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Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011

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arts Get Frenched at Cinemania P. 12

music The Sea and Cake prove you can teach an old dog new tricks P. 14

opinions Should you accept your prof’s friend request? P. 21

Volume 29 Issue 10

Accessible education is dead; long live accessible education

CSU, FAÉCUM mourn tuition hikes while ASFA preps for SGM Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo and Alyssa Tremblay News and assistant news editors It seems that even the undead are opposed to tuition fee hikes in Quebec.

The Concordia Student Union and the Fédération des associations étudiantes du campus de l’Université de Montréal teamed up on Halloween for a double dose of protest in front of Premier Jean Charest’s Montreal office and home.

Covered in fake blood and wrapped up in toiler paper bandages, students taking part in the CSU-led march moaned and groaned their way along Ste-Catherine Street, making their way from the Reggie’s terrace to Charest’s office on McGill College Avenue.

Carrying jack-o’-lanterns, lit candles and plastic flowers, around 40 protesters led a funeral procession for “the death of accessible education.” Student Alex Matak led the

“service” through a speaker system, encouraging passersby to “weep and cry and wail for education tonight.”

While mainly keeping to the sidewalk, protesters took a quick vote and decided to march on the road for one block on Ste-Catherine between Crescent and de la Montagne Streets.

The procession then turned onto McGill College, ending at Charest’s office where the mention of his name incited wails of “Shame!” and “Murderer!” Matak then invited protesters to “close [their] eyes and bow [their] heads” in a moment of silence.

Several of the “mourners” were prompted to take the microphone and speak. “I wish I could eat their brains,” joked councillor Kyle McLoughlin when the zombieprotesters called out for the brains of

See ‘Student’ on P. 3

sports

Stingers make playoffs P. 17

Nov. 10

Photo by Navneet Pall

CSU calls CEO into question

Judicial board to discuss concerns over the validity of the CEO’s appointment Alyssa Tremblay Assistant news editor The Concordia Student Union council has filed an official complaint with the judicial board regarding the legitimacy of the process by which chief electoral officer Bram Goldstein was hired last May. As a result of council’s motion passed at last Wednesday’s meeting, byelections have been pushed back by one week and will now be held from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1. A tentative hiring process has been reopened on the off chance that the JB’s decision leaves the CSU without a CEO just weeks before polling booths open.

“I feel like I was totally sandbagged,” said current CEO Bram Goldstein at the council meeting. He said he was only made aware that his position was being questioned after he was called into a separate meeting at 5 p.m. that same day.

Goldstein’s requests to remain in the room during council’s deliberations were denied.

Councillors discussed the matter

in closed session for well over an hour, occasionally leaving the room for cigarettes and bathroom breaks.

The motion passed with opposition by three council members and an official complaint was sent to the JB via email by VP advocacy and outreach Morgan Pudwell the following day.

At their meeting on Friday morning, the board decided to change the format of their Nov. 1 meeting to a hearing, a decision which JB chair Cassie Smith said was made “to allow Mr. Goldstein an opportunity to speak, since one of the remedies requested in the complaint is his dismissal.” In the event that the board rules to fire Goldstein, bylaws require that the CEO be given an “opportunity to be heard” before being dismissed.

Addressing council immediately after the motion had passed, Goldstein expressed his frustrations with the fact that he is now required to reorganize the elections for the new date while his position as CEO remains uncertain.

See ‘Byelections’ on P. 5

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news 2

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Got a news tip? news@theconcordian.com

City in brief Alyssa Tremblay

Reggie’s patron arrested A man claiming to be armed was arrested at Reggie’s bar last Wednesday afternoon. According to university spokesperson Chris Mota, campus security called the police after the man claimed to be carrying a firearm. Police cleared the bar and arrested the man in question, who Mota said “is not a Concordia student.” The man later admitted that he had been joking.

Three MAs coming back

Three arts and science programs are looking to relaunch their member associations within the Arts and Science Federation of Associations. ASFA’s VP internal Schubert Laforest confirmed on Sunday that students in Physics, German, and Journalism, who all lost their MAs over the past two years due to lack of interest, have been assigned CEOs to carry out elections over the next few weeks. Journalism student Aalia Adam, who contacted ASFA about relaunching the Journalism Student Association, said an MA “was extremely important for a department program because every student pays for ASFA and they should have a say in what goes on. Also they should have access to activities that cater to their program.’’

Avoiding traffic? There’s a (m)app for that

An online database of open licensed municipal information is now available to be read and used by Montreal residents. The city of Montreal launched Portail données ouvertes last week. The website owes its creation to Montréal Ouvert, a collective group made up of entrepreneurs and computer programmers, that has been campaigning for the city to make the data public for a year. According to The Gazette, the group hosted “hackathon” workshops to win the city over, using municipal data and statistics to create helpful online tools like ZoneCone.ca, a website powered

by Google Maps that indicates every construction zone in the Montreal area with a little orange cone icon.

When clicked, each icon describes why the road is closed and how long the construction is set to last.

BRB, suing BlackBerry

Montreal law firm Consumer Law Group Inc. has taken preliminary steps towards launching a class action lawsuit against Research in Motion, the Ontario-based telecommunications company which manufactures BlackBerry mobile devices.

According to the CBC, the firm is unhappy with the free apps currently offered as compensation to users affected by the major service outages between Oct. 11 and 14, demanding that customers be refunded by their wireless service providers. Anyone whose BlackBerry service was affected is being asked to contact the firm.

rankings

Concordia stays put in Maclean’s 2011 university rankings Majority of Quebec institutions suffer in annual assessment Jeremy East Contributor Concordia University remained in a relatively stable position in this year’s Maclean’s University Rankings, coming in 12th out of 15 universities in the ‘Comprehensive’ category.

The institution found itself in 11th place in 2010 out of 12 universities, but despite its position, school officials are expressing little concern about the effect of the rankings on the university.

“We don’t expect that this ranking will affect enrollment at all,” said Bradley Tucker, director of institutional

planning and analysis at Concordia.

“In 21 years of Maclean’s rankings, our enrollments have continued to climb and our programs have continued to improve, regardless of our place on the list.”

Twenty-one per cent of Concordia applicants consulted Maclean’s rankings when choosing a university, according to Tucker.

Tucker said that Maclean’s doesn’t consider Concordia’s greatest drawing points in their rankings: the outstanding reputation of specific programs, and the connections the university gives students within the city of

Montreal.

“Our 2006 Reputation Survey told us that the main reason students choose Concordia is because we provide the programs they want in the place they want. Reputation was not as big of an issue,” he said.

The magazine places institutions into one of three categories based on what they offer students: medical doctoral, comprehensive, and primarily undergraduate. With a wide range of programs at both graduate and undergraduate levels, Concordia is considered a comprehensive university.

Statistics Canada provides Maclean’s with data for all financial indicators including operating budget, spending on student services, scholarships and bursaries, and library

expenses and acquisitions.

With roughly 40 per cent of a university’s rank depending on these financial statistics, the majority of Quebec universities are left with diminished scores simply because of low financing and government regulation regarding the distribution of bursaries, Tucker said.

As bursaries in Quebec are directly managed by the provincial government, $20 million of bursary money destined for Quebec students goes unnoticed by Statistics Canada and Maclean’s, according to Tucker.

Concordia ranked 25th overall in the nation out of 49 universities.

McGill University came in second place nationwide behind the University of Waterloo.

#cdnpse

Student nurses divided over proposed educational requirements Quebec Order of Nurses proposes making a university degree the minimum for practicing nurses Jamie Floyd Contributor The Quebec Order of Nurses (OIIQ) voted in favour of upping the educational requirement for practicing nurses at an assembly last week, a decision that has proven divisive among nursing students.

As it stands, Quebec nurses need to hold a three-year CEGEP diploma to have the same practicing rights as other nurses across Canada. The motion would mean that only students who also obtain a bachelor’s degree would be able to take their licensing exam.

According to Evan Jolicoeur,

president of the Canadian Nursing Students’ Association, the motion had been in the works for a while.

“The DEC-only requirement was implemented because of the shortages of nurses. That was a quick fix at the time from my understanding, it wasn’t supposed to be long term,” he said.

The decision aims to give Quebec nurses the same level of education and experience that nurses with a bachelor’s degree receive.

“Each year the [education] gap grows wider. We’re not talking about a difference of a few hours but of thousands of hours,” Gyslaine Desro-

siers, president of the OIIQ, told The Gazette last week.

The decision has upset student nurses who do not see much difference between a DEC and an undergraduate degree.

“The amount of years we put into our studies does not make us better or worse nurses. We put in overtime [and] juggle more than eight patients a day, which reflects on the patient care,” said Gladys Cortez Santiago, a recent graduate from John Abbott College’s three-year professional nursing program. “We get tired, we overlook things. Multiple factors [influence our abilities], not just school-based ones.”

Mary Puddington, the chairperson of Dawson College’s nursing program, agreed.

“We encourage all our students to get bachelor degrees, but we graduate great nurses,” Puddington said.

What’s more, in Jolicoeur’s opinion, DEC-only nurses lack a level of critical thinking that enables them to assess patient needs and recognize potential signs and clues.

Despite these factors, the motion has touched a nerve with current students.

“Forcing students to go to university will scare them away from the profession. [The OIIQ] have to realize that many students are not young, many have their own family and are old and cannot afford to go to school for an extra two years to study,” said Maria Dramal, a third-year nursing student at Dawson College. “Many are already licensed nurses—or doctors and med students—in their country, which Quebec does not credit, that is why they took the [DEC]. This means they will need five years to relearn everything.”

protest The ColleCTive for Syria in MonTreal held a MarCh on SaTurday To proTeST ConTinued huMan righTS violaTionS in Syria.

STarTing aT norMan BeThune Square on The Corner of guy ST. and de MaiSonneuve Blvd., organizerS diSTriBuTed Syrian flagS, flowerS, and red uMBrellaS wiTh The wordS ‘free Syria’ wriTTen on TheM. They alSo gave away MaSkS wiTh piCTureS of ThoSe who died in Syria. The MaSkS, They Said, were for anyone who did noT wanT Their faCeS To Be Seen. a SMall Crowd held SignS wiTh piCTureS of viCTiMS and differenT MeSSageS. The proTeSTerS Then MarChed TowardS phillipS Square ChanTing in frenCh, araBiC and engliSh and Calling for The reMoval of preSidenT BaShar al-aSSad and for The liBeraTion of Syria. SoMe of The organizerS expreSSed Their hopeS ThaT The MarCh would raiSe awareneSS.

They alSo Said ThaT They were Saddened Syria.

and oBSeSSed wiTh newS froM

Photo by Irina Gaber STudenTS preSenT Said They Could noT foCuS on Their SChoolwork anyMore, holding up SignS wiTh STaTeMenTS like “aSSad leave, i need To STudy.” in hiS firST inTerview wiTh weSTern Media SinCe unreST Began STirring up in Syria Seven MonThS ago, aSSad Told The Daily Telegraph ThaT he expeCTed weSTern CounTrieS To “raTCheT up preSSure” on Syria, BuT ThaT inTervenTion in hiS CounTry Could lead To “anoTher afghaniSTan.” Syria “iS The faulT line, and if you play wiTh The ground you will CauSe an earThquake,” Said aSSad in The inTerview. while Saying ThaT “MiSTakeS” had Been Made By hiS forCeS early on during The proTeSTS, he Said ThaT They are now only TargeTing TerroriSTS. aCCording To The uniTed - Shereen Ahmed Rafea naTionS, More Than 3,000 people have died in Syria SinCe The araB Spring hiT The CounTry in Mid-MarCh.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian

Student unions protest in front of the premier’s office and home Continued from cover Charest and his cabinet. “Maybe then I could get an education.”

The protesters left behind their lighted candles and pumpkins, which were snuffed out by security soon after, as well as a coffin with the words “See you in 10 days” painted on it in red.

Meanwhile, a similar demonstration organized by the FAÉCUM marched to Jean Charest’s house in Westmount to drop off a coffin representing the death of accessible education on his lawn. Around 120 students participated in the demonstration, according to FAÉCUM press attaché Alexandre Ducharme.

The protests were staged in a lead-up to a massive, inter-university demonstration scheduled for Nov. 10. That demonstration is part of the “$1,625 more won’t pass!” movement which kicked off at the the beginning of the semester. The movement is intended to voice students’

disagreement with the provincial government’s decision to up tuition for Quebec students by $325 per year over the next five years.

In preparation for Nov. 10, the Arts and Science Federation of Associations and the CSU have organized a special general meeting on Nov. 3 to ask students to approve a one-day strike mandate.

Since the SGM is the result of a motion passed by ASFA council at their October meeting, if passed, the strike mandate will only officially affect ASFA students, according to CSU VP external Chad Walcott.

“I think it would send a very strong message that arts and science students are aware of and against student increases,” he said. “I think it will act as an incentive for students to be out on the Nov. 10 in the streets with us and the rest of the student movement.”

Lisa Raffy, a French international

212,000 animals used in UBC research

STudenTS lefT a Coffin on The preMier’S lawn. phoTo By Tiffany haMelin student studying political science at Concordia, said she supports the strike mandate. “In France, we strike all the time,” said Raffy, describing it as the most effective way to institute change.

In the event that the SGM does

not meet quorum or that the students vote down the mandate, the student union has been working with university administration and faculty members to grant an informal academic amnesty day to students who do not show up for class on Nov. 10.

Richard Bergeron lends support to Occupy Montreal

Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo News editor Occupiers have found a friend in Richard Bergeron. On Wednesday evening, the Projet Montréal leader and city councillor stopped by Victoria Square, the site of Occupy Montreal demonstrations since Oct. 15, with words of encouragement and a pledge to represent their rights at City Hall.

Dressed casually in a white sports jacket and jeans, Bergeron listened to the occupiers’ concerns and took questions from a group of 15 or so protesters huddled around him in the camp’s media tent.

“I am trying to convince the party currently in power [Union Montréal] that you do not represent a danger,” he

told them in French. The city’s fear, he continued, is that the demonstration will slowly expand across Montreal.

Upon leaving the tent, he was persuaded to speak to the protesters at their general assembly. He spoke to the crowd in front of the statue of Queen Victoria, which has been adorned with a Guy Fawkes mask and covered in posters.

Bergeron rattled off a list of demands that protesters had made during his visit: to have toilets that are changed every day, around 1,000 watts of electricity, a propane tank for the kitchen, and to not be forced to leave by police officers. “Simple things, really,” he added, pledging to write to City Hall to request them on the protesters’ behalf.

Bergeron had been invited to Occupy Montreal a few days before at City Hall. During the monthly open question period, one protester, Jamie Richardson, asked that the city of Montreal re-establish electricity at the Square, since it had been turned

Nation in brief Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo

#occupymtl

‘You are the pride of Montreal:’ Projet Montréal leader to protesters

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off. Before she was refused, Bergeron spoke in favour of her request.

“You are the pride and the dignity of Montreal,” he told the cheering crowd on Wednesday.

“I was doing the same thing 30 years ago, when I was the same age as most people here, when we wanted to change the world,” he said in an interview. “Was my generation able to accomplish that? Unfortunately, not in the way I had hoped.” That’s why, he said, this generation absolutely has to institute change, because it may be the last chance to get back on the right track.

“The essential question that is being asked here is: where is the wealth that was supposedly created over the past 30 years?” Bergeron said.

“Public institutions and bodies are in trouble, the middle class are having a hard time of it, poverty continues to progress, yet it would seem that we are twice as rich!”

At the same time, he continued, “The movement is a reflexion on the

global level on what we have done to our world in the past 20 or 30 years, and get back on the right track for the next 20 or 30 years.”

Bergeron hopes that reflection will lead to a series of changes in the legal and financial systems, but thinks protesters need to find a common cause, while maintaining the diversity of the movement.

“The movement has to find a common denominator. Personally, I propose that we look to [re-emphasize] the collective as opposed to the individual, to live life as a society instead of putting the individual on a pedestal,” he offered.

What’s more, he said, the movement “can’t just end in a month.” “[People here] will have to last the winter, which is not going to be easy!” he laughed.

Other political figures who have visited the site since Oct. 15 include Parti Québécois MNA François Rebello, Québec solidaire MNA Amir Khadir and NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice.

protest

In an attempt to become more transparent about animal experimentation on campus, the University of British Columbia revealed Friday that it had used nearly 212,000 animals for research purposes in 2010. The Vancouver Sun reported that the overwhelming majority of animals were rodents, and that only 31 animals underwent procedures that were considered “most invasive.” Animal rights organizations have criticized the university for not providing information to the public about their research involving animals. Brian Vincent, the director of STOP UBC Animal Research, called on the university to provide more information to the public. Helen Burt, UBC’s associate vice-president, research and international, said revealing more information would put their research integrity at risk.

Same-sex couple kiss for gay rights at Tims

Thirty protesters gathered in front of a Tim Hortons in Blenheim, Ont. on Thursday, where a lesbian couple was asked to leave for kissing outside the store in October. Patricia Pattenden, 23, said she felt lucky for the support voiced at the rally, while girlfriend Riley Duckworth, 25, said it helped promote gay rights. According to Postmedia, 20 other protesters were present, some of whom said public displays of affection are inappropriate. Duckworth maintained that the couple had pecked each other on the cheek. They are asking for an apology from the Tim Hortons assistant manager who then asked them to leave the premises. They kissed briefly in front of the coffee shop at the crowd’s urging on Thursday.

The beaver: sooooo 19th century

Conservative Senator Nicole Eaton proposed to her fellow senators on Thursday that the polar bear should replace the beaver as one of Canada’s official emblems. Eaton thinks Canada’s “most majestic and splendid mammal” is a better representation of modern-day Canada than the “dentally defective rodent.” According to the CBC, Eaton did admit that the beaver played a role in founding Canada, as the value of its pelts fueled the fur trade which opened up the country. The government has no plans to change the national symbol, a sentiment echoed by the public.

Salvation at the spa

The MCgill univerSiTy non-aCadeMiC CerTified aSSoCiaTion MarChed down STe-CaTherine STreeT To ConCordia’S Sir george williaMS CaMpuS on friday.

Carrying BlaCk BannerS ThaT deClared Their “funeral MarCh for free SpeeCh,” The STrikerS ChanTed “Take BaCk di grappa!” referring To forMer ConCordia vp ServiCeS MiChael di grappa, who lefT The univerSiTy laST fall To Take up The poSiTion of vp adMiniSTraTion and finanCe aT MCgill. di grappa haS Been The Main puBliC adMiniSTraTive oppoSiTion To MunaCa’S deMandS for pay inCreaSeS, More BenefiTS, and BeTTer penSionS. MunaCa, whiCh repreSenTS 1,700 non-aCadeMiC workerS SuCh aS laB TeChS and liBrary STaff, haS Been on STrike SinCe ClaSSeS STarTed aT MCgill on SepT.1. phoToS By ChriS hanna

A British Columbia salon is offering a day at the spa to people who participated in the Stanley Cup riots if they turn themselves into police, CTV reported. Eccotique Spas&Salons owner Milajne Soligo said he will give a $50 gift certificate to rioters who own up to crimes committed in June after the Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals to the Boston Bruins. The unrest cost the City of Vancouver millions of dollars worth of damage. The gift certificates will only be activated if the boutique is shown an official arrest form. The Vancouver Police have recommended 163 charges so far.

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theconcordian

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

World in brief Gérald Tremblay deemed Canada’s least popular mayor city

Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo

Seven billion

The number of people on Earth was expected to reach the seven billion mark on Oct. 31. According to ABC News, a United Nations report said the increase represents a challenge of poverty elimination and environmental conservation efforts. UN experts estimate the world population will reach 10 billion by 2100, and could be as high as 15 billion depending on fertility rates. The UN Population Fund executive director Babatunde Osotimehin called for a focus on women’s rights and young people to keep global population in check.

He drew attention to the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street movements as examples of people demanding such change.

Queen Kate, Jr.

Females will soon have the same right to the throne as males, once changes to the succession laws of the British monarchy are made official. The changes, approved by the 16 Commonwealth realms during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia last week, indicate that a first-born daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would be ahead of her younger brothers in the line of the succession. According to the BBC, other modifications approved at the meeting include lifting the ban on a monarch marrying a Roman Catholic and loosening the rule stipulating that descendants of George II must have the monarch’s consent before marrying. There have been at least 11 attempts to change the laws, which date back more than 300 years. The legislative changes will be introduced at the next session of Parliament, and will apply to the descendants of the Prince of Wales.

Silver and gold

Indian company Gitanjali Group launched the world’s first gold and diamond automatic teller machine on Wednesday. According to Agence France-Presse, the machine was installed at a shopping mall in Mumbai just in time for Diwali, the annual Hindu festival of lights. The festival is considered an auspicious time for Hindus to buy gold and jewellery, although experts predict lower gold sales this year because of high prices.

The ATM offers 36 products worth between 1,000 and 30,000 rupees (US$20 and US$600). The jewellery shop chain plans to set up more machines in the next few months. India is the world’s biggest importer and consumer of gold.

Slumdog Millionaire

A 27-year-old Indian IT worker has won $1 million on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, according to the Times of India. Sushil Kumar is the first person in five seasons of the show to bring home the big bucks. He plans to use the money to repay the mortgage owed on his family’s ancestral home, buy a plot of land for his family and take a course to prepare for India’s civil service exam. The episode, taped Tuesday, will be broadcast next week.

Citizens want new blood in Montreal, PSSA exec suggests Jennifer Braun Contributor Montrealers don’t think too highly of their mayor, compared to citizens of other big cities in Canada, according to a recent survey.

Tremblay came in last in a poll conducted by Toronto-based firm Forum Research Inc., which surveyed citizens of Canada’s 15 biggest cities on their feelings toward the leaders of their municipal governments.

Only 32 per cent of the 408 Montreal respondents approved of Mayor Gérald Tremblay’s work, while 21 per cent said they would vote for him in the next election.

Why did Montreal citizens rank their mayor so poorly?

“He has been mayor for a really long time and now people want something new, they want to see change,” suggested Fady Toban, VP finance of Concordia’s political science student association.

But, Toban said, the results do not necessarily just reflect on the mayor’s performance. “It’s a general trend now; people are fed up of the old institutions.”

Tremblay was first elected in November 2001 and was re-elected in 2005 and 2009.

Concordia political science professor, Everett M. Price, also believed the poll illustrated a pattern of voter disinterest. “In general, people are less interested in politics,” Price said, referring to low voter turnout across Canada.

Still, mayoral spokesperson Dar-

Graphic by Katie Brioux

ren Becker pointed out that before the 2009 elections, a poll showed that Tremblay only had 20 per cent of voter support and he still won a majority in the election.

“One poll doesn’t reflect the thoughts of the entire population,” Becker said.

Becker confirmed that Montreal’s mayor is still reflecting on whether or not he will attempt another run for mayor in the 2013

campus

New bursary helps struggling students learn French Concordia creates government financed initiative Melina Giubilaro Contributor Out-of-province and international students struggling with French are greeting with open arms a university initiative to support students in their endeavours to improve their language skills.

Concordia University has developed a new bursary which is part of the Oui Can Help program to support students who wish to live in Quebec after their studies by improving their French language skills.

The program will connect Concordia students with French-language resources at Concordia and in Montreal, with the aim of increasing their chances of attaining a part-time and full-time job in the city.

“Each winner will receive one bursary valued at $500 which will be paid directly to their student account at the university,” said university spokesperson Chris Mota. There are 100 bursaries up for grabs.

The bursaries are available to international and out-of-province students who are in good academic standing.

These students must enroll in specific courses given by the university’s French department.

The program was founded through a financial contribution from the Quebec provincial government. The Ministry of Education, Recreation and Sports is financing the bursaries through contributions from the Canada-Quebec Agreement for Minority-Language Education and Second-Language Instruction.

election. He added that Tremblay “still has two years left to deliver on his election promises.”

Toban added that if Tremblay wants to regain his voters’ support, “he needs to show his solidarity with citizens.”

“He needs to get out and show his support for the important causes that voters care about,” said Toban.

“It’s been done by other politicians before.”

Tremblay narrowly edged out Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who had 37 per cent voter support, for last place. Mississauga, Ont. Mayor Hazel McCallion was ranked the highest with 78 per cent of participants in her city praising her leadership.

Meanwhile, Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume has the highest chance of being re-elected, with 67 per cent of respondents saying they would vote for him.

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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian

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5

Byelections pushed back by a week in anticipation of JB’s decision Continued from cover

“If you guys want to reopen the hiring process and hire someone else who’s going to put together a shoddy election in three weeks, good luck with that,� he said.

Student union president Lex Gill stressed in an interview that the CSU’s complaint lies not with Goldstein himself, but with the procedures by which the previous CSU council hired him. “We know that there were seven applicants for the position and only three of them showed up for interviews,� said Gill, finding it “suspicious� that there were only records of two of those candidates getting emails asking them to come to council for interviews.

This, coupled with a lack of minutes or records of an appointments committee meeting, a mandatory part of the hiring process which never took place, and uncertainties as to whether or not former CEO Oliver Cohen had officially resigned at the time of Goldstein’s hiring, was why the council decided to bring the matter to the JB. Cohen could not be reached for comment by press time.

Gill explained that she and fellow executive Morgan Pudwell had received permission from council while in closed session at their last meeting to look further into the issue. She said they didn’t want people contesting the election results, as any suspicions regarding the validity of the CEO could result in the election being deemed invalid. “If anybody at the CSU is going to get hired with integrity and with an accountable system and with a clear transparent process by which they were hired, you hope to God it’s the chief electoral officer,� said Gill.

Last year’s CSU council is also inextricably involved in the controversy. Former 2010-2011 CSU president Heather Lucas defended

the decision to hire Goldstein in an email to the JB which heavily criticized Gill for, as she later explained in an interview, “disregarding the will of last year’s council’s decision to democratically appoint Bram.� “It is saddening that Ms. Gill would stoop so low into petty politics,� Lucas wrote in her letter, referring to the council’s decision to bring the issue to the JB as “part of a strategic agenda that is being pushed to unjustly fire Mr.

“

If you guys want to reopen the hiring process and hire someone else who’s going to put together a shoddy election in three weeks, good luck with that.

- Bram Goldstein, CEO

cal issue, when really what it is is procedural,� Gill said in response to Lucas’ allegations. “It’s really easy to paint a conspiracy when the fact is it’s her own negligence, if anything, that’s created this problem.�

Former CSU councillor Tomer Shavit will act as defense for the CSU council of 2010-2011 at tonight’s hearing.

JB member Nadim Kobeissi has requested not to be involved in the proceedings as he was one

of the seven candidates who had applied for the position of CEO in May. The JB hearing takes place on Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. in the CSU conference room.

If anybody at the CSU is going to get hired with integrity and with an accountable system and with a clear transparent process by which they were hired, you hope to God it’s the chief electoral officer.

Goldstein on alleged technicalities.�

The letter itself was accompanied by two screenshots of emails exchanged between Lucas and the appointments committee, in which she decides to bypass holding a meeting due to a lack of availability from committee members and instead asks each person to suggest their top three candidates for the CEO position via email.

Gill, as a member of the previous CSU council, voted against hiring Goldstein as CEO along with fellow councillor Melanie Hotchkiss. According to Gill, both were unimpressed with the three candidates that were ultimately interviewed by council, and felt that the entire process was being rushed. She says that Lucas’ email serves as further proof that hiring procedures were not followed. “She admits that an appointments committee meeting never took place, which is exactly the issue that was brought up in our contestation,� said Gill, also stating that Lucas “irresponsibly� violated the confidentiality of closed session by disclosing in her email that Gill voted against Goldstein. “I think what Heather’s trying to do is turn this into some politi-

Council rejects ConU’s academic plan

CSU in brief

CSU council voted not to endorse the university’s proposed academic plan for 2011-16 at their Wednesday council meeting. Presented at the meeting by Concordia’s provost and VP of academic affairs David Graham, the goal of the plan is to have Concordia recognized as one of Canada’s top five comprehensive universities by 2016.

It aims to achieve this through the expansion of graduate and research studies, and the evaluation and restructuring of academic programs, among other initiatives.

Councillors were underwhelmed by the plan, and expressed concern that it was formed without much student input. It was also pointed out that Concordia’s president would have absolute veto power to make changes to the plan, something the CSU took issue with. In the motion passed at council, the CSU asked for at least one undergraduate and one graduate student to be added to the academic plan working group, and for the creation of a budget “that specifies from where funding for the plan will come.� The plan will be presented to Concordia’s Senate for adoption on Nov. 4.

CSU president defends MSA Student union president Lex Gill addressed questions at last week’s meeting regarding Concordia’s Muslim Students Association’s involvement with

- Lex Gill, CSU president

CSu preSidenT lex gill, exeCS and CounCillorS deliBeraTed for over an hour on wheTher To file a CoMplainT wiTh The JB.

a controversial Islamic conference. Gill stated that Concordia’s involvement in “hosting� the event, which was reported on by news sources across Canada, had not been accurately portrayed in the media.

The Islamic Education and Research Academy’s Canadian tour had scheduled a stop at Concordia University on Oct. 21. The news garnered media attention as several of the clerics slated to speak at the conference had allegedly made homophobic and anti-Semitic remarks in the past. “The event itself was not organized by the MSA, the event was not sponsored by the MSA, the organizers did not have any direct interactions with the MSA,� Gill explained. “The only act performed by the Muslim Students Association at Concordia was to pre-emptively book a room in the MB building.�

According to Gill, who spoke to MSA president Musab Abu-Thuraia after receiving concerned calls from university administration regarding the conference, the MSA had yet to approve the meeting and had only booked a room. The decision was made soon after by MSA executives to not hold the event at Concordia. Gill explained that reserving rooms for events well ahead of time is common practice at the university, describing the booking policies at Hospitality Concordia as “difficult.�

- Alyssa Tremblay

MMPA

Master of Management & Professional Accounting

t %FTJHOFE QSJNBSJMZ GPS OPO CVTJOFTT VOEFSHSBEVBUFT t 'PS DBSFFST JO .BOBHFNFOU 'JOBODF BOE "DDPVOUJOH t &YUSFNFMZ IJHI DP PQ BOE QFSNBOFOU QMBDFNFOU 5P MFBSO NPSF BCPVU UIF ..1" 1SPHSBN BUUFOE PVS JOGPSNBUJPO TFTTJPOT :HGQHVday, 2FWREHU , 20 11: 0 am – 1: 0 pm 3PPN #SPXO 4UVEFOU 4FSWJDFT #MEH .D5BWJTI 4U GPS $PODPSEJB 6OJWFSTJUZ :HGQHVday, 1RYHPEHU , 20 11: 0 am – 1: 0 pm 3PPN #SPXO 4UVEFOU 4FSWJDFT #MEH .D5BWJTI 4U GPS $PODPSEJB 6OJWFSTJUZ

www.utoronto.ca/mmpa

life 6

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Write to the editor: life@theconcordian.com

interviews

How to win over the boss From the handshake to the conversation, it’s all about interview behaviour George Menexis Staff writer You know what, readers? Life can sometimes be a bitter pill to swallow. As students, our jam-packed schedules can get the better of us.

I’m here to talk about a particular situation in our lives we must all go through, some of us more often than others. Just the thought of it can make your hands tremble or your heart stop. I’m quivering as I think about it. I’m talking about getting interviewed.

Rita Miseros is a Concordia psychology student. She admits that interviewing is one of the most stressful experiences she’s ever been through. “It’s absolutely nerve racking,” she said. “Knowing someone is going to judge your skills after a 10 minute conversation really makes you stress about what to say.”

We, as students, must all go through it, must stress about it, and must dread it. We all stay up talking to ourselves in the mirror, practicing handshakes with our loved ones and so on. Truth is, there are a few simple steps we, as interviewees, can follow to make us the ones who stand out in an interview.

So blare the Rocky theme song before an interview to get pumped and follow me to success!

The number one and extremely important truth about interviews is that the interviewer in question wants to see a confident young man or lady. However, and please listen, I said confident, and not cocky. In my experiences as an interviewee in my countless job changes, I have learned that bosses love polite confidence, whereas arrogance will be completely and utterly ignored. Look at yourself in the mirror before an interview and tell yourself that you are the best one for the job, but that you’re also not the only one. Trust me, there’s quite a fine line between admired confidence and annoying cockiness. What’s key to remember is that your interviewer holds the reins to your future within that institution, and therefore you have no right to call him “dude” or “bro”.

“I did the mistake of calling my interviewer ‘man’ once. It wasn’t in a bad way, but he looked at me in the eye and told me to call him Mr. Leduc, please. The interview went on coldly,” said Pritpall Gill, a Concordia business student.

Leo Gervais is a professor in Concordia’s journalism department, and he has done his share of interviewing. He knows what to look for in a man or woman after years of experience in this particular field. He argues that one of the most important aspects of the interviewee’s first impression is the respect he shows for the interviewer.

“If I was the interviewee, I’d call him ‘Mister’ until told otherwise,” says Gervais.

“You never know what response you’ll get when you call him by his first name, he might hate that.”

That being said, my personal opinion is that formality, to a certain extent, is overrated in interviews. This clearly doesn’t mean going in there and pretending the interviewer is your life-long friend. He’s not. However, most

Graphic by Carlo Tudino

of us take formality to an overwhelming extreme. Sorry to all interviewers, but we’re not sitting in a meeting with God himself. This is a man or woman you want to be able to build a strong and professional relationship with, and a rare skill is to be able to portray that in the manner of a 15-minute interview.

Here’s a little secret that many interviewees don’t know. Many students go for a part-time job interview, sometimes absolutely clueless about what the company does. You’ll be surprised to know that this is also the same for adults. Sorry to burst your bubbles out there, but the interview isn’t only about you. It’s about the knowledge you have for the company that is considering hiring you.

When you know the company’s history, it shows that you came prepared with a handful of useful knowledge.

“When you go in there and you know the company’s history front and back, it’s impressive, it’s even flattering,” says Gervais. “It’s all part of being prepared.”

All I’ve said beforehand, guys and gals, goes under the bubble of being prepared, and this covers many aspects of the interview. Many of the key components of being

prepared take place before the interview itself.

You need to be dressed appropriately for an interview, but not too well dressed. This isn’t your wedding, but it also isn’t a basketball game.

“I’ve had people come in looking like bums. It’s a major turn off, and you really question his seriousness,” says Helen Merk, a credit manager at a distribution company in Montreal. “I’ve interviewed many people, and looking clean is big part of being ready for the job.”

Another simple thing that many people fail to do is be on time. Show up 10 minutes early while you’re at it. It shows that you care, and interviewers really like that.

“If you’re on time, you’re late,” is Gervais’ catchphrase.

It’s these small things that can put you higher than the next person in line. If all are done correctly, you have the enormous advantage over the person who wore jeans or the person who showed up two minutes late.

Combine these aspects of being prepared and you will succeed. But let’s not forget about something that has had more significance in the past few years in the interview-

ing world, and that’s body language. We always get the usual advice telling us not to slouch and to keep your back straight, but we tend to push this advice aside very often. However, psychologists nowadays have proven that our body language says a lot about us as a person, and you can count on your interviewer to know all about this.

Geoff Ribbens and Richard Thompson mention in their book Understanding Body Language that “an enormous 50 per cent of the messages we communicate are through posture and gesture.” They suggest keeping a “low profile,” meaning keeping your gestures very cool, calm and collective. “Those who seem too aloof never get a foot through the door,” and as interviewees, that’s precisely what we are trying to do.

I realize that this is quite a lot to take in for all the young interviewees out there. But most importantly, and I apologize in advance for being corny, is be yourself. There’s really more to this saying than what meets the eye.

It is by being yourself that you will be the most comfortable in your own skin. So show your character and be sure to stick out, dress to impress and you’ll be just fine.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian

A look into the true meaning of the popular style Leah Batstone Contributor

W

hat do you think of when you hear the word “hipster”? For hipster haters, it is an arrogant trend follower, who loves sarcasm and drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon while wearing black thickrimmed glasses with no lenses. It is clear to see that it has become an overused word that has lost its significance and impact due to mainstream popularity.

Dr. Zeynep Arsel, who jokingly calls herself a “hipsterologist,” is an assistant professor in Concordia’s marketing department. Her doctoral dissertation looked at “the intersection of indie culture and mass mediated hipster narrative and the consumption patterns that emerge as a result of this co-optation.”

She explained how marketers began pegging people with the term hipster. “We’re talking about ‘90s. This was where indie music was very exotic and interesting and nothing like anything out there. Marketers were trying to understand, and I was looking at the media discourse about indie music. Gradually, journalists and marketers started to label and categorize people who are in

7

Graphic by Katie Brioux

this indie culture as hipsters. I don’t know what the challenge was with [labelling] indie, but it was sort of a production system rather than a lifestyle, so hipster was a prefect scheme of someone.

Using hipster helped them understand what indie was about.”

Arsel explained that marketers “cool-hunt” for subcultures and new styles in areas where the culture is merely emerging. They “find stylistic cues, fashion, and make them mainstream.” This happened with hipsters, who were originally discovered in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and Williamsburg, one of its neighbourhoods.

These individuals, who were 18 to 35, were edgy and had interesting taste in music and fashion.

Hipsters aim to stand out in a crowd, yet they all look the same. The hipster style is a mix of all other counter-cultures and actually shows little originality: oversized glasses of the ‘80s, unflattering sweaters from dad’s closet, and beards from the Paleolithic period.

Stereotypically, hipsters are young people who believe in forward thinking, helping the environment, and think of themselves highly. Hipsters live and dress like aspiring artists, but spend copious amounts of money on the latest Apple technologies.

It’s easy to list the stereotypes, but there is more to the hipster label than what www.latfh. com tells you. Despite popular belief, hipsters aren’t just attention seekers.

“I have a lot of disagreement with people who

talk about hipsters, and say, ‘hipsters are trendseeking people.’ In most cases, hipsters actually really like the music they listen to and like to dress a certain way,” said Arsel.

She also sees people stereotype others as hipsters when they only borrow from the counterculture. “In every group, there are always the people who are hardcore, and people who paraphrase and emulate. There are always people who are the tail end of the moment,” said Arsel.

By glancing around campus, it appears that hipsters are everywhere, but most of these people are hipster emulators. Because the hipster style of frumpy sweaters and skinny jeans can be bought at Urban Outfitters and American Apparel, the style has become conventional. Part of hipster style is trying hard to look like you’re not trying hard, and it’s fashionable.

“I think it’s a way people go back in time and remember the ‘80s and ‘90s, especially people ages 20 to 30,” said political science graduate student, Juan Diego Santa. “People go back to old fashion to remember everything about the culture, from TV shows, fashion, music. I like the hipster style. I think it’s original and it reflects people’s appreciation for art.”

Indie music, which is a hipster trademark, has also turned into an increasingly popular genre.

Bands such as Foster The People and The Black Keys are crossing over to Top 40 radio stations.

Indie and alternative music can even be heard playing at Hollister, a clothing brand at the height

of becoming mainstream.

The style, music, and mindset of hipsters have become so common the purpose is defeated. The hipster counter-culture began because people didn’t want to conform, but it’s used so frequently that it’s ordinary.

Arsel believes being a hipster has no point anymore. “One thing that baffles me is that by looking at the definition of hipster, you can basically categorize anyone as a hipster. If you have a funky haircut, you’re a hipster. Am I a hipster professor because I wear band T-shirts? Everybody that is 18 to 35 could be hipster. That’s why I think the category is no longer meaningful.”

Concordia student Sabrina Patti agrees.

“It’s been really overused. I think everyone has something they can relate to the hipster style.

I wouldn’t even call it a style anymore. It became such a general term,” she said.

Arsel has seen The New York Times use the word, and even apologize for using the it so many times. “It ceased to be meaningful because anyone can be categorized into the term. We talked about it so much that we contaminated it. “ Googling “Hipster” produces 6.7 million results. Magazines and newspapers have used the word excessively. Hipsters are imitated, borrowed from, and laughed at like it’s second nature. The retro fashion and underground music have become meshed into our personal tastes to the point where they are common, so the exclusivity of the counter-culture is gone.

8

Tuesday, November 1, 2011 fitness

theconcordian

Not just for strippers anymore

Pole dancing is a unique fitness class that mixes muscle toning and fun Anouare Abdou Contributor

I

approached the building located at 3035 St-Antoine West, unsure of what I was getting myself into. A couple of residents were gathered outside, giving off a funky and carefree vibe that people who live in lofts have.

I opened the big industrial door to find that I was indeed in the right place, as the “DG Entertainment” signs at the entrance indicated. I followed them to find myself in the small but cozy room where the classes take place. From the low red lighting to the boas and outrageous heels decorating the space, the boudoir ambiance transported me to a luxurious scene from Moulin Rouge. Five poles were standing tall.

The instructor of the Pole 101 class, Myra Kennedy, greeted me. Her vibrant energy was contagious despite her being sick with a cold. Kennedy had been dancing on a competitive level for ten years before completing all six levels of pole dancing classes at DG Entertainment and becoming a teacher there.

The students all seemed very at ease with each other, having conversations and joking around. This made me comfortable; despite the fact I was about to let all inhibitions out the door in front of strangers.

We began by warming up to the sound of catchy Top 40 songs. The emphasis was put on flexibility and we began stretching and practicing doing the splits, which very advanced dancers must master. Kennedy encouraged the students to go at their own level and pace. Then came the dreaded abdominal and push-up section. It is gruel-

ing but necessary, as pole dancing requires good upper-body and core strength. As a fitness enthusiast who is no stranger to lifting heavy dumbbells, I can attest to this.

“Pole dancing helps with toning up and weight loss. You work your cardio without even noticing it and you discover muscles you didn’t even know existed,” said Kennedy.

We continued by reviewing the choreography. “The choreography allows the students to feel accomplished and have fun even if they are not able to master the harder movements on the pole right away. The psychological benefits are great and encourage personal development. It’s difficult to feel secure in our bodies with what we see in the media, and this part of the class makes women let go and feel more comfortable in their own skin,” said Kennedy.

I tried to take myself seriously as I walked in in a seductive manner, letting my hands run on my body suggestively.

Before I knew it I was on the floor on all fours, back arched, hair flipping around. I glanced around me as I jiggled my behind as fast as it has ever jiggled before.

Everyone looked happy and smiling. This was actually fun. I began to feel sexy rather than awkward.

Next was the part that everyone looked forward to: learning and practicing spins around the pole. But safety always comes first, and the teacher did a great job at explaining all the technicalities involved in the movements before allowing us to try them for ourselves, under her supervision.

The moves have names like “The Carousel”, or “The Chair”. The first one consisted of spinning while facing the pole, knees bent and toes meeting to form a triangle. It

engaged all my back muscles and had my bum working as it had to remain contracted to hold the proper form. For the second one, “The Chair,” I spun around the pole sideways with my knees bent in front of me in a 90 degree angle, as if I was sitting.

This required me to use my abdominal muscles as well as my thighs.

“The hardest thing is getting the hang of the moves that you do. When you try it again a week later and you get the hang of it it’s a good feeling, it gives you confidence. It’s empowering,” said Eszter Paldy, 28.

The good thing about being in a small group is that we got a lot of one-on-one time with the poles. My arms rapidly started to feel the burn and I developed a respect for exotic dancers as I endured a couple of chafing incidents while trying to look graceful. When Kelly Rowland’s “Motivation” song started to play, my inner stripper was officially unleashed. I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror

that took up the whole wall and had a hard time believing it was me that I was seeing rotating like a pro.

We finished by splitting the group in two and performing the routine we did at the beginning, adding the newly-learned spins and some feather boas as props. Each group loudly cheered on the other and any trace of shyness had long disappeared.

Marie-Eve Bienvenue, 32, came here upon the recommendation of a friend. “It’s fun to try new activities. You’re working out but it’s a different dynamic than in the gym,” she said.

At the end of the 90-minute class, I felt like the time flew by and I got a good workout, too.

Sessions last six weeks and include one class a week. Prices are $150 per session or $288 for two sessions or an additional class. DG entertainment Montreal pole dancing is located at 3035 St-Antoine W., studio 77.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian

9

dating

Avoid the dreaded first date flops Use these tips to charm your date right out of the gate Shaimaa El-Ghazaly Contributor

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oing out with someone for the first time can be unnerving. We have all heard or experienced those horrendous dates that just keep going downhill. Dates where you wish you could zone out during boring conversations, use Harry Potter magic to teleport anywhere else, or even pretend to go to the bathroom and never come back. To try and avoid these scenarios, here are a few things that you should and shouldn’t do during a first date.

First and foremost, be honest with your date. You shouldn’t make up stories about yourself or act like a different person. That means don’t pull an “I was drafted into the NFL” lie or use a pretend British accent. Your date is trying to get to know you so don’t mislead them. Be clear about your intentions so that you don’t end up with different expectations.

“Games are for kids, players belong on a soccer field, so don’t do either when dating,” says life/dating coach Terri Giosia.

Before your date, you should put extra effort into the way you look. Let’s be honest, first impressions are important. Despite the popular saying, people do judge a book by its cover, so make sure you look good without overdoing it. Also, complimenting your date can go a long way and it can help make them feel more comfortable. You should maintain eye contact; nobody wants a date who is checking out someone else. You need to show interest in your date, both through body language and through conversation.

“I think that perhaps the most common first date mistake is someone who dominates the conversation, talking only about themselves, without showing an interest in the other person,” says marriage and family therapist Rebecca Murray. “A first date should be a chance to get to know one another, not provide a complete list of one’s accomplishments and achievements.”

To get off on a good start, make sure that you don’t arrive late. It shows lack of respect towards your date. If you know there might be traffic, leave earlier. If lateness is inevitable, call your date to let them know and apologize. Another act that is disrespectful during a date is to answer your phone or to text, unless it is an emergency. Your attention should be focused on the person you’re with and using your phone shows a lack of interest.

Try to pick a place where you can enjoy yourself and get to know the person. You shouldn’t pick places where you can’t even talk, such as the movies. Coffee or dinner is fine, but being creative can earn you good points. Your date will appreciate the fact that you put some thought into it.

Once you’re with the person, be conscious of what you are saying. “Don’t brag, brag, brag or try to over impress someone,” says Giosia.

It is normal to be nervous on a first date, especially if you really like the person.

However, there are some things that should just not be said. Avoid talking about your ex at all times. It will only result in making your date wonder if you’re really over them. It is dreadful to sit there and listen to someone rant on about past relationships. “I went on a date with this girl that wouldn’t stop talking about her ex-boyfriend. She kept going on and on about what he did and didn’t like about her. All the while I was sitting there thinking about how I couldn’t care less,” said psychol-

ogy student Michael Wirth-Bergeron.

Concordia student Katherine Duggan was unimpressed with her experience in a date with a “guy who spent the whole time talking about his five month trip down south backpacking and all the girls he slept with and all the drugs he took.”

Don’t talk or ask about extremely intimate issues, such as favourite sexual positions or the amount of lovers the person had. It will not only make them uncomfortable, but also implies that you are only interested in them physically. Trust me, there is such a thing as sharing too much. Sure, a date is a chance to get to know someone but you don’t have to know every detail about them the first time around.

During your date, be polite to anyone you have interaction with and that includes your waiter. People notice the little things and

mouthing off to the waiter makes you look arrogant and rude. A “please” and a “thank you” once in a while shows courtesy.

Following your date, if you’re not planning on calling them again, you shouldn’t tell them that you will. Giving someone false hope is cruel and can result in making them quite bitter towards you. If you are both clearly interested, arrange another date. There is really no point in waiting a certain amount of days before calling the person and they might get confused about your feelings towards them.

You should always thank your date for a nice time. It shows appreciation to the person and how you acknowledge that they took time to get to know you.

Most importantly, you should just be yourself. In the end, if you can’t be natural around the person you’re with, then there is no point in pursuing a relationship with them.

food

Bofinger licking good Ignite your taste buds in this barbecue hotspot Paula Rivas Life editor Calling all carnivores. After my first step into Bofinger on Sherbrooke, I knew that I was in for a treat. Its bright yellow sign calls in the crowds of regulars, the devoted lovers of the delicious barbecued meat—meat that has been dry rubbed and smoked with maple wood for 24 hours, so that it is so tender it falls right off the bone and then basted with rich and tangy BBQ sauce.

Inside, you will find a very relaxed atmosphere, very brightly-lit with long ball-like lamps hanging from the ceiling, white walls with black edges, and black cushion booths with bright red candle holders on the ledges, giving the restaurant a tiny splash of colour.

The booths are very comfortable, I might add, as they provide your back with a bouncy comfort.

There are two televisions on mute that usually play sports or Nascar racing for the rowdy sports lovers that come in to enjoy the games with their boys. There is a self-serve soda machine, and candy machines for the kids. On one wall, Bofinger displays faded newspaper and magazine restaurant reviews about their savoury food, giving it a vintage look. On the other wall, there are artistic black and white photos of Blues musicians playing their instruments, giving the seemingly plain restaurant a jazzy feel. The music is always varied in this restaurant, however they always

seem to play rock, jazz and blues classics.

Thankfully, there was no Nicki Minaj blaring throughout the place which would have surely ruined the comfortable, laid back and south meets jazzy feel of Bofinger.

When I walked into the restaurant and sat myself, it reminded me of walking into a friend’s house with whom you are comfortable enough to rummage through their fridge.

Behind the counter, there is a chalkboard displaying “We pull your pork with a smile” on it. You walk up to the counter and talk to one of their friendly young staff. I spoke to a smiling waitress, Kayleigh Peddie, a 23-yearold who says she loves her job. She kindly explained the way that the ordering goes down, since for first-timers, the huge menu can be overwhelming and confusing. Keep in mind that all the food in Bofinger is made with no additives or preservatives, it is completely natural.

Step 1: choose your naturally-smoked dish (pork, chicken, or beef). Step 2: select your homemade sauce (Texas sauce, South Carolina, Honey BBQ, Memphis, Alabama, Crazy Spicy.) My personal favourite is the classic Texas sauce, a tangy and rich BBQ sauce that adds a kick to your sandwich, but for heat seekers, I recommend the Crazy Spicy sauce.

Step 3: pick your side dishes (potato salad, baked beans, mac ’n cheese, green salad) My suggestion is to order the fries, as they are just the right amount, deliciously crunchy on the outside and warm and soft on the inside.

The rich pulled pork sandwich will make your mouTh waTer. phoTo by navneeT pall After you are done building your sandwich, you tell the waiter your name and when your food is ready they will yell your name out for you to come claim your new creation and to add toppings of your choice. Grab your sandwich with both hands (mine ended up being a monstrosity of deliciousness) and enjoy. It is almost certain that you will get your hands messy, so grab the paper roll that they set on each table instead of napkins and go crazy.

“We get a lot of regulars, people just get hooked and keep coming back for more,” said Peddie. “It gets loud once in a while when the games are on, but it is always fun.”

After you finish your meal, and you still need a sweet fix, try the red velvet cupcake, a moist red cupcake topped off with silky cream cheese frosting. Beware of the peanut butter

and jelly square—it was very dry and crumbly and the peanut butter overpowered the jelly.

It is hard to go over $10 for your meal at Bofinger, so you will leave with a full stomach and relatively full wallet. Go out with your friends one day when you are on break and starving at either Concordia campus, and try some barbecued pulled meat in this friendly south of the border spot.

locaTions near loyola: 5667 sherbrooke sT. wesT near sGw campus: 1250 universiTy sT.

arts 10

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Write to the editor: arts@theconcordian.com visual arts

Cellular Memorabilia brings BioArt to the FOFA Gallery Elysha Del Giusto-Enos Staff writer

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our tiny books made of undead human and animal flesh are sitting inside a refrigerated wooden box in Concordia’s FOFA Gallery for your viewing pleasure. They are part of the Cellular Memorabilia exhibition merging science with art by interdisciplinary artist Tagny Duff.

“Biological art is a fairly new genre,” said Duff. “And it’s more aligned to electronic art and new media art, even though you’re looking at human tissue.”

Surgical wire holds the books together and the refrigerator keeps the cells in a fixed state, neither living nor dead. Looking into the frozen wooden box, it is impossible to see the human, animal, and plant tissue as distinct from one another.

Knowing that these books contain various types of tissue, a visitor is subconsciously drawn into trying to figure out which is human.

One of the concepts of Cellular Memorabilia questions our desire to seek out and value the human point of view above all others.

“Often we will privilege the human tissue

With Cellular MeMorabilia, Duff reconciles the realms of arts anD science. over the animal tissue or plant tissue […] and the ethics of that are implicit. Why do we place value on only the human perspective?” said Duff.

Duff is an interdisciplinary artist who says she “never privileged a genre” and describes herself as falling into biological art almost randomly. She was working primarily in digital media when she was invited to go to the University of Western Australia’s SymbioticA

to work with bioartists.

The director of SymbioticA, Oron Catts, stressed that she would need to be selfsufficient in their lab. So she was taught how to do tissue culture engineering with cells and how to work with biological viruses.

Art and science do not normally mix, but Duff said “there’s a cross-pollination that can happen. But it’s not an easy cross-pollination.”

cinema politica

You gotta fight for your rights Two docs look at social issues, but directors need to do their homework Brandon Judd Staff writer Having been there during the G20, images of Toronto becoming a war zone—burning cop cars foregrounded by throngs of protestors clashing with riot gear-clad police—are burned into my mind. It was a dark time for the city, and it raised serious questions: when is it truly necessary to take a stand? What is the threshold at which citizens should cast aside peaceful protest and engage an overly forceful state? This week at Cinema Politica, two films do their best to represent these questions on screen, for better and worse.

Tales from the G20 is an arresting look at the protests surrounding last year’s G20 summit in Toronto and the police action that accompanied them. Apart from a few brief interviews with figures within the protests— field medics, a homeless man forced out of the downtown core, a student—the film operates like a slice-of-life documentary.

But the events it covers are larger than life, and the surreal images of riot police marching with synchronized intimidation tactics are just a small part of the disturbing footage captured

by co-producer Justin Saunders.

Saunders’ film does not ostensibly take a position on the strikes, though his angle of coverage is certainly one-sided. It’s an important choice that prevents it from being undermined by a lack of facts, statistics and expert opinion. It’s far too edited and political to be thought of as only observational, but by avoiding making demands for change, it avoids the quagmire that Franklin Lopez’s END:CIV does.

Where Tales from the G20 tackles the specific, END:CIV tries to represent the larger, global questions at hand. And though it’s thought-provoking, it comes off as an extended rant.

The film is based on Endgame, a book by well-known fringe author Derrick Jensen, that suggests the very foundation of our world— cities and civilization—should be deconstructed before that way of life destroys the planet.

A film based on such an extreme concept certainly needs to draw a roadmap of how this happens, with concrete justification.

What does the process of going from the apex of civilization to a hunter-gatherer existence look like? For my money, this happens with an incomprehensible amount of violence and destruction. What makes Jensen, our narrator here, and his compatriots think we can go back without destroying ourselves? Are they truly willing to give up medicine, modern shelter and institutional education and return to a life that is nasty, brutish and short?

“

In Canada, there are few places that support BioArt work and research. To compensate for this, a lot of artists who seek the training required for this work are sent abroad.

“There aren’t a lot of these labs in the world, but that’s changing,” said Duff. “[…]

Why are we not building this kind of community of work and development here [in Canada]? That’s what I’ve been involved in - bringing people here, trying to build a community and resources here so this kind of artistic practice can evolve.”

Duff is working to create this community as the director of Fluxmedia, a research-creation network located at Concordia that spans art and the life sciences.

But artists aren’t the only non-scientists experimenting in the field. “There are biohacking initiatives that are coming up. So it’s not that people are just working in the lab, but they’re working in a garage with biotechnologies,” said Duff, encouraging people to reclaim science at a grassroots level. “It’s really exciting, this idea of ‘citizen science’ reclaiming official science knowledge and tampering with it, and hacking it.”

“

Art, science, and human flesh

Cellular Memorabilia runs until Nov. 11 at the FOFA Gallery, open Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Duff’s Fluxmedia is also presenting Biohacking and Manipulating the Living World with Dr. Andrew Pelling on Nov. 1 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in EV 11.705.

The best part of these films is that they force you to consider a tough question. Exploitation and repression occur every day in this and other countries. When do you decide that you’ve had enough? What’s your threshold?

Taking the elimination of civilization as a necessary tenet of change is just one example of Jensen’s reductive absolutism. He boils down huge swaths of people into useful little groups like ‘fascists’ and ‘psychopaths,’ and treats extraordinarily complex issues as if there’s a clear solution you’d see were you as smart as him. This undermines his position, because it’s hard not to disregard this type of snide arrogance.

And it’s a shame: he offers some much needed articulation for the fringe, helping it play its role as a counterbalance to make up for an increasingly soft and shapeless left. It’s important for someone to voice the radical, because that’s often where the ideas that cause meaningful change originate. But arguing with an air of superiority makes it easy to dismiss the entire part of that spectrum as delusional.

Ultimately, both films suffer from a lack of reliable sources. But it’s asking quite a bit to have anti-government positions substantiated by experts. There are too few radical leftists who carry the kind of institutional weight we’re used to seeing in a documentary, not to

mention this weight runs somewhat counter to the films’ position.

But they suffer nonetheless. A film like END:CIV that is built on interviews with regular strangers works to a point, but it’s hard to be convinced when it’s not backed by statistics or historical evidence.

Tales from the G20 doesn’t suffer nearly as much from this, however, because it does not claim to be anything but an account— one-sidedness aside—of the event. If nothing else, it provides some strikingly clear images of unacceptable police behavior to bolster the rapidly growing hard evidence of an affinity for violence within certain police circles.

The best part of these films is that they force you to consider a tough question.

Exploitation and repression occur every day in this and other countries. When do you decide that you’ve had enough? What’s your threshold?

Tales from the G20 and END:CIV are showing at Cinema Politica on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. in H-110. For more information, go to www. cinemapolitica.org/concordia.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian

11

theatre

Don’t go taking any wooden nickels Montreal production of The Wild Party set to bring a taste of the ’20s Sofia Gay Arts editor As the night blankets the sky with darkness, save for a few pinpricks of light coming from the stars, the hoots and hollers only get louder. The tinkling of jingly bracelets and ceaseless clicking of lighters saturate the air, interrupted by the louder sounds of breaking glass now and then.

It’s quite paradoxical that what is usually considered one of the most happening times in history to party is known by its official title of the Prohibition era. Yet from Boardwalk Empire, to Mia Farrow and Robert Redford’s take on The Great Gatsby, it’s one of the eras that is most often portrayed in contemporary performances.

This is where In Your Face Entertainment’s The Wild Party comes in. Based on Joseph Moncure March’s 1928 poem of the same name, the show takes a no-doorbarred look into what happens when two vaudeville performers (Queenie, a showgirl, and Burrs, a clown) invite a bunch of their friends over for a night of cocktails, sex and coke (not the kind that comes out of a vending machine, for the record), and things take a downward turn to the unexpected.

It is, as choreographer and cast member Nadia Verrucci explained, “the perfect balance of a great storyline and really interesting characters for the actors to play, and the relative simplicity of one set and one

costume per character.”

“Plus,” she added, “the music has a jazz, vaudeville-inspired ’20s sound and that was a huge draw. LaChiusa’s music is pretty complicated with some crazy harmonies, so it sounds amazing when it’s done well.”

Complementing the music, which is set to be performed by a five-piece band, are the dance numbers. As anybody who has seen the Charleston being danced (and if you haven’t, do yourself a favour and YouTube it), it’s like being transported to another era.

Adding a few swing moves here and there, including the infamous Foxtrot, The Wild Party is set to re-create that magic, but with a spin.

“I didn’t want to fill the few dance numbers we have with repetitive moves just to stay true to the era, so I mixed in a bit of ’20s with whatever ideas came to me while I was listening to the music,” said Verrucci.

“That’s pretty much how I choreograph everything. I just listen to the song over and over and a picture of what I want forms in my head.”

Though not all cast members had previous dancing experience, Verrucci assured “the cast has been working really hard to discover their inner Mikhail Baryshnikov!”

What was harder, she shared, was finding fitting apparel for them to wear.

“There’s definitely nothing out there in the stores that’s ’20s style, so we ended up borrowing some stuff from Centaur, Dawson and the Segal Centre, and I topped it off with some creative additions from Value Village.”

DeckeD out in the best of ’20s fashion, the cast looks like the bee’s knees.

MainLine Theatre proved a fitting choice when searching for a performance space, as it contributes to the atmosphere of the play—in more than one way.

“It’s pretty intimate, and it’s important for the audience to feel like they’re a part of the party, or at least across the street peeking into our party from their own apartment,” said Verrucci. “And every good party needs drinks, and at MainLine you can bring your drinks into the theatre—people love that.”

Portraying characters with such an apparent dichotomy of glamour and tragedy, it’s valid to wonder what the reigning “it” couple of the Prohibition era, F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda, would think

University of Ottawa

uOttawa

GRADUATE STUDIES OPEN HOUSE Thursday, November 3, 2011, in the University Centre LEARN MORE ABOUT: » Master’s and PhD programs » Admission criteria » Scholarships and funding Speak with representatives from our faculties and services at the information fair.

Travel subsidies of up to $85 are available for students coming to uOttawa for this event from out of town.

Please register at discoveruOttawa.ca/openhouse.

»

of this show.

“I would think they would see a lot of themselves and their relationships with others in our crazy cast of characters [...] their lives weren’t exactly carefree,” said Verrucci. “The exact same kind of love-hate relationships and behind the mask dramas are going on in The Wild Party, and the drugs, alcohol and loose attitude toward sex didn’t really help matters much. Although it makes for a fun show!”

The Wild Party runs at MainLine Theatre (3997 St. Laurent) Nov. 2-5 and Nov. 9-12 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $23. For more information, check out www.mainlinetheatre. ca.

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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

cinema

theconcordian

From all over the world, with love The Cinemania festival is calling all cinephiles Marilla Steuter-Martin Contributor It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to see the North American debut of a film or watch a movie seen by over a million people in France. If that’s not reason enough, imagine watching the film on the big screen at the majestic Imperial Cinema in downtown Montreal. This week, the 17th annual Cinemania French Film Festival begins, and will give Montrealers the chance to do both.

Cinemania is known for captivating audiences by bringing films from around the world to Montreal and has facilitated many Canadian premieres. This year’s selection of 35 films range from thrillers, to romantic comedies, to political dramas. The festival is also committed to bringing notable directors, such as Cédric Klapisch, to present their work in person.

The selection process begins at the Cannes Film Festival, held in France and one of the most prestigious festivals of its kind in the world.

“The opening and closing films are definitely must-sees,” said Natalie Bélanger, the managing director of Cinemania.

Polisse, the first film on the line-up, won the Grand Jury prize at Cannes and will be making its first appearance in North America on Thursday. It is a realist portrait of a child protection unit attached to the Paris police force which details the psychological stress

the team undergoes each day. The closing film, Les Neiges du Kilimanjaro, was also featured at Cannes and received very positive reviews.

This year over 100 films competed to be chosen for a spot on the coveted list. It’s a difficult task, and Bélanger says there are no hard and fast criteria.

“It’s not scientific. We have an eye for it, and we know what the public likes,” she said.

“It’s the cinematographic experience you have to feel it. It’s really done with the heart.”

Of the 35 films listed, Bélanger recommends Des vents contraires, which is the story of a man with two young children whose wife suddenly disappears, and La Fée, a whimsical adult fairy tale full of humour and the quirkiest of love stories. There is also Ma part du gâteau, which Bélanger calls the “blockbuster” of the festival, and was immensely popular in France.

She believes it’s important to be exposed to as many foreign films as possible.

“It’s great, and it really opens your mind to different perspectives and cultures,” she said.

All the films selected are in French, but never fear, the English-speaking Montrealer will be able to enjoy the festival as well.

“Every single film is subtitled. For us it’s essential,” said Bélanger. “It’s very important to widen the audience and share with as many people as possible.”

Last year, the festival drew about 20,000 people and this year Bélanger is confident audiences won’t be disappointed.

The Imperial Cinema is not open to the public except for special events. It is charm-

over 100 films applieD to be part of the festival’s line-up this year. ingly old-fashioned on the inside and seats approximately 800 people. Bélanger says the atmosphere fits perfectly with the event. “To see the films in this magnificent theatre is just such an experience,” she said.

Cinemania kicks off at the Imperial Cinema on Nov. 3 and runs until Nov. 13. General admission is $12.50, and $10 for students.

For more information, check out www. cinemaniafilmfestival.com.

profile

Rebels with a cause inspire youth Local organization uses art to raise money for charity Paula Rivas Life editor

T

he simple phrase of “Why? Simply because!” (W?SB!) serves as inspiration and a voice of reason in an attempt to inspire curiosity and motivate youth to start asking questions and search for answers.

The organization, often known simply as W?SB!, puts on events geared towards young people in order to raise money for different causes, pushing stuffiness to the side and amping it up on the fun and innovation factors. This includes their Dreamcatcher events, as well as the flash mob they started at this year’s Just for Laughs Festival.

One of the founders, Marc Coppola, a 23-year-old graduate student in marketing and entrepreneurship at McGill, said the idea of creating W?SB! popped up unexpectedly. Coppola and co-founder Jeremy (Germ) Dee, also 23, have been buddies since high school. Coppola came up with the idea of W?SB! one day after finishing a relaxing meditation session with Dee. “I thought of the idea of creating rereverse engineering marketing, so instead of mass marketing, why not marketing to the masses?” Coppola said.

W?SB! began by creating Dreamcatcher, “an event that allows artists who are unknown yet talented to have a big stage and create a big crowd while performing at the Rialto Theatre and create a fan base

arts events are W?sb!’s methoD of choice in raising consciousness for causes they promote. through us,” said Coppola.

What did the event consist of? There was stand-up comedy, tattoo art, jugglers, magic shows, improv, interpretive dance, indie rock singers, hip hop, and more. They even served tasty appetizers.

Amazingly, all of this is provided for free, since W?SB! is a non-profit organization. Dee and Coppola get the money to host these events thanks to sponsors that look to promote their product.

Together, Dee and Coppola make quite a team. Coppola is driven and articulate, while Dee is the M.C. of the events, full of energy, and he occasionally paints his face for Dreamcatcher.

“My number one goal is to build a community of people, because it is hard to achieve success alone and we can come

together through support in events,” said Coppola.

The next step for Coppola and Dee is to allow people to blog, write articles or videoblog through the W?SB! website. Also, if someone wanted to start a charity event, Coppola and Dee would put the cause on the website and then plan a Dreamcatcher event to help the charity idea gain popularity, funding and become a reality.

“This way we can raise money for it. It is still fun for the audience, and it allows us to grow,” said Coppola.

According to the W?SB! website, they live by their morals.“If we don’t believe in your cause or we feel you want to hire us to do work that we feel might be unsuccessful for you, we just won’t do it nor will we take your money to do something we

feel won’t truly benefit you,” said Coppola.

“We stand for what we believe, not struggle to support what we don’t. You are not a client in our eyes; you are a fellow friend we are looking to support, not to bill.”

The inspiration to start W?SB! came from a similar moral standpoint.

“The world is full of greed, we are lacking a sense of community, and it is easy to share the resources we have available to us if we all come together. I am trying to build a group, not run by me, but by the people, the youth,” Coppola said. “Ultimately I am building a community that I would like to live in.”

W?SB! has been veering towards being more active in following economic and political imbalance in Canada, driven by the idea that the future is in the hands of the youth.

Recently, W?SB! interviewed famed environmental activist David Suzuki at Occupy Montreal when Suzuki passionately spoke up about the same worry of world greed that Coppola mentioned.

“What about people? What about the jobs and opportunities for young people?” said Suzuki. “This is about the future for these young people that is being sacrificed for the sake of the corporate agenda right now.”

Even after putting on such events, W?SB! is just getting started. Coppola assured that they only plan on getting bigger and better because, as he put it, “the winds of change are blowing.”

To keep up with Why? Simply Because, check them out on Facebook, or go to their website, currently under construction, at www.whysimplybecause.com.

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

magazine

Go on, we dare you: SNAP! into it Local arts quarterly runs its second national issue Rebecca Ugolini Staff writer

G

ive it to me straight: you’re going to throw this away, aren’t you? Once you’ve consumed this issue, it will fall straight to the bottom of your bag, its text and image fields soon a repository of doodles, scribbled essay deadlines and hardened gum wads.

“

of freedom to be creative,” said Prisk. “Much more than they do when they contribute to other publications with a very narrow sense of what they want. The themes give them a way to explore ideas that they’ve been thinking about, but haven’t been able to work on in other ways.”

In collaborating with artists whose talent often outweighs their exposure, Prisk has seen the difference that publication in a magazine like SNAP! often makes.

“So many of our artists have gotten really big contracts because of the exposure they get in SNAP!” she explained, “and they can pass the magazine around and show their friends what they’ve worked on. It’s a really positive experience for everyone, which is important for us, because we couldn’t make the magazine without these artists.”

SNAP!’s positive attitude toward its audience and contributors has been a mainstay of its production since Prisk and Byrne first started the magazine.

“We toughed it out, and we still are to this day,” said Byrne of the financial strain of running a self-funded project. “But people respect you if you work hard, and they can see that you’re not just two flash-in-the-pan kids trying to make a magazine.”

“We’d stand at the door of our events and give our copies and thank people for coming,”

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You wouldn’t be to blame: as participants in an advertisement-heavy culture, we’re conditioned to equate ‘free’ with ‘disposable,’ setting an immediate expiry date on the often excellent free periodicals, papers, and blogs we read.

That’s precisely the situation that Hannah Byrne and Shayl Prisk, founders of Montrealbased SNAP! magazine, are trying to counteract.

Each issue of their award-winning quarterly, now releasing its second national issue, is curated with care. SNAP!’s polished aesthetics, quality content, and luxurious format are characteristic of pricey publications, but come absolutely gratis.

“There’s no point, at least for us, in making something that readers are just going to throw away,” said Prisk in an interview at the magazine’s office on St-Laurent Boulevard. “We’ve put a lot of care into making this publication something timeless that people can keep, and we really enjoy doing that. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be rewarding.”

Combining photography, illustration, fashion shoots, and written works that pertain to a specific theme, SNAP! presents content that is innovative and varied, yet reads as a cohesive artistic collaboration.

“In this stage of the magazine, as opposed to the early issues, we’re very selective with what we take,” said Prisk. They’ve received an

We found a niche that wasn’t being filled by any magazine in Montreal, let alone for free, and now we’ve gone from 2,000 copies an issue to 10,000 copies all across Canada.

- Shayl Prisk, SNAP! magazine co-founder

overwhelming amount of contributions from artists across Canada. “We really want to make a high-quality product,” she added.

Themes that are playful and tongue-incheek encourage contributions that span from the serious to the silly. Take the August-October 2011 issue, entitled “Double-D.” On the cover, an eye-catching preview of Caroline Mauxion’s photo shoot of models in embroidered, cheeky bras that read “Drip-Dry,” “Daddy Dearest,” and “Double Dare.” In the same issue, readers find a collection of “Dirty Dishes” by artist Christine Hale and photographer Andreas Sundgren: dainty porcelain plates with illustrations of whimsical breakfasts and foodstuffs. “Sunny-Side up Tits” or “Vanilla Asscream,” anyone?

The printed word is just as important as the visual arts in SNAP!, a rarity in any publication.

From writer Julie Rhoda’s crazed and comedic fan letter to David Duchovny, to Daniel Chandler’s intriguing interview of Darrell Duffie, the Dean Witter Distinguished Professor of Finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, SNAP! offers quality writing in league with the best publications.

Perhaps that’s because Prisk and Byrne, both Australians by birth, have a sincere appreciation for Montreal’s large artistic community, and work with individual artists to create a publication that benefits the publishers, contributors, and readers.

“The artists who work with us get a lot

Byrne continued, “and we sponsored Art Matters and POP Montreal. We launched our magazine without a network, and then the network came to us.”

They started funding the magazine out of their own pocket, drawing on pay from other jobs. But now that they publish nationally, extra advertising revenue and free contributions from artists have made the enterprise more viable.

SNAP! runs on authenticity: its sincere desire to offer excellent content, to create positive publicity and opportunities for contributors, and to offer through its beautiful format something truly different and appealing to readers sets the magazine apart.

“We found a niche that wasn’t being filled by any magazine in Montreal, let alone for free,” said Prisk, “and now we’ve gone from 2,000 copies an issue to 10,000 copies all across Canada.”

“You can’t make a magazine that pleases everyone, because that magazine doesn’t exist,” concluded Prisk. “We try to make something authentic and beautiful that will be worth reading again in two years. And when we put an issue out, all our copies disappear.”

SNAP! is launching its second national issue on Nov. 11 and can be found at retailers like WESC, Drawn & Quarterly, Off The Hook, and Magazine General. For more information, visit www.snapme.ca.

besiDes serving quality content for free, SNaP! also throWs events arounD the city.

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music 14

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Write to the editor: music@theconcordian.com

preview

The Sea and Cake move towards musical abstraction Their ninth studio album takes a different flight as their tour heads north Allie Mason Music editor Hailing from the windy city, Chicago-based world rock band The Sea and Cake has been creating an interplay of indie music for close to two decades. But after dabbling recently in experimental, instrumental and long-form composition on his solo album Old Punch Card, vocalist and guitarist Sam Prekop opted to continue his newfound expression with his bandmates to create their new not-quiteLP-length, not-quite-EP-length album The Moonlight Butterfly.

“It’s not entirely possible for me to wear entirely different hats from one thing to another,” said Prekop, explaining that “one thing bleeds into another” when he’s working on multiple projects.

That reality often results in songs that could either be part of Prekop’s solo work, or TSAC. “A song like ‘Inn Keeping,’ I think in some ways, could have been on Old Punch Card, my solo record,” Prekop elaborated. “Or, it could have, until everyone else played on it... and then of course it became a Sea and Cake song.”

Relinquishing the rules that the band adopted over the past 16 years allowed them to step even further out of their proverbial “musical box,” opening them up to more fluid and experimental songwriting and performance.

“We decided that we didn’t have to make a full-length LP if we didn’t want to, or if we didn’t quite feel like it,” he said. “Once we decided that that wasn’t going to be the case, that opened us up to sort of trying out longer form pieces and instrumentals.”

Long-time TSAC fans shouldn’t fear; The Moonlight Butterfly stays true to the essence

Vocalist/guitarist sam PrekoP, guitarist archer Prewitt, Drummer John mcentire anD Bassist eric clariDge. of old-school TSAC while incorporating this new and clearly passionate component of Prekop’s creative process.

“Inn Keeping,” the fifth song on the new album, begins with synth-y percussion-type sounds, and blends into the light, airy guitar and vocals that TSAC are famous for. The lyrics are soulful and tender, but unlike most previous releases, “Inn Keeping” is almost ten and a half minutes long. The only other TSAC song that comes close to it in length is “Lost in Autumn” from their debut, self-titled album, which, in and of itself, is at least double the length of a typical TSAC track.

“We really sort of stick with the long form

and it sort of makes sense as a live piece,” Prekop admits. “A lot of it is subtly improvised, which of course excels live as well, and that is a great thing to have the opportunity to do.”

In support of their newest album, The Moonlight Butterfly, TSAC began their 2011 tour. They just wrapped up five tour dates in South America, where their new material was well received by fans.

“People seem to know the new songs already, which always seems to be a peculiar sticking point,” he said. “It seems like if people haven’t heard [a song] then they’re not as responsive. I’m sure that’s not actually

true, but from our perspective there’s a certain excitement with familiarity.”

But for those of you looking to catch TSAC live, you shouldn’t expect to hear an onslaught of new content.

“We have a bunch of songs that we’ve played since we started almost,” Prekop said.

“For each tour, besides playing the latest stuff, we sort of try to change up the older songs that we play.”

10. Contemporary Death Metal - This is nothing like Slayer’s Reign In Blood album that your mother picked up in ‘86. The beast that Death Metal has evolved into is faster with lowerpitched vocals, death growls and guitar breakdowns tuned so low it makes you wonder how the human ear can pick up the frequencies.

recognize it; obscurity is the understatement of the year for this genre.

6. Folktronica- While this genre was thrust into the mainstream spotlight in 2001 with the emergence of Badly Drawn Boy, it has since devolved back into the relative obscurity that the genre was ultimately destined for. What can you expect when you combine folk and electronic music?

3. “Pure” Electronic - “Pure” electronic takes the idea that “music has become too artificial” to the extreme, being comprised of no actual musical elements whatsoever. While it’s technically more of an informal sub-genre of minimal electronic, “pure” electronic is a term used to describe music created with short bleeps, static, and white noise, composed using primarily mathematical algorithms.

5. Black Metal - This genre, signified by highpitched guitars and shrieking, satanic vocals has been marred (or strengthened, depending on your perspective) by a laundry list of disturbing events by the genre’s most popular bands: several church burnings, a guitarist’s suicide (which led to pieces of the skull being made into a necklace by a bandmate), and the abduction of patients from a mental hospital are just a little sampler.

2. Khoomei - And now for something completely different. Khoomei, or “Tuvan throat singing,” is a form of singing originating from the Central Asian region. What’s special about this type of singing is that those who have mastered the skill can sing five to six notes at once, across two or three octaves. Probably not something you’d put on your iPod, but it’s worth checking out solely because of how unique it is.

4. Christian “Life Metal” - Other than the sound of the music, this genre is the polar opposite of the one above. Life metal rejects the idea that all metal must be about despair or evil and darkness, instead praising the idea of hope and perseverance through tough times. As counterintuitive as it seems, there’s a surprisingly large market for it.

1. Neo-G-funk - While just a term to describe certain styles of dubstep that a few producers created, neo-G-funk is by far my personal favourite.

The style includes masterful keyboarding and heavily distorted bass lines with an “underwater” feel that makes speakers sound like jell-o. Whenever one of these songs pops up on my iPod, I find it hard to stop myself from dancing along.

9. Deathstep - This genre is based on a simple premise: take a death metal song, slice and chop it up for samples, and create dubstep from it.

Some talented producers can execute the concept quite tastefully; however, even as a fan of dubstep, I find much of it is offensive to the ear.

Obscure Music Genres Compiled by Joel Abrahams Contributor

8. Psybient - For the sake of my own description, I’ve dubbed this sub-genre “new-age drug music,” even though that could describe half of the sub-genres in modern electronic music right now.

Psybient takes elements of ambient, psychadelic and chillout music, rolling them all into one.

7. Skweee - Originating in Sweden and Finland, you’ll be able to recognize this genre with its minimal-techno style, simple synth, and funky R&B bass building throughout songs. Yet I can confidently tell you that unless you’re a hardcore fiend for electronic music, you’ll never need to

The Sea and Cake play La Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent Blvd.) on Nov. 6, 2011.

Tickets are $14 in advance, plus taxes and service fees. Doors open at 8:30 p.m.

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian profile

The all-ages party band Boucan Sound System gets the party started on the heels of debut album Andrew Guilbert Staff writer

Living on the edge, what did you expect?

American Idol judge and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler is sporting a whole new look after a nasty fall in his South American hotel room left him worse for wear. Sixtythree-year-old Tyler slipped in his shower last week, resulting in chipped front teeth, a black eye and a bruised face. Tyler was immediately rushed to the hospital and is in good health. The fall sparked rumours that the singer, famous for his battle with addiction, had suffered the fall due to intoxication, something he refuted in an interview with the Daily Mail. “Just quite frankly I passed out. I fell on my face, I woke up with the water running on me, not knowing where the hell I was.”

It seems musicians’ teeth are all the rage this week

Would you like to own a piece of John Lennon? Not a metaphorical piece, mind you, but an actual piece of the legend’s body?

Well then, you are creepy and you are in luck because a tooth that the Beatle had removed in the ‘60s will be up for auction next month, with the reserve price set at $16,000. The tooth came from Lennon’s Surrey housekeeper, Dorothy Jarlett. Her son, Barry Jarlett, explains, “She [Dorothy] was very close with John, and one day whilst chatting in the kitchen, John gave my mother the tooth (he had been to the dentist to have it removed that day) and suggested giving it to my sister as a souvenir, as she was a huge Beatles fan.”

Sabrina Daniel Contributor Sono Savate, Boucan Sound System’s first album, is a blend of reggae, dancehall and ragamuffin styles, mixed with French, English, Spanish and Portuguese rhymes.

“We’re a party band,” said Philippe Messier, whose stage name is FunkyFlip.

“Boucan means ruckus in French. And we play to have fun. We surf on the wave and see where it takes us. It’s a matter of making songs we’re proud of and working off the crowd’s good vibes.”

While Boucan’s beats are fun and they get the crowd dancing, their lyrics range from corny to super corny. It’s the kind of music your parents would not want you to listen to if you were a 12-year-old girl. Their tracks include themes about smoking dope, dreaming of the tropics, and having naughty thoughts while watching a sexy girl dance. Add in a heavy dose of shameless self-promotion and a song about pirates featuring the borrowed lyrics “Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum” and you’ve got Boucan’s newest album in a nutshell.

The band consists of three members, François-Xavier “Louzgain” Sanchez on vocals, Félix “DJ Funky Falz” De Passillé on vinyl, and Philippe “FunkyFlip” Messier on vocals and guitar. They all have their hand in creating the beats. Sanchez and Messier work together to write the lyrics, spending hours free-styling in their studio on St-Laurent.

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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

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We wanna bring our music out super fast. We gave ourselves the objective to work ‘dans l’urgence.’

- Philippe “FunkyFlip” Messier, Boucan Sound System member

Since moving to Montreal 11 years ago from a small town near the Pike River, Messier has been in several amateur bands, constantly searching for Montrealers who share his passion for music. Sanchez, originally from Marseille, France, came to visit Montreal a few years ago and liked the city’s vibe so much that he decided to stay.

The three band members met through Montreal’s reggae, afrobeat and dancehall community and decided quickly thereafter to form a band. They also recruited their friends to be the band’s promoters, photographers and graphic designers. Together, they give a whole new meaning to “one love.” They are indeed one big family of reggae music lovers.

Boucan is not associated with any record label. Messier says that’s a good thing because the band members have more creative control. It allows them to make music that best reflects their immediate state of mind.

“We wanna bring our music out super fast,” said Messier. “We gave ourselves the objective to work ‘dans l’urgence.’ So when we do a piece, once it’s good and we’re proud of it, we release it right away because we want it to grow old with its time. We’re already looking to release a new album in the spring, just to keep things moving.”

They announced the launch of their first online album Sono Savate during their show last Wednesday at Club Balattou on St-Laurent.

From the moment you walk in, it’s obvious that Club Balattou used to be a strip

joint. The venue still has its original retro decor, minus the stripper poles, of course.

You’ve got a row of mirrors behind the stage and all along the walls, a DJ booth made up of disco ball mirrors, Mardi Gras masks and beaded necklaces hanging from the light fixtures, neon purple lights surrounding the bar, and a string of red pleather half-moon sofas facing the stage.

While watching Boucan set up, it was hard not to compare them to the exotic dancers that must have stood there before. Rather than women in skimpy outfits were white boys with dreadlocks and Volcom hats.

By 11 p.m., there was a healthy mix of hipsters and hippies in the house, most of them friends of the band, and they piled onto the narrow dance floor.

“I’m On a Roll” is quite possibly their best song. Though the lyrics are still infantile, they’re immersed within a catchy beat that makes you want to move your feet and for the anglophones in the audience, the song’s chorus is sung in English by guest vocalist Phil C des Hangers.

While performing the song live, however, Phil C began to freestyle, singing “Eeny meeny mo, eeny meeny mo,” leaving me to wonder, “Where did the ‘miny’ go?”

That being said, it’s hard to criticize them. On stage, they look so happy and they clearly love what they’re doing. You have to give these guys props for throwing a massive party and getting the crowd going. They really are a party band.

If anyone knows lame music, it’s this guy

Former Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher has released a video on his YouTube channel blasting the state of modern music, claiming, “Any fucker can [make dance music] now.” In the video, the Brit rocker reminisces about the early days of dance music, when he would go out to the Haçienda nightclub in Manchester and enjoy the “primitive” beats. Now, he says, with the advances in technology, the genre has become a “walk in the park” in terms of the difficulty in producing it.

Wait, you want people to know you wrote that?

Eighties glam rock band Poison has been hit with a lawsuit claiming that they stole four songs from another Chicago band.

The songs in question are “Talk Dirty To Me,” “I Won’t Forget You,” “Fallen Angel” and “Ride the Wind,” all of which are over 20 years old. The plaintiffs, Billy McCarthy and James Stonich, were members of a band called Kid Rocker in the 1980s. They claim that way back in 1984, Poison guitarist C.C. DeVille had auditioned for them, at which point they lent him master tapes of the songs in question. Kid Rocker broke up the following year, around the same time DeVille joined Poison. The plaintiffs are demanding “disgorgement of all profits from the songs in question, statutory damages for willful infringement, and an injunction that prevents Poison and [its frontman, Brett] Michaels from performing this allegedly stolen material.”

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16

theconcordian

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

mixtape

I

only have 150 words to write what this week’s mixtape is all about. There are three or four words I could use that would perfectly explain the whole thing, but unfortunately they are part of a lost language etched into pillars that lie in the Indian Ocean, leaving me only with English to inadequately describe the theme behind this mix. It is intended to capture the feel of a long night of cigarettes and wine and taxis, the capitulation of the day to the fever dream of drinks, dances and moonlight. From the ecstatic opening of “You” to the delirious climax of “OCAD Flu,” the first half is all about the rise of midnight empires, while the second is intended to embody the slow descent of last night into tomorrow during the pre-dawn hours when the serotonin is exhausted, ending with the dreamy embrace of Heathered Pearls and M83.

Listen to the mixtape here: 8tracks.com/the_concordian/rise_and_fall

The rise and fall of the Midnight Empire Compiled by Patrick Case Staff writer

SIDE A: The First Sound

SIDE B: Resurrection Reprise

1. “You” - Gold Panda - Lucky Shiner 2. “Biddies” - Mo Kolours - Drum Talking EP 3. “Abducted” - Cults - Cults 4. “Nightcall” - Kavinsky - Single 5. “Suffocation (Los Campesinos!

Remix)” - White Ring - Suffocation 6. “Stockholm Syndrome” - Goose Hut - Money Money Love Love 7. “Lofticries” - Purity Ring - Ungirthed 7” 8. “Police” - Gold Panda - Companion 9. “Time Code”- Bright Eyes - Digital Ash in a Digital Urn 10. “OCAD Flu”- Foxes in Fiction Alberto

11. “Safety” - tUnE-yArDs - BiRd-BrAiNs 12. “Amazing and Wonderful” - Peaking Lights - 936 13. “Peace in the Valley” - Rev. Lonnie Farris - Single 14. “Ringing Temple (Deceased Version)” - Heathered Pearls - Mother Pearl 15. “My Angel Rocks Back and Forth” Four Tet - Rounds 16. “May You Never” - Land of Talk Fun and Laughter 17. “Brokendate” - Com Truise - Galactic Melt 18. “A With Living” - Do Make Say Think - You, You’re A History in Rust 19. “Major Spillage” - White Rainbow New Clouds 20. “Too Late” - M83 - Saturdays=Youth

Quick Spins

Retro review

Justice - Audio, Video, Disco (Because Music; 2011)

Florence and the Machine - Ceremonials (Island Records; 2011)

Kelly Clarkson - Stronger (RCA; 2011)

Michael Jackson - Bad (Epic; 1987)

Justice, otherwise known simply as †, finally released their highly anticipated full-length sophomore album and it’s at least two-thirds true to its title. The French electronic duo have masterfully created another narrative record to follow up their immensely popular debut album †. “Horsepower” opens the album and sets you up for the ultimate and eventual climax with the final title track, “Audio, Video, Disco.” For anyone who avoids electronic music, Justice provides a musical, vocal, and instrumental production to get you whistling a different tune. Their semblance to classic Daft Punk in “Ohio” and “On’n’on” reminds listeners that not all electronic music has to be bass-thumping, rave-inducing mash-ups. It can be chill and inspiring, suitable for strolling around the park (not on ecstasy). Utilizing woodwinds, strings and real drums, Justice has undoubtedly hit all the right notes.

It’s hard to imagine anything following their debut album, Lungs (2009), could even compare but Florence and the Machine’s second studio album, Ceremonials, blows any doubt out of the water. While Ceremonials stays true to its roots, it’s also darker, louder and more mysterious.

Florence’s distinct vocals pull you in with tracks like “What The Water Gave Me,” which will leave listeners with goose bumps. The 12-track album is engaging and it features heavy bass and incredible drum work without ever stealing the limelight from Florence’s voice. Although the music is still ‘flowy,’ it encroaches on a dark territory, but the band makes it work. The subtly powerful “Heartlines” will remind fans of tracks like “Rabbit Heart,” while enigmatic “Spectrum” puts the entire album’s undertones in perspective. It’s vivid, it’s fun and above all, it’s uniquely Florence and the Machine.

Kelly Clarkson has come a long way from American Idol almost 10 years ago. Her fifth studio album promises a maturity that was once absent from her songs, and her powerful vocals are far more evident than ever before. Most of her songs give the impression of inspiration by personal struggle, mixed in with the expected element of love and loss. Her sound is reminiscent of Natasha Bedingfield and P!nk, but with her own angrier, rawer edge. It strays a little from a typical Kelly Clarkson album, but is true enough to her roots to please her fans. She sells strength, self-confidence, and overcoming pain with songs like “Einstein” and “Breaking Your Own Heart.” The album introduces a more soulful and country edge, but is still predominantly pop. She makes it very clear that whoever broke her heart was the one who lost, not her. She’s long since moved on.

Just for a moment, forget about the drugged up Michael Jackson dying after years of weirdness.

Forget about his crazy plastic surgery and him dangling a baby off a balcony. Go back to 1987 when MJ was hip and listen to Bad, one of the coolest albums ever. MJ’s last collaboration with Quincy Jones came out two years after “Thriller,” the highest- selling album of all time, and was to be the last truly relevant thing that Jackson did.

The album is littered with the cool, edgy Jackson that made him an icon. Title track “Bad,” “Dirty Diana,” “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” and “Man in the Mirror” all topped the Billboard charts, but even those great tracks cannot compare with the coolest song of them all: “Smooth Criminal.” Note to DJs: MJ has more than one song, so can you stop only playing “Billie Jean” and try a few tracks from Bad.

Trial track: “Helix“

Trial track: “Heartlines”

Trial track: “The War Is Over”

Trial track: “Let The Day Begin”

9.0/10

- Allie Mason

9.0/10

- Kalina Laframboise

6.5/10

- Erica Commisso

- Mat Barrot

sports

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

17

Write to the editor: sports@theconcordian.com football

Offensive outburst thrusts Stingers into playoffs

Concordia wins 58-30 in Shaughnessy Cup Stefano Mocella Staff writer

On the day when the Stingers needed their A-game the most, it was there.

Needing a win, or a Bishop’s loss to Laval, Concordia left nothing to chance last Saturday at Molson Stadium, rolling over the McGill Redmen 58-30, and securing themselves a spot in the playoffs. In clinching the game, Concordia also won its ninth-straight Shaughnessy Cup match. The annual football showdown between Concordia and McGill has been taking place since 1969.

The Stingers were given a good fight by the Redmen in the first half, as they led by only three points heading into the second half, but 28 unanswered points in the third quarter sealed it for Concordia.

Concordia is now heading into the RSEQ playoffs as the fourth seed. They’ll travel to Quebec City next week to take on the Laval Rouge et Or. Laval has already beaten Concordia twice this season, 36-8 and 37-4 in the two meetings. Both games were tough losses where the Stingers failed to score a touchdown in either meetings.

“The first time I think we played them really tough,” said Stingers coach Gerry McGrath. “The second game was our only bad game of the year. We just played terribly up there, and we’ve got a lot of work to do this week to prepare.”

As for the win over McGill, things started quickly for Concordia thanks to strong play on special teams from Kris Robertson.

The halfback has been impressive all season, and after a two-and-out from McGill on the opening drive, Robertson returned a punt 45 yards to the Redmen’s 35.

Raul Thompson scored on the very next play on a 35-yard run for the score. The Sting-

EdEm Nyamadi (20) aNd thE StiNgErS offENcE raN wild oN mcgill. Nyamadi had 53 yardS ruShiNg oN juSt Six carriES. Photo by NavNEEt Pall

ers and Redmen battled in the first half, with McGill looking to avoid a winless season.

McGill’s Austin Anderson kicked a 43-yard field goal in the final seconds of the half to cut the score to 20-17.

The Redmen had no answer for Concordia in the second half, as the Stingers moved the ball methodically with a short passing game.

Concordia started the onslaught with a 14yard touchdown pass to Sanchez Deschamps.

On the next drive, they got the score quickly with a 65-yard touchdown pass to Michael Donnelly who caught the short screen pass and rumbled his way through and around the McGill defence to the end zone.

On McGill’s ensuing drive, linebacker Max Caron intercepted a pass in the red zone to stop the Redmen’s threat. Concordia turned that into more points, as Reid Quest found Kris Bastien for a 40-yard touchdown pass. On the ensuing kickoff, McGill fumbled, giving

the Stingers the ball at the McGill 25-yard line.

Once again, Concordia capitalized as Quest hit Edem Nyamadi for a five-yard touchdown pass. Quest finished the game with 23 completions on 31 attempts, with 356 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.

Caron made history in the second half, by breaking the RSEQ single season record for tackles, finishing the season with 78.5. In addition to that, he got his fifth interception of the season in the fourth quarter, and returned it 96 yards for the score.

Caron’s two interceptions brought his season total to five. He finished the season leading the CIS in tackles, solo tackles (67) and interceptions, making him the hands-on favourite to win the Defensive Player of the Year award.

“I just try to come out strong every week,” said Caron. “I’m blessed to have such a great unit around me. I’m fortunate enough to

make the plays I did, but the guys around me have been a tremendous help.”

McGrath agrees that Caron deserves the award, but not just for his numbers. “He’s just had a phenomenal year, but what doesn’t show up on his stat sheet is how great of a leader he is.”

McGill added some points late when the game was out of hand, blocking a punt for a score and a late touchdown pass by Ryne Bondy to Michael Chitayat. Bondy broke the school’s single game record for pass attempts with 65.

Now Concordia will look for the huge upset on the road this Saturday. The odds are stacked against them. Laval may beat Concordia nine times out of 10, but all it takes is one win in football.

Concordia takes on Laval in Quebec City on Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. in the RSEQ semi-finals.

HoCKEY

Concordia loses against McGill in Friday night fight Redmen down Stingers 3-2 in brawl-filled affair on Friday evening Fatima Arkin Contributor

The Stingers were in an uproar Friday night after a McGill Redmen shoved Concordia goalie Nicholas Champion, inciting a free-forall of flying fists.

Stingers centre Alexis Piette received a fighting major and a game misconduct, and will be suspended as a result.

Despite losing a player for the next game, Concordia head coach Kevin Figsby supported the actions of his players.

“It was cheap and uncalled for,” said

Figsby of McGill’s roughing up of Champion.

“I’m proud of the guys that stood up for [Champion]. Nobody can do that to us.”

Concordia defeated McGill the previous week in an emotional home win, but extracurricular factors may have played in to Friday’s loss. Figsby said that his players have been tired and stressed all week following midterms. He called the evening a pretty big learning curve.

The Stingers got off to a strong start as they dominated the first period. George Lovatsis scored a goal four minutes in to put the Stingers up 1-0 early. Six minutes later, Alexandre Monahan scored his fourth goal of the season to put Concordia up 2-0.

The Redmen, though, would not relent in the second period. McGill outshot a defensively non-existent Stingers team 18-7 in the second frame.

The end result of the barrage of shots was not surprising. Just 52 seconds into the period, Evan Vossen scored to pull McGill within a goal.

Just under three minutes later, Concordia watched their two-goal lead disappear when Guillaume Langelier-Parent tied the game for McGill.

McGill would bury Concordia for good just over five minutes into the third period.

Alex Picard-Hooper’s shot got past Champion putting the Redmen up 3-2, and ending McGill’s uncharacteristic two-game losing streak.

“We have to follow the game plan better for 60 minutes,” said Stingers defenceman Adam Strumas.

“We need to pull everything together and succeed,” said Champion.

If the Stingers hope to succeed moving

forward, they must tighten up their play defensively. Perhaps the biggest cause for concern in the loss was the fact that for the sixth time in eight games, the Stingers were outshot by their opponents. They have allowed more shots on goal than any team in the CIS. Champion has been able to answer the call more often than not for Concordia, posting a .930 save-percentage (placing him near the top of the CIS) in spite of having a 3.39 goals-against average.

Concordia undoubtedly has strength in the crease, but if the team wants to have true success on the ice this year, they will need to rely on more than just their masked saviour.

Concordia next takes the ice on Nov. 4 at home at 7:30 p.m. when they host the Ryerson Rams.

18

theconcordian

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

basEball

The journey continues in other ways after the final out

(lEft to right) marco maSciotra, jaSoN Katz, marShall johNStoN aNd matthEw jacobSoN havE PlayEd thEir fiNal gamES iN a coNcordia StiNgErS uNiform. Photo by briaN bErKovitS

Graduating players brace for life after their Stingers career Julian Mei Sports editor For some players, the bitter pit in their stomach was more than just the feeling of a tough loss to a worthy opponent.

As pitcher Matthew Jacobson, catcher Marshall Johnston, shortstop Marco Masciotra and second baseman Jason Katz watched Durham College make the final out in the CIBA semi-finals, they were also watching the final curtain close on their university baseball careers.

All four players were in their final year of eligibility with the Stingers. For them, there is no “we’ll get ‘em next year.”

“When we were down in the seventh with a couple outs left, it really hit me that it was all over, and I got pretty emotional,” said Jacobson. “Guys congratulated me on the year I’d had, but winning the tournament was what I’d wanted. It was nice to go out on a personal high with the All-Canadian Award as well as a load of memories.”

As captain of the team, Katz tried his hardest to deal with the emotional anvil the best he could before the tournament, as he worried it could affect his on-field performance.

“I tried not to let the fact that it was my

Sports Briefs

last season affect my play, but as the season was coming to an end, it was unavoidable to start putting things into perspective,” he said.

Katz said analyzing everything his team accomplished helped him deal with the fact that his career was drawing to a close. This led to better focus on the field. Unlike his three graduating teammates, though, Katz admitted he will be taking a break from the sport to spend time with his fiancée and other ambitions.

Masciotra is presently weighing his options to go play professional baseball in Italy.

Johnston and Jacobson are hoping to stay involved in the game other ways, whether it be coaching, or playing in competitive adult leagues.

“I will always be a part of baseball. It’s not just a sport, its a way of life,” said Johnston, who is also the advertising manager at The Concordian.

“I’ve promised myself I won’t turn to softball until my arm falls off,” added Jacobson.

Even professional athletes have attested to the fact that the most difficult part of leaving a sport is not missing the competition; it’s the loss of camaraderie and being a part of a team.

All four players said their years with Concordia were some of the most fun, and hilarious times they had on a ball diamond.

“A lot of crazy things have happened over the years, but I would have to say our team breaking into song [‘Roses’ by Outkast] in the middle of a game was [most] bizarre,” said

marco maSciotra (forEgrouNd) warmS uP with jaSoN Katz battiNg. Photo by NavNEEt Pall

Masciotra.

Fortunately for the players, while their time as Stingers is over, the relationships they’ve forged are not.

“I’m from B.C. and when I came here to play baseball I had nobody,” said Johnston. “[Manager Howard Schwartz] became my father away from home. We’d have team meetings that turned into family dinners at his place.”

All four players who are leaving have been involved in an epoch of tremendously

successful Stingers baseball, climaxing with a 2009 national championship. It has all helped the program gain much needed notoriety.

“I’m excited to see the program grow,” said Johnston. “Baseball players around Quebec are now wanting to be a part of the program. I’m just disappointed I won’t be here for another four years.”

The memories will last in the four players’ minds forever.

It’s knowing that they won’t be on the field again as a team that hurts the most.

Check out theconcordian.com/section/sports for more information and game recaps on Concordia Stingers men’s rugby playoffs, women’s hockey and women’s soccer

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian

19

rugbY

Laval gives Concordia playoff pink-slip in RSEQ finals

thE coNcordia StiNgErS wErE haulEd dowN by thE laval rougE Et or iN thE rSEQ fiNalS. coNcordia will Not bE rEturNiNg to thE ciS NatioNal chamPioNShiPS. Photo by aNthoNy iSabElla

Stingers bow out of playoffs in 43-27 loss Julian Mei Sports editor With a return trip to the CIS national championship tournament on the line, the Stingers knew they needed to play the game of their lives in Quebec City to advance past a Laval Rouge et Or team they’d lost to twice in the regular season.

In the first half of Saturday’s game, it

looked as though the Stingers women’s rugby team learned from the two previous defeats and were going to atone for the regular season losses in the game that mattered most.

Just over 20 minutes into the first half, Concordia got on the board first on a try by Adara Borys. The Stingers didn’t wait long to score again either. Just over five minutes later, Traci Silva scored a try that would go unconverted, to give the Stingers a 12-0 lead.

Concordia headed into halftime with a 15-3 lead.

And then everything fell apart.

In a span of four minutes during the

second half, Laval scored three tries. All were converted, and just like that Concordia’s 15point lead turned into a nine-point deficit.

“We missed some tackles and they were just able to execute,” said Stingers coach Graeme McGravie.

A youthful Stingers team took a shock to the system, and were unable to close the flood gates against a much more experienced Laval team during the four minute onslaught.

“A lot of our players haven’t been here before, so it was tough for them to refocus and realize we have another 30 minutes to play,” said McGravie. “For the wheels to fall off like

that was a shock. It was a blow to the ego.”

The Stingers were also at a disadvantage when veteran centre Latoya Blackwood left the game with a separated shoulder.

Eventually Concordia regrouped and was able to score some tries late. The damage was done, though.

Still, McGravie was proud of his team’s effort not only against Laval, but throughout the whole season.

“It would be easy for me to sit here and say I’m disappointed, but I’m not,” he said.

“I’m really optimistic about the program moving forward.”

soCCEr

Miserable season ends Two goals in two minutes sink Stingers in season finale against McGill George Menexis Staff writer

The Stingers men’s soccer team put their dreadful season to an end with yet another loss Sunday afternoon, falling 2-1 to the McGill Redmen.

This loss brings their record to 1-10-1, their worst record since the team’s winless, disastrous 2006-07 season.

The Stingers came out strong in the first half of Sunday’s game, dominating play, despite both teams being a little sloppy.

In the 21st minute a beautiful kick from 18 yards out by Karim Haroun hit the crossbar, and landed right on the edge of the line, keeping the score even.

The first half was coming to an end when Alfred Moody headed in his third goal of the year on a cross from Shady Shalaby, putting Concordia up 1-0.

“The goalie came out and missed it, and the guy marking me wasn’t quick enough, so I just popped it in,” said Moody.

The second half started with more Stinger domination, keeping the Redmen deep within their zone. The pressure almost paid off when a nice send in from the Stingers’ Eduardo Mazzonna put Shalaby on a breakaway. Epito-

mizing the season, though, Concordia struck the crossbar yet again.

The miss proved to be costly.

Just two minutes after the Stingers’ breakaway, the Redmen scored two goals in two minutes, putting Concordia down for the first time in the game. From that moment, the momentum shifted to the Redmen, and it stayed like that for the rest of the game.

“This game was a perfect picture of our entire season,” said Moody. “A lot of missed opportunities and inconsistency, but we have amazing players and we’re looking forward to next season.”

“We came out strong the first half, but a lapse of two minutes cost us the game,” said Stingers keeper Nicholas Giannone.

The problem this year for Concordia, after losing star striker Matthijs Eppinga in the off-season, was an extreme lack of scoring and attacking opportunities. Only four players on the roster managed to score any goals this year. Haroun led the team with four.

The defence didn’t produce consistent results either, allowing 31 goals against. The result was an embarrassing 21 goal differential for the 12-game season.

The results simply weren’t there this year for Concordia, but the work ethic and effort displayed has returning players looking forward to 2012.

“It’s a good look for the next season, we have a lot of depth, so we’re keeping our heads high and looking forward to next year,” said Giannone.

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opinions 20

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Write to the editor: opinions@theconcordian.com editorial

Before Nov. 10, think about Nov. 3

This Thursday’s SGM promises to show just how committed ConU students are when it comes to fighting tuition hikes The magic number is 450. Whether that many arts and science students can be assembled in one room at the same time, however, remains to be seen.

The Arts and Science Federation of Associations’ special general meeting, taking place this Thursday in conjunction with the Concordia Student Union, could very well serve as an indicator of how committed Concordia students are in the ongoing fight against tuition hikes.

At the SGM, ASFA is looking to present a strike mandate to its membership. But the only way to actually carry out a vote on the mandate is if the 18,000-strong student federation reaches quorum, hence the number 450.

If quorum is attained and a majority votes in favour of the strike mandate, students will be urged to take to the streets on Nov. 10 when a plethora of student groups from across Quebec hold a massive demonstration against tuition hikes in downtown Montreal.

Over the past few weeks, smaller groups of Concordia students have joined their colleagues from other Montreal CÉGEPs and universities in what could be described as “mini-protests,” such as the one that took place outside of Education Minister Line Beauchamp’s Montreal office in early October.

Other acts have been committed as well to manifest against the Charest government’s imminent tuition hikes, including the release of 1,000 red balloons in the Hall building on Sept. 28, representing the thousands of Quebec students that could be deprived of a postsecondary education in the future due to these tuition increases.

But to date, none of these events have succeeded in attracting 450 students, at least not

ConU’s fight against tUition hikes ContinUed on halloween with a zombie protest oUtside jean Charest’s offiCe. photo by navneet pall 450 Concordia students.

While the number may seem daunting, it’s important to remember that such a high figure for quorum has been reached before, quite recently in fact. This past Valentine’s Day, the Concordia Student Union held a special general meeting known as WHALE (Wintry Hot Accessible Love-in for Education) where it not only reached quorum, which was set at 897, but it surpassed it by hosting over 1,000 students on the Reggie’s terrace. At that particular SGM, students adopted motions denouncing tuition increases, the lack of transparency in Concordia’s governance structure, as well as a motion to reduce quorum for future SGMs. This event proves that what may seem to be unthinkable can actually happen—all it takes is the right kind of mobilization. ASFA, again in conjunction with the CSU, recently held an information session to go over the controversial topic of tuition with its membership.

It has also done some publicity for the SGM, including creating a Facebook event page.

But despite trying to get the SGM to fit in students’ usually small attention spans, the

only thing that might realistically get 450 students into H-110 at 1 p.m. on Nov. 3 are ASFA and CSU execs shouting at people from the bottom of the escalators to attend the SGM. It may seem like a fruitless effort, but it certainly worked for the CSU in February.

Whether they are ASFA members or not, all Concordia students, undergraduate and graduates, should pack H-110 this Thursday. There is honestly no one issue that affects such a large group of students more than tuition, particularly tuition increases. The Charest government is looking at increasing tuition by $325 a year between 2012 and 2017, effectively upping tuition by $1,625 over the next five years. As has already been said by countless student groups, and even proven by statistics, students are already struggling financially while at university.

Why worsen the struggle?

This is a question that will undoubtedly resonate among the students who attend next Monday’s SGM. According to CSU VP external Chad Walcott, Concordia’s Commerce and Administration Students Association was not yet ready to hold an SGM, while the Engineer-

ing and Computer Science Association has a mandate to not take a political stance. As for the Fine Arts Student Alliance, Walcott said he had been unable to reach them.

Despite this apparent lack of participation/ communication thus far from other faculty associations, it doesn’t mean that this Thursday’s SGM has to be a solely ASFA and CSU event.

It also doesn’t necessarily mean that the event will be a flop.

Students need to be part of the dialogue, and the best way to begin is by rallying with their fellow students, developing a clear message, and putting that message out there - or in this case, taking that message to the streets.

And that message is clear: “$1,625, it won’t pass,” or in French: “1,625$ de hausse, ça ne passe pas.”

That slogan has been repeated time and time again by student organizers, but on Nov. 10 it’s about to be said a lot louder. We can only hope that a minimum of 450 arts and science students from Concordia, and a maximum of all Concordia students, see fit to shout the message as well.

us out of this economic mess must naturally accompany this dissent.

The second event was the Forum international de l’économie sociale et solidaire which took place Oct. 17- 20 at Palais des congrès.

It showcased a spectrum of these solutions through learning workshops. A wide diversity of ideas were exchanged; 67 different countries were represented, the first forum of this magnitude organized by Le Chantier de l’économie sociale, located here in Quebec. The focus was on five main topics: security & food sovereignty, finance & trade solidarity, innovation & entrepreneurship, employment & work and planning & local development. Emphasis was placed on combining research, public policy and citizen action for a wider access to knowledge and financial tools capable of fueling the growing momentum of the social and solidarity economy. I was happy to see that women were at the forefront of these activities and that First

Nations held an important place in the forum.

There were incredibly inspiring examples of communities and cities that have already taken or are exploring alternatives to the obviously failing capitalist model of production and distribution of goods and services and replacing these with more cooperative, socially and environmentally responsible models of economic development.

The third event I took part in was a seminar on re-imagining the Quebec society postcapitalism. In the evening was the launching of the documentary/reflective film [Re: public] by Hugo Latulippe shown at the Société des arts technologiques. More than 700 people attended.

Speakers included Québec solidaire spokesperson Françoise David and Laure Waridel, researcher, writer and co-founder of Equiterrre.

It felt like everyone in the audience was buzzing with the excitement of creating this creative and value-based, social identity that resonates

throughout Quebec society.

All of the events mentioned here show that we are presently living an important historical moment where a ‘window of opportunity’ has opened up - what we do now is up to us, collectively (the 99 per cent) to change paths towards real democracy, freedom, justice and dignity; what beings on this planet deserve. Perhaps this can only happen by creating meandering paths instead of thinking that there will be just one system to replace the old one. As Vandana Shiva says, “Diversity is our highest form of security.”

It seems pretty clear now that this diversity must be found in all of our systems: economic, cultural, social and ecological.

Let’s keep the fire burning!

letters

Re: Citizen Involvement Having attended three interconnected, paradigm-shifting events here in Montreal in the course of less than two weeks, I felt inspired to share some of my insights with fellow Concordians.

The first event is Occupy Montreal which, as we are witnessing, has been growing ever since its first day of occupation (or rather de-occupation, as some have pointed out). This authentic people’s movement, joining in solidarity with the Wall Street occupiers and over 1,500 other cities in 70 countries, is an extremely important event. Although I’m not sleeping on site, I’ve been by a few times to show my support and to take part in a general assembly organized by different committees every evening at 6 p.m. The feeling of excitement and chaos, too, serves as a great wake-up call. It’s important to be against ‘the system’, and finding viable solutions to get

Sonya Girard SCPA and human geography undergraduate student VP Action Communiterre

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

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21

fandom

Requiem for a saga Shaun Malley Contributor “From being a struggling, starving filmmaker to being incredibly successful in a period of a couple of years is quite a powerful experience, and not necessarily a good one.” - George Lucas Last week saw the DVD release of Swiss filmmaker’s Alexandre Philippe’s documentary, The People vs. George Lucas. The film is a feature-length exploration of the complicated relationship between artist and audience.

And for those of you laughing at my implication that George Lucas is an artist, hear me out.

The movie is an extended conversation between Star Wars fans about the franchise’s creator. Some hate him, some love him, but there’s definitely an awareness of the inherent silliness of spending 90 minutes kvetching about movies. But the fact remains that Philippe has tapped into a rich vein of genuine indignation (one which, I must confess, I share). Emotion makes for good cinema, whether you agree with them or not.

Now, the word “franchise” is the key problematic term behind all of this nerd-rage. Lucas was indeed a struggling filmmaker at one point. The Star Wars films are near and dear to many of us, and marked the lives of millions of people across the planet. But we were also fish in a barrel. Star Wars became a branding opportunity, and we were sheep willingly fleeced. This wasn’t always the case.

Gary Kurtz, producer of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, was a philosophicallyminded and creative individual. He had a key moderating influence on Lucas, who by his own admission is not a very good writer or director. Kurtz always fought for a spiritual and emotional core that would resonate with viewers on a deeper level in the movies; Lucas just wanted to remake Flash Gordon.

Budget overruns during the shooting of Empire made Lucas decide to freeze Kurtz out.

And the Star Wars franchise hasn’t recovered since.

Look at everything Lucas has done since Kurtz was booted out: Lucas went on to become a toy and game merchant who occasionally took forays into filmmaking; the following film, Return of the Jedi, featured a group of easily-marketable little furballs who had nothing to do with the human characters whose struggles we (used to) care about.

Having made his billions, Lucas went silent on the film front for many years, thankfully.

Then word came out: not only was the trilogy being re-released, we were getting a new trilogy. I can’t share my elation in words.

I barely remember them. We are sundered forever from that idyllic time by a series of computer-addled, lifeless films and a marketing blitz that would put Don Draper to shame.

I had my first hint of trouble when, during the re-release of the original flicks, a bunch of painfully obvious and borderline offensive computer-generated changes were thrown into the movies. Cleaning up degraded old film prints is one thing; adding elements that fundamentally alter characters dear to our hearts

Graphic by Sean Kerhsaw

We find the defendant...

is something else.

Though Lucas once said, “I didn’t want someone using the name Star Wars on a piece of junk,” I clearly remember walking through Zellers in 1999 and seeing Star Wars plastered on everything from toys to underpants to (shudder) lollipops in the shape of Jar Jar Binks’ tongue. Piece of junk, indeed, Georgie boy. If that weren’t insulting enough, the movies created to support this marketing bonanza were bunk.

Star Wars had a profound impact on popular culture and, dare I say it, on people’s lives.

Lucas has consistently ignored the pleas of the fans to see the movies as they were, continuing to muck about with the special effects in

order to make a quick buck on yet another re-issue. But who’s really guilty here?

While it’s true Lucas has prostituted his movies, we the audience haven’t exactly been straightforward. The new movies may have been dreadful but they also made a ton of cash. And the tinkered originals recently released on Blu-Ray? Biggest selling Blu-Ray release of all time. So while us nerds may complain a lot, we’re not exactly voting with our feet.

It’s time to shut Lucas out. Remember, Star Wars is ours. It’s our memories. The camaraderie we share with other fans. And that’s something Lucas will never be able to alter with CG.

relationships

Why can’t we be friends?

Online relationships with professors can pay dividends Myles Dolphin Opinions editor When I received a friend request on Facebook from a professor during the summer semester, I hesitated to accept his request. I wasn’t sure what the implications were, as I had never really befriended a professor online before. I occasionally use social media as a platform to voice my moronic ideas and frustrations on life; I wasn’t exactly ready to have a professor bare witness to those.

After careful deliberation, I went ahead and added him anyway. There are many reasons why I chose to do so.

Relationships with professors outside of the classroom are important, and crucial to success.

These are undoubtedly some of the most important and influential people you’ll encounter during your time at Concordia. Building a closer relationship with them may be hard if you’re part of a huge classroom, but it’s well worth the effort. Not only may it open doors for research opportunities, meeting new contacts and getting internships, but it proves that you’re committed to your studies and that you want to do well in their class.

The key is establishing boundaries, according to Concordia journalism professor Leo Gervais.

“I add a lot of my students as friends on Facebook, and I follow them on Twitter too,” he said. “I just make sure to let them know that outside of office hours and email, I don’t want to get questions about assignments or anything class-related.”

Graphic by Phil Waheed

Bob Babinski, also a journalism professor at Concordia, agrees. He thinks social media is a great tool in facilitating exchanges between professors and students, but boundaries are crucial.

“There’s an innate power relationship that exists between teacher and student; and everyone has to guard against abuse of that power,” he said. “At the moment, however, I think it’s preferable for that communication to take place AFTER a course is completed.”

Every so often we read about teachers who have landed in hot water because of such abuses of power. Last year at least three

high school teachers in New York state were fired because of inappropriate behaviour with students on Facebook. The state doesn’t have a law preventing interaction between students and teachers, but Missouri does.

The southern state took precautions and created Bill 54, known as the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act, following a rash of teacher-student sexual relationships. The act bans students from interacting with teachers on social media networks, regardless of the nature of the conversation.

Measures such as these are way too draconian. They hinder the concept of teacher

immediacy—approachability, availability and warmth—and prevent teachers from learning more about their students, and thus creating a firmer bond with them.

The vast majority of teachers use friendships outside of class appropriately. Interaction on social media sites are next to impossible to ignore because nowadays, it’s how we communicate.

Missouri lawmakers, and other states who are thinking of implementing similar laws, shouldn’t let a few bad apples spoil it for the rest of us.

A recent study led by psychology professor Mara Brendgen from UQAM concluded that “a good student-teacher bond could protect them (children) from acting out aggressively and being targeted by their peers.”

I think the results can be applied to teenagers and adults, too. A good rapport between students and teachers will inherently lead to a better classroom atmosphere, thus fostering discussion and participation.

The best learning takes place when teachers are able to integrate their students’ passions, interests and skills into classroom content. That’s how students can use the knowledge they learn practically, outside of class.

Traditional relationships were stale, unrewarding and ended when the students left the school grounds.

As long as students respect the boundaries that have been established by their teachers and professors—respecting office hours, and using e-mail to a minimum—relationships outside of class can be advantageous and positive for both sides.

The next time a similar friend request pops up, don’t hesitate. Just make sure to hide those embarrassing pictures of you on the mechanical bull at Chez Serge, first.

22

theconcordian

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

student representation

Occupy your unions and associations It’s time for the movement to hit Concordia Matthew Brett Contributor There have been countless articles in the student press calling for an end to student apathy and democratic malaise at Concordia. Maybe it is time to take this apathy as a signal, rather than trying to prop up failed structures. Change the system rather than tinker with it.

Far too much power is centralized in the hands of union presidents, the executives and union councillors. At Concordia, individual undergraduate students cannot actually make proposals to vote upon during the union’s general assemblies.

The agenda is decided beforehand by the president, the council or through a petition.

This applies at the undergraduate level and somewhat less so at the graduate level. It does impose strict limits on the democratic process.

It is little wonder that students are so disengaged from the political process. They have very little direct influence or say in the affairs of their own associations and unions. General assemblies are rarely held, and the agenda is often drafted with minimal consultation from the membership.

This is not a critique of the current union executives and councillors at the graduate or undergraduate level. The Graduate Students’ Association and the undergraduate slate, Your Concordia, are both filled with strong union organizers and activists.

The undergraduate slate has everything going for it, but it only has one semester left to live up to its name. How has the union lived up to its name thus far?

The MobSquad is a union-run space for students to mobilize against impending $1,675 tuition hikes in Quebec. But the Squad was created under the previous union executive, and has no decision-making power within the union.

The mobilization efforts around Nov. 10 are encouraging. This is a major change from last year, when outgoing union president Amine Dabchy had to be prompted to show up virtually alone at a province-wide protest against the 2012 provincial budget. Where was the rest of

ConCordia needs a strong stUdent presenCe at the nov. 10 demonstration if it hopes to provoke Change.

the union?

Concordia will have a much stronger presence on the street this Nov. 10 thanks to the efforts of countless students and union members.

But more can be done by working together.

One alternative would be preparing for a popular general assembly well in advance.

Consultations on drafting the agenda can begin now, with a general assembly taking place before the proposed province-wide student general strike in January.

Another strong option is introducing structural reforms by the end of the academic year.

McGill’s undergraduate union is in the process of holding consultations to reform its general assembly bylaws. These changes should make the general assemblies as democratic as possible, and Concordia students can learn from these reforms.

Guillaume Beaulieu, who is actively mobilizing at UQAM, believes that Concordia should go even further and start creating faculty-based and even departmental unions. This structure would bring union members closer to the decision-making process.

“Having only CSU and nothing else is just preventing the social sciences from having their own union,” Beaulieu argues. “And CSU can’t afford to have a strike vote as they can’t mobilize more than 400 to 500 to their general assemblies.”

Concordia students have proven that they can easily reach these numbers, but his point has merit. Having decentralized decision-making structures that feed into the larger union could be a viable option.

An even better source of inspiration is Occupy Montreal. Decisions are made based upon

popular consensus during the general assemblies. Anybody can make a proposal and the motions are passed after collective deliberation.

The key is to start thinking outside of the current system. The structures at Concordia can be democratized. It can become your Concordia.

One critical step in this direction is the strike vote taking place this Thursday. Based on existing bylaws, roughly 500 people are required for the votes to be considered legitimate.

Graduate students vote at 1 p.m. and undergraduates vote at 4 p.m. in room H-110 this Thursday, Nov. 3.

Matthew Brett is a graduate student in political science and an active member of the MobSquad.

immigration

Is our poor stance on immigration law coming back?

Canada needs to remain open to refugees: Stand president Aeron MacHattie Contributor Sixty years ago, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees adopted the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. This key document defined a refugee as someone fleeing their home country to seek protection, as well as outlining their rights, and legal states’ legal obligations towards them.

Canada, which did not accede to the Convention until 18 years later, was notorious for its stringent immigration laws throughout the mid-20th century, especially for turning away thousands of Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust. It would seem that Canada has come a long way since then in accommodating refugees, but our support system is far from

perfect.

In recent years, Canada has been acknowledged as a world leader in immigration, second only to Australia, in the sheer number of immigrants per capita that it welcomes every year.

According to The Globe and Mail, over 75 per cent of Canadian immigrants go on to become citizens.

An ongoing study by the Institute for Research on Public Policy reported in late September that Canadian public support for immigration is at a 40-year high. This is remarkable, considering that support has plummeted in Europe and the United States, largely because of economic instability. Canada’s Conservative government has managed to boost popular support for immigration by stressing that skilled newcomers will boost the Canadian economy.

The life of Canadian immigrants is usually portrayed as one of hard work and triumph.

Former governor general Adrienne Clarkson came to Concordia last week to speak about Room for All of Us, her newly-released fifth book. In it, she tells the stories of immigrants who fled to Canada in search of a better life.

Clarkson is herself a refugee. Her parents fled the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong, arriving in Ottawa in 1942 with their two young children. In Canada, they prospered and Clarkson remembers fondly the support that they received from their Ottawa community.

However, Clarkson’s family had a difficult time entering the country. Under the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act, most Chinese immigrants were barred from Canada. They were only admitted on the basis that Clarkson’s father worked for the Canadian government in China and a prisoner exchange quota needed to be filled. Positive as her family’s experience was once they landed in Canada, Clarkson’s case proves that Canada’s immigration laws have a far from spotless history.

Unfortunately, it is often the case that the refugees most in need of asylum are the least desirable candidates for immigration. The fees and legal work associated with applying for refugee status and citizenship are often beyond the means of those fleeing civil war and other dangers. The Balanced Refugee Reform Act will limit refugees to 15 days to appeal a refused

application to the Immigration and Refugee Board. Currently, refugees have 45 days, or three times the new limit, to make their appeal.

The bill passed this summer, but because of repeated delays, will only come into effect in summer 2012. Immigration advocates fear that with its implementation now months away, the government is intending to change other parts of the law.

As natural disasters, warfare and mass atrocities continue to destroy communities across the globe, it is imperative that Canada remain open to immigration and work towards a more inclusive and supportive system. The Balanced Refugee Reform Act jeopardizes the current state of our immigration system.

Aeron MacHattie is a former copy editor of The Concordian and president of Stand, a student-run advocacy group addressing the crisis in Darfur. Together with The Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre, Stand will be hosting a discussion about Canada’s refugee population on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. The Seeking Refuge Conference will be held at Galerie Armatta, 3255 St-Jacques St.

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Across

1- Ancient Athens’s Temple of _ ; 5- Rubs out; 9- Seine spot; 14- Leak slowly; 15- _ accompli; 16- Uneven; 17- River in central Switzerland; 18- Salver; 19- Angered; 20- Beget; 22- Caterpillar rival; 23- Besides; 24- One who osculates; 25- Attempts; 29- Remove hair; 32- Ambush; 34- Captivated; 39- Came down to earth; 40- Diarist Nin; 42- One of the Simpsons; 43- Medieval musician; 45- Passionate; 47- Dread; 49Mends a shoe; 50- Thin candles; 54- “Seinfeld” uncle; 56- Mine prop; 57- Gramineous; 63- “ _ by any other name…”; 64- Light air; 65- On _ with; 66- Metal pin; 67Plains native; 68- Fast fliers; 69Snow conveyances; 70- Clublike weapon; 71- Smoke deposit;

Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011 Vol. 29 issue 10 Jacques Gallant

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Down

1- Quickly, quickly; 2- Back; 3Architect Saarinen; 4- Blueprint detail; 5- A lot; 6- Capacitance units; 7- Decree; 8- Eye sore; 9By the day; 10- Sign of spring; 11- Actor’s parts; 12- Grenoble’s river; 13- Passover feast; 21- Tabula _ ; 24- Russian drink; 25- Did the butterfly; 26- Anklebones; 2716th letter of the Hebrew alphabet; 28- Diner orders; 30- Makes well; 31- Black bird; 33- Tall tales; 35- Bread spread; 36- 100 dinars;

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Puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com. Used with permission.

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truth; 53- Alleviated; 55- First name in cosmetics; 57- Glimpse; 58- Comic Rudner; 59- Miss; 60_ facto; 61- The Green Hornet’s sidekick; 62- Formerly, formerly;

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Halloween is, along with Valentine’s Day, the only holiday that truly scares the living daylights out of me. I blame my childhood: I remember going to a neighbour’s house, hoping to get some Crunchie bars, but instead falling prey to old man Wilson’s “the fake dude sitting on the bench isn’t really fake” trick. Scared the hell out of me, and it’s the reason I can’t keep a steady girlfriend today.

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@grifteezy: Halloween costume idea: cover

yourself in gray gravel, broken concrete, rebar, skulls. Go as The Future

@jaysean: Went out for a drink last nite after

dinner and saw luigi from super Mario brothers punch the guy from ghostbusters in the face #Halloween @murraygold: Hope no one else is dressing

as a seventeenth century danish cutlery set tonight... #halloween

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you don’t dress up as a leprechaun and hand out chocolate gold coins for Halloween, then you’re just being selfish!

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Solution Issue 9 (Oct. 25)

actually just a thin smearing of pureed bat over my entire body, but I find it does the trick

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+VERNISSAGE - Raymond Gervais 3 x 1 - Leonard & Bina Ellen gallery - 17h00 +MUSIC -- Ruckus Fo’tet (ever Tuesday!) - Jello Martini Lounge - 22h00

+THEATRE - The Wild Party - MainLine Theatre - 20h00 +MUSIC - Coco Montoya - l’Astral - 20h00t

+THEATRE - The Wild Party - MainLine Theatre - 20h00 +CINEMA - Cinemania presents Polisse - Cinema Imperial - 19h30 +MUSIC - Sebastian Hell - Piranha Bar - 20h00 +WINE&CHEESE - PSSA wine and cheese (free entry for PoliSci students!) - Stogies Cigar Lounge (Crescent) - 19h00 - 23h00 +STINGERS- Men’s hockey- vs. Ryerson- 19h30- Ed Meagher Arena +THEATRE - The Wild Party - MainLine Theatre - 20h00 +CINEMA - Cinemania presents Polisse - Cinema Imperial - 14h00 +MUSIC - Misteur Valaire - Salle Pauline-Julien - 20h00 +MUSIC - Loney, dear + Folly and the Hunter - O Patro Vys - 20h00 +MUSIC - Mara Tremblay + Vivianne Roy - Bibliothèque Sylvain−Garneau + ACTIVISM - Holler Day with JHR Concordia - 7th floor Hall building - 08h00 +STINGERS- Football- RSEQ semi-finals- @ Laval- 13h- PEPS Stadium- Quebec City +STINGERS- Men’s hockey- vs. Queen’s- 14h- Ed Meagher Arena +THEATRE - The Wild Party - MainLine Theatre - 20h00 and 23h00 +MUSIC - Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Club Lambi - 20h30 +MUSIC - Augury - Bar le trash - 20h30 +MUSIC - Bad Monday - Piranha Bar - 20h30 +MUSIC - Sandro Perri + Ryan Driver - Casa Del Popolo - 20h00t

+CINEMA POLITICA - Tales from the 620 and END:CIV - H-110 - 19h00 +MUSIC - Jon Lajoie - Club Soda - 20h30 +MUSIC - Crooked Fingers + Strand of Oaks - Casa Del Popolo - 20h30

STINGERS- Men’s rugby- RSEQ championship- @ McGill13h- Percival Molson Stadium STINGERS- Women’s hockey- @ McGill - McConnell Arena 13h00 +MUSIC - The Sea and Cake + Brokeback - La Sala Rossa 20h30 +MUSIC - Obscura - Petit Campus - 20h30 +MUSIC - Great Lake Swimmers + Terra Lightfoot Maison des Arts - 20h00 +ACTIVISM - Amnesty International Concordia presents: Celebrate Palestine’s Olive Festival - DB Clarke theatre (H bldg) - 19h00-23h00

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