarding housing, Geffros plans to implement landlord licensing, which will require landlords to register their units and submit them for inspection.

They also plan to tackle the issue through legislation. Specifically, they want to introduce a motion that will require all new developments to include “between 20 and 30 per cent affordable or geared-to-income units.”

Geffros previously organized the #fixtheHSR campaign in 2017. Their further plans involve pushing for year-round 51 University bus service and advocating for Light Rail Transit.

“I am very aware that LRT will be life-altering for McMaster students and faculty, as well as for the residents of West

“While this project develops, we need to have communication and feedback between the students, Mohawk College included, and what their needs are and what ideas they have to share.”

Linda Narducci Ward 1 candidate Linda Narducci is a member of the Kirkendall Neighbourhood Association and has volunteered for Fil A Bus Spring Food Drive and 541 Eatery.

Additionally, she was a founding member of the Mustard Seed Co-op, a local grocery store.

The two main pillars of Narducci’s platform are affordable housing and street safety.

Narducci plans to advocate for affordable housing by improving transit so that students are not confined to a specific area to live. She also supports landlord licensing.

To improve transit, Narducci supports the BLAST Network, a long-term rapid transit network project consisting of five different routes, including the proposed Main Street LRT. “While this project develops, we need to have communication and feedback between the students, Mohawk College included, and what their needs are and what ideas they have to share,” Narducci said.

Narducci believes that living in Ward 1 for 30 years has given her unique insights into the issues that prevail today.

“It’s time to think ahead about how to accommodate housing and job opportunities for this population. I see the benefits of the energy and ideas of the many people moving here,” said Narducci.

More information about the candidates’ platforms can be found at www.Jasonaallen.ca, www.sophiegeffros.ca and www.lindanarducci.com/, respectively. @theSilhouette

C/O CANDIDATES’ CAMPAIGN WEBSITES

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018

The Silhouette

| 5

Holding landlords accountable in Westdale The MSU municipal affairs committee has been pushing for landlord licensing and creating a landlord rating system Daniella Mikanovsky Contributor

A string of prowling incidents and break-ins stretching from Aug. 2018 to Sept. 11 continues to rock Westdale.

In the wake of these events, students and organizations on campus have been stepping up their advocacy for landlord accountability in the community.

The first incident occurred on Aug. 3, when an intruder broke into the second story window of McMaster Integrated Science student Connor MacLean’s home. After the incident, MacLean and his roommates called their landlords.

“We felt unsafe in that house, so the landlords agreed to put in motion lights. A month later, there was still nothing. We ended up buying our own motion lights, our own security camera, and we

installed it ourselves,” MacLean explained. “Safety should not be the student’s responsibility alone. The landlords need to be the first people looking out for that.”

Shemar Hackett, associate vice president of municipal affairs on for the McMaster Students Union, is planning to tackle the issue of unaccountable landlords. The committee he leads is focused on improving off-campus life for students, including housing safety.

One initiative the committee hopes to implement is the Landlord Licencing System, a city-run program that would fund annual housing inspections and certify that any tenant complaints are taken seriously.

This system would encourage landlord responsibility, with the goal being for students to have safety features in their homes, including functioning locks on all windows and doors.

An additional initiative

that the committee has been undertaking is a Landlord Rating System, which will exist as an online forum for students to rate and report their housing units. Similar to the website Rate My Professor, this website could incentivize landlords to take responsibility when maintaining their houses.

With a host website confirmed, Hackett expects to have the program available for student use in the new year.

“Once the website gains traction and students begin to report their experiences, irresponsible landlords will begin

to see a decline in students seeking their properties. In return, students should see safer living conditions as landlords are now motivated to upkeep their rental units, which increases the quality of living for students and ensures their safety,” said Hackett.

With a host website confirmed, Hackett expects to have the program available for student use in the new year.

There are also programs on campus available for students who feel a lack of security. For instance, a skill students may want to acquire is self-defense.

McMaster Athletics and Recreation is offering two 10-week classes for “Krav Maga Self-Defense” this fall.

It is worth noting that “Women’s Self-Defense” has not been scheduled this term. The Athletics and Recreation department is facing difficulty with locating a space for this class due to the renovations occuring in the David Braley Athletic Centre.

Although classes may return in the winter term, in light of the Westdale break-ins, the lack of classes may be a significant issue.

For female students who are looking for a women’s-only class, the Equity and Inclusion Office may offer it. Pilar Michaud, director of human rights and dispute resolution at the EIO, explains that in the past, the EIO ran a women’s self-defense workshop.

Michaud also points to several other services available to students, including Meagan Ross, McMaster’s sexual violence response coordinator, the MSU’s Women and Gender Equity Network and Good2Talk, a free and confidential 24/7 helpline that offers professional support for university students in Ontario. @theSilhouette

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NEWS

Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018 | www.thesil.ca

MSU launches second SAB consultation campaign The student union would like to know what students want to see inside the four-storey building in the works

Artist renderings of the proposed Student Activity Building by MJMA Architects

Ryan Tse News Reporter

Just across from what will be the Peter George Centre for Living and Learning, ground is about to be broken for another major infrastructural project.

The McMaster Students Union recently launched a second consultation campaign for the Student Activity Building, a four-story building project that students voted in favour of in a school-wide special referendum in March 2017. The building is expected to be fully operational by the fall of 2020.

The first consultation survey reached approximately 1,500 students, 400 of which took an online survey similar to the one found in this year’s second campaign.

In August 2017, the MSU ran an initial consultation campaign to determine the different uses of the new building. The ongoing second campaign began this September and hopes to collect student feedback on the interior design of the building.

The SAB space ad-hoc committee, which is composed of six combined MSU and Student Representative Assembly members, is overseeing the consultation campaign. The group is being led by Alexandrea Johnston, the associate vice president (Finance) for the MSU. “This year, the campaign is on the interior design, so that is ranging from anything to what kinds of colour do you want to see on the walls, what kind of furniture, and what do you even want the building to be named?” said Johnston.

The campaign includes a survey that asks students to pick from a number of options for the interior design of the building. It can be accessed online through the MSU website or in person at tables in MUSC on Sept. 25 and 28.

The SAB is different from

other McMaster buildings in that while the university committed ten million dollars to the project, students are responsible for paying 70 per cent of the capital cost of the building once it opens.

“While the university committed ten million dollars to the project, students are responsible for paying 70 per cent of the capital cost of the building once it opens.”

As students are paying for the vast majority of the building, the MSU has full say over the uses of the building.

“The McMaster Student Union has full operational autonomy over the building,” said Scott Robinson, MSU vice president (Finance). “We can decide

that we want to own the grocery more ACTIVITY than 400 toBUILDING fully assess SOUTH VIEW OF STUDENT store. We can decide to change student wants. event space to a pool. Whatever The four-storey building we want, whatever it is, we have will feature a nap room and full operational autonomy.” a grocery store. However, the The first consultation building has not been fully survey reached approximately designed yet. Once John1,500 students, 400 of which ston’s SAB committee receives took an online survey similar feedback from this second to the one found in this year’s campaign, information will be second campaign. passed to Robinson and the With more than 25,000 MSU. According to Robinson’s undergrad students at McMasyear plan, a report will be filed ter, Johnston is trying to reach at the end of the first semester on the campaign.

Excavation for the stu“We can decide dent-funded Student Activity that we want to Building will begin in November, just across from the Peter own the grocery George Centre for Living and store. We can Learning. decide to change McMaster students are encouraged to make time to fill event space to a out the survey and give their pool. Whatever feedback and thoughts on what we want, whatev- they want in the new building, considering the large part they er it is, we have contribute to its funding.

full operational autonomy.”

@theSilhouette

Scott Robinson Vice President (Finance)

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PRESIDENT’S PAGE

SCOTT ROBINSON Vice President (Finance) vpfinance@msu.mcmaster.ca 905.525.9140 x24109

On Friday, September 14, the Board of Directors was joined by our partners within the University to celebrate the groundbreaking of the upcoming Student Activity Building, as well as the expansion of the Pulse and new fitness space. Construction will begin in October and is expected to continue until the building opens in the fall of 2020.

This project was initiated when the 2014-15 Board of Directors engaged the University’s administration in the hopes of creating more space for the non-academic passions of students.

Shortly thereafter, the Office of Student Affairs and the Athletics & Recreation department expressed their own space considerations to the working group.

This visioning process continued when the 2016-17 Board began the charge of negotiations with the University and lead the referendum campaign to secure funding for the project. Two referenda took place in early 2017: the first in January was unsuccessful and led to further negotiations wherein McMaster University agreed to put forth

September 20, 2018 | thesil.ca

an additional $10 million towards the project. In March, students were asked to make a decision that would affect future generations of Marauders. In this special referendum, they voted to approve the funding structure for an expansion of student focused space.

Since that time, the MSU has worked diligently to ensure that the promises made during the referendum campaign are fulfilled.

The 2017-18 Board was tasked with choosing an architect for the project, consulting with students to design the functional program of the building, and finalizing the schematic design.

Finally, this year’s Board is leading a consultation campaign for students to have input on the interior design on the building. Moreover, this group will ensure construction begins on schedule, and will design the operational structure for the building.

a nap room, a community kitchen, and bookable event spaces for clubs and student groups. The ideas for these spaces came from years of student consultation campaigns and are designed to ensure the expectations of students are met.

Parallel to this project has also been the expansion of the Pulse and fitness space in DBAC. In that same March 2017 referendum, students voted for an increase to the Athletics & Recreation Activity and Building Fees. This has resulted in a plan to double the size of the Pulse, construct an additional recreation gym, create a women-identifying only fitness area, add a bouldering area in the Pulse, and renovate existing fitness spaces in DBAC. It is important to highlight the incredible partnership between the MSU and the University that has allowed for this project to come to fruition. Since

the referendum, we have worked collaboratively with the office of Student Affairs and their department of Athletics & Recreation, to design these spaces and push the construction forward. Additionally, McMaster Facility Services has helped greatly by coordinating the architectural design process and spearheading the construction process. Together, we are incredibly excited for the opportunities the new spaces will provide.

As mentioned before, one of the projects for this year is making specific choices regarding the interior design of the Student Activity Building. There is currently a survey open online for students to submit their thoughts and feedback to the consultation committee. Filling out the survey is an easy and valuable way to shape the future of the Student Activity Building. Visit www. msumcmaster.ca to complete the survey.

“The ideas for these spaces came from years of student consultation campaigns and are designed to ensure the expectations of students are met.”

When the building opens in the fall of 2020, the project will have passed through numerous iterations of the MSU Board of Directors. This multipart addition to campus represents collaboration between different partners and year-to-year dedication within the MSU in the interest of students.

The Student Activity Building will include features such as two 24/7 multifaith prayer rooms, a grocery store, unprogrammed lounge and social spaces,

The President’s Page is a space sponsored and used by the McMaster Students Union (MSU) Board of Directors (BoD) to communicate with the student body. It functions to highlight the Board’s projects, goals, and agenda for the year, as well as the general happenings of the MSU.

Pictured at the ceremonial groundbreaking on September 14, 2018 from left to right: John McGowan (MSU General Manager), Mark Alfano (Associate Director, Athletics & Recreation), Scott Robinson (VP Finance), Sean Van Koughnett (Associate Vice-President [Students and Learning] and Dean of Students), Ikram Farah (President), Stephanie Bertolo (VP Education), Kristina Epifano (VP Administration).

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018

EDITORIAL

| 9

Editorial Students versus the city How the city’s treatment of Mac students affects their willingness to stay

Emily O’Rourke Editor-in-Chief

The same thing happens every year.

Homecoming happens, students throw a street party, the city adds police presence to Westdale and Ainslie Wood neighbourhoods, students begin to start doubting their willingness to stay in Hamilton after graduation then the city wonders why student retention rates are so low.

Can you really blame us?

Last year, ward 1 councillor Aidan Johnson argued that the presence of bylaw officers is necessary to improve the hygiene and law enforcement of the area after students threw a street party on Dalewood Street.

This year, a Homecoming attendee was knocked over by a police horse in the same area.

While the attendee is without injury and statements from

the police department have been moderately clear in the reasoning behind the incident, the excessive need to disperse a crowd of students trying to celebrate their school is enough reason to feel that your city is against you.

After four years of being seen as burdens far more than seen as residents, it’s not hard to explain why students don’t feel like they belong in this city. It isn’t the fact that Hamilton isn’t a good city to live in but rather the fact that our connection to the city we’re in is dampened by instances like those that occurred this weekend.

On the topic of this weekend, Supercrawl came and went over Sept. 14 to 17. The biggest annual festival in Hamilton sees thousands of attendees over the course of the weekend, including several McMaster students.

Despite the fact that this year’s festival was set to see

over 300,000 attendees, the city made a limited effort, if at all, to welcome students to James Street North. At bare minimum, they could have added extra service to downtown from Mac. Instead, their focus was on keeping Westdale safe from its student residents.

That said, In a 2016 survey from the McMaster Students Union, 24.7 per cent of students stated they would not stay in or commute to Hamilton for their career.

That’s a relatively low number considering the way students are treated here. Chasing students out of a city with so much opportunity for being students is where the city is going wrong.

to freezer bread

to wearing shorts in 10C weather and bragging about it

to Tiny Tom Donuts

to sneezes

to filming a wedding

to being stuck in uncomfotable shoes all day

to my STAFF

to big pic energy to Sasha’s swimming instructor, she’s really nice to NO migraine to King’s Karaoke

@emily_oro

to peanut butter fridge to Supercrowds to crying while editing wedding film

to Latte the puppy

to UM only having flavoured and decaf coffee

to fox dishes

to missing wide right

to FitzMagic

10 |

HUMANS

Catherine Goce Photo Reporter

How did your life change after your undergraduate studies?

My life changed after undergrad by becoming a lot more independent than I thought I was and how to deal with real world problems like filing my income taxes and basically being off my own. Even though I moved back home, I was still basically starting my career and I started grad studies and that’s very independent. I ended up getting a real-world job; I started working for a healthcare company. You stop living with your friends and you start really having more responsibilities and you don’t have other people to take care of you. Even though you are independent as an undergrad student, you still have a lot of people to lean on.

But after undergrad I feel like you have a reality check and everything starts to unfold in your adulthood more than it did when you entered your first year.

What would you tell a student who wants a career in scientific research?

I would say you have a passion for research to begin with. If

Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018 | www.thesil.ca

you don’t have that passion it’s going to be a hard struggle and very difficult battle to overcome.

You have to be very detail oriented and patient. We all have to be very curious and love exactly what you’re researching so if you’re into the heart and you want to learn about it you have to be curious and ask questions and want to know the answers and strive to do everything you can to answer your research questions.

What would people be surprised to know about you?

People would be surprised to know that I’m not only a graduate student I also am my own entrepreneur. I started my own YouTube channel, do my own Instagram influencer page and that has carried forward a part from research. It’s a hobby of mine and it’s turning to another source of income. I’m able to balance between being a grad student and also being a beauty influencer in the social media world.

Tell me more about your YouTube channel.

My YouTube channel is based on beauty and makeup, so I review products and talk about new releases, go into detail

about my opinions on the beauty industry and things that I like to use personally every day so everyday make up our everyday fashion and give my insight on whether I promote certain companies or not or whether I support them and why. I influence people in the sense of telling them what I think is a good quality product oppose to those that aren’t. So it’s mainly focused on product reviews and just mainstream makeup.

“Even though you are independent as an undergrad student, you still have a lot of people to lean on. But after undergrad I feel like you have a reality check and everything starts to unfold in your adulthood” Patricia Kitala Graduate Student and Influencer

What would you tell someone that wants to start a YouTube channel?

I would ask them why they want to start it. If your intentions are to be this famous blogger or vlogger you have to know who you’re trying to reach, your niche, why you’re doing YouTube, who you want to reach out to and also have a passion for video editing, speaking in front of the camera and reaching out to novel people because you will encounter a bunch of people especially on the Internet that have good and

“[...] you have to know what you’re passionate about on YouTube, so if you don’t know what you want to do, you have to ask yourself why you want to do it.”

facebook.com/HumansOfMcMaster

Patricia Kitala Graduate Student and Influencer

Patricia Kitala Graduate Student and Influencer CATHERINE GOCE/ PHOTO EDITOR

bad things to say. So first you have to ask why you want to start a YouTube and then you have to know what you’re passionate about on YouTube, so if you don’t know what you want to do, you have to ask yourself why you want to do it.

How do you balance everything between work, YouTube, and your social life?

I dedicate time slots to each aspects. If I do a 9 to 5 in the lab, I’ll do six to eight doing YouTube and then I’ll spend the rest of the evening with other hobbies or friends so it’s all about allocating time slots to your hobbies and your job and everything so everything gets its own time to focus heavily on that aspect without getting ovewhelemed by mixing them all together.

So allocations certain times to those activities.

“[...] it’s all about allocating time slots to your hobbies and your job [...] so everything gets its own time to focus heavily on that aspect without getting overwhelmed” Patricia Kitala Graduate Student and Influencer

FULL-TIME UNDERGRADUATES HAVE

STAY IN OR OPT-OUT: Opt-out ends September 30, 2018

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Events Calendar

McMaster GEEKS Trading Card Game Night Thursday, September 20, 2018 Where: MUSC 215 (Clubspace) Time: 5:00pm to 9:00pm

McMaster GEEKS Trading Card Game Nights happen every week in Clubspace (McMaster University Student Center Room 215). They are a perfect opportunity to meet new friends while playing the trading card games you love! TCG Nights are CASUAL! Feel free to drop by any day to check out our playgroup and see whether you like it or not! Sometimes we'll have pizza! :) Note: Because of low interest levels in other trading card games, TCG Nights are usually only Magic the Gathering! However, we encourage you to come play other trading card games just make sure you bring a friend.

Stay Connected:

Campus Events Presents Discover New Music: Rock Night Thursday, September 27, 2018 Where: TwelvEighty Bar & Grill Time: 7:00pm Discover New Music with MSU Campus Events!

Join us in TwelvEighty Bar & Grill the last Thursday of each month to listen to the best up and coming bands/artists.

September features three amazing Canadian rock bands: Sam Cash, Crown Lands and headliner The Static Shift.

Student tickets are only $5.00 (tax included). All student cards must be accompanied by a physical McMaster University student card at point of entry.

MSU_McMaster

Guest tickets are $15.00 (tax included).

McMaster students can sign in one (1) guest.

Guest must have a valid Government ID and be 18+.

Visit msumcmaster.ca/campusevents to learn more.

Check out the full Events Calendar at: msumcmaster.ca/events

Connect to ents, v E , y t i n u m m o C rts, e c n o C , s e c i v r e S bs. lu C & , y c a c o v Ad MSUMcMASTER.CA

12 |

OPINION

Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018 | www.thesil.ca

Opinion If it’s broke, then try fixing it

The importance of trying new approaches, better learning and development

SILHOUETTE PHOTO ARCHIVES Owen Angus-Yamada Contributor

It’s back to school and outlooks for the 2018-2019 semester are sure to be varied. As the masses wait in line at the campus store for freshly pressed textbooks or shuffle through the McMaster University Student Centre crowds, it can be assured that many are already preoccupied with their grade point standing, the bane of their existence or, other side of the coin, questioning the real purpose of their classes and distancing themselves from their academics.

We are in a society that is afraid of failure and drawn to convenience. When we are faced with a challenge we often take the one of the two previously mentioned approaches: stress out — not the kind we get before a presentation or performance, more of the mind crimpling, time consuming variety — or give up; both leading to the same result: under-performing and having contempt for the

initial challenge. This, however, is a choice and does not always have to be the case.

When we are positive and passionate about a problem we invest more time and energy into it. We may fail often but have the enthusiasm to learn from those mistakes as we move forward. This is what happens when, for example, you play guitar and want to learn a new song. You may butcher the same riff over and over and over, but you aren’t biting your nails and freaking out about not being able to do it right now or smashing your guitar and yelling “What’s the point? Life is pain.”

Although the latter is pretty edgy, both stressing out and giving up yield little results in the learning and development department, but by taking the failures and continuing to try, eventually you learn it.

I’m not saying that school is the same as guitar, or that you even practice guitar to begin with, but learning lecture ma-

terial and learning a new song are both challenges that require you to be persistent with your approach and are affected by your outlook of the situation.

If you are pumped up and prepared to do some serious work this year then keep on rolling and let me get the heck out of your way but if you’re stressed or pessimistic already about the year than hears some suggestions.

If you’re stressed about your marks, try changing your approach and make getting a deep understanding of the material the priority. Get involved outside of the classroom in a way that you can apply what you are learning for better material understanding and retention. If you are resenting class because it’s boring or too easy, then maybe its time you step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself with additional extracurriculars or try new classes where you are excited and interested in the material being taught. Change

your approach to become passionate about your education, learning and development and the rest will fall in line.

McMaster allows for plenty of opportunities to vary how you approach your learning, development and overall university experience, even going as far to offer a new Personal Interest Course which allows you to try different, potentially more difficult electives, without fear of them penalizing the ever-precious GPA. It is also a hotbed of clubs, groups, competitions and societies available for the people who want to become more involved or those who want to explore other interests. It may not be easy and you may even mess up or fail a few times but that’s sort of the point.

So, if you find yourself pulling hair over midterms or endlessly binging the ever-alluring Netflix because you just can’t bring yourself to study or go to class, remember that you have a choice. You can take the red pill and keep taking the path of least

Get involved outside of the classroom in a way that you can apply what you are learning for better material understanding and retention. resistance and subsequently the path of least results, or take the blue pill and find out just how deep this whole concept of trying a new way to approach for your learning and development really goes.

@theSilhouette

OPINION OPINION

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018 www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018

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Pride perspectives

An open letter to LGBTQ+ students from the Pride Community Centre Miranda Clayton PCC Coordinator

I recently took a trip to the Canadian Museum of History.

In the Modern Canada section there was a display on human rights progress where I found myself confronted by how recent the past is.

LGBTQ+ rights became included in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1995.

Same sex marriage became legalized in 2005.

I would say most Canadians see these rights as an obvious and integral part of society now but the truth is I will die with rights I was not born with despite only being 25 years old.

Society is safer but not safe.

Society is more accepting but LGBTQ+ people are not accepted. You can buy pride themed decorations at Party City but to love and exist as an LGBTQ+ person is still to risk marginalization, abandonment and death at the hands of a society that was never built to include you. We have come so far and

we still have far to go.

These are sobering thoughts but do not despair.

We as LGBTQ+ people are still here and still fighting. Our fight became MSU sanctioned with the GLBT Centre in 1997 but the fight has transformed and so have we.

This is a new era for the service and thankfully it is happening now and not a minute later. These are trying times for a lot of community members in the current political climate.

We spent the past decade as the QSCC but again, things changed. Recent history has blessed the student body with identity-based peer support ser-

C/O Pride Community Centre

vices so we are no longer alone in our struggle to provide space for marginalized students.

With this change we critically evaluated our place in peer support and what we could do to be better. This is how we became the Pride Community Centre.

Last year we asked what we could to improve and 111 of you responded. You want a space where the diversity of our community is valued and appreciated. You want a space where your identity is seen and

recognized. You want a place to relax, a place to learn, a place to meet and a place to grow.

We heard you and we are adjusting to be this place. As a service, we are older but here on out we will be bolder. A space renovation, support groups, more community events, updated volunteer training, more off campus connections, and intersection focused programming are all in various stages of happening.

This is a new era for the service and thankfully it is happen-

ing now and not a minute later.

These are trying times for a lot of community members in the current political climate. Hate crimes haven’t gone anywhere and pride crosswalks will only get us so far. Remember you have a voice and can use it. Remember your voice is stronger with many others. Remember you are not alone in this and you have friends in MUSC 219-221 waiting for you.

We hope to see you there. @msu_pride

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What is Renter’s Insurance?

According to Statistics Canada, less than half of renters in Canada have renter’s insurance (also known as tenant or contents insurance).

We often think of home insurance as protecting the big stuff—like pipes, appliances, and the physical structure of the home or building. If you are renting, your landlord may have his or her own insurance policy to cover these kinds of items. But their insurance will not cover your personal belongings, such as furniture, jewellery, or entertainment equipment. Your landlord’s insurance will also not protect you if someone is injured on your property.

That’s where renter’s insurance comes in. Renter’s insurance could protect you from liability if guests injure themselves in your home.

Renter’s insurance could also help replace your possessions in the event of a loss or damage due to a covered risk.

Speak to an Advisor to see how we can tailor your insurance to fit your needs.

Let’s start by understanding the importance of liability insurance.

Accidents happen and sometimes those accidents can be quite costly.

For example, a candle in your apartment could cause a fire. If that candle affects other units, you may be deemed responsible to pay for damages to your rental unit.

Or, if someone trips and falls in your apartment, you could be held financially responsible for the cost of medical expenses and lost wages.

Liability insurance could protect you in the event of a lawsuit, and help you cover the cost of any damages.

Next you need to understand a few basic terms: • All-Risk insures your building and contents for losses due to the widest range of perils (or risks), unless specifically excluded from your policy like intentional damage

resulting from the most common types of perils (or risks) up to a specified amount • Replacement Cost Coverage means that the contents of your home are insured for the amount it costs to replace them without depreciation

• Personal Liability insurance protects you for unintentionally injuring someone or damaging their property and have to pay damages (example: someone has a slip and fall on your walkway, breaks his/her leg and now cannot work for a period of time)

• Additional Living Expenses Coverage will help you pay for reasonable and necessary expenses (like hotel and food costs) in the situation you are forced to leave your home following an insured peril (or risk) for a period of time

• Contents Insurance covers your belongings (including when you travel) for losses

Find the home insurance coverage that best fits your needs.

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The Silhouette

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018

Arts & Culture

A TALE OF MANY CITIES Bonjay constructs the sounds of metropolitan life with a little help from the Steel City

KYLE WEST / PHOTO EDITOR

Rya Buckley A&C Reporter

On stage, Alanna Stuart’s voice soars like a skyscraper while Ian Swain orchestrates an arrangement as bustling and controlled as a city street. The two halves of the Toronto duo gave an energized Supercrawl performance on Friday night with their mix of dancehall and emotive soul.

The two met at a party in Ottawa when Stuart interrupted Swain as he was spinning music as disc jockey. The hours they have spent since that night making music and touring together have forged a partnership of deep understanding and trust in one another.

“We’re two very different people so, creatively, that’s good but it’s hard. We have such different mindsets and ways of approaching music and the world and our understanding of the world…

I think it makes the music a lot better, but it also makes it a lot harder to work together,” Swain explained.

The beauty and collision of their differences is explored in a broader sense in their latest album, Lush Life, which was released in May 2018 They began writing the album years ago in Berlin but have always known they wanted to speak about the way we live in cities today.

Lush Life draws inspiration from the Richard Price book by the same name, which they feel aptly captures the reality of having many diverse people living side by side. Throughout the album they examine both the good and the bad sides of metropolitan life.

“I think the good thing is that there’s so many different people… forced, just out of proximity, to interact and engage with each other… But the bad part of that is that we haven’t quite figured out how to do it right, just

yet… This is a new thing for us humans,” Stuart explained.

This challenge is exemplified in the indie landscape itself.

Stuart is proud to be part of the independent scene for she believes it is where innovation in music takes place. However, she would like to see more diverse audiences, alternative nominees at the Juno’s and rosters across Canada.

While dealing with the intersection of their differences is challenging, it has also given birth to beautiful projects. They have been inspired by cities, such as Hamilton, where dissimilarity has united to create new and unique sounds.

The pair mixed their record in the Steel City and spent a summer here exploring Hamilton’s electronic music scene.

Stuart looks up to artists such as Junior Boys, Jessy Lanza and others who were inspired by the abandoned steel mills and mixed industrial sounds with

others like Detroit techno.

“All these people have existed outside the mainstream industry and as a result seem free of certain industry expectations. [They] created their own unique [and] soulful electronic music sound… I feel like that ethos of just staying true, as simple and cliché as it sounds, just staying true to music and trusting that you will find your people out there, [that’s] what Hamilton has taught me,” explained Stuart.

By staying true to themselves Bonjay has created a sound that amalgamates their different experiences and outlooks. Elements of dancehall in their music is reminiscent of Stuart’s father’s native Jamaica, as is pieces from indie-pop singer-songwriter, Feist, whom they covered during their Supercrawl

performance.

Bonjay’s sound is indescribable, but the duo knows how they want you to feel.

During Bonjay’s Supercrawl performance, Stuart repetitively asked the crowd to yell out their name. The name is Grenadian slang for ‘good God’ is something her mother’s family exclaims whenever something amazing or unexpected happens.

The melodic blend of both the creators and the different influences is perhaps a microcosm of what cities will be like when we finally get it right. By merging their varied influences, they have created a sound that is difficult to pinpoint but as harmonious and surprising as the cities they are inspired by. @theSilhouette

A&C

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018

| 15

PUTTINGAFACE TOBASICINCOME

Local artist humanizes Hamiltonians’ experiences with basic income through Supercrawl exhibit

Hannah Walters-Vida Features Reporter

At Supercrawl this weekend, Hamilton photographer Jessie Golem brought an interactive, human face to the premature cancellation of the universal basic income pilot project through her photo exhibit Humans of Basic Income.

Ten portraits of individuals whose lives had been radically changed by the premature cancellation stood outside Centre 3 for Print and Media Arts on James Street North. Several recipients of the basic income pilot sat in front of the photo display, sharing with passersby their own personal experiences.

Universal basic income was introduced as an experimental pilot project by the provincial Liberal government in 2017 in order to sustainably reduce poverty. Four thousand eligible people from Hamilton, Brantford, Brant County, Thunder Bay and Lindsay received monthly basic income payments to help cover living expenses and

improve quality of life.

Golem started the Humans of Basic Income project to humanize the issues associated with cancelling the project through the power of visual storytelling. Prior to this weekend’s exhibit, the photographs only existed online. Golem used Facebook and Twitter to share the photos.

Part of what made the Supercrawl exhibit unique was the ability to have face-to-face interactions with basic income recipients. “[It’s about] taking what’s a political issue and putting a human face to it and saying, well these are the people that are being affected,” Golem said.

The exhibit explores how basic income gave some people the freedom to pursue other passions and interests. Margie Goold, one of the volunteers at the exhibit, was able to take a digital camera course at Mohawk college, an opportunity she wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise.

Basic income also allowed Hamilton resident Lance

Dingman to pay for his prosthetic leg. This allowed him to save up funds for prosthetics that he will need in the not so distant future. Most importantly, basic income gave Dingman the autonomy to live his life as he chooses.

“Basic income for me has given me the life that I have been striving a long time [for], to make it better, to make it richer, to make it more independent for myself,” explained Dingman.

The original intention was to continue the project on an experimental basis for three years and then assess its effectiveness. However, the Ford government cancelled the pilot program in July and announced that payments will stop at the end of March.

Through the photographs and experiences being shared during the Supercrawl exhibit, the narrative is consistent. A premature cancellation of the pilot project threatens to uproot the lives that it had helped people to build for themselves.

Recipients made life-changing

decisions based on the expectation of receiving monthly payments for the entirety of the pilot program. Scraping the income will lock individuals into leases they can’t afford and disrupt their studies at colleges and universities.

Furthermore, recipients that applied for other sources of financial support on the understanding that they would be receiving basic income payments, are now stuck in between assistance programs, with no certainty about where their financial support will come from.

Lynn Ridsdale, another volunteer at the exhibit, notes that high living costs in Hamilton made universal basic income even more important. In particular, basic income helped her to find suitable, accessible housing, despite the steadily increasing cost of rent in Hamilton.

As Hamilton’s arts scene attracts investment and development, living expenses rise and many can no longer afford to live in Hamilton. New

cafes, galleries and condominiums wipe away the visual signs of poverty in the city, and the bustle of Supercrawl makes it easy to forget about the consequences that come alongside the city’s development.

Golem hopes that the project will help continue the conversation about poverty.

“I don’t want this conversation to die down and just become another political issue…I want people to think about the conversation, think about what poverty looks like,” explained Golem.

The Humans of Basic Income exhibit brings Hamiltonians face to face with the reality of what it is like to navigate life in the city while experiencing poverty. The exhibit’s photographs, media reach and real-life interactions at Supercrawl have created a platform for Hamilton residents to share their experiences with the community at large. @theSilhouette

KYLE WEST / PHOTO EDITOR

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The Silhouette

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018

r e d Zan

n g i e r fo s e v a w

C/O FOREIGN WAVES INTERNATIONAL

I O N A L T A N R E I N T

Anastasia Gaykalova Contributor

The Silhouette sat down with the creative mind behind Zander, Matthew Alexander, and Foreign Waves International’s designer duo, Michael St. Jean and Kadeem Jarrett, during Supercrawl weekend to talk about the Hamilton-based streetwear brands’ take on street fashion, their creative process and friendly competition.

How would you describe your brand in three words?

Jarrett: Wavy. Free. Real.

Alexander: Efficient. Athletic.

Useful.

Why did you start designing?

St. Jean: We wanted to create a brand that everyone around the world can rock and be represented, hence the name Foreign Waves International.

Jarrett: We printed a whole bunch of t-shirts, because we came up with a name and people loved it, and we said ‘let’s go full throttle’ and it’s been three years rocking and we’ve done a lot within the three years and we’re proud.

Alexander: I was really into art and just being artistic, touching as many mediums as possible: painting, photography [and] graphic design. I was getting into graphic design and slowly realized that it is not the career path that I necessarily wanted

to take, and clothing ended up being it…I love clothing and it just fell into my life with the combination of the different things I was into.

What is your creative process when designing?

St. Jean: That’s a hard thing to think of still… Our creative process is usually we see something and we think ‘yo, what can we do differently, what can we do to change it, how can we make it better’… And then we talk about our design with each other and decide what will work better, what colour scheme we’re going to use.

Sometimes we go to places like [Supercrawl], this would be an example [of] where we gain inspiration.

Alexander: It’s a lot of internal brainstorming, just thinking out concepts in my head whenever I get influenced by certain things. Drawing out influence from everything and anything I possibly can. It could be anything from other designers or something a person says to interactions with my friends.

What makes a good fashion show?

Jarrett: When everything is running smoothly, [when] music [and] designs are on point.

St. Jean: I think there’s got to be a wild factor.

Jarrett: Exactly, in our day and age everyone does a fashion show. When you’re on a run-

way, add a little bit of something, add a little bit of art, add performances, add anything like that, you know… Be as free as you can. That’s what the brand represents. Be you and embrace what you wear every single day.

Alexander: I think outfits, for sure. I know for myself, I really like to add something more.

[W]ith our latest fashion show we had more theatrics going on.

It’s more than just outfits and models walking down a runway.

It was like an actual show.

What’s more important, expressing yourself or catering to an audience?

St. Jean: I think you have to have a mix of both. We want to express ourselves, but we want to make sure we are catering to the audience as well. So, we want to be like ‘I really like this, but I want to make sure my people are going to like it too’.

Alexander: I think, especially in terms of creative level, expressing yourself matters most at the end of the day. Where it gets tricky is on the business level of things, where, yeah, you do have to make money and you have to invest a lot of time, effort and money into certain projects, so you do have to cater to the audience. So I like to find a little bit of both.

What are some challenges of the fashion industry and how to best

C/O SAMUEL LETNIK AND MATTHEW ALEXANDER

deal with them?

St. Jean: One big thing is manufacturers. We’re a very small brand, so when it comes to manufacturing clothing, they want big orders, like you know, a hundred pieces, two hundred pieces. We’re very small, very local, so we don’t order that much. That’s why our clothes are very limited… So, it kind of leaves a little bit of exclusivity to our brand as well.

Alexander: I guess a big one right now would be finances. I know for me and my team, we have a lot of ideas and projects that we like to do, but it’s a hurdle we have to cross where we can’t financially make it happen. And that’s just a process of continuing to work and grow as a brand and building those resources in order to make those projects happen.

What does street style mean to you?

St. Jean: Expressing yourself.

Jarrett: Yeah, exactly, expressing yourself. Streetwear is growing now. It used to be small brands like Stussy, Primitive, but now, big time designers are making streetwear. Like, Gucci, and stuff, they’re all making hoodies with “Gucci” on it, and t-shirts and stuff. So, streetwear is literally taking over the world, and everyone loves streetwear.

Alexander: I love street style.

Every single day I think of an outfit and I just love putting together clothes and showcasing how I’m feeling that day with the colour palettes and the theme of certain pieces I’m wearing… Street style is growing and it’s awesome to see other people getting more and more into it… especially in Hamilton.

Since both brands share a similar style, do you consider each other competitors?

St. Jean: For us, personally, we don’t look at things as competition because we want to see everybody succeed, so we actually know Zander personally from showing support to each other. So, when we’ve done pop-ups, they’re there and when they’ve done popups, we’re there... We look at it more as a community and we should all work together.

Alexander: Yeah, I 100 per cent agree. I guess, back in the day when streetwear brands weren’t as many, maybe like 6 to 7 years ago, it would’ve been on a more competitive level, but as of right now, I think brands that are succeeding and growing together as a community.

Read the full interview on thesil.ca @theSilhouette

A&C

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018

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TheKingWilliamCook-Off Elevating Hamilton’s food scene by introducing competition to Supercrawl

C/O LUCAS JOHNSON

Drew Simpson Contributor

Supercrawl is Hamilton’s annual art crawl showcasing various talents thriving within the city; from art, music, food to fashion.

Stages are set, sets are rehearsed, art installations are built and the food trucks line up all the way down James Street North, closing it from King Street to Cannon Street to allow for this rich presentation of culture.

Walking up James Street North from King Street West, a side road called King William hosts a competition. Competitions aren’t a common theme of Supercrawl, however Feed the Social and NOSH, the organizers of the King William Cook-Off, saw it fit to host a one-round, thirty-minute competition between two teams of well-known chefs.

Feed the Social is a social media company based in Hamilton. They specialize in representing for Hamilton’s culinary works. While NOSH stands for north Hamilton, the outlin-

ing communities surrounding and south Hamilton.

Under the tent by Hamburgr, two teams of chefs competed.

There were barely any rules. No mystery boxes. No mystery ingredients. The instructions were simple, cook the best entrée within the time limit.

Through comradery, both teams knew each other’s chefs, their strengths and perhaps their weaknesses. They planned carefully for this event. Michael Marini, the coordinator of marketing for the city of Hamilton’s economic development office, explains competition can bring out chefs’ creativity.

One time consisted of Chef Harrison Hennick of Nique, Martello and the General paired with Chef Michael Vogt of Frat’s Cucina. They battled Chef Michael Cipollo of Hambrgr, Fsh & Chp and Lost + Found whose partner was Chef Patrick Weise of Twisted Kitchen Catering and Matthew’s Friends Canada.

These talented chefs are both Canadian and world-renowned. Past winner and judge

of Chef Wars, Patrick Weise was once Oprah’s personal chef. The chefs chosen to partake in this cook-off give a taste of the culinary talent evident in Hamilton.

King William Cook-Off is a preliminary event of the annual Chef Wars hosted by NOSH, these competitors have been judges, participants and winners of Chef Wars. Originally ran by NOSH, FEED the Social is now in charge of both Chef Wars and King William Cook-Off. While the chefs for King William Cook-Off were hand-selected, Chef Wars is a better representation of using a competition format to showcase all the best in Hamilton.

“I think it brings out the competitive spirit. At the same time, the difference with what we’re seeing in Hamilton and what we’ve been told by chefs coming from Toronto is the collaboration that happens in Hamilton,” explained Marini.

“Even though they’re competitive, they’re not out to destroy each other’s businesses. So they

want to work together. They’re going to have a little challenge against each other, but at the end of the day they’re all friends.”

Often competition is used to validate talent. While the president of FEED the Social, Romeo Crugnale, agrees that art encompasses food, he also believes competitions like the King William Cook-Off and Chef Wars can validate Hamilton’s culinary talent.

“With these events…I want to be able to really elevate it to another level. Everybody knows Hamilton is starting to have a really great food scene. Everybody knows that restaurants are coming in and chefs are coming over from Toronto to open up here for various reasons,” explained Crugnale.

“What is the way to showcase that? What better platform than Supercrawl? What better platform that doing a free event…in the spirit of Supercrawl.”

Watching competitions is entertaining, but it also has a deeper purpose. When trying to prove worth, comparisons are made. Often competition is used

to decide how great someone or something is. Therefore, competition is a natural way of crowning the worthiest.

There is a fine line to walk between validating the city’s culinary scene and showcasing the intense creativity of competitors through competition. Some may argue that Supercrawl is meant to celebrate Hamilton’s unique culture, not try to equate it to larger cities.

However, it’s undeniable that Hamilton’s food scene is thriving and using competition can go a long way to bring chefs and their talents to the forefront of the conversation around what makes Hamilton great. Everyone has a competitive nature and it can bring out the best out of Hamiltonians and their culinary dishes. @theSilhouette

Your Hamilton Your Vote @theSilhouette

City of Hamilton 2018 Municipal Election For more information: www.hamilton.ca/Elections

905-546-4365

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GAMES

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018

Games

You’re welcome. Now, please stop emailing us about the lack of games.

ACROSS 1- Landlord; 7- Bran source; 10- Crime boss; 14- Expenditure; 15- Spy org.; 16- Riyadh resident; 17- Lubricant; 18- Superlative suffix; 19- Freelancer’s encl.; 20- Acuteness of the vision; 23- Ships’ officers; 26- U-turn from SSW; 27- Some locks; 28- General Bradley; 29- Snaky curve;

30- Half of D; 31- Two wheel vehicle; 33- Zip; 34- “Fancy that!”; 37- Land in la mer; 38- Exploit; 39- Lord, is ___?; 40- Hasty escape; 41- Allow; 42- Transgression; 43- Due to the fact that; 45- Bolted down; 46- Bodybuilder’s pride; 47- Antlered animal; 48- Minute Maid Park player;

51- City in GA; 52- With reserve; 53- Gimmick; 56- River of Tuscany; 57- Pie-mode link; 58- Recluse; 62- Regrets; 63- Hi-___ monitor; 64- Iroquois tribe; 65- Auction site; 66- Needle hole; 67- Talks back to;

21- Unobserved; 22- Like the tides or the seasons; 23- It merged with Exxon; 24- Miss by ___; 25- Be silent, musically; 29- Borden cow; 30- Quotes; 32- Habitual practice; 33- Bite gently; 34- Sticky; 35- Studio stand; 36- Board for nails;

44- Sticks; 45- Large merchant ship; 46- Comfortable; 48- Alert, knowing; 49- Small tree; 50- Fungal infection; 51- Narrow street; 52- City in Tuscany; 54- River in central Switzerland; 55- Pi followers; 59- Fire starter?; 60- Ox tail?; 61- Univ. aides;

DOWN 1- Limb of a felled tree; 2- Where It.’s at; 3- Canonized Mlle.; 4- Bondage; 5- Fertile area in a desert; 6- Some whiskeys; 7- Vast seas; 8- Grocery lane; 9- Ciao!; 10- Offhand; 11- Thin as ___; 12- Stickum; 13- Follows orders;

9 8 5 K I N G ST W, HAM I LTO N | 9 05 . 6 67.09 9 9

ALLUREFITNESSINC.COM

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SPORTS

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018

Sports

CATHERINE GOCE / PHOTO REPORTER

SPORTS | 21

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018

NEW YEAR , NEW LOOK Cross-Country adds seven new women, making it the largest women’s recruiting class ever

Jessica Carmichael Sports Reporter

This summer, McMaster University’s cross-country team’s head coach Paula Schnurr finalized her recruiting class, bringing 11 new members on board.

Seven of these members joined the women’s program, making it the largest cross-country women’s recruiting class ever at McMaster.

After losing a significant number of runners at the end of last season, building up the program with strong female runners was a goal of Schnurr’s.

Her recruiting efforts landed her Renelle Briggs of Whitby, Ont. who finished in sixth place in the 2000 m steeplechase at the 2018 Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations Track and Field Championships. Before that, Briggs also earned a 27th-overall finish at the OFSAA Cross Country Championships in the fall of 2017.

It was on her first visit to McMaster last August that Briggs immediately fell in love with the school.

“I just really fell in love with the coach,” said Briggs. “I talked to other coaches as well but none gave me the same

kind of vibe that Paula did. She was also the first one to send a letter so that speaks to me a lot as well.”

Schnurr’s vibe and the way she runs her team is often highly praised amongst her runners, like first-year Oshawa, Ont. native Kendra Hawke.

“I think a big part of it had to do with Paula Schnurr,” said Hawke. “She came to visit our club and she’s just the cross-country mom as well as your mom away from home.”

For Hawke, it also helped that McMaster offered what she was looking for academically with its engineering program.

Along with Briggs and Hawke, Caroline Forbes, Hope Harnack, Sarah Turner, Sarah Nolan and Shannon Porter will join the Marauders this season.

For Briggs, being able to be on a team with runners that she has been following over the last four years has been a full-circle moment.

“I knew the names but I didn’t actually know them, but when I got to meet them they were all so nice,” said Briggs.

“They are all such great training partners and I’m really glad that we’re all on the team together.”

Being able to have six others to relate to during this big

transition has been a support system in itself for the women. As it is for all students the adjustment from high school to university is not an easy one, but to be a varsity athlete on top of that can often be extremely overwhelming. Having teammates you can form that tight bond with provides that reassurance.

“High school was nice and yeah you have a little family, but I feel like McMaster, especially the cross-country team, they’re literally welcoming you with open arms into the team,” said Hawkes. “You are not just a rookie coming on to the team, you’re part of the team as soon as you’re there.”

Starting their training with the team a week before the beginning of school, both Briggs and Hawkes got their first taste of university-level racing. They started off with some easier workouts and now are transitioning into building up more with their base workouts before racing starts and they cannot work out as much.

With their first tournament at the University of Buffalo Stampede Invitational, the ladies showed their hard work beforehand paid off. Rookie Forbes led the charge in the

women’s 6K coming in 32nd followed by Briggs at 46th, Nolan at 57th, Porter at 66th and Harnack at 75th.

With this being just the beginning of the season, both Hawkes and Briggs have their minds set on ways to keep improving.

“For this year I’d like to see an improvement in my running not just physically but mentally because I’ve had a few rough cross-country seasons,” said Hawkes. “But I would definitely like to get faster, just see myself improve mentally and physically as a runner.”

For Briggs, her eye is set on the prize with aspirations of winning big.

“I really want to make the top seven on the team for U Sports,” said Briggs. “I also would love to make Team Canada at club nationals. Not sure if it’s going to happen but it’s been a goal I’ve had for the last couple years.”

Though nothing is promised, this for sure is guaranteed: their first season at McMaster will be one like no other. @JaayCarmichael

22 |

SPORTS

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018

Marauders, through and through With a new assistant coach and a balanced roster of younger and older players, men’s rugby head coach Dan Pletch has a manufactured a program built for success

Justin Parker Sports Editor

Following a successful 2017 campaign that saw the McMaster men’s rugby team bring home both a provincial and a national bronze medal, the Marauders will be looking to build upon that success. While the core program remains similar, there have been quite a few notable changes to the team in different areas.

“Every season there’s a bit of turnover right,” men’s rugby head coach Pletch said. “We lost a few experienced guys, especially in some of our forwards up front. But we’re quite happy with our first-year class this year. This is probably the strongest group that we’ve had sort of overall as a group in terms of our recruit class.”

Coach Pletch noted that the rugby team this year features a strong balance of players spread out in every position, which gives the team good overall depth. In addition to that positional depth, the team features a solid mix of upper-, middle- and lower-year players that make up this year’s roster.

“It’s kind of where you want to be as a program, to sort of

have these veterans and young guys,” said coach Pletch. “You know you have good performances during the season but you’re also developing for the future. I would say this is the best-balanced group that we’ve had.”

As with any group, leadership is imperative to the team’s success. Being a large program of 60 players, that leadership is taken over by a group of six captains who are selected by the players.

“We’re just constantly trying to improve the program and the experience that the guys have,” Dan Pletch Head coach Men’s rugby team “We do a postseason survey and we ask them questions,” coach Pletch said. “Things like who’s the hardest worker on the team, who is the biggest rugby nerd, who kind of watches the most rugby. There’s other stuff like who is the best academic

student on the team. We have a kind of committee of captains and then I actually let the captains decide each week for the varsity game-day captain, like the one who does the coin toss and goes to speak to the referee but they kind of share the leadership as a team.”

Leading this particularly strong rookie class is wing EJ Rerri, who scored his two first career tries in Mac’s win over the Trent Excalibur on Sept. 9.

“He started the first two games for us this season,” said coach Pletch. “He is very athletic, he’s got good game sense. He is a really great finisher, so if he gets the ball with a little of space there’s not too many people that can track him down.”

In addition to solidifying the roster, coach Pletch continues to adjust how the program operates, tweaking how training camp is run and putting more of an emphasis on recovery, video and review in his fifth season at the helm. The team is also doing yoga regularly as part of their training.

A high school teacher when he is not coaching varsity rugby, coach Pletch has also been trying to implement an academic-inspired approach to

coaching. He’s brought problem-based learning methods that are used by health science programs into their method for teaching the playbook to players. He was able to do so successfully this offseason and is seeing results already.

“We’re really trying to get away from sort of the traditional, explicit style of coaching where the coach is basically just telling the athletes what to do,” coach Pletch said. “We’re trying to do that with our coaching where the coaches sort of create different drills and games and looking at videos where we kind of set up the situation that we want the athletes to learn from and then we try to get them to problem solve and find answers for themselves.”

“I think it’s a more effective style of learning and also players just seem to really enjoy it, I think they get sort of a sense of ownership from it,” coach Pletch added. “They enjoy being involved in the actual creation of what we’re trying to do out there. The kids are having more fun I think than we’ve had in years past.”

In addition to changes on the field, the Marauders added a new member to their coaching

staff in April. The Marauders welcomed back one of their own, Aaron Carpenter, who was recently named to the McMaster hall of fame and is Canada’s all-time leader in appearances on the senior men’s team. Pletch actually played with Carpenter during their collegiate days, and in this reunion, the new assistant has already made an impact in his short time with the team.

“It’s great to have him back,” said coach Pletch. “He just recently retired from playing professional rugby in England and playing with the national team. So having a guy like that and just his technical and tactical knowledge has been a big bonus this year. He’s a Marauder through and through.”

As the team notched another win under its belt, winning 38-20 over the Brock Badgers over Homecoming weekend, there is still a lot of season yet to be played. As they move on, it is clear the team’s culture and makeup has prepared them to dominate Ontario University Athletics. @writingparker

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018

SPORTS | 23

Key matches ahead Head coach Dan Pletch’s important games to watch for Marauders’ the season ahead

@ Western (Sept. 22) “They’re always a very athletic team and we’re playing down there, which they’re usually tougher at home.”

versus. Laurier (Oct. 5) “Laurier’s sort of the upand-coming team in the last couple years...a very strong competitive team.”

@ Queen’s (Oct. 20) “Then we have Queen’s the last game of the season at the end of October.”

c/o McMaster Athletics

SUPERCROWD WHEN IT TAKES T WO HOURS TO WALK DOWN THE STREE T C12

THURSDAY

THE

HAMILTON SPECULATOR MY WORLD’S BEEN ON FIRE SINCE 1934

September 20, 2018

NOTSPEC.COM

Biggest festival in town celebrates everyone not from town

Also, everyone in town with money

Who’s going to yell at me this week???

HILDA O’HOOLIHAN If one more person stops in front of me I will scream

The city’s beloved annual Superbwalk took over a main street to celebrate a weekend of art, music and gentrification.

Superbwalk has been around for a decade at this point, bringing in people from all over the world, mostly from anywhere but here. Over the years, the city has tweaked programming to ensure that local audiences are properly targeted with laser pointers to keep them away from downtown.

“This year, we really

stepped up our game,” said Mr. Superbwalk, founder of Superbwalk. “Not only do our lasers keep locals out, but this year, they also shine to neighbouring cities, almost like an invitation to spend their money here.”

It seems to be working, too. According to recent data, significantly more local residents would rather swim through Lake Ontario than to see another birch tree painting in a vendors booth.

To make their tenth anniversary special, Superbwalk added an extra day to the festival to bring in a band who you’d really only recognize if you were

POLL: WHAT WAS THE BEST PART OF YOUR WEEKEND? Tiny Tom’s Donuts

The HOCO street festival thing?

Seeing my favourite band from 2010

Getting trampled by a police horse

The long lines literally everywhere

Going home

Dalewoodstock

Some kegger I went to

in college in 2005. Dads were pretty happy about it.

“They’re my favourite band,” said resident Dad Paul Smith. “It’s too bad they’re playing on a school night.”

Not only did they bring in many people’s favourite dad band to come play, they also gave a whole section of the festival to a car manufacturer.

You know, just in case anyone was in the market.

With all the planning to get upper-middle class residents from nearby to attend, Superbwalk forgot program anything that may be appealing to the city where the festival

was taking place. Well, except for the Tiny Tom’s truck. Damn those are good donuts.

REMEMBER WHEN THE WARD 1 COUNCILLOR SAID STUDENTS ARE UNHYGENIC A4 WELL AIDAN NOW THERE’S HORSE SHIT ALL OVER WESTDALE A4 CONT’D ATTENDING DALEWOODSTOCK FOR HOCO AND OTHER THINGS I’D RATHER GAUGE MY EYES OUT THAN DO C1 THIS CITY IS STRUGGLING BUT ANYWAYS HERE’S LIGHTS D3 MAC BEATS U OF T 543539-0 E4 I LIVED IT: I BOUGHT FOUR DOZEN TINY TOM DONUTS F5

Tweets to the Editor Hamilton is the best city in the world and Supercrawl just celebrates that, hater.

- Sammy, Level IV Communications, loves Locke St.

INSIDE

PER ISSUE: A dozen Tiny Tom’s Donuts. I’m not over these sweet treats. Please deliver.

YOU NEED TO INVESTIGATE THE GIRL THAT GOT TRAMPLED BY THE HORSE - Like 16 people in our DMs

Disclaimer: The Hamilton Speculator is a work of satire and fiction and should not under any circumstances be taken seriously. I can’t wait to get yelled at over this by people who love Barton Street exclusively because of Motel.