The Concordian - September 29th, 2015

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VOLUME 33 | ISSUE 5 | INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY. SINCE 1983. | SEPT. 29, 2015

Arts p. 13

Ann-Marie MacDonald at Concordia

Canadian author named Richler’s writer-in-residence ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

NEWS

LIFE

Grannies: ‘Just fucking vote’ p. 3

Raising $75,000 for cancer p. 7

MUSIC

SPORTS

Destroyer’s Poison Season

Stingers defeated Wizard: fear not

by Carabins p. 18-19 the unknown p. 22

p. 16

We tell your stories. Follow us on social media @TheConcordian

OPINIONS

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 NEWS EDITORS GREGORY TODARO and RACHEL MUZAIC news@theconcordian.com

NEWS CITY ELIJAH BUKREEV Co-arts editor

Turcotte murder trial hears from ex-wife Isabelle Gaston, Guy Turcotte’s ex-wife and mother of their late children, testified in court this Monday, as reported by CTV. She described her 10-year relationship with the former cardiologist, who is charged with murder in the deaths of their two children in 2009.

The relationship, according to Gaston, was a rocky one, with many arguments involving the children, extramarital affairs and gay pornography found on Turcotte’s computer.

Metro crimes drop, except sex crimes Montreal police have shared statistics on crime in the city’s metro system.

According to CTV, overall crime has dropped by 42 per cent in the last six years.

Since 2009, when police officers began patrolling the metro system instead of STM officers, assaults, robberies and thefts have steadily declined.

Sex crimes, however, have not dropped, with 26 crimes of a sexual nature being reported so far this year. Those mostly include groping, but also exhibitionism and sexual assault. Surveillance camera footage has been used to identify suspects.

Montreal police force may lose cammo pants Montreal police forces have been wearing camouflage pants for over a year as a way of protesting against the pension plan legislation adopted last December.

Municipal Affairs Minister Pierre Moreau has decried the use of the pants in an interview with Paul Arcand on 98.5 FM Monday. Moreau vowed to help introduce a bill that would render wearing non-uniform clothes illegal. “It doesn’t serve police officers … many have told me they were fed up,” Moreau said.

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talk | news

A bird’s eye view of the Syrian crisis Panel of experts to weigh in on the refugee crisis and ceasing the conflict RACHEL MUZAIC Co-news editor The massive movement of Syrian refugees to Europe and the humanitarian crisis facing the international community will be the topic of a discussion at a panel on Oct. 5.

The Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) will be hosting this talk in Concordia’s Hall building in room H-110 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and has gathered a panel of experts on human rights, humanitarian aid, and other pertinent fields. Kyle Matthews, senior deputy director at MIGS, said that it will be a wide discussion aimed at informing and clarifying the crisis.

“There’s been a lot of media coverage on what’s happening in the Middle East and this mass movement of people into Europe, and there’s a lot of divided opinions,” said Matthews. “A lot of people don’t quite understand what’s happening, there’s confusion over who’s a refugee and who’s a migrant,” he said.

Some of the panel members will include Béatrice Vaugrante, director general of Amnesty International Canada’s francophone branch, and Yaman Alqadri, a Syrian refugee who Matthews said arrived in Montreal

about a year ago, who will be discussing her experiences living in the war zone and her eventual departure.

By having this discussion, Matthews hopes to facilitate better action, he said. “We really want to bring this [information] together and talk about it so that different levels of government can understand what’s happening and what needs to be done,” Matthews said. He added that MIGS would also be organizing a write-up of the event, as well as videos which can be shared with people in power who Matthews said could perhaps be guided by the speakers’ insights.

One of the main issues Matthews said needs to be focused on is the fact that while much attention has been placed on the refugees passing through Europe, very little has been paid to the Syrians struggling in Syria, and that it’s the internally displaced that are most at-risk.

“The world has been caught up and focused on the refugee crisis because of images, like the young child who drowned on the coast of Turkey, and the power of images can make people concentrate on something,” said Matthews. “I think as a country, and as the international community comes together, we have to be more ambitious than just helping resettle refugees …

We want to get people thinking about those who haven’t crossed the border and aren’t eligible for any international protection.”

Faisal Alazem, director of

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho. the Syrian Canadian Council and co-founder of the Syrian Kids Foundation, will also be a speaker on the panel. He agrees with Matthews, saying Canada needs to improve its approach on two fronts.

“The first front is protecting people. Why do people take these dangerous trips with smugglers?” he asked. “These people are taking all of these risks to reach safety, so the first approach needs to be making it easy for people to reach [Canada].”

The second front, he said, is solving the crisis in Syria itself. He explained that while the Canadian government is so focused on combatting ISIS, solving the problem within Syria has been ignored.

“We need to find a way for Syrians not to leave Syria,” he said. If their country is free of war, barrel bombing, kidnapping, and chemical weapons,

Alazem said Syrians will have no reason to flee. “We can start by creating demilitarized zones in Syria,” he said. “If there are humanitarian corridors for aid to pass through, people will not leave Syria. However, I have not seen Canadian political elite pushing towards that type of solution.”

Matthews agreed that finding a solution to the Syrian conflict is crucial. “The reality is, until you protect people within Syria, until you find a peaceful solution to the crisis, the refugees will keep coming.

You’ll keep fueling displacement. So we want to come up with new ideas that can bring this conflict to an end.”

The Oct. 5 event is free and open to the public.

Registration is strongly recommended. To register, visit the MIGS website.

campus | news

Fighting to facilitate fee-levy opt-outs Undergraduate student organizes petition, proposes solutions RACHEL MUZAIC Co-news editor The complicated process of opting out of Concordia’s fee levy groups has motivated a fourthyear undergraduate student in the computer science program to take action.

Raphael Stein started an online petition to bring attention to the difficult process and to propose a solution, saying it was about time someone tried to change it.

“The opt-out process is insane and clearly set up in a way

to make it impractical to do so. To opt out of a club’s fees, a student must print out a few different pages from his student account, locate the club’s office, email or call them to make sure they will be there at that time, though some clubs promise to be in the office between certain hours, and then physically make their way over there and ask for their refund in person,” said Stein.

According to the fee levy groups’ website, as well as Concordia’s Student Union president Terry Wilkings, students do not need to print anything from their student account, but can instead present proof of how many credits they are taking to the fee levy groups by means of any portable device.

“Fee levy groups define a large part of the community at Concordia,” said Wilkings. “I encourage students to seek out and get involved with fee levy groups to enrich their university experience. For instance, the Centre for Gender Advocacy played a critical role in the campaign to push Concordia to create a sexual assault resource centre.”

According to the fee levy groups’ website, these groups are “student organizations and initiatives at Concordia University that are student-elected through the referendum process,” and “receive all or part of their operating budgets from a per-credit Concordia student fee levy.”

In setting up the petition, Stein listed possible solutions to

ease the process for students, which include opting out online through MyConcordia and receiving the credit in your tuition statement. For the fall 2015 semester, the opt-out period for students runs between Sept. 28 and Oct. 5. However, Stein said many students are not aware that this option is available to them.

“Despite having limited time in my day and limited resources, I started talking to students, university administration and fee levy groups themselves to press for a more realistic solution,” he said.

The petition can be found at concordiaoptout.wordpress. com.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

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politics | news

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NATION GREGORY TODARO Co-news editor

Driver kills four in Ontario car crash Impaired driving possibly contributed to three children and their grandfather died Monday after a car crash in Vaughan, north of Toronto, over the weekend. Firefighters attempted to resuscitate the children when they arrived on the scene. The CBC reported that Marco Muzzo, 29, is facing 18 charges including impaired driving and dangerous driving causing death.

Extremist loses Canadian citizenship Montreal’s Raging Grannies chapter visited students to convince them to vote. Photos by Marie-Pierre Savard.

Grannies pushing students to vote

Senior women are storming campuses with sun hats and smiles across Montreal LAURA MARCHAND Staff writer Political change can come in unexpected packages—like a granny telling you “not to bitch.”

It’s just one of the lines used by the Raging Grannies of Mon-

treal, who have made it their mission to end voter apathy among Montreal’s student population.

The Montreal chapter of the national nonprofit, made up of senior women from across the country, are visiting post-secondary campuses to bring political awareness directly to students.

The Raging Grannies are visiting campuses all over Montreal.

Their tactics include handing out pamphlets and encouraging students to take a selfie with a Granny, in exchange for a promise to vote on Oct. 19. Dancing and singing are also used, including a song with choice words for those who complain about election results: “If you can’t be bothered voting, do not bitch.”

“We want to make them aware that there is an election going on, because believe it not, we met some that had no idea,” said Elizabeth Vezina, one of the Raging Grannies who rallied at Vanier College on Sept. 23. “And then, to try to convince them to get out there and vote.”

According to Elections Canada, in the 2011 federal election, voter turnout in the 18-24 age bracket was 38.8 per cent. Combined with population statistics provided by the 2011 Federal Census, that accounts for over 1.8 million eligible voters in the 18-24 age bracket that did not cast a vote in 2011.

The Grannies hope those 1.8 million votes can make a difference this October.

“We try very hard to be a non-partisan, but we are really dismayed by the lack of student votes,” said Vezina. “We assume— or hope—that [students] will take a more progressive outlook, and that they will change, or improve, the government that we currently have.”

The message appears to be resonating with some students.

Elizabeta Ovolodski and Nastacia Choulgova, who both study

at Vanier College, said they approve of what the Grannies are trying to do.

“Sometimes you think that old people and grannies don’t really care for young people and our opinions,” said Ovolodski. “So it’s pretty cool that they’re trying to make us interact and, you know, be a part of [the election].”

“I usually find older people more conservative, they like to keep things the same, repetitive, no new change,” added Choulgova. “So the fact that the grannies are taking charge—it’s kind of interesting to see it, them actually taking part in it, and really putting effort in.”

Alan Wong, a Concordia University graduate who filmed a documentary on the Raging Grannies, hopes the movement will be at least a little effective.

“I think it’ll draw some attention,” said Wong. “I think any little bit makes a difference, even if it’s a small difference ... a difference of any kind is good.”

The Grannies, for their part, are remaining optimistic. “You never, ever know when you’re going to hit some sort of a cord with someone, if you’re going to say something and that message is going to get through,” said Vezina. “So we’ll keep giving out the message.”

“We wouldn’t do things if we didn’t have faith in what we were doing,” added Ellen Moore, another member of the Raging Grannies. “We hope it will make a difference. We live in hope.”

The federal government revoked the citizenship of an Islamic extremist and member of the Toronto 18 Zakaria Amara on Saturday. Amara was sentenced to life in prison in 2010 for his role in planning a terrorist attack on downtown Toronto, according to The Star. Part of Amara’s plot included bombing RCMP headquarters, nuclear power plants and attacking Parliament. Amara, who was arrested in 2006, pleaded guilty to participating in a terrorist group and intending to cause an explosion that could kill people or damage property for the benefit of a terrorist group, according to The Star.

Ontario will offer IVF treatment to any age A new description of Ontario’s in-vitro fertilization program obtained by the National Post Monday suggests the province will make taxpayer-funded IVF treatment available to everyone.

However the program, expected to be officially announced Wednesday, would be open to anyone despite recommendations from an advisory committee to exclude anyone over 42 years old, as well as anyone morbidly obese according to the National Post. Ontario’s Liberal government has previously promised IVF funding for those with medical fertility problems or those who cannot have children naturally such as same-sex couples.

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WORLD RACHEL MUZAIC Co-news editor

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

business | news

Tailor2Go brings tailoring to you

The company is one of 12 finalists for the Montreal Startup Challenge

World leaders discuss Syria World leaders have gathered in New York City for the UN General Assembly in which the Syrian conflict is at the centre of the discussion.

According to the BBC, UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon appealed for the situation in Syria to be referred to the International Criminal Court, and said that five key countries, namely: Russia, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran, would be key in facilitating a political solution. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he might be willing to join airstrikes against ISIS, according to BBC News.

A rough ride for Volkswagen Former Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn faces investigation after quitting the company last week in light of allegations of fraud in selling cars with manipulated emissions data. The BBC reported U.S. regulators finding “cheat” software in some diesel engines. German prosecutors have begun the investigation, as, the BBC noted, the incident casts a cloud over the entire European car industry.

Around 11 million vehicles worldwide have been affected by the scandal.

Parts of Kunduz fall to Taliban Taliban fighters reportedly seized large parts of the Afghan city of Kunduz on Monday after launching an assault according to Al Jazeera. Sources told the news organization that increased numbers of Afghan security forces will be sent to launch an offensive in an effort to take back control over parts of the region. Al Jazeera also reported that the Taliban broke into the main prison, freeing fellow members of the group. The city was in lockdown as of Monday as security forces attempt to fight back. The fighters have also reportedly taken control of a 200-bed hospital according to Al Jazeera.

Tailor2Go founder Nathon Kong is expanding his business with the help of his truck. Photos by Maire-Pierre Savard.

GREGORY TODARO Co-news editor Tailor2Go has changed a lot since its launch in July 2014.

Founder Nathon Kong started off with just a measuring tape and a suitcase, traveling to businesses to give white-collar workers a chance to be fitted for a suit without the time-consuming shopping trips.

Now, Kong is putting his work on wheels. He drives his truck (named Elisabeth) to various spots around downtown Montreal to meet with clients who book appointments for fittings.

Tailor2Go is one of the 12 finalists competing in the first-ever Montreal Startup Challenge, an initiative started by MTL Blog.

More than 60 startups entered the contest for entrepreneurs who are either enrolled—or have been enrolled—in CEGEP or university in the last two years. The competitors will soon be whittled down to the top five businesses with the most votes received online.

Tailor2Go has already garnered attention in the business community and has won several awards, including second place at the Concours Québécois en entrepreneuriat in 2015.

While the convenience of having a tailor just outside your office building is a novelty in itself, Kong equipped the truck with a 360-degree scanner that calculates a person’s exact measurements.

“Before I bought the scanner, I went to 10 different tailors and had them measure me,” he said. “I got 10 different results.

All tailors have different ways of measuring that will contribute to an error, so having a scanner makes it quick, simple, less invasive and more accurate.”

Kong said the scanner provides 80 per cent of the measurements needed for a suit, and that the other 20 per cent are preferences which vary by customer, including jacket length and the pant leg width, which can’t be measured by the machine.

“The scanner and the truck are a convenient way to go shopping, but we do so well by focusing on two things: one is the quality of products for low prices,” he said. “Because we don’t pay rent or have a lot of

operating expenses, our prices are lower.”

The other, Kong said, is maintaining relationships with customers.

“We make sure you get exactly what you want and that you feel comfortable,” he added.

Nearly two months after re-launching Tailor2Go with the truck, Kong said the business has over one hundred customers. He said he’s trying to expand his business by working with companies directly instead of individual customers.

“In a practical point of view, it’s difficult for me to drive all the way to see one person just to sell one shirt; it doesn’t make sense,” said Kong. “When you go to a company, with one stop, you’ll have a lot of people who will want to see us.”

Kong said he got a lot of sup-

port from District 3, a collaborative centre for entrepreneurs within Concordia’s community.

“I’m very thankful with the mentorship and the help I’ve been getting from them,” he said. “I wouldn’t be here without getting help from my mentors.”

Voting for the Montreal Startup Challenge ends on Oct. 1. The five startups with the most votes will have to give a live pitch about their companies to a panel of judges. The first-place winner will receive a $10,000 marketing campaign from MTL Blog, including free accounting, legal, banking, and marketing consultation sessions.

To learn more about the startup companies competing or to vote, visit mtlblog.com/startupchallenge.

Founder Nathon Kong said he recieved a lot of support through the District 3 centre.

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politics | news

PSSA hosts Ville-Marie riding candidates Liberal, NDP and Green party candidates addressed students last week

Liberal Party of Canada candidate Marc Miller.

New Democratic Party candidate Allison Turner.

he Liberals, NDP and Green party candidates of the Ville-Marie riding met at Concordia University Sept.

23 to talk to students about their platforms.

The conference was held on the 12th floor of the Hall Building and open to all students.

The conference was held on the 12th floor of the Hall building and open to all students. It was organized by the Political Science Student Association (PSSA) to raise awareness of the riding leaders and to increase youth participation in elections.

“Undergraduates need to have direct access to the candidates in their riding,” said PSSA president Jason Poirier Lavoie.

“With school and work, often students don’t have the time to go and meet the candidates themselves, so the PSSA brought the candidates to them.”

This is the first federal election of the newly formed Ville-Marie—Le SudOuest—Île-Des- Soeurs riding, which includes Concordia’s downtown campus.

On Oct.19 there will be a polling station located at Sir George Williams campus where faculty and students can vote.

Conservative Party candidate Steve Shanahan and Bloc Québécois candidate Chantal St-Onge were invited to speak as well, but organizers say neither responded to the PSSA’s request.

new jobs for students by creating 120,000 jobs over three years.

“Five thousand of these jobs per year are dedicated towards green jobs, in parks and recognized green [spaces],” said Miller.

Miller also said the Liberal party plans on investing $750 million into adult education for “re-educating and giving basic skills for those people in the workforce needing a new skill set, through our interprovincial labour agreements.” “$50 billion will be [invested in] the aboriginal education skill set,” he added.

Miller emphasized the Liberal party’s willingness to take action and listen to Canadians.

“Whether it is the reinvented family allocation, tax breaks, the immediate investment in infrastructure, I dare to believe that we are able to rekindle the economy on day one,” said Miller.

Miller also brought up electoral reform and the Liberal party’s goals to make the government of Canada more proportional and representative of the population by including more women. Miller said the Liberal cabinet will be made up of an equal number of women and men.

The Liberal platform on infrastructure would increase social housing and spending in the Ville-Marie—Le SudOuest—Île-Des-Soeurs, said Miller. “The program enables access to new housing, and plans to remove GST on new houses for new purchases,” said Miller.

Liberal Party of Canada Liberal party candidate Marc Miller was first to speak. Miller, in international and commercial law, talked to students about the Liberal party’s goals for Canada and the benefits for students it hopes to implement.

Miller described the Liberals as a party with a national view, with the goal of benefitting nine out of every 10 Canadians by cutting the middle-class income tax bracket, investing in more jobs and infrastructure development.

The Liberals, he said, are “not left, not right, but going forward.” Miller said the Liberals plan on investing over $1 billion in

New Democratic Party The second speaker was NDP candidate Allison Turner, who worked for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and is experienced in international law.

“I think that my experience could be a strong contribution towards what the NDP wants, which is a strong democracy, a fair economy and a clean environment,” she said.

Turner said a priority for the NDP is dealing with student unemployment and reducing overall student debt. The NDP want to create 40,000 jobs across Canada for students said Turner. “These

CHLOE RANALDI Contributor

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Green Party of Canada candidate Daniel Green.

jobs are developed and created with students in mind.” She also said the NDP will implement incentives for city governments to hire students.

Turner said the party is planning to improve the economy by reducing tax rates on small and mediumsized businesses. The NDP “want to ... decrease the tax rate from 11 to nine per cent,” said Turner. “The NDP also want to offer tax credits for innovation, research development and purchasing of equipment.”

She also said the NDP is aiming to decrease Canada’s oil and gas dependency and invest in these small businesses instead, where she said 80 per cent of new jobs will be created.

Turner discussed the importance of a democracy and the necessity of modifying Canada’s current electorate system. “The current system doesn’t reflect what Canadians want,” she said. “What the NDP wants to do first and foremost is modify or amend the electoral system so that we have in place a proportional representation system [of Canada’s population].”

She also talked about the NDP’s stance on abolishing the Senate. “We don’t see why an unelected body [...] that is not accountable and not transparent to anyone, should have a say in the legislation that Canadians want,” said Tuner. “Only with a proportionate representation system can Canada say that the points of view in Ottawa reflect Canadian needs.”

Turner addressed the NDP’s mission on the national inquiry of the missing indigenous women. The NDP plan on investigating and following suit for the missing women in order to solve the problem said Turner.

Green Party of Canada The Green party’s Daniel Green was the last political candidate to speak at the conference. Green is an environmental scientist and deputy leader of the Green party. He spoke to students about his experience working as an environmental

scientist during the Marathassa oil spill.

The spill led to the death of 40 Canadians and motivated him to join the Green Party.

He advocates reducing and monitoring the impact of toxic substances across Canada and focusing the country’s investments in different sustainable outlets.

Green’s talk focused on students and the party’s economic plan.

“The advantage of being a fifth party is that the Green party can be creative and propose new innovative ideas—and not just on the environment,” he said.

The Green party is for the legalization and the taxation of marijuana, said Green.

The party believes that the “repressive” laws against marijuana are not helpful and lead to organized crime. “By regulating [marijuana] and controlling it, we will solve one-problem and fund other things with the revenues of the product,” said Green.

He also spoke about the party’s social agenda on being the new left wing of Canada. The Green party has proposed a “guaranteed livable income for everyone across Canada.” This will benefit everyone and reduce the poverty cycle, Green said. “This project could be funded through the reduction of mine and oil subsidies, which will generate more money into the economy.”

The Green party platform proposes the elimination of post secondary education fees. “We need to get our next generation out of debt,” said Green. The Green party wants to “abolish post secondary fees, so that education is free in Canada ... [and] to reduce student debt [the government must] place a cap on the current student debt of $10,000.”

Green described the First Nations in Montreal as “refugees in their own land” who need a place to stay. Green captured the audience through his proposal “to hand over the [former site of] Montreal Children’s Hospital so that we can put in place a community centre for these First Nations and Inuits for social housing.”

PHOTOS

BY ANDREJ IVANOV

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theconcordian

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 LIFE EDITOR CRISTINA SANZA life@theconcordian.com

LIFE

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food | life

Get fresh, green groceries at Le Frigo Vert

The Concordia student-funded co-op invites you to come in and shop or just sit and stay a while VALERIA CORI-MANOCCHIO Contributor

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Le Frigo Vert welcomes anyone and everyone. Photo by Valeria Cori-Manocchio

hopping in an organic, bulk co-operative food store is easier and less expensive than most Concordia students might think.

Le Frigo Vert, located at 2130 Mackay Street, may go unnoticed as you hurriedly walk to or from class but step inside and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. If you’re a caffeine lover, get excited because their coffee is only 50 cents when you bring your own mug.

Upon entering, shoppers will see large containers of bulk products such as flour, rice, oats and beans, which are sold alongside lunch items like falafel sandwiches, chicken wraps and snacks. Other items include a selection of oils, sauces, cleaning products and body products. Where else could you be but Le Frigo Vert, an organic, anti-capitalist food store? “[Le Frigo Vert] isn’t just about having things be organic or GMO free, it’s about being affordable,” said Maria Forti, one of Frigo’s six employees. Affordability is one

of the store’s top priorities, but where products come from and how they are advertised are also important, she said.

The majority of Le Frigo Vert’s products are organic, and the store constantly searches for local organic suppliers.

Some include Concordia’s Greenhouse, small farmers and several small growing projects around the city, including a rooftop farm in Chinatown. A restaurant on Ste. Catherine Street supplies their popular lunch items like falafel sandwiches. Mountain Path provides Frigo’s larger, bulk products while the Ontario Natural Food Co-op serves as another steadfast organic, health-conscious food supplier.

Along with low prices, Frigo Vert embodies anti-capitalist, co-operative views by making “an effort to be connected to other social struggles that are happening in the city” and “being non-profit and having policies in ordering mandates,” said Forti. “When there are different students struggling for different things on campus, [Frigo] will try to support them in any way we can,” Forti said.

“Frigo Vert originally started as a buyer’s collective,” said Forti. Members of the Eat

Your Appeal Collective came together in order to buy bulk products or cases of products since buying in larger quantities was less expensive. As the collective garnered more members, they opted to purchase a storefront, she said.

Concordia students are members of the co-op, as the membership fees are collected through a fee levy which is lumped into students’ tuition payments each semester.

Undergraduate students pay a levy fee of $0.33 per credit and graduate students pay $1.50 per semester, according to Frigo’s official website. So, rather than paying $20 for a membership, Concordia students can simply go to the store and the staff will ask them to sign in to their MyConcordia portal to show their class schedule and then their membership card is printed. Members pay the prices seen in the store, while non-members pay 20 per cent more.

Frigo’s services to students don’t end there. Towards the back of the store, a lounge area with free Wi-Fi is open to all, even if you haven’t purchased anything. For Concordia students, Frigo is a welcoming area away from the daily grind where affordable, fresh products are available.

fashion | life

Spruce up your wardrobe on a budget

Inexpensive fashion finds for anyone looking to save money on clothing and accessories KRYSTAL CARTY Contributor As much as I would love to be able to purchase every outfit I reblog on Tumblr or “like” on Instagram, I unfortunately must accept that it’s not feasible on a student budget. Spending anything over $30 on a shirt right now seems frivolous and unnecessary in my ‘back-toschool budget’ state of mind. Thankfully, Montreal is filled with stores where I can go on a shopping spree without plunging deep into debt.

Eva B. Café - Boutique 2015 St. Laurent Blvd., Montreal Described as a “hybrid of several parallel worlds,” Eva B. offers a unique shopping experience. They offer second hand clothing, a bistro bar, a section for costumes, a stage and they even rent out a space for events. They offer eclectic clothing and, as long as you are willing to look, they have so many hidden gems waiting to be introduced to your closet.

Looking to buy some new pieces without spending tons of money? Bring your clothes to Eva B. and they will exchange your clothes for store credit that you can use to shop there.

Annex Vintage 56 St. Viateur St. Ouest, Montreal

Located in the Mile End, Annex Vintage is the perfect shopping ground for the ‘90s connoisseur. They offer various styles of clothing, shoes and accessories and their store’s free spirit vibe makes for a relaxing shopping atmosphere. It is the perfect place to find something unique and stylish that won’t break the bank.

Salvation Army Various locations Like any thrift store, the Salvation Army requires you to dig. Don’t be fooled by the lack of fancy decor within the store; the things you should be concerned about are hanging on the racks.

Them high-waisted ‘80s pants that are all the rage again are in abundance, and chunky woollen winter sweaters come in every shape, size and style. Need some winter boots? Browse the collection which ranges from size 10 Chloé boots to Harley Davidson must-haves.

Pick up some cheap picture frames and wine glasses while you’re there, and march out of the store with an entirely new wardrobe for under $30.

As with any thrift store you should check back every couple of weeks to see what new goodies have been donated. Who knows, you might just stumble upon couture items for $5, or find an adorable kitten-print sweater for $2.

Eva B. sells everything from costumes to clothing. Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

Get creative If you’re hoping to spruce up your wardrobe but don’t have the cash for it, why not get creative? Try pairing pieces that you never wore together before and see if you come up with new outfits you love. A simple switch could make all the difference.

Clothing swap If you’ve already tried that but find yourself still wanting more, talk to your

friends. Chances are you aren’t the only one who’s hoping to revamp their closet without breaking the bank. Organize a clothing swap where everyone brings the items they no longer want and you all switch amongst each other. Just because you’re sick of that burgundy sweater you’ve had for five years doesn’t mean your friend won’t look amazing in it. No costs involved and if you throw in some music and wine, you’ll have all the ingredients for a fun night.

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health | life

Striking out cancer one event at a time

Concordia JSMB student raises over $75,000 for St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation KELSEY LITWIN Staff writer

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t’s pretty common to find a wide-eyed 15-year-old with great aspirations. It is relatively uncommon, however, to find a teenager who puts themselves on the path to achieving it.

Anthony Pacella has proven to be the exception.

The now 20-year-old JMSB student has spent the last five years making a name for his non-profit organization, StrikeOut Cancer.

StrikeOut Cancer aims to raise funds for cancer research, facilities and treatment equipment through community events. You might remember hearing about the organization’s annual Bowl-AThon. Within five years, the family-oriented event, which usually draws crowds of several hundred people, has helped Pacella raise over $75,000 for Montreal’s St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation.

For Pacella, family has always been at the heart of it all. His mother was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in August of 2010. The news came as a shock to Pacella. At 52 years old, Mary Melillo Pacella was incredibly young for such a severe diagnosis. According to the American Cancer Society, the average age of individuals diagnosed with lung cancer is about 70. Even more surprisingly, she had never smoked.

“It was the first time that we’d heard of someone who had never smoked … developing lung cancer,” Pacella said.

Lung cancer affects a large portion of the Canadian population. It accounts for 14 per cent of all new cancer cases, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. Based on the society’s statistics from 2015, about 57 individuals will die from lung cancer each day in Canada.

For Pacella, his mother’s diagnosis was a call to action. He immediately began organizing a fundraiser in partnership with St. Mary’s, where his mother was being treated. While her battle with the disease was short, Pacella’s motivation did not falter following his mother’s passing. A short three months after her death,

Anthony and his family. Photo courtesy of Anthony Pacella.

StrikeOut Cancer founder Anthony Pacella. Photo by Kelsey Litwin.

Photo courtesy of Anthony Pacella.

Pacella’s first event was underway.

With five years of fundraising under his belt, Pacella is looking into something bigger. On Nov. 7, StrikeOut Cancer will host their first gala, with all proceeds going toward the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He hopes that this event will further his mission of bringing cancer awareness to the public. He said he is “also trying to advocate that young individuals can make a difference.”

The St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation guided Pacella as he began building the framework for his own organization at the age of 15. With their assistance, he was able to watch his vision come to fruition and then contribute back in an extremely meaningful way. The mentorship that they provided enabled him to reimagine his future.

“I want to live my life in my mom’s honour and I am working to building a non-profit organization,” he said.

Pacella plans to combine the knowledge that he’ll gain during his time as a management student with his passion for social awareness. In five years, he said he hopes to have a well-established letterhead as a government-accredited, non-profit organization.

“I see myself building experiences,” he said. Overall, he hopes that he inspires more young adults to get involved and support a cause that means a lot to them.

For more information about StrikeOut Cancer and their upcoming gala, visit their Facebook page.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

sex | life

A sex history lesson from the Romans Roman sexual culture was more petrifying that anyone could have ever imagined CARL BINDMAN Staff writer

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scriptions of a Roman woman’s place came from men being dismissive and offensive.

Historian Kyle Harper’s book From Shame to Sin goes on to say that in Rome, if female sexuality was based on modesty, then male sexuality was based on dominance. That double-standard relied on complex terms that are hard to translate from Latin. But what it was, really, was rape culture. On steroids. And we’ve romanticized it in The Gladiator and Spartacus and Insert Roman Period Film. Homosexuality as an exclusive male privilege in a regressive patriarchy has been misconstrued as liberal, and that’s bad. We can look into history for good models, but Rome ain’t one.

I know this is supposed to be a sex column. But I can’t talk about sex (baby) without contextualizing it. It’s important to me. It’s how I learn. The Priapus that Amy Richlin mentions, the god with the enormous and permanent erection, the ultimate fuckboy, the rape culture

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

uick, imagine ancient Romans having sex. Do you see orgies, tanned women and men frolicking, free of judgement, full of lust, revelling in sexual freedom? Do you wish you were there?

I hope not. Roman sexual culture was more terrifying than terrific. It’s easy to get it wrong, given the inequity of voices that remain from back then. Two thousand years of male historians rehashing what male Romans wrote about male sexuality has perpetuated a rosy picture of what went down. That’s because if you were a privileged man—which was every Roman historian (google “female Roman historians” and see what happens)—Rome was very permissive. If not? You were fucked.

See, Roman men weren’t bound by sexuality. According to historian Craig Williams, author of the ironically titled Roman Homosexuality, “homosexuality” and “heterosexuality” didn’t apply to what these men did at all. Not to say that their sex wasn’t scrutinized. “A man is only a man if he is gloriously active,” Williams quotes from Juvenal, a Roman writer. Those men were pretty free to be

active with whoever they wanted, without judgement.

Theirs was an environment where they could have sex with anyone so long as they were seen to be dominating a lesser. Rome had patriarchal system called paterfamilias, in which A Casebook on Roman Family Law by Bruce W. Friar, outlines the oldest man in the family as being more or less infallible. Paterfamilias extended into broader Roman life, though, so a “lesser” could be an unmarried woman, a man of lower status, a girl, a boy, a prostitute of either gender, a slave of either gender, etc. And as long as the man was penetrating his partner in sex, he was showing his masculinity and enforcing the patriarchy, a win-win for him. A lose-lose for everyone else.

Just look at how feminist classicist Amy Richlin describes the female sexual experience in Rome. In her book The Garden of Priapus, she shows scores of Roman poets warning women away from erotic poems because Roman women shouldn’t express their sexuality even by reading about sex—only by getting fucked by their husbands. That is, when the poems aren’t slut-shaming the very women they’re already prude-shaming. It’s messed up, and very indicative, that some of the clearest de-

mascot, he’s helping me learn. We’re still grappling with his shadow on college campuses, board rooms, and bedrooms, two thousand years later. Aren’t there enough entitled dicks in this world without adding all of history’s?

food | life

Get your daily fruit intake with these smoothies With a few ingredients you can whip up a refreshing and healthy drink MINA MAZUMDER Staff writer Smoothies are such a versatile drink and can be consumed at any time of the day.

All it takes is a few fruits, sometimes some veggies, some juice, a blender and you’re golden. Here are smoothie recipes that will keep your energy up during the day.

You can even make these the night before to save time, and then refrigerate them so they’re ready for morning.

MORNING BERRY BLAST Want a quick smoothie to compliment your breakfast? If so, we’ve got a recipe for you. Oranges and bananas are great breakfast fruits. Top them off with blackberries and you’ve got a smoothie rich in taste and in antioxidants.

Ingredients: - 2 clementines or 1 orange, sliced - 1 banana - 2 cups of wildberry juice - 1 cup of washed blackberries Start your day right with berries and enjoy it on the go!

GREEN LEAN POST-WORKOUT Try this amazing post-workout smoothie. I got the recipe from an episode of The Doctors but made it even simpler.

STRAWBERRY MANGO DESSERT Make yourself a delicious dessert smoothie. If you’re a dessert lover and are looking to spice things up, this is the one for you. It may not be the healthiest on this list, but let’s face it, it’s better than eating a piece of cake. The chocolate ice cream gives this smoothie a certain je ne sais quoi.

Ingredients: - 2 cups of two per cent milk - 1 cup of washed strawberries - 1 cup of mango slices - 2 scoops or tablespoons of chocolate ice cream These are just a few ideas; remember that the possibilities are endless!

Change up your fruit combinations to create recipes of your own. Add some carrots for a sweet flavour, an avocado for a creamy texture, or some cilantro to add some kick.

Ingredients: - 1 cup of washed watercress - 1 cup of green grapes - 1/2 cup of washed green apple - 1 banana Enjoy something healthy and yummy after hours at the gym!

PHOTOS

BY MINA MAZUMDER

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

ARTS

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ARTS EDITORS ELIJAH BUKREEV and LYDIA ANDERSON arts@theconcordian.com @theconcordian

literature | arts

From words on a page to a voice in our ears

“Writers Read at Concordia” kicks off its 2015-2016 season, making reading a shared experience

Sina Queyras and Jordan Tannahill pictured during the question and answer portion of the evening, after the reading. Photo by Lydia Anderson.

LYDIA ANDERSON Co-arts editor

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skillfully designed sentence can make words jump off of a page, haunt your mind for days or even continuously inspire you. A whole other dimension is added to such a literary experience when you hear those words coming from the mouth of the one who put them on the page in the first place.

The “Writers Read at Concordia” series has kicked off its 2015-2016 chapter with readings by Jordan Tannahill and Mary Ruefle. The rich contrast between the style of delivery and the authors themselves in the first two events alone are setting up this year’s series to be an exciting one.

The first reading, given by Tannahill, took place on Sept. 22 in the VAV gallery.

With the fading evening light of RenéLévesque boulevard coming through the windows, the night was started by Sina Queyras, a senior lecturer in the department of English at Concordia. She gave an overview of the intention of 2015-2016’s “Writers Read.”

“We’ll look closely at how reading series across North America operate, both in contemporary media and historically,” said Queyras. “We’ll look at how poets and writers present their work, how they select it, who reads what with whom to whom.” She then added that the series will finish with a compelling three-day literary festival.

She continued by introducing

Tannahill—an author and artist who is largely a playwright but can also add “theatre director” and “filmmaker” to his CV. He presented an excerpt from his book, Theatre of the Unimpressed.

This is not a piece of fiction, but rather a work—with a foundation of 100 interviews he conducted with artists, critics, theatregoers, etc.—which explores his views on theatre, what may be hindering it and what it means to produce quality work onstage.

Tannahill said that the passage he chose had “some fun personal anecdotes and … some colour that gave both a kind of sense of who [he is] maybe a little bit as an artist but also some of the things that [he is] thinking about at least in terms of why theatre is relevant.”

The audience travelled with the author as he engaged in conversation about theatre with colourful characters from multiple walks of life, ranging from an orgy partner to a seasoned theatregoer. But observing the author himself, in his black t-shirt, ripped jeans and Vans in all of his fast-talking glory added a whole new dimension to the image of the narrator and the personality behind the words themselves.

Mary Ruefle presented an entirely different personality and style at her reading on Sept. 25 on the seventh floor of the Hall building. In comparison, she was clad in a white-collar shirt and navy blazer, peering over her red-framed glasses, and she filled the room with pauses and soothing tones. Ruefle, a seasoned and accomplished poet, began

her reading with a piece that wasn’t her own, a poem called “The Secret Name,”

by W. S. Graham. After the first poem introduced the audience to the steadypaced, melodic voice that they were to hear for the rest of the 20-minute reading, Ruefle began going through the loose stack of papers she was holding in her hands—her own poems.

According to Ruefle, the majority of the work she presented was newly published material. She said that most of the pieces have never appeared in book form and that it is a habit of her’s to read new work, however some pieces hadn’t even been published yet. Therefore, the audience wasn’t just listening to her latest collection, but rather to pieces that were recently in various journals, if not brand new material.

Although both their genres, styles and personalities differed, both Tannahill and Ruefle had similar things to say about the importance of literature readings.

“I love listening to readings because I get a sense of what compelled the writer to write the work in the first place,” said Tannahill. “Having even just the way that they read, their enthusiasm, or sometimes lack thereof, for their own work really comes across. And the nuances, even just certain turns of phrase in their mouths, for me, illuminates the way that the text was intended ... to be read initially.”

“Writing and reading is a very private practice … it’s kind of a hermetic exercise actually, as a writer at least, and to actually be able to share that with

a room of people … both as a reader and as a writer … can be a really profound experience,” Tannahill added.

Ruefle echoed similar sentiments.

“For me, the importance of reading poetry in front of an audience is [that] it’s a shared space in the air where you’re able to hear aspects of poetry that many people are unable to access reading it on a page,” Ruefle said. “I think to actually hear it hanging in the ether can illuminate a poem, or a poet’s work in many cases, in ways that make it that much more accessible to the student, the listener, the reader.”

If these musings on the advantages of hearing a piece read aloud by the author are not enough to make you the one fidgeting eagerly in the front row at the next instalment of the series, then perhaps the long list of successful authors visiting our humble educational institution will be. The next authors to come read for us include Major Jackson, Paula Meehan, Dina Del Bucchia with Daniel Zomparelli and Roxane Gay, to name a few.

Add a new dimension to your next literary experience; buy some new pages to sink your metaphorical teeth into—and get them signed—or take advantage of the opportunity to be in conversation with a successful creator who surely has the capacity to inspire, impart wisdom and share insights.

The next “Writers Read at Concordia” event will feature Major Jackson and take place on Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. in the EV building’s York Amphitheatre.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

dance | arts

Tangente celebrates the diversity of dance

Two new choreographies were presented by Tangente featuring urban and contemporary dance

“Phase 1” by Axelle Munezero and Martine Bruneau.

Photo by Melika Dez Photography.

MARIA BUKREEV Staff writer

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f you are not familiar with what is currently happening in the contemporary dance world but are willing to find out, “Phase 1” and “Myocarditis” are two shows that sum up well the direction which contemporary dance has taken as of late. Currently performed at the Monument National, these two choreographies are hosted by Tangente, a Montreal-based organization founded in 1980 that works in supporting and promoting contemporary dance.

The new choreographies brought to us this fall were created by emerging artists who blend different styles

together, which is done to illustrate the fact that dance as an artform is in constant mutation.

“Phase 1” is a choreography created by Axelle Munezero and Martine Bruneau, a duo of choreographers who, aside from working independently, sometimes collaborate under the name Forêt Noire. Bruneau is also one of the performers, along with Valerie Chartier, Saxon Fraser, Marie-Reine Kabash and Jean-Benoit Labrecque.

When asked about the particular dance style in “Phase 1” after the show, the duo explained that their goal was to reinvent “waacking.”

Waacking was a popular dance in the ‘70s and was mostly performed in LGBT clubs to the beat of disco music.

Its recognizable feature is the graceful and fluid use of shoulders and arms.

This dance is about embracing your own body and showing self-confidence in a glamorous way.

Forêt Noire decided to use the same moves while taking out the “glamorous” aspect, in order to give room for more interpretation. Although there is no narrative, strictly speaking, the choreographers explain that the dramatic quality is in the dance moves, used to illustrate the different emotional states that the dancers experience.

The duo also decided to modernize waacking by choosing electronic music and by incorporating moves from other dances in order to create a mechanical and cosmic atmosphere.

“Myocarditis,” choreographed by Handy “Monstapop” Yacinthe and performed by Daniel Chung-Wook Jun, Anthony “FreakwenC” Calma-Burke, Mecdy “Venom” Jean-Pierre, Ellie-Anne “Rawss” Ross and Yacinthe himself, is a show combining breakdance, locking, popping, freestyle and other improvised dynamic, twitchy moves particular to street dance.

Street dance is usually performed in what are called “street dance battles.”

These are performances in informal settings that allow dancers to compete with improvised choreographies.

If not for the typical street dance moves, “Myocarditis” would be associated with contemporary dance because its choreography is the result of intense research, the setting being prepared beforehand, the show lasting 40 minutes (much longer than a street dance per-

formance) and, finally, it being presented on a stage.

As he explained in an interview with the curator of Tangente, Dena Davida, Monstapop is reluctant to call his work “contemporary dance art” because his choreography’s “core, essence, inspiration and creative articulation is based solely on a street dance mindset.” The choreographer therefore addresses the issue of how thin the boundaries are from one dance style to another.

In a meeting with the public after the show, dancers talked about how performing on a stage is different from street dance battles, as it allows them to express their feelings rather than just show off their technique, which is usually expected in battles.

“Myocarditis” is all about expressing feelings such as the turmoil of love, fear and loneliness, which are conveyed well by the choreography. However, the darkness and intensity of the performance are created by the setup of the stage. A clever use of lighting creates impressive special effects, giving performers tools that are essential for the choreography.

“Phase 1” and “Myocarditis” are performances that give a pretty clear idea of what modern dance is and how, by mixing different styles or techniques, it creates a wider range of possibilities for dancers and choreographers to express themselves.

If you weren’t able to catch this show, Tangente is presenting five new choreographies from Oct. 1 to Oct. 4 at Monument National.

Five free events for you to attend this week EMILIE TREMBLAY Contributor

Interesting, engaging, creative— and they won’t cost you a penny!

“CABARET DES BRUMES” From Sept. 28 to Oct. 2, the Festival International de Litérature (FIL) presents a night of poetry and music at the Quai des Brumes. Poet François Guerrette will be hosting the event while 20 contemporary poets read their work aloud. A team of four musicians will also be there, adding energy and rhythm to words. Discover the language and the music of poetry as these artists introduce you to their voices and their worlds.

Quai des Brumes, 4481 Saint-Denis St., Montreal.

From 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

“BOW TOWN” This exhibit is a blend of feminine and feminist artwork. Graffiti artist Starchild Stela and multi-disciplinary artist Zuzu Knew launched Bow Town, cute and girlish artwork embracing softness and feminism. The exhibit’s title is a reaction to the

male-centred art world and is made up of artwork from a group of over 40 national and international artists, who use sweet images and soft colours, but also darker ones, to ensure an attainment of recognition that the feminine artwork deserves.

In the gallery, two cute dolls holding a ribbon with a ’’Stop staring at us’’ message share space with rainbows and dogs. Glitter meets nudity and strong statements. If you’re curious about how cute can be bold, try this exhibit.

Monastiraki, 5478 St-Laurent Blvd., Montreal.

Exhibit ends Oct. 4.

“LE MOIS DE LA PHOTO À MONTRÉAL” The 14th edition of Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal has 29 artists presenting their work in 16 different galleries and museums. Here are three exhibits you shouldn’t miss: “MEMORIES CENTER” Artists Grégory Chatonsky and Dominique Sirois’ exhibit revolves around dreams. They created a device that generates a dream sequence from others’ dreams. To do that, they use the work of University of California researchers Adam Schneider and G. William Domhoff—a database of 20,000 dreams. Once the software creates the new dream, it searches the Internet for imag-

es corresponding to its keywords. These images form a sequence, therefore almost becoming a short story.

Centre Clark, 5455 de Gaspé Ave., Montreal.

Tues.–Sat. 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Exhibit ends Oct. 11.

“AFTER FACEBOOK: IN LOVING MEMORY <3” The McCord museum is hosting an exhibit about Facebook. The social medium raises questions and reflections about image-sharing and its economic, social and political consequences. It also explores the subject of death. What do we do with a dead person’s social media? On Wednesday night, admission for the whole museum is free, except the Vittorio exhibit, so take some time to explore the many other exhibits available.

McCord Museum, 690 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal. Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“HORS-LAB” Photographer Laurent Lamarche explores the limit between scientific and artistic photography. The exhibit revolves around imagination and questions.

What is really represented in his pictures? There is no true answer. His art is an intriguing mix of intense colors and light effects. Some of his pictures give an impression of microscopic photography.

Art Mûr, 5826, St. Hubert St., Montreal.

Exhibit ends Oct. 31.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

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film | arts

Johnny Depp shines as Boston crime boss Release date: Sept. 18, 2015 Director: Scott Cooper Cast: Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson Running time: 122 minutes

Whitey Bulger is one of the many characters in Black Mass ELIJAH BUKREEV Co-arts editor

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cott Cooper’s Black Mass may as well have been called Black Mamba because it gives you the same feeling you’d get from observing a predatory snake at the zoo. Johnny Depp has previously played an informant in Donnie Brasco and a famous gangster in Public Enemies, and now he plays James “Whitey” Bulger, a real-life figure who happened to be both a gangster and an informant.

Depp’s Bulger is truly snakelike, fearless and unpredictable. You can almost imagine him hissing as he sweettalks his prey, his light blue eyes glowing hypnotically in the dark. It is remarkable how deep he is willing to immerse himself in his characters. Even in some of his worst films, he manages to involve

the viewer, because he seems to operate on a different level than the filmmaker, as if in direct communication with the viewer. He never limits himself to the lines that are written for him, instead laying bare his character’s heart and soul, as dark as it may be.

Bulger’s portrayal in this film has caused controversy because of the pain Bulger has inflicted in his home city. The crime boss, who agreed to cooperate with the FBI to bring down a rival crime family (and as a result was allowed to rule with impunity over South Boston throughout the ‘80s) subsequently went into hiding and was only apprehended in 2011, after spending nearly two decades under an assumed identity.

The film starts in the late 1970s and, without exactly chronicling Bulger’s rise to power, shows scenes that help contextualize it. Early on, you meet John Connolly, the crime boss’ childhood friend who has grown up to be an FBI agent but never grew out of his doglike devotion to Bulger. Their relationship is an integral part of the film, as Bulger starts cooperating with the FBI through Connolly, but ends up exploiting it for his own purposes under Connolly’s neglectful watch and eventual corruption.

What you get is not the traditional rise and fall story, but snippets of

Johnny Depp as “Whitey” Bulger, the infamous gangster.

different times and events in the life of Bulger and others connected to him, which makes it feel like you sat down on the remote control and accidentally pressed fast-forward. You see inside the FBI headquarters as agents investigate crime in the city. You see Bulger lose his six-year-old son after succumbing to Reye’s syndrome. And then you see Bulger take many lives of his own.

Bulger is responsible for countless murders, rapes and other atrocities, so it is understandable that families of victims would object to scenes presenting him as more of a softie and family man, a loving son, father and brother.

As a piece of cinema, Black Mass is entertaining and, while it hardly transcends its genre, it compares well

to other recent gangster films. It delivers not only an impressive centerpiece performance from Depp, but solid work from the rest of the cast, which includes Joel Edgerton as John Connolly, Bulger’s childhood friend and FBI agent; Benedict Cumberbatch as Bulger’s brother and big-shot politician; and Peter Sarsgaard in a small but intense role as a junkie who gets in Bulger’s way.

A film such as Black Mass is inherently structured so that dialogues set up future bloodshed. The bloodshed, in turn, becomes a payoff, rewarding the viewer for his attention. It is hard to watch such a film and not come out thinking of Bulger as a monster, and yet at the same time, if I enjoyed seeing him kill a character onscreen, does that make me a bit of a monster, too?

To stand on the shoulders of the world

film | arts

While taking a rest at one of the base camps set up on Mount Everest, little did the crew know at this point of all of the challenges lying ahead.

Release date: Sept. 16, 2015 Director: Baltasar Kormákur Cast: Jason Clarke, Ang Phula, Thomas M. Wright Running time: 121 minutes

Everest brings big-time thrills and cinematic excellence to the big screen TIFFANY LAFLEUR Contributor

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our lungs gradually fill with water from lack of oxygen. Your fingers, toes and cheeks slowly succumb to frostbite. The unforgiving wind pushes and tugs as you teeter on a narrow ledge, sheer nothingness on the other side.

These are the conditions climbers must face to reach the top of Mount Everest, the highest peak on Earth: howling winds, deep, bottomless chasms, steep rocky outcrops that could give out from under your feet at any moment. In the blink of an eye, something could go horribly wrong. Stop moving and you die. But once the peak is reached, the pain, thin air and merciless cold seem like nothing compared to standing on the shoulders of the world.

That is, until you realize you have to do it all over again on the descent. Add a looming, fierce and ruthless snowstorm and you have a recipe for disaster. Everest recounts the true story of two expeditions caught in a violent blizzard as they begin their final ascent to the peak on the morning of May 10, 1996. To survive, they will have to endure some of the harshest conditions on the planet.

As expedition leader Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) puts it in the film: “Human beings

simply aren’t built to function at the cruising altitude of a [Boeing] 747.”

Written by William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy and directed by Baltasar Kormákur, Everest is a British-American 3D disaster drama and adventure thriller film boasting spectacular, jaw-dropping cinematic visuals, dizzying and vertigo-inducing panoramas and edge-of-yourseat, adrenaline-pumping adventure.

The movie follows Rob Hall, expedition leader for Adventure Consultants, as he prepares his clients for the grueling ascent to the peak of Mount Everest, over 8,000 metres above sea level. As they inch closer and closer to the peak, the mystery and majesty of the summit transitions to a deadly, inhospitable terrain, testing the climbers mentally and physically.

Though the movie brings you into the gritty reality of climbing an unforgiving, indomitable cliff face, the audience is left to wonder about the initial motiva-

tion of the characters. We get snippets: Beck wants to escape the dark cloud of dread he felt at home. Doug Hansen (John Hawkes) wants to prove that any normal guy can make it to the peak. Yasuko Namba (Naoko Mori) wants to bag that last, elusive seventh mountain after having ascended the six highest peaks in the world. A little more elaboration would have made an already strong lineup of characters even better.

Everest is a heart-stopping movie that brings its audience thrills and vertigo as they witness the struggle for survival on one of Earth’s most inhospitable landscapes. It has everything a good disaster drama aims to have: a good set of characters, impossible odds, sheer human determination and ruthless nature.

It is an adrenaline-packed movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat, rooting for the characters as they teeter on the edge of oblivion.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

film | arts

Searching for a lost mind and finding it in music

Una Vida (Aunjane Ellis) and Stompleg (Bill Cobbs) singing and playing in a moment of intense joy brought on by musical expression.

Release date: March 28, 2014 Director: Richie Adams Cast: Joaquim de Almeida, Aunjane Ellis, Bill Cobbs Running time: 98 minutes

Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind, weaves a narrative that confronts Alzheimer’s and the power of music PAULINE NESBITT Contributor

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usic can be used to soothe the soul and to help buffer the wounds that life inflicts. This truism is evident in Una Vida: A Fable

of Music and the Mind, a deep, soulsearching film that promotes the need to appreciate and to cherish the past achievements of those who suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This film highlights the challenges these diseases present—not only to those afflicted by them, but also to their family members and caregivers.

The screenplay was written by Dr. Nicolas Bazan and Richie Adams and is based on a novel written by the Bazan, a neuroscientist whose research focuses on neurodegenerative diseases with an emphasis on Alzheimer’s.

Joaquim de Almeida (Desperado) plays Dr. Alvaro Cruz, a neuroscientist whose research mirrors Bazan’s. Cruz receives news of his mother’s death while while at a scientific meeting in Paris. Distraught, he returns home to New Orleans and decides to take a

leave from his research to deal with the emotions brought on by his mother’s death. He finds himself in the French Quarter of New Orleans, where he discovers Una Vida, played by Aunjanue Ellis, an African-American jazz singer, performing in a bar. He again witnesses her performing at an old diner he used to frequent with his mother. Struck by the way she appears to lose her place in the music and then quickly finds it again, he concludes that she is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and decides to use his scientific expertise to help her.

In this quest, he discovers her musical past and, at the same time, embarks on an emotional journey that helps him cope with his mother’s death and his subsequent sense of loss. This act of altruism enables him to help Una Vida’s family cope with her illness.

As the film’s title suggests, music is

prominently featured throughout the film. The musical score was composed and produced by Carlos José Alvarez, and includes rich traditional pieces such as “Motherless Child,” “His Eye is on the Sparrow” and “Avalon” that are intertwined with new pieces that provide a powerful and unique New Orleans flavour.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are a very emotionally stressful and isolating experience, which is turned into a heart-rending tale by the plot and stellar performance by the actors.

The story that unravels is powerful, appealingly realistic and entertaining.

The film succeeds at raising awareness for these diseases, and promotes a community approach to handling them.

You can see Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind at Cineplex Quartier Latin on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m.

film | arts

Crises and thievery in Ugandan-style neo-realist film Release date: Feb. 2015 Director: Donald Mugisha Cast: Michael Wawuyo, Hassan ‘Spike’ Insingoma, Prossy Rukundo Running time: 85 minutes

Ugandan-set The Boda Boda Thieves follows a boy who gets in with the wrong crowd and loses his motorcycle KALVIN HARTWIG Contributor

Directors Donald Mugisha and James Tayler bring you a taste of the challenges of living in Uganda with their film The Boda Boda Thieves. Follow Abel, a 15-year-old boy who isn’t known to work hard but attempts to prove himself and break into adulthood when a crisis hits his family.

There are two things one should know going into the film: one, a small motorcycle used as a taxi is called a “boda boda” in Uganda, and two, for much of the population, every day is a real struggle to make ends meet.

At the beginning of the film, we see that instead of searching for work that would help his struggling family get by,

Abel on the boda boda that the narrative is centred around.

Abel enjoys hanging out with friends and gambling with his mother’s money— money meant to cover his transportation costs. Abel’s family is far from rich. His father is a boda boda driver, and his mother works at the quarry breaking small rocks with a hammer. Abel’s father is given one last chance by a wealthy lender to pay back a loan for his boda boda, or else he will risk getting arrested or losing it. So when the father is injured in an accident and can no longer earn money from driving, the family faces a real crisis. Abel offers to be a driver to finally prove himself.

After facing a day of tough challenges, Abel decides to take a shortcut from hard work and teams up with a thief who promises easy money and fun times in exchange for Abel being his driver. This is one of a series of mistakes made by Abel, and he ends up losing the boda boda.

The film then exits a linear approach and we must wait to learn how Abel lost his motorcycle in the first place.

The film is entertaining and also introduces the audience to the challenges of living in urban Uganda. The non-linear approach to the storyline provides some extra tension, but the acting isn’t very strong across the board, and leaves the viewer wanting more. Some shots use

the shaky camera technique but it isn’t done to a head-spinning degree. There are several artsy camera angle shots of the protagonist, but it was somewhat disappointing not to see beautiful images of the landscape near the capital city of Kampala, which really can be breathtaking.

It was also disappointing not to see more of the strong anti-thievery culture that I witnessed while visiting that country last year. For example, if one was to yell “thief!” while chasing someone through the streets, that person being chased would likely get stopped by passers-by. Perhaps the directors felt these things would distract from the darker mood of the film.

The film is only 85 minutes long, so despite the not exceptionally strong acting from some of the cast and the occasional minor error in the English subtitles, you might want to watch it—if not for sheer Oscar-winning entertainment, at least for a perspective of life as an individual who is trying to get by in urban Uganda, one we don’t hear about much in Canada.

The Boda Boda Thieves is being shown as part of the Montreal International Black Film Festival. You can catch it on Oct. 4 at Cinéplex Quartier Latin at 3 p.m.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

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literature | arts

Richler and MacDonald: past and present collide Canadian author is working from the Mordecai Richler Reading Room for eight weeks

Ann-Marie MacDonald said she looks forward to working with student writers. Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

GREGORY TODARO Co-news editor

A

nn-Marie MacDonald was named the first writer-in-residence of Concordia University’s Mordecai Richler Reading Room last week.

The award-winning Canadian writer will be working out of the reading room in the J.W. McConnell Building on the downtown campus for eight weeks.

MacDonald called being offered the residency a “ tremendous honour.” She

is the inaugural writer-in-residence, and will be working from the Mordecai Richler Reading Room which contains many of the author’s personal items such as his library and his typewriters.

“It feels like a literary prize, like I won a prize,” she added.

During her residency MacDonald will be writing dispatches—or “postcards,” as she sees them—for the Walrus from Mordecai Richler’s desk.

While she met Richler before his death, MacDonald said she wishes she had more time with him.

“People say, ‘if you could have dinner with anybody, living or dead, who would it be?’ and I say I’d drink some good single malt with Mordecai,” she added.

MacDonald said she loved Richler’s writing ever since she read one of his novels at age 14.

“One of my older sisters was studying The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz in high school and she was laughing out loud,” MacDonald said. “She said ‘oh, you’re too young for this book’ … I read it as soon as I could. I loved it.”

As a young writer, MacDonald said

having a chance to meet established writers including Michael Ondaatje and Carole Corbeil was a big help for her. “It was deeply comforting and reassuring, and that was valuable in itself,” she said.

“Just being befriended and included and taken seriously is huge, because [writing] can be very lonely.”

MacDonald will now have the chance to play that role for Concordia students when she meets with them during her residency—and she said she finds working with “young professionals” gratifying.

“I know everybody is saying how valuable that’s going to be for the young people—and it will be, I know I’m going to offer them stuff that’s valuable,” she said.

“But, it’s also very valuable for me. I find it very nourishing to be around them so I’m really looking forward to it.”

MacDonald says she expects to hear a lot of questions from student-writers wanting to know if they’re on the right track.

“I think they’re looking for those little handholds, those little hooks that say ‘how do I do this?’

‘Should I stick with this?’ That’s what everyone wants to know,” she said. “I think I’m going to give them a good deal of encouragement simply because I’m here … just having the contact with somebody who went through exactly what they went through, I think it’s really important.”

profile | arts

Film Society keeps 1890’s flicks alive

Cinéclub Film Society offers classic movie screenings students can enjoy on campus ELIJAH BUKREEV Co-arts editor Going to the movies used to be a big deal. You’d sit down in a state-of-the-art cinema, get your fix of news from a short news reel, sink into your chair as you enjoyed a short cartoon, then immerse yourself in a double-feature, interrupted only by an intermission. That’s right, no advertisements, only a few exclusive trailers you would find nowhere else, naturally, on scratched film print and in glorious Technicolor. Philippe Spurrell, the founder of the Cinéclub Film Society, wants to bring you back to that pre-Netflix era, or at least provide that experience as a ready alternative to the streaming site or modern multiplex.

The volunteer-run Film Society, which is now partly sponsored by Concordia’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, began its activity in 1992, which makes it older than quite a few of you. It went from venue to venue before finding a new home at Concordia University in 2012.

“It’s the best place we’ve had, and we’re quite happy to be there,” said Spurrell, adding that his mission is to help people make pleasant new discoveries about film. During screenings, which take place every other Sunday, films are shown on 16mm and 35mm reels.

In fact, the Film Society’s first mandate is the conservation of film: it has its own archives of film prints, which serves to feed its programming. The second mandate is to expose the public to these classic films, which tend to be from the

guitar, right? And then, somebody pulls out an old acoustic and says, ‘Hey folks, this is the original guitar, come and listen.’”

Screenings take place at Concordia, so the setting is academic, but Spurrell stressed that they’re held in a purely

Philippe Spurrell founded the Cinéclub Film Society in 1992.

Photo by King-wei Chu. 1960s, although some are from the 1890s and only a handful are from present-day.

Digital has become commonplace in modern filmmaking, but film still has defenders among directors and scholars.

Spurrell largely prefers film, arguing that “it gives you the opportunity to experience a film the way people did in its original format … Imagine, one day, there are no more acoustic guitars. Everything’s electric

non-academic approach. “It’s a chill atmosphere, we have intermissions, we have tea and coffee and homemade desserts,” he said.

For fundraisers, which take place twice a year, the Film Society rents out an old gothic church near Vendôme metro to screen silent films accompanied by live music—percussion, strings, piano and a church organ. The next one will take place

on Oct. 2 and 3 at 7:30 p.m. at 4695 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, and will feature Carl T. Dreyer’s 1932 vampire classic Vampyr, followed by a 1920 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Student tickets are $9.

Guest speakers attend about half of all screenings, and have in the past included many experts in particular fields working in the film industry, ranging from animal trainers and stuntmen to sound designers and art directors.

“In the age of Netflix and downloads and everything, people can say ‘well, you know, I can watch that at home.’ But if you’re watching a silent movie, you’re not going to get a live musician at home, for example. You won’t get a guest speaker in your living room,” said Spurrell.

Mostly, these guests have been “people that are kind of hidden behind the scenes, or maybe not as celebrated as they should be in Montreal,” said Spurrell. Some of these people have included one of Buster Keaton’s last directors and Marlene Dietrich’s personal assistant. Expected guests for early 2016 include the daughter of Nicholas Ray, who directed the James Dean classic Rebel Without a Cause.

Entrance for students is $6 per screening. You can find more information and programming at cineclubfilmsociety.com

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 MUSIC EDITOR MIA PEARSON music@theconcordian.com

MUSIC

@theconcordian

vinyl | music

Visiting the best record stores in Montreal The city is full of vinyl treasures for you to find and here’s where to start looking

Tour these top vinyl stores to turn up your music collection. Photos by Andrej Ivanov.

ÉTIENNE LAJOIE Music assistant

E

arlier this year, Rolling Stone called Montreal “the new hotbed for music worldwide.” The only way to confirm this claim was to visit the places where enthusiasts breathe and discuss music— record stores. These are a few of the best.

AUX 33 TOURS 1373 Ave. Mont-Royal East At Aux 33 Tours—French for LPs— you’ll find the prices a little high, but the store’s richness in musical genres will overcome your fear of becoming bankrupt. The store is illuminated by two large ceiling lights that perfectly warm the black room, making your hunt even more enjoyable. New arrivals stand on a black shelf in front of the cash, next to the entrance. While every other store I visited had only one employee, often the owner himself, Aux 33 Tours has a couple of clerks who can help you find your favourite LP. Records are usefully categorized, with indie music on its own, and likewise for metal and rock. It is simply an incredible store.

CHEAP THRILLS 2044 Metcalfe St. The tilted staircase that leads to the store, and the different shades of aged white and pink paint surrounding it, are a testament to this record store’s early establishment. Opened in 1971, this music cave is as close as it gets to an old house’s attic. Cheap Thrills’ interior walls are hidden behind a six-foot-high shelf stockpiled with books from every field of study imaginable. The number of vinyls is astonishing, especially considering the space the owner has. As much as there are Pink Floyd and Beatles records, you’ll also find the latest Mac Demarco and Lana del Rey. Don’t get overwhelmed by the quantity, this place is a gem.

PHONOPOLIS 207 Bernard St. West The Mile End deservingly earned the reputation of being one of the hippest neighbourhood in the world by The Huffington Post earlier this year.

The borough has a strong influence on the Montreal indie music industry, with artists such as Arcade Fire born from it, as well as two record stores next to each other on one of its busiest

streets, Bernard Avenue. One of them is Phonopolis. An array of vinyl fills the large boxes, taking most of the room’s space, along with others hanging on the monochrome walls. The music genres are diversified, from Simon and Garfunkel to recordings from singers and lute players who lived in countries of the Levant, an ancient Middle Eastern region, such as Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.

The CD collection isn’t as complete and some prized albums are hard to find.

Since it’s in Montreal’s indie music hub and affiliated with POP Montreal, you can purchase tickets for upcoming shows.

LE PICK UP 169 des Pins Ave. East Situated between de Bullion street and Hôtel de Ville avenue, Le Pick-Up’s chest is filled with francophone vinyl from the ‘60s to the ‘80s, a feature that singled out the store from the others I visited. The retailer’s’ selection of disks, I realized, is deeply related to their respective neighborhood. As a matter of fact, Le Pick-up and Cheap Thrills are at the antipodes: Le Pick-up is located in a historically francophone neighbourhood while Cheap Thrills is in an anglophone

area. Inside, the owner and a client were discussing fond memories of the music they used to listen to; just a usual chat.

Between Dutronc’s and Delpech’s best jams, you’ll also find quite a lot of comic books at this buy-and-sell shop. Lastly, the hangout is very well taken care of, so you’ll be able to shuffle through LPs, 45 rpms and CDs in a heartbeat.

L’ÉCHANGE 713 du Mont-Royal Ave. East L’Échange is a pleasant place situated just a few metres away from Mont-Royal metro station. It is labeled as a buy-and-sell bookstore, hence the name “L’Échange,” but their collection of compact disks and vinyl is nothing to overlook. Although you will not find rare albums like those from some underground synth-pop mixer, classics of the industry are there for the taking.

There are two areas: one located just as you make your way in, where vinyl and CDs can be found, as well as a small space in the back where you can trade away your relics, and another area to the left where books are stored. L’Échange is an escape from the buzzing metropolis.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

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profile | music

Painting a landscape through sound

Teen Daze talk about their latest record, touring and transitioning into adulthood

The band’s most recent album, Morning World, was released on August 14. Photo of Jamison, frontman of Teen Daze.

JESSICA ROMERA Copy editor

F

rom Abbotsford, B.C. to San Francisco, California, Teen Daze winded down the west coast to record their latest album, Morning World.

Though they have been recording and creating music under this moniker since 2010, “this is the first iteration of this band,” said Jamison, the band’s frontman. The quintet, comprised of Simon Bridgefoot on drums—who coproduced the record—Jordan Kurtz on electric piano and synthesizer, David Wirsig on bass and harmonies and Kyle Reigle on guitar and keyboard, has been on tour promoting their latest work for several weeks and will be doing so for the next month.

At university, Jamison studied philosophy and theology, both of which heavily influenced his creative musical process; he took a few classes on music philosophy and spirituality. “I’m putting music and what I want to create through those lenses of ‘why am i doing this?’” he said. Though now in his late twenties and with his university years far behind him, Jamison found himself contemplating the age-old post-grad question of what he wanted to do next.

Many of the relationships he had cultivated with friends and family had altered or changed, and he found himself becoming cynical.

“You leave school and you realize how idealistic you had been about things,” Jamison said. “In a sense, this record was me trying to get some optimism back in my life.”

Recording to tape at the analog studio, Jamison says the album has a warmer feel to it, “like it came from the ‘70s.” With its dreamy, subdued melodies and psychedelic

instrumentation, Morning World would have fit perfectly in the era where free love and optimism reigned supreme in the Golden Gate City.

As with most of the material recorded primarily in his home studio, Jamison attempts to create landscapes through his dreamy electronic sounds.

“In a similar way with this record, where I was trying to play with ideas of imaginary landscapes and new geographies, I was really just trying to create a new place. I always wanted to make music that would pair well with a certain type of landscape, or a certain type of visual,” he said.

An ode to his home province, his last full-length album, Glacier, was “all about finding beauty in the barren sort of tundra, in a northern B.C. or Alaska type of landscape,” he said.

Though this creative process helped him get through a tougher, more existential period in his life, he realized that he “was essentially escaping from the real world,” adding that “music has always been that sort of escape for [him].”

“This record is a little bit on that same idea of creating a new landscape, of creating a new place for myself, but also in that experience realizing that, ‘Oh, there are real world issues that I need to deal with.’ I can’t just keep creating these new places for myself hoping that it will solve anything.”

Ready to tackle these new kinds of concerns and realities, like deciding what is going to be best for him, his wife and their future, Jamison says that “everything’s gotten a little bit more adult. There’s lots of really good things happening in my life right now. I’m in a very good place where I can stop and take stock of what’s around me.”

Wanting to share these positive vibes with the larger community, Teen Daze have just launched their Drip.com

Check-out Teen Daze’s Drip.com account to interact directly with the band. account. This subscription-based online platform allows musicians and artists to interact directly with their fans.

For the time being, the band will be releasing material exclusively accessible through this digital outlet, starting with the EP Rainwater Coffee.

On their page, Jamison posted a list of upcoming tour dates and asked fans in those towns to let him know if they were interested in coming out to a performance so he could put them on a guestlist and hang out with them at the show. In this way, the account makes the experience that much more personal. “It’s tough to actually connect with people through [social media], but I’ve had amazing real-world

interactions with people,” he said.

With roughly a month left of touring and a stop in Montreal later in October, Teen Daze is eager to come back and play in the city—Jamison performed at Divan Orange in 2013, but his set was plagued with technical snafus.

“It happens once or twice every tour, where everything inexplicably goes wrong … and that year it happened to be in Montreal,” he laughed.

“Montreal is one of our favourite cities; we always have a good time.

Needless to say, we’re very excited to go back and hopefully prove ourselves.”

Teen Daze will be performing at Newspeak on Oct. 14 at 8 p.m.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

quickspins | music

FIDLAR — Too (Mom+Pop; 2015)

Lana Del Rey — Honeymoon (UMG Recordings; 2015)

Mac Miller — G0:0D AM (Warner Bros.; 2015)

Ought — Sun Coming Down (Constellation Records; 2015)

FIDLAR want you to listen to this album now, because soon you’ll grow up, and you’ll sober up, and then life’ll suck.

These SoCal punks have some deeper issues jutting out from their lyrics. Under the raw scream-along hooks and the crunchy guitars mixed into every corner, singer Zac Carper howls about chronic loneliness on “40 oz. On Repeat.” Too explores all the angles of early-twenties nihilism and tries to sweat it out on songs like “Drone,” which is probably alluding to the perception that nine-to-fivers are robotic droids. Too sounds like it’s tearing through the lining in your ears, especially on the first three golden songs. The album just another dispenser for FIDLAR to share their wisdom about how to live life, because Fuck it, Dog. Life’s a Risk.

Lana Del Rey is a singer who has always been able to showcase her talent with impeccable harmonies and a melodic voice.

In Honeymoon, Del Rey takes her harmonies a step further with dreamy melodies that make you feel like you’re floating, as one might feel when they’re in love. These harmonies, however, have hints of dissonance in some songs while others take on a minor key to remind that this love has its flaws. In some songs, Lana borrows from her hip-hop themes in Born To Die with a lower, rich, almost raspy-sounding harmony mixed with hip-hop percussions. In others, she brings back the deep echoing twang of the electric guitar which was at the root of her Ultraviolence album. With Honeymoon, Del Rey strays from her catchy pop tunes to experiment with her harmonies, leading to an album that sparks interest when thoroughly listened to.

I was a die-hard fan of Mac Miller when he came out with the album KIDS. Since then, I’ve felt like he went from a happygo-lucky jokester to a rich rap star who’s been doing too many drugs. However, while listening to his new album G0:0D AM, I was pleasantly surprised. While Miller’s lyrical content and themes have basically remained the same, I found that he has stepped up his lyrical delivery, showcasing lines more creative and witty than in previous albums. Coupled with his own lyrics are verses by Ab-Soul, Chief Keef, Miguel and Lil B that add another layer to the album with their variation in styles. G0:0D AM, accompanied by beats that are up front and to-the-point, produced by artists such as Tyler, The Creator, ID Labs, Thundercat and DJ Dahi, is not an album to dismiss.

Evoking Television by way of Talking Heads and Wire, comparisons were unavoidable on Ought’s promising debut, More Than Any Other Day. What it lacked in general originality it made up for in spades of cohesion, delivering an impressive, nervy and succinct art punk package. Sun Coming Down finds the Montreal-based band moving past its growing pains and truly coming into their own, providing a more refined post-punk offering dripping with jagged, angular riffs and a sense of comforting serenity amidst the chaos. Singer/guitarist Tim Beeler Darcy remains as eccentric as ever, muttering his way through songs as if David Byrne were fronting Joy Division. Though less springy than its predecessor, Sun Coming Down showcases a more textured and fully-realized sound, highlighting Ought’s maturation as a four-piece.

Trial track: “The Punks are Finally Taking Acid”

Trial track: “Honeymoon”

Trial track: “Brand Name”

Trial track: “Beautiful Blue Sky”

9/10

7/10

7/10

8/10 SAMUEL PROVOST-WALKER

MIA PEARSON

EMMETT STOWE

EMMETT STOWE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

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profile | music

Destroyer rips into fall with Poison Season Dan Bejar is killing it in the music scene with longterm fans and unconventionality FANNY AMYOT Contributor For those of you who might not yet be familiar with Dan Bejar’s Destroyer, you’re in luck, because you’re about to discover one of Canada’s brightest musical stars.

For those of you who do know Destroyer, you’re also in luck because Poison Season was released less than a month ago, and it’s destroying the ‘slightly moody and strange vocals and lyrics jazz rock’ game.

While I realize that slightly moody and strange vocals and lyrics jazz rock’ is an unconventional way of classifying a band’s style, there really is no better way to describe Destroyer’s sound.

Plus, it’s how Bejar himself did when we spoke earlier this week. Really, there isn’t anything conventional about Bejar or Destroyer.

Take the band’s name for instance.

Destroyer sounds like the perfect name for a heavy metal band circa 1983 right?

Well, for anybody interested in getting a new wave heavy metal band started, this could be your chance to re-brand Destroyer.

“I was mostly just shocked that no one else had used [Destroyer] yet. So I grabbed it, I just wanted to grab it, to trademark it for myself so I can sell it down the line … I’m open to offers,” said Bejar. Get it while the going’s good, folks!

The name isn’t the only thing that’s unconventional about Bejar and Destroyer. Destroyer’s first record came out in 1996, and Bejar will be 43 in early October. It’s not common for an artist in his 40s to maintain relevance in the indie music scene. It’s even more uncommon for said artist to be touring and performing for crowds half his age.

“It’s strange for sure, it’s cool though, you know,” said Bejar. “I don’t think Destroyer has ever really spoken to any particular generation in specific, you know. Kaputt rang home with a much younger demographic than I was expecting,” he said.

Kaputt is Destroyer’s 2011 album that really put Bejar at the frontlines of the indie music scene. Kaputt’s success gave Bejar the freedom to expand his creative reaches on Poison Season, mainly in terms of the elaborate instrumental arrangements, which include a string section.

“It’s something I’ve always dreamed of doing, something I’ve always wanted to do, but I felt was like a bit outside of my scope. [I] definitely needed the time and the money to go for it in that regard.

That’s the main thing: I’ve always loved music with strings. I made a record called Your Blues about 11 or 12 years ago that was all fake strings, fake orchestral arrangements, and so this time I thought I would have the real thing,” he said.

Though Destroyer is known for its intricate instrumental arrangements, from blaring horns to melodic piano, Poison Season goes above and beyond expectations for a rock album.

“The band comes up with tons of stuff,” said Bejar. “I’ll usually come in with the

vocal melodies, the chords, a general idea for the beat of the song, kind of what the rhythmic phrasing should be, and then I’ll come in with one or two melodies that I’ll usually hand off to one of the horn players, a flute line. Get someone to play it, and just embellish it and make it sound good.” The band’s talent is really only matched by Bejar’s skill as a poet/lyricist and a singer.

language is present throughout the album, lending an ominous tone to Bejar’s already dark lyrics.

“I couldn’t describe myself as a spiritual person, but also, I feel like it’s really up to someone else to describe me that way. I just like that kind of language, I like language of longing, and searching, and being lost, and trying to find some kind of light, you know, or purpose in all

song.” It just didn’t work for “Times Square,” and he “got really attached to both versions, and decided to put them both on.” Like I said, there’s nothing conventional about Destroyer.

The sequencing on Poison Season is different from most Destroyer albums.

With a mix of songs that seemingly don’t belong on the same album, Poison Season’s sequencing brings the listeners

Destroyer’s new album, Poison Season, was released Sept. 28. Photo by Fabiola Carranza.

Bejar said this album comes closest to his idea of what his voice should sound like. “I’m getting closer,” he said. “The sound of my voice, you know, the tone of it and the phrasing of it.”

Surprisingly, his favourite moments on the album are “musical ones, not ones that involve [his] voice.” Check out his favourites, the last two minutes of “Bangkok,” or the last couple minutes of “Forces from Above” and you’ll understand why.

Poison Season follows fictional characters Jesus, Jacob, Judy and Jack across a musical journey that begins and ends with the track “Time’s Square, Poison Season,” an orchestral ballad that takes the listener on a spiritual adventure. Religious

this muck. And this just translates into religious language ... or at least mystic,” said Bejar.“I feel like the minute you say ‘I’m a very spiritual person,’ a little baby bird dies somewhere.” We agreed that there must be lots of dead baby birds out there.

Poison Season sorts through the proverbial “muck” by anchoring the listener in with “Time’s Square,” which is also tucked away in the middle of the album, this time set to a jazz-rock backdrop. Bejar recorded two versions of most songs, one with “the band practicing and recording really fast” said Bejar, and “a whole separate track with the string arrangements. And sometimes they could live together in the same

on a roller coaster ride with poppy highs and jazzy lows. “I like the way the record moves a lot ... the flow of it makes a lot of sense to me,” said Bejar.

There’s a lot that makes sense about Poison Season, in a way that could only really work for Destroyer. I don’t know of many bands that could sing “You’re sick in bed, you’re sick in the head/ You’d love a dog to play dead, you’d love a dog to play dead/ I think I used to be more fun, ah shit here comes the sun,” and still make you want to dance with a big old smile plastered on your face.

Destroyer plays the Fairmount Theatre Thursday, Oct. 1 at 9 p.m with Jennifer Castle.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

SPORTS

SPORTS EDITOR PEGGY KABEYA sports@theconcordian.com @theconcordian

men’s football | sports

Concordia fumbles away homecoming upset

Stingers defensive players swarming the Université de Montréal ball carrier Saturday afternoon at Loyola. Photos by Andrej Ivanov.

PEGGY KABEYA Sports editor With Saturday’s homecoming festivities in full effect, the Concordia Stingers football team were charged with the daunting task of hosting the reigning national champions from the Université de Montréal at Loyola. Despite the wonderfully efficient offensive performance led by newly minted starting quarterback Trenton Miller, the Stingers blend of youthful inexperience and critical special teams mishaps resulted in a disappointing 41-29 loss.

Concordia opened the game with a dominating 87-yard drive capped off by a 22-yard Jean-Guy Rimpel receiving touchdown.

“On film, I saw that we could exploit their weaknesses,” said Trenton Miller, who picked apart the Carabins topranked defense to the tune of 334 yards on 34 completions and four touchdowns.

Unfortunately for the Stingers, their short-lived advantage was quickly done away with as the Carabins marched down the field following a Yannick Lessard fumble that pigeon holed the Stingers with a shortfield to defend.

On the defensive side of the ball, bad field positioning and a non-existent passrush allowed for the Carabins fifth year senior quarterback Gabriel Cousineau to carve out the Stingers secondary for 27 first-half points.

“I knew they wanted to cover deep,

they were scared of our deep pass and did a great job taking it away from us,” said Carabins quarterback Gabriel Cousineau who uncharacteristically ran the ball a season high six attempts for 35 yards and a touchdown.

Unphased by the turnovers, Miller continued to lead the Stingers attack at a remarkable pace, answering back with a pair of long touchdown drives which culminated with a Daniel Skube and another Jean-Guy Rimpel receiving touchdown.

The perplexing 21-27 halftime score which saw the Stingers threatening a huge upset against the cream of the CIS crop, coupled by the impressive play of Trenton Miller were the dominant storylines of the first half.

“We knew they had some very good players. They’re a young team and played us very physical … We got off to a slow start and managed to play better in the second half, but we didn’t play the game we wanted and took a lot of penalties,” said Cousineau.

In the third quarter, both teams’ defenses clamped down following halftime adjustments. The otherwise uneventful and scoreless third quarter was marked by an amazing interception from thirdyear history major Rashaun Perry.

“We were expecting to come out and compete,” stated an emphatic Perry.

“We can play with anyone in this league [RSEQ], It’s not a question of if—it’s in fact—that we know we can.”

With an upset looming in the works,

the Stingers headed into the fourth quarter of play looking to shock the CIS world by exacting some poetic justice in front of

the sizeable homecoming crowd. Concordia’s pass-rush came alive in the second half as sophomore linebacker Jer

Concordia running back Jean-Guy Rimpel making the reception.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

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men’s football | sports

Stingers football team fall short of the colossal upset in 41-27 loss to Université de Montréal

Stingers defenders lay out Université de Montréal ball carrier Saturday afternoon at Concordia’s homecoming game. Photos by Andrej Ivanov. emy Pelletier delivered a huge sack on second down to force a Carabins punt with just under 11 minutes remaining. But on the ensuing punt, a myriad of special teams errors resulted in the Carabins recovering the ball on the Stingers two yard line leading to the eventual UdeM rushing touchdown pushing the score to 34-21.

Down but not out, the Stingers defense stymied the Carabins attack forcing another punt, giving their offense one more chance to get on the field. The Stingers’ sloppy special teams execution reared its ugly head once more, as Concordia returner James Tyrell fumbled the ball on the return setting up the Carabins to put the final nail in the Stingers coffin.

“We have a good team here and we’re young, and it showed on the special team plays we fumbled, we have to do a better job securing the ball,” said an optimistic head coach Mickey Donovan following the game. “Overall, we played hard and we played a full game.”

Despite the loss, the Stingers are looking at their performance against the reigning national champs as a source of inspiration heading into next week’s matchup against the formidable Laval Rouge et Or. “No one should take us lightly anymore,” said Perry. “We’re not pushovers, and we’re not going to be pushovers for anyone.”

Third year defensive back Mikael Charland lunging for the tackle.

Concordia freshman reciever Yannick Lessard makes a reception against the sprawling Université de Montréal defender in Saturday.

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profile | sports

SPORTS IN THE NEWS

Stingers athlete of the week: T. Miller

PAOLO MINGARELLI Staff writer

NHL adds three-onthree overtime The National Hockey League has taken a progressive measure to ensure the better team, and not the better stickhandler, will determine the end result of a close game. The shootout was introduced by the NHL after the 2005 lockout as a way to jumpstart fan interest.

While it left many memories, the gimmick soon became a nuisance. Teams who were significantly outmatched or out-skilled would press for the tying goal to force an overtime period. If they had three, or simply one, shootout specialist, they would lock the game down on defense and play for a shootout. The NHL has decided to combat this by introducing three-on-three overtime following the already in place four-onfour extra frame. This will provide more open ice for the best players in the league to showcase their talents.

Blue Jays secure playoff berth This week was the final regular season series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees.

The Jays came away with two of a possible three wins at home against their American League East rivals.

The Jays bandwagon has snowballed into an avalanche since the trade deadline. The team has responded with an impressive 41 victories out of a possible 59, translating in a 4 game lead against their rival Bronx Bombers.

The race is winding down and the Jays have secured their much coveted post-season birth. Canada’s lone representative in America’s pastime has certainly made its presence felt this MLB season. As their playoff pushes kicks into high gear they will certainly have the support of a whole nation behind them—if they don’t already.

Winter in Qatar featuring the 2022 World Cup

Quarterback Trenton Miller is The Concordian’s athlete of the week PEGGY KABEYA Sports editor Starting quarterback Trenton Miller put on a show last week against one of the nation’s most stout defensive units, Université de Montréal’s Carabins, in Saturday afternoon’s Stingers homecoming game . Despite the 41-27 loss, Miller was a force to be reckoned with as the team relied heavily on his arm and decision-making.

The Buffalo, NY native chewed up the Carabins secondary for 334 yards and four touchdowns. Even with the impressive performance, the first year MBA student and NCAA Division II product is still adapting to the nuances of the Canadian game. However, the humble Miller cites the watchful guidance offensive coordinator Matt Connell and head coach Mickey Donovan as the reason behind his apparent seamless transition to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport’s game.

“I come in with the expectation of completing every pass every game,” said Miller following the homecoming game loss. Undeterred by his monster game against some of the stiffest competition

Canada has to offer, Miller remains a focused perfectionist.

“We didn’t put up as much [yards] as we expected,” he said. A student athlete through and through, Miller stated that his strongest motivation into coming north of the border was the chance of enrolling in Concordia’s world-class MBA program at the John Molson School of Business. Miller, who graduated early from Mars Hill University in North Carolina, was able to maintain his athletic eligibility due to his academic fast-tracking.

Looking forward, the Stingers seem to be in good hands with Miller under center as they prepare for a week against another tough opponent in the formidable Laval Rouge et Or.

opinion | sports

The CIS’s fundamental flaw

Will the CIS ever enforce a fair-play policy or is inequality here to stay?

PEGGY KABEYA Sports editor In today’s ever-polarizing Canadian economic climate, the divide between society’s haves and have-nots continues to grow. The age-old aphorism of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer is becoming more of an irrefutable fact of life than a quirky rhetorical truism.

In the realm of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), where a lack of tangible funding regulations allows for schools who already benefit from preferential private-funding structures unabated by any financial fair play policies (cough cough Laval), are seeing their lofty influx of private (and sometimes overt public) ‘donation’ pay off in astounding ways.

Anyone who follows Canadian college athletics is well aware of the Laval evil empire: a French university tasked with recruiting in a majority English country, with a modest endowment but an extravagant athletics budget. That has been the basic formula for the Rouge et Or’s athletic supremacy. Now throw in a

deep roster of alumni and boosters ready and willing to see their alma-mater profit from their sizable charitable donations for an equally self-serving tax-exemption.

With friends like these...

Canadian college athletics is facing a disparaging inequality that is ruining the quality of athletic competition.

The CIS’s lack of regulatory oversight is directly contributing to the current misanthropic state of affairs. In the current interuniversity climate; it’s become commonplace to see McMaster Football bulldoze a lowly York Lions team 67-10 or Laval hang 64-0 on Saint Francis

Xavier. These blowouts are all well and good because the CIS doesn’t care, and the boosters are getting a sweet return on their tax-protected investment. Schools have complained for years, but after Laval rattled off its latest exploit of four Vanier cups in seven years, schools like the University of British Columbia, University of Calgary and Université de Montréal realized, “hey, our alumni have deep pockets too.” If you can’t beat them, join ‘em, and for those who can’t afford to get a seat at the high rollers table, head for the penny slots cause the CIS casino has no time or oversight for chump change.

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup was awarded to the nation of Qatar. The World Cup has always taken place in the summer months, the off-season for many European soccer nations. However, temperature concerns were brought to the attention of FIFA, since summer in Qatar can average anywhere between 41 and 45 degrees Celsius. Last week, FIFA addressed the issue and decided to have the World Cup take place in November and finish in December, to coincide with Qatar’s winter months. Winter temperatures are more bearable, resting between 21 and 23 degrees Celsius, an atmosphere the players are more familiar and comfortable with. A winter World Cup would be a first and has sparked many fierce debates.

Concordia University starting quarterback Trenton Miller at Loyola. Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

OPINIONS

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OPINIONS EDITOR MATTHEW CIVICO opinions@theconcordian.com @theconcordian

editorial | opinions

The Concordian and your country need you to vote

I

n the last federal election only 60 per cent of Canadians voted. That means 40 per cent of Canadians—14.2 million people—decided to avoid the poles last election day. What does that say about how much we value democracy? What does that say to our ancestors who fought for the vote—the majority of us not being white, wealthy, land-owning males who could vote back in the day? And more importantly, as the youth who will one day run this country, what does it say about Canada’s future when 40 per cent of us will choose to avoid voting this October?

It’s a sad commentary that reinforces negative perceptions of young citizens. We’ll post a meme about party leaders’ hair, and we’ll make a fashionable fuss about the controversial policy du jour, but we won’t line up. We won’t stand in line to participate in a system that people in other parts of the world are willing to go to prison, or even die, to fight for.

It’s an overworked quote, but Winston Churchill’s words still stand 68 years later. “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

Modern democracy isn’t perfect.

A lot of important topics get tied up in the red tape of bureaucracy and political pettiness often has politicians run-

ning a popularity contest rather than a nation. But who are you to complain about the people who run your country if you can’t be bothered to take the time legally allotted to you on Oct. 19 to get out and voice your right to say who rules you?

As the Raging Grannies say, “just fucking vote.”

If you want change, go vote. Register, update your address, find your polling station. Do what you need to do.

If you are from a province other than Quebec you have the choice to register for absentee voting and vote for your riding back home, or register with the Ville-Marie riding that Concordia is a part of and vote for candidates here in Montreal.

There are very few good excuses for not voting but that doesn’t stop us from making bad ones.

Here at Concordia, federal candidates for the Ville-Marie riding actually came to the campus on Sept. 23 to present their platforms. How’s that for service?

In spite of the candidates’ political initiative, turnout was poor. For a school known for its activism, Concordia’s students don’t seem too keen to exercise their democratic rights.

Do we want to be a generation that takes to the streets because we were too short sighted to take to the polls?

Graphic by Marie-Pier LaRose Democracies don’t require revolutions.

We’re actually presented with a regular cycle of chances to kick the current government out of office, or re-vote them into power as we see fit.

Take to the internet, download an app, or—god forbid—actually pick up a paper and read about the election.

Et votez tabernacle!

advice | opinions

Ask a Wizard: Of beards and chronophobia A truly magical advice column TRYNAMINGUS III Grand Wizard

Trynamingus III, CEO of Ask a Wizard, Inc.

Dearest ‘grand’ wizard, I write you today in hopes I can steal some of your time away from dusty tomes and incantations most foul or the season premier of The Big Bang Theory, I won’t judge. I have for you today two questions.

Firstly, I am coming to the end of my undergraduate studies. This is a prospect I am facing with no small amount of anxiety for my future. So, my question for you: how can I stay positive in these most uncertain of times? My second question is more an inquiry about yourself: is it mandatory for wizards to wield beards of such magnitude and length or is that a myth attributed to your profession by popular culture?

Best regards, “beard-curious grad”

While I have great respect for the physical sciences, The Big Bang Theory is no longer on my watch list because the producers did not return my calls about a cameo. I have however been captivated by a curious banshee living outside my kitchen window. She has a lovely singing voice, if you can imagine.

In regards to your first question, methinks your beard curiosity is matched

only by your anxiety towards the future, that darkness eternally obscured in the mists of time.

I should begin by saying it is no great shame to fear the unknown. History can rightly be regarded as a chronicle of humanity’s attempts to demystify the universe—to assure ourselves that we have nothing to fear.

Yet there it lies behind us and before us, the Unknown. The past sinks back into an unverifiable soup, and the future towers before us, colossal; unknowable. Your fancy YouTube might help fix the former, but there is no antidote to the latter. The shrouded paths of the future are—and always will be—ever before us.

Have I frightened you yet?

Did you know that a family of shrews live in my pantry? I never see them but I do hear their parties. They must keep a different holiday calendar because they’re always at it. And into my pickles no less.

But yes, the future is terrifying precisely because it is uncertain. The future engenders fear in us but it can, with some work, also grow a hearty hope.

Are you hoping for fortune and ease, or would you consider a contentedness that can carry the weight of disappointment? I’m not advocating for you to

dream small, as you know well that wizards are the most prodigious dreamers, but rather to look to a more durable hope than success.

That’s what these schools are churning out these days, success hounds. I keep a strong kennel so I say this a fan of hounds. But when you send out 10,000 hounds for one fox, well, you can be sure that 9,999 hounds will learn to live with disappointment.

Do you believe the universe to be hostile, a place where we, blind to fact and reason, try to eke out a good life?

Abandon all hope if you do, or prepare to turn tooth and claw on your fellow hounds.

Or do you perhaps consider yourself a character in a very important story? With this outlook, you can lose the fox but not howl with rage. Take this view and you might find yourself happening on rich truffles, all along the way.

As for your second question, I assure you that good wizards are not prone to vanity! It might surprise you to hear that most beards of great magnitude grow out of neglect. I once studied the journals of Merlin with such focus that my beard grew six inches and became home to a most delightful sparrow.

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letter | opinions

A moist, malty love letter to the old Reggie’s Do you remember those days, those nights and those sticky floors?

MIRANDA CIPOLLA Contributor Dear Reggie’s, I don’t throw around the word love a lot. Especially not in reference to a bar. I mean, sure, you can love people and animals and things—but can you ever actually love a campus watering hole?

Well, Reggie’s, I’m here to say that yes, you can. I often say it to everyone, enthusiastically, my eyes glimmering with glee: “guys,” I say, “I totally, literally love Reggie’s.” And I’m not ashamed who knows it.

I mean, we’ve had some good memories, you and I. Do you remember that time I came to see you, right after my first-ever final at Concordia? I do. I remember the seven vodka shots like they were yesterday. Mostly because even today, three years later, whenever I catch a whiff of vodka, I feel a little sick to my stomach... but that’s hardly your fault. Do you remember Valentine’s Day, before

you closed? Oh man. We had so much fun.

There are other memories, too: birthdays, game nights, and Thirsty Thursdays. Even though some people thought you were a little dingy, a little ratchet, well, I didn’t care. I never did. Sure, your booths were a tad uncomfortable and your bathrooms could have used some improvement. But we fit together anyway, you and I. Reggie’s, I think what I’m trying to say with this letter is that I miss you.

We all miss you. I know that we shared some special memories, but I also know that you’ve been a source of happiness for countless other people, too. And I’m okay with that. That’s part of the reason why I love you so much—why we love you so much.

You were a great spot for fostering a sense of community among us Concordia students. Like a comforting best friend, you were always there to offer a familiar face, a good drink, and dim lighting. Many of us have come and gone from the mezzanine of the Hall building. But like so many of the beer bellies that were so lovingly cultivated in those cramped booths, you will always remain.

So please, Reggie’s, come back to us soon. We miss you. Stop making me go to McKibbin’s for Ladies’ Night. My liver can’t handle it anymore. And my soul just

isn’t in it like it used to be.

Enthusiastically awaiting your reopening, Miranda

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

musings | opinions

Falling hard for autumn over and over again What’s there to like about the herald of winter dread?

MATTHEW CIVICO Opinions Editor

W

hat is it about dying trees, cold winds, and shorter days that drives me to wake up with the sun and go for a run with a toque on? It can’t only be me. Well, maybe you’re not a runner or a morning person—that’s ok— there’s plenty of other things autumn is good for other than chilly sunrises.

I’ve heard people say that autumn makes them sad, yet many others say that it’s their favourite season. The anticipation leading up to spring and summer is hopeful and light, and for good reason (Canadian winters), but the anticipation of autumn and winter are more like varying degrees of dread for some. While I do prefer sweaters to sunscreen I have nothing against summer–It’s great and I enjoy it to the fullest. Still, there is something about the onset of autumn that inspires me.

Fall is my favourite season precisely because it makes me a bit sad. Let me explain.

Like the conflict in a good tragedy, fall, and the winter that follows it, is unstoppable. Bad things are going to happen. You will need to find those gloves that you put away in a special place but, tragically, have forgotten their location.

Just when it looks like you’ll need to buy a new pair for the third year in a row, you pat yourself down in your winter coat and, what’s this? You find your gloves in the pockets. Oh yes, you are a smart one.

How could you have doubted yourself?

With your hands thus outfitted you can now venture out confidently into the increasingly belligerent weather.

This anticipation of difficulty is what I find so attractive about fall. Historically this feeling had more bite for the average person because the concept of the harvest wasn’t just a concept—it was a matter of life and death. Rest after struggle is a particularly beautiful kind of rest, and I get a slice of that every autumn in a sort of microcosm, just like that little anecdote about the lost gloves. Necessity feels closer during the change of seasons.

Autumn inspires me because it anticipates change, changes that are more like challenges. While challenges like staying warm and fed are stripped of their risk for city dwellers, they thankfully retain most of comforting reward. Snuggles, warmly spiced treats, and casseroles are definitely big players in fall’s popularity. There is more though, like the melancholy of gently falling leaves.

In addition to tea, autumn drives me to make things. I get all creative, and in a way that’s distinct from other times of year.

Summertime demands activity and getting outside while winter is often an energy

suck, but autumn quickens things. I get a desperate feeling of time running out.

Winter really is coming.

Actually, there’s not much time left. The fall passses quickly and soon shopping malls will be prodding us to quasi-Christmas consumerism and no one will want to go out because of the snow.

This season lives on borrowed time every year and it’s shorter than most, so don’t go wasting it. Slow down but don’t start hibernating indoors just yet, there are autumn sunrises to catch, and a finite amount of beauty to contemplate over warm cups of tea.

Chilly winds and changing leaves are a parable of permanence. Photo by Matthew Civico.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

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ETC Letters to the editor Write to the Editor-in-chief editor@theconcordian.com

Concordia needs an opt-out day

Drop the charges!

No tribunals for students!

Concordia students have the right to optout of Fee-Levy Group fees, but very few do. There are three reasons why: first, many students are simply not aware of this option; second, even if they are aware, the procedure is just too darn complicated and time consuming to even bother with; and third, they think the Fee-Levy Groups (henceforth referred to as FLGs) are all doing a fantastic job.

The third reason is actually the least common, simply because the vast majority of students know very little—if anything—about what FLGs are and what they do. Please allow me to provide some background.

There are 13 Fee-Levy Groups scattered around the SGW campus (with only one at Loyola). Each group is different and is involved in different activities on and off campus. Some are involved in grassroots social issues, some create media content related to Concordia, some distribute food, and so on. The university collects money on behalf of the Fee-Levy Groups via our tuition. Together, they receive $3.35 per credit from every undergraduate student (about $50.25 for a full time undergrad) and $7.75 per semester from graduate students.

It turns out, the only way the university agreed to this arrangement in the first place was because the FLGs promised to allow any student to opt out if they so desired.

However the FLGs found a loophole: the university never said how simple the opt-out process had to be. And thus we have a system today where to opt-out

During the student strike that took place in spring of 2015, over 25 students participating in picket lines at Concordia University received formal complaints from faculty members alleging they disobeyed article 29G (obstruction or disruption of university activities) of Concordia’s Code of Rights & Responsibilities.

By picketing, students were carrying out the strike mandates voted democratically in their general assemblies. The strike was against the Quebec government’s austerity measures; it was to protect the common good so that public services and social welfare are not hampered. Those who are most affected by austerity measures are the marginalized communities and people from lower income brackets, much like Concordia University’s demographic.

Concordia’s decision to partake in political discrimination as cocomplainants, targeting students for carrying out a democratically voted mandate, and for being critically minded and caring for the betterment of the society, undermines the students’ democratic process. Moreover, we see this action as a means to legitimize the repression of the voices against austerity measures proposed by the Liberal government. We demand that the administration acknowledge the political nature of these complaints and dismiss them promptly; we further

the

c

of Cinema Politica (a group that screens independent political films) for example, you have within five school days to call, schedule an appointment, and travel to their office to collect your 70 cents per undergraduate credit. I’m only using Cinema Politica as an example and have no public opinion on their activities to offer.

I encourage all students to examine each of the FLGs’ activities and determine which— if any—you would like to support.

Ironically, several of the Fee Levy Groups claim to fight for social justice, which among other things, opposes oppressive government bureaucracy (i.e. vis-a-vis immigration) and fights tactics that prevent citizens from exercising their rights. Yet, they have no issue enforcing impossible conditions on students wishing to exercise their right to opt out of theses fees and effectively barring disabled students, students based in Loyola, and others from opting out at all.

I have proposed a reasonable solution to the insanity: Opt-Out Day. Opt-Out Day will be one or more designated days at each campus, where each FLG will be required to staff a table at a central location and provide fee-refunds on the spot to any student with proper documentation who requests it. Opt-Out Day is not a perfect solution (it is also time constrained, for example), yet it is the most reasonable, cheap and simplest to implement.

— RAPHAEL STEIN, ENCS undergrad

encourage the faculty members pressing these charges to stand with students as we fight for sustainable education, and immediately reconsider their participation in repressing the voices of students at Concordia University.

We, the UNDERSIGNED, consider the administration’s lack of support and failure to recognize the strike inappropriate and unacceptable. We believe that such demeanor goes against the values Concordia espouses and promotes: a campus community that thrives on “intertwining education with social responsibility” and “encouraging students to become active, critical and global citizens.” We thus strongly urge you to appreciate our socially responsible student populace, recognize the legitimacy of student democracy and cancel all strike-related charges against students!

There will be another solidarity protest held on Sept. 29 at 12:30 on the corner of Mackay and Maisonneuve. We encourage all students, staff and faculty to come and demonstrate our collective support and solidarity for students facing political repression.

Sign the petition online at http://tinylink.net/H7a

— KYLE MCLOUGHLIN, Masters in Social and Cultural Anthropology. On behalf of Solidarity Concordia Tribunal Support Committee

The Concordian’s editorial team We tell your stories since 1983.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MICHELLE GAMAGE editor@theconcordian.com PRODUCTION MANAGER PIERRE A. LEPETIT production@theconcordian.com NEWS EDITORS GREGORY TODARO RACHEL MUZAIC news@theconcordian.com LIFE EDITOR CRISTINA SANZA life@theconcordian.com

MUSIC ASSISTANT ÉTIENNE LAJOIE SPORTS EDITOR PEGGY KABEYA sports@theconcordian.com

COPY EDITORS NATHALIE LAFLAMME JESSICA ROMERA STEPH ULLMAN WALID MARAQA copy@theconcordian.com

OPINIONS EDITOR MATTHEW CIVICO opinions@theconcordian.com

PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS SAVANNA CRAIG KIM LAM SHANG LEEN

PHOTO EDITOR ANDREJ IVANOV photo@theconcordian.com

CONTRIBUTORS Taylor Yankowski, Robin Stanford, Marco Saveriano, Pauline Nesbitt, Rebecca Luger, Alex DiMeglio, Tiffany Lafleur, Bashir Rifai, Casey Dulson, Paolo Mingarelli, Robin Stanford, Laura Marchand

PHOTO ASSISTANT MARIE-PIERRE SAVARD

ARTS EDITORS LYDIA ANDERSON ELIJAH BUKREEV arts@theconcordian.com

ONLINE EDITOR DORI JULIAN online@theconcordian.com

MUSIC EDITOR MIA PEARSON music@theconcordian.com

GRAPHICS EDITOR CHARLOTTE BRACHO graphics@theconcordian.com

Editorial office 7141 Sherbrooke St. W Building CC-Rm 431 Montreal, QC H4B 1R6 (514) 848-2424 ext. 7499 (Editor-in-chief)

BOARD OF DIRECTORS NATHALIE LAFLAMME JACOB SEREBIN RUBEN BASTIEN MILOS KOVACEVIC directors@theconcordian.com

BUSINESS MANAGER JAYA GAUTAM business@theconcordian.com

Concordia University’s weekly, independent student newspaper VOLUME 33 | ISSUE 5 | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Cover photo by Andrej Ivanov.

The Concordian

@TheConcordian

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK FULL LUNAR ECLIPSE OVER MTL

#TCBACKCOVER Autumn has crept into our neighbourhoods once again.

It brings with it crisp leaves skittering across roads, black cats glowering from shadowy corners and skelletons brought out from closets to be hung from trees. Hailing the arrival of this creepy season was Sundayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s supermoon complete lunar eclipse. But when the moon goes out, who is left to light your way home? Capture your amazing weekly moments and share them by sending your photos* to photo@theconcordian.com or share them with us using #TCbackcover *all photos must be your own

Photo by Andrej Ivanov.