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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On Jan. 30, the annual Bell Let’s Talk Day, an advertising campaign created by Bell Canada, took the country by storm. In an effort to raise awareness and combat stigma surrounding mental health in Canada, Bell donated money to mental health funds for every social interaction with campaigns hashtag.
While the world tweeted, snapped and Instagram-ed away, The McMaster Women’s Athletic Leadership Committee took it one step further and hosted their first-ever Bell Let’s Talk event.
The event consisted of McMaster student-athletes sharing their personal stories in an open and safe environment that was open to the entire McMaster community. Five student-athletes, Sabrina Schindel, Allison Sippel, Aurora Zuraw, Nicolas Belliveau and Louis Sharland, took the floor and led discussions on depression, eating disorders, language and anxiety and men’s mental health.
http://www.instagram.com/p/BtRPDA0BkSb/
The event was a success with a great turn out that included open discussion and much-needed conversations on mental health and how it affects athletes, in addition to the right steps that need to be taken to combat different stigmas.
“At first, I was expecting it to be a small event with just members of WALC, but to have my teammates, friends and people I didn’t even know come out to support was so amazing and inspiring,” said Sippel, the initiator for the event.
The idea for the event came up after Sippel, a cross-country runner, wanted to be able to create an open space for people to be able to talk about their battles with mental health.
“I feel like if we are able to create a space where people are open to talking, there would be less of a stigma around it,” said Sippel.
She first wrote down her story after she got out of the hospital after suffering from an eating disorder. After reading it to her close friends and family members, she never really shared it with the public. But when the idea of creating an event for Bell Let’s Talk came up, the idea of the panel sharing personal stories came to mind.
Working with Claire Arsenault, McMaster’s Athlete Services Coordinator and WALC, the panel that would originally be a conversation for members of the committee grew to more.
“I was happy that male athletes joined in and it was really inspirational that the group of us could be able to share our stories,” said Sippel.
🗣️ #OneTeamForMentalHealth 🗣️
Ask someone how they are doing.
📸 @MPHcentral#WeAreONE | #BellLetsTalk pic.twitter.com/OlmEeBWH9r
— Ontario University Athletics (@OUAsport) January 31, 2019
Each speaker shared their story then opened up the floor for discussion, answering questions in regard to their experiences, advice for others and much more.
During the panel, Sippel shared her story about how her eating disorder led her to be hospitalized when she was 14 years old. After losing too much weight and no longer being allowed to run, her journey to bounce back was not easy.
“This illness had turned mind against body and person against person because nurses were trained to trust no one,” Sippel explained about her time in the hospital.
Eventually, Sippel showed signs of improvement and was allowed to leave the hospital and return to her everyday life. Fast-forward to today, and she is now running on the Mac cross-country team while trying her best to stay on top of her condition.
“It’s a lifetime of fighting against my mind so I never had to go back,” Sippel said.
For Sippel, having the student-athletes lead this conversation was important for a number of reasons.
“I feel like a lot of times, it is frowned upon to express our feelings. If we start the conversation, there is no better way to set an example for our fellow students,” said Sippel. “Hopefully five students sharing their stories can spiral into something bigger and start a movement.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtREZWEh1QA/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
Schindel, another one of the five student-athletes who shared their stories, is a lacrosse player who suffered from depression. Through the ups and downs of dealing with her battle, she eventually discovered that staying busy and active is what kept helped her out the most. This meant that when her lacrosse season was over, she would have to find something to keep her occupied so she did not fall down that dark hole again.
“Realizing that no one is beyond help and getting in front of my depression before it could do the same damage it used to,” Schindel explained as the steps she takes to keep herself from falling again.
Schindel’s story, though devastating, is more common amongst young people than one may think. This is why it is so important that these conversations are happening. Having the bravery to start the conversation, and sharing tips and resources with their fellow students is a great way for Marauders to do their part in helping end the stigma surrounding mental health.
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By: Jennifer La Grassa
In response to a vote passed by the U.S. Senate to cut funding for Planned Parenthood, America’s largest provider of women’s reproductive health services, legions of women have taken to social media to display their outrage and share their profoundly intimate and personal stories of abortion.
Amelia Bonow, an American activist and the co-creator of the hashtag, took to Twitter to share her personal story; she had an abortion at a Seattle Planned Parenthood in 2014, and the idea of her hashtag was to destabilize the stigma that surrounds women who have terminated pregnancies. Bonow called the senate’s vote to cut funding for Planned Parenthood an “attack on women’s physical autonomy,” and urged women to shout and share their stories despite the tremendous societal pressure to stay silent.
The hashtag was used more than 100,000 times in the 24 hours following its inception, and women from all over the globe shared their stories. Many of the tweets displayed the emotion surrounding an unwanted pregnancy and around the often difficult decision to have an abortion.
Some women spoke of being young and terrified, as well as unable to afford raising a child or about being in dangerous and abusive relationships that would be unfit for a baby. Bonow’s co-founder and fellow activist Lydia West stated that by cutting funding, the Senate is implying that “abortion is something to be whispered about.” Instead, they decided to shout.
Despite the four decades since abortion was legalized in the U.S., the topic is still extremely sensitive and Bonow has stated that she has received countless hate-fuelled tweets, as well as several death threats. The onslaught of hate, courtesy of pro-lifers, has produced #shoutyourabortion’s counterpart, #shoutyouradoption.
The majority of tweets containing #shoutyouradoption blatantly criticize the concept of abortion, and some specifically target women who have received an abortion, and in their eyes, committed murder.
The movement has swept social media, and Bonow hopes it will reach Senate, where the vote to cut funding can be reviewed. She refers to the defunding plan as a “misogynist crusade,” seeing as it will only truly and directly affect women and their own reproductive health. If Planned Parenthood is defunded, it’s absolutely terrifying to think of what might be next.
Jason Woo
The Silhouette
1. Starbucks Drake Hands
Nothing like some straight up creepy interaction to end any sort of interest your crush has in you. You would think this is pretty straightforward, but judging from the truly cringe worthy original video and the gut-busting parodies that came after, I best leave this here.
2. #Hashtags
Whether you use it satirically or (in)appropriately, a prospective mate will not appreciate #iloveyou # #legitcried #loveyousomuch #dreamcometrue #toomuchhappiness #highlighofmyLIFE #cantthinkstraight #myboy/girlfriendsbetterthanyours #he/shelovesme #myotherhalf in succesion.
3. Facebook Proposal
In most cases, it is better to ask someone out in person than online. It certainly takes more guts and your crush will definitely appreciate it. It also just makes for a much cuter story down the road.
4. Timing of Responses
One of the trickiest things in the dating game is the art of timing your responses. Everyone has his or her own rules on this, but just be sure that you don’t respond a day later. Also turn off ‘read’ receipts when possible.
5. Emoticons
Like hashtags, a barrage of emoticons will trample on the attraction a crush has towards you like a herd of overly aggressive smiley faces. It doesn’t really do anything for your message, and it just comes off as annoying
6. Selfies
A selfie here and there to remind you and your crush how beautiful, adorable, and fun you are is harmless, but 10 snapchats of you with variations of the peace sign and duck face may not be conducive to your chopping.
7. Social Media Bomb
This leads to the last cardinal sin of wheeling – don’t drop the social media bomb. Never assault your crush with a barrage of posts about your inside jokes and common interests. It just comes off as a bit desperate – and no one (your crush included) wants to see that much PDA. You’ll just be embarrassing your crush.
