New protocol for supporting survivors Human Rights and Equity Services has launched a new initiative to support survivors of sexual violence
McMaster’s Human Rights and Equity Services has just launched the university’s first-ever Sexual Violence Response Protocol. Spearheaded by Meaghan Ross, the recently hired Sexual Violence Response Coordinator, the protocol is an effort to provide university staff and community members with the information needed when accepting a disclosure about sexual, gender-based or other related violence. “The response protocol is really about...
Gone a stray The neighbourhood surrounding campus is currently littered with stray animals. Are students to blame for this issue?
“I thought in your lease, there’s supposed to be no pets,” says Enid Pagnini, an 87-year-old Westdale resident, surrounded by her five adopted cats. Pagnini contacted us not long ago about the stray problem she’s noticed in the city. The former teacher, cat rescuer and 42-year-strong Hamiltonian finds it difficult to understand how so many students have pets to take care of, when they already seem to have enough of a challenge taking...
Grieving as a student body Dealing with a death on campus is shocking but is unfortunately not something new
Three weeks ago, one of my staff members came knocking on my office door. “I recently found out about something, and I’m not sure what to do.” The following 40 minutes were then spent discussing the difficult issue of covering the death of a student in the paper. When someone the same age as you passes away due to sudden or violent reasons, it is never an easy discussion. It is something that needs to be done while still respecting...
Secret services I’m loving the #MacLivesHere campaign, but wish it and the MSU’s smaller services got more attention
A little over three years ago, I excitedly moved into my student house. I predicted it would soon become the backdrop of my soon-to-be reality TV-worthy student life, but instead I was welcomed into my new home with a slew of landlord upsets. With everything from bathroom leaks, to broken decks, to a mysterious older man who used to enter our home at night to fix the plumbing (yes, this was as terrifying as it sounds), at times my...
Mental health’s one percent Don’t get too excited about McMaster’s recent top rankings
For the past 25 years, Maclean’s magazine has released a comprehensive ranking of Canadian Universities. The ranking takes into account numerous categories including, but not limited to: program details, finances, scholarship opportunities, reputational rankings, and historically, survey results conducted by the universities themselves. This year, for the first time in the magazine’s history, instead of relying on the independent...
