*phew*

I'm now officially up-to-date, minus one item where I am waiting on the webmaster of the site.

Everything else I have written that is online is now currently available. And hopefully I will no longer be considered a spambot!

How to avoid destroying your entry-level life with credit card debt

"How to avoid destroying your entry-level life with credit card debt", May 25 2009

I remember how alluring credit cards seemed me when I was younger: they were symbolic of status, wealth and freedom.

I decided I was mature enough to get a credit card when I was 18. My parents agreed with my decision, but passed on two important pieces of advice: I should always pay the full amount owed and I shouldn’t buy things I can’t pay for at the end of the month. I have continually followed their directions and, as a result, I’m in a much better position than some people I know.

The primary reason why I wanted a credit card was so I could avoid paying fees every time I made a withdrawal or paid for a purchase using my debit card. When I went to university about a year and a half later, I used my credit card to pay for larger purchases essential to my education and living away from home, such as textbooks, groceries and a gym membership.

However, I decided to apply for a second card which I could use for personal spending on things such as clothes, concert tickets and entertainment. Using these cards has been beneficial as I have eliminated the aforementioned fees to my account, but in addition they have aided me in establishing a good credit rating, which I will be able to use for a much larger purchase, such as a car or a down-payment on a house.

But I know many of my peers and older adults do not recognize the detrimental qualities of credit cards and yet still continue to use them to their harm.

Credit cards are a way for banks to make money. If you do not pay the total amount owing each month, you will owe that amount plus interest of upwards of twenty percent or more. Banks make their money off the interest.

Individuals will continually use their credit cards to make purchases without eliminating their balance; thereby making them spiral further into debt and reducing their credit rating.

Even universities have started partnering up with banks. They allow banks to promote credit cards on campus, since they have such a large potential market, and sometimes the school receives a percentage of what is spent on those cards. But the schools claim no responsibly for students who face financial problems due to mismanagement.

People in credit card debt are more likely to be depressed, smoke, drink to excess, use drugs, suffer from insomnia and depression and contemplate suicide. Your credit rating follows you for at least seven years or more, so this can have an effect on your ability to buy a car or secure a mortgage for a house.

If you are someone who carries credit card debt from month to month, you need to start making changes or you could be thousands upon thousands of dollars in debt in only a few years. Cut your frivolous spending as much as possible and put as much of your income as possible against your debt. Cut up your credit cards to get rid of any temptation you may have to spend.

Although credit cards have positive qualities, they can have a high cost if you’re not careful. Make sure you know your own financial capabilities, willpower and maturity before you choose to have a credit card. If you don’t have the money in the bank, don’t buy it.

How to survive living with your parents for the summer (or longer)

"How to survive living with your parents for the summer (or longer)", May 19 2009

The academic year has drawn to a close and many students have moved back into their family’s home for the summer (or maybe longer for new grads).

For some, this time causes no conflict. But for many of us, moving back in with our parents can be difficult. Being away at school has changed our relationships with our parents, siblings, friends, neighbourhood and even pets.

Although there are some downsides, student living is awesome, for the most part, because we choose how to live. We decide what to eat, when we come home each night, who comes over and when they leave. These choice are usually different than how we lived at school and our parents may not agree with how we live your lives … and this causes conflict.

So what can you do to make it work?

Talk to your parents

You’re an adult now, so if you want your parents to have mutual respect for you, you’ve got to act like one.

Find out what your parents expect of you. For example, maybe your parents can agree they don’t care when you get home, but you have to call if you’re going to stay out past a certain time. Ignoring these expectations will only cause your family to treat you like a child again. Your rebellious teenager days are supposed over, remember?

And there will likely be similar rules which need to be discussed: Can your significant other sleep over? Can they sleep in your bed? If you’re still underage, are you permitted to drink alcohol in the house with their permission? When is it too late to play music loudly: 9PM? 11PM? Never? What time should guests leave the house?

There may be multiple rules you must follow, or you may be incredibly lucky and not have any at all. Regardless of the number of rules, there are certain tasks you should do while living at home to illustrate how university helped you grow up.

Help out

For example, if you drive the family car, fill up the gas tank. No one likes getting into a car with an empty tank. It’s sort of like leaving an empty milk bag in the fridge.

Volunteer to help around the house by doing the grocery shopping, cooking a meal once a week, washing the car, mowing the lawn, weeding, etc. It’ll show your parents you can take initiative in helping the family, and that you’ve matured while away at school.

Be smart about your money

If you have a job, think about paying rent. It will teach you how to better budget your money and, again, illustrate how you have matured. 10% of each pay cheque is a reasonable amount.

If they don’t need to put toward the household expenses, ask your parents to put this money aside for you to be used when you move out, decide to buy your own house or go back to school.

Choose your battles wisely

You will not see eye-to-eye with your parents about everything, so if you have a strong opinion about something, talk to them about it calmly. When you’re discussing something with them, have solid rebuttals to back yourself up. Acting like a child will only cause your parents to hold their position more. The key to any relationship, no matter who is involved, is compromise.

If all else fails, keep in mind it’s only a short-term arrangement. If you’re waiting on a meaningful job to move out of your parents’ house, keep clicking through the Incubator for great career advice!

Email etiquette for students and recent grads

"Email etiquette for students and recent grads", May 11 2009

Over the last few years while working as a co-ordinator in a university department and as a manger of a student service on campus, I’ve noticed many post-secondary students and graduates are unable to write emails that would be considered appropriate in the workplace. I have received countless messages which have made me cringe.

To avoid alienating current and future employers with your spelling, grammar and email etiquette, check out these suggestions:

What your ‘handle’ says about you

An email address can project certain interpretations of who we are, regardless of how true it may actually be. If you are using an address such as 420_blazer@email.com, sweet_n_sexxxy_69@email.ca or tru.gangsta.4.life@email.com to send queries to prospective employers, they are not going to take you seriously.

Create an email account that is more professional. A safe bet is a combination of your first and last name. For example, firstname.lastname@email.com.

Spelling and Grammar

Take the time to manually check the spelling and grammar of your emails. Many email servers and some web browsers have this function built in, but it will not be able to discern between alternative spellings of the same word which have different meanings. For example:

• there, their and they’re
• its and it’s
• to and too
• then and than
• your and you’re
• alot, allot and a lot
• complement and compliment

Poor spelling and grammar make you look lazy and uneducated, so do everything you can to ensure your writing is error-free. If you’re not confident in your abilities, get someone who is to read over your resumes, cover letters and emails before you send them.

Luckily, we don’t need to be as formal in an email as we would in an essay. An email can be considered conversational, so much of our speaking mannerisms can be appropriately incorporated. For example, contractions are fine but stay away from slang.

Mind Your Manners

In my experience, many people often forget the two words which were drilled into everyone as a child: “please” and “thank you.” Forgetting to use these words when requesting something - even in an email - makes us look ungrateful and rude.

As someone in a managerial position, I often received emails from staff which implied they would be doing certain things regardless of my decision about the matter. For example:

Danielle,

I can’t work next Wednesday because I’m going to a concert.

Emily

My staff was telling me what was going to happen, regardless of the fact that they had a responsibility to uphold as an employee. I would much rather have received the following email instead:

Hey Danielle,

I was wondering if I could please have next Wednesday off, as I would like to go to a concert with some friends.

Thank you!

Emily

Although both of these examples state the same thing, the latter is much more respectful and acknowledges the fact that, as a manager, I make decisions about time off.

What’s Your Point?

Give the reader your point as soon as you can, but remember to include the appropriate details. If the length of your email is epic, go back to the top and apologize for your wordiness in the first line of your message.

Dont Abbrvt Plz

Emails should not be written in the same fashion as text messages (even if you’re sending them from a Blackberry).

Hey, can U plz fwd the msg 2 Bill again?

K thnx

Unless you’re sending a personal email, avoid abbreviations, especially texting short forms. However, certain workplace abbreviations like FYI, CC, etc. are considered acceptable.

Tone Deaf

The correct tone can be very difficult to portay in writing, especially in emails. Before sending an email, read it over to make sure what you say can’t be misunderstood. Try to come across as friendly, respectful and approachable, not demanding or curt. Sometimes this can be remedied by simply re-arranging your paragraphs and adding those magic words we already talked about: “please” and “thank you.”

Kind Regards

Take your time when emailing a prospective employer or high-profile individual. If you make a mistake and do not realize it until after you hit send, there is no option to backspace. The gaffe could cost you your next job, or even your current one.

Not being accepted to grad school changed my perspective of failure

"Not being accepted to grad school changed my perspective of failure", May 6 2009

I have known since second year that I want to go to graduate school, get my master’s degree and earn my PhD. So, from the summer between second and third year to the October of my final year, I did lots of research.

I looked into different schools in Canada and abroad, as well as their respective reputations. I contacted professors and program administrators to ask about their areas of research and the master’s programs. I even took a “victory lap” year in order to complete a second bachelor of arts degree to improve my chances to getting into the program I wanted.

By November, I contacted three previous professors who agreed to be references for me. One is a professor and director of a prestigious institute, another is an associate professor and was my thesis supervisor the previous year. The last is only a full-time lecturer but has been published numerous times and has spoken at many conferences.

By December, I finished all of the applications and necessary supplementary applications to the six schools I applied to. Based on my grades (which met all of the minimum requirements), my multitude of involvement on campus and (what I assumed were) great letters of reference, I thought I stood a very good chance of being accepted.

In mid-February, I got my first letter. It read (more or less):

Dear Danielle,

We regret to inform you that since we had so many applicants for few many spots we could not accept you this year. Good luck in your future endeavours.

From, Graduate Coordinator

Or, more simply put: Dear Danielle, you’re not good enough for us. Love, School.

Within the next few days, I got two other similar letters, and in the next month I was declined from the remaining three schools.

To say the least, I was devastated. I worked my ass off for three years, but to no avail. This also meant that all subsequent plans would not be materializing for the upcoming autumn. To make it worse, another person I knew who applied to the same program, but with less education than me, was accepted. Simultaneously, many of my friends and acquaintances who applied for teacher’s college were accepted.

Thoughts of FAILURE kept running through my head.

Since I had nothing to lose, I decided I might as well email the directors of some of the programs to find out exactly why I wasn’t accepted. One program only accepted nine students and had 57 applicants. Two others explained my area of interest was too far outside the department. One suggested I should have applied for a sociology master’s, which I found incredibly surprising considering I have never taken any sociology courses.

After all of that – the research, the time and the money spent – I still did not get what I wanted. But that’s not to say that I never will. I suppose despite the losses, I still gained perspective on my future.

I think the most important thing I’ve come to accept is even though I’m not going to be attending grad school this September, it doesn’t mean I will never go. If I choose to do so, I can re-apply for next September. Or I can apply in a few years after doing a post-graduate program in college or working for a few years.

Having come to terms with the fact that I need to change my direction for the short-term, at this point all I need to do is figure out what path to start on.

Job hunting on online social networks like Twitter and LinkedIn

"Job hunting on online social networks like Twitter and LinkedIn", April 27 2009

Think back: where were you in 2002? I was in Grade 11, working a sweet job in a video store, considering my options for post-secondary education and seeing a lot of (bad) live music in local shows.

In 2002, Jonathan Abrams launched Friendster, the first social networking website. In 2003, Myspace and LinkedIn (yes, it’s been around that long) arrived on the scene, followed by Facebook in 2004, and Twitter in 2006. Now there are nearly 150 popular sites available for you to join, many of which cater to specific interests and subcultures.

I first joined MySpace in August 2004, and during the December exam period of 2005, my housemates and I joined Facebook and most of the world seems to have followed us in the years since.

Although I deleted my MySpace account as well as my LiveJournal, I have since signed up for accounts on LinkedIn, Red Bubble, deviantART, Flickr and, most recently, Twitter. Three of those sites are primarily used for sharing photos and artwork, but otherwise I think I’m sufficiently socially linked at the moment.

But have you ever seriously thought of using some of these sites to help you find a job?

LinkedIn can be beneficial if you’re keen to work for a particular company or in a specific industry. Searching quickly, I saw job positions available at many top Canadian companies.

Although LinkedIn is currently under-utilized by students and graduates, many academics have been using it for some time. If you’re interested in doing post-secondary studies, check out the number of professors that use LinkedIn – perhaps you can get introduced to someone through another contact and get a foot into graduate studies that way? Tech-savvy professionals are also starting to use LinkedIn to stay on top of their networks.

Admittedly, LinkedIn functions similarly to some of the larger job-searching sites like Monster and Workopolis. But have you ever considered using Twitter? Yes, you read that right, I said Twitter. You can tweet your way to a new job.

Twitter is an interactive network that can be used through text messaging on your cell phone, or updating through computer. Users are given 140 characters to update their friends on what they are doing, similar to the “Status” function on Facebook. This doesn’t seem like anything really important, except I am leaving out one small detail: users can choose who receives their tweets. Thus, you can target your tweets for a specific readership.

If you’re looking for work, what you do is strategically post so your tweets reflect the industry you are looking at. If you have followed (added someone as a friend) people who are in the job market you’re interested in, this makes everything much easier.

For example, if you tweet is something like, “Looking for a summer marketing internship in the GTA. Does anyone know any companies who are hiring?” You may get a series of responses from people in marketing – however, your network has to include people who might be able to answer your question or you’ll just end up spamming the few people who do follow you.

Times have certainly changed since we were in high school. Employers no longer rely completely on word of mouth or print ads to display the jobs they are posting, and you should not be relying on the same methods either. It is time to start spending some of your time setting up your profiles on these key social networks.

Two Hundred Sessional McMaster Professors Face Layoff

"Two Hundred Sessional McMaster Professors Face Layoff", April 2009

McMaster University Administration, according to CUPE 3906 is encouraging all academic departments to eradicate Unit Two (i.e. sessional) faculty members from their budgets. This is not the first time that this issue has been brought forward, but this is the first time that such a huge layoff has been mentioned. Over the past five years, more and more sessional professors have been denied tenure, and most are now only hired for an academic year.

In addition to this, individual course with low enrolment will be elimated, “under-valued” programs may be shut down, and course sections are to be merged. The majority of McMaster faculty is considered to be sessional, which means that we, the students, will be facing huge problems in the 2009-2010 academic year.

If this layoff occurs, students will be forced into large classes with little interaction from teaching staff. If you are considering post-graduate studies, you need a minimum of two references to vouch for your scholarly abilities. If you are going to be in large classes, it is very difficult to have a relationship with a professor. There is also the looming possibility of some classes no longer being offered; or (at best) being offered every other year or every two years. This is problematic when you have specific course requirements and a very finite opportunity to take certain classes.

As Juliette Merritt, a professor in the English Department laments in an editorial piece: “I have been teaching at McMaster for over 10 years, and am facing for the first time the possibility that there may be no teaching for me in the 2009/2010 year. Many of you may be facing the same loss of employment as the Employer forges ahead with plans to expand class sizes for full-time faculty who, having no Collective Agreement that can deal with the problem of burgeoning class sizes, are helpless to halt the rush towards larger and larger classes and greater workloads, at the expense of quality in education and fairness in employment relations”. This proposed mass layoff is making the sessional professors at McMaster quite nervous, and for just cause. I don’t think any of us at this point in our lives can imagine having the same job for ten years and then worrying that you may not be employed in the next three months. Pretty scary stuff.

It seems that there is a lot of question as to who exactly these sessional professors are, and aren’t. Sessional profs are anyone who is not considered tenured, or tenure-stream. This translates to a large number of the faculty at McMaster, and this affects every single program currently offered. Ironically, many of these professors are renowned and praised by students for their teaching abilities and their classes; and some even more so than their tenured counterparts.


One of the professors who is affected by this proposal is Cultural Studies professor Marc Ouellette. We mentioned Dr. Ouellette recently at MacInsiders when he was involved in McMaster’s first Civic Engagement Week, by providing the Introduction at the film screening of Michael Moore’s Slacker Uprising. We also wrote about Dr. Ouellette as one of this year’s Humanities Teaching Awards recipients. It turns out that Dr. Ouellette is one of the profs who may be let go, and the course for which he was nominated for the award may also be cut.

So what can YOU as the student do to try and prevent the loss of excellent professors like Dr. Ouellette? There is an online petition available for you to sign, which will be sent to McMaster’s Provost, Ilene Busch-Vishniac. Check it out and sign it here. Please do something about this: it will not only affect students, but it will also have a huge affect on those who lose their jobs and the families they support.

I am the 298th signature, and I recognize the names of several of my peers who have already signed, in addition to several profs I have had in the past. Please add your name and any comments you can think of, and pass along the petition using email and other forms of social networking media.

Looking for a Job...Online

"Looking for a Summer Job...Online", April 14 2009

It is nearly mid-April at this point, and I am sure that some of you (only some of you would procrastinate this much right?) may still be looking for a job for the summer months. Maybe you applied for a few jobs and you weren't successful; maybe you had plans for post-graduate studies that fell through; or perhaps you have procrastinated and haven't started looking yet (ha ha). No matter what the case, there are lots of ways you can find yourself something by the end of May.

Gone is the era where you find jobs exclusively in the newspaper, through word-of-mouth, or connections with other people. Now, a student has to be resourceful to find a good-paying job. There has been plenty of mention of OSCAR and the MSU Jobs websites in the past, and it can be assumed that you've already utilized these resources. Now what?

There are websites that many people looking for jobs seek out: Monster, Workopolis and JobZilla to name a few. You sign up, upload a resume and start hunting. You can either apply for jobs using their portal, or potential employers can hunt you down. You can use these sites to search by region, job, length of employment etc.

I stumbled on TalentEgg, a Canadian jobsearch site made specifically for new graduates and students rather by accident about a week and a half ago. The site just celebrated it's first anniversary, and looks to be picking up quite a bit. There are a lot of big-name employers who currently use the website, such as Molson, the Trinity Health Center, Yellowpages, BMO etc. You can find internships, part-time work, seasonal jobs as well as "grown-up" work. There are also two current McMaster students working on their Career Incubator online magazine, and my old Res Rep (Hondo) is involved too. Check it out!

Another good possibility is Craigslist, which functions like the Classifieds section in a newspaper. However, with Craigslist you need to look out for sketchy-sounding jobs, like this one. The more information the ad has about the company you would be working for, generally the more legitimate it would be.

I recently came upon LinkedIn after getting a referral from a friend. It is a networking site similar to Facebook, except there is a job search function. The connections you have allow to be "Reconmended", where the people on your contact list talk about your skills and work ethic, etc. If you are reconmended by people, it shows up on your profile and potential employers can read them; kind of like a reference works.

Lastly, if you want to get involved in the non-Profit sector, you should check out Charity Village. They have a lot of job advertisements available for a lot of different charitable groups and Non Governmental Organizations. They also have a large number of volunteer listings if you would like to consider doing that during the academic year or the summer.

I highly recommend you check out the aforementioned websites, because there are a lot of jobs out there for students this summer. Good luck!

Post-Graduate Series Part Six: Graduate School

"Post-Graduate Series Part Six: Graduate School", February 2009

Although there have already been six articles about post-graduate studies, I purposefully left out the one on graduate school. In the fall, since I decided that I was going to apply to a graduate program, I might as well write this article after I had finished the application process. So here I am, playing the waiting game...

A Masters degree (as suggested by the name) provides mastery over a specific area(s) of study. Within the specific area or subject the student will have advanced knowledge about the discipline, as well as be able to complete complex analyses and work independently. If you are contemplating a Masters, start doing your research on prospective schools and requirements early. I started looking into requirements and schools after I finished my second year. This may have been slightly premature, but I was very well prepared and organized in comparison to those who started to consider graduate school in October or November of their fourth year. You will want to know what month your application, funding requests and research scholarship forms are due. Since you will be completing your final year when you are in the process of applying, you are going to want to know exactly what is due and when do you don’t miss any deadlines or add unnecessary stressors.

It is a good idea to start contacting professors at prospective schools far in advance of when you will be applying. The sooner you start discussing your research interests with a professor the sooner you will realize if you have similar research interests, and thus how likely your chances of being accepted into the program. Professors are usually quite interested to talk about their areas of research with students (or at least that was my experience). It is also good to establish a dialogue with profs, since the board that looks at applications will be composed of the very people you are speaking to.

Jennifer M. Phelps, assistant dean of graduate studies at the University of British Columbia says that prospective graduate student should be self-motivated, focused, and have a desire to discover or learn more about a specific subject area. Students should also have a specific area of interest in mind if they are thinking about applying. Liking biology is fine for an undergraduate, but as graduate student you would want to know if the genetic frequency of albinism in domestic rabbits is equivalent to that of humans on the island of Borneo, for example. If your research area is not defined it is unlikely you will be accepted; as it shows you are not serious enough about your studies. Granted, what you submit on your application and what you chose to work on the following September doesn’t have to be identical, but there should be a good deal of thought behind what you are thinking of pursuing.

Like all post-graduate programs, grades are important. Just because you meet the minimum does not necessarily mean you will be accepted. The minimum GPA requirement is as low as a B or as high as an A-, but this is all dependant on the school, the program, its size and its popularity. The academic expectations in fourth year are the most difficult. If you are not meeting this minimum as a third year it is not likely that you will have the required grades in your fourth year.

Applications vary from school to school and program to program. As a bare minimum, you will fill out an online application that gives information about your previous academic history, provide a statement of your proposed area of study, submit your transcript(s), and get letters from two or three references. You may need to submit a resume, CV, samples of written work, allowable inclusions, or complete an audition among other things. Of course, application deadlines are not consistent across the board either. For the most part, applications are due between early January and early February, but it is possible that they may be due earlier than that; especially if you want to be hired as a TA or research assistant.

Similarly, prices will vary too. I paid between $75 and $100 for each application. It is quite possible that for certain schools they could be more or less than these amounts; but I found that only two programs I applied to were less than $100. If you don’t think you have what it takes to get in, you may want to play it safe and apply at a later time, as applications end up costing you quite a bit of money!

As mentioned previously, you will need to have a letter of reference (or two or three) written by a professor. The best people to ask are those who know you as a student, as well as whose classes you did well in. Although you may have gotten an A in your Death and Dying class, if the prof has no idea who you are they can’t write you a very accurate letter. That’s not to say they won’t write you a letter, but they won’t be able to provide a lot of information about you, which is problematic. I was told that there are benefits to having tenured professors write your letters, as they are seen as authorities over sessional professors. You will also want to ask possible referees well in advance (approximately two months) of the application deadline if they will be a reference, in order to give them enough time to complete their letter for you. This means they will also finish your letters before the students who asked them last minute.

Tuition for graduate programs does cost more than undergraduate programs, but thankfully not as much as some other post-graduate programs like medicine or law. If you are granted a TA-ship, most of your tuition fees will often be taken care of, which is certainly beneficial. However, you will still need to find other work during the summer months (the pay isn’t that great), especially if you are keen on having the smallest amount of debt possible.

Letters confirming your acceptance or rejection are supposed to arrive between mid-February and mid-March. This allows you enough time to defer your graduation for another semester, or year to take additional classes if things don’t end up working out that well for you.

If you don’t get in, you can always re-apply for the following year once you have all of your final grades. Additionally, it may also be more financially feasible for you to apply after working off some of your debt. This also gives you more time to find out what you’re really interested in, and be positive that you want to spend another eight to sixteen months at school...

Hamilton ONE + one Policy

"Hamilton ONE + one Policy", February 2009

I don't know about the rest of you, but not that much thought goes into what I put at the side of the curb every Sunday evening. Don't get me wrong, I recycle as much as I can and use the green bin often, but other than that I don't think much about my trash. It seems as though Hamilton has finally caught on to the idea that not everyone is ecologically minded, and as a result are implementing a policy with the aim to reduce the amount of garbage going to landfills. If you are living in a student house with multiple inhabitants and put out more than a can of garbage each week you should definately read up on this new policy!

When the green bin program started in Hamilton in 2006, it allowed for a lot of the food wastes collected in homes to be removed without going to a landfill. However, this new program will hopefully remove even more waste from landfills over the next two years.

It is believed that up to 85% of waste that ends up in a landfill can actually be recycled.

As of March 30 2009, households will only be permitted to put one garbage can (23kg/135L) and one CLEAR plastic bag out for pickup. If the collectors notice there is a significant amount of organic or recyclable materials in the plastic bag they will not pick it up, due to the fact that the material could have been placed elsewhere. The ONE + one program will last until April 2, 2010. After that date households will only be permitted to put out one garbage can weekly, in addition to organic and regular recycling.

There are of course exceptions to these rules (i.e. grace periods after holidays, or there are three or more children under five years old in the house). You can find out more information from Hamilton's Waste Management websites. You can also find out where to pick up blue boxes (which are FREE and unlimited in Hamilton) from the aforementioned website too.

McMaster Professor Attends Obama Inauguration

"McMaster Professor Attends Obama Inauguration", February 2009

On Inauguration Day, some classes were canceled (mostly History and Political Science from what I've heard) in order to watch what has been called a historic event. Students in Indigenous Studies 3CC3 got to experience something even better: their professor actually attended the inauguration. Dawn Martin-Hill, Director of the Indigenous Studies program and Associate Professor of Anthropology at McMaster attended the event because of a letter her daughter wrote.

Makasa Lookinghorse, who turns twelve in February, wrote a letter to Obama urging him to help Natives, as reported in the Brantford Expositer. Makasa's father, Chief Arvol Lookinghorse supported Obama and was photographed with him for a campaign brochure. Chief Lookinghorse is a Lakota chief living in South Dakota who is known as a spiritual leader, with the title of 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe. He is known for his activism and Makasa is following in his footsteps: stepping in for her father to complete a pipe ceremony at the United Nations.

The family attended festivities the night before the inauguration, which included a concert and a celebratory powwow, as Susan Gamble reports. The American Indian [sic] Inauguration Ball was one of the balls visited by President Obama.

On Monday, Elijah Harper (key individual involved in the Meech Lake Accord) gave a public lecture at McMaster, as well as showed his film Elijah. For coming to McMaster, Dr. Martin-Hill presented a picture of herself with Obama in thanks.

HSR (FINALLY) Makes Travel Easier

"HSR (FINALLY) Makes Travel Easier", January 25 2009

I have hated the HSR website since first year. I hated it even more last year when I was a CSR at Compass, and had to try and direct customers who wanted to get to various locations in Hamilton using the HSR. But (THANKFULLY) the HSR has realized the faults in their website and improved it!

However, I can't technically give HSR credit, because they are using Google Maps to make things easier. As reported in The Sil article, Hamilton is one of five cities to use this feature for their public transportation system.

As soon as I read the article, I passed it on to my staff at Compass. I used the tool for the first time last night, and found it was incredibly easy and helpful. Check it out here. A lot of people don't know how to get to the downtown GO Centre (which also sells Greyhound and Coach Canada tickets), so let me use that as an example.

Type in the address of where you would like to go (36 Hunter Street East), in the 'Search Maps' toolbar at the top of the screen. After the search has been completed, you can 'Get Directions', and if you click on that it allows you to pick by public transit, walking, or car from a drop-down menu. Type in an address you're starting from (1280 Main St W is a good one), as well as the time you plan on leaving.

When the search is completed it gives you options for the next three available trips, how to get to the first stop, what bus is coming, how long the trip will take you, which stop to get off at, and how much walking you need to do from the stop.

So if you ever need to know how to get somewhere in Hamilton using HSR, use the Google Maps option, it will really save you a lot more time and aggravation than using the normal HSR Trip Planner!!

*side note* Google is taking over the world and it makes me sooooo happy!!