The Concordian

theconcordian Volume 30 Issue 20

INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY. SINCE 1983.

January 29, 2013

Doesn’t

THE CONCORDIA STUDENT UNION OFFICIALLY ENDORSED THE LOVE DOESN’T HURT PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN DURING A REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING HELD LAST WEDNESDAY. PHOTO BY YANN PALARIC-SKINNER

New initiative provides resources to help Concordia students suffering from abuse are dealing with abuse to find resources and support them throughout the healing process, which can be difficult. Through posters, social media and workshops, Wheeler hopes to create awareness of the signs of abuse, help students identify disrespectful behaviour and point them in the right direction.

“Statistically, in post secondary environment, students experience a higher rate of sexual assault than the general population,” said 2110

Centre Administrative Co-ordinator, Julie Michaud. “There are many reasons, but a few can be that they’re away from their support system and haven’t been taught about what consent is.”

Michaud wants to have an open conversation with students to discuss what is consent and how sometimes people can turn a “no” to a “yes” which still does not classify under consent.

“It’s a huge journey moving forward

and there’s nothing to help people with that process,” said Wheeler.

“Moving on is the hardest part and there’s nothing that caters to that specifically, and there should be.”

Counselling and Development services at Concordia is an option but according to Wheeler, students must wait six weeks to secure an appointment because the department is “strapped” and overwhelmed.

In this issue // life arts

music

sports

opinions

Two cocoa spots battle it out P. 6

Aidan Knight is fresh as folk P. 11

Stingers’ off-ice advantage P. 15

Pros & cons of Mali aid P. 17

ROBIN DELLA CORTE Assistant news editor

A newly launched campaign, Love Doesn’t Hurt, was put into motion to raise awareness about healthy relationships, teach students about abuse and assault, and to promote the need for a sexual assault centre on campus.

For two years, the 2110 Centre for

Gender Advocacy and the Women’s Studies Student Association at Concordia have been pressuring the university to create a sexual assault centre. Now, due to the lack of relevant resources on campus, Concordia Student Union Councillor Melissa Kate Wheeler began Love Doesn’t Hurt.

“We’re trying to start a conversation, to get students to understand abuse and assault with two main goals,” Wheeler said.

The first goal is to help people who

All Montreal’s a stage P. 8-9

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

Continued on P. 5

theconcordian.com

news 2

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

Write to the editor: news@theconcordian.com

City in brief The homeless seek refuge in frigid weather

MATTHEW GUITÉ Assistant news editor

>> House explodes

in fireball

The Montreal Police arson squad are investigating a massive blaze that overtook, and eventually destroyed, a home in Rivière-desPrairies—Pointe-aux-Trembles Thursday. Witnesses to the fire claim to have seen men fleeing the scene following a loud explosion.

Montreal Police spokeswoman Anie Lemieux confirmed that men were seen breaking into the home and later made their getaway when the fire began. The homeowners were not in when the fire began, and no injuries have been reported.

>>We don’t need no

education

The Parti Québécois’ education minister has stated that free education will not be part of the discussion at the upcoming education summit due to be held next month. Pierre Duchesne told CBC that indexing education fees to the cost of living is what the government is pursuing, despite the wishes of student groups to consider other options. “The good thing about this possibility is that there are different indexation models, some of which resemble a freeze, others which are indexed based on certain indicators,” said Duchesne. Martine Desjardins, president of the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, told CBC that indexation was not the answer. “The consensus is clearly not around indexation,” she said.

“Even at the summit table with all of the people involved in the university milieu, we don’t hear the word ‘indexation’ except when it comes from the government.”

>>Baby-snatching

video goes viral

The Montreal design school Centre NAD has announced a scholarship which will be funded by the proceeds from their Internet-famous video of a golden eagle snatching a baby out of a stroller that was released last year. The video, a hoax which received international attention and millions of views, has earned money through AdSense on YouTube. The cash will go towards a scholarship for a student at the school, as the money earned cannot directly benefit the school because the video was created with software on an educational license.

School spokeswoman Claude Arsenault told CBC that she could not yet confirm the amount designated to the scholarship, as it had not yet been given to the school.

city// NEWS

Montreal shelters provide additional care despite lack of room MADELON KIROV Contributor

Last week’s dangerously low temperatures had shelters across the city working hard to accommodate and take in as many people in need as possible.

With severe wind-chill warnings in effect, residents province-wide were advised to stay indoors and to layer-up when going outside. In Montreal, temperatures reached a paralyzing minus 36 degrees Celsius combined with winds of over 20 kilometres per hour.

With no place to call home, inadequate winter clothing and minimal food, the homeless people of Montreal were left depending on shelters and drop-in centres.

“During the winter we have a policy where we must take in everyone that comes and we cannot turn anyone away,” said Virginie Lussier, an employee at the Old Brewery Mission. “It’s a question of survival.”

The Old Brewery Mission offers a shuttle service that drives around the

city to other shelters and picks up the homeless on the street to bring them back to hot food and a bed. The shelter also has a cafeteria and a kitchen run by volunteers.

If an individual has a bit of extra money they are able to rent a bed for a very low cost. Men can stay from one to three weeks and women from one to three months. With the deepfreeze, the Old Brewery Mission is experiencing overcrowding but Lussier said that everyone is accepted.

“We put mattresses on the floor in the cafeteria and everywhere if there are no more beds available or we call other shelters,” said Lussier.

“Under no circumstance, especially in the winter, can we deny shelter to those looking for it.”

J.C., a homeless man currently residing at the Old Brewery Mission, explained that shelters are essential in freezing weather.

“In the summer, there’s no problem, but in the winter if we did not have the shelter we would probably be forced to sleep in shopping centres or anywhere really that’s warm.

Or we would freeze to death,” said J.C..

Photo by Leonardo Nieto-Montenegro

The St. James United Church also offers a day shelter. Allan Spitzer, who works at the drop-in centre, said that the church provides access to showers, clean clothing, hot meals and a few beds as well. On average, they take in about 50 people each day.

According to Spitzer, the goal of the church is to be a catalyst for change as the number of homeless grows in Montreal to ensure that destitution doesn’t “become the norm.”

“What we are trying to do here is to offer a safe and supportive environment for those who are

homeless or marginalized in our society.” said Spitzer. “We want them to experience community, not only just [the] services.”

The church also aims to help people reclaim their own dignity and find their own solutions to their problems. The drop-in centre works actively with people while they are there, helping them find more suitable housing and work.

These shelters depend greatly on donations. They accept non-perishable food items, clothes, pillows and money.

campus // NEWS

CSBC credit card fraud addressed at AGM Some members pushing to conduct retroactive financial audits MATTHEW GUITÉ Assistant news editor

C

redit card fraud, the split with Concordia University Television and an ongoing debate over how financial records should be reviewed were all issues addressed at the Concordia Student Broadcasting Corporation’s Annual General Meeting last Saturday.

During the hour-long meeting, CSBC President Angelica Calcagnile gave an overview of the Board of Directors report, the CSBC’s financial statements were reviewed and elections and re-elections of the BoD took place.

During the BoD report, Calcagnile gave a frank explanation of current issues the CSBC has been dealing with, such as the issue of money still owed to CUTV following their separation last fall. The money, owed to CUTV following an audit of the value of the station, amounts to just over $14,000.

Patrice Blais, treasurer of the CSBC, ex-

plained that the figure does not take into account money that CUTV spent using the corporation’s accounts, including the purchase of new computers and credit card statements dating back to June. Blais estimated that a more accurate figure of the money still owed would be between $7,000 and $10,000.

Calcagnile described to members a recent incident of credit card fraud on three of the CSBC’s credit cards. The fraudulent transactions committed in December, totalling $862.19, were spotted and reversed in early January.

“I was alerted to it by multiple sources around the 10th of January and it was resolved I believe the 10th of January as well,” Calcagnile said.

“They credited our accounts and there was no damage whatsoever.

There might be something that we’ll see on our next statement, because they might have continued to commit [fraud] into January, but the cards were cancelled.”

After the bank returned the money, CSBC opened a file with the Montreal Police. Calcagnile explained that the issue was not one the authorities con-

sidered to be worth investigating due to the fact that the amount was small and no financial damage resulted from the incident.

A third issue mentioned during the BoD report was a push by former CSBC director Sabine Friesinger for retroactive audits of the CSBC’s books going back three years. The motion was put forward at the CSBC’s BoD meeting in January and was voted down.

According to Calcagnile, the issue will be addressed at the Graduate Students’ Association Tuesday. “[Friesinger] is trying to get the GSA to agree to encourage us to do a retroactive audit and if not, the outcome of that motion is that they could hold our GSA fee-levy,” said Calcagnile.

Calcagnile went on to explain the reasoning behind the CSBC’s switch from audits to financial reviews several years ago, stating that it wasn’t necessary to perform full audits.

“The auditor said, ‘listen, I’ve looked at your books and I’ve been doing your books for X amount of years and it doesn’t seem necessary, it represents a significant cost to you

that I don’t feel is necessary for your organization’,” she said. “Here at Concordia, the only organization that does a full audit every year is the Concordia Student Union and they’re dealing with significantly more money than the rest of us.”

Friesinger, the one who first proposed the motion, told The Concordian that allegations of mismanagement during the separation of CUTV and CSBC were what first led her to the idea of retroactive audits.

“If those allegations are proven to be wrong after a full audit then all the better,” said Friesinger. “But when these kinds of things are said and people are worried about it then we need to take action on it.”

Friesinger also said the amount of funding the CSBC receives from student fee-levies was another reason she was concerned with what she called a lack of financial transparency.

“I don’t know whether or not there is financial mismanagement, but I know that when I asked about seeing bank statements or credit card statements, or even statements from internal accounts, I was refused.”

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

campus // NEWS

Concordia digs into deficit University Board of Governors green-lights a sum of up to $7.5 million MARILLA STEUTER-MARTIN Editor-in-chief

Concordia announced Jan. 23 that it will enter into a deficit of up to $7.5 million for the 2012-2013 fiscal year; one of the biggest deficits declared in the university’s history.

After the province announced a $124-million slash to university funding across Quebec in December, Concordia administrators were scrambling to find a way to end the winter semester as planned with a loss of $13.2 million.

Concordia President Alan Shepard explained that the cut accounts for approximately five per cent of Concordia’s operating budget and that the interest rate on the deficit will be a standard 2.5 per cent.

Shepard went on to say that since provincial funding is dispensed incrementally throughout the school year in the form of an operating grant, Concordia will never see the $13.2 million it had been banking on.

Board of Governors Chair Norman Hébert stated in an interview that “we don’t have a history of running deficits,” and that “both the financial committee and the Board took this extremely

seriously.”

University spokesperson Chris Mota confirmed that prior to the government cuts, “this would have been the third year with absolutely no deficit.”

Mota also explained that deficits in the past usually ran between $20,000 to $30,000 and were “not anywhere near what we’re dealing with now.”

As Shepard explained, deficits are a “short-term solution,” and not something the university is eager to enter into. He went on to emphasize that his priority moving forward would be to avoid making any changes which would negatively affect academics, research and student financial aid.

Concordia’s budget has been revised four times since the beginning of the academic year. The university had originally planned for a $600,000 surplus in an earlier draft of the budget, but now the money will go towards covering the $13.2million loss. The university will also be cutting costs by closing positions which are currently vacant and have been vacant for some time.

Looking to the future, Shepard said that it is still unclear whether or not this government cut will be a one-time occurrence and that “all

Photo by Madelayne Hajek

eyes are on the [education] summit” which is set for Feb. 25 and 26.

Shepard also explained that Concordia will likely not be alone in declaring a deficit.

“It will surprise me if, in the final quarter of the year, anybody has five per cent of the money sitting around and they can just absorb it no problem. We run closer

to the bone than that,” he said.

When Quebec Premier Pauline Marois cancelled the tuition hike imposed by the former Liberal government in the fall, universities were promised additional funding to make up for the loss in revenue. As of yet, Concordia hasn’t received confirmation about the exact amount or when that money will be transferred.

Rules, regulations and red tape Members of the Concordia Student Union violated standing regulations, bylaws KALINA LAFRAMBOISE News editor

Confusion over the Concordia Student Union’s bylaws and standing regulations has left council in an awkward position when it comes to enforcing its own rules.

STANDING REGULATIONS During a regular meeting Wednesday, it came to light that student representatives violated the CSU’s standing regulations when executives appointed Councillor Ramy Khoriaty as orientation director. In that position, Khoriaty was in charge of organizing Concordia’s two-week long frosh event that kicks off the start of every school year.

According to the CSU’s standing regulations, article 225 states that a member of council is subject to disqualification for six outstanding reasons. Councillors Chad Walcott and Melissa Kate Wheeler explained that Khoriaty broke article 225 when he took his position of orientation director. Point E states that a member of council must resign: “If he or she becomes an employee of the student union after taking

Nation in brief ROBIN DELLA CORTE Assistant news editor

>>All calls for women

campus // NEWS

office,” standing regulations read.

Khoriaty is a former executive, who served as VP finance during the 2010-2011 academic year and, under standing regulations, cannot technically be employed by the CSU following his mandate.

Three executives of the A Better Concordia slate interviewed Khoriaty, apparently without realizing his employment was in violation of the standing regulations. VP Loyola Stefan Faina, VP sustainability Andrew Roberts and VP student life Alexis Suzuki interviewed him initially.

“I have to apologize that we missed that important standing regulation,” said Roberts. “But [Khoriaty] has experience and lots of knowledge.”

Council was torn over what to do despite the implications of the breach of rules. Walcott explained that while it may not directly be Khoriaty’s fault, council had to either follow its standing regulations or “ignore” them.

“This is the time to enforce the bylaws and not send it to the policy committee,” said Walcott. “All of these people should have known the standing regulations and bylaws.”

Councillor James Vaccaro expressed his disdain at the oversight

3

and stressed the importance of reading and knowing the rules that keep council in check.

“This is the ultimate example of how this can go wrong if we don’t know our own rules,” said Vaccaro.

“The CSU has failed its students.”

Since council was at an impasse over the potential to force Khoriaty to resign, the Judicial Board will take on the case and render a decision.

Councillor and former VP finance, Jordan Lindsay, resigned from overseeing a project for the CSU Wednesday in order to avoid the same situation. Council initially appointed Lindsay to address ongoing issues with the student association’s information technology services.

CSU BYLAWS During the meeting, members of the Fine Arts Student Alliance and the Engineering and Computer Science Association emphasized that there was little communication going on between their associations and the CSU. Council remained divided over Suzuki’s involvement with student faculty associations, an activity that is loosely mandated in the VP student life’s duties in the CSU’s bylaws under article 7.12.

“The vice-president student life is responsible for the organizing of student orientation and the major events related to student life on campus,” reads the bylaw. “The vice-president is also the liaison for faculty associations.”

While Suzuki was not present for the meeting, it became apparent that certain councillors feel she is not performing her duties to the best of her abilities, following a failed motion to appoint a liaison between FASA and the CSU. Councillor Veryan Goodship emphasized that Suzuki already neglected her mandate prior to Walcott suggesting a “dereliction of duties” which implies a failure to fulfill responsibilities.

Furthermore, while council solved the incomplete bylaw 10.2 regarding membership status, the bylaw itself wasn’t adhered to. The bylaw states that the chairperson of the CSU must verify the student status of the representatives and executives of the student union every semester. Chair Jean-François Ouellet failed to submit his report by the first meeting following the Did Not Enter date at Concordia. Ouellet did inform council that the verification would be completed for the upcoming meeting in February.

Targeting athletes and those in top shape is the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s new strategy to capture the interest of women in order for them to join the force. Constable Amy Forbes is currently conversing with universities and high schools in the province of Saskatchewan about potential partnerships with their female teams. Women in Saskatchewan only make up 18 per cent of RCMP officers. “We’d like to actually integrate ourselves into the team if possible,” Forbes told CBC. “So the girls can get to know us [...] and see obviously we are police officers, but we’re human at the same time.” The RCMP hopes that through their strategy, and process of the project, women will realize that becoming a Mountie is a possible career choice for them.

>>A sad goodbye

Daurene Lewis, the first black woman to become mayor in Canada died Saturday morning in a hospital from an undisclosed illness at the age of 68.

Lewis was also the first black woman to run in a provincial election. She was a member of the Order of Canada, a nurse and had a PhD. In 1984, she was elected to serve as the mayor of Annapolis Royal, becoming the first female black person in Canada to be elected to this position. She was also the principal at the Leeds Street campus of the Nova Scotia Community College and chaired the Africville Heritage Trust when it was establishing the rebuilt Seaview United Baptist Church.

>>First woman pre-

mier in Ontario

Kathleen Wynne will be the first female premier to serve in Ontario after her third-ballot victory on Saturday.

Wynne won after beating longtime Liberal Sandra Pupatello. The ballot came by a vote of 1,150 to 866 over Pupatello. Wynne believes the province is ready to accept an openly gay woman as premier, saying Ontario and the party “has changed”, the citizens are not prejudiced. Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement congratulating Wynne. He stated looking forward to working with her “on addressing issues that matter to Ontarians, and in particular the creation of jobs and economic growth,” CBC reported.

>>Three Canadians

remain missing

The Twin Otter aircraft that had been reported missing in Antarctica has now been found and the three-member Canadian crew that was on board has been confirmed dead. Calgarybased Kenn Borek Air, the plane’s operator, released a written statement explaining the scene made it unlikely for survival. The search and rescue worker made contact with the plane’s crash site late Friday night Mountain Time. “The crew of the SAR Twin Otter reports that the overdue aircraft impacted a steep snow and ice-covered mountain slope,” CBC reported.

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

theconcordian

World in brief Fine Arts representation still unresolved campus // NEWS

ROBIN DELLA CORTE Assistant news editor

>>Nightclub devas-

tation

A fire in a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil killed more than 230 people early Sunday. Witnesses claim that a flare or firework lit by band members might have been the cause of the fire, The National Post reported. Hundreds gasped for air and stampeded towards a single door exit, which was practically blocked by those already dead.

Firefighters had a difficult time getting inside of the club because “there was a barrier of bodies blocking the entrance,” Guido Pedroso Melo, commander of the city’s fire department, told the O Globo newspaper. Many of the victims were under the age of 20, including some minors.

>>Anonymous ven-

geance

A federal judicial agency website in the United States went down following an attack made from the online activism group, Anonymous.

As a form of retaliation for the suicide of Internet activist and Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz, Anonymous issued a warning message on the website of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Following the hack, a manifesto was left stating that “a line was crossed” when Swartz took his own life and demanded for reform of the justice system. The organization is now threatening to leak confidential documents.

>>Gun control rally

Marching from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, thousands of people joined a rally for gun control on Saturday. With signs reading “We Are Sandy Hook,” victims of the December elementary school shooting lead the crowd. Most signs read “Gun Control Now” and other signs had names of victims of gun violence. Kara Baekey, participant from nearby Norwalk, CT heard about the Newtown shooting and thought about her two children motivating her to plan the rally.

“I wanted to make sure this never happens at my kids’ school or any other school,” Baekey told CBC. “It just can’t happen again.”

>>Indonesia land-

slide

An Indonesia landslide triggered by rain in the west has killed nine people and left 17 people missing with 20 houses buried beneath mud and rocks, disaster official Ade Edward reported. Rescuers recovered five bodies and were looking for another 17 people who were reported missing. “The workers were having dinner when the landslide suddenly occurred,” company official Adiatma Sardjito told CBC. Sardjito claimed that heavy equipment to aid efforts to save lives were sent. Frequent torrential downpours coupled with poor weather trigger landslides each year in Indonesia.

CSU motions to provide three Fine Arts students with ex-officio rights MATTHEW GUITÉ Assistant news editor

An attempt by the Concordia Student Union to fix the lack of Fine Arts representation on council fell flat last Wednesday when it was discovered that the solution in question would violate the union’s own bylaws.

Proposed by CSU President Schubert Laforest, who was absent from the meeting due to illness, the motion would have allowed student faculty associations to appoint a representative to council if both annual general elections and byelections passed but resulted in no student filling any of the seats reserved for that faculty. This was the case after byelections in November left all Fine Arts seats empty.

Despite having been checked beforehand by the policy committee and discussed with the Fine Arts Student Alliance executives (some of whom attended the meeting on Wednesday), council quickly realized that the motion would be impossible to allow without violating bylaw 9.3.1 which states that vacant seats can only be filled through a byelection — a fact that left the FASA representatives unimpressed.

FASA VP clubs and services Erika

Couto, who first brought the issue to light with a petition she brought to council following the November byelections, was not pleased that council shot down the proposed solution and then moved to suspend the issue indefinitely.

“We’re very angry,” she said. “This points to bigger problems within the CSU’s functioning.”

Couto also said that another byelection would have to be held to allow some Fine Arts representation on council or risk violating the CSU’s bylaws. Bylaw 6.2.1 states that council composition must consist of two representatives from each faculty.

Some councillors, such as Carlotta Longo, suggested that a byelection would be too expensive considering how little time there is left in the academic year.

After a fierce debate, council came to a motion that would allow three Fine Arts representatives to have exofficio rights on council, which would allow them to sit in on closed sessions but not vote as council members do.

The motion will need to be voted on at the next FASA meeting before it can be accepted or declined.

Councillor Ramy Khoriaty told The Concordian that while the initial solu-

tion Laforest brought to council wasn’t viable, he considered the compromise to be the best possible solution.

“We’re having a lot of issues with councillors and executives not knowing the standing regulations properly.

It was a mistake for [Laforest] to put forward a motion that was against the standing regulations, but I’m sure that he didn’t know that it was,” Khoriaty said. “The solution that we introduced after was a reasonable one. It was legal and in my opinion, it was the best that we can offer them.”

Khoriaty was also unhappy with the way that FASA approached the meeting, claiming that they blamed the CSU for the situation when it was caused by a lack of interest in the open position.

“I don’t know why people are so scared of saying it, but there was a position open, and nobody ran for it,” he said. “It’s true there were some problems with the other positions, but there was a position open. When it’s so important for them to have representation, somebody needs to run. If there was no position open I would totally understand, but there was a position open.”

In a statement to student media on monday, FASA VP Internal Communications Jessica Gilbert said that the

solution proposed at council may not be a viable one.

“My personal understanding of policy is that by-laws cannot be changed in Council and therefore while this is a good idea for the future it does not fix the issue at hand,” she said.

Iain Meyer-Macaulay, a Fine Arts student who attended the meeting, said that overall he felt the meeting went as well as it could have, but that he was also disappointed with the outcome of Laforest’s motion.

“It is important to know the laws which govern your organization especially if you’re sitting at the top,” Meyer-Macaulay said. “When the resolution is presented, by proxy, and is illegal and impossible to implement, it sets a dangerous precedent. It also surprises me that it was the FASA reps who ended up bringing this up in council.”

Meyer-Macaulay also said that his expectations for the solution proposed to FASA were not high.

“The ghost seats are a compromise,” said Meyer-Macaulay. “They are a result of our original grievance falling on deaf ears, and a hasty ‘solution’ being pulled out of the tension in the air when we finally demanded some action out of the CSU in regards to our original grievance.”

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

campus // NEWS

Love Doesn’t Hurt takes flight Continued from cover

T

he second goal is to let students know about 2110’s sexual assault centre campaign and rally support for the project. Wheeler explained that the two initiatives collaborated their efforts to advocate that would address different forms of abuse.

“Ideally, a sexual assault centre would be equipped to handle lots of different kinds of crisis, including instances of assault both on and off campus,” Wheeler said.

According the to Sexual Assault Centre Campaign, one in three women and one in six men worldwide will at some point in their lives be a victim of sexual violence. The campaign hopes to reach 1000 signatures but as to date has 272 signatures so far.

Michaud states that they’ve been in contact with the university and although they haven’t made any formal announcement, Michaud believes things are really moving forward. “I’m under the impression they … have some space lined up or a few options, so something will be happening, in the not long distant future,” she said.

The CSU unanimously voted in favour of supporting the public awareness campaign and initiative during a regular council meeting last Wednesday.

First-year John Molson School of Business student Darlene Waskiw said she believes that Concordia should have a centre on campus, so that more services are available for any situation.

“These services should be available no matter what and we shouldn’t wait for a situation to occur to finally think there should be one,” she said.

First-year English literature student Frankie Johnston also believes that students should realize how important it is to have services offered on campus.

“It’s hard for people to go out of their comfort zone and look for help, but I feel that if the opportunity is right there then they will go for it,” Johnston said.

The 2110 Centre is actively participating in the Love Doesn’t Hurt campaign, who Wheeler claims are “very happy with the initiative.” Representatives from both Love Doesn’t Hurt and the 2110 Centre attend one another’s meetings to collaborate on ideas.

Wheeler states that more specifics of the campaign will be made public soon.

“Statements like “don’t walk alone at night,” “watch your drink,” “don’t dress like sluts”; those are very nonsensical pieces of information. Nothing we do causes someone to behave a certain way,” Michaud said. “It’s such a ridiculous idea, an idea that is commonly held in this society, but one we have to break down and put the responsibility where it belongs.”

For students in need or for those who want to get involved, they can email: lovedoesnthurt.concordia@gmail.com

Photo by Madelayne Hajek Graphic by Katie Brioux

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life 6

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

Write to the editor: life@theconcordian.com food war // LIFE

MontreaL Cocoa War Dive into Montreal’s best chocolate desserts, as we put Cocao Locale & Cacao 70 to the test

Cocoa Locale perfects the cake SARA BARON-GOODMAN Staff writer

Cocoa Locale, a cozy cake shop on Park Ave., is everything that a bakery should be. It is whimsical, homey, and has smells so tantalizing that it’s hard not to buy at least one of everything.

Reema Singh opened the shop five years ago, and has been churning out cakes and baked goods with her own two hands every day ever since. She’s a one-woman show, and she likes it that way. The shop is her baby.

“I would never hire anybody else, I like that everything is up to me,” she said, elbow deep in vanilla cake batter.

Cocoa Locale is just one room consisting of a counter with a display case, behind which Singh has her baking atelier. She mixes and pours her confections as she serves and greets customers.

Artfully decorated, the place is brimming with personality. Corkboards the length of the walls are adorned with picture frames, 1950s ads and postcards, kitschy quotes and retro baking paraphernalia.

The only seating is a wooden bench under the window, and a wooden swing beside it. This is a take-out shop, and customers can pre-order cakes and other goodies or else pick them up on the spot.

“I do cupcakes but my specialty are cakes,” she said. For Singh, cupcakes are really just a miniature version of her larger cakes. You won’t find thousands of flavours to box up by the dozen, but the select recipes she has leave no conceivable room for improvement.

“I’m a vanilla person,” Singh said of her favorite recipe. “I’ve spent a lot of time perfecting that.”

And perfect it is as this vanilla is anything but boring. With hints of rose, the cupcake is fresh, sweet and melts in your mouth.

It was, however, the chocolate chai cupcake that sent me reeling into what I can only describe as the elusive taste-bud orgasm. The cake is rich and decadent, with complex spices and a hint of ginger against the bittersweet chocolate.

The third cupcake I sampled was lemon coconut and was a nice contrast against the richness of the chocolate. This one was sweet and buttery, with zings of lemon that hit you with each bite.

Photo by writer

Cakes are baked fresh every day and while she retains customer favourites, she occasionally alters the menu at her own whim. Her three classic recipes are chocolate valrhona chai, vanilla rose, and lemon coconut. Each cake or cupcake is decorated as deliciously as it tastes, with a feminine sprinkle of flower petals or coconut shavings.

A box of six cupcakes is sold for $15, a small cake ranges from $10 to $12, and a large one from $18 to $20. I guarantee it’ll be worth every penny.

VS.

Grade: A Cocoa Locale is located on 4807 Park Ave.

Cacao 70 brings you a taste of home REBECCA DE CARLO Staff writer

Photos by Madelayne Hajek

When away at university, the comforts of home seem to be far and few, especially when it comes to food. One thing I definitely miss are my mom’s home baked goodies, her brownies in particular.

So when I stepped into Cacao 70, I felt that I had found a home away from home for all my chocolate-treat needs.

If you ever find yourself walking down SteCatherine St. and in need of a quick chocolate pick me up, pop into Cacao 70, a unique resto, dessert, and chocolate bar. The atmosphere is warm and inviting, a much needed relief from the below zero temperatures outside, with a sweet aroma of chocolate in the air.

There is a sit down menu or you can get your goodies to go, either way you cannot go wrong with a treat from them. My personal favourite is their brownies. I find it difficult to find a really

good brownie as they’re always too soft, too hard or too rich. What seems to be such a simple dessert is actually really difficult to get just right.

However, at Cacao 70 the brownie is simply to die for. It is light, not too rich, and each bite leaves you wanting just a little bit more. This delicious dessert is comforting and warm, like it was baked in your mom’s kitchen.

You can have the brownie plain or add whipped cream, ice cream or chocolate sauce.

Along with the dessert, you can also enjoy a homemade hot chocolate that comes in a variety of flavours such as dark, milk chocolate, and spiced. You can also choose from several decadent chocolate pizza options that include chocolate peanut butter and Nutella with ricotta cheese.

Another sweet surprise on the menu would be the 10 different flavours of chocolate soda that Cacao 70 offers, including banana and passion fruit.

No matter what chocolate needs you have, Cacao 70 has something to offer. It is just a quick walk from the downtown Concordia University campus, so make a pit stop after class to satisfy your chocolate cravings and be comforted with a one-of-a-kind dessert experience.

Grade ACacao 70 is located on 2087 Ste-Catherine W. St.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

7

dating // LIFE

Debunking the 13th cupid One study asks: when do you know you’ve met the right one?

SATURN DE LOS ANGELES Staff writer

All the single folks, listen up! Valentine’s Day is around the corner and it’s that time of year again for matchmaking!

Now, now, don’t be pressured, this is not a sappy relationship advice article. Couples, exes and lovers should read along too. You might laugh, get a little infuriated or scream blasphemy.

This study involves the notorious little number 13.

In Wired Magazine’s December issue, informatics and cognitive science professor at the University of Indiana, Peter Todd answered the mind-boggling question of how you know if you’ve found the perfect partner.

Todd figured out a theory based on a study he did on dating and relationships where “an active dater will go on numerous dates a year, and will probably have a few relationships under his or her belt by the time they hit 30.” His conclusion was that lucky number 13 is what you should

be paying attention to; 13 as in 13 relationships, whether they were successful or not.

He explains that “if you’ve dated fewer than 12 people, feel free to keep looking (and dating).

If you’ve dated, say, 30 people, you’re probably being too picky.”

A little outrageous, isn’t it? I decided to put this theory to the test and see if this actually makes sense, so I did a little investigating and asked Concordia students what they thought about the theory.

“It sounds like it’s possible. I don’t think your first relationship is the one that works or that you find love,” said Concordia student Lucy Shilton.

“Sometimes, you go back to someone [you’ve went out with] before, and that happens a lot. ” “I don’t think that love can be defined by a mathematical equation,” said student Cassandra Santilli-Giza. “What is his definition of a relationship because some people have different definitions of what that may be. It may be in their head, it may be on paper and some people don’t even believe in marriage; so therefore what is a relationship? You have to define that.”

“It’s funny because I’m taking a sociology class and anytime when you apply a scientific

theory to human things, I think you’re setting yourself up for failure,” said another student, Conor Jones. “There are people that reach eight and they start getting scared that they’re not going to be in another relationship. I think 12 is a little extreme. I don’t know, the science of human beings is full of potholes.”

We asked psychologist Dale Robinson, the manager for Counseling and Psychological Services at Concordia’s Counseling and Development office. She agrees with what the students have said.

“Is there such a thing as a magic number?

No. What’s interesting about that article is that it’s trying to take something very complex like love and relationships and boil it down to something quantifiable.”

Robinson adds that there are many more factors taken into account such as personality, values and a deeper understanding of one’s self.

“I don’t think there’s a ‘one-size-fits-all’ [approach], and therefore I don’t think there’s a number that you have to aim for in terms of finding your true love. I would say it would stem more from finding your true self, and knowing what you truly want, and then really being

honest with yourself when you find that or when you don’t find that.”

What’s fascinating is that everyone unanimously agreed that when it comes to relationships, figures don’t really matter and that one’s own feelings and principles matter more.

Robinson concludes that we’re simply human, and that love is more than just ‘trial and error’.

“It’s not simply just dating enough people.

I think self-awareness is a key, your maturity is a key. I don’t think the only way to learn is through trial and error, it works in a lab with rats, but we’re human beings. We’re able to think and reason and know what our priorities are and act accordingly. Humans are a lot more complicated like that.”

The message is clear among those who responded, that everyone is different and it reflects the complexity of human beings whenever relationships come into play.

fitness // LIFE

Yoga for dummies: we break it down Bikram? Ashtanga? Hatha? The Concordian ends the guessing game when it comes to yoga ANOUARE ABDOU Contributor

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aybe the closest you ever got to a yoga mat was when you were walking behind that girl in Lululemon pants who was holding one. Maybe your best friend has dragged you to a couple of hot yoga classes, or maybe you have mastered the art of the downward-facing dog, and “Namaste” is a regular expression in your vocabulary. Regardless of your experience, the choice between the many different styles of yoga can be overwhelming. Here is a simplified breakdown of a few of the most popular types of yoga available.

Hatha Yoga: Hatha Yoga is a broad term that encompasses several sub-categories of yoga. The emphasis is put on the mind and body connection by focusing on breathing while holding postures called ‘asanas’. Expect a slower-paced class that is good for learning the basic postures of yoga.

Vinyasa Yoga: Vinyasa is all about flowing through the postures while keeping breath and movement synchronized. Expect a fast-paced class where you will transition through the poses quickly. Fluidity of movement is key. If you have a short attention span and dread holding poses for a while, this will appeal to you.

Ashtanga Yoga: Ashtanga is similar in intensity to Vinyasa as it is

Graphic by Jennifer Kwan

a dynamic and rigorous practice that combines breathing with movement. The difference is that the sequence of poses is always done in the same order.

Power Yoga: Power Yoga can be seen as a more North-American approach to traditional yoga. The classes are intense and fast-paced. If you want to break a sweat but do not care too much for chanting or meditation, this one’s for you.

Bikram Yoga: This class is a series of 26 poses in a heated room.

The temperature is 42 degrees Celsius and the duration of the class is 90 minutes, making it an intense and challenging practice. You will be dripping in sweat from head to toe once you’re done.

This is not a meditative practice either. Bikram is for more the more experienced and slightly more hardcore yogi.

Hot Yoga: Hot Yoga refers to any class performed in a heated room. Some people confuse Bikram Yoga with Hot Yoga, but Bikram Yoga is a specific sequence of postures created by Bikram Choudhury. In Hot Yoga, the heat is an added element but there are no restrictions to the type of class the teacher will give.

or blankets are used to support your body and help you hold poses for a very long time. Expect a slow-paced class with lots of stretching. This is more of a relaxing practice that will leave your body feeling open rather than a workout.

Moksha Yoga: Moksha is a type of Hot Yoga. It consists of a standing series of postures followed by a floor series. The standing part of the class is more cardiovascular and focuses on building strength, stability, balance, and endurance. The floor series puts the emphasis on the abdominals and the spine.

Moksha Yoga is rooted in an environmentallyfriendly philosophy, and the studios reflect that.

Shirley So, owner of Ha Yoga, gave some advice on how to choose the yoga style that’s right for you. “All yoga styles are great, simply tune into your body before choosing a class to go to.

If you feel a lack of energy or going through the winter blues, then a more vigorous practice will be helpful to boost your energy,” she said. “But if you feel restless and lacking focus, then a more gentle practice will help to balance it out.”

If you’re interested in adding yoga to your routine without breaking the bank, Ha Yoga offers 70 minute classes for $7, seven days a week.

Restorative Yoga: In this style of yoga, props such as pillows, blocks

Check out Ha Yoga’s website www.hayoga.ca and is located on 2002 Mackay St.

arts 8

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

Write to the editor: arts@theconcordian.com

Theatre, theatre A classic play comes to life Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie is not to be missed AMANDA L. SHORE Arts editor

When you’ve forgotten that a world exists outside of the one created by the play, you know you’ve seen a good play. The Glass Menagerie, as presented by the Players’ Theatre of McGill University, is one such play.

Executed brilliantly by the cast of four— Andrew Cameron, Ingrid Rudié, Arlen Aguayo Stewart and James Kelly—Tennessee Williams’ classic play left the audience in awe.

First premiering in 1944, The Glass Menagerie is narrated by Tom Wingfield, a young man who dreams of being a writer but is tied to his gregarious southern mother and painfully shy sister. He supports his family by working in a shoe factory, a job he hates.

He is constantly hounded by his mother, Amanda, and longs to do as his father did and get as far away as possible.

At the insistence of his mother, Tom invites a colleague from the factory over as a potential suitor for his sister Laura, who has failed at procuring any suitors for herself or making any headway towards a career of her own.

The Glass Menagerie is a memory play,

therefore everything is tinged with the bias of Tom’s personal memory, a theme that was well articulated in Colleen Stanton’s lighting design.

The set and costuming articulated the time period and character personalities appropriately, as well as referencing the idea that what we were seeing was conjured from someone’s memory. Matthew Banks’ set design was well suited to the space and vantage points of the audience seated in an L-shape around the stage’s perimeter.

Ingrid Rudié as Amanda Wingfield played matronly, southern and overbearing to perfection. She managed to imply that her character’s personality eclipsed those of her son and daughter, without eclipsing the actors themselves. The character of Laura Wingfield is a difficult one to represent. She has such severe anxiety that she can barely function, as well as having a slightly crippled leg. As an actor, one must appear small and quiet, without disappearing, so it speaks to Arlen Aguayo Stewart’s skill that Laura was the most memorable character in the production.

Stewart’s body language spoke volumes and her emotional execution was flawless.

James Kelly, who appeared as Jim O’Connor only in the final scene, was the perfect embodiment of the egotistical former high school star that defines the character of

Jim. From the moment Kelly stepped onstage he radiated smugness and even when he had no lines he was completely present in his character and in the moment.

Tom Wingfield is played by Andrew Cameron, and as both the narrator and actor in the play, he has the largest role and longest monologues to perform. Cameron excelled at playing the dynamics of a beleaguered son and caring brother, but he sometimes lost the audience during his lengthy monologues. As narrator, the audience relied on Tom to forward the play, but at times it felt as though Cameron was rushing to get through and his enunciation wasn’t always as crisp as could be desired.

Director Rowan Spencer should be commended on having taken such a well-known play with comparatively young actors and turning out a magnificent piece of theatre.

The use of the stage was precise and appropriate and scene changes were well executed. If there was one flaw it would be that the glass menagerie prop was not as prominently featured as its role in the play warranted it to be. However, if you see one play this winter, this is the one it should be.

The Glass Menagerie runs from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2 at 3480 McTavish. For more information visit playerstheatre.ca

ABOVE: ANDREW CAMERON AS TOM WINGFIELD. LEFT: INGRID RUDIÉ AS AMANDA WINGFIELD, JAMES KELLY AS JIM O’CONNOR AND ANDREW CAMERON. RIGHT: INGRID RUDIÉ. PHOTOS BY VICTOR TANGERMANN.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

9

Theatre, theatre, and more theatre // ARTS

and more theatre Romeo and Juliet with guns, denim and high kicks McGill Arts Undergraduate Theatre Society tackles West Side Story SARA BARON-GOODMAN Staff writer

Photo by Victor Tangermann

Take Romeo and Juliet and throw them into the violent, gang-ridden New York city streets of the 1950s and you have West Side Story. Oh, and throw a few songs in there while you’re at it. For the next two weeks, the McGill Arts Undergraduate Theatre Society is putting their own spin on the romance and tragedy of these timeless starcrossed lovers.

AUTS is an organization dedicated to putting on shows by students, for students. The team is made up entirely of undergraduates, most of whom are just amateur aficionados, not theatre students. Keeping this in mind, the production was impressive.

The story follows the unlikely and forbidden romance between Tony and Maria. He is the leader of the New York street gang, the Jets. She is the sister of the leader of the rival gang of Puerto Rican immigrants, the Sharks. The narrative plays out like Romeo and Juliet, but with more firepower, jean jackets and a lot more dancing.

Concordia student Piper Ainsworth took centre stage as Maria, the modern Puerto Rican

incarnation of Juliet. The role calls for a mix of passion and demureness that can be tricky to pull off, and Ainsworth definitely favoured the latter characteristic in her portrayal. She played Maria’s naïveté to a tee, but when it came to the scenes of heart-wrenching emotion, her performance was a little lacklustre. All was forgiven however, every time she opened her mouth to belt out another of the all too catchy songs. With a powerfully operatic voice, Ainsworth commanded the audience with every impossibly high note she nailed.

McGill student Christopher Stevens-Brown plays Tony, Maria’s Romeo and leader of her family’s rival gang. His musical talent was equally standout, and the range in his singing carried his character from moments of intimacy with Maria to desperation in the face of senseless violence.

However, it was Vanessa Drusnitzer, who played Maria’s confidante Anita, who stole the show. Her emotive acting allowed her to command the play’s more dramatic moments, and the passion that came in her singing only enhanced an already powerful voice. Of the whole cast, she was the most believable in her role, down to the details of the Puerto Rican accent she put on — kudos to Drusnitzer for being the only one to fully pull that off.

The live orchestra, conducted by Sean Mayes,

A comedy that will leave you thinking Dawson theatre’s You Can’t Take It With You exceeds expectations ARIANA TRIGUEROS-CORBO Assistant arts editor

Despite the fact that You Can’t Take It With You is set in 1936, the production put together by this batch of third year students from Dawson’s theatre program still manages to strike a very modern chord with its audience.

The play, which was written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart and won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Drama at the time of its release, revolves around the story of Ms. Alice Sycamore’s amorous endeavors. When the play starts out, Alice is being called upon by a fine gentleman, Mr. Anthony Kirby, the vice-president of the prestigious firm where she is currently working. Despite being overjoyed by this prospect, Alice can’t help but voice one major concern: how will her beau, whose family affairs have

everything to do with Wall Street, contend with the likes of her family’s eccentricity.

The Sycamores of Manhattan are, to say the least, unconventional for their time and the audience will know it right off the bat. A fascination for fireworks, an outspoken playwright, a forlorn dancer: this eccentric family is a puzzle of characters with each one more comical than the next. The Kirbys are parodied as bland, conservative characters which serve the purpose of reminding us of the need for passion in our everyday lives.

A series of unfortunate events has the Kirbys showing up early for dinner and things are thrown, quite literally, into chaos. Needless to say, hilarity ensues.

The play presents audiences with themes and questions which are still very relevant today: What do we prioritize looking to the future? Do we opt for the job that will make us happy, or simply the one that will most likely bring us success?

The cast of the play is made up of young talented actors, lead by Julia Borsellino in the role of Alice. Zachary Guttman also deserves a particular shout-out, playing the vastly entertaining patriarch of the Sycamore clan.

The costumes were well-done in that they helped make the remarkably young crowd of actors seem quite a few decades older than they actually are. This is a considerable challenge considering that half of the characters range from 50 years and older. The choice of music, a jazzy, swing-like soundtrack that lingers in the background, also helped create a dreamy atmosphere.

There was an unmistakable enthusiasm present throughout the production. Cheers to a production that leaves spectators with both food for thought and a heartwarming sense of being at home.

You Can’t Take It With You runs Jan. 31 12:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.

was by far the most professional aspect of the production. The difficulty of playing live against the foreground of actors singing and dancing is a challenge that the team executed flawlessly.

The instrumental music added a dimension to the show that would have been lacking with prerecorded music, and the talent of everyone in the orchestra really shone.

West Side Story is a notoriously difficult musical to put on, mainly due to the strength it needs not only in acting and singing, but also in choreography. Considering this was an amateur production, the dancing was good and the actors were fairly in sync in their movement. Although the fighting scenes between the Jets and Sharks might have been executed with more brutish movements, the ideas still came through.

Overall, the production quality was a notch above a high school play, but the musical talent of the cast and orchestra was its saving grace. If you’re a fan of the story, it’s worth seeing, and worth supporting the efforts of the students who took on this ambitious project.

Tickets are $15 for students and $20 for adults.

The show runs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night from Jan. 31 until Feb. 2 at Moyse Hall, in the McGill Arts Building.

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

theconcordian cinema politica // ARTS

The disease that demolishes porn stars The gripping tale of Lara Roxx, the Montreal adult entertainer who contracted HIV AYAN CHOWDHURY Staff writer

Porn undeniably holds a sense of fantasy. For many, it’s an escape and a welcomed distraction.

Yet, like most industries, there’s also a destructive side to it.

Produced and directed by Mia Donovan, Inside Lara Roxx recounts the story of a young woman from Quebec who sought money, sex, and fame in L.A., only to be left with infamy and an incurable, deadly disease.

In April 2004, a male porn star by the name of Darren James tested positive for HIV. Production in L.A. was temporarily shut down. Three women who had performed scenes with him also tested positive for HIV. Lara Roxx was one of them. She was 21-years-old.

Donovan follows Lara during a five year span, 2005-10, recording her various highs and lows as she deals with her disease. The film begins in a psychological ward where Lara is being treated and follows her back to L.A. where she recounts the details of her foray into porn and ultimately into contracting HIV. Lara alternates between stints in the hospital and living in squalor in a run-down Montreal crack house. Early on in the film, her mother shows the viewer childhood photos and old home videos, contrasting sharply with the stark reality Lara is currently living.

The director travels with Lara to various locations, such as a porn convention in Las Vegas, which she attends in order to raise awareness of the dangers of HIV within the adult entertainment industry. There, she’s joined by famous porn actor Ron Jeremy, who shares some insightful knowledge on sexual education. She also meets Rebekka Armstrong, a former Playmate and an HIV/AIDS advocate, who painfully

admits that she was once “completely debilitated by the disease.”

Lara doesn’t initially trust the filmmaker, questioning her motives and friendship. In fact, it’s easy to see why she would be wary and skeptical towards new-found friends.

By capturing her story on camera, the director may be implicitly turning Lara into a poster child for adult entertainment industry-related HIV, a symbol of awareness for the deadly disease. However, the film takes an unexpected turn of events during the final two acts, when Lara is forced to confront her own personal demons.

At times, this film feels uneven. Months go by without a single word between the documentarian and her subject. Yet the filmmaker persists, becoming an active participant in her first feature-length documentary, urging Lara to seek medical help. Moreover, the film also illustrates Lara’s identity crisis, “I don’t know who I am,” she states midway through to the film.

Donovan has a sharp eye for creating wonderful shots, from the dim-lit, run-down streets of Montreal to a picturesque, sunlit beach in California. However, the scenes in L.A. in which Lara visits fellow female porn actresses seem slightly scripted and choreographed. It should

also be noted that the film contains graphic nudity. Clips from Lara’s infamous porn film with Darren James are included, creating a highly unsettling effect. In one of the film’s more poignant scenes, Lara confesses, “I love life and it breaks my heart if I don’t respect it. It’s like an indirect suicide. But I never did respect myself.”

Inside Lara Roxx screens Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. in Room H-110, 1455 de Maisonneuve W. Director Mia Donovan will be in attendance.

This screening is co-presented with the HIV/ AIDS Lecture Series. For more information, visit www.cinemapolitica.org/concordia.

book review // ARTS

Take a trip back in time with Jian Gomeshi The CBC radio host of the cultural affairs show, Q, shares his thoughts on his new book, 1982 MEGHAN O’NEIL The Aquinian (St. Thomas University)

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REDERICTON (CUP) — In 1982, Jian Ghomeshi put on pointy boots, picked up purple eyeliner and went through countless bottles of hair gel hoping to fit in with the cool kids.

Despite a fortunate change in Ghomeshi’s fashion sense, the host and co-creator of CBC’s cultural affairs show, Q said he hasn’t entirely escaped his teenage insecurities.

“If you take a position in favour of gay marriage, or against a war, or for funding to the arts, there’s going to be people who don’t like that,” said Ghomeshi over the phone from his Toronto office. “Sometimes that can send me right back to the kid who wanted to fit in, but it doesn’t ever prevent me from making my case. So I think that’s always been in me.”

Ghomeshi’s “somewhat naive” 14-yearold voice takes readers through one pivotal year of his teens in his debut novel, 1982, which hit bookstores in September.

Of Iranian descent, Ghomeshi was born

in London, England before moving to Thornhill, Ont., a white-bread suburb of Toronto, when he was seven. He wanted nothing more than to be like his idol, David Bowie.

This was seemingly impossible because of his olive skin and “industrial-sized” nose.

He includes the word “nose” 18 times in 278 pages. They aren’t all references to his nose, but noses in general. An impossibleto-ignore, defining feature for a young immigrant.

“It was very obvious I was different from others, and there was this real desire for acceptance and wanting to fit in.”

That inquisitive nature has helped earn him a national audience that’s spilled over the American border. Q is aired on CBC Radio One, shown on CBC Television and was picked up by Public Radio International.

Q is the highest-rated show in the late morning time slot in CBC history and enjoys the largest national audience of any cultural affairs program. Ghomeshi’s smooth voice first greeted listeners over the airwaves on Q in 2007.

Since then, he has conducted a range of high-profile interviews from politicians like Al Gore, to musical icons like Paul McCartney and Leonard Cohen, not to mention an

infamous on-air interview with Billy Bob Thornton.

“On a visceral level, music always affected me. I can listen to some of that now, whether it’s The Clash, or Bowie, or Dépêche Mode, music of that period, it’ll set me back there right away. It’s such a trigger for me, and it’s been such an important part of my life and obviously continues to be.”

1982 is told in 12 tales, each appropriately titled with a song and musicians ranging from The Clash, Rush, Culture Club and of course, Bowie.

At the time, New Wave was just emerging. Ghomeshi tried desperately to be a New Waver, which meant looking like you didn’t try. This proved difficult.

He hung around the theatre room at his high school, and eventually became part of its coveted theatre troupe. He also formed a few bands and was in a vocal group.

Despite his desire to fit in, he was constantly putting himself in situations to stand out.

Ghomeshi bought tickets to an alternative music festival outside Toronto, The Police Picnic. It is here where the spine of the book was formed.

“It’s a major coming-of-age moment. It

all kind of comes to a head.”

Ghomeshi recounts discovering his new favourite band, Talking Heads, inviting a girl who looked like David Bowie and letting go of the one thing that was holding him to childhood — his red and blue Adidas bag.

“Here I’m dealing with trying to impress this blonde cool girl — I’m younger than everyone else at this amazing music festival that’s all about the music that’s such a trigger for me […] All of that’s happening on one day and it was pretty epic.”

Ghomeshi’s parents are still not used to seeing their son on such a public platform.

In the book, he recounts his mother comparing him to the white neighbour’s children; and his father never being able to understand the passion he had for music and theatre.

Once it was finished, he dedicated the book to his parents and gave them a copy before its official publication.

“It can be really annoying and difficult for them, even though I think they are ultimately proud of me,” he said. “Given their druthers, they would prefer that there would be a book called ‘How I Became Successful in Medicine and Also Engineering, by Jian Ghomeshi’.”

music

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

11

Write to the editor: music@theconcordian.com

profile // MUSIC

Buke & Gase are rock, noise and everything in between The Brooklyn duo never settles for defining their genre STEPHANIE ULLMAN Interim music editor

T

here’s only one band on the planet that knows how to work instruments such as the toe-bourine, the buke—which is a six-string ukelele—and the gase, a guitar/ bass hybrid. This band is Buke & Gase, brainchild of Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez, both of whom are Brooklyn natives. Their expertise is rooted in the fact that they came up with each of these instruments themselves, having turned once-commonplace music-makers into colossal innovations. “[Sanchez] has a kick drum which is slightly enhanced,” explained Dyer. “It’s got a snare sound, a tambourine sound and a shaker sound so that when you hit the kick drum, it has more range.”

Buke & Gase has managed to remain a fairly percussion-centric duo without ever having to lay hands on a drum set. Instead of using the traditional setup, the band breaks the mold by using bells, the modified kick drum, their toe-

bourine and an assortment of other instruments that have been modified to suit their desired sound. Even the band’s string instruments are “very percussive and we play rhythmic parts that add percussive drive to the music.”

“We grew up in Brooklyn around bands like Lightning Bolt and all kinds of do-it-yourself small two-person bands,” said Sanchez. “I think that’s influenced the manner in which we make music, right up to creating instruments that allow us to be a two-person band that sounds huge, allowing us to be sonically powerful.”

Having met in 2000, the two wasted no time getting their musical careers up and running.

Before they pioneered Buke & Gase six years ago, Dyer and Sanchez dabbled in electronic music together for some time, then played in a

four-piece band called Hominid. For the entirety of their musical career, now more than ever, the duo has prided themselves on drawing inspiration from all over.

“We were influenced quite heavily when we were in Brooklyn by the other bands that were our peers,” said Dyer. “But the music that we like is not necessarily Brooklyn-based. Stylistically, we are very influenced by nigerian highlife. We like world music, classical, classic american rock, hip hop [...] anything, pretty much.”

For that reason, any given review of a Buke & Gase album or show will offer up an entirely unique and eclectic mash-up of terms in an attempt to file them under some form of quasigenre. Cataloguing their style, however, is an

unwelcome act in Dyer’s books.

“We like to not really describe it,” she said.

“It’s good to get your own opinion. If you think about the instrumentation, it gives it a certain style; we play a string of instruments that could be classified as rock instruments.” They do come equipped with a kick drum, a guitar and bass sounds, but given that they have all been tweaked and modified, the resulting sound is equally abnormal.

“Usually when somebody asks me [to describe our sound], I tend to say, ‘I don’t know, listen to it and see what you think of it first before we discuss what it sounds like’, so that they can get their own opinion.”

In 2009, the band appeared as a guest on Radiolab, a radio program also available as a podcast produced by a company based out of New York. According to Sanchez, their appearance on the show gave Buke & Gase a ton of invaluable exposure and since then, the band has never looked back.

Are they able to pinpoint one outstanding career-defining experience? “All of it,” said Sanchez.

Dyer laughed in agreement, adding, “We’ve been invited by several of our heroes to perform with them and each time it’s amazing [...] we play with such a variety of other musicians and we’ve been featured in a variety of different types of shows from classical to rock. It’s never the same thing twice, that’s for sure.”

profile // MUSIC

New Music Canada: Aidan Knight A fresh folk face that isn’t afraid to admit selfishness in “singing for strangers” ELIZABETH MACKAY Staff writer

T

he YouTube trailer for Aidan Knight’s Small Reveal previews the album in a way far superior to sound alone.

Meet Thea.

A beekeeper by passion and waitress by practicality, Thea spends most of her time hustling tables downtown in support of a social life and the bees she keeps and farms for honey. At the end of the day she is faced with disappointment; one of her bees has died.

Is it all really worth it? How could she hurt what she loved most?

“When you are working on yourself [...] something has to suffer,” explained Knight, revealing that, as a touring musician, he deeply regrets the time it takes from family just as Thea laments time away from her bees. “There’s a certain sense of selfishness in making music […] it pushes away healthy relationships.”

This feeling is one of many that Knight and his band of Friendly Friends try to communicate in Small Reveal. It is the confessional of the musician on the road, not just Knight specifically.

“Sometimes I’ll stop writing a line if I see

that I’ve written the word ‘I’. I feel selfish being a songwriter,” said Knight. “Maybe that’s what this album is about.”

But you don’t need to have a musiciansized ego to relate. In “A Mirror,” the album’s first single and track that comes closest to indie pop, Knight’s everyman lyrics reach out to anyone with a crush. “The effortless cool way/You carry your bags/I am stocking the shelves/Hoping you’ll see me in the back.”

Though it spools out like one cohesive thought, this is not a solo record.

Small Reveal is the product of five talented artists; Knight’s soft, folky tenor and acoustics weave through back up vocals, harpsichord, piano, flute, cello, drums, horns and electric guitar compliments of multi-instrumentalists Colin Nealis, David Barry, Olivier Clements and Julia Wackal — Knight’s girlfriend.

Each track is a piece of art, and the effort to evoke human emotion through orchestral composition and movement is clear.

The quintet has played together since Knight’s 2009 studio debut, Versicolor.

“We spent about a year recording it on and off over several sessions, in several spaces, different studios and made it hard on ourselves and hauled a bunch of mobile recording gear into weird spaces,” said Knight. “There is no way this album could have been made in any other way, with any other people.”

Aptly titled, Small Reveal’s opening track

AIDAN KNIGHT (CENTRE) ASPIRES TO STAY HUMBLE REGARDLESS OF THE SUCCESS THAT COMES HIS WAY. is “Dream Team.”

Love for community, friends and family lie at the root of all that Knight does professionally, which is why his distraction from them is what he feels the most guilty about. He was born in a “nest” of acceptance; his family encouraged him to do whatever he dreamed and may even be his inspiration. Knight’s mother was a touring musician and hosted summer jam sessions on their driveway in Victoria, BC; 26 years later and he’s still hanging around the corner.

“I really feel strongly that being influenced by, or having art and creativity in your life makes a confusing journey seem worth it,” said Knight.

For Knight music may, at times, lead him astray from what matters most, but it’s what brings him home in the end.

Trial track: “A Mirror” Aidan Knight will play Le Petit Campus next week on Feb. 8

12

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

theconcordian column // MUSIC

Streams of the Week

Three new musical gems, to make your earbuds bump ANDRIA CAPUTO Staff writer ANDREW GUILBERT Staff writer

>> Lupe by name, Fiasco by reputation Despite being a known critic of Barack Obama’s policies, rapper Lupe Fiasco was asked to perform at the president’s inauguration celebration on Jan. 20. In his set at the StartUp RockOn event at Washington’s Hamilton Live, the rapper took to the mic with a vengeance, playing the same antiwar song for over 30 minutes and speaking out about why he disliked the current administration.

When he refused to switch songs, organizers had a team of security personnel remove him from the stage. “Lupe Fiasco was not ‘kicked off stage’ for an anti-Obama rant,” wrote the show’s organizers in a statement. “We are staunch supporters of free speech, and free political speech. This was not about his opinions. Instead, after a bizarrely repetitive, jarring performance that left the crowd vocally dissatisfied, organizers decided to move on to the next act.”

>> Snoop Lyin’

Reggae icon Bunny Wailer, one of the founding members of Bob Marley & The Wailers, has called out Snoop Lion for what he sees as an appropriation of Rastafarianism in order to sell his music.

Wailer says that Snoop’s “outright fraudulent use of Rastafari Community’s personalities and symbolism” is an insult to the culture and is all a gimmick to promote work, including the rapper’s upcoming docu-film Reincarnated, which details the artist formerly known as Dogg’s transformation into Snoop Lion. Equally outraged are the head of the Ethio-Africa Diaspora Union Millennium Council, who wrote a seven-page demand letter, saying “smoking weed and loving Bob Marley and reggae music is not what defines the Rastafari Indigenous Culture!” In the letter, the council have asked him to stop using “Lion” in his name and issue a public apology, or they will pursue legal action against him.

THE STROKES - “ONE WAY TRIGGER”

PAUL BANKS - EVERYBODY ON MY DICK LIKE THEY SUPPOSED TO BE

THE KNIFE - “FULL OF FIRE”

The Strokes are back with a kickin’ single that has fans hyperventilating in anticipation for the band’s upcoming fifth album. Since the release of their fourth studio album Angles in 2011, The Strokes have been teasing fans with the possibility of new material being available in the coming year. Although rumours were flying regarding the new album, the band only started recording it in April 2012. On Jan. 25, fans got a taste of what they should be expecting with the new album when the band posted “One Way Trigger” onto their website.

The new evocative single features Casablancas with newfound falsetto pipes and solidifies the band’s steady digression from the older and grungier New York-based sound that brought them to fame with “Is This It?” and “Room on Fire.” You can listen to “One Way Trigger” and download it for free on the band’s website.

Paul Banks, the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of Interpol, has recently released a hip hop mixtape. The mixtape, which has apparently been in the works for the past nine months, was originally intended to be a promotional tactic for the release of his first solo studio album Banks, released last October. Although Banks received great reviews and media support, Everybody On My Dick Like They Supposed To Be may not. For now, though, it is too soon to speculate what critics might have to say. Banks’ new form of musical expression may be a sign of reinvention or, most probably, boredom. Interpol’s eponymous fourth album released in 2010 saw them on tour with U2 but, since 2011, the band has been on hiatus. Although Banks’ mixtape offers something new and unexpected from such an important indie-rock artist, fans will most likely not forget their longing for the Interpol of yore.

Swedish musicians Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer, also known as the electronic duo The Knife, have released a 10-minute-long theatrical music video for their latest song “Full of Fire.” Directed by feminist porn creator Marit Osterberg (a paradox if there ever was one), the provocative video stars brother and sister Karin and Olof in what Pitchfork Media describes as “a short film, with an ominous Euro aesthetic and a plot filled with gender-bending, bondage, a demonic house-cleaning session, motorcycle rides, um, a woman pissing in the street, and a lot more.” Although the video has been temporarily taken down due to copyright issues, it is sure to resurface long before The Knife’s newest studio album, Shaking The Habitual, will be released this year.

Quick Spins //

>> Which neighborhood is it in?

If you’ve got $325,000 to spare and are looking for a way to cement your title as the most die-hard Arcade Fire fan ever, why not buy the church the band recorded The Suburbs and Neon Bible in?

The band had to leave the church when the roof collapsed and they must have found a better deal somewhere else, because the band posted the real estate listing on their twitter page with the caption “Anybody want to buy a church?” The listing describes the space as a “charming church which housed a small concert hall, followed by a recording studio also offering accommodation. Its architecture makes it a perfect location for an artist’s studio, a place of worship, a cultural, community or other organization. Offer here a unique setting to your project!” Oh, and the roof repairs should only run you about $24,300-$44,200, in case you were wondering.

>>The Mars Coda

The Mars Volta singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala announced that the band’s prog-rocking days are over via Twitter last Wednesday, citing a lack of interest from guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López. The singer said that he wasn’t angry about RodríguezLópez’s unwillingness to tour, but asked of his fans, “What am I suppose to do be some progressive house wife that’s cool with watching their partner go fuck other bands? We owe it 2 fans to tour.” Bixler promised that he would be releasing new music soon, and expressed his deep gratitude to The Mars Volta’s fans.

Villagers - {Awayland} (2013)

Minotaurs - New Believers (2013)

The Joy Formidable - Wolf’s Law (2013)

Following his critically-acclaimed and Mercury Prize-nominated debut, Becoming A Jackal, singer-songwriter Conor O’Brian describes his sophomore effort as “a trip through a musical landscape, as a tribute to your sense of wonder. It travels through space and time and leaves you back for dinner.” {Awayland} is certainly an evolution from the folky simplicity of his debut to an atmospheric, electronic-laced fantasy world.

Lyrically, O’Brian shows maturity in his songwriting. With less focus on troubled relationships, he instead opts for a greater sense of storytelling and a political conscience.

Songs like “In A New Found Land, You Are Free,” with its sensitivity and acoustic lullaby quality, give ode to Villagers’ roots, whereas lead single “Waves” crashes and flows with an apocalyptic swell of instrumentation and electronics.

Overall, {Awayland} is fresh and experimental, showing bold ambition, though retaining Villagers’ poetic charm.

Wow. Canadian multi-piece group Minotaurs have produced nothing short of a masterpiece, packing unparallelled energy and sonic power with larger-than-life trumpets, dramatic piano riffs, punchy baritone sax, sultry vocals and well-placed hints of violin.

The liveliness that Minotaurs’ brassy arrangements exude is absolutely irresistible. Each fast-paced track is sure to leave anyone with functional ear canals slack-jawed, reveling in their newfound infatuation with indie-afrobeat.

Not only is New Believers an auditory pleasure to behold, but the cultured-citizen-of-theworld in you can feel good about it too. “Make Some Noise” was written by instrumentalist Nathan Lawr as the Quebec student protests were going strong, and “Open the Doors” is a swingy, albeit dissatisfied, response to the G20 issues in Toronto.

New Believers is an indispensable addition to any music library, especially those in need of a refresher. With the resonating crispness of the album’s very first notes, Minotaurs is sure to make a new believer out of you.

The Joy Formidable’s follow-up to their first album, The Big Roar, takes a plunge into a kaleidoscope of indie music paradise.

Wolf’s Law has done a great job at unfolding a diverse array of emotions, weaved together by the band’s stellar collaboration of instrumentals and vocals.

The North Wales-based indie group has been touted by last.fm as “primal epic grunge rock à la The Breeders, Arcade Fire and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.”

Listening to each track in Wolf’s Law puts you either in a moment of accomplishment, as seen in “Tendons,” of adrenaline in “Hurdle” or resentment in “Silent Treatment.”

“The Ladder is Ours” is a stand-out favorite for setting the album’s tone. It gives a sense of getting ready for a new adventure.

In fact, it is a great album to listen to on a road trip.

When you put all of these tracks together, they create a great piece of artwork that reflects life.

Trial Track: “Waves”

Trial track: “New Believers”

Trial track: “The Ladder is Ours”

8/10

- Paul Traunero

9/10

- Stephanie Ullman

8.5/10

- Saturn de Los Angeles

sports

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

13

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

Time management is key for student athletes Two Stingers athletes share how they handle their busy schedules THIERRY TARDIF Contributor

W

hen it comes to student athletes, some wonder what the secret behind their success is. Whether it is the amount of time spent on the field, in the gym or a combination of both, this student has it all under control.

So how do they manage all their time between classes, training, and playing? For Concordia Stingers men’s soccer player Sammy Tork, it’s all about managing the schedule.

“The key word is time management here, because one has to able to be organized and composed when assorting the different events within their week,” said Tork.

Tork, a first year sociology student, is also in his rookie year with the team. He believes that in order to be a great student

Graphic by Jennifer Kwan

athlete, schoolwork has to be done beforehand.

“When it comes to school, the thing which has been working for me is that I never do anything last minute, and make sure I do my homework before training to avoid

fatigue when doing homework,” explained Tork. “Once it’s done, I have a great sense of relief and I can go train at ease knowing I can rest or do some easy readings for the week calmly.”

First-year journalism student, Shauna

Zilversmit, who plays for the women’s soccer team, has a different approach to getting all her assignments done.

“When I have homework that needs to be done and I have a traveling game, I bring the work with me and work on it on the bus,” said Zilversmit. She does, however, agree with Tork that time management is key to success as a student athlete.

“It’s all about time management, selfdiscipline, and determination,” she said.

Tork trains four to five times a week at Concordia’s downtown gym. He also has team practice twice a week. In order to do all these things, the Stingers forward makes sure to create his schedule as early as possible in order to get classes that he can shape his training schedule around.

Zilversmit currently has two team practices a week as well, and goes to the gym twice a week. Sometimes she has to miss practice due to classes being at the same time.

“We try our best not to have school during practice times, but sometimes it’s unavoidable and our coaching staff understands that,” said Zilversmit.

All in all, dealing with busy schedules is part of being a student athlete.

profile // SPORTS

Big dreams for Stingers MVP Concordia football’s Nathan Taylor is aiming for the pros ANDREW MAGGIO Staff writer

Nathan Taylor may not be the biggest player on the field, but he sets his standards extremely high.

“My goal is to play in the CFL. Anything less than that is pretty much a failure,” he said.

Taylor, a fifth-year safety with the Concordia Stingers’ football team, was named the team’s most outstanding player and most dedicated player at the team’s banquet on Jan. 20. In nine games this season, Taylor racked up a total of 44 tackles, three interceptions and three batted passes.

Taylor called this year a bounce-back year for him after being benched for some of last season.

He had spent most of his career with the Stingers at cornerback and sometimes linebacker, but excelled this season when put at safety.

“I think I played pretty well and I guess the

coaches thought so too,” said Taylor, “I hadn’t played safety since midget, but I felt pretty good about it. I feel I was a more complete player at safety.”

Looking back on his time at Concordia, Taylor credits his work ethic for his success and the current attention he is getting from Canadian Football League teams. He also cited his coaches over the years, notably head coach Gerry McGrath, for helping him grow in maturity during his time with the Stingers.

“Hard work pays off,” he said. “For four, five years now, I’ve just been working hard every offseason trying to get better. Personally I feel like I’ve matured a lot as an athlete and as a player and Concordia is a big part of that.”

Taylor is now fully focused on the upcoming CFL combine, where he will showcase his talents to scouts and general managers with the hopes of being selected in the upcoming draft.

His routine currently consists a vigorous workout schedule, which includes running and lifting weights, separately, each done four times a week.

When he was younger, Taylor never envisioned a career as a professional football player; today, it is a part of his everyday life. He even had doubts about his football future during his time at Vanier College, but was able to moti-

vate himself in the gym to improve himself as a player.

“I was going to transfer. I was going to go to John Abbott College or go play junior football,” he said. “I didn’t think I was good enough to play at the CÉGEP level. I’ve been working hard since my last year of midget, just to prepare myself to play football at the next level and now I’m preparing myself for the CFL.” “I always took training seriously because I enjoy it. And I always wanted to be one of the strongest guys on the team. When I realized that the more work I put in the gym, the better I was on the field, that’s when it was ‘the harder you work, the easier it’s going to get’.”

Taylor is anxious to get the pre-draft process going and is looking forward to showcasing his skills to the people who will pave the way to a career in professional football.

“I just want to get the ball rolling. I want to show them that I’m physical and that I can run,” he said. “I get overlooked because I’m a little shorter, I’m not the prototypical 6-foot, 200pound defensive back. You’ve got to prove it to them that you’re deserving of a roster spot.”

With a work ethic like his, Taylor has a good chance of overcoming this latest obstacle on his path to primetime. The CFL Combine takes place March 22, 23 and 24 in Toronto.

Photo by Brianna Thicke

14

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

theconcordian men’s basketball // SPORTS

Concordia prevails at home against Redmen Stingers men’s basketball team hangs on for a marginal two-point victory

File photos by Madelayne Hajek

KEVIN DUARTE Sports editor

Coming off a big win over the Bishop’s Gaiters, Concordia’s men’s basketball team had two more tough games this past week against McGill and UQÀM. On Thursday night, at home against the Redmen, the Stingers won a tightly contested game. Concordia dropped the next game against the Citadins two days later.

It was not the best of opening quarters for the Stingers against the Redmen. McGill started the game with a three-pointer and kept a lead until the second quarter. Concordia’s offence was struggling early on. The maroon and gold missed most of their shots and had a tough time finding open looks.

It was the opposite on defence. The Stingers’ man-to-man defence was passive, allowing McGill easy drives and open three-ball attempts.

McGill had a 16-11 point lead after the first 10 minutes. Guard Kyle Desmarais had six of Concordia’s 11 points.

The second quarter was much better for the home team. In the early minutes, the Stingers tightened up their defence and denied McGill easy points.

“What usually gets us going is our defence,” said Desmarais, who finished with 21 points. “I mean, when we’re doing well on defence, we’re usually doing great on offence. That’s what got us going in the second quarter.”

On offence, Concordia regained control and eventually led, when forward Kafil Eyitayo’s jump shot gave his side a one-point lead with 7:24 on the clock. In the final three minutes of the quarter, ConU scored six unanswered points to go up 29-24 at halftime.

Offensively, the Stingers were even stronger in the third quarter, amassing 19 points. After scoring four points in the first half, forward Evens Laroche scored six straight points. At

7:28, Desmarais fed Laroche for an emphatic alley-oop dunk. This gave Concordia momentum as McGill got a technical foul and Eyitayo completed two massive blocks in the following minutes.

McGill did not back down from Concordia’s sturdy offensive output. The Redmen kept up and scored 16 points of their own in the third quarter. However, the Stingers led 48-40 going into the final frame.

The visitors upped the pressure in the fourth quarter and quickly found themselves right in the mix again. In the first six and a half minutes, Concordia only scored three points. They turned the ball over six times and missed a few shots in this same span. The Stingers saw their 11 points disappear after McGill went on an 11-0 run to tie the game.

With 3:19 remaining, Jerome Blake put Concordia ahead with a clutch three-pointer.

This was his second of the quarter. Desmarais scored the team’s next four points with a basket

and two free-throws.

McGill answered back with two baskets and a free-throw to tie the game with 62 seconds to play.

Thirty seconds later, Laroche put the Stingers ahead with a tough shot.

With one last possession, McGill were desperately seeking the equalizer. The Redmen worked the ball in through the middle, but Eyitayo came up with another huge block.

Concordia held on to the slim 62-60 victory.

“Right now, we were fighting for the first place,” said Laroche. “We wanted it and they wanted, so it was a big battle. They came out hard and we came out hard.”

Concordia followed this game up with a 6558 loss to the UQÀM Citadins on Saturday.

The Stingers will hit the court twice this coming week against McGill, once again, on Friday night and against Laval on Saturday.

men’s hockey // SPORTS

Stingers defeat rivals McGill and end five-game slump Concordia men’s hockey team picks up three points this weekend out of possible four ANTHONY ABBONDANZA Staff writer

With their backs up against the wall amidst a five-game losing streak, the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team pulled off an unlikely comeback win against cross-town rivals the McGill Redmen, 3-2 in the shootout.

Down 2-1 with 30 seconds left in the game, Stingers forward George Lovatsis banged home a loose puck in front of the net to tie the game. Lovatsis eventually scored the shootout winner.

“I’m really pleased with how well the guys executed the game plan tonight,” said Concordia head coach Kevin Figsby. “We worked really hard in practice this week and it paid off.”

The Stingers took the lead early in the first period when Alex Monahan scored his eighth goal of the season with a blast from the blue line that soared past Redmen goaltender Andrew Flemming.

Down early, McGill got to work, establishing a dominating offensive zone presence and had their best chance of the opening period when Redmen forward David Rose walked by three sleeping Stingers and fired one at Antonio Mastropietro. The Stingers netminder flashed the glove for the save.

In the second period, Concordia’s best chance to score came when Monahan set up Lovatsis from the half-wall for a onetime shot, only to be denied by Flemming’s shoulder save.

With momentum tilted in their favour, Stingers pugilist Corey Garland took an illtimed, unsportsmanlike conduct penalty

when he showered Flemming with ice. The Redmen scored on the ensuing power-play.

The rivals treated the crowd to an entertaining third period. Both teams exchanged a number of good chances, but it wasn’t until a late Concordia penalty that McGill capitalized.

With less than 10 minutes to go in the game, Redmen forward Patrick DelisleHoude handled a cross-crease backhand feed from Rose and ripped it top corner from the side of the net.

With time running out on the game, Concordia called a timeout.

“I just told them no shot’s a bad shot,” said coach Figsby. “Let’s put a puck on net and create an opportunity.”

And an opportunity they did create.

With 35 seconds remaining, Olivier Hinse immediately put the puck on net. With several players jamming in Flemming’s crease,

Lovatsis banged a loose puck to the back of the net to tie the game.

Following an uneventful overtime, the game went to a shootout. After Mastropietro shut the door on two Redmen players, Lovatsis deked Flemming and softly netted the shootout winner.

Less than 48 hours later, Concordia travelled to Ottawa to face the Gee-Gees. Although they were able to claw back from an early third period 5-3 deficit, the Stingers eventually lost 6-5 in the shootout.

The Stingers took three of four possible points this weekend and are now two points behind Ryerson for the eighth and final spot in the OUA playoffs. Concordia is already eliminated from CIS playoff contention.

Concordia will put an end to a five-game road trip when they travel to Nipissing and Ryerson this coming weekend.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

15

tech // SPORTS

Stingers use off-ice technology to improve on-ice ability Concordia’s men’s hockey team use computer program for extra training

A SCREEN SHOT OF INTELLIGYM WHERE PLAYERS WORKS ON DECISION-MAKING; IT WORKS ON SOME OF HOCKEY’S FUNDAMENTALS AND TRAINS THE STINGERS MEN’S HOCKEY TEAM TO DO THEIR ABSOLUTE BEST ON ICE.

ANTHONY ABBONDANZA Staff writer

W

hen confronted with the opportunity to improve his hockey team’s overall performance with the help of an online computer program, Stingers head coach Kevin Figsby could not refuse.

In a conversation with Roger Grillo and Kevin McLaughlin of USA Hockey, Figsby was informed of the Hockey IntelliGym, an online program which uses cognitive simulation technology to improve players’ performance in team sports.

“When I looked at the opportunity that it presented and I looked at the track record, it was something that fit where I saw our program moving in over the next three years,” said Figsby, who has been at the helm of the men’s team for 12 years.

Aware that USA Hockey’s national under18 team was reaping major benefits — 30 per cent increase in goal output — from its use of Applied Cognitive Engineering’s software, IntelliGym, Figsby decided his scoring-starved Stingers (56 goals in 22 games; second worst in OUA) needed the online program.

In late October the Concordia Stingers

men’s hockey team (6-14-3) became Canada’s first sports team to use the technology that aids players in developing hockey sense.

“The bonus to this is it’s a computer game,” said Figsby. “If you’re going to teach your players anything that’s off-ice from a cognitive development perspective, you may as well have fun with it.”

According to Figsby, a number of players have become very enthusiastic about the program, going over the required weekly regimen; that is, two weekly sessions of 30 minutes.

Corey Garland, the team’s assistant captain, is among the players who have developed a fun obsession with the program.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Garland. “It is very

FRIDAY, JANUARY 25

SCORE BOARD

Men’s Hockey: McGill Redmen 2-3 Concordia Stingers (OT) SATURDAY, JANUARY 26 Women’s Basketball: UQÀM Citadins 70-74 Concordia Stingers Men’s Basketball: UQÀM Citadins 65-58 Concordia Stingers SUNDAY, JANUARY 27

THURSDAY, JANUARY 24 Women’s Basketball: Concordia Stingers 46-60 McGill Martlets Men’s Basketball: Concordia Stingers 6260 McGill Redmen

Women’s Soccer: Concordia Stingers 1-1 Sherbrooke Vert et Or Women’s Hockey: Ottawa Gee-Gees 8-3 Concordia Stingers Men’s Soccer: Concordia Stingers 2-3 Sherbrooke Vert et Or Men’s Hockey: Ottawa Gee-Gees 6-5 Concordia Stingers (SO)

addictive, but it does help with my game.”

And Figsby doesn’t mind his excessive usage of IntelliGym. “What I’m seeing is that [Garland] is doing things with the puck he never did before,” said Figsby. “Is he scoring more? No, but is he handling the puck better, making better decisions.

Is he creating more scoring opportunities? Yes, without a doubt.”

As for the rest of team, players have been receptive but, like in academia, some wait until the last minute to complete their assignments.

As such, Figsby has noted a direct correlation between the team’s most recent goal scorers and their activity on IntelliGym, as well as the “guys who are struggling with the puck and

how long they’ve been on and off IntelliGym.” While it’s still too early to determine IntelliGym’s impact on the team’s overall play, Figsby sees the value in the product for years to come.

“It’ll have a much greater impact next year just because of the learning phase and for guys to include it in their routines,” said Figsby.

According to Danny Dankner, CEO for Applied Cognitive Engineering, the Stingers have yet to reach a stage in their training to which any improvement in their overall game can be accurately assessed. Moreover, players should show significant on-ice improvement after eight to 10 training sessions.

“In the case of Concordia, many of the players have not completed this initial phase yet,” said Dankner.

The IntelliGym technology, a computerbased cognitive simulator, is based on a concept designed and developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for Air Force pilots. DARPA successfully trained pilots to anticipate challenges in flight and found that flight performance had increased by 30 per cent.

To date IntelliGym’s been used for basketball and hockey players, to help them learn to anticipate and memorize patterns.

The Stingers are no longer the only Canadian sports team using the program. The Ontario Hockey League’s Niagara IceDogs started using IntelliGym in December.

Upcoming games FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1 Women’s Basketball: Concordia Stingers @ McGill Martlets at 6 p.m. (McGill Gymnasium) Men’s Hockey: Concordia Stingers @ Nipissing Lakers at 7 p.m. (Memorial Gardens) Women’s Hockey: Concordia Stingers vs Ottawa Gee-Gees at 7:30 p.m. (Ed Meagher Arena) Men’s Basketball: Concordia Stingers @ McGill Redmen at 8 p.m. (McGill Gymnasium) SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2 Men’s Hockey: Concordia Stingers @ Ryerson Rams at 2 p.m. (Mattamy Athletic Center) Women’s Hockey: Concordia Stingers vs McGill Redmen at 2:30 p.m. (Ed Meagher Arena) Men’s Basketball: Concordia Stingers vs Laval Rouge et Or at 4 p.m. (Concordia Gymnasium) Women’s Basketball: Concordia Stingers vs Laval Rouge et Or at 6 p.m. (ConU Gymnasium) SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3 Women’s Soccer: Concordia Stingers vs UQTR Patriotes at 1 p.m. (Stinger Dome) Men’s Soccer: Concordia Stingers vs UQTR Patriotes at 3 p.m. (Stinger Dome)

opinions 16

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

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

In this case, the customer is always right The CSU VP student life needs to start walking the walk In the real world people who don’t do their jobs get fired. It happens all the time. In the world of the Concordia Student Union they are rewarded, continually covered for and paid very well.

At the last CSU regular council meeting some student representatives expressed concern over the performance of the VP student life, Alexis Suzuki.

By our count Suzuki hasn’t been doing all that great a job. We’ve lost track of how many meetings she’s missed (and been excused from).

We’ve heard time and time again about the botched fall orientation and the insufficient postmortem report.

While the duties of VP student life are not as clearly defined as they could be in the bylaws,

this much is clear to us: when we see council trying to appoint someone to do Suzuki’s work for her while she collects the vice-presidential paycheck — we aren’t impressed.

When we find her to be the most reluctant of all VPs on the CSU executive to speak with the media, reach out to student faculty associations or even make appearances at council — we aren’t impressed.

When we read over her campaign promises as quoted in the March 13, 2012 issue of The Concordian, we don’t feel like we’ve gotten our money’s worth.

“My main focus would be collaborating with clubs and faculty associations to make sure both are incorporated in all aspects of student life,” said Suzuki last spring. “I want to be the liaison between these student groups and the CSU. I am really excited to revitalize student life at Concordia, to reach out and get students involved.”

The above quote reads like a roadmap for

what Suzuki has not done. At last Wednesday’s CSU meeting, representatives from Concordia’s Engineering and Computer Science Association and the Fine Arts Student Alliance openly criticized her for her failure to communicate.

We’re done with the excuses from A Better Concordia and the way they struggle to protect one another from any outside criticism. Some members of the CSU will throw around terms like “dereliction of duties” and “impeachment” and that’s fine with us. We can keep up.

But for students who don’t have the time, energy or inclination to sit through hours of meetings or scroll through pages of tweets, let us boil it down for you: there is an argument to be made that VP student life isn’t doing her job, either well or at all.

If this situation doesn’t bother you, then by all means, stop reading here and enjoy the rest of your day. If the idea that your student fees, a whole $28,000, are going into the pocket of some-

one who is not executing their duties nor making any notable effort to correct past mistakes frustrates you, then join the club.

This isn’t meant to be taken as a tirade against Suzuki, nor a call for her impeachment.

We simply feel that something needs to be done if the interests of students are to be properly represented and respected. We are the ones who pay her salary after all and reap the potential benefits from her work. If students say they want more, there’s no arguing with them. That’s the nature of the relationship.

Frankly, we don’t want to see Suzuki asked to clean out her desk, but we fear that’s the direction the CSU is heading. Either she should recognize that she is not currently able to execute the job to the best of her ability and resign, or she should realize that her supporters have grown few and she needs to step up to the plate.

That’s what you do when people are counting on you. You go big or you go home.

individual rights // OPINIONS

Freedom of expression in the operating room Hospital employees with tattoos save lives just as well as those without ROBIN DELLA CORTE Assistant news editor

T

attoos and piercings can say a lot about a person — they can represent people’s personalities or be dedicated to a moment that has affected that person’s life. They’re a form of expression and a choice for one’s body.

Neither, however, convey a person’s work performance or portray one’s respect for another person. Although they can say a lot about a someone, tattoos or piercings are unable to classify us, and it’s unfair to judge someone solely based on their physical appearance.

Last week, arbitrator Lorne Slotnick decided against imposing a dress code on staff at the Ottawa Hospital, explaining that there was no justification for forcing workers to cover up tattoos and to remove their piercings at work.

According to The National Post, Slotnick concluded that although some older patients might have a negative first impression of a nurse who has a tattoo or piercing, there is no evidence that these factors will affect patient health.

Allison Neil, the hospital’s senior VP of communications, told the Ottawa Sun that they’re concerned for their elderly patients and that they are “just looking to have that professional look and feel to the organization.”

National Post columnist Kelly McPar-

land points out that although getting a tattoo is a right, should the content of the tattoo be challenged? My answer to that is no.

McParland does bring up some good points: that a gentleman displaying a large tattoo of a naked or semi-naked woman on his body can be sexist or having religious symbols displayed on one’s body is somewhat inappropriate. However, no one has the right to limit what is inked on someone’ body.

We all have beliefs and opinions, and different things are offensive to different people. Still, no one can tell you what you should or shouldn’t display on your body.

A code that was implemented at the Ottawa Hospital in 2011 was designed to stop the spread of infection or harming of patients prohibited workers from wearing shorts and jeans. At the same time it had them cover up large, visible tattoos, and piercings had to be “minimal and conservative,” according to the Ottawa Citizen. The hospital claimed that the rules “would boost patients’ confidence in their healers.”

Slotnick makes it very evident that in this day and age, tattoos and piercing are

becoming more popular and are “no longer confined to sailors, stevedores and strippers,” he told the Ottawa Citizen.

Think of it this way: how can a piercing or a tattoo affect you and your day in any way? If I’m going to a hospital for a checkup or an operation, I really don’t care what the person looks like or believes in. I just

care that they will give me the respect I deserve and perform their job well.

You can’t expect to go through life only seeing people who look a certain way. People have different values and opinions and honestly, if they are saving a life, they can dress however they want, tattoos, piercings and all.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

17

conflict intervention // OPINIONS

Mali is in the middle of a civil war, but is it Canada’s war?

For more than a year, conflicts between the central government and Islamist factions in Northern Mali have threatened the country’s stability. The French army has already offered their aid, and Canada has also sent in a C-17 transport plane to help in anyway possible. Should Canada do more to help war-torn Mali? The response has been very controversial, indeed.

PROS: Mali needs our help, and we must respond GEORGE MENEXIS Opinions editor

The situation in Mali has worsened in the past few weeks.

Although I’m sure sending in a C-17 transport plane was extremely useful, Canada has a responsibility to do more in order to preserve peace, not only in Mali, but in the surrounding countries as well.

Kyle Matthews is the senior deputy director of the Will to Intervene Project at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University. He believes Canada not only should have a bigger role in Mali, but that there is no choice in the matter.

“There’s something called the Responsibility to Protect, which is an international agreement that was put forward by Canada in 2005, that states when a country is unable or unwilling to protect its citizens from mass atrocity crimes, such as crimes against humanity, then the international community must step in,” said Matthews.

The situation in Mali is worsening day by day. The Islamist militants the government is trying to fight have made living in Northern Mali a living hell. They’ve imposed a tough stance of the Sharia law. According to CNN, “the Islamists banned music, smoking, drinking and watching sports on television. They also destroyed historic tombs and shrines.”

These extremists cannot be allowed the leeway of gaining more ground in Mali. This, according to Matthews, could lead to their moving into neighbouring countries.

“The Canadian government is waking up to the fact that this is not just an issue that’s going to stay in Mali, but can actually morph into a transnational terror threat that can impact Canada and the West in general’s

economic interests.”

Matthews also stated that the Canadian army’s ability to speak French is a key factor to the training of African soldiers. Italian, German, and American aid can only go so far.

We can only hope that Defence Minister John Baird makes the decision, sometime this week, to further aid Mali. Canada’s French and Malian ambassadors have publicly said that they expect more help from our country, further pressuring the government to make a final decision.

In recent news, the C-17s will be staying in Mali until Feb. 15, which is indeed good news. Canada has the means and the opportunity to do so much more though. With more resources and expertise than the Malian army, their input could provide enormous support.

In the media lately, there has been many negative comments in response to Canada’s intervention in Mali, notably, award-winning journalist John Fisk who told Postmedia News: “does anybody really think these [militants] in the desert, that they’re really going to show up with a nuclear bomb in downtown Toronto? I don’t think so.”

That’s not the point, John. Canada has a responsibility to ensure the people of Mali have a future. We should do so in anyway possible.

CONS: Why Canada should stay out of Mali ATHENA TACET Staff writer

On Jan. 10, former colonial power France decided to intervene to support the local government after interim president Dioncounda Traoré publicly asked for assistance to liberate the country from rebels.

France acted unilaterally, “which does little to help the country escape from its ‘colonial master’ image held by some in francophone Africa,” said Dr. Monika Thakur, political science professor at Concordia University. But according to Dr. Peter J. Stoett, also a political science professor at Concordia, France decided to do so to protect Mali’s government and because it was concerned about repercussions in North Africa.

As for Canada, it’s another story. The country has focused on diplomatic solutions, humanitarian assistance and logistical support. Nevertheless, it’s not Canada’s place to intervene with air strikes or troops on the ground.

“The French have the situation well in hand at this point,” said Dr. Stoett.

Unfortunately, the complexity of Mali’s unrest creates the risk for this war to last longer than expected, as it has often been the case in the past. On Jan. 22, NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Paul Dewar called for an extension of the Canadian mission in Mali proving that small deployments often lead to greater interventions.

“French troops will be in Mali for only ‘several weeks’, [French President François] Hollande and his cronies tell us. … Isn’t that what the Israelis said when they marched into Lebanon in 1982 and stayed for another 18 years?” wrote Robert Fisk in an article published on Jan. 18, in The Independent.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has so

far remained cautious about sending troops into conflict in a country where it’s difficult to prove that Canada’s national interests are at risk. The spectre of Kandahar is still present, particularly after five years of combat which killed 149 Canadian soldiers.

Finding an argument to justify foreign intervention is even more difficult given that the reasons behind France’s involvement in Mali’s affairs are not completely transparent.

“Mali’s entire military intervention is deeply flawed from its inception to execution,” said Thakur.

And believing that foreign intervention is necessary to protect the West from possible terrorist threats is oversimplifying the complexity of the picture. Have the wars on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan legitimately reduced the terrorist threat or have they conversely fueled it?

Contrary to common thought, Mali has often been praised for its democratic system, especially after being one of the first African countries to adopt the multi-party system in 1992. Although the Republic was never geopolitically strong in the continent, its natural resources made it the third-largest gold producing country in Africa.

According to a statement by the Canadian Peace Alliance published on Jan. 15, “The real reason for NATO’s involvement is to secure strategic, resource rich areas of Africa for the West. Canadian gold mining operations have significant holdings in Mali as do many other western nations.”

Let’s consider all the reasons behind Canada’s involvement.

As for the re-establishment of a democratic regime, not only will it take some time, but it will also require a serious political reconstruction from within.

“The long-term problem will be how to restore legitimacy to the government in Mali and, again, avoid the spectre of a French occupation,” said Stoett.

Economic, social and political development is the only element that will guarantee long-term stability and prosperity. For now, Canada’s military intervention will not effectively address Mali’s underlying security issues. It’s a Malian issue and, while it may be a French one, it’s certainly not a Canadian one.

18

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

theconcordian

Israeli-Palestian conflict // OPINIONS

Reconciliation lies in the admittance of guilt The GSA takes wrong track in IsraeliPalestinian conflict HENRY ZAVRIYEV Staff writer

T

his past Monday, Concordia’s Graduate Student Association hosted a public forum entitled, BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions): Do we have a role in the Palestine-Israel conflict? One of the panelists, Mary-Jo Nadeau, accused Israeli forces of targeting civilian homes, schools, mosques, United Nations shelters, and educational institutions in its recent assaults on the West Bank. When Nadeau, a lecturer at the University of Toronto, asked students “why [they thought Israel would] bomb schools and universities,” no one responded, myself included. Although I wanted to stand up, throw my clothes off like the

woman in Titianic, and yell, “yes, yes Ms. Nadeau, please explain to me why Israel purposely bombs public schools,” I could not. I failed to be myself, thus allowing for yet another, very quiet Monday afternoon.

Hypocritical and slanderous statements like the ones made in this forum are precisely the reason why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has yet to be resolved. Leaders on both sides seem keener on pointing out the flaws of their opposition rather than making the admissions of guilt necessary for peace.

While the Palestinian Authority doesn’t miss a chance to condemn Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, Israelis lament the rocket fire coming out of Gaza.

Instead of pointing fingers, why can’t both sides not only admit, but stress their own wrongdoings?

I am a Jew. I am a Zionist. I am an ardent supporter of the two-state solution. I admit without reservation that Israel’s handling of the Palestinian crisis in recent years has been grossly ignorant and irresponsible.

However, in Monday’s forum, there was no

such recognition of guilt.

Panelists spent their allotted time criticizing the actions of Israel and failed to mention any responsibility on the part of Palestinians. As a result, the forum proved to be more of a slanderous outcry for action than a productive dialogue.

The BDS campaign, the central topic of Monday’s forum, is a movement which is, in my opinion, in a direct opposition to peace. It demands an end to “occupation and colonization of all Arab lands” and for the complete dismantling of the security fence currently dividing Israel from the West Bank and Gaza. Such demands are not only one-sided, but are also prone to widespread misinterpretation.

Jeremy Ben Ami, founder of the propeace group J-Street, writes that “too many in and around the BDS movement refuse to acknowledge either the legitimacy of Israel or the right of the Jewish people as well as the Palestinian people to a state.”

In addition, singling out what could be called the only democratic state in the

Middle East seems hypocritical. Why not boycott the likes of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Iran, where human rights violations are rampant and corruption widespread?

Yves Engler, one of the panelists, fervently argued for the boycott of Israeli made goods, yet fell short of supporting this year’s government sanctions on Iranian oil.

The situation isn’t improved by the fact that some of Nadeau’s statements are a bit misleading. Israel does not, in fact, intentionally bomb public institutions. Rather, it makes a considerable effort to avoid civilian casualties. Yet when Hamas continues to fire rockets from densely populated areas, it becomes increasingly difficult for Israel to fight its enemies.

With such a polarized debate, it is easy to point fingers and perhaps that is precisely what I am doing here in these concluding remarks. However, it is only to highlight the shortcomings of the panel. Instead of vilifying one another, let us be more commodious in our arguments so that we may come one step closer to reconciliation.

legislation // OPINIONS

One, two, three drinks you’re out Say goodbye to your car after you drink and drive repeatedly TIFFANY LAFLEUR Staff writer

D

runk driving has been a continuing problem in our province. But now, there might be a way to make Quebec roads a bit safer.

With a new ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada, it will now be possible for Quebec authorities to seize cars from drunk drivers after their third offence.

Considering just how dangerous drunk driving is, this new preventative step is one in the right direction. Driving is not a right, but a privilege. If someone is unable to refrain from drinking and taking the wheel, they shouldn’t have the privilege to drive in the first place.

You would think that with all the ads we’ve been subjected to that warn us of the dangers of drunk driving, people would think twice before taking the wheel. Apparently this isn’t so. According to Statistics Canada, police reported close to 90,300 incidents nationwide involving impaired driving in 2011. This was an increase of 3,000 compared to the year before.

Although the number of total incidents in Canada have increased, in Quebec the number of deaths related to drinking and driving had gone down from 800 to 200 between 1978 and 2008. However, even with the decrease, driving under the influence is still a problem. According to the SAAQ website, “from 2005 through 2009, 31 per cent of fatalities, 16 per cent of serious injuries and 5 per cent of minor injuries were related to alcohol.”

With drunk driving still presenting a serious problem on our roads, it’s comforting to know that the punishment will be equiv-

alent to the crime. If someone is caught on three different occasions, being slapped with a fine and racking up a few demerit points will not be enough to prevent them from doing it again. Therefore having them off the road altogether is a relief.

In February of last year, a 67-year-old Quebec man was convicted for his 24th drunk driving offence. According to the Toronto Sun, this is believed to be a Canadian record for the most drunk driving offences—not exactly a record to be proud of.

This is a prime example of a flawed system.

Had the new Supreme Court ruling been in effect then, it could have prevented 21 additional offences.

The argument against this new law is that it takes away the freedom of transportation for some.

Another Quebec man, Alphide Manning, had his vehicle seized after he was apprehended for his fifth offense of driving while intoxicated. He contested the decision, as he apparently needed his truck to be able to go to the hospital where he and his wife were being treated for various health problems. However, that does not take away from the fact that he is a public danger. Taking his truck away is a preventive measure to ensure the security of himself and others on the road. The Supreme Court agreed and ruled against him 7-0 on

Jan. 17.

The common misconception is that driving under the influence affects only the driver. The truth is that it affects everyone involved, whether it is someone in the passenger seat or someone else driving.

As much as a car is a way of transportation, it is also a deadly hunk of metal racing on the highway. Thus the decision to limit the number of offences is a good way of limiting the dangers that repeat offenders pose. The government has its responsibility to make sure you or your loved ones don’t end up in a body bag over something so preventable and this legislation is a step in that direction.

Letters to the editor

In most recent news, rap artist Rick Ross got shot at multiple times yesterday while he was driving his Rolls-Royce in Florida. Coincidentally, it was also his birthday. Surprisingly, there wasn t much love for the infamous rapper on the Twittersphere, but there was an endless amount of mediocre jokes...here they are! @BloodBloodBlood: “Rick Ross grabbed his police walkie-talkie and called for back up & some Krispy Kreme donuts blood.” @BePraisesNicki: “How the hell you shoot

at Rick Ross 20 times and miss!!! I mean you could of at least got 1 of his double D titties” @theilluminatII: “Sources say that Tupacs

hologram was seen running from the area where Rick Ross was shot at.”

@IamTheNileEarls: “’Even if Rick Ross

got shot, the bullet would have to travel through 500 pounds of fat to hit a vital organ.The bullet probably got tired.”

@jaboukiel: “TRick Ross escaped a drive-by shooting today in Fort Lauderdale. Police are now searching for a man with the worst aim in all of Florida.” @A_MATT_: “We all know Rick Ross crashed

because he dropped his Big Mac and took his eyes off the road.”

@A_MATT_: “We all know Rick Ross crashed because he dropped his Big Mac and took his eyes off the road.”

The Engineering and Computer Science Association is trying to get accredited. If you’re an engineering student at Concordia and haven’t heard ECA accreditation yet, you should feel embarrassed, ashamed, and dumb.

Worse, if you haven’t heard of accreditation, you’re probably not alone. While I could list some notable counterexamples, most engineering students are single-mindedly focused on going to class, getting ready for industry, and almost nothing else.

This apathy shown by most engineering students is scary. Worlds of activity exist outside your classes, and you don’t care about them because you don’t understand their relevance.

Imagine how clueless Louis Pasteur felt when he discovered the importance of bacteria.

The ECA’s accreditation push should actually be called ‘re-accreditation’, because the ECA used to be accredited but lost this status back in 2006. This year’s ECA execs are now cleaning up the mess left by previous ECA execs.

Why did the previous ECA execs fuck up? For the same reasons why engineering students don’t care about something unless it’s preceded by a four-letter course code: the insular culture of ENCS students prevents us from understanding the impact of anything outside of our courses.

We don’t know how business, politics, or community works because we’re single-mindedly focused on our engineering pursuits.

I don’t expect this isolated engineering culture to change overnight, but I want engineering students to recognize that our lack of context is dangerous. A high-ranking exec in an engineering firm once told me, “You can always pinpoint the best engineers because they are the ones who are passionate about something outside engineering. I don’t hire one-dimensional engineers; I want to work with well-rounded people.”

If you want to be well-rounded, start at home. Find out more about accreditation and what it means for the ECA. Don’t ask what it means for you – you’ll know that as soon as you understand the context. Start a conversation with execs or society members, either at the booth on the Hall Building’s 8th floor or walking around with the “Legalize it!” shirts.

After taking those baby steps, try finding things outside of engineering that interest you like our massive greenhouse on the Hall Building’s 13th floor, or the Concordia Student Union, where we’re horrifically underrepresented.

Stop focusing so much. Start understanding the contexts and communities of which you’re a part, and get involved with the rest of Concordia.

Concordia s weekly, independent student newspaper.

Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013 Vol. 30 Issue 19 MARILLA STEUTER-MARTIN Editor-in-Chief editor@theconcordian.com

SOPHIA LOFFREDA Production manager production@theconcordian.com

KALINA LAFRAMBOISE News editor news@theconcordian.com

STEPHANIE LA LEGGIA Life editor life@theconcordian.com

AMANDA L. SHORE Arts editor arts@theconcordian.com

STEPHANIE ULLMAN Interim music editor music@theconcordian.com

KEVIN DUARTE Sports editor sports@theconcordian.com

GEORGE MENEXIS Opinions editor opinions@theconcordian.com

MADELAYNE HAJEK

-Nick Sweet

Photo editor

Over the course of the past few weeks the Engineering & Computer Science Association (ECA) has been gearing up for the largest student consultation that the association has conducted in years. Essentially the ECA is trying to get accredited by the Ministry of Education of Quebec. This legal certification would grant them legal recognition as the elected representatives of Engineering & Computer Science undergrads. The process to achieve this status requires that ENCS students be consulted by referendum, where at least 25% must participate in the vote for the results to count, and where a majority of the ballots cast must be “Yes” votes for accreditation to pass.

The Concordian wrote a brief article about the upcoming referendum in last week’s issue, where there was a focus on the financial resources that the ECA is investing in the accreditation process. I firmly believe that students should pay attention to how Faculty associations such as ECA, FASA, CASA and ASFA are spending student money so I appreciate that the Concordian took this angle. However, I think that the ECA accreditation drive is a much bigger story than was reported on last week.

The polling period for ENCS students extends from January 28th- February inside and outside of classrooms. That is 3 weeks, not 2 weeks of voting. This is where the bulk of the ECA’s accreditation budget is going, in order to make sure that the polling stations are accessible to students and that the ECA gets the minimum participation required by the Ministry of Education.

Although it is noteworthy that the ECA has devoted a large amount of financial resources to the polling period, a lot can be said about where the money is NOT being spent. The campaign itself is the result of ECA executives, and countless volunteers doing classroom speeches, sitting at an information booth and speaking with their peers. In a Faculty where campaigning isn’t the norm, it is clear that the participation of these unpaid volunteers in a vote like this one is unprecedented. These ENCS students have clearly demonstrated how much they care about the ECA and its contributions to the University experience of its constituents.

The ECA’s biggest challenge yet is getting students to massively go and vote. If you know a student enrolled in the Faculty of Engineering & Computer Science, tell them to “Vote Yes!” to ECA accreditation!

NATASHA TAGGART ALYSSA TREMBLAY Online editors online@theconcordian.com

JENNIFER KWAN Graphics editor graphics@theconcordian.com

ROBIN DELLA CORTE MATTHEW GUITE Assistant news editors news@theconcordian.com

ARIANA TRIGUEROS-CORBO Assistant arts editor

SAMANTHA MILETO Assistant sports editor

GREGORY TODARO Assistant opinions editor

CHRISTINE BEATON SARA KING-ABADI ELIZABETH TOMARAS Copy editors copy@theconcordian.com

CYNTHIA DUPUIS Production assistant

ANDREA ZOLLNER

Graphics contributor

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STAFF WRITERS AND CONTRIBUTORS

Comic by Travis Dandro Is Egg Donation Dangerous, by MD (Guest Feature Writer) -- The other day, I unsuspectingly borrowed eggs from my neighbor. They are good, god-fearing people and hence I thought I had nothing to fear. I am not god-fearing, but I should have been egg-fearing. The plan was a mushroom omelette, but my plan did not account for the dangers that lurk beneath the shell.

Madelon Kirov, Rebecca De Carlo, Sarah Baron-Goodman, Anouare Abdou, Saturn De Los Angeles, Ayan Chowdhury, Elizabeth Mackay, Andria Caputo, Andrew Guilbert, Anthony Abbondanza, Thierry Tardif, Andrew Maggio, Athena Tacet, Tiffany Lafleur, Henry Zariyev.

theconcordian

the etc. page // OPINIONS

Events of the weeK: Jan. 29 Tuesday +ART - Vernissage ALL KIN by Jason Botkin - 1830H - Projet Beaumont +THEATRE - Waiting for the Barbarians - 20H - Segal Centre +MUSIC - Abandon All Ships - 20H - La Sala Rossa

Wednesday +THEATRE- The Glass Menagerie - 20H -3480 McTavish +THEATRE - Waiting for the Barbarians - 20H - Segal Centre +THEATRE - Kafka’s Ape - 20H - Bain St-Michel

THURSDAY +CINEMA POLITICA - Inside Lara Roxx - 19H - Room H-110 +DANCE - Corps Caverneux - 1930H -Studio Hydro-Monument National +THEATRE - West Side Story - 1930H - Moyse Hall Theatre

Friday +MUSIC - Hardwell - 22H - New City Gas THEATRE - West Side Story - 1930H - Moyse Hall Theatre

SATURDAY +MUSIC - Gigamesh - 22H - Velvet Speakeasy +THEATRE- The Glass Menagerie - 20H -3480 McTavish

SUnday +DANCE - Corps Caverneux - 16H -Studio Hydro-Quebec Monument +THEATRE - Waiting for the Barbarians - 19H - Segal Centre