The Concordian Vol 31. Issue 27

theconcordian Volume 31 Issue 27

INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY. SINCE 1983.

April 1, 2014

You’re poorer than you think

Photo by Nathalie Laflamme

Tuition fees have increased but universities remain underfunded sociated with tuition fees in and of itself looks like it would be bad for students, but I’ve heard many people involved in student governance argue that, since the money is being re-routed through loans and bursaries, it might actually be beneficial in the long run,” said current Concordia Student Union President Melissa Kate Wheeler. “The CSU is obviously opposed to any funds, be they through tuition itself or tax credits, being taken away from students. However, for this particular issue, it may be a little more complex.”

In 2012, tens of thousands of students lined the streets of Montreal to fight the proposed tuition fee hike. This period in Quebec’s history is known as the Maple Spring. The Quebec Liberal Party’s original plan was to increase fees by $325 per year over five years. After students acted out, the Liberals changed their plan to an increase of $254 over seven years, with an indexation of tuition.

Regardless, students continued to

march in the streets, banging on pots and pans.

The original plan would have cost a student completing a three-year undergraduate degree $975. This tax credit cut will cost the same student $800.64.

Léo Bureau-Blouin was president of the Féderation étudiante collegial du Québec (FECQ) and one of the leaders of the Maple Spring protests.

He is now the PQ candidate for the Laval-des- Rapides riding, and believes this cut in tax credits will be beneficial to students.

“Since financial aid for students constitutes a more effective tool than a non-refundable tax credit when we are trying to facilitate access to education, I believe that this measure will be beneficial for the students who need it most,” Bureau-Blouin said.

According to Philippe Ghayad, an economics professor at Dawson College, cutting from tax credits was not a smart move.

“The tax credit is a benefit, es-

pecially for those students that need it. It is trying to make tuition rates more progressive,” Ghayad said. “[The cut in tax credits] is not very progressive, because it will hurt lowincome students more than others.

Tax credits have a way of balancing costs in favour of those that have low-incomes.”

Concordia President Alan Shepard believes that this cut is a good change if it means more students will have access to loans and bursaries.

“It’s an interesting public policy decision because, I’m not in the government, but what I assume they are trying to do is … [funnel] additional support to students of more modest means, that’s the ambition. I’m an advocate for people of modest means having an opportunity to go to university,” Shepard said.

This cut will not change the fact that Quebec universities are underfunded.

In this issue // life arts

music

sports

opinions

Dr. Goodall visits Concordia p. 5

Mac De Marco Profile p.12

Stingers soccer in review p. 15

Language shouldn’t affect vote p. 15

NAThALIE LAfLAMME Production manager

Tuition fees have been indexed. Tax credits for university students have been slashed by 12 per cent. Universities across the province remain underfunded. And yet, the pots and pans have stayed in kitchen cupboards.

In previous years, any person studying at a postsecondary institution was eligible to get a tax credit of 20 per cent off their tuition fees. This rule also applied to any exams that cost money, and the amount could be transferred to parents or even grandparents.

As of this semester, the rate has changed. The government lowered the tax credit to eight per cent.

For a Concordia student in the Arts & Science faculty, taking five classes per semester, tuition fees amount to $2,224 per year, according

to Concordia’s tuition fee calculator.

Twenty per cent of that amount represents a total of $444.80. Eight percent of the tuition fees, on the other hand, amounts to $177.92.

This means that, this year, students will get $266.88 less back from the government than they did last year. Over three years, this lowered tax credit rate will cost them a total of $800.64. This new rate will be applied to tuition fees from the semester that started in the winter 2013 semester.

To most students, this represents a lot of money. For the government, it will amount to a ton of money.

According to a document published by the CQFF (Centre Québecois de formation en fiscalité), this change should bring $61 million to the government of Quebec between 20142015, and $78 million in 2018-2019.

The PQ has stated that the money they get from this cut will be reinvested into loans and bursaries.

“The decrease in tax credits as-

Dune: The movie that never was p.9

We tell your stories. Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian

Continued on P. 3

theconcordian.com

news 2

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Tuesday, april 1, 2014

Write to the editor: news@theconcordian.com

CITY MILOS kOvACEvIC Interim co-news editor

>> LEGO STORES

COMING TO TOWN Montrealers will soon be able to scratch that Lego itch after not one, but two, lego store locations were announced — in Carrefour Laval and Fairview Pointe Claire. MTL Blog has displayed pictures of yellow construction paneling making promises of a 2014 opening date, as well as a link to confirmation on the Lego website. So far, no news on a downtown location.

>> MAN IN CRITICAL CONDITION AFTER BASEBALL MISHAP

Montreal’s first baseball game since 2004, played on Friday, has left a man in his 40s in critical condition after he fell from the stands during the pre-season game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Mets. The CBC says police consider the man’s life in genuine danger, but they don’t know much beside the fact that he fell some 10 to 15 metres during a walk back to his seat.

>>

Campus // NEWS

JMSB on fire at Happening Marketing 2014 Unexpected finish sends participants to cloud nine MILOS kOvACEvIC Interim co-news editor

A

s the rankings for each competition at Happening Marketing 2014 were announced, team John Molson heard their names, again and again, but each time shy of a podium finish. Judging from the way things stood at that moment, one might have been satisfied with a bronze finish, as in last year’s edition. Yet when the final call was made, John Molson found itself all the way at the top.

“There was just confusion all around,” said marketing student and competitor Miyoko Fulleringer about those initial seconds during which their win hadn’t quite registered yet.

“The organizing committee told us we came fourth in almost everything,” she said about the event, held this year at University of Laval in Quebec City.

Smaller in scope and size than competitions like the Jeux du Commerce, (which can have over a thousand students), the Happening Marketing case competition focuses on creating a more intimate, collegial atmosphere. This year, it hosted 10 universities.

Like all case competitions JMSB

delegates participate in, the culmination was paved with many months of training whenever their schedules would allow. Coaches and students sacrificed many an hour in what constituted perpetual case competitions in miniature.

“There were a lot of late nights, weekends. We were here every night of spring break,” said Fulleringer, adding that Christmas vacation was no exception.

For Salar Molaei, a third-year accountancy student participating as part of the integrated marketing communications team, first place wasn’t everything.

“I believe that the competitions are much more than podiums and it is important to keep the big picture in mind. I know that JMSB did their best to support other schools and we went in with the mindset of having fun and getting to know people. Every school excelled and showed us that we would have to do much better to even have a chance to podium.

I applaud everybody.”

And this, he says, made all that commitment worthwhile.

“The person I am today is not the same as I was when I first joined the delegation. In the past year, I have been under tremendous stress, I have learnt more than I have in my academic career, and I have met many

JmsB’s victorious delegation at happening marketing 2014. photo from JmsB faceBook group. students who have each shaped me to become a better version of myself.

The experience that you gain as a competitor is something that I will take with me throughout my life and I would not change it for the world.”

So how did JMSB manage first?

“As much as we’re all there to compete academically, [the organizers] really try to encourage sportsmanship and everybody getting together,” said Fulleringer of the sport and social activities which sometimes weigh more than individual cases.

JMSB’s marks for sportsmanship aided them in gaining first place.

“Honestly, I can say it’s one of the best organized competitions I’ve been to and I’ve attended seven […] as a delegate, two as a volunteer, [and] one as an organizer,” she added, echoing the general consensus from other JMSB participants.

Molaei, himself leaving the case world with an upcoming graduation, had some last words for curious readers.

“Participate. Get involved. Stress yourself out and beat the lazy student out of you. The competitions will change you and make you dig deep to bring out the best in you.”

ADVANCE VOTING NOW OPEN

Over 175 learning institutions in the province have opened advance voting as of Friday night for the 2014 provincial elections, reports the Montreal Gazette, giving full-time students the ability to cast votes for their ridings at their universities and CÉGÉPs. The hours of the booths vary by institution, but are usually open from morning to night, and a voter needs one of the following documents to vote: health insurance card, driver’s licence, Canadian passport, a certificate of Indian status, or a Canadian Forces ID.

>> MAROIS THREATENS NOTWITHSTANDING CLAUSE Global news reports that Quebec premier and Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois has said she will use the notwithstanding clause to pass its controversial Charter of Values if its legality is challenged by the courts.

The clause, rarely used, gives provinces and parliament a way of going up and above the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in passing and applying legislature.

Politics // NEWS

Voting woes continue for Concordians Election difficulties and advice on how best to deal with them MILOS kOvACEvIC Interim co-news editor

Concordia’s Michael Groenendyk can attest that voting nightmares aren’t reserved for students — it took him a week and a half, three trips, and many hours spent arguing, debating, and phoning before it was settled.

Like many others, Groenendyk’s careful efforts, which saw him bring his passport, a copy of his lease, and pay stubs, were initially insufficient to prove his domicile status, which, according to Quebec law, simply means calling Quebec as one’s primary place of residence for at least six months. If you are a domiciled Canadian citizen of adult age, you can vote in Quebec.

The Concordia business librarian, originally from Nova Scotia, and his girlfriend were told to return with additional documentation.

Upon their return, they said they faced a hostile reception from a new, different clerk.

“He repeatedly asked us whether or not we were students. I told him I was a Concordia employee, not a student, and showed him my documentation. I also explained to him how difficult librarian jobs are to come by and, in moving to Montreal, it is my plan to live here permanently,” he said, perhaps alluding to the recent comments by Premier Pauline Marois which insinuated that consideration should be put on whether voters also have the intention of staying in Quebec.

After heated arguments, during which the official seemed to doubt Groenendyk’s girlfriend’s waitressing job as sufficiently permanent as well, Groenendyk was told their documents were sufficient for now, but needed to be further inspected.

Four days later, after the period to add names to the elector’s list had expired, they received letters telling them they had, in fact, not met the criteria. It was only after contacting several newspapers and his party of choice that Elections Quebec invited him to reapply during a special revi-

sion period using essentially the same documentation, plus income tax documents, that had been judged insufficient previously. He said he found this manner of decision baffling.

Alison Maynard, project coordinator of the English youth vote mobilization project, Vote it Up, said proving domicile status was a complex endeavor.

“Living in Quebec is not proof that you are domiciled in Quebec — especially if your permanent address is in another province,” she said.

Maynard advised that the best documents to prove one’s status are either a provincial income tax return, a Quebec driver’s license, a Medicare Card, or other provincial documentation stating your status as a Quebec resident.

She also said that fewer Anglophone voters have registered this time around, despite comments by certain Quebec officials of ‘voter fraud’ by an influx of out-of-province students.

Maynard stated that the chief electoral officer’s reports of non-eligible students attempting to register are

‘greatly exaggerated’ and that media comments of fraud were ridiculous.

Groenendyk said he believed the fault to a large extent lies with the particular officials, who he believes wield too much power in the decision.

“The thing that worries me about this situation is how easily it is for one individual elections clerk to deprive somebody of their right to vote, and also the standards for the criteria for who is eligible to vote and who isn’t. Why is it that my documentation is okay for one clerk, but not okay for another?” he said.

However Groenendyk also said he still believes that the elections are inclusive, that they are trying to involve everybody, in spite of his experience and what other people are saying. “I do believe, [from] talking to Elections Quebec, that they are trying to run a fair election. I genuinely felt that the people I spoke to were trying to help me and [were] giving me a fair chance to demonstrate that I met the criteria to vote.”

Tuesday, MarCH 25, 2014

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Student funding// NEWS

Why indexing tuition fees won’t fix funding problems Continued from cover “Whether or not you agree with the hike or other types of funding, the problem is that our universities are underfunded. We, as students, know that,” Cameron Ahmad, a Concordia student and president of the Young Liberals of Canada in Quebec, said. “The equipment we have, the resources we have, they’re good, but they’re not as good as they could or should be.”

Ghayad believes that, economically, the original tuition fee hike plan made more sense.

“The Liberal plan makes more sense to me. It is more progressive than the PQ plan…Low tuition rates are like subsidizing the rich since they can afford to pay more. Adjusting tuition rates with tax credits, loans and bursaries gives an incentive to low-income earners to continue their studies,” Ghayad said.

Ahmad believes that the province’s youth needs to speak up.

“If we look at the facts, if we look at the consequences it has had on people, it’s a tuition increase regardless. I think, just as young people, we need to speak up against this, and we need to make sure that people are aware,” Ahmad said. “This is the most blatant type of hypocrisy in politics right now, and they shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this. We, as young people, should remind the population that when a politician says something, we should hold them to account for it. And we shouldn’t let them get away with trying to slip us a fast one.”

Although students have not taken to the streets, many Quebec university rectors have protested in their own way. Fifteen Quebec university rectors, led by Guy Breton, president of l’Université de Montréal, took out full-page ads on March 17 in both The Gazette and La Presse, demanding that the next elected government increase university funding to the Canadian average by 2020.

According to Statistics Canada and the Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO), student funding for universities, per student, is currently $10,844 in Quebec. In the rest of Canada, the average is $15,798.

Shepard was one of the rectors who signed the ad. The idea behind it was to bring attention to the fund-

ing gap.

“What the rectors want, and what they’re worried about, is how to lead a university network across Quebec that is as competitive as it can be with other institutions outside of Quebec,” Shepard said.

“We want, not surprisingly, the best kinds of education we can offer students. When the students arrive here, we want them to have equal opportunity with people in the rest of Canada…and it is difficult to deliver on all of those initiatives, all those ambitions, if the per student funding is substantially lower.”

After last year’s education summit, the government promised that they would reinvest $1.7 billion into universities over the next seven years. A portion of the money would help universities cover increasing costs. For the other portion, the schools would work with the government in order to decide where the money would be invested. The money would go mostly towards academic and student services; not administration.

According to Bureau-Blouin, this money will come from the expansion of economic activity and the control of provincial expenses.

Concordia had been communicating with the government about the funding they would receive, and about what programs would be invested in. All negotiations were put on hold when the general provincial election was called.

“Without that reinvestment … we won’t have the money necessary to become competitive on the North American market and internationally. We’re going to struggle at maintaining our reputation and maintaining the quality of education in Quebec because our competitors will go deeper and deeper compared to us,” said Concordia University’s controller, Daniel Therrien.

As controller, Therrien works with financial services and controls expenditures.

The PQ is the only party to have promised to reinvest this money into education. If they do not win the election, it is unknown whether the new government will pick up where the PQ left off, or invest the money elsewhere.

“A new government coming in could change the direction completely,” Therrien said.

Tuition indexation rate

2.2%

Average salary increase rate at Concordia

3.6%

In February, the Parti Quebecois announced their plan to index tuition fees, meaning that the price of tuition will increase at the same rate as the cost of living. It was recently decided that tuition would increase at a rate of 2.2 per cent per year, starting in the fall of 2014.

Although this will mean a little more money for universities, it will not solve their funding issues.

It will essentially mean that they will now be able to afford to keep up with most of their current expenses, something that, when tuition fees were frozen, they could not do, as their costs technically increased every year.

Although the cost of living is currently increasing at a rate of 2.2 per cent, many expenses at Concordia, like salaries, library e-journals, and scientific equipment, increase at much higher rates.

“If the cost of goods, services and labour goes up by at least 2 per cent and the tuition is indexed by 2 per cent you haven’t done anything to fundamentally close the gap with the rest of Canada. You’re maintaining status quo. As a general rule of thumb, inflation in universities has been running across Canada about 4 per cent per year, 4 to 5 per cent per year, depending on what jurisdiction you’re in. So lets say that inflation is 4 per cent and you have 2 per cent, you’re already losing ground,” Shepard said.

“Our internal costs, when you look at security, you look at gas, our fixed costs, they grew at about that rate. However, the biggest component of the costs of university is salary…on average [increase at a rate of] 3.2 per cent [per year],” Therrien said. He explained that, since the university is unionized, salaries are based on a 12-step scale of collective agreements. Every step on the scale means a higher salary increase every year, the minimum being a 2 per cent increase.

According to Therrien, the school’s income will increase by around $2 million because of the new indexation plan, but this will not allow the school to increase their services.

“It’s not even enough to cover our increase in costs…if we don’t grow our student population, I won’t even be able to make my costs, and I’m not even talking about reinvesting. So the tuition in-

University funding per student (Quebec average)

$10,844

University funding per student (Canadian average)

$15,798

“

“We want, not surprisingly, the best kinds of education we can offer students. When the students arrive here, we want them to have equal opportunity with people in the rest of Canada…and it is difficult to deliver on all of those initiatives, all those ambitions, if the per student funding is substantially lower.”

-Alan Shepard, Concordia President

dexation is only bringing us a certain portion of the money we need to maintain the operation,” Therrien said.

Therrien also explained that increasing the amount of students at the school is not as easy as it seems, as the school needs to maintain its reputation, and can only support so many students without affecting the quality of the education being offered.

“Any money helps the university, that’s for sure. But the indexing is only giving me an opportunity to maintain what were doing. There is no growth with that, there is no reinvestment,” Therrien said.

According to Ghayad, indexing tuition fees makes sense, since, with the inflation rate, costs go up for universities every year. It is also logical to index tuition fees because salaries follow the inflation rate.

He believes that not indexing tuition fees could cause “a large gap between revenue and expenditures for the universities. Deficits need to be paid off by someone in society sooner or later.”

“If it were not indexed, sooner or later tuition rates would increase as they did in the past, like in the early 1990s, and it was a large jump in tuition. I think a transparent and expected increase of about 2 per cent

“

annually, which is the inflation rate more or less, would be better than the possible outcomes mentioned. I think that the tax credit is going to hurt more students overall than the indexation plan,” Ghayad said.

One of the main reason Pauline Marois was voted in as premier back in 2012 was because one of her electoral promises was not to raise tuition fees.And yet, in more ways than one, the cost of superior education has increased. Ahmad believes that this whole situation will have a negative impact on how the province’s youth perceives politics.

“I think that, with this, what the PQ has managed to do is to make a lot of young people cynical about politics, because they’ve gone back on a lot of their election promises in a very short period of time,” Ahmad said. “How can young people be inspired by politics or believe in their politicians when they’re going back on their promises?”

Two years after the Maple Spring, a compromise between students, universities, and the government has not yet been reached. The results of the next provincial election will, no matter who is elected, impact the face of superior education.

Only time will tell whether these changes will be positive or negative, and how the population will react.

[Indexing tuition] is not even enough to cover our increase in costs…if we don’t grow our student population, I won’t even be able to make my costs, and I’m not even talking about reinvesting. So the tuition indexation is only bringing us a certain portion of the money we need to maintain the operation.

- Daniel Therrien, University Controller

Amount lost with tax credit cut (one year)

$266.88 Original tuition fee hike (over seven years)

$325

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theconcordian

Tuesday, april 1, 2014

Campus // NEWS

NATION MILOS kOvACEvIC Interim co-news editor

>> SHOOTING IN ONTARIO COURT The CBC reports that a shooting at a Brampton, Ont., courthouse has left 53-year-old police officer Michael Klarenbeek injured but stable and the aggressor, unknown, dead after police rushed to the scene. So far, no motive has come to light and witnesses claim the shooter began firing when he was stopped at the security screening area.

>> UPDATED BILL 101 IF PQ WINS

Quebec Premier Pauline Marois has declared that, should she win the provincial elections slated for the first week of April, her party will ‘defend the French language’ by updating Bill 101 and strengthening the province’s language policies, particularly in regards to the Anglicization of the workplace. The CBC quotes her as saying, “[...] as an institution and as government, I think the official language of Quebec is French and we don’t have to be bilingual in our institutions.”

>> PRAIRIES

CONSIDERING VODKA BAN CTV has reported that Manitoba and Saskatchewan are considering import bans on Russian-made alcohols destined for state-run shops in response to the increasingly tense situation between Ukraine and Russia. The provincial (and largely symbolic) bans would, in the case of Manitoba, affect two vodka brands and one type of beer, and would not affect private sales from business people operating in places such as corner stores or supermarkets.

>> GUELPH

FOOTBALL COACH DONATES $10M The Globe and Mail reports that University of Guelph head coach Stu Lang has donated $10 million to help with the estimated $25 million price tag to renovate Queen University’s ruined, 42-year-old Richardson football stadium. Now considered dangerously unstable by engineers, Lang credits the university’s stadium with launching a career that saw him win five Grey cups with the Edmonton Eskimos, and meeting his wife. Now a head coach, Lang was also the president of packaging company CCL Industries.

For ConU, Community Matters Despite not running as a slate team, CM takes the vote SLOANE MONTGOMERY Co-news editor

The Community Matters affiliation took the vote in the CSU general election, with candidates from their team filling all eight executive positions after approximately 31,000 students voted this past week.

CSU’s Chief Electoral Officer, Andre-Marcel Baril stated that it was “the best voter turnout in three years.”

Votes for Community Matters affiliation were double or more for almost every position.

The 2014-2015 CSU executives will be; Ben Prunty for president, Heather Nagy for VP Finance, Jessica Cabana for VP Sustainability, Terry Wilkings for VP Academic, Katherine Bellini for VP Clubs & Internal Affairs, Charles Bourassa for VP Student Life, Gabriel Velasco for VP Loyola, and Anthony GuertinBanton for VP External & Mobilization.

For CSU Council the spot for independent councillor has been filled, all three Fine Arts positions have been filled, all five John Molson School of Business positions have been filled, all 14 Arts & Science spots have been filled. For Engineering & Computer Science all four spots have been filled; however, ENCS councillor Kyle Arseneau may be disqualified after Baril accused him of violating rules and regulations of the campaign via Facebook. The decision is now in the hands of the CSU Judicial Board, with a decision expected within the next few days.

Community Matters leader and newly elected CSU President Ben Prunty believed strongly in his affiliation as a team and not just in himself. While a mixed executive team was what students and current council had predicted, Prunty was ecstatic to have his entire team elected in together, placing a firm sustainable future in the CSU’s hands.

“It was really great to see such congruence between our vision for the CSU and that of the students

which we’re here to represent and work for,” said Prunty.

Community Matters presents themselves as a cohesive team that are all on the same page and who have had experience working together in the past.

“This means that we are well positioned to play to our individual strengths for the benefit of student projects, and student based-projects,” said Prunty.

With promise of a communitybased approach the affiliation explains that that is exactly what they will bring. The main plan for the future is to empower and unite the student-base by including as many individual students and student groups as possible in the CSU’s processes and discourse.

With such a dominant win over the election, Community Matters feels they won because they reached the largest number of students.

“We think it is a combination of being active and consistent all year, being confident in our own qualifications for each of our positions, having teammates that are connected to the community-at-large, having projects that we are already working

on steadily, and our emphasis on one-on-one conversations with students,” said Prunty on behalf of the team.

This past campaign was one the most competitive the CSU had seen in years with three complete affiliations and two independent councillors running. Community Matters said that is was an honour to run against such dedicated students.

“We hope that people are not discouraged, and that those with aspirations of further civic engagement continue to refine their skills and build leadership in society where they see it lacking,”said Prunty.

To the high number of students who went out and voted in the general election Prunty said, on behalf of Community Matters; “Thank you for the privilege you have granted us, and you can count on us to do our best all year to fulfill the projects that we spoke about during our campaign, and to bring as many benefits as possible to students for the short and long term.”

For a more information on the outcome of the CSU elections please visit: csuelections.wordpress.com/ category/csu-elections-2014/ .

WORLD MILOS kOvACEvIC Interim co-news editor

>> OWNER ASKS EMPLOYEES FOR BAIL MONEY

The Indian business conglomerate Sahara, involved in everything from real estate to entertainment and sports, has sent out a memo asking all employees to voluntarily contribute $1,600 each to meet the $1.7 billion bail requirement for owner Subrata Roy. CNBC says Roy, under investigation concerning illegal bond practices, was arrested after he failed to turn up to one of his court hearings.

>> GAY MARRIAGE BECOMES LEGAL IN U.K. As of midnight on Friday, March 28, same-sex marriage became legal in England and Wales. The Independent reports that the legislation, fought against by, amongst others, conservative politicians and the Church of England, has been hailed as a victory for pro-same sex supporters and an improvement on the civil partnerships introduced in England and Wales back in 2005. Scotland passed a similar bill in 2014, while Northern Ireland has no plans to do so anytime soon.

>> TURKEY BANS YOUTUBE

the memBers of community matters in a group photo.

Elected councillors ARTS & SCIENCE:

JMSB:

Emily Fisher Jenna Cocullo Gemma Acco Matthew Palynchuk Chloe Williams John Talbot Thomas Radcliffe Alanna Stacey Lucy Marshall Kisparissis Paul Jerajian James Tyler Vaccaro Marcus Peters Angelica Novielli Jeremy Tessier

Michael Richardson Caroline Messier-Gemes Virginia Law Kabir Bindra Vicky Rodgers

ENCS:

Anita Sarkissian Kyle Arseneau Rami Yahia Nicholaos Mouzourakis

FINE ARTS: Emma Wilson Jeremy Blinkhorn Marion Miller

INDEPENDENT: Terry Ngala

A little over a week after banning Twitter in an effort to stifle anti-government protests, Turkey’s government has blacklisted YouTube. According to the BBC, the restrictions come after a leaked audio of a national security meeting concerning policy over the war in Syria was posted on the video-sharing site. Meanwhile, a Turkish court has called for an overhaul of the Twitter ban, though it may be some time before the government does so — if at all.

>> RUSSIAN MARKET COLD SHOULDERS UKRAINE

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said the gas Ukraine receives from Russia may jump by up to 80 per cent in price in the wake of the ongoing conflict with Russia, who supplies the country with most of its energy needs. Reuters reports the Russian market accounts for 25 per cent of Ukrainian exports, and lately everything from dairy to steel has either suffered a sharp drop-off or is in danger of a trade ban as Russia continues to use, according to Reuters, “every weapon in its economic arsenal to ensure its neighbour’s road to financial recovery is as painful as possible.”

life

TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2014

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Write to the editor: life@theconcordian.com Environmentalism // LIfE

More than just the ‘chimp lady’

famous for her work with chimpanzees, Dr. Goodall came to Concordia to spread a message of hope AMANDA L. ShORE Editor-in-chief

“Oooo whoooo oo who oo who oo who oo who oo who oooo whooo oo who oo who oo who.”

“That’s me, Jane, in chimpanzee,” explained Dr. Jane Goodall.

Slight of stature but bright of countenance, all eyes were on Dr. Goodall as she made her way to the stage accompanied by raucous applause and an audience that stood up from their seats to honour the world renowned primatologist and environmentalist.

Dr. Goodall brought a stuffed cow and monkey with her to the stage, which she placed on the table next to the podium before launching into her introduction which included a greeting in chimpanzee-speak.

Dr. Goodall had been invited to speak by Concordia University, the Concordia Alumni Association and the CSU. Her lecture, entitled “Sowing the Seeds of Hope,” was part of her current 8-week tour which will next take her to the United States and then on to Europe.

There are a lot of accomplishments under Dr. Goodall’s belt. She pioneered the study of chimpanzee behaviour, has written over 25 books, received numerous awards, started the Jane Goodall Institute, the Roots & Shoots program, and spearheaded a multitude of conservation and environmental campaigns. Her success is acclaimed worldwide and she is highly respected as an expert in the field of primatology, anthropology and ethology. Furthermore, she is a UN Messenger of Peace and was made a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2004.

How does she account for all this achievement? She credits her mother: “I put a great deal of credit [to] my mother because she was an extraordinary mother.

When I was born I seemed to have an innate love of animals. I don’t know where it came from, I just had it. And she always supported

this.”

As proof of her mother’s hand in her accomplishments, Dr. Goodall captivated the audience with stories of her mother’s acceptance of her curiosity and desire for knowledge.

“I was 18 months — I don’t remember this of course — but I was 18 months when she came to my room and found that I’d taken a whole handful of wriggling earthworms to bed with me. She said ‘Jane it looked like you were trying to work out how they walked without legs.’ And instead of getting mad at me, you know, ‘throw these dirty things out the window’ she said, ‘Jane they need the earth they’ll die here. And together we took them back into the garden.’ ” Her mother also accompanied her during her first six month sojourn in Tanzania where she made the discovery that would launch her career and change the way scientists thought about animals.

But Dr. Goodall didn’t come all the way to Montreal to talk about her mother or give a biography of her life. She had come to talk about the fate of our planet: why we should be concerned and why we should also be hopeful.

Dr. Goodall is not a preacher. Although she advocates fiercely for animal rights, conservation, vegetarianism and environmental consideration, she does not stand on a soapbox and exhort. Rather, Dr. Goodall uses calm logic, reasoning and emotional sensibility to demonstrate the reasons for why we need to take an active stance in rehabilitating the earth, in stopping deforestation, the spreading of the desert, the rising levels of C02 in the atmosphere, the shrinking water supplies, the loss of biodiversity and species extinction.

“We’re destroying the planet. Fewer people understand the tremendous harm that’s being done as the middle classes grow around the world, in the developing countries, which of course is a good thing, less poverty, but it turns out very often as people get more money they feel the need to eat more meat and to eat more meat amongst all these billions of people means raising billions and billions of animals

to feed them. And people want cheap meat. So the conditions in these intensive farms are truly horrendous but even if you don’t care about animal suffering, and some people apparently don’t, but even if you don’t care, huge areas of forest are cut down every year to grow the grain and graze the cattle for all these billions of different kinds of animals that we’re eating.

As the animals are fed slightly richer food than they normally would have to make them grow quicker the process of digestion is producing more and more methane gas. That’s what you get from the process of digestion in people, I don’t know a polite way of saying it but you all know exactly what I mean.”

And thus we came to what Dr. Goodall described as her “greatest reason for hope,” the Roots & Shoots program.

The Roots & Shoots program is a youthoriented initiative that began with 12 students on the verandah of Dr. Goodall’s house in Tanzania. The students were concerned with the problems they saw in the world around them and wanted Dr. Goodall to fix them. Instead, Dr. Goodall suggested that they get together the other students who felt as they did and work as a group to improve things on an environmental, human, and animal level.

Dr. Goodall expressed that she believes the damage to the earth can be reversed but it’s up to the people of this world to make that hap-

pen, specifically youth. That’s why the Roots & Shoots program is her “greatest reason for hope,” she sees the youth of this earth as the answer to preserving our planet.

“It’s my greatest reason for hope I think, Roots & Shoots, because everywhere I go on this endless circuit around the planet there are young people with shining eyes wanting to tell Dr. Jane what they’ve been doing to make this a better world. And its a group of young people around the world that share our philosophy, a group of young people that understand yes we need money to live but when we start living for money in and of itself that’s when it goes wrong. To make a lot of money, there’s nothing wrong with that if you use it for the right purpose, to make the world a better place.”

The Roots & Shoots program is now in 136 countries, including Canada. In fact, representatives from the Vanguard Intercultural High School Roots & Shoots group, were at the lecture and presented Dr. Goodall with a booklet that cited all the ways she had inspired them.

They were not the only youth in the audience. During the Q&A, bright-eyed children as young as eight stood in line to speak to Dr. Goodall. They were inquisitive and eager and Dr. Goodall clearly meant a lot to them as a role model, and if any proof is needed to show Dr. Goodall’s message is getting through to the younger generations, this was it.

dr. Jane goodall, World renoWned primatologist, comes to concordia to spread her message in a lecture entitled “soWing the seeds of hope”. photos By keith race.

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TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2014

LGBT rights // Life

How one drag queen is ending homophobia in Ireland Irish drag queen Miss Panti Bliss discussed how she is accidentally became a LGBT rights activist Nathalie laflamme Production manager

M

iss Panti Bliss would describe herself as being “a national fucking treasure.”

After attending the Q & A with Ireland’s most loved Drag Queen and accidental gay rights activist at Concordia on March 25, one could not help but agree.

The talk was organized collaboratively by Concordia’s Canadian Irish Studies and Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, and ended with attendees—about 100 people—giving Miss Panti Bliss a standing ovation.

Emer O’Toole, an assistant professor of Irish performance studies, started the Q&A by reminding the audience that Miss Panti Bliss has been involved with gay right activism for a very long time.

Back in 1987, Miss Panti Bliss began hosting the Alternative Miss Ireland Pageant, which aimed to raise awareness for the rape crisis, and later to raise money for HIV and AIDS. The pageant was open to everyone, including animals, and later became a part of the Dublin Saint Patrick’s day parade. Many drag queens took part in the pageant, and it became an alternate pride celebration.

“I always described the work that I do, jokingly, as glamour routed in despair… I am trying to say something important by using something that seems silly, like me,” Miss Panti Bliss said.

On Jan. 11, Rory O’Neill, which is Miss Panti Bliss’s given name, appeared on RTÉ’s The Saturday Night Show with Brendan O’Connor to discuss homophobia. While on the show, O’Neill said that some people involved in Irish journalism were homophobic.

After showing the room the video, a round of applause ensued.

“I haven’t seen that in months and it seems so innocuous,” she said. “I think that I was really reserved about what I said. I could’ve been a lot harder on those dicks!”

Miss Panti Bliss explained that, at first, this seemed like a situation that would make Ireland look bad.

“It looked like it was saying ‘Ireland is such a backward little shithole of a country that some-

body can’t even point out that a homophobe is embarrassed when friends publicly “acted gay.”

“Here am I, a 45-year-old drag queen, who’s a homophobe anymore in that country or they’ll be sued and dragged through the courts,’” Miss made a living doing this for the last thirty years, I own a fucking gay bar, and I’m still embarrassed Panti Bliss said.

“However, what happened in the end was sometimes by how gay my friend is in public. I that the good, decent, ordinary Irish people thought that that was my dark little secret and it were as horrified as everybody that those people turns out that every single gay in the world somewould sue someone for saying that, especially times feels that. That blew me away,” Miss Panti when they clearly are a bunch of homophobes.” Bliss said.

O’Toole then showed O’Connor’s apology, These people, according to Miss Panti Bliss, are the reason that the movement, known as done on behalf of RTÉ, which aired two weeks both “Team Panti” and “Pantigate,” became such after the show had aired. The original interview had been taken off of RTÉ’s online archive. a phenomenon.

In the first few weeks after the show on RTÉ, Although Miss Panti Bliss hated the apology, a lot of people attacked Miss Panti Bliss. These ‘Pantigate’ would never have become what it is were the people who had felt insulted by what without it. RTÉ paid the people who had threatshe had said. After those weeks passed, though, ened to sue. Since RTÉ is publicly funded, it paid them with taxpaythe Irish people er’s money, which took her side.

I think that homophobes are angered people, and “I spent maybe particularly annoyed when gained Miss Panti three weeks being a bloke in a dress calls them Bliss more supportattacked…butthen out on something. It always ers. Miss Panti Bliss I spent maybe the reminds me of the power believes that, had last three months of drag. There is something RTÉ not payed off being, you know, incredibly powerful about not the people named a national fucking gender conforming. in the interview, she treasure!” would have been On Feb. 1, through Panti Miss Panti - Miss Panti Bliss dragged the courts. Because Bliss responded to the events that surrounded the RTÉ controversy taxpayer money was involved, Miss Panti Bliss’s by speaking at the Abbey Theatre. The video of supporters increased, and suing her at that point her speech went viral, with people from all over would have angered the population even further.

Miss Panti Bliss later spoke of gay marriage in the world responding.

“It was outstanding to me that Irish people Ireland, and of her definition of homophobia and cared. But it absolutely blew me away that peo- explained that, in a way, homophobes have an ple in bloody Montreal, Canada give a shit about irrational fear of gay people.

“I don’t think that those newspaper columthis.”

According to Miss Panti Bliss, less than half nists walk by the hairdresser’s and shudder, but of her fans were LGBT people. Many were people what they do have a fear of is what the world will who apologized for how they had treated LGBT look like, and what their place in the world will people, others had gay siblings, many were in be, if gay and lesbian people are given full equalwheelchairs or had Aspergers syndrome, and felt ity... It is a fear of change. That is an irrational that they were treated in a similar way as the gay fear, and when you boil down it’s the same as being afraid of gay people,” Miss Panti Bliss said. population.

Miss Panti Bliss explained that the reason It was astounding to her the amount of people who cared about the speech she did on such people attacked her after she called them homophobes was that they knew that, when the gay a specific issue.

In the speech at the Abbey Theatre, Miss marriage referendum came around in 2015, callPanti Bliss spoke of some issues gay people deal ing someone a homophobe would make all their with on a daily basis, a few of which she consid- arguments null.

“They had to shut down any possibility that ers her dirty little secrets. One of these was feeling

“

they could publicly be called homophobes and I just happened to be the one who, at that particular time, called them a bunch of homophobes,” Miss Panti Bliss said.

Miss Panti Bliss then spoke of her work with the New York City Saint Patrick’s day parade.

Gay people are not allowed to participate in the parade, and every year, many public spats take place about this.

“I think that homophobes are particularly annoyed when a bloke in a dress calls them out on something. It always reminds me of the power of drag. There is something incredibly powerful about not gender conforming. It freaks out homophobes.”

“They don’t go after the gay guy in a suit and glasses, they don’t go after the lesbian in the three inch court heels and nice skirt, they go after the lesbian with the butch haircut and the leather jacket and they go after the gay guy in a dress.”

About 15 years ago, an alternative parade called the St. Pat’s for All Parade was created in Queens, NY. The parade got a lot of attention this year, as the mayor of the city and the entire city council refused to walk in the mainstream parade. Twenty members of city council walked in the alternative parade alongside Miss Panti Bliss.

At the end of the Q&A, the floor was opened to the audience who shared their personal stories with Miss Panti Bliss, and asked more questions about ‘Pantigate’.

The event ended with a standing ovation, with people lining up afterwards to go meet and personally thank Miss Panti Bliss.

All eyes will be on Miss Panti Bliss, and on Ireland, as the country heads into its gay marriage referendum next year. Miss Panti Bliss hopes that ‘Pantigate’ will impact the referendum’s results.

“While I don’t want to overemphasize what’s happened recently or just sort of have an overly optimistic view of how things might change it is possible that this stupid ‘Pantigate’ incident could actually change everything for gay people. I’m not saying it is going to happen, but it’s possibl.,” “Ireland is [so small] that a single incident could have a massive effect... I could hope that that is the case, not just for gay and lesbian people, but particularly for trans people. At the moment it seems like an important moment for them. And I would hope that maybe this could be a time for them that could dramatically change everything in Ireland.”

assistant professor Emer O’Toole (left) asked Miss Panti Bliss (right) to tell the audience more about her experience of becoming an accidental activist. Photo by Nathalie Laflamme.

TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2014

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health // LIfE

Pucker up: a kiss a day will keep the doctor away A look into how kissing is considered to be good for your health ChRISTINA ROWAN Copy editor

your blood pressure. It dilates your blood vessels...blood is flowing in a good, solid fashion and getting to all your vital organs.”

It can eliminate minor pain caused by headaches or cramps. The adrenaline and endorphins our bodies release when engaged in a heated, passionate kiss or intimate situ-

ation steers our attention clear of the pain allowing us to focus solely on the given moment.

When it comes to oral health, kissing can actually help fight off viruses and cavities. Demirjian explains that, “When you’re kissing, you’re secreting more saliva in your

F

or everyone who has had the pleasure of exchanging kisses with someone, you know that the short – or long – moment that your lips meet another’s can warm your heart, put you in a happy, uplifting mood and make you want to repeat the action over and over again. But did you know that this wonderful worldwide celebrated expression of endearment is actually considered by experts to be good for your health?

According to professed “kissing expert,” Andrea Demirjian, author of Kissing – Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About One of Life’s Sweetest Pleasures, “a kiss a day really can keep the doctor away.”

Hailing from Manhattan, New York, Demirjian – whose expertise and philosophy has been featured in over 15 newspapers, eight magazines and showcased on dozens of radio broadcasts – explains five ways in which kissing can simply yet profoundly impact our physical lives in an interview with upwave.com.

First off, kissing can help reduce blood pressure.

“Kissing passionately gets your heartbeat revved in a healthy way that helps lower

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mouth [which is] the mechanism that washes away the plaque on your teeth that leads to cavities.” Research done for the journal Medical Hypotheses adds that women build immunity against infected partners by kissing them.

It also helps rejuvenate your hormones.

“If you’re feeling stressed or rundown, a little kissing or lovemaking [is] actually the elixir you need to feel better,” says Demirjian.

“It will relax, restore and revitalize you. The feel-good chemicals in the brain get percolating: serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin – things you can get from the rush of exercising.”

Doctor Sharon Stills, a naturopathic physician based in Tuscon, Arizona, also explains to sheknows.com that “kissing lowers cortisol levels, [which] is our stress hormone [that] has a negative effect on our immune system, endocrine system and brain health, specifically the hippocampus.”

Finally, believe it or not, it helps burn a few calories. Think about it — kissing can be a major full-face workout. You use your jaw, your lips, your cheeks and most importantly, your tongue. “Kissing and lovemaking can be a vigorous exercise if you’re fully engaged,” says Demirjian. “You need to have a passionate kiss [in order to burn those calories], but it doesn’t have to be a 10-hour make out session.” Who knew?

So there you have it. Kissing won’t necessarily help you beat off a disease, drop 20 pounds or lower your cholesterol, but it can help with some of the lesser worries of life. Something I’m sure most of us would be happy to add into our daily list of things to do.

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arts //

Tuesday, april 1, 2014

Write to the editor: arts@theconcordian.com Web series // ARTS

Flushing out the hidden secrets of student life Two Montrealers are hoping to bring Flush, a new web series, to your computer screens ELSBETh COSSAR Contributor

In TV shows and movies, we often look to characters to be our heroes. It’s even more inspiring if they go through the same difficult experiences as we do — triumphing in the end.

Natasha Greenblatt and Maisie Jacobson, former Concordia and McGill students, respectively, are aiming to create a web series, entitled Flush, that looks deeply at the lives of everyday students, the trials and the unspoken struggles they trudge through. As an innovative and thought provoking twist, these five to nineminute episodes are set exclusively in various bathrooms.

Jacobson and Greenblatt co-wrote the series together. Greenblatt describes the plot as “a story of people that go away to university [who] are dealing with all sorts of things, about who they are in an unfamiliar territory and deciding what they want to do with their lives,

who they want to sleep with, how they want to deal with sex and with themselves, and what kind of person that they want to create.”

The series broaches topics such as friendship, intimacy, sexuality, abortion, losing oneself and being exposed to the harsh realities of growing up.

It was Jacobson’s idea to set the web series exclusively in bathroom settings because, as a private space, “it becomes a really great container for all of those themes.”

What’s creative about this series is that it looks at a greater span of time than just a summer or a year. Greenblatt, who stars as the main character, Lucy, stated: “in our first season we’re looking at her entire university career from the end of high school to the end of university. It’s a very different way of watching time pass,” adding, “we kind of wanted to show her evolution over a longer time.”

Jacobson agreed; “I think that university years are kind of neglected on television and I think that it’s a really important time for a lot of people and a really scary time ... it’s a really fun

period of time to explore too.”

The trailer for Flush was produced for a grant application through the Independent Production Fund (IPF) in hopes of receiving funding for the series that is to be shot.

“Our trailer ended up being a little darker than we meant it to be. Ultimately this show is about finding oneself creatively which can be a really hopeful and wonderful thing to experience,” said Jacobson.

The choice to stage every episode of the series in a bathroom setting is a unique choice because of the connotations of such a private space.

“A bathroom is a place where you’re able to take off your public persona but you’re also creating your public persona,” said Greenblatt.

“It can investigate both of those things.”

“In some ways we’re looking at the bathroom as a place where people take [their] armour off but we’re also thinking of bathrooms as places where people get ready to face the world, like put on their armour. As young women, bathrooms and experiences that we have in

front of the mirror are so weighted. It can be so wonderful and so horrible,” said Jacobson.

“Bathrooms are also places that we engage in self-care a lot, but also places we engage in self-harm at times, so that’s also important in terms of how we see ourselves,” added Jacobson.

This dichotomy between public life and private life is a strong motif in the work, but more importantly it is meant to encourage people who go through similar experiences and can relate.

“I think we’re definitely going for hope, but a complicated hope,” said Greenblatt.

The list of 250 applicants for the IPF competition will be shortlisted by April 7. The first round was based on the amount of views the trailer received on YouTube. In order to produce the full web series Jacobson and Greenblatt need the funding, and to help them out you can, check out the trailer and share it as much as possible.

Watch the trailer of Flush at flushtheseries. com.

Written, produced and directed By tWo montrealers, and featuring concordia students, flusH is an honest look at friendship, sexuality, and the puBlic and private identities of students.

film // ARTS

Cheap things people will do for cheap money

high stakes and tension are on the menu in Cheap Thrills ERIk TRUDEL Contributor

Desperation brings out the worst in most people, but how far down the rabbit hole will a person go for a lump sum of cash that could turn their lives around? Cheap Thrills is looking to answer that very question.

The film is a black comedy thriller that can be separated into two portions; the first part of the movie relies on humour, the second takes a much darker twist.

Director E.L. Katz makes a strong debut with this film, which centres around four key characters and features both humorous moments and increasingly disturbing scenes.

After being fired from his job and given an eviction notice, family-man Craig (Pat Healy) ventures to a bar where he runs into Vince (Ethan Embry), an old friend with his own financial issues. The strangeness begins when Craig goes to the bathroom, where a mysteri-

ous man in a hat has left money in a urinal.

Craig finds the money and returns to his table where the mysterious man introduces himself as Colin (played by David Koechner, from the Anchorman films and The Office), along with his wife Violet (Sara Paxton).

Dared by the cheap thrill — get it? — of playing some games for more money, Colin tempts the duo to participate in a series of challenges for an even larger piece of the wealthy pie. Given the dire financial situation of both Craig and Vince, the two friends accept and begin their dark and comical downward spiral.

Koechner as Colin is a brilliant and twisted mind, ready to give away $250,000 on his wife’s birthday because buying her jewelry means nothing to him. Paxton’s Violet, is a cellphone addict with a psychotic edge who lives in an open relationship. Paxton’s performance is surprisingly strong despite her previous acting gigs. It goes to show that appearing in a terrible movie like Shark Night does not mean an acting career is dead.

One of the supporting characters is played

by Brighton Sharbino (known for her role as the troubled Lizzie Samuels in The Walking Dead), who plays Luann — the daughter of Colin’s neighbour. She appears in one scene

Cheap Thrills does things differently than when Vince is trying to accomplish a bet inthe average dark comedy, leaving some exisside her house.

Despite the focus being on a lesser-known tential questions about one’s depravity in the crew, the cast of Cheap Thrills is excellent. The face of the mighty dollar. We learn that there chemistry is evident and each member plays are games that are fun to play and there are their role effectively. Healy easily puts togeth- those that we would rather commit to forgeter a believable performance of his character’s ting. hopeless life situation. Embry’s addition as an Cheap Thrills is currently showing in Cineold friend bearing a grudge is believable and plex theatres across the city provides the audience with strong acting and With files from Jocelyn Beaudet excellent delivery.

Cheap Thrills employs a handheld camera, making the movie feel personal to the characters and less like a scripted series of events. The style resembles films like Cloverfield and The Blair Witch Project, but unlike those movies, the camera is kept steady, much like the type used in District 9.

If you are prone to motion sickness, don’t worry — you can keep your brown bag safely tucked away under your seat. The pacing is as strong as the supporting cast, and the movie never dwells too long on tWo unlikely characters are put to the test — hoW far Will they go for a $250,000 dollar priZe? a ‘killing joke’.

Tuesday, april 1, 2014

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Documentary // arts

This just might be the best movie never made Jodorowsky’s Dune is the story of the famed director’s adaptation of the sci-fi novel Elijah Bukreev Staff writer

A

lejandro Jodorowsky is one of those names you have to know if you want to be taken seriously as a film buff. El Topo, The Holy Mountain and Santa Sangre are some of the movies he’s made.

Dune is a movie he never made, but it was nonetheless just as influential. Every other filmmaker has a story to share about a particular pet project that never came to fruition, but Jodorowsky is different. There is reason to believe that his version of Dune would have literally changed the world.

In fact, it has been a source of inspiration to a whole generation of filmmakers, on the strength of its concept and storyboard alone.

‘Best movie never made’ is a much-coveted title and Jodorowsky’s Dune, directed

by Frank Pavich, is a documentary about the prime candidate. You walk into it doubtful and hesitant, prepared to see a film essentially about failure. But it takes you by surprise — what you get is a fun, exciting look at the creative process.

As the movie begins, you already know the outcome — Dune, which was worked on in the mid-70s, never went past preproduction. Yet, the interviews with people who worked on the project are so apt at reconstructing the timeline of events and the ecstasy of creation that you’ll find yourself hoping for a different outcome than is pos-

sible.

Understandably, most of the film is centered around Jodorowsky. At 84, he is as alive and open-minded as ever. The Chilean surrealist started the cult cinema movement with El Topo in 1970, and indeed he sounds like a cult leader. Irrepressibly passionate, inspiring and talkative, he speaks of his failed Dune in often religious terms — his aim was not to make a movie, he says, but to “create a prophet,” aided by his team of “spiritual warriors.”

When he confides that he was ready to

die for his film, you believe him.

It is thrilling to hear of his adventures in assembling an international crew, and then to meet those people, some of whom could be Jodorowsky characters in their own right. Take, for example, the interview with H.R. Giger, a Swiss painter who was going to work as a production designer on Dune. His guttural voice resonates loud in the dark, eerie room in which he is filmed, and suddenly you realize — he would have made an excellent villain.

Dune didn’t work out for lack of bud-

Starring such names as Welles, Jagger, Carradine and Dali, the adaptation of Herbert’s classic novel Dune was poised to change cinema forever. Photo courtesy of Sony Picture Classics.

get, but during pre-production, Giger met Dan O’Bannon, a special effects artist with whom he would go on to create a little franchise called Alien.

You would expect Jodorowsky to feel anger at the fact that his dream project had been trumped upon, his movie cancelled, and his hopes reduced to nothing. For a few scenes, he does, but he is so obviously above it. He understands that from a rotting body flowers shall grow, and he recognizes his work in many modern science-fiction epics with gratitude and pride.

Jodorowsky’s Dune also addresses the fact that a movie based on Frank Herbert’s novel of the same name did, eventually, get made. The David Lynch version was a commercial and critical disaster, to the point where Lynch still refuses to discuss it to this day. Jodorowsky describes going into that movie, and his reaction to seeing it is beautifully human.

This documentary is the closest we’ll ever come to seeing Jodorowsky’s vision of Dune. His film never was, and never will be. His ideas, which predated today’s blockbusters by decades, have since become too commonplace to spark an artistic revolution like the one he had envisioned.

Many of his prospective actors have since died — he wanted no less than Salvador Dali and Orson Welles in supporting roles. But Jodorowsky’s main goal was to inspire, to encourage young artists to realize their dreams and Pavich’s documentary does just that. wJodorowsky’s Dune opens April 4 at Cinema du Parc.

Opera // arts

Revisiting the sweetest of children’s fairy tales The Brothers Grimm turn lyrical in this musical version of Hänsel und Gretel at the opera Olivia Ranger-Enns Staff writer

I

t can be hard to stretch the limits of a cute fairy tale like Engelbert Humperdinck’s operatic Hänsel und Gretel, but the challenge was clearly overcome by the Opéra de Montréal.

The fairy tale, probably known by most of us, goes something like this: picture a gingerbread house, a wicked witch, a burning oven, and there you have it. Your parents might even have read this Brothers Grimm fairy tale to you during your childhood.

Humperdinck’s version of the story respects the skeleton of the tale rather well.

Here we have two hungry siblings, Hänsel and Gretel, who are sent by an angry mother to collect strawberries in the forest. As in most fairy tales, the pair gets lost. But things start to look up when they are soon revitalized by the sight of a gingerbread house.

Overcome by hunger, the children begin nibbling at the house until they are whisked away and caged by the house’s owner: the witch. She chooses Hänsel as her next meal and decides to “fatten him up” while using his sister Gretel as a slave.

The conclusion? While the witch prepares the kitchen, Gretel ingeniously asks the witch to show her how to heat the oven, then promptly pushes the witch into the fire. Goodbye bad witch, and let’s open the champagne. Or nibble on chocolate vanilla macaroons. Whatever you prefer.

With the help and collaboration of the National Circus School, this production is out of the ordinary when it comes to originality. Dancers and acrobats brought the story to life as they balanced on tight ropes or cleverly used their bodies to express the emotion needed in any particular scene.

What is particularly mesmerizing is the use of stage direction. Instead of placing poster-like trees to illustrate a forest, the use of book pages is set up to impress upon the public that this is indeed a fairy tale.

Cast members often sang from a box, formatted to look like they were characters in a book. It was comparable to, say, people moving about in photographs in J. K. Rowl-

ing’s Harry Potter books.

Another bonus was the pace of the opera. Whereas some operas can go on and on about a particular issue, this opera gets right to the point and challenges the audience to a myriad of issues: the cleverness of children versus their naughtiness, the oppressive character of parents and the sheer physical need to eat. The audience often sighs with the pair’s mother, played expertly by France Bellemare, but we often rejoice when Gretel takes a mighty bite from that candycane, or when Hänsel dances around the forest, singing. The message from this opera is clear — even in the worst and darkest of times, you can find some light and

happiness.

Emma Char, playing Hänsel, and Frédérique Drolet, playing Gretel, shine in their respective roles. Char plays the boyish character to a T, while Drolet livened up the production using comedy to engage the public.

All in all, this 10th edition of the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal has given its all to provide Montrealers with a little bit of magic to combat those winter blues. Don’t miss it, folks.

Hänsel und Gretel plays at Place des Arts until April 2. You can see the opera for only $24 using the promo code CONCORDIA: operademontreal.com/fr/billetterie/ promotions-concours.

Acrobatics, tight ropes and song and dance pepper this rethought version of the classic Hänsel und Gretel fairy tale.

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Tuesday, april 1, 2014

Film // arts

Brace yourselves — the Winter Soldier is coming Disney takes on Marvel again, and turns Captain America into a contemporary tale Jocelyn Beaudet Assistant arts editor

Superhero movies have been trending on the silver screen for almost a decade now. Spider Man, X-Men, Iron Man and Thor have each gotten their own reimaginings with a fair level of success at the box office. In the line of heroes covered was also Captain America: The First Avenger. Though the 2011 movie received its share of negative reviews, it paved the way for The Avengers a year later, and proved to be a well received adaptation.

Along comes the second movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, bridging together the events following the first film, and putting the hero into contemporary times. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is propelled into the age of Twitter, the Internet and the strangeness that the last 50 years have wrought. Despite this though, Rogers seems in his element and the turn of the new millenium comes off as being almost inconsequential to him.

After an assassination is attempted on Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson), he turns to Rogers and warns him that SHIELD (an organization dedicated to securing the world’s population) has been infiltrated and that no one should be trusted. So begins the retelling of Ed Brubaker’s classic story arc of The Winter Soldier. Captain America must take down SHIELD, that is now hellbent on killing him and using the organization’s superior technology to control the population of the world. Along the way, Rogers meets Nick Fury’s assassin — known only as the Winter Soldier — and uncovers the global conspiracy behind SHIELD’s security breach.

Running at a whopping 136 minutes, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a thrilling

ride that, unlike the 2011 movie, captures the essence of Captain America. The action scenes are thrilling, fast and packed with impressive fight choreography and a great mix of hand-tohand combat and shooting. The special effects are top notch, and the movie’s $170 million budget feels well spent. The city is impressive to look at, and SHIELD’s stellar CGI airships and planes feel dutifully rendered, and seamlessly blend in.

Where the movie falls short is the midway point, breaking up the action for some necessary plot exposition. While it fills its need, the dialogue between Captain America and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) is awkward and often skirt on being completely tacky.

But the groan-inducing moments are short-

lived, and usually provide the ‘suddenly’ effect that’s popular in comic books. It feels like every scene is going to turn into some sort of action, and while this isn’t always the case, the movie stays on track and never leaves the audience bored for more than a few minutes at a time.

Each scene is supported by masterfully rendered music composed by Henry Jackman (responsible for X-Men among a list of several contributions to the film industry). The soundtrack never feels out of place, and always scores scenes in a relevant, powerful fashion that helps shape the emotion that each scene is meant to evoke.

It’s understandable if you are expecting disappointment — superhero movies generally don’t hold up too well for comic book readers.

Some of the creative liberties taken for the sake of cinematography often leave a sour taste in the mouth, and usually, makes us return to the original material rather than the watered down Hollywoodized versions.

But The Winter Soldier is different. Walking out of the theatre with after what was a satisfying experience made this reviewer consider what Marvel remakes are coming out next.

Whether you’re a fan of the old red, white and blue or just looking to get your fill of superhero action flicks, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is well worth the price of entry and definitely fills the void left behind in the first instalment.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens in theatres nationwide on April 4.

The latest in Marvel’s line of movie adaptations is a take on Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting’s Winter Soldier story arc from Captain America.

Photo courtesy of Marvel.

Literature // arts

The ‘urban armpit’ and the poverty nested within Facing the social and economic problems of a poverty-stricken India Samantha Mateus Contributor

Like many developing worlds, Mumbai is a city that straddles two realities. In our 21st century, it is quickly rising as a global superpower.

Yet its reputation as a corrupted and povertystricken city continues to pollute its worth.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers is a telling tale of life, death and hope in the slums that continue to plague India.

Katherine Boo — a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist praised for her reporting of disadvantaged communities — divulges the conditions that hold this great nation back. She describes how tensions over religion, caste, sex, power and economic envy are rampant.

Boo immersed herself in the culture of Annawadi — a makeshift settlement on the marshy lands of Mumbai’s airport — for three years to illustrate the plight of slum dwellers in one of the world’s greatest unequal cities. In her book, she documents the lives of several Annawadians and describes how each tries to overcome their ruinous livelihoods as India begins to prosper. In an attempt to elevate themselves out of poverty and into the middleclass, some Annawadians turn to corruption, the very practice that churns the wealth of the

political elite.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers is a nonfiction narrative that reads like fiction. Boo pays incredible attention to detail. Her use of imagery illustrates the severity of the situation.

She describes Annawadi as an “urban armpit” tainted with filth and malodor, where 3,000 people have packed into 335 lopsided huts.

Her writing is compelling. It is utterly shocking once you are reminded the events which unfold are all true.

Boo includes a nice range of voices in her book, each story as unforgettable as the next.

The two characters which stand out the most were Abdul Husain and Asha Waghekar, a perfect depiction of good versus evil. While at their core the two crave the same ambitions, their definition of a-means-to-an-end differs greatly.

Abdul is a reserved but enterprising teenager who finds “a fortune beyond counting” in the recyclable garbage that flows into Annawadi. He has made an honest life for his family by sorting through garbage, but jealousy is widespread in a decrepit slum. The Husains, being part of the Muslim minority, face a great deal of ethnic hatred due to their more advanced superior status. This hatred eventually leads to Abdul’s incarceration, when he is falsely accused of taunting a woman to suicide.

With Abdul’s story, Boo demonstrates the grotesque infringement on human rights that exists in these impoverished villages. ‘Innocent until proven guilty’ is not a belief many Mumbai officials operate by. Abdul is repeatedly

beaten until he is forced to confess to a crime he did not commit and his mother is enticed to pay up if she wishes for the release of her son.

Abdul is quoted as saying, “The Indian criminal justice system was a market like garbage.

Innocence and guilt could be bought and sold like a kilo of polyurethane bags.”

Asha though, is a strong-minded woman with a keen eye for financial opportunity, no matter how unethical. Driven by deep scars from a childhood of even graver poverty, Asha longs to be perceived as the most resourceful person in her slum and thus, strives to become a slumlord. She represents the embodiment of corruption, running scam businesses and holding the people of Annawadi indebted to her. Despite her many spiteful efforts, there is one irrevocable obstacle that continues to hold her back. Asha is a woman.

She thus must prey on the support of powerful men to help elevate her status.

With Asha’s story, Boo exemplifies this rift in equality between men and women.

Traditional values often undermine gender equality, especially in these small, poor villages where women are expected to leave the strategic decision-making up to men.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers highlights this competitive system of making more and more money in an age where India has seen an increase in capital. This system of lies, threats and ultimatums traps the people of Annawadi in old, unprosperous ways. With government intervention virtually non-existent, those with power will continue to benefit by exploiting the status of the poor.

Boo’s book is not for the faint of heart. Her goal is to illustrate the cruel reality of social inequality and she does so with precise, stomach-churning detail. Her book raises a critical question: How do you fix a feeble nation if the government is better at nourishing corruption than human capability?

Behind the Beautiful Forevers is available for sale at Chapters Indigo and at amazon. ca.

Behind

the

Beautiful Forevers

illustrates a

real life account of global change and social inequality in the New India.

Tuesday, april 1, 2014

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Opinion // arts

Forget per-unit analysis, what about time analysis? It’s time to re-think frugality Shelling out large sums of money for entertainment might be worth it, after all John Michael Bennett The Muse (Memorial University of Newfoundland)

Have you ever sat thinking, “man, how much is my current existence costing me this very hour?” Well, if you haven’t, you’re about to get a little depressed because it costs a lot.

They say that ignorance is bliss, and I couldn’t agree more. At the age of 10, life was great: I got a pack of Pokemon cards whenever I did well on a test and every Friday evening, money to buy a chocolate bar, a bag of chips, and a pop. I never thought to myself about the cost of anything, until I took Math Enrichment, which may as well have been called “learn the value of money, and cry yourself to sleep because everything is expensive.”

You see, while all the other grade five students were learning normal problems like “if you buy three shirts at X amount, and two pants at Y amount, how much did you spend?” our teacher felt that it would be a good idea to teach us to divide per use, and then asked us things like “well, how much did it cost you to live today?”

So while before I thought, “hey I need this new fancy shirt I can wear occasionally,” I now think to myself, “that shirt costs $80, and if I wear it six times over the next six months, just to wear that shirt it cost $13.50 per day of use.” And that was just the shirt, not to mention everything else I might wear, and anything else I might do or consume that day. My day’s existence, if I was wearing expensive fancy clothes to match the shirt, ate fancy food, and did oth-

er things, probably cost me $100 or more.

It was quite a dose of reality for a 10year-old. Life sucks, and it’s really expensive.

But it’s really something I have kept with me my whole life, more so than anything else I ever learned in math — hey, I guess I finally figured out the answer to “when are we ever going to use this, Miss?” So not only do I shop for cheap deals, but also for usefulness. Some purchases are expensive,

“

If the game costs $15 a month, but you play it for 30 hours, that entertainment cost you 0.50 cents per hour. Now compare that to going to a movie or a concert, which can run you $5.00 to $15.00 an hour.

That’s not to say that you should never go out, but playing an MMO for leisure and relaxation is actually a good economical decision, if you play them frequently.

Take buying movies, renting them, or watching them on Netflix. Sure, a movie

If the game costs $15 a month, but you play it for 30 hours, that entertainment cost you 0.50 cents per hour.

Now compare that to going to a movie or a concert, which can run you $5.00 to $15.00 an hour.

but how much will they be per use?

I point to games like World of Warcraft or other massive multiplayer online games (MMOs) that cost a monthly fee and for which some people criticize users for lack of frugality. However, buying a game that requires a one time fee may be only be good for up to 40 hours of entertainment.

might be really good, but new DVDs/BluRays are about $30, while renting is only $5-$7. That means that you would have to watch a particular DVD six times just to match the usage cost, and by the time you’ve done that, that DVD is probably a lot cheaper and can now be found in the discount bin. Buying brand new movies is

entirely irrational in this example.

And Netflix? Well that’s a God-send for the frugal. Eight dollars a month? If you watch that for just a half an hour a day, (who are we kidding?), then at 15 hours a month that’s about close to 50 cents per hour of entertainment. Double the viewing time, and its 25 cents. Compare that to cable, which can be as expensive as $80 a month, and you’d be paying close to $2.50 - $5.00 per hour.

Some purchases are expensive, and that goes without saying. But that dress you’re going to wear once — is it really worth $200 an hour? Maybe a dress, almost as beautiful with a lower price tag is a little more rational. And if you find one that can be used for more than one event, it automatically becomes cheaper due to being usable on more occasions, decreasing its per-use fee.

Now compare that to something utilized more often, such as a new laptop, which can range from $600 - $1,200. Now imagine you use that just an hour a day, for two years.

That’s about $1 - $2 per hour of use. Or if you use it more, the division keeps making the number smaller. My laptops have cost around $1,200, last about two years, and are in use three hours a day. That’s around 55 cents per hour. If your laptop lasts longer, or you use it more often, then the price continues to go down.

It’s no different than unit analysis, such as buying food in bulk instead of small amounts, which makes the resulting meal much cheaper. Entertainment, clothes, and utilities, in the same vein, should be imagined in terms of time. Students make $10 - $12 an hour at most jobs. Do you really want one hour of entertainment to cost one hour of work? How about 60 hours of work on one dress? I didn’t think so.

Let’s reconsider your World of Warcraft addiction, the Netlix binging problem, your computer and yes, even your clothing: how much are they all really worth? Photo courtesy of techaddiction.ca

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music Write to the editor: music@theconcordian.com

PROfILE // MUSIC

Viceroy, baseball caps, ‘jizz-jazz’ and self-reflection Mac DeMarco reflects on the making of his latest album Salad Days MIA PEARSON Contributor

“Give it back, you little motherf*@#ers,” is what Mac DeMarco would say to all the kids who steal his baseball caps.

The theft doesn’t stop there: “Shoes too, someone stole my shoe in Montreal. It was at the Club Soda show in the middle of winter, I had to go home with one shoe on.”

Between purchasing new baseball hats, DeMarco has had a loaded tour schedule for the past two years. During a brief monthlong hiatus between being on the road, the musician settled down in his small room in Brooklyn, saturated the walls with Viceroy smoke, and cooked up some tunes for his new album, Salad Days.

He describes the month as “a little bubble of my trying to reflect on everything from the past few years.”

Even though DeMarco has an insatiable palate for partying, his new songs are not about jubilated nights. On the lyrical front,

“salaD DaYs means a youthful period tracks. photo By tonJe thielsen.

the songs reveal a more self-reflective and personal side of the fun-loving musician, echoing the songwriter’s headspace at the time.

“I was just exhausted, I think,” said DeMarco. “Things got pretty crazy, pretty fast, and it just got crazier and crazier. In the way we tour, too, there’s definitely a lot of alcohol, not very much sleeping, not very healthy living. When I got back, I was just frustrated and exhausted.”

Salad Days’ foundation still gets spectacularly weird like the artist’s previous recordings — maybe even a little stranger. The video teaser for the album meant business, as it featured a naked guy dancing around with a guitar, to a song driven by 1980’s keyboard riffs, and lyrics repeating “Gimme pussy! A little bit of pussy!” The new album comes out on April Fool’s day under Captured Tracks.

Reflecting the teaser, DeMarco does get funky with keyboards on some songs.

“I really don’t know how to play keyboard at all,” he said. “It’s interesting for me because if you don’t really know what you’re doing, I think you can come up with some

in someone’s life, and

i

weird stuff. It’s more fun for me,” he adds.

“I just tried weird things. I don’t really know if they make musical sense or not, but that’s the way it goes.”

Many have tried to describe his sound by coming up with names like “blue wave” or “slacker rock,” but these go relatively unnoticed by the musician.

“I just say jizz-jazz,” said DeMarco, a term he came up with a few years ago.

“I’d never written guitar solos on songs, and when I started writing guitar solos, I thought it was hilarious. I came-up with the word jizz-jazz because it’s not jazz, it’s not. I’m not a jazz guy. It’s a bit jizzy; it’s like a Steely Dan record that someone splooched on or something.”

He cites inspiration from Harry Nilsson and The Beatles, “[Who are] all close homies.” The title of the album was coined

by Shakespeare who uses the term “salad days” in his play Antony and Cleopatra to allude to the ephemeral nature of youth.

“Salad Days means a youthful period in someone’s life, and I think this album is talking a lot about that. Not necessarily

think this alBum is talking a lot aBout that,” says

demarco

that I’m out of that period, but that I need to count my blessings and enjoy it while I’m still around.”

The album’s dreamy, warped riffs and high-reverb guitar suit the character of the goofy, often jokingly cross-eyed songwriter. The music is indicative of a guy who’s not afraid to rip some dirty jokes at the mic or encourage the crowd to let loose and have a good time, the latter of which often results in a bruise-inducing mosh-pit at shows, or fans hopping around naked on stage.

Heading back on another tour, DeMarco continues to economically sustain the Viceroy Corporation and has also developed some techniques for attempting to preserve his baseball caps, unfortunately to no avail.

“When I go crowd surfing, I leave it very far back on the stage, but they get stolen anyway.”

On a final note, DeMarco would “like to thank Jesus Christ.”

Mac DeMarco plays Société des Arts Technologiques April 6.

of his latest alBum out

april 1

under

captured

Tuesday, april 1, 2014

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Profile// MUSIC

Tea Time for the Homeless host music night Raising awareness for impoverished familes in Nepal SAM OBRAND Contributor

Inspired by a stomach-churning sight during a volunteer trip to Nepal, 20-year-old Montreal native Josh Broadman began a heartfelt mission to raise awareness for the underprivileged.

After building a lasting relationship with a local restaurant in Nepal called Tea Time, Broadman decided to take his efforts to the next level by creating a not-for-profit charitable foundation called Tea Time for the Homeless.

“One night when I passed four young boys sleeping on the street, looking completely beaten and as if they hadn’t eaten a proper meal in days, I bought them food and water, and walked away yearning to do more. Not just for them, but for others too,” writes Broadman on the foundation’s website.

On April 5, Broadman and his organization will seek to raise money and awareness for underprivileged people in Nepal by hosting their first music night, a lively and enjoyable evening with live performances.

“We’re always looking to make events. Being an avid music fan and musician, I thought the idea to finally hold a show of my own, a

coffee house show, would be a great event where people can bring their friends to enjoy their peers, and to support a great cause,” said Broadman about the event.

The event will be held at Karina Club on Crescent St. in Montreal’s downtown core, beginning at 7:30 p.m.. The night will showcase 14 young up-and-coming performers from all over the city.

“Because of the performers, I anticipate that the crowd will be young, energetic and supportive, the type of crowd I wanted to attract for the evening. I wanted to get the younger college generation, my peers, to be more involved and support an important cause,” said Broadman.

Attendees can expect to hear a variety of genres, sounds and original scores from local musicians, singers, and rappers like Sara Diamond, Nick Frai, Yo-Yoshi!, Renata Masucci, General Mills, Jess TG, and Rebecca Shemie.

The event itself will be MC’ed by rap performer and Concordia University student Nick Frai, who is eager and passionate, and looks forward to his debut in front a hometown audience.

“I hope to bring a lot of energy. It’s a comfortable setting for me, I work as an MC and I love to be in front of a crowd, so I hope I could bring that energy that I have on stage and bring it into my performance, hopefully I could do a great job,” said Frai.

Frai will be performing a three-song set featuring two original tracks from his soon-to-bereleased mix tape entitled NICKSTAPE. “If I’m not with friends or at school, I’ll

constantly be rapping and coming up with lyrics in my head. I’ve been rapping since I was about 10-years-old, and recently I’ve been doing it a lot,” said Frai.

Diamond, who has performed in several charity events similar to Tea Time for the Homeless, is excited to cater to a more mellow crowd.

“It’s an acoustic vibe, and it’s a homey vibe for me. That kind of setting makes me comfortable to perform in, you could experiment with different tones,” said Diamond who will also be performing a three-song set.

The performers are eager to display their talent for an important cause and hope to create an atmosphere where people can sit back and enjoy a fun show.

Tickets for the event are $15, with most of the proceeds going towards the Namaste Children’s Foundation, an organization partnering with Tea Time for the Homeless.

The funds collected will be going towards projects such as scholarship programs, women development programs, and orphanages.

“The rest of the money will go towards our next project, where we hope to build a school; we currently have a correspondent in Nepal who is doing ongoing research for us,” Broadman added.

For more information on how to donate or how to purchase tickets for the event, visit www.teatimeforthehomeless.com/, or www.facebook.com/TeaTimeForTheHomeless/info

Quickspins // MUSIC

Quick Spins

Timber Timbre - Hot Dreams (Arts & Crafts; 2014)

Johnny Cash - Out Among The Stars (Columbia Legacy/Sony; 2014)

Shakira - Shakira (RCA; 2014)

Following their 2011 Polaris Prize nominated album, Creep on Creepin’ On, Timber Timbre have released Hot Dreams. Like the name suggests, Hot Dreams dances in the twilight, somewhere between dusk and dawn with an eerily cool and haunting sound signature to the Canadian folk trio.

Like their previous records, Hot Dreams is organic and cinematic. Taylor Kirk’s vocals border on disembodiment, featured against violinist Mika Posen’s string arrangements, and percussionist Simon Trottier’s lap steel drums. The title track is soft, moody and melancholic with traces of lamentation and yearning, elements recurrently felt throughout the group’s fifth album. Hot Dreams also plays with Western themes; “Grand Canyon” and “The Three Sisters” sound like the backdrop to a lone ranger riding through the Mojave desert.

Hot Dreams is a blend of resounding rhythms and carefully composed melodies, proving that Timber Timbre are masters at musical storytelling.

The ‘80s were a rough time both creatively and personally for Johnny Cash. Not only was he in and out of rehab, his marriage to June Carter was falling apart and he hadn’t had a number one single since “One Piece at a Time” in 1976. His record label decided to enlist the aid of ‘countrypolitan’ producer Billy Sherrill to update his sound. The results caused the album to be shelved until it was unearthed 30 years later.

Out Among The Stars is not a bad album per se: Cash’s vocals are at their peak, but the hokey production drains all of the grit and darkness out of his storytelling; qualities that fans have come to expect from “The Man in Black.”

Regardless of its faults, Out Among The Stars is still an interesting piece of lost recording history and attests that even the legendary Johnny Cash struggled to find his creative direction.

Here’s a riddle. What blends the most generic sounds imaginable with one of pop music’s most recognizable and original voices? Shakira’s new album, that’s what. Self-titled record: that’s been done. Random stars du-jour (like Blake Shelton) featured on a totally forgettable track: predictable. Featuring a reggae, country, dance, rock and electro song for broader appeal: seen before. Did we mention the cliché romantic lyrics about love and heartbreak? Yet somehow everything Shakira creates manages to stand apart in the heavy-radio-play, about-to-be-mixed-for-the-club bracket.

The originality is mostly due to some all-Spanish songs like “I Can’t Remember To Forget You,” which is included in its full Spanish version as “Nunca Me Acuerdo De Olvidarte.” That nasal thing she does with her voice also reminds you of how sensually powerful she is as a musician.

So what Shakira by Shakira can offer is paradox.

It sounds like déjà-vu but it’s also fun, bold and unique. Riddled indeed.

Trial Track: “Grand Canyon”

Trial Track: “She Used To Love Me A Lot”

Trial Track: “Can’t Remember To Forget You”

9/10

-Jessica Romera

5.5/10

-Paul Traunero

4.5/10

-Romain Dompnier

jESSICA ROMERA Music editor

>> Burger King offers to cater Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s wedding After rumours circulated that rap icon Kanye West had purchased nearly a dozen Burger King franchises as a wedding gift for his fiancée Kim Kardashian, the fast-food chain has issued an official statement denying the claims, reports NME. Although Burger King has put the rumours to rest, they did include an offer to be a part of the KimYe wedding, saying in the same statement that they are “available to cater the wedding!”

Neither West nor Kardashian have responded to the offer.

>> Keyboardist Christine McVie to reunite with Fleetwood Mac for upcoming tour In a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, songstress Stevie Nicks dashed the hopes of Fleetwood Mac fans everywhere when she essentially assured the magazine that the chances of keyboardist Christine McVie returning to the band were slim to none.

But with a recent announcement, McVie confirmed that she will in fact be rejoining Nicks along with Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Lindsey Buckingham, reports Rolling Stone. In an interview with the magazine, McVie admitted that when she quit the band, she “had some deluded idea that [she] wanted to live the ‘country lady’ life.” But after her divorce from the group’s bassist John McVie, she “felt isolated in the country,” and “grew quite ill and depressed.” Fleetwood Mac’s On With The Show tour with McVie is said to kick off in the fall in Minnesota.

>> Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and actress Gwyneth Paltrow announce they are splitting up Earlier last week, actress Gwyneth Paltrow announced on her website that she and husband Chris Martin from Coldplay would be separating. In the ‘Journal’ section of her website, Paltrow wrote “It is with hearts full of sadness that we have decided to separate.

We have been working hard for well over a year, some of it together, some of it separated, to see what might have been possible between us, and we have come to the conclusion that while we love each other very much we will remain separate.” Paltrow and Martin have two children together.

sports 14

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Tuesday, april 1, 2014

Write to the editor: sports@theconcordian.com hockey // SPORTS

Caroline Ouellette returns to Concordia

The university brings back Olympian to help develop women’s university hockey in Canada SAMANThA MILETO Sports editor

Members of the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team returned to Ed Meagher arena on Saturday afternoon. But this time it wasn’t a usual Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) team wearing the visiting colours.

Former Stinger and four-time Olympic gold medalist, Caroline Ouellette, and some of her Montreal Stars teammates teamed up with the Stingers for a friendly game against Director of Recreation and Athletics, Patrick Boivin, and some of his friends, along with Adam NugentHopkins and Kyle Armstrong from the men’s hockey team.

Saturday marked the first time Ouellette was at Concordia since the university renovated the arena back in the summer. The Stars forward played for the Stingers in 2001 and coached the team last year, but spent the past year with the Canadian national team. Ouellette captained Team Canada to a gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The event was to celebrate her career as an athlete, and to raise awareness for women’s hockey programs in Canada, said Boivin.

“She’s the most decorated athlete and exStinger we have,” he said. “Alexandre Bilodeau [comes to Concordia]. He’s a student at JMSB.

But he never actually played for us.” “[We’re] raising awareness for women’s hockey and the role we can play as a university in women’s hockey.”

Boivin said that it’s important that women hockey players know that if they want to go to university and continue playing hockey, that they don’t feel they have to go to the US to do so, because they have some good programs right in their own backyard.

Boivin also added that in the future, he hopes to organize other friendly games and tournaments to help with the development of the women’s hockey program.

The game itself was free and anyone was welcome. The women’s side took the game 7-6, with Ouellette scoring a hat trick, and two assists. It was a back-and-forth contest, and each team took the lead several times in the high scoring affair.

There was an injury scare in the third period.

When Boivin’s squad scored to take a 6-5 lead, Stars netminder Catherine Herron stretched out her leg to try to make the save. She went down as the goal-horn went, favouring her outstretched leg. After medical staff tended to her for several minutes, she was able to stay in the game.

After the game, Ouellette met the fans who showed up to the game in the Concordia gym, taking pictures and signing autographs with her Stars teammates.

This isn’t the first time the Stingers have hosted the Stars. Twice this season, they played a league game at Ed Meagher arena.

“We’ve built a relationship with them [the Stars],” Boivin said. “We’ve had a lot of our girls

who’ve played for us and go on for the Stars afterwards.”

Though the game was free, both teams were accepting donations from spectators, with all proceeds going to a scholarship fund for future players.

the montreal stars visit concordia for third time this season PHOTO BY BRIANNA THICKE

Baseball // SPORTS

Stingers’ squad look to build on 2013 success Despite losing in Nationals, Concordia’s baseball club displayed a lot of character MATThEW ShANAhAN Staff writer

The Concordia Stingers baseball season did not have the end they had hoped for in the 2013 season, but nonetheless exceeded expectations, considering they had a young roster.

A team that consisted of 14 rookies, manager Howie Schwartz was proud that his team was able to land a spot in the National Championship Final.

“There’s nothing we could’ve done differently so we can’t worry about it,” Schwartz said. “It’s one of the best seasons I’ve ever experienced.”

The young Stingers’ ball club were solid all season long, tallying 13 wins and only 3 losses in the regular season. They swept both their league playoff series en route to the National Championship in Windsor, Ontario. First they beat cross-city rival, the Montreal’s Carabins, in the semi-final before knocking off the Carleton Ravens in the finals. The win meant the

CONCORDIA HOPING FOR A REPEAT NATIONAL APPEARANCE. PHOTO BY KEVIN RAFTERY

Stingers would once again face the Ravens in Windsor.

At the Nationals, they cruised to the final going 2-1 in the Round Robin, knocking off the Ravens once more in a tight semi-final matchup. The Stingers’ club then lost 1-0 to the hometown Windsor Lancers in a heated nineinning battle that could have gone either way.

Despite not getting what they had hoped for at Nationals, there’s no debating the Concordia ball club will come out even hungrier next year.

With all starters returning, and the rookies taking a step closer to become veterans on the team, Schwartz is sure that the team will be better in the coming year, and expects breakout years from some promising young individuals, notably pitcher Sam Belisle-Springer.

“Everything this kid has been asked to do, he’s able to come through. He’s young and looks like he’s in secondary two but he radiates confidence,” Schwartz said. “He’s definitely exceeded expectations this past year and I expect him to be a very big part of the pitching rotation this year.”

There are also a couple of new recruits joining the team that hope to make a strong impact for the 2014 season that will hopefully bring the

National Championship to Concordia for the first time since 2009. Notably, Jonathan Raftus will make room for a recruit at shortstop as he will likely play centre field next year.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had such a strong defensive core up the middle,” said Schwartz.

“It also makes things a lot better when you don’t lose any key players.”

However there is still a long way to go.

Players are at the Stinger Dome on most Saturdays, refining their skills and hoping to get better and in good shape for the upcoming summer season. The Stingers players play on local teams throughout the summer before returning to Concordia in early September.

The Stingers cannot wait to create some October magic in next year’s Nationals, and they’ll have to do it no further than the confines of their own city as McGill will host the National Championships in 2014.

This past year they played with a lot of character, winning a lot of close games and coming from behind in the final innings. And they plan on carrying that character over to next season.

“We have what it takes to win it all next year,” Schwartz said. “I have high expectations and a lot of confidence in this team.”

Tuesday, april 1, 2014

Women’s soccer// SPORTS

Tough season for women’s soccer team Concordia falls six points after almost making the playoffs in 2012-2013 Coming into the 2013-14 season though, the Stingers failed to build on that momentum, SAMANThA MILETO as they finished with a 5-9-0 record and just Sports editor 15 points, still in fifth place in the RSEQ, but 12 points short of the fourth and final playoff The 2012-13 season for the Concordia Sting- spot.

It wasn’t all bad for the Stingers, there were ers women’s soccer team saw them make huge strides. They finished with a 6-5-3 record and many positives to take out of the season. De21 points, good enough for fifth in the Réseau fenders Shannon Travers and Kayla Myre both du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) division. made the RSEQ second all-star team at the end Though they failed to make the playoffs, their of the season. Myre was the team’s leading record was a major improvement to their 2-9-3 scorer, and Travers was third in team scoring. record from the year before. The Stingers saw Midfielder Alyssa Ruscio was named to the their head coach, Jorge Sanchez, win a Coach RSEQ all-star team in the indoor season.

Myre is returning to play for Concordia in of the Year award as a result of the jump in proher fourth season next year, and Ruscio will be duction. back for her second year on the team.

But Travers is one of five players leaving the program next season. One thing to remember is Concordia has a young squad, with nine first-year players on their roster this season, including Ruscio, and they could definitely use the veteran Myre to lead the team next season.

Their inexperience creeped up in some games.

They played very a disappointing season for Women’s soccer. PHOTO BY BRIANNA THICKE well against the top

team in the RSEQ, the Montreal Carabins, on Sept. 8 for example, but an unlucky bounce for Montreal led to the only goal of the game. They outplayed Montreal in the second half, and hit a crossbar that would have tied the game late in the second half. One month later on Oct. 6, they also played very well against the Carabins in a 2-1 loss. They held a 1-0 lead for most of the game, but allowed two quick goals in the final minutes to lose 2-1.

Ruscio is known for her defensive play, and having a year under her belt will not only help her own performance, but will help the team keep the ball out of their own net in those close games.

In their indoor season, the Stingers were fairly inconsistent. They finished fourth in the six team league. They earned an impressive 2-0 victory over cross-city rival McGill, tied their next two games against the two bottom teams, Sherbrooke and L’Université du Québec à TroisRivières (UQTR), then fell to the two best teams in the RSEQ, Montreal and Laval.

Their 1-2-2 record earned them a playoff matchup against the fifth place UQTR, who finished without a win in the indoor season. The Stingers couldn’t capitalized and lost that game 1-0 and their season was done.

Though the record is not what the Stingers have wanted, the adversity is something to build on. They competed hard against the league’s best and with a few lucky bounces, some of those losses could have turned their way. With that in mind, the Stingers are well poised to make a playoff run next season if they could start winning some of those close games they weren’t winning this season and take advantage of their scoring chances.

Men’s soccer// SPORTS

Stingers miss playoffs on tiebreaker There is optimism for men’s soccer team heading into next season SAMANThA MILETO Sports editor

The biggest addition to the Concordia Stingers men’s soccer team in 2013-14 was appointing former Montreal Impact goalkeeper Greg Sutton as their head coach, who would replace former Impact striker Lloyd Barker. But it was not an easy season for the first-year coach, as his team finished with a 5-7-0 record. They were tied with McGill for fourth place with 15 points, but the Redmen took the last playoff spot because they held the tiebreaker.

It was an up-and-down season for the Stingers. Concordia opened the season with a 5-1 loss at the hands of the eventual top Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) team, the Montreal Carabins. The Stingers followed that up with a solid come-from-behind victory against the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Citadins. But after that big win came three straight losses to Laval, McGill and the last-place Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), respectively.

The Stingers did end the season on a high note, winning three of its last four games, but two losses on the season to McGill proved to be the difference, as their cross-city rivals narrowly beat them out for the last playoff spot.

In their indoor season, the Stingers would once again be tied with McGill for fourth place in the RSEQ with a 2-3-1 record. Their only tie came against the second place team, the Montreal Carabins, who finished their indoor season without a loss.

In the playoffs, Concordia fell to McGill foot-four goalkeeper Wes Aucoin from John 3-1 in the quarter-finals. The Stingers had Abbott, defender Justin Gibson from Ottawa their fair share of scoring chances throughout and Oliver Georges, another defender from that game, but could not capitalize, while the the Champlain St. Lambert Cavaliers. Georges Redmen took advantage of the Stingers defen- comes in from a Cavaliers program that went sive breakdowns, which ultimately led to the 7-0-3 last year.

The Stingers weren’t far off from making loss.

The good news for the Stingers is that they the playoffs this time around, but they were will have their two leading scorers from 2013- missing that extra edge in the close games.

14 back next year. Rookie forward Massimo Bringing in Georges, whose previous team Tartaglia finished the season with four goals hadn’t lost in an entire season, will allow the and two assists to lead the Stingers offensive- Stingers to add a winning player into their ly. Veteran forward Andrew Bryan will return locker room.

Both Tartaglia and Bryan will be imporfor his third season as a Stinger.

The philosophy major is a 2012 RSEQ sec- tant parts to the team next year, especially in ond-team all-star and was second in Stingers close games when they need some extra scorscoring this year with three goals. Bryan also ing punch. Coupling these two things togethled the Stingers in scoring with three goals er this should help Concordia improve their in just four games in their indoor season. record from their 2013-14 season.

He was named to the 2014 RSEQ all-star team for the indoor season.

Second-year midfielder Amadou Lam was named to the second-all star team for the indoor season.

Coach Sutton made some important moves during the winter semester to push the team forward into next year. stingers men narroWly miss playoffs. PHOTO BY BRIANNA THICKE He brought in six-

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Sports in the News ChRIS CORDELLA Staff writer

>> BASEBALL WEEKEND IN MONTREAL

Montrealers saw something they haven’t seen since 2004 this weekend: Major League Baseball (MLB). The Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets met at the Big O for two preseason games. On Friday night, the late Expos catcher Gary Carter, who passed away in 2012 of brain cancer was honoured before the game. Carter spent 11 years as an Expo from 1974-84 and then returned to Montreal for the 1992 season before retiring at the end of that year. The organization unveiled a banner at the Big O honouring Carter, who was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 2003. According to the Montreal Gazette, the announced attendance for Friday’s game was 46,121, which saw a walk off single in the ninth inning by Blue Jay Ricardo Nanita, that proved to be the game-winning run. The Blue Jays took that game with a 5-4 win.

On Saturday, the game was preceded by the honouring of the 1994 Montreal Expos team, which at the time was the best team in the MLB until a lockout just before the playoffs cancelled a potential championship for the Expos. According to the CBC, the announced attendance was 50,229. The Blue Jays took the second game 2-0.

>> IMPACT GET A WELL NEEDED DRAW

The Montreal Impact were in Philadelphia on Saturday to take on the Union. The Impact trailed after the first half, with a goal in the 35th minute by Philadelphia midfielder Vincent Nogueira. Montreal has trailed in every game so far this season. The Impact were then forced to play the last 15 minutes of the match a man down after forward Andrew Wenger receive a red card. In the 80th minute however, Montreal rallied with a late goal by veteran forward Marco Di Vaio, who was playing in his first game of the season after serving a three-game suspension that carried over from last year’s playoffs. With the draw, the Impact earned their first point of the year and will try to build on that late goal with a win on Saturday, April 5, when they take on the New York Red Bulls at the Olympic stadium at 4 p.m..

>> HABS KEEP ROLLING The Habs had a busy week, playing four games and improving their winning streak to five straight wins. The biggest victory was on Monday when they snapped the Bruins 12-game winning streak; their longest winning streak in franchise history. The Canadiens are currently in second place in the Atlantic Division, but are in a race with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are two points back of Montreal with one game in hand.

opinions

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Tuesday, april 1, 2014

Write to the editor: opinions@theconcordian.com Editorial // OPINIONS

You need more than an A+ to make a good resume It’s about more than just your degree or your grades: use your time in university wisely Obtaining a university degree is a huge accomplishment. Not only does it demonstrate that you have met the required learning to be certified as knowledgeable in a particular field but it also demonstrates tenacity, perseverance and dedication.

Unfortunately, a degree will only get you so far in the job market. Employers need employees that have degrees that correspond to their line of work but just because you have the paper doesn’t prove you can do the work.

A degree says things like: I am educated in the field of biology, psychology or English.

It can say I know how to do lab work, I know about empathizing with people, I know how

to analyze information and create arguments.

But these are not the only skills necessary for employment.

Employers need people who can work in a group environment, who can problem solve, who show interest in a variety of different things. If you spend all your time in university doing school work you might have a great GPA, which is good for research jobs, but if you want a job outside of academia, your resume needs to show what you’ve done outside of the classroom.

Concordia provides an abundance of extracurricular activities that will allow you to develop skills and have experiences that will interest employers and make you a more de-

sirable candidate.

Are you majoring in political science?

Show how you apply what you learn in class to actual political situations by writing about politics for one of the student papers or participating in student politics like faculty associations or the CSU. Are you pursuing a degree in marketing?

Apply to be an advertising manager for any of the clubs, associations or groups at Concordia and demonstrate your skills by building ad revenue.

Are you working towards a degree in one of the sciences? Why not organize a science fair to demonstrate your work and the work of your peers?

You don’t even have to do things that are directly related to your degree. If you volunteer you demonstrate to an employer that you have compassion, that you have social and interpersonal skills and that you like to get involved. Depending on what kind of volunteering you do you can also demonstrate organizational skills, time management skills, financial skills, leadership abilities; the list is endless.

So while you’re planning out what classes you want to take next year make sure to also plan what you can do outside of class to improve your resume. It’s never too early or too late to start thinking about how you’re going to sell yourself on the job market.

Politics // OPINIONS

Your voice counts, regardless of the language Why everyone should seize the opportunity to vote in the upcoming provincial election ROBIN STANfORD Staff writer

Provincial elections tend to bring out the beast in everyone, encouraging debate and unwanted political advertisements wherever one looks.

For the first time in recent memory, however, a political candidate has questioned who should be allowed to decide the future of the province in which they reside.

On March 22, at a news conference in Rivière-du-Loup, Pauline Marois, leader of the Parti Québécois, went on record as stating that they are concerned that non-Quebecers will be deciding the fate of our province. The concern, according to Mme Marois, is due to an “abnormal” number of anglophones and allophones who have registered to vote in the greater Montreal region. At this time, it is unclear what figure “abnormal” represents. According to Le Directeur Général Des Elections du Québec (DGE) there have been no abnormalities concerning voter registration.

According to the DGE, anyone above the age of majority, who has lived in Québec for more than six months, and intends to stay in Québec long term has the right to vote.

At a press conference two days later, the Parti Québécois sided with their leader by questioning if the anglophones and allophones registering intended to stay within the province at all. This is a very dangerous line of thinking to pursue, especially given that the DGE has admitted that some names were taken off the electoral list since the last provincial vote.

Voting is a right, regardless of the individual’s primary language. It is risky for any candidate to state otherwise. Allophones and anglophones are Quebecers just as much as French speakers within the province.

What you can do: 1) REGISTER: If you are eligible to vote be

sure to register with the DGE. The deadline to register to vote is April 3 at 2 p.m..

2) VERIFY: If you have voted in previous elections, verify to make sure you’re still on the list. Those on the electoral list should have already received voting instructions in the mail.

If you have not, please visit the DGE website to verify your voter registration.

3) GET INFORMED: All news services will have a recap section appearing in the next week summarizing all political platforms. Even if you do not have the time to follow what the candidates are up to daily, try to keep abreast of big issues which appear in the media.

4) VOTE: On April 7, be sure to make your voice heard. These individuals will be directly affecting your life through the legislation passed. Be sure to take 30 minutes out of your day to make your voice heard.

5) GET INVOLVED: Politics don’t stop after the election. If any elected official does something which you disagree with there is always public discourse. Let them know through email, petition, or protest.

Exercise your right to vote. Send the message that ALL Quebecers will stand and be heard. If any politician says that certain citi-

the provincial election takes place april 7. photo By league of Women voters california.

zens aren’t really Quebecers they will find that they are wrong. À Mme Marois: Je suis fière de la culture Québécoise accueillante et libre. J’ai honte de votre vision de notre province, où le vote n’est pas un droit mais seulement un autre cible a être utilisée dans vos enjeux politiques.

To Mme Marois: I am proud of our unique and welcoming Quebec culture. I am disgusted by your vision of a Quebec where voting is no longer a right but a target to be used in your personal game of politics.

For all information concerning voting visit www.electionsquebec.qc.ca/english/

Tuesday, april 1, 2014

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Jobs // opinions

Putting an end to students’ unpaid internships An exploitative, unfair experience that abuses free student labour for little to no payoff Cassondra Lozynsky The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

BURNABY (CUP) — During an awkward icebreaker game at the beginning of the semester, someone asked me if I planned to take an internship. I laughed nervously and told her no, considering most of the internships in my field of interest were unpaid.

I was taken aback by her response; she

recoiled in horror, as if she were going to catch some sort of unemployment plague, and demanded to know how I expected to get a job in the future. My annoyance bubbled below the surface, but I managed to slather on a tight smile.

I want to know why I am expected to sell myself short because of the precarious title I bare. Not only do I, and many other students, not have the luxury of throwing a whole working summer away, but the idea of selling labour for free because of my status as a student seems ludicrous.

Unpaid interns frequently recall negative experiences. Photo by Sean Macentee, Flickr.

Regardless of the fact that we were raised in an era of experience over compensation, why do students work laboriously to leave empty handed — save for (fingers crossed!) a glowing recommendation? Unpaid internships are not a fair and noble exchange between those in power and students; they are a shady way of extracting cheap or free labour.

When the topic of unpaid internships came up in one of my tutorials last semester, few people recalled good experiences. While some people did mention that completing an unpaid internship for a not-for-profit organization left them with valuable job experience, the overwhelming majority felt like they were being taken advantage of.

The rule of unpaid internships is that interns cannot do the same work as paid employees. Unpaid internship advocates’ solution to potential exploitation of interns is for interns to have a firm awareness of their rights by reading the Employment Standards Act. Realistically, though, even when interns are equipped with that awareness, they would accept breached rights if it meant keeping their employers happy and safeguarding a potential future job.

As one girl in my tutorial put it, “I was so bent on pleasing my boss in order to get a good recommendation, that I never objected

to doing the same menial tasks as the secretaries.”

The act itself perpetuates class division.

Unpaid internships create a distinction between the privileged who can afford to take them, and the middle class or poorer students who cannot. The privileged are allowed these unpaid “opportunities,” while most students are forced to take jobs outside of their area of interest in order to make money, which often goes towards staying in school.

This situation begs the question — are those who get unpaid internships really the crème de la crème of intern candidates, or has the competition just been sufficiently thinned out to only include the wealthy? If you ask me, it’s the latter.

Unfortunately, as long as there are students willing to settle for these unpaid internships, the belief that students are okay with this sort of relationship to those in power, and the belief that the wealthy deserve this leg up on the rest of us, will continue to be perpetuated.

Instead of climbing over one another on our race to employment, students should rally together and hold ourselves to a higher standard. I think it’s high time we challenge the status quo. The mindset that perpetuates internships might have had a place in the feudal era, but not in 2014.

Social media // opinions

“Cock socks for cancer” is a pointless venture The new wave of social media nominations are doing nothing for cancer awareness Sloane Montgomery News editor

A

m I the only one seriously not feeling these incredibly awkward Facebook and Instagram nominations? Are these actually in the slightest way relevant to a meaningful cause at all? This is a strongly worded letter of my hatred of “no makeup” or “cock in a sock” nominations and “awareness campaigns” that are plaguing social media.

Where do I even begin? First off, how does taking a selfie do anything for cancer? If you actually want to raise money or awareness for cancer, taking a selfie and saying it’s for “cancer awareness” certainly doesn’t do anything beyond feeding your ego and being fooled into thinking that you’re actually making a contribution to society. Please get off your lazy rear and run, bike, or even walk in a weekend to end cancer event if that’s actually what you want to do.

Why are people so obsessed with these fake “raise cancer awareness” campaigns?

It started off with a weird array of shocking statuses that would scare your family into thinking you were like, 16 and pregnant or reporting on your favourite sex position for the world wide web to see. I mean, was I the only one who Googled statuses that said things like “I like it on the table” from my 56-year-old aunt or “I like it on the stairs” from my 13-year-old cousin?

Upon searching Google I discovered it was for “cancer awareness.” Well, the statuses never even mentioned cancer, all they did was haunt me for half an hour while I frantically searched for a reason-

able explanation, (which I still have yet to find), and tried to overcome overly vivid images of my family having sex...

This shock value approach is something men are definitely aware of. I dare you to search #cockinasock. Apparently, men have taken to Facebook and Instagram, stripped down, and literally put their cock in a sock in the name of “prostate cancer awareness.”

Now, should you actually dare to take a look, your reaction will be something like “AHHHHH” or “oh my God, oh my God, AHHHH,” and it will actually make you think of prostates, wieners, shlongs... you get it.

Then, there’s the no makeup selfie nomination, which has literally consumed my News Feed. Not only do 95 per cent of these photos make me want to vomit, but I tend to notice a type of girl so vain that they, clearly still wearing makeup, try to rake in compliments like “oh my god you’re like, totally naturally pretty.”

So if we can agree that not wearing makeup, or worse, pretending not to wear makeup and taking a gratuitous selfie does nothing beneficial for cancer research, why are we focusing on the face to create breast cancer awareness? While I can understand the notion that mentioning breast cancer can make people think about it and maybe that thought could turn into a potential donation, what does this makeupless selfie have to do with it?

You want to shock me? You want me to think about breast cancer from a photo you post onto my News Feed? Then ladies please, unbutton your tops and show me the real deal: shock the hell out of me by flashing your breasts on social media and then I might actually think of breast cancer for like, five whole minutes.

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theconcordian

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

The Concordian is hiring!

There are still positions open for the 2014-2015 academic year Editors at The Concordian are responsible for pitching stories on a weekly basis that are relevant and interesting to Concordia students and editing story submissions according to section criteria and Canadian Press Style standards. In addition, editors are asked to assist writers in producing their best work, encourage writers to pitch story ideas, as well as participate in weekly story and production meetings.

NEWS EDITOR The News section covers news which are important to Concordia students. This includes but is not limited to: Concordia events, politics, student activities, and local or national news that is relevant to Concordia students.

NEWS TEAM The news team will be composed of a group of writers whose responsibility it will be to investigate, research and write stories that concern Concordia, Quebec, Montreal, federal and student politics; news events such as student activities, fundraisers, protests and much more. Writers

will gain valuable experience investigating and composing news stories. All faculties are welcome to apply. Enthusiasm required but no experience necessary.

student writers the opportunity to provide a compelling and thought-provoking arguments on topics of interest.

PHOTO EDITOR The photo editor is responsible for all photographic media used in the paper. They will take photos as requested by editors as well as give out photo assignments to photographers.

LIFE EDITOR The Life section contains stories designated as “features.”

Topics in the Life section include but are not limited to: personal narratives, health, fitness, beauty, fashion, extracurricular activities, trends GRAPHICS EDITOR The graphics editor is responand relationships. sible for creating the graphic art material used in the paper.

ARTS EDITOR The Arts section covers all They will be asked by editors events and topics that fall to illustrate stories for their into the ‘art’ category, such section. as, visual art, theatre, improv, COPY EDITOR(S) dance, literature and film.

Copy editors are responsible for ensuring that all articles MUSIC EDITOR The Music section is respon- are written according to Casible for covering artists and nadian Press Style and Canabands that are of interest to dian English grammar standards.

Concordia students.

PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS SPORTS EDITOR The Sports section covers all Production assistants help the production manager to sports events at Concordia. layout the newspaper each week with the application InOPINIONS EDITOR The Opinions section allows Design.

Submit your cover letter, CV and three samples of your work to: editor@theconcordian.com before April 4.

To apply you must be a registered student for 2014-15.

Word Search // ETC

Amanda L. Shore Editor-in-Chief editor@theconcordian.com Nathalie Laflamme Production manager production@theconcordian.com Sloane Montgomery News editor news@theconcordian.com Sabrina Giancioppi Life editor life@theconcordian.com Roa Abdel-Gawad Arts editor arts@theconcordian.com Jessica Romera Music editor music@theconcordian.com

@heidihamilton #gwynethpaltrow is going through a “conscious uncoupling” after wine I usually go thru an “unconscious coupling” #dishnation

Samantha Mileto Sports editor sports@theconcordian.com Lindsay Richardson Interim Opinions editor opinions@theconcordian.com

@honey_firefly Poor #GwynethPaltrow, perhaps she should listen to a little Coldplay.

That’ll cheer her right up.

@MkSpeaksHisMind It’s impossible to hear about #ChrisMartin and #GwynethPaltrow splitting up and not think, “How about them, Apple?” @punnick I understand #GwynethPaltrow and #ChrisMartin have decided to stop eating tea-time cakes... in a move described as ‘conscious un-Kipling’. @RyanCullen90 “When you try your best, but you don’t succeed....then divorce is the only financial and emotional recourse” - Chris Martin #gwynethpaltrow @thewordy “The important thing is to make sure this is a 100% gluten-free divorce.”

-#GwynethPaltrow @KateCasey Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin announce separation. He can finally eat fast food again. #gwynethpaltrow @PeteZias #GwynethPaltrow and Chris Martin are getting a divorce! Who will get custody of the color beige? @ameyapendse how long before #chrismartin confesses that he just wanted to eat solids again #gwynethpaltrow @Finders73 If I was #ChrisMartin I’d be relieved.

All she gives him to eat are nuts and berries. No wonder he’s miserable all the time #GwynethPaltrow @squawkfox #GwynethPaltrow and Chris Martin are getting a divorce! Who will get custody of the color beige?

Keith Race Photo editor photo@theconcordian.com Natasha Taggart Online editor online@theconcordian.com

MILEY FOAMFINGER MOLLY TONGUE HOTDOG CANTSTOP

WRECKING UNITARD ADOREYOU BILLCLINTON MASCOTS CAVALLI

Jennifer Kwan Graphics editor graphics@theconcordian.com Elizabeth Tomaras Christina Rowan Milos Kovacevic Copy editors copy@theconcordian.com Besher Al Maleh Marilla Steuter-Martin Production assistants Milos Kovacevic Assistant News editor Angela De Cicco Assistant Life editor Jocelyn Beaudet Assistant Arts editor Jonathan Cohen Assistant Music editor Tim Lazier Assistant Sports editor Marco Saveriano Assistant Opinions editor Editorial office 7141 Sherbrooke St. Building CC-Rm 431 Montreal, QC H4B 1R6 514-848-2424 ext. 7499 (Editor-in-Chief) Pascale Cardin Business manager business@theconcordian.com Tyson Lowrie Cindy Lopez Ruben Bastien Board of directors directors@theconcordian.com

Contributors Erik Trudel, Olivia Ranger-Enns, Jocelyn Beaudet, Elijah Bukreev, Elsbeth Cossar, Samantha Mateus, Sam Obrand, Mia Pearson, Matthew Shanahan, Robin Stanford, Paul Traunero, Romain Dompnier

theconcordian

Tuesday, April 1, 2014 Vol. 31 Issue 27

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin announced in a joint statement this week their “conscious uncoupling,” more commonly referred to as “divorce” among normal humans. Gwen, known for preaching her rigid lifestyle and diet habits, is getting most of the blame from the Twittersphere in a hilarious running commentary on what is one of Hollywoodʼs weirdest, most sugar-coated (okay, sugar alternative-coated) divorce of all time.

@ryanghinds #GwynethPaltrow new terms for divorce: Conscious Uncoupling!

Harmonious Fracturing! Paradisical Expaltrowing! Gladsome Degwynething!

Concordiaʼs weekly, independent student newspaper.

Art: Noble, Jin, Friesen and Flannigan @ FOFA until March 28 Déviant Élixir @ BBAM! until March 28 From Where We Stand @ Studio Beluga until April 4 Oscillations of the Visible @ Leonard and Bina Ellen Gallery until April 12 Automatic Ruins @ OBORO until April 12 Expatria @ Espacio Mexico until May 1 Illustrating Medicine @ Media Gallery until May 1 Peter Doig: No Foreign Lands @ MMFA until May 4 I & Us @ De Broin Hall until May 10

Theatre: Honestly, OK @ Theatre Sainte Catherine March 29 Glengarry Glen Ross @ Segal Centre until March 30 Tribute to Norman McLaren @ Place des Arts until April 12 4000 Miles @ Centaur Theatre until April 20

Music: Lanterns @ Barfly April 1 The Zolas @ Cabaret du Mile End April 3 Joycut, Diamond Bones and l’Indice @ Le Divan Orange April 3 James Vincent McMorrow @ Club Soda April 3 Deathpoint @ Piranha Bar April 5 Tea Time for the Homeless Music Night @ Karina Lounge April 5 Mac DeMarco @ Société Des Arts Technologiques April 6 Retox @ Le National April 7

Other: Sina Queryas Launches MxT @ Drawn & Quarterly Library March 26 International Festival of Films on Art until March 30 Our Veil @ CEREV Exhibition Lab March 31 Dangerous Acts @ Cinema Politica March 31 New Moon Psychedelic Carnival @ Roxbury March 30 Concordia’s Lacrosse Team Fundraiser @ Espaces des Arts April 5