The Plant December 2022 Vol. 57 No. 4

the plant SINCE 1969 VOL 57 NO 4 2022

DECEMBER @THEPLANTNEWS THEPLANTNEWS.COM

2 THE PLANT

Letter from the Editor Happy December!

Index NEWS ARTS & CULTURE VISUAL ARTS PLAYLIST VOICES CREATIVE WRITING SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT CURIOSITIES

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The end of the semester is upon us! I couldn’t be more relieved, and I’m sure many of you feel the same. Goodbye, final essays, exams, and all-nighters fuelled only by caffeinated beverages and a crippling fear of failure.

Winter always seems to represent the conclusion of an era. The all-consuming snowfalls, the barren scenery, the empty streets, the glowing lights; I’ve always felt that there’s an apocalyptic quality about this time of year. The madness of the holiday season takes us by storm, filling our social calendar and becoming our sole focus, only to leave us vulnerable and fresh in the New Year.

The semester terminates, fall fades into winter, a new year overpowers.

As announced in my last letter, in early February I will fly to Australia and call it home until my inherited nomadic inclinations come calling once more.

The anticipation of this move has made me view winter rather fondly. I watch the snow fall with sparkling eyes; I relish how the cold air fills my lungs.

I used to hate winter, but now I view it with a melancholic love, like the season is a turbulent love affair I will soon have to end.

These are the last of my words to be published in The Plant. Fuck, I better make them good.

To my incredible staff: You tolerated my chaos, my eccentric disposition, and my debilitating disorganization with the utmost grace and serenity. Thank you for an incredible final semester.

I’m beyond excited to announce that Mathew Anania, our hardworking, incredibly patient, much-admired News Editor/Managing Editor, will be replacing me as Editor-In-Chief. He is the only one for the job, the calm to my chaos.

And to take his place as Managing Editor: The dazzling, incredibly kind and charmingly witty, Emmy Rubin.

Being a part of The Plant for the last 18 months has been one of the most fulfilling, inspiring, and nourishing experiences of my life. I say that with no exaggeration. I needed an outlet to reduce my tendency to monologue endlessly in real life, and this paper fit the bill nicely. Writing is a deeply personal experience for me. As any reader of my work will tell you, I’m no good at objectivity or concision. I much prefer to write from experience, weaving chaotic streams of consciousness into cohesion, regardless of how this might upset the sensibilities of certain journalistic purists.

I’ve always known I wanted to be a writer, but this was only confirmed by the reception of an article I wrote last spring. The piece was entitled “How Tinder’s Anonymity Facilitates Sexual Violence: A Personal Account” and denounced the sexual abuse all-too-common to dating apps through the lens of a personal experience. I had never published anything so personal, and as my words underwent the processes of editing, formatting, and printing, I was an anxious wreck. On the day of the article’s release, I handed out issues to strangers, hyper-aware of the fact that they unknowingly held my most vulnerable confessions between their fingers. That night, I began to receive messages from readers who recognized their own experiences in my story. I remember crying in bed at 3am after having received a particularly haunting message; I never thought my writing would be able to move people in such a significant way.

And that’s why I write.

The Plant fed my ambition and my creative hunger. I’ve grown not only as a writer, but also as a human. I love this paper. While I will miss it dearly, I find solace in the knowledge that I’ve left it in very capable hands.

I wish you all the loveliest of holiday seasons, with an abundance of hot chocolate and gingerbread cookies.

Forever Yours, Josephine Ross (she/her) (Now retired) Editor-In-Chief, Fall 2022

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Letter from the Future Editor Dearest readers, Ah. We’ve finally made it through another semester.

The snow has fallen and has formed crisp, cushiony valleys.

There’s something so metaphorical about the winter, something I’ve always struggled to fully grasp. Perhaps it’s the way the darkness is needed to soak up the tantalizing sparkle of the snow. Or the way that the trees are stripped bare of their leaves, only to bloom fiercer the following spring.

Or maybe it’s the eeriness and anxiety which accompanies the bone-chilling breeze of the winds of change. The semester began with heat waves, rays of sunshine, and smiles, but is ending with the bitter cold weather and defeat. Yet in many ways, the beauty of winter is in the death it symbolizes.

In fact, it is with a heavy heart that we bid adieu to some of our members of the Plant. Firstly, a special thank you to Kara, our lovely Curiosities Editor. You have never failed to brighten up the morale in our meetings, even when they were scheduled at the most inconvenient of times. To Aspen, our kind staff writer, thank you for always being there to support and help others.

Lastly, but certainly not least, Josephine. Jo, you have gifted all readers with the utmost transparency and honesty in your pieces. From all readers and members of The Plant, we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You have left me with

The Plant is an editorially autonomous student paper. All opinions expressed in The Plant do not necessarily belong to The Plant, but are those of individuals. All content submitted to The Plant or its staff belongs to the paper. We reserve the right to reject or edit all submissions for brevity, taste and legality. The Plant welcomes typed and signed letters to the editor under 400 words.

Copyright 2022

the biggest shoes to fill, and it is with the utmost confidence that I say, your impact on The Plant will never be replicated. We will truly miss you.

Readers, remember how hard you have worked, and how far you have come. Please take care and do something nice for yourself over the break. Whether it’s baking a batch of cookies, drawing a bubble bath, or binge-watching a new series and mindlessly scrolling through TikTok, do something nice for yourself. P.S.: I encourage you to try the recipe that our lovely Curiosities Editor has included.

To all members of The Plant, congratulations on persevering through a semester of hard work and dedication. Your endless support and love for The Plant does not go unnoticed.

Perhaps flipping through the pages of holiday song recommendations, horoscopes, art, creative writing, and works will impart you with a lasting sense of comfort for the holiday season. On that note, The Plant is wishing everyone a very warm holiday season. We thank you for your unwavering support.

In the meantime, Happy Holidays everyone. Wishing you all the best.

I’ll catch you in the new year, MATHEW ANANIA Managing Editor & News Editor

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NEWS

Dominique Anglade Quits Politics MATHEW ANANIA News Editor & Managing Editor

In May of 2020 Dominique Anglade was appointed as the leader of the Parti Libéral du Québec, occupying the position for a mere two and a half years. Remarkably, Anglade made history by becoming the first woman of color to lead a political party in Quebec. However, just over a month ago Anglade announced her resignation as the leader of the PLQ and of the Official Opposition. Anglade fulfilled her duties as the member of the National Assembly for Saint-HenriSainte-Anne until December 1st.

Marc Tanguay, the member of the National Assembly of the LaFontaine riding was instantly appointed as the interim leader of the party and of the Official Opposition. Although seemingly inconsequential, Anglade’s departure is another example of the glass cliff phenomenon.

In Getting on Top of the Glass Cliff: Reviewing a Decade of Evidence, Explanations, and Impact (2016), Michelle Ryan and Alex Haslam argue that glass cliff phenomenon refers to “the tendency for women to be more likely than men to be appointed to leadership positions that are risky and precarious” (Ryan et al.).

Although similar in shared aspects, the glass ceiling refers to an entirely different phenomenon. In Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Structural, Cultural, and Organizational Barriers Preventing Women from Achieving Senior and Executive Positions, Johns argues that the glass ceiling “is a metaphor for the invisible and artificial barriers that block women and minorities from advancing up the corporate ladder to management and executive positions.” (Johns). Nonetheless, both address discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity or gender within the work force.

Leading up to the 2018 Quebec provincial election, the PLQ was the majority government, and had garnered a vote share of approximately 42% in the previous election. At the head of the party was Philippe Couillard, who had led Quebec for the past four years. In a shocking turnout, the

PLQ saw their vote share reduced by nearly half. Moreover, their seat share at dissolution was 70, nearly incomparable to the 31 seats they garnered in the following election. Couillard immediately stepped down from his role as the leader, and explained that he was leaving the spot to “a new generation of Liberals”. However, this can be interpreted as the glass cliff phenomenon at play. In fact, Couillard knew the CAQ was experiencing a surge in popularity, and consequently, the PLQ were experiencing a massive decline. Thus, although it seemed as though Couillard chose to step down and hand off the party to someone else, it was under the guise of shifting the blame onto someone else.

The blame is shifted onto Anglade, when in reality, Couillard chose to step down when he knew that the PLQ was losing its power in Québec.

Dominique Anglade was appointed as the leader of the PLQ in 2020. As seen in the results of the 2022 provincial election, the party experienced a greater, more catastrophic loss than in the previous election.

However, this underlines the glass cliff phenomenon. The blame is shifted onto Anglade, when in reality, Couillard chose to step down when he knew that the PLQ was losing its power in Québec. Anglade, a woman of color, was appointed as the leader of the party, imparting her with a negative connotation after the expected disaster.

However, the glass cliff phenomenon was posited long before Anglade was subjected to it. In fact, the glass cliff phenomenon is also interchangeably referred to as the Kim Campbell phenomenon. In 1993, Brian Mulroney, the reigning prime minister and leader of the Tories, was experiencing a rapid decline in the polls. The party was suffering, and it was clear that their chances of re-election were slim to none. After Mulroney officially

stepped down from politics and his position, Kim Campbell was appointed as the first woman prime minister of Canada. However, the party experienced a massive loss, and were crushed by the Liberals. Kim Campbell, the only woman prime minister in Canada to date, was given a poor reputation and image. Mulroney put the future candidate and leader on a glass cliff, only to make them fail, and assign the failure to them.

More importantly, the glass cliff phenomenon is not only applicable to those who have led the country. For instance, shortly after the 2019 federal election, leader of the Green Party, Elizabeth May, resigned from the position. Shortly after, Annamie Paul, a woman of color, was appointed as the leader of the party. However, the Green Party experienced a massive decrease in vote share in the 2021 election. In fact, they saw their vote share decreased by two-thirds. Ultimately, the blame gets shifted onto Annamie Paul, yet the Green Party saw a rapid decrease in popularity after Elizabeth May departed. This imparts Paul with the negative connotation of being a terrible politician. Just recently, Elizabeth May stepped back up as the leader of the Green Party.

Ultimately, women are negatively connoted in Canadian politics, largely due to the glass cliff phenomenon. This is not a case of the captain going down with their ship, it is setting someone up to fail and take the blame. And in Canadian politics, the men usually set up the glass cliff for women and minorities to fail. p p

Photo VIA PAUL CHIASSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS.

NEWS 5 5

Rent Increase: The Effect on Dawson College Students AYA HAFEDA News Editor

During this upcoming season of crisp winds and white layers, the streets of Montreal are crammed with ‘À Vendre’ signs.

In 2022, the province of Quebec faces between a 6.5% and 7% of basic rent increase. For heated residencies, the percentage is higher depending on the employed method. The average rent in Montreal is now above $1,500.

Dawson College has an estimate of 11 000 students. Most do not live near the campus region. This is the case for second year literature student Maya Jadah. This student comes from the village of Hemmingford located in the south of Quebec. Getting to Dawson College would take approximately an hour by car and public transports are not available in the region. In August 2021, she moved to Montréal with a roommate near campus claiming it was an unavoidable change most students from Hemmingford go through.

To this student, the rate inflation had a great impact on her: “It was hard to budget everything”. All the money Maya had worked for during the summer and set aside went mostly into the coverage of the increasing rent.

According to the student, this process furthermore complicated acquiring groceries. “I had a hard time budgeting, I still do.” Jadah believes that the upheaval of moving into a large and urban city like Montreal incites a new lifestyle that didn’t coincide with the growing rent of the city: “Near December, I couldn’t afford rent”.

The average rent in Montreal is now above $1,500.

The stress of having to keep up a certain amount of hours per week at work to afford her apartment affected the young student on a mental level as well: “Looking back on it now, it was so stressful […] adapting to having to pay rent and budget. It was stressful having to adapt to that”. The student additionally states the following: “Working with having school, that was like stressful and even now; I’m

working 4 days a week while going to school, so it gets really stressful sometimes”. Despite having a load of work and attempting to pay attention to school, Maya still has to work 19 hours a week to cover her rent: “There’s a lot of pressure”.

They need to recognize the struggles that students can go through when they have no choice but to move out to go to school.

When asked if her working hours interfered with her academic goals, she admits to having struggled when first moving out; she had not fully adapted to the balance between work and school and procrastinated often. This caused dissatisfaction with her grades and made the student feel overwhelmed as a result. Maya Jadah believes that “they need to recognize the struggles that students can go through when they have no choice but to move out to go to school” During the 3rd October elections, Quebec residents decided to grant Premier Minister François Legault a second term. Along with his reelection, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) party, promised to hand out checks to all qualified 6.5 million taxpaying Quebeckers before the holidays. This will aid them with the rent inflation Quebec is facing. The checks will vary from $400 to $600 depending on the resident’s revenue.

Eric Gerard, finance minister, states on a news conference that as of December, $400 will be handed out to

Photo VIA CTV NEWS MONTREAL

citizens whose salary in 2021 was between $50,000 and $100,000. Moreover, Gerard stated: “It’s our responsibility to help Quebecers cope with the increase in inflation -- the essential needs are immediate”. As for the $600, it will be handed out to those whose salary was less than $50,000 in 2021. For residents whose salary exceeded $100,000, no checks will be collected. This money will even be accorded to people who already owe the government money.

Arian Cerone is a second year Dawson student who plans on moving near Dawson soon. He states: “I live very far in the East end and it’s completely impossible to commute in a small amount of time if I don’t drive […] there are no parking lots around metro stations […] it’s completely impossible for me to commute in a reasonable time and be on time for my class”.

The student wishes to move somewhere near campus to avoid the complications that come with depending on a car.

Hard to keep that kind of schedule with a consistent school schedule.

He believes that a better paying job will be needed for him to cover rent when he moves out. Despite a greater wage, Cerone says that he would also have to work many hours.

He believes it would be “hard to keep that kind of schedule with a consistent school schedule”. The process of covering an inflating rent will then have a negative impact on Adrian’s academic work. Adrian furthermore says that “Even if I continue going to classes, I’m probably going to be behind on certain projects or assignments or going to have to rush more”. p p

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ARTS & CULTURE

The Plant Recommends: Holiday Songs!

Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt

Through Kitt’s entrancing angelic voice, catchy brass arrangements, playful lyrics, and percussion-like baritone notes that oddly evoke My Singing Monsters, the polished yet daring atmosphere of the 50s is literally bursting out of this frisky melody that instantly became a Christmas classic. For its flirtatious lyrics deemed overly suggestive by music critics of the era, “Santa Baby” was temporarily banned in the Southern U.S. following its release in 1953.

Nevertheless, this polarizing controversy did not keep Kitt’s single from becoming the best-selling Christmas song in America that year; the skeptics simply couldn’t handle the heat of this Yule banger. Because it has been featured on lists of both Best and Worst Christmas tunes ever written (irrefutable evidence of its greatness) and especially because it is the sentient embodiment of everything that is inherently wrong with our modern holiday season to the point of uninhibited irony, I can’t help but cherish “Santa Baby” with unveiled affection.

SIMONE BÉLANGER, Arts & Culture Editor

Photo VIA MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES

River by Joni Mitchell

Leading up to 1971, Canadian icon Joni Mitchell was coming out of a breakup with her former partner Graham Nash.

What resulted was the composition of a wonderfully sorrowful and vulnerable piece titled “River,” released on her fourth studio album Blue. Mitchell’s bell-like voice will certainly tug at your heartstrings. The song, which is set during the holidays, contains melodic notes reminiscent of “Jingle Bells.” Yet, “River” is unique, as it “expresses regret at the end of a relationship, but also about being lonely at Christmastime.” Just one listen and you’ll wish you had a river so long you could skate away on.

MATHEW ANANIA News Editor & Managing Editor EMMA MAJAURY, Creative Writing Editor

Photo VIA JOEL BERNSTEIN

ARTS & CULTURE 7 7

I have always been a fervent believer in the supernatural aura that taints the holiday season’s crisp air. This shared implicit knowledge that a veil is being lifted, that mythical creatures become not so mythical after all, awakening under the gleam of the cold-hearted orb, ruler of the otherworldly nights awaiting us. Legends from all around the globe depict these uncanny visitors that only emerge once a year: the voracious Jolakotturinn, an Icelandic monstrous Yule cat; the devilish, bestial Krampus, instigator of a morbid dread among Austrian younglings; Japan’s Santa Kuroshu and his upsetting second pair of eyes, restlessly hunting naughty children down; or even Kallikantzaros, werewolf-like beings, tyrants of Eastern European frigid nights. Yet, these chilling omens of human animist nature are only a fraction of what makes this peculiar time of year magical. For many, the trancelike, blissful energy that characterizes the holidays is catalyzed through music, which is why, this December, The Plant wishes to share some of its beloved holiday songs. Enjoy those tacky, jolly tunes - but beware: who knows where Krampus might be lurking…

SIMONE BÉLANGER, Arts & Culture Editor

Don’t Shoot Me Santa by The Killers & Ryan Pardey

As you decorate your gingerbread houses with your friends or family in preparation for the holidays (check out the Curiosities section for a stellar recipe), The Killers’ “Don’t Waste Your Wishes” album plays. With artists such as Elton John, Wild Light, Neil Tennant, and Jimmy Kimmel featured on the album, you know that it’ll be a jolly good time!

KARA FUSARO, Curiosities Editor

We’re The Lucky Ones by The Marías

As you snuggle up in your soft fleece blankets, listen to “We’re The Lucky Ones” to be gently reminded of the coziness of the holiday season. Through the winter’s biting cold and your cheeks turning rosy red, let The Marías push your frosty fingers closer to the ones you love most. We’ve come this far with beating hearts, and though the temperature’s dropping, may this holiday season embrace you in warmth.

HANNAH DANE, Co-Copy Editor

My Favorite Things by Julie Andrews

Ever since my childhood, I have had a tradition of watching The Sound of Music every year around Christmastime despite it not being that much of a holiday movie. Nevertheless, this song has always gotten me into the holiday spirit. Whether it’s the lyrics that get stuck in your head or the holiday-like instrumental notes that back them up, this song is simply one of my favorite things!

ALESSIA VIGNA, Secretary

Photo VIA GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

Artwork by Alessa Orsini @ALESSAORSINI

8 THE PLANT

Artwork by Alice Boulianne @ALIEBOULIANNE

VISUAL ARTS 9

Artwork by Elliott Trembecka @MAYBEELLIOTT

Visual Arts by ALICE BOULIANNE Visual Arts Editor

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A Tribute to Nelly Arcan or How Femininity Inexorably Stabs You in the Guts SIMONE BÉLANGER Arts & Culture Editor

TW: Mentions of suicide, sex work, and other sensitive topics.

I am oddly on time, for once.

Seated within the left flank of the theater’s mass of chairs, I wait, docilely, for the play to commence. La fureur de ce que je pense. I don’t believe there exists a way to properly prepare yourself to face such devastating passion, something I could have grasped onto in order to save myself from what I was about to witness. “Please turn off your cellphones,” requests a suave, although computerized voice, as the lights get dimmed until darkness envelops the elderly crowd. On stage, nine cubic compartments revealed by showcase windows stand brazenly, an ironic reflection of the public’s reluctant gaze.

But suddenly, the stage gets ignited.

Nelly Arcan’s thoughts are prognostic of the hopelessness behind finding any genuine fulfillment in our postmodern era.

Inside those nine cubicles stand six women, evolving within their own, distinct settings. The impression of invading the actresses’ privacy is disconcerting. I cannot move. I can only subjugate myself to the immensity, to the poetry, to the mesmerizing yet terrifying intelligence resonating through every single word written by Nelly Arcan; a woman too smart for her own good, too smart to avoid the never-ending torment of those who understand that all is doomed.

Arcan was stuck in a multiplicity of societal spirals that kept her entrapped and agonizing. Not only did becoming a sex worker (in order to pay for her literature studies) partially consumed her vitality, self-esteem, and perception of femininity, but suffering from the cycle of events that moulded her soul became so inextricably cruel that it was only a question of time until suicidal thoughts would pervade her mind. Saturated with constant guilt fused to the yearning to

be desired at all costs, Nelly Arcan’s thoughts are prognostic of the hopelessness behind finding any genuine fulfillment in our postmodern era.

La fureur de ce que je pense, a gut-wrenching mosaic of Arcans’s texts, addresses issues that are foisted on nearly all women and femme-presenting people on a regular basis. An inexplicable yet terrifying dread regarding aging and the relentless course of time. The desperate wish to be the true owner of your sexual life, combined to the growing disgust for every time you whispered “yes” when your brain kept screaming “NO.” The archaic fear of being a sinner, of partaking in either lust, envy, or any other imaginable debauchery for which one may be condemned. The glorification of suicide. Of any self-destructive tendency, any noxious drug, any toxic relationship. All those constituents of a decadent femininity lie at the very core of this cataclysmic, brutal play.

Nelly Arcan was never wanted as a child. She was the plan B, the second option as her older sister died not so long after being birthed. Arcan even went as far as using her dead sister’s name for her stage persona. What a distasteful homage to a dead sibling, some may say. But that was never relevant. For the author, sex was a relief that lasted for a few minutes in the midst of a tormented existence, in the same way dancing was.

Dance, this trance that possesses sweating bodies until the ultimate salvation.

At that instant, I wish to scream that society is fucked, that my only aspiration is to love, to love unconditionally.

Through dilated pupils, through music that emerges from within the body’s nucleus, from the bottom of one’s stomach like a climbing orgasm, as the crowd, if ever watched from above, would become a single pulsating organ; yes, this trance was the only conceivable redemption.

Although the play illustrates Arcan’s overflowing and exuberant sexu-

ality, it ultimately depicts the loathing and fear of it. She writes how she always wished to be a man, to have the ability to spawn an erection, to dictate her desires instead of undergoing the cravings of others. Arcan expresses this swelling tiredness through a frightening blur of anxiety and substance abuse that keeps begging the question: Am I broken, or is it a universal collapse that cornered me into thinking this way?

Nevertheless, sexuality is far from being the sole theme tackled by the impressive work of the six involved actresses and production. The recurrent, persistent mentions of suicide, the detailed, methodical plan that was to be followed, the prayers for Arcan’s dad to believe she was good and pure, even after death… According to the writer, her very existence was defined by its obsolescence, by the fact that it had no concrete purpose. Although this is not explicitly stated in the play, Nelly Arcan eventually killed herself on September 24th, 2009, in Montreal. I pray for the afterlife to offer her this longed-for peace of mind, as Arcan’s sufferings were truly beyond any form of comprehension.

When my hands start clapping by themselves and I finally inhale my first legitimate breath of fresh air, I understand that the 100 uninterrupted minutes of performance have passed by. As I arise on the gloomy, voracious street (Saint-Laurent Boulevard), I light a cigarette and look around. I feel like I am descending from another realm, another universe. At that instant, I wish to scream that society is fucked, that my only aspiration is to love, to love unconditionally. I pray for this feeling to never fade. But it inevitably does, and I am once again the bystander I so desperately wanted to punch. p p

Photo VIA MARLÈNE G. PAYETTE

ARTS & CULTURE 11 11 11

Robot Picasso Takes Over the Art Industry Recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence and its potential impact on artists SANAD HAMDOUNA Staff Writer

The creative field was always assumed to be something too inherently human to be threatened by automation. However, recent developments in Artificial Intelligence – or “AI”– have forced many to re-evaluate this assumption. Indeed, the development of AI systems capable of mimicking man-made artwork has accelerated exponentially in the last few years. It has come a long way since the beginning of its development in the late 1960s.

In January 2021, AI art generator DALL-E published the first high-quality series of AI-generated artworks. Even then, many of them could pass as regular artwork or photos.

In May 2022, Microsoft and Google announced their AI art generator projects.

Works created by AI cannot be copyrighted under Canadian Law. In August 2022, AI art software, Stable Diffusion, was released to the public, making the new technology much more accessible. But none of this was seen as a threat until late August 2022, when a game designer entered the Colorado State Fair Fine Arts Competition with 3 AI-generated images. He won First place and a $300 prize for his AI-generated images. This win has since sparked a wave of debate around AI art’s place in society, especially in the creative industry.

An important component in this debate revolves around copyright law. Copyright is important because it legally protects individual authors’ work against corporations or other individuals who may attempt to use it for their own profit without permission. There are two major questions under the copyright umbrella, the first being: who holds the copyright to AI-produced art?

Carys Craig, an Associate Law Professor at York University who has published extensive research on

intellectual property and authorship, says that works created by AI cannot be copyrighted under Canadian Law because it is not a “human-authored” work and, therefore, not recognized as “original work of expression.”

That steals a person’s humanity, steals a person’s existence, and profits from it.

The law in the US started by taking a similar approach. The US Copyright Office rejected numerous copyright requests for AI-generated artworks until September 2022, when it granted copyright registration to a graphic novel using artwork generated by Midjourney AI. According to Benj Edwards, a seasoned tech and tech-history writer who now reports on AI and machine learning for Ars Technica, “The US copyright office has not ruled against copyright on AI artworks. Instead, it ruled out copyright registered to an AI as the author instead of a human.” This means that as long as there is also a human author, an AI-generated artwork may also be granted copyright registration.

The second question surrounding Copyright Law and AI art is whether or not AI art generators are trained to use copyrighted artworks to generate images.

According to Ars Technica, many AI art generators – including Google’s Imagen AI and Stable Diffusion – are trained with data from an online dataset called LAION-5B. This dataset

Photo VIA DAVID NGUYEN

includes over 5 Billion uncurated images assembled through bots scouring billions of websites, including highly popular art-sharing platforms such as Deviant Art, Pinterest, and Artstation.

This means that many copyrighted artworks and personal photos are a crucial part of the development of these AI art generators. Naturally, this is done without the consent of any artists, photographers, or anyone depicted in any photo on the internet. This fact may not seem pertinent considering the scale of the database, but due to the text data tied to each image, a user can still prompt an AI to generate something resembling a specific person or person’s art style.

This has caused much concern over the possibility of generating deepfake imagery using these AI generators and generating artwork in the unique styles of living artists, potentially using their life’s work for profit without ever even having to consult them.

Adam Duff, or “Lucidpixul,” an illustrator and YouTuber based in Montreal, even compared AI art generated in the style of living artists to identity theft. In a recent YouTube video on AI art, he stated: “The act of just copying somebody, or copying someone’s style [...] You are pretending to be somebody else, that’s identity theft. That steals a person’s humanity, steals a person’s existence, and profits from it. And when it comes to AI art, that’s the problem.”

Despite the grim portrait these concerns may paint for the future of workers in the art industry, this technology is still extremely recent, and only time will show its true impact. p

p

12 THE PLANT

VOICES

Body Checking Isn’t Just a Trend, It’s an Epidemic HANNAH DANE Co-copy Editor In the entrance of the Alexis Nihon Mall’s women’s bathroom, Ana Benitez, an 18-year-old, scrolls through TikTok as she waits for her friend to come out. “I hate these videos,” she says, pressing “not interested” on one of a girl pulling at the hem of her shirt, showing off her toned abs; “it’s like they want me to develop an eating disorder.”

As TikTok has recently gained a massive rise in popularity, body-checking trends have been increasingly prominent in everyday scrolling. According to Central Coast Treatment Centre, a recovery facility for patients with eating disorders, “body checking is the compulsive checking or tracking of your body’s shape, size, weight, or other physical features.” Online, body checking disguises itself through short, eye-catching videos like a young girl lip-syncing to a song while pulling her sweater to reveal a slim figure or a young man flexing his defined biceps in the mirror.

As these clips gain traction, the normalization of body checking can be alarming for TikTok’s audience.

According to Thomas Holmes, a youth social worker at the Douglas Mental Health Institute, this issue stems from a basic emotional need for attachment. As TikTok attracts a mass audience of pre-teens and young adults, users find a sense of solidarity through posting within a carefully curated community of like-minded people. As users share their figures, the shame they once felt about their body can be reversed into pride over the control they have mastered. Often, this leads to compulsive behaviors offline, like obsessively monitoring food intake or exercise to maintain that sense of control, thus possibly triggering deeper issues like anorexia, bulimia, or muscle dysmorphia.

“I try to avoid these as much as I can,” Ana said. “I usually try to scroll past it, but I used to struggle to ignore these videos. You see girls with perfect shapes and end up hating what you see in the mirror, pick-

ing apart body features you can’t change, wondering if you can look like that too. It’d make me spiral and feel ashamed for even thinking about it.” However, avoiding these kinds of videos appears to be easier said than done.

In recent light of body positivity movements around body acceptance on TikTok and fat-positive users seeking to call out pro-eating disorder behaviors like body checking, many popular influencers have come under fire for spreading unhealthy behaviors in their videos. Users like @becamichie, a fashion model with 105 thousand followers who posts videos about their workout routines or daily outfits, have been called out for using their platform as a disguise for body checking. Many users reposting Michie’s original videos would point out certain harmful actions displayed. Some harmful activities include turning to the side while leaning slightly back or pulling loose clothing tight on their figure. Afterward, the user’s reposting pushed the model to delete a few more controversial posts.

As social media grows and becomes increasingly competitive, people develop a need to create a desirable persona in a marketplace of consumerism, thus becoming a consumable product themselves.

However, despite this push for a healthier TikTok, it seems much of the app’s content has been left unchanged, its algorithm still promoting even the most obvious body-checking videos.

As the words “body checking” have been recently banned by the app to suppress the trend, numerous new hashtags like #bodychek and #bodych3cking, purposely misspelled to avoid being reported, have accumulated up to 8.3 million views

according to the TikTok search page.

As social media grows and becomes increasingly competitive, people develop a need to create a desirable persona in a marketplace of consumerism, thus becoming a consumable product themselves. “The pressure to perform to find a good nest, a safe place with people who care and understand, heightens the stress of competitiveness. For many, this has fueled a need to post their bodies as a way to find validation from others, especially on a platform where it’s so easily accessible,” Holmes explained.

The app has now added a link to the National Eating Disorder Information Centre when a user tries to search up the words “body check”.

As society’s ruthless body standards live on, so will body checking. Nevertheless, as we move forward with rising movements around body positivity and fat acceptance, perhaps social media could also serve as a place for rehabilitation and recovery, with communities forming to encourage support instead of self-destruction.

Body acceptance is and will always be an enormous feat. And though it can be so tempting to give in to our vices, comparing our own breathing and growing bodies to the carefully curated ones we see online, the human body will, above all, always be a vessel in need of care, comfort, and nourishment, and we should give it a chance to simply exist. p p

VOICES 13 13 13

The Man Behind the Mystery: What is Going on with Dawson’s Escalators?

ASPEN CRICK & EMMY RUBIN Staff Writer & Co-Copy Editor What is the true essence of Dawson?

The Blues? Campus life? The never-ending slew of bake sales? When most students think of Dawson and what defines it, the first thing that comes to mind is the broken escalator connecting the first-floor atrium with the second floor. Although this phenomenon is so infamous, nobody knows why we are forced to live this cursed life.

Many theories have popped up, ranging from logical to fantastical.

Starting with the fantastical theories, Alice Boulianne, visual arts editor, responded with a shocking idea: “I’m starting to think that there might be rats just like being a cult and trying to sabotage this whole system.” Alice, you may be onto something.

Jasper Shah, a second-year General Social Science student, believes “...maybe if this problem has only come recently, then maybe it’s like a student that’s a prankster and messes with the escalators on purpose”. While Liberal Arts Student, Lavinia Profir, provides a more rational theory: “I guess my theory on why escalators don’t work is that sometimes some student may have dropped a small object and it messes up the whole mechanism or engineers just feel like they’re slowing down or something and they want to check if there’s a problem with the mechanism itself.”

“I also wonder why it’s always the bottom one? Very often the one at the bottom that’s broken more often.

So what’s going on with that?” asked third-year Interactive Media Arts student Colin Chae. What’s the story behind that, as they ask?

The answer: mission accepted.

Besides being a newspaper that employs student writers, it also metamorphoses them into fledgling investigative journalists. After hearing the cries of the Dawson student body, Emmy Rubin made it her ultimate goal to find out what happened to the escalator during the “dark times” (the month the escalator didn’t work).

Not knowing where to start,

Emmy started at the beginning. Who would know the escalators and the Dawson mechanical functions best?

The janitors! At precisely 1:22 pm on Monday the 21st, Emmy lay in wait in the back of Conrods drinking a medium caramel ice cap. Completely anonymous, she spotted one of Dawson’s trusty custodians emptying the garbage. After a few words of encouragement from her visiting Marionopolis friend, she walked up to the custodian and demanded he tell her who was in charge of the escalator havoc. He asked if she spoke French. She tried and failed. But, swooping in, the friend managed to put Emmy’s garbled French into something that resembled a sentence. The custodian pointed them toward the 2E hallway.

Walking down to the end of 2E, Emmy had no idea where she was going. Luckily, one of Dawson’s reliable security guards was sitting in the security booth! Again, she demanded more directions from the escalator people. He asked if she spoke French. The Marionopolis friend was forced to step in. Again.

Once he understood what they were looking for, the security guard gladly pointed the way to the office where they could find answers.

Which was right behind them.

Charging into the office with purpose in her eyes, Emmy demanded some sort of - goddamnit - answers for the third and final time! It turns out the person who had all the answers was out. Natalie Trepanier, the Facilities Manager at Dawson, was kind enough to provide her with this source’s email address. A very urgent email beseeching the source for some sort of statement, some form of an answer to the frustrating predicament of the escalators, was masterfully sent out. When no reply came for three days, Emmy realized she was being ghosted.

Not giving up just yet, Emmy returned to the office, hoping to find the source. He was out again, but he would be in the next day. The next day, back in the office, ready to end all of this madness, Emmy finally got to speak to the source. And this, dear

readers, is the long-awaited explanation, the end to the conspiracies and the theories - this is the story.

When no reply came for three days, Emmy realized she was being ghosted.

Dawson has an elevator fixing company called Otis under its employ. Otis itself employs a person specially trained to fix escalators.

While the source was out on vacation in October, “John retired from Otis, and they had to replace him.” Apparently, not only were they missing the most important repairman in Montreal, the man who can fix the Dawson escalators, but they were also missing a crucial part of the escalator that, without it, even with the best repairman on this godforsaken planet, the escalator still wouldn’t work. As the source put it, “The escalators are a specialty […] it was a coincidence of many things. John retired, I was on vacation, John retired […], and they were short-staffed. Our elevator people? They’re very short-staffed.

They didn’t replace the escalator guy for a month.” Then, once they finally hired the new escalator-man, they had to wait for the part to come.

Which took a very, very long time.

After finding out the cold hard truth of the case, Emmy was still hungry for answers instead of feeling satisfied. So, she ventured to ask the most important question: what about all the other times? To which the all-knowing source answered: “They said it was one of the safety switches on the side of the escalator that got tripped.” p p

14 THE PLANT

VOICES

Twitter Faces Unstable Grounds: An Overview of Elon Musk’s Latest Acquisition SIMONE BÉLANGER Arts & Culture Editor

The chances are that you have probably heard the name Elon Musk way too many times. According to Forbes, he is the wealthiest man in 2022. If you adhere to and believe in hustle culture, make Elon Musk your reference. Not only is he attractive based on the ten children he has fathered, but he has also found himself a new career as a comedian.

Elon Musk recently saved Twitter from bankruptcy when he paid $44 billion to acquire this major social network. Not only is Twitter a politics and news platform, but also a medium for celebrities, businesses, activists, and everyone to exchange opinions. Why would the owner of SpaceX and Tesla invest in Twitter? Well, Musk declares, “having a plan.” When many Twitter users anticipated the changes, some controversy erupted. Would there be more hate speech? Would some banned individuals like Donald Trump be allowed back on the platform?

Although Elon Musk did not reveal his next move, he did assure that the platform would allow all voices to be heard. First, Elon Musk attempted to find advertisers since 80% of advertisements account for Twitter’s revenue. Then, the Elon era fully be-

gan with the massive layoffs of employees. The upper management was all fired, including the chair, Bret Taylor, and other important executives. Not too long after, employees received a mail ultimatum to either prepare for out-of-this-world work hours or to be fired with a 3-month severance pay. Many chose the latter.

Journalists called this the “Twitter exodus” as many employees left the platform and took it upon themselves to expose Elon Musk on Twitter.

Elon Musk fired half of his team and is still tasked with getting the platform out of debt. The billionaire promised new features to Twitter.

Anyone can now have a blue checkmark for $8 a month. This entails the famous blue checkmark and the assurance that your tweets will appear more to others. He also promised to ban “fakes” who mainly tried to imitate him. Then, the “free speech absolutist” proposed a content moderation feature where people would have to pay for certain content.

Many activist groups expressed their worry about the new changes on Twitter. They feared that disinformation and hate speech would prevail.

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, pressured Twitter to “stand up for the rights to privacy and free expression” of individuals. As many workers have

been fired, the staff is very limited in assuring the authenticity of the news and protecting users’ rights. During the US midterm elections, the verification team at Twitter had a harder time controlling information. Elon Musk lost credibility when he realized that he fired too many people and needed a workforce to make his “plans” a reality.

Recent news did not come as a surprise when kickboxer star Andrew

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, pressured Twitter to “stand up for the rights to privacy and free expression” of individuals.

Tate, Former US president Donald Trump, and Kanye West were unbanned from Twitter. They probably wondered if they were missed because of their big egos. Many already skeptical users decided to leave Twitter after the news. If this new Musk-Twitter era isn’t for you, why not switch to another platform?

Mastodon is a great contender, according to many previous Twitter users. If you prefer sticking to Twitter, beware of future changes. They might blow your mind, but not as much as reading false lies!

Sources: The Guardian Up first Podcast

Photo VIA DAVIDE BONALDO

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CREATIVE WRITING 15 15 15

Here we are at the end of the semester! As you reach the top of this mountain, take a moment to admire the view, and look down at all that you have done in order to get here. Take a deep breath. You should be proud of yourself.

I hope that once you’ve submitted your last essay and put the finishing touches on your final projects, you can take the time to sit down and savour these wonderful poems.

Creative Writing by EMMA MAJAURY Creative Writing Editor

The Capacity of your Love (part 2 of November’s poem) TOKA SIYAM Contributor You get overwhelmed by the capacity of your love By the conditions and the way your heart still breaks Even when you thought it was shattered to pieces You shut them all out because you can’t bear to be hurt again Why don’t they love me like I love them ? your shadow is keeping you hostage Away from everyone who loves you because what if they don’t ?

Because love is so hard to understand, the kid inside never learned it And so you live to be haunted by it

Artwork by Dean Daltrius and Sophia Nathaniel @DEANDALTRIUS @SOPHIA_NATHANIEL

16 THE PLANT VISUAL ARTS

Artwork by Lulu Kaufmann

PLAYLIST 17 17 17

Playlist by ALICE BOULIANNE Visual Arts Editor

18 THE PLANT

Warm Time Froze RIM NAGUIB Contributor Here he was, handsome as a fairytale Hair flowing in the breeze with ease It wasn't the effect of the cocktail As the shameless cold shoves the breeze Pretty face followed by the sun Captures this timeless essence Butterfly invasion had already begun What a beautiful captivating presence Sober yet hallucinating Striking and hypnotic eyes Making you forget all pieces of advice Given as they are resonating Leaves twirling with a sigh Excitation going undeniably high Can only silently admire As the dream comes to expire Snaps back to reality Falls to the ground, hopelessly Ripped from the dreams I used to imagine without extremes How unfortunate, a broken unstarted fate Feeling intimidated by this unmatchable beauty What is the point to create, if it is already too late?

Saw this other company touching you passionately Preferred to ignore the desire by fear of the unexpected Here, now laying with regret of not having acted earlier Stolen happiness or suicide of its own opportunity?

Can’t decide, don’t want to bring out this fire The collapsed dream is finally reaching its path, iced What a fatal mistake, that leads to break This innocent hope amplified by this warm fire Transformed unintentionally into a quiet lake As those water vibrations call out of despair

CREATIVE WRITING 19 19

Thank you for thinking of me ASPEN CRICK Staff Writer Thank you for thinking of me But it won’t ease the pain That I am dealing with It won’t make this suffering go away Won’t it limit me in my everyday?

It truly does And I want to scream at the world I was fortunate enough To not have to think about accessibility needs at my every step prior to recently But now it’s all I can see And think Is there an escalator An elevator perhaps Anything to make this pain less deafening.

Like a wave crashing again the open ocean And now I’m being swept off the shore of the people Oh how I long to go back to that beach where people roam freely Instead here I am Googling knee braces and how to fix this There shouldn’t be a need for diy pain lessening And now it’s back to deafening I can’t hear anything beyond the “I’m sorry ‘s you have to deal with this” or the “How can I help you?’s” When I don’t even know why this is happening in the first place This no name secret agent is working against me Sending fucking enemies along my legs, knees and hips And I’m just trying to find a sanctuary Please for the love of god Can someone tell me why this god forsaken pain has to be chronic.

With its flare ups for no apparent reasons and Not one super-efficient cure and Most of all a loss of the normal Thank you for thinking of me But I think you should give it a rest Cause nothing can save me

20 THE PLANT

worthless paradox KAYLA FRIEDLAND Contributor i realized i was a worthless paradox the day i found out that you didn’t love me on that day, i spoke cinnamon sugar into my own wretched spine one that had concaved for you one that had danced in the wind and climbed the globe’s carnivorous edges the one that ate me alive the world that took me by the wrist and gripped it so tight i thought i meant something to it until i realized that all i could offer was a honeysuckle tongue sweet sweet words with no destination i realized i was a worthless paradox the day i found out you could never love me for possibility tasted like the trickling blood beneath the skin on my back for hope tasted better than all of the honeysuckle songs i could sing i have woken up day after day, tracing you into my bed frame, telling my bed sheets how good you are you are sweeter than anything i’ve ever known you are all of my complexities and the parasite that reaps within my soul you are everything and nothing all at once i realized i was a worthless paradox the day i found out that my life’s most beautiful thing did not even want to be a part of it i realized i was a worthless paradox the day i shouted your name into the void and begged you to come home i realized i was a worthless paradox the day you named me the day you assigned me the role of the place taker the peacemaker the lover who would never know your love

CREATIVE WRITING 21 21 21

Untitled ADRIAN CERONE Contributor In your hair, pressed curls falling flat against your back, i see a ringing laugh, clear as day in my head In the waving finger wagging at me I see you lunge across a table into a small and narrow mind, the only wrinkle on your supple skin is the crease between your furrowed brows In your smile I see a missing tooth, your head down in shame at the gap in your toothy grin and your hands clasped, sweaty behind your back In the strain of your neck In the vein on your forehead, threatening to burst, I see a little boy who ran from the snow like ashes from a fire The blessing of knowing each other now, having narrowly escaped hating each other then Behind a desk and in front of a scuffed locker door For you, I will beg god, or the universe, for a mighty cauldron of shimmering gold and jewels on the other side of the world I wish for Christmas eve every night And I wish for a million clear skies every morning when the sun rises So that I can see you as I do in pictures from before I was born and so that I can taste what you had hoped your lives to be

22 THE PLANT

Untitled FRANÇIS MELANÇON Contributor As I shed my tears and scream in pain, fighting the voices in my head, they twist and they turn.

A voice appears, but not just any voice, a calm and soothing voice.

A loud voice, singing a beautiful wave of sound, breaking the shackles that have kept me bound for oh so many years.

It calls to me, inviting me to come closer, it wraps around me with a warm embrace.

The things I have kept bottled up have been released, giving a euphoric feeling, I laugh and I cry as I embrace this voice, this voice that is oh so warm to the touch.

I smile with glee as I experience feelings I haven’t felt for what feels like decades.

As I sit and watch the ocean waves, I wonder what comes next, will I finally be free from my pain and sorrow, or will I just be chained up once more, never to feel again?

CREATIVE WRITING 23

The Truth About Muses EDEN DANIEL Contributor Whenever I’m bequeathed with sleep’s chaperone The mysteries of fate, timing and agency Liminality and meaning All wrap around “You” Like a ribbon What is this strange, unknotted entanglement?

Which so often creeps in and out of corners Which so often corners in and out of creeps How many are destined to look out at the world And wonder where “You” went?

Oh, the Truth About Muses..

Opportunity crashes into us in mangled colours Flashy shades of red and pink and blue Alien traffic lights That leave us stoned and on guard Pacing towards a mountaintop in the middle of a storm Yet our bones never meet it In the aftershock we train our own eyes In some desperate attempt to derail our derailments In truth, I find myself on fire Burning my eyes with dilapidated ice And looking within a mirror within a mirror at obsession A gardener peels out dandelions with the weeds A gardener peels out weeds with the dandelions “You” is viral once it catches your gaze And hangs in a room like a bat or a guillotine What good is a plan that’s stuck in the throat?

Wake up! I urge you! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!

Doodles by EMMA MAJAURY Creative Writing Editor

24 THE PLANT

When the Wings of a Building Clip our Own KARA FUSARO Curiosities Editor We write about thoughts or feelings Confined to the idea of “learning” Only to spit out the facts we are fed, Like a bird to its offspring.

We swallow what the canary sings, As absolute truth.

No question or doubt, Only a teapot with a chipped spout.

Even so, I write down my thoughts Uninspired and reclusive Alongside many empty chairs In a narrow, endless hallway With scarce rations for full ideas…

I can’t seem to finish.

But an idea is not for the student; Yet students must be taught.

No sense of belonging, Or even a sizable piece of joy.

The facts are shoved down And accepted, at best.

A spoonful of cynicism, And punch to the chest.

CREATIVE WRITING

SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT 25 25

A Rundown on Dolphin Captivity KARINA HESSELBO Contributor

Out of all the documentaries I have watched, there are two that have stood out to me for what they expose and reveal: The Cove and Blackfish. The Cove was a movie that aimed to show the harm done by the captive dolphin industry and expose the link between it and the dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan. Blackfish showed the suffering of orcas in Seaworld and captivity in general. The Cove came out in 2009, and Blackfish in 2013. This means nearly a decade has passed since these films were released, and still, millions of people flock to aquariums to see captive dolphins every year.

No amount of tricks, rubber balls, or pats from humans is a good substitute for swimming in the ocean waves.

It seems that in spite of the numerous documentaries, stories, and articles denouncing dolphin captivity, ignorance of this creature’s suffering remains rampant among the public. This article will give a rundown on how and why dolphins suffer in captivity.

Imagine being bored all day. Not just for a few minutes or a couple of hours, but every day of your life. That is what life in captivity is like. This boredom comes from the inability to swim for miles in a straight line, something all dolphins, be it a large orca or a small bottlenose dolphin, need to do.

Tanks also prohibit natural behaviors.

No amount of tricks, rubber balls, or pats from humans is a good substitute for swimming in the ocean waves, hunting, passing on knowledge, and exploring the seabed.

With this boredom comes depression, with which dolphins find different ways to cope. Often, this includes head bashing and gnawing. One orca, Hugo, died from a brain aneurysm after smashing his head on his tank’s walls. A bottlenose dolphin named Johnny wore down his teeth beneath

his gum line from chewing on the bars of his tank.

Another thing that makes dolphin captivity horrendous is how they are brought to their enclosures. Although we like to believe dolphins live in aquariums because they have been rescued or because they were bred in captivity, the truth is that many are sourced from drive hunts.

Drive hunts are performed in Taiji, Japan. Hunters create a wall of sound by banging on metal poles to drive a pod of dolphins into a cove.

Once inside, the most beautiful animals, namely female bottlenose dolphins, are selected for captivity, while the others are slaughtered. The only thing keeping this operation alive is the captive dolphin industry. A live dolphin can sell for $150 000, while dead dolphins only sell for $600. The hunt runs from March to September and kills hundreds of dolphins every year. Last year, 65 dolphins were captured and 498 were killed.

The history of how dolphins and other whales have been brought into captivity is very dark and illustrates their desperate plight. An example is the orca captures that occurred in the 1970s, where southern resident orcas were rounded up for marine parks. In total, seven were sent to aquatic zoos.

Five died in the nets. The worst part is

that the orcas knew what was happening. They came up with ways to prevent themselves from getting caught. They tried splitting up. The mothers and their calves went one way while the males went the other to act as a decoy. However, as seen in Blackfish, some hunters in airplanes had a bird’s-eye view of the operation and told those in the boats where the calves were headed.

Today, only one orca is still alive from this capture era–Lolita. Her native name, Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut, was given to her by the Lummi people. She is currently kept in the smallest orca tank in America. She has lived there for over 50 years.

There are things we can do to stop this. We can choose whether or not we want to support the confinement of these intelligent animals and the slaughter of their pods every time we go on a holiday. By buying tickets to swim with captive dolphins or to watch them perform in shows, we are supporting this cruelty. If you really want to see a dolphin, a much more ethical and rewarding way to do so, a real “once in a lifetime” experience, is to go on a dolphin-watching trip and see them in the wild. If you would like to do more to help these marine animals, you can watch The Cove and Blackfish, and inform others around you about the suffering of dolphins in captivity. p p

Photo VIA POETICPENGUIN ON SHUTTERSTOCK

26 THE PLANT

The FIRE Movement: How You Can Technically Retire at 30 NATASHA MURMU Science and Environment Editor

Life after CEGEP can seem grim. The idea of working the best years of our lives away in the hopes of retiring at 65 is unappealing for a lot of students.

Fortunately, it is possible to quit working full-time and retire earlier. In fact, many people have successfully retired between the ages of 30 to 50 thanks to FIRE investing.

FIRE stands for Financial Independence Retire Early. It’s a movement followed by people who want to be financially free earlier in life.

The basic strategy is living frugally and investing large portions of your income in your 20s so you can live off your investment gains and achieve financial freedom earlier than the traditional retirement age.

Before getting into the details of the FIRE method, let’s define some key financial concepts.

What is financial freedom? For most people, being financially free means being able to pay for living expenses without having to work a full-time job. Most people achieve this by having some source of passive income, which is a means of making money that requires minimal active effort to maintain. One way of making a passive income is by investing.

One way you can invest is by buying an asset, like a share of a company. If the asset increases in value over time and you sell it for a higher price than you originally paid, you will earn a profit. Due to inflation, simply saving money in your bank account or stashing it in cash form means it loses value over time.

Investing puts your money to work.

Essentially, it can allow you to make

money with your money over a long period of time.

Most students have some amount of money they can invest, whether it’s from a part-time job or an allowance from their parents. However, the most valuable resource students have, besides youth, is time. Time is important in investing because of compound interest. In simple terms, it is when you earn interest on an initial investment plus previously accumulated interest.

Compound interest allows people to grow their wealth exponentially. It’s why almost all investors wish they had started earlier.

What’s most important is getting started as soon as possible and investing consistently.

So, how does FIRE work? The strategy is based on the assumption that a good investment portfolio returns 8% a year and that the rate of inflation increases by 2-3% every year.

This means that an investor should be able to safely withdraw 4% of their savings a year.

In order to retire early the FIRE way, you need to determine your yearly expenses and how much money you want to live off of in retirement.

Most people are able to retire and withdraw 4% of their money yearly once they have saved up approximately 25 times this amount. According to Expatistan, it currently costs $3 282 for a single person to live comfortably in Montreal, which roughly translates to a yearly living expense of $40 000.

So, if you want to live off of $40 000 in retirement, you need to save $1 million in total.

Dividing this amount by the number of years you want to retire by gives you the amount you need to invest every year before retirement. For example, a 20-year-old Montrealer aiming to completely quit working by age 30 would have to invest a sum of Photo VIA HEALTH CLEVELAND CLINIC $100 000 a year. Retiring by 40 would

require investing $50 000 yearly.

Many people who have found success with FIRE have had to invest 50 to 70% of their annual salary. This is not feasible for everyone. In addition, completely quitting work means sacrificing benefits that often come with a full-time job, such as health insurance and dental care plans, among other things. However, how frugal you need to be and whether or not you keep your work benefits depends on your goals and income.

For instance, a person who wants to live off of $45 000 a year in passive income will have to save more money than someone who can live off of $25 000. For some, the objective might be to completely quit working after retirement. For others, the goal might be to switch to part-time work or pursue a lower-paying career that they’re passionate about. Their objective might be for their investment earnings to pay for a portion of their living expenses and for the income from their part-time or “dream” job to cover the rest.

Regardless if you think FIRE is right for you, investing in some way can help prevent your savings from losing value over time. There are numerous ways to invest money.

You can do it on your phone, through your bank, or through online brokers like Wealthsimple and Questrade. If you prefer to take your finances into your hands, you can pick your assets yourself. If you prefer a more handsfree approach, you can put your money in a managed portfolio and let professionals invest it for you.

Signing up for an investment account is easy and only takes a couple minutes. With certain brokers, you can even invest as little as a dollar. There are tons of resources online that can help you determine what the best strategy is for you, be it FIRE or a less aggressive investing plan. What’s most important is getting started as soon as possible and investing consistently. p p

SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT 27 27 27

Dreaming and Dreams: Funky, Mysterious & Necessary Products of Your Sleep SOPHIE ANABELLE SOMÉ Staff Writer

Have you not once created a scenario involving your crush right before falling asleep in the hopes of dreaming about them and your magical love story? Maybe sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t. Unfortunately, dreams are relatively hard to control.

They can be enigmatic, and they occasionally involve whimsical depictions. They are essentially a collection of thoughts, images, and emotions that happen during our sleep. While dreams are integral parts of our sleep, the scientific community still does not agree on a specific answer as to why we dream. Dreams don’t have a specific pattern, and anyone can dream of anything. Blind people or individuals suffering from damage to their hippocampus, however, can see alterations in their dreaming patterns. Sometimes dreams involve objects, words, or concepts we have seen before falling asleep. Studying extensively before a test can result in parts of the material appearing in one’s dream. Some people will dream in color, others in black and white. Blind people, on the other hand, will have dreams that are more focused on sound, smell, and touch.

According to an article by Eric Suni, a staff writer for the Sleep Foundation, dreams are associated with strengthening memory. They process emotions, clear unnecessary information in the brain, and replay recent events in one’s head. Besides, dreams are really a purposeless by-product of our sleep.

You might recall an extremely bizarre and unexpected chain of events in your dreams. They can almost make you feel like Alice in Wonderland. Your parrot was carrying you above a sea of disturbing and curious creatures. Suddenly, you flew across a cloud and were thrown into the water.

The eerie creatures in the sea are integrals and telescoping series from your Calculus test a few days ago. You are suddenly on your couch; your parrot is massaging you and singing your favorite childhood lullaby. Finally, your crush, whom you saw in the hallways that morning, is dancing some ballet moves next to you.

Inventing such a dream off the top of my head was easy because dreams really can be about anything.

Essentially, they are formed from parts of your daily lives and comprise different elements of your imagination.

No amount of tricks, rubber balls, or pats from humans is a good substitute for swimming in the ocean waves.

In an article written by Erin Heger, weird dreams come from the consolidation of new information.

The emotions felt and the information gathered from reading, listening, or learning things before bedtime can influence one’s dreams. Dreams can also be a therapeutic activity where the individual navigates through their emotions. Increased stress and anxiety are known factors that influence the vividness of dreams. Indubitably, sleeping habits have an influence on your dreams. Sleep deprivation along with bettering your sleep quality greatly influences the contents of one’s dreams.

Our brains are constantly processing and classifying memories in our heads. When we dream, the brain

Photo VIA HEALTH CLEVELAND CLINIC

is recalibrating and replacing the memories it will keep and classifying those it will most likely discard.

Essentially, the brain digs into old memories and gathers useful information. According to an article by Sarah DiGiulo in Better by Today, logical thinking in our brain is less active when dreaming. The memories navigated when we’re dreaming are more emotionally centered and do not follow a logical story.

Some dreaming patterns can be observed among different individuals.

Dreams can be related to relationships, where one could be faced with a conflict, a loving experience, or the feeling of being in danger. Moreover, dreams can have a sexual connotation, like being nude, having sexual experiences, or sexual pleasure. The fear of embarrassment, like failing a test or arriving late somewhere, is a common aspect of dreams. Over 55 registered themes can be familiar to you. Being chased, being on the verge of falling, being killed, and insects or spiders are only a few manifestations of dreams.

Dreams, by their versatility and complexity, are one of humanity’s greatest mysteries and are appreciated when they incorporate our greatest desires. Now off you go, reader, and have your Alice in Wonderland moment the next time you close your eyes. p p

28 THE PLANT

WARM RECIPE FOR A COLD DAY

Personally, I just pick up the sugar cookies with the little snowmen on them, but if you’re more enthusiastic than I am, here’s a fun recipe to try!

Ingredients 3 cups flour 2 teaspoons McCormick® Ginger, Ground 1 teaspoon McCormick® Cinnamon, Ground 1 teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon McCormick® Nutmeg, Ground ¼ teaspoon salt ¾ cup butter, softened ¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar ½ cup molasses 1 egg 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract Instructions Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl.

Beat butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg, and vanilla; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed.

Press dough into a thick, flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap.

Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with a 5-inch cookie cutter. Place gingerbread men 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake in the preheated oven until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown, 8 to 10 minutes.

Cool on baking sheets for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Decorate cooled cookies as desired. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Source: All Recipes, “Best Gingerbread Men Cookies”

CURIOSITIES

CURIOSITIES 29 29 29

HOROSCOPES

ARIES (mar. 20 - apr. 18): At this point, you regret signing up for the number of classes you did. One of them, you consider “collateral” and probably don’t even show up anymore. Remember you got this, and with the short amount of time we do have left, be easy on yourself.

TAURUS (apr. 19 - may 20): With all the lessons you’ve learnt these past months and all the things you’ve learnt to come to terms with, you deserve a gold medal. Remember that your mistakes do not define you and you should be proud of the goodness in yourself too!

GEMINI (may 21 - june 20): Geminis! The Guard that you’ve built so strongly has been broken down this semester for the better, and I hope that you’ve made more of those meaningful connections that you deserve.

CANCER (june 21 - july 22): Being the “mom friend” took a toll, but, all in all, you’ve had a solid semester. Use winter break as a time to relax, recharge, and do things for nobody else but yourself.

LEO (july 23 - aug. 22): I hope you got all the happiness you deserve. Much like Cancers, take the break to relax, even if that means not getting out of bed for 6 solid weeks.

SCORPIO (oct. 23 - nov. 21): Drink water, eat a snack, get a coffee. Do something for yourself today, even if it’s something small, but do it for you and only you. You’re not selfish for looking out for yourself.

SAGITTARIUS (nov. 22 - dec. 21): You’re either still rocking the t-shirt or you have like 8 layers on. Either way, the temperature change from outside-inside is your worst enemy. Despite the “0 or 100” mindset, you’re allowed to take breaks for yourself. It won’t make you any less of a hard worker.

CAPRICORN (dec. 22 - jan. 19): The human body was not designed to survive off Clif bars.

We’re all doing the best we can, but this also means doing well for ourselves.

VIRGO (aug. 23 - sept. 22): I hope the coffee consumption costs didn’t hurt you too hard this time around. That being said, take some time for your hobbies and the things you enjoy. Schoolwork doesn’t have to consume you in order for you to be a good student.

AQUARIUS (jan. 20 - feb. 18): With a section of your brain specifically reserved for your favorite quotes, mantras, and proverbs to give to your friends, it’s hard to use the same advice on yourself as well.

This doesn’t mean you’re any less worthy, even if it means looking up inspo on Pinterest.

LIBRA (sept. 23 - oct. 22): Use your insight to write brilliant essays! In all seriousness, take the advice you constantly give your friends and use it. Treat yourself the way you treat the ones you love and watch yourself flourish :)

PISCES (feb. 19 - mar. 19): Don’t lose sight of what’s important to you! Being a Pisces means you’re always “down for whatever” but when it comes to your own mental well-being, choose and speak about what’s in your own best interest :)

30 THE PLANT

PUZZLES

COME BACK NEXT ISSUE FOR THE ANSWERS!

Curiosities by

KARA FUSARO Curiosities Editor

ANSWERS FOR THE NOVEMBER ISSUE

CURIOSITIES 31 31 31

COMIC

DAWSON SPEAKS “Something you wish you knew at the beginning of the semester”

“To do my readings when they’re given” @willsdarlings

“Taking 7 classes is the worst idea ever” @rozhina.s.m

And you responded with...

“Some things will fuck you over that are out of your control and you’re just gonna have to eat it” @mirrenoz

“Cegep actually requires work” @natdigenova

“How to read” @crispy_rice04

“About the plant! I only knew about it halfway through October” @amandavdups

“A better sleep schedule” @dysfuncnoodle “Don’t be scared to try something new <3” @doha.chm

“I wish I knew how to live with intention and create balance between schoolwork and life” @aliciaa.als

“Most of the readings are useless… would have saved so much time” @willsdarlings

“Don’t be too worried about making friends or fitting in, you’ll find your people” @tokatheperson

“To not be fooled by the caf prices :(“ @basma_kharti “when the prof tells you to start a project, start it!!” @cozyjem

32 THE PLANT

MASTHEAD

CONTRIBUTORS

Josephine Ross Editor-in-Chief

Kara Fusaro Curiosities Editor

Mathew Anania Managing Editor

Pipa Jones Cover Artist

Emmy Rubin Copy Editor

Alessa Orsini Social Media Manager

Hannah Dane Co-Copy Editor

Aspen Crick Staff Writer

Alessa Orsini Graphic Designer

Sophie Anabelle Some Staff Writer

Alessia Vigna Secretary

Aya Hafeda Staff Writer

Mathew Anania News Editor

Sanad Hamounda Staff Writer

Simone Bélanger Arts & Culture Editor Rokhaya Rodriguez Voices Editor Natasha Murmu Sciences Editor Emma Majaury Creative Writing Editor Alice Boulianne Visual Arts Editor

Elliott Trembecka Dean Daltrius Sophia Nathaniel Lulu Kaufmann Toka Siyam Kayla Friedland Adrian Cerone Françis Melançon Eden Daniel Karina Hesselbo

CONTACT The Plant Newspaper Dawson College 3040 Rue Sherbrooke O Montréal, QC H3Z 1A4 2C.15 theplantnews.com theplantnewspaper@gmail.com @theplantnews