Photo by Kyle West

Men’s Volleyball - Forsyth Cup Playoffs

The McMaster men’s volleyball team is heading to the Ontario University Athletics volleyball semifinals for the 15th-straight season. After defeating the York University Lions 3-1 in the OUA quarter-finals, the Marauders are heading into the Final Four ranked fifth in the nation.

Several Marauders were also honoured with OUA recognition, with outside hitter Matt Passalent taking home the highest honour, OUA West Player of the Year. Fifth-year Andrew Richards took home the Dale Iwanoczko Award for his work off the court. Passalent and Richards were both named First Team All-Stars, while Craig Ireland was named to the Second Team. First-year middle Tyler Pavelic’s season was recognized with a spot on the All-Rookie team.

With six straight OUA titles, the journey to their seventh begins this weekend when the Marauders face the University of Windsor Lancers in a semi-final match-up. If they win, they will go on to play in the final game for the OUA Forsyth Cup. The game will be on Saturday, March 9 at 1 p.m. at Queen’s University.

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Women’s Basketball - U Sports Final Eight

After defeating the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in the OUA finals to capture the Critelli Cup, the Marauders are heading to Ryerson University to play in the U Sports National Championships for the second-straight season. With the No. 2 seed in the tournament, the Marauders will face the No. 7 Concordia University Stingers.

Led by Critelli Cup game MVP Hilary Hanaka, the Marauders hope to see a different result in this year's National Championships compared to last year. The ladies headed out to Regina last year where they unfortunately did not finish where they wanted to. Losing in the first round to McGill University, the Marauders were not prepared for the level of play, but are hoping to see different results this time around.

Already defeating the Carleton University Ravens during the 2019 OUA semi-finals, who were also the 2018 U Sports Champions, the idea of going straight to the top does not seem so far off. Tip-off time is at 12 p.m. Thursday, March 7.

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Photos by Kyle West

Tonight, Thursday Feb. 28, is the semifinal playoff game for the McMaster women’s basketball team and the rematch of the 2018 Ontario University Athletics Critelli Cup finals. Facing the Carleton University Ravens in Burridge Gym will be a nostalgic match, as the Ravens walked away with the Cup last year on the Marauders’ home court. Luckily for Mac, this year they are going to the semifinals as the third best team in the nation while the Ravens’ are seventh.

C/O OUA.tv

Ending the regular season 21-3, the Marauders earned their right to a first-round bye, and faced the Brock University Badgers in the OUA quarter-finals. Although the Marauders headed into the game with as much success as they did, the game was not as easy as they would have liked. After struggling for the first half, it was in the third quarter that the Marauders were able to break away and win the match 81-70.

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Sarah Gates, who was chosen for the 2018 OUA All-Rookie Team after a strong rookie campaign, scored a whopping 28 points, shooting nine of 16 from the field and five of 10 from three-point range. Her performance was a testament to her overall season, even securing a spot on the OUA All-Star Second Team.

Senior Hilary Hanaka helped out offensively as always, scoring 12 points. Both Hanaka and Linnaea Harper, who sat out of the quarter-final game due to injury, were recognized as First-Team All-Stars.

For the Marauders, staying consistent and not letting the memories of the last Carleton-McMaster matchup get in their heads unless to fuel them, will be the key for the Marauders to return to the Critelli Cup finals once again.

 

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Several student unions in Ontario have joined the campaign to raise the minimum wage to $14. Anti-poverty groups proposed the minimum wage hike in March this year as part of their ‘Fair Wages Now’ campaign.

Alastair Woods, chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students (Ontario), said members voted unanimously in their August general meeting to support the cause. Leading up to Nov. 14, a designated day of action, students joined community groups in voicing their concerns to local politicians.

“The last time we had a minimum wage increase was in 2010. Since then, the cost of education and living has gone up significantly,” Woods said. “The $14 [was determined] through community consultation to bring full-time workers about 10 per cent over the poverty line.”

Guled Arale, VP (external) for the University of Toronto’s Scarborough Campus Student Union, has been working with community groups to advocate for a $14 minimum wage.

“We had a forum a few weeks ago with 200 to 250 people in Scarborough and it was really good to see that many people working on this issue - not all of them were students, but many were parents of students,” Arale said.

Arale said a minimum wage hike would help students earn a living wage, particularly those working in casual or part-time positions while in school.

“Every year, the cost of living goes up for students, but a lot of students who do work minimum wage don't see their wages increase,” he said.

In a similar vein, Carleton University’s Graduate Students’ Association recently supported the hike in a presentation to the Ontario government’s minimum wage advisory panel. The panel was formed in the summer and will advise the province on future minimum wage increases.

“A lot of graduate students work as a TA or RA and take other jobs on the side,” said Lauren Montgomery, VP (external) of the Carleton GSA. “If the minimum wage were to be $14, grad students could take on less part-time jobs and put more into their schoolwork and teaching.”

She also mentioned the mounting pressure graduate students face in terms of rising tuition, debt load and, in many cases, childcare costs.

Along with groups such as the Workers’ Action Centre, the CFS-Ontario has submitted recommendations to the province’s advisory panel.

“Just two decades ago, a student could work full-time at minimum wage over the summer at 35 hours a week for 9 weeks, and pay off a year’s worth of undergraduate tuition fees. Today, it would take at least 20 weeks at minimum wage...more weeks than are in the summer,” CFS-Ontario’s submission states.

According to Statistics Canada, 60 per cent of minimum wage workers are under 25 years old, and of those youth workers, 44 per cent aged 20 to 24 attend school.

Christina Pugliese

The Silhouette

With a season of civil unrest upon us, many have questioned the authenticity of protesters’ concerns. In this day and age, how can we distinguish the agitators from the real deal?

It turns out that the answer, at least in the present case, may be less baffling than one would expect.

The celebratory spirit of this year’s 19th annual Gandhi Peace Festival held on Oct. 1 was highlighted with the unveiling of a Gandhi statue presented to McMaster University on behalf of the Indian government.

A vastly different scene was evoked, however, at Carleton University, which revealed a similar statue of the Indian icon on Oct. 2, despite strong opposition from a demonstration of protesters representing the Organization for Minorities of India.

The group, whose Facebook page ‘Stop the Carleton University Gandhi Statue’ garnered upwards of 150 fans, resists commemoration of Gandhi across North America.

Their convictions hinge primarily upon the belief that Gandhi’s popular embodiment of peace and non-violence are a pretense of his true legacy, outlined on their website (stopgandhistatue.com) as follows:

“Gandhi is a hero only to a select group of upper-caste Hindu Indians.

To others, he remains a man who unashamedly and unapologetically constructed a legacy of racism against blacks, support for racial segregation in South Africa, cheerleading and participation in British colonial wars of conquest, insensitive and anti-Semitic remarks about the Jewish Holocaust, disturbing amiability towards Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, shocking disregard for the psychological well-being of his grandnieces and consistent belittlement of Indian minorities such as Dalits and Sikhs.”

While perhaps unsettling, these accusations come as no surprise to Dr. Rama Singh, professor of Biology at McMaster and Chair of the Gandhi Peace Festival Committee.

“A few years ago, G.B. Singh, [founder of the Organization for Minorities of India], wrote to me asking why I was wasting my time,” he said.

“Rather than engaging, I simply responded by saying, ‘I am going to assume that Gandhi has all those faults, and in spite of them, the fact that he still could become a Mahatma to the rest of the world means that there is hope for you and me.’”

Singh is critical of the organization’s self-imposed title of ‘Minority,’ noting that the group’s agenda fails to address any concern outside the realm of Gandhi tribute, such as poverty, sexism or racism, that often affect these populations disproportionately.

Singh described the factual validity of the group’s views as “misinterpretations of the events of Gandhi’s life,” providing the example of Gandhi helping to save the wounded during the Boer War as ‘evidence’ of his participation in combat.

“I would say that these people are a disgrace to the Gandhian movement. You don’t have to believe in Gandhi, but Gandhi’s ideas are not only Gandhi’s ideas; they are Martin Luther King’s ideas, Dalai Lama’s ideas, Nelson Mandela’s ideas. These people fought for something. That’s what Gandhi symbolizes. So to fight over Gandhi’s faults is a waste of time,” noted Singh.

Singh further promoted the incorporation of the Gandhian ideology on campus, saying “In my mind putting a statue of Gandhi on a university campus is like having a combined course on ethics, morality, and international development, without the teacher or exam. It is a constant reminder of a man who never compromised on his principles and there is no better way to empower students.”

Singh highlighted the importance of Gandhi’s teachings regarding the reciprocal process of learning. He drew particular emphasis to the need for professors to learn from their students, as given their globalized exposure to the world, they “are more in tune with societal needs and change.”

He stressed that a crucial role of the professor is to “promote student engagement through, for example, courses, dialogues, inter-disciplinary programs, and peace centers.”

“In short,” he added, “I would say it is our job to give them a Gandhian empowerment.”

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