Manitoban Atheists, Skeptics, and Humanists

Exams are winding down, summer’s right around the corner, and the weather’s actually quite nice, so I thought it would be a good time to give a quick retrospective of the 2007-2008 academic year, and to thank everyone that gave up their time to make MASH into what it is today.

Which bears the question: what is MASH today? Well, since September of 2007, MASH has gone from non-existence to being an active student group recognized by UMSU, consisting of over fifty of the most interesting people at the University of Manitoba. The executive (recently joined by member-at-large Katie Hamilton) has worked hard over the year to put on events from a guest speaker discussing humanism to a celebration of Darwin Day. The forum on this website has been wildly successful, now teeming with nearly a thousand posts, and is responsible for two letters to the editor printed in the Winnipeg Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press. Members have been dedicated enough to plan and organize a trip to Minneapolis for the National Conference of American Atheists.

In short, MASH has gone from this:

To this:

in just eight short months. I want to express my gratitude to those who have helped make MASH a success, and note that this is just the beginning. We are starting to plan for the next academic year very soon - and we’re always looking for more people to help out!

You may notice a few small changes to the site. For one, the logo that Caelin graciously designed now adorns the top left corner. There is now also a Pictures section containing pictures taken over the year. If you have any pictures that you’d like to contribute, then please let me know and I’d be happy to add them!

If you still have exams to finish up, then I wish you luck! Otherwise, I hope you have a great summer. There may be MASH get-togethers over the summer, so check your inbox for more details as we have them.

Thanks again for a great year!

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MASH is having its first movie night! It will take place in EITC E2-105 at 5:45PM on Thursday, November 22nd.

We will be featuring:

• Jesus Camp
  Jesus Camp follows three young children to the “Kids on Fire” summer camp where kids as young as 6-years-old are taught to become dedicated Christian soldiers in “God’s army.”
• Penn & Teller: Bullshit!
  Magician duo Penn & Teller debunks pseudoscientific ideas, supernatural beliefs, and popular fads.
  We’ll be showing “12-Stepping” and “The Boy Scouts of America”
• Pizza
  An oven-baked, flat, usually round bread covered with tomato sauce and often cheese, with other toppings left optional.

To ensure we have enough pizza for everyone, please email events (at) ummash.org if you plan to attend.

Feel free to distribute this flyer.  If you have any questions, ask on the forum.

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Barrie Webster, President of the Humanist Association of Manitoba, will come and give a talk entitled “Humanism - a rich and enduring life stance,” then answer our questions about humanism. The talk will last approximately 30 minutes, leaving lots of time for discussion afterwards. Barrie is a retired professor in the Department of Soil Sciences at the U of M, and has been a member of HAM since the early 1990s.

Time: October 18th at 4:30PM
Location: EITC E2-304

After the talk, we will have a short meeting to update everyone on how the group has been growing over the past month. If necessary, we will hold elections–please get your nominations in as soon as possible!

Discuss this event on our forum.
Feel free to distribute this flyer to advertise the event where appropriate.

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The decisions made during this, MASH’s formative year, will heavily influence how our organization grows. People interested in being part of our first executive must email in your nominations by October 13, 2007. Include in your email: your name, the position you are nominating yourself for, and (if desired) a short description of your campaign platform.

Details of each position are available on the Executives section of this website. On October 13th, the final list of nominees will be published and members will be informed by email. Elections will occur during a general meeting on October 18th.

The current nominations are detailed below. Once you have emailed your nomination to webmaster (at) ummash.org, you will receive a confirmation email, and the list below will be updated.

President

• Trevor Bekolay - I created the group, and it would please me greatly to continue building this group on the ideals of rationalism, scientific inquiry, and respect.

Vice President

• Brian Latour - I am very happy to see a group like this started and would like to help build the group by helping to organize fun and intellectually stimulating events and get togethers.
• Katie Higham - I have waited for a while for a group like this to come along. But, I’ve always been too pre-occupied to get one started. That said, this year I have ample time to help with the running of UM MASH.

  If I am elected, I will work hard to help this group prosper and grow. If the opportunity arises, I will defend our position against any student group that wishes to debate us. We can make this group work if we all try.

Treasurer

• David Wesst

Secretary

• Steven Coutts

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If you’ve come to this website from the flyers we’ve put up on the U of Manitoba campus, you can go straight to the discussion happening on our forums.

The Omnipotence Paradox
Evolution and Creationism: Mutually Exclusive?

The flyers are available below in PDF format. Everyone is welcome to distribute these flyers in appropriate locations; please make sure that you have permission to post this flyer in a particular location.

Flyer - Omnipotence Paradox
Flyer - Evolution and Creationism: Mutually Exclusive?

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Welcome to the home of Manitoban Atheists, Skeptics, and Humanists, or MASH. We are a University of Manitoba student group who believes that we can live fulfilling, moral lives without the need for dogma or social crutches. We meet to discuss the important questions in life, enjoy the wealth of media humans have created, and learn from each other and from invited speakers. We may also have fun; our executive is discussing this possibility, so expect a decision in the near future.

We are only just starting out. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision in September 2007, after noticing that the majority of student groups at the U of M are religious, fraternities/sororities, academic departments, or activist. We strive to provide a secular alternative to religioius groups, an inclusive alternative to fraternities/sororities, a diverse alternative to department based groups, and a more relaxed alternative to activist groups. Certainly, we will participate in events and causes that we feel are important, but members are free to simply enjoy a nice chat every now and then if they choose.

Please check out the rest of this site for a bit more information. There isn’t a whole lot to see at the moment, as we are still just starting out, but if you’re interested, please come and get involved! Post something to our forum, or drop us an email.

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