The Concordian - April 10th 2018

Concordia University’s weekly, independent student newspaper

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VOLUME 35, ISSUE 26 | TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2018

 /theconcordian  @theconcordian

Writer by trade, activist at heart

Yasmin Jiwani harnesses the power of words to advocate for marginalized communities Life p. 5

feature

news

A look back through our archives

arts

music

sports

Disqualification A domino effect Is music-making Capturing the overturned p. 2 in filmmaking p. 11 a dying art? p. 12 best of sports p. 15

opinions

p. 8

Debating merits of body positivity p. 18

news

NEWS EDITORS /// news@theconcordian.com CANDICE PYE & ETIENNE LAJOIE ( @candicepye @renegadereports)

STUDENT POLITICS

Speak Up disqualification overturned

Philosophy department releases sexual misconduct statement CANDICE PYE NEWS EDITOR

Candidates defended themselves at a judicial board hearing on April 6 MEGAN HUNT ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR The Concordia Student Union judicial board overturned the union’s chief electoral officer’s (CEO) decision to disqualify the Speak Up slate, whose candidates received the majority of the votes in the 2018 CSU election.

On April 9, the judicial board called for a recount of the ballots.

“We are pretty happy with the decision,” said Sophie Hough-Martin, Speak Up’s candidate for general coordinator, after her team found out about the decision on Monday morning.

“We remain of the opinion that our disqualification was baseless and lacked evidence.”

CEO Nicholas Roberts disqualified Speak Up on March 30 in the middle of the ballot count, citing the election standing regulation Article 316 which states that, while student media are allowed to publish material related to the election during the polling period, “no new correspondence between candidates or referendum committee members and student media can be published during the polling period.” Despite disqualifying the Speak Up slate, Roberts was not present at the hearing on Monday.

In an email obtained by The Concordian, Roberts claimed his decision to disqualify the team came after The Link published an editorial endorsing Speak Up on March 27, the first day of polling.

According to Roberts, Speak Up’s

claim that they were unaware of the editorial and had no role in its publication “could not be taken seriously.” He claimed, based his experience as a contributor to The Link’s opinions section, that the editorial must have been prepared at least a week beforehand, making it unlikely that the endorsement was kept secret.

Journalists from The Link disputed these claims both at the hearing and in an online article about the election results. They claimed Roberts’s familiarity with the newspaper is based on The Link’s previous publication cycle, which changed dramatically following their shift from a weekly publication to a monthly print magazine with daily online content. Currently, editorial topics are selected by the masthead on Friday, and the article is published on Tuesday. The Link’s editor-in-chief at the time of the hearing, Kelsey Litwin, told The Concordian she was displeased “that the independence of student media was questioned.”

The small room in the Hall building where the hearing took place was packed with members of Speak Up, their witnesses and interested students on the night of April 6. Speak Up’s HoughMartin testified first on behalf of her team. In her testimony, she claimed her team was unaware of the endorsement prior to its publication.

Hough-Martin reminded the judicial board that the burden of proof is on Roberts to provide conclusive evidence that her team

was involved in the publication of the editorial.

“The editorial did not provide any new information that was not publicly available already or information from past interviews that would have been validly conducted during campaign period,” she said. “We don’t have control over what journalists or editorial boards pursue.”

Although Roberts was not present at the hearing, the judicial board questioned him about the decision on April 5, and read his statement aloud at the hearing.

“It was clear to me that [...] Speak Up was aware that a major campus newspaper would be disseminating info on the first day of elections that strongly promoted their platform,” Roberts said. “It was clear to me that this was a fact that Speak Up could not be unaware of.”

Despite his insistence, Roberts was unable to present any evidence that Speak Up collaborated with The Link on the article.

Four members of The Link’s staff were present at the hearing, and Litwin testified. She insisted the editorial was decided by 15 members of the newspaper’s masthead, and Speak Up did not participate in its publication in any way. Litwin provided evidence that The Link has produced editorials and endorsements regarding students elections since 1984, and the reason the endorsement was published on the first day of polling was simply because the paper always publishes editorials on Tuesdays.

Speak Up also brought forward two witnesses to help support their case: former CSU general coordinator Lucinda Marshall-Kiparissis and former CSU councillor Eamon Toohey. Marshall-Kiparissis, who worked on the 2015 CSU policy committee that introduced Article 316, said the standing regulation was designed to reduce—not increase—ambiguity surrounding press rights and elections.

“I’m going to be honest [...]

I’m a bit baffled that standing regulation Article 316 is being interpreted this way, and it’s also unprecedented,” MarshallKiparissis said after explaining that the standing regulation was designed to clarify that student media are allowed to publish editorials and other material during the polling period, and that this media involvement does not qualify as campaigning.

This is not the first time HoughMartin has been disqualified by Roberts. In November 2017, Roberts claimed Hough-Martin did not submit her election expenses form in time for the CSU by-election, according to emails obtained by The Concordian . CSU standing regulations indicate that a candidate must submit the documents within four business days after the polls close. The decision was overturned because the judicial board determined Roberts had incorrectly considered the weekend as business days.

In an email to Hough-Martin at the time of the 2017 by-election, Roberts wrote: “As you did not

The Philosophy department released a statement last week in response to complaints of sexual misconduct at Concordia that were reported by several local news outlets.

The department stated that while they “cannot discuss specifics of any allegations,” they will continue to take all allegations seriously and maintain their “zero tolerance approach to misconduct and inappropriate behaviour” and are publicly asking the university to investigate the allegations.

This response follows a statement from the Graduate Philosophy Students’ Association who said they are also working to hold the department accountable following a human rights complaint made against Concordia by a former philosophy student, citing that she did not feel the university responded in an acceptable way.

“We find it unacceptable that these patterns of behaviour continue in academia,” the department’s statement reads.

The department said some of the steps they’ll be taking in the immediate future include adding a reference to the Sexual Assault Resource Centre and other services—as well as statements condemning sexual violence in all its forms—to their syllabi. They also plan to continue supporting an Inclusive Pedagogy Workshop and the Inclusivity Project.

hand in the form, and I could not get ahold of you, you have been disqualified. This will be my final email.” According to Hough-Martin, it took six days for the by-election results to be updated once Roberts’s decision to disqualify Hough-Martin was overturned by the CSU judicial board.

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APRIL 10, 2018

UNION

Negotiations between TRAC and university Concordia offers to negotiate an agreement for 2016-17 and 2017-18, but not next year ÉTIENNE LAJOIE NEWS EDITOR There isn’t a handle on the door to the new Teaching and Research Assistants at Concordia (TRAC) office, nor a sign indicating the union’s presence in the nondescript PR building on Concordia’s downtown campus.

The TRAC office was moved from its Bishop Street location to this new space during reading week. The room is painted white and furnished with a blue couch and the desk of union president Alexandre St-Onge-Perron, which is littered with boxes full of files. The office is lit in part by a green emergency exit sign and is accessible only by pushing on the door’s emergency push bar.

A TRAC grievance officer and union member recently got trapped in the office because the door locked from the inside. In order to get them out, St-Onge-Perron had to push the emergency bar on the door, thus sounding an alarm.

This, however, is the least of St-Onge-Perron’s worries. The negotiations to sign a new collective agreement between his organization and the university hit a brick wall in March. To the union’s displeasure, the university’s administration did not instruct its negotiators to broker an agreement for the 2018-19 academic year during the current

The TRAC office was moved from its Bishop Street location to its new space during the reading week. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

round of negotiations.

In an email to The Concordian, university spokesperson Mary-Jo Barr said “all parties continue to negotiate and explore issues at the negotiating table.”

St-Onge-Perron said the lack of mandate for the university negotiators to discuss an agreement for 2018-19 is neither TRAC nor the university negotiators’ fault, but rather the fault of the negotiators’ “bosses.” That’s why, St-Onge-Perron explained, the union’s message to president Alan Shepard is: “Give your negotiators a good mandate.”

TRAC will protest the lack of progress on an agreement for the upcoming year on April 18 when the university’s board of governors reconvenes. The board is responsible for providing the university negotiators with a mandate, according

to St-Onge Perron.

“We have to convince [the negotiators’] bosses by mobilizing,” St-Onge-Perron told The Concordian in January before the two sides began negotiating the monetary aspects of the agreements for 2016-17 and 2017-18.

When the two sides met on March 16, the offer on the table from the university only included the 2016-17 and 2017-18 academic years, according to St-Onge-Perron. This meant the two parties would have to start meeting again to discuss 2018-19 when the new agreement came to an end about three weeks later.

“They said, ‘No, we’re not allowed to negotiate the future,’” St-Onge-Perron recounted, referring to the university’s negotiators.

“Everybody assumes we’re going to negotiate for the 2016-17, 2017-18

and 2018-19 academic years since October.”

“It’s very frustrating. We told [university negotiators] it would not work. There’s no way we sign this,” St-Onge-Perron said categorically. There is no set date for the two sides to meet before the April 18 board of governors meeting.

TRAC still works under an agreement that expired two years ago and whose monetary terms need to change, St-Onge-Perron explained. Namely, the union is still held back by the issue of contract splitting, which consists of teaching assistants being paid a certain wage for their time in class and a second, lower wage for marking papers.

Article 15.05 of the 2013-16 collective agreement—the one currently in use—states that “marking duties may be the object of separate marker contracts.”

St-Onge-Perron argued to The Concordian that university departments are taking advantage of this clause to save money.

Nonetheless, St-Onge-Perron said the university’s negotiators recognize the departments’ use of the article is not beneficial to teaching assistants, and they are open to solving the issue.

“If we’re only negotiating the past, there’s no solution for split contracts. We at least need to negotiate the past and the future.”

JUSTICE

Concordia library union claims major pay cut University spokesperson describes allegation as ‘misinformation’ ÉTIENNE LAJOIE NEWS EDITOR Concordia University spokesperson Mary-Jo Barr described a letter written by Concordia University Library Employees’ Union (CULEU) president Kent Cluff and recently published in The Concordian and The Link as “misinformation.”

In his letter, Cluff claimed Concordia’s library staff “have

been forced to take a major pay cut” as a result of the university’s “management priorities” and Quebec’s Liberal government. On April 6, Barr told The Concordian library employees did not receive a pay cut from the university.

“Our working conditions have been changed,” Cluff clarified in an interview following the publication of his letter. “We are bringing home less money because we are paying a portion of the pension contribution

Kent Cluff’s letter was published a few days after the official unveiling of the new Webster Library. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

that would have been paid in the past by the university.”

According to Barr, since January 2018, all eligible university employees who wanted to remain part of the university-managed pension plan, including library staff, “were obliged to increase their contributions towards their pension.” The increase is a requirement under new Quebec legislation, which Cluff criticized. Since employees are contributing more, he explained,

the university is contributing less, and Cluff wonders how Concordia is using those savings.

Barr said Concordia selected the lowest possible contribution ratio for employees under the legislation: 45 per cent for employees and 55 per cent for the employer.

According to Cluff, the library union previously agreed to a three-year deal that included a pay increase every year, but the increase is offset because of the higher contribution to the pension plan. Cluff said the increase acts as a pay cut because it cancels out the members’ pay increase.

In an email, Barr wrote that all Concordia employees received annual salary increases, “and many also received annual step increases (regular progression within pay scales) as outlined, and agreed to, in the collective and employee agreements.”

While the alleged pay cut was not discussed during the negotiations for the library union’s previous agreement, signed on November 30, Cluff told The Concordian it will be

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Concordia student stays home on "Punish a Muslim Day" ÉTIENNE LAJOIE NEWS EDITOR A Concordia student did not attend classes on April 3 after threatening letters were sent to homes across the United Kingdom designating that date “Punish a Muslim Day.” In a Facebook post on April 1, Zaynab Nafees wrote that she would not go to class because of the letters’ implication toward her, despite no letters being sent in Canada.

According to The Guardian, the authors of the letter created a point system to award acts such as “removing a woman’s headscarf” or “murderding a Muslim.”

In the Facebook post, Nafees published a screenshot of an email she received from a Concordia professor in response to her concerns. The professor, who requested anonymity, told her the university would do everything to make sure she was safe.

Nonetheless, Nafees said she did not go to class.

In an email to The Concordian, university spokesperson Mary-Jo Barr wrote that the university was not aware of the letters, but insisted a day dedicated to punishing Muslims is “certainly contrary to our values.”

“If anyone feels unsafe, they should contact security, and if they are victims of racism or discrimination, they should reach out to the Office of Rights and Responsibilities,” Barr added.

No acts of violence or harassment related to the day were reported in Montreal media.

“one of the major negotiating points” in the upcoming communication due to begin shortly.

“We told the university that we want to get to the negotiation table, and we would like to have been there already,” Cluff said.

According to Barr, conversations will be held soon to schedule the next round of negotiations.

Cluff’s letter was published just a few days after the official unveiling of the new Webster Library on the downtown campus, on March 24. It was inaugurated in the presence of Quebec Minister for Higher Education Hélène David, whose party Cluff condemned.

“Many of our members were even involved in the event itself,” Cluff said. “We were kind of torn because, on the one hand, we wanted to celebrate that, but it was important to point out that, at the same time, we were experiencing this pay cut.”

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APRIL 10, 2018

Q&A

President Shepard sits down with The Concordian Concordia president talks research funding, pension plans and sexual misconduct ÉTIENNE LAJOIE NEWS EDITOR MATTHEW LAPIERRE ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Concordia president Alan Shepard sat down with The Concordian on Monday, April 9 to answer questions about government funding, library employee pension plans and the university’s handling of allegations of sexual misconduct.

Q: In its 2017 budget, the federal government invested $117.6 million to launch the Canada 150 Research Chairs competition to "boost Canada's brain gain." Twenty-four chairs previously working in the United States were brought in. Has or will Concordia benefit in any way from this funding program?

A: We did apply for that grant; we didn’t get it, but we got others.

One would be the Canada Excellence Research Chair program. There were 11 chairs given out to nine institutions. We were one of the nine universities, so that comes with $10 million in funding.

Q: How does that work? Do you receive funding and then reach out to researchers?

A: These processes are very complicated and highly audited.

We have the opportunity to hire a chair. We have to identify that person, they have to be vetted and ratified by an internal committee at Concordia, then it goes to the

federal government for further ratification.

The person you are proposing has to be a strong international player. Then, if that’s all accepted, the person arrives and you get the funding over a number of years.

Q: There seems to be a disagreement between the university and the Concordia Uni ver sit y L ibr ar y Employees’ Union concerning pay cuts that the library employees have had to take. Both agree there’s more money going to the pension plan. Does the university intend on sitting down with the union to solve this apparent conflict?

A: We are in a period of negotiations with many unions. The government, two years ago, adopted pension reform legislation for our sector. What had been happening is Concordia had been paying 80 per cent of the pension contribution, and the employees paid about 20 per cent. And as it happened with public sector employees, the government had a desire to make it either 50/50, or 55/45, where the institution pays 55 per cent and the employee pays 45 per cent. Those were the parameters.

When you go from contribut-

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin. ing 20 per cent to 45 per cent of your salary to the pension plan, that’s noticeable. We did a lot of preparation over a year and half to get people to understand that.

We’re in negotiations, and we’re mindful that employees have had to pay more.

Q: The Concordian obtained a statement written by Emma Moss Brender, the department of philosophy's chair assistant, regarding allegations of sexual harassment in the department. Would you like to comment on these allegations?

A: We feel like the university has been proactive with these files. Since I arrived at Concordia,

my team and I have been working in a proactive way to make sure the environment we have is safe, respectful and appropriate. When we have allegations, we investigate them. If the investigation shows some kind of sanction is warranted, we don’t shy away from that. I do think over the last seven years every university has had cases where lines have been crossed.

I do think the cultural milieu has changed from even when I began my career.

Q: Concordia provost Graham Carr was part of a delegation of university executives who visited Switzerland's post-secondary

institutions from March 25 to 29.

Can you tell us why Carr was part of this delegation, and how Concordia will benefit from this?

A : Qualit y Net work for Universities is a national organization, and it tries to provide professional development opportunities for senior leaders of universities. One of my criticisms of the Canadian higher education system is sometimes that it operates in a bit of a bubble. Switzerland is one of the most innovating countries [in higher education], so we’re always trying to figure out how we can either emulate or borrow ideas from other jurisdictions.

JOURNALISM

CBC’s Debra Arbec visits Concordia Journalism department alumna talks about the importance of local news MIA ANHOURY ASSISTANT LIFE EDITOR CBC Montreal anchor Debra Arbec’s lecture on Wednesday, April 4 in the Communication Studies and Journalism building wasn’t simply about discussing why local news matters. It was also about the changing responsibilities of journalists reporting on multiple platforms, specifically at the CBC. Though an alumna of Concordia University’s journalism department, Arbec didn’t always know she wanted to become a journalist.

In fact, she wanted to become a doctor, but said calculus got in the way of that dream.

“Working in a nursing home, I became really good at listening. It made me who I am, and I became a bit of a wallflower,” she said. Arbec said this wallflower characteristic is important to have as a journalist, because she’d hear people’s stories without feeling the need to talk about

herself. “Taking a documentary film class changed my life. It was an epiphany for me to learn that I can listen to people, tell their stories and do it visually,” she added.

When people think of journalists, Arbec explained, their minds often wander to foreign correspondents in war zones or politically charged cities, rather than local news. Even though journalism students may not consider the latter as an option, she said “the stories in this city are fascinating.”

“We tell the stories about politicians, the police, corruption, city councils, school boards,” Arbec explained. According to her, the decisions of these community players affect Montreal directly, and local news reporters are the ones who keep them in check.

“It’s really our job to keep people on the straight path, whether it’s with a foreign bureau or here in Montreal,” she added.

Arbec emphasized that local reporters often bring those authority

figures to justice. For instance, in January 2017, former Montreal mayor Michael Applebaum was found guilty of eight corruption-related charges because of a reporter’s work.

Examples like election nights, the rail disaster in Lac Mégantic, and shootings, according to Arbec, are enough evidence to prove local news as anything but boring.

Arbec explained that local newsrooms are changing as much as national and international newsrooms. “Think about local news as an option,” she insisted.

“It’s not easy work; the demands on reporters now are tough.”

According to Arbec, Facebook Live interviews, such as the one she did with Montreal mayor Valérie Plante about the city’s budget, are a way to adapt to the digital and multimedia world.

At the CBC, it’s not unusual for a reporter to adapt the same story for two platforms; either web and radio or web and television. According to Arbec, some reporters may

even adapt their stories for three platforms.

In an interview with The Concordian, Arbec said sharing a story with another reporter to have it told on multiple platforms doesn’t create tension in the newsroom because there usually isn’t enough time for a reporter to Debra Arbec is an alumna of the Concordia journalism department. Photo by Mackenzie Lad. cover all platforms. “Usually, the reporter will do the story in their only is local news a challenging preferred medium, so there are no job for journalists, it also provides tensions there,” Arbec said. It also the local community with essential isn’t a struggle to determine who information about what goes on in the story in question belongs to, she the city. “We’re not chasing cats added, because the story belongs up trees,” said Arbec, referring to to the person it’s about. local news. “We are the keepers Arbec made it clear that not of democracy.”

life

LIFE EDITOR /// life@theconcordian.com SANDRA HERCEGOVÁ

COVER STORY

Changing the media landscape one word at a time Yasmin Jiwani is an activist, professor and author who advocates for women and marginalized communities

A portrait of Concordia’s communications professor, activist and author, Yasmin Jiwani. “[As an activist] you have to use whatever tools are available to you, and whatever access you have.” Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

MACKENZIE LAD ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR For over 15 years, Yasmin Jiwani has taught some of the most interesting classes the communications department has to of fer; Media and Gender, Communication Colonialism, and Alternative Media, to name a few, bringing her colourful past as an academic and activist to the classroom. In fact, “activist” is a title she proudly holds, alongside a running list of distinctions she has accumulated throughout her career. But you won’t find Jiwani breaking windows or storming police lines, instead she prefers to harness the power of words to make an impact.

Jiwani said her research and advocacy on the subjects of intersectionality, media, and social oppression were motivated by her own experiences as an immigrant from Uganda, a woman and a person of colour growing up during a period of heightened racial tension in Canada. “I first went to a high school in Ontario where me and my sisters were the only girls of colour, and the racism was palpable,” she said. “We wouldn't be included in anything, we wouldn't be talked to.”

It was only after a cross-country move to Vancouver that Jiwani found the sense of community she lacked. “I ended up in a school that was 80 per cent immigrant kids, 60 per cent of those were the refugee kids that I had grown up with back home [in Uganda],” she said. “My school actually saved me, because there was all these kids that were people of colour, or marginalized, and who were also trying to find their way and so that became a kind of bedrock for me to build my sense of self on.”

She then began to channel her own experiences into a deliberate effort for social change. Jiwani got involved with a group called the Committee for Racial Justice, where she examined the way the media naturalized the racialized, gender-based violence she saw unfolding around her.

“This became my way of countering the kind of racism I was experiencing. It became my sanity in an insane world.”

This initial act of personal empowerment was the catalyst to a career spanning over three decades. “Activism is the most powerful source of immunity against having a self that is constantly being eroded,” said Jiwani. In the years that followed, Jiwani earned a bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of British Columbia, a master’s degree in sociology and PhD in communications at Simon Fraser University. A writer by trade and an activist at heart, Jiwani uses her personal skills and resources to address the gender and race disparities in the media, especially within the medium and industry of film. Jiwani’s early media criticism took shape during her time working at the In Visible Colours Film Festival, a Vancouver-based initiative championing women of colour in film.

“Seeing the kinds of stories that women who were marginalized were telling, those things gave me a lot of hope,” she said.

At the 1991 Women in View festival, a non-profit organization supporting female filmmakers, Jiwani delivered one of her first lectures about the stereotyping of artists of colour in the media industry.

“That’s how I got involved in that whole area,” Jiwani recalled. “Then commenting on films as well, and writing about them.”

From there, she held a position at

the National Film Board (NFB) of Canada working for their Women’s Program alongside the renowned Studio D, the now defunct all-women filmmaking unit.

“There were so many exciting things happening at that time,” Jiwani recalled.

“Part of the women’s program was taking the films that were produced [at NFB] to all the rural nooks and crannies of British Columbia. So it was going into these places and organizing public screenings at the community centre or the public library, bringing filmmakers in, doing the media work around that.”

This kind of community outreach bridged the gap between her academic work and the communities she was writing about.

She continued with her research at the Feminist Research Education Development and Action (FREDA) Centre. “My work in that place was to bring those communities in, and to work with them [while] doing participatory action research on how gendered violence takes a particular form in racialized communities,” she explained. “The dominant society confines this kind of experience and culturalizes it, instead of looking at its gendered dimensions.” After seven years at FREDA, where she eventually became executive director, Jiwani made her way back east in 2001 to share her expertise in media and intersectionality as a professor in the communications department at Concordia.

In 2006, Jiwani published her first book, Discourses of Denial: Mediations of Race, Gender, and Violence. “That project was actually the culmination of all the other things I had been writing,” she said. “It’s dealing with the denial of racism, and gendered violence. So each chapter looks

at how this racist, gendered violence is evacuated, erased, dismissed, trivialized, [covered by the media], in each instance leading people to think they’re crazy when in fact they’re not crazy.”

Though the book deals with recent case studies of racial discrimination in Canadian media, including the 1996 Vernon massacre, the murder of Reena Virk, and the representation of Muslim women in post-9/11 news coverage, she begins with a personal experience. “Me and a colleague were presenting our work on the Gazette ’s representation of Muslim women post-9/11, and there was a white male academic in the audience who said, “What’s race got to do with it?” Jiwani recounts. “So the book starts like that.”

Today Jiwani is the Concordia Research Chair on Intersectionalit y, Violence, and Resistance, where she runs the Intersectionality Hub. Her most recent endeavour, the Virtual Graveyards and Cyber-Memorials Project, explores the online spaces dedicated to housing the digital remains of people who have passed away and how this information is preserved over time. Jiwani has co-written two other books and authored dozens of published articles, lectures, book chapters and journal publications. Her work has evolved with the changing media landscape, continuing to challenge the perception and representation of race and gender in the media. But what remains constant throughout her career is a steadfast dedication to advocate for the women and marginalized communities who inspired her to start writing in the first place. “[As an activist] you have to use whatever tools are available to you, and whatever access you have,” Jiwani said. “I use writing.”

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APRIL 10, 2018

RESEARCH THESIS

A student's thesis on buying behaviours

Undergraduate psychology student Mehreen Diwan shares her research findings MEHREEN DIWAN CONTRIBUTOR As I begin a career in marketing, I think it’s important for all people in the field to be aware of the types of personality traits that are involved in buying behaviours. The market is comprised of consumers, and I believe that the most important asset of marketing should be to understand the needs and wants of these consumers before presenting them with a given product.

As a fourth-year psychology student, I wrote a thesis this year examining the psychology of buying behaviours. The thesis varies on a continuum, with pathological buying being on one extremity of it.

My aim was to examine how impulsivity and tension reduction lead to shopping as a negative coping method. This was done through the use of the Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS), which regulates aversive motives and the Behavioural Approach System (BAS), which regulates desired motives. I measured the expenses of my sample of university students and community members from Montreal and Guelph with the Timeline Followback questionnaire, a log that allows participants to record the type and amount of their expenses for a period of two weeks.

Participants also completed the BIS/ BAS questionnaire, which evaluates the extent to which participants vary in terms of the intensity of their behavioural inhibition and approach.

The results from the BAS scale were further broken down into three subscales: BAS Reward “When I get something I want, I feel excited and energized”; BAS Drive “I go out of my way to get the things I want”; and BAS Fun “I seek excitement and new sensations.” To better understand the interactions between BIS and BAS, picture yourself walking through a mall, on the way to a doctor’s appointment. As you walk past a store, the scent from a candle wafts through your nose. Although you are tempted to go into the store, your BIS tells you to keep walking to be on time for your appointment.

However, your BAS then tells you to spare a few minutes to browse through the Comic by Libby Hopkinson.

A portrait of Mehreen Diwan, Concordia psychology undergrad who has explored the realm of buying behaviours for her honours thesis. Photo courtesy of Mehreen Diwan.

store. This research identified a significant interaction between the BIS and BAS as indicators of how people spend money. In other words, as one’s drive increases, so does their reported expenses in the two weeks participant spending was tracked.

These results imply that a participant’s drive may be the cause of pathological buying behaviour. Therefore psychologists can train participants to adapt their behaviour to avoid financial strain.

Apart from my thesis being an important learning experience in the realm of buying behaviours, it also taught me patience and persistence. I definitely recommend doing an honours thesis to undergraduate students in order to enhance their research skills and experience a hands-on approach to learning about psychology, or any other field.

APRIL 10, 2018

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HUMANS OF CONCORDIA

The connection between language and culture

Concordia student turns her passion into a project as she teaches French to native Arabic speakers SANDRA HERCEGOVA LIFE EDITOR Making an effort to speak someone else’s language, even if it’s only simple sentences, can help people understand m o re a b o u t o t h e r c u l t u re s a n d identities.

“I feel that if you could understand the essence of a culture, you would be able to understand the language as well, and vice-versa—it’s intertwined,” said Emily Dakkak, an anthropology student at Concordia University.

For a research project in her fieldwork class, Dakkak decided to explore the language, culture and integration of native Arabic speakers in Montreal. “I always had a strong interest in languages,” said Dakkak, who speaks English, French, Spanish and a bit of Arabic. “I’ve been around Arabic my whole life. I knew I wanted to study Arabic speakers in particular.”

It was a cultural immersion trip to Cadiz, Spain, in 2016 that first sparked Dakkak’s interest in how people learn new languages and adapt to new societies. “I had Spanish lessons everyday [...] and then we would have cultural activities to use the Spanish we had learned that day and communicate with native Spanish speakers,” she said. “I really loved how learning [Spanish] allowed me to integrate into the culture over there [...] I was curious about how that process happened.” Dakkak also developed an interest in how language is used in different cultures.

To begin her research, Dakkak contacted the Concordia University Student Parents Centre (CUSP) concerning their French conversation group courses, where student volunteers teach other students French as a second language.

The Egyptian couple from Emily Dakkak's French conversation Group course's said learning French is a useful tool. Photo courtesy of Emily Dakkak.

Dakkak approached CUSP with her research idea, and she said the timing worked out well because the centre was looking for someone to teach the French conversation groups. Dakkak sent out a newsletter in search of native Arabic speakers interested in learning French, and received responses from a couple from Egypt, as well as a woman from Libya and one from Jordan. For two months, Dakkak taught a two-hour French class twice a week, which amounted to 32 hours of teaching. During this time, she observed how the students would interact and engage with the material when learning a new language, as part of her project's fieldwork research.

According to Dakkak, the Egyptian

couple were not staying in Montreal long, and learning French was not a priority for them. Nonetheless, she said they saw it as a useful tool. The participant from Jordan had only been in Montreal for a month, and wanted to learn some French before attending a photography conference in Quebec City. The Libyan woman who participated now lives in Montreal. A mother of five, she taught English in Libya and wanted to learn French.

“We had fun,” said Dakkak about her experience teaching the French conversation group. “I made [the lessons] light-hearted. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to also have an emotional connection with those people; that was really important to me.”

Emily Dakkak (left) alongside participants from the French conversation groups with CUSP Concordia.

During the classes, Photo courtesy of Emily Dakkak.

Dakkak learned about different perspectives of language and culture from her students. The Egyptian man explained to Dakkak how, in Egypt, everything is heart over mind; everything has to do with your emotions, a n d t h at t r a n s l ate s through their language.

In comparison, when Dakkak was in Cadiz, the language and way of life was very relaxed. “[Their pronunciation] is more relaxed, and they don’t put as much effort with their bodies to make sounds,” she said. “They are more laid back; they spend time by the beach, and I think you can find that in the language as well.”

During her research, Dakkak came across the theory of linguistic relativity, which explains how language can be experienced differently

through a specific culture. “No matter what culture you come from, you will have a certain way of speaking,” she explained. “Language is relative; it is not fixed.”

Although the significance of language within a culture is important, “I don’t think it’s everything, and this project showed me that,” Dakkak said. Occasionally, she has a hard time fitting in with her own Egyptian heritage because she only speaks a bit of Arabic. “Even if I don’t have the language, I still feel very strongly about my Arab culture but just with a different language,” Dakkak explained. During the conversation group lessons, Dakkak would try to speak to her participants in Arabic. “They really appreciated it, and they would help me pronounce words better—I think it’s a way to bond with others,” she said.

Dakkak also observed how learning a language doesn’t necessarily integrate people into a new culture. “It’s not set in stone that, just because you are learning French, you will integrate. It can be very difficult, and it’s not the same experience for everyone,” she said.

Dakkak said she believes it’s important to let someone try to speak the language.

“A lot of the native Arabic speakers told me it’s hard to go out in public and try because people don’t have the patience,” she said. “It’s a very fast-paced society; people don’t really want to let them try, so it can become a vicious circle of them not being able to practice, which hinders their development of being able to speak French.”

D a k k a k w a n t s to c o n t i n u e h e r research by digging deeper into how the emotional side of Arab culture affects the way Egyptians integrate into Montreal society.

“It’s so important to understand that people are all different; they come from different backgrounds,” Dakkak said.

“If someone is trying hard enough to actually learn [the language], we need to respect that.”

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ARCHIVES

Déja vu: Reading between past and present Our archives may gather dust, but their stories must not be forgotten ALEX HUTCHINS PHOTO EDITOR The news can be a little overwhelming sometimes. Seeing the same stories covered—or denied coverage—time and time again can leave us feeling disempowered and miniscule, like nothing will ever change.

Yet, with each of these seemingly repetitive stories comes incremental changes that may not appear significant at the time, but collectively move society toward a better future. A look through the dusty archives that span this newspaper’s 35 years of existence reveals this type of thematic content repetition. Since 1983, journalists at The Concordian have borne the responsibility of telling stories that are relevant, engaging and important to the university's student body. A surprising number of them strike a familiar chord.

Women still don’t feel safe walking home at night. People of colour and marginalized groups are still targeted and abused by law enforcement. Effective gun regulation is still being fought for. The environment is still decaying at an alarming rate.

Our goal in reprinting these articles is to emphasize the importance of shedding light on such issues and to give voice to these stories a second time around. Although these types of articles may seem repetitive and redundant at times, the only way forward is with conscious acknowledgement and greater awareness of the social, political and environmental climate—past and present. We must remind ourselves where we’ve come from in order to know where we’re going.

In 1990, protesters participated in the 10th annual Take Back the Night march. This year, the 38th annual Take Back the Night march will take place in various cities across the United States, and May has been designated Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Canada. Since the end of 2017, the #MeToo movement has helped shed light on conversations opposing gender-based violence and sexual harassment. On Feb. 23, 2018, Green Party of Quebec leader Alex Tyrrell posted on Facebook about the party’s proposed provincial law intended to make catcalling and street harassment a ticketable offense.

Women should be safe walking home at night Published on Sept. 26, 1990 By: Caroline Kutschke Over 200 women turned out for the 10th annual Take Back the Night march, organized by the Montreal Assault Prevention Centre, last Friday night. The march was “to denounce all forms of violence against women […] a woman is more likely to be assaulted by someone she knows, in a place that she’s familiar with,” organizer Tara Atkins told the crowd of women, children and men at Lafontaine Park before the march began.

Atkins said men were requested to march in the back or on the sides because “originally, it [the march] was for women to feel safe in the streets when they were just women, and a woman is not likely to be assaulted in the street when she’s walking down the street with a man.”

“In Montreal, we continue that idea,” she added. “Women can be by themselves and can take care of themselves, as well.”

Although men’s groups weren’t invited to participate, Atkins said men’s groups were welcome to start their own events to support women; an idea echoed by several participants.

“We would love it if men organized their own march to denounce violence against women and children. They’ve done it in New Brunswick. Over 600 men showed up to denounce violence against women and children,” she said.

“If they do want to show support for us, we ask them to walk at the back.

And throughout the years that we’ve

been asking that, we’ve never had any problem with it.”

Atkins criticized the police’s handling of the event. “At the beginning of August, [we] made the request for policewomen [to patrol the march], and we were under the impression that would be accomodated, and at the last minute we found out it wouldn’t.”

Constable Provost, an officer from Station 34 patrolling the event, said the one policewoman at the march was the only one they had. “Normally, there’s more than four or five on the group, but the others are on vacation […] and it was just her who was available,” he said.

Reactions to the march among participants were varied. “I think that women have to get together and speak out towards violence against women, and tonight is a step towards that,” said Shelly Boudreau, a former volunteer with the Auberge transitionel de Montréal, a shelter for battered women.

“I don’t think it’s going to make a difference, personally,” said one student, who declined to give her name.

“I don’t think people really care. I mean they see it every year, has it made a difference?”

“I know that as a woman, I’m afraid to be out at night sometimes in Montreal and maybe with more awareness, I won’t have to be as afraid in the future,” said Larissa, a Concordia student.

She added that she didn’t fully agree with men being required to stay at the back of the march. “The men here are supporting us […] I think that whoever comes out to support this march should be allowed to show their support. If people are against men marching, they should take a look at who these men are, because if they’re actually here, it means they’re supporting a cause, so I think it’s only fair that they are allowed to march with whoever

they want.”

Thea Demetrakopoulos, a student, said the march was “an emotional reaction […] and it’s coming from people with direct experience, because people experience violence in all sorts of forms […] violence is verbal, violence is situational, violence is in your workplace, violence is the way you’re treated at the theatre, violence is being pinched in a bar; [...] we shouldn’t have to deal with that either.”

“This is a chance for people to unite together and deal with that emotional reaction, because when you get together in a group, you have the feeling, ok, it’s not just me,” she continued.

“Because we’re so used to coping and adjusting ourselves to deal with a society that has violence inbuilt […] we begin to minimize the violence as being part of the norm and that’s what I feel that being together [does]; that yes, we’re dealing with this and we have a lot of it to deal with.”

“There needs to be more public education and support,” Demetrakopoulos added. “Of course it’s wonderful to have the march, but we really need more than that. We need more public education, we need more in the media to talk about the violence.”

Women still have to deal with a male-dominated system, she said.

“It just makes a world of difference if there are men out there speaking for us too.”

Gonzalo Carrusco, a Concordia student, said “I’m marching, obviously in solidarity with the women. We are the problem, and we as men have to at least show that there can be change and we can change things. We have to show that we want to change it too, because it’s a women’s problem, because she’s the victim, the men are being the aggressors, so I think [men] should be the first ones here, to say look, we’re not going to stand for this.”

Mary McClenaghan, a student, said despite the turnout, the march still promoted awareness, “because that’s what we need to do; if there were 10 people marching down the street, that is what’s important—that people know there’s a problem, and the more that come out and know about it the better.”

According to section five of the Firearms Act, the requirements for Canadian citizens to own a personal firearm include a criminal background check, various mental health assessments, drug and substance consumption tests, and the successful completion of the Canadian Firearms Safety Course. On Jan. 28, 2018, according to the Montreal Gazette, Quebec Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux announced gun owners in Quebec have one year to register their existing firearms with the Firearms Registration Service. The registry process includes describing the firearm in detail and providing proof of identity. Coiteux said the registry is “an important tool” in both solving and preventing crimes by being able to better trace gun ownership.

Movement grows to push for stronger gun laws Published on September 20, 2006 By: Jenny Chukhovich and Lindsay Wood It was late Thursday night when Adrienne Winrow, a Concordia political science student, approached a group of Dawson students to talk to them about how they could influence Canada’s gun laws.

She wants Dawson and Concordia students to take a stand and do something to prevent a repeat of Wednesday’s tragedy. Petitions and letters to Prime Minister Stephen Harper about Canada’s gun registry laws have started to circulate. Winrow will also be leading an awareness group that will inform Dawson students about Canadian gun laws.

The majority of Dawson’s students and administrators don’t think metal detectors would have prevented the situation. However, many feel that stronger gun laws would help.

Faced with returning to class yesterday, their school’s security was on everyone’s mind.

Almitra Yee, 16, a health science student, said that she wasn’t afraid to go back to school, but still had mixed feelings.

“We know for sure that it won’t happen again,” she said, “but it was a crime scene. It’s going to be weird walking through the atrium.”

After a thoughtful pause, she added, “It’s obvious that the security needs to be improved. A lot.”

Alice Wydrych, 17 and studying law and society said, “Our security at large is important to everybody.”

Marvin Hershorn, a political science professor at Dawson and Concordia, spoke up about the security issue at Dawson’s staff meeting last Friday.

He said that metal detectors would not be installed and that security guards will not start searching people who enter the building.

“We live in a democratic, open society, thus, Dawson will remain an open institution,” he said.

However, he said, there will be more surveillance cameras installed around the campus.

Graphics by Zeze Le Lin.

APRIL 10, 2018 In 2015, the United Nations released their 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030. On March 29, 2018, Amina J. Mohammed, the deputy secretary-general of the United Nations, said at a press conference that “2017 was filled with climate chaos,” and fossil fuel consumption rose throughout the year, accounting for 70 per cent of the growth in global energy demand.

“Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are the highest they have been in 800,000 years,” she said. According to Mohammed, global emissions need to be cut by at least 25 per cent by 2020, and unless accelerated action against climate change is adopted in the next few years, scientists fear the 2016 Paris Agreement goals may be unattainable.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May: “Is the world safer?”

Published on Sept. 13, 2006 By: Jillian Kestler-D’Amours The threat of climate change, Canada’s ecological responsibilities and the role of individuals in the global ‘green’ community were merely a few of the topics discussed Monday night during a lecture by Elizabeth May. The audience at Congregation Shaar Hashomayim’s Adilman Lectureship on the Environment series were privy to May’s first public address as leader of Canada’s National Green Party.

As it was the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, her topics, “In an Insecure World, Are We Identifying the Right Threat?” rang particularly true amidst the group of approximately 125 audience members.

May added a personal touch to her speech when she described her own family’s experience post-9/11,

and asked vital questions about the state of our personal and collective safety.

“Are we safer? Is the world safer?” Ultimately, she answered, “No.” Our main threat is not a country or militant terrorist group, May explained. Instead, our main concern should be the threat of global climate change, and its consequences.

An activist, lawyer, writer and newly appointed Officer to the Order of Canada, May made reference to an article in Fortune Magazine which dared to say that climate change is a far greater threat than terrorism.

May also disillusioned her audience by stating that in the last decade alone, Canada has become the largest supplier of oil to the United States. She pointed to the Athabasca oil sands of Alberta and said, “If we wanted to be America’s gas tank, we’ve achieved it.”

Fort McMurray, or as May dubbed it, ‘Fort McMoney,’ the city that encompasses the highly profitable mining facilities, has seen an economic boom in recent years. “The economy is not only hot, it’s too hot to handle,” May explained.

Due to the nature of seasonal mining activities, May explained that the area is no longer capable of sustaining

In 2008, according to the CBC, part-time faculty members taught over 40 per cent of the courses at Concordia, and had been without a collective agreement for nearly seven years. After continued unsuccessful negotiations with the university, the Concordia University Part-time Faculty Association (CUPFA) voted for an unlimited strike mandate at a special general assembly held on Nov. 4, 2012, according to The McGill Tribune. This means CUPFA can legally use leveraging tactics when on strike such as “work stoppages, sit-ins and demonstrations,” the same article explained. According to the CUPFA website, on Nov. 10, 2015, the university and the association reached a collective agreement with many substantial changes. This agreement expired on Dec. 31, 2017.

Strike fears rising at Con U

Published on Sept. 2, 2008 By: Andrew Haig

With classes barely underway at Concordia, speculation is already heating up about a possible strike by Concordia’s part-time faculty.

Although expressing support for the negotiations, Maria Peluso, president of Concordia’s Part-time Faculty Association (CUPFA) reiterated last week that her union members are serious about forcing a satisfactory contract from the university.

“It’s quite early to be talking about [breaking off talks],” she said, “but let me tell you; we’re prepared to go out on a full strike if these negotiations aren’t working for us.”

Although talks resumed in earnest late last month to try and stave off any work action by the university’s part-time faculty, the union has been without a contract for the better part of seven years and many union members privately express skepticism about a positive outcome, given Concordia’s present financial position.

Last year, a breakdown in negotiations between Concordia’s part-time faculty and the administration led to a series of rotating strikes by CUPFA members.

At the time, strikers’ representatives demanded an increase in their wages (currently $5,400 per three-credit course) and in job security.

These strikes, which saw only a few dozen professors cancel classes, were relatively painless for most Concordia students.

However, according to Richard Schmidt,

chair of the Department of Education, any full strike by the part-time faculty this year would be devastating for the university, and particularly for his department.

“We’re maybe 75 per cent part-time faculty in this department,” he said. “It would basically shut down our program.”

Schmidt also noted that many international students were likely to be severely affected by any union action.

“One hundred per cent of our ESL [English as a Second Language] teachers are part-timers,” he said. “ESL would be totally frozen.”

Chris Mota, Concordia’s head of media relations, said that, although the university would not comment on negotiations still underway, Concordia’s approach to a disruption will be determined by the union’s tactics.

While noting that the university has a financial responsibility to students in the event of a strike or disruption, Mota said Concordia could not guarantee students would be fully protected in the event of union disruption.

“We can’t just hire replacements for striking teachers,” she stressed. “That would be against the law.”

“I can guarantee,” she said, “that we will do everything to minimize the penalty to students if the part-time teachers do go out [on strike].”

According to one full-time professor, who asked that his name not be published, part-time faculty is far better off than their union claims.

“Many of these teachers work one or two classes here, and then teach full-time someplace else, like at one of the CÉGEPs; or else they’re working at two or three universities.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said, “they’re all good teachers, but some of these people make more than I do.”

a full-time workforce, since many individuals leave the community once their work contract has terminated.

Primarily due to these Western-Canadian mining activities, May stressed that our country has not only failed to reach its Kyoto targets, but has ignored them altogether. “Canada is now lumped in with irresponsible nations who won’t take action,” she said.

According to May, we can and we must reach our obligatory, United Nations-appointed Kyoto targets for greenhouse gas emissions, or risk devastating consequences to our country as well as our environment.

“We don’t have to accept the minority government making Canada into a pariah,” May added.

May cited a U.S. defence department study that examined the plausible scenarios that could occur in the future due to climate change. One of the most alarming, she noted, was that the Gulf Stream could stall by the year 2010.

To date, the Gulf Stream has already slowed by 30 per cent due to melting Arctic ice. This phenomenon can be attributed to the fresh water of the Arctic mixing in with the stream, thus changing its salt concentration.

“There would be a domino effect of climate change,” May explained. She warned that possible consequences could include European countries experiencing Canadian winters, a massive human migration and war.

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A brief question period followed her speech.

A range of topics were touched upon including the balance of individual and community action, the Green Party’s platform regarding international relations and the idea of security certificates at border crossings.

During the discussion period, May made reference to Al Gore’s book and documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth, and described it as one of the most influential works dealing with environmental issues she has encountered.

Raising awareness is one of the main goals of Shaar Hashomayim’s lectureship series, which was made possible by the donations of Mona Elaine Adilman, a prominent Jewish community member with particular interest in environmental causes.

Shelly Solomon, Adilman’s daughter, described her mother as someone who was “extremely sensitive about issues close to her heart [who through] poetry, articles, and a course taught at Concordia combining literature and ecology,” tried to bring environmental issues to the forefront of everyday life.

Through wit, factual evidence and her overwhelming stage presence, Elizabeth May fulfilled Adilman’s mission Monday evening. And with the consequences of climate change still in mind, May concluded her lecture with the powerful words of British author Barbara Ward: “We all have the duty to hope.”

On March 15, 2018, between 200 and 300 protesters took to the streets of downtown Montreal for the annual anti-police brutality march, according to CTV News Montreal. Earlier that month, according to CBC News, the Quebec Court of Appeal vetoed section 2.1 of the P-6 bylaw introduced in 2012 which required that the exact location and itinerary of gatherings in public spaces be provided to police beforehand. According to CTV News Montreal, protesters on March 15 were met with police in riot gear equipped with pepper spray and tear gas. Pierre Coriolan, Alain Magloire and Jimmy Cloutier are just a few of the civilians who were shot and killed by the SPVM throughout 2017 and commemorated at the 2018 march.

Community grapples with aftermath of riots Montreal North residents hope to improve relations with police Published on Sept. 9, 2008 By: Adam Bemma Local groups are calling for action after a tense situation in Montreal North erupted when 18-year-old Fredy Villanueva was shot and killed

by Montreal police.

A new coalition of over 20 organizations in the area has formed to address racial relations and many other problems arising from the incident on Aug. 9, when officers shot three young men during an alleged altercation in Henri-Bourassa Park.

Solidarité Montréal-Nord, a movement to raise awareness about the young Honduran immigrant’s death, has been examining the events following Villanueva’s death—members of the community rioted and set fire to many buildings and cars after hearing the news.

“We’ve been working to find an easier mode of communication between police and youth since then,” Solidarité organizer and long-time resident Victor Henriguez said.

Montreal police chief Yvon Delorme agreed that the only way to help those affected is by hearing their cries and filing their complaints about his officers.

“We have to exchange and listen as a police department to what they have to say and we have to change our program to be better,” he said.

However many are skeptical about police attempts to mend their relationship with Montreal North.

Executive director of the Centre for Research on Race Relations Fo Niemi believes you cannot just say everything is getting better without giving hard evidence.

“We’re trying to remind people that this is a serious shooting because one person is dead and two other youths were wounded under very mysterious circumstances,” he said.

Niemi works with young men and women from disadvantaged areas like Montreal North and said he hears a lot about them being mistreated by police, but he still wonders how something like this could happen.

“The youth involved were not violent, they didn’t have any visible weapons on them and it arose out of a typical police intervention which apparently occurs very regularly, but for some reason led to the death and serious injury of two other people,” he said.

And with a riot following closely after the police shooting, Niemi thinks the public and the police need to really acknowledge the underlying sentiments, the anger, the frustration and the sense of injustice felt in this community.

These are feelings that Victor Henriguez notices regularly in Montreal North, where he’s spent the last seven years trying to help organize and inspire youth to make positive change.

“Just because you’re poor it doesn’t mean it’s your destiny to remain that way […] the youth need to see that their dreams can become a reality,” he said.

But police chief Delorme sees this whole dilemma not as an issue of poverty, but as youthful anti-authoritarianism.

“Youth and police didn’t mix together for years and years […] when I was young I was against police for sure, but we have to understand each other, we have to listen to them and we have to bring them that model that they need to be better citizens,” he said.

From Niemi’s extensive work on this exact issue, he’s finding that police in poor neighbourhoods are intentionally targeting young men, especially those of colour ranging in age from 14 to 35.

“Within the last five years we have piloted a lot of cases of racial profiling and racially discriminatory policing before the human rights commissioner of Quebec, as well as before the Quebec police ethics commissioner.”

Both of these watchdog organizations are places for citizens to voice concerns and make complaints about unusual police practice.

“We don’t act on what you are, but what you do, so we respect the law to intervene on certain occasions, but when we have to arrest someone we don’t look at how they look, we look at what they did,” replied Delorme.

Now that the public has been paying close attention to Montreal North, Henriguez and Solidarité hope to keep the interest alive.

“You have 23 different cultures represented and 15 languages spoken in Montreal North. People from all around the world move here to make their lives better,” Henriguez said.

arts

ARTS EDITOR /// arts@theconcordian.com MAGGIE HOPE

PROFILE

Embracing femininity, oddity and violence Concordia photography student Lucy Stamler discusses her artistic inspiration

LILLIAN ROY CONTRIBUTOR Concordia photography student Lucy Stamler combines elements of fear, humour and feminine prowess in her series titled Femme Fatale.

Drawing inspiration from the elusive divas of film noir, Stamler bridges the gap between reality and total whimsy.

Many of her photographs feature young women dressed in neo-noir attire yielding weapons and other destructive objects.

“I want to explore the connection between femininity and violence, something often overlooked by mainstream media,” said the 20-year-old Toronto native.

Alluring and mysterious, Stamler appears to be something of a femme fatale herself.

She is petite, with ivory skin and enormous blue-green eyes. Her face is framed by a roughly chopped fringe of jet-black hair, and her torso and stomach are decorated with black tattoos. Often the subject of her own work, Stamler emulates a delicate combination of fragility and danger.

Despite her bold and gritty appearance, Stamler is sweet, shy and gentle. At social events, she often lingers in the background, observing the scene around her through the lens of her camera. Although the majority of her work is staged, Stamler still enjoys producing candid photography inspired by her day-to-day life.

“Wherever I go with my camera becomes my studio, whether that be the top of a mountain or my own bedroom,” Stamler said.

Much of Stamler’s work is created using her favourite 35mm camera, and she develops all of her film in Concordia’s darkrooms. When she does choose to stage her photographs, Stamler creates makeshift scenes and extravagant costumes, pulling much of her inspiration from film and television.

“I think mainstream media and pop culture play a huge role in our lives, which is something I very much want to embrace,” she explained.

Stamler gives topics such as femininity and Hollywood a surrealist twist, often with Stamler is somewhat of a femme fatale herself.

Lucy Stamler (right) poses with a friend in an image reminiscent of Thelma and Louise.

an unnerving and sometimes humorous finish. In one image of the Femme Fatale series, she and a friend pose Thelmaand-Louise-style, complete with a desert background and plastic guns. In another, Stamler poses with a black studded belt clenched between her teeth. A third image shows a model posing in black and white, with a steak knife pressed against her lips.

“I love how, through image-making, I can create alternate worlds that could never exist in the realm of reality,” Stamler said. “Self-representation and perceptions of gender and identity are themes I tend A photo of the artist.

to focus on in my work.”

An avid sketcher and painter since the age of five, Stamler has long expressed a keen interest in art. Her relationship with photography and film began while making short movies with her sister. Later, in high school, Stamler took a black-and-white photography class, and said she truly fell in love with the medium. “[I] became so enchanted with the camera,” she said. “Pursuing art just felt natural.”

Stamler also draws inspiration from

artist Cindy Sherman, known for her conceptual and often politically charged self-portraits.

“After viewing her series, Untitled Film Stills , I came to realize photography is about more than just creating a pretty picture,” Stamler said. “[It’s] a tool to change perceptions of how we view the world.”

The living, breathing femme fatale can be found on Instagram at @HE LPIMB LE E DING .

Photos courtesy of Lucy Stamler.

The photographer’s images “explore the connection between femininity and violence,” she said.

APRIL 10, 2018

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PROFILE

The domino effect

Concordia alumna’s web series nominated in CANNESERIES

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S u m m e r ed it

BOUNDLESS DIALOGUES This ongoing exhibition displays the work of nine studio arts students who have been working with “master bookbinder” Jacques Fournier for the past six months. “In the dialogues that emerge, the bookworks variously speak to the unconventional structures and materials [...] that push boundaries of the traditional book format inherent to Jacques Fournier’s artists’ books,” according to Concordia’s website. The artists were encouraged to explore the book as an art object, workshopping and testing their ideas throughout the process. The exhibition is on display all day, every day until the end of the month. Entrance is free.

WHERE LB-2, LB building WHEN Until April 30

FROM AFRICA TO THE AMERICAS All summer long, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) will be hosting an exhibition titled From Africa to the Americas: Face-to-face Picasso, Past and Present. According to the museum’s website, the collection “presents a comparison of Pablo Picasso’s works with those of non-Western artists, based on an anthropology of art.” The featured works include those by well-known African artists throughout history as well as contemporary pieces from Central and South America. The juxtaposition of these works begs the viewer to question the relationship between modern art and works often defined as “tribal.”

It also raises questions concerning femininity, colonialism and appropriation. This would be the perfect activity for those rare dreary summer days. Regular admission fees apply (Wednesday evenings are discounted).

WHERE MMFA, 1380 Sherbrooke St. W. WHEN May 12 to Sept. 16

ST-AMBROISE MONTREAL FRINGE FESTIVAL Since Canada’s first fringe festival in Edmonton in the 80s, these celebrations of experimental theatre have been a Canadian summer staple.

According to the festival’s website, fringe festivals “are designed to put artists and audiences in direct contact, fostering experimentation and discovery on both sides of the fourth wall.” Each festival maintains the same core values, which include allowing complete artistic freedom to the artists involved, providing accessibility to all audiences and participants, and giving 100 per cent of the festival’s ticket earnings to the artists. The entire format of these festivals fosters community collaboration, involvement and support. More information can be found at www.montrealfringe.ca. You just might stumble upon a great show while wandering the streets one evening…

WHERE Various locations WHEN May 28 to June 17

MONTREAL WORLD FILM FESTIVAL If you’re planning on watching any movies this summer, you need to check out this festival. It features a robust lineup of local and international cinema at a variety of venues and locations. The aim of the festival, as stated on its website, is “to encourage cultural diversity and understanding between nations, to foster the cinema of all continents by stimulating the development of quality cinema, [and] to promote filmmakers and innovative works.” There are competitive and non-competitive portions, which include international premieres and the much-loved Cinema Under the Stars, a collection of screenings held outdoors around the city. More information can be found at www.ffm-montreal.org. Admission prices vary.

WHERE Various locations WHEN Aug. 23 to Sept. 3

Zoé Pelchat-Ouellet’s series, Dominos, was filmed over the course of eight days. Photo courtesy of Zoé Pelchat-Ouellet.

STEPHANIE RICCI CONTRIBUTOR

rated with friends to create. Shortly after graduating, Pelchat-Ouellet started getting contracts to make music videos for artists such as Fanny Bloom, Kroy, Heartstreets and Di Astronauts.

In 2015, her first fictional web series, Les Presqu’histoires, aired on Urbania, a cultural multiplatform media producer.

Pelchat-Ouellet has also produced commercial advertising content for Énergie 94.3, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Keurig, Bell Media and Fondation Québec Jeunes, among other companies.

“I took a bigger risk in the beginning that spinned off pretty well,” said PelchatOuellet, attributing this success to her determination to start out as a director rather than an assistant.

Dominos tells the story of two brothers, Toto and Adib, as they cope with their mother’s sudden death. The drama series also follows the intertwining stories of a group of teenagers whose paths cross

with the brothers’. Pelchat-Ouellet said the show reminded her of Skins, a British drama which gained attention for its cutting edge and raw portrayal of youth.

Although every episode of Dominos is centred around a different character, the two shows share similar themes.

Showcasing the hazards of life, Dominos explores personal issues with touching, poetic and comedic tones.

Pelchat-Ouellet said she was not only inspired by the youth in Montreal, but by each actor’s individual “vibe” and personality while shooting. This led to a fresh, in-the-moment experience on set.

As the character Toto describes in the series: "We're like little dominoes that fall on each other; we just have to learn how to fall right."

When Zoé Pelchat-Ouellet first started working as a director, several of her more experienced friends and colleagues in the film industry recommended she start off as an assistant director. “I said no, I don’t want to be an assistant. I want to be a director. I am going to direct,” Pelchat-Ouellet recalled.

A few years later, Pelchat-Ouellet’s web series, Dominos—which she wrote, cast and directed—was nominated for Best Digital Series at CANNESERIES, the Cannes International Series Festival.

Shot in only eight days, the web series is composed of five short episodes and is Pelchat-Ouellet’s largest fiction project to date.

You can watch Dominos on Yet, the up-and-coming director wasn’t TV5’s website: always interested in the arts, let alone being a director. Pelchat-Ouellet described WWW.T V5.CA/DOMINOS herself in high school as shy and insecure.

When she moved from Quebec City back to her birth city of Montreal to enroll in Concordia’s communications studies program, she developed an interest in photography. The program gave her the chance to explore her artistic talents as she played around with film, editing and sound design.

While on a trip to London, a year after she finished her bachelor’s degree, Pelchat-Ouellet received a call from a friend that helped guide her toward a directing career. The friend had just broken The filmmaker was inspired by the youth of Montreal, as well as each actor’s individual personality. Photo cou up with her boyfriend, and suggested she rtesy of Zoé Pelchat- Ouellet. and Pelchat-Ouellet collaborate and create short films together.

“I made this classic list of my qualities and flaws, and what I wanted in life,” Pelchat-Ouellet said. “The conclusion, really, was to be a director. I really liked writing and photography, and I think directing is a mix of both.

It made sense. When my friend called, she put it in play for me.”

Pelchat-Ouellet decided to pursue a career in filmmaking, and graduated from L’inis, a private film institute, in 2016. Her first projects were experimental Each episode of the web series is centred around a different character, each of them linked photography, poetry and short to one another in the overarching theme. Photo courtesy of Zoé Pelchat-Ouellet. films, which she often collabo-

music

Quickspins

MUSIC EDITOR /// music@theconcordian.com CALVIN CASHEN

FOR EDITOR’S PICKS S THE BEST SONG WEEK RELEASED THIS

THINKPIECE

Death of the musician

Much like literature, music is open to different experiences

Recently Added

Recently Added 11 SLOW BURN Kacey Musgraves (MCA Nashville)

11 LONELY WEEKEND Kacey Musgraves (MCA Nashville) 11 NICE FOR WHAT Drake (Cash Money) 11 IN MY DREAMS Kali Uchis (Virgin EMI) 11 I DO (FEAT. SZA) Cardi B (Atlantic)

1

K AC E Y MUSGRAVES Golden Hour (MCA Nashville) HUSSAIN ALMAHR ASSISTANT EDITOR The musician’s individual originality is dead. Talk about artistic intent is largely fruitless. In the era of sampling, tributes and trends, it’s hard to know the intent of the musicians who contributed—directly or indirectly—to the song. What does originality really mean in this era, and how original can music truly be? All artists are influenced by the people who came before them. No artistic work is truly original, and variety is a great thing.

Like any artistic medium, you have to understand what came before you to make your own work.

To a cer t ain e x tent, ever y ar tist acknowledes their influences. Radiohead is literally named after the 1986 Talking Heads song “Radio Head,” which they have listed as one of their favourite groups.

They even worked with producers of the Pixies, who are one of their biggest influences. “Idioteque,” one of Radiohead’s signature songs and an amazing song to experience live, uses a sample from Paul Lansky’s 1976 song “Mild und Leise.”

Despite the fact that people s ay Radiohead has an “original sound,” they

have clear influences, that might not have stylistic traces in their music, but references their production style and work ethic.

Sampling also complicates artistic intent and the originality of an idea.

Take Drake’s collaboration track with Rihanna “Take Care” in 2012. The song samples a 2011 Jamie xx track, “I’ll Take Care of U,” which already has a sample of Gil Scott-Heron song of the same name (2010). That song is a cover of the original version by Bobby Bland. Drake and Rihanna's song is the fourth version of the same song. Each version carries so much history, and it’s great to see how a song from 1960 transformed into a contemporary pop hit in 2012.

Each artist presumably had their own intent in recording the song, and each version retains the original vision and eventually expands it. With each new iteration of the same song, new ideas are added, and the vibe changes completely.

Drake uses 52 years of histor y to share a personal and intimate experience on “Take Care” in collaboration with Rihanna, who brought her own style and influences along with her. Drake’s song is tender and personal, whole but cold at the same time, which Jamie xx

brought to the Scott-Heron track one year earlier. Drake and Rihanna add their own textures to the song.

Originalit y doesn’t really mat ter because “Take Care” is an amazing track.

Sampling is not as lazy as some artists say, it’s a way of sharing a sense of musical history. Crafting a song from a sample is an amazingly intricate artform, much like playing the instruments yourself.

Musicians aren’t the only ones who create musical experiences, audiences also create meaning. People experience music in different ways and in different situations. Does the artist’s intention really matter if people interpret music subjectively? I think not. The beauty of music creation and listening is the act of interpretation and experience.

Artistic intention is a muddled field; did Bobby Bland imagine his song being used 52 years later? Like every single artform, music is cultural and historical.

Culture is passed on from generation to generation, with each generation making subtle changes, and occasionally monumental shifts happen as a result of different factors. Music is much more than the individual musician’s originality.

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin.

Kacey Musgraves has perfected the art of the country-pop crossover.

Golden Hour creates its own grandiosity on its own terms. Its 13 tracks are delicate and inviting, but contain a powerfully cathartic ethos that can’t be replicated. Musgraves takes aim at topics that are relatable and powerfully approachable. On “High Horse” the singer digs deep into the wounds left behind by an ex-lover who’s too cool to show weakness. On “Lonely Weekend,” she tackles the pain of being single when you're supposed to be having fun. The songs here are remarkably intimate, thanks in part to the accessibility of M u s g r a v e s ’ s p e r fo r m a n c e s . S h e doesn’t overwhelm, instead she pursues these tracks with the earnestness of a woman wise beyond her years.

11 Trial Track: “High Horse"

8.8/10 — CALVIN CASHEN, MUSIC EDITOR

APRIL 10, 2018

theconcordian

13

PROFILE 2

A.A.L.

Bully’s music is alive with tension

The band talks their latest album and the struggles of touring life

2012-2017 (Other People)

Nicolas Jaar’s latest release under A.A.L. is a remarkably complex and deftly produced album of house and electro-funk with enough soul for the dancefloor and enough sleekness for the club. 2012-2017 is an album that’s unattached from the passage of time; its timeless songs breathe new life into sample heavy electronica music.

Jaar doesn’t hold back, delving deep into a instrumental palette of snares, high-hats and piano loops. The rest of the album’s space is filled to the gills with excellent production work.

Jaar is tinkering his f ingers to the proverbial bone. There’s a familiarity to 2012-2017 that engages equally with genres of the past and present.

But the f inal product is woven so effortlessly that you can’t help but get lost in its ageless appeal.

11 Trial Track: “I Never Dream”

8.9/10 — CALVIN CASHEN, MUSIC EDITOR

Recently Added Photo courtesy of Sub Pop.

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CALVIN CASHEN MUSIC EDITOR Fresh off the release of their new project Losing , Nashville’s f iery punkers Bully took their antics on the road for a tour across the United States and Canada. Lead singer Alicia Bognanno is a confident voice in indie-rock, making tracks with lyrics that feel painfully relatable and relevant, like finely aged wine. She took the time to speak with us about her experience interning for infamously stringent producer Steve Albini, her anxieties and personal turmoil and the endless abyss of auteurship.

According to Bognanno, when the band released its latest project, there was more of a learning curve to consider.

The album needed to sound larger and more fleshed out, a big change from their lo-fi leanings. But, on top of that, the singer underwent personal turmoil that gave her succificent material to compose even bigger and more powerful songs.

Aside from a plethora of new steps as a band, including testing new material on the road, touring the world and then some, there was the added pressure

of winning new fans over. “There was definitely a lot more to consider this time around,” said Bognanno. She assured the reception of the band’s new material has been overwhelmingly solid. The actual recording process was just as smooth. She was able to apply these skills on the new record, thanks to her experience interning for Albini at his studio in Nashville. “I learned a lot about mic placement for amps. I took a lot of notes.”

Bully ’s sound is indebted to a wide-ranging palette of 90s grunge– music fueled by angst and insecurity.

Those feelings run amuck in the band’s overall sound. Despite the underlying sadness to the band’s music, there’s an endlessly positive catharsis to it all.

The sound of the actual instruments, however, remains untouched.

The distortion is raw, the drums are pummelling and Bognanno’s vocals are commanding. There’s a huge, jangly undercurrent of sound that cascades from left to right. These are anthems for the best and worst of times.

The band applied that anxiety well before the release of Losing when they were approached to release a single as par t of the Our First 100

Days compilation. The series provided artists with the opportunity to voice their discontent for President Donald Trump’s first hundred days in office.

The band contributed their song “Right,” a track that features Bully’s typically angst-ridden instrumentals and lyrics.

It’s perhaps the band’s most immediate and urgent song. This is especially displayed in Bognanno’s lyrics: “It’s 8 a.m., this hell I’m in/Seems I’ve crossed a line again/For being nothing more than who I am/So break my bones and throw your stones/We all know that life ain’t fair/But there’s more of us we’re everywhere.”

Much like the rest of Bully’s material, the track feels like a call-to-arms against big business administration. While the track definitely feels antagonistic, there’s a hint of insecurity. Bognanno said she wasn’t in the best personal position while writing the new record. On top of that, the band underwent changes to life on the road as a full-time band right after its release, trudging from town to town to play their new and old songs.

The band also switched record labels, making the experience collectively more daunting, overwhelming, but all the more exciting.

sports

SPORTS EDITOR /// sports@theconcordian.com NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI ( @n_digiovanni)

COLOUR COMMENTARY

BY NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI

Italian soccer has never been in such a dire state. With a terrible men’s national team and weak clubs, soccer in Italy has never sucked so much.

On March 31, I watched Juventus play A.C. Milan in a Serie A game at Ciociaro Bar in the East End. Even though I’m a Juventus fan, I watched it with Milan Club Montreal. It was a fun experience, and I would suggest any university student to join their fan club, or make one themselves.

Milan Club Montreal went through a revival a few years ago, and encourages younger fans to join.

During the game, I realized, as Italian soccer fans, there’s almost no hope left for the country in its national sport. Us fans stay connected every Sunday morning, watching the Serie A on RAI, but when it comes to this year’s World Cup, or the Champions League, we don’t have a horse in the race.

So to get Italian soccer back to its glory days, here are my suggestions for the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).

LESS SERIE A TEAMS: The Italian top league is not good anymore, and its talent is far below its rivals in England, Spain and Germany. Since 2004, the league has had 20 teams, compared to the 18 teams it had from 1988 to 2004, and the 16 it had from 1967 to 1988. Even though England and Spain have 20 teams in their leagues, Germany has 18, and Italy needs to follow that standard. Too many teams dilutes the talent and weakens the product.

MINIMUM ITALIAN PL AYERS: Right now, the Serie A requires each team to have eight local players on their 25-man roster, but does not require them to play. If the national team wants to improve, these young Italian players need to play. The league needs to create a rule forcing each team to start at least one young Italian player, and possibly more.

They won’t get better if they sit on the bench.

STADIUMS, MARKETING & MEDIA: Money could do wonders, and the Serie A lacks it. England has arguably the best league because of its $6.5-billion TV contract, fancy stadiums and great marketing. It’s a money machine, which allows clubs to buy the best players. The Serie A is getting a $1-billion TV deal next year, but still needs to replace the majority of its stadiums built before World War II. It needs to market itself just a bit better.

More money into the league will improve its product.

VARSITY

Celebrating success at gala Frédérique Rajotte, Francis Carter, Anthony Beauregard named athletes of the year

Frédérique Rajotte (left) and Olivier Georges (right) were the athletic valedictorians. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI SPORTS EDITOR The Concordia Stingers wrapped up the 2017-18 athletic season with their annual awards gala on April 6 at the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall. The Stingers celebrated their successes this season, during which two teams won championships, and they were able to laugh about the not-so-good moments.

The Stingers held a cocktail party before the gala for their athletes, which created an energetic atmosphere in the auditorium.

“We don’t always get together, but we see each other [around the complex] and we’re happy,” said fifth-year rugby player Frédérique Rajotte after the gala. “It’s a big camaraderie and it’s very special.”

Here’s a breakdown of how each team did this season, and which players won each team’s most valuable player (MVP) and rookie of the year (ROY) awards.

WOMEN’S HO CKEY The women’s hockey team was the most successful team this year. They had a 14-4-2 record during the regular season, and went on to win the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) championship in March.

They won the bronze medal at the U Sports national championship. A few of their players also picked up awards at the gala.

MVP: Claudia Dubois ROY: Lidia Fillion, who also won the overall rookie of the year award.

President’s Academic Award: Alexandra Nikolidakis and Audrey-Anne Allard Fittest Female Athlete: Melinda Prévost MEN’S HOCKEY The men’s hockey team didn’t share the same success as the women’s team, despite finishing the regular season with a 18-7-3 record. They won the bronze medal in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference, and athletics director D’Arcy Ryan told the crowd, “bronze is the new gold.”

MVP: Anthony Beauregard, who also won the Stingers male athlete of the year.

ROY: Carl Neill, also named Stingers male rookie of the year.

M E N ’ S R U G BY The men’s rugby team won Concordia’s other championship this season, also winning the RSEQ title. They had a perfect 9-0 season in provincial play, but lost both games at nationals. They were easily the rowdiest team at the awards gala, bouncing an oversized beach ball around.

MVP: Charles Debove ROY: Sebastian Iaricci Marvin Cooper Award for overcoming adversity: Moritz Wittmann Ron Lapointe Award for leadership and community service: Andreas Krawczyk WO M E N ’ S R U G BY The women’s rugby stars, Rajotte and Alex Tessier, stole the show. Rajotte was also the female athletic valedictorian, and she said some of the smaller teams like wrestling, golf and cross-country deserve praise too.

“I don’t think we talk about many of the teams, like wrestling that kill it every year, and deserve that recognition,” Rajotte said.

“All those teams need to be recognized even if they’re not the main face of social media.”

MVP: Rajotte, also named as Stingers female athlete of the year.

ROY: Shawna Brayton Michael Di Grappa Award for senior distinction: Alex Tessier WRESTLING The wrestling team often goes unnoticed when compared to other Stingers teams. Head coach Victor Zilberman’s squad picked up major hardware this season, and continued to do so at awards night. At nationals, the team finished in second place.

MVPs: Jade Dufour and Francis Carter.

Carter was also named male athlete of the year alongside Beauregard, and earned the President’s Academic Award.

ROYs: Laurence Beauregard and Alex Moore Michael Di Grappa Award for senior distinction: Vincent De Marinis SOCCER Simon Malaborsa of the men’s team picked up the MVP and ROY of the year honours.

Olivier Georges was the male athlete valedictorian. The women’s team also collected a few distinctions. Chama Sedki’s long-distance goal in a September game was voted by the athletes as the play of the year.

MVP: Chama Sedki ROY: Imane Chebel Denise Beaudet Award for leadership and community service: Laura Lamontagne After the event, men’s hockey defenceman Neill said all the athletes are part of the Stingers family.

“It’s fun to recognize all the teams at once, and all the teams appreciate the other teams,” Neill said. “You saw when we played [in the playoffs] against McGill, every team was present, and we support other teams too.”

OT H E R T E A M S F O OT BA L L MVP: Mickael Côté, also named fittest male athlete.

ROY: Khadeem Pierre BASKETBALL MVPs: Ken Beaulieu and Caroline Task ROYs: Anthony Sonogo and Coralie Dumont. Dumont was also named a Stingers rookie of the year.

BASEBALL MVP: Stefan Brady ROY: Kyle Hazel C R O S S - C O U N T RY MVPs: Gabrielle Boyer-Antoni and Rikirogo Shinozuka ROYs: Brittany Jackson and Ben Daurodovicious GOLF MVPs: Ali Koury and Warren Sellors ROYs: Maria Veronica Noriega and Ryan Mitchell

APRIL 10, 2018

theconcordian

15

PHOTO ESSAY

The 2017-18 season told frame by frame Taking sports photos is all about capturing the perfect moment, including funny ones NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI SPORTS EDITOR

ess they wanted. dn’t have the succ di am et te y gb ru ’s en t the Laval Rouge The Stingers wom semi-final agains e th ll) in ba st g lo in d ld an ho cord Rajotte (pictured, They had a 4-3 re ier and Frédérique y players in ss gb Te ru ex ity Al , rs er ive ev Or. How the best un of o r tw ’re ey th hy ew tries, while Tessie continued to prov ts MVP, scoring 15 or Sp st U la e ed m th s na s wa tte wa s and four tries. It the country. Rajo at points off 36 kick 92 g in ad -le ayed for Canada am te scored a pair, who both pl e th rs r fo ge s in St rm e ifo th un e in season in Stingers Cup. Both are activ ld or W uy st gb w Ru llo ’s fe en supporting their last summer’s Wom n always find them ca u yo d ex Hutchins. an , ity un comm games. Photo by Al ts or sp r he ot at dent-athletes

Even though this is a great picture, I find it amusing because photo assistant Mackenzie Lad is taking a picture of Stingers midfielder Madeleine McKenzie. Mackenzie with a picture of McKenzie. The soccer player, is one of 14 players on the team from outside of Quebec (she is from Calgary, Alta.). The Stingers women’s soccer team had a good mix of players from around the globe, with players from Canada, the United States, Chile, Spain, France and Algeria. First-year defender Imane Chebel, although born in Montreal, received a call-up to play a pair of games for the Algerian women’s national team on April 4 and April 10 against Senegal. She was also named to the RSEQ second all-star team for the winter season. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

The men’s rugby team had a season to remember. After finishing last season with a 1-7 record, the Stingers went undefeated this year en route to a RSEQ championship. On Nov. 12, they beat the École de technologie supérieure (ETS) Piranha s in the final, 35-7. No other sport has more battles than rugby, and this picture proves it.

The Stingers had to face some adversity themselves heading into the season.

Moritz Wittman, Charles Debove and Lucas Hotton all returned to play after injuries suffered during the 2016 season, and all played key roles on the championship-winning team.

Despite winning all their games during the regular season and playoffs, the Stingers lost both of their games at nationals in Guelph, Ont. Photo by Alex Hutchin s.

The Concordia Stingers football team prob ably wished for a different outcome to their season. After winning the first two of three games, including a 68-16 demolishing of the McGill Redmen, the Stingers near ly beat the Laval Rouge et Or in Quebec City on Sept. 24, but lost 12-8 following som e controversy. Stingers quarterback Trenton Miller was knocked out with a conc ussion, and on one of the last plays of the game, wide receiver James Tyrrell was also the victim of a hit to the head. If either hit had been penalized during the game, the Stingers could have easily walked away with a victory. The following week, the Montréal Carabins cancelled their game against the Stingers, claiming too many of their play ers were sick. After all this controversy, the Stingers beat the Redmen on the road 36-10 on Oct. 14. Defensive backs Jersey Henry (#10) and Khadeem Pierre (#5) celeb rated. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

This picture is easily the funniest taken this season. Even though there was nothing funny about defenceman Carl Neill’s season (pictured, foreground), he forgot to protect his goalie in a home game against the Brock Badgers on Oct. 20. As a Badgers player crashed into goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte, Neill is skating away from the incident, not looking back. In the background, it seems like forward Julien Avon-Rainville is skating up the ice, possibly towards the puck. Wherever the puck is, Neill is not skating towards it. Obviously, it wasn’t one of his best moments this season. He finished the year leading the country in points by a defenceman with 31. He was named a first-team all-star in the OUA East, and made the OUA and U Sports all-rookie teams. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

their first The Stingers women’s hockey team had a great celebration after winning 4.

March on Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) championship since 2005 al’s Montré de ité Family members and friends of the players spilled onto the ice at Univers postThe s.

CEPSUM arena after the Stingers won 3-1 in game three against the Carabin the players game celebration had everything you would expect in a hockey celebration: they had ere, jumped on goalie Katherine Purchase, there were sticks and gloves everywh trophy. the champagne, and they got to mob captain Marie-Joëlle Allard when she held though even This is my favourite sports photo of the year because of its great timing, and my also It’s you don’t see any players’ faces, you can tell how happy they are to win. of the photos favourite sports cover photo of this year. Expect to see more championship women’s hockey team in the future. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

opinions OPINIONS EDITOR /// opinions@theconcordian.com SANIA MALIK

Keep Concordia in mind this summer It’s the end of another great year at The Concordian . While we’re sad to say goodbye, we thought we could dedicate this final editorial to the important issues that have been discussed on campus throughout the year.

We know how easy (and satisfying) it is to finally leave exam halls, submit final assignments and close the doors on Concordia at the end of each semester. It’s an exhilarating feeling to embark on our summer vacations, whether they consist of binge-watching Netflix or travelling the world. But, we at The Concordian think it’s vital to keep some things in mind even while we step away from our university this summer.

This year was...eventful, to say the least.

We’re proud to have covered and highlighted important issues in our newspaper, from the significance of sustainable foods, to Concordia’s ways of handling sexual misconduct allegations. We think it’s important to leave you with a few key issues to keep in mind while away from Concordia.

First, the Task Force on Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Violence will be taking place until May 2018. These allegations regarding Concordia’s creative writing department were significant in raising awareness about sexual misconduct at our university. It highlighted how power abuses can lead to dangerous environments for students. Ultimately, it opened our eyes to how Concordia can sometimes fail at addressing such allegations in the first place.

Although we won’t be surrounded by the news every day this summer, it’s still

important to check up on the Task Force’s progress addressing sexual misconduct at our institution. It’s our responsibility, not only as students, but as citizens, to remain aware and engaged in these issues at our university. While we commend Concordia students for speaking out against sexual violence and shedding light on this issue throughout the year, we hope students can continue to talk about sexual assault every day—since, unfortunately, it happens quite frequently.

We also hope Concordia students remain interested in the Concordia Student Union’s (CSU) Daycare and Nursery Project.

Although it was initially proposed in 2011, and has experienced many setbacks such as obtaining construction permits, we at The Concordian are still keeping an eye out for the project’s final establishment. According to a 2017 article by The Concordian, the daycare was supposed to open in March 2018. As

we’re already into the month of April, it’s clear to see the project is still experiencing difficulties and obstacles.

The daycare would be an outstanding achievement by the CSU, and more importantly, it would help student-parents feel more supported by the school. According to a study commissioned by Concordia in 2011, student-parents comprise about 10 per cent of our university’s population. That 10 per cent of students are more likely to feel stressed by missing classes and exams and handing assignments in late because of their responsibilities as parents. This is all due to the university’s lack of safe and affordable childcare options, which is why CSU’s daycare project is so important.

We at The Concordian hope that this daycare can be established in the upcoming months. We hope students can continue to talk about this project, support it and help

actualize it. It would be extremely beneficial for so many student-parents, and it will be a positive addition to our school.

There are many important discussions and projects happening at Concordia.

Throughout the year, we saw students speaking out against unpaid internships, the importance of voting and environmental abuses. One such group highlighting environmental abuses is Divest Concordia, an initiative that calls on our university to end its investments in fossil fuels. The group has called on the university to make a decision on divestment and to announce whether or not they will be taking concrete steps towards more environmentally-friendly investing.

Unfortunately, however, Concordia has been postponing the announcement—and still has yet to comment on its divestment. We believe that even though Concordia hasn’t made an announcement yet, we cannot forget about Divest Concordia and its important stance. We need to support such groups and initiatives in order to better our time at Concordia, and to contribute positively to our world.

So this summer, keep the conversation going. Keep speaking out against sexual assault; keep shedding light on racism and discrimination; keep supporting groups pushing for a better university; remind yourself to check up on Concordia’s steps in building a better environment for students.

We know how easy it is to say goodbye, but we at The Concordian hope you choose to keep our university in mind this summer.

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin

UBER

Technological advances for Uber aren’t enough Drivers should be more interested in keeping passengers safe and comfortable MIA ANHOURY ASSISTANT LIFE EDITOR There’s a reason why Montrealers have been using more Ubers than taxis in recent years. The Uber app makes it easier for users and drivers to find each other, because their locations are shared through the app.

According to documents obtained by Le Journal de Montréal on March 23, the number of cab drivers filing for bankruptcy in Quebec has tripled since the arrival of Uber in 2014. I believe it’s due to taxis’ lack of accessibility. In the city, people can catch a cab driving down a street or hop into one in a designated waiting area. However, once you’re in a residential area, you have to call a cab company, because the odds of seeing a free cab passing by are unlikely. So, people turn to Ubers.

Waiting for an empty cab to drive down a busy street is something people want to avoid nowadays. Think about it—we have reached a point where we are used to finding the things we need in almost no time, thanks to our smartphones. I believe cab companies should hop on the technology train—or should I say Uber train—to stay accessible. The fact

that people can split the fare of their ride is an added plus for Ubers. Although some taxi companies, such as Diamond Taxi, have location and prepaid services, I believe all taxi companies should advertise for it more.

All these technological advances in Ubers, like the location access, the direct payment and the option to split fares, make it an efficient application. However, Uber drivers can be and are often less experienced compared to taxi drivers. Both types of drivers go through a similar vetting process. Both are required to hold a Class C4 driver’s license, speak and read French and have no criminal record. However, Uber drivers only have eight online modules of training compared to the 150 hours of mandatory training Montreal taxi drivers have to go through. Taxi drivers’ training covers 53 hours of taxi transport regulations, 50 hours of geography and topography training and seven hours of training for transportation of a disabled person.

While I take Ubers due to their easy access, almost every Uber driver I ride with has harshly swerved on turns or ran red lights. Sometimes, they’ve made illegal turns. In other words, their “driving etiquette” isn’t perfect. I believe these drivers need a lot more training. On multiple occasions, I have

had to change my destination to a closer one and get out of an Uber earlier because of reckless driving. This lack of professionalism has made me feel unsafe in Ubers.

To be fair, many Uber drivers have the “entertainment” aspect down in their cars.

Some offer water bottles, phone chargers, and many have an AUX cord at their disposal for their passengers to blast their own music during the ride. In other cases, they are more interested in starting conversations and playing music than focusing on the road.

While these additions are nice perks, I don’t believe they are a priority.

When an Uber ride begins, the GPS automatically creates a route, which often seems to take detours that make the ride longer than it should be. According to an Uber customer service agent, “If you have a specific route

in mind, you can always request that your driver follow those directions.” Yet, when I ask the driver to follow my directions, I am either ignored or even told, “No, you don’t know how to get there.” Most of the times my destination is my own home, and these detours result in a more expensive ride.

Ultimately, neither taxis nor Ubers are perfect, but taxi companies should take advantage of the technology available in today’s world to make their service accessible to more people. As for Uber, their drivers need to have more extensive training to make sure their passengers are more comfortable during the ride.

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin.

APRIL 10, 2018

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LANGUAGE

What does feminism look like in French?

Why gender-neutral language could be a step toward an equal and inclusive society TYSON BURGER ASSISTANT OPINIONS EDITOR Language and thought are intrinsically linked. Our thoughts are informed by the words we use to describe them in ways that are difficult to measure and are easy to take for granted. The ways language fails to accurately describe reality has been a topic of interest for artists and philosophers for centuries.

In English, there are certain linguistic norms and terms that have been criticized by new social movements.

Contemporar y feminists question the use of male pronouns as supposedly gender-neutral. In writing and speech, hypothetical people are usually referred to as ‘he’; a group of people—regardless of gender identity—are referred to as ‘guys’; and when speaking literally of all of humanity it is common to use the word ‘man.’ According to the Stanford University website, using male pronouns in a neutral way contributes to establishing men as the norm, and makes women seem out of place or even invisible in various contexts.

Another problem in the English language is in the connotations the words ‘man’ and ‘woman’ conjure up. In her book The Man of Reason, Genevieve Lloyd points out that chaos and danger tend to be associated with femininity, while order and reason tend to be associated with masculinity.

Such representations of gender permeate

contemporary media (think of detective films, where a femme fatale character threatens to undo their reasonable male counterpart), and they work their way into our language and thought in discreet and insidious ways.

There are many more ways that feminists are concerned with faults in the English language (for a comprehensive outline of various arguments in the field, I recommend checking out the “Feminist Philosophy of Language” page on Stanford University’s website, which I quoted earlier). But what does feminism look like in other languages—particularly gendered ones? I spoke to Christine Delmar, a councillor on female empowerment for the company Les 7 Directions in France, to hear about her perspective on feminism and the French language.

In French, the verbs, adjectives and adverbs used are dependant on the gender of the noun that they are

applied to. Delmar noted in our conversation that one of the first things children learn when they are learning how to speak French is that “masculine wins over feminine.” This is like the ‘masculine pronouns as neutral’ problem in English I mentioned earlier, in that it obscures women and strongly implies that they are inferior or subordinate to men.

“Learning of masculine dominance in school has a significant impact on the subconscious,” Delmar said.

Delmar spoke on the gendering of job titles in the French language during our conversation, and told the story of a French explorer named Alexandra DavidNeel to showcase a problematic fault in the French language. She said that although David-Neel might be considered one of the greatest French explorers, there is no way to say that in French without using the male

noun. Instead—since she is female—she is called the ‘plus grande exploratrice,’ which translates directly to the ‘best woman explorer.’

For certain job titles, it is more common to refer to them in the feminine or the masculine, depending on the type of work and the gender they are traditionally associated with. When gender is unknown, doctor is masculine (docteur) whereas nurse is feminine (infirmière), which reflects and reinforces gender stereotypes.

This makes anomalies in these fields stand out even more, and works to maintain rigid gender norms and stereotypes.

In the fall of 2017, a French textbook advocating for gender-neutrality in language was released, according to The Atlantic. It has sparked a lot of heated debate, as many fear that a move towards making French gender-neutral would ruin the beauty of the language. However, the reality is that language is constantly changing, and we should try to make it change in a way that can more accurately represent society by including minorities and marginalized groups.

Gender-neutral language would be a step closer to a fair society, and I think that is well worth the effort it will take to achieve it. Perhaps English—a language that is naturally more gender-neutral—can purge itself of unnecessary and arbitrary gendered words or concepts to be more inclusive. This could act as a model for other languages in the global advancement towards inclusive language.

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth.

EDUCATION

Is homework a vital part of education?

Discussing whether homework is an outdated concept, its benefits and adverse effects MATTHEW GUIDA STAFF WRITER As a kid, homework was often a major source of stress for me. On the other hand, I understood that it was a crucial factor in my educational development and saw it as an essential part of my everyday life.

However, following the implementation of a no homework directive in November

by Elizabeth Ballantyne Elementary School in Montreal West, a new debate has begun to arise in the educational system, according to CBC News.

The focus of the debate is on whether or not homework still has any use in the present-day education of young children.

Elizabeth Ballantyne is one of several schools to implement a no homework policy. By removing homework, the policy focuses on giving students more time to do their work in class. Even more importantly, the policy seeks to encourage parents to spend more time reading with their kids, according to CBC News.

Michael Brown, the principal at Elizabeth Ballantyne, explained the school’s reasons for adopting such a policy. CTV News reported that Brown believes students should not be spending more time continuing their schoolwork after a six to eight-hour school day. Indeed, a period to relax is an essential requirement for young students. According to The Ventura County Star, schools in Finland

adopted a similar approach. By allowing periods of recess in between classes, students are able to properly process the material they learn in class. This approach to Finland’s educational system is a major reason why Finnish schools are recognized as some of the best institutions in the world. Additionally, other schools across Ontario and Quebec have also implemented a homework ban, according to CTV News. The same source explains that homework can lead to conflicts between parents and their kids.

Unfortunately, despite these justifications, not all parents are as enthusiastic about the ban. Most parents believe homework is an essential tool for their children. According to the non-profit organization Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), the homework debate has been ongoing since the 40s. The United States educational system increased homework after the launch of the Sputnik satellite during the late 1950s, believing their schools lacked a certain level of educational rigour, according to the same source. Also, during the 80s, scientists claimed homework had adverse effects on children’s mental development and well-being.

A longstanding belief held by those who support homework is that it contributes to helping students develop and achieve academic success. However, not all social groups benefit from doing homework, according to ASCD. A student’s socioeconomic status is a

crucial factor to consider. Most students who are of poor socioeconomic status or live in a poor home environment are sometimes put at a disadvantage when compared to their peers. According to Louisiana State University’s website, poor and unstable home environments affect students on a physical, social, emotional and cognitive level that is reflected in their school work and performance at school. Other disadvantages of homework include the possibility of teachers inadvertently assigning too much homework, which contributes to students’ stress levels.

In such cases, some students find it difficult, as many of them differ in terms of learning styles, which affects their ability to do homework.

Furthermore, some students have an after-school schedule that doesn’t give them much time to relax, let alone do homework, according to ASCD. One of the solutions proposed to maximize the positive impact of parental involvement in homework is applying the concept of interactive homework.

According to CBC News, school staff and education experts insist that, even without homework, parents should still take the time

to read and review the work they completed earlier in the day with their children.

Presently, further research is required before a definitive decision can settle this debate. Additional factors must also be considered, such as whether a lack of parental presence is beneficial during homework or not. I believe it’s important to get more input from students about how their educational experience can be improved and if abolishing homework from school curriculums could contribute to this process.

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin.

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theconcordian

APRIL 10, 2018

BODY IMAGE

Is it body positivity or body apathy?

Why fatalistic messages about body image are the last thing young people need IAN DOWN STAFF WRITER Should you love your body the way it is? That’s an interesting question.

Here’s a more interesting one: Who tricked us all into thinking the answer was “yes”?

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the need for positive messages about body image. Idealized por trayals of the human body in popular culture are damaging to adolescent mental health.

This phenomenon is well-established and has been for quite some time. It has been almost 20 years since the publication of the famous Fiji study, which found that Fijian girls began exhibiting behaviours characteristic of eating disorders following t he int ro duc t ion of television into their society. However, since the dangers of mass media consumption have come to light, a we l l-i n te n t i o n e d but misguided count e r- m e s s a g e h a s emerged.

Let’s look at a 2016 P s y c h o l o g y To d a y ar t icle t it le d “ What Does Body Positivity A c t u a l l y M e a n? ” I t features an interview with three women of different professional

backgrounds on the subject of body positivity. “To me, body positivity means accepting the body you have as well as the changes in shape, size and ability it may undergo due to nature, age or your own personal choices throughout your lifetime,” says body positive fashion designer Mallorie Dunn. Further down the article, body positive wellness coach Kaila Prins criticizes weight loss and fitness companies that promote the idea that “loving yourself and being body positive is about ‘creating a body you love’ instead of starting from a place of love and acceptance and not needing to change your body.”

“Acceptance” is an interesting word. It sounds gentle and virtuous.

But I believe this is not the forgiving approach to body image that insecure young people need. What Dunn and Pr ins advoc ate is complete apathy towards physical appearance. Instead of choosing our own ideal and striving for it, we should not strive at all.

Can we really be so apathetic about our physical appearances? We all have body type preferences for ourselves, even if they don’t conform exactly to those portrayed in the media. Why should we pretend otherwise? Why shouldn’t we

identify our own ideal shape and strive to achieve it in a reasonable way? Is telling yourself you’re fine with the way you look over and over until you believe it really a better path to self-confidence than working hard to become a person you know you will feel good about?

There’s another problem with the “love yourself for who you are on the inside” philosophy: the person you are on the inside and the image you project on the outside are not entirely separate. How you present yourself to the world is, in part, a reflection of your own character and personality. A person who doesn’t take proper care of their physical appearance is signaling one of two things: either a lack of discipline or a lack of self-respect. I believe both of those are red flags for anyone who might potentially enter into a relationship with that person.

So where is the middle ground? A truly healthy relationship with your body is not one of apathy; we shouldn’t be afraid to identify flaws and strive to correct them. Listen to the nagging voice inside your head every time you look in the mirror, but don’t let it become a tyrant. Why love yourself as you are? Why not love the person you could become?

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth.

RELATIONSHIPS

The pressure of finding love

Love is not here to complete you YOUMNA EL HALABI STAFF WRITER Whether we care to admit it or not, Platonic myths have shaped the world’s perception of love, amongst other things.

Greek mythology, and its ways of defining and explaining things, have made an impression on many. Perhaps the most popular myth people remember would be Aristophanes’ myth about love, in Plato’s Symposium.

Many don’t know it by name but are familiar with the romantic epic of four-legged human beings, that are male, female and androgynous, seeking to surpass and overthrow the gods. Thus, Zeus decided to cut them in half, separating them, and making it their lifelong quest to seek their other half, in order to feel whole again.

And so, the societal pressure to find a mate is born.

Ads are designed to portray men and women as things to be desired and coveted. Ideologies about finding “the one” scattered all over media, like in films, make us think we could never be complete without another individual, for fear of being alone or becoming a “spinster.”

Nowadays, the digital age has made it easily accessible to find a partner, with Tinder for casual meet-ups, OkCupid for “true love,” and even Plenty of Fish that plays on the romantic cliche “plenty of fish in the sea.” What’s the point? Eventually, love, real love, withers. As people are urged to find a person to complete them,

rather than being whole by themselves, they will eventually settle for less, and the happiness they so desperately seek will never come.

The ever-so-prominent fear of “ending up alone” has manifested over the years.

Even people who shy away from commitment cannot help but feel lonely at times, and seek partners in order to experience a sense of belonging.

Love—real love—in my personal, inexperienced, 20-year-old opinion, is a partnership. It is not about someone completing you, because you do not need anyone to complete you. It is about sharing yourself with a person who would take what you give them, with open arms.

Dating does not define me

ALISSA MULLER STAFF WRITER When you are in your 20s, you are young, filled with energy and invincible.

Yet, the daunting pressure to get into relationships is all around young adults who often see many of their friends and peers in committed relationships.

There are no boundaries or limits on our ability to experiment as young people. Still, finding love is not as easy as logging onto Facebook nowadays.

Unfortunately, snapping your fingers won’t immediately get you into a relationship. I believe falling in love in your 20s is hard.

There is a definite pressure to have the

perfect love life, which society has been advertising to us in commercials and romantic movies.

Dating apps seem to be the future of finding love. Apps like Tinder, Bumble and OkCupid are no longer sites for casual dating or hookups. According to Global News, people are using these apps to find lasting relationships and love.

Having experienced my fair share of dating apps, the pressure to find love exists. Having access to such apps seems to make the dating game easier. It implies that single people have no excuse to not have a partner. At the tip of your finger, you can swipe to your next Prince Charming without meeting them in the real world.

So when you fail to connect with someone, the disappointment is difficult to overcome. As a result you ask yourself: “What is wrong with me?” or “Why can’t I find love when there are so many opportunities?” But you must remember: the problem is not you! The problem is society’s brainwashing. Being alone does not necessarily mean you are lonely—there is a difference. How can you love someone else before knowing yourself?

I’m tr ying to love myself f i r st— b efo re f i n d i n g l ove — because dating does not define who I am. My life will not be dictated by apps like Tinder. The pressure of finding love definitely exists. Still, if you have a good support system, I believe love will eventually cross your path.

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth.

etc

FEATURED CONCORDIA ARTIST

ADRIANO MONTECALVO

Hi, I'm Adriano! I'm an artist turned coder, currently finishing up my third year in a computation arts major at Concordia. I've been practicing 3D art for a few years now, but recently I've turned my attention towards making games and interactive experiences. I try to build a sense of escapism in my works, whether that be through virtual reality immersing you in a whole new world, augmented reality bringing some CGI magic to your daily life, or simply by using audience participation to create a sense of being part of a collective.

Check out my Instagram: @adriano_the_artist

Let's work together: adrianomontecalvo@gmail.com

Etc is a space dedicated to showcasing Concordia artists!

Submissions can be sent to production@theconcordian.com

20 theconcordian

APRIL 10, 2018 Graphic by Zeze Le Lin.

The Concordian is hiring!

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The Concordian’s team EDITOR-IN-CHIEF KATYA TEAGUE editor@theconcordian.com MANAGING EDITOR ALEXANDER COLE managing@theconcordian.com PRODUCTION MANAGER LOREANNA LASTORIA production@theconcordian.com PRODUCTION ASSISTANT HYACINTH WOURMS NEWS EDITORS ÉTIENNE LAJOIE CANDICE PYE news@theconcordian.com ASSISTANT NEWS EDITORS MEGAN HUNT MATTHEW LAPIERRE

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Concordia University’s weekly, independent student newspaper CONTRIBUTORS Mehreen Diwan, Ian Down, Matthew Guida, Youmna El Halabi, Alissa Muller, Stephanie Ricci, Lillian Roy

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VOL. 35, ISSUE 26 APRIL 10, 2018.

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