January 15, 2018

theconcordian

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY’S WEEKLY, INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

 /theconcordian  @theconcordian  @theconcordian  theconcordian.com

VOLUME 36, ISSUE 15 | TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2019

Shedding light on racial barriers Concordia hosts Vincent Meessen's first solo exhibition in North America Arts p. 8

also in this issue...

news

life

music

sports

opinions

The world music Bourque joins Standing with the ConU President Putting health talks moving on p. 2 before school p. 7 genre debate p. 11 the Stingers p. 12 Wet’suwet’en p. 14

news

NEWS EDITORS /// news@theconcordian.com IAN DOWN & MIA ANHOURY ( @IanDown1996 @mia_anhoury)

CITY IN Leaving Concordia for Western BRIEF Concordia taught President Alan Shepard “the power of good will” ADMINISTRATION

MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR No one was hurt in a major fire that erupted in a former church in Notre-Dame-deGrâce early Sunday morning, according to The Montreal Gazette. The fire took over two hours to put out by around 50 firefighters. Another 15 emergency vehicles were at the scene. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

In a press conference last Thursday, Quebec Premier François Legault said he wanted to extend the blue metro line in Montreal as soon as possible, according to TVA. He said that although the service’s interruption on Wednesday morning was caused by an altercation involving pepper spray, he is hoping to confirm the funding of the blue line’s extension soon.

The Quebec Superior Court ruled in favour of a homeless man who did not want to have his legs and some fingers amputated after getting severe frostbite, according to CTV. Per the judgement, the amputation was not proven to be absolutely necessary.

“There’s something really robust and resilient about our students,” said President Shepard. “I like the diversity in the campus.” Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

EITHNE LYNCH ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR In late November 2018, President Alan Shepard announced he would be leaving the University on June 30 to become president of Western University, in London, Ontario.

Much is being done to ensure that the transition period proceeds as smoothly as possible. Shepard said that leading up to July 2019, “each of the vice-presidents on [his] team will prepare a briefing binder of work going on in their portfolio and they will have that ready for the new president, whoever that turns out to be.”

As for projects currently in the works, like the health institute, Shepard said they will continue to be developed. Once projects have been announced, “the change of leadership wouldn’t typically interrupt that.”

The same goes for ongoing negotiations like that of Teaching and Research Assistants at Concordia. “We have professional teams that negotiate with mandates that are set out by the board of governors, so that’s all in place and that will continue too,” Shepard said.

Shepard became president of Concordia in 2012 after being provost at Ryerson University in Toronto. “I wanted to be a provost. That

was my career goal.” Shepard said being president was not something he had planned for. Despite that, he said he’s loved it.

The job didn’t always come easy.

“Sometimes it’s really hard. There are some very long days where things aren’t going well, we’re in the news for bad things,” said Shepard. “But I like the challenge of leading a community. I like seeing the big picture of an institution.”

He said when he first came to Concordia he felt that there was a mistrust of and skepticism about the senior administration. Because of this, Shepard said the Concordia community taught him about “the power of communicating really directly with people and the power of good will, operating in good faith, transparency.”

“I think the progression is awesome,” said Shepard referencing the nine strategic directions, which were implemented at Concordia five years ago. According to him, the plan has been discussed and copied by other universities across Canada. “It was a very progressive model of strategic planning that involved lots of people at the beginning of the conversations.” He added that “what we really wanted from people was engagement.

It’s a university of all of us, so what is it we

want this place to be and stand for?”

Shepard believes the nine strategic directions plan will continue once he’s left Concordia. “People really find it meaningful and a good framework for them, and my guess is that it probably still has another four or five years ahead.”

Shepard intends to implement a strategic planning process at Western as well, but not before consulting people there. “It probably won’t look exactly like this, it’s a different place,” said Shepard. “One of the things I like about this job is you get to kind of listen and talk, kind of diagnose what’s needed; what does that community need? And that community’s needs will be different, and I don’t know how different yet.”

Shepard said he is going to miss a lot about Concordia and Montreal. “I’m going to miss the students very much; I love Concordia students. There’s something really robust and resilient about our students. I like the diversity in the campus.”

Shepard believes he has things to learn when he takes on his new position. “Western is a different kind of institution.It’s in a very different part of the country,;it has law and medicine, which have not been in my portfolio ever before. I’ll learn some new things there.”

Former Town of Mount Royal priest, Brian Boucher, was found guilty of sexual assault, sexual interference and sexual touching on Tuesday, according to The Montreal Gazette. Judge Patricia Compagnone said Boucher’s testimony lacked credibility while the victim’s testimony was believable. He will be sentenced in March.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

When asked what Concordia is looking for in a new president, Shepard said, “they’re going to be asking you, they’re going to be asking the community.” In order to do that, a search committee is being formed and they will be tasked with putting together a job profile. Shepard said he wouldn’t participate in the search for a new president of the university. At most, he said he might appear before the committee and talk about the university and what he thinks they should look for, “but what they actually look for is their choice, not mine,” said Shepard.

Shepard said he doesn’t know when a new president will take over. Graham Carr, Concordia’s provost and vice-president of academic affairs will take over as interim president on July 1.

JANUARY 15, 2019

theconcordian

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STUDENT LIFE

24/7 mental health service coming to Concordia Empower Me will be free to use for all undergraduates starting in February Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

IAN DOWN NEWS EDITOR A new 24-hour mental health service will provide Concordia undergraduate students with guidance on everything from addiction, to dating, to finances.

At a regular council meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 9, the Concordia Student Union (CSU) approved the adoption of the Empower Me program, a free service for undergraduate students that is offered by the CSU’s insurance provider, Studentcare.

When the service launches on Feb. 1, counsellors will be available 24/7 and can be reached in person, by phone, or over the internet, according to a pamphlet advertising the service. Students may book as many sessions with a counsellor as they want. “This multi-lingual, culturally sensitive, and gender and faith-inclusive service is built around a short-term, solution-focused counselling model,” the pamphlet reads. CSU Finance Coordinator John Hutton explained that the services are labelled “short-term” since students won’t use it after they graduate.

The service will compliment those offered through Concordia’s Counselling and Psychological Services. The pamphlet states that “on-campus staff can refer students to Empower Me professionals and share appropriate information (within the bounds of strict confidentiality policies).”

Currently, the school provides free sessions with counsellors and psychotherapists, as well as free workshops on topics such as insomnia, stress, and self-confidence.

However, the office’s website lists just 14 mental health professionals, including two interns, for more than 45,000 students.

Psychological services are in high demand at Concordia. In the 2017-18 academic year, Concordia undergraduates filed more extended health care claims for psychologists, at a higher cost to the insurance plan, than for any other service, except for prescription drugs, according to a report provided to

the CSU by Studentcare. In addition, the nearly 2,000 claims filed for psychologists represent a roughly 15 per cent increase over the previous academic year.

“Demand for mental-health services has risen as our community grows larger,” said university spokesperson Fiona Downey. She said the university is still re-evaluating its mental health resources. “We have begun by looking at how to effectively use existing resources and look at opportunities to contribute resources from outside the university.” “ We a r e r e - e x a m i n i n g h o w we deli ver c are, and int roduc ing new programs such as the Zen Den, and, by next Fall, faculty-embedded wellness teams,” said Downey.

Under the CSU’s current contract with Studentcare, members are entitled to coverage of $75 per session and $800 per year for counselling outside Concordia.

While the union had the option to increase this coverage, Hutton said this plan would have cost at least $10 per student. Empower Me will only cost $4.20 per student. The union will absorb the cost of the program using revenue from the health plan. All non-international undergraduate students taking more than three credits are automatically covered under the plan.

Hutton said the new plan will not immediately affect insurance premiums for students, since these premiums are already set in the CSU’s contract with Studentcare. If the union continues with

its current health insurance model for the foreseeable future, premiums will depend on how the CSU renegotiates its contract with Studentcare. If the union succeeds in transitioning to a self-funded insurance model, as it has been planning to do for years, Hutton said the CSU will likely be able to offer lower premiums for students.

“The reason we have a health plan to begin with is because there are gaps in the healthcare system, both at the university level, and at the provincial and federal level,” said Hutton. “Why do we have to beg university administrators for mental health care? Hopefully, in 50 years, when we look back at the gains we’ve made in [mental health care], we’ll talk about today as the dark ages.”

SERVICES

Spring renovations for CSU daycare New outside play area will include a sandbox and water jets

MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR The Concordia Student Union’s (CSU) Daycare and Nursery is hoping to begin its renovations to the outside play area in the spring. The renovations are expected to last for two months.

In its November council meeting, the union approved over $216,000 to renovate the newly opened CSU Daycare and Nursery.

The union’s General Coordinator, Sophie Hough-Martin, told council the centre needed a more child-friendly outdoor area, as reported by The Concordian in November. The money will be taken from the Student Space, Accessible Education, and Legal Contingency fund.

The daycare was originally set to open in March 2018, as repor ted by The Concordian in November. Due to unexpected renovations and delays in

permits, the daycare only opened on Dec. 17. The daycare’s initial budget was $1.5 million, before getting another $76,000 in September 2017 and the latest funding in November 2018.

CSU Daycare and Nursery Director, Angela Meo, said that “because of the delay of the master renovations, work could not begin on the outside play area.” She added that work cannot be done in the winter months, either. “The space constraint could not permit having both these constructions at the same time.”

These renovations will not affect the daycare and nursery services offered to Concordia undergraduate students. The daycare and nursery team has secured the play area at a nearby church for the kids to play in while the construction takes place.

Since its opening, Meo said the daycare has overseen 15 children per day. “We are integrating the number of children

slowly, to ensure quality care and staff integration.”

The new outdoor play area will include a sandbox, according to the

preliminary plans. It will also have more plants and rubberized flooring. Kids will also be able to enjoy five water jets once the renovations are done.

The CSU Daycare and Nursery officially opened on Dec. 17. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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theconcordian

JANUARY 15, 2019

ELECTIONS

Referendum breakdown

A guide to the CSU referendum on online voting and fee levies MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR After a cancelled by-election last fall due to a combination of reasons, the Concordia Student Union (CSU) is having by-elections from Jan. 15 to 17. Students will be able to vote for nine new council members, and vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on two referendums.

Twenty students are hoping to get a seat on council for each faculty.

Although students will be able to vote online exceptionally for this by-election, the CSU is still asking the student body if they “support the use of electronic voting in the elections of the Concordia Student Union,” as their first referendum.

The second referendum is about changing fee levies that the CSU receives every year, to move funds around to restructure the union’s finances, according to John Hutton, chair of the referendum committee.

The CSU is asking to decrease the fee levy of the Student Space, Accessible Education, and Legal Contingency (SSAELC) fund from $0.75 to $0.39 per credit.

“The total change for students is zero cents, moving funds around within the CSU and not creating new fees,” said Hutton. The SSAELC fund can only be used for specific purposes, which include renovating student spaces and the daycare. “It’s a very large fund and it pulls [in] a lot of money,” according to Hutton. “This fund has about $10 million in it. There's money that’s been invested in a lot of stock options that produces dividend every year.”

The difference in funding that results from the decrease would be redistributed

NATION IN BRIEF MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR In a Sherbrooke hospital, a 2-month-old baby survived a fentanyl overdose after being given almost three times the required dosage, according to CBC. The baby, Alysse, was in the hospital for an infected lung in late December when the overdose occurred. Alysse had to be revived.

An internal investigation has been launched in the hospital to find out what went wrong.

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

into other funds including the operating fee levy, the Advocacy Centre fee levy, and the clubs fee levy. “We’re able to comfortably reduce the SSAELC fund levy in order to meet the budgetary needs of the other departments,” said Hutton.

The operating fund covers everything from orientation week to bursaries, campaigns, sustainability initiatives and student life events. “There’s been some increasing costs on some fronts, and each year we’ve been just cutting [it] close,” said Hutton. “With a small increase in the Operations fund, we can make it a little more stable.”

The Advocacy Centre’s fee levy was reduced by $0.09 during the 2014-15 year.

The Advocacy Centre’s purpose is to offer students advocates for issues involving the

university, such as charges of plagiarism.

Additionally, the clubs’s fee levy was decreased by $0.05 during the 2017-18 year, from $0.25 to $0.20.

“Clubs are more active and the fee levy was reduced so expenses rose,” said Hutton, which resulted in a deficit. So, its fee levy accommodates the many current clubs’s needs.

The online polling period will close at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday. Physical polling stations will also be available between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. around both campuses on Jan. 15, 16, and 17.

Hutton spoke to The Concordian in his position as chair of the referendum committee, not as finance coordinator of the CSU.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, an 18-year-old Saudi fleeing her allegedly abusive family, was granted asylum in Canada

by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. Al-Qunun arrived at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on Saturday, according to The Globe and Mail. The young woman, whose t weets drew international attention, fled to Thailand from Kuwait to seek asylum on Jan. 5.

Three people are dead and 23 are injured after an Ottawa bus crashed into a transit platform on Friday during rush hour, according to Global News.

The driver was detained and is to be interviewed by the local police.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

MOBILIZATION

Stepping away from unpaid internships CSU talks to students on how to organize a strike against unpaid internships MINA MAZUMDER ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR “The next step is within the hands of each department,” said Camille Thompson, the Concordia Student Union’s (CSU) external affairs and mobilization coordinator. Students “are the heart of a strike. If they don’t do anything, we cannot help them.”

The five steps on how to organize a strike were explained on a flyer at the CSU’s information session for student strikes against unpaid internships on Friday.

The first step is to find and learn about the student association’s policy around calling a strike general assembly. The second step is to set a date for the general assembly, where a ballot vote is usually cast to decide on a strike. The third step is to organize the assembly and count the number of attendees to make a quorum.

A quorum is the percentage of students in the department required to make binding decisions at an assembly. The fourth step is to plan and to execute the strike. The fifth and final step is to celebrate and have a post-mortem.

Many students and executives across

multiple departments such as political science, School of Community and Public Affairs (SCPA), and women’s studies were present at the information session.

Thompson understood that some students may be confused or scared about the idea of a strike. She advised these students to inform themselves before making a decision. “Talk to other people like your fellow students,” she said. “Ask them what is happening and what they think. Check the information that is available.”

Lou Taj, a social work student at l'Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), was present to familiarize Concordia students with the steps revolving around a strike, following one that was held by numerous student associations at UQAM from Nov. 19 to Nov. 23.

With the new Quebec government, Taj said that making all internships paid is a difficult issue to tackle. “Now we are under the CAQ government — they are not as open,” Taj said. “We went to speak to them once but nothing interesting got out of it.

They said the door is open but there’s no conversation happening.”

S ean Illman-White, secret ar y of academic affairs and advocacy at the

SCPA Students’ Association, attended the session to better inform his association on whether or not a strike mandate is a step worth considering. He said a committee meeting by his association will be held next week.

The vast majority of internships at the SCPA are unpaid, said Illman-White.

Nevertheless, he said they are necessary.

“For a lot of us, unpaid internships are really important,” he said. “We want to

make sure that we are building towards a future where this work is valued.”

“Many student associations are not mobilized at the moment, so people aren’t really talking with each other,” Illman-White said. “Now that this discussion is happening and people are thinking about it, maybe we can start building better practices around talking to each other so that we can mobilize together better.”

Taj speaks about what a strike could look like at Concordia. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

JANUARY 15, 2019

ELECTIONS

Short timeline for online voting

CSU General Coordinator criticizes “severe time restraints” of council mandate

theconcordian

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WORLD IN BRIEF IAN DOWN NEWS EDITOR The FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation to determine whether or not U.S. President Donald Trump was acting on behalf of Russia, in a previously unknown investigation revealed on Friday

by The New York Times. The investigation was opened immediately after Trump’s May 2017 firing of FBI Director James Comey. No evidence from the investigation linking Trump to Moscow has been made public.

Turkish Journalist Pelin Ünker was sentenced to 13 months in prison for her investigation into businesses owned by former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and his sons, according to The Guardian . Ünker’s work is part of the larger Paradise Papers investigation into offshore tax havens.

IAN DOWN NEWS EDITOR The Concordia Student Union’s (CSU) general coordinator has raised concerns about the union’s mandate to implement online voting in its by-elections.

For the first time in history, the CSU will conduct its by-elections entirely through an online service, Simply Voting, after being mandated to do so by council in a meeting on Nov. 28. Students will then vote in a referendum to either permanently adopt the system or return to paper ballots.

Once the motion was approved, the union had just seven weeks to implement the system. “Ideally, I would have liked to have had at least a month to troubleshoot [the system],” CSU General Coordinator Sophie Hough-Martin told The Concordian last Wednesday. “We’re troubleshooting today, tomorrow, and Friday, and we have to implement this by Tuesday.”

Hough-Martin’s concerns extend beyond the functioning of the system.

“We had to look into the legality of using a third party, whether or not we were even legally allowed to share students’s information with a third-party company because it hadn’t gone to referendum yet,” she said.

Online voting was originally supposed to be voted on in a referendum before being implemented. Then, at the meeting on Nov. 28, council voted to move ahead with the system without a vote from the student body. This is valid according to CSU regulations because rules for polling are outlined in the union’s standing regulations, rather than its bylaws.

“ The bylaws are binding and can only be overturned by referendum; the standing regulations can be overturned with a two-thirds majority of council,” Hough-Martin said. “What that means is, because paper ballots are only mentioned in the standing regulations, technically council can just override the democratic process we’ve had established from the beginning.”

Hough-Martin had to consult with students at other Canadian universities about changes that might need to be made to the union’s policies. “Our policies are explicitly outlined around having paper ballots and in-person polling, and I needed to make sure that we weren’t implementing a system that would be incompatible with regulations around things like campaigning or polling procedures that we already have in place,” she said.

For example, according to the CSU’s standing regulations, campaign materials may not be displayed near polling stations.

“But when everyone’s cell phone becomes a polling booth, how do you monitor that?”

Hough-Martin said. “What sanctions would be taken against a candidate who just went around with an iPad and said ‘Hey, did you know that you can vote for me right now?’”

Research into the feasibility of online voting was conducted by the CSU’s ad-hoc Elections and Participation committee.

Hough-Martin criticized what she saw as “holes in the research” of the committee, especially regarding election security. “The Elections and Participation committee had not done research into the security and integrity of online voting, which

makes this implementation, before any concrete guarantees have been given, a little frustrating for me,” she said.

“I don’t even feel like there’s a need for research on security,” said Arts and Science Councillor Chris Kalafatidis, who led the “Yes” campaign for online voting and sat on the Elections and Participation committee. “Simply Voting is being used by almost half of the universities in Canada, and I can’t find a single article from a student newspaper or from an actual newspaper talking about a hack, with one exception,” he said.

The Elections and Participation committee surveyed 100 universities about their voting practices, 42 of which responded.

“Half of the universities that I spoke to are on [Simply Voting], and nobody’s going ‘Oh, this is a big issue,’” he said. “To me, no red flags at all have been raised.”

“Logistically, I think in one month it’s way easier to put on an election that’s outsourced to a third party than to do it all ourselves,” Kalafatidis said.

Kalafatidis is also confident the union will be able to make the necessary changes to the standing regulations before the general elections. “If we could have a package done by early Februar y [or] March, for revisions, I think they could be corrected very quickly.”

Kalafatidis defends the security of online voting compared to paper ballots.

“Paper ballots are not secure,” he said. “We didn’t even serialize the paper ballots this election, and had one person not pointed it out, we would have been easily exposed to the potential of ballot box stuffing.”

More than 1,500 institutions across the

The runner-up in the Democratic R e p u b l i c o f t h e C o n g o’ s presidential elections has asked his country’s Constitutional Court to declare the election results invalid, according to Al Jazeera. Martin Fayulu alleged that President-elect Felix Tshisekedi cospired with outgoing President Joseph Kabila to win the election.

T he C at holic Churc h , w hic h conducted an independent monitoring of the elections, also contested the results.

Sixty per cent of France's speed cameras have been vandalized by protestors associated with the yellow vest movement, according to the BBC. The actions are part of a larger movement against fuel taxes and the increasing cost of daily commutes, including those imposed by the cameras.

After repeating remarks on racial IQ differences, Nobelprize-winning geneticist James Watson was stripped of several honorary titles, according to t h e B B C . T h e 9 0 -ye a r- o l d scientist was one of three awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 for discovering the double helix structure of DNA. Graphic by @spooky_soda

world use Simply Voting for their elections, including political parties, universities, and unions, according to the company’s website.

“We’re doing our best to make sure the mistake of last semester never happens again, and that the implementation of online voting goes as smoothly as possible given the severe time restraints we were granted,” Hough-Martin said.

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

life

LIFE EDITOR /// life@theconcordian.com ALEX HUTCHINS ( @alexhutchinns96)

STUDENT INITIATIVE

Sparking engagement throughout Concordia Get to know the team of students empowering other students

ALEX HUTCHINS LIFE EDITOR Ever feel like you want to do something—get involved with a social movement or community project somehow—but aren’t sure where to start?

Concordia’s extra curricular community is broad and can feel pretty nebulous, which makes it hard to find what floats your boat. “There are a lot of students who come to Concordia, go to their classes, and they graduate, not having done anything with [their time at Concordia],” said Nick Gertler, a communications and political science student, as well as an ambassador for Spark!.

Spark!, a new collaborative initiative that aims to connect students with the larger community Spark! ambassador Philippe Boucher (second from left) stands with fellow ambassadors and collaborators. Press photo by Concordia University on campus, is led by the Dean of Students Office and a team of eight student ambassadors. In fall 2017, the student and ambassador for Spark!. “And Part of being an ambassador, explained see the applicability of skills they already National Survey of Student Engagement with these class presentations, the goal is Boucher, is showing students the potential possess. “What’s interesting about [Spark!]

(NSSE), with support from la Ministère de not really to present specific associations for diversity of engagement on campus is that we have all these ‘resources,' but l'Éducation et de l'Enseignement supérieur or projects, but more to ask questions like by being engaged yourself. “It’s the first we are those resources,” said Lopez. As and Spark!, began researching the disparity ‘Why get involved? What is involvement?,'" project I’ve ever really heard about that’s ambassadors and students, we have between students’s intentions to engage in said Boucher. pushing for student engagement with such a wide perspective and range of high-impact practices (HIPs), and their comAccording to George Kuh, founding students who are engaged.” experiences, Lopez explained, and part pletion of any by graduation—or the student director of NSSE, students should “I’ve been a student leader since like, of going out and talking to students engagement gap, as the NSSE deemed their p a r t i c i p a t e i n a t l e a s t t wo H I P s first year,” said Jessica Lopez, a contem- face-to-face is to help them realize findings. Their main goal: decreasing that throughout their undergraduate degree: porary dance student and ambassador they also have this knowledge. “It’s a gap, and increasing student involvement, one during their first year and one in for Spark!. “I’ve worked with FASA, Art fantastic system of engaging students, both on and off campus. “We’re trying to the context of their major. However, Matters, student council, etc., and my who are already engaged, to engage figure out how to best connect students when students think about engaging favourite part of all of those was the more students,” said Lopez. with the opportunities that already exist [at in extracurricular activities on campus, meetings. I learned how to talk in so Spark! also hopes to work with Concordia], as opposed to creating a whole explained Boucher, there’s a box those many different ways, to so many different students who are already involved to new thing, in and of itself,” said Gertler. activities are put into. “Being involved people, to have so many different results,” help communicate and further the Between a handful of separate faculties, is not just joining student associa- said Lopez. “I really enjoyed gaining that scope of their engagement, explained over a dozen organizations, initiatives and tions,” said Boucher. “It’s studying wider perspective of society, and want Gertler. “On that side of things, part community projects around campus and abroad, being a research assistant, to bring that to other students.” of what we do is give [students] the more than 50,000 students at Concordia, working in community engagement, In addition to fostering engagement language around what they’re already it’s fair to say the student body is quite [...] encouraging students to apply for through communication and collaboration, doing. You know, enabling people factioned off. When it comes to connecting scholarships—everything.”

Spark! hopes to empower individuals to to communicate the fact that they students, “the constant problem are engaged, and that that [is] these little communication presents opportunities for bubbles,” said Gertler. By buildfurther engagement.” ing relationships with existing “We’re kind of overwhelmed on-campus associations, unions, at times; there’s just so much faculties and networking to new information out there [about students through a fleet of student extracurriculars],” said Boucher. ambassadors, Gertler explained There’s also this expectation that Spark! is hoping to find ways t h a t, a s s t u d e n t s , we c a n in which those communication extract the essence of a skill bubbles intersect and where we have and immediately find they can be popped to spark where it would be applicable, engagement. said Boucher. “But there are so While Spark! has spent this many different ways to engage, past year researching and preand part of what we do—part paring for their launch, the of our goal—is to help be a student-led initiative will be window for that information.” introducing themselves to firstyear classes over the next few To learn more about Spark! weeks. “We’re really trying to keep and how to contact an the perspective of ‘meet students ambassador visit: where they are,'” said Philippe www.concordia.ca/students/ Boucher, a first peoples studies engagement/about.html

JANUARY 15, 2019

theconcordian

OPINION

Great expectations, at what expense?

Cramming to finish your degree isn't worth the mental exhaustion

To-Do: Smell a rose Rethinking what it means to set goals for ourselves ALEX HUTCHINS LIFE EDITOR

Graphic by @spooky_soda

FATIMA DIA ASSISTANT LIFE EDITOR Take a step back and look at your life from a different angle. Are you happy? Are you okay?

There’s a significant amount of pressure on students to achieve something in their young adult life, so much so that sometimes people forget that expectations aren’t always great.

More often than not, this pressure comes from within. The individual lens that we see life through is tinted with the wants and needs of external factors: parents, society, friends, and the need to ‘become.' It’s not a simple feat to differentiate between what’s really best for you and what you think is best, because of all these factors.

In 2016, The Charlatan published an article highlighting different factors contributing to university dropout rates.

According to the article, most students leave because they’re unsure if their program is right for them.

“In the first year, dropouts were already struggling in terms of meeting deadlines, academic performance and studying patterns,” according to The Youth in Transition Study sourced in The Charlatan. “Compared to graduates and graduate continuers, more dropouts felt they had not found the right program,” the study stated.

Here’s the truth: deciding on your future at 18 is practically impossible.

You’re told to make the most important decision of your life at an age when your brain is still evolving. According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, the human brain isn't fully developed until the age of about 25.

When you wake up one morning and ask yourself if what you’re doing is worth the stress, money, and effort you’re putting into it, remember you’re

allowed to change your mind, take a break and refocus your lens.

“Overall, being out of school let me take time to focus on myself,” said Rachel Doyon, a student in Montreal. “It also made me miss school—I think that was the biggest benefit. Being reminded that I was in university because it was something I was passionate about, not just an obligation. I still get little pangs of disappointment when my peers graduate ‘on time,’ but it was the best choice.”

‘On time’ is the key term here: this is exactly the kind of ‘want’ or ‘need’ that we associate with ourselves, but really it’s an outside factor. The concept of graduating on time is not at all an objective conventional setting: the only timeline that matters is your own personal clock. Granted, there are several factors that affect when you graduate: maybe your parents pay for your education and you don’t want to prolong it, or perhaps you have to prolong it because you pay for it yourself.

According to a study on persistence in post-secondary education in Canada done by York University, only 57 per cent of students aged 18 to 20 graduated, or are continuing in post-secondary education, 8 per cent of which were enrolled and dropped out. Students aged 20 to 22 had 14 per cent drop out rate of the 60 per cent enrolled in university.

“Even though my parents wouldn’t have minded, I just would’ve felt weird, like I fell off the train,” said Ali Sabra, a Lebanese student who was offered a year-long internship abroad, but refused because it didn’t feel right to take two semesters off. “Being in Lebanon, it’s virtually unfathomable to ‘take a year off.’ It’s the rush thing for sure.”

Culture played a big role in Sabra’s

decision-making, but being in a rush to graduate is rather universal. In all fairness, it’s okay to want to graduate as soon as possible. You might not want to pass up an opportunity that would benefit you more in the future in the name of finishing sooner.

“I went into psychology because my parents got so excited, but I wasn’t sure I liked it,” said Noura Nassreddine, a previous American University of Beirut student. “The next year, I told my parents I didn’t like it and I needed to take a break, so I did.” During her gap semester, Nassreddine found what she really loved, and is now on her way to becoming a Paris-trained baker. Nassreddine’s experience is a reminder that your 18-year-old self doesn’t always know what you want your future to look like.

Choosing a career path is not a light task, and yes, sometimes you aren’t ready to decide where to go straight out of high school. It’s okay to go in blind and try things out, and then decide to change your mind. If you have the means, the patience, and the will, go find what’s best for you. When making decisions, consider which you’d regret more: doing it, or not doing it, whatever ‘it’ is.

All in all, taking time for yourself is as important as finishing your degree.

Making sure the degree you’re getting is what you want to continue with and is important, too.

Remember that your mental health is a key aspect of your success—take care of yourself so you can have the mental capacity to achieve your goals.

Sometimes retreating is important to help put things into perspective. At the end of the day, life will bring you all sorts of problems in the future, so what’s an extra semester or two, anyway?

From late December to early January, the internet is riddled with memes generally belonging to four categories: empty bank accounts, being drunk from Dec. 24 to Jan. 2, cringey family stories, and, my personal favorite, all the ‘new year, new me’ bullshit. As if overriding our digestive systems with champagne and Jameson somehow flushes out all the toxicity from the previous year, leaving us with a blankslate liver to tackle the new year with.

Honestly, New Year’s resolutions are pretty dumb. You can search the crap out of it: in January 2013, Forbes reported that only 8 per cent of people achieve their New Year’s resolutions, and in January 2017, Business Insider reported that 80 per cent of resolutions fail by the second week of February. But why? Why is it so difficult to set a goal—a singular goal—and follow through with it?

About a year ago, The New York Times listed tips for making and keeping resolutions. Just a few days ago, The Guardian published an article that touched on similar points: make a personal plan, join a support community, focus on one goal at a time, find what motivates you, externalize your goals, etc. All good advice, sure, but these fluff articles still have a hollow ring to them.

There are so many issues with New Year’s resolutions (not the inherent concept of goal-setting), but mainly it’s the localization of goal-setting to one check-point window in the year and the pressure to make that window. Realistically, we change so much throughout the year, and it’s important to recognize how your goals evolve with you.

On top of the pressure to make a New Year’s resolution, there’s also pressure to make your resolution fit into a cutback-box. For most, resolutions consist of goals like: spend less money, go out less, watch less Netflix, start going to [insert physical activity], read that book, eat less junk, pay off debt, etc.

But what if your resolution was stuff you should do more of? Laugh more. Go outside more. Call more friends. Have more dinners at home. Think you’d have an easier time sticking to those resolutions? Melbournebased queer artist @frances_cannon posted “Frances Cannon’s Big 2019 List” on Jan. 2, and it may surprise you in all the best ways.

Cannon lists goals such as: take a breath, let go of someone who hurt you, apply for something that scares you, tell a really good joke, call someone you haven’t called in a while, smell a rose and many more goals, both small and large. It’s time we start rethinking the wide range of what goals can be for each individual, and accepting that self love is both loving ourselves for accomplishing those goals, and loving ourselves for accepting when we simply cannot.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

7

arts

ARTS EDITOR /// arts@theconcordian.com CHLOË LALONDE

COVER STORY

Everything is blue in Vincent Meessen’s latest exhibition Shedding light on obscured narrative in colonialist histor y

Rich blue lighting fills Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

YOUMNA EL HALABI STAFF WRITER The reflection of a rich shade of blue graces Concordia University’s library building. Written in all caps, the word “AMERIKKKKK…KKKKANADA” is at the forefront of the exhibition, on the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery’s window display.

This unusual lighting is part of the gallery’s newest exhibition by Vincent Meessen, curated by Director Michèle Thériault, Blues Klair.

Meessen is an American artist, born and raised in Baltimore, who currently lives and works in Brussels, Belgium. He was representing Belgium in 2015 at the 56th Venice Biennale in a group exhibition entitled Personne et les autres (No One and Others) when he met Thériault. Thériault was genuinely taken by the artist’s passion for history and colonialism, and colonial modernity in the Western imaginary.

“What was interesting in him was the piece he presented,” Thériault said, “which addressed the traces of colonialism or coloniality, if you want, in modernity, but also where he kind of diffused the notion of authorship by not doing a single artist proposition. He worked in conjunction with a bunch of different artists.”

The 2015 Biennale exhibition traditionally showcases individual artists and their works, but Meessen chose to go beyond that and work collectively with 10 artists from four continents.

“I was very fascinated by his piece,” Thériault continued, “which, to make a long story short, was a film installation within an environment that he created, shot in Congo. He was also working with someone, a Congolese who had been a situationist in the 60s, and Meessen worked with him to showcase his work.

I was very much fascinated by how he exposed the traces of colonialism.”

Blues Klair is the artist’s first solo exhibition in North America.

Meessen and Thériault coordinated for two years before this project came to life. Meessen is a founding member of Jubilee, a platform for artistic research and production. Thériault got in contact with Jubilee, and the connection was formed.

At the heart of Blues Klair, a video plays.

The “narrated exhibition,”—as described by the gallery—titled Ultramarine is a 42-minute set by Kain the Poet, who was part of the Black Arts Movement towards the end of the 60s. The film is linked to Meessen’s commissioned piece for the city of Toulouse’s yearly art festival called Printemps de septembre.

Kain the Poet, born Gylan Kain in Harlem, New York City, is also a playwright and actor. He now lives in Amsterdam, and is considered one of the precursors to hip hop, as his spoken words in beat culture focus mainly on black power.

In Ultramarine, Kain is seen and heard

breaking racial barriers and calling out European mistreatment towards people of colour. He talks about his own experience in exile in Amsterdam, and the trade of the Indigo plant in the 1700s.

“Blue is important in Toulouse,” Thériault explained. “It’s the city that used pastel, a dye—you make dye out of pastel—usually supplied by the Indigo plant. Indigo is grown in Indonesia and some parts of the Caribbean, so in Toulouse, trading and commerce were very present.

The trading also has to do with slave roots and the labourers. There’s the question of slavery and exploitation raised in that film, as well as the question of the blues, seeing as Kain is Afro-American.”

Blues Klair also sheds light on an event seldom discussed at Canadian schools: the 1968 Sir George Williams affair, which took place on the Sir George Williams campus, now known as part of

Concordia University. When six Caribbean students accused a biology professor of racism towards black students—after the lecturer was handing out failing grades to all students of colour, regardless of their work—the students demanded the university investigate these charges and form a committee that would represent the black community.

The exposition showcases flyers upon flyers scattered across the gallery floor, commemorating the events that happened and the violence Concordia University’s campus has witnessed. Furthermore, this installation serves as a reminder of black power, and how resilient and strong people can be when they stand up for their beliefs.

Vincent Meessen’s exposition will be on display at the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery in the LB building until Feb. 23.

Vincent Meessen’s Blues Klair addresses colonialism and modernity through film, installation and music. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

JANUARY 15, 2019

INTERVIEW

The material and the mystical In conversation with student artist Teddy Desmarais

theconcordian

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Happening in and around the White Cube this week…

DAISY DUNCAN ASSISTANT ARTS EDITOR I n e x p e r i e n c i n g Te d d y Desmarais’s artwork, viewers are transported into a mystical, surreal world, one in which puppets, castles, and costuming are everywhere. Creating vivid, intricately detailed characters and a world of the surreal, Desmarais shows expansive imagination within their art, while reimagining reality and their personal environment.

Desmarais is a multidisciplinary artist, who grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, and moved to Montreal two years ago.

They are in their second year at Concordia, studying fibres and film animation, through which their practice explores concepts such as personal queer identity, organically made and handmade art, and materiality. These themes are considered through the use of recycled materials, along with a central focus on puppetry and costuming. Their practice includes amazingly detailed fibre works that invoke a sense of the surreal and mystical—a recent work includes a puppet dollhouse castle. The castle, decorated with different fibres and intricate detail brings together puppet and costume forms. It’s complete with a spot for Desmarais to put their face into the form, incorporating the artist’s physical presence into the work.

Exploring different mediums and finding influence from their environment, not to mention their own experiences and identity, Desmarais’s art truly stands on its own.

Currently, what are some of the main focuses, mediums and themes within your work?

“I’ve always been very multidisciplinary and multi-medium based, but for the most part I tend to use a lot of recycled materials for 3D work (fabric scraps, magazines, cardboard, plastic). I do 2D work as well on a regular basis, but I wouldn’t say it’s the focus of my practice. Right now, I’m trying to make my work a little more meticulous.

I’ve been compelled by effortlessness and intuition for a while, but I really want to learn as much as I can—while I’m here in school—about the materials I can use and get better with them or even venture into realms of other mediums I normally shy away from, like resin and moulds and organics.

I’m on a little bit of a quest to build enveloping costumes and environments either through film with stop motion and performance, or with live experiences. This, as the root of my practice, is inherently an expression and exploration of my own queer identity and how I feel I genuinely interact with the world and its speed of demand and explanation. I really believe that handmade objects have inherent magical qualities, and I love the idea of creating something from start to finish myself, especially as industrial habits grow incredibly against that. Puppets really combine all those aspects to me: a melting pot of costume, performance, character design, sets, and movement. So fibres has been definitely excellent for that.

KAYLA-MARIE TURRICIANO COPY EDITOR The Centaur Theatre is ringing in the New Year with the Wildside Festival, in its 22nd year. Along with showcasing many shows by different production companies, the festival is in partnership with the Offside Festival. This partnership dedicates Thursday and Friday nights to sounds from Montreal’s musical landscape being performed in the Centaur Gallery after the last show of the evening, with this Saturday dedicated to Patti Smith.

Although the Festival is already underway, take a look at what shows are left for the remainder of the week!

A recent work includes a puppet dollhouse castle. Photo by Simon New.

I was very starstruck first learning how to hand-dye things and embroider and quilt!”

Have you worked in other mediums and focuses? What was the transition and process to get to your practice now?

“I have always been so absorbed in too many things and ideas that by the time I applied for university it was very difficult to narrow down what I really wanted to do, until I began hyperfocusing my attention on stop motion, puppets and costumes.

As far as art-based mediums go, I was always a really good knitter and felter as a kid. I’ve been highly sensitive all my life and I remember wanting to make things that felt sentient and fantastic and captivating. Although I was always obsessed with costumes, sets and decorating, my practice in itself used to be very heavily limited to drawing, ceramics, painting and occasionally silkscreening. Then, I slowly started integrating cartoons and collages and eventually moved to watercolours. I took a sculpture course in fall 2016 and a ceramics course in winter 2018 and I think that was what really started to push me in the right direction. I made a wizard costume in January 2017 and my first puppet in spring 2017, right around when I went down a wormhole of revisiting James and the Giant Peach, The Neverending Story and other beautifully handcrafted puppet-based films. I have been in love with exploring puppetry, set building and costumes, and combining the two ever since. My most recent costume, a puppet dollhouse castle that I wear with my face sticking out the middle and my legs out the bottom, is a sincere expression of this growing infatuation with exploring this self-sustained medium.”

How have Concordia and Montreal, vs.

B.C., influenced your work, if at all?

“Growing up in Victoria was fulfilling in a mystical way, considering how spiritually charged the environment is, and how a lot of weird stuff happens because of that, but

it was also, hilariously, a lot of being bored and creating your own fun. Which lead, curiously, to spending a lot of time with friends galavanting around in costumes, taking photos and sneaking about. This kind of carefree, goofy, creative habit and attitude is definitely something I feel like inherently exists in Montreal, which makes it a prime stomping ground for authentic exploration and fun, something I feel is a vital piece to the puzzling growth of my work.”

In general, what are some influences within your work?

“I think the things I’m most drawn to are always in flux, but I’m attracted to things that feel like a mirror to my subconscious, and things that appear as endearing surprises.

This can be anything that dips into unlearning censorship and encouraging mischief and chaos and involuntary tomfoolery (but coming from a place of tenderness of course!). Specifically, I’ve always been very inspired by goofy medieval art, as well as absent-minded scribbles and children's drawings. Recently I’ve been really getting into enchanting environmental facets like shadows and lightning and rainbows and old memories and bugs. And I’ll always be in love with teeth and wind chimes and secret passages and antiques and old things in general too! Fairy tales, things that are poorly sewn together, towers and cobwebs and dreams are in my heart and 100 per cent unavoidably evident now as an influence in my practice. I think a lot of things that influence me too are ultimately based on what connects the most to how I see and feel things, trying to understand the foam bubbling in my brain. It’s likely why I’m so attracted to odds and ends that are magically charged, anything that tugs at the intuitive heart strings in my chest is something I try to learn from and pursue.”

Desmarais has participated in several local art shows in Victoria, B.C. More of their work can be found at @goodknight_ted on Instagram.

BODY SO FLUORESCENT A one-woman show featuring Amanda Cordner asks questions about blackness, otherness and oppression. Fluorescent, written in two parts, is about Gary, a gay, white male, and Desiree, a straight, black woman, who are trying to figure out how they ended up in an explosive fight the night before. In the process, Desiree goes through the motions of trying to imagine what her life would be like as Gary and stunning revelations are made.

When: Jan. 16 and 19 at 9 p.m., and Jan. 18 at 7 p.m.

HYENA SUBPOENA Another one-woman show, Hyena is performed

by Montreal’s own Cat Kidd. The storyline is inspired by Kidd’s tour in South Africa in 2007.

Mona Morse, Kidd’s character and the narrator of the poems based on the trip, shows the connection between humans and animals.

She shows how both species are quite similar by bending the boundaries between human and animal form on stage.

When: Jan. 15 and 17 at 7 p.m. and Jan. 20 at 3 p.m.

CRIME AFTER CRIME (AFTER CRIME) This is the story of three different crime periods in Crime City: a film noir of the 50s, a heist of the 70s, and a buddy cop story of the 90s.

The comedy thriller, full of everything you hope to see in a cop production—murder, mystery, car chases and more—won the Just For Laughs Best Comedy Award at the 2018 Montreal Fringe Festival.

When: Jan. 15 at 9 p.m. and Jan. 16 at 7 p.m.

SAPIENTIA The story of Sapientia comes from Hroswitha of Gandersheim, a poetess of 10th century Germany. It’s about the Christian martyrdom of a woman and her three daughters as they face persecution.

Instead of people, the Scapegoat Carnivale Production company uses everyday objects such as mirrors, teacups and pomegranates to let the story unfold.

When: Jan. 17 and 18 at 9 p.m., and Jan. 19 at 3 p.m.

THE GENTLE ART OF PUNISHMENT This multidisciplinary performance—filled with dance, music and text—is a piece about three young women unravelling their childhoods in a dream-like narrative. It is a piece that was created by the Daughter Product, a group of young female Montreal artists. The Gentle Art of Punishment explores the world we live in today, what it means to be a woman in today’s world and what we do when dealing with a crisis.

When: Jan. 19 and 20 at 7 p.m.

To purchase tickets, visit centaurtheatre. com/wildside-festival.html.

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

music

MUSIC EDITOR /// music@theconcordian.com SIMON NEW

SHOW REVIEW

Creating musical theatre in the moment

The Jazz Ands insert improv comedy into their performance for an hour of excitement KENNETH GIBSON STAFF WRITER Winter’s deep freeze had just begun last Thursday, when the Jazz Ands performed the first of four upcoming monthly improvised musical theatre shows at Montreal Improv.

Nonetheless, a full room of eager audience members awaited the troupe when they hit the stage displaying the kind of enthusiasm people have come to expect from musical theatre types.

That particular brand of earnest passion can be summed up in a term we’re all familiar with now, “jazz hands,” and the troupe’s name is a actually a pun combining that term with the “Yes, and” rule from improv theatre.

They began by simply asking the audience to name a location where people might gather, and an object. The audience offered up a cabin in the woods and a vase.

With that, the Jazz Ands set off to create an hour-long musical completely off the top of their heads. Pianist Marie Fatima Rudolf provided the musical accompaniment and vital music cues that helped keep the performers on track.

As you can imagine, the plot became increasingly absurd and convoluted, but that’s a large part of where the comedy comes from.

All the members of the Jazz Ands have been performing improv theatre in Montreal for many years. Adina Katz first met other troupe members Sandi Armstrong, Heidi Lynne Weeks and Mariana Vial about 10 years ago while performing improv at Théâtre Sainte-Catherine. Around the same time, Bryan Walsh was founding the Montreal Improv and the four of them fell into being the house troupe in the early days of the venue.

Katz would go on to leave Montreal for

Mariana Vial, Coco Belliveau, Sandi Armstrong, Heidi Lynne Weeks and Adina Katz of the Jazz Ands introduce themselves to the audience. Photo by Kenneth Gibson.

a while, studying musical improv at the Magnet Theater, an improv comedy theatre and school in New York City, as well as The Second City in Chicago. When she returned to Montreal, Katz was the driving force behind introducing more musical elements to the improv performed and taught at Montreal Improv.

“Witnessing the huge scene of musical improv in New York and Chicago,[...] I’m like ‘I want to come back to Montreal and this is one of the things I want to do, I want to teach, I want to have my own troupe,’” Katz said.

So when Katz returned to Montreal in 2017, she reached out to her old friends in the improv scene and convinced them to start the Jazz Ands, adding Coco Belliveau after seeing her sing during an improv

performance at Théâtre Sainte-Catherine.

Despite the other members being a little nervous due to a lack of extensive musical theatre backgrounds, Katz knew their long history of improv performance would carry them through. That wealth of experience showed on stage. Notably, the musical they performed didn’t overly suffer from the pitfalls you might expect of unrehearsed performance, namely aimlessness and lack of narrative punch.

Sure, none of the songs they came up with are going to win a Tony Award anytime soon, and it had a slightly anarchic quality that comes from scriptless performance.

Even so, there ended up being a defined narrative arch, vivid characters and a dramatic “shock” ending.

Katz does now teach musical improv

at Montreal Improv. Happily, many of her students have gone on to form their own musical improv troupes, helping to grow this kind of performance in Montreal.

“It comes from just pure love and the fun of it, and it needs to be happening in Montreal. It’s so much fun to do and so much fun to watch,” Katz said.

The Jazz Ands will perform three more shows over the next three months. Each will be thematic, with February, of course, being romance-centric, and April being dedicated to spring. Katz encourages all fans of theatre to come out to a show, even those that may not have considered improv performance before.

“Even if you’ve never seen improv, but you like musical theatre, let’s say, come watch us goofballs improvise a show,” Katz said.

Quickspins MEEK MILL

CHAMPIONSHIPS Atlantic Records Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill, who recently made headlines for his issues with the law, uses his fourth studio album Championships as a public service announcement to the world. In the lengthy, 19-track project, Mill outlines the discrimination of the justice system against minorities in the United States, as well as the struggles and limitations faced by those in

communities of lower socioeconomic status.

In “Intro,” the Philly artist sets the precedent, gradually gaining intensity over a nostalgic, creative sample of Phil Collins’s “In the Air Tonight”. He discusses the complex life of trials and tribulations he faced as a youth in the rough neighbourhood of North Philadelphia.

With a long list of notable features including Drake, Cardi B and Kodak Black, the project’s songs cover a wide array of themes. Mill discusses his relationships with different women on softer, more sensual tracks like “24/7,” featuring up-and-coming British R&B singer Ella Mai. He completely switches gears on tracks like “Uptown Vibes,” which features veteran rapper Fabolous and Reggaeton artist Anuel AA over a triumphant, horn-heavy trap instrumental.

Mill clearly attempted to please all kinds of fans with versatile

songs throughout the album.

It was Mill’s recent controversial convictions on an unrelated probation sentencing that occurred over 10 years ago that sparked his activism. He has vowed to bring injustice towards minorities in America to light, and Championships is the most recent proof of his work for the greater good.

8.5/10  TRIAL TRACK: Oodles O’ Noodles Babies  STAR BAR: “Victim to the system like a raindrop in the ocean They closin’ all the schools and all the prisons gettin' open” (from the track “Championships”) — IMMANUEL MATTHEWS ASSISTANT MUSIC EDITOR

MAC MILLER

SWIMMING Warner Bros. Records In early August 2018, one month before his untimely passing, Mac Miller released h i s f if t h stu d io a l b u m , Swimming. Almost two years since his previous release, Miller returned with his most complete body of work.

His last major release, The Divine Feminine , painted a picture of Miller in love and happier than ever. In stark contrast, Swimming is

Miller at his loneliest, most troubled, and introspective.

This album delves deeply into his mental state, substance abuse problems and heartbreak, while highlighting the anguish that follows. His reflection on these exper iences comes across as wise and extremely selfaware, sounding like a man at peace with his reality. Even in its lighter moments, such as with the funk-infused, Thundercat-assisted jam “What’s the Use?,” Miller is still dealing with his demons.

At its darkest, Swimming tells the tale of a man wounded, drowning in a sea of selfdoubt, self-meditation and self-medication.

The album's strongest moment, “2009,” is gorgeous, starting off with a swell of violins that lead into a beautiful piano loop. Lyrically, Miller reflects on his career and his

journey, from his breakout mixtape, to 2018. Miller ’s career was one to behold. From stoner-friendly frat rapper to one of the most diverse and talented people in hip hop, his growth was astounding. With every release, he got better and better. Swimming is Mac Miller's best album and one of the best albums of 2018.

9.5/10  TRIAL TRACK: 2009  STAR BAR: “You gotta jump in to swim Well, the light was dim in this life of sin Now every day I wake up and breathe I don't have it all but that's alright with me” — WESLEY MCLEAN STAFF WRITER

JANUARY 15, 2019

theconcordian

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GENRE

Why world music doesn’t (or shouldn’t) exist A ca s e a gainst a genre that general ize s t he p la n e t SARAH BOUMEDDA STAFF WRITER When someone talks to you about pop music, you have a certain idea of what that sounds like. The same goes for rock and its various subgenres: punk, metal, grunge. Likewise, if I say I like hip hop or R&B, you can somewhat tell what kind of sound I’m into. But what about world music? What does that evoke?

Does it even mean anything at all?

The term “world music” is not only odd, but it is also sometimes used in a way that’s almost perversely Western-centric. When scouring Apple Music’s genres, for example, you’ll see pop, alternative, hip hop, rock, country, and jazz as some of the main genres. Then, at the bottom of the list, the “world” section sits, devoid of any indicator as to exactly what you’ll find inside.

Though surprising at first, there is such a concept as world music—and it is in total opposition to the “genre” found on various streaming apps, containing music from all over the world with no distinction of style.

In North America, one of the first definitions of world music dates back to the 1960s and was coined by ethnomusicologist Robert Brown.

As Brown founded the World Music Program at Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1965, his goal was to put Western music on the same proportional ground as other musical trends across the globe. The term “world music” actually referred to music from across the world, separated into traditions that pertained to certain geographical boundaries. Thus, the term was meant to be inclusive—not distinguishing Western music from other trends, but putting it on the same stand as everything else.

Brown’s definition of the term, however, did not catch on elsewhere in the United States. The 1970s brought the creation of more institutions with a focus on “world music.” Those institutions would use the term to define “non-Western” or “ethnic” musical trends—something that seemingly has remained until today, to a certain extent. The name became popular to a point where we now have an entire Billboard chart (established in the 1990s) dedicated to this new marketed “genre.”

But now, in 2019, as you look down that chart, a couple of things stand out. As of Jan. 12, the top 12 albums on Billboard’s Top World Albums Chart were released by South Korean K-Pop groups, who perform typically pop, hip hop, or EDM-influenced music. This time last year, Billboard's top 10 featured K-Pop sensation BTS at the top (hip hop, South Korea), rival group EXO following right behind (R&B, South Korea), and a potluck of international artists: Trio Da Kali and Kronos Quartet (traditional griot, Mali), Celtic Thunder (Celtic folk, Ireland), Residente (hip hop, Puerto Rico). Seemingly, the only similarity between these artists is their non-Americanness, and possibly, the language in which they perform.

St reaming apps, such as Spotif y and Apple Music, have already started making efforts—half-assed, but efforts nonetheless—in endowing their platforms with more inclusive labels. Spotify has no world-labelled genre subsection. Instead,

Left to right: Albums from Red Velvet, Paramore, Green Day, SHINee, K-pop coexisting with American punk. Photo by Sarah Boumedda.

it has specific, geographically-based ones: Arab, Desi (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh), Afro (non-Arab, often Black artists from Africa), K-Pop and Latin. Apple Music follows a similar trend, with K-Pop and Latino genre labels, yet still provides a world section, with a patchwork selection of genres.

However, the issue with such geographical labels is that, while efficient and somewhat seemingly inclusive, they still make an odd distinction of the “other.”

Does your streaming app offer a “Western” subgenre?

Yeah. That’s what I thought.

These geographical labels can be useful—especially if you’re curious about music in a certain language, or from a specific country—but shouldn’t constitute genres in and of themselves. While this could have been different a century ago, the truth is that artists from across the planet now perform in a wide range of styles, regardless of borders. Geographical distinctions can—even should—exist alongside musical distinctions.

Here’s an idea: bring the “world” artists in the “Western” genres. Get NCT 127 (urban hip hop, South Korea) to compete with other pop or hip hop artists.

Bring Babylone (indie folk, Algeria) into the folk charts. Don’t keep Maritta, Hallani’s latest album, Maritta (pop, Lebanon), to a style limited by the language she sings in. In fact, this isn’t a novel idea: Spanish singer Rosalía was featured in both Apple Music’s World and Pop genre sections with her album El mal querer, a brilliant flamenco record infused with R&B and pop influences. So, why not do the same for everyone?

Student discounts at Laser Quest Montréal Students from Concordia can benefit from a discounted price of

$6/PERSON

PER REGULAR MISSION Available Monday to Thursday starting after Labour Day weekend until the end of May at the presentation of a valid student I.D. card.

sports

SPORTS EDITOR /// sports@theconcordian.com NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI ( @n_digiovanni)

PROFILE

Setting his sights on the future

Simon Bourque left professional hockey to study at Concordia

Simon Bourque said he chose Concordia because he felt comfortable here. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

ALEC BRIDEAU ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

On June 30, 2018, the Canadiens traded Bourque to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for forward Joel Armia, goaltender Steve Mason, and two draft picks.

“The experience I gained during my career will allow me to come [to Concordia] with maybe a different vision of hockey and the way it is played,” said Bourque about his career the past few seasons. “I will be able to share that with the boys and, at the same time, it will add to my curriculum vitae," he added.

Bourque explained that his decision of playing hockey at the university level and joining the Stingers is because he wants to earn a degree and focus on his career outside of hockey.

“I could not see myself continuing to play at a professional level without a bachelor’s degree,” Bourque said.

“I wanted to have a security with that bachelor’s degree in my pocket when I decide [playing professional hockey] is over for me and move on to something else.”

The defenceman added that education has always been important for him, and he’s always achieved good grades in school.

Despite Bourque’s hockey success, his intentions to complete a bachelor’s degree never changed.

The Concordia Stingers men’s “For sure, with the opportunity I had hockey team announced on Nov. 29 that to play [hockey] at a professional level, I defenceman Simon Bourque, a sixthtold myself to at least try and see after,” round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft by Bourque said. “However, I always had in the Montreal Canadiens, would commit mind to take that decision [of completing a to the team in January. bachelor’s degree].”

It was big news for the Stingers and U After playing 46 games with the Laval Sports when the the 22-year-old signed a Rocket last season, Bourque decided to letter of intent announcing he would join pursue that dream, and that’s when Élement them. Stingers head coach Marc-André and the Stingers approached him. He saw Élément said on the Stingers's website himself as a Concordia student right away. that Bourque will have an immediate “It's the team that had the best approach impact on the program. He added that for me personally. I thought we had a fit,” the defenceman “is an exceptional player, Bourque said. “I thought me and Élément student and leader,” and many teams had a good personality match. I liked his were after him. program, and it corresponded with what The Longueuil native played nearly 250 I wanted to live. It was also in Montreal, games in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey so the location was good. Everything was League (QMJHL) with the Rimouski Océanic fitting well together.” and Saint John Sea Dogs, winning the Bourque's arrival happens just after league championships in 2015 and 2017. the midway through the Stingers’s regular Bourque also played in the American season. The Stingers are in a tight battle in Hockey League (AHL) for the St. John’s the standings, in sixth place with 25 points, IceCaps and the Laval Rocket, affiliated just three points behind third. clubs of the Canadiens.

“I want us to perform, that's for sure,” Bourque said. “However, it is mainly about having fun and getting in the beat of university.”

Bourque describes his game as efficient and hates making mistakes.

The defenceman occasionally joins the rush, but said he never forgets his main role.

“I always think defensively first,” Bourque said. “However, I am a defenceman who supports the offence a lot, and helps the forwards to produce offensively.”

Bourque, who wears number 74 with his new team, has played four games with the Stingers so far and has three assists. They have a Bourque won two league championships while playing major junior hockey. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

3-1-0 record with him.

COLOUR COMMENTARY WITH NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI The Montreal Canadiens aren’t that bad of a team this year. They have a 24-17-5 record, sitting in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 53 points. Despite this, there are still fans who believe the Habs should lose in order to get a better draft pick. Yes, more than halfway through the season, and in a playoff spot, Canadiens fans want their team to lose.

Sure, most people including myself did not see the Habs as a playoff team at the beginning of the season. But here they are, fighting for a playoff spot and looking like a good team. The only reason people are suggesting them to tank is because the structure of the NHL season allows them to.

At the end of the season, the 15 non-playoff teams enter the NHL Draft Lottery for a chance to win a top-three pick in the upcoming draft in June. The worst team in the league has an 18.5 per cent chance of picking first, with the odds decreasing until the best team remaining has a one per cent chance. Logically, losing means a better shot at securing the league’s next big star in the draft.

Pa st team s like th e 2014 -15 Buffalo Sabres or the 2015-16 Toronto Maple Leafs tanked in order to get generational talent in the draft, but that stuff isn’t good for the league.

In simple terms, you play sports to win, not lose. Sports at a professional level should also act as a role model for young fans, so the NHL has to put an end to this mentality because losing should never be rewarded.

I understand the NHL, like most other North American sports leagues that use a draft lotter y system, wants to have parity in the league.

That’s why it only makes sense to make weak teams stronger through the draft. But the NHL needs to come up with a way to have teams competitive all-year long.

One system I’ve seen suggested is eliminated-teams standings where teams fight for a higher draft pick.

Once a team is mathematic ally eliminated from the playoffs, they start accumulating points for these draft-pick standings. For example, if the Philadelphia Flyers get eliminated with 20 games left, they will have to battle hard in that final stretch to f inish f irst in a f ight for the number-one pick. It still gives them a better chance of earning points than a hockey team that is eliminated on the final day of the regular season, and can’t collect points. This way, it keeps fans entertained all season long, and ensures that teams stay competitive.

JANUARY 15, 2019

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CLUBS

Concordia Esports starting intramural league President says League of Legends will be the first game available for casual gamers Archive graphic by Zeze Le Lin.

NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI SPORTS EDITOR The Concordia Esports Association (CESA ) wants to expand from its competitive teams and organize an intramural league for students. President Dimitri Kontogiannos said the club is looking for people to play League of Legends in a fun, non-competitive environment. ”We’ve seen there are a lot of students that want to play in Concordia," Kontogiannos said. “So there was a lack of structured events for people who are a lower caliber or just don’t want to play on the competitive team.”

Kontogiannos said CESA is starting with League of Legends as its inaugural intramural game because it has the biggest following on campus. Games will be on Friday nights and players can sign up either as an individual and be put in a team, or a team can sign up together. Although the club will start with one game, they hope to expand to Overwatch and Super Smash Bros in the future.

The intramural league will be organized independently from Concordia, unlike the intramural leagues with traditional sports such as hockey, soccer, and basketball.

Despite this, Stingers athletic director D’Arcy Ryan believes there’s room for growth for Esports at Concordia.

“Montreal is a hotbed of talent in the gaming industry because of some of the big companies like Ubisoft and CGI,” Ryan said. “We have the academic talent with programmers in the engineering faculty, so I think there’s a great potential for a partnership between the academic and recreational side to promote the gaming market."

Kontogiannos has also seen Esports grow at the university level across the country. “All schools see the popularity and growth of Esports,” he said. “There’s significant interest in Canadian schools.

At Concordia, [it’s] because of inclusiveness, and they use sport as a means to attract new students.”

Through the intramural league, CESA wants to introduce students, particularly first-years, to other students that share their passion. First-year students can focus too much on video games, according to League of Legends team manager Guillaume Bélisle.

“They play too many video games in the first year and then crash and burn [mentally],” Bélisle said in an interview

with The Concordian in September. “Then in the second and third year, they will focus more on their studies. It’s all about balance.”

“In my first semester, this is the way I met people at the school,” Kontogiannos added. “I didn’t have many friends coming from Dawson to my program, so to find new people was one of the catalysts as to why I joined [CESA].”

Kontogiannos also believes video games play an important role in integrating new students from abroad. “[League of Legends] transcends countries,” he said.

“It’s not just in North America that people play it, but also in Europe, in Asia, and even the Oceanic region. It’s a game the

school can really benefit from by having organized activities around it.”

The president also wants to use the intramural league to potentially recruit players for their competitive team. “We just want people to have fun,” he said.

“But it always ends up with us looking at new talent that’s popping up around Concordia, or seeing talented players that we didn’t have the chance to see before.”

Still, Kontogiannos wants the players to enjoy it. “I hope there are some good games. I know non-competitive players tend to stray out of the competitive strategies, so it’s a whole new game.”

To sign up for the intramural league, you can visit CESA’s Facebook page.

SKIING

How to avoid your wallet going downhill From Sutton to Saint-Sauveur, what's the best hill for students to hit the slopes?

NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI SPORTS EDITOR With school starting up again, we all know we’re going to get hit with unwanted stress in the coming weeks. Sports are a great way to have fun and can even reduce stress during the semester.

With winter also hitting us hard, it becomes a bit tougher to get outside and stay active.

That’s why skiing is a great way to go out with some friends and forget about reality for a few hours. But skiing can be very expensive, especially for a student, so here are a few student-friendly mountains in Quebec you could visit.

MONT SUT TON: Loc ated in the Eastern Townships, about a 90-minute drive from Montreal, Mont Sutton is one of the bigger mountains in the province.

It has 60 trails, including many glades, with a wide range of difficulties, but its $68 price tag for a day pass is costly. They offer reduced prices for students at $46, $37 for an afternoon pass (12-4:30 p.m.),

or for just $25, you can access three of the nine chair lifts, which take you to some easy and intermediate trails. For beginners, equipment rental is also at a reduced price for students.

SOMMET SAINT-SAUVEUR: One of the closer mountains to Montreal, Saint-Sauveur, doesn’t offer student prices. Instead, skiing here is cheaper than at most mountains, and you save money if you buy online. A regular

ticket costs $53 online, but if you buy a night pass (3 p.m. until 10 p.m.) online, it’s $40. If that’s still too costly for you, Sommet Gabriel, Sommet Morin Heights, and Sommet Olympia are smaller nearby hills you can go to for much cheaper. For example, Friday night tickets at Sommet Gabriel are $18.

MONT HABITANT: Close to SaintSauveur, Mont Habitant is a hill that’s good for learners, or for people on a budget.

They have promotional prices for night skiing on the weekend where you can rent equipment along with your lift ticket for under $40. Night skiing is a truly beautiful experience that any skier should have.

There are less people on the mountain at night, so unless the temperature drops to -20 C, it’s a calming ski session.

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

MONT-TREMBLANT: The alpha of ski mountains in Quebec is probably out of any student’s price range, but worth mentioning. Mont-Tremblant’s mountain is 2,870 feet high with 102 runs, attracting people from all over the world.

opinions OPINIONS EDITOR /// opinions@theconcordian.com SANIA MALIK

EDITORIAL

Standing in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people We often hear the word “reconciliation” and think of positive connotations: restoring relationships between people, or trying to make certain views more compatible. But it seems that this word is losing its power and its positivity, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau uses it as a buzzword when speaking about the relationship between the government and Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Of course, we have to realize that this word comes up so often because of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Yet, Trudeau very cunningly uses the word to satisfy settlers who don’t follow Indigenous issues too closely, but vaguely know that some compensation is in order.

We believe that, in the background, reconciliation is low on the Canadian government’s list of priorities. At least, it is below economic gain. This has been evident in abundant clarity by the government’s response to recent protests by the Wet’suwet’en people and allies in British Columbia against the TransCanada Pipeline.

We at The Concordian strongly stand with the Wet’suwet’en people and their protest against the pipeline being built on their territory.

A court order from Dec. 14, 2018 granted TransCanada an injunction that allows them access to the construction site and to remove the blockade, according to The Guardian.

Dozens of protestors gathered on Jan. 7 to block the construction of the Coastal

GasLink, a natural gas pipeline, which is a $40 billion project by TransCanada, according to CBC. The RCMP arrested 14 protestors at the pipeline blockade last week.

TransCanada has said that they have the support of Indigenous leaders along the proposed route. On Thursday, Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs came to an agreement, after three days of meetings with the RCMP, but this is not a decision that reflects their true wishes. "We are adamantly opposed to this proposed project and that will never change, but we are here to ensure the safety of our people," said Chief Na'Moks, who was present at the meetings, according to CBC. We at The Concordian think it’s clear that this is another case of Indigenous Peoples’s voices being ignored. It’s another occurrence of Indigenous land being taken, despite laws and agreements being put in place to protect that very land. Trudeau

himself stated multiple times during his campaign that he would not allow projects on Indigenous Peoples’s land without their explicit consent.

When we hear Trudeau bring up reconciliation and partnership between Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian government, we can’t help but feel skeptical. Constructing a massive pipeline on stolen land in the first place is wrong—how can our leader “work alongside” Indigenous Peoples while simultaneously taking what is rightfully theirs? It’s evident that there is not a clear and honest dialogue taking place. In fact, these recent events that have transpired highlight just how far we have left in order to truly reach reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. Oftentimes, when we think of reconciliation, we only focus on the context of past colonial violence.

These events are showing us that that is

not enough—injustice towards Indigenous Peoples is not isolated to the past; it is ongoing.

Enforcing the submission of Indigenous Peoples to the interests of colonisers is in fact the reason that the RCMP was created in the first place. John A. MacDonald established the then-named North-West Mounted Police in 1873 to enforce laws created by the Department of Indian Affairs, such as confining Indigenous Peoples to reserves or outlawing their religious ceremonies.

The RCMP’s website says their origins lie in “implementing the law in Canada's newly acquired western territories.” Obviously, that’s not the whole story. In fact, one of the earliest tasks of the mounties was to help negotiate treaties with Indigenous Chiefs, getting them to sign by promising only good will—a promise that Indigenous Peoples soon saw was not, in fact, made in good will.

It’s no surprise that today, Indigenous Peoples are being coerced out of their land rights by our government in favour of highly valued (and highly toxic) construction projects. It would be foolish to trust the government to respect Indigenous rights—and beyond foolish to trust their supposed desire for reconciliation. This is why we at The Concordian commend the many protestors that are opposing the pipeline, and encourage you to stay informed about Indigenous issues and rights, and participate in direct action as much as possible.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

FEMINISM

A woman’s worth is beyond her hymen

Society needs to realize that a woman’s value goes beyond her virginity, her body, and her looks YOUMNA EL HALABI STAFF WRITER In Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution, author Mona Eltahawy writes: “The god of virginity is popular in the Arab world. It doesn’t matter if you’re a person of faith or an atheist, Muslim or Christian—everybody worships the god of virginity. Everything possible is done to keep the hymen—that most fragile foundation upon which the god of virginity sits— intact.”

Eltahawy’s words resonate on an international spectrum. If one were to read those words without the emphasis on “the Arab world,” it would almost be inevitable to link it to one’s own environment. Society’s obsession with a woman’s hymen can feel suffocating, and the older I get, the harder it is to run away from it.

I have come to realize that a woman’s place in society is often related to her body.

As a little girl, she is immediately deemed weaker than her male counterparts because of a different physical build. As a teenager, her outbursts are linked to a “certain time of the month.” As a young adult, her hymen

determines whether she is a prude or a slut.

Past the age of 32, her biological clock is ticking. Will she be having more or any kids at all? Will she be able to juggle a successful career, as well as a healthy and stable marriage? Can women really have it all?

To quote The Simpsons’s favourite justice seeker, Lisa Simpson, “The whole damn system is wrong!” Unfortunately, such values are embedded in a person’s mind. Even when defending women’s rights, people tend to take into account that a woman’s body creates life, and maintain that we must respect it.

Isn’t it ridiculous that a man’s physique is never used to enforce reverence, but a woman’s is almost a prerequisite? Granted, pregnancy is no thing to take lightly, and

childbirth is not considered a miracle for nothing. However, why must it be a qualification of utmost importance? And why is it that a woman’s sexuality must determine her value in society?

A few months ago, university students at the Lebanese American University in Beirut shared their take on a woman’s virginity on Instagram, via an account called The Daily Question. Men and women gathered around to answer two simple questions: Would you marry a woman who is not a virgin? Would you respect a man who refuses to marry a non-virgin woman?

Although a number of students insisted that a woman’s sexuality is none of anyone’s business, it is the rather sexist responses of

some that took me aback. Most importantly, a man comparing a woman to a can of Pepsi.

His words were along the lines of, “say you go to your local dépanneur, and ask him to give you a can of Pepsi. Would you go for the one that has been opened and drunk from by various people or a new, unopened can, for your pleasure only?”

Being acquainted with years of female objectification did not lessen my shock when I heard such foul words. True, it should come as no surprise that for some, women are still, to this day, no different from objects, but this was a new low.

I bare no ill-will towards “virgin” men who expressed their need for a “virgin” bride, so they can discover their sexual lives together.

What I am appalled by are the men—and women—who agree that a man should be sexually experienced, while a woman must remain pure.

This constant need to tarnish a woman for her sexual prowesses, or lack thereof, has to stop. A woman’s value goes beyond her hymen, beyond her looks, beyond her body. A woman must be measured by her words, her actions, her strength and fortitude. And most importantly, a woman’s actions are nobody’s business.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

JANUARY 15, 2019

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INDIGENOUS ISSUES

News flash: Your ignorance is your own choice Why settlers should take Indigenous-related courses in university and step out of ignorant bubbles KATHERINE VEHAR CONTRIBUTOR When I think back to what I learned about Indigenous Peoples in Canada in elementary and high school, I honestly can’t remember much. I can remember being taught about sedentary and nomadic tribes and that the first inhabitants of North America arrived around 10,000 years ago by crossing the Bering Strait, a theory which has been heavily disproven. However, once we reached the 15th century, we quickly set aside and forgot about Indigenous history and focused solely on the Europeans, who had “discovered” this “barren” land.

To this day, I can still tell you the historical significance of places like Montreal’s Hôtel-Dieu and the Plains of Abraham. I can tell you all about Jean Talon and Samuel de Champlain and the importance of the seigneurial system in Quebec.

However, my knowledge about Indigenous Peoples in Canada is nowhere near as extensive. I am a settler who, up until my post-secondary education, had only been exposed to the opinions of other settlers. So, when I was taught about events like the Oka Crisis and Residential schools, they were explained as incidences that happened in the past. We never spoke about the influences that these events still have on today’s Indigenous Peoples.

As I would come to find out in my later years, what I had been taught about the history of Indigenous Peoples in Canada

Graphic by @spooky_soda

was only the first page of a multivolume anthology of injustices and social suffering.

Hence, it should come as no surprise that I describe my first introductory course, Native Peoples of North America, as a humbling experience. I quickly realized that what I had been taught about Indigenous Peoples throughout my academic career, and by the media that I consumed, was shrouded in prejudice and delusions.

Through class discussions, I was able to find solace in the fact that I was not the only one who felt as though they were unacquainted with the often egregious acts Indigenous Peoples were, and continue to be, subjected to. Many expressed having high school experiences similar to my own, regarding the information, or lack thereof, that they received. Feelings of bitterness and ignorance were shared by many of

us in that class.

Furthermore, international students in the class admitted that they never realized that Canada had such a dark history. They were stunned, as I was, by the country’s ability to hide its racism from the rest of the world. This skill has granted us the international reputation of being one of the friendliest nations on Earth. However, our past and current mistreatment of Indigenous Peoples and their land certainly doesn’t quality for praise.

There is clearly a need for us, as settlers living in Canada, to acknowledge this country’s colonial legacy, while also recognizing the resilience and resistance of Indigenous Peoples. However, how can this be achieved if some are still ignorant to what is really going on?

In order to be supportive allies, we need

to be well-informed and open-minded to both the issues at hand and their historicity. Our progress lies in the ways we are educated about Canada’s history. Present and future Canadians must be taught the truth—from elementary to university, and beyond.

What is most rewarding about taking these courses is the opportunity they grant for open and honest discussions about taboo topics. Personally, I found that being able to hear from guest speakers and individuals from different Indigenous communities was invaluable. These interactions enabled myself, as well as my classmates, to challenge our implicit biases and recognize that we all share a common humanity.

Having access to courses and resources about Indigenous issues, culture, and history is fundamental if we are serious about ensuring that all members of the future Canadian society are treated fairly.

The good news is that we go to a school in which these things are available to us.

Concordia offers courses with Indigenous content in programs such as anthropology and history. Better yet, Concordia’s First People Studies department offers courses and events which cover a wide array of topics from political and social issues, to those of health and storytelling. Willfully choosing to stay ignorant when given the opportunity to be informed is nonsensical.

I encourage you all to consider taking a course with Indigenous content during your academic career.

FA M I LY

The cost of having a wonderful holiday One student’s experience with coming to Canada, Christmas, and consumerism

TAIBAT ADEYEMI CONTRIBUTOR Whenever my siblings and I asked for a family vacation, my Nigerian mother would say: “How can you go on a vacation when you are already at a vacation destination?” For most Nigerians back home, travelling to a country like Canada would be seen as travel destination but also a place to dwell. However, what happens after we settle here? We consume ourselves with school, work and bills, then travel back home once in a while during the holidays. This has become a repetitive cycle, and sadly it is one that my family found itself in for many years until recently.

The meaning of holiday has changed drastically for my family over the years.

In Nigeria, we made the most out of every holiday. This included going back and forth visiting family members from my mother’s side to my father’s side and them paying us a visit. There was always an exchange of cooked meals between neighbours and decorating the house for Christmas.

Living in Canada has completely changed these practices because we are no longer surrounded by the families we used to visit and spend time with. Consequently, the holiday spirit died down in my family.

The cold weather that I am still not used to prevents me from partaking in fun activities in Montreal such as celebrating Christmas at Parc des Compagnons-de-Saint-Laurent.

There are also other factors that killed our holiday spirit. The first being that working parents, especially those not in the professional field, have fewer vacation days than most. This makes it hard to travel as a family—especially if raised by a single parent.

My mother works at a factory and is only allowed two weeks of paid vacation every year, which is nothing when you consider

travelling expenses.

Another factor to consider is the millennial culture of balancing work and school which makes us drained by the time the holidays approach. Therefore, holidays are merely seen as work days with only a few days off, since most employers will want you to work during the holidays.

I view it as resting days from school, work, and even a break from the social life that I swear I will catch up on once I get the time.

These factors put a strain on getting the family together and being festive during

the holidays.

That being said, various strategies have helped to bring my family together, despite the struggles and the lack of holiday spirit. A tradition that we have maintained is sticking to the true meaning of Christmas, and that is spending Christmas day at church. Thankfully, various churches in Montreal offer different activities on that day for those who attend, such as carol nights, potlucks, and plays. I believe one of the advantages of sticking to the traditional meaning behind Christmas is that it takes the stress of buying gifts away, which has only amplified consumer culture.

But of course, when you do get a gift, it is appreciated and unexpected.

Another strategy that we started is a tradition of binge-watching a Netflix show during the holidays in new pyjamas.

During this, phones are not allowed, and a penalty is usually set for whoever breaks this rule; this keeps everyone at bay. Ultimately, every member of the family is allowed their personal space to do whatever they want after the New Year. Despite the age gap among my siblings and I, we truly enjoy the holidays now due to the effort that we have invested into it as a family. After all, the holidays are what you make of them, and what better way to celebrate them than as a family?

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

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theconcordian

JANUARY 15, 2019 Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth.

Happy 2019! ppy

Happy 19!2019!

To those of you returning from the holiday break, welcome back!

If you are joining our community for a first term, I hope you’ll enjoy everything Concordia has to offer.

I’d like to invite all of you to bring a mug and join me for a Back-to-School Get-Together with snacks and fair trade coffee and tea:

• January 8, 2:00 to 3:30 at Loyola in the SP Atrium • January 3:30 at SGW, To those 9, of 2:00 you to returning fromEV theAtrium holiday break, welcome back!

eturningIffrom the holiday break, welcome back! you are joining our community for a first term, I hope you’ll enjoy everything

Concordia has to offer. our community for a first term, I hope you’ll enjoy everything of Shepard you to bring a mug and join me for a Back-to-School Get-Together offer. I’d like to invite all Alan with snacks and President fair trade coffee and tea:

of you to bring a mug and join me for a Back-to-School Get-Together alan.shepard@concordia.ca • January 8, 2:00 to 3:30 at Loyola in the SP Atrium ir trade•coffee tea:to 3:30 at SGW, EV Atrium January and 9, 2:00

concordia.ca

o 3:30 at Loyola in the SP Atrium o 3:30 at SGW, EV Atrium Alan Shepard President alan.shepard@concordia.ca

concordia.ca

Alan Shepard President alan.shepard@concordia.ca

concordia.ca

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CONTRIBUTORS: Katherine Vehar, Kenneth Gibson, Sarah Boumedda, Taibat Adeyemi, Wesley McLean, Youmna El Halabi

Concordia University’s weekly, independent student newspaper VOL. 36, ISSUE 15 JAN. 15, 2019.

OUR COVER THIS WEEK “Illuminating racial barriers” Photo by Mackenzie Lad. FOLLOW US ON    COME TO OUR WEEKLY STORY MEETING AT THE LOYOLA CAMPUS CC-431 FRIDAY AT 12:00 P.M. PITCH. WRITE. EDIT. Editorial office 7141 Sherbrooke St. W Building CC - 431 Montreal, QC H4B 1R6 (514) 848-2424 ext. 7499