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Know what s breast for you P. 6

Step Into the Woods at ConU P. 13

Stingers capture Shrine Bowl

Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011

P. 17

news One-on-one with your ASFA candidates P. 5

music Immerse yourself in Montreal’s Ska festival P. 14

opinions Is working for free ever worth it for students?

P. 22

Volume 29 Issue 7

Quartier Concordia renovations in progress New lamp posts, green bike path to be added to SGW landscape Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo News editor

S

tudents miffed about the extra walk to Mackay St. to catch the Concordia shuttle bus at its new stop might be heartened to hear that the construction that forced the move will include new lamp posts, paving, and a permanent bike path.

Phase one of the City of Montreal’s ongoing Quartier Concordia project is currently in progress, according to Concordia spokesperson Chris Mota. “They’re putting in new electrical wiring underground because new lamp posts [will be] put along that stretch,” she explained. “The next phase is going to be new paving - the only thing that isn’t clear is whether that is still going to be done this fall or only in the spring.”

The third phase is projected to be completed in the spring of 2012. It will make

permanent the portion of the bike path that currently runs along de Maisonneuve Blvd.

“There’s going to be a concrete divider that is going to be wide enough to have vegetation in it so it’s going to be green. There will actually be flowers or shrubs or what have you in that divider,” Mota said.

The city announced in 2008 they would invest $3 million to revitalize Norman Bethune Square, which is delimited by de Maisonneuve Blvd. and Guy St. as part of the Quartier Concordia project designed by architecture firm Groupe Cardinal Hardy.

Because “it’s smack in the heart of the Quartier Concordia,” the university participated in discussions with the city regarding aspects of the project such as the extension of the lounge area in front of the GM Building, according to Mota.

The university plans to continue collaborating with the City of Montreal for the three upcoming phases of renovations.

The city first made mention of their plans to invest in the reinvigoration of the area, which is delineated by Sherbrooke St., Guy St., René-Lévesque Blvd., and Bishop St., in its 2007 budget.

Photo by Navneet Pall

Montreal students warm up for Nov. 10 Hundreds protest tuition hikes in front of Minister of Education’s office Joel Ashrak Contributor

More than 300 students gathered in front of Minister of Education Line Beauchamp’s Montreal office on Oct. 6 in preparation for the massive rally against tuition hikes set to take place in the city on Nov. 10.

The rally was assembled by the Coalition régionale étudiante de Montréal, a group that includes most Montreal universities and CÉGEPs. The protestors planned the event to remind Beauchamp that the battle against tuition hikes, announced last March by Finance Minister Raymond Bachand, is still alive and growing.

“This is just a warm-up,” said protest organizer and Concordia Student Union VP external affairs, Chad Walcott. “The student movement here is strong and is not standing down. It’s going to be a matter of continuous outreach in Concordia as well. We’re gathering signatures and raising awareness as much as possible toward November 10.”

Walcott heads the Mob Squad, a CSU-organized group which has given itself the mandate of staging protests and demonstrations against tuition hikes.

See ‘CSU Mob Squad’ on P. 3

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news 2

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Got a news tip? news@theconcordian.com

City in brief

Alyssa Tremblay and Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo

Senate moves forward with proposed reform

Concordia’s Senate passed a motion on Oct. 7 mandating their academic planning and priorities committee to review the recommendations made by the external governance review committee which pertain to Senate. The APPC would then present a report to Senate at their November meeting in which they would recommend ways to go about implementing the EGRC reforms.

Senate had previously endorsed the spirit of the ERGC recommendations at their meeting in September.

Fake Peter Kruyt accounts pop up on Twitter

A Twitter account claiming to be Board of Governors chair Peter Kruyt was shut down last week, but another has popped up in its place. Concordia reported the face account to Twitter within 24 hours of the account being brought to their attention, according to university spokesperson Chris Mota. A second account has been active since Oct. 2 under the handle Peter_Kruyt and currently has 34 followers. The accounts were created following the Board of Governors meeting on Sept.

28, when it was criticized by student leaders for reducing student representation on the governing body. Mota said the rumours that the university is considering legal action against the account creator are unfounded.

Ottawa to replace crumbling Champlain Bridge

The federal government announced last Wednesday that it plans to replace the Champlain Bridge within the next 10 years. The Gazette reported that the $5 billion new bridge will likely be funded by a toll system charging the tens of thousands of drivers who use the Champlain daily to travel between the city and the South Shore.

Despite studies indicating that the 49year-old bridge is deteriorating and would collapse in event of a major earthquake, federal Transport Minister Denis Lebel maintains it is safe to drive on. Lebel could not say when construction of the new structure is slated to start.

There goes the student vote Coalition for the Future of Quebec co-founder François Legault sparked debate last week after publicly criticizing Quebec’s CÉGEP system as a great place “to learn how to smoke drugs and drop out” at a Q&A session on the South Shore. According to CTV Montreal, the former Parti Québécois cabinet minister‘s comments incited reactions from CÉGEP administrators, staff and students, who pointed out that CÉGEP helps students make educated decisions regarding their career paths and better prepares them for university studies. Legault has shown interest in forming a political party and eventually running for premier of Quebec.

HEALTH

Concordia hopes PERFORM Centre will put university on the health and fitness map Alyssa Tremblay Assistant news editor

Ambitious plans regarding the PERFORM Centre were the topics at hand at a presentation held Oct. 5 in an attempt to raise university awareness on the newly-built facility.

Nearly 40 people attended the most recent “Open to Question” session on the Loyola campus, most of them PERFORM staff and members of the departments of athletics and exercise science.

Dr. Kevin Little, the chief administrative officer of PERFORM (which stands for Prevention, Evaluation, Rehabilitation and FORMation), spoke in detail about the centre and took questions from the

audience.

“The vast majority of our health care costs as a society go to things that we know are preventable,” said Little, who has a PhD from McGill in experimental medicine. He explained that their vision is to see the centre become a world leader in research education and community engagement for improved health, foreseeing potential collaboration with groups all over the globe.

Construction started on the PERFORM Centre in the fall of 2009 and officially finished as of last Friday.

The federal and provincial governments contributed $35 million to the project via the Knowledge Infrastructure

Program to build and furnish the facility with what Little describes as “a tremendous battery of equipment.”

Located just next to the football field at Loyola, the PERFORM Centre is part gym, part research facility and is open to the public.

Little said that PERFORM will aim to “better inform people of ways they can take charge of their own health” by assessing an individual’s health, implementing a recovery program and then re-evaluating the person afterwards to see the results.

Despite being open to all, the audience at the session had a marked lack of students. “The Open to Question sessions have not attracted students

despite our promotional efforts to reach out to students,” said Karen McCarthy, Concordia’s director of internal communications.

Little said that it will take a few months to establish all the standard operational procedures, protocols and regulations required before any research can actually take place.

Christian Durand, communications advisor for the PERFORM Centre, confirmed that a ribbon-cutting ceremony is set for Nov. 4 and will include tours of the facilities.

Students can access equipment at Le Centre with a $45/semester gym membership.

GRAFFITI

CDN—NDG graffiti law will go through Impact on Loyola campus unclear Sarah Deshaies Chief copy editor The borough of Côte-des-Neiges— Notre-Dame-de-Grâce has passed a bylaw that attempts to clear up the graffiti in the area.

The borough council voted through the bylaw on Oct. 3 which imposes fines of up to $1,400 on property owners who fail to clean up graffiti on their walls. The new bylaw has some unsettled property owners who find it unfair that they have to pay for vandalism committed by other people.

But the Union Montréal councillor who proposed the bylaw, Susan Clarke, calls it “one more arrow in the quiver [for] making our community look and feel better.”

Whether Concordia University, with its Loyola campus located on the western edge of the borough, will be affected is not entirely clear. With one fence on Sherbrooke St. tagged in September, Loyola isn’t immune to graffiti.

Will the university, which has asked the provincial government to raise tuition in order to make ends meet, have to pay a fine if someone decides to graffiti the AD building or the new sports complex?

The answer falls into “virgin terri-

tory,” according to university spokesperson Chris Mota. She said she could not give an immediate answer, and that the university is “reviewing the situation.”

Clarke’s answer was that Concordia, as a non-profit organization, would likely be exempt from any fines, similar to housing co-ops or the veterans’ Legion Hall.

But if Concordia does fail to clean up after graffiti, Clarke answered that she doesn’t think it would ever lead to a “confrontation” between the borough and the university. “I think that what would probably happen is that I would pick up the phone and call one of the VPs that I know, or one of the assistant

VPs that I know there, and say, ‘You’ve always been a good institutional citizen in our area, can we have some help with this?’’’

The borough estimates that it spends around $700,000 a year cleaning up graffiti, and that it can no longer cover the cost. “The bylaw is really only intended to coerce people who really don’t want to or care to keep their properties clean,” Clarke added.

The bylaw raised the ire of property owners when it was first proposed last August. Since then, it has been changed to exempt owners of residential buildings with six or less units, and owners of commercial buildings that are smaller than 300 square metres.

LECTURE

Encouraging activism at the university Speaker Series panel seeks alternatives

Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo News editor Students got a crash course in political activism, research and the university setting while munching on their People’s Potato lunch on Oct. 7, courtesy of this week’s Lounge Speaker Series panel.

Featuring Concordia professor Anna Kruzynski, Concordia Student Union president Lex Gill and activist Jaggi Singh, “Activism and Research in Turbulent Times” revealed the existence of conflicting ideas regarding what post-secondary education should be like and how research should be

conducted.

Gill, who did not speak on behalf of the CSU but rather as a student with a longtime involvement with grassroots organization überculture, experience reporting during the G20 gathering in Toronto, and a background working with the Dominion and Media Co-op, called the relationship between the state and private sector “blatant” and “incestuous.” “[The] crown jewel of this whole project is the western university,” she said.

There is tension between the idea of the university as a laboratory for social change, she said, and that of the university as “a training ground for the new imperialist.”

“Should minds conform to the needs of the market?” she asked.

Singh made a repeat appearance

at the series, organized in collaboration with the Quebec Public Interest Research Group at Concordia. He spoke as a representative of the CommunityUniversity Research Exchange in order to share his vision of research as a tool for social transformation.

“Often, our day-to day-lives are at best things that are observed, and we’re just objects of those lives rather than being agents of our own change,” he said. “The university setting in particular trains all of us to see academics and intellectuals as [...] the ones who have the important ideas and understandings of the world.”

Meanwhile, he said, “We’re out of the equation. We’re spectators.”

He encouraged a more processoriented approach to research instead of always aiming for the end goal of a final product.

Kruzynski, who is also the graduate program director for the School of Community and Public Affairs, spoke about activism beyond the university level, seeking to eliminate the idea that youth aren’t interested in politics.

“Commentators will say that young folks are not interested, they’re not politicized, they don’t care about politics but I’d like to re-frame that actually as a lack of interest in official politics,” she said.

She pointed out that oppositional politics exist outside of the official sphere, often in the form of street protests. Kruzynski explained that those types of movements play an important role in “[breaking] the supposed consensus that liberal democracy is the best model and that somehow we don’t need debates on how a better world might look like.”

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian Continued from cover

CSU Mob Squad buses in Concordia students

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Nation in brief Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo

Fore!

PROTESTERS WORE FACE PAINT AND SCRAWLED MESSAGES ON SIDEWALKS. PHOTOS BY NAVNEET PALL The squad was behind the release of 1,000 red balloons in the Hall building on Sept. 28, where each balloon represented 30 students who will not be able to afford to go to university if tuition fees are increased.

“These people are only the organizers,” said CSU president Lex Gill, referring to those protesting around her. “We’ve all got friends.”

Tuition will rise by $325 a year for the next five years, for a total of $1,625. Although Quebec would

still remain the Canadian province with the lowest fees, the Institut de recherche et d’informations socioéconomiques predicts that this increase could prevent more than 30,000 students from accessing universitylevel education “I’m already struggling with rent, school and the rest,” said Erica Deutschman, a Concordia communications studies student present at the rally. “This is a real problem for me.”

During the protest, speakers from

various schools took the microphone to shout their own personal message to Beauchamp in French and English.

“The French media will focus on French schools but the English media today is not involved in the debate at all,” said Walcott. “It’s going to be our responsibility as well as Dawson’s and McGill’s to make sure the English media starts talking about [tuition] a lot more. Ultimately, we need public opinion on our side to win this battle and without the media talking about

this, it’s going to be hard to get.”

Student union representatives are hoping that this protest movement will not only block the hike but also, through this “common battle”, empower students and create a stronger sense of community within Concordia.

“I believe that if we could gather 5,000 Concordia students for November 10, it would have a massive impact and be a huge accomplishment towards a stronger school spirit at Concordia,” said Walcott.

CAMPUS

Tentative FASA budget approved at council Alyssa Tremblay Assistant news editor

The Fine Arts Student Alliance approved their tentative budget for the year at its first council meeting on Oct. 4 after debriefing members on what happened over the summer and outlining their plans for the months ahead.

Many aspects of the budget, such as the total revenue and the budget for operations, were speculative because FASA is still waiting to receive their fee levy funds to take those numbers into account before making the budget public.

FASA budgeted for an increase in the yearly honorariums given to execu-

tive members from $1,500 for each VP and $3,000 for the president to $6,000 per person for the 12-month full-year term.

Sim explained that the objective behind increasing honorariums is to compensate executives for the amount of work they put in and to entice skilled people to apply for positions within FASA. According to FASA’s VP finance Evans Adrian, the Arts and Science Federation of Associations’ executives receive a total honorarium of $1,500 for the year, with the potential for bonuses based on their performance voted in by council. The Commerce and Administration Student Association reports

that honorariums are $2,000 per year for the president and $1,000 for vicepresidents.

FASA intially projected a $700 deficit, but has since adjusted their budget to take those numbers into account.

The now inconsequential deficit had originally been attributed to additional moving expenses. FASA spent much of the summer moving their offices from the fifth floor of the EV building.

“We’re now in the basement of the VA [building],” said FASA president Paisley Sim. “Our space is great.”

FASA plans to get creative in terms of funding this year by seeking sponsorships to pay for their events, as well as applying for grants.

“There are all these funding bodies that we’ve never really tapped into,” said Sim, citing the Department of Fine Arts and the Concordia Student Union as potential sources of money. This year’s Fine Arts orientation was partly paid through a COI grant from Concordia Counselling and Development.

Two motions regarding the formation of a judicial committee in charge of dealing with any conflicts within council, and a committee to address changes to FASA’s policy documents, were stalled due to a lack of students at large required in order for the committees to function. FASA plans to advertise these open positions to the student body.

GOVERNMENT

Labour minister tries to revamp construction hiring Unions protest Thériault’s decision Sarah Deshaies Chief copy editor Quebec’s Labour Minister Lise Thériault has proposed a law to fight against the abuse and intimidation construction workers, but construction unions are opposing it.

Bill 33, which was introduced to the National Assembly Oct. 6, will take away the unions’ power to decide the number of workers assigned to construction projects, and which of their members go to each project. Instead, unions will have to hand their decisions to the Quebec Construction Commission.

“The law has not been changed

in decades,” said Thériault the day of the bill’s introduction. “What we’re proposing will mark a new era in labour relations in the construction industry.”

The plan is part of a larger cleanup in Quebec construction, Thériault said, pointing to ongoing accusations of collusion and corruption in the industry.

The minister chaired a closed-door working group that produced a report last September on the construction industry. Quoting the report’s findings, she said unions’ assigning of workers reflects negatively on the industry’s image and that workers’ and employers’ rights were infringed upon during the hiring process.

Construction unions were quick to oppose the proposed laws. Two groups that represent the majority of construction workers in the province, the Conseil provincial de la construction and the

construction division of Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec, have already launched an advertising campaign against the legislation, calling Thériault’s report “partisan and discriminatory” and biased towards employers over their workers. They claimed the law would be expensive and complicated.

Yves Ouellet, director-general of FTQ-Construction, said he’d prefer that the province launch a public inquiry into allegations of corruption and collusion in the construction industry rather than mount a diversion. “Instead of talking about the real problems in the industry, they’ve decided to mount a fake issue to distract the population,” he reiterated.

He added that the province failed to impose labour laws already in place.

Talking about the initial report, he said that “in the beginning, it was supposed

to come to the aid of workers, but in the end, we’re saying it doesn’t help them at all. On the contrary, it’s going to make things worse for them. It’s an attack.”

Speaking from Barcelona last Friday on a business trip, Premier Jean Charest urged the unions to “accept democracy” and to not do anything illegal in protest of the proposed legislation. The province, he said, would “never allow itself to be intimidated.”

Thériault said the next day that her security has been not been increased since the announcement. QMI Agency reported that Laurent Lessard received death threats when he investigated similar issues as labour minister in the construction industry six years ago; in response, police posted 24-hour surveillance outside his house.

The national assembly will be holding hearings on the bill.

An old German space telescope that’s set to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere around the end of October might land somewhere in Canada. The Canadian Press reported there is a one in 2,000 chance that the ROentgen SATellite (ROSAT) will cause injuries on Earth. The X-ray observatory, which shut down in February, 1999, is the size of a mobile home and weighs 2.4 tons. Up to thirty pieces of the telescope may reach Earth and there is no way to predict where they might fall. Between 10 and 30 uncontrolled satellite re-entries occur annually but few are really big, according to Holger Krag, an expert at the European Space Agency’s space debris centre. There are currently more than 8,000 orbiting objects being tracked in space, seven per cent being operational satellites and the rest debris.

Tighter regulations for sperm donors

The lack of regulation for sperm donors in the United States and Canada is cause for worry according to some experts. While the international norm is that 20 children can be born from a single donor, there are no laws in the United States or Canada that limit that number. According to the Gazette, specialists are warning that relying on one donor increases the risk of transmitting genetic malformations and involuntary incest between half-siblings.

Most sperm banks self-regulate, but rules are not always respected. Juliet Guichon, a professor of bioethics at the University of Calgary, suggested that donor anonymity be abolished, and pointed out that Canada does not have accurate data on the number of donor children in the country.

Suspicious packages left unchecked

Customs workers are saying they are short staffed, the consequence of which being that international mail containing drugs, child porn or parts for weapons are potentially getting into Canada without checks by border officers. QMI Agency reported that mail arriving in Mississauga, Ont. is not being examined, according to a complaint filed by the officers. Canada Border Services Agency spokesperson Antonella Di Girolamo said that allegations made by CBSA officers were not consistent with their information. Recent checks have found cocaine, heroin, hate propaganda, and weapons parts in different parcels.

Reverse Movember

National rugby star Adam Kleeberger, the Canadian equivalent of Sébastien Chabal in facial hair, plans to shave off his massive beard on Oct. 17 in Victoria, B.C. According to the Vancouver Sun, Kleeberger will go under the razor to benefit both Movember, a month-long event dedicated to raising funds for cancers affecting men, and the Christchurch earthquake relief fund, which will go towards rebuilding the New Zealand city that suffered damage from an earthquake last February. CBC comedian Rick Mercer will do the honours on Oct. 17 for an episode of the Mercer Report.

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theconcordian

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

LECTURE

Fighting against the odds

STEPHEN LEWIS CAME TO CONCORDIA LAST WEDNESDAY EVENING IN AN EFFORT TO SPARK STUDENTS INTO TAKING STRONG, ACTIVE ROLES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER. THE FORMER CANADIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UN AND UN SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA SPOKE ABOUT TAKING CONTROL IN THE FACE OF CANCER, A DISHEARTENING AND OFTEN DEADLY DISEASE, TO AN INTIMATE GATHERING OF PEOPLE IN THE HALL BUILDING. LEWIS’ VISIT TO CONU WAS ONE OF THREE UNIVERSITY STOPS ON THE PEOPLE VS. CANCER SPEAKING TOUR ORGANIZED BY THE CAMPAIGN TO CONTROL CANCER. PHOTOS BY NAVNEET PALL.

Did you know… …that you can apply NOW for the 2011-2012

Undergraduate In-Course Bursary Program!

The online In-Course Bursary application is now available on the MyConcordia Portal.

The Concordia University Foundation, along with various corporations, private individuals, and alumni, contribute funding to the In-Course Bursary program, which is restricted to Undergraduate students in Bachelor’s programs in their second year of studies or higher. All candidates must be in acceptable academic standing with a Last Annual GPA of at least 2.00.

For further information, consult the online In-Course Bursary application which is available through the MyConcordia Portal, or visit the Financial Aid and Awards Office website at http://financialaid.concordia.ca To apply for the Undergraduate In-Course Bursary Program, log on to your MyConcordia Portal account, then follow the Financial > Financial Aid links to the web applications section.

Students already receiving an Entrance Scholarship, Entrance Bursary, In-Course Scholarship, or In-Course Bursary at Concordia University for the 2011-2012 school year are not eligible to apply for the In-Course Bursary program.

Applications will be considered in late November 2011 and candidates will be notified in December by letter.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Sunday October 16 2011 at midnight Apply today! Don’t delay!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian ELECTIONS

Meet your ASFA candidates Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo News editor

BORIS DEGAS CANDIDATE FOR VP EXTERNAL AND

PAUL JERAJIAN CANDIDATE FOR VP EXTERNAL AND SUSTAINABILITY

SUSTAINABILITY

Program and year of study: Fourth-year biochemistry student.

Relevant previous experience: Volunteer for the Concordia Student Union orientation, with the Concordia Alumni team and at Hingston Hall to help students move in.

Ideas he will bring to the table if elected: - Institute a bike co-op. “As a biker, I know a lot of people commute to school with bikes, and we’re lacking somewhere where we can meet people who are interested in biking as well and where we can use tools to repair bikes ourselves without having to pay huge amounts of money to a private shop.”

- Hold “dump and run” events, where during the school year people can drop off unwanted goods and then in September, the goods would be sold with profits going to charity.

- Bring back the Green Week: bring in speakers and organize workshops while involving local farmers and cooks.

Why is he the best person for the job: “I’m a very energetic and outgoing person. I try to be charismatic to get people’s attention and network. I feel like those would be big assets to the job to be able to use my energy and my persona to get things done.”

Program and year of study: Second-year actuarial math and finance student.

Relevant previous experience: An internship this summer at a pharmaceutical company, where he had to work with a marketing manager and deal with external associations.

Ideas he will bring to the table if elected: - As VP sustainability, he would promote more vegan alternatives on campus and raise awareness about veganism.

- On the long term, Jerajian wants to look into putting recycling bins in every class and talk with Chartwells to extend the menu at Concordia.

Why he is the best person for the job: Through his degree and class, he has gained expertise about tuition hikes because his education focuses on insurance, foreshadowing risk, hedging, and investing money.

ALEXIS SUZUKI CANDIDATE FOR VP COMMUNICATIONS & PROMOTIONS

KATIE BRIOUX CANDIDATE FOR VP COMMUNICATIONS & PROMOTIONS Program and year of study: Fourthyear communications specialization student.

Relevant previous experience: Brioux has worked for the Concordian for two years, including one year as graphics editor. “I also have an amateur background in art and visual art [and have] made posters for überculture’s ‘Buy Nothing Day’.”

Ideas she wants to bring to the table: - Revamp the ASFA website as “an open communications platform and bring it more to a discussion level for students.”

- Create vlog news journal for ASFA to let students in on what’s going on at ASFA. Why she is the best person for the job: “I just feel like I can do a really good job and will whole-heartedly dedicate myself to it. I’m already putting off homework and school to campaign!”

SIAN MILL CANDIDATE FOR INDEPENDENT COUNCILLOR

Program and year of study: Fourth-year human environment and urban studies student.

Previous experience: VP internal of the geography undergraduate student society last year.

Why she is the best person for the job: “I’m really dedicated to the position.

I’ve learnt all the relevant bylaws and annexes and I’m learning Robert’s Rules to help council go smoothly as possible.”

What ideas she would like to bring to the table: “I realize that we have to be realistic. I know that the execs and the chair are going to be setting the agenda but in the back of my mind I will be thinking about the member associations and the events they are putting on to better enrich the student lives and help people get involved. So, when I am sitting on council that is the main point I’d like to keep in mind.”

Program and year of study: Third-year English, art history and studio art student.

Related previous experience: Suzuki is currently VP external for Volunteers In Action, a Concordia charity-based group that works with different charities both locally and abroad. “One of my responsibilities on VIA is to create and distribute sponsorship packages, and that’s something that has recently been added to the ASFA VP communications portfolio, so I think that it would work nicely and it would go hand in hand.”

Ideas she will bring to the table if elected: - Brainstorm options of response to rising tuition. “I think we also need to make other options available for students to voice their opinions and voice their discontent with rising tuition [besides protests].” Suzuki would like to get executives from different associations to brainstorm about other ways students can voice their discontent.

Why she is the best person for the job: “I’m coming from an artistic perspective, and I’d really like to try to be innovative in the position if elected [...] art is about so many different things in so many different ways and I think that that enables people to communicate to different people in different ways.”

YASMEEN ZAHAR / CANDIDATE FOR INDEPENDENT COUNCILLOR Program and year of study: Secondyear environmental science student.

Relevant previous experience: While new to student politics, as an environmental science major she is passionate about sustainability.

Why she is the best person for the job: She says she is passionate about the job and very personable. As such, she would voice students’ concerns at council and hold the executive accountable to make sure they are doing the best they can for students.

Ideas she would like to bring to the table: Zahar would be interested in working on the sustainability committee to hold events and increase awareness about sustainability. “As an international student, I was [also] hoping to address concerns that international students have - could be on tuition, could be on anything else that they would want voiced there.” Zahar would also like to get more international students involved around school to make them feel more comfortable.

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World in brief Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo

Chilean students prepare to strike

Students in Chile are preparing for a two day strike after talks with the government about education reform broke down, according to the BBC. The general strike on Oct. 18 and 19 is the latest development in five months of boycotts and demonstrations demanding free education. A poll organized by a teachers’ union showed that the majority of the million Chileans who took part are in favour of the students’ demands. Student leader Camila Vallejo blamed the government for the breakdown in talks last week. President Sebastian Pinera has said he would allow some reform and about $4 billion in extra funding but student leaders want major changes to be made to the country’s education system which was set up during the rule of Augusto Pinochet from 1973 to 1990.

Lap dance to put yourself through college

An executive for a U.K. lap dancing company has suggested female students strapped for cash should strip to meet their financial needs, a comment that has the National Union of Students up in arms. According to the Scottish Daily Record, Spearmint Rhino U.K. vice-president John Specht said that students struggling to pay for rising tuition fees can work in the clubs and make the money they need. A Sheffield law student has also admitted that she dances at a Spearmint Rhino club to pay for her law degree. She intends to become a corporate lawyer. Estelle Hart, the NUS’ women’s officer, blamed government cuts to education for pushing female students to turn towards the job.

Listen to your mothers, kids A Connecticut teenager was charged with disorderly conduct on Sunday after his mother called police to report him for his confrontational attitude and for refusing to clean the house.

The Stamford Advocate reported that when 18-year-old Luis Perez started swearing and yelling, his mother called police, who found Perez in his room on his cellphone without pants and refusing to come out. His mother told police she wanted him out of the house. Perez, who continued to yell throughout the police intervention, was placed under arrest and threatened to call his lawyer. He later asked police to be given a second chance while being escorted out of the house.

Utah Undie Run breaks world record

Residents of Salt Lake City, Utah took to the streets in their underwear on Sept.

24 in protest of the state’s conservative politics. The event drew 2,270 people according to the Salt Lake Tribune, setting a new world record. Participants ran the five mile course to show support for causes like gay marriage and to express their frustration with the state’s conservative stance on issues like liquor laws. The previous Guinness World Record for “largest gathering of people wearing only underpants or knickers” was set last year in the U.K. by a gathering that attracted 550 pant-less people.

life 6

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Write to the editor: life@theconcordian.com HEALTH

Spread the word: you are the cure Be informed, better your lifestyle and help prevent breast cancer Dominique Daoust Contributor

“

“I was diagnosed with breast cancer on November 25, 2010, a date that I will never forget, following a routine mammogram.”

Gail-Ann Smith’s story, shared during the CIBC Run for the Cure on Oct. 2, echoes what 6, 200 women have gone through in Quebec alone this year.

These days, women’s cancers are openly discussed and the world is taking notice.

Also, with the progress of treatments and the awareness that is taking place, the mortality rate is the lowest it has been since 1950.

“When I was a teenager, the word ‘cancer’ was terrifying,” said Gloria Smith, Gail-Ann’s sister. “I also remember how chemotherapy was horrible. Patients would be deathly ill from the treatments. Today, there are different medications that lessen the side effects of chemo and make treatments more manageable. It allows the patients to have a better quality of life.”

Since its inception in 1994, the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation, a non-profit organization, has awarded more than twenty million dollars to research projects and support programs in Quebec’s medical community.

Contributions like this lead to more variety in treatments, catering to each patient’s specific needs.

“It was confirmed that I would most probably need chemotherapy, to be confirmed by an oncologist, as well as radiation therapy which is protocol for all breast cancer patients,” said Gail-Ann. “Years ago, the breast was most commonly removed, called a mastectomy, but now it is only removed if the recurrence (possibility of the cancer coming back) rate is high.”

The effort to spread the word about breast cancer is heard throughout the world. Here in Quebec, in collaboration with the breast cancer foundation, the CIBC Run for the Cure held its 15th annual run in Maisonneuve Park on Oct. 2 and simultaneously in Quebec City and Sherbrooke.

According to information provided by a press release last year, the run (which is the largest national fundraising event organized by volunteers) included nearly 30,000 Quebecers, who helped raise a total of $2.6 million. The other editions of the run in the rest of the country were also a success, raising $33 million in 60 communities.

Fundraisers like this play a great role in research funding. Until science finds a way to eradicate cancer, these organisations will continue to fund services and research for better therapies. The five-year survival rate for breast cancer is now at 88 per cent.

The percentage would never have risen this high if female cancers had remained a taboo subject.

Thankfully the future looks bright for breast cancer patients, due to endless support groups, extensive research and events that draw awareness to the disease. However, it is up to each person to take the initiative and

Graphic by Carlo Tudino

actively lower their risk of breast cancer by taking certain precautions.

“Cancer is an ongoing disease that we learn to live with every day. We have to make changes in all aspects of our lives, be it our eating habits, physical activity, stress management, and we must listen to our bodies,” said Gail-Ann. “We have to always stay positive and live every day to its fullest.”

“

It is important to look towards the future.

Although there is no cure yet, by following a healthy diet, getting regular mammogram checks and not smoking, we can all take steps towards reducing the statistics of moms, sisters and daughters who fall victim to breast cancer. Being aware of the risks and one’s own family history of cancer is crucial in order to catch breast cancer early and stop

it dead in its tracks.

Many people have the impression that it could never happen to them, and do not budge until it is too late. Cancer does not discriminate, it does not choose certain types of people. We are all vulnerable and we are all affected by it. Take charge and take the first steps into living a healthier life, for the sake of tomorrow.

Cancer is an ongoing disease that we learn to live with every day. We have to make changes in all aspects of our lives, be it our eating habits, physical activity, stress management, and we must listen to our bodies. We have to always stay positive and live every day to its fullest. - Gail- Ann Smith, breast cancer survivor

OCTOBER IS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

Here are ten useful and possibly life-saving breast health tips from the Ruban Rose website:

1. MAMMOGRAM: Have a mammogram every two years after the age of 50.

2. CLINICAL EXAMS: Go to your doctor once a year for a clinical examination.

3. BREAST OBSERVATION: Listen to your body and be aware of any changes.

4. TOBACCO: Stop using tobacco and avoid second-hand smoke.

5. NUTRITION: Eat healthy. A diet that is low in fat, rich in fibre and well-

PREVENT CANCER

BY CHANGING YOUR DIET

-REDUCE the amount of red meat, eggs, whole milk, and butter in your diet, as these food are all high in saturated fats.

-REPLACE regular vegetable oil for olive oil when cooking.

-ADD nuts and seeds to your diet. You could

exercise a week reduces the risk of breast cancer.

always sprinkle some flax seeds on your morning cereal, which you will barely taste but will do wonders for your health. Or you could always bring nuts to snack on when hungry after class.

7. ALCOHOL: Moderate your alcohol intake.

-LET GO of the junk food. I think McDon-

8. FAMILY HISTORY: Be vigilant. Consult your doctor if there is a history of

ald’s will live without having you as a valuable customer.

balanced with fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of breast cancer.

6. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: Run, walk, move. A minimum of four hours of

breast cancer in your family.

9. WEIGHT: Watch your weight. People who are overweight have a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

10. BALANCED LIFE: Lead a balanced life and avoid stress. Physical and emotional well-being leads to good health.

-EAT lots of fish! It is good to eat fish once or twice a week because it contains omega-3 fatty acids which are good for the heart. So how about replacing your steak and fries with a nice poached salmon with some grilled veggies?

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

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7

FOOD

Le Nil Bleu has got your Ethiopian food fix covered Try the simmered meats and don’t be afraid to eat with your hands William Pelletier Contributor After tiring of eating at one new trendy bistro after the other, I sent myself on a mission. I promised not to waste my money on another boring steak tartar and decided to opt for unusual dining experiences instead. That is why I decided to try out a delightful little Ethiopian restaurant called Le Nil Bleu.

Walking in, I was bitterly surprised by the decor. The restaurant is newly-renovated mixing cream leather sofas with animal print chairs and pillows, a waterfall, a white lacquered piano and African art hanging from the eggshell-coloured walls. Although modern, I was hoping the interior would be more colourful and vibrant. The room, in a hue of whites, simply made the kitsch accessories stand out even more. So far, I didn’t feel too out of place. I had definitely not left the city yet.

Everything changed when the food and drinks started arriving. My friend ordered a Mamayo, an elevated version of a Piña Colada if you will, and fell in love. I had a Soleil Ethiopien which is a mixture of tropical juices. It was absolutely divine and a perfect option for all of you designated drivers. Slowly, we were forgetting that we were in Montreal.

The culture shock really hit when the waitress arrived with warm damp cloths. That is when I noticed that we had no napkins. Did

CRAVING SOMETHING EXOTIC AND DIFFERENT? HEAD TO LE NIL BLEU. PHOTO BY NAVNEET PALL she expect me to place the wet napkin on my lap? We were then informed that we would be eating with our hands and that the towels were there so we could wash them without leaving the table.

Our food then arrived on one big round plate accompanied with rolled up millet crepes. These crepes, made out of seeds produced by African grasses, would be our spongy tools with which we would eat. We had ordered a big combo plate, one that included simmered beef, lamb, chicken and lentils. In other words, everything was served in the form of a stew. How the hell were we going to eat this with our bare hands?

I grabbed my first crepe, made a beef stew sandwich and attempted to eat without biting my finger off. The beef stew was decent, although lacking seasoning. We then moved on to the chicken without knowing that there would still be bones. We then gracefully tried to debone this chicken. Trust me when I say we looked like we belonged on a Bravo sitcom rather than a cooking show.

After the chicken incident, we finally got to move on to greater things. The lamb and lentils were delicious and we kept on asking for more. We unfortunately had to stop eating them because it got so spicy due to the overwhelming presence of the cayenne, ginger

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and curcuma spices.

Overall, it is definitely an experience you have to try at least once in your life. I highly recommend their lamb entrées as well as their many vegetarian options which they are renowned for.

Skip the desserts, though; they aren’t very Ethiopian with choices like baklava or tiramisu and will only make your bill that much bigger. However, don’t be afraid to drink up.

Their cocktails are tasty and it will make eating with your hands much more interesting.

Le Nil Bleu is located on 3706 St-Denis and is part of the Kutuma Hotel.

8

theconcordian

Tuesday, October 11, 2011 BAR

Wrestle over tacos and beer at Nacho Libre Step into this Mexican bar and drink under the watchful gaze of the luchadores Mark Della Posta Contributor Just off St-Hubert Plaza in La Petite-Patrie, there exists a taberna in which anyone can truly feel at home called Nacho Libre, a Mexican-themed establishment unlike any other in Montreal.

As I step through the entrance way, I am immediately struck by the relaxed atmosphere. The soft orange lighting coupled with the cushioned banquette seating gives me the urge to sit back and enjoy a cigar.

The bar plays a mix of electro, classic rock and alternative, which only adds to the casual vibe.

The decor is eclectic and provides a good deal of conversation fodder. The left wall is adorned with large posters depicting some of Mexico’s finest luchadores. These luchadores come in just about every shape and size, and are dressed in costumes that vary from an ancient Aztec warrior to a giant panda. Hanging above them is a life-size replica of a swordfish wearing a sombrero.

Across from the luchadores, running along the centre of the bar, are of row of high tables with chairs that hang from the ceiling with steel chains. This unique seating arrangement is surprisingly comfortable for couples, but also allows the more childish among us

THE COLOURFUL DECORATIONS AND AUTHENTIC CUISINE ARE SURE TO CHARM GUESTS OF THIS QUIRKY RESTO-BAR ON BEAUBIEN. to swing violently from side to side without regard for those walking by.

The service is very quick to come by my table with a menu. Feeling peckish, I decide to order the house specialty: the tacos.

I indulge in the beef and pork and am not disappointed. Made from scratch, the tacos taste fresh and warm. They are accompanied by a wide array of toppings, from homemade guacamole to chimichurri, and are complemented very cleverly with some fresh cilantro.

The six taco plate is sufficient to satisfy just about any man, while the 12 taco plate is great for larger groups. The tequila selection is rather varied and has something for just about every price point.

Of course, a man with as discerning an eye as mine is bound to find something wrong. The bar’s beer selection, for instance, is rather lacking. The only Mexican beers they have in stock are Dos Equis and Sol, which happen to be two of the more commercial

brands available in just about any supermarket.

Overall, Nacho Libre provides a very enjoyable experience. It’s a great place to bring a date, and there’s plenty of space to go in groups.

Nacho Libre is located at 913 Beaubien St. E., just off St-Hubert. It’s open until 1 a.m. from Monday to Wednesday, and until 3 a.m. from Thursday through Saturday.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

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9

FOOD

The beginner s guide to sushi How to craft the perfect piece of sushi and pick up the lingo Jenna Monney-Lupert Contributor After less than two years of casual consumption of sushi and trying to understand the Japanese menus, all I’ve figured out is this: it’s made one heck of a dent in my wallet. The average cost of sushi in Montreal restaurants ranges from $15-$30 for a simple 12-piece entrée which begs the question: what makes these little bites of heaven so darn expensive?

“It’s all about the price of the ingredients,” said sous-chef Allen Chen from behind the sushi bar of Kaizen on Ste-Catherine Street W. While cleaning an octopus tentacle, he explained that the cost of transporting fresh fish and spices daily from Japan, Mexico and Africa, combined with the ingredient costs, are what determine the sushi’s price.

You know that pasty-green blob that makes your nostrils burn and sets your taste buds ablaze? Many of us novices never finish or even touch the infamous Japanese spice

wasabi, which, believe it or not, costs $60 for a one-foot root. That’s the length of an average celery stick! Makes you think twice about discarding it, huh?

What appeals to me about restaurants like Kaizen is that you can customize your order according to how much you want to spend.

About a dozen of the most common pieces of sushi will set you back about $20-25. If you’re in a splurging mood, grab some friends and order the $85 tasting menu.

“This is Kaizen’s signature seven-course meal, which includes the day’s freshest ingredients,” said Chen, who has been Kaizen’s sous-chef since 2006. “I would recommend this for adventurous people.”

For a less intimidating first experience, Sushi Shop may be the place for you.

“What I like about the Sushi Shop is that all the sushi’s already made, it’s fresh and it’s a healthier alternative than junk food,” said Jonathan Vanderzon, a first-year Concordia engineering student.

This franchise, which counts more than 35 locations around Montreal, is a great option for students who are on the go and not looking to burn holes in their wallets. An average 14-piece combo can set you back about $11.

SUSHI GLOSSARY FOR FIRST-TIMERS Maki: The most popular and traditional sushi roll. There are three sizes: haso-maki (thin), chumaki (medium) and futomaki (large).

California rolls: The best sushi for beginners! It’s impossible not to like these bite-sized hasomakis wrapped in rice and nori, with an avocado, cucumber or crab core.

Tempura: Who said sushi can’t be fried? If you’re tired of eating the same old thing, give your taste buds a treat and indulge in light, crispy-battered sushi.

Gunkan: Although the name doesn’t sound very appealing, the presentation is enough to make you love it. Gunkan sushi is a tiny nori cup filled with rice and topped off with seafood. Be prepared for a mess with this one!

Nigiri-zushi: Feeling adventurous? Try this finger-like block of seasoned rice covered with a slice of shrimp or raw tuna.

Graphic by Katie Brioux

HOMEMADE SUSHI IN 12 STEPS

WHAT YOU’LL NEED: - BAMBOO ROLLING MAT - 3 CUPS JAPANESE RICE - 1/3 CUP RICE VINEGAR - 2 TBSP SUGAR - 1 TBSP SALT - 1 PACK NORI SHEETS (SEAWEED) - SELECTION OF FRESH VEGETABLES, SEAFOOD AND FISH 1. Wash rice in cooking pot until water is almost clear.

2. Drain rice of any excess water and add 3¼ cups of fresh water. Water must cover rice by 1 inch.

3. Bring rice to a boil and cover with lid.

4. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Turn off heat and leave covered for 10 minutes. Don’t lift the lid during last 10 minutes because rice is still cooking.

6. Heat rice vinegar, sugar and salt in separate pan until dissolved. Remove from heat.

7. When rice is done, put in large bowl and slowly add vinegar mixture. You want to put your rice near an open window so the steam leaves the rice.

8. Fold vinegar mixture into rice with wooden spoon. Don’t squish your rice; it’ll become mush.

9. Cut 1 sheet of nori in half with scissors and place one-half horizontally on bamboo mat and add rice with hands. Leave a half-inch of nori bare.

10. Add thin strips of veggies, seafood and fish.

11. Holding mat with both hands, roll the bottom end over the filling and gently compress evenly across entire roll. Continue until the bare nori seals itself. If it doesn’t seal, use some water.

12. Cut roll into even pieces and they’re ready to serve.

EXERCISE

Getting tough on extra pounds - military style Shed stubborn weight with a boot camp workout at Énergie Cardio Melissa Tagliamonti Contributor Have you ever stood in front of the mirror and criticized certain parts of your body, longing for the perfect abs, the most toned legs and the ultimate physique that will have people drooling in envy? The key ingredient to achieving that comes in only two words: military cardio.

When most of us hear the words military cardio, we tend to think of painfully intense army workouts. But this cardiovascular exercise is probably one of the best ways to lose weight while also having fun. Had a hard day at the office? Don’t sit back and unwind, but rather, liberate your tension by getting your muscles pumping and letting the juices flow.

Military cardio, also known as “boot camp,” is doable for fitness devotees of all ages. It works every muscle in your body with the use of plenty of leg work, pelvis raises, squats and side lunges while integrating pushups, jumping jacks, and sit-ups.

Although most of us might not want to admit it, the main thing we all want to know while exercising is how many calories we’d be burning in the process. The loss of calories can vary depending on a person’s age, weight, how much energy they put into the workout, and of course, how motivated they are. Military cardio encourages people to alternate rapidly between movements, allowing calories and fat to burn faster, possibly even up to a thousand calories

a day.

Annalisa Ferrara, a certified military cardio trainer at Énergie Cardio, strongly believes that this type of training offers the quickest results when it comes to burning calories and getting in shape. “My classes last one hour and I do not accept any breaks in between. My job as a trainer is to motivate people to push beyond their limitations, whether it’s to lose a few pounds or simply to maintain a healthier lifestyle.”

Music and setting have a large impact on performance as well. “What I love about the cardio military classes is that it can be done in any setting at any time. All you need is the right motivation, a water bottle and some uplifting music,” said Cynthia Alfonsi, a Concordia student who attends military cardio classes on a weekly basis. In other words, the focus is on the discipline and motivation provided by the trainers so you don’t cheat or take baby steps.

This popular aerobic exercise has positive affects not only on the body, but on the mind as well.

“I see progress with my clients everyday not only physically but mentally,” said Ferrara.

“Not only do they exercise more but their eating habits have changed drastically. People want to maximize their own potential and surpass them once reached. Some of them have even quit smoking!”

Evidently, just like there are advantages to these workouts, there are disadvantages also.

Military boot camp is not recommended for those who suffer high or low blood pressure or those who are pregnant. Trainers suggest that their clients not attend classes more than twice

Graphic by Valerie Brunet

a week as a way of allowing their bodies to get into the pace of things.

Military cardio can alienate itself from other aerobics such as hot yoga for instance, because it focuses on numerous aspects of the body, allowing you to work your upper and lower biceps and triceps, upper and lower back, as well as your chest and quadriceps.

The main objective is to gain muscle mass and strength as well as resistance.

“It was tough for me to get used to the workouts at the beginning, but the overall result is definitely worth it. Once class ends, you feel a sense of accomplishment,” said Alfonsi.

One should also focus on reorganizing their diet by eating smaller portions six times a day

which include lots of protein and vegetables as well as water. Not only does this type of workout help you obtain a healthier lifestyle, it also helps increase stamina, and for couples, we all know what a little stamina can do, right?

A membership at Énergie Cardio gives you access to the military cardio class, but you don’t have to be a member to sign up.

Student cost with gym membership: $323 for six months.

Student cost without membership: $153 per semester.

Classes vary at each Énergie Cardio gym; to find a location, head to www.energiecardio. com.

arts 10

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Write to the editor: arts@theconcordian.com

CINEMA POLITICA

A crook in shining armor Documentary traces Italian prime minister’s manipulation of natural disaster for own gain Brandon Judd Staff writer In 2009, the Italian town of L’Aquila was hit by a devastating earthquake. Though only 5.8 on the Richter scale, it ravaged the town’s Renaissance-era buildings and claimed more than 300 lives.

In the months following the disaster, the Italian press showed Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi making repeated visits in his ostensibly noble effort to rebuild the town. But all was not as it seemed.

Celebrated Italian satirist and actress Sabina Guzzanti sets out to subvert the dominant media depiction of this period in Draquila: L’Italia che trema. In this intriguing documentary, Guzzanti paints a convincing portrait of corruption and opportunism in the government’s handling of the situation.

Berlusconi, much-maligned for being ham-fisted and with a propensity for seedy sexual endeavours, appears a clown in the carnivalesque proceedings. It seems at first the image conjured in the Western press is accurate: a silly man who falls prey to his lusts who is, at worst, incompetent.

If Berlusconi lives up to his nickname, Il Cavaliere (the knight), it’s in the Quixotic rather than the Arthurian sense. Draquila shows that while this characterization is accurate, it’s incomplete: Berlusconi is seen as a dangerous man actively subverting the rule of law.

Much of the film deals with the way he has used the Protezione Civile, the government body that deals with the prevention and management of exceptional events, as a legal loophole through which to award inflated, no-bid construction contracts to his cohorts.

The wanton disregard for the law and the use of the Protezione Civile for personal gain evokes the infamous “emergency laws” of Egypt and Syria. His Italy, despite being a developed first-world country, seems to lack the rule of law inherent to democracy.

To address how Berlusconi obscures this, Guzzanti shows his use of the media storm surrounding the earthquake’s fallout to preen his public image. By stitching together the press coverage of the prime minister’s frequent visits to L’Aquila after the disaster, the film deftly criticizes the media glorification of Berlusconi. To substantiate this, interviews with everyday residents of L’Aquila show the results of the near-propaganda: misplaced devotion in Berlusconi and, ironically, a distrust in the media’s supposedly negative coverage of him.

Draquila is referred to in press releases as a satire, and this is an accurate label insofar as the film’s subjects are ridiculed. But unlike most satire, direct critique from Guzzanti is sparse.

Her presence is ubiquitous in the film, but it remains mostly detached and emotionless. She simply lets Il Cavaliere and his squires lampoon themselves with the aggregate absurdity of their words and deeds.

And it succeeds brilliantly: viewers can’t help but laugh in that uncomfortable, disbelieving way they would reading about corporate manipulation or election fraud.

The film makes sure to remind viewers

that tragedies underpin the story. It is framed by segments of frantic, on-the-ground footage from the actual disaster and anecdotal interviews to accompany the distressing images. This adds greatly to the film’s effectiveness: it draws you in from the start and, after an hour punctuated by the absurd humour of Berlusconi’s government, contextualizes the satire to ensure audiences don’t forget the authoritarian qualities of Italy’s current government.

Most frightening among these are Berlusconi’s attempts to make action against his government illegal. He passed a law protecting himself and his ministers from legal action, and made protesting a crime punishable by up to five years in prison. These are the kinds of systematic law-subverting actions usually taken by burgeoning dictators, like Hugo Chávez in Venezuela.

As much as it may be funny, Draquila is a warning best summed up by its final quote: “The great illusion [in Italy is] that what is empty and phony cannot last. That’s not true: it can last.”

Suffice to say, the chances of Berlusconi’s government lasting are much weaker with subversive films like Guzzanti’s around.

Draquila: L’Italia che trema is being presented by Cinema Politica on Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. in H-110. For more information, visit www.cinemapolitica. org/concordia.

Graphic by Sean Kershaw

LITERATURE

Roddy Doyle brings the spirit of Dublin to Concordia Author reflects on three decades of documenting life in the Irish capital Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo News editor

W

hile the world struggles to stave off recession and Ireland tries to strengthen a weak economy, author Roddy Doyle continues to remind the world of what has been the reality of the Dublin working class for the past three decades.

Doyle first emerged as a novelist writing with the voice of the working class when he published the books in the late 1980s and early 1990s that would become The Barrytown Trilogy. Last Friday, 24 years after the release of The Commitments, he stood in front of a full amphitheatre in the MB building on the occasion of the first Writers Read at Concordia series of the year and read from his latest release Bullfighting, a collection of short fiction published in April of this year.

Wearing a black velvet blazer paired

with jeans and thin round glasses framing his face, Doyle read “Animals.” The story focuses on George, a father who, in order to please his children, purchases pet after pet as each one successively meets an unfortunate end. George reflects on those days as he sits in a bar watching his son, now 20, pour him a beer with the skill and precision of a heart surgeon. Out of a job and nearing retirement age, George looks back on a time when he was needed and could provide for his family.

The story went over well with the audience, eliciting periodic bursts of laughter as Doyle delivered lines in a deadpan Irish lilt.

Having drawn on the working class experience in Ireland for his novels and short fiction since the 1980s, Doyle was careful to make a distinction between pre-Celtic Tiger life and present day life in Ireland.

“Back then, we didn’t use the word recession because it seemed like normal life in Ireland – then this money arrived, and this wealth,” Doyle explained. “For most people I think the Celtic Tiger [meant] having a bit of extra money in their pockets, less anxiety, a bigger and a fuller fridge. And that’s gone, or seems to be gone, but my job is basically to make sure that we don’t slip into that lazy

thinking of ‘Oh, it’s back to 1990,’ because it’s not. The circumstances are very different.”

Born in Dublin in 1958, Doyle grew up in Kilbarrack, on the Northside of the city. It was in the 1980s, while he was working as a teacher, that he began writing what would become the Barrytown books.

Since then, he has written ten works of adult fiction and two collections of short fiction, seen the Barrytown books adapted for the big screen, won the Man Booker Prize (in 1993, for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha), and established a creative writing centre in Dublin.

It is unsurprising that Doyle should draw on his personal experience in his creative process, but explained that he maintains his distance between his personal life and his characters when writing.

“It’s very important that when I’m writing it’s about words. It’s not about trying to capture my life and the fact that to a degree the story ’Animals’ was inspired by me looking back on my life as a father,” he said.

“That may be the spark but it is very quickly irrelevant. It’s all about the words. So there’s a coldness about it, and quite rightly a detachment to it.”

DOYLE SPOKE TO A PACKED ROOM ABOUT INFUSING HIS PERSONAL LIFE INTO HIS WORK.

PHOTO BY GINGA TAKESHIMA

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

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11

THEATRE

Taking on tell-tale theatre Montreal dramatization Obsession brings Poe’s creepiest works to life Rebecca Ugolini Staff writer

CONVENTION

“

“The true genius shudders at incompleteness,” said Edgar Allan Poe, “and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be.”

Spiritualist medium Lizzie Doten must have therefore been surprised when Poe paid her a ghostly social call, Shakespeare in tow, to transmit the 1860 sequel to his iconic poem “The Raven.” But perhaps Doten’s dubious authorial claims are merely the symptom of a larger diagnosis: our culture is haunted by Poe’s unforgettable narrative voice.

The fascination with speaking through Poe’s voicebox stretches across the arts— from Bart Simpson as a nasal Raven, to Poe on Mars in Bradbury’s sci-fi short, “The Exiles,” and most recently, to Montrealer Chris Nachaj’s new one-man show Obsession: Tales from Edgar Allan Poe. Comprised of dramatized monologues from three of Poe’s horror shorts, “The Cask of Amontillado,” “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar,” and “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Obsession allows the audience to experience the chilling atmosphere created by Poe’s protagonists, whose narration is often intense, dark, and mired with secrecy.

“This isn’t a reading of Poe, but a dramatization,” said director Christopher Moore of Obsession’s construction, “and you’ll witness the characters’ emotional and psychological breakdowns. We’re leaving Poe’s words as they are, because the stories hold their own, but we’re bringing them to life and giving the audience much more than just words.”

Adapted for the stage by Jim Burke, Obsession’s lightly-edited script seems to reflect Poe’s creepy reverie when he said “I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat.”

THE PLAY BRINGS OUT THE TERROR THAT A WELL-PERFORMED POE PIECE SHOULD EVOKE. “I create a purpose for the character’s actions for myself, as an actor, and the audience can see that,” said Chris Nachaj of

“

“He hates the eye, he really hates the eye, and it makes his blood run cold—but why does he go to the extremes that he does?”

You’re not working off of another person, but feeding off your own energy to get the story told.

- Chris Nachaj, actor

Poe’s protagonists’ often violent or viciously vengeful acts, “but they’ll never know what the ultimate reasoning behind the actions is, because Poe didn’t state it.”

“Take the man from ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’,” Nachaj continued enthusiastically.

Nachaj commented on the experience of working on a one-man production, suggesting a natural affinity between Poe’s narratives and the intense, personal experience of working with his material as solo theatre.

“It’s a different energy than working

Rise of the fandom planet Sci-fi and fantasy con keeps things down to earth Sofia Gay Arts editor

I

t’s hard to find someone who doesn’t hold a torch for a science fiction or fantasy character, be it Spock or Wonder Woman. But how many can really claim to have had a hand in creating a citywide gathering to celebrate their fictional heroes?

Well, the folks who run Con*Cept can.

Started in 1987 by the Montreal Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, the event has grown from its beginnings as a one-day event to a threeday extravaganza of art, film, literature, gaming, and pretty much any other aspect of fandom one can think of.

What sets Con*Cept apart from other events (especially with the inevitable Comiccon comparisons) is its DIY approach, which takes away the impersonality that is usually found at big gatherings.

“Con*Cept is different from conventions like Comiccon in that it is non-profit, first of all, and even more important, fan-run,” said Cathy Palmer-Lister, convention chair and Concordia

CON*CEPT MAKES FANDOM ACCESSIBLE TO ALL SCI-FI AND FANTASY LOVERS. grad. “In our circles, fan-run has certain connotations. At a fan-run convention, you pay a membership fee, not an admission fee. As a member, you have input into how the con is run.”

Palmer-Lister said that all of the programming at Con*Cept comes from their membership. All the suggested program ideas are posted online, and the most popular ones are selected.

“It’s rather like a potluck dinner,” she said.

“The best way to ensure the food and drink you like best appears on the table is to bring it

yourself!”

With such openness to ideas, and the nature of science fiction itself, in that it pushes the limits on one’s imagination and constantly challenges one’s sense of reality, it seems fitting that there have been some proposals more avant-garde than others in the convention’s 22-year history.

“Con*Cept is a science fiction and fantasy convention, so far-out ideas are bread and butter to us,” said Palmer-Lister. “But I do recall a few that raised eyebrows. One was alien sex toys.

with someone else,” Nachaj said, “because you’re not working off of another person, but feeding off your own energy to get the story told.”

Produced at the co-op actor’s space The Freestanding Room, Obsession will take on small groups of about 40 theatre-goers at a time and present no traditional stage break between actor and audience, creating a viewing experience both warm and mysterious.

“The space becomes very small and intimate, so audience members almost have to become part of the show as well,” Nachaj explained, “and while that experience may not work in favour of different, more traditional forms of theatre, for our purposes, it’s perfect.”

Set and lighting design by John Abbott College theatre professor Peter Vatsis heighten and compliment Poe’s already evocative storytelling, crafting a physical space that facilitates Obsession’s dynamic programme.

“Although the physical space is small, the effects create the illusion of places within that space,” said Moore of Obsession’s aesthetic components, explaining the unique appeal created by the play’s fresh yet accurate dramatization of some of literature’s most-beloved works.

Poe has joined the ranks of Shakespeare and Twain in the stereotypical scholastic reader: thrust upon unenthusiastic highschoolers by overworked teachers, an innovative writer like Poe is easily perceived as staid and conventional. Obession does its part to revitalize Poe for the modern, sharp, curious audience.

“It’s a huge undertaking, because Poe’s works are so well-known,” Moore said, “but we’re taking them on — and we’re not intimidated by that.”

Obsession will take place at The Freestanding Room, 4324 St-Laurent Blvd., starting Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. Student tickets are $12. For more information, go to www.freestandingroom.com.

Participants were asked to imagine what sort of toys would appeal to aliens with different anatomies. And there was the member who was convinced that fairies – the ones from The Hollow Hills – walked among us in secret, one of them being Madonna. He was quite serious about it, too.”

Like many of the organizers, Palmer-Lister first got involved with Con*Cept through volunteering. This was after her first convention in 1990, which she attended “on a whim.”

“At the first con I attended I asked the person at the door, ‘Where should I start?’ She sent me to the display room and when I saw the models, I thought, ‘OMG, are all fans expected to be that good?’”

However, ConVirgins (their term, not ours) need not fear feeling out of place. With many events to welcome new attendees, all it takes is an open mind and eagerness to find one’s place in the convention. Before long, they’ll be privy to some things best understood by fans.

“I was in the elevator one year with a Klingon commander and a Japanese tourist.

The tourist couldn’t take his eyes off the Klingon head the commander had sitting on top of all his gear, so the commander told him the rest of the body was in the crate,” recalled Palmer-Lister.

“Might have been coincidence, but [the tourist] got off on the next floor.”

12

theconcordian

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

VISUAL ARTS

CTRLLAB + CLOSES + ITS + DOORS

Sofia Gay Arts editor

AFTER FIVE YEARS, Ctrllab, the go-to arts spot in the Plateau, closed its doors last week with the final show to be presented in the gallery, Mystic Spirals. “I cannot afford to act the charity when I’m not a charity,� lamented Shermine Sawalha, Ctrllab founder and creative director.

She was referring to what made the gallery so unique, which was its goal to help up-and-coming artists in any possible way, offering them an open space to exhibit their works. “We started this company to try to sup-

port emerging artists to give them a chance to show their work without any discrimination towards their work or any judging of what their work is,� Sawalha said, adding that there was no submissions process. Artists who wanted to exhibit just had to rent the space. “The reason we chose that – and we’re not government or publicly funded – is to give people the chance to show their stuff and get grants from the government to produce work,� she continued. “And no one actually does that in the city.�

While the space may be closing, Sawalha still has plans to keep helping artists through other projects. These include a book that will feature all the artists who have shown their

work in the gallery’s history and a Montreal map of galleries and other arts spots to hit around the city.

And of course, as with any ending, there are always the great memories. Sawalha recalled hers: “When people smile – and when they come back again and when they appreciate all the work that we do.�

CTRL/HISTORY/QUICK FACTS

Photos by Camille Nerant

MORE THAN 150 exhibits have been shown, but over 200 artists have shown in the gallery.

THE BACK OFFICE was turned into a residence, where artists from all over the world would live for a month at a time, creating and exhibiting their work in the gallery.

SOME OF THE FESTIVALS it has participated in include Art Matters, Nuit Blanche and JournĂŠes de la culture.

CTRLLAB relied on many hard-working volunteers, and there was no hierarchical structure.

NOUVEAU CINÉMA

Pushed to hate everything and everyone Laurentie is Quebec’s cinematic, existential answer to L’Étranger Sarah Deshaies Chief copy editor Louis DesprÊs is a lanky 28-year-old audiovisual technician living in Montreal. He has a job, a girlfriend and some buddies, but he’s empty and adrift. The only thing that really gets Louis off is sex: going to strip clubs, masturbating to porn at work.

The film’s francophone protagonist (Emmanuel Schwartz) moves into a new apartment in the East end, and almost instantly notices his new neighbour. Jay (Jade HassounÊ) is a young student completely unlike the lanky Louis. He’s outgoing, seems happy, and he’s anglo.

Louis skirts the edge of madness as his life occasionally brushes with Jay’s, leading to a tragic, messy end.

The directors’ fondness of letting the camera slowly roll forever forces us to witness large swathes of Louis’ life, as awkward and naked as they may be. Audiences at Laurentie’s world premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic are reputed to have laughed at the many strange moments, to the dismay of the filmmakers.

The movie conveys scenes likely familiar to Montrealers: kicking down construction pylons in a fit of drunken anger near Placedes-Arts, trying on ill-fitting clothing in an alien American Apparel outlet, staring into

the void while waiting for the metro.

But no matter how much we see, we’re still pretty much shut out from what’s inside Louis’ troubled mind, except for the poems written large on the screen. Louis is reading a collection of Quebecois poetry, and the works of writers like Anne HÊbert and Hubert Acquin enlighten us to his despair.

These poems, coupled with the film’s title, speak to Louis’ nationalism. Laurentie was the romantic name nationalists in the ‘30s and ‘50s hoped to pin on an independent Quebec. And when Louis escapes Montreal, it’s to the green countryside, to visit his pure laine family in a house with the Quebec flag outside, and eat some of his mom’s rhubarb pie.

I’d like to characterize the movie as the province’s cinematic homage to Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialist triumph L’Étranger. But while the film might mirror some themes and the plot, it delves smartly into French Canadians’ fear of the other—anglophones and allophones.

Beneath the sketchily drawn diversity of our province, there is and probably will always be an anglo-franco divide.

Laurentie is far from digestible, homegrown bilingual films like French Immersion and Bon Cop, Bad Cop: it’s self-loathing, critical art house in all its slow-moving, sweaty, upsetting glory.

Laurentie screens at the Festival du Nouveau CinÊma on Oct. 13 at 1 p.m. and Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at CinÊma Parallèle. The 40th edition of the festival runs Oct. 12-23. For more info, hit up www.nouveaucinema.ca.

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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

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13

THEATRE

Get a little closer “Why did you swear eternal love when all you wanted was excitement?”

Elysha Del Giusto Enos Contributor Love and sex can be separate things, and sometimes expectations get tangled along the way, as can be seen in Patrick Marber’s play Closer, presented by Montreal-based Chesterfield Productions.

“Every second of this play there’s tension, there’s something happening, there’s real life drama,” said director Andrew Zadel, who is also the co-founder of Chesterfield Productions. “[...] It’s people living their lives, trying to survive, and having an impact on the other characters. It’s pure drama. It’s all action.”

It was through a combination of Zadel’s enthusiasm for the famous play and the competition for audiences that pushed Chesterfield Productions to present Closer.

Montreal has a notoriously small audience

base for English-language theatre and Zadel decided that they needed to put on a show that would appeal to the mainstream.

“We haven’t done something that’s very obscure or introspective [...] we went with it because it’s something people want to see,” said Zadel. “We are playing to our audience and that comes directly from the fact that it’s a difficult theatre environment to work in.”

Zadel says that companies often forget what theatre is about and focus on things like aesthetics and symbolism instead of the conflict between characters, “That’s why I love Closer,” he explained, “it’s really about the visceral emotions of these people.”

He chose to leave the set design basic and let the raw emotions of the characters draw people in. “I didn’t want the setting to distract from the real human stories that are going on,” he shared. This basic aesthetic highlights the alienation and isolation people feel when they struggle with life’s challenges.

Espace 4001, where the play is being performed, “feels very intimate, even invasive,” and is perfect for the heightened intimacy Zadel can get by staging it in the round—a setup that leaves only a few feet between the actors and their audience.

PATRICK MARBER’S CLOSER FOCUSES ON THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE PLAY’S FOUR CHARACTERS. Many people will remember from the 2004 movie, but seeing the film and experiencing the show in a theatre are two very different things. On top of a different ending, Zadel said that “[with the play] you get to see people living, breathing, and suffering right underneath your noses. [And Hollywood] cleaned up a lot of the inconsistencies with the characters, and some of the

most interesting things got filtered out of the movie.”

Closer is being performed at Espace 4001 (4001 Berri St.) Oct. 12 to 16 and Oct. 18 to 22. All shows begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 for students. For more information, check out www.chesterfield.andrewzadel. com.

THEATRE

Why, how dramatic you are, Grandma Sondheim’s Into the Woods is coming to Concordia Amanda Siino Contributor Concordia’s D.B. Clark Theatre is uncharacteristically filled with music of late - Sondheim music, to be exact. Music Theatre Montreal will present their debut musical, Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods, starting Oct. 13.

The musical focuses on a Baker and his wife who, after being cursed with childlessness by a neighbouring witch, set forth on a quest to get the special objects needed to break the spell, swindling and stealing if necessary.

Into the Woods intertwines the stories of many easily recognizable fairytale characters including Rapunzel, Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood to expose what happens beyond happily ever after and to serve as a lesson about community responsibility.

MTM, founded last spring by Lara Oundjian and Jonathan Keijser, neither of whom are theatre students, chose Into the Woods as its debut musical because of its general appeal to both children and adults. Children will enjoy the fairy-tale setting and adults will enjoy the darker humour and twists in the show.

The play is also a classic Sondheim musical that won several Tony awards for both its original run and its revival production. The show is well timed with Halloween and is sure to inspire some costumes, which are designed by Jillian Caldwell and Claire Stewart.

“They’re whimsical, rustic, cartoony – perfect for this fairy-tale,” said Elizabeth Conway, who plays Little Red Riding Hood.

More than 100 applicants came to audition for the emerging production company last April. The producers were shocked by the amount of interest and talent the project attracted.

“This is for people who want a career in the arts but don’t have the opportunity to study it,” said Kate McGillivray, the show’s

ALTHOUGH THE PLAY HAD TO CHANGE ITS VENUE, THE CREW HAS WORKED HARD TO ENSURE IT PROVIDES A SATIRICAL ACCOUNT OF THE MOST BELOVED FAIRY TALES. publicist.

Most of the 16-member cast is formed of students studying in various fields, but MTM did not exclude non-students or theatre students from auditioning.

“We incorporated a professional mentor program into our company, working with people like Howard Mendelsohn from the Centaur Theatre,” said Oundjian, Into the Woods’ co-producer and production manager.

Fortunately for all Concordia students, the show was moved from McGill’s Moyse Hall to

the D.B. Clarke Theatre in the Hall building.

“Because of the MUNACA strike, the school said that for safety and legality issues we couldn’t use the [Moyse] hall,” said Oundijan.

MTM is staying positive despite the setbacks and is making the best of the impromptu move. They had to change the dates of their show and their publicity strategy to get people to a different theatre.

“We’ve been working around the clock to make sure that this [show] happens in the

new space,” said Oundijan.

“Concordia has been so nice to accommodate us, the least we can do is give a good show and I think [this collaboration] could encourage the bridging of the gap between McGill and Concordia,” added Conway.

Into the Woods will be playing from Oct. 1315 and 19-21 at 7:30 p.m. at the D.B. Clarke Theatre. Student tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the door or online at www. musictheatremontreal.com.

music 14

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Write to the editor: music@theconcordian.com

FESTIVAL

Open wide and say ska!

Montreal Ska Festival mixes big name bands with local talent Rob Flis Staff writer An awesome lineup of bands from around the world will descend on Montreal on Oct. 13, 14, and 15 for Montreal Ska Fest 2011. Some of them have had a major impact on this historic genre.

“Its true birth was in the late ‘50s in Jamaica,” says Montreal Ska Fest spokesperson Lorraine Muller. “Musicians mixed the local folk music, ‘Mento,’ with the R&B they were hearing on the radio from the States. This music became the pop music of the ‘60s and people attended large community dances to live bands playing the style. Now the style has been melded with so many varied flavours that it’s hard to pin down what ‘ska’ is.”

As difficult as it is to define ska musically, it’s equally challenging to label the multi-faceted culture surrounding it.

“To some people, ska culture simply represents unity,” explains Muller. “Ska became popular with working-class kids in England in the ‘70s and was a way of rebelling against prejudice or racial tension in the working-class neighbourhoods. To others, it represents a fashion, or a look with which they can identify.

To many, it represents both.”

This spirit of unity is exactly what the Montreal Ska Society is trying to promote through the MSF. With tickets for the biggest shows selling for less than $20 in advance, the experience is accessible to virtually everyone willing to embrace it. A whopping five bands per night is definitely something worth cherishing.

A large portion of the talent that will be featured over the course of these three nights is local.

“Once a year, instead of playing at small

CHECK OUT VOLUNTEER-RUN MONTREAL SKA FEST THIS YEAR FROM OCT. 13-15 AT A VARIETY OF VENUES AROUND MONTREAL. venues, we give bands the opportunity to share the stage with major international acts, legendary performers,” says Muller. “The goal is to attract people from different backgrounds by having a wide variety of ska-based acts, and hopefully get people to discover one of our local bands. By keeping our ticket prices as low as possible, we hope to catch the eyes of passersby and invite them to come and find out what the buzz is all about.”

And the buzz is huge, as some of the world’s premier ska bands will be taking the stage. Jamaican band, The Skatalites, who Muller credits for “almost single-handedly creating the style” will be taking the stage at Club Soda (1225 St-Laurent) on Friday night. NYC’s The Toasters will also be celebrating their 30th anniversary at Club Soda on Saturday. And that’s just a taste of the talent coming from out of town.

“Mingled among the great bands playing this year are Mr. T-Bone (Italy) coming for the first time to Montreal, Eastern Standard Time (Washington, D.C.) who haven’t been here in over a decade, and Void Union (Boston) whom we’re [also] sharing with Montrealers for the first time,” says Muller. “Not to mention many local acts and bands from Winnipeg and Toronto.”

All this is undoubtedly very exciting for ska fans, but if you’re new to ska music and looking to get your feet wet, a good place to start would be Petit Campus (57 Prince Arthur E.) on Thursday night, where you can get a small live taste with The Fabulous Lolo and The Thundermonks, starting at 10:30 p.m. for only $5.

Check out montrealskafestival.ca for details and program listings.

THURSDAY, OCT. 13 The Aggrolites and Roots of Creation Café Campus - 57 Prince-Arthur E. The Fabulous Lolo and The Thundermonks Petit Campus - 57 Prince-Arthur E.

FRIDAY, OCT. 14 The Skatalites, Mr. T-Bone, Danny Rebel & The KGB, Eastern Standard Time, and The Ska-Mones Club Soda - 1225 St-Laurent Free afterparty with music by The Harmonauts L’Absynthe - 1738 St-Denis

SATURDAY, OCT. 15 The Toasters, The Void Union, The Hangers, The Afterbeat, and Reggae Dubline Corporation Club Soda - 1225 St-Laurent Free afterparty with music by The Skinny L’Absynthe - 1738 St-Denis

FESTIVAL

M for Montreal reveals 2011 lineup More showcases, venues and delegates to flood Montreal for sixth edition Katelyn Spidle Staff writer This year, M for Montreal boasts 30 bands, as well as more showcases, all taking place at eight different venues in the heart of Montreal. The festival is happening from Nov.1619 and is meant “to be a tool of exportation and of career development” for bands, according to co-founder Sébastien Nasra.

In the spirit of exportation and career development, they are also welcoming up to 125 festival programmers, label representatives and journalists from 15 countries across four continents. And for the first time, Montreal will play host to delegates from Argentina, Mexico, Norway, Portugal and

Sweden.

“It’s really fun to see how things have evolved,” said Nasra.

Earlier this year, Nasra, along with fellow co-founder and British festival programmer Martin Elbourne, formed a partnership with French music festival Les Inrocks, which will showcase Concrete Knives, AaRON and Anoraak at Petit Campus on Wednesday, Nov. 16 starting at 9:30 p.m. Between sets, UK festival The Great Escape will stage a showcase upstairs at Café Campus with special guests who, for now, remain top secret.

For its second year, the Iceland Airwaves music festival will bring Iceland’s best across the ocean and into Casa Del Popolo on Nov. 17 for a showcase that will feature For A Minor Reflection and Of Monsters and Men. While across the street at La Sala Rossa, SXSW will take hold of the stage to present Young Empires, Absolutely Free, Daniel Isaiah and Cadence Weapon.

Friday will take you back to Café Campus for a showcase by Toronto’s CMW featuring Half Moon Run, Buddy Mcneil & The Magic Mirrors and Midway State.

Later that night, starting at 8:30 p.m., NYC’s CMJ will present its first-ever M showcase featuring Uncle Bad Touch, Parlovr, Hollerado, Doldrums and D’eon at La Sala Rossa and Casa Del Popolo.

The Friday night party continues for what is called “M for Midnight,” a series of after-hours showcases that will take place at L’Escogriffe (4467a St-Denis), Quai des Brumes (4481 St-Denis), Salon Officiel (351 Roy E.) and Club Soda (1225 St-Laurent).

Head to Club Soda on Friday night for a showcase presented by Rubis Varia featuring Plaster, Misteur Valaire and Bran Van 3000.

This year’s Franco-M Selection includes Alexandre Desilets, Alfa Rococo, Alaclair Ensemble, Jimmy Hunt, Peter Peter, Karim

Ouellet, Fanny Bloom and Canailles. The showcase will start at 2 p.m. on Nov. 19 at Café Campus.

Two very special showcases, presented

by Blue Skies Turn Black and Osheaga, will wrap up the festival’s sixth edition. Head to Metropolis (59 Ste-Catherine E.) for Random Recipe, Marie-Pierre Arthur, Karkwa and another surprise guest who will play from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Afterwards, check out M’s concluding performance at the SAT (1201 St-Laurent), featuring M83.

Ambitious concert-goers who are low on cash and have plenty of time on their hands should totally consider getting a public pass.

It gives you access to all showcases, including M for Midnight and M for Metropolis, for $58 taxes included.

Buy passes, tickets and read more information at www.mformontreal.com.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian

15

MIXTAPE

WITH MID-OCTOBER ALREADY UPON US, many new and returning Con-

cordia students are still adjusting to life in the big city. From the hustle and bustle of the big metro stations, to almost getting hit by cars crossing between the Hall and LB buildings, this city can be a very intimidating and hazardous place.

That being said, a city such as Montreal presents certain opportunities and amenities that are inaccessible in a smaller setting.

But there are also times when one has to get out into the open country. From open fires, to leashless dogs, to much easier public drinking, being outside an urban centre has a number of advantages.

To reflect on the joys and troubles of both city and rural living, here are some songs that evoke the feeling of both the country and the city, as well as two songs about the highways which create a bridge between urban and rural.

Listen here: 8tracks.com/the_concordian/country_vs_city

Country vs.

Urban Compiled by Alex Woznica Staff writer

SIDE A: The Country

SIDE B: The City

1. “Are You Ready for the Country?” Neil Young - Harvest 2. “Country Pie” - Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline 3. “Green River” – Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River 4. “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” - The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo 5. “Going up the Country” - Canned Heat - Living the Blues 6. “Lonesome Valley” - Kitty Wells - Dust on the Bible 7. “Lonesome Cowboy Bill” – The Velvet Underground - Loaded 8. “Lazy Days” - The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo 9. “Country Honk” – The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed 10. “Motorway” - The Kinks - Everybody’s in Show-Biz

11. “Route 66” – The Rolling Stones England’s Newest Hit Makers 12. “I Love Living” - The Reatards Teenage Hate 13. “City Kids” - Motorhead - On Parole 14. “Eyesore City” - The Spits - The Spits IV 15. “Living in the City” - The Boys The Boys s/t 16. “Murder City Nights” - Radio Birdman - Radios Appear 17. “Trapped in the City” - Bad Times - Bad Times s/t 18. “Inter-City Kitty” - The Monks Bad Habits 19. “Big City” - Dead Boys - We Have Come for Your Children 20. “I Wanna Get a Job in the City” The Kids - The Kids s/t

Quick Spins

Retro review

Feist - Metals (Cherrytree/ Interscope; 2011)

Ohbijou - Metal Meets (Last Gang; 2011)

Bruce Peninsula – Open Flames (Hand Drawn Dracula; 2011)

R.E.M. - Murmur (I.R.S. Records; 1983)

Feist manages to marry indie and pop in a way that hipsters don’t feel like they’re selling out, and top 40 fans feel like they’re getting the best of the indie scene. But she pushes Metals further into experimental folk than previous hits like “1234.” Using the kick drum with obvious enjoyment to stomp out an in-your-face beat, “Undiscovered First” has attitude and is about as loud as Metals gets.

In contrast, “Cicadas and Gulls” is an underrated star with its slow, meandering acoustic riff that makes for a beautifully pensive track. Nature is a strong theme throughout the album that ties it all together to give us anthems for long bus rides home and late night campfires. The only drawback is the lack of a standout track, making each song blend into the other with little distinction. Metals is all about the growth of Feist as an artist.

After a brief hiatus, baroque-pop ensemble Ohbijou return with their third studio album, Metal Meets. Recorded at Breakglass Studios in Montreal under the enchantment of the “wizard of sound,” The Besnard Lakes’ Jace Lasek, this record benefits from a maturity and focus that were lacking from the band’s previous releases.

Audio effects and grandiose soundscapes lend an almost ethereal quality to frontwoman Casey Mecija’s delicately innocent vocals.

Lyrically, “Balikbayan” explores migration and Mecija’s family’s history in the Philippines, an inspiration that, until now, has remained untouched by the band. Metal Meets is a beautiful album, full of lush melodic moments and an overall thoughtfulness that is sure to land it on many top ten lists.

Like 2009’s A Mountain Is a Mouth, Bruce Peninsula’s long-awaited second album, Open Flames, speaks to genres long forgotten, like the hearty gospel choirs and porch-dwelling folk-blues southern artists of the ‘30s. Songs like “Warden,” lead by the deep, rustic vocals of Misha Bower, seem to begin in another decade and end somewhere in the contemporary, albeit niche, indie scene.

Although typically known as having a very old-fashioned feel to their music, listeners will be delighted to hear Bruce Peninsula’s strong influence of world music beats, guitar riffs and backing vocal techniques. Lyrically, the songs are contemplative and often suggestive of an ongoing struggle or challenge. However, most songs can be equally interpreted as having a clear uplifting edge, like the immediately accessible “In Your Light.”

R.E.M., after 31 years of awards, peaks and gutters, called it quits on Sept. 21, 2011. Go back to April 13, 1983 and check out their first EP Murmur. Ranked 197 on Rolling Stone’s top 500 albums of all time, Murmur does not blast at you, it does not shock you but, if you are wise and discerning, it will find you. “A perfect circle of acquaintances and friends,” Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry found the style that would exemplify R.E.M. in this record. The abstract, cryptic lyrics, twangy Rickenbacker guitar, melody, poetry, ballads, politics and storytelling that return again and again in R.E.M.’s many albums are all seeds in this album. Track six, “Perfect Circle,” is an apt metaphor for the band’s arc. R.E.M. started off humbly, built carefully, got huge, and then retreated to a dignified, low-key end; the perfect circle. “Heaven assumed, shoulders high in the room,” Murmur introduced R.E.M. to the world.

Trial track: “How Come You Never Go There”

Trial track: “Turquoise Lake”

Trial track: “Adrenaline”

Trial track: “Perfect Circle”

7.5/10

7.5/10

- Lindsay Rempel

- Paul Traunero

9.0/10

- Katelyn Spidle

- Daniel J. Rowe

16

Tuesday, October 11, 2011 REVIEW

theconcordian

Man down: Battles’ refined lineup takes stage in Montreal Andrew Guilbert Staff writer

In the aeroplane over Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street protesters got a special treat last week when Jeff Mangum, former frontman for beloved ‘90s indie band Neutral Milk Hotel, showed up at Zuccotti Park for a surprise performance and free hugs.

Mangum played some of his band’s most beloved hits such as “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea,” “King of Carrot Flowers,” and “Oh Comely,” much to the joy of the protesters.

“Of course I support [Occupy Wall Street],” said the frontman of the weeks-long protest.

“This is just something small I can do.” Talk of a surprise show was heard throughout the day, with Radiohead being the other suspected candidate. “I never believed the rumour about Radiohead, Neutral Milk Hotel is a little more conceivable, but I didn’t believe this either until I saw it,” said 20year-old Hannah Mohan, who heard Mangum’s set. “And this rumour first came from the info booth, which is a pretty reliable source.”

Think you could beat it?

In case you wanted to give Michael Jackson even more of your money, Las Vegas has just premiered its latest innovation - an MJ slot machine. Decked out with images of the King of Pop’s sequined glove and dancing shoes, the game comes with four high definition screens that display his music videos and allows the player to place bets.

It even comes with a chair that vibrates to the music. The timing does seem a little suspicious though as the manslaughter trial of Jackson’s former doctor is in the news. Executives at Bally Technologies, the firm who developed the game, say that the timing was accidental.

Method Man sings a song of sour

Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man’s latest release is a song destined to go in the “WTF?” pile because it’s all about Cadbury’s Sour Patch Kids. “I’m excited to be collaborating with Sour Patch Kids and telling the story of how they’ve gone all wrong,” said Method Man. “I love the steps that the brand is taking to keep it real and interesting, the whole campaign, and letting Meth be Meth-brilliant.” The song “World Gone Sour (The Lost Kids)” describes what happens to those candy kids who fall “on the wrong side of the snacks” and mirrors the plot line for the upcoming Sour Patch Kids video game “World Gone Sour.”

Are you ready for some politics? Apparently not...

In case you didn’t know, country star Hank Williams Jr. called President Obama and VP Biden “the enemy” and compared the former to Hitler on Fox News two weeks ago. This made Monday Night Football decide to pull Williams’ song “Are you ready for some football?” from last week’s show.

Now his son, country/punk rocker Hank Williams III, says his dad, like most musicians, shouldn’t have even been asked to comment as they are “not worthy” of discussing politics, stating “The only person out there worthy of mixing political views and music is Jello Biafra.”

THREE-QUARTERS OF THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF BATTLES PUT ON THREE-QUARTERS OF A SHOW FOR MONTREALERS AT LE NATIONAL.

After frontman bails, Battles finds inspiration on Gloss Drop tour Mike Beaton Contributor Anticipation filled the air at Le National as fans awaited progressive-rock band Battles to take stage on Oct. 3. The drum kit was front and centre and its only cymbal hung well above the audience, mounted as high as it can go. It is simple but demands attention, as it suspends silently in the dark, a contrast of what was to come.

Formed in 2002, Battles did not release a full-length album until 2007. Mirrored was critically acclaimed and the unique sound of the single “Atlas” attracted a strong fan base.

Despite the success, frontman Tyondai Braxton decided to part ways before the group’s latest effort, Gloss Drop. The remaining three members stormed into Montreal last week to promote the album, showing that Battles is alive and well.

Crowds jumped around to John Stanier’s powerful and in-the-pocket drumming style, whose hard-driving and innovative beats provide a solid foundation for Dave Konopka (guitar and bass) and veteran Ian Williams (guitar and keyboards) from the influential ‘90s rock-fusion band Don Cabal-

lero. Together, they create a unique sonic atmosphere, making extensive use of effects, sound triggers, and loop pedals to build a wall of sound, which spans from being tight and controlled to dissonant and chaotic.

Many songs featured extended soloing over simple backbeats, which grow in intensity then shift into more unified and structured passages.

While most bands quickly crumble after losing a frontman and vocalist, the truth is that Battles’ fundamental sound and appeal has remained consistent. After all, Braxton’s vocals were not intended to be a focal point for the band. His voice was often heavily processed, as it supported and blended in with experimental sounds. In Braxton’s absence,

Battles brought in various guest vocalists to add focus to some songs on Gloss Drop.

During live performances, the band played pre-recorded vocal tracks with the singer projected on screen.

Despite the trio’s overall virtuosity, the night was not without its flaws. Improperly set bass loops and occasional drifting out of unison with the looped melody created tense moments for the crowd. Much of the build-up was too muddled for the average listener and dragged on for too long.

The band’s frustration manifested itself throughout the show but the audience remained loyal, shouting praise all night long.

But when the band locked in and hit those memorable riffs, it was something to behold.

sports

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

17

Write to the editor: sports@theconcordian.com FOOTBALL

Stingers end their slide with Shrine Bowl victory

MATT SCHEURWATER (14) STIFF ARMS AND STINGERS CELEBRATE (RIGHT). PHOTOS BY NAVNEET PALL

Concordia inches another step closer to a playoff berth Stefano Mocella Staff writer The Concordia Stingers ended a two game losing streak on Saturday afternoon, beating crosstown rivals McGill in the 25th edition of the Montreal Shrine Bowl.

The Stingers cruised to a convincing 39-16 over the Redmen. Concordia now has three games remaining and are eyeing a return to the postseason.

Hosted by Concordia for the 13th consecutive year, the Shrine Bowl is a charity football game that benefits the Montreal Shriners Hospital for Children. Coach Gerry McGrath expected the best of his team heading into Saturday’s game. Going in with a 2-3 record, McGrath told his team he expected to win the remaining four games and earn a second place finish.

The Redmen kept the game close in the first half. After Reid Quest threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Kris Bastien in the first quarter to make the score 10-2, the teams exchanged safeties to make it 12-4, before McGill quarterback Ryan Bondy cut the lead to 12-11 with a four-yard touchdown pass to Gabriel Aubry.

Just as it seemed as if McGill would carry that momentum into the second half, the Stingers defence stepped up and snuffed out McGill. On the last play of the half, Max Caron intercepted the ball close to the line of scrimmage and easily returned it 56 yards for the touchdown.

The Stingers would never look back.

Concordia cruised in the second half, but the offence wasn’t the only reason for that. Defensive back and return specialist Kris Robertson looked like Chicago Bears’ star Devin Hester, returning 10 punts for 214 yards, including a 69-yard return for a score.

Robertson has impressed all season and put on a show Saturday.

The Stingers led 29-11 going into the fourth quarter and added ten more points, including Mike Harrington’s 15-yard touchdown pass from Quest. Harrington, who is in his second year, had his “coming out party,” as he put it.

He finished the game with seven receptions for 154 yards and the touchdown.

“I didn’t really do anything differently,” said Harrington. “I just got the opportunities and made the most of it.”

The Stingers’ win led to interesting developments at the quarterback position during the game. Both of the Stingers’ top two quarterbacks saw playing time. Quest finished 13-of-21 for 193 yards and two touchdowns, while Terrance Morsink got playing time as well, with seven completions on 10 passes for 114 yards. Morsink had lost the starting job earlier in the season, but McGrath said the team is taking a new approach at quarterback.

“We have a plan,” said McGrath. “We feel we’re a better team with both quarterbacks playing.”

It appears that Concordia’s new motto is “two is better than one.” A two quarterback system is not unheard of, especially at the collegiate level. The LSU Tigers, the top ranked team in United States college football, successfully implemented a similar strategy. Time will tell whether or not the Stingers can have similar success.

“We both got time, we both played well, so if we can do this by committee, that’s cool,” said Morsink. “As long as the team’s winning, that’s what’s important.”

Quest feels the same way also. “Statistics don’t matter,” he said. “We were successful today, so we’re happy to do what’s required.”

The win was made even more special for Quest, as his family had flown in from Saskatchewan to see the game.

With Laval’s first loss of the season over the weekend to the Montreal Carabins, the Stingers are tied for third place with Montreal at 3-3, both two games behind Sherbrooke and Laval who are tied for first at 5-1.

Concordia steps on the field Saturday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. against the Sherbrooke Vert et Or.

Sports briefs

MEN’S HOCKEY

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey season didn’t begin with an ideal start on the road this weekend against the Windsor Lancers.

The Stingers lost 4-3 in overtime on Friday night and were blown out 9-4 the following day.

On Friday, the Lancers drew first blood early in the first period before Alexandre Monahan answered for the Stingers on a power play later in the period.

The teams exchanged goals in the second period, but Windsor took a 3-2 lead in the third when Mark Thorburn scored at the 4:46 mark of the period.

Trailing 3-2 with under 30 seconds remaining in the game, veteran defenceman Eric Begin scored for the Stingers to send the game in to overtime, guaranteeing Concordia a single point in the standings.

Windsor would not record a shot on goal until the 3:28 mark of overtime, but unfortunately for Concordia, the shot found its way past goalie Nicholas Champion and into the back of the net.

Despite the losing effort, Champion played well, stopping 46 of the 50 shots he faced.

After being outshot 50-37 in the first game the Stingers turned in an even worse effort on Saturday afternoon.

With backup goalie Peter Karvouniaris getting the nod in goal, the Stingers were outshot by a margin of 50-19, and Karvouniaris was left in for all nine Windsor goals.

Already trailing 3-1 after the first period, the Stingers imploded in the second frame.

They were outshot 22-7 in a second period

that featured five Windsor goals and two by the Stingers.

Concordia’s next game is on the road Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. against UQTR.

Windsor

Concordia

4 Sunday 9

3 (OT) 4

Friday

WOMEN’S RUGBY The Concordia Stingers lost for a second time to the Laval Rouge et Or this season, falling by a score of 24-13.

Coming in to the season, Concordia and Laval were deemed the two powerhouses in Quebec, and were expected to challenge for a national title.

However, Laval has beaten Concordia in their only two meetings this season, and at this point the Rouge et Or seem to be the better team.

Laval is now first in the conference at 5-0, while Concordia now sits tied for second place with McGill at 3-2.

If the Stingers wish to control their own destiny and be guaranteed a playoff spot they must win their next game on the road on Oct. 16, against Sherbrooke, who are also battling for a postseason berth.

Laval

24

Concordia

13

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theconcordian

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

BASEBALL

Stingers punch ticket to nationals Concordia defeats McGill 2-1 in best-ofthree playoff series Julian Mei Sports editor The Concordia Stingers will be returning to the CIBA National Championship this season, after defeating the defending champion McGill Redbirds two games to one on Sunday and Monday.

The Stingers have performed better this season than even their manager, Howard Schwartz, could have imagined after losing three starting pitchers from last year’s team.

“I figured we would be 8-8 or 7-9 this season,” said Schwartz, whose team went 13-3 this year. “When you lose three starting pitchers you never think you’re going to be able to come and have this strong of a [season]. We knew we had the best defence in the league, but our pitchers are the reason we are here.”

The Stingers, though, did face a bit of turmoil in the first game of the series.

Sending their ace, Alex Kechayan, to the mound for game one of the series seemed like a safe bet for Concordia. Kechayan had not lost a single game in his entire career at Concordia and had a streak of 29 consecutive scoreless innings going.

Kechayan, though, pitched one of his worst games in a Stingers uniform getting touched up for eight hits and two walks in just 5.1 innings, allowing eight earned runs (nine total) and gave up two home runs.

“I think that brought me down to earth a bit,” said Kechayan. “I don’t know if I was feeling overconfident, but I would always just go out there thinking I needed to get a shutout.”

Kechayan’s shaky start, combined with the Stingers’ batters stranding 15 runners on base, resulted in a 9-3 McGill victory, and put the Stingers on the brink of elimination heading into the second half of the Sunday doubleheader.

“We did everything wrong,” said Schwartz. “I

MARK NADLER TRIES TO TAG OUT A MCGILL RUNNER AT THIRD BASE IN CONCORDIA’S GAME ONE LOSS ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON. PHOTO BY NAVNEET PALL told the guys the season will end today unless we make some changes.”

The team answered his call.

With the season on the line the Stingers handed the ball to starting pitcher Matthew Jacobson who, like Kechayan, had not lost all season.

“I was a bit nervous before the game,” Jacobson said, “but I knew if I just pitched how I could the defence would help me out and they did.”

Jacobson would give up a run in the first inning, but the Stingers, staring elimination in the face, managed to score two runs in the bottom of the inning, off an Andre Lagarde two-run double.

With the game tied at two in the bottom of the fifth inning, the pressure was again on the Concordia bats, and again, they came through.

Lagarde had runners on second and third in a crucial moment of the game. After a wild pitch scored the runner on third, Lagarde was able to get a hit to drive in the second run and give Concordia a 4-2 lead.

Jacobson only allowed one McGill runner in the final two innings for the complete game win,

as the Stingers tacked another run on the board for a 5-2 victory, and forced a decisive game three.

“I thought after game one we really had a chance to (eliminate) them,” said McGill manager Ernie Dalessandro. “The game could have gone either way, but they got a couple runs late and that was it.”

In the win-or-go-home game on Monday, Concordia’s starting pitching depth allowed the team to prevail.

Brandon Berkovits pitched the game of his life striking out nine Redbirds, while scattering just five hits over seven innings for the complete game shutout win.

The 8-0 victory was perhaps the most complete effort put forth by the Stingers all season.

Every Stingers batter either had scored a run, got a hit or an RBI. Third baseman Marco Masciotra was especially potent with the stick for Concordia in game three.

Masciotra finished the afternoon 4-4, with a walk, four RBI, and two runs. Perhaps most

importantly, though, was the timeliness of his hitting. His RBI single in the first inning gave Concordia an early lead, and his RBI double in the fifth inning all but put the game out of reach for McGill.

Before the CIBA National Championship tournament, though, Concordia will face Carleton in the Quebec Conference finals. However, because the CIBA tournament has expanded to an eight team format, a team only has to reach their conference’s finals to receive a berth in the tournament. So win or lose, both teams will be contending for a national championship—something Schwartz is not fond of.

“We’re going (to nationals) no matter what, so I think that really takes something out of (the series against Carleton),” said Schwartz. “It’s going to be a challenge to stay focused, but we’re going to be playing for pride and stuff outside of just baseball.”

The Stingers will face the Carleton Ravens on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 12 p.m. at Trudeau Park.

HOCKEY

Five-year losing streak to McGill continues Stingers lose to Martlets 7-5 Julian Mei Sports editor The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team lost their 38th straight game to the McGill Martlets on Friday at McGill’s McConnell Arena.

The Stingers have not beaten McGill since 2006, and have not won on the road against the Martlets since November 2004. For over half a decade now, McConnell Arena has been as welcoming to the Stingers as Mordor is to hobbits.

Friday’s game was the regular season opener for both teams, with McGill coming in as the defending national champions, riding a 105-game winning streak against their Quebec Conference opponents.

McGill took a 2-0 lead midway through the first period on two power play goals after consecutive Concordia penalties handed the potent McGill power play a two-man advantage.

Audrey Gariepy would score for the Stingers just under two minutes later at the 14:57 mark of the first period.

However, McGill was quick to answer.

Stingers’ goalie Marie-Pier Remillard-Paquette lost sight of the puck behind the net and allowed a bad angle shot from the goal-line from Ionna Cagianos to sneak past her, sending the Stingers into intermission down 3-1.

“We never got any momentum in our play,” said Stingers’ coach Les Lawton. “We’d score a goal and they’d come right back after. I thought mentally, we were pretty soft.”

Leslie Oles would score her second goal of the game for McGill, on way to a hat-trick, at the nine minute mark of the second period. Just over three minutes later, Oles would assist on Chelsey Saunders’ shorthanded goal that put McGill up 5-1, in a game that had the makings of a blow out.

Lawton believed the shorthanded goal was a “big turning point in the game.”

The Stingers would show resiliency, though, and managed to make it a 5-3 game by the 6:50 mark of the third period on goals by Moira Frier and Catherine Rancourt.

The feat was even more impressive due to the fact that the Stingers were facing Charline Labonté, the McGill goalie who has spent time with the Canadian women’s Olympic team.

Unfortunately for the Stingers, though, they simply could not contain McGill’s potent offence in the third period.

The Martlets scored twelve seconds after Concordia’s third goal and 50 seconds after Concordia made the game 6-4.

Alyssa Sherrard would score Concordia’s fifth and final goal at the 10:52 mark of the third period to make the game 7-5, prompting McGill head coach Peter Smith to call a timeout and remove Labonté from the game. “[Labonté] has been a little ill lately,” said

CONCORDIA’S RUN OF FUTILITY AGAINST MCGILL CONTINUED IN OPENER. PHOTO BY NAVNEET PALL Smith. “She was feeling a little stiff out there in the third and you could see she was having a hard time moving so we had to make a change.”

The third period saw a total of five goals scored in just over four minutes of play.

“We’re proud we were able to score five goals on an Olympic goaltender,” said Lawton.

“Obviously she wasn’t on her game tonight, but we still took advantage of that.”

Despite the loss, Concordia took away many positives from the game.

Both coaches commended RemillardPaquette for her strong play in goal. Though she allowed seven goals, she faced 44 shots and made many difficult saves.

Fifth-year Stingers defenceman Meghan George, who has spent half a decade witnessing McGill’s dominance, likes what she sees from this year’s squad.

“This year we have a better balance [of rookies and veterans],” she said. “I don’t remember a time team chemistry has been this good. You can’t point someone out and say that there is a bad egg on this team because there isn’t.”

It has been a long, long time since McGill has watched Concordia celebrate a victory.

Maybe this is the year.

The Stingers play next at Ottawa on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

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19

BASKETBALL

Concordia unable to clinch tournament victory on final day All four teams finish tied in Concordia-Nike Tournament Michael Downs Contributor Despite a spirited second half surge, the Concordia Stingers men’s basketball team ended the 46th annual Concordia-Nike tournament on a sour note, falling to the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks by a score of 80-75.

Coming on the heels of a hard fought 79-75 victory over the Laurentian University Voyageurs, Concordia faced Wilfrid Laurier on the second day of the tournament with an opportunity to be crowned tournament champions.

The Stingers were shorthanded going into the contest, as Kyle Desmarais, Jerome Blake and Morgan Tajfel were unable to play.

Concordia was in control for the vast majority of the game, outplaying and outscoring Wilfrid Laurier in the game’s first, third and fourth quarters. However, it was a disastrous second quarter meltdown that did the Stingers in. The Golden Hawks outscored the Stingers 29-11 and grabbed a lead that they would not relinquish.

“I thought we competed fairly hard,” said Stingers’ head coach John Dore. “We simply lost focus in the second quarter [...] and that cost us the game.”

The Stingers stormed out of the gates in the first quarter, quickly taking command and establishing a 22-16 lead. Concordia ultimately lost their edge and simply failed to do the things that got them their lead in the first place.

They were out rebounded on the offensive glass and failed to close out on the Golden Hawks’ perimeter shooters, allowing them to drain three pointers at will.

On offence, Concordia looked disorganized and disoriented, making poor decisions that resulted in turnovers and transition opportunities

that the Golden Hawks took advantage of.

“We weren’t patient or poised enough on offence,” said Dore. “Defensively, we got caught in transition a lot, not getting back and allowing them to stand and shoot open shots.”

James Clark, who scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds in the losing effort, agreed with his coach regarding what went wrong, in what ended up being the games most pivotal quarter.

“We just kinda got out of what was working for us,” said the fifth-year forward. “We gambled too often and we weren’t really moving the ball as a team. It was bad on both ends of the floor.

They moved the ball really well. They were always looking for the open man and they can all shoot the ball really well, so that right there hurt us a lot.”

Whatever was said in the Stingers locker room between halves must have had a real effect on the team because they were a drastically different team in the third quarter.

For the first time since the game’s first quarter, they looked like a cohesive unit rebounding the ball and applying excellent defensive pressure and making their shots on offence.

However, every time the Stingers would get within striking range of Laurier’s lead, the Golden Hawks would hit a big shot, ultimately thwarting any Stingers comeback.

Epitomizing Laurier’s refusal to give up their lead occurred when Concordia’s Frank Fiola hit a runner and cut the visitor’s lead to 73-71.

Laurier immediately answered back when Golden Hawks’ guard William Coulthard drained a three-pointer, putting a dagger into Concordia’s heart. The Stingers couldn’t generate any momentum after that and eventually lost by five.

Despite the loss, the team remains optimistic heading into the 2011-12 season, viewing the Concordia-Nike tournament as a good indicator of both the progress they have made and still need to make as a team.

“The tournament is an indication of how

EVENS LAROCHE TRIES A FADE AWAY SHOT IN A LOSING EFFORT TO LAURIER. PHOTO BY NAVNEET PALL we should improve,” said Clark. “We defended well for three quarters but if you have 26 turnovers, it’s hard to win a game. This tournament showed us what we really have to take of the ball and just have a better attitude going

forward.”

With the tournament being merely a tune-up for the four teams before regular season play begins, no champion was crowned as all teams finished with identical 1-1 records.

The Concordia Council on Student Life (CCSL) makes funds available to support projects that enhance or contribute to the quality of student life at Concordia.

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Do you have an exciting idea for an event that will engage your fellow Concordia students?

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Dreaming of starting up that new initiative to improve student life on campus but lacking the funds to do so?

GUIDELINES & ONLINE APPLICATION AVAILABLE AT: http://deanofstudents.concordia.ca/funding-and-awards/ccslspecial-projects

1800-­463-­6356

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opinions Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Write to the editor: opinions@theconcordian.com EDITORIAL

Nov. 10: Mark that date down The upcoming protest against tuition hikes has the potential to serve as a unifying force for ConU students There is less than one month left before Nov. 10, a date that should be inscribed on every student’s calendar.

On that day, thousands of students and representatives of other advocacy groups will take to the streets of Montreal and protest against the Quebec government’s tuition hikes. In a recent interview with the Concordian, the Concordia Student Union’s VP external Chad Walcott said that he hoped at least 5,000 ConU students would turn out for the protest, noting that such a high number would “be a huge accomplishment towards a stronger school spirit at Concordia.”

It is therefore evident that the benefits of having members of the campus community participate in the massive Nov. 10 demonstration are twofold.

For one thing, having ConU students out in the brisk November cold with their counterparts from across the city and the province would send a very clear message to the provincial government that its plan to increase tuition by $325 a year over the next five years is not a decision that students have taken lightly.

With the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec’s “$1,625 Ca ne passe pas” campaign, launched in conjunction with the Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec, students from across Quebec have been given a clear vehicle through which to express their views and their concerns to the Charest government. The government can definitely hear them, but whether they’re actually listening remains to be seen.

On the other hand, a massive Concordia turnout at the Nov. 10 protest would be a much needed boost for Concordia’s student population, allowing them to develop a real sense of unity in a year that has proven to be at many times difficult

where student voices are concerned.

Only recently, Concordia’s Board of Governors, the highest governing body at the university, voted overwhelmingly in favour of a recommendation to reduce undergraduate student representation on the board from four to one, effectively decreasing the voting power of the largest faction of the campus community.

But as the Board of Governors undoubtedly already knows, and as they will witness yet again on Nov. 10, students still have the ability to speak their minds, and quite loudly too.

While the main focus of the Nov. 10 demonstration is tuition hikes, the protest will allow for Concordia students to head back to the classroom with a renewed sense of determination in fighting back against the administration.

Just like the Quebec government must know that their decision to increase tuition is wrong, the higher echelons of Concordia’s administration must also know that if they piss students off, they will soon regret it.

And the fight has already begun. On Sept. 28, following the tense Board of Governors meeting, the CSU and other concerned students released 1,000 red balloons in the Hall building, with each balloon representing 30 students who will not be able to afford university if the government moves ahead with its planned tuition increases.

Last Thursday, ConU students stepped it up even further by participating in a protest outside Minister of Education Line Beauchamp’s Montreal office, an event organized by the Coalition regionale etudiante de Montreal.

Politicians and senior administrators have therefore begun to experience the full force of students’ rage, and it will only continue until the government and universities realize that all students want is the ability to go to school without the burden of heavy debt, and the knowledge that their school is accountable not to the donors and business people on its Board of Governors, but to the members of the campus community who matter most: students, faculty, and support staff.

Nov. 10 is a date that cannot be missed. Already, so many

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The higher echelons of Concordia’s administration must also know that if they piss students off, they will regret it.

students are struggling to pay their tuition, and oftentimes spend years after graduation paying off their debt. Quebec students may have the lowest tuition fees in the country, but the Insitut de recherche et d’informations socio-economiques has predicted that the government’s tuition increases could prevent over 30,000 students from accessing university education.

That’s a number that cannot be ignored. And while Quebec students struggle, out-of-province and international students struggle even more. These are two groups that also matter in this fight against tuition hikes. When calls are made to increase financial aid and awards for students, it is imperative that these demands be made on behalf of every single student who attends a Quebec university, regardless of their origin.

With less than a month to go before the student protest of the year, Concordia students can at least rest assured that they are in good hands where organization is involved. It is important to give credit where credit is due. The CSU and its Mob Squad have so far proved to be highly efficient in getting the message on tuition hikes out to students and getting them out to protest. It’s important to remember that some of the students who played such key roles behind the scenes last year in the organization of student demonstrations - Lex Gill, Morgan Pudwell, Gonzo Nieto, and Chad Walcott, to name just a few - are now in positions of power as CSU executives, and have, to date, used their positions wisely in leading ConU students through the fight against tuition hikes.

We can only hope that the CSU continues to demonstrate a sense of leadership in the tuition hikes file and that ultimately, Nov. 10 will be one hell of a date to remember.

LETTERS

Re: The Big Owe must go, Vol. 29 issue 5 The writer is absolutely correct that the status quo is untenable, but given the demolition costs, which are probably as understated as any other cost estimate in this city, I think that “creative incentives” are better invested in improving the existing structure.

Unlike what some reports have stated, the structure, excluding the roof, is solid and shows no significant structural failings. Reading the extremely positive reactions from the $563 million renovation of BC Place, I can’t help but wonder what effect such a facility could have here. The Olympic Stadium is one of the most popular tourist attractors in the city, with public transit designed for high volume use, which will get even better when the Pie-IX BRT/LRT is completed by the end of the decade.

The structure itself is surrounded by a concrete wasteland that sits amid a well-populated part of the city. A complete landscape reconstruction would go far in rehabilitating the area and reintegrate the facility with the surrounding environment. I think the multiple games the Impact will play in the stadium early in their inaugural season will show what potential the facility still has.

Faiz Imam via theconcordian.com.

Chair to Chair: Questionable governance and the BoG Following the controversy surrounding the dismissal of President Woodsworth last winter, there was much to be optimistic about regarding the future of our Board of Governors. Ideas such as reform, transparency, and good governance began to make their way back into an organization that had lacked such principles in previous years.

Furthermore, it was equally impressive that this movement was largely pushed forward by a unified effort between students and faculty.

Fast forward to the most recent BoG meeting and it is evident that a new academic year has returned the BoG to its old way of thinking. The manner in which the discussion over Article 23 proceeded was so poorly managed that it brings into question the seriousness of the BoG about its commitment to good governance. When looked at critically, the meeting was organized in a manner that should be of great concern to all members of the Concordia community. Who is to blame for this major mishap? The responsibility lies primarily with one person, BoG chairperson Peter Kruyt.

It is important to remember that being a chairperson is a very difficult position; it

requires having sound judgment, a strong knowledge of the rules, and an ability to demonstrate quick critical thinking. While the chair is necessarily entrusted with using good discretion, the recent actions of Peter Kruyt during BoG meetings brings into question whether he actually conducts himself according to these principles. Over the past year, Mr. Kruyt has demonstrated alarming amounts of egotism, contempt, and questionable objectivity; and as such his continued presence as BoG chair should be seriously reviewed.

When reviewing Mr.Kruyt’s position, there are a number of disturbing trends which have come to define meetings chaired by him.

First, Mr.Kruyt has extended his power so unilaterally that he continually demonstrates his capacity ignore both the BoG’s own rules and basic general conduct expected by any chairperson. During the last BoG meeting, Mr.Kruyt ended debate on important motions prematurely multiple times, openly criticizing student representatives who pointed out these inconsistencies.

Second, the demeanour and attitude in which Mr. Kruyt treats some Board of Governors members during these meetings can be described best as unchecked arrogance.

Meetings should be an opportunity to express all points of view, yet Peter Kruyt has clearly abandoned this principle. During such meetings, it has become increasingly apparent

that if you do not support his position, your opinion is not welcome. A chairperson should remove his personal opinions from influencing how the meeting proceeds, another standard that Mr. Kruyt has conveniently forgotten.

As a result of these trends, it is difficult to believe that Mr. Kruyt is truly serious about bringing good governance to our university.

While we have made every reasonable attempt to have him demonstrate such priorities, his reaction to recent controversies surrounding the BoG was for his own preservation rather than a genuine attempt to reform university governance. Consider this: Mr. Kruyt recently remarked about closing BoG meetings to a general audience, an outrageous proposition that is the polar opposite of transparency.

The time is now for all members of the Concordia community to consider how committed our highest decision making body is towards the values of good governance.

Despite numerous promises, this body continues to be chaired by an individual who has clearly demonstrated serious deviations from the basic framework of such values. The next time Mr.Kruyt has the audacity to claim that certain students are doing a disservice to this university, he should take a hard look in the mirror and judge himself instead.

Nick Cuillerier CSU Council chairperson

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

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21

PROTEST

Drawing a line in the sand: voicing concern over the Keystone XL pipeline Protest on Parliament Hill generated awareness and sent a message Brigitte Moran and Hannah McCormick Contributors “If you jump this fence, you will be arrested.”

“I understand that.”

“Is there anything I can say right now to prevent you from doing this?”

“No.” This is how the many Canadians who risked arrest on Sept. 26 were greeted by RCMP officers on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. We too made the leap over the fence, risking arrest, risking a night in jail, risking fines, risking a criminal record and immigration difficulties.

But we were not alone. We were joined by over 200 other protesters who had had enough of the Harper government and its staunch support of Alberta’s tar sands. We participated in a peaceful sit-in to prove a point: Canadians want a sustainable future, free from the destructive practice of extracting oil from the Canadian wilderness.

The day before the protest, the two of us woke up hungover and made the two-hour trek to Ottawa. We arrived for the training session organized by the coalition group Ottawa Action, and learned what to do in the multitude of various scenarios we might face the following day.

We were preparing for the worst.

On the day of the protest we arrived, slightly nervous, but with no intention of backing out. We proudly wore our green armbands signifying we would risk arrest, and raised and shook our homemade rally signs. We were two women in a motley crew of other concerned citizens, some young, some old, some English, some French, hailing from all over the country.

We were united in our efforts to put an end to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Musi-

cians from affected First Nations communities drummed and sang, setting a celebratory and determined tone to our action, while reminding us of the direct impact this environmental catastrophe has had on their way of life.

The energy level was high, as the crowd waited in anticipation for the first few waves of protesters to cross the symbolic divide between us and the Parliament Buildings. Finally, our group reached the fence, hand in hand, and crossed. After crossing, a group of us headed down the line of seated protesters where we were greeted with encouragement and thanks for our participation.

As students and young Canadians, the experience of participating in such a large act of civil disobedience alongside many of our elder companions was inspiring. We were reminded that the ideals of how our country should never die, and how intoxicating it is to stand up for what you believe at all costs.

Shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline proposal is of paramount importance in reestablishing Canada as a proponent of alternative energy. The process of extracting oil from the tar sands has contributed to earning Canada a place in the top ten producers of greenhouse gases internationally. Canadian wilderness, Aboriginal communities in western Canada, and important resources are threatened by the tar sands. This must be put to an end. A government owned by oil corporations and blinded by greed isn’t up to the task of procuring jobs for the people, or of maintaining healthy food and water standards for families. The government is not respecting the population by recklessly supporting expansion of the tar sands. Therefore, people should no longer respect the government until changes are made. Simple as that.

In the end, not everyone risking arrest was arrested, but 117 were charged. Those charged received a $65 trespassing ticket and a one-year ban from Parliament Hill. Admittedly, the media response was disappointing. The protest was

PROTESTERS TOOK OVER PARLIAMENT HILL IN OTTAWA TO DENOUNCE THE KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE. deemed “very Canadian” in the sense that it was orderly and friendly. This criticism was contrary to what Harper said about the protests, calling those involved “extremists.”

Both criticisms are inaccurate. What we have left at the end of this act of civil disobedience is a sense of accomplishment and renewed fervour to face the large hurdle that lies ahead.

“People over profits” was repeated many times at the protest.

The Harper government has made it clear by approving the Keystone XL pipeline that they are choosing to only respond to rich oil company lobbyists instead of ordinary Canadian citizens. The government needs to get its priorities straight, before it’s too late.

COMMUNITY

Hampstead noise bylaw screams injustice Municipal councils should not regulate when I can mow my lawn A.J. Cordeiro Staff writer The Town of Hampstead, with a population of over 7,000, has become embroiled in controversy over a recent modification to its nuisance bylaw.

The bylaw specifically forbids excessive noise on days “when most residents are not working and want peace and tranquility,” said Mayor William Steinberg in a statement on the town’s website.

These days include Labour Day, Canada Day, and Christmas. Recently, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were added to the list, creating controversy.

Hampstead’s population is roughly 85 per cent Jewish.

It is important to note that Hampstead has pointed out that the matter arose over a disgruntled citizen who was denied a construction permit during those days. The resident, Frank

Chano, ended up mowing his lawn last Saturday on Yom Kippur to challenge the bylaw. He is now contemplating bringing his case to the Quebec Human Rights Commission.

In a CJAD interview, constitutional lawyer Julius Grey said that instituting a bylaw dictating “when you may or may not mow your lawn based on a religious consideration goes beyond the powers of a municipality.”

Therein lies the essential problem with the bylaw; it sets a dangerous precedent. Religion and government policy have had a long and checkered history, and the public view in recent history has been that they should stay far apart. Would I be prevented from mowing my lawn on Sundays, because it might offend my Christian neighbours? Or on Fridays because of my Muslim neighbours?

Whether the government is federal, provincial or municipal, religion should not be allowed to influence political decisions directly. That line must be clearly defined. A public holiday is a date that every society member shares, regardless of ethnicity, culture, or religion. Municipalities simply

should not be placing individual cultures holidays in their public calendar.

But ultimately, is a lawnmower really going to ruin someone’s holiday?

To quote Chano from an interview with CTV News, “It’s about them dictating to you when you can work or not work and we’re talking about cutting grass. If everyone starts dictating when we can work because it’s their holiday or when we can eat because it’s something else, where’s it going to end?”

Whether this whole kerfuffle was based on a construction permit or not, he still makes a good point. Holidays, to my understanding, are dates which we as the public are given to do what we wish, whether it be relaxing quietly and reading a book, or getting work done around the house.

Governments and especially municipal councils should not have to regulate matters such as these. Is it really that hard for neighbours to stick their heads over fences and actually speak to their neighbours? Are public security officials actually going to enforce the law?

I think it is also important to

extend courtesy to those of other faiths. A buzzing chainsaw, along with the sounds of hammers and drills, do not sound appealing to me on Easter Sunday. Perhaps residents should learn that mutual respect creates a better community, and a better example to society at large.

Perhaps that example would go a long way towards fixing one of the problems caused by the issue. After being sensationalized by many media

Graphic by Maya Pankalla outlets, much anti-Semitic rhetoric has been bandied about. Simply look through the comment on the pages of media outlets that covered the story.

It is definitely disheartening to see xenophobic and racial comments openly being submitted in the public sphere.

One can only hope that in the future, citizens would express reciprocated respect towards other cultures, and that legislators would leave citizens to do what they like on their holidays.

22

theconcordian

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

DEBATE

Should unpaid internships still be offered?

Unpaid internships are exploitative and should be illegal because they aren’t an option for everyone

The main goal of an internship is to give students hands-on experience in their fields of study

Myles Dolphin Opinions editor

Chris Hanna Production manager

UNPAID INTERNSHIPS are more prevalent than ever and they are harmful, not because of

UNPAID INTERNSHIPS don’t get as much love as their paid counterparts, and that’s a

the educational experience they (should) provide, but because they fail to expose you to real life situations.

Quebec should take example from the United States, where the Obama administration issued directives in 2010 reminding employers which internships were legal and which are not. States such as California and New York have already started investigating unlawful unpaid internship claims.

Even our neighbours to the west have it (relatively) stated in the Ontario Employment Standards Act: unless interns are students getting credits for school, the employee must be paid minimum wage.

Bethany Horne, an OpenFile multimedia reporter based in Halifax, garnered some attention last summer with a blog entry entitled “Why I will not work for free.” She says that if you’re dedicated, smart and passionate there are other ways to get into the field.

“Getting involved with the student press is an amazing experience,” she said in an interview. “Media companies are really limiting themselves by only taking on unpaid interns, because students who can’t afford it are left out of the loop.”

Students who are saddled with debt and living on their own can’t afford unpaid internships, and are consequently left out of the loop. It’s exploitative and it unfairly caters to students who can afford it.

Living expenses are a huge chunk of a student’s budget, especially for those who receive loans, so they’re only going further into debt by doing unpaid internships. And when you can’t afford unpaid internships it invariably makes you a less competitive candidate once you’ve graduated.

Quebec needs to set and enforce rules that directly govern internships.

Andrew Langille, an employment lawyer in Toronto, said during a CTV interview that “there isn’t a lot of precedent given the new development of internships” and thus students are left without options when it comes to unpaid wage claims.

Unpaid internships “are only simulations, not jobs. Fake jobs are not the best preparation for real jobs,” wrote Anya Kamenetz in an op-ed piece for The New York Times in 2006. “Work is a routine of obligation, relieved by external reward, where you contribute value to a large enterprise.”

She’s right. Without the monetary reward people are not adequately being prepared for the real world. Ross Perlin, author of Intern Nation, goes even further by saying that internships extend adolescence. Talking to Psychologies magazine, he said “I think we can consider it infantilising, because it means you cannot move into the stake-holder role in society that’s traditionally been thought of as adulthood.”

Employers are supposed to be doing a social service by preparing you and giving you a taste of the real world, not putting you in a system where employers can get cheap or free labour. Companies are counting on you not to sue for back pay because they know there are ramifications, such as the risk of alienating other companies. Legislation should be passed to protect students but until then, more people should take a stand against unpaid internships. Productive work should be rewarded monetarily, it’s as simple as that.

shame, considering the only difference between the two is a paycheque (and let’s face it: more often than not, the sum on said cheque is measly or negligible.)

People want to be rewarded for the hours they put in at work, but those rewards don’t necessarily have to be monetary. The goal of internships has always been to provide firsthand experience to the intern in the field of his or her studies, and students get that regardless of whether or not they are paid.

Organizations that offer unpaid internships are able to to hire more interns more often without budgetary or financial restrictions. It also allows employers to trial candidates for a position without any real risk of hiring, contracting and then being stuck with someone who eventually proves to be unsuitable.

An unpaid internship could also lead to a paid and full-time employment opportunity within the company if the intern is impressive enough. If that doesn’t happen, the intern can surely get a letter of recommendation from his or her supervisor - again, if their work was adequate - to assist in applying for future positions. Furthermore, internships can be great networking opportunities.

Interns should remember the influence of their colleagues and keep in mind that they are trying to make a good impression on anyone and everyone.

Many unpaid internships are also eligible for academic credit; this allows the student to spend time working for an organization, instead of completing a course required for their program of study.

Not paying interns allows employers and organizations to suss out the more serious candidates from the rest of the pack. Students applying for an internship knowing that they won’t be paid are telling their employers that they know that what they won’t be making in money they will be gaining in practical, relevant experience. Employers are able to determine their level of seriousness by seeing which intern is the most motivated and excited about the job and tasks they are doing for free.

This also benefits the intern, as they test the waters. Often a student interning at a company will be getting a taste of employment in their field of study for the first time. From this he or she may decide that they no longer wish to work in the area they have been pursuing after all.

Getting paid would be nice, of course, but no one is an unpaid intern for life. If you work hard enough, people will notice. What you are not getting in dollars for the few weeks of your unpaid internship, you should be able to make up for with life-changing and paid employment opportunities soon after.

A well-supervised and hands-on unpaid internship could even be more beneficial than a paid one in some circumstances. Employers find out who is doing the job out of a true passion, and interns find out if they love their field of study to the extent that they would work for free.

And isn’t it everybody’s dream to have a job so amazing and fulfilling that they would do it for free? An intern’s first priority should be learning and gaining experience, not getting a paycheque.

Graphic by Sean Kershaw

HEALTH

My lucky strike for your lucky stroke Bigger and gorier cigarette warnings are a smart initiative Athena Tacet Contributor “Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette! Puff, puff, puff until you smoke yourself to death,” sang Tex Williams in 1947.

Once associated with a sense of freedom and glamour, cigarette consumption has been demystified over the past few years, starting in the 1960s with the introduction of anti-smoking advertisement campaigns. The aim of these advertisements is to change people’s relationship with cigarettes by attempting to raise awareness about the critical health problems stemming from tobacco consumption.

Thus, after having spent six years and 3.6 million dollars on consultations about refreshing obsolete package labels, Health Canada recently decided to hit hard. They have introduced 16 new rotated messages on cigarettes packages, to which tobacco manufacturers have until March 21, 2012 to conform with.

In terms of size, “the bigger the better” says the Canadian Cancer Society. Size does matter and graphics will now take 75 per cent of the package’s space –as opposed to the current 50 per cent.

Images tend to have a stronger impact on people than words because they carry a deeper emotional dimension. Therefore the

gory graphics, a cancer-stricken woman and diseased body parts, are designed to shock people and make them consider the consequences of smoking.

A lot of the already existing labels play on moralistic themes.

These have been very effective in portraying the cigarette as a threat to traditional values, including self-control and personal responsibility.

Canada has been a pioneer when it comes to cigarette warning labels. It was the first country to adopt graphic tobacco product labelling requirements, under the recently amended Tobacco Products Information Regulations, in 2000.

According to Health Canada, these labels are meant to be “noticeable, informative and credible,” and it is undeniable that they have been successful as such. The 2010 Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey reveals that the smoking rate in the country has dropped from 25 per cent in 1999 to 17 per cent in 2010.

The psychological effect of such initiatives is quasi undeniable.

Past cigarette advertisements would lose complete credibility in this day and age, such as the 1951 Lucky Strike advert on NBC (“Lucky Strike, the cigarette that tastes better, cleaner, fresher, smoother.”)

Progress has been made with respect to changing mentalities and behaviours towards smoking. Overall, it seems that visual health warnings have been effective in reducing the attractiveness of cigarette packages and tobacco consumption in the short run by raising awareness among the population about the dangers of smoking. Canada has proven to be extremely efficient in tackling

the issue, as statistics show. Let’s see how tobacco manufacturers conform to the new law by March 21, and hope that the warnings continue to deter people from smoking.

The Etcetera Page

Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011 Vol. 29 issue 7 JACQUES GALLANT

Editor-in-Chief editor@theconcordian.com

KAMILA HINKSON

Managing editor managing@theconcordian.com

JACQUELINE DI BARTOLOMEO News editor

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PAOLA RIVAS

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SOFIA GAY

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ALLIE MASON

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NAVNEET PALL

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Don Cherry has always been known for his wild antics and flamboyant suits. The septuagenarian added to his long list of controversial comments last week by referring to three ex-NHL tough guys as “pukes,” because they suggested enforcers are more likely to turn to substance abuse.

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BRENNAN NEILL EMILY WHITE CINDY LOPEZ RUBEN BASTIEN

@LukewSavage: Don Cherry would be a

lot better off at SunTV, though I suspect Harper is poised to appoint him to the Senate.

Board of Directors directors@theconcordian.com

@Adamgoldenberg: Spotted at

YYZ: Don Cherry & Ron MacLean. Should I punch Grapes in the face and see what he says? #FireCherry @rowdyman: To clarify; Don Cherry doesn’t

know more about hockey than anyone in a Tim Hortons’ line. He’s just louder, more annoying. #FireCherry@CBC

@bobraeMP: Don Cherry can do bluster but

he can’t do remorse...

@TorontoEmerg: MT @SusanFelicity

Has anyone ever checkd up on how many blows to the head Don Cherry rec’d while playing hockey?

Dementia case? #cbc @TheKarltopia: I’m sure the CBC is

thankful for Don Cherry, hockey’s Rush Limbaugh. #AssHat

Comic by Phil Waheed

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STAFF WRITERS AND CONTRIBUTORS Joel Ashrak, William Pelletier, Jenna Monney-Lupert, Audrey Folliot, Melissa Tagliamonti, Mark Della Posta, Dominique Daoust, Brandon Judd, Rebecca Ugolini, Amanda Siino, Elysha Del Giusto Enos, Robert Flis, Katelyn Spidle, Mike Beaton, Andrew Guilbert, Alex Woznica, Lindsay Rempel, Paul Traunero, Daniel J. Rowe, Stefano Mocella, Michael Downs, Athena Tacet, A.J. Cordeiro, Brigitte Moran, Camille Nerant, Ginga Takeshima, Radu Diaconu, Gilda Pourjabar, Sean Kershaw, Phil Waheed, Carlo Tudino, Maya Pankalla, Valerie Brunet

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