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MacInsiders is a student-run information network at McMaster University. It is a non-profit organization for students and a recognized club of the McMaster Students Union. We aim to enhance the McMaster student experience by providing an inclusive community that informs, motivates, inspires, and promotes student involvement and leadership through online initiatives and events on campus. MacInsiders was formed and ratified in January 2007. The most popular items we provide include articles, videos, and message boards. Signing up is free, and you can do so by clicking here! Learn more.
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Aug 27, 2008 - 10:08 PM
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OSAP Release Details!
Fall/Winter OSAP release for fully registered students begins on Tuesday, September 2nd to Friday, September 5th, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, in MUSC-314/315. Be sure to join the line by 3:15 p.m in order to complete the process.
In order to pick up your loan, please bring the following:- McMaster Student ID with a 2008/2009 validation sticker
- Proof of Social Insurance Number (SIN Card - photocopy is acceptable, or a piece of Government of Canada official documentation such as Canada Revenue Agency Notice of Assessment, a Canada Pension Plan Statement of Contributions or a Confirmation of Social Insurance Number from Service Canada)
- A piece of VALID Government-issued photo ID, for example: Driver's Licence, Permanent Resident Card, Canadian Passport, Canadian Citizenship Card, BYID (formerly Age of Majority card), Health card (with photo)
A void cheque and/or your banking information. The cheque should be from the student’s personal bank account.
OSAP loan release will continue from September 8th to September 12th in the same location (MUSC 313/314).
Visit the OSAP website for additional information regarding OSAP release and financial aid programs.
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Aug 27, 2008 - 11:41 AM
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Exciting New Changes Coming To The McMaster Libraries
OPINION - By CHAD FULLERTON, MACINSIDERS
The new Far Coast café-style shop in Thode
1. Giving Choice Is Good.
First off, as you all should be aware by now, the Libraries Are Going Apple (Thode and Mills). This is a big change because it is opening the doors for students to have open access to using Apple products as well as getting students familiarized with the OSX operating system, giving you a choice in an environment where Windows was once the only option. Whether we'll see students using the Mac environment more than Windows is yet to be seen (you'll have the choice of choosing Mac or Windows when you turn on the computers), as I find most students in the library just want to surf the Internet or print out a Word document (something you can easily do just with Windows). However, it does leave room in the future to expand and allow students to utilize Mac's more. If you ask students randomly on campus whether they know how to use a Mac my guess is that most wouldn't know how. This will hopefully give students a chance to learn Mac, since some careers and jobs require knowledge of the Mac environment.
The Libraries are clearly investing a lot in this initiative. With twelve 30" Mac Pros going into Thode, that alone is quite a feat. Being in the Multimedia Program at McMaster, I don't even think I've seen twelve Mac Pros in one room together. Adding to this, 104 iMacs and a handful of MacBooks are also being distributed in the libraries for our use is really nice and I think really raises the bar on how...
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Aug 27, 2008 - 10:14 AM
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Career Fair 2008
When: September 18, 2008. 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Where: David Braley Athletic Centre
The largest career event at McMaster University, Career Fair 2008 offers a forum for you to meet face-to-face with employers and make career connections.
Information on Career Fair 2008 is available on OSCAR and the Career Services website. Check out the list of employers attending this year's Fair and find out more about their company and job postings for McMaster graduates. The list of employers will be updated regularly, please continue to check OSCAR for the most up-to-date information. For more information visit: careers.mcmaster.ca.
The event is brought to you by Career Services (central) in partnership with Centre for Business Career Development, Engineering Co-Op & Career Services and Science Career & Cooperative Education
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Sponsored Ad Check this out! |
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Aug 26, 2008 - 3:38 PM
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MacInsiders Going Through Growing Pains
Features temporarily disabled while server at peak load
Update #2: Everything is back up and functional. Bandwidth has been increased. Thanks for your patience!
Update: Forums re-enabled. More bandwidth coming.
Dear Users,
We are currently experiencing peak load on our server. While we're excited that our community and readership continues to grow, we're having to take necessary steps over the next few hours to decrease the strain on our server bandwidth. In order to try and and combat a site outage like last time, some features of the site have been disabled temporarily but will be back up soon - the biggest one is the forum (sorry!). We have ordered more bandwidth from our web host provider and it should be setup by tonight. If the site goes down, don't be alarmed as we'll be back up as soon as possible!
MacInsiders is a non-profit student organization, so all sponsorship funding and advertising dollars helps keep us afloat. We are currently channeling more club funds into our hosting and bandwidth costs to serve you better in the future and support our quick growth, especially over the next few weeks as we expect more growth during Welcome Week and Clubsfest. Keep checking back as we'll keep you posted with updates.
Thanks for your co-operation and support.
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Aug 25, 2008 - 9:45 PM
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Welcome Week Rep Kick-Off Event!
By DANIELLE LORENZ, MACINSIDERS
Welcome Week is less than a week away now (w00t!!!), and what better way to start it off by having a giant party? This Thursday August 28th is the campus-wide Welcome Week Rep Kick-Off Party at Quarters. This is a GREAT way to see everyone you haven’t seen since school let out in April, as well as raise money for a great cause!
The McMaster Social Sciences Society Welcome Week Planners, Zack Marchesini (aka 'Crombie) & Michael Pett (aka Fitch) have organized this awesome event for all reps, regardless of whether they are reps for SOCS, Faculty, IRC, Maroons, Residence or other groups. All money raised is going to Shinerama and CURE Canada. Another good thing about the event is participation (i.e. attendance) helps gain points for the newly-reinstated Welcome Week Rep Cup!
The winning rep team gets a prize as well as bragging rights for all of Welcome Week. Points are awarded as follows:- Total Donated by Team (Into Cover Jars) / Total # of Reps on Team
- # of Reps from Team That Wear A Toga / Total # of Reps on Team
- Total # of Reps That Attend / Total # of Reps on Team
Another incentive for you to come: ‘Crombie and Fitch will each be wearing a little bit less of their togas as the night goes on (and who doesn’t like a little bit of nudity). Although one may think that this is due to the “ginger ale” that is being served that night, it is because for every $50 that is raised a piece of their togas will be cut off.
So bring your toga, your student ID, your government-issued photo ID, and your wallet and prepare to have an awesome night!
Call me a cynic...but I bet you’re also wondering if all the money raised corresponds directly to points for Soc Sci for the Faculty Spirit Cup. It doesn’t. All money raised is being collected by the MSU’s Fundraising Initiative Team (FIT), and in turn does not benefit any one team. It only benefits the cause (and helps McMaster go from the post secondary school to raise the sixth highest amount of money nationally, so something higher this year)!!
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Aug 25, 2008 - 8:55 AM
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HSR U-Pass Starts Today
For those who received their HSR sticker in the mail, effective today (Monday, August 25, 2008) you can place it on your student card and be able to use your card as an acceptable fare (University Transit Pass), allowing you to travel on any HSR bus in regular route service upon presentation to the operator. Thanks to the user who let us know!
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Aug 24, 2008 - 7:56 PM
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This Week in MacInsiders
By CHAD FULLERTON, MACINSIDERS
I thought it would be neat to do a recap of some interesting discussions and articles that have been posted over the past week and on a regular basis highlight some of the things that you should have checked out or may have missed if you aren't a regular visitor here at MacInsiders.
Getting to know others
A few interesting posts were made in the forums to get to know other MacInsiders members, it seems to be a common theme happening this week. A couple threads that were started such as "Get to know everyone" as well as one asking which highschool members attended, and what everyone's guilty pleasure is. Introduce yourself to everyone else! Also, Mitch started a fun thread asking what everyone's favourite Wonderland ride is. Share your favourite!
Casio FX-991 MS is $14.99 this week at Canadian Tire + Back to school!
Cippi found that the standardized calculator that all Mac students need to use on exams and tests is on sale at Canadian Tire for $14.99 (down from $19.99). If you're a first year and haven't picked one up yet, it's a good time to get one! It was also pointed out at Walmart is the most expensive. Thanks Cippi! More discussion on the calculator in the forums here. There's also a discussion by shleyaa about back to school shopping...what to buy before school starts!
Technology!
This time of year is laptop buying time and we have you covered. Check out our massive and popular laptops thread which seems to get a lot posted in it this time of year. We also have many articles on technology here. There's also lots of forum discussion happening right now such as a thread started by Kenvin about what type of printer...
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Aug 24, 2008 - 9:29 AM
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Welcome Week Rep Survival Guide
BY DANIELLE LORENZ, MACINSIDERS
With Welcome Week only a WEEK away (YAY!!!!), many upper year students are starting to prepare. Not as participants, like they were last year, or in years before that, but as Welcome Week reps. For the past three years I have been a Welcome Week rep. I was a residence rep three times, for Whidden in 2005, and for Bates in 2006 and 2007. I was also a Social Sciences rep in 2006. This September I’ve chose to be a rep again, but this time as a Maroons rep. Because I have three years of being a rep under my belt (although most of the time I never wore a belt with my rep suit...), I thought it would be useful for all new reps to know what they’re getting into, and how to prepare for the week. Read on, and learn about how to survive Welcome Week!
Sleep
Get as much sleep as you possibly can before rep training starts, especially if you’re a Residence Rep. The first two days of Welcome Week will be 18 hours each, and physically exhausting due to move-in. None of your days will start after 10am, and most days don’t finish before 10pm. As a Res Rep, most of my days started at 8am, and finished at 1am. Add in all of the heavy lifting for move-in, and all the running around and cheering you will be dead tired. If you have any opportunities to take a break (even for a few minutes) try and take a nap of some sort.
Hydration
Three of the past four Welcome Weeks have been hot (last year being the hottest, with one day going up to 42C with the humidex). You will be wearing some sort of polyester suit that does not breathe. You will be sweating in it even if it’s a cool day. Make sure you drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated. However, you should also drink other liquids, as drinking only water does not replenish everything that is lost through sweating. Last year I ended up in emergency with dehydration from drinking only water. So please remember to drink juice and Gatorade/Powerade as well to replenish the electrolytes you lose (or you could be really hardcore and buy Pedialyte, but that stuff is REALLY expensive). That being said, if you’re drinking caffeinated beverages remember that they are diuretics and make you...
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Aug 23, 2008 - 9:22 PM
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HSR B-LINE EXPRESS TO LEAVE MAC... for good.
OPINION - By Chad Fullerton, MacInsiders
September 2nd 2008 is going to be a sad day for McMaster students. Starting on that day, as reported by The Hamilton Spectator, the HSR is discontinuing the 10 B-LINE Express route from going through the McMaster Campus and will instead go down Main St and only stop infront of the hospital instead of coming in through campus like it currently does. Why? The City's website states the change "will help McMaster's goal of eliminating all bus trips through the campus by 2011."
The Spec mentions that McMaster's reasoning behind the changes was safety; helping to "keep campus pedestrian-friendly" and "to comply with the university's campus vision". The announcement coming after we agreed to an increase in HSR fees for our U-Passes with the renewal of the University Transit Pass Agreement earlier this year.
Personally, while I think we are still getting a great bargain having to pay only $94.80 through our MSU Supplemental fees (paid as part of our tuition) for unlimited use of the HSR services, taking the buses off-campus doesn't make sense to me.
MSU President, Azim Kasmani, stated that "convenience for students on campus is [being] trumped by safety concerns over traffic" and brought up the fact that moving the buses off-campus to main street could bring up even more safety concerns with students crossing that busy street.
I feel the campus is quite pedestrian...
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| Prospective Students! |
MacInsiders welcomes all prospective students who would like to learn more about student life at McMaster University. A new forum has been opened just for you! Click here to view the MacInsider's Prospective Students Forum!
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a recognized and funded club of the McMaster Students Union
Notice: The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the student(s) who authored the content. Views and actions of MacInsiders may not reflect the views of all the members of the McMaster Students Union. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by McMaster University or the MSU (McMaster Students Union). Being a student-run community, all articles and discussion posts on MacInsiders are unofficial and it is therefore always recommended that you visit the official McMaster website for the most accurate up-to-date information.
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