Go Westmount, young activist!

The Social Justice Class from Westmount Secondary came with their teachers to visit OPIRG McMaster this morning, and meet volunteers from our Board of Directors, and working groups like Body Equity, Freeskool and McMaster Students for Social Justice.

Our volunteers shared stories about their interests, how they became active on issues, and suggested ways to become an empowered actor in the community (local and global). The Westmount students will be forming their own working groups at their school to address issues they feel are important.

Hopefully some of the students who expressed interest in sustainable transportation will get in touch with OPIRG's former working group Transportation for Liveable Communities (TLC) and push for those bike lanes!

First Nations' Welcome!

Members of the McMaster First Nations Students Association (MFNSA) working group sponsored a Welcoming Powwow Friday September 25th from 1130am in front of John Hodgins Engineering (JHE) building on McMaster campus.

Dancing, drumming, and great food were available under sunny skies.

from the trails to the streets with Alt Welcome Week

A peaceful, soul restoring hike in Cootes Paradise, to the energizing women's march at Take Back the Night, OPIRG's Alternative Welcome Week is showing students the city in empowering ways to engage their sense of justice.  Thanks to Sarah G. for the photos and to OPIRG's AWW coordinator Brian Jeffrey for organizing the week of events.

Lots still going on at OPIRG McMaster, so get in touch with us to stay engaged!

thanks for food, outdoors!

Hey people - the Mac Outdoors Club is holding a 
100-mi/168-km Thanksgiving Dinner Oct 5 at 6:30
Cost $11, tickets available at the David Braley Athletic Centre registration desk

Hosted by the McMaster Outdoor Club at St. Paul's Anglican Church

Learn about the connection between food choices and environmental sustainability while celebrating Thanksgiving with a locally-sourced feast! We will be serving turkey, stuffing, gravy, many vegetables, and apple crisp, made with delicious and fresh food from just outside Hamilton.


Disclaimer: this is not an official opirg mcmaster sponsored event, and is posted for information purposes only. Please contact the event organizers with any questions or concerns.

Eat in the Place that you live (and learn)

The new Mac Farmstand has opened up this year thanks to the efforts of OPIRG McMaster, the MSU, Office of Sustainability, and Hospitality Services. The initiative has been in the works since October 2008 as a collaboration between OPIRG working group PEAS (Promoting Eating Alternatively and Sustainably) and the Golden Horseshoe Biosciences Network. 

The Mac Farmstand brings together local farmers, from areas such as Flamborough, Grimsby, and Campbellville, and gives the McMaster community access to their fresh and healthy produce. Every week, new produce is sent from each of our partnering farms (currently Simpler Thyme, Busy Liz’s, and Two Century) depending on the season and what they have chosen to grow.

Mac Farmstand
In front of Nina de Villiers memorial garden
(in front of University Hall)

11:30 AM to 5:30 PM, every Thursday 

(until the season ends)

Produce isn’t the only thing you’ll find at the farmstand. Profiles of each of our farms, explaining history, farming practice, and various other interesting facts will be available. Recipe cards, preparation instructions, and other valuable information for home cooking can also be picked up at the farmstand for no cost. The farmstand isn’t your average grocery store. We seek to provide you with the knowledge that your food isn’t sprayed with pesticides, coming from a foreign country, or grown using unsustainable farming methods. 

  

So please, come to the Mac Farmstand, a place where you can eat healthy and locally-grown food with peace of mind.

labs or linebackers?

The City of Hamilton is once again throwing good planning to the, ahem, cats, as the McMaster Innovation Park becomes the latest long-term planning project being tackled by a desperate search for a stadium site to house the Pan Am Games/new home for the Hamilton Tiger Cats.
Will McMaster trade this planned job creation and innovation nexus for a football stadium with 10 home games a year and a massive parking lot?
Jane Jacob's warning against "Cataclysmic" money is a fitting caution for this quick turn-around involving millions of dollars. Perhaps Panic Planning is not conducive to good decisions. What do you think?

City, Cats must deal with Mac

Wade Hemsworth
September 1, 2010

THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR
Now that the city and the Tiger-Cats have agreed to explore the idea of building a Pan Am stadium on a key piece of McMaster's research park, it's time to ask the university what it thinks of the proposal.
The answer is far from certain.
Given that it's only two weeks before the city has to submit a stadium plan to Games organizers, McMaster is expecting to hear from the city soon, something that had yet to happen, at least formally, as of late yesterday.
Until there is a clear, detailed request, the university is reserving judgment on how it will respond.
Spokesperson Andrea Farquhar said McMaster is ready to work with the city, but also made it clear the university already has plans for the site.
"We're happy to sit down with them and find out more about what their ideas are, and then balance those off with the intentions and goals of MIP," she said. "We don't have enough information right now."
McMaster Innovation Park includes roughly equal pieces of property on both sides of Longwood Road South, between Highway 403 and Aberdeen Avenue, site of the former Camco appliance complex that closed in 2004.
McMaster, which bought the 37-acre property in 2005, has been busy on the east side of Longwood, renovating the former administrative headquarters into a multi- tenant complex now known as the Atrium and building a new federal materials research lab on the former factory site next door. The $65-million lab is set to open in October.
Next year, McMaster's medical school is planning to build a $40-million primary care centre, also on the east side of Longwood, at Aberdeen.
McMaster is also trying to reach a deal with a hotel developer to build a long-stay facility immediately north of the Atrium building.
Farquhar said the parcel about to come under examination -- the warehouse and parking lots on the west side of the road overlooking Highway 403 -- is important to the larger, integrated plan for the park.
The building, familiar in its interim uses as steel-storage and trade-show space, is slated for an interior and exterior makeover, with about 50,000 square feet going toward a new automotive resource centre planned for opening in 2011.
In May, McMaster announced it had recruited an international star in hybrid engine research, Ali Emadi, to lead a new lab to anchor the centre.
The park's mission is for partners in education, government and private business to turn research into commercial products and services.
The property in question:
Roughly half the 37-acre McMaster Innovation Park, on the west side of Longwood Road South, between Hwy. 403 and Aberdeen Avenue.
Former use: appliance warehouse, shipping depot and employee parking lot.
Interim use: private-industry steel storage, trade shows and parking.
McMaster's current plans: Renovate one third of the 150,000 square-foot building to accommodate a $30-million automotive resource centre that would open in 2011. McMaster is waiting to hear back on grant requests for renovation funding.