Supporting employees in the McMaster Students Union The current situation with part-time managers and what is being done
The McMaster Students Union employs dozens of students through part-time positions in various services with flexible hours. These often attract the best and the brightest within the student union. But working for the student union is not without its own hiccups, and students are speaking up. Following the end of her term as part-time manager for the Peer Support Line, Zeinab Khawaja, a fourth-year Health Sciences student, presented a...
A lack of racial data collection at Mac McMaster is one of 63 Canadian universities that cannot provide a breakdown of its population
In April, two reports based on racial equity in education involving data from the Toronto District School Board were published. These detailed a number of issues facing Black students including an increased likelihood of being streamed into non-academic programs, a higher likelihood of suspension due to attitude rather than behaviour and higher drop-out rates. These reports mainly concerned high school policies. These issues of racial...
Student Life Enhancement Fund improvements The allocation of $150,000 will mostly be used on student centre upgrades
Every year, the Student Life Enhancement Fund, a joint collaboration between the McMaster Students Union and the university, accepts idea submissions about improvements around campus. These are vetted down and reduced to a few finalists for the students at large to vote on. In the past, this has successfully provided improvements to Compass, microwaves and electrical outlets in the McMaster University Student Centre and the fitness...
McMaster Students Union urges city council to support LRT With city council set to vote on an environmental assessment, the MSU is making their stance known
Yes, it’s time for another story about light rail transit in Hamilton. But this time, Mac students have a chance to make a difference. Hamilton city council will vote on passing an environmental assessment for the LRT route on April 19. The new assessment comes after slight changes were made to the route. Despite 50 separate votes in favour of the project, LRT remains a divisive issue. In an April 6 story, we wrote about how...
McMaster University is spending thousands of dollars on critical reflection From online resources to course management, post-secondary education has been reshaped by the internet and computers
Technology has changed education. From online resources to course management, post-secondary education has been reshaped by the internet and computers. Among the many affected areas is critical reflection. McMaster University is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to address this. In 2013, McMaster University created the Learning Portfolio. According to a 2013 Learning Portfolio Working Group report, the project aimed to...
The Gutsy Side of Mental Disorders Probiotics may indirectly enhance mental health
By: Jennifer La Grassa The term probiotic may only seem familiar because of its persistent appearance on every brand of yogurt, cheese, and milk but the bacteria and yeast within probiotics supposedly enhance the gut microbiome’s well-being, which not only improves gastrointestinal disorders but may be consumed to indirectly enhance mental health. The gut microbiome refers to the thousands of bacterial species that live in the gut and...
