National Society of Black Engineers increases representation and supports for Black students in academia

Addressing anti-Black racism has been an urgent need for increased equity for Black students and professionals across academia, especially in traditionally white male dominated fields like engineering.

To tackle one of these barriers in education, the National Society of Black Engineers, McMaster Chapter has launched an annual entrance scholarship for Canadian Black students entering the Faculty of Engineering at McMaster.

All incoming first-years who self-identify as Black students, demonstrate strong leadership and have positively contributed to their community will be eligible for the award. The scholarship will provide each recipient with $2,500, along with a position on the NSBE executive team.

All incoming first-years who self-identify as Black students, demonstrate strong leadership and have positively contributed to their community will be eligible for the award.

The NSBE is a national student-run organization that aims to increase the number of Black engineers who excel both academically and professionally, while demonstrating valuable leadership to make a difference in their community. The NSBE team also includes other engineering graduates and professionals.

Founded in 1971, the society has over 31,000 members that span over 600 active chapters in Canada, the United States and other countries around the globe. They provide academic excellence programs, social connections, leadership opportunities, additional scholarships and career networking to support Black students in engineering.

The McMaster chapter is spear-headed by an executive team of McMaster engineering students. The current president is Feyisayo Enuiyin, a chemical engineering student in her final year. The chapter’s aim is to provide Black students with academic support, professional development and networking opportunities.

“For many Black students from underprivileged communities, they don’t think engineering is a space for them,” said Enuiyin. “This scholarship was created for students who didn’t even know they wanted to study engineering. It creates hope for students to show they are going to a school that supports them.”

“For many Black students from underprivileged communities, they don’t think engineering is a space for them,” said Enuiyin.

The NSBE McMaster Chapter’s goal is to raise $62,500 for the award. The number of scholarships will be dependent on the funds raised. If they exceed their goal, they will provide more scholarships. They are currently accepting donations, with hopes that this award will inspire and encourage more Black students to apply to McMaster Engineering. 

Enuiyin explained that the scholarship aims to provide more than financial assistance — the award will also create a larger scale for representation, further showing Black students that institutions like McMaster actually care about them. 

“Once I was able to feel that McMaster, including the staff and faculty, really supports me, it made me feel more confident because I know that I go to a community that has my back,” said Enuiyin.

“Once I was able to feel that McMaster, including the staff and faculty, really supports me, it made me feel more confident because I know that I go to a community that has my back,” said Enuiyin.

To Enuiyin, this representation within the university at large, especially in academia, is important because it creates confidence.

“It creates a sense of self awareness so that when you step into a place and you see people like you doing what you aspire to do, it gives you encouragement and motivation to know that you can do that too… When you feel represented in a space, like in an atmosphere of a room, you don't think about complexion. It doesn't even cross your head,” said Enuiyin.

"When you feel represented in a space, like in an atmosphere of a room, you don't think about complexion. It doesn't even cross your head,” said Enuiyin. 

Enuiyin expressed gratitude towards the Faculty of Engineering for supporting the NSBE McMaster Chapter and said that the scholarship is a step in the right direction.

“[The scholarship] will help us move towards a more inclusive environment where a range of perspectives leads to better insights and innovation,” stated Professor Iswhar K. Puri, dean of engineering, in a McMaster Daily News Article. 

Other efforts for inclusion by McMaster’s Faculty of Engineering include the recent launch of The Indigenous and Black Engineering and Technology (IBET) Momentum Fellowships. These fellowships were created in collaboration with faculties at the University of Waterloo, University of Ottawa, University of Toronto, Queen’s University and Western University.

These fellowships will provide Indigenous and Black recipients of the award each with $25,000 over the span of four years to support them with their graduate studies and engineering research.

Similar to the NSBE scholarship, the IBET doctoral fellowships were launched with the hope to reduce the financial barriers experienced by Black and Indigenous students. 

These efforts for inclusion are paired with McMaster’s announcement of a new commitment to Black academic excellence, such as the commitment to hire a cohort of up to 12 Black faculty members. This is the first initiative under the new Strategic Equity and Excellence Recruitment and Retention program, which is part of McMaster’s larger equity, diversity and inclusion strategy.

“It’s not just about being Black or being in engineering. It’s bigger than that… It’s about people.  When one individual progresses, the whole community progresses,” said Enuiyin. 

Other efforts at McMaster include the development of a yearly bursary of $800 in perpetuity for Black students with financial need in the McMaster Health Sciences program. The bursary organizers include McMaster University and Mohawk College alumni and are currently also fundraising.

When asked what else academic institutions can do to alleviate barriers for Black students, Enuiyin highlighted the importance of outreach programs along with financial assistance. These outreach programs should be delivered in underprivileged communities, especially for high school students.

“When students are already in universities, it is hard to change their perspectives. [By starting in high school], you can start to show them options as to what they have,” explained Enuiyin. 

When discussing how McMaster community members should view this scholarship, Enuiyin highlighted its importance on our society as a whole. 

“It’s not just about being Black or being in engineering. It’s bigger than that… It’s about people.  When one individual progresses, the whole community progresses,” said Enuiyin.

Donations for the scholarship funds are currently being accepted on the NSBE McMaster’s iFundMac website. 

Struggling to connect with one another through virtual classes, first-year students found community on social media

After four months of Zoom and Microsoft Teams, McMaster University students can finally say that their first semester of online learning is behind them. Some students, however, have only ever experienced McMaster online.

Since September, first-year students at McMaster have experienced a virtual transition to university. As residence is closed for the majority of first years, most have had to meet their peers virtually. However, the opportunities for socialization are different and more limited in an online classroom setting.

Navya Sheth, a first-year arts and science student from Oakville, Ontario, reflected on her first semester. For her, the hardest part of online school was forming connections with her peers through the screen, rather than the new academic challenges.

For Navya Sheth, the hardest part of online school was forming connections with her peers through the screen.

In anticipation of the social challenges that come with an entirely remote school year, McMaster tried to foster community among first-year students by adapting orientation to fit the online environment. This orientation involved a virtual Welcome Week and a new program called Archway, which was designed to help students access resources and meet new friends.

Saumyaa Rishi, a first-year life sciences student from Ottawa, Ontario, was grateful for the effort put into Welcome Week. Nonetheless, she found it difficult to connect with other first-years in that setting. 

“When you do these online [social events], there’s always a bigger group of people. It’s not like in-person where you can just talk to the person standing next to you,” Rishi said. 

“When you do these online [social events], there’s always a bigger group of people. It’s not like in-person where you can just talk to the person standing next to you,” Rishi said. 

Sheth expressed a similar sentiment when discussing her experiences with McMaster’s online social events, in particular, the Archway program. While she did enjoy the Zoom events hosted by the Arts and Science program, she found Archway wasn’t a conducive platform for her to make social connections.

Aniruddh Arora, a first-year international student in the computer science program, found that Archway was most beneficial at the start of the semester. “It was helpful for the first one or two weeks,” Arora noted.

“I had my own friend groups on WhatsApp and Instagram,” Arora explained. 

Arora then added that he later stopped attending meetings. Not only did he no longer have time in his busy academic schedule to attend Archway meetings, he also didn’t find it necessary anymore.

“I had my own friend groups on WhatsApp and Instagram,” he explained. 

Arora is not the only first-year student who has found community on social media. Over the last few months, some first-year students at McMaster have relied on social media to connect and communicate.

“When you talked to people [on social media], you knew that they were sort of going through the same thing,” said Rishi.

Rishi described social media as being a positive force in her first semester. “When you talked to people [on social media], you knew that they were sort of going through the same thing,” said Rishi.

According to Rishi, the impact of social media on her first-year experience has been far-reaching. Not only has social media been instrumental in the formation of friendships, as Rishi noted, but it has also helped first-year students to feel connected to the McMaster community in other ways.

Social media been instrumental in the formation of friendships.

Arora, who is attending McMaster from his home in Punjab, India, pointed out the academic benefits of social media on first-year students. As timezones often prevent him from being awake during the same hours as his professors, Arora has found the group chats created on various social media platforms to be a valuable academic support system.

“It really helps if you’re stuck on an assignment,” Arora explained.

As timezones often prevent him from being awake during the same hours as his professors, Arora has found the group chats created on various social media platforms to be a valuable academic support system. “It really helps if you’re stuck on an assignment,” Arora explained.

Social media has helped first-year students get involved with extracurricular activities as well. As an active member of the McMaster Moot Court, Sheth noted that she found out about the majority of extracurricular opportunities through Instagram.

On the impact that social media had on her first semester, Sheth believed Instagram links people to places where they feel connected albeit virtually. However she noted the challenges of a virtual first-year remain significant on students as some feel isolated to figure out how to adapt to online university.

“[Some] upper-years are living together in houses and can see each other, and I’m at home, trying to figure this out on my own,” Sheth said. “And I think that might be something that all first years are struggling with.”

Despite a global pandemic, the construction of SAB and the fitness expansion returns back to normal

In March 2017, the vote to expand the Pulse fitness centre and construct the new Student Activity Building was passed with a near 60% student vote in favour of the construction. Construction began in October 2018 where expansion occurred at the David Braley Athletic Centre and Ivor Wynne Centre.

On the east end, a brand new gym will be constructed. On the west side, there will be an expansion to the Pulse fitness centre as well as the creation of the brand new Student Activity Building. 

One of the main instigators for starting this project was a space survey the McMaster Students Union conducted almost six years ago. Debbie Martin, assistant vice-president and chief facilities officer, praised the MSU’s key leadership role in the project from the concept design to working with facilities and the construction committee.

The MSU also implemented campus-wide surveys and focus groups on communicating student needs to a tangible project, with multiple representatives on the architect selection, HUB (new student centre) design and construction committees. The MSU will be the primary managers of the HUB once open.

Unfortunately, building plans had to be put on hold in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in which construction of this project was deemed “non-essential”.

Originally, construction was to be completed by June 2020; however, due to unfortunate circumstances from budgeting, this date was shifted to November 2020.

[media-credit name="C/O Debbie Martin" align="none" width="600"][/media-credit]

“We [shifted the date] due to some initial costing that was done when we hired our construction manager, Stuart Olson. When they came onboard, they did some costing for us; we were targeting to be over budget. So we went through a value-engineering process with Olson on the project and that expanded our timelines a bit, which pushed us to November 2020, with the west end to be done in September 2021,” said Martin.

“We [shifted the date] due to some initial costing that was done when we hired our construction manager, Stuart Olson. When they came onboard, they did some costing for us; we were targeting to be over budget. So we went through a value-engineering process with Olson on the project and that expanded our timelines a bit, which pushed us to November 2020, with the west end to be done in September 2021,” said Martin. 

The completion of the east end addition has now shifted from November 2020 to April 2021 due to unforeseen obstacles due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

[media-credit name="C/O Debbie Martin" align="none" width="600"][/media-credit]

“The site had to be shut down for a period of time due to the provincial regulations and all of our projects have experienced some delays in getting materials, due to delays in manufacturing and other facilities . . . It is a trickle-down effect because of COVID,” said Martin.

“It is a trickle-down effect because of COVID,” said Martin.

The plan is to refine these estimated dates after further meetings with Olson. With that being said, within the current provincial lockdown, construction projects involving education are allowed to continue operations.

“We’re working with [a] consultant right now on the schedule. They have indicated [an estimation completion date of] April for the east gym, so we anticipate the east gym being well open by September [2021]. Now, we’re working with them on revised deadlines for the project,” explained Martin.

Overall, many of the obstacles that the team encountered throughout construction have been due to the pandemic. Fortunately, Olson indicated that no workers have contracted COVID-19.

With that being said, the future is promising for the construction project. While all parties involved in the project continue to have ongoing daily conversations with each other, Martin explains there is still a yearning for students to be able to return back to school in September and use these facilities.

Aaron Parry celebrates African-Canadian history, identity and culture through his clothing brand

Art can serve as a vehicle for expression, healing, education and social change. It can help create spaces for underserved communities and promote representation. Amidst the current fight against racism, creatives like Aaron Parry are doing their part to celebrate Black identities. 

Parry is a fourth-year student at McMaster University studying anthropology and Indigenous studies with a minor in African and African diaspora studies. In the summer of 2019, right before his third year, Parry turned what initially began as customizing clothing with fabric markers into ISAIAH III, an online clothing brand that highlights Black culture, history and identities in Canada through apparel and stickers.

 

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The name ISAIAH III was inspired by the pseudonym he previously used to post art and poetry. His parents considered Isaiah when naming him and the numeral refers to him being the third child of his family. 

Parry launched ISAIAH III because he wasn’t seeing existing clothing brands that focused on Black issues, history and activism. Through his work for ISAIAH III, he not only recognizes different aspects of Black identity, but he has also helped to create a sense of belonging for African-Canadian students.

Parry launched ISAIAH III because he wasn’t seeing existing clothing brands that focused on Black issues, history and activism. Through his work for ISAIAH III, he not only recognizes different aspects of Black identity, but he has also helped to create a sense of belonging for African-Canadian students.

The shop currently has three collections: the classics collection, the Black history collection and the Black Canadian Colleges & Universities collection. 

The Black history collection is the latest collection. It focuses on important Black figures and events in Canadian history such as Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. 

The BCCU collection features merchandise for Canadian post-secondary institutions with designs inspired by African art and culture. The concept also drew inspiration from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which are post-secondary institutions mostly saturated in the southern United States of America that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to serve African-American communities. Prior to 1964, most African Americans were denied or inhibited from pursuing higher education. 

 

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Although Canada does not have institutions like the HBCUs, Parry wanted to help promote a positive sense of Blackness and Black identities within Canadian universities and colleges through his BCCU collection. 

“I know that a lot of people want to be able to actually rep their school and reflect McMaster, but might not be totally for what’s sold in the campus store. They might think that it doesn’t represent them. I had a lot of people telling me, specifically Black students and other racialized students saying, “I actually feel like this design makes me proud to actually rep the school that I go to, or actually wear stuff that tells people that I go to McMaster. I feel like it actually encapsulates me being a student but also being a Black or racialized student,” said Parry.

"I had a lot of people telling me, specifically Black students and other racialized students saying, “I actually feel like this design makes me proud to actually rep the school that I go to, or actually wear stuff that tells people that I go to McMaster. I feel like it actually encapsulates me being a student but also being a Black or racialized student," said Parry.

Operating the business as a student and during the pandemic has been challenging for Parry. It can be difficult to balance school and his community work with ISAIAH III while avoiding burnout, something numerous mentors from the Black community have warned Parry about.

“As Black and racialized students, we are often very much tasked with the responsibility of trying to dismantle anti-racism, which definitely shouldn't be our responsibility. But, we're often tasked with that responsibility and also doing the kind of community work that we want to do or doing the different cultural work that actually is meaningful to us,” explained Perry.

 

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Fortunately, ISAIAH III also acts as a creative outlet for Parry to keep himself motivated and look after his mental health. 

“Everyone has their own outlets of dealing with [burnout] and [ways] of finding healing and time to actually rest so that you can reenter the world. Art has always been mine for that. I think developing a business that reflects my creative interest and my community interest is kind of a daily reminder to actually do art to be creative and to look after myself,” said Parry.

"I think developing a business that reflects my creative interest and my community interest is kind of a daily reminder to actually do art to be creative and to look after myself," said Parry.

Communicating and connecting with others through the experience has also taught him to be mindful of his actions and conscious of how his work reflects not only his but other people’s identities. Additionally, he appreciates being able to encourage and support other Black-owned businesses through his platform. ISAIAH III has helped to solidify his interest in community work and activism. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Parry also started an Instagram art account to expand his creative activities and give more attention to mental health. He loved being able to share whatever he wanted to create without having to worry or be constrained by designing prints that would look good on clothing.

Many of the art pieces he posts are inspired by events happening around the world and the Harlem Renaissance, an art movement during the 1920s in Harlem, Manhattan, New York, dubbed the “golden age” in African-American culture and arts.

 

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After graduating from McMaster, Parry is hoping to pursue graduate studies focusing on African and African diaspora studies or find meaningful work in the community. Whichever path he goes on, his work with growing and transforming ISAIAH III is far from over. He is looking forward to expanding and growing ISAIAH III, particularly his BCCU collection. Parry will continue to be an agent for representation and change through his art.

We should be accommodating for inconveniences caused by time zone differences

By: Jiahe Deng, Contributor

The 2020 fall semester was drastically different from what we are all used to. Different individuals faced a unique mixture of challenges, which made the past semester rough for many.

As an international student staying in my home country where the local time is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, the time zone difference was a huge burden to learning and sadly, there is no substantial change happening for this term.

I returned to my home country in July 2020 and decided to stay there during online schooling since I thought it’d be better for my mental well-being. As the fall semester started, I found studying 13 hours ahead of Hamilton's time more challenging than I thought. 

First of all, it was tough for me to find a routine that worked. A friend of mine usually goes to bed at 8:00 p.m. and consistently gets up at 3:00 a.m. He was able to attend all his classes and it worked perfectly for him. However, this didn’t work for me. If I attended all my classes, I wouldn't see any daylight. After two weeks of trial-and-error, I finally decided to only watch one course live and watch recordings for the other classes. 

Next, I needed to find ways to deal with in-class midterms and exams after 1:00 a.m. I first tried to change my sleep schedule on the date of the tests. I wrote one test at 1:30 a.m., but this resulted in three unproductive days in a hectic week since I needed to sleep extra hours the day before the test and felt exhausted two days after the test. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t work for me.

So I contacted my professors to see if I can write my 2:00 a.m. tests and 5:00 a.m. exam at a different time slot. Although my professors eventually agreed to this, I was also told that it was a university-level decision not to have a policy to guarantee accommodations for time zone differences.

However, I found this decision to be unreasonable. My family is in my home country and I chose to stay here so that we could support each other through this unusual time. I’m sure many international students feel similarly in terms of wanting to stay in their home country, but also wanting to write tests at a normal time. Thus, I believe this problem deserves a systematic solution.

Although some of us stay up late from time to time, it is unjust if students are required to attend classes or take tests in the middle of the night. 

Although some of us stay up late from time to time, it is unjust if students are required to attend classes or take tests in the middle of the night. 

To make my point, we first need to reflect on our circumstances. Right now, courses are almost exclusively online, so we should interpret our classes as "online school" instead of "taking in-person classes in digital form."

If we "take in-person classes in digital form," then it’s reasonable to expect everyone to show up for every class just like when we are attending school in-person, with the only difference being the delivery switched from in-person to online. However, this expectation is unrealistic.

Instead, we should look at this as "online schooling." This means we need to respect the fact that not everyone has a quiet place to study all the time and that not everyone is in the same time zone. If we disrespect this fact and choose not to be flexible, then we systematically make it harder for students who don't always have access to quiet space, who live in another time zone and who have limited internet access, to thrive.

Second, not giving accommodations for a time zone difference is unjust and puts students’ health in jeopardy. Without accommodations, it implies that the university expects students to write a test at inconvenient times, say at 4:00 a.m. However, it’s reasonable to assume that an average person is not able to function to their average ability at that time. Therefore, it’s obviously unjust to test students when clearly some can’t function normally. 

On the other hand, without accommodations, a student may have to switch their sleep schedule often. I don’t need to over-emphasize how important a consistent sleep schedule is. Even people who work night shifts can have several days off after their shifts. However, after writing a test at 4:00 a.m., students often don’t get a break since the course goes on. Thus, I believe not giving accommodation has systematically put students’ health in jeopardy. 

One argument against giving accommodations is integrity. As much as I agree that integrity is crucial, I insist it is necessary to accommodate time zone differences. After all, testing that is equitable takes precedence over integrity.

Additionally, Student Accessibility Services students have the ability to get their tests rescheduled, so there must be ways to balance rescheduling and integrity; for instance, having different versions of the test.

Another concern is that when international students write exams at time slots convenient to them, there might not be staff available to answer questions, which is against university policy. However, if the instructor can let the student know rescheduling might result in no staff available during the test, this concern can be resolved, since students waive the right of that policy.

Ideally, I think all courses should be designed to adapt for online learning and if some courses must be taught synchronized, there should be a notice on that before the semester starts. However, at this point, I think what could help is a formal statement from university officials that acknowledges that a time zone difference is to be accommodated and encourages students to contact instructors for accommodations.

However, at this point, I think what could help is a formal statement from university officials that acknowledges that a time zone difference is to be accommodated and encourages students to contact instructors for accommodations.

We need to respect people’s decisions. If international students think staying in their home country is the best for them, then what others can do is to support them. To adjust to remote learning, I selectively chose courses with lectures in the morning and during last semester, I dropped one to cope.

Those are my efforts and I'm sure others are trying their own ways to thrive. But personal efforts or merely encouraging instructors to accommodate simply isn’t enough.

There needs to be a policy change that allows tests and exams to be accommodated for if there is any inconvenience caused by time zone difference. This problem is systematic and it deserves a systematic solution.

MSU President Giancarlo Da-Ré discusses election “what ifs?”, advice and engagement

The McMaster Students Union Elections department announced a one-week extension of the MSU Presidentials nomination period from Jan. 14 to Jan. 21, 2021. The extension was announced the morning of Jan. 13 via social media — one day before nominations were set to close. The reason for the extension was unclear; however, it was likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

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The nomination period opened on Dec. 2, 2020 and ended at 5:00 p.m. on Jan. 21, 2021. The extended nomination period would delay the start of the campaigning period. Campaigning was supposed to be from Jan. 24 and end on Feb. 4 at 4:30pm, while the voting period would be from Feb. 2 to Feb. 4 at 4:30pm. 

However, MSU Elections announced on Jan. 22 that at the end of the nomination period one nomination had been received. Denver Della-Vedova has been acclaimed MSU President-Elect for the 2021/2022 term. 

In an interview with the Silhouette prior to the acclamation, current MSU President Giancarlo Da-Ré discussed his experiences with running for MSU president, offered advice to candidates and shared insight on how the campaign period may play out.

"We want students to know about all of our services, all of our offerings and benefits that they have as a part of the MSU. But also we're not trying to contribute to that stress and that Zoom fatigue,” said Da-Ré.

"We want students to know about all of our services, all of our offerings and benefits that they have as a part of the MSU. But also we're not trying to contribute to that stress and that Zoom fatigue,” said Da-Ré.

As the MSU Elections department operates with a degree of impartiality from the MSU elected officials, including the Board of Directors, they made the decision to extend the nomination period. Da-Ré noted that earlier this year, he discussed electoral engagement with his counterparts at student unions across the country and noted that they shared concerns of lowered engagement due to a virtual learning environment. 

“All the options to engage with friends and with MSU services are online. I don't blame students for wanting a break from all that. And so we've naturally had to take that in consideration from the MSU, where obviously we want students to know about all of our services, all of our offerings and benefits that they have as a part of the MSU. But also we're not trying to contribute to that stress and that Zoom fatigue,” said Da-Ré.

However, Da-Ré remained hopeful that even with potentially fewer candidates, the election could see an increase in voter engagement from previous years. When asked what he hoped to see from the candidates, Da-Ré was interested to see how candidates would find new ways to campaign. 

“I think it's up to candidates to ensure that they're creating opportunities to engage with voters and for voters to engage with candidates how those voters will want to engage with candidates,” said Da-Ré. 

An entirely online MSU presidential election has never happened before — a stark contrast to the typical in-person tabling that many candidates do within the McMaster University Student Centre.

Da-Ré was also curious to see candidate ideas for supporting students through the pandemic. He acknowledged that students have been struggling with the pandemic and online learning, while noting how ideal supports differ among students.

He expected that candidates would discuss student supports as a key issue of the campaign, similar to how the Student Choice Initiative was an issue of importance during his run for office in 2020.

"What is your overall reasoning for running for MSU president?" said Da-Ré.

"What is your overall reasoning for running for MSU president?" said Da-Ré.

Da-Ré reflected on his experience running for MSU president. He noted that it was challenging at first but that he ultimately enjoyed the experience, especially interacting with students and understanding their priorities. 

“I had a lot of fun with it, chatting with folks, but you do feel like you are under a microscope for the duration of the campaign period. So it takes a little bit of time to get used to that level of scrutiny and then ideally, if you can kind of get past that a little bit or get used to it, then it starts to be lots of fun,” said Da-Ré.

When asked to offer advice to candidates or those who hoped to run, Da-Ré shared that he sought advice and reflected a lot before his campaign.

“One of the most important things for folks, just when you're thinking about running or when you're building your campaign or your vision, is why you want to run. What is your overall reasoning for running for MSU president? If you can really solidify your vision for campus and your reason for wanting to run for MSU President, ideally have that vision and that reasoning, that “why” is reflected in everything that you’re trying to do,” said Da-Ré.

"That “why” is reflected in everything that you’re trying to do,” said Da-Ré.

Da-Ré also expressed gratitude to the potential candidates for stepping outside of their comfort zones and supporting students. 

“Thank you to all these candidates for committing their time during school and for trying to build a better MSU community for students. Students need a little support right now and we're doing what we can do to try and leave the MSU in a better place than we found it. I want to thank the candidates for looking forward to continuing that work and supporting students during some difficult times of tribulation,” said Da-Ré.

Due to a lack of engagement seen during COVID-19, questions surrounding how many students would run for MSU president arose. If no candidates were to come forward by the end of the campaign period, Da-Ré hesitated to speculate but believed that the nomination period would likely be extended; however, the decision would be up to the MSU Elections department.

If only one candidate ran MSU president, according to Da-Ré, the MSU bylaw states that the candidate would be acclaimed MSU President-Elect.

“3.3.1 If the number of valid nomination forms submitted is fewer than or equal to the number of available positions, the CRO shall declare all nominees duly elected by acclamation.”

“3.3.1 If the number of valid nomination forms submitted is fewer than or equal to the number of available positions, the CRO shall declare all nominees duly elected by acclamation.”

On Jan. 22, the MSU Elections Department announced on social media that one presidential candidate application had been received. Denver Della-Vedova has been acclaimed as MSU President-Elect for the 2021/2022 term. 

 

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Da-Ré took to social media to congratulate Della-Vedova. “Very excited to start the transition process and to watch Denver strengthen the undergraduate experience at McMaster,” wrote Da-Ré.

The Silhouette will be posting more MSU presidential elections 2021 coverage in our annual Presidentials issue on Feb. 1, 2021 available on Issuu.

From minor pee-wee hockey to the NHL, Hamiltonian Steve Staios takes us through his 18-year career and beyond.

Growing up around the area of Main Street West and Haddon Avenue South, former National Hockey League player Steve Staios began his hockey journey playing in a minor hockey league for the Hamilton Huskies at Wentworth Triple rink. It was not until Staios was seven years old when he began playing hockey; over the years, he managed both soccer and hockey as two main sports until he devoted his undivided attention year-long to the ice rink at 15 years old. 

Staios was drafted into the Ontario Hockey League by the Niagara Falls Thunder; a year later, he was drafted into the NHL. With that being said, the transition was definitely not an easy one to endure. 

“The transition from the OHL to professional hockey was a steep curve for me. I got injured in my first year. I tore my [anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament], so I got reconstruction knee surgery. So, it was off to a pretty tough start. I played in the minors for three seasons and then I found my way to pro hockey,” said Staios. 

“The transition from the OHL to professional hockey was a steep curve for me. I got injured in my first year. I tore my [anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament], so I got reconstruction knee surgery. So, it was off to a pretty tough start. I played in the minors for three seasons and then I found my way to pro hockey,” said Staios.

Despite Staios bouncing around several teams within the league during the beginning of his career, it was not until he ended up in Edmonton with the Oilers where he found his home, spending about 10 years of his life there. Staios also had an opportunity to play for two more Western Canadian teams, the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks. 

As an Oiler, Staios’ trip to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals was arguably his greatest moment but also greatest disappointment. 

“In 2006, the team we had was a close-knit team. We qualified for the playoffs as an 8th seed. We weren’t expected to do a lot, but then we went on a magical run into the Stanley Cup Finals,” said Staios. 

“In 2006, the team we had was a close-knit team. We qualified for the playoffs as an 8th seed. We weren’t expected to do a lot, but then we went on a magical run into the Stanley Cup Finals,” said Staios. 

Losing their starting goalie Dwayne Roloson in game one to a series-ending injury created a massive challenge for the team. Despite that, the Oilers were able to force a game seven, where they unfortunately came short of being a Stanley Cup Champion. 

To put it short, the emotions during their run were “machine-like”.

“When you go on a run like with a team, as an individual, you become sort of a product of your routine and environment. These emotions become consistent. You have butterflies before the game, you have the vigour and energy of competing, and then you have the rest before the next game. The emotions afterwards were incredible. Whether you win or lose, all these athletes and teams go through it,” explained Staios.

Staios exclaimed such emotions are also of similar nature on the international level, to which he won two gold medals playing for the national team at the World Champions in 2003 and 2004. 

“One of the greatest memories is holding my two kids on the blue line singing the national anthem after winning a gold medal in Prague wearing a Team Canada jersey. It is the most incredible joy and feeling that I will never forget,” said Staios. 

“One of the greatest memories is holding my two kids on the blue line singing the national anthem after winning a gold medal in Prague wearing a team Canada jersey. It is the most incredible joy and feeling that I will never forget,” said Staios. 

After Staios’ playing career ended with the New York Islanders, he was provided with an opportunity by then-General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs Brian Burke to take on a managerial role for the team. Staios was eventually hired as a player development advisor. 

During his three seasons with the Leafs, Staios transitioned from advisor to manager and then eventually to the director. But Staios’ managerial career took a turn when head coach Randy Carlyle was fired and Staios was placed behind the bench as an assistant coach. 

“It was incredible. Working for the Toronto Maple Leafs is something I didn’t set a goal to do, but it was unbelievable and a learning experience. Credit to the entire staff and leadership, getting to work with some incredible people,” said Staios. 

“It was incredible. Working for the Toronto Maple Leafs is something I didn’t set a goal to do, but it was unbelievable and a learning experience. Credit to the entire staff and leadership, getting to work with some incredible people,” said Staios. 

Staios’ time with the Maple Leafs allowed him to explore the different aspects of the organization from bottom to top, which helped him currently run the Hamilton Bulldogs. 

When Staios left the Maple Leafs to become the president of the Bulldogs, he received some mixed reaction from individuals attempting to persuade him to stay with the NHL team. Yet, being from Hamilton and persuasion from Bulldogs team owner, Michael Andlauer, he was convinced to put junior hockey “back on the map”. 

“We just haven't had great success in junior hockey in Hamilton. I felt sort of an underdog and wanted to put junior hockey back on the map in my hometown,” said Staios. 

“We just haven't had great success in junior hockey in Hamilton. I felt sort of an underdog and wanted to put junior hockey back on the map in my hometown,” said Staios. 

As Staios mainly had a background in playing as opposed to the business operations of the team, there was still a lot to learn as president and general manager of the team. 

Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still some uncertainty regarding the 2020-2021 OHL season, as with the new provincial lockdown, the season has been delayed even further. Staios still hopes that with the rollout of vaccines and return-to-pay protocol, a season can be salvaged this year. With that being said, there is still great optimism within the team.

Despite the civil war ending in May 2009, the genocide of Tamils’ identity on the island of Sri Lanka continues to this very day

CW: genocide, blood and gore, PTSD

It has been exactly 4218 days since May 18, 2009: the end of the Sri Lankan civil war. More notably, it has been 4218 days and counting since family members still yearn to discover the truth about their loved ones’ disappearances. 

The Sri Lankan government recently announced this past January that more than 20,000 people (the majority being Eelam Tamils) who went missing are dead, further solidifying the notion that the government committed war crimes.

This follows the investigation headed by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2014 to look at the Sri Lankan government’s war crimes against humanity. A year later, the investigation report found that war crimes were committed by the government from 2002 to 2011, such as unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, gender-based violence and denial of humanitarian assistance. 

[media-credit name="C/O Ben Sutherland" align="alignnone" width="2560"][/media-credit]

Fast forward three years later to where Sri Lankan Lieutenant-General Shavendra Silva was appointed as commander of the Sri Lankan army. Silva was notably known for leading the military campaign during the final stages of the civil war in 2009. He also has been accused of many war crimes, in which the 58th division he led allegedly shelled the Putumattalan hospital, where wounded Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were residing.

It is against international humanitarian law to target someone who is defenceless and sick or injured. With Silva’s appointment as commander, the United Nations supposedly banned his army from partaking in “non-essential” peacekeeping missions due to his alleged war crimes; however, in just a few months after this ban, this very same army was deployed on a UN peacekeeping mission to Mali.

This revelation is quite disturbing with the division’s accusations of torture, execution, and sexual violence against Eelam Tamils. It brings me and many other Tamils to question the responsibility of the UN, especially with the recent destruction of the Mullivaikkal memorial at Jaffna University.

BREAKING – Authorities destroying Mullivaikkal memorial at Jaffna University

A monument paying tribute to the tens of thousands of Tamils massacred by the Sri Lankan state at the University of Jaffna is currently being bulldozed by authorities. pic.twitter.com/n0uOwgRbU5

— Tamil Guardian (@TamilGuardian) January 8, 2021

The Mullivaikkal memorial was a monument built to honour the thousands of Eelam Tamils killed during the Mullivaikkal massacre on May 18, 2009, the final day of the war. On Jan. 8, 2021, Sri Lankan authorities destroyed the monument located on the university’s campus grounds. Several university students and the Mayor of Jaffna protested, yet were berated by Sri Lankan police in Sinhala, a language not as familiar to many of the students.

There have been international pleas for years from Eelam Tamils living in Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere to ask their respective governments and the UN to hold the Sri Lankan regime accountable for their actions. 

On Jan. 8, 2021, Sri Lankan authorities destroyed the monument located on the university’s campus grounds.

While there has been some outcry by government officials — including Gurratan Singh, Ontario member of provincial parliament representing Brampton East and Siobhain McDonagh, a member of parliament for the United Kingdom — the United Nations has yet to release a statement condemning the Sri Lankan government for their actions. In short, while the UN produces hefty reports, they have yet to formalize tangible action against the regime.

Very worrying and a clear attempt to erase the brutal violence of the Tamil genocide. This destruction must be condemned by all leaders and we all must stand in defence of justice and human rights for the Tamil people. https://t.co/hZWmLOLMZB

— Gurratan Singh (@GurratanSingh) January 9, 2021

Despite the civil war ending over 11 years ago, the presence of cultural genocide is existent. This brings me to raise attention to the film Funny Boy, a film by Deepa Mehta (known for her Elements trilogy) and distributed by renowned filmmaker, Ava Duvernay (known for the film 13th and the series When They See Us). This film is adapted from the book of the same name by Tamil author Shyam Selvadurai. 

As this film was originally nominated as Canada’s entry for best feature international film for the Academy Awards — now redacted due to not meeting the minimum criteria — it still came with quite some controversy.

The main issue with the film was the lack of Tamil casting in the film. For a film to discuss the plight of Eelam Tamils during the 1983 riots, it seems quite baffling to not cast a single Tamil as part of the main cast. In addition, casting Sinhalese individuals as Tamils is quite the slap in the face to Eelam Tamils around the world, where Sinhalese individuals comprised the majority of the army.

Despite claims by Mehta saying that casting and dubbing were appropriately done, many Tamils have found that the spoken language is difficult to understand and claimed it is not reflective of the Tamil spoken in Tamil Eelam.

What language is being spoken here ? Because it's not Tamil. #Funnyboy is contending as a foreign language film by making up a language of it's own. #funnyboythefilm pic.twitter.com/MSjdkVZ4iz

— சுந்தர் v (@chummasiri) December 5, 2020

As Tamils around the world continue to protest to this very day against the war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan government, it is also of significance to myself and others to show our gratitude to the fallen soldiers who stood up to the regime.

While the Sri Lankan government continues to restrict Eelam Tamils commemorating Maaveerar Naal on November 27, the UK government stood with Eelam Tamils when projecting the Karthigaipoo — the national flower of Tamil Eelam — on their parliament walls. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Eelam Tamils around the world show their thanks to the fallen through online events, as McMaster Tamil Student Association hosted this year’s Maaveerar Naal over Zoom in November 2020.

[media-credit name="C/O Keera Ratnam" align="alignnone" width="2560"][/media-credit]

The McMaster TSA holds this event annually to give students and faculty the chance to pay their respects and commemorate the fallen soldiers, or our Maveerars. The event consists of performances by students in both the McMaster and Tamil student communities.

Although the commemoration was held virtually, there were still dances, songs, speeches and dramatic performances by students. This commemoration is not new; it has been going on for several years on campus.

With a significant Tamil student population at McMaster, it is important that a space is provided to them to grieve. With that being said, such events are significant for the greater good, in raising awareness among the McMaster and Hamilton communities regarding the Tamil genocide.

By: Esther Liu, Contributor

The Silhouette: What is the IMPACT study?

Marla Beauchamp: With the start of COVID-19 and the public health recommendations on social distancing and staying home as much as possible, one of the things that concerned us was: "How could this be affecting older peoples' mobility and their social participation?"

We know that mobility is a really really critical aspect of health for older people and when you lose mobility, you're at risk of falling, of negative health outcomes, of hospitalization. So our team wanted to understand the impact of these social distancing recommendations on peoples' mobility and participation over time. 

Brenda Vrkljan: Our sample is focused on people in Hamilton and one of the things that we wanted to do with this study was to be very thoughtful about who is gonna be included in the study. We aim to have a random sample, but that's a very loose term because when you say “I want a random sample,” it's not really that random because you still need to obtain informed consent and those kinds of things [and] you still need to recruit people. But what we did was we sampled people in different areas of the city, different economic statuses, different social determinants of health. 

How did this study come into existence?

Beauchamp: I do a lot of work with people with chronic Lyme disease. Some of the guidelines for people include that you should remain at home completely, you should not go out at all. And so I was really concerned that we were telling people not to move, right? And I wanted to understand the impact of staying at home and not going about doing their usual activities, what that could do to their health.

So that was part of the reason for doing it. Also, Brenda and I are always talking about ways that we can support older people to live in their homes and to live independently. So if we were going to think more long term about this pandemic, we really needed to understand what has been the impact: what are people doing, what are people noticing? 

Vrkljan: Like any good idea, there tends to be what I called the idea stack. So, Marla goes: "I have an idea," and I go: "Oh what if we did this too?". This might draw some other people in too and then what hopefully happens is that it's picked up in a better place. One thing we have is that we involve older adults in our initiatives. Of course, we might talk to our families, but that's not quite the same as talking to somebody who's not so close to us.

Marla and I have parents who are aging. . . and we also had an older adult partner who said that we're asking her lots of questions, but one thing that we're missing out on was the impact of the quarantine. We were missing out on the experience of living through a quarantine. So we've added interviews to our study with questions about their lives before the pandemic, during the pandemic and how they foresee their lives after the pandemic.

We're calling it the trilogy approach — it's not quite Star Wars — but this idea of thinking about your life in segments and trying to understand how people manage is our next step. We want to see what strategies people are using that are helping them do really well and see if those strategies could be implemented to help more people.

We're calling it the trilogy approach — it's not quite Star Wars — but this idea of thinking about your life in segments and trying to understand how people manage is our next step. We want to see what strategies people are using that are helping them do really well and see if those strategies could be implemented to help more people. 

What are some highlights from the study so far?

Vrkljan: As an occupational therapist, I'm very interested in things that occupy peoples' time — their ability to do things that are important to them. For example, being able to get out to Tim Horton's could be really important to some people, that could be where you get your socialization. When you can't do those things, it could mean that you're not getting rest, that you're not moving around as much. So together, we're very interested in how people manage their mobility and manage their social participation because we want to leverage that.

Resilience is something . . . interesting as well. It's interesting to see that some of our participants actually reported that they're having such a hard time that they would actually have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. It's not a diagnosis, but it's a real struggle. Now, we don't know how they were doing before, but we just had their snapshot in time.

Beauchamp: I just want to emphasize that it is a small proportion of people, but obviously concerning still and not nontrivial. Another big concern with our study is that almost half of respondents said that they were very worried about falling and of the people that had a fall in previous years, almost 40% said they had a fall in the last 30 days. That is a high number of calls during a pandemic where you're supposed to be with your family at home and less in the community.

So it just speaks to the fact that if you're less active and you do have problems with mobility, it can really have an impact on your health. These are all routes highlighted by the survey that are going to be important concerns going forward as we come out of the pandemic. 

An introduction to the divestment movement at McMaster, even if you’ve never heard the word “divest” before. No tutorials required. 

By: Natalie Palumbo, Nicole Graziano, Mymoon Bhuiyan and Adeola Egbeyemi, Contributors

This article is written by members of McMaster Divest.

Instructor: OPIRG Group McMaster Divest
Email: macdivest@opirgmcmaster.ca
Lecture: One-time reading 

History of MacDivest

Welcome to the Winter 2021 one-reading course: DIVEST 1A03! In the context of higher education, fossil fuel divestment involves universities removing their investments in stocks, bonds and other forms of invested funds from the fossil fuel industry. Like many universities, McMaster University currently invests in fossil fuel companies.

At McMaster, the divestment movement traces back to 2013 when OPIRG project Fossil-Free McMaster began to advocate for divestment from fossil fuel companies. Although the efforts of students and faculty of Fossil-Free McMaster led to McMaster creating a committee to evaluate the possibility of divestment of endowment funds, ultimately no further action was taken.

Divestment Evaluation - Details

Moral Reasons

The use and production of fossil fuels are directly tied to climate change. It is a fact that as fossil fuels are mined, carbon emissions enter the atmosphere and raise the global average temperature, causing a host of problems and exacerbating others. 

It’s no secret that fossil fuel companies have been repeatedly linked to human rights abuses and have shown that profits trump human rights, notably on Canadian soil. This is particularly concerning when we consider the effects of fossil fuels on Indigenous populations within Canada, such as oil spills and discharges.

Consider this: How can McMaster honour the promises made in their land acknowledgements if their investments support companies that build pipelines across Indigenous lands, threatening the livelihood and sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples?

How can McMaster honour the promises made in their land acknowledgements if their investments support companies that build pipelines across Indigenous lands, threatening the livelihood and sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples?

We know we sound like huge tree huggers, but hear us out — as students, it is also discouraging to know that our tuition supports an institution that’s invested in the slow roast of the planet by way of fossil fuel companies.

Leadership Reasons

“As a global university, we must recognize the important role we play through all of our sustainability efforts, which include responsible investments,” said McMaster president, David Farrar in 2020.

All universities will likely end up divesting, it is simply a matter of when. How embarrassing is it that in the middle of a climate crisis, McMaster wants to watch and see how divestment impacts other universities first?

This contradicts the idea that McMaster plays a global leadership role, as they are riding on the coattails of global institutions, as well as smaller Canadian universities that have shown real leadership. McMaster prides itself on its achievements, its sustainability efforts included. It would be a hollow victory if McMaster announced its divestment plan after watching other universities divest and assessing their processes. 

Divestment Misconceptions

Misconception 1:

“But when we divest from these companies, we lose our seat at the table as shareholders, we can no longer engage and advocate for them to be more sustainable!”

Sustainability is avoiding the depletion of natural resources to maintain Earth’s ecology. There is no amount of advocacy that can make a company, whose goal is the antithesis of this (i.e. mining natural resources), environmentally friendly. Even if we could, the activism coming from McMaster’s tiny investment could not change a company’s mind anyway.

Misconception 2: 

“If our investment is so tiny, then what is the point? You won’t make a difference with divestment, so why bother?”

McMaster’s investment is small in terms of financial capital, yes, but is massive in terms of social capital. Divestment looks to devalue social capital by sending a message that investing in fossil fuels is not okay. In addition, divestment is becoming an increasingly sound investment decision to make, no matter how small. Fossil fuels seem to be an industry in decline, seeing increasing amounts of trouble regularly.

Misconception 3: 

“Oh, that’s real nice. You want McMaster to divest from fossil fuel companies, while the whole campus uses fossil fuels to run! Very hypocritical for the consumers to divest from the suppliers.”

First of all, if McMaster wanted to research, plan and conduct a smooth, equitable transition to a fossil-free campus, we would be all for it! But McMaster obviously isn’t a top world research university, so that’s silly talk. Divestment isn’t mutually exclusive from going fossil-free, we’re just a part of the worldwide movement for this particular systematic change.

Misconception 4:

“I know investment funds and tuition money are two separate pools of funding. But it’s still university money that should be diversified for a balanced portfolio.”

We agree! Loss of diversification is not good. That’s why there are companies in the energy sector that can be invested in that do not emit carbon dioxide! In fact, MacGreenInvest is a group of McMaster faculty that has been working since 2015 for reinvestment of these divested funds into sustainable initiatives.

The benefits of divestment are that McMaster can begin to actively, mindfully and genuinely invest in green companies and start-ups, forming a reciprocal relationship with the technology and energy sources we want to see thrive in the future. 

We know we haven’t answered all the misconceptions about divestment at McMaster. There are still well-placed concerns about the complexities of removing pooled funding and monitoring progress year-by-year. But once you start thinking about the complexities of how to divest, you’ve already agreed then that divestment is necessary.

Next Steps

Hopefully you, the reader, are now on board with the fossil fuel divestment movement. You’ve aced the exam and secured that 12! Now what?

You can keep up with MacDivest work to move McMaster away from unsustainable investments on Instagram and Facebook. You can sign this petition calling on McMaster to take divestment action. You can even simply spread awareness with your friends and community by, for instance, sharing this article.

As individuals, it would be difficult to convince McMaster to divest. However, as a collective group, in the McMaster community and worldwide, working towards an actual brighter world is possible.