Tim Hortons in Mary Keyes and MDCL close after franchise agreement ends

Earlier this September, McMaster University witnessed a number of changes to its campus dining options. Second Cup has replaced the Tim Hortons located in Bistro-2-go at Mary E. Keyes Residence, and the one at the Michael Degroote Centre for Learning has been replaced by Café One.

Previously, Tim Hortons in Bistro-2-go served a limited range of hot and cold beverages alongside baked goods as an express store. With its closure, Second Cup has taken over, introducing a menu that includes seasonal and specialty.

Meanwhile, Café One in MDCL, located where a self-serve Tim Hortons station previously was, now serves Ethical Bean Coffee. The familiar Tim Hortons logo has been replaced with McMaster Hospitality Service.

Hufriya Kateli-Saxena, Manager of Communications and Marketing for Hospitality Services, discussed these changes in an interview with the Silhouette.

“The franchise agreements were up for both locations, and at that time, Tim Hortons did not want to renew the franchise agreements … the MDCL and Bistro stores were kind of express stores, and that isn’t the business model that Tim Hortons is following anymore,” said Kateli-Saxena. 

The franchise agreements were up for both locations, and at that time Tim Hortons did not want to renew the franchise agreements … the MDCL and Bistro stores were kind of express stores, and that isn’t the business model that Tim Hortons is following anymore.

Hufriya Kateli-Saxena, Manager
Communications and Marketing for Hospitality Services

Additionally, Kateli-Saxena mentioned that the senior leadership team within McMaster Hospitality Services also made the decision to close the Tim Hortons locations after considering various other factors. They reviewed independent student feedback surveys and consulted with other Ontario universities to enhance the student dining experience.

Kateli-Saxena noted that positive feedback from the First Year Dining Committee and First Year Council regarding the Second Cup kiosk at Peter George Centre for Living and Learning influenced their decision.

"The Second Cup has done very well in Peter George, is well appreciated, and is also a potential factor that can weigh into a decision being made," Kateli-Saxena said.

Despite the closures of these two locations, McMaster students can still purchase Tim Hortons on campus in the McMaster University Student Centre.

Sophia Topper
Staff Reporter

Student artists have added a splash of colour to the Wilson Hall construction site. Their mural in progress is a part of the Spotlight on the Arts, a yearlong festival generic viagra buy usa run by the School of the Arts. Students are transforming the plain white boarding surrounding the construction site into murals depicting themes related to Hamilton’s blue collar history.

Inspiration came from the vibrant public art movement, with its associated vulnerability, mystery and public accessibility as important components to the modern movement.

The work “raises questions with community…in a different kind of context,” said Beth Marquis, a lead coordinator of the festival. The murals continue Spotlight on the Arts’ September theme of community.

“It’s a collaborative effort,” explained third-year Studio Art student Kirby Tobin. “The designs were all by our class…we each have a few panels to work on in pairs, but we’re all working on it.”

The chosen media are stencils, latex paint and wheat pasted images, which are being used to represent the reassembled remnants of the students’ past work.

The idea arose from preliminary discussions about the Wilson Building, and the hope was to create an “interesting art project that could engage the community, instead of just a practical fence,” said Marquis.

Carmela Lagense, assitant professor in the School of the Arts, volunteered to adopt the project, using it as an assignment in her Painting and Drawing class. The festival worked with Facility Services and the Department of Public Relations to gain approval for the project.

"I think this project represents everything Wilson Hall is going to be about," Laganse told the Daily News. "It's community-driven, collaborative and innovative."

“I really like the opportunity to work outside and interact with the viewers during the process; that's something new in terms of putting the work up,” said third-year Studio Art student Natalie Richard, a member of Lagense’s class.

“I wouldn't say we do public art of this sort often,” she said. “Our work is open to the public but this sort of space is a lot more inviting, especially since going to see art can be intimidating.”

“This kind of public art is a unique opportunity this year,” echoed Tobin. “I think this is possible as an extension of the effort to get the arts community at McMaster more recognized.”

The murals will be up as long as the boards are, but after that, their fate remains uncertain. Some hope to preserve the murals, but the mural’s ephemeral nature could be an asset. “[Street art] pops up and engages the community for a period of time,” said Marquis.

While the bulk of the murals are found on the boards facing Sterling Street, other classes have contributed to collaged prints on the side facing Forsyth Avenue, and the students have been given permission to use the remaining blank space for their work, and will continue depending on remaining time and material.

 

Kacper Niburski

Assistant News Editor

In a three-dimensional world, expressions of art from novels to paintings are often limited by their two-dimensionality. A page, a canvas or a screen all fail to capture the world as it is, becoming instead a representation of how it appears to be.

That is until now, thanks to McMaster’s Origins Institute. Following the trend of 3D entertainment that characterizes much of the modern movie and media industry, McMaster’s Origins Institute 3D theatre opened its doors to the public on Nov. 9.

The theatre originally opened in 2006, based on a proposal by Dr. Ralph Pudritz, director of the Origins Institute.

It was suggested that the MDCL 1110 lecture hall, which was under construction at the time, should be retrofitted for use as the theatre.

After receiving various sources of funding, the theatre opened with the movie Our Sun: What a Star!, for which all the shows were sold out.

The high demand has only continued with the recent opening of the 3D theatre, where all showings are sold out until January.

The theatre works through a combination streaming and emission of data. The data are generated at the Swinburne University of Technologies Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, which is then transformed into the animation used for 3D processing.

The Origins theatre makes use of this processed data by screening it through two projectors, one of which emits horizontal light waves, while the other emits vertical. The two congeal on a perforated screen, and emit the light back to the viewers and their 3D glasses, creating an illusion of three-dimensionality.

“The 3D theatre brings topics of great interest and at the forefront of research within astronomy to the general public and school groups,” said Robert Cockcroft, PhD Candidate in Physics and Astronomy and coordinator of the Theatre.

This much is certainly true, as people young and old have been drawn to the mysteries of the Universe that unravel before their eyes.

One such mystery is the existence of exoplanets, a heavily debated and thoroughly interesting topic in astronomy. The current film, Extreme Alien Worlds, is an exploration of such exoplanets beyond humanity’s solar system.

The theatre, however, will not solely be used for public amusement. It has also been designed to serve as a research and teaching tool, which Cockcroft suggested will “allow researchers to visualize their data in 3D, revealing features that otherwise might not be seen in 2D.”

Thus, the theatre itself serves as both a means of education and entertainment.

It is the composition of the two, which are often opposed, that has changed the meaning of “wishing on a star,” because not only can one understand the stars, but through 3D, they can also attempt to catch one for themselves.