As practices of diversity, equity and inclusion come under conservative fire, a diverse team of journalists is more important than ever
Diversity is under attack. What some try to pass off as merely questioning the efficacy of hiring or admissions policies to promote diversity has unquestionably turned into an attack on the principle of diversity itself.
This past year, Canadian colleges and universities took centre stage in a persistent national debate around
immigration. International students became scapegoats for Canada’s persistent housing, healthcare and public service crises. In response, the Justin Trudeau Liberal government announced a cap on international students which has led to an estimated 45 per cent reduction in study permits for international students
While there are genuine concerns to be raised about the treatment of international students in Canada and the exorbitant tuition they are expected to pay there’s little evidence that protecting international students was the goal of this policy.
If we believe that diversity is our strength, then every student’s education has been weakened by this xenophobic attack on the diversity of our classrooms and our community.
But some of the most powerful people in the world don’t want us to believe in this strength. President Donald Trump of the United States has shown his disapproval of diversity at universities, directly attacking some of that country’s most prestigious schools demanding they eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
The Conservative Party of Canada’s Quebec platform at the last election initially made similar promises to “put an end to the imposition of woke ideology in the federal civil service and in the allocation of federal funds for university research”. This was later backtracked by the party who claimed it as a “publishing oversight”.
It was a different attack on students in the United States that I have found most disturbing however, the detention of international student Rumeysa Ozturk by American Immigration and Customs Enforcement. All for co-writing an opinion piece in her student newspaper criticizing her school’s response to Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza.
It would be irresponsible to draw a direct parallel between this act and the situation in Canada, yet the current Liberal Government’s Bill C-2, should it pass as written, would give the government the authority to strip international students of their study permits “if the [Government] is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to do so.”
the current Liberal Government’s Bill C-2, should it pass as written, would give the government the authority to strip international students of their study permits “if the [Government] is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to do so.”
Threats like these to the rights of international students to due process remind me of the importance of student journalism, while the direct attacks on student journalists reminds me of our power. Good student journalism has the ability to draw together the student body as a community, to direct our shared attention towards both our shared problems and our shared accomplishments.
The world is an increasingly dangerous place, both for marginalized people who are unjustly blamed for the issues we all face; and for every person, regardless of their privilege, as the world becomes a more conflict ridden place.
I am reminded of the phrase “think global, act local” as I write, not because I believe that people cannot change the world, but because in a world that is increasingly “thinking global’’ through globalized social media, we can lose sight of what acting local means. Acting local isn’t just voting in municipal elections, it’s acting together with your community, whoever that is.
As student journalists, the team that is The Silhouette cannot solve the world’s problems, but through our mandate to serve McMaster’s student body we can bring together a campus community strong enough to make differences big and small.
Though we share a home on campus, that community’s roots reach across the world. Together we learn so much, and together we can do so much more. Bringing that community together is the job of The Silhouette.
Though we share a home on campus, this community’s roots reach across the world. Together we learn so much, and together we can do so much more.
That has to mean scrutinizing the institutions that represent us and hold sway over our lives to give students the knowledge they need to be a part of this community. It also means covering the great work students are doing to bring people together or to excel on the field.
And The Silhouette, our team, we can do all of this because we are diverse, because we are a team of students from all different backgrounds who come together to work and learn from one another.
We cannot hope to represent every McMaster student through our hiring practices, though through contributions we hope to offer every student the opportunity. But diversity is not a strength only through representation, diversity is also a strength because it teaches us to listen to one another and to grow because of it.
Leading this team will require one thing more than any other, trust. To lead a team that embraces its diversity, I need to trust that others are bringing themselves to their work, because who they are and the skills they bring are both our diversity and our strength.
I trust this team, and I hope you will trust them too.
It’s a familiar lunch-time scene in the Silhouette office. Someone walks in with a white, Styrofoam take-out container, plops down on the couch and before they can even open their lunch, someone will always ask, “butter chicken or shawarma?”
It should come as no surprise that the student newspaper staff, damned to the student centre basement, rely on the neighbouring halal food and bubble tea shop, Taro. Their prices are reasonable, the portions are generous and they make sure that we can avoid the crowded lines of La Piazza above.
Nestled between the Student Wellness and Education Lower Lounge and the CFMU office, Taro has been keeping the Silhouette staff fed with hearty plates of butter chicken, shawarma, vegetable curry, lentil soup, crispy samosas and addictive Jamaican patties.
Now Taro is such a staple part of my own campus food experience, my memories of its absence are hazy. I have no idea what that space was before Taro. Was that slot machine always there? Was it part of the old student centre arcade and game room? I think it was empty in my first year but I can’t be sure.
I remember the staff tradition of communal patty-runs starting and people relieved to know that even if they forgot their lunch on a busy afternoon, a filling meal wasn’t too far.
The only thing I clearly remember during Taro’s first few days was entering the office for the first with container filled with piping hot butter chicken and a bubble tea shortly after the shop opened. I remember the staff tradition of communal patty-runs starting and people relieved to know that even if they forgot their lunch on a busy afternoon, a filling meal wasn’t too far.
This year, if you owe Tim a couple of bucks, he will ask that you buy him a patty instead. When Rachel forgets to bring something to dip into her hummus, she’ll quickly grab a piece of naan. On long production days, I can throw back their strawberry, banana and blueberry protein shake in five minutes.
One of the Arts & Culture section’s goals was to make consistent food coverage a central part of the section. Whether that be exciting new restaurants or some under-discussed staples that can be found throughout the city, and that we genuinely provide readers with a great experience for a range of budgets.
But after all, we are students.
We have a full day of class to attend, often multiple jobs to work at, there isn’t always time in the day to bus to a new restaurant. That, if anything, unites our collective experience with food at the Silhouette’s office.
We love food, we love exchanging recipes and making plans to grab lunch or dinner together, but finishing the newspaper has to come first. Catching up on our studies often comes next. The office this year shares baked goods and snack foods every other week, and this is partially because it is easier to make time to do something you love when you can share the results with others.
In a similar fashion, acknowledging this shared experience with the halal and bubble tea shop down the hall does this too. Not because it is an act that we do for each other, but acknowledging the staff’s shared experience with Taro reinforces how much we can bond over a trivial relationship with campus food. Even if just amounts to in-jokes on the surface, being familiar with your cohorts go-to orders, speculating over recipe changes and buying each other an occasional snack just exemplifies how much we look to food to be a source of common ground.
While we often have to put our dinner plans together on hold, the Silhouette will always have this. I have a feeling that even five years from now, the staff of the future will still be laughing over their take-out from Taro.
Contrary to what Andy Williams and Staples Business Depot say, the most wonderful time of the year is the day after Hallowe’en when you spread out all your candy from the night before and neatly arrange them into categorized piles. Now order generic viagra most of us are probably not trick-or-treating (I wish I could say “all”, but there are still some die-hards out there) but after handing out candy, eating our feelings, and frolicking at various parties, we still tend to end up with copious amounts of sugary goods.
Here are a few of our favourite snacks and some nutrition information for consideration.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Calorie Count: 260 per serving (2 cups)
“Phat”: 13g
Magic Powder (sugar): 21g
Popeye
Calorie Count: 60 per serving (one small box)
Phat: 0g
Magic Powder: 15g
Fuzzy Peaches
Calorie Count: 16 per serving (a single peach)
Phat: 0g
Magic Powder: 3g
Kit-Kat
Calorie Count: 210 per serving (1 regular bar)
Phat: 11g
Magic Powder: 21g
Lays Original Chips
Calorie Count: 147 per serving (1 small bag)
Phat: 9.5g
Magic Powder: 0g
