Mother-daughter duo’s travelling tea trailer continues to deliver tea and comfort during COVID-19 

Autumn is the season of change. Leaves begin to change to brilliant, bright and beautiful colours and the warmer temperatures give way to cooler, wintery weather. This is also the season of good company. It is the time to sit down with a friend, share a pot of tea and enjoy good conversation. While gatherings may look different this year, taking place often over Zoom rather than in person, businesses like the mother-daughter-run Tea Amo are still finding ways to bring people together.

As part of a big Irish family, tea has always played an important role in Marian Peter’s life. This love of tea is something she passed down to her daughter, Heather Peter. In 2013, Heather purchased a vintage trailer with the intention of setting up a tea service. When Marian retired from her job as an English as a Second Langue teacher, the mother-daughter duo went into business together, selling tea out of the trailer at parks and private events.

“Having tea with people [is] a lot about [the] memories that you have around tea and making new memories. I think a lot of people have that nostalgia [towards tea] and they already love the memories around afternoon tea, so they want to bring that back,” said Heather.

“Having tea with people [is] a lot about [the] memories that you have around tea and making new memories. I think a lot of people have that nostalgia [towards tea] and they already love the memories around afternoon tea, so they want to bring that back,” said Heather.

Many of the loose leaf teas that they offer are made in-house. As their business continues to grow, the duo hopes to blend more of their teas themselves to create new flavours. Those not made in-house are sampled and then carefully selected from importers. All of their blends are free of artificial flavours, preservatives and added sweeteners.

Tea Amo sells their teas and a number of thoughtfully selected tea-related products on their website. These include traditional products such as teacups and teapots, as well as novelty items, such as perfume oil and teapot-shaped earrings. The latter they opted to include because they felt these items would make nice gifts for tea lovers. Many of these products are locally made.

[media-credit name="C/O Heather & Marian Peters" align="none" width="2048"][/media-credit]

However, the pandemic has forced them to pivot their approach. Many of the events they would have attended are now on hold and they can no longer bring the trailer around to parks as they had previously done.

In conjunction with their online store, the duo is now offering afternoon tea boxes. Each afternoon tea box includes finger sandwiches, cookies, fruits and vegetables and two bags of loose leaf tea. These boxes are created in-house and delivered weekly in the trailer. 

Especially during this time when many are having socially distant gatherings, the afternoon tea boxes are fitting because everyone can have their own box. As there is no need to share food, individuals are still able to gather safely. For those connecting via Zoom or other video platforms, the tea boxes are also convenient in that they can be ordered individually and then enjoyed together during the call.

[media-credit name="C/O Heather & Marian Peters" align="none" width="1944"][/media-credit]

 

“[W]e're bringing happy to people. So many people have sent this afternoon [tea] box to a friend that's been depressed or a mother that’s sick . . . Or just to themselves with a couple of friends, distancing. So it was just a perfect idea for this time to do the afternoon tea box. So, we're doing quite well with that and enjoying it. It's like a feel-good kind of service for sure,” said Marian.

"So many people have sent this afternoon [tea] box to a friend that's been depressed or a mother that’s sick . . . Or just to themselves with a couple of friends, distancing."

In these trying times, Tea Amo continues to spread the warmth and comfort customary of tea. They are also bringing people together, reminding them of better times as well as providing them with the opportunity to create bright, happy memories that they will look back on fondly for years to come.

With the season being up in the air, Forge Football Club still prevails in the end.

Forge Football Club, Hamilton’s team in the Canadian Premier League, won their back-to-back championship after scoring two-nil against the Halifax Wanderers Football Club in the title game of the 2020 season.

A typical season consists of 28 matches lasting from April to October; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was shortened. It has become known as the Island Games, comprised of seven matches between the eight teams in the first stage, utilizing a round-robin format. Afterwards, the tournament goes into the group stage, in which the top four teams compete against one another. The top two teams advance and compete against each other for the title.

Kyle Bekker, the captain and player with the highest score on the team, understood that he had to bring the team together to get the morale high to compete at such great levels. 

“We spoke about it just being a business trip and knew what guys were giving up and the sacrifices people are making to go make a tournament happen and going away from family and loved ones for a significant time. If we’re going to do this, we’re coming back home with the trophy at the end of the day . . . It became militant at times. It was a battle every single day. We got [to the final game] and we achieved that . . . There’s obviously good days and bad days in the bubble. We just have to get on with it,” said Bekker. 

“We spoke about it just being a business trip and knew what guys were giving up and the sacrifices people are making to go make a tournament happen and going away from family and loved ones for a significant time. If we’re going to do this, we’re coming back home with the trophy at the end of the day . . . It became militant at times. It was a battle every single day. We got [to the final game] and we achieved that . . . There’s obviously good days and bad days in the bubble. We just have to get on with it,” said Bekker. 

David Edgar, former Premier League player for Newcastle United Football and centre-back on Forge FC, echoed similar sentiments as Bekker. Edgar exclaimed that carrying the mentality before the pandemic into the bubble is what propelled them to the championship, despite having to leave a young family for such a long time. 

“This [tournament] was extra hard. But in all honesty, I attacked it like a prison sentence, where you mentally focus and lock in for one job only. Yeah, you miss certain things and meals. But winning it makes it worthwhile,” said Edgar. 

“This [tournament] was extra hard. But in all honesty, I attacked it like a prison sentence, where you mentally focus and lock in for one job only. Yeah, you miss certain things and meals. But winning it

Edgar went on to say that the bubble was very unique and acted as a family with other teams there. “It’s also not the friendliest of places, lots of testosterone running around with the competition. You go about your business and hold yourself to certain standards,” said Edgar. 

Despite the team having won a championship the previous season, they knew the pressure of a title game doesn’t change. 

“We definitely felt the weight of it being a championship game. We were lucky enough to have a core group from our first year come back and be a part of this, which definitely helped . . . But going into that final game, the excitement will always be there. Definitely, a feeling of we been here and we know what was expected of us,” said Bekker. “It felt more unique. Overall, we won both now and that’s the hardest thing to do. We won in a league and tournament football and you can’t afford to lose in a tournament,” said Edgar of repeating as champions.

“We definitely felt the weight of it being a championship game. We were lucky enough to have a core group from our first year come back and be a part of this, which definitely helped . . . But going into that final game, the excitement will always be there. Definitely, a feeling of we been here and we know what was expected of us,” said Bekker.

After their championship victory comes their first match of the 2020 Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football League, having qualified from winning the 2019 season of the CPL, playing in El Salvador. The team will play against Municipal Limeño of El Salvador. Bobby Smyrniotis, head coach of the team, says that with the El Salvadorian league commencing Oct. 10, it gives them two matches to view their opponent’s playstyle to prepare for the match. “[I] gave the [players] a full week off to decompress then back [to] work at Tim Horton’s Field, six days a week . . . Looking forward to another opportunity to compete continentally for our club. The guys really relish the opportunity to play,” said Smyrniotis.

“[I] gave the [players] a full week off to decompress then back [to] work at Tim Horton’s Field, six days a week . . . Looking forward to another opportunity to compete continentally for our club. The guys really relish the opportunity to play,” said Smyrniotis.

Their match against Municipal Limeño will happen on Thurs, Oct. 22 at 8 p.m.

Hamilton Artists Inc., Factory Media Centre and Centre[3] for Artistic + Social Practice continue to bring creativity to the community during COVID-19

By: Sharang Sharma, Contributor

James Street North is known as the hub for Hamilton’s arts scene. Artist-run centres such as Hamilton Artists Inc., Factory Media Centre and Centre[3] for Artistic + Social Practice have made it their mission to make art accessible to everyone in the local community. However, this has become a more difficult task due to the COVID-19 pandemic and physical distancing protocols. Nonetheless, these three centres have found ways to push forward.

In March, Hamilton Artists Inc., Factory Media Centre and Centre[3] had to close their physical locations and cancel planned in-person exhibitions and workshops due to the Stage 1 lockdown. The first few months were especially difficult because some of the centres experienced a decrease in funding.

In March, Hamilton Artists Inc., Factory Media Centre and Centre[3] had to close their physical locations and cancel planned in-person exhibitions and workshops due to the stage one lockdown. The first few months were especially difficult because some of the centres experienced a decrease in funding.

“Our rentals don't really make up a big amount of our revenue . . .  For that reason, we didn't lose enough funding to qualify for any of the grants that were available. But our membership is also mostly comprised of emerging artists and working-class artists, including myself before I worked there. So we noticed a decline in membership renewals and obviously equipment rentals because people either weren’t get[ting] paid to make work for people . . . or they were anticipat[ing] having to tighten their budgets and save money . . . So the first months from an organizational standpoint were really a little bit worrisome,” explained Kristina Durka, the operations coordinator at the Factory Media Centre.

Despite these initial challenges, these artist-run centres have found ways to move their workshops, exhibitions and other programming online. In June, Centre[3] presented the work of the students who would have been involved in its annual Art Education and Community Arts Exhibition on their website. In July, Hamilton Artists’ Inc. moved its annual outdoor summer screening series to a Facebook livestream. Centre[3] and Factory Media Centre have continued to host Artist Talks, the most recent one at Factory Media Centre being livestreamed on Facebook on Oct. 8.

Despite these initial challenges, these artist-run centres have found ways to move their workshops, exhibitions and other programming online.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE9VjDsg1G9/

“For example, we have a program called 360[4]Youth . . . and we teach soft skills to the youth using arts-based programming . . . [O]ne of our programs is to do filmmaking and that wasn’t possible but we translated it to stop motion animation. So we actually dropped supplies off to the youth . . . [and] we could still have the same lesson, the same workshop . . . because a lot of our work, a lot of lessons are about collaboration . . . You could still have a group working on a collaborative project,” said Julie Shea, the operations director of Centre[3].

The centres also found new ways to use their physical spaces. Hamilton Artists’ Inc. is currently hosting the Hamilton-based contemporary dance company Aeris Korper as their performers-in-residence. They have also continued to activate the exterior of their space, such as billboards on Cannon Street and the two exterior walls of their building. Factory Media Centre is hosting a video series on a screen inside their street-level window. By using their space in new ways, the centres are giving artists a space to engage with their art in these trying times.

At the same time, this challenging year has also enabled the creativity of the artists at these centres to flourish in a new way as they explore possibilities outside of what they traditionally have done. For example, Factory Media Centre ended up with around 500 people watching one of their Cell Phone Film Festival screenings, many more than they could fit in their 42-person capacity gallery. Hamilton Artists’ Inc. is also hosting new special projects, which are activities that are not regular exhibitions and instead can be one-off or off-site projects.

“[T]he [special project] that we did most recently was our colouring book that was derived from a program that we had called Incoming. So we are able to print colouring books, with different artists’ drawings in them and then we get those out for free to the public with some art supplies. So that was a creative way that we engaged with our community but it wasn't about physically attending an exhibition in our space,” explained Julie Dring, executive director at Hamilton Artists Inc.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGSbuy8gkel/

As the second wave of the pandemic hits Ontario, each of these centres is preparing to continue their new and modified programs. Factory Media Centre is planning to continue with remote residencies such as the one they currently have with artist and McMaster PhD student, Luis Navarro Del Angel. Centre[3] is currently working on an audio booth to make it more accessible for artists to record podcasts and engage with audiences virtually.

Art and community are two facets of everyday life that have been hit hard by the pandemic. However, Hamilton’s artist-run centres have demonstrated the benefit of working with a group of creative people in this strange time. These artists have found ways to turn this strange moment into artistic community events that they otherwise would not have imagined.

The Art Gallery of Hamilton Film Festival moves online amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

By: Samantha McBride, Production Assistant

Every year film enthusiasts and creatives alike descend on Hamilton for the Art Gallery of Hamilton Film Festival.  This event promises local and international feature films, short films, competitions and other programming. The festival is also an opportunity for the Hamilton community to support independent artists and engage with an international circle of storytellers.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s festival has undergone major changes. The festival is currently running from Oct. 16-25, 2020 and is entirely online using the platform, Eventive. Most of the films are available on-demand but there are also live online events.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGScCQwgtyy/

“It's very important for us to continue to support the creators as well as help the community to see new films that they might not see anywhere else . . . [Films are] a window into someone else's world and someone else's experience and it's an important medium for us to understand the world around us and the experiences other people have in our world,” said Art Gallery of Hamilton Film Curator Ryan Ferguson. 

“It's very important for us to continue to support the creators as well as help the community to see new films that they might not see anywhere else . . . [Films are] a window into someone else's world and someone else's experience and it's an important medium for us to understand the world around us and the experiences other people have in our world,” said Art Gallery of Hamilton Film Curator Ryan Ferguson. 

One of the more notable live events is the festival’s youth film challenge, an opportunity for anyone under the age of 25 to submit their short film to the festival. The youth challenge is a chance for young filmmakers to showcase their work to the community and beyond. One film from the category will be selected to receive the audience choice award for standout film. This year’s youth and family film challenges will be livestreamed on the last day of the festival. 

The festival’s 21 short films are being offered at no cost in categories of six to seven films. These short films are eligible for the audience choice award, given to the film voted best by the audience. 

The festival also includes a number of works from local and Canadian filmmakers. One of these works is the world premiere of La Toccata created by Hamilton interdisciplinary artist Radha Menon. La Toccata is set in Sicily and explores the Western obsession with youth and beauty. It is particularly fitting at this time when the pandemic has exposed the individual and systemic lack of care for the lives of elderly individuals. 

“[I]t’s all about beauty so [the film is] made to look beautiful . . . because we are obsessed with beauty and it's that beauty that draws us in . . . [I]t has been created in our mind that the ageing process is something to be feared, mine included, everybody, it's so drilled into our psyche . . . [I]n my culture elders – well especially used to be, not so much maybe anymore because Western influences – were revered and the grey hair meant wisdom. But now, we shove our elderly behind closed doors, segregate them so we don't have to see them or be with them and it’s quite foolish because we could be learning from all the wisdom that they have,” Menon explained.

Menon was excited to premiere this work in the city that she calls home, even if it is only online. While she knows audiences will be missing the experience of being in a theatre, she thinks it is valuable to have the opportunity to see what creators are working on during this time. 

Ordinarily, the festival is geared toward the Hamilton community but as it shifts to an online event, other audiences have the opportunity to partake in the diverse programming lineup offered by the AGHFF. The move to online creates a more inclusive festival for those who would not ordinarily be able to visit the Hamilton area.

“It's exciting for us to have the opportunity to share what we do every year here in Hamilton with people all over the province," said Ferguson. 

“It's exciting for us to have the opportunity to share what we do every year here in Hamilton with people all over the province," said Ferguson. 

Overall, the festival promises an interesting online experience for audiences with exciting ways to get involved. Although audiences are not together to watch the films, the community remains united by the stories told.

The Integrity Commissioner’s report was unethical and here’s why

By: Lauren O'Donnell, Contributor

Folks, we need to talk. It’s time to take a hard look at what’s going on in this city — our city. More specifically, in the hallowed halls of Hamilton City Hall.

It’s no secret City Hall has a checkered past with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. If you’re not familiar with what happened in 2SLGBTQIA+ politics in Hamilton last year, here’s a comprehensive guide by former Silhouette News Editor, Trisha Gregorio. For a number of reasons, including that a city employee has an alleged history as a neo-nazi leader, the Hamilton LGBTQ advisory committee requested that Hamilton City Hall not fly the Pride and trans flags. City Hall chose to fly the flags anyway.

For a number of reasons, including that a city employee has an alleged history as a neo-nazi leader, the Hamilton LGBTQ advisory committee requested that Hamilton City Hall not fly the Pride and trans flags. City Hall chose to fly the flags anyway.

But why am I talking about this now? Early this year, the Volunteer Chair of the LGBTQ advisory committee, Cameron Kroetsch, made comments disparaging Hamilton City Council. Shortly after, an integrity commissioner investigation was launched against him, at the council’s request. The accusations that were made against him were allegedly incorrect, something which was not mentioned in the final report. Instead, the integrity commissioner issued a report recommending that Kroetsch be reprimanded and should consider stepping down from his role.

Several people and organizations, including former Hamilton Citizen of the Year Graham Crawford and the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic, have expressed concerns that this process has been misused and that the council’s actions can be read as alienating to the Hamilton 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

I don’t think that I can properly do justice to this issue unless I give you some background on what an integrity commissioner is and what they’re supposed to do. According to every other site I checked, an integrity commissioner exists to investigate ethics violations on the part of elected officials and local boards. The LGBTQ advisory committee does not fall under either of these headings.

Of the websites I consulted, in addition to the ones cited above, only one made any mention of investigating citizen committees: Hamilton. The page with this definition was updated to include citizen committees the day after the complaint against Kroetsch was filed. To reiterate: integrity commissioners exist to hold elected officials accountable on behalf of citizens. In this case, it’s being used by elected officials to penalize citizens that critique them. Changing the definition on the website doesn’t change the job description.

But how can I be sure that the definition update is connected to this case? How do I know when it was updated? The short answer is that I am by no means the first person to write about this topic. Joey Coleman of The Public Record, an independent news site dedicated to providing informed coverage of Hamilton’s communities and civic affairs, has begun a four-part series on the ethics of the integrity commissioner’s report and investigation which I highly recommend reading.

The integrity commissioner’s report on Kroetsch is ethically questionable at best and just plain bullying at worst. I regret to inform you that it gets worse. On Sept. 30, Ward 14 Councillor Terry Whitehead tweeted a message that some community members interpreted as threatening, asking if the Hamilton Center for Civic Inclusion was open to an integrity commissioner investigation. Spoiler alert: it’s not.

“The integrity commissioner just investigated a complaint against a volunteer member of an advisory committee after a complaint by Council and on the same day that Council received the report, a Council member is already threatening to sic the Integrity Commissioner on a charity,” said Ryan McGreal, the editor for Raise the Hammer in his article on the subject.

There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s briefly review the timeline. Here are the facts as I know them:

→ The LGBTQ advisory committee — a volunteer citizen organization — asked that the Pride flags not be flown at City Hall. This request was ignored.
→ Cameron Kroetsch, the chair of the committee, critiqued Hamilton City Council.
→ City Council requested that the integrity commissioner investigate Kroetsch for alleged violations which now appear to be false. In doing so, both Council and the integrity commissioner willfully misused and misinterpreted the mandate of an integrity commissioner.
→ The commissioner’s report reprimanded Kroetsch and advised that he step down as chair. This is not under the purview of either council or the integrity commissioner. In a statement, Kroetsch said that he felt the report was designed to silence his voice.
→ Following this report, a councillor tweeted a potentially threatening message at a charity that helps marginalized communities, suggesting that this same procedure could be used against them.

The integrity commissioner exists to hold politicians responsible for their actions. Instead, this system has been weaponized against volunteer advocates and charities, the very people it should be protecting. This plot wouldn’t be out of place in an episode of Black Mirror.

The integrity commissioner exists to hold politicians responsible for their actions. Instead, this system has been weaponized against volunteer advocates and charities, the very people it should be protecting.

If the folks down at City Hall truly want to build bridges and foster trust with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, then they need to walk the walk. Painting a rainbow crosswalk isn’t going to cut it. City council needs to be reminded that they’re supposed to work for the people, not against them.

Update: At the Oct. 14 meeting, Councillor Nrinder Nann made a motion for council to reconsider the reprimand against Kroetsch, which will be debated at Oct. 28's meeting.

Apply for nominations here: https://secretariat.mcmaster.ca/elections/

Undergraduate students share their thoughts on cultivating community during COVID-19

Last year as autumn descended and we neared Reading Week, the world and the McMaster University campus looked very different. First-year students were learning to navigate campus and starting to make friends in their classes and in residence. Upper-year students were trying to put into practice the lessons they learned in first year and were reconnecting after having been apart all summer. Between Welcome Week and homecoming, it was the time of year when feelings of community and belonging were the most obvious. On top of the new university community forming, students would be anticipating going home for Thanksgiving family gatherings or making plans with new and old friends. 

As we come around to this time of year again, much has changed. Some changes are obvious such as the shift to online classes, while others are more subtle such as how we create and maintain community. Prior to the pandemic, community meant being in the same physical place, seeing each other frequently and often participating in activities together. Now as a result of the physical distancing protocols, this kind of community is very difficult to achieve, let alone maintain. More than ever, students are facing social isolation and loneliness.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEywD32hTL7/

The pandemic has forced the world to rethink community, but for students who are scattered across the country and around the world, it is particularly difficult. However, students have been creative in finding new ways to connect with each other, create new online communities and support established relationships. Largely this has meant turning to online platforms and social media.

“When I open up my computer now, I'm part of a community but the second I close it, I feel like I'm lost and I'm not part of it, whereas before COVID, it was easier to kind of stay as a part of a community . . . [W]hen you were on your own, you never really felt as isolated,” explained Zahra Panju, a second-year student.

“When I open up my computer now, I'm part of a community but the second I close it, I feel like I'm lost and I'm not part of it."

While friendships now require more effort to sustain than they did in person, many students explained that they are grateful for the increasing use of online platforms and phone calls. It has given them an excuse to reconnect with high school friends and extended family members, who they may not have spoken to in a while or would not be able to see in person anyway.

However, when trying to build new connections, the effortful component of virtual communities can be a hindrance. As a first-year student, the transition to university is always a bit bumpy, but the adjustment to online classes and the lack of an established community has made it incredibly overwhelming and isolating.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEmUqzaH8p8/

“Even Welcome Week, you hear so much about it and how it's this great week, you make so many friends [and] you connect with people but this year, you couldn't even see each other. We couldn't really talk to each other much with the events . . . I think that the general McMaster community . . . has been difficult, just because I don't think we've been given enough opportunities to connect with one another,” said first-year student Isabelle Cardos.

Often joining clubs on campus is a crucial component to finding community at university. While many current first-year students are interested in doing so, they expressed that they don’t know where to start looking. They are also not sure if now is the right time as they are still adjusting to their classes.

In contrast, many second- and third-year students have found themselves joining more clubs this year in an attempt to create the sense of community that they feel they’re missing. As they don’t necessarily get the opportunity to meet new people through lectures anymore, they see clubs as an opportunity to connect with people outside their program who are also interested in building and community. 

Fourth-year students in particular are grateful that they have been able to establish a strong sense of community already. They are now not only looking for ways to maintain that community but also for ways to further establish a community for all students. Many fourth-year students spearhead a number of clubs and initiatives on campus and have been working hard to adapt these to the pandemic. They feel that this year the impact of their efforts is a lot more apparent, and also arguably more important.  

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_C6gqynpSN/

“[W]e're finding a lot of new people tuning in and I’m kind of hopeful about new connections that can be made . . . [T]hese are probably the hardest times that people have had to face in terms of going to university and . . . if an online connection isn't always just the tedious work thing, then that’s important,” said fourth-year student Rhea Murti, who is co-president of the McMaster Yoga club and also involved in organizing the McMaster Indigenous Health Movement.

“[W]e're finding a lot of new people tuning in and I’m kind of hopeful about new connections that can be made."

Overall, students clearly expressed the importance of supporting each other. Many felt that the pandemic has encouraged them to be more open and more vulnerable with their family and friends, even if they are connecting online because they know everyone is going through a difficult time.

“I feel like before the pandemic the need wasn't as urgent to really build community and be empathetic . . . I feel like we were kind of moving away from that before the pandemic. I feel like since this happened it's kind of forced us back into this place, I feel like we naturally have to be in, towards just being nice to each other,” said Blessing Akinniranye, a fourth-year student and assistant director of Diversity Services.

While the McMaster community is still navigating these changes and trying to find new ways to connect and maintain connections, there is still a very strong sense of community as students look for ways to support each other through these trying times.

Proctoring seen as a pro for some, but a con for others

As students and instructors find new ways to adapt to an online educational environment, methods of online assessment are something that also face major changes. The MacPherson Institute, McMaster University’s centre for teaching and learning, has shared many resources and suggestions for instructors to develop a remote teaching plan. 

On the MacPherson website, there are also resources for assessment alternatives. A final exam can be a take-home exam and student presentations can be done online using Microsoft Teams or they can be recorded and posted on Avenue to Learn. 

For instructors that wish to conduct final exams online through Avenue to Learn, MacPherson suggested different features, including presenting questions one-by-one or putting in time constraints for the exam.

Although not mentioned on the MacPherson website, many course outlines also state that professors have the option of using proctoring softwares for assessments. As noted on the Undergraduate Examinations Policy, instructors have the responsibility to specify the required electronic equipment and software at the beginning of the course. 

Students have the responsibility to ensure that they have the necessary equipment and software required and any questions or considerations related to online examinations must be referred to an instructor no later than 10 days prior to an online examination.

For an online proctored exam, students must ensure they have equipment such as a webcam and additional software. Such software may require students to turn on their video camera, present identification, allow instructors to monitor and record the student's computer activities, as well as lock or restrict their web browser during assessments.

It has not been made clear to all students whether proctoring will be used for some of their courses. 

https://www.facebook.com/spottedat.mac/posts/2075325055936821

Clean D’Souza, a third-year actuarial and financial mathematics student, is one of the students who is unsure if his course examinations will be remotely proctored or not. D’Souza said that he doesn’t mind if it is proctored and that he believes proctoring has many benefits. He believes proctoring can help to separate those who are actually putting in the work to get their grades and those who decide to cheat. 

Another third-year actuarial and financial mathematics student, Rimsha Laeeq, finished her first proctored examination on Oct. 5. Laeeq said that she did not mind having her examination proctored as it encouraged her to have greater focus during the test and to study harder beforehand. However, Laeeq expressed that proctoring was uncomfortable at times, including the fact that she had to show all of her surroundings to the camera and ensure she does not look away from the computer for too long. 

Kinesiology professor Trevor King has opted for online open-book assessments through Avenue to Learn.

“I'm hoping to not use [proctoring softwares] because I think that it adds a lot of stress to an already stressful situation for students, so I don't want to add that on,” said King. 

“I'm hoping to not use [proctoring softwares] because I think that it adds a lot of stress to an already stressful situation for students, so I don't want to add that on,” said King. 

King also added that although professors have to consider whether students are truly understanding the content, an open-book assessment doesn’t necessarily hinder students from learning.

“[M]y thought is that a test is not really applicable to the real world in most situations and if you go out and have a problem to solve, in the real world, you're going to be able to look things up. [The ability to] quickly and effectively look things up is a very important skill that I think that students should have when they come out of university. So I think that an open book test makes way more sense than just having to memorize things.”

Professor Jennifer Ostovich of the department of psychology, neuroscience and behavior, has also taken a different approach to assessments this year. 

Ostovich has decided that rather than a traditional approach to grading, she will use specifications grading. 

Specifications grading is an approach in which course assessments and assignments are broken down into pass or fail tasks. To achieve a certain grade, students would have to pass certain tasks, and for different grade levels, there will be a different combination of tasks to ensure students reach the appropriate level of understanding. 

For example, weekly quizzes are divided into two different types and to achieve a higher grade, students would have to complete a higher ratio of one type of quiz versus another. In addition to weekly quizzes, there are also assignments students can complete and a greater number of completions is required for a higher grade. 

Ostovich expressed hope that with this new approach, students can feel that they retained more of the material and stress less about achieving certain grades on their assignments. 

When asked about potential student collaboration on assessments, Ostovich expressed that collaboration can be beneficial for student learning.

"Is it a bad thing for students to talk to one another and learn that way? I don’t think it is."

“With any of the online testing options, that’s been the concern: that no matter what we do, students will collaborate. . . We have to set up a system in which it doesn't matter if students are collaborating, because you can't stop it right?. . . Is it a bad thing for students to talk to one another and learn that way? I don’t think it is. But you have to set up your assessment strategy so that that's not a big deal if it happens and that's what I've tried to do.”

 

Students shouldn’t need accommodations for a course because they should be accessible to begin with

This week, I had a very pleasant meeting with one of my course instructors and it made me wonder: why can’t courses be set up in a way that is accessible to begin with?

Let me backtrack a bit. I’m registered with Student Accessibility Services, which is a service that allows you to request accommodations for your courses. To receive your accommodations, you must register and confirm your accommodations every term. Once you register, an accommodation letter is sent to your instructor and you are expected to communicate with your instructor about your accommodations. This is to ensure any details of your accommodations are taken into consideration and that you and your instructor are on the same page.

This can be a tedious process and if I’m being honest, I often forget to schedule a meeting with my course instructors. Unfortunately, this avenue is the only way to access “formal” accommodations from the university and as a result, many disabled students are left advocating for their needs.

Last week, I set up a meeting with my instructor. I was very nervous to meet her as I have had issues with accommodations in the past. Yet, I felt a glimmer of hope — the course had lecture transcripts, which is not something I’ve seen in any of my other courses in the past three years that I’ve attended McMaster University. With in-person classes, many lectures were not podcasted and if they were, they were rarely captioned and never had a transcript. Online classes have obviously been better with recording lectures, but many of them are still not captioned.

Yet, I felt a glimmer of hope — the course had lecture transcripts, which is not something I’ve seen in any of my other courses in the past three years that I’ve attended McMaster University.

As I mentioned previously, the meeting was great. My instructor was very kind, understanding of my situation and made sure to ask me if she could alter anything about the course to make it better for me. She asked me if I needed a notetaker, but I mentioned that the lecture transcripts were very helpful — maybe even better than having course notes. I brought up my concerns surrounding the quizzes and exam, as one of my accommodations included extra time and I wasn’t sure if that would be accounted for on Avenue to Learn. But she assured me that the quizzes were not timed and that the exam was a take-home exam. She also let me know that if I needed any extensions on assignments to just let her know a few days beforehand and that it would be no problem to grant an extension.

When we started discussing the course as a whole, she mentioned something that gave me an interesting perspective on course accessibility. My instructor told me that she could empathize with my disability as she also took medication for anxiety. She let me know that because of her experience with mental illness, she tried to set up the course in the way that she would have liked to take it as someone with anxiety. This meant providing transcripts, offering untimed quizzes and being lenient with deadlines. Since she set the course up this way, I didn’t really need to use my accommodations because I was already accommodated for.

During this meeting, I felt like I was able to sigh a breath of relief. I hadn’t realized until now how often I had to advocate for accommodations. Sometimes it would be just a meeting, but sometimes I had to contact my SAS coordinator because my instructor refused to accommodate me. For this class, though, my instructor considered students’ disabilities when designing the course. Accommodations were considered not as an afterthought but during the preparation of the course. As a result, I didn’t need to push for my needs to be heard because the course was accessible to begin with.

Accommodations were considered not as an afterthought but during the preparation of the course.

This made me reflect on other courses I’ve taken throughout my undergraduate career. Most courses I’ve taken were not set up in a way that I didn’t really need to use my SAS accommodations; they were more of an afterthought. If you had accommodations, the instructor would find a way to incorporate them into the course. Otherwise, the course would just run as the instructor intended it to be, even if the course is inaccessible.

I’m grateful to have SAS accommodations. If a course isn’t set up in a way that is accessible for me, I can meet with my instructor and figure out an accommodation plan. But not everyone who needs accommodations is able to use SAS. If you don’t have accommodations, it’s up to you to figure out how to make the course accessible, whether that’s through asking your peers for notes or asking your instructor for extensions even though you don’t have an official letter to back up your disability.

Although this is the norm right now, it shouldn’t be. We’re paying to take these courses, so instructors should make sure that we are able to take the course. The responsibility of making courses accessible should not fall on disabled students. Instead, courses should be set up in a way that considers disability. Offering accommodations is a good start, but we should strive to make courses accessible to begin with.

An overview of the last five months with the SRA

In the summer of 2020, the Student Representative Assembly held a total of three meetings, including one emergency meeting in August. 

On June 14, the meeting focused on closing nominations for multiple committees, discussing online proctoring and the issue of McMaster University’s connections with Hamilton Police Services. 

Members of the assembly stated that there are privacy concerns with online proctoring and discussed the possibility of releasing a public statement requesting the university to follow the guidelines in the supporting documentation when choosing online proctoring software. 

The meeting also resolved that the SRA supports the removal of Glenn De Caire, head of McMaster’s security and parking services.

The meeting also resolved that the SRA supports the removal of Glenn De Caire, head of McMaster’s security and parking services. Other resolved issues of the motion involved calls upon the university including: termination of De Caire from his position, phasing out the majority of the special constables program by Sept. 1 and full removal of the special constables program from McMaster by Jan. 1, 2021. 

In the July 12 meeting, the assembly discussed clubs ratification for the 2020-2021 year, board of director and caucus year plans, as well as security concerns with using the platform Zoom. 

On Aug. 23, the SRA held an emergency meeting to conduct the MSU VP Education by-election. The only nominee, Daniella Mikanovsky, was not elected due to over 50 per cent no confidence votes. 

Since the start of the 2020-2021 school year in September, the SRA has now held two meetings. The first meeting on Sept. 13 had several motions including the official resignation of McMaster Students Union VP Education, Fawziyah Isah and the election of Ryan Tse as the new VP Education. 

In the same meeting, Hargun Grewal and Alison Hacker were ratified as the chief returning officer and the deputy returning officer, respectively, of the MSU elections department. 

In addition, SRA seats on the clubs advisory council and the internal governance committee were filled. 

Several MSU committee seats were closed at the next meeting on Sept. 27. This included the teaching awards committee, clubs advisory council, elections committee, internal governance standing committee and services standing committee. 

On Sept. 27, the MSU committee seats from the previous meeting were closed, leaving MSU seats for teaching awards still open. The seats will remain open for nomination until the next meeting. 

The second meeting of the month also included motions to waive club operating policies. The policies include a requirement that all clubs have to have a membership list of 25 full-time MSU members and a minimum $5 club membership fee. 

The policies include a requirement that all clubs have to have a membership list of 25 full-time MSU members and a minimum $5 club membership fee. 

News of these membership requirements for clubs led to dissatisfaction from many, as evidenced by social media. 

https://www.facebook.com/macconfessionss/posts/377807706947621

Many students believe that requiring a membership fee will put smaller clubs at a disadvantage. The membership fee will make it more difficult for clubs to recruit members and thus make it even hard to have a membership list. 

The motions were moved by MSU President, Giancarlo Da-Ré and seconded by MSU VP Finance, Jess Anderson. Following voting across the assembly, both motions were passed. 

Both Da-Ré and Anderson expressed that due to the circumstances regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, clubs would not have been penalized for not implementing such requirements this year either way. However, because of the concerns and confusion that had arisen, a formal motion to waive the policies should help to clear things up. Although the operating policy has been waived for the 2020-2021 year, the policies are still in place for future years.

Although the operating policy has been waived for the 2020-2021 year, the policies are still in place for future years.

During the meeting, two groups who are a part of the bylaw 5, Incite Magazine and Engineers Without Borders, also gave presentations to speak about various plans for the year and details of their budget. The next SRA meeting will be held on Oct. 18 at 5 p.m. Meetings can be viewed live on the SRA Facebook page.