VOL 46 ISSUE 1: The Gun Violence Issue

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13.09.2006

VOL 46 ISSUE 1 SEPT. 13, 2016

10 Years Since the Dawson Shooting

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VOLUME 46 ISSUE 1 - TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

letter from the edito r Contact

The Plant Newspaper Dawson College 2C.10 3040 Rue Sherbrooke O, Montréal, QC H3Z 1A4 contact@theplantnewspaper.com Copyright 2016

Staff

Athina Khalid

Editor in Chief

Julia Crowly

Managing Editor

Chloe Wong-Mersereau

Copy Editor

Samantha Dagres & Camron Heshmati Calderón

News Editors

Hannah Gold-Apel

Arts & Culture Editor

Maud Belair

Voices Editor

Sabina Elkins

Dear Dawson, It’s on a somber note that we begin Volume 46 of The Plant. Ten years ago today, the Dawson College shooting took place. I remember being in my grade three classroom on September 13th, 2006; I remember being confused as to why we couldn’t leave, why my school, only a 10 minute walk from Dawson, was under lockdown, why my parents had to come to my classroom to pick me up.

In the car, they explained what had happened. I was scared and shocked, but I don’t think I quite grasped it.

It took me a long time to understand the gravity of the Dawson Shooting. I’m not sure if someone who wasn’t present can fully comprehend it. But while putting this issue together, I’ve learned a lot about the resilience of Dawson students and staff.

Dawson today is thriving. And it’s through this lens that we should view the tragedy. We must, of course, remember the victims—remember Anastasia De Sousa by wearing her favourite colour, pink.

We must also celebrate how Dawson came together after the shooting. From the Inspire Initiative, the Anastasia De Sousa Memorial Award Fund, the Peace Gardens made in her honour, Dawson’s Centre for Peace Studies, to last year’s Dawson Peace Conference, students and staff have developed initiatives to put meaningful, tangible steps in place towards a more peaceful society.

It’s this thriving community that I want to celebrate at the Plant. This issue, focused on gun violence, puts a spotlight on student and staff perspectives of the events that unfolded, as well as the current thoughts and opinions on today’s gun violence. Future issues of the Plant will also be thematic and published on a monthly basis. We also publish online at theplantnewspaper.com.

Best, Athina Khalid

Editor in Chief, 2016-2017

index

Science Editor

Joey Roselli

Sports Editor

Gaby Drummond-Dupuis

Curiosities Editor

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arts & culture

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voices

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Vienna Pouliot

Cover Artist

Jeremy Allen

 Marketing Executive  Contributors Photographer

Alexandra Khalimonova

Ethan Kinnear Ryan Shea Kristen Payne Adam Gwiazda-Amsel Anthony Fiorino

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.

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EDITORS: Samantha Dagres & Camron Heshmati Calderón news@theplantnewspaper.com

The Day Dawson Stood Still Remembering September 13th, 2006 Samantha Dagres News Editor It was an inexplicably strange atmosphere: my home had become a centre of unease and tension. Everyone’s eyes and ears were glued to the television, my parents frantically redialling my older brother’s cellphone. I remember being shoved into my little brother’s room to keep him from asking questions: faint memories that continue to reverberate to this day. Even as children, without being able to comprehend what was going on, we felt our world come to a standstill. “It was probably the most uncomfortable I’ve ever been in my entire life. It’s impossible to describe the feeling unless you go through it. Even though we rationalized it, figuring that the number of casualties were low, and Dawson being a big school - nothing could diminish the feeling of absolute fear.” 10 years after the Dawson shooting, my father, among hundreds of other loved ones, Dawson alumni, and witnesses, remains shaken by the events that transpired on September 13th, 2006. My mother recounted the most blood-cur-

dling afternoon of her life: “We were at a standstill with time; we were waiting, but we didn’t know what we were waiting for. You hear about these abstract stories, but now it was happening to us.

We didn’t hear back from [Alex] until later in the afternoon, we were in the dark.”

It was half past noon when the gunman left his car and approached the college’s de Maisonneuve entrance. A group of bystanders watched as he carefully sorted his weapons into a bag. The gunman pointed at one of the witnesses who had slowly walked towards the vehicle. He then forced the innocent bystander to carry his bag full of guns and ammunition closer to the college.

Once close enough, the gunman began shooting students outside the entrance, critically injuring at least one student.

Christina Garofalo, a studio arts student at the time, was on the 3rd floor as the gunman entered the school. Just as the shooter made his way to the 2nd floor cafeteria, class had ended and students were going out for lunch.

“Someone came by to say, ‘get out, there’s a shooter in the caf !’.

I honestly thought it was a prank.

We all did.” It was not until mul-

tiple people had started running that panic began to set in. A sense of confusion overcame the horde of students in the cafeteria. Some claimed to have watched the man walk in and set his bag down in a corner. At 12:45, after loading his pistol, he began to open fire at the students in the school.

Another student, who asked to remain anonymous, was in her art history class at the time.

When shots were heard, the professor ordered all the students to duck under the desks at the back of the classroom. The professor, an older gentleman, proceeded to block the door with a piano and guarded the classroom until a police officer arrived. All classes were instructed to run out the fire escape and not look back until they reached the police tape.

“That run was very scary. We were exiting the premises and we suddenly heard more shots, which caused everyone to panic, leading to running and shoving.”

The gunman was confronted by two police officers who were already on campus for an unrelated reason. More police officers filed into the cafeteria with their guns aimed at the shooter, who was hidden behind a vending machine. They ordered students

to leave the building immediately while shots were being exchanged. The gunman took two students hostage until he was shot in the arm and finally committed suicide at 12:48 by a gunshot to the head. There were 19 students reported injured, and one confirmed death.

Garofalo described the scene outside the school as “total chaos; there were people and emergency vehicles everywhere. I saw one person lying on the ground outside, shot, but not dead.” Once officers had ushered most of the students out of the building, thousands of students wandered around outside aimlessly, contacting loved ones, trying to grasp what had just occurred.

The fatally-wounded victim was an 18-year-old first year International Business student, Anastasia Rebecca De Sousa.

Following her tragic death, her parents and Dawson College founded a memorial award fund in her name. The funds go towards graduation awards and scholarships for outstanding students; her parents’ wishes were to support students who embodied “perseverance and accomplishment in the face of adversity.”

Dawson College also created

the Peace Garden in her memory, and in the memory of other victims, as “a living testament to those who suffered pain and immeasurable loss.” The college also drafted ISEP, a document familiar to most students, entrenching the right to a safe and non-violent environment in the policy.

“The school felt as if it had a black hole. It felt violated.”

“Our own school had been raided by mental illness. Dawson tried to make us feel safer, hiring more security, holding a vote on metal detectors, but it was never the same,” Alex said. He commended the school for doing a good job in supporting the student body following the shooting.

The school screened students for PTSD and depression and offered an abundance of counsellors to those in need.

Now, a decade since the shooting, the college has decided that this would be the last year of the shooting’s official commemoration, focusing henceforth on reducing violence, raising awareness on mental health issues, and creating initiatives that are intended to make strides toward peace.

Outpouring of support as Dawson faced the aftermath of the shooting in September 2006

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VOL. 46 ISSUE 1 - SEPT. 13, 2016

EDITORS: Samantha Dagres & Camron Heshmati Calderón news@theplantnewspaper.com

Let’s Begin the Week in Peace Dawson’s Peace Week Chloe Wong-Mersereau Copy Editor Dawson will be hosting numerous events from September 13th until the 21st for Peace Week.

It will begin with a ceremony at 11am to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Dawson shooting (September 13th, 2016), and in remembrance of Anastasia De Sousa.

September 21st also marks the UN International Day of Peace;

the city of Montreal will hold an awards ceremony where significant individuals will receive the YMCA Peace Medals at City Hall from mayor Denis Coderre.

Dawson’s Peace Centre is focusing on Reconciliation and Restoration this year, in the hopes of encouraging projects and practical initiatives that address peaceful conflict resolutions.

The Peace Centre has organized a series of speakers and presentations for the week. It will begin with Dr. Samantha Nutt’s

keynote address on September 14th, a humanitarian and medical doctor who founded the War Child of Canada. Dr. Nutt was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2011 for her work with youths in zones of horrifying conflict. This event will take place at 7:00 p.m. in 5B.16. It is open to the public, but a ticket is required (see link at the end of the article).

On September 15th, Dr. Abdennour Bidar, a French philosopher and humanitarian, will present Réparer ensemble le tissu

déchiré du monde. His presentation references his book Les Tisserands. Dr. Bidar specializes in Islamic culture and education, and in the wake of the Paris attacks last year, he has spoken about the necessary reparations for those damaged by major conflicts in our world today. This event will take place at 7:00 p.m. in 5B.16. It is open to the public, but a ticket is required (see link at the end of the article).

Finally, Peace Week will close on September 16th with an eve-

ning of wine and cheese in the Upper Atrium Warren G. Flowers Art Gallery. There will be panels displaying messages in remembrance of Anastasia De Sousa from students, teachers and the Dawson community. Discussions of the Projects of Peace initiative will also be presented where you can learn about the projects and how to get involved.

For more information, visit: https://www.dawsoncollege.qc. ca/peace-centre/peace-week/

Outpouring of support as Dawson faced the aftermath of the shooting in September 2006

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Protecting the Dawson Community Revisiting the School Security Debate Ethan Kinnear Contributor

10 years ago, a man walked into Dawson armed with a 9mm handgun, a 9mm carbine rifle and a 12­gauge shotgun. In his wake, he left Anastasia De Sousa dead and 19 other students injured.

The shooting began a wave of an intense nation­wide debate on gun control and security measures in schools in order to help prevent another tragedy of this kind.

This debate took place at Dawson following the shooting; the possibility of implementing numerous security measures was discussed. Some of the suggestions included having metal detectors and ID checks at every entrance to the school. This debate culminated in a school-wide referendum which rejected the proposal.

Another hotly debated measure was the employment of

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armed security personnel in schools, most of whom would be School Resource Officers (SROs).

The suggestion of having security guards patrol a school while armed with handguns was, and remains, unnerving to some, yet very reasonable to others.

At Dawson, security is handled by a private security firm, Commissionaires, which was given the contract to bring in its security personnel. The guards are prohibited from answering any questions regarding the building’s security and from giving their thoughts on having armed security at educational institutions.

Instead, questions were directed towards the head of Plant and Facilities at Dawson, Jorge Sanchez. Sanchez is responsible for managing the security contract that Dawson has with the private security company in question.

Some argue that a would-be school shooter would be deterred by the presence of an armed security guard, or, as in the case of

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numerous shootings in the US as well as in the Dawson shooting, that a shooter would be unwilling to continue their attack once opposed. Sanchez, however, believes that having armed security might lead to the escalation of some scenarios and that it is altogether unnecessary for Dawson’s security needs. In accordance with his opinion, few mass shooters have shown regard for whether or not a target was protected by armed guards. Notable cases include the Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings, in which both schools employed armed guards who were ultimately unable to stop the assailants. Sanchez stated that the college prefers to address security from a vigilance and preparedness approach rather than having armed guards. He affirmed his belief, saying

“We’re a school first; we’re not a prison.”

In 2008, the Toronto Police Service began the School Resource Officer Program as part

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of their extensive Toronto Anti Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS). The program called for the implementation of 30 armed SROs in 30 different high schools with the objective of improving school safety (real and perceived), as well as improving the perception of the police amongst youth in Toronto’s communities. The program received a one-year provincial grant for $2.1 million in order to pay for 30 officers. That figure has increased as 16 schools have joined the program since its inception. Public Safety Canada stated that the program has met its key objectives after completing two evaluations of the program in 2009 and 2011.

In Toronto, the average police response time to a Priority 1 call is around 10 minutes, in Montreal, 6 minutes. Sanchez, of Dawson’s office for Plant and Facilities, stated that the security teams at Dawson “really only manage the first few minutes of an incident,” passing responsibility off to responding authorities once on

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they arrive on the scene. This policy, coupled with police response times, leads some to believe that an SRO is necessary in an event such as that of an active shooter scenario, begging the question of why security personnel are not equipped with the tools necessary to effectively oppose an active shooter within the vital first few minutes of an incident.

Current security measures at Dawson, aside from the professional guards, include a team of staff members and managers who are involved in the process of guaranteeing security at the college, as well as CCTV security cameras monitored by Commissionnaires guards at all times.

Sanchez concluded that the college is prepared for the norm and will act appropriately if an exception to the norm were ever to present itself. But in all, it seems that the Dawson community, students and staff alike, are satisfied with the security measures currently in place.

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EDITORS: Samantha Dagres & Camron Heshmati Calderón news@theplantnewspaper.com

VOL. 46 ISSUE 1 - SEPT. 13, 2016

Canada Isn’t Immune to Politicized Gun Lust The State of Canada’s Gun Legislation Camron Heshmati Calderón News Editor Canadians, who are seldom confronted with the constant barrage of shootings on the scale of our American counterparts, are often complacent about the state of their gun laws owing to a perceived stringency of the country’s current regulatory regime. In the wake of the 10 year anniversary of the Dawson shooting, it might be time to take a closer look at the country’s political gun culture and gun laws.

American Influences The powerful and financially loaded American gun lobby is one of the biggest impediments to the passing of gun-control legislation. Taking advantage of the United States’ nearly non-existent political spending restrictions, the National Rifle Association (NRA) has spent more than 22 million dollars on campaign contributions since 1990. They have also spent 41 million dollars since 1998 lobbying Congress against any type of gun regulation, the vast majority of the funds targeting sympathetic Republican candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Emblematic of the NRA’s extremist views is the way in which its adherents defend, in no uncertain terms, their right to bear arms when confronted with instances of gun violence.

Following the massacre of elementary school children in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012, Wayne Lapierre, the executive director of the NRA, was quick to release a statement condemning “Gun-Free School Zones,” claiming violent video games are the root causes of mass murder, and demanding a registry of the mentally ill. Lapierre then went on to tout his oft-quoted line that

“the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

He concluded his statement with a call to arms of every school administrator and law enforcement officer in the country (the good guys) to find ways to protect schools, “[like we did] for the nation’s defense industries and military installations during World War II.” More recently, in the wake of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, the NRA remained steadfast in its opposition to any form of gun regulation under the pre-

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tenses of the preservation of freedom and strict adherence to the constitution.

“This event was not the fault of a particular firearm or explosive, but rather happened due to the extremist choices made by a sadly deluded young man.” This statement was released less than a day after the Orlando shooting by the Canadian National Firearms Association (NFA). The NFA, which sees itself as a protector of ‘real democracy in Canada,’ employs the same kind of vague libertarian rhetoric as its more powerful American counterpart in its crusade against gun regulations.

NFA President Sheldon Clare maintains that current Canadian gun laws “fail to provide any tangible benefit to Canadian society and merely increase hardship for the firearms owning public.” The NFA’s approach, mirroring that of its American cousin, is to erode the legislative safeguards that restrict the acquisition of firearms.

as a needless restriction on the “freedom” of law-abiding gun owners and a waste of tax dollars.

Stephen Harper, who became Prime Minister in 2006, made it a priority to scrap the gun registry, heeding the demands of the Canadian gun lobby despite vocal objections from victims of gun violence and police groups that relied on the registry. Among other detractors was Hayder Kadhim, who was shot three times during the Dawson College shooting. He challenged Harper to a debate about gun control in an effort to strengthen gun laws and save the gun registry, a debate that never materialized, according to the CBC.

“We have to work on the laws, and make it harder for any person to get any kind of firearm, because Kimveer Gill got it, so if he got it, any other person can get it,”

“black” [i.e. assault] rifles.”

A recent report by Canada’s Commissioner of Firearms revealed:

The number of restricted firearms such as semi-automatic rifles and handguns has doubled since 2004, now reaching 795,854.

The Commissioner’s figures don’t take into account non-restricted firearms, which are no longer tracked since 2011, when, according to the CBC, the Conservative government decided to end the reporting on non-restricted firearms.

The marked increase in gun ownership coincides with a rise in popularity of guns across North America, according to Somerset, who told the CBC that much of the increase in popularity of restricted firearms in Canada could be attributed to the proliferation

(PAL) is obtained, an individual is allowed unfettered access to firearms classified as non-restricted.

An example of the non-restricted firearms currently on offer in Canada is the Mossberg Tactical 715 .22 Long Rifle being sold online by a Prince-Albert, Saskatchewan-based gun store for $340 CAD. The website overtly advertises the gun’s non-restricted status, along with a product description stating that the weapon combines “the look and feel of today’s AR-style platforms with Mossberg International’s reliable and affordable .22 autoloader.”

In May of 2015, a month before the Orlando massacre, where a similar weapon to the AR-15 was used, a Conservative BC MP sponsored a petition asking the government to reclassify the AR-15. Bob Zimmer told CFRA, an Ottawa radio station, that he supported the petition “because, essentially, a semi-automatic longarm should not be restricted and that’s the essence of the petition.”

“Firearms should be normalized, to a certain extent. We understand that they can be operated safely, and they’re operated safely in Canada... The AR-15, when handled safely, is a completely innocuous firearm and we support its reclassification back to non-restricted.”

NFA Promotional Image The Unravelling of Canadian Gun Laws Canadian gun advocates like the NFA and the Canadian Shooting Sports Association (CSSA), which believes that Canadians have a constitutional right to bear arms, have had some success lobbying the Federal government during Harper’s tenure.

The Canadian Firearms Registry, adopted in 1995 by the Chrétien government, required the registration of all firearms bought by Canadians. The registry came to be widely regarded as a half-assedly implemented program from the onset due to massive cost overruns, drawing the ire of gun advocacy groups

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Kadhim said at the time. The Dawson shooter was indeed in legal possession of the firearms used to kill and maim students, including two semi-automatic pistols and a shotgun.

According to A.J. Somerset, author and gun enthusiast, a legal void was created in Canada when a new market for assault rifles was opened up in the United States in 2004. “In 1995, when Canada’s criteria for restricted and prohibited weapons were last changed, the market for them was non-existent. And so [the Chrétien government’s] new gun control law essentially ignored semi-automatic rifles. But when the Clinton-era assault weapons ban expired in 2004, the lucrative American gun market was soon flooded with

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of assault weapons in the United States, which has attracted Canadian gun owners as well.

A weapon that has garnered particular attention for its role in mass shootings is the AR-15 assault rifle, which was used in the 2015 Umpqua Community College shooting in Oregon, the Colorado movie theater shooting in 2012, as well as in the 2012 to Newtown massacre. According Steve Ridout, a spokesman for Ontario’s Chief Firearms Officer, the rifle is widely available and in demand in Canada. ‘It’s very popular,’ Ridout told the National Observer.

Although Canadian licensing rules are rigorous compared to the United States’, once a Possession and Acquisition License

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Now, a decade since the Dawson shooting, and following a protracted legal fight by the Quebec government to preserve the gun registry, federal gun laws have remained idle in the face of changing circumstances and are now doubtlessly less stringent than back in 2006. A battle of competing interests is brewing between the burgeoning political arm of the American-inspired Canadian gun lobby and the Liberal government as it embarks on delivering on its promises, which included several policies designed to reign in the country’s gun laws following a decade of deregulation.

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visual arts

6 THIEVERY

by Ryan Shea

o t live in the brine with the swash bucklers n the pirates where there are no rules just tricks n tools why dontcha wanna be here no more? aint an easy question ive accepted the chaos one must in order to survive ive accepted the twelve barrel shotguns shoved down my neck at a rate of 55 miles per hour

ive accepted that liberalism is an extension of the states of nature to which Hobbes showed us and that it doesn’t seem t fit the bill possibly the people who deteriorate into facets and groups who have never heard of unity but speak of daily but the people are ok they keep me company when company is useful.

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VOL. 46 ISSUE 1 - SEPT. 13, 2016

EDITOR: Hannah Gold-Apel artsandculture@theplantnewspaper.com

Inspire Solutions: An Answer to Violence Hannah Gold-Apel Arts & Culture Editor It is hard to react appropriately to devastating events. After the Dawson shooting back in 2006, it seemed no one knew quite how to respond to the attack. Yes, there were memorial services and a “taking back” of Dawson, but what about actual, viable solutions to the violence that had caused the atrocity in the first place? We are not talking gun control or metal detectors at school; what about solutions to the deep-rooted acceptance that violence was simply something that could not be avoided?

Patricia Romano is the founder and editor of Inspire Solutions, a project created in the years following the shooting as her and a few of her colleagues’ answer to the violence. “After the shooting happened, myself and a group of educators decided something had

to be done within classrooms to address it,” says Romano. They went to the director general of the college and proposed that a conference be held on the fifth anniversary of the shooting addressing youth and violence as well as the role of education surrounding those concepts.

The conference was a success, with many people educating and others being educated about what violence is on a personal, societal, and educational level. An enthusiasm about the project, as well as a need for a place to post videos and articles associated to the idea, was the birth of Inspire Solutions.

The project website was created shortly thereafter.

“We have the potential for good and potential for evil,” asserts Pat. “Both are within human nature, I just don’t know if we tend to recognize the potential for peace as much. Not to shy away from the dark realities of

the world; we can all be seduced into violence, but the goal is to inspire the hope that peace is possible.” She says that the first step is to recognize that the capacity for violence is innate, but so is empathy and compassion.

Projects and themes of Inspire Solutions have focused on various aspects of normalized violence.

An early project was War Stories, which was a storytelling initiative that allowed students to speak on their personal experiences with war, as well as to learn about the consequences of war generationally and across borders. Following that was a reconciliation project focused on the extreme violence exhibited towards Native American people throughout Canadian history. Other projects have focused on gender and addressing sexual assault head-on in an empowering way for victims.

Romano says the desensitization to violence does not have to be normal. “The Dawson shooting didn’t just impact the injured

and fatally wounded,” she explains. “It also affected each and every person connected to Dawson in any way. We just don’t tend to think of the long-lasting effects of these things, which is why we don’t realize how much we have to do something about it.”

Starting in the classroom is a great way to introduce students to the effectiveness of non-violence.

Romano believes that addressing it academically will help people to think more critically about the issues instead of passing them off as things nothing can be done about. Romano is offering a brand new course at Dawson this semester called Imaging Violence and Non-Violence, a paired cinema and humanities course, which aims to integrate peace and critical thinking about human nature into education.

Romano is one example of someone who was horrified by violence, and in turn took that awful experience and turned it into something educational and even

inspirational. She is a role model, educator, and a pretty bad-ass feminist. She decided something she saw in her day to day life was not okay, and she took action to fix it in the best way she knew how: through teaching, talking, and learning with her students.

The theme of Inspire Solutions for the 2016-2017 school year is non-violent resistance.

shooting at Dawson in 2006: we walk the halls of Dawson every day. The students attending Dawson in 2006 were at school, just like any other day, until Kimveer Gill began firing.

Shorr has taken photos of people from a variety of backgrounds, in a variety of locations, to show that gun violence does not discriminate. This is information that Shorr shares with the public by profiling people spanning many different socioeconomic, political, and ethnic backgrounds, as well as people of all genders and ages. The people in Shorr’s series were at shopping centers, movie theaters, or even simply on the street when they became a victim of violence. This was not something they expected to become part of their day, and in turn a huge part of their life.

This project becomes an important part of the conversation since it shows us that any one of us could easily be affected by gun violence if nothing changes. Until it affects you personally, you may believe that it won’t happen

to you, to your family, or even in your town, yet there are no guarantees.

Survivors represent a movement of people who wish to see a change in the world. Shorr explains, “those who die from gun violence can only address the issue as statistics and memories of lives that were.

“Non-violence works better than we think, with some of history’s greatest revolutions being non-violent,” says Romano. They will be accepting articles and announcing various projects throughout the year. She says all submissions are welcome, and urges Dawson students to get involved. Their website is inspire.dawsoncollege.qc. ca, and Romano would be happy to hear from you and respond to any questions at promano@dawsoncollege.qc.ca.

The Aftermath

How Gun Violence Finds Its Place in Art ic and, sadly, something we are becoming numb to.

Kristen Payne Contributor Gun violence and art seem like two polar opposites; one is an expression of the most beautiful aspects of human nature, and the other a glimpse into its possible monstrousness. It may not seem like the two could fit together, and yet, Kathy Shorr manages to unite them. In combining art and gun violence, we are exposed to the horrific reality in an accessible way.

The beauty of art is a universal language; no matter where you’re from, there will always be art that speaks to you. Through the countless mediums that art takes on, there is always a common link: the inspiration creators take from the world around us.

Over recent years gun violence has been in the news more than ever. From mass shootings and police brutality to the outcry for better regulation, gun violence has become a worldwide epidem-

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“To me, art is so beautiful, and gun violence is deplorable,” says Montrealer Darlene

Hunt. However, it is in this deplorable act that artists can capture the beauty of tragedy. Freelance photographer Kathy Shorr takes a unique approach in her art about gun violence. Her series “SHOT” is focused on the survivors of gun violence. She was inspired to create this project after she and her daughter were held at gunpoint during a home invasion; while neither one was hurt, Shorr says the emotional effects are still very present.

In an interview for the Huffington Post, Shorr says,

“We always hear about those who died but never about what happened to those who lived. It seems as if they were to just pick up the physical and emotional pieces and just go on with their lives.”

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The series is currently made up of photos of 101 survivors, and spans over 45 cities across the United States, with most of the shots taken at the locations of the shootings. Paired with written statements from the survivors, as well as video clips, Shorr’s project aims to not only bring awareness to the survivors but also to bring awareness to how normal their lives were and how ordinary the places where the violence occurred seem to be.

Bringing awareness to gun violence means starting a conversation. It enables people to talk about the issues that are prevalent not only the United States, but also the world as a whole. In starting this conversation, we may be able to discuss better laws or strategies that are capable of saving lives.

“SHOT” demonstrates the diversity amongst those affected by gun violence in the series’ varied profiles. The victims of violence are often indiscriminate. Violence can occur anywhere—even places that you deem safe. Take the

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“The SHOT project focuses on the living whose lives have been forever changed by the emotional and physical trauma of gun violence.”

While artists worldwide continue to use their talents to bring awareness and report on the tragedies that occur due to gun violence, the sheer volume of it is hard to keep up with. As the days pass, it seems that the tragedies become more frequent, and as hard as they may try, artists can only do so much until everyone joins the discussion.

To find out more about Shorr’s project, visit shotproject.org.

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EDITOR: Maud Belair voices@theplantnewspaper.com

Living the Shooting

A Dawson Professor Recounts her Experience Maud Belair Voices Editor It was 2006: the time of flipphones, oversized belts, and smack in the middle of the Chad Michael Murray reign. But looking back on the chaos of the seemingly innocent time, Dawson needs to remember its tragedy’s painful anniversary. Anastasia De Sousa lost her life. Nineteen Dawson students were wounded.

Their right to study, and Anastasia De Sousa’s right to life, was robbed by a malignant mind on September 13th.

Ten years ago today, we were gathered around televisions or calling our families to check if they were safe. We were discovering that school shootings happen in real life, not just in episodes of One Tree Hill. Our little minds resolved to “never go to Dawson” as the events of the day was sunk in.

To this day, many of the students who were present that day are too traumatized to discuss the shooting. But after managing to interview only a couple of people, mostly past and current staff, Barbara Moser walked into my class.

At the time of the shooting, Moser was 57 and teaching an

English course much like the one I was in. The students were writing leads and quotes on the boards. The class suddenly lost interest, checking their cell phones. Moments later, three SWAT team members in full uniform burst into the classroom and yelled to get down. The students in the classroom knew nothing at this point. Most of them, in a state of total incomprehension, crouched down to the floor as instructed. Moser obeyed as much as she could, but as she said, “I have bad knees, and I knew in a split second that if I got down, I wouldn’t be able to get back up again.”

Nearly immediately after, the officers instructed the group to get into single file and stay quiet.

This is when her student Adamo came up to her and took her arm, saying, “Don’t worry Ms. Moser, I’ll help you get through this,” as he walked her out of the class.

They filed one by one out of the classroom, one hand in the air as instructed, supporting each other with the other.

Moser was shaking as they were led down to the atrium, which she recalls was covered in blood.

This was only half an hour after Kimveer Gill had taken his life. The police had taken him

out, but the red pools remained.

Turning to Adamo, she said, “A lot of kids died here today, I just feel it, a lot of kids died.”

The police marched them into Alexis Nihon and from there they went to a small pizza parlor, long gone by now. They sat at a table and tried to contact their loved ones. The concentrated mass of people using their cellphones at that moment made it a very difficult task to call, but Moser made sure she got on the line to thank the mother of the student who had helped her get through the school and out to safety. “It was all very emotional,” she said to our 2016 class.

Moser remembers that “even at that point, we didn’t even really know what had happened.”

She got a hold of her husband, then a journalist for The Gazette, who told that her one of her daughters, who was holding down an internship in Los Angeles, had called to know if her mother was okay. Somehow her daughter knew about the events before Moser knew herself, as it had been broadcast on television.

From this point on, it seemed to her that she floated from place to place. She moved from a hospital on Tupper and hitchhiked to The Gazette’s headquarters.

Once she got to her destination,

she started writing. She finished a piece within a few hours and her story was published in the newspaper the next day.

Little by little things, started settling down again. Teaching staff was brought in and everyone was back less than a week later.

Classes were cancelled and the atrium was packed with psychiatrists, social workers, and psychologists for the students to talk to, in the hope that they would be able to overcome the trauma of what they had witnessed.

The first morning back, Professor Moser spontaneously had the idea to put name tags on everyone she could find before students hesitantly walked back through the doors. She was levelling the playing field and eliminating any sense of superiority by acknowledging that they were all going through their own trying time, but that they should all do it together.

She recalls that it was difficult to start teaching again. The teaching staff didn’t know how to go about it. One of her first classes back sat in a circle. Nobody wanted to talk. An older woman in the class, however, made her way across the classroom and hugged a boy who had been right next to Anastasia. Moser hugged another student, and so on, un-

til they all had someone in their embrace. Nevertheless, the boy who had been next to Anastasia stopped coming to class shortly after.

Only later did a lot of teachers seem to take sick leaves. Many professors suffered from post traumatic episodes of various forms, including Professor Moser.

At times she could not be alone; at others, she would catch herself simply driving for an hour before going home. These episodes were long-lasting, but faded over time.

And so it goes. Things shift, grow, and fade. Schools change, young adults become grown ups, and jarring memories become just memories. But the stir we all feel when talking about the events that took place 10 years ago is important to hold on to. It proves that the past shapes us; it proves that our empathy for those we did not know is deep; it proves we have chosen to take such tragedies on and to rise above them.

Barbara Moser touched me with her testimony. It was the third one she had given that day, and it was clear that she would never grow desensitized to the events that had scarred her on September 13th, 2006. It will always be a painful topic, but the fact that Dawson is deciding to remember and move forward is something I deem worthy of being a part of.

tion, allows for a power-check on the government.

B: Alright, but the more important danger here is the lack of accountability in cases of gun violence. If owners were made to register, the government could tell how gangsters and school shooters got their illegal guns, or at the very least map patterns about risky gun owners so we do not sell guns to these people in the future.

A: If you want to tackle problems, you should start with ones that affect more than 1.3% of the death toll. Besides, governments need to be kept in check. A few blips are not as important as preventing a totalitarian state!

B: Are you willing to let children die when their parents leave their guns out just so you can fulfill your crazy conspiracy theories?! There is no evidence for your ‘consolidation of power’, while 33.5 thousand people die each year in the US from firearm death.

A: You sensitive millennials! I appreciate your ad hominem, but

I am not giving up my rights just so you can wave your leftist flag around and wait for the day you can eat your words.

At this point, both would probably walk away frustrated.

That little play is a summary of inflexible idealists. The truth we can agree on is that both sides have merit, though in our society, most Canadians would favour B. In the interest of fairness, below are some facts: - Under PRISM (surveillance program), the NSA (National Security Agency) can demand information from any of nine major internet companies such as Facebook and Google - Over 10% of Americans and Canadians participate in hunting - Over 10% of Americans have occupations relating to the production of public and private armaments - More than half of suicides in the USA involve the use of firearms – states which have further restricted firearms track a drop in suicide rates

- Kimveer Singh Gill entered Dawson College on 13 September 2006 with a non-restricted Beretta Cx4 Storm semi-automatic - Gill is quoted as saying “I hate this world, I hate the people in it, I hate the way people live, I hate God… I hate so much…”

It is too simplistic to say all gun violence is the result of the catchall ‘mental illness’. All that does is distance us from the ‘others’ who could do such horrible things.

Gun Control 101 The Basics of the Debate Adam Gwiazda-Amsel Contributor “[it is] a ‘state’ if and insofar as its administrative staff successfully upholds a claim on the ‘monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force’ in the enforcement of its order.”

-Max Weber Politics as a Vocation Well, speaking of gun violence, it is time to indulge in a good debate. Despite the fact that it is by far one of the more polarizing ones, and arguably because of it, the debate on gun control requires us to know both sides of the argument.

In Canada, guns are separated into three categories – non-restricted long guns, restricted firearms, and prohibited firearms – based on various criteria. All owners of restricted firearms need to register to obtain a Possession and Acquisition License (PAL) before buying their first gun.

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The USA estimates 1126 guns per 1000 inhabitants, being the only country with more privately-owned guns than actual people. This is the country that draws the most heat for its gun laws and where the biggest pushes for change are happening, despite the fact that it seems like no tidy laws like Canada’s can be agreed upon.

In the United States, each state gets to make their own gun laws. Some require registration, some make buying a gun easier with a permit, and some just could not care less about who is buying weapons. In other words, some have compromised, some have not, but all states have voting groups who have made and broken elections based on the single-issue vote of gun control.

The debate goes as follows: A: Well, it is quite reasonable, really. A government with a monopoly on violence runs the risk of being tyrannical. A well-regulated militia, defended in our Second Amendment to the Constitu-

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This is happening to us.

By us. In front of us.

Opinions fly around fast, but not as fast as the decision to pull a trigger. Maybe that is a good thing, maybe it is a bad one. What is important is to understand both sides before finding our own personal middle ground, to remove the taboo from gun-talk so gun violence can be foreseen and prevented. Whether we are safer with registration or without it, with mental examination prerequisites or without them, it is time to become informed.

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science & spo rts VOL. 46 ISSUE 1 - SEPT. 13, 2016

EDITORS: Sabina Elkins & Joey Roselli science@theplantnewspaper.com; sports@theplantnewspaper.com

Phasers Set to Kill Technology and Guns Sabina Elkins Science Editor Hoverboards, teleportation, robot overlords, and life on Mars are a few of the many predictions of what the future holds. Sleek, innovative, and advanced technology, personalized to our every desire, seems to be the route that we are taking. Soon enough our houses may use retinal scans as door locks and our pets might be made of metal, not carbon.

Technological advances are taking place in all parts of western society, including new weaponry. In recent years many models of the biometrically controlled ‘smart gun’ have begun to gain popularity. But is this technology, straight from a science fiction movie, going to solve such a deep rooted problem as gun violence?

To further explain, biometrics is the “measurement of unique physical characteristics, such as fingerprints and facial features, for the purpose of verifying iden-

tity with a high level of certainty.” Basically, this weapon looks like your average pistol, rifle, or shotgun, but has had a unique upgrade. The idea is that a tiny scanner will read the fingerprint of the registered user, much like unlocking your iPhone, and become operable; shutting down again when the authorized person lets go.

This technology has been improving over the past few years, and there are many different brands on the market already.

Intelligun is one company who sell guns designed with a built in fingerprint sensor. Another approach was taken by an engineer from Detroit, who has personal experience with firearm accidents, when he invented Identilock. This is a mechanism that can be customized to and clamped on a pre owned gun to prevent unauthorized use. Basically, the world is at a point where the technology from sci-fi movies is beginning to take on a practical reality.

There are some obvious benefits to this new invention. For

one, gun theft would be greatly reduced. What would be the purpose of stealing a gun you cannot use? It would also prevent a great many gun-related crimes where the perpetrator used a gun belonging to a parent, a friend, or anyone else. In October 2014, Jaylen Ray Fryberg shot up his school’s cafeteria and killed four of his peers, with his father’s Beretta. If this weapon had been protected by biometrics, those young adults might still be alive today.

Another positive effect could be reduced risk of accidents. The chance of a child finding a firearm and accidentally harming themselves or others is greatly diminished. Moreover, if the technology did its job properly, accidents caused by spontaneous firing due to mechanical failure could also experience a decline. These potential positive outcomes have been huge selling points for companies advertising these products.

However, do not be fully convinced quite yet. The so called ‘smart gun’ provides distinct ad-

vantages, as described above, but it is also not necessarily the ‘solution to the problem of gun violence’, as some have chosen to described it. Adding new technology can aid the situation in its own small way, but does absolutely nothing to change the root of the problem.

There is a plethora of issues that this new technology does not address. Unregistered guns, that are illegally sold and trafficked, are used in a large percentage of gun related crimes, especially gang warfare. The widespread use of new devices would not eliminate the presence of illegal guns as well as their trafficking and sale. It is debatable if they could even make a dent in it.

Another problem is that these ‘smart guns’ do not tackle the issue of poor registration screening. Kimveer Gill, the Dawson shooter, legally obtained his gun.

Omar Mateen, the recent Orlando shooter, walked into a store two days before the incident and legally purchased two guns. Marc Lépine, perpetrator of the École

Polytechnique shootings, bought his guns at a Checkmate Sports store. Clearly there is a deep seated problem in our ability to discern who should be able to obtain a gun license. Giving them a ‘smart gun’ would have altered nothing about the outcome of these three tragedies.

Altogether, biometric weapons are an extremely exciting idea.

The concept has great potential for some facets of the global gun violence epidemic. However, these guns do nothing to address the root of the issue, which is a question of cultural values and mental health. They do nothing to eliminate the number of Canadians who feel the need to carry a gun.

In fact, they have the possibility of convincing some that getting a gun is a good idea, and feed into the growing culture of violence and gun owning. What remains to be seen is if this new technology creates further cause for concern, and if they are more of a hinderance than a help.

New Year, New Season Dawson’s F16 Athletics Anthony Fiorino Contributor The RSEQ (Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec) has officially begun the season for all schools in Quebec. While most sports begin during the autumn and continue throughout the winter, the hockey and soccer seasons have already begun.

Excluding preseason games, the men’s soccer team started the season on the wrong note, losing the home opener at Catalogna Soccerplexe on September 4th to last year’s cup holder Garneau 2-1. The men’s team also played their second game of the season on Friday, September 9 VS Ahuntsic, looking for the ‘W’. (results forthcoming).

The women’s soccer team is in the same boat, losing their home and season opener as well, and being shut out 3-0 by the reigning champions, Garneau.

The women’s team also played their second game of the season on Friday, September 9 against Ahuntsic , hoping for the win (results forthcoming).

Hockey has begun as well;the men’s team played their first season and home opener game at Westmount Recreation Centre on Friday, September 9th vs. Thet-

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ford. They also played on Sunday, September 11th vs Champlain Lennoxville (results forthcoming).

With the women’s hockey team debuting their season on the road, they played against Limoilu on Saturday, September 10th (results forthcoming).

Upcoming Games Those who have pride in their school and express school spirit should seriously consider attending some of the Dawson Blues’ home games. With many assignments and readings coming along, why not enjoy a good collegial level game and support your fellow classmates?

Here is the schedule: Badminton: (Mixed Division 2): September 25th at Jean de Brebeuf Collège @ 9:00AM Men’s Basketball (Division 1): October 14th at Dawson (Tony Proudfoot Gymnasium) @ 9:00 PM vs Vanier College Women’s Basketball (Division 1): October 14th at Dawson (Tony Proudfoot Gymnasium) @ 7:00 PM vs Vanier College Men’s Basketball (Division 2): October 23rd at Dawson (Tony Proudfoot Gymnasium) @ 3:00 PM vs Vanier College Women’s Basketball (Division 2): October 23rd at Dawson (Tony Proudfoot Gymnasium) @ 1:00 PM vs Édouard-Montpetit

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Men’s Lacrosse: September 11th at Dawson (Ed Meagher Field) vs Saint-Hyacinthe @ 12:00 PM Men’s Rugby: September 11th at Dawson (Douglas Field) vs Heritage @ 1:30 PM Women’s Rugby: September 11th at Dawson (Douglas Field) vs Heritage @ 12:00 PM Women’s Volleyball: (Division 2): October 2nd at Dawson (Tony Proudfoot Gymnasium) @ 9:00 AM (Tournament) Co-Ed Volleyball: Preseason Tournament: October 16th at Dawson (Tony Proudfoot Gymnasium) @ 9:00 AM *Season officially begins October 30th at L’Assomption Collège at 9:00 AM Looking for glory, our teams are motivated and proud to represent our school this year during their competitions. Be sure to go out and support our athletes as they begin their journeys towards success. We shall encourage our athletes and our friends, be the best fans in the league, and most of all, let’s show them whose boss.

Do whatever it takes to share your pride; paint your face blue, wear blue pants, shirts, even underwear, who cares!? Do what ever it takes to #BleedBlue.

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Star Trek phasers

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curiosities

VOL. 46 ISSUE 1 - SEPT. 13, 2016

EDITOR: Gaby Drummond-Dupuis curiosities@theplantnewspaper.com

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IN MEMORIAM

ANASTASIA DE SOUSA (1988-2006)