Photos by Kyle West

By: Graham West

Hard work, toughness and focus are the key elements that have led to Hilary Hanaka’s outstanding success at the university level. After recently achieving the milestone of 1000 career points, Hanaka is looking forward to a season filled with promise.

Hitting 1000 career points is a huge career landmark and it meant a lot to Hanaka, although she stressed the importance the team has had in contributing to her being able to achieve it.

“It’s a pretty big milestone to hit and it means a lot to hit that point,” Hanaka said. “But, of course it’s a team sport overall, so I think I’m more excited to figure out where our team will end up this season…  it's obviously nice to hit that point, but I obviously wouldn’t have gotten to this point without the help of my teammates and my coach.”

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It has not always been easy on the path to greatness for Hanaka as there have been challenges with balancing academics and being a varsity athlete.

“There are positives and negatives. Coming into first year, that was when the big adjustment hit,” Hanaka said. “Obviously, it’s a much bigger time commitment being on a varsity team and having classes every single day, practices every day and you’re away on weekends and just making sure you find the right balance to do everything.”

“With that being said, you’re surrounded by an incredible group of girls, coaching staffs,” Hanaka added. “We have so much support through the athletic department, so whenever things were going downhill, you always had someone to pick you back up.”

Hanaka’s experience with the difficulties athletes can face and her expertise on the court are some of the things that make her a great leader. Being there for her teammates on and off the court is instrumental to the success of the team and something that is incredibly important to her as well.

“Off the court is just as important as on the court when it comes to varsity sports,” Hanaka said.

“Being a veteran player, I’ve been around for five years so I’ve been through most of the things that bring you down and that go on. So just being able to be there for the girls is something that I really strive to do.”

“Just knowing that I’ve been in the position of a first-year, second-year, third-year and even a fourth-year player and things aren't always fun and games there’s always going to be those lows,” Hanaka added. "Being able to make sure the girls are aware that I’m always there for them, whether it’s something basketball-related, life-related, school-related, whatever it might be, that just because I’m a leader on the court, doesn’t mean I can’t be the leader off the court. ”

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Whenever Hanaka’s career as a player ends, it will most certainly not be the end to her basketball career. When you have a particularly knowledgeable player who is a natural leader, coaching is always on the horizon. It is something Hanaka is interested in, and given her success as a player, seems very possible.

“I would love to be a coach. Growing up I’ve always been surrounded by basketball and it’s been a huge part of my life,” Hanaka said. “Being a player has been incredible, but I think I’m kinda ready to hang up the shoes and move forward. Hopefully down the road, coaching is something that I’ll be put into.”

Always one of the first people in the gym, Hanaka has had an outstanding career so far in the maroon and grey and looks to only improve. The team is one to watch as they continue to play their way to a return to nationals, with their eyes clearly set on taking home gold.

 

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Photo C/O Grant Holt

By: Elizabeth DiEmanuele

“We often don’t realize how resilient we can be,” says Kerri Latham, career counsellor at the Student Success Centre. “The truth is, the more times you fail, the easier it is to try.”

For the Student Success Centre, providing students with the resources and supports needed to develop their resiliency in university is important. One piece of this work is normalizing failure, uncertainty and other factors that contribute to wanting to give up on a goal, project, idea, or dream.

As Jenna Storey, academic skills program coordinator at the Student Success Centre, says, “Students often encounter challenges in achieving their academic goals. Resiliency in academics is about bouncing back after these challenges, and also recognizing and working through them by incorporating better academic and personal management skills.”

Most recently, the Centre led a digital campaign called #StickWithIt, a resiliency campaign that responded to student experiences the Centre addresses in its regular roster of programs, services and workshops. Staff have also participated in the CFMU’s MorningFile show, covering topics from Thriving in Academic Uncertainty to Developing Career Resilience.

In Kerri’s role, resiliency is an ongoing conversation and practice. Whether it’s through her one-on-one appointments, a career and employment session, or a Career Planning Group, one thing is clear: there is a shared uncertainty for many students around what they are going to do and where they are going to go next.

Kerri shares, “Though there are expectations, reflecting on your own priorities can help you stay grounded to pursue a direction that is best for you. Try not to get swayed too much by what others are doing. Know yourself and honour your own path.”

Knowing yourself does not necessarily mean “know your passion.” As Kerri suggests, “This puts a lot of false expectations on students, but the main thing is to pay attention to those seeds of interests and allow them to grow. Though it might feel like everyone has it figured out, there is always change, uncertainty and new directions.  It’s okay to not know right now – uncertainty is to be expected.”

For students focused on what’s next, Kerri recommends breaking big decisions into smaller chunks; and when job searching, focusing more on the opportunities and skills students want to develop. She also encourages students to use their strengths and supports, like family, friends or mentors.

The good news is: students don’t have to go through it alone. The Student Success Centre is a place for students to explore, from the moment they accept their offer of admission and up to ten years after graduation. Upcoming sessions include:

Register for workshops or a career counselling appointment on OSCARplus.

Visit studentsuccess.mcmaster.ca to learn more.

 

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By: Natalie Clark

The definition of “Thrive” is most simply put as “to progress toward or realize a goal despite or because of circumstances.” This definition embodies the true meaning of McMaster’s first ever Thrive Week, beginning Feb. 4.

Thrive Week is a week-long series of events focusing on improving and maintaining good mental health of students, staff and faculty on campus.

Events include yoga, Zumba, meditation circles, stress management workshops and various panels for students to get information on a variety of topics such as career planning and suicide awareness.  

Although Thrive Week is new to McMaster, the wellness event has been a part of many schools around Canada for the past 10 years.

 

“Thrive began at [University of British Columbia] in 2009 and since then, a number of Canadian colleges and universities have adopted the spirit of Thrive,” mentioned McMaster wellness educator, WilPrakash Fujarczuk.

“The wellness education team decided to join these schools for a number of reasons…  one reason is to connect students to pre-existing services on campus… we know that there are a number of departments that promote mental wellness in ways that may not be so obvious,” said Fujarczuk.

Fujarczuk mentions “Sketching Thursdays” at the McMaster Museum of Art, which is a weekly event that allows students to distance themselves from their devices and work on mindfulness and creative expression.

Thrive Week is intended to promote events similar to “Sketching Thursdays” on campus and add additional resources and events throughout Thrive Week for students to participate in to further their mental health journey.

“Thrive is also an opportunity to bring in community partners to showcase the valuable expertise that Hamilton community resources have to offer,” mentioned Fujarczuk.

Some of the community partners that are taking part in Thrive Week at McMaster include Healing Together Yoga, The AIDS Network and Asian Community AIDS Services.

 

Body Brave, another Hamilton-based organization, will also be taking part in the event to introduce students and staff to their off campus support system. Body Brave’s main purpose is to address the major gaps in resources for eating disorders, raise awareness and reduce the stigma around eating disorders, particularly with those who are over the age of 18.

Kelsea McCready, a McMaster student who holds the position of secretary on the board of directors at Body Brave, mentions the barriers that individuals may face when struggling with an eating disorder and are looking for help.

“Programs within Ontario as a whole have a limited capacity which means that many individuals who are struggling are left on long waitlists without any kind of specialized support,” mentioned McCready.

McCready notes that although Body Brave is not a direct replacement for professional specialized support for eating disorders, the organization offers a variety of affordable treatment programs such as workshops, individual treatment and support groups.

“It is a priority for Body Brave to engage more with the McMaster community as an off-campus support in addition to on-campus services,” said McCready.

Body Brave’s involvement in Thrive Week is important for those who may be suffering from an eating disorder and are wary to seek out support. Thrive Week introduces programs and organizations to the McMaster campus that are similar to Body Brave in order to make these services more accessible to students.

“Given that it’s our first year running Thrive, we are hoping to use it as an opportunity to evaluate programs and build on for future years,” said Fujarczuk.

While Thrive events will only be taking place for a week, the path towards bettering the mental health of the McMaster community needs to be addressed and explored on a consistent basis. Thrive Week is the first step towards shedding light on the services available on-campus and in the community.

 

Thrive Week will be running on campus from Feb. 4 to Feb. 9. More information about the event can be found on the Student Wellness Centre’s website, which includes the Thrive Week schedule and other mental health resources found year-round on campus.

 

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Photo by Kyle West

By: Steffi Arkilander

Content Warning: Contains mentions of sexual assault

McMaster University has a strong reputation among Ontario universities for offering a variety of diverse student-oriented resources and supports. However, McMaster has consistently failed in making support for sexual violence survivors accessible and effective.

On Aug. 19, I was sexually assaulted by someone I trusted, just a few weeks before I started my second year at McMaster. I decided to give university resources a chance and reached out to the sexual violence response coordinator, Meaghan Ross, in October.

I needed academic accommodations to support the extensive and difficult emotional turmoil I was experiencing. My grades were falling and I was not ready to write any tests. To receive academic accommodations, I had to use Ross in my letter for Student Accessibility Services, which meant disclosing my sexual assault to numerous administrative individuals.

Unfortunately, getting registered with SAS is a long process and often my deferred midterms fell on days where I had other assessments or midterms. As a result, instead of my work being manageably spread out, my work and emotional distress were compounded together.

In December, I decided to report my assault to the university. Not only was it unfair to me to have to constantly interact with my perpetrator, but it was also unfair to other students that had to interact with him. But when I contacted the McMaster Students Union and the Residence Life Office, I learned that undergoing the reporting processes is an extensive and exhausting endeavour.

The process forces you to disclose your story to multiple organizations, to staff and non-survivors and brings your sexual assault to the public forefront. Even if my perpetrator is removed from positions without contact from me, he will know I caused his removal and that I decided to take action. Moreover, people will be able to piece my story together. While I am personally okay with this, many others are not.

Thus, to receive accommodations,such as an apology or to remove him from a position, I took the informal route that is offered through the McMaster University sexual violence protocol. To my disappointment, this route requires survivors to detail the incident. This creates an incredibly re-traumatizing experience and gives your perpetrator access to your disclosure, allowing them to reject the requested accommodations.

This process has clearly become incredibly legal, despite pursuing the university route in order to avoid legal involvement. As this process is painfully slow, my perpetrator continues to hold positions of power and interact with the student body without consequence. My perpetrator is free to roam campus while I am forced to anxiously avoid him.

My story is not uncommon. In fact, in comparison to other survivors, the university has responded well. Students generally don’t report their sexual assaults because of the university’s response; the survivor often feels interrogated and is led to hope for an unsatisfactory compromise with their perpetrator.

Survivors need to be prioritized. MacLean’s nationwide survey found that 29 per cent of McMaster students were not educated on how to report a sexual assault and 24 per cent of students weren’t educated on McMaster’s services that support survivors. This needs to change.

The system should be more navigable and transparent, so that survivors are more likely to reach out for help. Reporting assaults needs to be standardized university-wide so that survivors do not need to recount their experience to multiple organizations.

Training does not teach perpetrators not to assault people. My perpetrator has attended over five trainings on anti-oppressive practices and sexual violence throughout university.

Instead, training needs to emphasize on supporting survivors, and tangible means by which we can all work to dismantle the barriers impeding support mechanisms. The fact that only three in 1000 assaults results in conviction only becomes horrifyingly real when you have to support a survivor or become one yourself.

Survivors have nothing to gain from reporting, only lots to lose. So please believe us.

 

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With the start of the 2015-16 season around the corner for the McMaster Women’s Basketball team, a new challenge has shown up for the ladies. It goes far beyond points on a score sheet or standings in their division and it is a test that will show their strength and resilience for a team that plays with their heart on their sleeves.

For 22 seasons now, head coach Theresa Burns has helped push her team to greatness. Under her leadership the team has won OUA championships and made CIS national appearances. Burns has also been named OUA West Coach of the Year and CIS Basketball Coach of the Year for her hard work with the team.

While Burns was often busy dealing with challenges on the court, one of her greatest struggles was battling breast cancer. After overcoming her first diagnosis years ago, during a routine mammogram this summer, Burns learned that the cancer had returned.

Though the team was given the news by Burns during the summer months, the support they give each other when the season starts will be important for a team that wants to make a national championship appearance.

Coming off an improved 15-4 record last season, the team’s morale is high. This new season will feel different than past ones without Burns on the sidelines calmly cheering her team on.

“You hear it all the time that the best life skills you learn are through sport. There are going to be roadblocks but it is how you get through them that matters most. To have a locker room full of girls that are all going through the same situations makes it easier for us to rely on each other,” said captain Danielle Boiago.

With Burns currently undergoing treatment, the squad is currently looking to assistant coach, Anne Marie Thuss, who is in constant communication with Burns filling her in on the team’s growth and the progress made in the gym.

“They are extremely strong women and have continued with the process that coach Burns has laid out for them,” said Thuss.

Though Burns’ absence in Burridge is noticed, her expectations for the team are still present and the work ethic has remained the same on the court. Practices and lifts haven’t changed, and the hunger for a team with potential is untouched.

Teams come together on the court with the common goal of winning, but this Sunday, Oct. 4, the McMaster Women’s Basketball team will take part in the CIBC Run for the Cure: to bring awareness to the lives affected by breast cancer and to help fight for a cure.

McMaster basketball alumni, friends, families and the McMaster community have supported Team TB (Theresa Burns) with more than $15,000 currently raised, showing just how much of a positive impact she has had on so many lives.

“The run is a small way for us to do something for a person that has done so much for us,” said Boiago.

The McMaster campus is no stranger to breast cancer initiatives. McMaster Athletics hosts Think Pink week, dedicated to breast cancer awareness. It is always a success on campus and brings people together through the love of sport and the awareness to find a cure for breast cancer. This past year’s basketball game was special as guard Siobhan Manning scored a season-high 15 points, months after her mother was diagnosed with the disease.

Though Burns is not able to be in the gym with her team at the moment, the things she has taught her players on and off the court will be the push needed for them to strive for excellence. From basketball plays and drills to life lessons and wise words, Burns has taught her players how to succeed on hardwood and in life.

“Coach is a fighter in every sense of the word. She has taught us to put 110 percent effort in everything that we do but more importantly to believe in our abilities as athletes and as people,” said Boiago.

As the season starts in just a few weeks, the team is aware of the support they have from their coach, whether she is on the sidelines or watching from home.

Photo Credit: Yousif Haddad

By: Katie Lehwald

Trying to find your place in University can be difficult. For Alise deBie, this endeavor was complicated by her concurrent struggle with mental health concerns.

“I had just come to Mac for school and didn’t want to feel alone as a crazy student on campus,” said deBie.

To avoid this, deBie formed the Hamilton chapter of the international Mad Students Collective and began spending her spare time doing outreach on behalf of students with psychiatric histories and mental health concerns. The group is currently composed of over 160 members between the ages of 16 and 60, all who have personal experiences with mental illness.

Admittedly unorthodox, the group identifies as a community rather than an MSU club. Serving as the coordinator of the HMSC, deBie puts students in contact with peers who share common ground. Peer support, as mandated by the group, is offered by students with lived experience of mental health issues. The collective is composed of students in the local Hamilton community, not limited to those attending or looking to attend McMaster specifically.

The HMSC’s peer support methods manifest themselves in many ways. Students can meet for coffee or social events, attend healthcare appointments together, or just connect for someone to talk to. Just last week, deBie and peers relieved workday stress by building a fort in her TA office.

A more formal and recent initiative made by the collective is their Wellness Recovery Action Plan self-help group. Developed in 1997, WRAP is an internationally recognized evidence-based recovery education program. Offering the program to the McMaster community at no cost, the HMSC has turned this into a peer-led program, facilitated by trained volunteers.

The WRAP program has been used successfully by St. Joseph’s Hospital and by the Mental Health Rights Coalition in Hamilton, and will now be available at McMaster. Peer support is an important element in the workshops.

DeBie testifies to the benefits of the program based on her own experience with madness.

“I was trained to be a WRAP facilitator in May as part of peer support training I did in Toronto. We’re running WRAP groups at Mac this year as an extension of what we do,” said DeBie.

“A lot of our support is informal or drop-in based and sometimes this can be a barrier to folks who prefer a more structured environment and find this more accessible to them [as it is] less nerve-wracking and more controlled. It also has content that helps us make plans around wellness – and planning can be really helpful to feeling more in control over your life. I’ve definitely felt this has been really helpful for me”

Groups began Sept. 23 and will be hosted every Tuesday from 4:15 to 6:45 p.m. for eight weeks.

After 26 years without a Women’s Centre, students at McMaster will soon be able to access a service designed to provide support and safe space for women-identified people on campus. This project, called the Women and Gender Equity Network, will be launching in mid-October.

“My vision for the network is to try to dismantle patriarchal culture both from the outside and the inside,” said WGEN Coordinator Shanthiya Baheerathan. “[The program will] support women to be able to go out and be comfortable in a male dominated field, or be comfortable despite the fact that there are these prevalent gender norms that are constantly making them think that they can’t do what they are able to do.”

In March 2014, the Student Representative Assembly and the MSU approved the WGEN as a pilot project for the 2014-2015 school year. The project, with a proposed budget of over $10,000, will provide advocacy to educate students on topics such as rape culture, and host workshops on topics such as women in engineering and technology.

The WGEN also looks to provide a safer space for trans* and women-identified persons, and support for survivors of sexual assault.

“Trans* people experience a lot of discrimination on campus. A lot of spaces are not trans* accessible,” said Baheerathan. “We want to make sure we are also providing support to people who experience trans* antagonism or even small micro-aggressions towards their person and their identity.”

Although the WGEN was originally proposed as a women’s centre, the pilot project will begin as a network with no permanent physical space on campus. Having a safer space for women on campus is essential to the WGEN project, and could come in the form of a permanent location or through temporary space called swing space.

“We are having some trouble finding private and accessible space on campus,” said Baheerathan. “We have to make sure people feel comfortable coming into the space […] it is sort of controversial, people are like ‘why do you need a women’s space on campus?’ It has been a difficult process to get here.”

The MSU is conducting a space allocation audit this November, which could lead to a more permanent space for the network.

“ [The space allocation audit is] a committee that looks at the spaces we offer our services through a critical lens to see what would be best or how it would be best served,” said Jacob Brodka, MSU Vice President, Administration. “The Women and Gender Equity Network, like our other services, will definitely be something we will be considering.”

For now, the MSU is working with WGEN to find temporary spaces to hold workshops and other events.

“This year the service is going to be offering programming, educational campaigns, offering spaces on campus where people can come connect,” said Brodka. “I'm looking forward to seeing what the service does.”

If the pilot project is successful, it could lead to the development of a women’s centre on campus in the future.

“The space for the WGEN would arguably look like much different than what you'd want for a full blown women's centre with full-time counselors. For the time being, what we are working on is an organizational approach”, said Brodka. “We’d hope that our organization acting and doing these things, offering these programs and running educational campaigns of that nature would spur conversations about the need for a larger centre and full time counselors. You can see the two definitely go hand in hand, but how that would play out, we will just have to wait and see.”

Shamudi Gunasekera
The Silhouette

As I flipped through a copy of the Silhouette on Nov. 28, an editorial written by Scott Hastie, the previous managing editor of the paper, caught my eye. It outlined why he was taking a break from McMaster and the last line read “People will support you, you just have to let them.”

I couldn’t stop thinking about this line. We are caught up in the idea that we should be going through everything by ourselves. We tackle our own problems. Is there something to be said for this idea? After all, the rewards of accomplishing a task, of overcoming an obstacle, are quite satisfying.

Carrying the burden by yourself may seem attractive in that you get to be the one who rises above it. You get to be your own hero, your knight in shining armor, so to speak. You may not want others to see the side of you that’s not so strong, that isn’t so sure of yourself.

But is it really worth it to struggle on your own? Hearing another person’s opinion on the situation could really help. Simply talking to someone about what you are going through can lighten the burden that you may be carrying.

I made more than my fair share of mistakes during my first year and I wanted to correct them this year. This will be my year, I thought to myself as I sat down in my first lecture last semester.

Things did not work out the way I hoped they would. For the most part, I was doing well in school. I signed up for activities that caught my interest. And yet, I felt depressed and lonely.

I tried to keep the negative thoughts at bay by keeping myself busy. I spent my time studying and doing things that, in the past, had made me happy, such as reading and sketching. But I quickly lost interest. The negativity crept into every corner of my mind. I could only stay positive for a few minutes before becoming depressed over the very thing that made me happy.

Seeing a counselor at the Student Wellness Centre greatly helped. She helped me figure out what I should do and how I should reach out to my friends. Little by little, I began opening up to them about what was going on and they were quite supportive.

Things got better. I may not be happy right now, but I am okay. I talk to my friends when I’m feeling down which helps eradicate the negative thoughts. The thoughts don’t invade as often as they used to. I have yet to feel pleasure doing things that I used to love, but I believe that in time, I’ll get there. Knowing that I don’t have to go through this alone is reassuring. You have to let people help you and though it may not seem like much, appreciate the fact that they are doing what they can.

I’ve realized that there are certain things that I can do on my own and certain things that I cannot. And more often than not, I’ve tried to dig myself out on my own, only to find that I’ve dug myself deeper into the hole. The people I care about are here for me. They believed in me when I was starting to lose hope for myself. And, to borrow from the poet Robert Frost, that has made all the difference.

Chad Regan / The Silhouette

This past week, the Faculty of Humanities had Jasper Puar to speak on her work ‘Ecologies of Sensation, Sensational Ecologies: Sex and Disability in the Israeli Occupation of Palestine’ for their Whidden Lectures series. If the verbiage of the title doesn’t lose your interest, hopefully the borderline anti-semitic sentiment encapsulated by it will.

First, some pretext: I am an openly homosexual man, and a proud supporter of the state of Israel. Some, such as Ms. Puar, would call this intellectual schizophrenia; I call it logic.

Israel is a modern state, unparalleled in the Middle East for its liberalism, modernity, and acceptance.

Ms. Puar’s lecture, held on Jan. 14 and funded by the Faculty of Humanities, was an exercise in spitballing and seeing what stuck. Her lecture discussed two main themes: Israeli prenatal screening practises and ‘pinkwashing’. If you were unable to understand what those words meant without a Women’s Studies lexicon, join the club: her talk was as esoteric as a lecture could be, and with a purpose. Ms. Puar, who is from the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University, made some rather outlandish claims that do not find their place in fact, but in an intrinsically anti-Israel political agenda.

To examine them is to familiarize oneself with the rhetoric of pseudo-intellectualism.

Ms. Puar began by discussing what she effectively described as a military-industrial fuelled eugenics program in Israel-Palestine. Citing the practise of prenatal screening, Ms. Puar somehow managed to say she was both pro-screening but simultaneously found the Israeli practise thereof to be deplorable, because it devalues disability: all of this, of course, is a result of the Israeli Defence Force’s lust for warm, healthy bodies to go out and perpetuate ‘the Occupation’ (a term she used both liberally and vaguely, a catastrophic combination when it comes to intellectual speakers).

Let’s set the record straight: Israel’s disabled rights movement began in 1988 (arguably) with the Special Education Law, and continues to this day with the National Insurance Institute providing benefits to children 3-18 year old.

After this, a series of equality measures were enacted, least of which included the Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law, and a series of integration laws to better include mentally and physically handicapped individuals in the broader society. With about 7.6 per cent of Israeli children (both Arab and Jewish) having some form of disability, the government provides grants for both home accommodations, and education accommodations. As of yet, these efforts have not been enough, with a need for about 30 per cent more coverage than current programs achieve: Israel, like most modern democracies, is not a perfect state - welcome to reality.

Regarding Ms. Puar’s claims of a ‘perfect baby syndrome’ amongst Israeli parents fuelled by the national military complex, this is simply an unfounded interpretation.

A prenatal screening process is much needed in a population historically afflicted with a disproportionately large number of Tay-Sachs and other genetically transmitted disease sufferers, particularly amongst Ashkenazi populations. While Ms. Puar expressed support for this, she seemed to reject the practise when conducted by Israelis, which seemed to be a thread throughout her discourse.

On that note, while Ms. Puar expressed support for rights for LGBT people generally speaking, when it came to Israeli LGBT rights, she preferred the term ‘pinkwashing’.

‘Pinkwashing’ is a nifty manufactured term used to claim that Israel’s stellar LGBT rights record is only used as a cover for its brutal occupation of ‘Israel-Palestine’.

While she acknowledged the progress the State of Israel has made, she downplayed it by claiming that the end of the occupation superseded rights for gay and lesbian Israelis. Israel’s long history of liberalism toward its LGBT population, starting with the de facto nullification of buggery laws in 1960 and culminating today with legal recognition for same-sex civil marriage, Right of Return to gay couples, and the adoption of one’s partner’s children.

Thankfully, all of this progress has occurred in spite of people like Ms. Puar, who seemed to convey that LGBT citizens could wait to have their rights dealt to them.

Any progress Israel makes is, in Ms. Puar’s eyes, tainted by the occupation and therefore ought not be made at all. As gays in Palestine are constantly maltreated and dealt with under Islamic law, gays in Israel enjoy the rights and freedoms afforded to any individual in a free, democratic nation. This is the reality whether Ms. Puar would like to remain blissfully ignorant to it or not. When this point was contended, the questioner was shot down: Ms. Puar’s ability to respond to critical questions was just about as good as her ability to make clear, decisive statements on the existence of Israel.

Throughout her talk, I felt the urge to ask Ms. Puar one simple question: What would your optimal State of Israel look like?

Deep down, however, I knew I need not even ask. Her answer was clear: it would look like nothing at all.

 

 

 

 

On September 5, Maclean’s magazine released an article entitled “The Broken Generation,” giving an in-depth look into what they called a “crisis” affecting students across North America.
In this age of high-stress schooling, coupled with high unemployment after graduation, more and more university students are struggling with mental illness, the report claimed. McMaster is no exception to this trend.

Dr. Debbie Nifakis, Associate Director of Counselling at the Student Wellness Centre, says there is definitely a trend of more mental health issues coming to light.

“I’ve been working in the field for a very long time and definitely the number of people coming in to access services has increased over the years,” she said.

This can be attributed both to the increase in the number of post-secondary students, and increased awareness of mental health conditions, she explained.

“A lot of people are coming with a lot of awareness and less sense of stigma… I think there’s a lot of talk about mental health issues now.”

One person keen to promote the talk about mental health issues is Huzaifa Saeed, Vice President of Education for the MSU.

“Mental health was something that when I came to McMaster, in 2008, wasn’t a big deal on campus. But in the last year or two… things have ramped up a bit.”

As MSU External Affairs Commissioner last year, Saeed worked with other student leaders from the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) to write a paper on student health issues, with a focus on mental health.

This project, combined with his experience as a Welcome Week rep, inspired his “pink elephant in the room” campaign, which offered mental health training to all 1100 of this year’s reps. The response, he says, has been very positive.

“I’ve done a lot of campaigns for the MSU, and I don’t think any particular one of them has been this successful.”

The goal of the initiative is to make Mac a “stigma-free campus,” and to increase awareness of the much-needed support the university offers to its students.
And students need that kind of support more and more, as it’s not always something that they find on their own.

“People are losing the small school connection,” he said of McMaster. “If you’re sitting in a 600-person, MDCL 1305 lecture, you’re not really going to have anyone to lean on if you run into problems.”

Reports have shown that students are generally more stressed and more prone to mental health issues than before. According to the campaign’s website, about 5700 of McMaster’s undergraduate and graduate students will have “a mental health concern.”

A National College Health Assessment done at McMaster in 2009 reported that half of students surveyed “felt overwhelming anxiety,” while 56 percent “felt things were hopeless.”

But although mental health issues may present themselves to a significant portion of students, only about ten percent of the student body takes advantage of the Student Wellness Centre’s counseling services, Dr. Nifakis says.

With nine full-time counselors during the academic year, the Wellness Centre is comfortable with its availability of service.

“There is sometimes a wait time,” Dr. Nifakis said, noting that most complaints come when students may have to wait a few weeks for follow-up appointments. But this wouldn’t necessarily be remedied by increasing the number of counselors.

“I think that you could increase your number of counselors to the nth degree and you would still not meet the demand in the way people sometimes come to expect counseling to be.”

The Student Wellness Centre and the MSU have teamed up to continue promoting the “pink elephant in the room” campaign and further increase awareness about available services for students.

“We’re not counselors,” Saeed said of the MSU, “but what we can do is let people know that these [counselors at the Student Wellness Centre] exist.”

Both organizations will benefit from this partnership as they plan to offer recommendations to the university in a Mental Health Strategy Document later this year.

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