theconcordian
arts music
Women s rugby heading to nationals p. 16
The Wooden Sky brightens with post-show perfermance p. 14
PepsiCo divides campus
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
life Watch your step: How to avoid the Internet’s pitfalls P. 7
arts Change of tempo as music department joins fine arts downtown P. 9
opinions Digesting the double down: two slabs of juicy rethoric to bite into P. 21 Volume 28 Issue 10
Coverage P. 3, P. 20
Concordia students rally for contract transparency Campus Against Corporatization created to represent student concerns Trevor Smith Copy editor Enraged that, despite earlier promises to consult with student representatives from TAPthirst and Sustainable Concordia before meeting with PepsiCo over finalizing a new contract, the school had proceeded with private meetings, protesters made their feelings known outside Concordia last week. To voice their contempt for the school’s use of exclusivity contracts as well as the secrecy of the way in which the signing was handled, students gathered outside of the GM building brandishing signs, banners and even a bullhorn which screamed out “bullshit,” the word that students and CSU President Heather Lucas so eloquently used to describe the whole ordeal. “The students need to rise up and speak out against this,” said Lucas, addressing the crowd. “That administration is not being transparent or accountable to it’s students. With this deal it’s being disrespectful to it’s constituents, it’s disrespectful to all you here.” The protest was organized to coincide with the
conference on Wednesday during which members of the school administration and a few students met with the director of corporate affairs from Nestlé Waters Canada, John B. Challinor II, who came to address the students’ desire to place a ban on the sale of bottled water. About half an hour after the protest’s commencement, the demonstration moved inside the building. The students, numbering about 50, marched up the stairs to the ninth floor, bringing the rally directly to the meeting. There, they were met with locked doors and were thus confined to the hallways. Initially, the protestors were told to remain at a low and respectable volume, but when TAPthirst co-founder Laura Beach chose to leave the meeting out of frustration, the crowd became rowdy. The students who were congesting the hallways proceeded to chant, clap, yell and even pound on the walls to display their malcontent with being denied entrance to the meeting. Soon after, the majority of the protestors moved back outside to spread awareness to those passing by on the street, while a handful of representatives staged a sit-in outside the meeting to confront those participating in the conference. “Obviously the deal is going to pass” said
See “‘PepsiCo exclu...” on p.3
STM not up to par on accessibility Jacques Gallant Assistant news editor
People with limited mobility and those who support their cause for better access to public transportation were in an uproar last week when it was revealed that the Agence de transport métropolitain’s new trains lacked proper access for commuters in wheelchairs. But the fight to have the city’s public transit system universally accessible does not stop at the AMT. Over at the Société de transport de Montréal, things are not a whole lot better. At least for now. Of the STM’s 68 metro stations, only seven currently have elevators, with one more joining the list by the end of the month. All eight of these stations are situated on the orange line (Montmorency, Cartier, De la Concorde, Bonaventure, Henri-Bourassa, Berri-UQAM, Lionel-Groux, and Côte-Vertu). Among the STM’s extensive fleet of buses, 150 lines offer accessible service, meaning low floors that allow someone in a wheelchair to
See “‘Transportation...” on p.4
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