The Silhouette: Please introduce yourself.
Yumnah Jafri: My name is Yumnah Jafri. I’ve been a part of [the Student Walk Home Attendant Team] for two years now and this year I've taken on the role of being one half of the public relations and promotions team.
What is SWHAT?
SWHAT is the student walk home attendant team. It's a service that's fully run by a group of volunteers. We have around 100 volunteers who basically work together to provide safe and confidential walks to any student who needs them on weekdays from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.
SWHAT is the student walk home attendant team. . .We have around 100 volunteers who basically work together to provide safe and confidential walks to any student who needs them on weekdays from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Yumnah Jafri, public relations and promotions team, Student Walk Home Attendant Team
What drew you to SWHAT?
Our volunteers are responsible and reliable people who are very passionate about making campus a safer place. So, what we have is a really strong community and connection with each other. It’s one that becomes stronger every day that we spend at our home base chilling, playing board games together, eating SWHAT provided snacks, making fun stories to promote our service or just attending our specific volunteer-based appreciation events. That's actually a huge reason why I joined SWAT. As a student who spent her first year fully online, when I first applied in my third year, I just really felt like I still hadn't really made those deep connections with the McMaster University community at all. I just felt very disconnected.
So, when I applied to SWHAT, it was to get to know my fellow volunteers, the students who use our service and the local neighborhood and area around campus. I just really love and I feel very strongly about what we're able to do for students who feel unsafe or uncomfortable walking home late. It just makes me feel like I'm a part of something bigger. As an executive, I've been exposed to reaching out to so many new people, services, events, things that I never even knew existed and I don't think I would have ever been able to know about by hadn't had this opportunity to be a part of this amazing team as a whole.
What’s one memory that helped you feel like a part of the SWHAT community?
One of my fondest memories is on a seemingly normal weekday night. Our team worked together to make, I feel, one of our best stories of all time. We parodied Brooklyn Nine Nine’s “I Want it That Way” scene with our volunteer team. People were singing and they were so involved with it. Just seeing that made me appreciate that we don't just have a volunteer team that goes on walks and helps the community feel safe, we have such a good connection with each other and we make so many good memories just being on shift with each other.
What do you hope to see for SWHAT in the future?
As a PR executive, I have a huge hope that more and more people use our service. Even if it's not for them personally, I hope they’re able to direct others who do need SWHAT. For our walkathon specifically, we’re fundraising for this amazing charity: Niwasa Kendaaswin Teg. We donate a dollar for each walk to this charity, which is a multi-service Indigenous organization that provides services and helps foster Indigenous identity formation as well as, generally, a sense of belonging in culture and language for Indigenous peoples.
I know a lot of people feel uncomfortable or even scared of booking a walk. People can also feel awkward: “Oh my god, am I just gonna walk in silence with these two random strangers?” This service is here for you. It's fully confidential and all of our volunteers are open, friendly, individuals who would love to help students home with a walk.
For our walkathon specifically, we’re fundraising for this amazing charity: Niwasa Kendaaswin Teg. We donate a dollar for each walk to this charity, which is a multi-service Indigenous organization that provides services and helps foster Indigenous identity formation as well as, generally, a sense of belonging in culture and language for Indigenous peoples.
Yumnah Jafri, public relations and promotions team, Student Walk Home Attendant Team
What are some of the benefits to using SWHAT?
Apart from feeling safer when you're walking with a team of two people, when you request a SWHAT walk, you also get the chance to chat about life or whatever you're going through. I would say that's another big aspect of SWHAT. We provide accompaniment and comfort to people who may or may not be needing it and will always be there to chat with them about life.
Even though my first year was online, I definitely would have used SWHAT in my first year because it tends to be the year when people feel a little bit more uncomfortable being on campus as well as not knowing a lot of people. So, when you book a SWHAT walk, you have these really nice volunteers to chat with you. I think that's an amazing aspect and it just makes you feel so much better about being a part of our broader McMaster community.
So, when you book a SWHAT walk, you have these really nice volunteers to chat with you. I think that's an amazing aspect and it just makes you feel so much better about being a part of our broader McMaster community.
Yumnah Jafri, public relations and promotions team, Student Walk Home Attendant Team
By: Alannah DeAngelis, Contributor
Dates can be a fun way to get to know your partner better and try new things together. Between school, catching up on all your Netflix shows and hanging out with your friends, it can be tough to make time for date nights. Try out these five date ideas where you can stay on campus and avoid breaking the bank!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcsJ1rAnxk_/
Planetarium Show
The W. J. McCallion Planetarium, in the basement of BSB, is an out-of-this world date idea! Shows run Wednesday nights and there is a new theme each week. Learn about outer space, stars, planets, comets and more. For more information, check out the McMaster Planetarium website.
Cost: $7 per person.
Photo by Matty Flader / Photo Reporter
Video Game Room in Lyons New Media Centre
Get your game on in the Video Games room on the 4th floor of Mills to find out which of you is the “Mario Kart” champion! There are five game consoles that you can choose from: Wii, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3 and PS4. They offer many games to play, all of which are available to rent for free. Bookings for this space can be made for up to 2 hours per day for all McMaster students.
Cost: Free! Just bring your student card to rent the controllers and games.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2mcPb2HV0q/
McMaster Museum of Art
Check out some cool art with your partner at the McMaster Museum of Art right on campus. The museum is recognized internationally for its European paintings, drawings and prints. It is also known for its specialist collection of early 20th century German prints. This highly notable museum is just steps away from the Student Centre.
Cost: Pay what you can (suggested donation is $2).
Silhouette Archives
Trivia Night at the Phoenix
Test your knowledge at the Phoenix Bar and Grill’s Trivia Night, which happens every Tuesday at 7 p.m.. The theme changes each week, so you are sure to never be bored. Top teams will win gift cards to the Phoenix; perfect to use for another date night!
Cost: Free when you purchase food or drinks.
Silhouette Archives
Hike at Cootes
McMaster is surrounded by beautiful hiking trails with breathtaking views. Go for a hike at Cootes (start at the trail behind the Alpine tower) and explore what nature has to offer in McMaster’s backyard. Notably, the Sassafrass trail includes a lookout platform onto Lake Ontario. Who knows, maybe you will even see some deer along the way!
Cost: Free!
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Following recent snowstorms that deposited as much as 40 cm onto Hamilton streets, some Hamilton residents are using social media to bring attention to the issue of snow-covered residential sidewalks.
Currently, residents are expected to clear snow from their sidewalks within 24 hours of a “snow event.” If residents fail to comply, the city will issue a 24-hour “Notice to Comply,” followed by possible inspection and a contracting fee for the homeowner.
However, residents say both residential and city sidewalks are still not being cleared, either by residents or by the city.
The Disability Justice Network of Ontario has encouraged residents to participate in the “Snow and Tell” campaign by tweeting out pictures of snow or ice-covered roads and sidewalks using the hashtag #AODAfail, referring to the Accessibility for Ontarians for Disabilities Act.
https://twitter.com/VicBick/status/1087879002092646401
McMaster student and local community organizer Sophie Geffros supports the campaigns and says it a serious issue of accessibility and justice.
Geffros uses a wheelchair and knows how especially difficult it can be for those who use mobility devices to navigate through snow-covered streets.
“It's people who use mobility devices. It's people with strollers. And it's older folks. People end up on the street. If you go on any street after a major storm, you'll see people in wheelchairs and with buggies on the street with cars because the sidewalks just aren't clear,” Geffros said.
https://twitter.com/sgeffros/status/1087384392866123778
Snow-covered sidewalks also affect the ability for people, especially those who use mobility devices, to access public transit.
“Even when snow has been cleared, often times when it gets cleared, it gets piled on curb cuts and piled near bus stops and all these places that are that are vital to people with disabilities,” Geffros said.
https://twitter.com/craig_burley/status/1088798476081741824
Geffros sees the need for clearing sidewalks as non-negotiable.
“By treating our sidewalk network as not a network but hundreds of individual tiny chunks of sidewalk, it means that if there's a breakdown at any point in that network, I can't get around,” Geffros said. “If every single sidewalk on my street is shoveled but one isn't, I can't use that entire sidewalk. We need to think of it as a vital service in the same way that we think of road snow clearance as a vital service.”
Public awareness about the issue may push city council.
Some councillors have expressed support for a city-run snow clearing service, including Ward 1 councillor Maureen Wilson and Ward 3 councillor Nrinder Nann.
I just don’t find it all that complicated. Cities are for people. It is in our best interest, financial and otherwise, to plow sidewalks. It’s also a matter of justice. I await the city manager’s report and ensuing debate
— Maureen Wilson (She / Her) (@ward1wilson) January 29, 2019
A city council report issued in 2014 stated that a 34 dollar annual increase in tax for each homeowner would be enough to fund sidewalk snow-clearing.
Recently, Wilson requested the city council to issue a new report on the potential costs of funding snow-clearing service.
Geffros sees potential for the current discourse to open up to further discussions on other issues of accessibility and social justice.
Hamilton’s operating budget will likely be finalized around April. Until then, Geffros and other Hamilton residents will continue to speak out on the issue.
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By: Jennifer La Grassa
“Stand up. Stretch. Take a walk. Go to the airport. Get on a plane. Never return.” This is one of the more popular memes about studying to pop up in everyone’s least favourite month, November. I dare you try to escape the flood of study memes during this year’s exam season. In that sleep-deprived, “what is life?” state, study memes are the university student’s main form of solace. During fall finals the urge to just hop on a plane is almost unbearable. As temperatures plummet into the negatives and the amount of sunlight continues to decline, the darkness of exams is a repelling force that is enough to push anyone onto a plane headed for a warm destination. Thankfully, the force of “you will fail life” tends to be stronger, and usually acts to keep those within the university population firmly rooted.
Believe it or not, as unhelpful as the above tip may seem, there lies within it a noteworthy statement: “take a walk.” Whether you regularly exercise or not, a mere five minutes of moderate exercise is all it takes to enhance your overall mood. Just think of all that this insinuates; actually don’t think, rest your academically distraught brain and let me delve into the realm of possibilities that this statement holds.
All those times that you end up walking during exam season (be it to the library or grocery store) and feel that your chosen method of transportation is wasting precious study time, think of Jim Carrey’s Grinch waving his hairy green finger while saying “wrong-o.” You may just be doing more good than harm to your studying. That stroll you are engaging in is considered to be light physical activity, which not only counteracts many detrimental health risks posed by long periods of sitting, but also boosts your mood and creative potential. Endorphins, which are one of the countless “feel good” substances within the brain, are released during exercise and are active in reward systems to create a sense of pleasure. Numerous studies claim that being in good spirits can enhance your productivity — mix this with coffee and your studying efficacy may just reach an all-time high.
A properly timed workout session of moderate exercise is known to show a more pronounced effect. Regular exercise promotes brain growth within the hippocampal region (a part of the brain dedicated to memory formation) and prevents brain deterioration. Committed exercisers may also find a stronger sense of satisfaction at the end of a workout. Regardless of how much exercise you normally engage in, just know that even small amounts can help. Amidst the countless hours of studying you will undertake during this year’s upcoming finals, do not feel guilty for the many walks you may take to the fridge for another snack. Instead, consider extending this journey into a light stroll around the house before reaching your food destination. The benefits of that walk could be doing more for your studying than the snack you will grab.
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