The Silhouette — February 1, 2018

S The Silhouette Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018

Clear eyes

Full hearts

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Ikram looks forward to realizing her plans for the MSU PAGE 3

NEWS: The MSU’s new cafe promises affordable hot food options // PAGE 4 ARTS & CULTURE: What’s the point of bullet journalling? // PAGES 18-19 SPORTS: What it takes to be a leader // PAGES 24-25

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Volume 88, Issue 19 Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 McMaster University’s Student Newspaper

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MCMASTER THESIL

LOOKING BACK

EDITORIAL BOARD editor-in-chief | thesil@thesil.ca Shane Madill @shanemadill digital media specialist | dms@msu.mcmaster.ca Aaron de Jesus managing editor | managing@thesil.ca Rachel Katz production editor | production@thesil.ca Catherine Tarasyuk online editor | online@thesil.ca Haley Greene sections

Sasha Dhesi Cassidy Bereskin news@thesil.ca

news editor news reporter

F ra s e r 3 t a k e s to p jo b pT!K

By ADRIAN H U M PH R EY S N ew s E d ito r In a surprising e le c to ra l upset, Inter-Residence Council Chair Sue Fraser d e fe a te d her two opponents ten to become th e M cM aster Students Union (MSU) President for 1988-89.

Gaining 60 per cent of the stu­ dent vote on the second ballot, Fraser narrowly m issed victory on the first ballot, when she finished 11 votes short of the total needed.

Her nearest com petitor, Student Representative Assem bly (SRA) member Mark H uttram , garnered only 33 per cent first ballot votes.

Thirdplace candidate Bob the Rhino Cameron received 17 per cent.

WATS The final vote tally read like •Sue Fraser, 1698 •Mark Huttram, 1139 •Bob the Rhino Cameron. 494

Emily O’Rourke features@thesil.ca

features reporter

opinion editor

"I’m nervous and excited,” said Fraser of her success, the second woman ever elected to the position—the first was in 1979. “ My first priority is to get aquainted with the MSU. Our most urgent thing right m is the Student-Tenant Associapon."

Huttram attributed his defeat to the fact that “all my voters didn’t get out to vote.” But he says that Fraser should do a “ fine job” in the position.

Reem Sheet

opinion@thesil.ca

Justin Parker sports reporter Jessica Carmichael sports@thesil.ca

Third-place finisher Cameron alledged that “ the election was fix­ ed.”

He continued that he ac­ complished his goals of “ ruining M ark H uttram ’s life, and seeing Sue F ra s e r c ry .”

Despite what often appeared to be lack-lustre cam paigns, the tu r­ nout was 33.5 per cent of the eligible student voters. This com pares to the controversial Presidential cam ­ paign of last y ear that saw only 26 per cent turnout.

F ra se r attributed her victory to “ research, planning, and getting people out to vote.” “ I think the students responded to the originality of my campaign, and basically wanted to go with so­ meone that they could tru st as a lead er.”

MSU T reasurer, and Elections Committee m em ber, John Fox said that he “ feels sorry for Mark Hut­ tram after investing three years of his life into his cam paign.”

Steve Longo, looking at the ex­ pectations by m any student political pundits prior to the vote for a wide H uttram victory, stated that it was “ a c le a r ex am p le of T ru m an defeating Dewey,” referring to the 1948 United States Presidential elec­ tion.

H uttram m aintains that the hun­ dreds of dollars of fines lodged against him are “ unjust” , and the results cam e as a “ shock” .

sports editor

E le c tio n

At a meeting of the McM aster Students Union (MSU) Election G>mmittee an estim ated one thou­ sand dollars in fines w ere m eted out tothe three Presidential candidates.

& culture editor Daniel Arauz & culture reporter Razan Samara aandc@thesil.ca

arts arts

f i n e s

By JOHN MYKYTYSHYN S ilh o u e tte S taff

The meeting was often punc­ h e d by jokes and laughter. Con­ cerning the spending lim its MSU Vice-president Steve Longo rem ark^ "why do we have these comm®ist limits - these unreasonable

limitations. ”

media

Madeline Neumann photo reporter Kyle West production coordinator Grant Holt production coordinator Timothy Law production@thesil.ca photo editor

Yvonne Lu social media coordinator Jaime Cook online content coordinator Susie Ellis online@thesil.ca video editor

COVER PHOTO

EWS: Free Trade, M eech L ake Acc“rd, university E n r o l l m e n t , law lessn ess, E m ploym ent, Soviet re p re s s io n , N ic a ra g u a n ' Wcracy a n d all k in d s of Mac

ews Read all about it!

Our women's volleyball and sm a sh in g its West D ivision with record of 8-0, while th e ir hockey "0ljnterparts remain u n d e fe a te d a s vel1 The men’s hockey te a m w as %ts’ed by Laurentian.

iearn is leaping *ay ^ rough the

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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.

the regular i old stuff a n d th e 3e<1 Valentine classified s. r ^ Help g e t u s b ack on 0nt of second s e c tio n . ^ 1 4 0 (ex 2052) now!

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By CASEY BRENNAN S ilh o u e tte Staff The Art and Art History club’s president Tonia Cowan said that the club “ does not agree with Bill C-54 in any form .” They are not the only ones who a re strongly opposed to the Canadian governm ent’s proposed am endm ents to the Criminal Code dealing with pornography.

Both the NDP and the Liberal parties have spoken out against the bill as well as m any other groups; C a n a d ia n A uthors A ssociation, C an a d ian L ib ra ry A ssociation, C anadian M useum s Association, Academy of Canadian Television and Radio A rtists and Canadian Periodical Publishers. They a re all opposed to what they perceive to be the generalizations used in the bill to define obscenities in all forms of art.

It is not only the very loose wording that concerns these groups, there is also some very specific wording that is causing them g reat alarm . One

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TURES: Look at w h at you m iss during the Winter C a rn iv a l7 °t°s taken by Neman K hokar a n d ni*friends

section of the bill, according to inter­ pretation, states that a party that breaks these new laws is guilty until proven innocent. An individual charged with use of obscene or por­ nographic m aterial m ust prove in court that the use of the offending object has either, “ artistic m erit or an educational, scientific or medical purpose,” in order for the offender to be acquitted of the crime. “ Artists creativity and sense of artistic freedom could be stifled by apprehension about the hassles of litigation defences and long court battles” said Cowan when asked about Bill C-54’s idea that a party is guilty until proven innocent. Kevin Bishop, a m em ber of the Hamilton AIDS Network for Dialogue and Sup­ port (HANDS) echoes Cowan’s distress; “ AIDS organizations could be subjected to lengthy, expensive, and totally unnecessary litigation.

Instead of fighting the virus, Aids organizations would be forced to fight the law.”

Allowing the subjective judge­

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would be sent to the printer, Oxford Web Publications, along with The Silhouette’s flats. The staff of The P lu m b lin e c o m p le te d la y o u t The la te s t edition of The Wednesday night, F ebruary 3. When finished, The Plumbline flats were Plum bline has been delayed because boxed and given to the Silhouette’s of allegations that Silhouette staff Executive Editor Jam es Morreale. ta m p e r e d w ith th e o r ig in a l p a g e s -th e “ flats’’- p r i o r to prin­ According to Lipscik, it is at this ting The alterations include the point that the tam pering took place. “ We have photocopies of the covering of a pair of bare breasts and the changing of a comic so that originals,” he pointed out. “ We the Engineer, rath e r than the Art- checked with Oxford Web and they sie,” is dream ing of homosexual in­ sw ear they have nothing to do with tercourse. A piece of tape was it.” Lipscik further explained that allegedly removed from a cartoon Oxford Web found a note accom pa­ revealing a portrayal of oral sex that nying the Plum bline flats. The note the Plum bline editors felt could be said: “ P lease excuse this filthy rag ruled obscene because it depicts and lose this issue in the presses for a couple of weeks. Signed, The PCn^ c c o rd in g to Mike Lipscik. Silhouette.”

The MES is demanding financial p r e s i d e n t of t h e M c M a * t . r E n g in e e r in g S o c ie ty > reim bursem ent from The Silhouette. “ T here’s no way we’re going to put “ There were ads in there that were dated, and ads for events that will this out.’

The Plumbline is the newspaper have passed,” Lipscik explained. “ We also want a reprinting of The published by the MES. Plum bline and a front page apology The controversy is a result of deal that was m ade at the beginning in The Silhouette.” “ I didn’t m ake any guarantees of the year that the Plum bline flats

By ALEX RAWLS S ilh o u e tte S taff

ju s t o n e of th e m any su c c e ssfu l e v e n ts of W in te r W a ste la n d ’8 8 .

Mac upset with bill C-54

S ilh o u e tte

I n s id e

AINMENT: T h e r e s u lts of

CONTACT

8,000 circulation published by the

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C ^ n a g e ...e r. C arn ival T hat, xxx

Madeline Neumann

Editor-in-Chief (905) 525-9140, ext 22052 Main Office (905) 525-9140, ext 27117 Advertising ccpc@mcmaster.ca

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Fox who had criticized the comfor rules m ade at an earlier Meeting was told by Election Com­ mittee and SRA m em ber Tania Werson that “ if you cam e to the ^tings you could decide the to which Fox replied “ shut "ft loud mouth.”

lo d g e d

Bob the Rhino Cameron receiv­ ed two $25 fines. One was for a sign violation and one was for the late submission of cam paign receipts.

Sue F ra se r received $78 dollars in fines all of which were for sign violations.

The big loser of the race in term s of accum ulated fines was M ark H uttram . In addition to $75 dollars in fines for assorted rule violations H uttram has received what is believed to be the largest single fine in MSU history for illegal cam paigning. The interim fine has been estim ated at $800 for illegal literatu re distribution. The offense which H uttram was convicted of concerned the distribution of flyers in th e m a il boxes of B a te s Residence.

H uttram stated that he will ap­ ____ peal the fines.

R e v e lle rs w h o o p it u p to E n d le ss S u m m e r a t th e D o w n sta irs J o h n d u rin g th is y e a r ’s W in ter C arn iv al B each P a rty . T his w as

ment of a judge or jury to decide what is a “ disgusting object or an in­ decent show” and giving them the power to sentence an offender to a two-year jail term are pointed out as examples of the m any flaws in this bill.

Even its declared supporters such as The Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women and the United Church have m ade their support conditional on the removal a n d /o r m odification of c e rta in clauses. " a n te - p o r n

n

Most “ anti-porn” groups like the bill but want to see m any changes in it before it is passed. “ Even if there are changes in the bill it would never become ac­ c e p ta b le ” Cowan insists, “ the governm ent cannot be given the power to censor to the extent outlin­ ed in Bil C-54 or to any extent for that m atter. You simply cannot have

b lo w - u p

people with less creative ability and intellectual freedom telling those with m ore how to go about doing their work.”

Cowan says that the basic prin­ ciple behind Bill C-54 is altogether unacceptable. Giving the power of control over all creative aspects in society to individuals who have little or no creativity could be dangerous.

Cowan m ade some comparisons with Bill C-54 and the censorship tac­ tics Hitler adopted when he first cam e to power in Germany.

Many critics of the bill also com­ plain that it does not deal with violence that is not connected with sex. Many people believe that ex­ posure to acts of extrem e violence is as harm ful if not m ore so than ex­ posure to explicit sexual acts.

Many of the principles stated in this bill contradict sections in the Canadian C harter of Rights, Cowan pointed out. Cowan sum m ed her cont' on page 5

t o y s .

o f ta m p e r in g

regarding security’ said M orreale of the deal that allowed The Plumbline to be sent with The Silhouette to Ox­ ford Web. John Fox, representing The Silhouette Publication Board agreed: “ Security is not part of the agreem ent. ” The flats were left with M orreale between 8 and 9 pm. The Sil finished production around 3 am.

On a norm al production night, peo­ ple are constantly in and out of the Silhouette offices so “ people were looking a t [The Plumbline flats] all night long” according to Morreale.

When asked why The Plumbline staff did not take their finished flats to the Security office (where The Silhouette takes its finished flats for pick-up by Oxford Web). Lipscik said that he did not know that this was the procedure. According to The S ilh o u e tte ’s M an a g in g E d ito r K atherine Ammendolia, MES Pro­ ductions Chairm an Scott Lowell ex­ plained a t a m eeting with the Board of Publications that he “ didn’t know where it (the Security Office) w as.”

A t a m e e tin g T u e s d a y , F ebruary 9 with The Silhouette

P u b lic a tio n B o a rd , th e M ES dem ands were formally announced.

The Silhouette has agreed to run an apology. “ I can’t deny it was in my office,” M orreale stated. Nothing m ore is being done until The Silhouette hears from the MSU lawyers. “ The Plum bline has been sent to the law yer” said John Fox, “ to check for obscenity and (general) liability.” The Board of Publications is trying to ascertain, Fox con­ tinued, if anyone “ could take action (and) whether these changes have le g a l im p l i c a t i o n s ” .

If the changes a re found to be p o te n tia lly a c tio n a b le , “ T h e MSU—via The Sil—would pay for reprinting,” said Fox. The main concern voiced by Lipscik is over unexpergated ver­ sion of the comic portraying oral sex.

The Plum bline staff stated that rem oving a strip of black edit tape m ade the comic “ too obscene.” A rough count conducted by the Silhouette staff found two depictions of fellatio, one of bestiality, one of

sodomy and one nomosexual blow­ up toy. These depictions were, like the comic in question, clearly com ­ ics and not photographs or realistic illustrations. According to Ammen­ dolia, “ I think the whole rag is offen­ sive. I don’t think one cartoon changes things.” “ Right now- the MES is volun­ tarily withholding The Plum bline,” stated M orreale. “ If it is indeed obscene they [the MSU] will pay for reprinting. The MSU doesn’t cover dam aged pride.”

Fox picked up this them e: “ They’re upset over a loss of pride.

It’s their 20 year anniversary and they got deked.”

M orreale stated: “ I find their argum ent for obscenity ridiculous.

In m y opinion som ebody got them —unfortunately it happened after they left it in the office. The whole thing is obscene.”

M orreale is trying to find out who, if anyone, at The Silhouette is responsible for the tam pering. “ I’ve ask e d my edito rs, I ’ve h e ard rum ours, but I don’t have any con­ crete proof.”

Sue Fraser won the McMaster Students Union presidency, election fines are tallied, C-54 upset people and the Silhouette was accused of tampering with the Plumbline’s pages. Busy week.

WE WANT YOU TO CONTRIBUTE Our issue on Feb. 15 will feature a revival of “Sex and the Steel City,” so let aandc@thesil.ca know if you are interested in writing or simply want to know more.

For regular content, always feel free to send an email to the section you would like to contribute to.

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018

The Silhouette

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News Meet your new MSU president-elect Ikram Farah talks about her mom, her plans for the MSU and what it means to her to win Sasha Dhesi News Editor

With January over, the McMaster Students Union has its unofficial president-elect: Ikram Farah, a level IV political science and labour studies student.

At the time of this article’s publication, the results are unofficial. Candidate Rabeena Obaidullah was disqualified but may appeal this decision to the MSU elections committee.

Of the first-choice votes, Farah received 38.6 per cent of the total vote, while every other candidate received under 20 per cent. With that said, due to the ranked voting system, it is unclear how Obaidullah’s potential reinstatement will affect the results as the results would be tabulated again and votes redistributed to her.

Despite the uncertainty of her victory, Farah remains excited to hold the title of president-elect, claiming the morning of Jan. 26 to be one of stress and hope.

Farah received the traditional call from the current MSU president at around 3:40 a.m. while spending time with her friends in the Hedden Hall common room, where she is a community advisor. “[MSU president Chukky Ibe] called and we put it on speaker. When we heard his voice, we knew but we needed him to say it. When he said congratulations, we all started screaming,” Farah said.

Following the news, Farah immediately called her mother, who had called a little earlier asking why she had not received the results yet.

“She had just woken up for prayer and I didn’t want her

to fall too deep of a sleep. So I called her twice and that’s when I started crying. … It took her so long to realize how big this was,” Farah said. “It’s a cultural thing, I think; in her head, I should just be going to grad school. She didn’t understand until the Christmas break that this was a job, that this was something I was invested in,” she added.

Farah is excited to use her various experiences in her role as president.

“I know how to talk to people, I understand in different lenses, I’ve been involved with different groups. I’ve seen how different experiences can manifest and where people go wrong, where people go right with respect for change. I’ve seen it from an MSU perspective, I’ve seen it from a residence life perspective, I’ve seen it from the McMaster perspective,” Farah said.

Farah will begin working on the extended Go bus hours and the international shuttle bus so that they are up and running by Welcome Week to ensure both commuter and international students may attend.

Farah also hopes to begin working on making improvements to the McMaster Student Absence Form and introducing tax-free Tuesdays, and is opti-

MADELINE NEUMANN / PHOTO EDITOR

mistic that these projects will be achieved by September.

Farah will also be the fifth female MSU president. She hopes her position will only encourage others.

“I knew that I was always going to be perceived differently because I have different [intersecting identities] and they have different intersects. I’m hoping

“I knew that I was always going to be perceived differently because I have different [intersecting identities] and they have different intersects. I’m hoping there’s influence in seeing me in the role.”

Ikram Farah McMaster Students Union President-elect

there’s influence in seeing me in the role,” Farah said.

While her victory remains up in the air, Farah remains hopeful that she will get to be the next MSU president and has her eyes set on what she wants achieved.

@SashaDhesi

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NEWS

Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 | www.thesil.ca

Mac’s newest café opens Currently holding a soft launch, the Grind promises to offer espresso drinks right by TwelvEighty and will hold its official launch after the reading week Tanoy Biswas Contributor

As students continue to grind out their schoolwork at McMaster University, the newest hot food and beverage café on campus, the Grind, is just beginning its service to the university population.

The McMaster Student Union vice president (Finance), Daniel “Tuba” D’Souza, along with other MSU staff members, collaborated to address the lack of quick and affordable hot food on campus through the café.

“The initial proposal for the café was made back in May 2017 when the new student union board of directors officially stepped into office Through working with the Student Representative Assembly, the TwelvEighty management team and Facility Services we approved a budget to hire an architect managed the construction project, and built the café,” said D’Souza.

The MSU took a methodical approach when planning

the café to ensure that it offered more affordable food options on campus. In the summer of 2017, the MSU consulted with facility services and student focus groups to get a better understanding of the kind of food items that satisfy a student appetite.

“As we receive more input from students during the soft launch we can further craft the menu to meet the expectations of students for quick, affordable, healthy food.”

Daniel D’Souza MSU vice president (Finance)

GRANT HOLT / PRODUCTION COORDINATOR GRANT HOLT / PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

“The price of food in the café was designed with affordability in mind. The café offers a range of crepes at different price points depending on what a student is able to afford,” said D’Souza.

Located in the basement of the student centre right next to TwelvEighty, the Grind offers sweet and savoury crepes ranging from $3.99 to $9.99, and hot caffeinated beverages including mochas, cappuccinos and more ranging from $1.50 to $3.00.

“Our prices were based on over 70 anonymous feedback forms we received during our trial period where students were able to write down what price they would pay for the crepe that they received,” D’Souza said.

“As we re-

ceive more input from students during the soft launch we can further craft the menu to meet the expectations of students for quick, affordable, healthy food,” he added.

Additionally, the MSU conducted research for the ideal design features students prefer in a café, which included lighting, seating arrangements, power outlets and the overall aesthetic design.

Construction of the café occurred during the first semester of the 2017-2018 school year and the hiring and training of staff along with the branding of the establishment was finalized in the first half of January 2018.

The café was built in the existing space of TwelvEighty but it is its own entity. The staff of the new establish-

ment includes a few employees from TwelvEighty but the majority of workers are new hires.

The employees were trained by a specialist to learn how to operate the new machinery needed to make espresso and its associated drinks. Additionally, chefs from the TwelvEighty staff trained new employees on how to make crepes for the café.

Inside the Grind, the layout includes multiple seating spaces in a well-lit area to accommodate a variety of uses such as studying or more casual uses.

The Grind has held limited runs throughout January meant for some MSU staff members to give feedback. The soft launch was held on Jan. 29, and the grand opening is expected to be in February after the reading week break.

@theSilhouette

NEWS

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018

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A review of Mac’s smoke-free policy A look at why the ban was put in place and what some critics have to say about it

Ileena Ke Contributor

Jan. 25 marked McMaster’s launch event of the new smokefree policy. It took place in the McMaster University Student Centre, taking up the atrium with tables laden with free hot chocolate, marshmallows, whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

According to McMaster, the purpose of the smoke-free policy is meant to promote a healthier campus to fulfill its obligations to the Okanagan Charter, a charter meant to promote healthier living signed by multiple universities.

This policy disallows any form of an oral smoking device, such as tobacco products, cannabis use and electronic smoking devices. As for smudging, McMaster allows an exemption through request only. In this case, it is meant to protect

McMaster from second-hand smoke. The policy will not be enforced immediately.

“For the first year, anyone found on campus will be given an information card that outlines the new designation and provides details on the supports available. Signs have been installed informing the community of the new tobacco and

“They have created this atmosphere where people who don’t do these things — their needs — are considered more important.”

Sarah Wahab Vice president CUPE 3906

smoke-free campus,” said Gord Arbeau, McMaster’s director of communications.

The policy applies to anyone on McMaster premises. Community members are encouraged to approach those who are smoking and to inform them of the new policy.

“The tobacco and smokefree campus designation is a natural next step that is aligned with [advancing wellbeing]…

Ontario’s hospitals and many municipal parks and outdoor venues are already 100 percent tobacco and smoke-free and McMaster is pleased to take a leadership role,” Arbeau stated.

Sarah Wahab, vice president of CUPE 3906 and PhD candidate in the department of English and Cultural Studies, is not convinced.

Wahab states that the policy targets individuals, particularly those dealing with an addiction, by implying smokers are

unhealthier and that they are unwanted on campus.

Wahab argues that the policy is discriminatory due to the how the policy generates an atmosphere where smokers feel targeted amongst the university population. She also stated that the act of forcing people off campus to smoke makes them more visible, which exposes them to assault.

“They have created this atmosphere where people who don’t do these things — their needs — are considered more important.” Wahab said. She believes that the division this policy has brought onto the community, dividing smokers and non-smokers, is dangerous for it labels a group’s presence as intolerable.

Wahab also argues this unfairly targets medical cannabis users. Wahab said that while the university has suggested other methods of taking cannabis,

smoking is the more effective way of treatment. Wahab believes that the university does not have a right to tell someone when and how to take their medicine.

Wahab also argues that it is discriminatory to require permission to smudge on campus, and that Indigenous communities should be allowed to do so without the blessing of the university.

“I think [non-smokers] should... have some compassion for people who are still working through [quitting] if they’re choosing to. If they’re not, you also have to respect people’s decisions to do what they want with their bodies.” Wahab said.

“If a policy like this goes ahead, I’m just curious to see what other things they can stop us from doing on campus.” @theSilhouette

GRANT HOLT / PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

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NEWS

Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 | www.thesil.ca

Standing up against anti-Semitism The Equity and Inclusion Office and McMaster Hillel are working to protect marginalized groups on campus Cassidy Bereskin News Reporter

On Jan. 25, Judith Dworkin, the director of McMaster Hillel, delivered a presentation to the President’s Advisory Committee on Building an Inclusive Community in Council Chambers of Gilmour Hall.

Dworkin’s presentation came in the wake of the swastikas found in the men’s bathrooms of Burke Science Building last spring. It also followed a wave of anti-Semitic incidents in Hamilton, such as the swastikas drawn on sidewalks and on a rail trail in the city and the hate mail received

by Temple Anshe Sholom in December 2017.

“McMaster Hillel believes that the university should provide resources to students which will help educate the campus community on the topic of anti-Semitism, specifically in areas on how to recognize, where to report and what to do if experienced.”

Michal Coret President McMaster Hillel “[After these events transpired], the Jewish community was in shock,” said Dworkin.

In her presentation, Dworkin outlined a number of definitions of anti-Semitism, traced the origins and history of the swastika. “[The swastika] is particularly traumatizing to the Jewish community and other communities who perished in the Holocaust,” she said.

In addition to increasing awareness, Dworkin’s presenta-

The Temple Anshe Sholom, a synagogue in Westdale, received hate mail in December 2017.

C/O GREG’S SOUTHERN ONTARIO

tion ignited dialogue about how the university and community should tackle anti-Semitism in the future.

“McMaster Hillel believes that the university should provide resources to students which will help educate the campus community on the topic of anti-Semitism, specifically in areas on how to recognize, where to report and what to do if experienced,” said Michal Coret, president of McMaster Hillel.

Following the presentation, PACBIC members discussed how the university should both prevent swastika graffiti from reappearing on campus and address anti-semitism more broadly.

A key recommendation

put forward entailed putting up signs in washrooms on campus, which would serve to both highlight that swastika graffiti is prohibited and give students direction in the event that they come across it.

PACBIC members also expressed interest in adding facts about marginalized groups to these signs, which would be part of a larger effort to increase intersectional education within the McMaster community.

Chukky Ibe, McMaster Students Union president, suggested that university courses be created to educate students about the histories of oppressed groups.

“We need to talk more about anti-Semitism and marginalized communities and use

an academic approach to make an early intervention,” said Ibe. Another proposal consisted of building a resource identifing anti-semitism through the McMaster Equity and Inclusion Office, which would be similar to the Challenging Islamophobia on Campus Initiative Report published in February 2017, which addressed another form of religious discrimination.

“The EIO, the office of the [McMaster president Patrick Deane], McMaster chaplaincy and other faith-based groups, Student Support and Case Management Office and others will continue to provide education and programs in support of an inclusive community,” said Pilar Michaud, director of human rights and dispute resolution at

the EIO. McMaster Hillel aspires to continue to work with the EIO to combat anti-Semitism.

“Our hope is that the Equity and Inclusion Office will help provide university resources on campus and ensure Jewish students are able to access them when necessary,” said Coret.

“We are optimistic that these resources will be available in the near future.”

The university and student groups continue to work together to identify and combat anti-Semitism on campus and in the community. @cassidybereskin

NEWS

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018

How does the MSU vote?

An analysis of the past five MSU presidential election and referenda results Sasha Dhesi News Editor

With every election season comes a discussion about how engaged students are with student politics.This year was the first year in five where less than 40 per cent of the student population voted in the McMaster Students Union presidential election, but not every election season is made equal, and different election seasons saw a varying number of candidates, referenda and contention.

This past MSU presidential election saw one of the lowest voter turnouts in years, with 28 per cent of the student union voting. A total of 6,482 people voted for seven candidates.

There was also one referendum which decided the fate of the Ontario Public Research Group’s funding at the university. Students were given the choice to maintain the current $8.07 fee, lower it to $5.50 or remove the fee completely. Students voted to slightly lower the OPIRG fee.

This past MSU presidential election saw one of the lowest voter turnouts in years, with 28 per cent of the student union voting. A total of 6,482 people voted for seven candidates.

Last year, Chukky Ibe won the presidential election. Roughly 46.1 per cent and 9,327 people voted. There were six candidates and three different referenda.

The first referendum involved the Hamilton Streetcar Railway bus pass. As a part of continuing negotiations between the MSU and the HSR, the HSR pass fee must go to referendum every four years.

There were three options: either maintain current service

levels, increase service levels but pay slightly more or get rid of the fee completely. Students voted to maintain current levels.

The second referendum asked students if they were willing to pay to build Athletics and Recreation Student Activity Building and expand the Pulse gym. There were also three options given in this referendum: no fee, only expand the Pulse or fund both.

This referendum failed but was later brought back in March where it succeeded.

The third referendum asked students if they should task the vice president (Education) with the job of creating a course syllabus repository. This referendum passed and did not have any official pro or con stances.

In 2016, Justin Monaco-Barnes won in a five candidate election. 44.5 per cent of the student union voted, with 9,478 people participating. That year, there was one constitutional referendum that asked students if MSU vice presidents should be elected at large rather than internally by the Student Representative Assembly. This referendum failed.

In 2015, Ehima Osazuwa won in another five candidate election. 42.2 per cent of the MSU voted with 8,858 students participating. There were two referenda that year, both of which passed.

The first involved changing the MSU health plan to cover include prescription contraception and the second involved approving a myriad of changes to the MSU constitution. These constitutional changes included changing some aspects of the SRA, re-formatted the president’s role and allowed the SRA to make bylaw changes if SRA members are not present.

In 2014, Teddy Saull also won against four other candidates. In this election, 40.5 per cent of the MSU voted with 8,364 people participating.

There were two referenda in 2014, one involving the HSR and the other involving the health insurance plan.

Students voted to increase the HSR pass fee by $12.50 to

Before 2014, the last time voter turnout was over 40 per cent was in 1991 with 4,825 people participating, according to a 2014 report from the McMaster Alumni Association. create a 12-month pass and extended service. Students voted to maintain the health plan and not add anything to it.

2013 was the last time less than 40 per cent of the student union voted in the presidential election. David Campbell won that year against four candidates in an election with 29.3 per cent of the MSU voting. 5,792 people voted in this election.

There were two referenda that year; one added a student levy of $0.90 to give to McMaster Marching Band, and the other lowered the CFMU 93.3 fee to $12.50 from $17.29.

Before 2014, the last time voter turnout was over 40 per cent was in 1991 with 4,825 people participating, according to a 2014 report from the McMaster Alumni Association.

While the MSU welcomes its next president-elect, the union will continue to grapple with its lowest voter turnout since 2011.

@SashaDhesi

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PRESIDENT’S PAGE

February 1, 2018 | thesil.ca

Sexual & Gender-Based Violence Prevention, and Mental Health & Wellness. Intuitively, these themes make sense, because we should always be focusing on how students are interacting with the environment we created for them. However, it is important to constantly ask questions in order to progress and evolve. Are we considering the social and cultural environment we place students in and how PREETHI it may contribute to improved learning skills and academic ANBALAGAN success? Are we designing an Vice President (Administration) introduction to university in such a way that considers mulvpadmin@msu.mcmaster.ca tiple perspectives?

905.525.9140 x23250 We investigated how our current themes could become While the planning and prepa- more inclusive, by adopting a ration for Welcome Week is participatory, human-centered conducted primarily over the process of planning. This year, summer months, the process of three committees comprised of collecting feedback, evaluating student leaders, campus stakeimpact, and making the necessary changes is continuous.

Welcome Week lays the foundation to the student experience at McMaster, as an opportunity to become familiar with a new community. Strategic themes help shape how Welcome Week is designed, acting as pillars that consider how we support first year students in the current academic system. As the variety of programming throughout Welcome Week suggests, it is important to think about solutions that are concerned with the unique experiences and needs of particular students.

The three strategic themes of Welcome Week have historically been Responsible Drinking,

holders, and off-campus partners carefully examined our themes.

Specifically, the committee wanted to explore how the themes can alter perspectives on substance use, highlight healthy and positive relationships, and better address mental health support and campus outcomes.

Student voices are critical to the design of Welcome Week programming, operations, and messaging After widespread student consultation, Welcome Week 2018 will include a new strategic theme, Community Engagement, in addition to the previously listed three. This theme will uniquely address how students are integral members of the Hamilton community. I am excited to

think about the meaningful connections between students and the city as a result of this new Welcome Week approach.

Student voices are critical to the design of Welcome Week programming, operations, and messaging. Listening to stakeholders ensures that planners avoid making assumptions as to what students want, need or like.

We are continuously looking at ways to create dialogue that meaningfully engages a range of partners and students – not just the ones whose voices are heard most often. That is why focus groups and committees that draw on different perspectives are fundamental to ensuring the success of strategic themes, and Welcome Week as a whole.

As planning continues for next September, I look forward to watching the ideas from student consultation morph into reality.

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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.

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018

EDITORIAL

| 9

Editorial The failure to engage students this election A massive drop-off in voting is worrisome for municipal affairs, but it is not surprising Shane Madill Editor-in-Chief

This is the first time since 2013 that less than 40 per cent of students voted in the McMaster Students Union presidential election. The number dropped almost 12 per cent from last year, and represents almost 3,000 students.

There are about nine months until the Hamilton municipal election. If you cannot get students to vote for their own union’s president, how do you ever expect to will them into voting in a municipal election that has less direct influence on them?

Time and time again, student needs are passed over by the city and the complaints pile up. The addition of bylaw officers as a knee-jerk response to Homecoming, the fines students have paid because of these officers, the lack of consultation with students on issues affecting them, the continued struggles with the HSR or the attempted

shift in ward boundaries that would have split the student vote and diminished the effect of the $1.5 million Area Rating Reserve Fund for students all add up.

Most of these have been within the last few months. Ask yourself what you really expect to find if you look back at the city’s decisions since 2014. Why would the city cater to a population that does not vote for them?

Efforts after this immense drop in voter turnout need to start immediately. Communication has been a constant problem for the entire year as little improvement has been made since the Sept. 28, 2017 editorial, which stated as the kicker, “While the focus is on big projects, students need more updates on more things”. These results prove it.

All of the debates, the campaigning and the promises of each candidate were meaningless to a population that is apathetic or unaware of what the union does. It is a lot to ask a

student who believes that barely anything has improved to listen to promises for the future.

That editorial also mentions, “The fortunate part for this paper is that many of our news articles, no matter how big or small, are breaking stories,” which still remains completely absurd. Despite the constant criticism in nearly every single issue against them or against issues on campus that still have yet to be fixed, the Silhouette has likely printed more positive news about the union than they have provided themselves. It is ridiculous.

The union needs to act immediately and not wait for Ikram Farah, the president-elect, to step in and save everything.

Any union that fails to engage the people who pay for it is a failure, and losing the dedication of about 3,000 of them to apathy in a single year is a crisis.

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The Silhouette is hiring for next year’s Editor-in-Chief!

All of this could be yours.

If you have a passion for journalism, writing, media, design, coffee and good times, this job could be for you!

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for overseeing the entire Silhouette media operation, including the weekly print product, the website and all multimedia projects.

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The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for coordinating and creating the newspaper each week during the school year. This includes making pages on InDesign, helping with layout, writing an editorial and deciding where ads should go.

As Editor-in-Chief, you are responsible for paying bills, preparing purchase orders and creating the budget for the following school year.

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You should be comfortable with emerging forms of media and have a vision for the Sil’s future.

The Silhouette currently has 18 paid part-time staff members and one other full-time staff member who is split with CFMU. As Editor-in-Chief, you are responsible for leading this group through training and mentorship.

For more information, visit msumcmaster.ca/jobs!

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HUMANS

Kyle West Photo Reporter

Hi, could you please introduce yourself?

My name is Kamini and I am in my fourth year of communication studies at McMaster.

What made you get involved in the community here at McMaster?

When I first came to McMaster I was inspired to find my own community within this big community. After Welcome Week it was a rush of this sense of belonging. After that I was thinking that I need to find and even smaller community within the bigger community and that is what made me want to engage more with my culture, my background and student leadership and women in leadership. That is kind of what motivated me.

What do you think you’ve done to make change here at McMaster and how did that lead you to deserve to me nominated for the Young Women of Distinction award?

I was definitely not thinking

Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 | www.thesil.ca

about it, it was at the back of my head the entire time. It was an alumna from the McMaster Association of West-Indian Students, the group that I am very much a part of, she reached out to me and told me that this award was happening and it was something she was very closely tied with. She then recommended that I give it a look and look to be nominated. I didn’t even know how to go about approaching that. She went through with the nomination and really pushed me. I guess I don’t self reflect a lot anymore, even though it is something that is taught a lot in the humanities now, I look back and I guess that I have made contributions to my community culturally especially at McMaster. I am glad to see young women and especially young women of Caribbean and West-Indian decent grow. Just looking back at that I would never say that I deserve something but I’m happy that it is being recognized.

How do you feel about being nominated?

I am extremely humbled, I am not good with drawing a lot of attention to myself but even just to be up there, especially in a

category where there were not a lot of people our age. When I was reading the nomination package I saw the young women leaders and the arts, media and culture category and I thought I fit the media side more. Not knowing that it was for media industry people and when I read the description I had done a lot in media, arts and culture at McMaster. So, why not?

What changes have you seen since you started here at McMaster?

Definitely a change in our political system. A change in people’s willingness to listen to administration. I work for the student union. I’m McMaster Students Union’s vice president (Internal Governance) and I work with policy and by-laws and people’s interest has just declined. It’s unfortunate but it is a testament to how interesting and showy we are making it. It is a battle between how entertaining we are making it versus being true to a policy. Are we watching a debate to see people fight or are we watching to actually hear useful information and listen to actual debate? That is the biggest thing I’ve seen change, people’s interests have changed

so much. I think what I was able to do was really bring a different perspective and burst a bubble.

And sort of bring people from different cultural communities and into the McMaster political realm.

What change would you like to see in the future?

I’d love to see change to the way in which the student union engages with students and the way that candidates, especially the way that McMaster Students Union presidential candidates engage with students. There are a lot of fine lines where you don’t want to come off as how can you campaign if you don’t know what people want and how are you going to know what people want if you can’t do any work before the campaign. It’s a lot about student consultation with the right intention and I think that aspect of genuine consultation and genuine care for leadership and I’m not just tapping you on the shoulder to do X or Y position so you can eventually be on my board of directors. That genuine care for student leadership is

the biggest thing that I would like to see changed. Definitely need to have more fresh perspectives, more upper year fresh perspectives. There are a lot of first years who get involved and then stay involved throughout their career here at McMaster.

So, if we could get more upper year students who haven’t been involved and could bring their fresh perspectives along with their experiences we would be going in the right direction.

“When I first came to McMaster I was so inspired to find my own community within this big community. After Welcome Week it was a rush of this sense of belonging.”

Kamini Persaud Communications IV

facebook.com/HumansOfMcMaster

Kamini Persaud Communications IV

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018

The Silhouette

| 11

Opinion Not enough dough Balancing a student budget with rising food prices on campus Jordan Graber Contributor

Nutrition and finances are a few of the concerns at the forefront of many university students’ minds as they go through their years in post secondary. Staying healthy while juggling a heavy schedule of obligations and responsibilities is a difficult task on its own, let alone having to stress over your food finances.

At McMaster, the food options and venues do not live up to the prices.

Despite the variety of small restaurants, there is little diversity in the options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are a few different types of cuisine, and if one doesn’t enjoy a certain type or needs to meet certain dietary restrictions, it cuts the choices significantly.

In addition, the menus don’t change to meet these needs, though the charges do. This makes things difficult for the picky eaters of the world, along with those who live with dietary restrictions or different eating habits.

I often feel that I’m stuck eating the same things repeatedly, and healthy snacks and meals are somewhat lacking, in that there don’t seem to be a large variety of options for affordable options. Prices have risen substantially over the years in the on-campus restaurants such as East Meets West Bistro. These combinations make options extremely limited and add extra stress for students who have financial concerns.

For students who have meal plans and rely on campus food for their meals, the options need to be better assessed to cater to diverse needs. With the high demand for quality dishes, rising prices of food, profit, facilities and labour, meal prices rise almost each year. This leaves post-secondary students paying anywhere from $9 to $20 or

more for meals at university, while the average person living at home would pay much less than that.

With cost concerns like books, tuition and rent, it is unfortunate that something that is so vital to our health costs so much on campus. As I mentioned earlier, this issue causes a lot of stress to students who are struggling with the financial burdens of post-secondary education, and often more so to those who are just starting out in university, or those who are living off campus.

For students who are working to pay for school, it shouldn’t be an issue to think about whether they can afford a meal.

This can lead to both physical and mental strains that are ultimately too much for students to bear.

Thankfully, McMaster Students Union presidential election brought forth a leader looking to help students out with their food finances. Ikram Farah, our MSU president-elect, intends to save students money by making all food supplied by McMaster Hospitality Services tax-free every Tuesday. Farah also plans to work with Bridges to bring healthier options to the other restaurants around campus.

These projects are not enough to offset the rising prices of food, but it would be a step towards change. Accessing food shouldn’t be as stressful as covering tuition fees or other costs, and choices should be made to counteract the unfair prices at Mac.

@theSilhouette

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McMaster Students Union’s

EVENTS CALENDAR Teaching Awards

SHEC Week

MSU Awards

Where: msumcmaster.ca/TAC

WHAT IF...?

Students are encouraged to nominate any individual or groups who have made meaningful contributions to McMaster University for an award. To access nomination forms and relevant qualifications visit” msumcmaster.ca/governance/awards. All completed nomination packages must be sent as a PDF to awards@msu.mcmaster.ca by noon on February 2. The awards will be presented during the annual Student Recognition Night on March 14.

Call for Nominations January 21 to February 2

Nominations for the Teaching Awards for the winter 2018 term are now open, and will close February 2, 2018. Nominations can also be made online by visiting msumcmaster.ca/TAC. Students can nominate their favourite professor or Teaching Assistant (TA), pick up a sweet treat, and learn more about Teaching Awards at Macademics’ table in MUSC from 9:30AM - 4:30PM from Monday, January 29 to Friday, February 2.

Stay Connected:

January 29 to February 2 Friday, January 26, 2018 Throughout SHEC week, January 29 – February 2, the Student Health Education Centre will ask WHAT IF...? The campaign follows a diverse series of health questions relating to many aspects of student wellness including sexual health, institutional policies, healthy eating, and mental health. The SHEC team has selected topics from each of its four strategic priorities, as well as its mandate as a peer-support service. The topics and themes explored, as well as the materials created by the research and advocacy committee of SHEC for the WHAT IF? Campaign are designer be a starting point for discussion and generate an interest in further research.

/MSUMcMaster

Call for Nominations Closing February 2 at Noon

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

@MSU_McMaster

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OPINION

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018

| 13

Student politics and the real world Student politics is beneficial for life outside of McMaster Razan Abujarad Contributor

As the presidential campaign season has come to an end and students have elected their new MSU president, here are a few points on why I think that student politics are preparing us for the real stuff.

While many students (including myself) are not thrilled about the fact that the MSU president is getting paid for a whole year out of the pockets of students, I believe that there is a justifiable reason.

From an outward perspective, a few analogies can be made between student politics and actual politics.

The very framework within the MSU functions is a democracy, in which, the president is elected by the people for the people by a majority vote. If none of the candidates have the majority vote, multiple rounds of elimination based on the number of votes take place until there are two candidates left standing.

The reason students vote for a certain candidate over another is decided based on the promises that the candidate in their campaign platforms made during the campaign period.

Although there are no political parties in student politics, students compare the candidates based on their presidential platforms and vote according to the candidate they agree most with.

Similarly, citizens and residents vote for a candidate based on their political experience and policies in government elections.

The very framework within the MSU functions is a democracy, in which, the president is elected by the people for the people by a majority vote.

When a candidate is elected to become a representative for the student body, we, the constituents as the students and

THE SILHOUETTE PHOTO ARCHIVES

a part of the student union are contributing to the president’s salary and should recognize that as reason to vote.

This is comparable to the fact that as Canadian citizens or residents, we elect a prime minister and through payment of taxes, the prime minister can earn a salary in return for his service to the country.

In addition, the campaign team at university is the equivalent of the campaign team during federal elections.

The most valuable aspect of these elections is that student elections give us the opportunity to exercise our right to vote.

Many first years are not yet 18 and are therefore inexperienced and not eligible to vote in provincial and federal elections.

The fact that students do not practice their right to vote brings an overwhelming disappointment. Getting involved in the MSU presidential election this year has opened my eyes to the bigger picture. People have been fighting for their right

to make decisions about who governs the population and the fact students are neglecting it is deeply saddening.

Voter turnout for the 2017 MSU Presidential election was 41.6 per cent, as well as a 7.3 per cent abstinence abstention rate.

These numbers imply that many students chose to not vote in any form, even simply to abstain.

Some may argue that having the right to vote includes having the right to abstain from voting, while this is true but would imply that one simply uninterested about whom they are governed by which eventually may prove to be problematic.

In Jason Brennan’s book, The Ethics of Voting, he states, “Voting changes the quality, scope and kind of government.

The way we vote can help or harm people. Electoral outcomes can be harmful or beneficial, just or unjust.”

Simply put, whether a voting member decides to vote or abstain, they will become directly responsible for the resulting

decision that will be made.

Each vote counts because each vote represents a voice in the matter which can recursively add up to create a bigger impact than anticipated.

For those who cannot find the incentive to vote, you must take into consideration what would happen if the majority of members did not vote and what the consequences would be.

On the scale of student politics, an example of the consequences could be inflation of meal prices instead of the reduction that was promised by a candidate who you didn’t vote for.

As members of an organization such the McMaster Students Union, we have a responsibility to ensure to voice our opinion on important matters such as who governs us as well as the referendas that are taken. Most likely the referendas will have a direct impact on our tuition fees which we must consider carefully.

Remember, a candidate will

represent you whether you are voting for a student body president, the next mayor in city hall or the prime minister of Canada, the candidate will represent us as a union.

So vote when you have the chance, vote for the candidate you agree with, vote for the platform you approve of the most, because a vote is much more powerful than we take it to be.

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OPINION

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018

| 15

One step forward, two steps back for the environment Bottled water is back from ban at the Union Market and our ecological footprint is in question Saad Ejaz Contributor

Last year, the McMaster Students Union ran a lengthy campaign to promote sustainable practices at McMaster University.

The campaign focused on implementing environmentally friendly solutions such as improving McMaster’s community garden, the benefits of utilizing solar as a form of energy and reducing waste.

During the Winter 2017 term, then MSU president Justin Monaco-Barnes and his team worked with the Union Market to reduce single-use plastic water bottle waste by eliminating the product entirely from the store and replacing it with boxed water packages, which are more sustainable in packaging and transportation.

However, bottled waters are back in full swing at the Union Market after though there was a significant amount of time and resources spent last year to implement the ban of bottled water.

As a large university, our campus has a great impact on the environment. Plastic water bottles are one of the largest contributors to McMaster’s carbon footprint, and by implementing a ban on these products, we were showing our support and care to an important cause.

Now, the Union Market may defend their actions by stating it was costing too much money, or that Boxed Water was too expensive (compared to some water bottle options).

Whatever the defence is, it is likely that it had a financial foundation.

The reality is that, if making sustainable choices were cheap and easy, then this world wouldn’t have much of a problem making the needed transition.

When the decision was made last year, it was followed up by a plan to compensate for a drop in water sales. For example, prices were slightly raised on popular items to recover lost profits while still being priced cheaper than anywhere else on campus. Now that plastic water bottles are back on the shelves,

and there is no need for that cost recovery, did the increased prices of those products go down, or did they remain the same, forcing students to pay more for no definitive reason?

It is important to understand that any grass roots product made with materials that are helpful to environment will come with a premium cost attached to it.

This is why it can be so difficult to implement a positive and more sustainable approach in today’s world.

While boxed water is not the best alternative to plastic bottled water on campus, it is only one step towards creating a more environmentally friendly campus.

By selling plastic water bottles, the MSU has not only undone the work that was put into this project, but also undone the work that’s accompanied with this multi-staged project. With the Union Market going back on this effort, what are they doing in lieu of this project to address McMaster’s carbon footprint via plastic water bottles?

Currently, we need to be thinking about the environment more than ever and to see a backwards step is truly both sad and disappointing.

The MSU is in a unique position to make real, tangible change due to the fact that they are a non-profit organization with multiple profit generating business units making up for any financial shortcomings they may run into.

Real change comes from making hard, sometimes uncomfortable decisions in order

However, bottled waters are back in full swing at the Union Market after despite thethere was a significant amount of time and resources spent last year to implement the ban of bottled water.

THE SILHOUETTE PHOTO ARCHIVES

to serve the greater good of today, while keeping in mind those of tomorrow.

True leadership also means being creative with solutions that best serve society, while being able to rationalize to those who may disagree at the time.

How much devastation do we need to see in the world be-

fore we are okay with the idea of making a sacrifice to best serve those who are affected the most?

This program was created with a motivation to take a principled stance on a moral issue that needs us to act, now.

To see the program revert back so quickly due to narrow-minded leadership truly

reminds me of just how much work there is still to be done on all levels, including from the people at the top who claim to care.

@theSilhouette

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The Silhouette | 17

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018

Arts & Culture Things are looking up

Montreal’s Look Vibrant share their school day origins and details about their full-length album

C/O RIFFYOU.COM ABOVE: Justin Lazarus (left) and Matthew Murphy (right).

BOTTOM RIGHT: The Up Here Place album artwork.

Vanessa Polojac Contributor

A shared love for noise rock, plenty of practice room jam sessions and a journey across Europe helped forged the decade-long friendship behind Look Vibrant.

The Montreal-based noise/ art-pop band’s futuristic sounds and high-energy performances will be featured again on their upcoming studio album.

Look Vibrant will be dropping their well-awaited debut full- length album The Up Here Place, set to release on March 15.

Look Vibrant is composed of Justin Lazarus (keyboard/ synthesizer & vocals), Matthew Murphy (guitar & vocals), Eli Kaufman (drums) and Alex Rand (bass & backing vocals).

Both Lazarus and Murphy knew from an early age that music was something that they were bound to pursue.

Their friendship began over a decade ago while they were both attending the Etobicoke School of the Arts.

“We were always jamming out in the practice room,” said Lazarus.

“A lot of the bands that

influence us now have come from those jam sessions. We both liked noise music and bands that many other kids [did not listen to], bands like Black Dice.”

Then when the two graduated from high school, the best friends decided not to go onto post-secondary school right away. They travelled across the world and showcased their musical abilities.

They backpacked across Europe to gain a worldly perspective and inspiration while busking to survive.

This is when Lazarus and Murphy began the musical endeavour of Look Vibrant.

“The band name sparked up from a mistranslation,” said Lazarus.

“While we were in a record store in Italy, someone was trying to introduce us to Luke Vibert (a British electronic recording artist) but we understood the name as Look Vibrant because of his accent,” said Lazarus.

The following summer, the two packed up and moved from Toronto to Montreal to record their first demo under the name Look Vibrant.This name also sparked an idea for the two

close friends.

Coming from a background in all forms of art, they knew that the visuals would correspond with their band name.

Look Vibrant has been heavily involved with the image of their band.For the past five years, the band has been collaborating with Montreal based artist, Max Taeuschel.

His work has been featured in Pitchfork, POP Montreal, Art Matters and many other Canadian art publications.

“The name of our band lent itself to our aesthetic. … We grew up with Max and he has been with the band forever. He is really the mastermind behind all of the bright colours in our music videos, live shows and band art.” said Lazarus.

Much like Hamilton, Montreal is a city that takes pride in their music scene and focuses on promoting their artists.

Lazarus and Murphy were both drawn to Montreal because their alternative-rock idols hailed from the city.

In 2013, they met Rand, who is also a native to Toronto and Kaufman in Montreal to complete the rest of Look Vibrant.

Although forming and emerging out of the Montreal music scene, Lazarus found there to be a distinct difference between his own band and the rest of the city’s music scene. But over time, they have become a staple indie act in the city.

“At the time we started out there was a lot of jangly guitar rock music that had come from Calgary and heavy electronic music that was becoming very famous in [Montreal],” explained Lazarus.

“We did not fit into those categories, so we felt [distant] to what was evolving musically in the city.”

Look Vibrant is a unique band because their music does not seem to fit into any specific genre.

At the beginning, Lazarus and Murphy were heavily influenced by the noise music genre that directly inspired their debut singles “Plateau” and “Stranger Kind”. Now, the band is looking to evolve and progress past the acts that initially inspired their first jam sessions.

“During the past few years, Matt went back to school.

He polished our sound for our

current album although we kept some of the low-fi noise elements,” said Lazarus.

With the release of their debut album, Look Vibrant has moved away from this genre of music to a more electro-acoustic sound.

For the rest of 2018, the band will be heading across Southern Ontario to embark on a headlining tour promoting their debut album.

They have also have begun working on their follow-up album and are hoping to release new music shortly after the debut of The Up Here Place. @theSilhouette

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A&C

Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 | www.thesil.ca

Pencilling it in: Bullet Journalling 101 Is the trendy personal planner right for you?

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February

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To do

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Jackie McNeil Contributor

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Cry Catch up on the semester’s work Do the laundry Buy groceries Feed the secret dogs in the office DESIGN A NEW BULLET JOURNAL PAGE

I’m a student who prides myself on my organization skills, so when I first heard of bullet journalling I couldn’t tear myself away from the many videos, blogs, and Pintrest boards devoted to it.

Bullet journalling was created by a New York-based digital product designer to serve as a “customizable and forgiving organization system,” according to its website. Branded “the analog system for the digital age,” the original bullet journal uses specific symbols to keep track of tasks completed, migrated and scheduled as well as events, notes and much more.

I used this method for about a week before I found it to be ridiculously overwhelming. If you’re a naturally organized person and think that you can keep track of the many different symbols, lists, and indexes the bullet journal suggests you use, it certainly doesn’t hurt to give their system a try.

For most of us it’s much easier to choose a few specific aspects to focus on. I simplified it to two basic symbols to signify tasks to be done, and miscellaneous notes that accompany them.

The bullet journal creators also suggest a log-style overview of your year, then individual months, and finally weekly layouts to function as your planner.

My friend and bullet journal novice Larissa Oke, had never heard of the original bullet journal. She based her layouts only on the content created by her friends or examples found on Pintrest. She found that you don’t need to stick to the original bullet journal’s structure to successfully use it; one of the best aspects of a bullet journal is the ability to make it entirely your own. This is how some of the most fun page layouts have been created, from mood trackers to a designated space for doodling.

“Bullet journalling is a way for me to combine the

sketchbook I’d started with my personal journal and an organization system that improves on my old planner that I was tired of,” explained Oke. She began her bullet journal late last year after seeing after encouragement from a roommate who had fallen in love with her own journal.

Now she enjoys devoting time at the start of each week to plan out a balanced social life with schoolwork, as well as relieving stress with the less structured pages for sketching or tic-tac-toe.

Although it may seem trivial, the aesthetically pleasing aspect of bullet journalling relies almost entirely on your own abilities to write neatly and find artistic ways to decorate pages.

I may not have illegible handwriting, but it’s also not something I enjoy looking at. Despite trying to find creative new ways to print or handwrite, all I see reflected in the journal are my own shabby printing skills.

It’s easy to get intimidated by the countless examples of

A&C

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018

monday midterm 3:30pm tuesday study for friday midterm wednesday lie on the floor and scream thursday study for friday midterm friday midterm 11:30 - Visit a local liquor store saturday try to apply for jobs - try to study sunday sleep all day gorgeous writing and perfectly centered titles found online, but if you can learn to accept the hard work you put into your journal, it could be worthwhile to try out a fun new style of planning.

Your bullet journal can be decorated using all kinds of artsy doodles or stickers, and it almost always ends up looking great. However, you need to decide if it’s worth the time it takes to completely design your own planner, sketchbook and journal. One basic weekly layout took me almost a half an hour to complete, without adding any colours or drawings.

A popular method is to create your layout over a weekend or a school break from the day you’re making it all the way until the next foreseeable break you’ll have, whether that’s the next weekend or the February reading week. It’s important to find a time frame that works best for you, because if you don’t have enough weeks in your journal, you might be frustrated with the lack of foresight in your

schedule.

But if you make too many weeks at once, the monotony may make the bullet journalling process overwhelming and boring.

The bullet journal has not made a successful convert out of me, but that’s not to say that it doesn’t work for everyone.

If you’re looking for a planner and a planner only, I would steer clear. There are a variety of reasonably priced planners out there that are likely to have a structure that covers all your bases.

If, however, you think you could benefit from the creativity it allows, give bullet journaling a try. It may not be meant for everyone, but bullet journals have the flexibility to become the perfect planner made just for you, by you.

@theSilhouette

“

Despite trying to find creative new ways to print or handwrite, all I see reflected in the journal are my own shabby printing skills.

“

Bullet journaling is a way for me to combine the sketchbook I’d started with my personal journal and an organization system that improves on my old planner that I was tired of.

Larissa Oke Bullet Journal Novice

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A&C

Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 | www.thesil.ca

Sound art is making waves An inside look at HAVN’s Sonic Art Series

The Hamilton Audio/Visual Node, better known as HAVN, recently unveiled a four-month long series of exhibitions, workshops and performances that aim to explore contemporary sound art.

Over a dozen artists will be exhibiting a diverse spectrum of art and sound at the Barton Street studio and gallery space for the Sonic Art Series. The series is one of HAVN’s biggest projects and is proudly supported by the Ontario Arts Council and Factory Media Centre.

Here’s an exclusive look at the first four exhibitions of the Sonic Art Series.

Razan Samara A&C Reporter

February 1st - 14th Ramsha Shakeel: Sculpting Time Shakeel is a Toronto-based experimental musician and multimedia artist. The OCAD University student has performed solo and collaborative shows in her home-town, as well as Karachi, Pakistan and at the Torstraßen Festival, a music and arts festival in Berlin, Germany.

Sculpting Time is an exploration of the concept of time beyond our naturally linear perception of it. Unlike space, it is difficult to conceive time as a concept that can be designed and navigated. Shakeel intends to allow the audience to take time into their hands by using sandglass clocks. Sculpting Time evokes a sense of control over time as each individual interacts with the sand and subsequent sonic responses.

C/O HAVNODE.COM/SAS

February 9th - 28th Meredith Jay: Sacred Space

March 9th- 28th Derek Jenkins: The E6 Process

Jay is a Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate from Concordia University, multidisciplinary artist, creative director and graphic designer. Her work revolves around questioning human behaviour and collective memory through digital and physical sculptural installations.

In Sacred Space, Jay explores belonging and the transience of home and loss of home through a multimedia installation. Physical structural bodies and floating holographic images are contained within healing structures that represent a place of a refuge. Sacred Space depicts that belonging can be found within one’s self.

Jenkins is a Hamilton-based multidisciplinary artist who is currently working at the Niagara Custom Lab, a motion picture film laboratory. He has a fond interest for handmade culture, writing, documentary practice and personal film making.

The E6 Process commemorates the chromogenic process for developing color reversal film through audio recordings.

On the brink of extinction of color reversal motion picture stock, the E6 Process is a unique way of keeping the story of a precarious ritual and all its hidden labour alive.

Josh Baptista: Dampening Baptista is a Toronto-based creative developer, multimedia and interaction artist. Baptista’s artwork focuses on incorporating physical and digital realms. He is passionate about interactive sound and is currently challenging the ways mediums are used to interact with sound.

His installation is an experiment that explore the impact of dampening and absorption of a material on a sonic waveform.

Participants will be able to make sounds with water, as the water controls an analog synthesizer capable of producing sounds electronically.

Adam Basanta: A Line Listening to Itself March 9th - 25th Eccinaccea: beachballcoral@clone.zone (two of three from Incubation Cove series) Eccinaccea is a Montreal-based artist. They produce multimedia installations, music, poetry and collages. Their work focuses on embracing the poetic and sensual potential of technology, such as the C# programming language and modal synthesis units, by transforming and incorporating them into audio and visual installations.

Beachballcoral@clone.zone (two of three from Incubation Cove series) is an ambient installation that incorporates Eccinaccea’s video and audio work. The installation is experienced in a virtual space through a Virtual Reality headset. Through the installation, Eccinaccea aims to explore and question the future of technologies like artificial intelligence, and how it interacts with the world if it becomes sentient and self-reproducing.

Basanta is a Montreal-based sound artist who aims to draw awareness to the undiscovered and overlooked aspects of the listening experience. His work utilizes a diverse range of media to create three-dimensional simulations to explore conceptual, sensorial, psychological, bodily and mechanical dimensions of the listening experience.

A Line Listening to Itself is a sound sculpture consisting of a single microphone tilted towards an extended line of seven reclaimed speaker cones. Basanta incorporated computer-controlled feedback networks, which allow the microphone to pick up its own amplification from each speaker, generating a seven note rhythm of sonic ebb and flow.

For a full schedule of events and gallery hours, visit havnode. com/SAS. @theSilhouette

A&C

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018

Culinary Class Act

Lulu’s Shawarma

You need to try one of Hamilton’s most beloved shawarma and pita wrap restaurants

C/O RAZAN SAMARA

Razan Samara A&C Reporter

What is it?

Many Hamiltonians swear by Lulu’s Shawarma.

As an avid lover of the popular Middle Eastern sandwich, I make a point of trying it in every city I visit. After I heard about Lulu’s I had to give the mom-and-pop restaurant a try.

I visited Lulu’s for the first time on a Friday night. The small restaurant was packed with a line up of hungry people waiting for their chicken shawarmas and falafel pitas. The smell of fresh grilled chicken wafted through the warm shop.

I watched on as Tammy Barnes recited orders to her husband, Rizgar Rada, as he stood over juicy and tender chicken shavings.

They seamlessly worked on dozens of orders together, a technique they’ve perfected the past 10 years.

Few people stayed to eat in the cafeteria-style cluster seating surrounded by lilac walls,

which were decorated in View Readers’ Choice award placards.

Most visitors, like myself, grabbed their food to go before retreating back into the busy downtown core or in my case, the Silhouette’s basement office.

I indulged in a loaded chicken shawarma, while my co-worker ate away at the chicken and rice combo.

The food was packed with the familiar flavour of shawarma that I love and we found ourselves surprisingly satiated half-way through our meals.

How to get there from campus: Take the 1 or 5 bus from Sterling at University to Main at MacNab. Head east on Main Street towards John Street and turn left onto John Street for a quick five-minute walk.

You’ll find the distinctive orange brick building with a purple Lulu’s Shawarma banner at 32 John Street North, on the corner of King William.

Price range: A chicken shawarma in a pita sandwich or on a bed of rice with a pita on the side are $7.08.

For $3 you can upsize the chicken and rice to a large, while also getting a salad and extra pita bread.

For $5.31 you can get a falafel pita, or you can go for a bigger meal that includes rice, salad and pita for $9.73.

Chicken shawarma and falafel salads also go for a little over $7.

Lulu’s has eight side orders that fall under $5, ranging from onion rings, French fries and fattoush salad, a Middle Eastern mixed vegetable salad with fried pieces of pita bread.

What to get: The chicken shawarma is the showstopper here.

The loaded pita comes with chicken, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, tahini and hot sauce.

It’s both savoury and filling.

If you are looking for a dinner-like meal, go for the falafel

or chicken shawarma platter with rice, garden salad and pita bread.

You can save $2 if you want to opt out of the garden salad and bread, just order the extra chicken side and side rice for $4.42 each.

Why it’s great: Lulu’s Shawarma reminds me of my parents’ take on the shawarma dish since it’s both homey and comforting.

The chicken is fresh and flavourful and the sauces are mild enough as to not take away from the well-seasoned chicken.

The rice is soft and pigmented thanks to the added yellow turmeric, just the way my mother makes it.

Lulu’s Shawarma has a convenient location that’s easy to get to, especially if you are looking to grab a quick, affordable and filling meal. Just make sure to bring cash. @theSilhouette

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GAMES

Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 | www.thesil.ca Puzzle 1 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.47)

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Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Thu Feb 1 02:10:03 2018 GMT. Enjoy!

Puzzle 2 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.47)

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32. Miscellanies 33. Up and about 36. Musical notes 39. Med. school subj.

40. State flower of Indiana 41. Bern’s river 42. Dorm overseers, for short 43. Apportion 44. Tony’s cousins 45. ____ de Cologne 46. Sudden inclination to act 48. Spatter 51. Lion, tiger, leopard or jaguar 52. Stimulus that causes strain

54. Cedes 59. ____ the Red 60. Diva’s delivery 62. Emulate “Old Blue Eyes” 63. Pub quantity 64. Big party 65. Tree-lined walk 66. Uses a shuttle 67. Congers 68. Flat contract

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Puzzle 3 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.52)

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7 25. Madame de ____ 27. Fly 28. Radius neighbour 29. Long and Peeples 30. Rummy 34. Seek the affection of 35. Bit of tomfoolery 36. Flunk 37. Greek war god 38. Zaire’s Mobutu ____ 40. Surplus amount 41. Aladdin’s monkey 43. Small batteries 44. Kind of glass 45. Sends to Washington

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Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Thu Feb 1 02:10:03 2018 GMT. Enjoy!

Down 1. Literary collections 2. Remitted 3. Salver 4. Irritate 5. Bony 6. Rocky hill 7. Curriculum section 8. Gaze intently 9. Asian mink 10. Powerful cat 11. Putting to work 12. Mother of Perseus 13. Aussie gemstone 21. Travel on snow 23. Scottish hillside

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Across 1. The Jetsons’ dog 6. Protruding tooth 10. Martial art 14. Peter and Franco 15. I’m ____ you!

16. Pronto!

17. Diarist Nin 18. 100 dinars 19. Actress Gershon 20. Fashions 22. Court of justice 24. Gives the go-ahead 26. Infuriate 27. Warm weather garment 31. Mediterranean isl.

2

47. Kentucky Derby month 48. Ridge 49. Computer command 50. Greek goddesses of the seasons 52. Calendar abbr.

53. Small brook 55. Creator of Perry and Della 56. “Damn Yankees” role 57. Female deer 58. Dagger of yore 61. Small batteries

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Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Thu Feb 1 02:10:03 2018 GMT. Enjoy!

The Silhouette

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018

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Sports Set up for success

In the midst of a successful sophomore season, setter David Doty embraces a larger role this year on a dominant Marauders team Ryan Tse Contributor

Anyone paying attention to the McMaster men’s volleyball team this season knows that they are a bona fide powerhouse.

After losing the first game of the season, the team has rattled off 10 straight wins, the past four being 3-0 straight set victories. They look poised to challenge for a fifth-straight Ontario University Athletics championship.

A big part of the team’s success so far has been the play of second-year setter David Doty.

Despite his relative youth, Doty is one of the top setters in the OUA, averaging 9.6 assists per set, which puts him at third in the province.

What makes Doty’s performance even more impressive is the fact that he only began to play volleyball seriously in Grade 8. Born in Toronto, Doty began playing hockey as his primary sport at three years old. However, after moving to London, Ontario in Grade 6, he eventually switched to volleyball when he was 13.

Doty joined the London Volleyball Club Fire, a then-new local club opened by a friend’s father. From then on, he never looked back, playing for his high school team at Oakridge Secondary School and his club team, before joining the Ma-

rauders last year.

Doty’s transition from hockey to volleyball and his subsequent success on the court shows his athleticism, but also his love and dedication to sport.

“You hear a lot about people switching from hockey to volleyball, but there’s also a lot of people that pick it up later than me that are probably better than me,” Doty said.

“I come from a pretty athletic family and there were always lots of sports involved.

I kind of like learning about a lot of sports. [Volleyball]’s a fun sport to learn about and a fun sport to play.”

When deciding on a university, Doty, a second-year economics student, was drawn to McMaster by the success of their nationally-ranked volleyball program, in addition to its promising academics.

“I checked out the school, I liked what I saw, and the academics fit for me,” said Doty. “Obviously the volleyball program is pretty good, so that was also a good fit for me.

I do not like to lose a lot, so I think I brought the mentality of wanting to help the program be one of the first Ontario schools to win a national title. That was always on my radar — to be part of a program that’s up there on the provincial and national rankings.”

Even though Doty is now the full-time setter for Mac, he often split time between left-side and setter before his time as a Marauder, getting extra reps as a setter for the provincial and youth national teams. However, since coming to McMaster he’s played solely at the setter position.

After an injury opened up playing time, he played in 13 regular season matches out of a possible 17 last year. This year, he’s played in every game so far.

Doty is comfortable at the setter position and likes the role of setting up his teammates.

“As a second year of being

Doty and the Marauders defeated the top five NCAA-ranked Ohio State in October.

C/O ALISTAIR BOULBY

a full-time setter, it has been delayed since I probably have about 10,000 less reps than other people who have been setting for most of their career,” Doty said. “But I’m not that far behind in the sense of how to run an offence. Setting is a lot about messing with the other team and strategizing and all that stuff, so that part is there.”

Being the starting setter on the court for every game is a new challenge for Doty, and one that he doesn’t take for granted.

The caveat of being in a strong program such as the one at Mac is that the internal competition for playing time is always fierce among the Marauders.

“This year’s role is different,” Doty said. “It is more stress on my everyday practice schedule.

I’m still competing with the other guys for a spot. It is never a guarantee to get a starting position, so I have to bring my A game every day.”

Doty has to be vocal on the court when strategizing and running the offence, but he says

“That was always on my radar — to be part of a program that’s up there on the provincial and national rankings.”

David Doty Setter Men’s Volleyball Team he is quieter when he is preparing for games or working out.

“Off the court I’m not as vocal,” said Doty. “As a personality trait, I kind of do my own thing and once I get in the zone, I just try to do my work.”

Outside the realm of volleyball, family and sports are important to Doty as well. He likes to hang out with friends and generally take a stress-free approach to life.

Though the team is playing well, Doty insists that he and the

team are taking it one game at a time, and not looking too far ahead of the challenge directly in front of them.

“With our team, it is day by day, so we are not really focused on winning the OUAs,” Doty explained. “It’s always something we work towards but it is not something we say everyday.

When that time comes, we’ll deal with it, but for now it is just about taking this weekend to get better as a player and a person.

The rest will take care of itself.”

Doty’s solid play has earned him some recognition, as he was recently named one of the two McMaster Pita Pit Athletes of the Week. In just his second season in maroon, Doty is only going to get better as he looks to help continue the tradition of Marauders men’s volleyball excellence. @theSilhouette

24 |

Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 | www.thesil.ca

SPORTS

Attitude reflects leadership Jessica Carmichael Sports Reporter

The McMaster Students Union president-elect Ikram Farah and captain of the Marauders football team Mark Mackie may have a lot of differences, but one thing that brings them together is their shared ability to be a leader.

Farah, a fourth-year Honours Political Science and Labour Studies student pinpoints her first real position of leadership as when she served as the social sciences caucus leader on the Student Representative Assembly in 2016-2017.

Being elected as caucus leader was validation for Farah that people believed in her.

Being chosen for simply being herself made her realize that she had it in her to run for MSU president.

Defensive end and kinesiology student Mackie on the other hand fell into his leadership role due to seniority. Returning for his fifth year after being cut from the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos, he

and the other fifth-years were the obvious choice to lead a team with such a large recruiting class.

The large amount of rookies posed as a bit of a challenge for head captain Mackie.

Usually, the amount of recruits coming in is not that large, so it is easy for them to adapt to the team culture. Yet with so many senior players leaving the program before the start of the season, there was an imbalance of rookies and veterans.

“When you have that large of a recruiting class, it’s almost like we had two different groups,” said Mackie. “So getting used to that large of a group was challenging but fun,” he said.

For Farah, being the social sciences caucus leader gave her many valuable skills that surely transferred over to her being the successful presidential candidate. But one challenge she faced was getting over the fear of asking for help.

“I grew up very independent,” said Farah. “I always had my family and friends, but

culturally you were supposed to be very goal-oriented and do things for yourself. The hardest time was during my time with the SRA, because I came in with one vision while four other people each had their own visions.

As caucus leader I had to figure out how I was going to achieve my own goals and compliment everyone else.”

After three months Farah began to figure out how to collaborate and ask for help. Since then she has continued to do so with each new position and leadership role she has had.

Like Farah, Mackie has been able to apply the skills learned as captain in life in general, with one main skill being accountability.

“When you’re the younger guy you kind of just go with what everyone else is doing,” said Mackie. “As a captain you set the tone how everyone else is going to act because everyone is watching you and trying to see what you will do

A deeper look at what goes into being a leader, both on the field and in the office

during the play.”

Many people expect a football to act up or create a scene due to the negative connotation that comes along with being a contact sport athlete. Though there are cases where this happens, it is not always the reality for the majority of players.

SPORTS | 25

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018

“

The hardest time was during my time with the SRA, because I came in with one vision while four other people each had their own visions. As caucus leader I had to figure out how I was going to achieve my own goals and compliment everyone else.

Ikram Farah McMaster Students Union president-elect

“

As a captain you set the tone how everyone else is going to act because everyone is watching you and trying to see what you will do during the play.

Mark Mackie Captain of the Marauders football team

The fifth-year student has been previously awarded the Alma and Will Rice Memorial Scholarship, which is presented to the kinesiology student who

proves outstanding academic achievements. Mackie also received the Ontario University Athletics nomination for the Russ Jackson Award, which “honours the football student-athlete who best exemplifies the attributes of academic achievement, football skill and citizenship.”

“If you get to know

us a little bit more you will realize we are a special group of guys who come together and work really hard,” said Mackie.

“It takes a really special person to balance both being a student and an athlete, so just because were playing a contact sport does not mean we are not working hard in the classroom as well.”

Farah, like Mackie, hopes to challenge how the student body sees her new leadership position. “[I know people think that the] MSU president does not do enough, that you cannot do anything in a year and that it is just a role to put on their résumé,” said Farah. “That is fair to think but at the same time, I truly believe that depending on who you are you can do a lot in a year.”

Now as president-elect, she is more confi-

dent than ever and is using the negativity as fuel.

“I want to be that person that people can look at and trust,” said Farah. “Obviously that is very optimistic, but I know my work ethic and I know I am the type of person to get things done and if I cannot get things done I know why I did not get it done and plan to be transparent about that.”

Although McMaster’s new MSU president-elect may not know anything about the National Football League, the Canadian Football League or even how the McMaster men’s football team did this season, the one thing she knows is there are life-long lessons that one can learn through football.

Being a football movie fanatic, Farah often quotes football coach Eric Taylor from the Friday Night Lights television series. She is also inspired by Denzel Washington’s performance as the head coach in Remember the Titans, where he was able to make the characters fight for something they collectively believed in — football — despite

their racial differences.

“I think that’s a common theme within my courses and how I live my life,” said Farah.

“Yes, we all have our differences and we all face adversity, but when you put that aside and put a collective goal first you’re unstoppable.”

Whether it be on the field or in the office, what it takes to be good leader remains the same. For Farah, this means being honest, transparent and someone who stands their ground. For Mackie, being accountable, a good listener and a team player are three things that make you a good leader.

As Farah prepares to embark on this new journey as MSU president and as Mackie returns to Edmonton for another shot at the CFL, both will be keeping these things in mind.

They should also make sure to keep their eyes clear and their hearts full so that in the long run they will never lose.

@ JaayCarmichael

MADELINE NEUMANN / PHOTO EDITOR

CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION McMASTER

basketball

新年快樂 Saturday Feb. 10th Mac vs. Western 1 & 3 PM

Featuring the Fo Guang Shan Dragon & LionDance Team ( Pe r f o r m a n ce h al ft i m e o f 3 : 0 0 p m g a m e )

for information and tickets visit marauders.ca

SPORTS

www.thesil.ca | Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018

| 27

Harper steps forward After the departure of star player Danielle Boiago, Linnaea Harper is one of a few key players leading the women’s basketball team in competing for gold once again Justin Parker Sports Editor

Once again, the women’s basketball team is securely in the U Sports top 10, maintaining their ranking throughout the season.

The Marauders’ program is usually a stalwart in the national rankings, but this year looks a little different than those in recent memory.

Entering the 2017-2018 season, the Mac women found themselves without their top scorer and one of the most dominant basketball players in the country, Danielle Boiago. The former U Sports Player of the Year is currently playing professionally in the Netherlands, and that left a hole in the Marauders’ roster. “[The season] started with us kind of doubting ourselves a little bit because we just lost Danielle Boiago and that was a big loss for our team,” said Marauders’ forward Linnaea Harper. “But slowly we were like ‘we are still really good and we have new good incoming players and still have players that played last year that play really good’.

And with age comes more experience and skill so every year is something to look forward to.

At the beginning of the year we were kind of getting used to the new team and now we are really gelling. I think beginning in 2018 we have really stepped up and shown that we can compete at the highest level.”

Harper, a fourth-year kinesiology major, is one of the key reasons behind the team’s success this year. With Boiago’s nearly 20 points and seven rebounds per game missing from the box score, there was a definite void that needed to be filled between Harper and the rest of the Marauders.

“In terms of scoring I had to step up but also get more players involved,” Harper said. “Trying to distribute the ball to other players to score was one of my goals and we have done really well with that. Across the board there are four or five people at least in double digits. How do you defend that?”

While the starting forward missed some contests due to injury, through 13 games played

this season, Harper finds herself in or close to the top spot in every major statistical category on the Marauders this season.

Harper leads the team in assists and blocks per game, while sitting in second on the team in points, rebounds and steals per game. Harper also has the third best three-point shooting percentage in the nation with an impressive 44.4 per cent from beyond the arc.

Harper’s excellence on the court is directly a result of being around basketball for most of her life. After being scouted by a teammate’s parent on her soccer team in Grade 3, Harper tried out for the Newmarket All-Star team. After having to commit to one sport over the other in high school, Harper threw herself into basketball and that commitment has paid dividends.

Her time on the hard court and the dedication she brings with her shows up every night on the score sheet. Recently integrating caffeine into her pregame routine, Harper likes getting to the gym pretty early before games, taking time to work on her shot and making sure she is able to free her mind and calm her nerves before the first whistle.

Currently in her fourth year with the team, Harper still enjoys the moments of victory like any athlete, but can also appreciate the efforts of the younger players around her.

“I think when the end of the game is done and we have won, that is number one,” Harper said. “After a stressful close game, pulling out that win is the most satisfying thing because you worked your tail off the entire game. I also think seeing the younger players score and get into it has been something inspiring to me. Because I know I really struggled in my first few years. So seeing Sarah Gates, who has been playing so well. I played with her when she was in Grade 9 and I was in Grade 12 and just seeing what she was then and seeing her be successful now is super cool. Because it wasn’t like that for me, so I kind of live vicariously through her in that way.”

While it has not always been easy for the kinesiology

THE SILHOUETTE PHOTO ARCHIVES

major, being under the tutelage of coach Theresa Burns has definitely been one of the reasons Harper has enjoyed her time as a Marauder so much and continued to succeed on the court.

“She is amazing,” Harper said. “She is relentless. She isn’t much of a ‘yell in your face if you make a mistake’ kind of coach. She knows how to balance the friendship with the ‘hey I’m still your coach, we have to do certain things in order to move forward’. I really respect that because that is a hard relationship to strike with people. Being able to have that respect for her but also be her friend and athlete and player is awesome.”

While Harper is planning on returning to the Marauders

next season, there is no time like the present. Based on how well the team is performing, the Newmarket product is dead set on taking her team to the championship this season.

“Obviously I want to win everything,” Harper said. “But I think our first goal is to win [the Ontario University Athletics championship] and then from there just slowly chipping our way at winning a national championship. Every athlete’s dream is winning a national championship. Striving high for that is important. Definitely to win it all, that’s my goal.”

At the end of the day, statistics and trophies make for great conversation, but memories and experiences ultimately stick with an athlete for a lot longer.

“I’m just really thankful for all the opportunities I have been given with being a Maruader athlete,” Harper added. “I am so glad I am here. It’s home.”

With Harper chief among a group of incredibly talented players, the women’s basketball team is positioned to take the country by storm once again this season. Winning is sweet, but winning for a place you consider home is even sweeter.

@justinparker81

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