The Concordian

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sports life

Winless week for Stingers women’s hockey P. 18

Canada: the puppy mill capital of North America P. 6-7

Skratch Bastid comes to town ... and turnout barely up to scratch

Q&A with the adopted Montrealer Music P. 13

Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011

arts French theatre is alive and well in Montreal P. 10

sports Two Concordia coaches and a Stinger heading to Universiade P. 19

opinions Financial aid is not awarded to the students who need it P. 21

Volume 28 Issue 18

Photos by Sarah Deshaies

Last week was the CSU’s annual winter orientation, and while the variety of events were well-reviewed, they were also poorly attended. Skratch Bastid, DJ Starting From Scratch, and Scratch, collectively known as Scratch, Skratch, Scratch, pooled their spinning talents performing the week’s final event at the Hive. Around sixty students showed up to the Loyola concert. Other events included a Ukrainian Cultural Night and an ice bar at Reggies.

We want Kruyt to go: senate Senate welcomes Lowy, but wants BoG review: “The Board means well, but doesn’t do well” Sarah Deshaies Editor-in-chief Members of the Concordia community have welcomed returning rector Frederick Lowy as interim president, but this has not quelled their fervent demands for the Board of Governors that appointed him to just step down.

A unanimous Board of Governors decision Friday morning named Lowy to replace an ousted Judith Woodsworth until a final successor is named.

Lowy made an appearance at the afternoon senate meeting, where members used the 45 minutes of time allotted to fill him in on their frustration and scathing anger over the Board’s decisions over the past few years. So many people, many of them media, came for seats that there was an overflow room with a streaming version of the meeting.

Lowy was given the floor at the start meeting, and spoke for about 10 minutes. “I welcome the opportunity to be here,” he said, calling his return “a new old situation.”

He readily admitted in opening remarks to the senate that he was not fully aware of the concerns

and issues at Concordia, as he had just returned from outside the country. But he said he could not resist “a very considerable pull” to come back to the university he enjoyed working at up until five years ago. “The university needs some help, and it seems I could help.”

Lowy said he addressed the Board earlier in the day, and went on to present his view on how the university higher administration should operate. “It is not the job of the Board of Governors to be involved in the actual management of the university, and senate shouldn’t do the Board’s job.”

Over a period of 45 minutes allotted to the airing of opinion, several professors, and four students, spoke out. While they took the time to welcome him Lowy, they made it clear that they expect action in the form of an investigation of the Board of Governance.

Graduate student and former Graduate Student Association VP Erik Chevrier asked for a clarification of the circumstances of Woodsworth’s departure.

Maria Peluso, a longtime faculty member, senator and president of Concordia University Part-time Faculty Association, offered “Fred” a warm welcome, but was blunt in her assessment of the decision: “I’m confident the Board means well, but doesn’t do well.”

In no uncertain terms, senator and faculty member William Lynch called the decision to oust Woodsworth a “decapitation,” and worse than her

See “Kruyt declines...” on p.3

Concordia working on social media policy

Jacques Gallant Assistant news editor

Although the university’s current policy on using social media in the classroom is a step in the right direction, it may still take decades to develop a much better mechanism, says a Concordia expert on the subject.

The office of the provost recently issued a press release reminding the university community that when the use of social media is integrated in a course’s curriculum, professors must ask students to sign a consent form. The statement indicated that the third parties that manage social media sites such as Facebook could theoretically profit from the work posted by a student.

But English professor Darren Wershler, formerly of the communication studies department, indicated that people must realize there is always a

See “Consent form...” on p.2

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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Got a news tip? news@theconcordian.com

City in brief Jacques Gallant

Meet ConU’s new chancellor

BMO Nesbitt Burns chairman L. Jacques Ménard has been named as Concordia’s new chancellor, taking over from David P. O’Brien who recently completed his five-year term.

Ménard had already been appointed deputy chancellor in 2009, and previously sat on the university’s Board of Governors. In the corporate world, Ménard is also president of BMO Financial Group, Quebec, and a past chairman of Hydro-Québec and the Investment Dealers Association of Canada. The position of chancellor is largely ceremonial and notably includes the task of handing out diplomas at convocations.

Plan consultations coming up

The university community will soon be able to consult a first draft of Concordia’s next academic plan. Opportunities to provide feedback on the document will include three Open to Question sessions in February, meetings with faculty councils and comments on the academic planning web site. The plan, part of Concordia’s strategic framework adopted in 2009, will lay out the university’s academic priorities over the next five years. In an interview with the Concordian in November, provost David Graham said that the plan will be measuring the quality of Concordia’s programs.

Graham said it was hoped the academic plan, which may be adopted by the end of the school year, would eventually nestle Concordia among the top five comprehensive universities in Canada.

Doing it in public

Baby clothing store Orchestra came face to face with over 100 babies last week, but not in the way it is used to. Last Wednesday, mothers breastfed their children in front of the store at Complexe Les Ailes, holding what they called a ‘’nurse-in.’’ The initiative came after Montrealer Shannon Smith was asked to leave the store two weeks ago for breastfeeding her baby in the store. Although Smith later received an apology, the mothers who protested at Orchestra are now calling on the provincial government to enact legislation that guarantees their right to breastfeed in public. Similar laws already exist in British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia.

More tickets, please

Montreal police announced last week that officers are given a quota to fill for traffic tickets. In the past, the SPVM had always denied that officers were required to issue a minimum number of tickets for fear of creating negative publicity. But the police have reiterated that the quota is necessary to ensure public safety, and not to add more money to their coffers. Still, it’s hard to overlook that in recent years, traffic tickets have raked in an annual sum of $100 million. Although the police brotherhood applauded the SPVM for its transparency, it also called for the end of traffic ticket quotas, stating that it puts added pressure on police officers and could prevent them from dealing with more serious matters.

Campus

Continued from cover >

Consent form for usage in the classroom a ‘slippery slope’: expert possible danger when posting work on any web site, and described the aforementioned consent form as a ‘slippery slope.’

“I can understand the need to develop a kind of protocol, but if you need a permission slip for one kind of classroom activity, will you now need the same for everything else?” he asked. “Concordia has certainly taken a step in the right direction with social media by supporting, for example, open-access journals, but it is going to take more time and more practice to develop a mechanism that really protects students and their work.”

Vice-provost teaching and learning Ollivier Dyens explained that using social media in the classroom can be very exciting, but stressed that the issue still merits further study. He acknowledged that the chances of having a student posting their work on Facebook and then

seeing it somewhere else under a different author’s name are very slim, but it could happen.

“There are a few cases of it happening across Canada,” he said. “In 99 per cent of cases there wouldn’t be much of an impact. But say a student comes up with a discovery and posts it online, there’s always that possibility that it might be used somewhere else.”

Wershler noted that one of the problems in understanding the consequences of posting on web sites is the lack of attention given to the fine print in the site’s licensing agreement, though he admitted that it’s understandable.

“Some of these licenses can have almost 70 to 80 pages and almost no one looks at them,” he said.

“But what these agreements inevitably say is that [the site] owns the rights to what is posted on the site.

It is naïve of people to put anything

on the Internet and think that it’s not going anywhere else.”

Dyens stated that the classroom use of social media will be discussed more in-depth at an upcoming information session with students and faculty.

“My dream is that students and their professors can play with these tools as much as they want, but safely, because it is a good way to engage students,” he said.

Professors are encouraged to indicate any required use of social media in their course outlines, and Dyens said the office of the provost is also looking at including such information in official course descriptions so as not to give students any surprises.

Finally, should students feel uncomfortable with posting their work on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or any other social-media site, Dyens noted that students are always free

Campus

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to drop the course before the appropriate deadline.

My dream is that students and their professors can play with these tools as much as they want, but safely.

Ollivier Dyens, vice-provost teaching and learning

Non-Smoking Week a nonpresence on campus

Student smokers, groups and even health services downplay the national event Pierre-Alexandre Bolduc Contributor

“There are hundreds of reasons to quit… what’s yours?” was the slogan for last week’s National Non-Smoking Week. But the slogan, and the event in general, doesn’t seem to have registered with very many people on Concordia’s campuses.

sCienCe The Ottawa Science Olympiad took place this past weekend and Concordia’s delegates had a strong showing placing second overall. The team, named ConU1, competed in events like a science trivia challenge, a poster hunt and the construction of a Rube Goldberg machine. Their efforts landed them right behind “the Leftovers” from the University of Ottawa, and right ahead of third-place city rivals from McGill University the Kung Fu Pandas. The Olympiad is an annual team competition at UofO which is open to science students, including social science students, from universities across the country. Photo courtesy of Aaron Green

“I didn’t know about this nonsmoking week,” said Concordia biochemistry student Chris Casimir, having a smoke before a meeting.

Casimir, who has been smoking for the last six years, said that stress is a major reason why he smokes. He also said that his “mental capacities,” specifically concentration, go up with nicotine and that smoking makes him feel better.

“I did notice that my cardio went down a bit though,” admitted Casimir.

“But you know, it’s hard to get over stress with everything going on.”

This national event, which ran from Jan. 16 to Jan. 22, was established in 1977 by the Canadian Council for Tobacco Control in order educate and prevent people from smoking. It also offers assistance to

people trying to quit. A few scattered events happened throughout the city, but nothing seemed to be taking place at Concordia.

“For us, every week is the nonsmoking week,” said Concordia health promotion specialist Owen Moran, adding that the Concordia’s health services always offers professional help to smokers who want to quit.

“Most people manage to quit by themselves,” he said. “But there certainly is help on the campus.” The health care services provide monthly newsletters called Health Notes and a professional guide to quitting smoking, which are available around both campuses.

The Concordia Student Union did not advertise the non-smoking week or organize any related events. Morgan

Pudwell, the CSU’s vice-president of sustainability and promotions, said the CSU was too busy with the winter orientation that took place last week.

Nearly one out of five Quebecers smoke according to the Canadian Cancer Society. Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced in December that bigger warning labels would soon appear on cigarette packs, covering at least 75 per cent of the pack instead of the current 50 per cent.

At an Ultramar gas station near Loyola Campus, an employee who wishes to remain anonymous said they had not seen “any change at all” to cigarette packages as of yet. As for Non-Smoking week, the employee said, “a smoker smokes, no matter which week.”

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

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The Concordian sits down with newlyappointed interim president Frederick Lowy Lowy talks about his new position, short-term goals and regaining student trust Evan LePage News editor On Friday morning, Frederick Lowy became the interim president of Concordia following the approval of Concordia’s Board of Governors. As Judith Woodsworth’s replacement — until another candidate for president is found — the 77-year-old former rector and president is coming into a school rife with dissatisfaction with the administration and a lack of trust in the Board. The Concordian sat down for a brief interview with Lowy Friday afternoon.

Concordian: What are your thoughts on being selected? Was it surprising to you and are you happy about it?

Frederick Lowy: Yes it was surprising to me, yes I am happy about it. I’m happy about it, as I’ve said to other people, for two reasons primarily. One is, it was thought I could be of some help to Concordia at this time, and that’s important to me because I have a long association with this university and I love the university. If I can help I’m glad to try to do that. Second, I enjoy it as well. So it’s a combination of plus and plus.

You’re no stranger to coming into this position amid turmoil and difficult situations, so how can your experience help you in the current situation you’re facing?

There’s no doubt that in any difficult situation the most important thing is to get a sense of what’s going on and why it’s going on, if at all possible. Whenever you have a lot of people involved in something as, for example, we have now, there are

going to be different points of view.

Everybody wants something done, but it’s not too clear necessarily what people want done and they may not all want the same thing. But it’s clear that at this stage of the game that a lot of people are hurting. Morale can suffer if pain continues. And I’m going to do whatever I can to help this situation.

How would you regain student trust? Because talking to students it’s clear they have lost some faith in the university’s administration.

Well you regain it by being open, honest, available, and I’ll try to do all those things, try to understand it from their point of view. Students are here for an education, they’re here for other things too but primarily education, and they don’t want to see their professors in turmoil. When that turmoil settles down as it will inevitably, because basically the university is going in the right direction, then students will feel better about it.

Coming in as an interim president, how do you feel your role differs than if you were coming in as the new president?

Well it differs primarily in that it would be inappropriate for me to launch new endeavours that commit my successor to expenditures that he or she hasn’t had a hand in, new initiatives that would take the university on a different course. At the same time, if I could be helpful to Concordia it will be if I have full authority to do what presidents ought to do: solve problems, make appropriate appointments, etc. And I have been assured by the board and

Lowy leaves the senate meeting on Friday afternoon. Photo by Nazli Bozoglu indeed also by professors that that’s exactly how they see my role as well.

So that’s good.

Have you set any goals in the short term coming into this position?

The first one obviously is to try to restore morale where it needs to be restored. The second one has to do with healing rifts between different segments of the university, including between the board of governors and those people working here at the university. Third, to understand and then continue the planning process that has already been started here so that tomorrow’s students have at least as good or maybe even a better experience than students in the past.

A lot of students are confused about what happened, so what would you say to the student majority who doesn’t know what to think about the current situation the school is in?

The most important thing I would like to say is ‘Okay folks, don’t exaggerate it.’ There is a problem, we’re trying to fix it, but the university is basically sound.

That’s what I would like to say. More precisely would have to wait until I understand it better myself. I didn’t see this coming until fairly recently, and the best preparation is for me to listen.

Continued from cover >

Kruyt declines senate invitation, asks senate to BoG meeting instead predecessor Claude Lajeunesse’s exit.

Professor Christopher Ross found the incident was a symptom of how the Board functions. “The Board ignores us, and we are the university, not the buildings. [...] How many Board members have ever visited a classroom?”

Marvin Coleby, one of two undergraduates to speak, echoed Ross’ sentiments, and affirmed that students are aware that there are problems with the Board.

The senate ultimately passed three motions to be sent to Board: a call for board chair Peter Kruyt to step down, a committee be struck to examine governance at Concordia, and committees for appointing new board members be composed of half board members and half senate members. The call is similar to the letter issued earlier in the week by a group that represents eight worker’s unions at Concordia, some of whom are represented on the senate. It called for a review of governance and for the chair and vice-chairs to resign.

Members of the Board were invited to attend the senate meeting, but a

message issued by Kruyt on Thursday declined the invitation, saying the Board had to meet to approve Lowy’s candidacy. “In view of this priority, rather than attending this upcoming Senate meeting, I think it would be most productive to invite Senators to a future meeting of the Board of Governors before the end of April, 2011,” the message read. This meeting, he said, would “provide an effective forum in which to foster an open and constructive dialogue on the issues.” The next Board meeting is Feb. 17.

Kruyt said he had made “concerted efforts to reach out to the Concordia community” over the past two weeks but his public communication to students has consisted of mass emails.

Speaking after the senate meeting, Chevrier was optimistic about senate’s work. “I’m happy that the motions did pass. I think that it’s just a stepping stone. I think there was other remedies that could have been more extreme to be taken but I think this is just the beginning.”

Nation in brief Evan LePage

Cross-dressing day gets axed

A school in Toronto has decided to cancel its upcoming “Opposite Gender Day,” which sparked anger from both supporters and those opposed to the event. The special day would have seen participating students from kindergarten to grade eight at King City Public School attend their classes in the garb of the opposite sex. Apparently some parents didn’t support the premise of having their young girls cross-dressing for school, and a few complaints led to the end of the event. But now some parents who supported the idea aren’t happy that a few small complaints have ended what may have been a valuable learning exercise, according to parentcentral.ca. The school’s principal had approved it in the hopes that it would help kids understand what the other gender went through.

Professor can’t sue over controversial degree

You touched on it, but what are your thoughts on being accessible to the students and their questions?

Well I like to be accessible to students. In fact that’s one of the things I enjoy. But at the same time we have to recognize that there are time considerations and there are lots of students. So balancing the two I think is a possibility.

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A Justice in Manitoba has ruled against a math professor who was trying to sue his former employers to rescind a degree they had awarded.

Last year, Gabor Lukacs contested the University of Manitoba’s decision to award a PhD to a student who failed his comprehensive exam twice but claimed to suffer from extreme exam anxiety. Unhappy with the move, Lukacs circulated details about the situation online. He was then suspended for three months without pay for disclosing health information, but felt that his decision to speak out on the PhD is what prompted the university to take action. Justice Deborah McCawley ruled Lukacs has no right to sue the university and that the suspension was not a “muzzle order” on academic integrity.

Penny-pinching Mountie pinched

A Mountie from B.C. is experiencing the other side of the law for a change well, for some change. The Burnabybased officer has been charged with theft in connection with multiple instances in which the 37-year-old stole loose change from a desk at a community policing office, the QMI agency reported. Constable Derrick Holdernried was suspended in December after another officer noticed the coins, estimated at between $40 and $70 worth, were missing and an internal investigation was launched.

He is awaiting his court appearance in mid-February. Nickel collector, kleptomaniac or just a jerk? You be the judge.

Hundreds make up U of T general assembly

The University’s of Toronto’s administration and governing council came under fire from over 200 students, faculty, staff and members of the community who came together last week to form an independent general assembly. The assembly was an exercise in self-governance, with discussions focusing on how to bypass the current governing structure to tackle concerns on their own, Maclean’s OnCampus reported. Those in attendance discussed the administration’s lack of response to their concerns on various issues with the university, like the corporatization of the school and presence of multiple donors on the governing council.

They also split into working groups which focused on finding solutions to some of those issues. Participants voted to continue with another meeting in February.

Lowy (left) addressed senate for about 10 minutes. Photo by Nazli Bozoglu

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theconcordian

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

World in brief Evan LePage

Yemeni students take Tunisia’s lead

University students in Yemen squared off last weekend, with demonstrations by groups supporting the country’s president coinciding with demonstrations by those calling for him to resign. In the days since the Tunisian public forced the resignation of their leader, many such rallies have taken place in Yemen calling for their own president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to step down. Saleh has ruled Yemen for 32 years and was just reelected for another seven year term.

The two protests, both peaceful, saw hundreds of students take to the campus grounds of Sanaa University on Saturday, with approximately 1,500 security officers on hand according to CNN.

Cook serves cop pubes, goes to jail

You know that scene in Super Troopers where Farva fights the fast food employee who makes a joke about spitting in his burger? Well that’s pretty close to what happened to a New Jersey police officer except for two important details: instead of spit it was pubic and chest hair, and instead of fighting him the officer took him to court. 27-year-old Ryan Burke pleaded guilty to aggravated assault on an officer of the law and was sentenced this week to 15 days in jail as well as two years probation for his hairy stunt. Burke admitted to acting in retaliation, as the officer in question had previously stopped him for a traffic violation. The police officer did eat part of the sandwich before finding the hair.

Scots, U.S. haggle over haggis

It has been 40 years since the U.S. government banned haggis, a popular Scottish food made from the lungs, liver and heart of a sheep. But the Commonwealth nation’s government has invited the Americans to send a delegation to view their meat processing standards in the hopes of having that ban overturned. Haggis was initially prohibited for containing sheep lungs, but the Scots have retained hope since restrictions on British meat have relaxed since that time, the BBC reported. Scotland’s rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead, who extended the invitation, said that the U.S. could be a million dollar market for haggis producers.

Today, appropriately, is Burns Night in Scotland, a holiday dedicated to poet Robert Burns during which the poet’s “Address To a Haggis” is often read out before a supper of the meaty dish.

BBC sorry for atomic bomb joke

The BBC has apologized to Japan and Japanese viewers for a few jokes at the expense of a survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs in World War II. The jokes, made on an episode of a comedy quiz show called Q1, prompted complaints by the Japanese embassy. During the episode in question a presenter called Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the only man credited with surviving both atomic bombs, “the unluckiest man in the world,” and a different panellist reportedly quipped that the bomb landed on him and bounced off. The production company of the show also issued a statement of apology. Yamaguchi passed away in 2010 at 93 years of age.

eDuCatiOn

More students studying abroad Internationalization of Canadian campuses rising: study Kendra Wong — The Peak (Simon Fraser University) BURNABY, B.C. (CUP) — Young Canadians are not only more willing to study abroad, but many are noticing the advantages of interacting with international students in the classroom, according to a new study.

The Jan. 6 Higher Education Strategy Associates study surveyed 3,000 students. Approximately nine per cent of students claimed they had already participated in a study abroad program, while an additional 26 per cent admitted they would like to study abroad in the future.

The study indicates a dramatic increase in students willing to study abroad, which has increased seven per cent since 2006.

Despite the cost of studying in

another country for a semester, the price tag hasn’t turned students off from the once-in-a-lifetime educational experience.

Many participants saw the experience as gaining an “ability to work in diverse cultural settings,” which would later prove important when applying for jobs. Seventy-two per cent of students rated “knowledge of international affairs” as a valuable skill learned abroad.

Ada Nadison, a criminology major at Simon Fraser University, recently returned from a semester-long field school in Greece. For Nadison, the opportunity allowed her to gain the necessary experience to further her career.

“I just wanted to say I experienced something great at university.

For my career as a police officer, I needed life experience. It [allowed me] to feed my need and my career’s need.”

The study also indicated rates for studying abroad are particularly high in the arts, such as education at 13 per cent, and 11 per cent in humanities and social sciences. However, 40

per cent of students in science and math departments stated they never considered or have rejected the idea of studying abroad mainly due to the cost and the idea that it would disrupt their path to graduation.

Nadison echoed students’ concerns about the cost. She planned for two years in advance before travelling to Greece and had to apply for both a student loan and a bursary to cover the costs of the trip.

Not only are Canadian students seeking academic opportunities in other English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, they are also realizing the benefits of the internationalization of Canadian campuses.

By a margin of roughly 2.5 to one, students agreed that international students enhance the in-class experience. Seven to one believe that foreign students are welcomed and well integrated in campus life.

Lucas Socio, a fourth-year communications major and international student from Brazil, explained that the current Canadian class system doesn’t allow for a lot of student

interaction. However, he agrees that international students are welcomed at SFU. Only 23 per cent of Canadian students consider international students to be taking opportunities away from them.

Overall, the study concludes that while some students choose to study abroad, the costs force others to think twice about the experience.

Furthermore, students are only willing to travel to countries such as the U.K. and Australia where the English-speaking cultures are similar to Canada’s.

Nadison, on the other hand, enjoyed the cultural shock from her three-month stay in Greece.

“It was a big jump from what we’re used to here … [we] had to learn to live on our own in a country where you haven’t experienced the culture. [But] I know I can depend on myself now,” she concluded. “It’s nice to see how simple life is and how spoiled we are here. It was good getting back to your roots and surviving off the minimum.”

haiti

AIDS in Haiti: before and after the quake Dr. Jean Pape discusses new threat posed

by AIDS one year after the earthquake

Shereen Ahmed Rafea Staff writer A year after the devastating earthquake struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the situation is still dire for those living amongst the rubble of the nation. Survivors of the quake are currently facing a cholera epidemic, a political crisis, and a broken economy.

But in addition to those widely known difficulties, Haiti is facing a continuing AIDS epidemic which is claiming the lives of more adults in the country than any other factor according to Dr. Jean W. Pape, the founder of Port-au-Prince based

haiti The Ottawa Science Olympiad took place this past weekend and Concordia’s delegates had a strong showing placing second overall. The team, named ConU1, competed in events like a science trivia challenge, a poster hunt and the construction of a Rube Goldberg machine. Their efforts landed them right behind “the Leftovers” from the University of Ottawa, and right ahead of third-place city rivals from McGill University the Kung Fu Pandas. The Olympiad is an annual team competition at UofO which is open to science students, including social science students, from universities across the country.

Photo by Nazli Bozoglu

organization GHESKIO. Pape’s organization provides medical aid for the population and treatment for those affected with HIV and AIDS, a threat that has plagued the nation long before the earthquake.

“Haiti was the country most affected by HIV outside of Africa,” Pape told a Concordia audience on Thursday, adding that “in this hemisphere [Haiti] has the worst situation in terms of natural mortality, the highest prevalence of cervical cancer, the highest prevalence of TB, and the least infrastructure to deal with all this.”

Pape’s lecture was largely centered on the history of AIDS within the country. He discussed how the disease was not widely known in the early eighties and described the challenges physicians faced in trying to determine its cause, how it was treated and how it was transferred.

“Forty-nine per cent of the women who acquired AIDS” in 1983 were infected from blood transfusions said Pape, adding that IV drug use was another common factor.

As it spread throughout the

country, their main concern shifted to controlling the epidemic and developing a method of prevention and treatment, difficult tasks for many reasons.

“This may appear naive,” Pape said, “but at that time there were very powerful scientists who didn’t think that it was possible to introduce those complex treatments in the developing world.”

But before last year’s earthquake, it seemed that the problem was on the mend. According to Pape, The national rate of HIV/AIDS dropped from 6.2 per cent in 1993 to 2.2 per cent in 2006.

Of course, once the quake hit GHESKIO had to shift its focus. The organization which once had had 26,000 patients on antiretroviral therapy was instead setting up field hospitals with the help of the UN, stopping enrolment in all research projects, stopping all training and concentrating on over 7,000 earthquake victims.

Pape stated that HIV will make the latest cholera outbreak worse for those affected, but whether or not

the earthquake has had an impact on the AIDS situation is not as easy to establish.

“The question I’m asked all the time, is HIV rate worse now in Haiti than it was before the quake,” he said, “the [answer] is that we don’t know.”

Photo by Nazli Bozoglu

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

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FASA to unveil new constitution ASFA helping fine arts students draft stronger document; avoid confusion Jacques Gallant Assistant news editor With a little help from the Arts and Science Federation of Associations, the Fine Arts Student Alliance is hoping that their new constitution will avoid the confusion and even in-fighting that has plagued it in the past, especially regarding its structure.

Current FASA VP finance Julie Johnston is chairing the ad hoc committee known informally as

the “constitution reform” committee, which has been using ASFA’s constitution as a template to review their own.

“I chose ASFA because I felt their structure was the most similar to ours, but just a little bit bigger,” she said. “But while we are taking ASFA’s bylaws and using them as a template, we are trying to preserve as much as possible the current operating structure of FASA.” One organizational element that will not be making it into the new constitution is the actual title ‘VP finance,’ which is the very reason FASA decided early last term to review its bylaws.

At FASA’s September council meeting, various member clubs were furious that the executive had decided to terminate thenVP finance Laura Glover without council’s approval. But the execu-

Campus

It’s great that they’ve decided to review their constitution because maybe if their bylaws were clearer, they could have avoided what happened earlier in the year. aaron Green, asFa president

tive maintained that because the position was hired and not elected, they could remove Glover without having to go by the normal process for ousting executives.

This constitutional dilemma led to a heated seven-hour council meeting which saw the president of the Cinema Students Association, AJ West, ask for the recall of FASA co-presidents Neal Moignard and Paisley Sim for lack of transparency. The demand was ultimately rejected.

Johnston said that in the new constitution, the position will be either designated as executive officer of finance or director of finance, a clarification that ASFA president Aaron Green said was needed.

“It’s great that they’ve decided to review their constitution because maybe if their bylaws were clearer, they could have avoided what hap-

“The audience makes the show”

Despite unique speakers list, organizers of TEDxConcordia say it’s all about the audience Evan LePage News editor

Eight hours after tickets went on sale last Thursday, 250 applications had already been submitted by people hoping to attend the forthcoming TEDxConcordia event.

Organizer David Chouinard sees this as promising since, despite the unique and engaging list of speakers, he emphasized that the event

asFa Students congregate at the Loyola member association fair Jan. 20.

ASFA held fairs last week at both campuses to inform students about their MAs, with six taking part at Loyola and 10 downtown.

According to ASFA VP communications Natasha Launi, the event served a much-needed purpose.

“There were a lot of students that didn’t know what a member association was, or that they were in one,” she said. “I think it showed another aspect of university, other than going to school.” Photo by Nazli Bozoglu

is really all about the attendees and their passion for learning.

“Much like TED, the audience makes the show,” said Chouinard, one of a handful of organizers who have spent the last eight or nine months putting together the independently-organized conference. TEDx events mirror those of TED, its father organization, but on a smaller scale. “We’re really trying to get a very intimate, interesting flow of ideas where it’s not awkward to randomly go up to someone and just have a discussion. It’s very interesting, vibrant, spirited.”

It is because of this focus on intimacy and an engaging audience that tickets have been limited to 400, and that people interested in attending the Feb. 19 event cannot just buy them but instead need to “apply.”

“It’s very much to make sure

that the people who are part of the audience, every single one of them, is completely passionate about what they do,” Chouinard explained, adding that the process isn’t stringent and that the applications they have received thus far have been “phenomenal.”

“We have applications from Harvard graduates to ER nurses, to amazing artists. I mean very, very diverse and that’s also something we’d like to encourage,” he said.

Attendees can also expect a variety of speakers and ideas. Chouinard likened the speaker selection process to finding “hidden gems:” people in Montreal with ideas that few others know about.

After weeding through hundreds of nominations and potential speakers, organizers narrowed the list to 14, a third of which are Concordia students.

One of these “gems” is integrated marketing consultant and Concordia alumna Adele McAlear, who will be talking about the relationship between personal family histories, digital media and the fragility of the web in its ability to preserve these histories over the long term.

“People think ‘Well, I’ll just digitize things and it will live forever,’” McAlear said. “But it needs curation, it needs somebody to look after it [after you pass away]. Once you’ve loaded it on some other server ― you lose control over what happens.

According to McAlear, since the Internet and social media as a part of daily life is a fairly recent phenomenon, and because losing users isn’t helpful for their profitability, very few developers and services have concrete policies for how to

5

pened earlier in the year,” he said.

Green met with the constitution reform committee several times over the past few months and said that some FASA members also sat in on an ASFA financial committee meeting. One of the the other bylaws they were looking to change was the reimbursement of students.

Currently it takes up to six weeks for FASA to reimburse a member, compared to five business days at ASFA. Johnston said another important reform will give council power to create ad hoc committees when deemed necessary. She is confident the latest version of the constitution will be ready to be presented to council at its upcoming Feb. 7 meeting. Should it receive their approval, it will be ratified at FASA’s Mar. 21 AGM.

deal with “end of user life.” She said that as a result “there are very, very few people who are speaking on my topic in the world.”

For McAlear, the TEDx event offers the opportunity to be exposed to “a wide range of topics from areas that you wouldn’t necessarily spend time looking into” ― ideas that simply don’t appear in one’s day-to-day existence.

This seems to coincide with Chouinard’s vision for the event.

“What I’m sure that’s going to come out of TEDxConcordia is this powerful network of ideas,” he said. “And that’s something that sticks after the event, and it builds over time.”

With the positive response they’ve received thus far, TEDxConcordia will also likely build over time, especially as they are already recruiting organizers for the 2012 edition.

life 6

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Write to the editor: life@theconcordian.com

AnimAl Rights

Canada’s dirty secret

Why our outdated animal rights laws are enabling cruelty across the country Savannah Sher Assistant life editor There are some things you never forget. The sound of hundreds of dogs barking in cages so small that they are unable to turn around.

Left for days without food or water, they become driven to attack and eat each other.

There is no daylight, sometimes there is no light whatsoever. The corpses of dead animals remain in cages beside their brothers and sisters. The smell of feces and decaying flesh is so overwhelming, rescue workers wear protective masks. These animals live their entire lives without any human love or affection.

This is the reality of our Canadian puppy mill. Here, animals are often treated as commodities to be traded and sold, not as living creatures who feel pain, distress and loneliness.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated,” Mahatma Gandhi famously stated. According to this model, Canada’s greatness must seriously be called into question.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare, which was founded in Canada and has grown to become one of the largest animal welfare charities in the world, recently published a report that compared animal rights laws in 13 industrialized countries. Canada ranked at the bottom on all fronts.

“Those who might seek to measure Canada’s moral progress by our treatment of non-human animals would be deeply disappointed,” said Dr. John Sorenson, author of About Canada: Animal Rights. Sorenson

teaches critical animal studies at Brock University and his book takes a serious look at the exploitation of animals in Canada, focusing on the agriculture, fashion and entertainment industries. “As Canadians, we should be deeply ashamed of how animals are treated here.”

Canadians seem to suffer from a type of moral confusion when it comes to the rights of animals. Certain customs, like the seal hunt and individual acts of cruelty against pets are condemned and considered to be abominable, yet the practices of factory farming and animals being used for entertainment in circuses and rodeos are widely accepted. Even practices of which the majority of Canadians would disapprove, like the mass production of pets in squalid conditions, continue to occur because the country’s laws don’t reflect these ideals.

“

As Canadians, we should be deeply ashamed of how animals are treated here.

Dr. John sorenson, author of About Canada: Animal Rights

Recently, the residents of Granby, Quebec were appalled after the discovery of a dog and her litter of puppies abandoned with nails embedded in their heads just before Christmas. The most horrifying part of this story, though, was not the act of cruelty itself, but the fact that if found, whoever committed this violence would merely be subject to a small fine and would likely still be permitted to be a

pet owner. This is due in part to the Canadian animal welfare legislation that has not been significantly modified since it was written in 1892.

Canada’s archaic laws need changing “In general, our animal-cruelty laws are antiquated, remaining essentially unchanged since the 19th century,” said Sorenson. “Even the most modest proposals to update them have been stopped by an effective alliance of animal-exploitation industries, including agribusiness, breeders, equestrian associations, hunters and vivisectors.” A bill was passed in 2008 to ‘improve’ these laws but the only changes that were made were to increase fines according to inflation.

IFAW reports that 99.075 per cent of acts of cruelty to animals go unpunished in Canada.

There has been an increasing trend worldwide to improve and instate laws regarding animal cruelty and in the past few decades many countries have made changes to their legislation, but Canada has not.

“We impose some minor penalties on individual sadists who torture and kill animals for their own entertainment but in terms of industry practices you can get away with almost anything in this country,” said Sorenson.

This is a result of the way the Canadian Criminal Code is written. It specifies that only ‘willful neglect’ can be prosecuted. This means that it has to somehow be proved that the animal cruelty was premeditated for there to be any legal action. As a result, very few animal abusers are being penalized because they can claim that the mistreatment was unintentional. Many of the other countries involved in IFAW’s survey have provisions in place to ensure that people who neglect animals are prosecuted, whether there was wilful intent or not.

The puppy mill capital of North America The Animal Legal Defense Fund published a study in June 2010 measuring the differences in provincial laws across Canada. Provinces were split into three tiers and Quebec was placed at the bottom with Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

“Unfortunately, Canadian laws pertaining to this area are archaic in nature and deal primarily with issues of property such as not poisoning your neighbour’s animals. Therefore the laws are incredibly out of touch with the current values of the public,” explained Humane Society International campaigner Lauren Scott. “Also, although this has seen a slight shift in recent years, Canadians do not tend to make animal welfare issues a priority when deciding who to vote for in terms of political representation.”

Scott, who is currently invested in the issue of puppy mills in Quebec and has been involved with several puppy mill raids in recent years, agrees with Sorenson that it is these outdated laws that permit animal cruelty.

This issue received a lot of attention in the media a few years ago due to a string of raids that exposed the deplorable conditions where the animals were kept. There were cries for action by many welfare groups along with the public. But since then, nothing seems to have changed. In Quebec there are no mandatory incarceration periods and people are very rarely given jail time for their crimes. Maltreated animals are not required to be seized from their owners even when they are convicted of abuse or neglect. This means that known animal abusers are often given small fines and are permitted to keep their pets.

Quebec has been called the puppy mill capital of North America, with the majority of the dogs being exported to other provinces and to the United States. Its weak provincial animal welfare legislation, combined with

Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter/concordianlife inadequate enforcement, which has allowed the province to become a puppy mill haven.

Dog breeders in Quebec do not require a licence to run their businesses, which ultimately leads to many instances of malpractice, and it is the only province in Canada that does not allow provincial SPCAs to enforce provincial animal welfare laws. Plus, mass breeders stand to make more of a profit in the province because they can get away with anything. The Humane Society International estimates that there are more than 2,200 clandestine breeding operations in the province.

The existence of ineffective penalties

one that turns human beings into monsters.”

Most North Americans have come to accept the exploitation of animals in agriculture because they enjoy eating meat. What they might not realize is how horrifying the conditions are in factory farming and that it does not necessarily have to be this way.

The future of Canada’s animals Caring about animal rights is something that is treated with distain in modern culture.

The idea that animals even deserve to have rights is considered to be comical, with people

joking about whether squirrels deserve the right to vote.

Sorenson believes that even though we have become accustomed to a culture of animal exploitation, animals should have rights for the same reason that humans should have rights: out of a sense of compassion, fairness and justice. “Animals’ lives are important to them,” he said, “they want to live as much as we do, they experience pleasure and suffering as we do. Why would we want to deny to others the same enjoyment of life that we wish to experience ourselves?”

The big unanswered question here is why.

Why haven’t Canada’s animal welfare laws been changed since the 19th century? Why isn’t there more awareness about the nonexistence and ineffectiveness of the Canadian

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

laws? Why does Ontario have an exponentially higher number of animal welfare enforcers than Quebec? Why are Canadians allowing these shocking acts of cruelty to take place?

There may not be answers to these problems now, but there are actions that the public can take to show that they are not willing to support these industries of mercilessness and exploitation. “The challenge lies in getting the appropriate laws passed to protect animals, and the public needs to be involved in this process,” said Scott. “Only the public can put an end to the demand, and ultimately an end to these horrific operations.”

For more information and to find out how you can get involved visit www.hsi.org/world/canada/

In Quebec, a first offence of individual animal cruelty gets you a maximum penalty of a $600 fine, with subsequent offences never extending past $1,800. The maximum fine amounts for commercial instances of cruelty are $1,200 for the first offence and a $3,600 fine for subsequent offences. For a puppy mill owner, a few thousand dollars is an insignificant amount that will barely impact their operations, with the cost of the fine quickly earned back by selling a few litters of puppies.

In October 2008, a mill was raided in StLin, Que. Acting director of Montreal’s SPCA, Alanna Devine, described the conditions to the CBC at the time: “If you want to envision what hell would look like, you know, certainly for the small dogs, dogs stacked on top of dogs, very little access to food or water, excrement and feces everywhere. It’s so disheartening to see what we are capable of doing in the name of profit.”

During the raid, 150 dogs were rescued and the owner, Francesco Coelo, was fined $3,300 and sentenced to 180 hours of community service. Coelo was also banned from owning more than three animals at a time. It begs the question of why a man who pleaded guilty to multiple acts of animal cruelty should still be permitted to keep any animals in his care.

In order for the Humane Society to obtain a search warrant to investigate a potential puppy mill, they must first convince a judge that there is strong evidence of animal cruelty. Quebec only has 10 animal inspectors whereas Ontario has 200.

The goal of puppy mills is to produce as many dogs as possible at the lowest cost.

Dead animals are left to decompose, dogs are given little or no veterinary care and are left to starve, often going days without food or water.

“This cruelty goes on behind closed doors, often in the basements or sheds of individuals living on the outskirts of cities. Therefore there tends to be an out of sight out of mind mentality, whereby the public feels less of a need to act on cruelty when they do not witness it firsthand,” said Scott.

Mistreatment in agriculture This mistreatment is not restricted to puppy mills. There are no consequences for the torture and mistreatment of animals that are bred for farming purposes either.

It is estimated by UN Food and Agriculture statistics that over 696 million animals are killed for food every year in Canada. The vast majority of these animals are raised in factory farms where the conditions would make anyone lose their appetite.

Many of these animals are beaten or shocked into submission. They are transported thousands of miles without food or water to slaughterhouses where they are boiled, burned or cut into pieces while still alive.

Killing animals beforehand costs more money.

Processing the animals as quickly as possible is the only goal of the industry and the quality of life of these cows, chickens and pigs means nothing.

Thousands die from overcrowding, stress, disease and extreme temperatures. Chickens are genetically bred and given hormones so that they grow so large that their legs can’t support their own bodies. Their beaks and feet are removed without anesthetic so that they won’t attack each other. Male chicks are useless in the egg industry so they are ground up alive or suffocated within hours of hatching.

Sorenson described his experiences at a slaughterhouse: “It was nightmarish, filthy, a place of unspeakable cruelty to animals and

Top and below: dogs and puppies left in frightening conditions were discovered by Montreal’s SPCA and Humane Society International in a puppy mill raid in St-Lin, Que. Over 150 dogs were rescued in this raid.

Photos courtesy of Humane Society International: Canada.

1892

the year in which the Canadian animal welfare legislation was last modified

99.075

per cent of animal cruelty crimes that go unpunished in Canada

7

2,200

estimate of clandestine breeding operations in the province of Quebec

8

Tuesday, January 25, 2011 ReCipes

fooD

Taking on the RIM REAPER One brave soul attempts the McKibbin’s wing challenge despite a weak stomach and a fear of public restrooms Melissa Como Contributor Did you ever do something that you knew would turn out to be a mistake? Like sleeping with an ex or having that last Jagerbomb?

You figure “meh” and ignore the potential consequences until the time comes. I knew I’d regret eating the appropriately named RIM REAPER hot wings at McKibbin’s Irish Pub, but I did it anyway. Why? Because someone asked me to. That’s all it took. I think it may be time to revise my decision-making process.

Last Monday was the big day. I sweated in nervous anticipation for hours beforehand.

See, I am the unfortunate owner of an incredibly weak stomach. One that has trouble digesting even the blandest of foods. I also have a psychological thing going on that makes it impossible for me to number two in public washrooms. So I did what was necessary; I stocked up on Pepto Bismol and made sure to secure a friend’s nearby apartment in the probable event of fire shits.

When I placed my order, Nina Fillis, my waitress, handed me a waiver and warned me not to touch my face after eating the wings.

Because I am a child, her telling me to avoid facial contact pretty much guaranteed it. I was comforted by the fact that guys have it slightly worse. “We always tell them to wash their hands well before peeing,” she said, laughing.

I asked Fillis if she had ever tried the wings.

Without the slightest hesitation, she responded with, “Never.”

The hot wings are coated in a sauce made from the ghost chili, or the Naga Jolokia pepper (also callled Bhut Jolokia). Until recently, this Indian pepper was labeled the hottest in the world. It is now the second, but it is still over 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce.

I stared at the wings for a while before tasting one. They looked deadly. Their spiciness tickled my nostrils. Could I even do this?

I picked one up and quickly brought it to my mouth. After taking my first bite, I was completely unimpressed. It was hot but totally doable. About a second later the pepper really kicked in. It felt as though Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat blasted one of his fireballs all

over me.

Desperate for relief, I chugged nearly an entire pint of Newcastle. Sadly, the beer made everything worse. It swooshed the heat around, enabling it to burn areas it hadn’t previously reached. I then ingested several swigs of Pepto Bismol and moved onto my next wing.

I figured the second would be more tolerable than the first. After all, I knew what to expect. I was wrong. Shortly after finishing the wing, I found myself gasping for cool air.

It was unbearable. I got the impression someone was holding a lighter directly up against my mouth. My lips were twice their regular size. Desperate for relief, I spread sour cream all over them. I could not even care that I looked crazy, it felt so good.

In all, I was able to eat three wings. If you can bring yourself to eat a dozen, you get to add your name to the bar’s Wall of Flame, like Folashade Balogun did. She actually took on the challenge twice, eating a total of 24 “delicious pieces” on two separate occasions.

Balogun, 27, claims she does not even prep her stomach in any way. “I’m Nigerian and we love our food spicy,” she said.

I like my food spicy too, but these wings were not simply spicy; they were hellish food flames that set my poor, defenseless body ablaze. Still, I kind of regretted not being able to finish the whole order. I thought I had let myself down.

That all changed when my stomach started torturing me the next night. It felt like a large cat was trapped in it, yowling and furiously trying to claw its way out. To make matters worse, I was nowhere near home. I had no choice but to put my public washroom fear aside and relieve myself in a gas station.

A gas station. I guess I’m thankful I only ate three wings; I can only imagine what kind of fecal disaster I would have had to endure had I eaten all 12.

If you want to try these, good luck.

Challenge rule: 1. Eat 12 Rim Reaper wings.

Succeed, and you get your named added to the “Wall of Flame” McKibbin’s Irish Pub offers the challenge any time or day of the week. The challenge will cost you $16.95 for the 12 wings but a portion of six “for curiosity” is on the menu for $9.95. To see those talented enough to make the “Wall of Flame” visit www.mckibbinsirishpub.com

Photo by Tiffany Blaise

theconcordian

Photos by writer

Turn old food into new meals How to revamp leftovers from your fridge into appetizing dishes.

Renée Morrison Contributor We have all been there. Your stomach is growling but the clock is ticking and you have better things to do than cook. Your homework is piling up but your fridge is emptying out. Not in the mood to trudge through snow with heavy grocery bags?

School books got your budget running low?

Here are some quick and cheap meals you can make from practically anything in your fridge as long as it is not furry yet.

Condiment sandwich: Toast two pieces of bread. If you don’t own a toaster, DIY it by pushing the bread onto a low-heat stove burner with a pot on top of it. Once toasted, spread on some cream cheese and add olives, pickles or relish and salsa or mushy tomatoes. Push the bread down so it mixes everything up, and cut the sandwich into an X (it makes it taste better.)

10 minute stir-fry: With any flavour Ramen noodles, add some frozen veggies or fresh vegetables that are about to expire and chop up any leftover protein. This can be breaded chicken nuggets, a hot dog, tofu, etc. Add soya sauce to the mix and cook in a pan for 7 minutes or until meat is heated through.

Poor kid pizza: Cover half a bagel or any other bread that is not yet green with tomato pasta sauce. Add some oregano, garlic powder and cheese. Microwave until the cheese gets gooey and the smell has you salivating.

Frugal fried spaghetti: No sauce needed.

Toss some plain pasta (it can be left over from the day before) in a frying pan with basil, oregano and olive oil. Cook for 5 minutes until slightly crispy. Enjoy and wonder why you never tried frying spaghetti before.

Pita crisps: Revive some hardened pita bread in the back of your pantry by brushing on some olive oil, salt and pepper and garlic powder or paprika and tear the pita into pieces. Bake in a heated oven at 400 F for 7 to 10 minutes. They are a great study snack and are delicious on their own, but are even better when paired with hummus or baba ghanoush.

9

Tuesday, January 25, 2011 interview

A Q&A with comedian Sugar Sammy An inside look at this Montreal native’s rise to worldwide fame Alyssa De Rosa Staff writer Sugar Sammy pushes the envelope when it comes to his standup comedy. Tackling topics such as race, relationships and multiculturalism, this local star knows how to play his racial cards right, especially when it comes to poking fun at his Quebecois audience.

Born in Montreal to Indian parents, Samir Khullar is as sweet as his stage name suggests.

He was discovered at the Just for Laughs International Comedy Festival, where he was the first ever comedian to perform in three languages: English, French and Hindi. Since then he has performed worldwide.

Sugar Sammy stopped by Montreal earlier last week on a promotional tour for his DVD, “Sugar Sammy Live in Concert Direct from Montreal.” He spoke to the Concordian the next day from Toronto.

The Concordian: How has the feedback from your fans been while you were in Montreal?

Sugar Sammy: I wanted to let my fans know that my DVD was out and to come pick it up. When I was at HMV Megastore downtown Tuesday, hundreds of people showed up, it was fun. I thought I would get a few people here and there. I didn’t think I would be spending hours there. There was a crazy lineup. It was a pleasure. HMV told us we beat out The Social Network in terms of first day sales. It was cool and I’m excited that most people are hungry for more of my work.

Askmen.com dubbed you comedy’s New Rockstar and the Hollywood Reporter named you one of the “top 10 rising comedy talents from around the world.” What do you think about these titles?

I do what I do. People write what they write, but I have a very simple life. I don’t walk around like a rockstar.

You are not lying, are you? In a lot of your interviews you mention that you still live with your parents. Is that true?

When I come back to Montreal, which is not often, I stay with my parents. It doesn’t make sense to stay at a hotel or buy a house

The first two [performances] that I did, I got a standing ovation. So that is when I knew, that is what got me hooked.

Sugar Sammy, a Montreal-born standup comedian

and leave it empty. But, I think I will be settling down soon and will take a break to buy a house, probably in Montreal and maybe L.A, wherever my work takes me.

Montreal is my home, I don’t want to lose that. It’s a big part of who I am and a big part of my success. Being from Montreal and having that kind of energy and that kind of vibe, it is very unique for people to see that on an international level.

!

But at the same time I have a great Canadian perspective. Growing up in Quebec, I have that background. It is a very, very unique perspective that I don’t think many people have in terms of artists out there.

Let us go back to the beginning for second.

What led you to comedy in the first place?

I knew as a kid I wanted to do it. When I watched Eddie Murphy’s first standup gig at eight or nine years old I knew this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Where was your first performance and how did it go?

I first performed at Marianopolis College in Montreal at 19. I had never performed in front of a crowd by myself, it was definitely an experience. It was nerve-wracking but fun.

You are young so you take more risks, I had no filter. It was intimidating, being in front of 400 or so people. My standup was all over the place then too, it had no structure to it as it does now.

You say you used to have no filter. How did your first audiences respond to your risky humour?

It was great, the first two [performances] that I did, I got a standing ovation. So that is when I knew, that is what got me hooked. I said, now I know that this is what I should be doing.

Have you ever gone too far with one of your jokes?

At the Juste pour Rire festival I made a lot of Quebecois jokes. They were uncomfortable for the time that I was really ripping into them, and then I brought it back with a joke that worked itself out. I mess around with my audiences, and they are very forgiving.

The Golden Globes have just passed and host Ricky Gervais was pretty ruthless. Is award show hosting something you would ever do?

I would love to do that and I am starting to get asked. A lot of journalists are writing that we should give Sugar Sammy a hosting gig for one of the Quebec galas. It is cool to hear. If it is the right timing and opportunity and I would have enough time to prepare I would do it for sure.

How do you think growing up here has helped your comedy?

According to Sugar Sammy, Montrealers can expect a show this summer. He is also preparing a French show that will premiere in 2012.

It has definitely given me a different perspective. I am influenced a lot by the U.S. because it’s our neighbour and we have a lot of their TV shows and movies that we consume.

For more on Sugar Sammy, visit his official website: www.sugarsammy.com. Sign up there to receive priority for tickets for upcoming Montreal shows.

Graphic by Sean Kershaw

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arts 10

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Oscars are only a month away! Scan this QR code with your smartphone to follow the lead-up to the big night on Race to the Red Carpet.

Write to the editor: arts@theconcordian.com

FESTIVAL

Heavy metal and the height of the VHS age Comedians bring a blast from the past to Montreal’s Théâtre Ste-Catherine with the Found Footage Festival Valerie Cardinal Arts editor

In 1991, Nick Prueher, a high school freshman and McDonald’s employee, found a training video called Inside and Outside Custodial Services while at work. The ridiculous tape became an obsession of Prueher and his friend Joe Pickett.

“We’d watch this video and make fun of it,” said Prueher. “And that just got us to thinking, there had to be more material out there like this just waiting to be discovered.”

Now, Prueher and Pickett are on the sixth tour of the Found Footage Festival, which celebrates all the crazy, unintentionally hilarious VHS tapes Prueher and Pickett have found since their high school days. “We’ve got probably about 4,000 videos in our collection,” shared Prueher.

The Found Footage collection keeps growing; it’s part of the reason Prueher and Pickett go on tour.

“We’re scouring the Earth for new material,” he joked. Fans of the show often bring videos to the performances and also send tapes in the mail.

“It’s like Christmas morning every time we get a package,” he said.

Prueher and Pickett love doing their home-

Nick Prueher (left) and Joel Pickett go through hours of footage to put together each show. work. They often manage to track down the makers of the VHS tapes they find; some have even made appearances at the Festival. “Without fail, people have been flattered by the attention,” he shared. “They’re able to laugh at it. And I think the fact that we’re not doing it in a mean-spirited way also helps… it’s more of a celebration of these kind of regrettable moments captured on tape.” Prueher said spending hours watching footage of these people lends them a mythical status in his mind. “For us, it’s like meeting

George Clooney or Julia Roberts or somebody,” he admitted.

This year, the Found Footage Festival is going on tour with Heavy Metal Parking Lot, a 16-minute documentary made by two 20-somethings in 1986. The film documents Judas Priest fans hanging out in an arena parking lot before a show in Maryland. “I can’t believe I’m talking about it here, 25 years later,” said Jeff Krulik, one of the creators of the doc.

Although Heavy Metal Parking Lot isn’t

found footage, Krulik and Prueher agree that it comes from the same era and tradition. Prueher explained that “before the Internet, you’d find videos and trade them with people, and they’d share them by making dubs of them, and hooking two VCRs together.” Prueher and his friends inherited a 10th generation dub of the film, and it quickly became a favourite. “You put a bunch of drunk Judas Priest fans in front of a camera and that’s all you’ve got to do, you’ve got a masterpiece on your hands,” he said.

Years after its making, Heavy Metal Parking Lot has become a cult classic, not only among the alt-rock crowd, but also among celebrities.

“Gosh, it was totally by accident, not design,” shared Krulik. “It was a period when a video camera was a novelty and home video was in its infancy.” Long after shelving the film in 1990, Krulik and collaborator John Heyn found out that Heavy Metal Parking Lot was a favourite on the Nirvana tour bus, and even managed to get a copy to Dave Grohl after the documentary’s DVD release in 2004.

Times have changed considerably since the release of the documentary and the footage found

by Prueher and Pickett. For one, websites like YouTube make sharing anything and everything easier. On his part, Kruhlik hopes Heavy Metal Parking Lot will continue to be discovered and shared by a new generation. “But if they don’t, we’ll have had a good run,” he concluded.

The Found Footage Festival comes to Montreal for one night only on Feb. 1. For more information, go to www.foundfootagefestival. com. For more about Heavy Metal Parking Lot, check out www.heavymetalparkinglot.com.

Can’t make it on Feb. 1? Head to www. theconcordian.com/arts to check out some found footage!

THEATRE

Too many actors, not enough theatre companies Bright future for theatre despite market saturation, students say Stephanie Mercier Voyer Staff writer There is no better place than Montreal for a French theatre company to flourish in North America. Several renowned French acting schools, such as the Conservatoire de Théâtre, École Nationale de Théâtre, Collège Lionel-Groulx and UQAM can be found in the Montreal area.

Consequently, the city is filled with promising actors eager to be part of the theatre industry.

Montreal is home to major theatre companies such as Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, Espace Go, Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui and Rideau Vert, which have, on average, seven shows each planned for the 2010-2011 season. With advertisements all over Montreal’s metro stations, famous actors and acclaimed directors collaborating with their productions, selling tickets is not a problem. For the upcoming season, every show presented at Théâtre du Nouveau Monde is already sold out at least once during the four or five weeks it is

playing.

That success seems to have had a trickledown effect. “We’re doing very, very well,” said Abat-Jour Théâtre co-founder Sarah Berthiaume.

Abat-Jour is an independent theatre company created in 2004. Berthiaume and her former classmates came up with the idea to create their own company while they were still enrolled at Lionel Groulx’s acting program.

“Of course, it’s always the major institutional theatre companies that get all the public and the critics’ attention,” said Berthiaume. Nonetheless, the Montreal French theatre network is like a family; they are always helping each other out. For one of their latest plays, called Simon a toujours aimé danser, Abat-Jour was able to use the Jean-Claude-Germain room in the Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui. “The Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui team helped us with media relation fees,” added Berthiaume. “We also benefit from their help for our different projects.”

Money is, as always, a major problem. “For a couple of years, the number of grants has drastically been reduced,” said Maxime Mailloux, a third-year acting student at the National Theatre School. Quebec’s ministry of culture gave 2,773 grants to different programs in 2008-2009. A year later, the number had gone down to only 2,660.

“Our current government does not see the neces-

sity of investing in the arts,” Mailloux said. The 22-year-old student is very much concerned with the place artists occupy in our society. He wrote La “belle bulle rose” des artistes Québecois with some of his classmates as a response to criticism towards some artists’ involvement in the shale gas debate.

Every year, an average of 60 students graduate from an acting school throughout the province. “Another problem is the obvious saturation of casting agencies,” said Mailloux. “Young actors who graduate have trouble getting accepted into those agencies because they already have too many clients.” The only solution for some of those graduates is to create jobs for themselves by founding their own theatre companies — which is exactly what Berthiaume and her friends decided to do with Abat-Jour.

However, that creates another problem. Just like there are too many actors in casting agencies, there are too many theatre companies in the province. “Every year fewer grants are available, but more companies have to fight for them,” said Berthiaume.

But the main challenge encountered by French theatre in Montreal is be the inability to reach a broader audience. “French theatre will only survive if we can find a way to work together,” affirmed Ariane Bérubé, a second-year

student at Lionel-Groulx.

That difficulty lead to the growth of organizations working towards that goal, like Carte Prem1ères. With a $25 subscription, they offer a 50 per cent discount on over 30 plays and a 25 per cent discount on a variety of shows presented during six different festivals in Montreal.

Carte Prem1ères subscriptions are available at Théâtre Aux Écuries, Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui and Monument-National.

The changing demographics in Montreal are perceived as a threat by some people in the French theatre industry. Without necessarily considering themselves to be nationalists, they feel that they have to fight for the survival of the French language as well as French theatre. “In fact, the more in danger French theatre would be, the more I would feel the necessity to defend it, to fight for it,” said Mailloux.

There definitely is a future for French theatre in Montreal, and a considerable one according to him. “Just take a look at our artists shining all over the world,” he said, mentioning homegrown talent like Wajdi Mouawad and Robert Lepage.

“But the next generation is, I believe, even more promising and eager to create.”

For more information about Abat-Jour Théâtre, visit www.abatjourtheatre.com.

Graphic by Katie Brioux

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/concordianarts

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

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CINEMA POLITICA

“You don’t like the truth”: Khadr

Doc reveals raw footage from within Guantanamo’s interrogation rooms Corey Pool Contributor

“Why am I here?” asks Omar Khadr.

Khadr, born in Toronto in July 1986, was 15 when he was captured by American Delta Force agents in Afghanistan and accused of killing an American soldier. Despite being a child and severely wounded, Khadr was imprisoned, interrogated, and tortured at Bagram Air Force base. Several months later, he was sent to the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he awaited trial for eight years.

You Don’t Like the Truth: 4 Days in Guantanamo is a remarkable and startling documentary by filmmakers Luc Côté and Patricio Henriquez, an examination through surveillance footage taken in February of 2003 of the fourday interrogation of Khadr by a team from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

“I don’t think films can change the world,” admitted Henriquez. “The only thing a film can do is provoke a reflection, provoke a debate, and push people to want to take action.”

“We want people that might not have a good idea of Omar Khadr to understand that something is profoundly wrong with what is going on here.”

The film is comprised mostly of the raw footage taken from within the interrogation rooms at Guantanamo and offers to the public a glimpse behind tightly closed doors, and how government representatives conduct themselves there.

“In documentary filmmaking, a large part of reality, maybe the most important for us being Guantanamo, is not visible,” Henriquez explained. “Many journalists have been to Guantanamo, but are only allowed to see what [the government] wants you to see.”

In 2008, a decision made by the Supreme Court of Canada ordered the release of thousands of pages of documents to Khadr’s lawyers, including seven hours of never-before-seen footage. The breakthrough was exactly what the two directors had been looking for.

You Don’t Like the Truth: 4 Days in Guan-

Surveillance footage taken in Feb. 2003 sheds light on a four-day interrogation of Khadr in Guantanamo. tanamo had its first screenings here in Montreal, at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema de Montréal in October 2010, right about when Khadr was finally sentenced to 40 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to all five charges, and his sentence was capped at eight years because of this plea agreement. It’s expected that he will be moved to Canada after one year.

Despite being well received by the audience in Montreal, Henriquez said that the film was met with hostility by many of the major North American film festivals, and little support was given to the filmmakers.

“We didn’t have any public support to do this film,” said Henriquez. “ [Luc and I] have been working for years making documentaries in Montreal and we have always been supported by public funds, [however], this is the first time

that nobody wanted to help us.”

After being denied entry into several festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival and festivals in Halifax and Vancouver, they began to notice a trend: “We began to think, ‘maybe it’s the subject of the film; people just don’t want to talk about it.’” Henriquez admitted with a laugh, “Maybe the title of the film is fair: You just don’t like the truth!”

You Don’t Like the Truth is dedicated to the struggle of Khadr, his family and his friends.

However, Henriquez pointed out that, as much as this film is focused on Khadr, he is not the only person held in the institution: “We got this material on Omar, and so the film was made about Omar. However, maybe in your minds you can make up the films for all of the other prisoners in Guantanamo.”

Henriquez and Côté created the film in order to expose a terrible and embarrassing situation involving a victimized Canadian youth. The film also serves as a reminder that the Canadian government has refused to help Khadr on multiple occasions. It should be our goal, according to Henriquez, to attempt to make a change.

“People need to understand that they can make a difference,” he urged. “You can do something, everyone can do something, and I think in the end, together we can make a difference.”

You don’t like the truth: 4 Days in Guantanamo screens Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. in H-110. For more information, visit cinemapolitica.org

CINEMA

Where cinema and music meet Paul Clipson, former Godspeed! guitarist hope for Crossover success in first of CinemaSpace series

Félix Boudreau Contributor Although Daïchi Saïto and Malena Szlam are from opposite sides of the planet, they share the same love for experimental cinema. The independent filmmakers were recently chosen to be the new directors of CinemaSpace’s annual programming series. Crossover- Enchanted Light: Super 8mm Films by Paul Clipson is the first of three events at the Segal Centre this year. “It is a unique opportunity to get out of our usual Mile-End setting and be able to reach a wider audience,” Saïto said. Saïto hails from Japan and Szlam from Chile, but they met right here in Montreal. The duo received master’s degrees in of fine arts at Concordia and went on to have flourishing careers.

Enchanted Lights, Saïto said, refers to a poem

by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. “Although there is no direct link between the content of Neruda’s work and our event, we wanted to use the same imagery, the poetic effect of the light,” he explained. This event takes place over two nights.

During the first one, several short films by Clipson will be shown in the 77-seat screening room of the Segal Centre. The second night will be held in the bigger open space of the Centre where Clipson’s work will be shown on a big screen,

while two musicians perform on a nearby stage.

Ultimately, expained Saïto, “The goal of CinemaSpace is to create bridges between cinema, visual and performing arts through its commitment to showcase a wide range of innovative works, to go beyond the boundaries of conventional cinema.” With this in mind they organized three different events: Crossover, Lightstruck and Parallax views.

For Crossover, Saïto and Szlam wanted to find a filmmaker who integrated another form of art into his movies. They approached San Franciscobased artist Paul Clipson because of his talent and previous experience with mixing together live music and film projections.

“I was introduced to his work two years ago and I was like ‘Wow!’ This stuff is incredible!” said Saïto. “Clipson, even though his films are plays of light and shapes, manages to touch the viewers’ emotions.”

Clipson likes to improvise with his camera.

By using closeups, long shots and different lighting captured by the highly textured format of 8 mm film, he creates a dreamlike atmosphere.

His technique is inspired from the method of free writing, which means that when he starts to film he doesn’t have a precise plan. He also strives for spontaneity; most of his work isn’t edited at all. Clipson even keeps mistakes that bring more authenticity to his work.

Sound is the fulcrum of his art; he works in tight collaboration with many experimental musicians. “Clipson’s method of filming is unique,” said Saïto. “He directs his films as if he was composing music.”

As such, the co-director decided to find live musicians to interact with Clipson’s films. Finding the musicians wasn’t a strenuous process, as Saïto explained. “When we talked to Clipson

about mixing his work with live music he insisted that we choose the musician Roger Tellier-Craig.”

Tellier-Craig is the former guitarist of experimental band Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

He now works on a solo electro project called Le révélateur. Tellier-Craig also suggested the other performer, Bernardino Femminielli, whose highly experimental music is rich in synthesized and ambient noise. Although their performance will be largely improvised, the musicians had

the opportunity to see the projection in advance and compose a basic musical structure. “The mix between the music and the projection will provide a feeling of intimacy and spontaneity to the viewer,” explained Saïto.

Crossover - Enchanted Light: Super-8mm Films by Paul Clipson runs Jan. 26 and 27 at the Segal Centre, 5170 Côte-Ste-Catherine St.

Clipson rarely edits his work, preferring to keep errors to preserve authenticity.

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theconcordian

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

SPOILER ALERT

The Green Hornet Remake shows average Joes can fight crime too, sort of Jessica Wei Staff writer Man, I love superhero movies. But you know what makes superheroes (and, subsequently, superhero movies) kind of clichĂŠ and lame?

Super powers. Seriously. Sure, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really cool that Superman is like this freakishly strong, lightning fast, flying alien guy who can see through walls or whatever, but wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t it be more interesting if he was just an average Joe with a really masochistic hero complex?

What if he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any fighting abilities and was kind of an impulsive idiot? Get real!

This is why I was so glad when The Green Hornet came out. Finally! A masked vigilante who kicks ass with his own God-given mortal talents. Okay, so for his personal convenience, his sidekick/butler, Kato, happens to be a skilled martial artist who can somehow do anything from making superb coffee to restoring an old jalopy and pimping it out with ejector seats, a tiny record player and daggers that shoot out of the hubcaps. Oh, and he can freeze time. Aaaaaand heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s super cute.

But for the most part, the Green Hornet is just like you and me. And maybe thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just what we need, as citizens of the world â&#x20AC;&#x201D; some wealthy bumbling idiot we can relate to. I watched The Green Hornet, and you know what? You should too.

Seth Rogenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s character, Britt Reid, is a spoiled playboy living off his wealthy father, who owns, apparently, the only newspaper in Los Angeles. When papa dies, Reid has to take over the paper. He realizes that heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been wasting his life, coasting off family money, and heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s determined to make a difference in society despite the fact that he sucks at, well,

most things. Enter Kato, daddyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s old mechanic, and his astonishingly varied skill set. The two guys instantly bond, get hammered, take a joyride and accidentally save a couple from being mugged. Hey! That was fun! Justice is awesome. Reid thinks their next move should be to try to murder every bad person in the entire city â&#x20AC;&#x201D; drug dealers, bookies, gangsters, most of whom work for Chudnofsky, this super evil, ambiguously European guy. And theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to do it by posing as bad guys.

They build a name for themselves by messing up a few people and slipping fear-mongering propaganda in the newspaper. I mean, there are holes in the plot, certainly, but the good intentions are there. Plus, Kato is REALLY hot, so whatever.

Also helping out is Cameron Diaz, who was somehow cast in this movie as the young whip-smart intrepid reporter/love interest.

And while sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s super under-equipped with the acting chops to pull the whole â&#x20AC;&#x153;smart girlâ&#x20AC;? thing off, she can still prance around in â&#x20AC;&#x153;slutty-secretaryâ&#x20AC;? type dresses, so, yâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;know, good â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;nuff. But the real romance is between Kato and Reid â&#x20AC;&#x201D; comic book geeks havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seen a sexually tense bromance like this since Adam Westâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Batman made Burt Ward his bitch back in the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;60s. The lines they drop reek of homoerotic undertones, like when Reid is suggesting sidekick names to Kato: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m the Green Hornet, you can be my Little Stinger! Or â&#x20AC;&#x201D; my Honey Pot!â&#x20AC;?

Oh, Katoâ&#x20AC;Ś Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d let you be my Little Stinger if you made me coffee in the morning. Uh, I mean, Jay Chou is an exceptionally talented actor who couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have made a smarter choice for his North American film debut. All in all, dece movie: fresh take on the superhero genre, Michel Gondryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surrealist directing style, sweet special effects and Seth Rogen, well, being Seth Rogen (only a much bigger asshole). And if thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one lesson that we can all take away from this movie, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that ordinary people can be heroes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; as long as they have money and other people to do their ass kicking for them.

Stand

By Me

Daniel Spinali Staff writer

after an altercation with his father and Vern fills the role of the stereotypical overweight scaredycat. Together they play cards and go on adventures, just like any other kids their age.

Castle Rock had recently been rocked by the tragedy of a boyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disappearance. Vern overhears, while digging under his porch, that the body of the boy has been found, but the police donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know about it. He tells his friends, and they decide to set off on a two-day journey to find the body.

The movie is a coming-of-age story with the discovery of the body providing the moment of transition from childhood to teenage years. As the boys journey towards the body they experience the full gamut of emotions, including: the fear of being attacked by a junkyard dog who they think is trained to â&#x20AC;&#x153;go for the balls,â&#x20AC;? the sadness of realizing the reality of their situations in life, the pride of finding the body and the courage to continue on their journey in the face of a few setbacks.

Despite the fact that the majority of the Concordianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s readership is long past childhood, I believe that each and every one of us still has a spot in our hearts for times when we had no cares in the world and every day was a new adventure. There are days when my friends and I try to recreate elements of our youths â&#x20AC;&#x201D; sometimes by playing a game, or watching a movie. Sadly, we are quickly brought back to the reality of the situation; we will never be those children again, and we can only hope that our children will bring back some of the youth that we have lost. Stand By Me is a movie that, while not being my own childhood, reminds me of the adventures I had with my friends while growing up.

Stand By Me takes place in the sleepy town of Castle Rock, Oregon, over Labour Day weekend, 1959. It is told by middle-aged Gordie LaChance, an author writing a memoir about his childhood.

Gordie spends most of his time with his friends Chris Chambers, Teddy Duchamp and Vern Tessio. They are a group of misfits: Gordie is a storyteller rejected by his father following the death of his older brother, Chris is a good kid from a bad family, Teddy is physically deformed

Stand By Me: Based on â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Bodyâ&#x20AC;? by Stephen King. Directed by Rob Reiner, 1986.

Starring Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connell and Kiefer Sutherland

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music

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

13

Write to the editor: music@theconcordian.com

interview

Skratch Bastid: up to scratch Adopted Montrealer moves to TO, but comes back for the poutine Sarah Deshaies Editor-in-chief

In Toronto, a friend tells me, Skratch Bastid is big. He usually plays to sold-out crowds, who know the Halifax native and ex-Montrealer has brought his genre-crossing act across the world. Even the awards people are listening; his work with Buck 65 has landed him a Juno nom.

The Skratch trifecta — Bastid, DJ Made from Scratch and Scratch, formerly of The Roots — played to a sparse crowd last Thursday at the Hive, and you might not have known these guys were hot shit before they took the stage. Before he crossed to the turntables, Skratch Bastid sat down with the Concordian to talk about what keeps him going, why Toronto ain’t so bad, and what he misses most about Montreal.

Concordian: You’re originally from Halifax, and you’ve lived in Montreal, but are now settled in Toronto. How did you get your career started in a smaller city?

Skratch Bastid: I don’t know — just hard work, and enjoying what I do. And always wanting to take it to the next level.

(Scratch chimes in: “Don’t say that. The ‘take it to the next level’ phrase needs to go.”)

Let me rephrase: I’m passionate about my career about music, and I always wanted to keep challenging myself, so when I felt like I had done enough in Halifax, and I wasn’t really challenged, I moved to Montreal. And when I didn’t really feel too challenged in Montreal, then I moved to Toronto.

Toronto’s really just a hub for international travel, which is a challenge. So it helps me get anywhere in the world. Also, Toronto has a really good music scene. Good roots.

The people from in Toronto grew up in musical families. There’s a lot of musical history there, and I really enjoy it.

But you’re still a fan of MTL? It’s nice to be back here.

Habs fan or Leafs fan?

I’m a Habs fan.

Are there things/places to eat in Montreal that you have to do when you come back here?

I wish I could go to restaurants: Schwartz’s Deli, Aux Vivres, Romado’s chicken on Rachel Street, La Banquise for a poutine, but I don’t think I’m going to get to any of those.

Skratch Bastid (above) played for a small, yet enthusiatic crowd at the Hive on Thursday night. The concert was part of the CSU Winter Orientation.

La Banquise is sooo good.

It gets you more hungover than drinking, though. A galvaude [chicken and peas poutine] at Banquise at four in the morning, you won’t be doing anything until one o’clock the next day.

What else do you miss?

Montreal’s a very lifestyle-oriented city. I miss the Mountain on Sundays in the summer. I liked walking it and biking it. I like the metro here better than in Toronto. I miss that, it’s a little easier to get around. I miss the French culture, because I like that aspect of it. I grew up in French immersion, and I always found it fun to practice.

You’re known for being comfortable in a variety of genres. Have you always been really open to different styles of music?

No, when I was a kid I only wanted to listen to rap. And as I listened to other DJs and other mix shows, and I’d find out that my favourite beat had a sample from a soul song or a rock song or a jazz song. And I’d be like, well, let me go listen to that catalogue there. And from there, from basically three samples, I got interested in other genres of music.

Even today, I still find music that I

hated on when I was a kid, and I’m like, this is great. But when you’re young, you’re just full of anger. I guess I was like a mad, red-headed stepchild, just kinda had a temper, and I was mad and I got that out through angry rap music. And then as I grew up, I noticed I started to diversify.

Do you think that the 15-year-old angry version of yourself would be horrified to see you now?

Sometimes, I’ll have kids at shows, and they’ll shake their head at something I’ll play. And I’m like, nah, man, you’ll understand some day. And if you don’t, you’re worse off for it.

You do 200 shows a year, and you’ve travelled all around the world. What’s your secret to keeping up?

this crazy job where people give us approval for everything we do. It’s that energy that’s amazing.

Are you doing this because you’re someone who needs approval every three minutes?

No, I strictly got into DJing because I wanted to get as much hip hop in as possible. I would just love hip hop music, and I’d wanted to read beats about rap, and I DJed. I tried to breakdance, and I tried to write graffiti. And so I got into DJing, and then turned into scratching. And I won a competition, and people started asking me to go play clubs.

You earned a Juno nomination for Producer of the Year for work on Buck 65’s Situation album.

But Joni Mitchell walked away with the prize. Any hard feelings towards Joni?

Uhhhh... try to eat healthy. Or just enjoy what you do. I enjoy my job, so it’s easy to do what I do. I think I have the greatest job in the world.

[Canadian rapper] Shad said, “It’s ridiculous. Basically we have a job where people like clap every three minutes for what we do at our jobs.”

No, not really. Sometimes I wonder what she did, but I mean you can’t discredit that woman’s contributions to music at all. It was an honour just to be nominated.

Can you imagine being at an office, bringing a file to Joe, and Joe’ll be like, “Ah! Thanks dude!” We have

I call him Rich. Rich had a radio show in Halifax. He was a DJ, MC and a beatmaker. I kind of aspired to

What do you call Buck 65? Buck, or Rich Terfry, his real name?

Photos by writer

follow in this guy’s footsteps. It was hard to get music before the Internet, especially in Nova Scotia. And his radio show played all the new stuff and the record from New York and Toronto. I was hooked on his show as a kid, and then when I started getting into the hip-hop scene, we became friends, and eight years later, we wanted to work together.

Your Twitter page background is a retro image of the CBC logo. Are you someone who wears their Canadian-ness on their sleeve?

Yeah, for sure. Not really for any reason. I like Canada. I think it’s a part of who I am. I’m not a nationalist, or something like that, but I think we live in a good country.

Which rap artists are you following closely right now?

Yelawolf, Killer Mike, Shad and the group G-Side.

What will 2011 bring?

Last year, I didn’t make a lot of music. I was too busy touring. So, this year I’m planning to be in studio more.

The interview has been condensed.

14

Tuesday, January 25, 2011 profile

theconcordian

Indecisive girl makes

decidedly experimental tunes Andrew Guilbert Staff wrtier

Tom Waits to donate poem proceeds to look-alikes Gravel-voiced musician Tom Waits has released a limited edition of his poem chapbook “Seeds on Hard Ground” to benefit the homeless. The nine-page release includes both the poem and photos by Michael O’Brien, which were the inspiration for the lyrical piece. There will be only two pressings of 1,000 copies each, with all proceeds going to homeless charities such as Redwood Empire Food Bank, Sonoma County’s Homeless Referral Services and Family Support Center in California. Though the first edition prints have already been sold, preorders for the second edition can still be made at www.tomwaits.com. The official release date for the chapbook is Feb. 22.

What a long, strange game it will be Iconic jam band The Grateful Dead has announced that it will be the subject of a new video game. Curious Sense, the game developer who has undertaken the daunting task of bringing the Truckin’ hitmakers to virtual reality, has been granted access to the band’s enormous video and music archives, which means that the project will include authentic Dead artwork, music and video. The game itself is still in its infant stage with the creators trying to decide what form it will take and what elements from the band’s long career to incorporate. Curious Sense plans on canvassing deadheads to see what kind of games they enjoy in the hopes of drawing some inspiration from the longtime fans. The as-of-yetnameless game is slated for release this summer.

Blind Eyed Pea Black Eyed Peas member apl.de.ap has revealed that he is legally blind. The 36-year-old rapper suffers from a rare genetic eye disorder called Physiologic nystagmus. The condition, which he has lived with since birth, causes him to have constant blurry vision and nearsightedness. It also causes his eyeballs to vibrate involuntarily. Said apl.de.ap of his condition: “I’m good at shapes. If I’m not close, even if it’s big, I can’t read it.” He confesses that his condition is what ignited his passion for music as a youth: “Until I discovered hip hop, I felt I wasn’t going to accomplish anything. When I dance, I picture myself and the floor in my head. I doubted myself for a long time... I’m comfortable not using my vision. I weave around my problems.”

Beatles, you’re a rich man In only its second month of availability, the fab four’s music is breaking iTunes records.

Since their debut on Nov. 16, the Beatles have sold more than 5 million songs and more than a million full-length albums. “It’s a good number [that] does not impact Apple’s numbers in any way that’s measurable, but still a nice print,” said Hudson Square Research analyst Daniel Ernst. The top selling song in the Beatles catalogue? “Here Comes the Sun” from the 1969 release Abbey Road, which remains their bestselling album to date.

With a budding music career, Grimes takes a long look into both her past and future Katelyn Spidle Music editor

“There’s always an obsession of the year,” said 22-year-old Claire Boucher, otherwise known as Grimes. The budding solo act has only been making music seriously for 16 months, but she believes that she’s finally found something that will stick.

Coming from a family of athletes — her aunt and uncle were Olympians and her father was a basketball coach — the Vancouver native was pushed into sports at an early age. However, unlike the rest of her family, Boucher was more inclined toward the arts.

“Dance was the closest sport to playing music,” said Boucher. After studying ballet for 11 years, she had to quit due to a serious foot injury. “Thank God is all I have to say,” she continued. “I hated it at that point.”

After completing the majority of her undergraduate degree at McGill, Boucher has decided to give music a full-time go.

A short-lived fascination with outer space prompted her to study physics and chemistry, but she wasn’t that good at it. “I get moderately good at a lot of things and then quit,” she

confessed. “[But] music is definitely the thing that I’ve been able to do the longest and with the most [consistency]. [With everything else] I could see a foreseeable end,” she continued.

With music, “I see infinite possibilities of what could still be done.”

And what is it about music that captures her fleeting attention span? “There’s so much technology that is new, it seems to be one of the only artistic fields that is constantly changing,” she said. “But if you look at dance or illustration, those are art forms that are limited [technologically]. The human body can only do so much.” Music, rather, is more bound by the imagination.

Boucher is surprisingly fragile in appearance. She stands no taller than 5-5 and weighs no more than 110 pounds. Her mismatched clothes — two sizes too big — hang off her loosely like a child who, for the first time, has chosen her outfit.

“I’m pretty annoying,” she divulged. “I have this problem called Restless legs syndrome. It’s a really dumb neurological [condition] where you can’t stop moving.” The condition, which improves with age, would cause her to have a nervous tic as a child.

Although she didn’t experience too much teasing, she reminisced about one particular girl in her elementary class, named Vanessa, who did. The girl happens to be the inspiration for her upcoming single and music video whose release date is projected for a few weeks from now.

“Vanessa” is being released following an accidental leak of Grimes’ recent track “Crystal

Claire Boucher (above) also know as Grimes.

Ball.”

Releasing a new single isn’t the only thing that she is planning to do in the coming months. Local artist and good friend D’eon will be teaming up with the young musician for a 12” split, whose total playing time will run about 16 minutes.

“It’s a really fun thing,” she said of the upcoming EP, which will be released sometime in April. “It’s not serious. All of the songs are very frivolous pop songs.”

Grimes has released two albums to date: Geidi Primes and Halfaxa. Says Boucher of her last LP: “Halfaxa was very dark and inaccessible.

I want a body of work that could potentially appeal to anyone.” The new EP, she assures, is less experimental than her previous work.

Having done some minor touring in the past year, Grimes plans to head off on an extended North American and European tour this spring.

Catch Grimes when she opens for How To Dress Well at Casa Del Popolo on Jan. 30.

concert

Mad noise takes over Le Cagibi Flow Child was well behaved but Wax Mannequin had a tantrum Anna Haywood Contributor This weekend’s cold snap was no match for Montreal’s music scene. Wax Mannequin and Flow Child warmed fans with their colourful music performances at Le Cagibi on Saturday night. With two cancelled sets, a room with no heating, a few technical difficulties and an audience of about 30, the Ghost Town Manitoba Solo Series still delivered fans a night of great music and new experiences.

Flow Child is an experience in itself. The duo, comprised of Kyle Jukka and his roommate, known simply as Tim, play what is best described as electronic noise. Jukka is best known for his work with electronic group Pop Winds but says he will play anytime he is given the chance. For him, it is just about making music.

“Pop Winds is about something personal, it’s like identity construction,” Jukka said, explaining the difference between the work he does with Pop Winds and the performance he gave Saturday evening.

“What we play is like a spiritual experience. It is kind of like finding consciousness through sound,” said Tim, who is better known by his stage name, Cop Car Bonfire.

Flow Child begins with tables covered in cords, wires, pedals and knobs that gain the curiosity of the crowd. It is a curiosity of uncertainty that is not lost when the two men start to play. The music is composed of heavy beats with sounds spontaneously overlapped which proved to both engage listeners and scare the hell out of them.

“The music is a new vehicle of realization,” said the duo about their musical genre. “It has become a new language to us and has created a dialect.”

Wax Mannequin during a more mellow part of his set. Photo by David Cowan

The communication is obvious as the men jam away on stage. One will play a beat, the other will smile, they then exchange a subtle nod and the headbanging ensues. Flow Child mentioned after the show that when they get up to perform they have no plan and no idea of what is going to happen.

Ghost Town Manitoba is a Montreal-based company aimed at promoting local talent and shows. However, neither member of Flow Child is a Montreal native. Tim, from Vancouver Island, and Jukka, from Toronto, both moved to Montreal and found an exciting musical and cultural scene.

“People find each other like magnets,” said Jukka. The two men love Montreal because it is easy to find and communicate with people who are doing music the same way. Also, it is the cheapest place in Canada to be a musician.

Flow Child were not the only ones on Saturday night to give the audience something to talk about. Chris Adeney, also know as Wax Mannequin, had his fans singing, hollering

and dancing the waltz.

From Hamilton, Ont., Wax Mannequin has been playing for over 10 years both alone and with a band behind him. He switched to playing rock songs and jumping on tables after beginning the evening with soft folk songs on his acoustic guitar. The audience really warmed up when he invited a woman on stage to unleash the “power of crystals,” which really involved throwing dozens of balloons into the crowd, producing a large game of keep-it-up. To end his performance, he jumped on top of an old cigarette vending machine and stomped loudly as it wobbled from side to side.

Other acts that were set to play at Le Cagibi on Saturday were Devon Welsh, also a member of Pop Winds, and Jamie Thompson, who has most recently played in the band Hidden Words. Both acts cancelled at the last minute.

But no matter the setbacks, by the end of the night, everyone had forgotten about the cold.

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/concordianmusic

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

15

profile

Local group to teach Montrealers a bit about ‘90s ‘riff rock’ Couples, Reversing Falls and The Lindbergh Line team up for triplerelease party Cora Ballou Staff writer It’s not often that bands will decide to share the spotlight at an album launch, but this is what Couples, Reversing Falls and The Lindbergh Line are doing with their new releases.

Heading the promotional campaign is Couples’ drummer Michael B. Wright. “All three bands are mutual friends so it kind of just happened that we’re all releasing material at the same time,” he explained.

Known for his drumming in the local upand-coming band Freelove Fenner, he has now branched out and created Couples with friends Adam Fiore and Paul Hardy. “[Fiore] and I went to high school together and we ended up reconnecting a few years later here in Montreal. At the time he was in a band called People for Audio but then they went on hiatus so we got together,” Wright said.

Initially asked to replace the drummer as part of a now defunct local rock group, Wright eventually started to input his own material.

A self-professed lover of “short pop songs that grab your attention,” Wright’s inclusion into the band’s creative process would eventually “change everything.”

Couples will play a triple album release show with Reversing Falls and The Lindbergh Line.

As the members began to collaborate more often, they decided that a makeover was necessary.

“We decided it was time for a fresh start,” said Wright. “So we scrapped all of our old material and changed the way we wrote music. We used to play eight or nine minute songs [but] now we

[make] short songs that jump at you and leave you wanting more.”

This total change of character eventually forced the group to reconsider their name. “Not only did we change our sound but we also went from four members to three,” said Wright. “[So] a few

months ago we changed our name [to Couples].”

As to the origins of the band’s title, Wright admits it is “totally random” but that it stems from the complete rearrangement of the band’s constitution.

He stresses, however, that the name is not the focal point of any band. For him, the most important part is the transformation of the group’s sound. Sonically, the band is reminiscent of the stripped-down California rock that was all the rage in the ‘90s. The sound is gritty and melancholic with heavy emphasis on vocals and guitar.

The physical CD is cut and pasted by the band and includes a photocopied handwritten insert.

Couples’ EP was definitely a labour of love.

After many failed attempts at recording with higher-quality equipment, the band finally settled on eight songs recorded on a 4-track cassette player. In keeping with this DIY attitude, the band teamed up with The Lindbergh Line to release their album. “It just worked out that [they] were going to put out [Bang Bang You’ll Be Missed EP] at the same time as [us],” says Wright. “We went looking for an opener and it just so happened that they were also releasing new material. So that’s how it became a triple release party.”

Friends or not, the event promises to be a gritty rock night. The evening will open with Reversing Falls, whom Wright describes as: “Three guys with guitars playing catchy riff rock with a drum machine.” They will be followed by Couples and The Lindbergh Line who sound like “catchy but dirty ‘90s rock. Think The Pixies meets Blondie.”

So get your torn jeans and flannel out, and be ready to reconnect with the essence of rock ‘n’ roll.

dubstep

infographe : Marc Bilodeau

22/12/09

publication : EO BE

format : 10” x 14”

client : Forces canadiennes date/modif. rédaction

11-01-21 14:14

NB

100%

épreuve à relecture

D.A.

CAF10102_10_EO_BE_02_03.indd 1

infographe production couleur(s)

« Donner des ordres, ça ne suffit pas à donner confiance à un groupe d’hommes et de femmes qui doit se frayer un chemin à travers un terrain miné. Prendre les bonnes décisions, gérer les situations de stress et combattre aux côtés de mon équipe, c’est ça, le véritable leadership. » Capitaine MICHAEL GODARD

OFFICIERS DU GÉNIE

sc/client

“It takes more than orders to command a group of men and women to bridge a gap.

Making the right calls, working in stressful situations and fighting alongside my team, that’s real leadership.”

Captain MICHAEL GODARD

1

RECHERCHONS :

ENGINEERING OFFICERS

Décembre

WANTED:

description : 10-EO-BE-02

VICTORIA (CUP) — OuterSphere Recordings is looking to expand an entire genre of music.

The local collective wants to see dubstep — a South East London genre of electronic dance music — continually grow by meshing the crossAtlantic styles of the genre. By splicing the big bass of the U.K. scene with the metallic tones and chaotic pounding of North American dubstep, the producers involved want to blur the distinction between the experimental and the classical.

“I think of the genre as actually modern classical music in the way that it has a big focus on the quality of sound,” said Mike Dean, a music theory and computer science student at the University of Victoria. “Music is not simply about harmony. Music is about organizing sound to give an effect to the listener, to state something the composer wants to state, and to explore all these different sounds.”

The net label collective also includes artists such as Triadic, Geev3s and Stylistic. They started the project about a year ago and their first multi-track release, Green’s FreEP Vol. 001, just dropped.

While the group eventually sees OuterSphere moving into producing other artists and even releasing some vinyl, for now it’s about collaborating on dubstep.

“The genre is really diverse, but there are some core things that it stems from. We’re really about accepting all the diverse takes on the genre,” explained Dean.

Dean and Kevin Green, known otherwise as Triadic, look to reshape dubstep’s boundaries with every track they produce. But they still feel the genre needs a core. For them, this core is a tempo of around 140 beats per minute. Having a consistent tempo allows DJs more flexibility when mixing, explains Dean. But around that

titre : « WANTED / RECHERCHONS »

Nathan Lowther — The Martlet (University of Victoria)

beat, the music whomps and wobbles eccentrically.

“There are less necessary characteristics to a dubstep [track] compared to other genres,” Green said.

The necessary technical element that is necessary is what Dean refers to as the “half-time feel.”

Typically, music has a one-two-three-four beat, but with dubstep it’s more one-three-one-three.

“By reducing the emphasis on those extra beats it very much increases it on the ones that do have the emphasis,” Green explained.

The genre’s fluidity is the key appeal for both.

Green grew up playing several instruments — six in total, including the trombone — but never found a true love for any of them. Dubstep, though, bit hard and deep.

“You weren’t restricted to music theory and harmony. You could start bringing in sounds that weren’t necessarily a specific note within a key.

It’s just, this sounds a certain way and I want it in there,” Green said.

Dean’s first musical experimenting was on guitar for a couple of bands when he got to university. When they didn’t work out, he tried doing his own thing, but found the guitar too restrictive of a tool. And Eclectrix was born.

“It was finally a way to express what we had always wanted to express, without feeling tied to the notes,” Dean said.

While both love the process of producing their own tracks, they approach it differently. Both use experimentation, improvisation and lots of revision, but Green reacts to what his experimenting produces, while Dean starts with a vision or concept in mind, and the track evolves from that.

But both agree that dubstep is really about the live experience.

“Going to a show and feeling the bass rattle your chest, or give you that full on feeling of power, is unlike any other genre I’ve experienced,” Dean said.

Green agrees.

“You can’t listen to it on laptop speakers. It’s a completely different experience live. I almost feel like, with dubstep, it’s not as much about listening to the song as being in the song, being a part of it.”

To listen to a dubstep track, head to www. theconcordian.com/music.

dossier : CAF-10102

Victoria based OuterSphere Recordings want to rep more artists

Quebec, Montreal, Concordia University Ontario, Ottawa, Carleton University Ontario, Toronto, Sheridan college Ontario, Guelph, Guelph University

Net music label looking to build on dubstep scene

16

theconcordian

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

mixtape

During a concert in Brazil last November, Sir Paul McCartney said in Portuguese, “It’s great to be here, land of beautiful music.” He couldn’t have been more right. Brazil is known for its music, and you have definitely heard some of it even if you didn’t know it. Side A consists mainly of older songs that were heavily influenced by samba, Brazil’s most prominent kind of music. Frequently played in movies, art galleries and even elevators, these songs defined Brazilian music. Nowadays, most artists are heavily influenced by them. Side B has mainly modern music, from Brazilian hip hop to rock and pop. Enjoy!

To listen, go to: www.8tracks.com/the_concordian/land-of-beautifulmusic

Land of beautiful music Compiled by Bruno De Paula Contributor

Quick Spins

SIDE A 1. “Mas Que Nada” - Sergio Mendes - Sérgio Mendes & Brasil ‘66 - 1966 2. “Só Danço Samba” - Tom Jobim - Getz/Gilberto - 1964 3. “Aquarela do Brasil” - Caetano Veloso & João Gilberto - Veloso, Gil e Bethania - 1968 4. “Aquele Abraço” - Caetano Veloso & João Gilberto - Veloso, Gil e Bethania - 1968 5. “Água de Beber” - Astrud Gilberto - The Astrud Gilberto Album - 1965 6. “Garota de Ipanema” - Tom Jobim & Gal Costa - Getz/Gilberto - 1964 7. “Chega de Saudade” - João Gilberto - Chega de Saudade - 1959 8. “W Brasil” - Jorge Ben - Single - 1990 9. “Beija Eu” - Marisa Monte - Mais - 1991 10. “Já Sei Namorar” - Os Tribalistas - Tribalistas - 2002 SIDE B 11. “Anna Julia” - Los Hermanos - Los Hermanos - 1999 12. “Carolina” - Seu Jorge - Carolina - 2003 13. “Asas” - Maskavo - Asas - 2002 14. “Pescador de Ilusões” - O Rappa - Rappa Mundi -1996 15. “Uma Brasileira” - Os Paralamas do Sucesso - Vamo Batê Lata - 1994 16. “Colo de Menina” - Rastapé - Fale Comigo - 2000 17. “A Maldição do Samba” - Marcelo D2 - Acustico MTV - 2003 18. “Qual é?” - Marcelo D2 - A Procura da Batida Perfeita - 2003 19. “Aquela” - Raimundos - Só no Forevis - 1999 20. “Garota Nacional” - Skank - O Samba Poconé - 1996

Retro review

Acrylics - Lives and Treasure (Friendly Fire Recordings; 2011)

No Gold – S/T (Unfamiliar; 2011)

Gang of Four - Content (Yep Roc; 2011)

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Merge; 1999)

Evoking the sounds of soft pop and new wave from the ‘70s and ‘80s, Acrylics have found a unique voice in the overcrowded field of indie noisemakers. This first fulllength is an ample attempt at converging the lines between synth pop, midi and folk in an honest way while never coming off as pretentious. The soft and flowing vocals of Molly Shea and Jason Klauber are what really set this album apart from other releases, even if Klauber’s voice could easily be compared to Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes. The couple have spent the last two years putting together Lives and Treasure which, though technically well thought out, can induce a little too much relaxation at times. Still, it’s a great release and an interesting attempt at new wave in the new age. But much like new wave, only time will tell if it will have an impact.

No Gold had a lot going for them in 2009: a breakout set at Pop Montreal, a standout 7” featuring the singles “Miami” and “Hot Bay,” and a much-awaited fulllength release somewhere in the works.

Fast forward to 2011 and the trio from Vancouver has delivered, well, in part.

The hype just wasn’t worth the wait.

The pop sensibilities and tightly hooked vocals have all but evaporated, leaving a few tracks with the sharp writing of their 7” brethren. Out are the charming warm vocals about the surf and sand; in are extended tropical-tinged jam sessions, some lasting as long as eight minutes.

“Weird Week” stands out as something of a cross between the No Gold of “Hot Bay” and the jam-driven sound of their self-titled debut. Unfortunately, not much else on the eight-track lives up to the expectations.

Gang of Four are on their second revival since their initial run from 1977-1984, now with only two of the four original members. Their first album since 1995 takes on a loaded pace that steps into more pressure-building territory than their early angst-ridden explosiveness. GoF have always wielded this controlled intensity, that goes so hand in hand with punk, but not always with effective results. Working to their disadvantage is the fact that the rising intensity often leads to repetitive blandness. Simplicity and repetition are ingrained in punk’s roots, so the line is a fine one. And in their defence, the very political and critical songs have always been more about the message than the format. Songs address identity and modern issues surrounding the commodification of creative art forms. Was it worth a revival? Who cares, it happened. The rising trend is saying that being old doesn’t mean being off the musical radar.

After 1998, Neutral Milk Hotel frontman Jeff Mangum essentially became the J.D. Salinger of indie music; he released what would arguably be his band’s magnum opus and then disappeared. The group’s second LP In the Aeroplane Over the Sea combines musically inventive, lo-fi indie rock with streamof-consciousness lyrics and emotive vocals, and does so with astonishing ease.

The album has evolved into a landmark in indie music history, and it’s not hard to see why. Every track holds its own, from the opening number “The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1” to its glorious finale, “TwoHeaded Boy Pt. 2.” The distortion-heavy, Anne Frank-referencing “Holland, 1945” is perhaps its most memorable track; its frenetic instrumentation deviating largely from the album’s somewhat melancholy overall tone.

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea ended up becoming one of the most influential indie records in recent memory, and its pure beauty and ingenuity make it something Magnum, if he were to make some sort of comeback, would be hard-pressed to top.

Trial Track: “Molly’s Vertigo”

7.5/10

-Mathieu Barrot

Trial Track: “Weird Week”

6.5/10

- Brennan Neill

Trial Track: “You Don’t Have To Be Mad”

6.0/10

- Shannon H. Myers

Trial Track: “Holland, 1945”

- David MacIntyre

sports Write to the editor: sports@theconcordian.com

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

17

Check out a photo slideshow from the men’s hockey team on the Concordian’s website: www.theconcordian. com/sports

hockey

Having grabbed seven of a possible 12 points in the past six games, Concordia is now in fifth place in the OUA East Conference. Photos by Matias Garabedian

Stingers turn the tables on UQTR Coach Figsby: We were in it to win it Kamila Hinkson Sports editor Two weeks ago, the Stingers’ visit to TroisRivières ended in a 6-5 loss. UQTR was leading 6-3 at the start of the third, but Concordia staged a comeback, scoring two goals in the period, but couldn’t tie it up.

This week, it was the Patriotes’ turn to come down to Ed Meagher Arena, and it was the Stingers that pulled off the win. After UQTR repeatedly battled back from one-goal deficits, they were sunk by Jesse Goodsell’s powerplay goal 24 seconds into overtime.

“I thought tonight, with the way Raffaele D’Orso played last week in a 6-5 loss, it was his chance to get back in and win this one,” said head coach Kevin Figsby after the game.

The Patriotes had the first two scoring chances, but Stingers goaltender D’Orso was there to make both saves. He turned away all 14 shots he faced in the first, and although his saves sometimes came with juicy rebounds, the Stingers defence were quick to get them out of harm’s way.

François Lanctôt-Marcotte, a former Patriote turned Stinger, was on the receiving end of a hard shove into the boards five minutes into the second. Visibly shaken, he opted to skate off the pain and responded on the ensuing powerplay by tapping in the rebound on Alexandre Monahan’s shot to put the Stingers up by one.

D’Orso’s shutout bid came to an end

about a minute later, after the Patriotes put one by him that he would have loved to have back.

“I tried to poke the puck off the guy, and he just grabbed it and shot it in front of the net, it hit my skate, hit off the back of the net, hit my head, hit off the crossbar and then rolled down my back and went in,” he explained. “That was a pretty bad goal, bad luck. I guess that happens sometimes.”

Concordia’s Mike Stinziani was all over the place in the second and third periods. He scored the Stingers’ next two goals, putting on display UQTR goalie Jean-Christophe Blanchard’s inability to keep the puck between his pads — both goals came after Blanchard thought he had made the pad save, but the puck squeezed through.

Then, Stinziani drew a penalty one minute into teammate Kiefer Orsini’s third minor of the night to negate UQTR’s powerplay. As Stinziani was about to get past the Patriotes’ defence to go in alone on Blanchard, Pierre-Luc Lessard had to trip him to save the breakaway.

Figsby considers him the spark the team has been lacking, and praised how hard he works.

“You can have all the skill in the world, you can be a fast skater, but if you don’t have a work ethic, there [are] too many good players in this league. And he has the work ethic to be a dominant player at this level.”

With just over two minutes to play in the third period, Concordia was leading 3-2. Stinger Olivier Jannard took a slashing penalty and despite D’Orso’s best efforts, he couldn’t stop Jean-Sebastien Breton from being UQTR’s late-game hero, after D’Orso gave up a rebound that Breton banged home glove

side to send the game into overtime.

But Breton quickly went from hero to villain after he took a slashing penalty seven seconds into the extra period, paving the way for Goodsell to one-time a pass from George Lovatsis all the way to the back of the net.

“All night long they had to play catch-up hockey, and my message to our players when we went into overtime was if you work hard, they might take a penalty, and they did, and we were in it to win it,” said Figsby.

Friday night, the Stingers fell 7-2 to the Carleton Ravens. Starting goalie Maxime Joyal

was pulled after allowing four goals on 12 shots in the first.

But on Sunday afternoon, Joyal redeemed himself, making 41 saves in an 8-2 win against Ottawa. Stinziani had two goals and three assists and had Lanctôt-Marcotte two goals and two assists in the win.

The Stingers will be on the road this week. They play the McGill Redmen on Wednesday, and then head to Ottawa to face the Gee-Gees Friday night. The games start at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively.

Mike Stinziani is mobbed after one of his two goals.

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theconcordian

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

hockey

The Stingers’ winless week Concordia falls to both teams closest to them in the standings Michael Lemieux Staff writer After suffering a bruising loss to the University of Montréal on Friday, the Stingers women’s ice hockey team found no relief from the University of Ottawa’s Gee-Gees, who soundly beat them 5-2.

“I was happy with our performance, I think we played quite well, certainly better than we did last night. We need to create some more offensive opportunities, but I think we did quite well,” said head coach Les Lawton after the game.

Ottawa came out fast; within three minutes they had posted five shots, two off a giveaway in Concordia’s zone that saw goalie Audrey Doyon-Lessard scramble to make the saves. Their energy betrayed them though, as six minutes in they received the first penalty of the game when Jodi Reinholcz was called for body checking.

Concordia would go on the powerplay.

The Stingers decided to make something out of their advantage. Twenty seconds after the player went in the box, Veronica Lang passed the puck from behind the net to her teammate Erin Lally, who was waiting in front. She slipped it in on Gee-Gee’s goalie Stephanie Auger five-hole to score the first of Concordia’s two goals.

The favour was returned shortly when Stinger Alexandra D’Ambrosio took Concordia’s first penalty of the game for hooking. Soon after the ensuing faceoff, Gee-Gee Michelle Snowden tied it up at one.

The second period didn’t start well. On the first faceoff of the period, Gee-Gee forward Kayla Hottot won the faceoff, tipped the puck ahead, deked forehand to backhand and put the puck away behind Doyon-Lessard. Less than six seconds in, Ottawa had put themselves ahead, 2-1.

Five penalties were awarded in the second period. Two to Concordia, and three to Ottawa, but neither team could make anything out of them. A nice breakaway saw the Stingers fans’ hope rise,

Moira Frier and Danielle Scarlett work on taking the puck from Gee-Gee Fany Desforges. Photo by Sarah Deshaies but Auger’s glove made them sink quickly, and Doyon-Lessard kept Ottawa from widening their lead, although this would not last in to the third.

Six minutes into the third period, Concordia had a beautiful opportunity when a cross-crease pass landed soundly on a Stingers’ stick with Auger out of position. The shot fanned however, and the open net was missed. Regretting the missed chance, the Stingers redeemed themselves when a scuffle in front of the net saw Alyssa Sherrard put one past the goalie, tying it up at 2-2.

Two minutes later, Ottawa took the lead again

when a turnover at the Concordia blue line led to Gee-Gee Alex Jaworski picking up the puck and passing it to teammate Alicia Blomberg, who went crashing into the Stingers’ net along with the puck. The referees ruled it a goal however, and suddenly Ottawa was up 3-2.

When Stinger Danielle Scarlett took a penalty halfway through the period for hooking, things started to look grim. The resulting powerplay would see Gee-Gee Fannie Desforges put the nail in Concordia’s coffin when she took a wrist shot from the point that went over Doyon-Lessard’s

blocker. Ottawa was up 4-2.

Desperate to stay in the fight, the Stingers pulled their goalie with a minute and a half left.

The decision, while made with good intentions, ended sourly when Ottawa added insult to injury, scoring an empty net goal, putting themselves up 5-2, the final score.

The Stingers are in third place in the Quebec conference with 16 points, two points behind Montréal and one point ahead of Ottawa. They have this week off.

basketball

Down to the wire for Desmarais in latest loss With an opportunity to force overtime, Stingers guard Kyle Desmarais missed two crucial free throws Michael Downs Staff writer Despite an exhilarating comeback attempt, the Concordia Stingers fell to the McGill Redmen by a score of 67-65 in a close game that was literally decided at the final buzzer.

For the second time this season, familiar foes McGill and Concordia squared off. Supporters from both sides piled into Concordia’s pint-sized gym in droves, creating an ultimately tense and electric atmosphere By simply surveying the court, it was apparent that this was no ordinary game. It was a meeting between two very familiar adversaries and the first quarter’s intensity was a testament to that fact.

The first quarter was played at a furious pace. The Stingers started the game off rather well, opening a quick 5-0 on baskets by Stingers guard Decee Krah and forward Kafil Eyitayo.

However, that lead would soon evaporate as the Redmen quickly answered with a 6-0 run of their own.

From that point on, the Redmen seemed to turn up their defensive intensity, employing an aggressive half-court press that seemed to completely disrupt whatever offensive rhythm the Stingers had.

The Stingers lacked patience, often rushing their shots and turning the ball over at seem-

Concordia guard Kyle Desmarais attempts a layup in traffic. Photo by David Vilder ingly every second possession, which severely hampered the limited offensive opportunity they had. McGill didn’t seem to capitalize however, as they only led 15-11 after the first quarter.

Kyle Desmarais and Eyitayo opened the second quarter with two quick baskets that tied the game at 15 apiece. The Redmen were quick to reply thanks to layups by Winn Clark and Kyle Bernard which pushed the lead back up to four points.

From then on, both teams were terrible.

There was a five-minute stretch in which neither team scored a single basket. Never-

theless, the Stingers trailed 27-22 at the half in what was up to that point an intense and energetic, but overall sloppy game.

In the third quarter, the Stingers came out with noticeably more aggression. They attacked the rim more frequently and settled for less jump shots. This, combined with the fact that they were also crashing the boards and controlling in the paint, led to a small surge that saw them threaten to take the lead.

However, that had largely been the story of the game. Everything the Stingers did, the Redmen had an answer to.

Led by first-year guard Simon Bibeau,

McGill seemed to take complete control of the game, establishing a 57-43 lead, which was their largest lead of the game. McGill’s superior size and aggressiveness seemed to be taking a bit of a toll on the Stingers as the game was slowly slipping from their grasp.

The score was 53-43 after three quarters of play.

In the latter half of the fourth quarter, the Stingers would dig down deep and display a sense of urgency that would allow them to claw their way back into the game.

An effective full-court press enabled them to put constant pressure on McGill ball handlers and force costly turnovers from the Redmen.

The constant pressure applied by the home team allowed them to score four points with a mere 18 seconds left, when Frank Fiola scored a runner off the glass that brought the Stingers within two points.

On the McGill possession, Concordia’s Desmarais came up with a huge steal, ran the length of the floor and was fouled on a shot attempt as time expired.

Therefore, with no time left on the clock, Desmarais had to sink two free throws to force overtime. Sadly for the Stingers and their fans, he missed the first one, making the second utterly meaningless. The Stingers lost 67-65.

Concordia forward Evans Laroche reinjured his ankle in the fourth quarter and is listed as day-to-day.

“We didn’t play well,” said Stingers head coach John Dore. “Yet, give the guys some credit because we came back in the game. We had a chance, and we were there. We fought to get back in it, but not enough. We didn’t deserve to win, McGill did.”

The Stingers’ next game will be on the road against Bishop’s at the Mitchell Gym on Thursday night. Tip-off is at 8 p.m.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

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19

basketball

Stingers fall short in overtime Potential upset turns into stinging defeat in matter of minutes Michael Downs Staff writer The Concordia Stingers blew a late two-point lead and lost to the top-ranked McGill Martlets at home, in overtime by a score of 72-60.

The Martlets pounced on the home team, establishing an early 8-3 lead. However, the Stingers would answer with a 7-2 run that tied things at 10 apiece. The score remained close for several minutes as the two teams played each other rather evenly, until McGill began to slowly pull away. The Martlets ended first quarter up 17-12.

Stingers guard Andréanne Grégoire-Boudreau opened up the second with a three-pointer only to have McGill’s Marie-Ève Martin reply with a three of her own, which in turn sparked a 10-0 McGill run that allowed them to open the game up and create a considerable 27-15 advantage over the Stingers. Concordia would respond as their aggressive play towards the end of the quarter cut the lead to 33-24 heading into the half.

The third quarter proved to be a decisive one for the home team. Led by the particularly strong play of Kendra Carrie, the Stingers reasserted themselves in the game. Carrie’s ability to shoot from the outside and break McGill defenders down off the dribble proved to be vital to the Stingers’ early second-half surge. The Stingers were playing with a greater level of intensity than in the first half and led by Carrie, were much more offensively assertive. The Stingers outscored the Martlets 19-12 in the third and were only trailing 45-43 heading into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter was simply an extension of the third for the Stingers. They continued to fight hard on defence, actively moving their feet and pressuring the McGill ball handlers.

On offence, they continued to move well with-

Martlet Natalie Larocque tries to block Stingers guard Kaylah Barrett as she puts up a shot. Photo by David Vilder out the ball and took better care of it. They used the small size of their court to their advantage, breaking out into transition whenever possible.

However, McGill wouldn’t go away so easily, using their superior interior length to aggressively rebound on the offensive glass, thus creating second and third scoring opportunities.

All of this made for an extremely contested affair. However, Concordia was able to pull ahead and establish a thin 60-58 lead with 18 seconds

left to play. Unfortunately for them, a late layup

by McGill’s Francoise Charest assured that the Martlets would not be upset, at least not in regulation. The layup tied the game at 60 apiece, forcing overtime.

In the extra period, Concordia simply fell flat on their face. A combination of fatigue and questionable decision-making did them in. They did not score a single point in the overtime period while McGill scored 12 points. As a result, the

game’s final score was 72-60.

“We had nothing left,” said head coach Keith Pruden. He described blowing a late lead and being forced to play overtime as “incredibly emotionally draining.” He hopes the team can rebound from this experience.

The Stingers will be back in action Thursday night at Bishop’s. The game will take place at Mitchell Gym, and gets underway at 6 p.m.

international

The Stingers take Erzurum Two coaches and an athlete will represent Canada at the World University Games Kamila Hinkson Sports editor If you’re going through Olympics withdrawals, there is one event starting this Thursday that might help quell the flare up of your addiction.

It’s called the Winter Universiade, a combination of the words “university” and “Olympiad.”

Organized by the International University Sports Federation and also called the World University Games, it is exactly what you might think it is: an international sports competition for university athletes.

Unlike the Olympics, the Universiades have been taking place every two years since they began in 1959.

The summer and winter games used to alternate on a rotating schedule, but began to occur in the same year on a regular basis in 1981.

This year, the summer games will be in Shenzhen, China, while the winter games will be in Erzurum, Turkey, about 900 kilometres away from the capital city, Ankara.

The 25th winter games will last a week and feature 11 different sports: alpine skiing, biathlon, ice hockey, curling, ski jumping, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, snowboarding, freestyle skiing, figure skating and short track speed skating.

The Canadian team consists of 100 athletes who attend school mostly in Canada, but also in the U.S., as well as 28 coaches, team leaders and staff.

Erin Lally, the leading scorer on the women’s hockey team, is the only Stingers athlete who will be attending the games, and the first

to do so in women’s hockey.

Lally, who is studying art history, didn’t make the team at first. When another player dropped out, she was the first choice on the list of alternates.

“When my coach pulled me aside [and told me I was on the team], it was amazing,” she explained.

The Calgary native has been abroad to play hockey before, but never in a competitive tournament.

Meanwhile, women’s hockey head coach Les Lawton will lead the women’s hockey contingent as the head coach. This isn’t his first foray into coaching international hockey — most notably, he was at the helm of Team Canada when they won gold at the World Championships in 1994.

Lawton only met his team on Sunday, when he and Lally flew out to Frankfurt on their way to Erzurum.

They held a practice yesterday, and will practice again today and tomorrow and may also do a pre-game skate before their first game on Thursday.

Getting a team to click and play well together in so little time could be an issue, and Lawton acknowledged that.

“There are a number of players that are familiar with each other… so we’ll probably start off with them playing together and make adjustments as we move along throughout the tournament. It’s going to be challenging, but we’re really excited about the group that we have and I think that if we can pull them together and get everyone on the same page, we’ll be alright.”

Three of the players come from the country’s first-place team, McGill, and four are from second-place Laurier.

Unlike the women’s squad, which is comprised of players from across the country, the players on the men’s team come from different conferences in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport organization that are chosen on a rotating basis, and this year it’s the Ontario University Athletics’ turn.

The Stingers are part of the OUA, and

men’s hockey head coach Kevin Figsby was named one of Team Canada’s assistant coaches.

Happy to be in a supporting role, Figsby understands the weight associated with representing Canada in an international tournament.

“Every time we step on the ice, everybody knows they’re playing for their country,” he said.

The leading scorer on the men’s hockey team, Charles-Antoine Messier, was also invited to try out for Team Canada, but didn’t make the cut. After being called back and asked to play, he declined because of his workload at school and a recent injury he sustained.

During the last Games in 2009, the men lost to Russia in the finals, while the women went undefeated and captured the title.

Both the men’s and women’s hockey teams will be in action on the opening day, with the men taking on Slovenia and the women playing Finland.

The games get underway Jan. 27 with the opening ceremonies which will start at 8 p.m. Eastern European time, or 1 p.m. here in Montreal. They will wrap up on Feb. 6.

Check out the CIS’ website at english.cissic.ca/universiade/winter/index for all your Team Canada highlights.

Erin Lally is the first female hockey player from Concordia to participate in the Games.

Three Stingers products are taking the trip to Turkey. Photo by Sarah Deshaies

editorial 20

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Write to the editor: opinions@theconcordian.com

Mishmash Board of self-interested parties not what Concordia needs How the university can build a better Board of Governors

The departure of president Woodsworth this past December left many members of Concordia’s community with a bitter taste and a growing suspicion of the backroom politics employed by the Board of Governors. Faculty members, students and the public alike have shown their displeasure with how the situation was handled and the money that was, simply, not well spent.

Before Woodsworth walked away with a golden parachute, few people knew the intricacies of university administrations and the bloated structure that sits at top calling the shots. Now with the spotlight shining in the afterglow of Woodsworth walking, Concordia’s Board is exposed for what it is: self-interested parties with corporate stakes and little public service.

Forty members make up Concordia’s Board of Governors. Of the 40, a hefty 23 are chosen from the community to serve as members-atlarge. The rest of the Board’s roster is filled out by faculty members and students with a great interest in how the university is run. While it is true members-at-large are normally graduates of Concordia, it does not mean that they have an interest in how their alma matter performs on a national scale or even a slight idea of what would be the best for the university.

Led by chairman Peter Kruyt, the president and chief executive officer of Victoria Square Ventures Inc., the 23 members-at-large are overwhelmingly of the past graduate, private interest variety with very few exceptions. Where does that leave Concordia compared to other universities in the grand scheme of administration Boards?

Carleton University boasts a modest 32 member Board, of that 18 of them are picked from the community at large. On paper the Board composition is roughly the same, approximately 57 per cent of the Board is picked from outside

the university, the only real difference being Concordia’s inflated amount of Board members.

However, when it comes to who sits on the Board the glaring difference emerges.

Leading Carleton’s Board as chancellor is The Right Honourable Herb Gray, a former federal cabinet minister in the Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau governments. With a proven track record of public service, people like Gray are who

universities should be courting to take the reigns of Boards. Gisele Samson-Verreault, a former assistant deputy minister, human resources, department of foreign affairs and international trade, follows up as Carleton’s Board chair further driving home the public service image.

When it comes to the make up of the Board the University of Guelph features a slimmed down 24 member Board, which is reasonable

the confidence of Concordia faculty, staff and administrators and of the tax-paying citizens of Québec.

We therefore demand: * The resignation of the Chair and Vice Chairs of the Board of Governors; * An independent enquiry into the chronic pattern of departures of senior administrators and staff along with the associated costs of settlements, buy-outs and interim replacements; * Open and inclusive procedures for nominations of external members to the Board of Governors and for the selection of Board committee members as well as balanced representation on the Board from the University and from all sectors of society, including the arts, labour and community organizations; * Immediate enforcement of the fixed terms of office for external members of the Board of Governors; * Open, transparent and consultative procedures for the selection of senior administrators via a return to Advisory Search Committees or a similarly inclusive process; * Elimination of ‘corporate’ contracts for senior administrators and public disclosure, upon hire, of the principal terms of senior administrators’ contracts; * A comprehensive review of University governance.

CUCEPTFU Concordia University Continuing Education Part-time Faculty Union, FNEEQCSN CUFA Concordia University Faculty Association CULEU Concordia University Library Employees Union, FEESP-CSN CUPFA Concordia University Part-time Faculty Association CUSSU Concordia University Support Staff Union, FEESP - CSN CUUSS/TS Concordia University Union of Support Staff Technical Sector, FEESP-CSN SCOMM The Canadian Marine Officers’ Union Trades TRAC Union of Teaching and Research Assistants of Concordia, PSAC

considering the school has approximately 20,000 students. But of those 24 members only seven are at large meaning outside interest only has a 30 per cent stake in the administration of the university. It’s a far cry from the member-at-large majority that makes up Concordia’s Board.

Then what would the perfect Board look like if it were to ever exist?

First and foremost, the Board of Governors should place a high value on public service and strive to find members with a proven track record. A university is a public institution which is funded by public dollars. It is simply common sense for a Board to act in the public interest.

With Board members cherrypicked from corporations we are given a Board that only knows the bottom line and motivated by self-interest.

When acting, the Board should pay particular attention to transparency and place a high value on informing the community that they are, after all, serving. Much of the criticism directed at the Board has been for the seemingly endless terms of some members. However, on their website Concordia’s Board of Governors lists the end dates of all of their members’ terms. One glaring piece of information is missing: when they started their term. The lack of information regarding terms served by the Board is just one of many areas transparency could clean up for the better.

One final point of improvement to be considered is the Board’s composition. It’s clear that members-at-large make up a majority that does not always share the universities interest.

Concordia needs to trim the Board to a manageable number and lower the amount of membersat-large to ensure that the university truly has a voice when it comes time to speak. Maybe then presidents will be more in tune with the university’s objectives.

The perfect Board of Governors does not exist, and if it did Concordia’s would be far from making the short list. However, with the right changes Concordia might, at the very least, have a functioning Board of Governors representing the public that pays for the university for which they are responsible.

letters

RE: Judith Woodsworth’s departure The recent departures of two consecutive presidents and several senior administrators have led to a loss of confidence in the Board of Governors among faculty, staff and students at Concordia University. The turmoil Concordia is facing today is the predictable result of governance structures and practices that have allowed decision-making to be concentrated in the hands of a select, inner circle of the Board of Governors. In recent years, the Board, led by this elite group, has maneuvered the University towards becoming a corporate-style institution in its administrative structure, its hiring practices and its senior salary structure. Particularly troubling are the lack of accountability in decision-making and the steady marginalization of the University community in areas where their participation is crucial.

The Board of Governors, in particular its leadership, has continued to take decisions that effectively reduce the involvement and influence of the larger Concordia community in the affairs of the University. The public outcry at the most recent ‘dismissal’ is evidence of the disconnect between this group and the Concordia community, and the absence of checks and balances in the governance structures of Concordia. This group has lost

RE: Judith Woodsworth’s departure I am an undergraduate student at Concordia and I must say that I have always held great respect for my university. I am a student who takes her education very seriously, even though I do have to work part-time to make ends meet. Still, every time I go to class, I enjoy learning and engaging in classroom discussions with my classmates and teachers whom I admire and respect.

The recent events surrounding the departure of President Judith Woodsworth have only brought frustration and cynicism to my heart. I have been doing a lot of reading on the issue and only feel increasingly angry towards the whole situation. How can you support such an outrageous and unexplained waste of money when students like me are struggling to pay bills every month? This money does not belong to them; therefore we can at least expect an explanation. I feel terribly disrespected as a student.

Does the Board think that we are imbeciles unworthy of any sort of explanation, throwing away millions of dollars while tuition fees constantly increase?

I cannot explain how I feel right now since my anger has transformed into sadness and disbelief.

Let us imagine that I give you a large sum of money in order for you to help me with my education. One day, I find out that you gave it to someone. So I ask you why you gave it to that person. You tell me that it is personal and that I should simply trust you and that in some obscure way, it will benefit me somehow.

Now let me ask you: is this a correct answer? Would you feel you were treated with respect and dignity as a hardworking student?

Humbly, Barbara McKeown

opinions: education

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

television

Government is unwilling In defence of The to help hard-working, Jersey Shore independent students Guidos and guidFinancial aid is rarely awarded to those who need it most Owen Nagels Assistant opinions editor Did you know that, according to Aide financière aux étudiants, the age of financial independence from your parents, if you are single, is 37? Somehow, that doesn’t seem right.

The deadline to pay our school fees is fast approaching, and many students are scrambling to get their finances in order to avoid interest fees or penalties. Some students may have to resort to asking the government for help with tuition payments. But, as I learned, financial aid programs and their many conditions for eligibility make it increasingly difficult for needy students to benefit from this option.

Late last semester, it became clear to me I would have a hard time paying my tuition at the end of January. I sought out consultation and help from AFE. They told me that I would not be eligible for financial aid. They said, first of all, that my father should still be supporting me financially despite the fact that I’m 28 years old and have been completely independent from my parents for years. The other reason they gave me was that there was a two-year period in which I did not go to school full time, and that makes me ineligible.

That confused the hell out of me. Yes, there was a period between CEGEP and university in which I took time off from school to travel, but I’ve been back at school full time now for two years, and any money I made

during that period is now long gone. AFE policy mandates that if there are two consecutive years during which you did not go to school full time and you are under 37, then you are not eligible.

Last semester, I took four classes and worked 30 hours a week so I could pay my student fees, rent, food, books, utilities and everything else. By the end of the semester, I was burned out. And here I am doing it all over again.

The funny thing is, if I were married and receiving spousal support, I would likely be eligible for financial aid; which is ironic because receiving spousal support would already leave me better off than I am now, and I could get extra money from AFE on top of that. But because I’m single and fending for myself, I can’t get help from the government.

That just doesn’t make any sense.

I’m not the only person in this situation.

There are about 40,000 students at Concordia, many of them trying as hard as they can to be independent, and some of them, like me, don’t seem to have a choice but to continue to work almost full time while taking four or more classes.

Students in Quebec had an average debt of around $13,000 by graduation time in 2009.

Next year, with tuition expected to double, what are people like us going to do? I’ll have no choice but to take more time to finish my degree by reducing the amount of classes I take every semester, and work more. By the time I’m done, I’ll end up paying thousands more for my education.

It’s time for a change of policy at AFE. The current situation only digs the hole deeper for many university students, and with the current economic climate, it makes no sense to push this generation further into debt.

education

Restricting English language education is beneficial to no one Laws need to be changed to reflect real world Alex Woznica Staff writer A recent study commissioned by the Centrale des syndicats du Quebec, the largest teacher’s union in Quebec, found that a growing number of francophone and allophone youth are opting to attend English-language colleges in the hopes of securing better jobs. The study expressed concern regarding this development, stating that it posed a threat to the maintenance of French as the “common language of Quebec society.”

Rather than seeing this phenomenon in a negative light, as many in Quebec certainly have, the results of the study should be seen as a reflection of the natural desire among students in Quebec to best prepare themselves for a job market in a country, continent and world that is far more English than French. More so, the results of the study should be seen as an example of the young people of Quebec “voting with their feet” against the restrictive legislation access regarding English-language education.

Despite what its language laws seem to indicate, Quebec is not a world unto itself.

Contrary to the motives of the province’s linguistic legislation, a more than functional use of the English language is a necessity.

While it is important to maintain Quebec’s French heritage, English is the dominant world language at this point in time. The province’s education system is obviously not adequately preparing its students for such a world. If they were, French-speaking and allophone students would not be flocking to English schools at their first possible chance.

The fact is that fluency in English results in more opportunities and probably better success in the job market. Even in Quebec, which places so many restrictions on the use of the English language, recent studies have shown that individuals who use English more often than French in Montreal in the workplace generally receive higher salaries than those who don’t.

More than just being a reflection of the realities of the current job market, restrictive laws preventing Quebec students from attending English schools at an earlier level are not only dated, but they are also proving to no longer be beneficial.

It’s also a clear signal that young Quebecers are no longer satisfied with impractical and destructive laws restricting access to English language education.

English language education must be made more accessible in the province of Quebec.

The time for restrictive legislation based on outdated linguistic nationalism is over.

21

ettes on hit MTV show are here for our entertainment Kelsey Pudloski Contributor

“You guys are everything that’s wrong with this country today!”

Those were the powerful words of a heckler who approached Jersey Shore cast member Vinny Guadagnino in a bar last year.

When sharing this story on an episode of Ellen DeGeneres’s talk show, Vinny said, “I was taken aback by that; there’s the economy, poverty, equal rights...I think the Jersey Shore is awesome, it’s entertaining!”

I’ll fistpump to that.

Let’s face it: The Jersey Shore isn’t a threat to national security, it’s a reality television show.

And a great one at that.

Where Laguna Beach and The Hills were obviously scripted, staged and fake (not to mention the glacial, robotic and empty cast of characters), Jersey Shore is less so.

Snooki, Vinny, Pauly D, JWoww, Sammi Sweetheart, Ronnie, the Situation and the new castmate Deena are fame whores, but they don’t try to deny or hide it.

We live in an era of talentless celebrities, but just because they can’t sing, dance or act doesn’t mean they don’t have something to bring to the table.

Watching New York Times bestselling author Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi drunkenly faceplant into the sand or witnessing

the Situation sort out a grenade attack might not be intellectually stimulating television, but it sure is fun to point and laugh at.

The Jersey Shore is MTV’s most-viewed television series in its history. These eight orange, Ed Hardy sporting superstars are making millions off appearances, book deals, workout videos and even their own line of slippers. My question to the haters is: if you could GTL all day every day, why wouldn’t you? (Despite the imminent risk of skin cancer.)

Snooki’s poof isn’t full of secrets, she puts everything out there for the viewers — albeit, sometimes it’s a little much. (Wardrobe malfunctions, anyone?) You can’t take somebody off their high horse if they know perfectly well the kind of image they are putting out into the public. The cast of The Jersey Shore has no shame, and I can respect that, even if I don’t necessarily agree with everything they do.

theconcordian

Concordia’s weekly, independent student newspaper.

Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2010 Volume 28 Issue 18.

Sarah Deshaies Editor-in-chief editor@theconcordian.com Brennan Neill Managing editor managing@theconcordian.com Evan LePage News editor news@theconcordian.com Jacques Gallant Assistant news editor Emily White Life editor life@theconcordian.com Savannah Sher Assistant life editor Valerie Cardinal Arts editor arts@theconcordian.com Jacqueline Di Bartelomeo Assistant arts editor Katelyn Spidle Music editor music@theconcordian.com Kamila Hinkson Sports editor sports@theconcordian.com Chris Hanna Opinions editor opinions@theconcordian.com Owen Nagels Assistant opinions editor Jacob Serebrin Online editor online@theconcordian.com Tiffany Blaise Photo editor photo@theconcordian.com Katie Brioux Graphics editor graphics@theconcordian.com Trevor Smith Chief copy editor copy@theconcordian.com Morgan Lowrie Sofia Gay Copy editors Jill Fowler Production manager production@theconcordian. com Jennifer Barkun Francois Descoteaux Lindsay Sykes Production Assistants Board of Directors Tobi Elliott Richard Tardif Ben Ngai directors@theconcordian.com Editorial 7141 Sherbrooke St. W. CC.431 Montreal, QC H4B 1R6 514.848.2424 x7458 (Newsroom) 514.848.2424 x7499 (Editors) 514.848.2424 x7404 (Production) Francesco Sacco Business Manager business@theconcordian.com Marshall Johnston Advertising advertising@theconcordian. com Business and Advertising: 1455 de Maisonneuve W. H.733-4 Montreal, QC H3G 1M8 514.848.2424 x7420 (Office) 514.848.7427 (Fax) STAFF WRITERS AND CONTRIBUTORS: Shereen Ahmed Rafea, PierreAlexandre Bolduc, Alyssa De Rosa, Renée Morrison, Melissa Como, Corey Pool, Stephanie Mercier Voyer, Felix Boudreau, Jessica Wei, Daniel Spinali, Cora Ballou, Andrew Guilbert, Anna Haywood, Marissa Miller, Bruno De Paula, Shannon H. Myers, Mathieu Barrot, David MacIntyre, Michael Lemieux, Michael Downs, Kelsey Pudloski, Eva Kratochvil, Alex Woznica, Aeron MacHattie, Matias Garabedian, Nazli Bozoglu, David Vilder, Sean Kershaw, Phil Waheed, Valerie Brunet, Arnaud Pages

theconcordian

coffee

Starbucks introduces new, bigger size Coffee chain should provide Depends disposable underwear with 31-ounce drink size Marissa Miller Contributor Some meet their drug dealers in back alleys or deserted parking lots, others walk into the nearest Starbucks. To fill our fix, baristas in the United States are now brewing their finest iced drinks in a 916 ml, 31-ounce size called the Trenta. What has compelled this company to keep upsizing their drinks?

The fact that many of us students have been willing to splurge $5 on a latte from our piggy bank salaries is a definite impetus.

Consumerism is almost as addictive as the caffeine itself. Emptying our pockets to fill our caffeine-devoid bodies has become such an innate part of North American culture that we use it to solidify our identities.

“Coffee culture” refers to the extreme lengths to which we will resort to buy coffee and use it as a social lubricant. Though McDonald’s is following suit by selling tea at 32-ounce sizes, I’m positive many of you will remain so faithful to the overpriced, overstimulated Starbucks that you will look forward to your trips to the United States for the Trenta. At almost a litre, walking around with a Trenta could replace your resistance training program at the gym. Sadly (or not), there are no plans for the Trenta to be in Canadian Starbucks shops. But it’ll only be a matter of time, my fellow fiends.

Our stomachs, with a capacity of around 2 litres, are expanding into swimming pools, and our esophagi into tunnels. Even though Starbucks is offering low-cal options like iced tea, we are not safe. The amount of sugar in

Graphic by Arnaud Pages

some of the iced drinks is astronomical.

Caffeine binds to the adenosine receptors in our brain, and counteracting them reduces cerebral blood flow. More caffeine is then required to maintain that same feeling of euphoria.

This, my friends, results in addiction a sad, expensive and delicious trap in which many of us find ourselves. Caffeine isn’t exactly a mind altering substance, but its addictive effects are comparable to nicotine.

Hearing about the new Trenta caused me to sweat profusely and have heart palpitations measurable on the Richter scale — a sign that I was in dire need of a Trenta.

What should we expect next in a world where everything from our waistbands to our economy is expanding? The 40-ounce Quarenta, probably. As long as we carry it around in a brown paper bag.

world

Sudanese referendum creates hope for peace International community’s continued support essential Aeron MacHattie Contributor After spending 39 of the last 56 years immersed in civil war, Sudan, Africa’s largest country, is facing massive change. With the likelihood of South Sudan’s independence increasing daily, many are optimistic, but this only marks the beginning of a long struggle towards peace and stability.

Conforming to the terms of 2005’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement, a referendum to determine South Sudan’s separation from the rest of the country concluded on Jan. 15. To gain independence, 60 per cent of registered voters must cast ballots and 50 per cent must be in favour of separation. Although official results will not be announced until Feb. 14, several reputable sources have reported that both targets have already been met.

Many have praised the orderly unfolding of the referendum, citing the northern government’s pledge to acknowledge independence, good voter turnout and relatively fair and peaceful voting conditions. This seems miraculous in a country in which over 2 million died in the latest civil war and another 300,000 were killed in the conflict in Darfur, with millions of citizens displaced and living in refugee camps.

There continue to be concerns over peace

“

in the Darfur and Abyei regions of Sudan.

Some speculate that the successful separation of South Sudan will reignite rebel activity in Darfur in pursuit of their own independence.

The fact that the Sudanese government

Peace in the area will not be achieved without a strong commitment on the part of the international community.

suspended peace talks with these rebels only days before the referendum began does not bode well for future negotiations.

Abyei is a highly disputed area nestled in the oil fields along the proposed north-south border. The CPA originally stipulated for a referendum on Abyei’s future to coincide with the one in the south, but it has been postponed indefinitely due to disputes over voter eligibility. This delay sparked hostilities between local rival groups that recently claimed 30 lives. Although the tribes’ representatives have come to a temporary agreement, the fate of Abyei remains undecided.

Furthermore, the viability of an independent southern state is compromised by the area’s overwhelming poverty. The proposed border does place a majority of the country’s

oil fields in South Sudan, but critics caution that this huge economic resource could encourage corruption and damage other sectors of the economy. The pervasive problems of illiteracy, clean water and food security in South Sudan remain daunting and will require continued external support to resolve.

Peace in the area will not be achieved without a strong commitment on the part of the international community. Canada, in particular, which has contributed approximately $800 million to ongoing efforts in Sudan, must not cease to support humanitarian organizations, must continue to pressure the Sudanese government to proceed with negotiations over Darfur and Abyei and should follow through with a proposed diplomatic delegation to South Sudan following the referendum.

Although the impending success of South Sudan’s independence seems to offer a fresh start for this troubled area, we cannot forget the horrifying events of recent years. Omar al-Bashir, president of North Sudan, is still wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, and is unlikely to be brought to justice. The brutal violence with which he carried out the genocide in Darfur is an unpleasant reminder of the devastating effects of the international community’s failure to accept the responsibility to protect.

Aeron MacHattie is a former chief copy editor at the Concordian and VP communications for Stand Concordia, which will be hosting an open forum on the referendum with professor Khalid Medani of McGill and Laku Bill, a South Sudanese refugee, on Jan. 27 at 4 p.m. in the seventh floor lounge of the Hall Building.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/theconcordian

23

The Etcetera Page

He might have been the only late night talk show host to make it through the whole Tonight Show/Conan O’Brien ordeal unscathed. Jimmy Kimmel’s show enjoys modest ratings and his likability makes him a favourite stop for celebrities on the PR trail. You can follow him on Twitter @jimmykimmel, and follow us @ TheConcordian.

- I care about the environment, I just don’t feel like the environment cares about me.

- Calling someone “dickless” is even funnier when that someone is a woman.

- Whenever someone is trending, I assume they died [...] From now on, instead of “died”, let’s say “trended”.

For instance - “I have to fly home this wknd. My Grandma trended.”

Check out www.theconcordian.com to see more opinions, and add your own.

Q: What do you think Concordia’s policy should be towards the wearing of the kirpan?

Tracy Rodriguez - second-year human relations “I think [students] should be allowed to wear whatever they want because it’s part of their religion. I feel like they should be allowed, for their religion, because I know they take it very seriously.”

Firas Nassri - second-year political science “I don’t think [kirpans] are a big problem, but I don’t see why they should be in schools though.

I don’t like seeing any religion here; like sometimes you see people giving out pamphlets and information about their religion.

I guess it should be allowed, but I don’t like it.”

Nahid Rahman - first-year civil engineering “I don’t think they should allow it.

It’s dangerous.”

Photo by Derek Branscombe

Horoscopes Aries - March 21 to April 20 The right thing to do isn’t necessarily the easy thing to do. Go the extra mile this week and be selfless and you’ll be rewarded in the long run.

Taurus - April 21 to May 21 Don’t let people’s bad vibes get the best of you. They’ll always have something negative to say, but just remember not to let those little things bring you down.

Gemini - May 22 to June 21 You may disagree on certain issues, but a person from your past will come out of the woodwork. Take the opportunity to rekindle your relationship.

Cancer - June 22 to July 23 There are people who are caring about you much more than you are about them. Give a little bit and you’ll get a lot in return.

Leo - July 24 to August 23 There is no way around the annoying chores of life. When you need to get through annoying tasks this week, just remember that your favourite jam is just one click away.

Virgo - August 24 to September 23 A mid-week surprise will disrupt your plans for the weekend. Make sure to inform those who you are cancelling on early, though, and don’t throw it on them at the last minute like usual.

Libra - September 24 to October 23 After a really rough week last week, things are finally looking up for you, Libra. You’re in a much better place and you won’t need to keep reminding yourself to stay positive.

Scorpio - October 24 to November 23 You’re sometimes afraid to hurt people’s feelings, but just be honest and they’ll

understand. If you have to let someone down, use your words wisely and remember that they hurt, too.

Sagittarius - November 24 to December 21 A last-minute cancellation will free up an evening for you this week. Take advantage of it and catch up on the television you’ve been missing this month.

Capricorn - December 22 to January 20 If you’re thinking of quitting, don’t.

You’ll stop struggling soon and get in a really comfortable groove. The time is now to get organized.

Aquarius - January 21 to February 19 Don’t let this weekend get too out of hand, because you know how you get.

You may end up doing something you regret. Just remember to have someone keep an eye on you and behave.

Pisces - February 20 to March 20 You’re so generous and people are finally realizing. It might be hard for you to get used to, but someone will finally return the favour.

You share a birthday with...

Jan. 25: Alicia Keys, Etta James, Virginia Woolf Jan. 26: Wayne Gretzky, Ellen DeGeneres, Paul Newman Jan. 27: Patton Oswalt, Lewis Carroll, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Jan. 28: Sarah McLachlan, Nick Carter, Joey Fatone Jan. 29: Oprah Winfrey, Adam Lambert, Tom Selleck Jan. 30: Christian Bale, Phil Collins, Franklin D. Roosevelt Jan. 31: Justin Timberlake, Minnie Driver, Jackie Robinson

* TUES 25

EVENTS AT A GLANCE HELP PROMOTE CONCORDIA EVENTS! ALL EVENT LISTINGS ARE ADVERTISED FOR FREE SEND YOUR IDEAS TO EVENTS@THECONCORDIAN.COM PLEASE LIST NAME OF EVENT, LOCATION, AND TIME Il Motore Library Atrium Joyce Yahouda Gallery Leonard & Bina Ellen Gallery Art Mûr Galerie Orange Théâtre du Nouveau Monde CSU Lounge

20h00 11h00 ongoing until Feb. 12 ongoing until Feb. 19 ongoing until Feb. 26 ongoing until Feb. 20 ongoing until Feb. 12 19h00

Men's hockey @ McGill Open forum on drinking water on campus Re-discover Concordia fair CASA Wine & Cheese UNICEF Concordia Burrito Night Atmosphere Open Lab Wednesdays A Flea in Her Ear DV

McConnell Arena MB 5.215 LB Atrium Stogies Cigar Lounge Burritoville FOFA Gallery Dawson Professional Theatre Department Aria Studios, room 309

19h00 13h00 10h00 18h00 19h00 to 22h00 19h00 ongoing until Feb. 5 ongoing until Jan. 29

+CONCORDIA +PHOTOGRAPHY +THEATRE +WINTER FUN!

CRYSTAL CADENCE + DivingBell Women's basketball @ Bishop's Men's basketball @ Bishop's Open forum on drinking water on campus Open to Question: Academic Integrity Conversation with Gabor Szilasi Joe Louis: An American Romance IGLOOFEST

Club Lambi Mitchell Gym Mitchell Gym CC 425 MB S2.330 McCord Museum Infinitheatre - Bain St Michel 5300 St-Dominique Quays of the Old Port

21h00 18h00 20h00 9h30 11h45 18h00 ongoing until Feb. 20

+MUSIC +STINGERS +FASHION +BENEFIT GALA +MOVIES +WINTER FUN!

Halfbaked + The Wilderness + Loose Pistons + Machine Machine Men's hockey @ Ottawa SynesthAsia 2011 fashion show DISTRIBOTO Premieres: The Rite, The Mechanic IGLOOFEST

Il Motore

20h00

University of Ottawa Sports Complex Telus Theatre La Sala Rossa

19h00 21h00 21h00

Quays of the Old Port

18h30

+CHARITY +GALA +WINTER FUN!

Boutique FLY clothing drive for the Old Brewery Mission Black Theatre Workshop's 25th Annual Vision Celebration Gala IGLOOFEST

1970, Ste-Catherine Ouest La Plaza Holiday Inn Quays of the Old Port

10h00

SUN 30

+MUSIC +CHARITY

How To Dress Well + Grimes Boutique FLY clothing drive for the Old Brewery Mission

Casa del Popolo 1970, Ste-Catherine Ouest

20h00 10h00

MON 31

+CINEMA POLITICA +CONCORDIA +CONCORDIA

You Don't Like the Truth: 4 Days in Guantanamo Open to Question: Academic Integrity Tuition payment deadline

H.110 HB-130

19h00 11h45

+MUSIC +FAIR +EXHIBIT +EXHIBIT +EXHIBIT +EXHIBIT +THEATRE +LECTURE

Sons of York + Mark Green + James And Blackburn International Travel Fair Annie Briard's the space in between Martha Wilson - Staging the self Art Mûr 15th anniversary L'artiste & son poète La Belle et la Bête Jesus Without Religion

WED 26

+STINGERS +CONCORDIA +CONCORDIA +CONCORDIA +CONCORDIA +SPEAKER SERIES +THEATRE +THEATRE

THURS 27

+MUSIC +STINGERS +STINGERS +CONCORDIA

FRI 28

SAT 29

18h30

18h00 18h30