By: Bridgette Walker
There have been and will continue to be various types of service and working dogs in educational environments like McMaster University and out in the world at large. I’m Bridgette and I have a dog guide named Estelle.
Please don’t freak out! Properly trained dogs are more effective, efficient and reliable than technology for a lot of physical and mental health conditions. These dogs truly do save lives.
Estelle plays many important roles in my life including going to McMaster University with me. She does many things including listening for certain sounds — especially my snack alarms — and knows where all the really important places are. Aside from deafness, I have anxiety, autism and chronic migraines. Estelle keeps me in check mentally and emotionally.
When meeting service dogs, there are some ground rules: ask first, establish what’s helpful and what are the limits. There are some things Estelle really shouldn’t do for her own sake, and a few things that would actually cause problems for me. Meeting other service dogs is cool too, as long as they're all well-behaved and ready to get right back to work.
Anyway, I don’t appreciate people randomly trying to pet or play with Estelle while I’m walking between classes. In general, all dog guides need to pay attention to where they’re going, and to their person. We're on the move, but she’s still listening for what sounds are in the area, how I am doing and so forth.
Please respect my space. I don’t like being “crowded in” and neither does Estelle. She may be a dog, but she’s also regarded as a medical device — same as a wheelchair or other medical apparatus.
And yes, you can take a picture of us as part of the scenery going by, but don’t stop us to pose for snaps; if we did this every time, I'd be late for everything.
Enough with distracting the dogs themselves! This can be dangerous for other people with more serious conditions when their service dogs are being distracted and hindered from alerting them to potentially harmful or even fatal issues that can crop up at any time. I’m blessed that this isn’t the case for me, so far.
Then there are people with phobias. I don’t know whatever trauma you have endured in the past but we really don’t mean you any harm! Please, stop screaming and whining. It’s not good for Estelle's ears, not good for my anxiety and certainly not good for your throat or mental health.
Don’t project your personal problem onto us like that. You are an adult in university and entering the working world. If you’re going to be like that every time you see Estelle or another kind of service dog on campus or out in the world, you’re not going to live as good a quality life as you deserve. Everyone should be able to enjoy or at least tolerate seeing these dogs on duty — they’re really good at heart!
The secret is that if she weren’t on duty, she'd like to try being your friend! Estelle also likes visiting babies, kittens and even pet chickens. Anyway, since she can’t try comforting you in her doggy-way, try refocusing your perspective of the dog with: “It’s a special animal. It’s somebody’s lifeline.”
From Estelle and me, see you around campus!
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
By: Elliot Fung
If you are a full-time undergraduate student enrolled in at least 18 units, you are eligible to vote in this year’s McMaster Students Union presidential election. Here is some more information about the election and how you can successfully cast your ballot.
The president is the primary spokesperson for the MSU and serves as the representative for McMaster students to the university, Hamilton and the provincial and federal government.
The next MSU president will hold the position for a one-year term beginning on May 1, 2019 and ending on April 30, 2020.
The MSU president is also the chair of the board of directors of the Student Representative Assembly, which is comprised of the vice president (Finance), vice president (Administration) and vice president (Education).
This year’s election has four candidates: Madison Wesley, Jeffrey Campana, Josh Marando and Justin Lee. More information about their platforms can be found here.
The voting system will be “single transferable vote.” What this means is that, on your ballot, you will get to rank candidates in order of preference.
In particular, you will have the opportunity to rank your preference of candidate from one to four. However, you do not have to rank all candidates.
Your vote will count towards the candidate you rank first.
The candidate with a majority of total first choice votes will be the president-elect. If a majority is not achieved through the initial counting, the candidate with the least number of first-choice votes is eliminated.
However, if you voted for the eliminated candidate, your ballot still counts. Your vote will be transferred to your second-choice candidate. Votes are then recounted.
If a majority is still not achieved, the process of vote transfer is repeated until a candidate has a majority of first choice votes.
Should a candidate be disqualified or withdraw from the election after polling takes place, your vote will still count too as long as you indicated a second-choice candidate.
In this case, your vote would be transferred to your second-choice candidate.
Voting opens on Jan. 22 and closes on Jan. 24 at 5 p.m. Ballots are being sent out via email, so check your McMaster email as soon as you get the chance!
You can also vote at www.msumcmaster.ca/vote. Log in using your Mac ID and an election link will appear if you are eligible to vote.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
In only four days from now, McMaster students with a Hamilton address will have the opportunity to vote in the 2018 Hamilton municipal election. Here is a guide to the day of to help you find your way to a voting station and come armed with all the information you need to successfully cast your ballot.
The municipal election will take place on Oct. 22.
You have the chance to vote for the next mayor, Ward 1 city councillor and Ward 1 and 2 school board trustee.
If you are a Canadian citizen 18 or older and have a Hamilton address, you are eligible to vote in Hamilton.
As a student, you are eligible to vote both in your “home” municipality, if it is not Hamilton, and in the Hamilton municipality where you live. The bottom line is, if you have an address in Ward 1, temporary or permanent, you can vote in Ward 1. All you need is some ID that shows you live there.
Near McMaster and in the surrounding area. If you are in Ward 1, you have 11 polling stations. The closest station to McMaster is Church of God Hamilton at 265 Bowman Street. If you are coming from either the east or west side of Main Street, you can take the 5 to Main Street West and Emerson Street and walk from there or hop on the 51 to Whitney Avenue and Emerson Street.
[google_maps id="35383"]
The polling station will be open from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm.
The nearest polling station to campus is a 25-minute walk from the McMaster University Student Centre. If you choose to bus from campus, you can take the 51 at Sterling Street and University Avenue to Whitney Avenue and Emerson Street. From there, it is a few minutes to Bowman Street and Willowcrest Avenue, where the church is located.
You will need to bring a document that shows your name and Ward 1 address.
Possible documents include:
A full list of documents can be found on the City of Hamilton website.
It is ultimately up to you. Below, you can find a list of online sources that highlight information on candidates and feature their respective platforms.
Ward 1:
- The Silhouette: www.thesil.ca/meet-your-ward-1-councillor-candidates
- The Hamilton Spectator: www.thespec.com/news-story/8891703-ward-1-information-for-hamilton-voters/
- The McMaster Students Union’s MacVotes campaign: www.msumcmaster.ca/macvotes/macvotes-municipal-elections-2018/ward-1-candidates
Mayor:
- The Hamilton Spectator: www.thespec.com/news-story/8894782-mayor-race-information-for-hamilton-voters/
- The McMaster Students Union’s MacVotes campaign: www.msumcmaster.ca/macvotes/macvotes-municipal-elections-2018/mayoral-candidates
Because you can and you should. Voting gives you an opportunity to exercise your democratic right and have the potential to impact what Hamilton will look today, tomorrow and in many years in the future. So do some research, get to the polling station, warm-up your ballot-checking fingers and cast a vote.
[spacer height="20px"][thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
Two years ago, I began having health problems at the ripe age of 21. One potential cause was that I ate the last-day-on-earth diet of an overworked student, so on the advice of a nutritionist, I looked to Canada’s food pyramid for help with balancing my diet.
When religiously following the guide my health declined further, leaving me flummoxed. I was following conventional nutritional wisdom! My diet looked almost exactly like the rainbow chart in my nutritionist’s office.
Unfortunately, our understanding of nutrition had led me astray. Moreover, with a country plagued by a host of chronic diet-related health issues, the food pyramid doesn’t seem to have the impact it should. So where are we going wrong?
The answer may lie in Brazil’s 2014 food guide. Unlike its Canadian counterpart, Brazil’s nutritional advice focuses on reducing the amount of processed food in the diet instead of acquiring individual nutrients in food such as protein, fiber or omega-3s. The guide urges Brazilians to make whole, unprocessed food the basis of their diet and limit the consumption of lightly processed foods, such as pickles, cheeses and breads. It goes so far as to urge the complete avoidance of “ultra-processed foods,” such as sweetened breakfast cereals and yogurts, or instant noodles—foods that Canada’s guide does not scrutinize nearly as closely.
Ultra-processed foods are items that generally include five ingredients or more, including things that are not easily recognizable or part of traditional diets, such as high fructose corn syrup or colorants. Generally found in the center aisles of the grocery store, these products include excessive amounts of unhealthy salt, sugar, and fat, along with additives that distort colour, taste, and shelf life. These foods are at best benign, and at worst nutritional landmines. They deprive our bodies of the nutritional complexity of unprocessed food, making them the antithesis of the varied and nutritious diet that Brazil’s guide is attempting to cultivate.
So how is it that our food guide can claim that Gogurt, Shredded Wheat, and fruit cocktail—all ultra processed foods—can be part of a healthy diet? The answer comes down to money. It is, simply put, more profitable to sell you highly processed foods. A company can manipulate their product to make cheap, processed and unappealing ingredients taste great, thus justifying selling it to you for much more than the sum of its parts. The use of synthetic food additives can also enhance the flavor of less appealing ingredients, such as tasteless produce or low-grade meats, further widening profit margins and reducing nutritional content.
The problem is that our food guide does not distinguish between highly processed “franken-foods” and more wholesome meals. This is in part because it was written by those who wish to sell you processed food. One quarter of the 12-member Food Advisory Committee who composed Canada’s food guide were working for corporations that produce and sell processed food. Instead of investigating a holistic concept of health, the authors of our guide focused on individual nutrients.
This means that Captain Crunch can tout its fiber content, while Kraft Singles can boast being a source of calcium. Both of those “foods” are ultra-processed, but suddenly they become part of food groups that we are supposed to consume every day. This vastly distorts what we can consider healthy.
Mark Schatzker, author of The Dorito Effect, compared this to cutting pharmaceutical-grade cocaine with tea. You could conceivably claim that it was healthier for you, less addictive, and “now with chai!”—but would you actually say that it was good for you? Probably not.
So what should your diet actually look like? The short answer is to avoid processed foods, but that is not always possible, especially for those with limited time, cooking skills or access to affordable quality ingredients. Instead, my answer is that you should be skeptical. Is a company trying to sell you highly processed food based on one or two nutrients? What exactly is “natural” or artificial flavouring, and how is it affecting your diet? Just how much sugar has gone into your yogurt? At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, do not trust Canada’s food pyramid, because Brazil’s ended up being the key to regaining my health.
Six simple steps that will ensure you don’t die within the first thirty minutes
Horror movies always seem to star stupid people. Regardless of age, location or occupation, every starlet seems to think it’s a great idea to find shelter in an abandoned basement, investigate the screaming sound coming from the attic, or adopt that one creepy little orphan whose only protection is the Young Offenders Act. If this Hallowe’en you find yourself bewildered with a horror movie-esque attack, here are six steps that may help you make it all the way to the credits.
1) Remove yourself from isolated areas
So you live on a farm? Move. Axe murderers tend to be drawn to lonely wooden structures and small town environments. Cornfields, abandoned asylums and wooded areas are a no-no. Keep to more densely populated city areas and travel in packs of 10 or more. If you cannot avoid being in an real viagra pharmacy prescription isolated area, have a car on hand to drive your ass the hell out of there in case of an emergency (preference for SUVs and Hummers).
2) Don’t investigate weird sounds
If you hear a weird sound coming from the floor above you, CALL THE POLICE. I don’t care how many triathlons you’ve done or how badass you think you are, you are not equipped to battle a psychopath ghost living in your attic. You are not Scooby Doo, you are not Bill Murray, and you are not that lady from Long Island Medium, you are no match for the paranormal.
3) Carry a charged cellphone
One of the luxuries of the twenty-first century is the easy access to portable electronic devices. Use your goddamn phone to call for help. You also want to make sure you have enough battery power for your caller ID to work. The last thing you need is to answer a call from an “Unknown Number” and find yourself being stalked while manoeuvring a babysitting gig. That being said, another good tip – don’t be a babysitter.
4) Don’t lean against walls or doors
When the floorboards in the next room are creaking and you don’t know how to check if the coast is clear, leaning against the wall/door for a better listen is not a good idea. Because there you are all huddled up next to your plywood framework and all of a sudden, you’re getting shanked in the spleen with some next Kill Bill blade. Unless your home is made of steel, you are not going to be safe from the person in the next room.
5) Don’t have sex
Ok guys, so I know when you’re scared and lonely you feel the need to get handsy, but there are several important considerations when it comes to fear-induced-freak. Don’t be caught pant-less, you will find yourself running for your life semi-nude. Don’t get pregnant, because you will give birth to a demon child. Don’t have sex, because you will get chlamydia and you will die.
6) Double tap
It’s never dead when you think it is. Give it another hit.
There is no way to describe your first love. Words have no taste, images lack colour (and need written consent), and actions pale in comparison to the strong emotions churning in your knotted gut. How do you confess these feelings? How do you express them in a healthy, socially acceptable way that doesn’t end up in a night at the local jail? Navigating through a fandom can be extremely confusing and terrifying at times, but don’t worry, you are not alone!
DO join social media sites, such as Twitter and Tumblr (aka the Mother Ship). The best part of being a fan, other than enjoying the magical craft of insert name here, is getting to interact with fellow fans. Fans are usually the most interesting people you’ll ever meet. However, while some collect merchandise, others may collect hair clippings. Choose wisely.
DON’T abuse this power. Harry Styles does not care that you’re eating a hummus wrap. More so, don’t tweet him 27 times in a row that you’re eating a hummus wrap.
DO attend and take part in events/fan expos/street teams. To find out more, go on the official website/Facebook page of [insert name here].
DO find groups within the McMaster community that share your passion. Case in point: The McMaster Quidditch club (praise be). The moment that you discover that a kid in your psychology class holds World of Warcraft tournaments in his basement is the best moment ever.
DON’T YOU DARE let this consume you. There are too many horror stories about fans that just went too far. Remember, there is life outside your fandom. Don’t spend every waking hour of the day watching One Direction interviews (guilty as charged), or distance yourself from your friends because Robsten is going through a messy breakup. With everything, you need balance. Find it.
DO ALWAYS be proud of your status as a fangirl/fanboy. Who cares if your friends think JBeibs sucks, or that Star Trek is “nerdy.” Fight the Daleks, get into your Bat Mobile (...or Honda Civic - your choice) and pledge to be the best fangirl/fanboy that you can be.
- Yara Farran
