When Coach Ptaszek was presented with the offer to be the head coach at a program he had called home for over 10 years, there was no way he could refuse.
“It wasn't just a job for 10 years, it was more than that,” said Ptaszek. “A lot has changed over the last two and a half years, but there's still a lot of the great people around the campus and football program which made it a very, very exciting offer, and something that I was extremely interested in.”
Ptaszek’s name speaks volumes when it comes to Marauder football. So though many players and supporters were not too happy about the letting go of previous head coach Greg Knox, the arrival of Ptaszek quickly changed that.
Being the only coach to lead the Marauders to a Vanier Cup championship in 2011, his reputation certainly precedes itself. Ptaszek also held the record for longest winning streak in U Sports (formerly known as Canadian Interuniversity Sport) history, 21 games, brought home three Yates Cups and was named the CIS Coach of the Year in 2012.
Football -- Stefan Ptaszek returns to @mcmasteru as @Marauderftbl head coach. #GoMacGohttps://t.co/LaotrQMLPq
— McMaster Marauders (@McMasterSports) November 28, 2018
For Ptaszek, his success can be linked back to his philosophy for leading a team: ‘Football Family’. Using his own experience as a university student-athlete as the blueprint, Ptaszek’s goal to ensure that those in the program see one another as a family is a part of what makes those under him do so well as a unit.
“It's not just 80 guys that get together to play games eight times a year, they have to learn to believe and trust each other,” said Ptaszek. “All of that, under the umbrella of a world-class education, helps them to hopefully leave this place with the tools to be successful forever. That’s the big picture here; winning football games is just a by-product of doing all these other things”
Ensuring that a team has a family bond after such a controversial firing is a difficult task, but for Ptaszek, he finds that the incident has made the team more tight-knit than before.
“When [the players] were not having much guidance in terms of who their next coach was going to be, I think it caused them to have to build a tighter relationship. But they're stronger now, and capable of great things,” said Ptaszek. “Coaches like Scott Brady and John Parkes have been instrumental at keeping this locker room focused, so moving forward I think I inherited a really great situation. I'm going to be smart enough to build upon the great things that are in place here.”
For Ptaszek, building on things that are in place means listening to the needs of the team first, by getting to know his new student-athletes.
“I've had at least one sit down with each player and we're planning another one,” said Ptaszek. “I'm also getting to know the quarterbacks better because quarterback play is a huge thing we have to focus on in the off-season.”
Working hard in the weight room and getting stronger in the winter, the Marauders who are one of few teams lucky enough to most likely be keeping a majority of their starters for the 2019 season, will not have to do a lot of rebuilding. With a small graduating senior class, the team is young with a bright future ahead.
“We have two seniors, Eric Blake and Jordan Lyons, that we may potentially lose to the CFL, but if we're lucky, they’ll be back for their fifth year,” said Ptaszek. “We're going to be a year older, smarter, bigger, faster, stronger and in a great position. McMaster wasn't broken when I took this job, so I'm excited to see where they go.”
Though they have very few players leaving, this has not stopped Ptaszek from adding to the recruiting that was done before he arrived.
“I’m trying to compliment Brady and Parkes to have a great recruiting class,” explained Ptaszek. “It's still early in the process, but we’re really excited about our recruiting class.”
With 23 commits so far, the 2019 recruiting class is shaping up to be a good one.
As for goals for the 2019 season, reaching their full potential is all Ptaszek wants out of the Marauders. With the standard of excellence in Ontario set by the Western University Mustangs, he aims to close that gap.
“This year we’re a bit better at every position, plus our great recruiting class that is coming in, so I think we will be able to achieve our goal of closing that gap of the provincial standard set by the Mustangs down the road," said Ptaszek.
“This means being better at offence, defence and special teams, and attention to detail in every area,” Ptaszek added. “When the Yates Cup is being played in 2019, the Marauders want to be on that field, and I think that’s a realistic goal.”
With weight training, quarterback play and recruiting well underway, the only thing missing is an offensive coordinator, after the departure of Tom Flaxman last week. Once that role is filled, hopefully, Ptaszek and the Marauders will be able to return to that level of excellence that Ptaszek is known for. Although we will have to wait for that first kick-off come August to find out.
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Isabelle: Second year, health sciences.
I: Planning for university in Grade 11, I wasn’t sure whether or not I was going to swim. So my initial interest in McMaster was because of the health sciences program, and it’s unique approach to interdisciplinary studies. However, as Grade 12 approached and started, I knew that I would miss the sport too much to stop before the varsity experience. The Mac swim team was one of the first recruit trips that I came on, and it was the one I remember the best because I felt at home and part of the family immediately.
I: The team has grown significantly compared to last year because quite a few first-years came in, especially on the women’s side. It’s been great to integrate them into the team, and having new training partners and a new dynamic is both refreshing and exciting as we prepare for [the Ontario University Athletics Championship]. I would say that this year, our winter break training camp in Florida was collectively viewed as the hardest training camp that the team has been through, and our hard work is starting to show in the pool as we begin to taper down and see positive results.
I: I eat at least one jar of peanut butter a week.
Their efforts in @McMasterU's dual meet with the @WlooWarriors earned Mony Tchervenelekov and Isabelle Lei the @PitaPitCanada Athlete of the Week honours this week.
READ ⬇️https://t.co/ATlPlTRB0p
— McMaster Marauders (@McMasterSports) January 23, 2019
I: Receiving OUA Rookie of the Year last season was very humbling for me, because I came in with no expectations. This second time around, there is definitely pressure for me to perform because I do not want to let the team down, but I know it all comes down to stepping on the blocks and just leaving it all in the pool. I know that my team is there for me stroke for stroke, as I will be for them. If I can finish every race knowing for a fact that I could not have gone any faster, or tried any harder, I will be satisfied, and posting personal bests would be the cherry on top.
I: I am very excited for both Ontario University Athletics and U Sports championships because the calibre of swimmers at both meets has increased, even from last year. To be able to compete with people who have international experience is an amazing, inspiring opportunity, and I would like to just go into the field and race with joy and make the team proud. I’m also swimming a couple of different races from last year, so I’m excited to reach outside my comfort zone and spice it up.
The 2019 Swimming OUA Championships will be held Feb. 7-9 at Brock University.
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It has been said that life is a dance. No one knows that better than celebrated Canadian dance artist Peggy Baker whose dance installation Move captures the duality of caregiving. The free installation will be performed on Feb. 2 at the Art Gallery of Hamilton as part of McMaster University’s Socrates Project.
The dance installation takes place in a 28 by 28-foot square surrounded by a frame. It is 70-minutes long and is organized into four cycles. The cyclic nature of the piece and the fact that it rotates throughout means audience members can take it in from multiple angles.
The performers are not necessarily dancers by trade but members of the community who love dance. There are 16 of them dancing in pairs that reverse roles with each cycle. They were selected in November 2018 during a two-hour workshop and audition.
The story of Move began 10 years ago when Baker first presented the dance as part of Toronto contemporary art event Nuit Blanche. At that time, the dance was 20 minutes long and done on the hour every hour for 12 hours with 12 pairs of professional dancers. When Baker put on Move for the second time at the Art Gallery of Ontario a couple years later, she decided to extend the length of the piece and do it with fewer dancers.
It was while doing the dance at the Art Gallery of Ontario that Baker thought about using community members as the dancers. She has since put on several performances of Move with non-professional dancers, staging the entire performance in five three-hour rehearsals.
Baker’s own experience with caregiving formed a part of the inspiration for the installation. She was the primary caregiver to her late husband, who had primary progressive multiple sclerosis. She found that caregiving involves a beautiful rapport between the one receiving and the one giving care.
Baker was also inspired by art and dance itself. While teaching in Philadelphia, she was struck by the beauty of partnership when she had dancers pair up and help another during some difficult movement sequences. Also while in Philadelphia, she saw an exhibition of paintings by American painter George Tooker and was inspired by the images of people embracing one another.
The dancers changing roles throughout the piece represents the inevitability of being on both sides of caregiving. The choreography for the piece overall is formal and highly organized, mimicking the ritualized elements of human lives. The choice to have four cycles mimics the cyclic structure of the seasons and the fact that there are four cardinal directions.
“[I]t’s something universal. We all receive that kind of intimate physical care and physical nurturing as infants and children. We may all find ourselves in a position where we where we are called upon to give care to a parent or a partner or a child. And we may all eventually need to receive care,” explained Baker.
KITCHENER, Ont. (09/04/18) - Victoria Park
The electro-acoustic soundtrack, composed by musician and composer Debashis Sinha, is also organized into four cycles. It is subtle and atmospheric, not quite music but a sonic landscape for the audience and dancers to reside in.
Baker encourages audience members to walk around the square performance space, close their eyes or turn their back to view the art in the gallery. The space allows viewers to feel comfortable arriving after it begins or even leaving before it ends.
“I like it to be in a public place. I like it to be in a place that already is claimed by the community as being a place in their town or city like this is… an art gallery, a foyer of a theater, a market… [I]t needs to locate itself in the heart of the community… [I]t's about community building basically,” Baker said.
At the end of the piece, the dancers pour water for one another and drink it. One of the dancers in the group, a ceramic artist, suggested that the group each makes the vessel that they drink out of. At the end of one of their rehearsals, she guided her fellow dancers through making their own bowl.
The creativity and passion brought on by these community dancers give this installation of Move a unique tint. However, the beauty of Move is the universality of the theme and the way in which it can move anyone.
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Expand upon your post-secondary studies to discover your pathway to an exciting career in health information. Learn and apply industry standards for the collection, use, and analysis of personal health data. Study information management’s principles and practices for privacy, confidentiality and security, and how these are applicable to health information systems. Learn how electronic information management is revolutionizing health care within service sectors: primary care, administration and research.
As the Canadian health care delivery system evolves, so does data collection, health information usage and analysis, privacy and security, and the integration of information systems.
That’s why McMaster University Continuing Education is thrilled to announce that its Health Information Management Plus Diploma program is now accredited by the Canadian College of Health Information Management (CCHIM). This accreditation means that the program has met the strict regulation requirements upheld by both the certifying body and the Canadian Health Information Management Association (CHIMA), the national association representing leadership and excellence in health information management across the country.
This post-graduate, part-time, instructor-led program is an online learning experience designed by leading experts in the country in consultation with professional associations. Graduates of the program are eligible to become Certified Health Information Management (CHIM) professionals, who are in high demand in a variety of health care settings across the continuum of care and within provincial and federal governments. These professionals will use electronic information management to revolutionize health care.
The CHIM credential is recognized across Canada, and our members play key roles in the Canadian health system, including privacy and information analytics, to decision support and the coding and classification of records.
McMaster University Continuing Education provides its learners with academic programs that are well-designed, accessible, and relevant to the professional field. Programs within health information are designed for learners with an undergraduate degree or college diploma seeking to build upon their prior knowledge and skills.
To qualify for the Health Information Management Plus Diploma (45 units), students must complete all required courses for the program. In agreement with CHALearning, McMaster University Continuing Education students will register and complete 3 coding courses offered by CHALearning. Upon successful completion of the 3 courses, students receive 6 units of study to be applied to the HIM Plus Diploma. All program courses are offered online. This diploma program is accredited by the Canadian College of Health Information Management (2018-2020).
Applications for the winter term cohort open on January 2, 2019. To find out more about admission requirements, please visit mcmastercce.ca/health-information-management or contact us at mcmastercce.ca/contact-us.
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One of the biggest talking points that most candidates make when running for a seat on the Student Representative Assembly is transparency. The word has been tossed around so much that it has basically become a buzzword. But transparency is more than just a talking point; it’s an incredibly important behaviour that the SRA needs to adopt.
During the SRA meeting on Jan. 20, the SRA discussed how they can make their assembly more survivor-centric. Namely, a motion was passed to task the vice president (Administration), in collaboration with the sexual violence response coordinator Meaghan Ross, to develop an amendment to the constitution which includes an emergency response procedure for sexual violence.
This occurred after an SRA member was accused of engaging in sexual assault and another member supported that member. As of now, the SRA cannot ask these members to step down from their positions, only suggest that they should.
The proposed changes to the constitution could allow the SRA to remove such members from their assembly. This is important news in support of survivors, but unfortunately this information has not been made widely available.
Navigating the SRA website is far from an easy task. While the interface itself is user-friendly, information is difficult to find. For example, one would think that meeting minutes from SRA meetings would be listed under SRA minutes but this webpage only contains broken links from April 2018. The actual minutes from SRA meetings are posted under SRA documents amidst other documents and memos.
The minutes themselves are lengthy and filled with unfamiliar jargon that the average student should not be expected to know. This length and volume leads to the vast majority of students not reading the minutes and remaining unaware of the changes that are occurring within the university.
Beyond the content of the minutes, it is also unclear when the meeting minutes are posted. Two weeks ago, on Jan. 9, I was searching for the Jan. 6 meeting minutes, found nothing, and was forced to watch the hour-long livestream to understand what happened.
Though the Jan. 6 meeting minutes are posted now, they are posted under the Jan. 20 heading. I’m not sure when they were posted considering that nowhere on the SRA site do they state when they post meeting minutes after each meeting. Students should not be expected to consistently check the site or watch hours of livestream footage to stay informed.
Instead, minutes should be posted as soon as they are available. A three-day turnaround seems more than reasonable.
If the meeting minutes take long to post, at the very least the SRA or its individual caucuses should create summary documents for students to review. These documents can forgo the jargon and essentially list the important details that were discussed.
Students interested for more information can then consult the meeting minutes, or better yet, review a transcript of the livestream, which remain available to view after the meetings occur. I understand that it is difficult to transcribe a live meeting however, in the interests of accessibility, SRA meetings should be transcribed afterwards to allow individuals who require accommodations the ability to access the livestream videos.
Moreso, when watching the Jan. 20 livestream, a comment was made that some of the information that was discussed would not be included in the meeting minutes. There must be a reason — not all comments made are deemed important enough to include in the minutes — but if the SRA would like to be considered transparent, these comments should be made available for students to interpret on their own. A transcript of the meetings could provide this transparency.
This is not the first time that the SRA has been called out for its lack of transparency. As a governing body that is meant to represent the entire student body of McMaster University, the SRA has a responsibility to do better. The SRA is making some important, positive changes for the university — if only students were aware.
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By: Ryan Tse, Hannah Walters-Vida, Natalie Clark
Click on the candidates to learn about their platform overviews.
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[button link="https://www.thesil.ca/msu-presidentials-2019-madison-wesley-platform-critique" color="red"] MADISON WESLEY PLATFORM CRITIQUE[/button]
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[button link="https://www.thesil.ca/msu-elections-2019-jeffrey-campana-platform-critique" color="red"] JEFFREY CAMPANA PLATFORM CRITIQUE[/button]
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[button link="https://www.thesil.ca/msu-presidentials-2019-josh-marando-platform-critique" color="red"] JOSH MARANDO PLATFORM CRITIQUE[/button]
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On Jan. 11, McMaster Daily News published an article by Catherine Munn, an associate clinical professor from McMaster University’s psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences and lead psychiatrist at the McMaster Student Wellness Centre.
Titled ‘Why are so many students struggling with mental health?’, the article discusses the factors that may lead to why students are struggling with mental health and the support systems in place, both on and off-campus, for those who find themselves struggling. It also demonstrates that students are in severe need for better mental health support on campus.
From inadequate funding for Student Accessibility Services, severely long wait times to see a counsellor and over 23,000 students accessing support from SWELL, it’s interesting to see that candidates in the McMaster Student Union presidential election aren’t prioritizing mental health in their campaigns.
Out of the four candidates in this year’s race, only three of them have a single platform point related to mental health support on campus. Out of these three, only one platform is feasible in theory, while still remaining financially unclear.
Generally, once these platform points are simmered down, they don’t amount to anything more than a relatively ambitious and opportunistic points to gain your vote. Each platform that has a talking point about mental health support has no plan that is feasible or realistical to implement structures that support students on and off-campus.
Sure, there is only so much that can be done within a year’s term. But within a year’s term, the MSU president’s role is to advocate on behalf of students and to bring your concerns to higher levels of governments and to university administration.
We can turn these talking points into feasible opportunities to support those who are struggling on campus by prioritizing their needs over self-indulgent platforms from our presidential candidates.
So let’s be clear, we can do a whole lot better for the many students who are struggling with mental health.
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While most students use the holiday break to catch up with family or to get reacquainted with the feeling of sleeping in, the McMaster men’s volleyball team has been playing against top international talent to stay sharp during their time off.
First, they headed to Long Beach, California to play the top National Collegiate Athletic Association volleyball team, Long Beach State, and No. 12 University of California Santa Barbara. This marks the third year that the two teams have spent the holidays playing each other, and for head coach Dave Preston, there is no better way to prepare for the second half of the season. For him, getting experience playing against one of the continent’s best teams with inconsequential competitive cost is extremely beneficial for his team.
“These competitive opportunities are awesome, with almost no competitive cost. Once you establish these relationships it's a win-win for us,” said Preston. “We get to play at a really high level, and we don't have to worry about showing our systems and our game plans to a team that we may have to play later on in the season.”
Prior to the trip, the Marauders were undefeated when in international competition, having defeated both Long Beach State and the Ohio State Buckeyes. This time around, the Marauders returned to Canadian soil without a win, yet they still managed to gain so much more.
“We didn't go out there for results, because if we're looking for easy wins, we would have scheduled differently,” said Preston. “We did go there to elevate our level of play and we did just that.”
With nine different performance standards that the team measures, ranging from their side out percentage, the number of digs and kills they get, the Marauders saw an increase in all nine performance indicators.
So although the average person who sees the standings and does not see any wins may not understand the benefit of the matches, from the team’s perspective it was a success, especially with just two middles.
The lack of players due to injury is something the Marauders have been struggling with during the first half of their season. Although they boast a 6-2 regular season record, the injuries of Craig Ireland and Matt Passalent have made the first half quite a challenge. But fifth-year Connor Santoni has risen to the occasion, playing both libero and left side.
“We've also had to rely a lot on both middles, third-year Josh Ecklund and freshman Tyler Pavelic, who played almost every point in our Long Beach [games],” said Preston. “Now that we're able to reintroduce are returning guys from injury, it's been a little bit easier.”
The warm-up has started for the North America Challenge. @MACMVB vs. Long Beach St. in about 30 minutes. pic.twitter.com/QzENiM3EQ2
— McMaster Marauders (@McMasterSports) December 30, 2018
The return of Ireland and Passalent had an impact in the Marauders second international tournament this break against top Polish team Jastrzebski Wegiel. Coming out strong with a 3-1 win in their first match the Marauders got back to feeling like themselves. The maroon and grey followed that up with another win, trading sets with JSW until ultimately pulling out the win in five sets.
For Preston, win or lose these international matches give the team lessons that go beyond the court.
“One thing these young men experience is the effect traveling has on your body,” said Preston. “We're going to have to travel if we're fortunate in the second half of the season to get into the playoffs.”
With the Ontario University Athletics Championship being hosted by the top team in the East division, and the U Sports National Championship heading to Laval University, understanding the effect traveling has and how to manage hydration and nutrition for their bodies during that travel is crucial.
“We benefited so much from playing against different styles of volleyball,” Preston said. “In the U.S., it is a really serve-and-block kind of system and Long Beach is probably one of the fastest offences we've ever seen. While JSW is extremely different, as they are very heavy on the execution. So they're two different extremes, but having to adjust and know how to play different styles is a great experience for us.”
Through it all, the Marauders still have their main focus on conference matches. With two of the top OUA teams in the West coming into their house Jan. 12 and 13.
“We have to be prepared for that, no ifs, ands or buts,” said Preston. “Every single thing we played over the holidays was in preparation for the Western [University] and Windsor [University] series.”
Never losing focus on their end goal, a national championship, the Marauders are now more prepared and ready to go for the games that matter most.
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The new Bertrand Russell Archives and Research Centre is officially open.
This state-of-the-art facility is located across from McMaster’s Sterling Street entrance in a former home, which has been retrofitted in recognition of the 50th anniversary of McMaster’s acquisition of the Bertrand Russell archives.
The project, led by McMaster University Libraries, in partnership with McMaster’s Facilities Services and mcCallum Sather Architects houses the University’s largest and most heavily researched collection and is in place to help support activities related to Russell scholarship.
Bertrand Russell was a British philosopher, logician, essayist, and renowned peace advocate. His archives came to McMaster Library in 1968, where his library in addition to his correspondence, manuscripts, tapes, films, photographs, medals and writing desk have been on display since.
The 4300 sq. ft. facility sees a reading room, a sophisticated library surrounded by Russell’s works, a compact shelving unit to host the archives and will feature Russell’s personal writing desk and armchair. It also sees McMaster’s Bertrand Russell Research Centre upstairs.
The Russell Archives are the largest collection of Russell’s materials available anywhere, containing over 250,000 original documents written by Russell, 3400 books from his personal library, 3900 volumes of his published works and other scholarly materials, in addition to photos and artifacts.
Andrew Bone, Senior Research Associate at the facility, notes that Russell’s interests ranged over a variety of topics and groups
“It makes it enduringly fascinating that he had so many interests and had so many things on the go at the same time, so it’s never a dull moment,” said Bone. “It’s not all about a focus on one individual, it’s [about] who will be touched or reached, the organizations that he was involved with, the philosophical ideas that he influenced in others or was influenced by, and we continue to learn and discover new things, and to reconsider things as well.”
Among the many projects taking place at the facility, the Bertrand Russell Research Centre will be publishing all the letters that Russell wrote during his imprisonment in Brixton Prison in 1918. Each letter is to be released exactly 100 years after the letter was written.
Bone says that these letters shed light on Russell’s personal life and notes that in terms of the integrity of the centre’s research, both public and private works are equally vital parts of the puzzle.
“[The Brixton letters] is almost unique amongst things that Russell wrote because of the constraints that he was under. He wanted to get a little bit of everything into many of these letters,” said Bone.
“In these letters, you’ve got politics, personal relationships and philosophical ideas that he was developing. So the personal, the political and the philosophical, which is more frequently compartmentalized in the Brixton project, is all together.”
The collection previously housed in Mills Memorial Library, but now sees a dedicated space in a formerly private residence on Forsyth Avenue. The residence has been fully renovated and converted over the past nine months and is now open to the public.
