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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

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Follow us on Twitter @TheConcordian Volume 29 Issue 27

Students hold sit-in outside ConU president’s office Lowy agrees to hold another meeting to discuss strike concerns Marilla Steuter-Martin Co-news editor Following a Fine Arts Student Alliance general assembly on April 2, which once again failed to meet quorum, more than 70 students held a sit-in outside Concordia President Frederick Lowy’s office.

After an hour or so of occupation, Lowy agreed to speak to the students who were gathered on the 15th floor of the MB building, and before leaving promised to arrange another meeting where students could express their concerns.

Fine Arts student and senator Andy Filipowich said that a lot of the students occupying the hallway outside the president’s office were FASA students, and more from other departments joined once they heard

the sit-in was happening.

“It was a great show of solidarity [from] a lot of students at Concordia,” said Filipowich.

The students demanded to speak with Lowy concerning a number of statements issued to the Concordia community at large over the past few weeks about the university’s firm “business as usual” stance on the strike.

Many voiced their desire for academic amnesty and threatened to continue the sit-in until their demands were met. Once it was decided that Lowy would come out to speak with the group, and that university spokesperson Chris Mota would moderate the discussion, students called for a moderator of their own.

FASA students have been on an

unlimited strike since March 1 and have twice failed to meet quorum at successive general assemblies, preventing them from voting again on whether to continue the strike, or cancel it.

“There was a collective decision [that] because the strike was going to continue, there was going to be some action,” said Filipowich.

The group unanimously selected Filipowich to be the moderator, while Mota stood in the background.

“The students needed someone to moderate and I was happy to do it,” he said.

Lowy stated to the group that “the people who are choosing not to come to class are the students who are endangering their semesters,” and that academic amnesty was not being considered at this time.

He said that Quebec universities are “underfunded” in comparison with other Canadian schools. Without tuition increases, he would be concerned about “issues of quality.”

“The fact of the matter is that we’ve been doing everything possible to get funding elsewhere,” he told the students. “The [provincial] government says ‘we have no more money to give you’ so we’re saying, let the students help us out.”

A speakers list was established and students took turns voicing opinions about the administration’s approach to the student strike. After a discussion period, Lowy informed students that he had to leave, but would gladly resume the meeting at a later date.

Continued on P. 3

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news

2

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Write to the editors: news@theconcordian.com

City in brief Marilla Steuter-Martin

Painting the town red

Vandals plastered the front of the education ministry’s Montreal offices with red paint in the wee hours of April 2. It has yet to be confirmed that the incident at 600 Fullum St. has any relation to the student movement or the ongoing strike against tuition increases. So far no witnesses have come forward. Police are still investigating the incident by reviewing surveillance video.

Student debt is everyone’s problem

There’s two sides to every coin, and tuition is no exception. According to a study released by the Institut de recherche et d’informations socio-economique, the provincial government’s plan to increase tuition could have some serious side effects. Researchers say that if students continue to generate more and more debt, it’s quite possible that at some point they won’t be able to repay their student loans after leaving school. The government would then be responsible for these unpaid loans, putting a severe strain on public funds. The study warned that if these concerns are not addressed, Quebec could have a financial crisis on its hands.

Taking the fight online

Protesting is hard work, but it can also be a lot of fun. A recently launched Internet video game, entitled Angry Grévistes, was created for students who support the strike, but may not be the picketing kind. The thinly-veiled parody of Angry Birds allows players to maneuver their red-square-wearing student character through multiple levels, avoiding police and picking up coins along the way. Players have the opportunity to collect $1,625 worth of coins, the equivalent of the planned tuition increases, and once they reach the end, they come face to face with “Robeauchamp,” a villain featuring the face of Education Minister Line Beauchamp. The game can be downloaded and played for free online. In the few days it has been available, the game has received over 16,000 plays.

City hoping for a handout

The right to protest in the streets doesn’t come cheap. Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay announced last week that the city has asked the government for help covering its additional policing costs. Montreal has been the epicentre of protests and demonstrations over the past few weeks, most of which focus on the provincial government’s tuition fee increases. Tremblay will be asking the provincial government for $35 million to cope with the strain put on the SPVM’s resources. He is scheduled to meet with Quebec’s public security minister within the month.

CAMPuS

Incoming CSU execs begin planning for next year New team will handle current and new challenges at Concordia Kalina Laframboise Staff writer

As a busy and controversial academic year at Concordia University comes to a close, the newly-elected Concordia Student Union executives have their hands full with challenges, strategies and hopes for the year ahead.

The current CSU team is tackling the Charest government’s tuition increases of $325 a year between 2012 and 2017. Incoming CSU President Schubert Laforest and his executives are preparing to follow up on this issue when they take office June 1.

Laforest is working with current CSU President Lex Gill to prepare for the influx of responsibilities of leading the union. He and his fellow executives are benefitting from meeting with current executives in order to get “a better view” of the challenges Concordia faces.

“It’s hard to know what problems are going to come at you specifically,” Laforest added. “A lot lies ahead for the CSU. [...] I think the main issue we’re going to be dealing with is the aftermath of the tuition battle.”

Laforest said that students can expect next year’s CSU to approach the debate in a “facilitative role” to ensure that all students at Concordia are able to express their opinions, including those who are in favour of the tuition fee increase.

“We have a core activist community and there’s more people getting involved since it affects them,” said

“

CSU PreSident-eleCt SChUbert laforeSt iS hoPing to reaCh a wider ConSenSUS among StUdentS. Laforest. “We want them to have the right to be heard.”

Furthermore, vice-president external-elect Simon-Pierre Lauzon will be in contact with the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec over the summer to address upcoming projects in post-secondary education and how to involve Concordia in future initiatives.

He will also work on implementing an international mobilization plan, drafting a student-run research paper aimed at encouraging student involvement by exploring topics covered in class and by the CSU, and organizing a speakers series.

The incoming executive intends to focus on Concordia’s questionable management of public funds, which includes large severance packages, an interest-free loan issued to current

Concordia president Frederick Lowy and generous salaries for presidents, said Laforest.

“The focus has been on the increase. but looking at [the management of funds], it’s unacceptable,” he said. “We’re going to be taking it on next year.”

In order to facilitate change on the Board of Governors, which will be reduced to 25 members on July 1 with only one voting undergraduate representative, and improve the frequently scrutinized relationship between students and the administration, the incoming executives want to strengthen ties between student associations and actively represent the students. Laforest said he firmly believes that coordination will help mobilize students.

“It will make us more effective

I think the main issue we’re going to be dealing with is the aftermath of the tuition battle.

- Schubert Laforest, incoming CSU president

on the university bodies, so we can argue our cases more effectively,” Laforest stated. “We have to beat [the administration] at their own game.

“But then we also have to engage in our field and our territory to apply pressure from inside and outside,” continued Laforest. “We have to coordinate that effectively, we have to get comprehensive change.”

LegAL

Student threatens education minister with legal action Jean-François Boisvenue says notice is ‘more of a symbolic act’ Audrey Folliot Staff writer A student sent a mise en demeure, or formal notice, to Education Minister Line Beauchamp on March 26, giving her 10 days to negotiate with students on tuition increases. If no negotiations take place after that time period, judicial procedures could be undertaken.

Jean-François Boisvenue, a PhD student in comparative literature at Université du Québec à Montréal, said he sent the notice as more of a symbolic act to draw attention to the fact that Beauchamp did not want to negotiate with students. The minister switched gears

last week and said she would be open to talking to students, but said they had to accept that tuition is going up. It’s unclear if her change of heart is related to the mise en demeure.

“I really just wanted to start a debate about democracy in our society, because really, nothing can constrain Beauchamp to negotiate,” he said.

Boisvenue posted his mise en demeure on Facebook and got hundreds of supporters, which is a lot more than he expected.

“I am surprised that people really took it seriously and encouraged me to start judicial procedures against the minister,” said Boisvenue. “I didn’t want to undertake anything at first, but I decided now not to exclude any options.”

Education ministry spokesperson Esther Chouinard confirmed that they had received the formal notice last week, but said the ministry could not comment when legal procedures are

“ edUCation miniSter line beaUChamP involved.

Despite Beauchamp’s refusal to negotiate with students on tuition increases, Boisvenue said he’s hopeful that eventually she will have no choice but to sit down with student groups to hear what they have to say on the issue.

I really just wanted to start a debate about democracy in our society, because really, nothing can constrain Beauchamp to negotiate.

- Jean-François Boisvenue

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian AdMINISTrATIoN

new faces coming to Concordia university president and Bog chair to be appointed this summer

Marilla Steuter-Martin Co-news editor Concordia’s administration will be undergoing some major changes in the next few months.

Interim President Frederick Lowy’s term will be over in August and the presidential advisory search committee has been deliberating over a shortlist of candidates.

“The search process is proceeding well and it is expected that the name of the recommended candidate will be made public in the next few weeks,” said Concordia spokesperson Chris Mota.

Under the rules of the committee, only one name will be announced as the official recommendation. In terms of student involvement in the process, Mota explained that there are two students on the advisory search committee.

Once the name is released, “the recommended candidate makes a public presentation and all members of the community are encouraged to submit their comments following the public meeting,” said Mota.

There will be more than one new face at Concordia next year. Come July 1, the Board of Governors will be reduced to 25 members and current chair Peter Kruyt will be replaced.

The board’s governance and ethics committee, which has external mem-

bers, faculty members, a staff member and a student member on it, is responsible for recommending any new external members as well as the chair of the board, explained Mota.

“They are going about their work and will be making their recommendations to the board at the June meeting,” she said.

Concordia Student Union President Lex Gill said that “the motivation for a smaller board was to create more dialogue at the meetings themselves rather than through backroom deals, though I doubt that’s a promising outcome in actuality.”

Gill explained that two student representatives would also be chosen to sit on the board for the 2012-13 academic year.

“One is chosen by the [CSU] executive, normally the president, and the other chosen by council,” she explained. Under new rules that will come into effect July 1, undergraduates will only have one representative with voting rights, while the other representative will have speaking rights only at the board level.

Ever since Education Minister Line Beauchamp sent a letter to the board in early March informing them that Concordia was going to be fined $2 million for its sometimes questionable handling of public funds, Concordia’s finances have been in the spotlight.

This much talked of move came

3

nation in brief Kalina Laframboise

Talk about a bruised ego

A March 31 charity boxing match came to an end when Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau lost to Liberal MP Justin Trudeau. The sold-out political showdown at the Hampton Inn in Ottawa raised more than $230,000 for cancer research.

It came as a surprise that the slender Trudeau emerged as victor after Brazeau was given 3-1 odds by bookies. As part of a bet between the two politicians, Brazeau will shave his head and sport a Liberal jersey for a week.

Potato farmer returns to Canada

ConCordia PreSident frederiCk lowy’S term endS in aUgUSt. shortly after Concordia released documents to the public concerning several generous severance packages given out to five senior employees over the past few years, totalling $2.4 million.

Just prior to receiving Beauchamp’s letter, Concordia made the decision to hire external auditors to review the $2.4 million handed out between 2009 and 2010. According to Mota, the Board of

Governors’ audit committee has selected PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct the review. The cost of hiring these auditors is estimated at $25,000 and was approved by the Board of Governors on March 2.

“The [auditors’] report is due by the end of June and a summary of the results will be made public,” said Mota.

Continued from cover

Students were pleased with Lowy’s reaction

There’s no place like home. After a year spent detained in Beirut based on a warrant for allegedly selling rotten potatoes in Algeria, New Brunswick potato farmer Henk Tepper arrived in Canada on Saturday. Tepper arrived at his home in Drummond to welcome signs after 374 days of detainment. The farmer is reportedly still caught up in legal issues, while his farm is indebted to creditors.

Good news for bilingual speakers

When it comes to language, the more you learn, the more you benefit, it seems. A study from Toronto’s York University finds that bilingualism slows the onset of dementia. Medical records show that, on average, bilingual patients were diagnosed with dementia three to four years after monolingual speakers. The results of the Canadian study are published in this month’s issue of Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

Chopping her way through traffic

A 43-year-old Halifax woman was shot with a stun gun by the police after she attempted to stop traffic with two steak knives last Thursday, according to QMI Agency.

The police was first called in by a pizza shop claiming a woman was asking for free food. After the police’s arrival, the woman went out in the street and started waving her knives in the middle of the road. She wouldn’t stop despite several warnings and was eventually shocked with a taser.

Curse of the common cold

StUdent Senator andy filiPowiCh (left) moderated the diSCUSSion between lowy (right) and StUdentS. Photo by writer “I’m free to meet with you at a mutually acceptable time,” he said. “As it happens, I’m free tomorrow morning.”

CSU President Lex Gill, who was in attendance at the occupation, offered to facilitate the logistical aspects of organizing the meeting so that it could take place within the week.

Also on the 15th floor was Board of Governors chair Peter Kruyt, who was watching the meeting unfold. After the meeting, Kruyt told The Concord-

ian that he had not come specifically for the sitin, but because he had an appointment with the president.

“I knew it was happening,” he said. “I’m not worried, [students] aren’t violent.”

Kruyt declined to comment further on the university’s stance when petitioned by students.

The meeting with Lowy is slated to be scheduled in the near future and the university has agreed to send out an open invitation to the student body

via email including the location and time.

Filipowich called the decision a “productive first step” and said he was pleased the occupation had gone smoothly and peacefully.

“There were chances that tempers would flare up, but by having someone moderate, we were able to hear as many people’s voices as possible and were able to arrange another meeting where many more students’ voices could be heard,” he said.

Federal Public Safety Minister Vic Toews was taken to an Ottawa hospital by ambulance for observation due to a seasonal flu on Monday.

Spokesman Michael Patton said that Toews, 59, has been fighting the flu for weeks. Toews was rushed to hospital after the Ottawa Paramedic Service responded to a call on Parliament Hill Monday morning. He is expected to stay overnight as a precaution, according to Patton. The Conservative MP is under observation at the Ottawa Hospital. Any updates on his condition will come from his office and Patton asked for privacy in the matter.

4

Tuesday, April 3, 2012 FINANCe

theconcordian

Students largely left out of federal budget

No new student aid initiatives announced in budget 2012 emma godmere National bureau chief

OTTAWA (CUP) — Higher education in the context of research and innovation stole much of the spotlight in the federal government’s latest budget, but students and youth seeking greater financial aid were otherwise left in the dark.

“The plan’s measures focus on the drivers of growth: innovation, business investment, people’s education and skills that will fuel the new wave of job creation,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters in advance of the budget’s unveiling in the House of Commons on March 29.

But apart from a heavy focus on industryrelated research and additional funding for one particular youth employment program, Canadian post-secondary students were largely missing from the Conservatives’ 2012 budget.

“This federal budget is bad news for Quebec youth,” said Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québéc President Martine Desjardins. “The reduction in grants for university research, for example, clearly shows the increasing place private corporations are taking in universities. We are also concerned to see that grants for social programs were lower than what the province asked and we worry about the consequences of these re-

private-sector firms.

The Conservatives also plan to send $6.5 million over three years to McMaster University for a health care research project, and will dedicate $500 million over five years to support modernization of research infrastructure on campuses through the Canada Foundation for Innovation, starting in 2014–15.

Paul Davidson, president and CEO of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, called the investments “smart and strategic” and was generally supportive of the research funding proposals outlined by the Conservatives.

“I think Canadian universities can be quite proud and quite pleased that the government recognizes the central role universities play,” he said.

The 2012 budget marks the end of the stimulus phase of the government’s economic action plan and thus the end of the Knowledge Infrastructure Program, which provided nearly $2 billion over two years for construction projects at finanCe miniSter Jim flaherty and Prime miniSter StePhen harPer on Parliament hill Shortly before university and college campuses the PreSentation of the federal bUdget, marCh 29. Photo by alex Smyth/CUP across the country. Budget 2012 reported that a total of 515 projects were completed under the program, ductions on youth.” tween businesses and universities. Among and while five have yet to be completed, no their plans, they intend to dedicate $14 further federal funding will be provided for reSearCh and innovation million over two years to double the Indus- those unfinished projects.

The Conservatives instead placed a clear trial Research and Development Internship emphasis on innovation and research fund- Program, which currently supports 1,000 katimavik fUnding eliminated ing, namely in the form of partnerships be- graduate students in conducting research at There were youth-related cuts in the document, too. Living up to rumours that swirled in the media in the days leading up to the budget, the government cut funding to Katimavik, a popular youth program that supported young Canadians traveling the country to participate in volunteer projects.

The government announced its intentions to continue to invest in “affordable, effective programming” and that Canadian Heritage would pledge over $105 million in youth initiatives, though few details were provided.

emPloyment iSSUeS In the area of job creation specifically for youth, the Conservatives only announced they would add another $50 million over two years to the existing Youth Employment Strategy, which, according to the government, connected nearly 70,000 youth with work experience and skills training last year.

While the government re-affirmed their plan to forgive student loans of up to $40,000 for new doctors and $20,000 for new nurses and nurse practitioners who plan to work in rural and aboriginal communities, starting in 2012–13, this plan had already been announced in last year’s budget.

Federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May also said she was “very disappointed” that no greater moves were made to relieve youth unemployment and student debt in the budget.

“The priority is to engage people so that we can put up the kind of cross-country response. We need to mobilize,” she said.

Nevertheless, thanks to their majority government status, it’s expected that the Conservatives will pass their budget plan with ease.

The government also announced its plans to eliminate the penny. Pennies will no longer be produced and distributed to financial institutions starting in fall 2012, though the coins will still be allowed to be used in cash transactions.

With files from Joel Ashak.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian STrIKe

Student strike stalemate sways public opinion education minister reaches out to students for the first time

World in brief Joel Ashak

Italian pharmacists call for Viagra strike

After sex strikes, here comes the viagra strike. Hospital pharmacists in Italy promised to cut off their supply of the erectile dysfunction drug if the government did not amend plans to reform highentry professions. The pharmacists scheduled a series of strike movements throughout the month of April that will culminate with the so-called “Viagra strike” if the government refuses to meet their demands and open 5,000 new pharmacies. Union officials said they targeted Viagra because it was a highly demanded drug that would not put their patients’ lives at risk.

Joel Ashak Co-news editor If the Quebec government hoped to see the student movement against tuition hikes lose momentum with the end of the academic year, student leaders say they should think again.

Despite the Liberals’ attempts to appease the student protesters with first signs of interest in negotiating and promises of bursary bonifications, the government is currently taking increasing heat from businesses, universities and citizens, being urged to quickly find a solution to the ongoing stalemate.

Two weeks ago, the head of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec warned that an extension of the winter semester would have repercussions on the number of students filling summer jobs, and would result in a serious blow to the province’s tourism and economy. Last week, the rector of the Université du Québec à Rimouski also urged Minister of Education Line Beauchamp to re-establish a dialogue with students and proposed to name a mediator.

“In this context of pre-elections, it’s going to be increasingly difficult for the Charest government to maintain their position [in favour of tuition hikes],” said Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec president Martine Desjardins. “The government is expecting the movement to lose steam, but what we see is an increasing number of strike votes and an intensification of the movement.”

At Concordia, despite a one-week general strike and sporadic disruptions of classes and exams, the movement led by the Concordia Student Union will likely have no effect on the university’s academic calendar. Concordia spokesperson Chris Mota said the movement was not disruptive enough to make the university consider an extension of the winter semester.

In other universities, however, administrations are forced to adjust their schedules due to as much as eight weeks of general strikes in some cases.

UQÀR, Université du Québéc à Montréal and Université de Montréal are looking into extending the winter semester by at least a month and are hoping for a return to classes by April 16.

“Cancelling a semester would have disastrous economic consequences for universities and CÉGEPS,” said Desjardins. “It would mean having double the number of students next year, double the amount of professors and double the entire costs.”

Many departments in these universities have voted for an unlimited strike until their demands are met or until their student union puts an end to the movement. Added to that, the major student associations are informally respecting an agreement of nondenunciation and non-negotiation, where associations cannot question

5

Man saws off his foot to avoid work

Strike aCtivity won’t be dying down with the end of the SChool year, Say aSSoCiationS. PhotoS by SoPhia loffreda the legitimacy of other student groups’ actions, nor can they initiate negotiations with the government without the presence of all the major associations.

The return to classes will likely depend on the government’s decision to negotiate with students.

For Desjardins, the threat formulated by Beauchamp warning students of academic consequences after the massive March 22 protest only proved the Liberal government had its back against the wall.

Beauchamp opened the window for negotiations for the first time last week saying she was ready to talk about improving the loans and bursaries program, but was adamant in her refusal to contemplate a tuition freeze.

“I cannot sit down at a table with students and discuss the topic of ‘to whom are we passing the bill to,’” Beauchamp told La Presse.

Although Desjardins praised Beauchamp’s effort to initiate negotiations, she said raising conditions for the talk was a bad start.

Desjardins also said that student mobilization against tuition hikes will continue to grow and actions will continue to be organized week after week, depending on the context and government responses.

“So far, it doesn’t look like we are stopping anytime soon,” she said.

At Concordia, there are still no signs of a petition that would initiate a third general assembly in order to vote for a continuation of the strike among undergraduate students. Concordia Student Union vice-president external Chad Walcott said that even if a GA was to be held by the CSU, “it would be very difficult [in the context of the end of the semester] to mobilize enough people in time in order to meet quorum.” However, Walcott said that the CSU would still participate in other organizations’ movements and said the union was ready to provide the necessary resources to students who “are keeping the movement alive.”

The major actions planned by student organizations so far are a protest in Premier Jean Charest’s Sherbrooke

riding on April 4 and an outdoor show in downtown Montreal on April 5.

Information about future actions will be posted on the FEUQ’s, the

Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec’s and the Coalition large de l’Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante’s websites.

An unemployed Austrian man wanted to avoid going back to work so badly that he decided to saw off his foot in order to be declared unfit for employment. Instead of, let’s say, faking an illness a few hours before his appointment at the labour office, the 56year-old man went into his home workshop, started his electric saw and, once done severing his left foot, threw it in his oven before calling an ambulance. The emergency operation could not reattach the foot. It is not certain if the man succeeded in being declared unfit for work.

Bacon ‘til you die

If you love these salty thin slices of pork to death, Seattle’s J&D’s Foods came up with the perfect invention for when the time comes for you to check out. For the modest price of $2,999.99, you can be laid out at your funeral in a luxurious bacon casket, that looks like a bacon strip from the outside and has a bacon air freshener in the inside. “Now, you can peacefully rest wrapped in bacon,” said a statement from J&D’s Foods. The bacon coffin is sold by the same company that sells bacon lube, bacon spread and bacon lip balm, among other products.

Woman smuggles drugs in fake baby belly

The fake baby belly trick seems to still be in style, even among drug dealers who attempt to cross international borders. A 20-yearold Brazilian woman was arrested upon her arrival at the Natal International Airport with more than 2 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a plastic pocket under her shirt.

The woman ended up admitting being in possession of drugs after she got nervous when asked routine questions, according to QMI agency. Her accomplice, who was waiting in a taxi outside the airport, was also arrested.

6

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

theconcordian

CAMPuS

Agent involved in alleged assault is unlicensed university says guard’s name cannot legally be released Joel Ashak Co-news editor The Concordia security guard who allegedly hit a student in the face last week was discovered to not be in possession of a valid security permit, according to a letter sent by Concordia’s security department.

The information came after Amber Gross, the McGill student who claims she was assaulted, filed a

request for information last Thursday asking for the name and permit number of the security guard in order to file a formal complaint.

The acting director of Concordia security, Jacques Lachance, replied to Gross in a letter received on April 1, saying the university had been informed by the security guard’s employer, Maximum Security Inc., that the agent did not possess a security licence at present.

“Given the fact that he is not a licensed security agent [...] we are not legally permitted to release his name,” the letter stated.

The incident in question took place on March 26 at the Faubourg building, when a group of Concor-

dia and McGill students gathered to block access to a classroom, as part of the movement against tuition hikes. Eventually, the protesters did not have to use hard-picketing tactics since no students showed up to class, according to Gross.

“We were kicked out by security for just sitting on a bench,” she said.

According to the agency contracted by Concordia University, the guard is said to be in the process of a licence application with Quebec’s Bureau de la sécurité privée. In the letter, Gross was invited to file a complaint directly to the Bureau in this regard.

Concordia Student Union vice-

with

the tax experts

I GOT MY MONEY’S WORTH

amber groSS (right) wantS to file a formal ComPlaint. Photo by JeSS glavina president external Chad Walcott called the news “troubling” and said the CSU would do everything possible to obtain the security agent’s identity.

“It would be very concerning if we are being blocked access to information about the assault of a student,” said Walcott. “Having unlicensed security staff on campus is completely unacceptable [...] and shows signs that the university is not even ensuring the security of students.”

Gross said she was worried the university would try to put the responsibility on the individual security agency and pass the “whole thing [off] as an isolated incident.”

“These kinds of accidents are likely to happen again,” Gross said.

“That’s what happens when [a university] starts hiring a large number of security guards to deal with political purposes on campus when they’re not trained to do it.”

Gross explained that her presence on the Concordia campus was part of a united effort between students from McGill and Concordia to protest both administrations’ heavy stance against hard picketers.

Concordia spokesperson Chris Mota responded that the university would not comment on the incident. According to her, the editing of the video and the angle in which the alleged assault was filmed rendered the video “inconclusive.” She said that an investigation will be made and that appropriate sanctions would be taken against any “improper behaviour on behalf of the security agent.”

In his letter to Gross, Lachance also mentioned that the security agent had been reassigned and was no longer working at Concordia.

The university intends to pursue the investigation directly with the private security agency, Lachance said.

No more strike general assemblies planned CSu says it’s now up to departmental associations to organize george Menexis Assistant opinions editor

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The Concordia Student Union does not plan to hold any further general assemblies to vote on a strike, opting instead to work very closely with some departmental associations who will continue to hold their own GAs. “Our message is clear, we want to negotiate, but the government won’t even do that,” said CSU President Lex Gill. “We’re so proud to have a little over 15,000 supporters within the community.”

The CSU, however, is not planning to hold another general assembly to solidify Concordia undergraduates’ position on the strike. Unless, of course, the students demand one.

“If a petition is formed in question of another general assembly, we will definitely look into it,” said Gill.

The CSU has been working very closely with some associa-

“

Most of our time consists of working with departments and keeping everything organized, funding them, and helping them all the way through.

- Lex Gill, CSU president

tions on organizing departmental GAs and funding striking activities. Gill said she is proud of the communication between these associations and the CSU. “Most of our time consists of working with departments and keeping everything organized, funding them, and helping them all the way through,” said Gill.

“They’ve done an excellent job in giving students the opportunity to express their opinions.”

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

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7

eLeCTIoNS

Executive and JMSB positions acclaimed in GSA election record number of candidates compete in graduate students’ election

a larger goal to protect knowledge as a public good and fight against this kind of instrumentalization and corporate mentality.”

Giulietta Di Mambro is in her first year of graduate-level translation studies and is running to be an arts and science representative on council. Having completed her first degree at Université du Québec

Marie-Josée Kelly Staff writer The Graduate Students’ Association general elections set to take place from April 3 to 5 have attracted a record number of candidates this year.

While the three executive positions and the John Molson School of Business directors’ positions have already been acclaimed, eight candidates are running for a total of six seats in arts and science, and nine are running for the six in engineering and computer science. Also, for the first time in recent history, there will be a competition for the single fine arts seat on the council of directors with two candidates running.

According to GSA chief returning officer Roddy Doucet, there will be no ballots for the executive positions in the upcoming election with a “Yes” or “No” option because the association’s constitution stipulates that as long as one candidate is running for the position, they will automatically be acclaimed.

Many of the candidates running for council are affiliated with the elections’ sole slate, Your Voice, which took the majority of seats in last year’s election. Doucet noted

“

I think we’re going to work really well together especially given that we’re all three women executives.

- Daria Saryan, incoming GSA president

daria Saryan haS been aCClaimed aS the new gSa PreSident and will take offiCe JUne 1.

that the ongoing tuition hikes debate has been a recurring theme during the campaign period.

“The primary concern is about tuition and where it’s going,” Doucet said. “A great number of our members that have come forth have put this as a centrepiece of their election campaigns.”

As for the team of executives, Daria Saryan, who helped put together the Your Voice slate, ran unopposed for president of the GSA and was automatically given the position, as was the case with the new

VP internal Roya Azarm and VP external, Nadia Hausfather.

“I think we’re going to work really well together especially given that we’re all three women executives,” said Saryan. “I don’t know that this has ever happened before.”

One of Saryan’s main goals is to improve and expand on the services that the GSA offers, such as French language courses.

“The current GSA has laid the groundwork for some really great things and my goal is to keep up with what they’ve started,” she said.

Dominic Leppla, a first-year PhD student in film and moving images studies, got involved with Your Voice because of the strike and is running for fine arts director. He recently became impressed with the GSA’s ability to represent the graduate student body’s interests.

“Fine arts students are particularly affected by [tuition increases] because what fine arts students are giving society is not something you can quantify,” said Leppla. “We feel that the fight against the tuition hike is also part of larger movement, for

à Montréal, Di Mambro observed a contrast in the levels of student participation in campus politics which motivated her to run for council.

“My goals are to strengthen ties between associations, facilitate better participation and better communication between associations and all graduate students,” she said.

In addition to voting on student representation, graduate students will be asked to vote on two fee levy questions. Both Le Frigo Vert and the 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy are appealing to the graduate student body for support by asking for fee levies of $1.50 and $0.50, respectively, per semester.

The new GSA team will assume office June 1.

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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

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Hunting for a summer job experts offer success tips to students paula Rivas life editor

S

chool is coming to an end, and the days of tanning and sipping on Long Island iced tea are approaching. For many university students, the end of final exams is the beginning of working full-time to get some money in the bank. But just how accessible is the summer job market for students these days? Which way is the best way to find employment?

TD Bank recruitment manager Anh-Tu Nguyen gave some useful tips on what he looks for in a candidate. First, let’s start with the cover letter and resume. Nguyen said it is best to keep it short and sweet.

“So basically up to two to three paragraphs maximum [for the cover letter], and normally what we like is when it is personalized to the role,” he said. “The company wants to know who you are, but stay away from a generic cover letter.” Nguyen said resumes should be kept to a maximum of two or three pages.

He indicated that using social media to find a job is a great tool, especially since a growing number of jobs are not advertised

“

I would recommend linkedIn, an incredible tool to allow you to connect with businesses and recruiters and by using social media, you let people know you are looking for a job, and reduce the time it takes to find a job.

“

- Anh-Tu Nguyen, TD Bank

in newspapers.

“I would recommend LinkedIn, an incredible tool to allow you to connect with businesses and recruiters and by using social media, you let people know you are looking for a job, and reduce the time it takes to find a job,” he said.

A question that pops into many students’ minds is if employers check up on the applicants on Facebook or Twitter. Scared that your potential boss might see your tequila body shots in Cancun and cross you off the list immediately?

“In TD, because of privacy issues, we cannot check any credit or security check on the applicants or check their Facebook or Twitter accounts without authorization. We respect people’s privacy completely,” said Nguyen.

However, this is not always the case, so don’t go making your racy profile pictures public yet. A 2010 Microsoft Research sur-

vey found that 70 per cent of recruiters had rejected applicants based on what they had found online.

Madeleine Hajek, a Concordia communications student, said that she has her summer job lined up, which she found on the Service Canada website.

“I applied in March and I got a call back the next week,” she said.

Another Concordia student, Kevin Goodall, studying political science, got his job last summer at the BeaverTails shop at La Ronde through a posting on craigslist. After his summer job ended and he started university, he got hired for the position of operations manager at a BeaverTails location in Westmount, working part-time.

“My summer job helped me get the job I have now since they trust that I gained experience and they know that I am a hard worker and reliable. All in all I think that finding a

Graphic by Sean Kershaw

It is important in an interview, phone or faceto-face, to be yourself, and to think about the values of the company that you are applying to.

Do your research.

summer job is pretty easy,” he said.

Just like Goodall’s summer experience proved to be helpful for finding a later job, Nguyen said that summer jobs “are a great opportunity for students to get some training.”

However, not all students were lucky enough to find fast and easy summer employment.

Business management student Jessica Weatherall said that last summer she had a job, but this summer she is not so lucky.

“I have been trying to get into banks because I know that there you get a higher pay, but it feels like banks are only looking for full-time. I applied online around February and still no response,” she said.

The stampede of summer job applications can be quite intimidating. So, what makes a needle in a haystack noticeable?

“For me, it is important in an interview,

- Anh-Tu Nguyen, TD Bank

phone or face-to-face, to be yourself, and to think about the values of the company that you are applying to. Do your research,” said Nguyen.

He said the earlier you start applying, the better chances you have at landing a good summer job.

“If you are looking for a summer job, I would recommend starting no later than January or February because a lot of the good summer jobs would have already been filled

by March or April,” said Nguyen.

According to statistics, 35 per cent of working students in Quebec found it easier to find a summer job in 2011 than in 2010, while only 19 per cent found it to be harder.

Therefore, it doesn’t seem that the student summer job market is doomed after all.

Nguyen even said that at TD Bank, they are still searching for some spots in the summer job section.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

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9

fAshIon

Once upon a time there was a magical gown

Concordia professor Valerie lamontagne creates wearable technology inspired by fairy tales stephanie la leggia staff writer

G

rowing up, we never really put much thought in the influence of fairy tales on our adult selves.

While some simply move on from bedtime stories, others continue to be inspired by these symbolic and creative tales.

“I really like this element of how in fairy tales, the costume is very transformative, and in some way, we can think of fashion of being that way too,” says Valerie Lamontagne. “We are sort of transformed by the garments that we wear.”

Lamontagne graduated from the visual arts program at Concordia University and is now teaching in the department of design and computation arts. Aside from pursuing her PhD, investigating “performativity, materiality and laboratory practices in artistic wearables,” Lamontagne is juggling a number of fashion lines of interactive garments.

Her most famous project is Peau d’Âne, a three-piece fashion collection that incorporates DIY technology. It’s named after and inspired by Charles Perrault’s French fairy tale also known as Donkeyskin. It tells the tale of a princess who makes a list of impossible demands her suitor must fulfill before the wedding. The kicker is, her suitor is her father.

“

If you think of any fairy tale or super hero tale, the costume has the power in a way. The costume is the thing that makes Cinderella a princess, and the costume is the thing that makes spider-man become spider-man and not the man he was before.

- Valerie Lamontagne, designer

The princess asks for three dresses that embody the elusive essence and characteristics of the sky, the sun and the moon. With the help of programmer Patrice Coulombe and fashion designer Lynn van Gastel, Lamontagne inherited the challenge of creating these “impossible” gowns, a project that took them over three years to complete.

“If you think of any fairy tale or super hero tale, the costume has the power in a way,” says Lamontagne. “The costume is the thing that makes Cinderella a princess, and the costume is the thing that makes Spider-Man become Spider-Man and not the man he was before.”

The blue inflated Sky dress is made with parachute fabric embedded with tiny fans wirelessly connected to a weather station, soaring and expanding with the change in wind speed. The Sun dress has 120 LED lights embedded in the fabric. Different patterns illuminate depending on the UV index, temperature and sun radiation data that is collected from an outdoors mobile weather station. The change in pattern would vary according to real time. Though the Moon dress doesn’t need data because of its predictable cycle, Lamontagne illustrates the intensity of the moon through thermochromic inks and resistive heating. When electricity runs through the threads of the dress, the ink heats up and

Lamontagne’s futuristic fashion features a seLf-infLating dress and one that changes coLours. Photo courtesy of the artist changes the colours.

“I thought it would be really interesting to network dresses using computational data from these sort of meteorological entities,” says Lamontagne. “I made three very fairy tale-ish dresses related to real time and weather fluctuations.”

Though the Peau d’Âne series was impressive and showcased at the Seamless exhibition at the Boston Museum of Science, Lamontagne says it’s over and has already moved on to the next project.

She challenged herself with the task of creating wearable techs that are seductive and reproducible. She began developing a wearable line called Electromode that is made of pieces that you can purchase as a kit and easily assemble and customize yourself. Lamontagne uses fabrics such as cotton and silk, and prints the garments with the circuitry already embedded. So far, she has used LED lights and designed two dresses and a purse that she sells on etsy.com.

“A lot of the field of wearable techs is based on these off-craft projects which are not

replicable,” says Lamontagne. “They stay a bit in the ghetto, either in an academic ghetto, an arts and crafts or a geeky ghetto, and they don’t really go out into the world.”

Aside from Electromode, Lamontagne is working on another mini collection for the TechnoSensual exhibition in Vienna. The event is part of the MQ Summer of Fashion and encourages designers to incorporate fashion and technology.

With the help of fashion designer Isabelle Campeau, and engineer Hesam Khoshneviss, Lamontagne is creating a five-piece series called Stripes and Dots. They’re exploring different elements of pattern making, concentrating on cubism, colours and transparent materials to produce lights effects.

“We’re making things I want to wear, it’s selfish,” she says with a laugh. “We’re really trying to push the fashion and design element, and keeping the technology super simple, but it’s still an element that can seduce people.”

Lamontagne says the challenge is creating something aesthetically fashionable and easy to assemble; pieces that can be sewn in a few

seams.

As though these two projects aren’t enough, Lamontagne just got funding to develop a new project called DIY Social Skin. She’s on to the next challenge in trying to create wearables that can influence and speak to each other and explore the social dynamic between garments and the individuals wearing them.

“If someone’s been in the sun a lot, or moved a lot, the different data sets can be in a position to share this information and communicate with other wearables,” says Lamontagne. “The wearables can then transform from each other according to the data that’s been collected from the wearers.”

While being a mother, teacher and student can be exhausting enough for any woman, Lamontagne has become a part of this amazing experimental wave in the fashion world.

“You have to begin to really materially engineer how this garment is going to accommodate these technologies, how it’s going to express in a way that it works well,” says Lamontagne. “The fun part is to really conceptualize how we can be transformed by this.”

10

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

theconcordian

fAshIon

Eco-friendly chic

former Concordia student sylvia Cohen creates her own signature fashion line erica Commisso staff writer

“The use of natural materials and being ecoconscious has always been a preoccupation of mine,” explains Sylvia Cohen, a Concordia graduate who recently started her own signature company. Her simplistic collections are environmentally friendly, as the designer favours the use of eco-fabrics like organic cotton, bamboo, tencel and silk in her garments.

Cohen’s first collection came just after graduating from Concordia with degrees in both visual arts and fashion design.

“My experience at Concordia was great.

These were the best years of my student life,” she explains. “I started with a BFA in visual arts, my first passion, then I went back to study fashion design, which had always been a great interest.”

Cohen says she chose to study fashion at Concordia rather than other fashion schools, “because I thought the approach was smarter and more relevant to the real fashion industry.

There was more content and less fluff.”

Eco-friendly designs have always been important to her, but Cohen found that environmental awareness in fashion was less

cohen’s edgy fashion wiLL make you and the environment haPPy. Photos courtesy of the artist

important to her employers. “I tried to convince previous employers to use eco-fabrics, but price and availability made it difficult to remain profitable,” she says.

So she decided to start her own company that would highlight the use of environmentally-friendly materials. Her label is now based in Montreal, she has a sales office in Toronto, and all of her designs are made and produced in Canada.

“The aesthetic of my brand is laid back, avant-garde chic, feminine but not girly,” she says, describing the designs as “fluid shapes that enhance the body while always comfortable.”

The wearability of her garments is a key component to her collection, along with her use of colour. The autumn/winter 2012 collec-

tion deliberately employs classic and neutral tones to pay homage to the Earth as our natural creator. But, to add a unique flare to the collection, “volume is created through fabric manipulation, pleat work and mixed media.

Delicate surfaces, lace and flashes of leather and sequins are blended with soft jerseys” says her website.

And, in standard Cohen fashion, all of the clothes are made with a perfect symmetry, balance and with organic fabrics.

Like many artists, Cohen finds inspiration in everything she does. Life itself provides inspiration for her garments and collections, with everyday and extraordinary things finding their way into her brain and sticking with her through the creative process of designing her clothing.

“I find inspiration on the street, on the Internet, couture runways, movies [and] blogs,” she says. Her designs reflect the everyday woman in the sense that they are ready-towear for many occasions, but also reflect a woman who is environmentally conscious, body conscious and style conscious.

“Highly functional, yet effortlessly edgy wardrobe items include feminine tops and asymmetric dresses in body skimming jerseys and silks. A combination of soft and hard result in pieces made to be worn,” she says.

For example, the most recent Sylvia Cohen collection is “inspired by organic shapes and ‘90s minimalism, the collection is influenced

by Japanese design with an urban edge,” according to her website.

“My clientele is a confident woman who likes to stand out in a quiet way, and who appreciates quality and sustainability,” says Cohen. “Finding the balance between fabric, form and advocating pure style while maintaining a sense of well-being is the delicate motivation behind the Sylvia Cohen collections.”

Looking to the future, she hopes to continue to bring her environmentally friendly and fashionable label to even greater successes. In five years, she says, “I hope to find the right customers for my products and possibly the right partners to help with distribution and financing.”

With a style that ranges from edgy to sporty, Cohen creates clothes to feel free and comfortable in while making a visual impact.

fooD

Concordia’s new neighbour is a greasy goldmine

smoke’s poutinerie has opened its first montreal restaurant, setting up shop on Bishop street just a jaywalk away from the hall building. owners and Concordia grads Kathy Davey and Robert sciascia say they couldn’t be happier with their location.

“We want to be involved with you guys—a studentfriendly place,” says Davey.

Both sciascia and Davey attended the university around the same time, but never met while they were there. sciascia, an engineering graduate, calls this a “unique opportunity” for his family.

“This is the first time I’ve ever owned a restaurant,” he says.

The tiny shop offers 23 different types of poutine to-go packed into cardboard take-out boxes.The menu ranges from the tried-and-true classic cheese curds and gravy to adventurous flavour combos like curry chicken or nacho veggie. smoke’s founder Ryan smolkin started peddling the Québécois comfort food to Torontonians in 2008 and has since opened over 20 poutineries across Canada. he emphasized that his franchise was about “giving back to those who support the business,” and said he is hopeful that smoke’s will become an instant campus favourite.

Smoke’s Poutinerie, which opened April 2, is located at 2019 Bishop St. Hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

By Marilla Steuter-Martin and Alyssa Tremblay

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian

11

Graphic by Sean Kershaw

heAlTh

Do you know what it feels like for a boy?

Eating disorders may be predominantly female illnesses, but men who suffer from them have it just as hard—if not harder Chris hanna production manager

I

f we were to live by the rules of NBC’s The Biggest Loser, one of the most popular reality competition shows on the tube, dropping more than half your weight over the span of a television season is nothing short of an extraordinary success.

And it’s inspiring, really, to see obese people who couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs be able to run a 10K after weeks of grueling exercising and dieting. The contestants’ weights keep dropping and they are rewarded almost immediately by receiving kudos from the show’s personal trainers and admiration and jealousy from their opponents. The contestants’ backgrounds and life stories (and the producers’ sneaky, strategic editing) make viewers feel like there could be a biggest loser in everyone.

Contestants exercise to better their health and their lives; the “biggest loser” also gets a cash prize. At home, viewers are treated to fat people’s families’ ecstatic faces at the contestants’ new svelte physiques. “Look at how happy they are,” they must think. “If I get skinny, people will like me more, too.”

Victor Avon used to be obese. Today, he is closing in on his tenth year battling an eating disorder. At his heaviest, Avon was a 19year-old college freshman tipping the scale at almost 300 pounds. After teenage years in high school that seemed like they would never end, he whispered to himself words that would change his life forever.

“It was March 4, 2002,” Avon remembers.

“I was in my student dining hall and I remember I was standing in line at the grill and I said, ‘F it, I’m going to go on a diet.’ By making that decision, I pushed that first domino over. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

He continued, “I hated my body growing up because of how people made me feel and how I was treated, and because I couldn’t change myself. I couldn’t take control of my body and get that perfect body that everybody

would love me with. I had a lot of self-hate. I created the eating disorder as a way to control what the world could see. I was going to get the body that everyone always made fun of me for not having. I’m going to be the person they always wanted me to be, and I’m going to be happy.”

Psychologist Anna Barrafato runs a support group for students with eating disorders at Concordia University’s Counselling and Development Centre. She says eating disorders can be triggered by many things, including a childhood trauma or a lifelong battle with one’s own body image. They can also happen when dieting turns into an obsessive fear about getting “fat” and an addiction to losing weight.

She says eating disorders are sometimes developed as a coping method.

Avon describes his father and uncles as ultra-masculine, and when he wasn’t bullied by his schoolmates, his family constantly made him feel like he wasn’t good enough. He had no one to turn to, and he says his eating disorder turned into his best friend. It was also the only thing in his life he had complete control over.

Barrafato says that eating disorders undoubtedly transcend gender, race, culture and socioeconomic status. She says the belief that an eating disorder is a woman’s affliction dissuades men into seeking appropriate help when they are showing symptoms. Studies also show that people believe men obsessed with their appearance and weight are gay. The fear of being mistaken for a homosexual or thought of as unmanly is strong enough for some men with eating disorders to never admit they have a problem.

Avon’s dieting in 2002 spiraled out of control into anorexia nervosa, which he was not diagnosed with until 2006. When he finally sought help and checked into Princeton University Medical Center’s eating disorder unit, he weighed 130 pounds. “They were surprised I was still alive,” he remembers. “My body was shutting down. My fingers were blue. I weighed less than my mother.”

Avon’s body mass index went from 40.7 to

17.6. A person’s BMI is calculated by dividing the person’s weight in kilograms by the square of the person’s height in metres. By North American standards, a person with a BMI over 30 is obese, while a BMI under 18.5 is considered underweight. According to 2004 figures from Statistics Canada, more than 23 per cent of Canadian adults and 30 per cent of American adults were obese.

According to the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders used by mental health professionals in North America, anorexia nervosa is diagnosed overwhelmingly in females, with up to 90 per cent of cases seen in women. The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), for which Avon is the male spokesperson, echoes that statistic: of the more than 10 million people struck by eating disorders in the United States, only 10 per cent—or one million—are men.

“I stuck with the old stigma that men can’t get eating disorders,” Avon recalls. “I didn’t think anything was wrong with me. It was easy to fool myself for a long time because of the gender issue. I had never in my life heard of a guy getting an eating disorder. I also had a lot of positive reinforcement, ‘You look great, you’re taking care of yourself, dropping some weight and getting healthy.’ I just thought that it was the lifestyle that I had chosen.”

Avon has written a book about his experience, My Monster Within: My Story, in which he describes the mental anguish he felt when he missed a workout. “If I decided to run 55 minutes one day, instead of 75, the backlash that came with that in my head—it was not normal. It was never an option not to exercise. It was never an option to change without severe mental anguish. It was a total belief that if I changed one thing I did for one day, that I’d wake up the next day having gained 100 pounds overnight. It was fear that people would start rejecting me again. It was the fear that everything I ever felt growing up would come flooding back and happen again.”

From 2002 to 2008, Avon severely restricted his daily food and calorie intake and exercised like a “madman, to the point that I have major

joint problems today. The only things I ate for six years were: chicken breast, turkey breast, beef, broccoli and some cheese. That’s it.

“I got myself to the weight that I thought I would be happy with. My physical body changed, but everything up here,” Avon said, pointing to his head, “always stayed the exact same. I still felt like I was in my old body, so I had all the insecurities that I lived with. It never got easier. I was never happy.”

Avon was hospitalized for four months, where he met with therapists and psychiatrists daily. Patients were also required to attend group therapy sessions where they essentially had to be retaught how to eat again and why food is so important for the human body.

Avon, now 29, considers himself on the road to recovery, a road he has been trekking since 2008. “I was so sick for so long; six years with the eating disorder, and for most of my life I had major body image and food issues. I don’t want to say that my wiring’s all messed up. It’s a goal of mine to be fully recovered, but I don’t know if it’s going to happen.”

Avon says he has been on the road to recovery since 2008. As a spokesperson for NEDA, he attended a conference on eating disorders in Los Angeles over the summer hosted by medical professionals in the field. While Avon’s goal is to raise awareness for men afflicted by eating disorders, he found it disenchanting when psychiatrists turned to his accompanying wife to ask her how long she was sick for, requiring Avon to interject.

According to Barrafato, eating disorders are lifelong struggles and “it takes a very strong will to say that you are okay with the way you look.”

“I don’t think I’m happy with the way I look,” admits Avon, “but I accept the body I have. I could stand in the mirror and pick myself apart if I wanted to, but doing that only fuels the illness. I know I will never have the perfect body that I once craved, so the way to live and be okay with myself is to accept the body I am given and do my best to keep it healthy, to not focus on the outside but rather the inside.”

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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

theconcordian

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Le Hangar offers a menu of funky Italian flare surprise your taste buds with octopus, pasta and more Katrina Tortorici Contributor

W

e found the restaurant between fields of debris, construction zones and filthy grey buildings in Griffintown.

We could detect the snobbery upon swinging open the glass front door of Le Hangar. Then the hostess smiled a faux smile as she greeted the three young adults in front of her and attempted to hide the words “waste of time� written all over her face. She led us to the absolute worst table in the house, facing the open kitchen and away from the rest of the sophisticated crowd, where men in business suits sat across from their colleagues in deep discussion and women in sleek dresses accompanied by their lady friends gossiped as they sipped their complex drinks.

Aside from the awkward greeting, the night was quite pleasant. It was a lovely, almost European ambiance that encouraged conversation. The surrounding walls laden with brown brick created a wonderful rusticity effect in contrast to the contemporary design of the chic leather chairs and gleaming steal bases. The solid wooden columns also added warmth to the interior, but the most welcoming aspects of the restaurant were the open-concept kitchen, which was spotless and professional, and the black and white silent films playing on the projector.

The service was excellent from the start;

euroPean eLegance and rich dishes make Le hangar a winner. a young, elegantly-dressed waiter arrived with the menus at our table within seconds, speaking a most beautiful Parisian French (at rapid speed) that only enhanced the restaurant’s European flare.

The menu had a fair selection of innovative appetizers, with tasteful assortments of French and Italian dishes—from standard plates like Italian sausage, antipasti and meatballs, to more unconventional platters such as liver and duck patÊ, grilled calamari salad combined with fennel and chili and mint flavoured eggplant. The appetizers range from $7 to $16.

The Italian meatballs were scrumptious, the entrĂŠe included three that were

reasonably filling, soaked in a thick tomato sauce and topped with slim slices of rich parmesan and spinach leaves. The platter of breaded baby shrimp was also full of flavour. It was cooked in garlic butter and sautĂŠed with Italian herbs and spices, but sadly the miniature portion was not nearly enough to satisfy.

The impeccable service allowed our main dishes to arrive within a decent time frame. After our platters were gracefully placed in front of us, the lighting in the restaurant became dim and a votive was added to each table for extra ambiance. The atmosphere changed from being business-like to having a relaxed, lounge vibe.

The platters all had beautiful presentations. The braised veal shank, decorated with parsley leaves and lemon, was drowned in a rich brown sauce with gremolata seasoning and sided with asparagus.

The meat was tasty and juicy, but the asparagus lacked flavour.

To my surprise, the night’s favourite was the forever reliable and timeless macaroni and cheese. Creamy and exquisite, the rigatoni was cooked al dente, sprinkled heavily with breadcrumbs, and then topped with tender lobster pieces and thin slices of mushroom. The combination was superb.

In short, the pork chop was bland and disappointing; the dish looked appetizing with its sprinkled parmesan and velvety tomato toppings, but it merely tasted as though the meat was dipped in breadcrumbs and cooked without seasoning—no zest.

The main courses range from $18 to $26.

Considering the quality of the food, fair portions, impeccable service and upscale ambiance, the prices are within reason. The cocktails are between $6 and $12 and well worth it—they offer a full menu of original martini mixes, wines and a variety of other drinks.

Do not end the evening before ordering one of their Italian desserts; the tiramisu sundae was my personal favourite, though I would also recommend the honey-baked tartlet flavoured with vanilla.

The evening was costly; for a full course meal and dessert, dinner costs an average of $60. However, Le Hangar was truly a pleasant dining experience and a restaurant I would highly recommend for a friendly gathering, a business lunch, a romantic date or even a 5 Ă 7!

Le Hangar is located at 1011 Wellington St.

walksokidscantalk.ca

Sunday, May 6, 2012 Be a part of Canada’s largest walk to support child and youth mental health and well-being :DON 3ULQW $G [ &RORXUB(1 LQGG

$0

arts

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Write to the editor: arts@theconcordian.com TheATre

The process of purgatory A look at the staging of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot

GreG Walker, Darien Pons anD kevin ray rehearse scenes from The

Meghan Pearson Contributor

Y

ou would never guess that the same people running cheerfully after a Dora the Explorer ball in the rehearsal studio on the 7th floor of the MB building were the same people skillfully putting on such a meditative yet comical play as The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.

Originally penned in 2005 by American playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis, the show takes place in a courtroom in purgatory where Judas stands trial against “God and the Kingdom of Heaven.” A number of witnesses are called to the stand including Sigmund Freud, Satan, Mother Teresa, and even Jesus himself.

Director Sarah Garton Stanley and two assistant directors, Cameron Sedgwick and Courtney Larkin, oversee a large cast and crew of Concordia theatre students.

“It’s one of the plays that I could have read as a book, and while reading it, just be laughing out loud to myself, it’s hilarious,” says Sedgwick. “Once you find yourself emotionally opened by the humour, you’re hit with these questions about the soul and the afterlife.”

The show dives deep into the conflict between divine forgiveness and a human’s free will by putting the very concept of personal responsibility on trial. Judas himself is in a near catatonic state after being numbed for so many years by the guilt for betraying Jesus.

“The language itself is really impressive,” explains Sedgwick. “It takes a very experienced playwright to make characters sound as different as these characters do. They’re so drastically different.”

“It speaks really strongly to the fact that [Adly Guirgis] wrote it for a specific [theatre] company,” continues Lucia Corak, the stage manager. “He knew he could see each actor as a character.”

There are different dialects and historical implications that have to be taken into consideration when portraying such famous characters, and it is evident the actors have

lasT

Days

of

JuDas IscarIoT, oPeninG aPril 11.

done so.

The directors continuously ask the actors questions that help them to make small choices about their characters and better define who they are. With each run, the pacing becomes quicker, and the relationships become better defined, as small things such as eye contact or reaction time start to fit together, allowing the show to come together like a puzzle.

“The show is really a wonderful coming together of a strong directorial team, fun actors who really push themselves and take creative risks, and a wonderful script,” says Lindsey Huebner, who plays Judas’ defence lawyer Fabiana Aziza Cunningham.

Coloured markers on the floor of the rehearsal studio outline where the set pieces of grungy junk piles will go.

They are meant to bring out the feeling of purgatory.

The actors playing members of the jury make use of puppets, which are comprised of old inanimate objects.

The idea is that these objects were once people who have been there so long that they have become part of the trash.

“There already existed this idea of there being a junk heap, kind of a junk heap for souls and a junk heap for refuse from earth, so why not make the puppets out of those things?” explains Sedgwick.

The actors faced the difficult task of breathing life into these objects. The question is: How do you give a rusty old teapot a personality?

Ensemble breathing exercises and emotions such as “surprised” or “terrified” were given to the cast by the directors. Within a few days, the actors had the puppets breathing, “swaggering” and reacting in unison, creating the uncanny feeling that these outwardly random objects could see and hear everything that was going on.

The number of different characters in the show means organizing a fairly large cast.

“There’s a lot of doubling of actors playing multiple characters, so from my point there’s a lot of props and lots of set pieces that get reused and get shuffled around,” says Corak. “It’s logistically keeping track of

“

The show is really a wonderful coming together of a strong directorial team, fun actors who really push themselves and take creative risks.

- Lindsey Huebner, actress

where everybody has to be at which point. They all play jury members so I have to know who is in which part of the stage when, what do they have, and keep track of what physically is happening and where the physical actors and furniture pieces are.”

The show will be performed in the Loyola Chapel in keeping with the religious connotations the play presents.

However, the space does present some challenges.

“It’s acoustically different than a theatre. You have the echo, so clarity of text is really essential,” explains Huebner. “The back of the chapel is the front of our stage, so we have a lot of different levels to be working with, things that we can’t really mimic in the rehearsal hall.”

Sedgwick also explains that the lack of a lighting grid in the chapel poses a problem. Instead of having the lighting set up, as a normal theatre would, lights have to be hung.

“It’s been a wonderful process so far and I’m really excited to see it come to fruition,” says Huebner. “I’m really proud of the work that my peers have done. I’ve seen people do things that I didn’t even know they were capable of.”

With the pressure of exams upon most students, this exceptional display of theatre may relieve the stress for a couple hours. It might even make you realize exams really are not that bad compared to sitting in purgatory for 50 years.

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot runs April 11 and 13 at 8 p.m., April 14 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and April 15 at 1 p.m. at the Loyola Chapel. Admission is $5 for students.

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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

theconcordian

liTerATure

What’s in your beach bag?

Keep cool this summer with books you can enjoy without losing iQ points

mona Flowers’ seven evil exes. A quick read, with plenty of video game references, absurdity and comedy, these novels are sophisticated enough to keep your brain from wilting, but light enough to read on the beach.

Magazines Magazines are great reading material for the summer because they’re

Amanda l. Shore Assistant arts editor

s o

portable and you don’t have to worry about them getting ruined by water or sand. If you’re looking for something with more substance than People or InStyle to read by the pool, try a literary magazine such as SubTerrain or Asimov’s Science Fiction. These magazines provide all the advantages of the magazine

S

Fiction The best summer fiction is the kind that you don’t need to focus hard on to understand, but rather something that will keep you entertained. And what’s more entertaining than comedy? Christopher Moore is a talented comedic writer and any of his books would make for excellent summer reads. Try Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, the story of Christ retold like the Bible has never seen it before. The perfect alternative to church camp.

o, you’re a university student who loves the free time summer brings.

You’re looking forward to sitting on a beach blanket with a good book. But you’ve got so many choices, so many things you could read. You don’t want something too dense, too heavy or too serious. It’s summer; summer books are meant to be light, easy reads, that give your brain a rest from all the academia you’ve subjected it to for the past eight months. But you’re not the kind of person who reads chick lit, romance or cozy mysteries that are the typical beach reads. No, you’re the kind of reader who wants a book with substance, but that’s still light enough to enjoy in the sun and short enough to read in between tanning sets. You’re looking for an alternative summer read.

Graphic novels Never tried a graphic novel? Well, summer is the perfect time to try a new genre. Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series are not only great graphic novels, but also perfect for summer. Averaging around 200 pages per novel, the series follows the life of Scott Pilgrim, a slacker and part-time musician who must battle Ra-

style, with more substance and stories. SubTerrain is a Canadian literary magazine out of Vancouver, which provides a combination of poetry and short fiction to feed your hunger for literature all summer long. Asimov’s Science Fiction features writing from the best writers of the genre, and it’s digestible in one sitting so you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy other activities in the sun.

Non-fiction If non-fiction is your bag, then you may want to check out the work of Bill Bryson.

Well-written and informative, his narrative style is easy to read and will make you laugh.

He has a wide range of books from travel, to Shakespeare, to biography. Try The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir or Notes from a Small Island.

Graphic by Sean Kershaw

You can find these books at any fine book retailer or alternatively, you can try digging through one of Montreal’s excellent used bookstores. Happy reading!

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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

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15

viSuAl ArT

A little bit of art, a little bit of tea and a whole lot of corpses

On March 27, the fine arts class Drawing from the Model with Adèle Beaudry organized an afternoon event in room 313 of the vA building, called “Drink tea and draw: Giant exquisite corpse drawings.” everyone was invited to create giant exquisite corpse drawings as an alternative to holding a class, in support of the student strike. Two models posed during the five-hour activity and participants could draw collectively and freely, using several media provided there. everyone drew on the same paper. Sometimes it was folded so you weren’t able to see what others had done until the end, when the drawings were put on display on the ground floor of the vA building.

They will remain posted until next week.

Photos and text by Natalia Lara Diaz-Berrio

ArTiculate

Over & out: advice and anecdotes from 2012 rebecca ugolini Staff writer

I

t’s our last issue of the year, and my personal condition couldn’t be more in keeping with these morose times. Served for the second time in a month with this Satan’s cocktail of throat ache and fever, I’ve spent most of March standing at windows in my apartment, overlooking the grey metropolis below like some kind of five-foot-five, puffy-necked, phlegmatic Batman.

It’s appropriate, though; because when something comes to an end, when it’s time to move on, it’s instinctual to look back at what you’re leaving behind. Despite the essay due dates on the horizon, in my current state, all I can do is look back at the otherwise great year I’ve had, and writing for The Concordian has been a big part of that.

I don’t know whether I’ll be writing for The Concordian next year—I’m graduating and moving into another program of study.

That means there’s more space in the Arts section…for you. Take it from me: writing for this paper has given way to more contacts, opportunities, fun (free) experiences and better times than most things I’ve been involved in.

Here is a sort of improvised triumvirate of anecdotes and advice that I’d like to bestow on next year’s slew of Arts writers. You’re going to have a blast.

Thanks for reading, and happy writing.

Leap before you look Sure, you probably should look into every single item on the Arts list before you pick out a story to follow—but where’s the fun in that?

Some of my favourite stories, like the piece I did on street/pop-art exhibit CEASE IT 2, were picked just because I thought they “seemed

cool.” It was a feature that led to some great contacts, brought about the discovery of a bunch of Montreal and Canadian artists, and allowed me to sit on a chair made of skateboards, confront a two-dimensional boogieman, and be wowed by a cardboard display of cartoons brought to life. You’ll never see the variety of what the city has to offer if you don’t take a few risks, so go ahead and take the plunge.

Sneak on up I was standing in front of the Hall building speaking with a friend and noticed someone putting up a hand-drawn, fluorescent sticker of a strung-out looking bird holding a laser gun; of course, it was too weird not to follow up. Striking up a conversation when you see something interesting is definitely a good way to get a story going, and although it can be embarrassing and feel awkward, it can also

yield interviews with people you would otherwise never be able to meet. Graffiti artist Futur Lasor Now, for instance, doesn’t usually give interviews or divulge many personal details, but because I was there, I got the story.

They can sense fear Shaky hands, shallow breathing, sweaty forehead—it’s definitely your first interview.

That’s okay, though, because although you look nervous, all you need to remember is that you have the power. In the end, you’re the one who has to understand, think critically and write, and any artist, actor or interviewee is terrified of having the journalist walk away with the wrong impression. Think of the Discovery Channel or something: it’s like taking majestic, wild animals out of their natural environment and submitting them to a battery of tests. Really, they’re more afraid of you than you are of them.

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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

theconcordian

SuMMer PrevieW

I know what you’ll do this summer Make your next four months even hotter with our events guide

Sofia Gay Arts editor Every spring, thousands of Montrealers step out of their homes, where they’ve been hiding since November, surviving on chicken soup and repeats of their favourite sitcoms. But they don’t just sleep in the park all day. Instead, they get to enjoy the myriad of festivals, films, plays and unique events that the city has to offer. It’s hard to confidently argue that Montreal doesn’t offer one of the best summer experiences. So whether this is your first summer in the city, or you’re a Tam Tams veteran, check out our picks for the best arts events around town.

Festivals Kick off the end of exams with Elektra, which celebrates the best of music and art made with the latest technologies. Last year’s festival saw performances featuring robot dancers and an installation with pods that responded to changes in light by opening and closing like flowers. You can pretty much bet that they’ll top that this year when the festival starts up again from May 2 to 6. Visit www. elektrafestival.ca for more details.

Ste-Catherine Street is subject to many protests and parades, so it’s nice to see art laying its claim for space. This year, the Festival international Montreal en arts (FIMA) will take over a portion of Ste-Cats for its 13th edition, turning it into a BoulevArt. Last year saw nearly 140 artists display their work to over 250,000 passersby. This year, check out the self-proclaimed “greatest open air art gallery in Eastern Canada” between June 27 and July 1. Visit www.festivaldesarts.org for updates on this year’s edition.

Did you know that laughing is a great way to work your abs? Get your beach body ready with Just for Laughs Festival. Celebrating its 30th anniversary from July 12 to 29, Just for Laughs promises to have you rolling on the floor with their comedic star lineup including Bo Burnham, Caroline Rhea, Daniel Tosh, Debra DiGiovanni and many, many more. To see the full lineup of comics or to book your tickets, visit www.hahaha.com.

Montreal is proud of its LGBT community and even more so of the annual Divers/Cité Festival. This event promotes the value of diversity with mostly outdoor events from all walks of art. The festival will showcase modern dance, blues, jazz, pop, Latin, rock, world, funk, ambient, techno and electronic concerts, drag queen performances and an outdoor cinema. The festival is in its 20th edition and will run from July 30 to Aug. 5. For more information, visit www.diverscite.org.

Hot air balloons are usually reserved for family films (see Up and Around the World in 80 Days), which may be why hundreds of thousands of people flock far out to SaintJean-sur-Richelieu for its balloon festival. You can book a flight, or if you’d rather stay on the ground, you can enjoy the view (last year they had a balloon shaped like Spider Pig!) from their beer terrace. It goes down on Aug. 11 to 19, and you can check out www.ballooncanada.com for more details.

Film Fantasia is a true underdog story. Started by alternative film fanatics in 1996 (way before the “turn-all-comics-into-films” great geek revolution of the past few years), it has become the ultimate summer event for anyone who likes their films dark, subversive and shocking. Details on this year’s edition will be released closer to Fantasia’s run from July 19 to Aug. 7, but you can keep your eye out for them over at www.festivalfantasia.com.

For a little cultural diversity in your moviegoing experience this summer, don’t miss the World Film Festival, Aug. 23 to Sept. 3. The goal of this festival is to promote cultural diversity internationally by promoting films from around the globe. To find out what films will be showing, visit www.ffm-montreal.org.

Visual arts Everyone knows of Warhol and Lichtenstein, but how often do you hear someone name-drop Tom Wesselmann? Following last summer’s Gaultier extravaganza, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is keeping in the pop culture tune by putting on the first major Canadian exhibition on Wesselmann, the third

major pop artist. The exhibit runs from May 18 to Oct. 7. You can check out more details over at www.mbam.qc.ca.

You don’t have to drive to Granby or put up with the questionable smell at the Biodôme to celebrate the animal kingdom this summer. Zoo is an exhibition featuring art from Quebec, Canadian and international artists that explores the way animals are perceived nowadays, through filters such as mythology, natural science and even the economy. And, of course, it’s contemporary art so it will be done in a way that will leave you turning your head. It’s being shown at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal from May 24 to Sept.

3. Visit www.macm.org for more details.

Books “No gods, no masters, no bosses, no borders,” proclaims the poster for this year’s Anarchist Bookfair. Taking place on May 19 and 20, the fair will feature authors and booksellers offering zines, books and all other kinds of print works that you just won’t find at Chapters. But it doesn’t stop there—there will be film, art and workshops that will touch on current issues and reiterate the fair’s mission to fight all forms of oppression. Check out www. anarchistbookfair.ca for more information.

Authors love giving their most unfortunate characters ironically bright names, and then cruelly dumping misfortune after misfortune on them while also giving them an optimistic demeanour. Ed the Happy Clown has been put through horrifying ordeals (not the least of which includes his member coming to life and naming itself Ronald Reagan) since Chester Brown first conceived him in the ‘80s. This summer, Brown is giving poor Ed a definitive story, after coming up with a new ending and revising past books. The tome, simply called Ed the Happy Clown, will be released by Drawn & Quarterly on May 22.

Another oldie getting the re-release treatment is Chuck Palahniuk’s 1999 novel Invisible Monsters. Written before Fight Club, it was rejected the first time he submitted it to his publisher for being too disturbing. Since then, thousands of people have fallen for the story of Shannon McFarland, a former model whose

face is horribly disfigured, and her adventures with Brandy, a transgender woman who is awaiting her last big operation. With added chapters and extended scenes, Invisible Monsters Remix will take this satire even further. It comes out in hardcover on May 29.

Theatre One of the best parts about summer is being able to experience art outdoors. This is what makes Repercussion Theatre’s Shakespeare-in-the-Park performances so magical.

Travelling from park to park around town, the performances usually take place in the afternoon, meaning you get to see some top-notch Shakespeare as day turns to dusk, while the setting becomes an enchanted forest. Last year they took on Macbeth, but they’re going lighter this summer with the comedy The Taming of the Shrew. Did I mention the best part? It’s absolutely free (though when they pass around the hat, be nice and donate—actors gotta eat!)

Check out www.repercussiontheatre.com to see when they’re coming to a park near you.

The St-Ambroise Fringe Festival is one of the most celebrated theatre events in Montreal, because it gives people a chance to see fun, quirky—and sometimes just plain weird—shows for dirt cheap. The participating theatre companies are chosen lottery-style and performed in venues scattered across the Plateau and Mile End. If you can, try to make the shows in smaller venues—it makes the experience super personal and memorable. This year, Fringe Fest runs from June 4 to 24. Visit www.montrealfringe.ca after May 7 to check out this year’s shows.

If Fringe isn’t your thing, then maybe the Infringement Festival is. Started as a response to advertisement-heavy festivals that make it difficult for alternative and controversial shows to get in, Infringement encourages artists and activists of all kinds to participate.

Artists don’t have to pay registration fees and most events are pay-what-you-can. This year’s edition runs from June 14 to 24. You can go to www.infringementfestival.com for more information.

With files from Amanda L. Shore.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian

17

filM

Summer movIe prevIew

It’s more than just explosions and sequels (but it is those things, too) Chris hanna Production manager

I

t seems summer movie season starts earlier every year. But that would depend on when you think summer actually starts. Is it really Summer Solstice (June 20), or is it when school ends? In either case, there are plenty of films coming out between April and September that are sure to keep you occupied if the outdoors isn’t your thing.

Homegrown Xavier Dolan’s highly anticipated followup to Les amours imaginaires is Laurence Anyways, the story of a man who decides to undergo a sex change but maintain his loving relationship with his female companion. The film is written and directed by Dolan and is due out in May. Quebec television series Omertà is getting the big screen treatment July 11. Luc Dionne, who wrote the successful show that ran in the late ‘90s, will write and direct the film centered around organized crime and Italian mafia in Montreal. Michel Côté, Rachelle Lefevre, Patrick Huard will star, with René Angélil in the role of head mafioso Dominic Fagazi.

The Fantasia Film Festival has become one of the most anticipated film events of the summer in North America. Quentin Tarantino, whose 2009 film Inglourious Basterds made its North American debut at Fantasia, called the festival “the most important and prestigious film festival on this continent.” Fantasia will be celebrating its 16th year in Montreal (with many screenings at or around Concordia’s downtown campus) from July 19 to Aug. 7.

Sarah Polley’s first directorial effort since 2006’s Away From Her, which earned her an Oscar nomination in the adapted screenplay category, will be Take This Waltz, which was shot in Toronto and stars Michelle Williams and Canuck Seth Rogen. The film has played at the Toronto International Film Festival and other film festivals across the country, but it is set to be released in a “theatre near you,” so to speak, in June.

Cosmopolis stars Robert Pattinson, and before you roll your eyes, just know that the film is written and directed by Canadian David Cronenberg (A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, A Dangerous Method). A teaser trailer for the film is making its rounds online and it’s totally crazy: 24 hours in the life of a young Manhattan billionaire and all the trouble he can get into during that time. It’s based on the Don DeLillo book of the same name.

Cronenberg promises a Rob “as you have not seen him before.” So no sparkly skin, right?

Indie (with star power) Woody Allen moves his story to Italy this summer with To Rome With Love. Since 1982, Allen has written and directed at least one film every year. With a career that started in the mid ‘60s, his 2012 effort reunites him with Penelope Cruz (whose work on Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona earned the actress her first Oscar), and also stars Jesse Eisenberg, Alec Baldwin, Canadians Ellen Page and Alison Pill, and Allen himself. Rome will be in limited release as of April 20, and will likely be released in Montreal by June.

A young girl and boy fall in love and run away together in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, causing their town to search for

them. This will be Anderson’s first live-action feature since 2007’s The Darjeeling Limited and his first effort since the stop-motion animated Fantastic Mr. Fox. Moonrise stars Anderson veterans Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman, as well as Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton and Frances McDormand, and is due out in May. In Safety Not Guaranteed, three journalists (New Girl’s Jake M. Johnson, Parks and Recreation’s Aubrey Plaza, and Karan Soni) find the subject of their next feature in a classified ad, the buyer of which is looking for someone to time travel with. The film is scheduled to hit theatres in June.

For the kid in you There will be yet another entry in the Madagascar and Ice Age franchises (June 8 and July 13, respectively), but the animated film to catch this summer will be Disney Pixar’s Brave, which by the looks of the teaser trailers released in the last few months, will be a return to form for the studio that suffered with the seriously terrible Cars 2 last summer. Brave is centered around Princess Merida, whose archery skills and bravery will be put to the test when she has to save her kingdom.

Tim Burton collaborated with Johnny Depp again for a big screen adaptation of Dark Shadows, the television cult classic from the ‘60s. Depp plays Barnabas Collins, a vampire who was imprisoned for 200 years and who, upon his release in 1972, seeks out his lava lamp-owning, Chevy-driving ancestors. Dark Shadows will be out May 11.

Date night Rare is the romantic comedy that can

please both male and female moviegoers, but on April 27, The Five-Year Engagement will do just that. Jason Segel and Emily Blunt star in the Nicholas Stoller film about a couple that keeps putting off their wedding date. Stoller and Segel wrote the screenplay; the duo collaborated on Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek.

Musical Rock of Ages features ‘80s rock anthems by Poison and Twisted Sister and a cast that is too long to list in its entirety (though it includes Alec Baldwin, Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Mary J. Blige). The Adam Shankman (Hairspray) film is scheduled to be released June 15.

Fellas, you will be dragged to What to Expect When You’re Expecting, out May 18.

It’ll be awful, but then she’ll owe you one, at which point you use your free pass to see The Avengers (May 4), Men in Black III (May 25), The Amazing Spider-Man (July 3), Christopher Nolan’s last hurrah directing a Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises (July 20), Ridley Scott’s Prometheus (June 8) or The Bourne Legacy (Aug. 3), which will feature Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) in the title role.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt ...or the guy whose face you’ll see a lot of on the big screen this year. The actor’s come a long way from his days on 3rd Rock From the Sun, with career-making turns in Brick and The Lookout, and more recently, 500 Days of Summer, Inception and 50/50. He will be in five films this year, including The Dark Knight Rises, Premium Rush (Aug. 24), Looper (Sept.

28) and Tarantino’s Django Unchained and Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, both due out in December.

music 18

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Write to the editor: music@theconcordian.com

World music review: Asia If you’re looking for musical diversity, the largest continent on the planet is a great place to start. From K-pop to traditional, Russia to East Timor and Japan to Kazakhstan, Asia has more than you bargained for

Allie Mason and Elizabeth Mackay Music and assistant music editors

Kabul DReams (afghanisTan): Here in the Western world, the music market is oversaturated with rock bands trying to make it big. Afghanistan’s first rock ‘n’ roll band, Kabul Dreams, is only three years old. They have become somewhat of a novelty on a global scale, purely due to the fact that they’re the first ever in their country, but don’t let that stop you from giving them a listen. While their sound ranges from generic to melodic, they do have talent and a whole lot of gusto. As the self-proclaimed voice of Kabul youth, their ciphers deal with postTaliban messages of peace, unity and love. Groovy.

Although the trio lived outside Afghanistan during Taliban rule—singer Sulyman Qardash in neighbouring Uzbekistan, bass guitarist Siddique Ahmed in Pakistan and drummer Mujtaba Habibi in Iran—they moved back to Afghanistan once the Taliban was removed from power. What’s interesting about these three Afghan boys is that they come from different areas of the country, so they all speak a different native language. Instead of trying to work with that, they decided to sing in English.

The Raghu DixiT PRojecT (inDia): Combining traditional Indian vocal styles and instrumentation with unconventional musical styles including funky basslines, reggae rhythms and crisp, clean electric guitar, the Project is more than just a name—it’s an “openhouse” for musicians and artists to come together and express their craft, regardless of genre, style or nationality. While the majority of his music is inspired by Shishunala Sharif, a saint from Karnataka, India famous for his poetry, Raghupathy Dixit’s lyrics, which are mostly in his native tongue, speak to the masses and deal with everyday experiences and emotions. The self-taught composer and musician believes Indian folk music is not a genre, but a state of mind. “We’re all untrained musicians,” said Dixit on his website, “and singing a song, because it’s innate, is a basic instinct.” The RDP’s debut self-titled album, available to stream online, includes eight full-length tracks that were composed over the past 12 years.

The quintet that currently makes up the Project also has a new album in the works.

moDeRn Dog (ThailanD): As the victors of the Coke Music Contest in 1992, college mates Modern Dog were instantly thrust into a world of bright lights and flashing cameras to sell over 500,000 copies of their debut album. Their introduction to the Thai music market may seem near effortless, but their sound was over a century in the making. For years, Thailand borrowed music from its neighbours India and China, resting at a crossroads of traditional Greek and Roman trade routes. But Thailand’s popular music format, known as “string,” wasn’t developed without the influence of American R&B, shipped overseas courtesy of American and Australian soldiers serving in Vietnam. Modern Dog broke through the sticky sweet boundaries characteristic of string and brought heavier, American influenced experimental rock featuring English and Thai lyrics.

With That Song (2004), produced by Tony Doogan (Mogwai, Belle and Sebastian), and a 2006 U.S. tour, they tried to break into the Western world, but failed to gain much steam. Still hailed as the leader of Thailand’s indie rock music scene, Modern Dog paved the way for alternative rock’s presence in popular Thai music and have sold over two million albums to date.

niRaj chag (englanD via inDia): This British musician of Indian descent has spent his life in London. His family’s strong ties to their heritage and homeland inspired him to create what BBC Radio 1 host DJ Nihal calls “some of the most beautiful British-Asian music ever created.” Chag composes in multiple languages, including six different languages on his debut album Along the Dusty Road (2006), after which he was awarded the “Best Underground Act” award at the U.K. Asian Music Awards. His next release, The Lost Souls in 2009, drove home this fusion artist’s talent, blending major South Asian styles with Hindi and by combining over 50 vocal layers on one track alone. The songs themselves are relaxed; it’s the type of music you can picture yourself listening to while smoking fragrant Mu‘assel from an ornate hookah in some tucked-away lounge amongst the crowded streets of New Delhi.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

19

7he myRiaDs (Russia): If you think space disco is a kind of theme party thrown by Russian cosmonauts, then you’re missing out on quite possibly one of the most enjoyable new hybrid genres, and the dual-continental band positioned squarely at its forefront. 7he Myriads, formed

by Vitalic Teterin and Alexey Krjuk in 2007, are more than just an electronic group. Adding Yunusov Ilgiz to the band, the Ekaterinburg (Asia) natives draw upon disco, funk, deep house, rock and electro, while combining live instrumentation with electronic staples like the evertrusty laptop and MIDI keyboard. Now based in St. Petersburg (Europe), the intergalactic rock threesome released their debut album ∞ in 2010 and an EP, Running Man, soon after. Although they haven’t released another album since, they’re constantly updating their SoundCloud online where you can stream almost 30 tracks for free.

hiRomi uehaRa (jaPan): Hiromi Uehara is known as one of the world’s most talented, game-changing musicians for her ability to bring raw, emotional rock to the piano—a relatively peaceful instrument. She began playing the piano at six years old, joined the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at 14, and has now broken into the more mainstream alternative Western market. Hiromi first worked as a jingle writer in Japan, but travelled to the United States to attend Boston’s Berklee College of Music to study jazz piano. Since the release of her debut album, Another Mind (2003), she has travelled the world, developing a reputation for her inventive, high-energy fusion of classical and hard rocking jazz.

With the Hiromi Trio Project, she will bring her latest release, Voice (2011), to this summer’s Fuji Rock Festival and both Montreal’s and Toronto’s jazz festivals.

moRPhy (singaPoRe): This collective, represented by vocalist and guitarist Lilia Yip and supported

by Eugene Wong on synth and bass, lead guitarist Alexius Cai and Chua Yingtze on percussion, is not for those who enjoy mainstream folk music. The ambient, electronic, folk-pop band melds genres and risks melding your mind with their psychedelic ambient potpourri of sound. Stepping beyond electronica, the band uses traditional instruments from all areas of the world, including the wooden folk flute, and the African thumb piano, also known as the mbira.

Their seemingly rule-free composition stems from their open approach to their music, inviting musicians from all corners of the globe to contribute to their sound. Their first album Pink Ashes (2004) set the pace for what was to come in their 2010 release Just Like Breathing, which featured U.K. guitarist Timothy Lloyd. Their presence in the scene, however, is reminiscent of their music—rather ambient—so if you want to hear them, you’re going to have to do some digging.

boa (souTh KoRea): K-pop girl groups have steadily grown in popularity, breaking into Western and Japanese music markets on the heels of BoA (Beat of Angel), or Kwon Boa, the reigning “Queen of Korean Pop Music.” BoA’s dance electropop first hooked South Korea in 2000 after she caught agents’ eyes while accompanying her older brother to a talent search. In 2002, she became the first South Korean musician to break Japan since the World War II entertainment trade embargo, opening the doors for girl groups like the Wonder Girls and 2NE1. BoA secured a fan base in the U.S. with the 2009 release of her self-titled English debut album and after spending much of 2010 touring the states and promoting her single “Eat You Up.” The pop starlet is it still maintaining her presence in Japan and South Korea, but is also set to make her Hollywood debut in the dance flick COBU 3D, so brace yourself for a K-pop invasion.

heDgehog (china): Despite China’s well-documented, swelling population, it has never been considered a major producer or consumer of popular music. Due to state restrictions, cantopop and mandopop commercialized love ballads pollute the radio waves, for an alternative hasn’t yet broken into the mainstream. Inspired by Western bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit, a black/thrash metal scene developed among youth in the ‘90s, and heavy rock music has now grown in popularity in Beijing and Shanghai. Beijing’s Hedgehog was born out of those same punk/grunge roots, and they developed a fan base playing shows underground in 2005. Fans now flock to their shows to see Atom, the petite yet aggressive female percussionist, peeking through a mop of hair, behind a towering drum kit. The guitarist, Zo, sings most lyrics in Mandarin and English, and they recently recruited a new bassist, Xiao Nan, for their 2011 U.S. tour with California synth pop collective Xiu Xiu. Hedgehog recorded their upcoming 2012 release, Sun Fun Gun, in New York with Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s John Grew and Russell Simins, and the album’s first single is now available for free download on Bandcamp.

eli WalKs (jaPan): Producer extraordinaire Jeff Lufkin has long had his hands in Japan’s thriving popular music scene—it’s a family affair. Both of his sisters are established musicians; Olivia is a fairly successful J-pop songstress, while Caroline is a vocalist for indie rock’s Mice Parade. Lufkin had an early affinity for heavy metal, but after his sisters introduced him to electronica à la Kraftwerk and Massive Attack, he searched for a method that would allow him to meld the two, and found it in club music.

Lufkin worked as a producer, guitarist and composer in Japan, but moved to L.A. and birthed the moniker Eli Walks, as he studied sound design, engineering, and mastered Ableton Live at the California Institute of the Arts. His 2012 debut, Parallel, is delicate yet abrasive, overlapping atmospheric dance music. This is music to fill your ears; it works equally as an isolation soundtrack/solo travel companion or setting for a chill, alternative dance floor. He will make his Fuji Rock Festival debut this summer alongside the likes of Radiohead and the Stone Roses.

Graphics by Maya Pankalla & Map by Katie Brioux

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Tuesday, April 3, 2012 PRoFIlE

theconcordian

Rock warriors ready for battle

Andrew Guilbert Staff writer

>>> For the very, very patient vinyl enthusiasts

In celebration of his Third Man Records’ third anniversary, jack White hosted a big soirée with an unusual party favour for the guests.

Following in the label’s tradition of unusual vinyl creations, each person present was given a special 3 RPM record containing all 56 singles from the 28 bands that have taken part in the label’s Blue Series. The label has called the record “easy to play but impossible to hear [...] we estimate it would take 333 days of 33 hours training per day for your finger, hand and arm muscles to spin at a continuous speed of 3 rpm for X hours and X minutes.”

>>>More like ultra Music Feudstival

madonna irked a number of prominent electronic dance music icons at the Ultra Music Festival last week when she asked “How many people in this crowd have seen Molly?” a slang term for the drug MDMA, which is similar to the name of the pop star’s latest album MDNA. Paul van Dyk called the reference “the biggest mistake in her career” and prompted Deadmau5 to tweet “You’re a role model to 100’s of millions.

You have a powerful voice, EDM [electronic dance music] could use your positive influence, not ‘molly’ talk.” Madonna claims she was unaware of the implications of her comment, and tweeted in reply “I don’t support drug use and I never have. I was referring to the song ‘Have You Seen Molly’ written by my friend Cedric Gervais who I almost worked with on my last album…” Deaudmau5 applauded her for clearing up the situation “personally,” but advised Madonna to “be a little more aware of what you *should* represent at EDM events.”

>>> crashed and burned

Australian rockers jet have officially called it quits, according to a post on the band’s official website. “After many successful years of writing, recording and touring we wish to announce our discontinuation as a group,” wrote the group. “From the many pubs, theatres, stadiums and festivals all across the world it was the fans that made our amazing story possible and we wish to thank them all.” Jet first came to prominence in 2003 with the release of their first album Get Born. It quickly went platinum in the U.S., U.K. and Australia and netted them their most recognizable song, “Are You Gonna Be My Girl.”

>>> ‘ke$ha bled all over My record!’

The flaming lips have decided there’s just not enough bodily fluids in records these days and they’ve decided to do something about it with their new collaborative effort The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends. “What I’m going to try to do—and I’m collecting stuff for it as we speak— is I’m going to try to make a record that has every person’s blood in the record,” said frontman Wayne Coyne in an interview with MTV. “I don’t have everybody’s blood just yet, but I collected quite a few vials of blood and it’s actually sitting in my refrigerator as we speak.”

The record itself will be a picture disk and be on a very limited run of five or six at the most.

Though he wouldn’t divulge exactly whose blood he’d already taken, Coyne mentioned his favourite collaborators so far have been bon iver and Ke$ha.

Brandon Mignacca, roB Flis and ryan Flis launch A ThousAnd Words at le national april 14. photos By allie Mason.

Student electro outfit Chair Warriors prepare for debut album release A.J. Cordeiro Staff writer What began as an inside joke about a character in a high school play has now become the Montreal electro-rock band Chair Warriors, whose debut EP A Thousand Words features traditional rock vocals, guitar and a little bit of ivory-tickling.

“We entered our first battle of the bands, scrambling to find a name,” recalls guitarist Rob Flis, a Concordia journalism student and staff writer at The Concordian. They decided on the name Chair Warriors, inspired by their friend who played a character called “the Chair Warrior,” a super villain who finished off his adversaries with a chair, à la WWE, in Laurier Senior High School’s annual Blue and Gold Revue, Super Zeroes.

“We just used Chair Warriors as a last resort, thinking, well, you know, we’ll just use it for this because we need something, and we couldn’t shed the name.”

After a few lineup changes, the band has settled down as a three-piece, emulating their sonic heroes Muse. The trio consists of Rob, his brother, drummer Ryan Flis who also attends Concordia, and vocalist/keyboardist Brandon Mignacca,

who is studying music at Vanier College.

“I’ve known Ryan for, let’s see, since he was born,” Rob jokes. “Ryan met Brandon during high school, where he was already blowing people away with his talent.”

The band members quickly bonded as they began making a name for themselves on the rock scene, playing clubs around Montreal.

“It’s been great playing at places like Le Divan Orange and La Sala Rossa,” says Rob. “But we’ve played our share of dumps, too.”

In addition to their covers, which treat fans to classics such as Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” they have been working hard writing original music, too. The songwriting process often begins with an idea from Brandon, while working at home.

“Usually it’s just a simple piano melody and a vocal take,” says Rob. “And from there it grows.

Sometimes it changes drastically, but most of the time it’s a collective process.”

The new ideas and fresh songs have led to the band renting out a recording studio to flesh out their ideas.

“It requires more responsibility,” explains Rob, adding that the studio time is both necessary and expensive to capture their electro, classical and ‘90s grunge influences. “But it comes with being a musician.”

So does the challenge that plagues all musicians: getting people to listen to their music.

“Word of mouth is very difficult,” laments

Rob. “Even on the Internet, you feel like this little guy, stuck in a life raft in the middle of the ocean, amongst the millions of other life rafts.”

“Right now, we really have to publicize ourselves as much as possible, and we seem to be doing quite well. But we are always happy to work from step one,” says Rob. “First step, you start a band. Next step, you play shows. Next step, you record an album. Next step, you get fans.”

In taking on the roles of student and musician, the dedication and commitment can take its toll.

“It’s draining,” admits Rob. “There is a lot fun, but there is a lot on our plates, so we couldn’t do it without the people who give us clear-headed advice. It makes life so much easier.”

While they make sure their music is readily available on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Reverbnation with its smartphone app, the band recognizes the need to give fans something physical. That’s why they are planning to launch the physical copy of their album when they perform as a featured artist at Landmark Entertainment’s Battle of the Bands 2012.

“Fame, fortune, the works,” Rob says is what’s in store for Chair Warriors. “We want to be the next Foo Fighters. 2012 is our year.” catch chair Warriors at le national (1220 stecatherine st. e.) on april 14 for the launch of their debut record A Thousand Words.

PREvIEW

It’s going to be a musical summer Montreal can look forward to sweet music fests and concerts Allie Mason Music editor The season of flip flops, short shorts, fedoras and tank tops is upon us. Some of the best things are securely tied to the summer months in Canada, like patios, sangria and sun tans, and so too are some of the best music events in Montreal.

This year’s lineup for osheaga music and arts festival promises to be Montreal’s biggest music event. The city’s crowning festival glory has secured what has got to be the festival’s dopest musical lineup in recent memory, featuring s-n-doubleo-p D-o-double-gee, florence and the machine, sigur Rós, The black Keys, justice, feist, and quite literally tons more. Weekend passes are available starting at $217, with day passes available later in the summer. The three-day-long festival will be rocking Jean-Drapeau Park from Aug. 3 to 5.

Montreal’s most famous musical

event, however, has to be montreal jazz festival. In the 30 years that the festival has been bringing world-renowned musicians to the various festival venues scattered throughout downtown Montreal, it’s rare that the organizers have received a bad review. This year’s festival runs from June 28 to July 7. Performers include james Taylor, Montreal’s own The barr brothers, pop music icon liza minnelli, ‘90s R&B romantic seal, Ontario folk project Timber Timbre, blues sweetheart nora jones and Roma-style indie rockers beirut, among others.

If you want to celebrate Cinco de Mayo a few days early, treat yourself to a performance by the ‘80s and ‘90s princes of funky alt-rock: the Red hot chili Peppers. After announcing their split following the tail end of their Stadium Arcadium tour in 2007, fans weren’t sure if or when they should expect the L.A. outfit to make their comeback. In August 2011, they finally released their tenth studio album, I’m With You, and began planning their next tour. Although their tour was postponed due to frontman Anthony Kiedis’ foot surgery, it’ll be worth the wait.

As if that wasn’t enough good music to blow

your mind away, Radiohead plans to make a stop at the Bell Centre on June 15 after thoroughly touring the U.S. and before jetting off to Europe for the remainder of their tour dates. Supporting their most recent album, The King of Limbs, it’s the band’s first full release and subsequent tour in four years.

If you long for some real nostalgia, The beach boys will be bringing a little slice of retro California sunshine to the Bell Centre on June 20, while Roger Waters will be performing The Wall live at the Bell Centre on June 26. Looking for something with a little more weight? iron maiden and alice cooper will take the Bell Centre stage on July 11, and don’t forget vans Warped Tour on July 14, featuring tons of heavy punk rockers, including lostprophets, yellowcard, Taking back sunday, new found glory, all Time low and anti-flag.

No matter what your musical taste, Montreal is where you’ll find great music practically every night. Hundreds of bands, from jazz to rock to pop to country, will be making a stop in this lively summertime metropolis, so keep your ear to the ground for concert announcements and you won’t be disappointed.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

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21

MIxTAPE If you are looking for a list of what needs to be seen at this year’s edition of Coachella and you’re thinking The black Keys, arctic monkeys, florence and the machine, and justice, well, you’re going to have to look it up online.

The “modern-day Woodstock” boasts an incredible roster year after year and Coachella 2012 is no different. However, a lot of the bands you should be giving a portion of your day to get overshadowed by repetitive headliners that are thrown in your face from all angles. With the exception of the almighty Radiohead, if one is to migrate to beautiful California for the two weekendslong festival, don’t get caught up in trying to catch the bigger artists. I’m not saying you should avoid all headliners (Dr. Dre and snoop Dogg together— what?!), but you should pay attention to the bands in the smaller print. This is not your average mixtape. And if you are planning to catch David guetta’s set, there’s no point in reading the rest of this and, quite frankly, I would not want you to either.

Coachella 2012 preview Compiled by Alex Giardini Staff writer

siDe a: The mandatory necessities

siDe b: other necessities

1. “Lotus Flower (SBTRKT Remix)” Radiohead - Single 2. “Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang” - Dr. Dre (feat. Snoop Dogg) - Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang 3. “New Noise” - Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come 4. “Sleepwalk Capsules” - At The Drive-In - Relationship of Command 5. “Family Tree” - Black Lips - Arabia Mountain 6. “Play Your Part (Pt. 1)” - Girl Talk Feed the Animals 7. “Midnight City” - M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming 8. “Nantes” - Beirut - The Flying Club Cup 9. “Common People” - Pulp - Different Class 10. “Perth” - Bon Iver - Bon Iver

11. “Rubber” - Yuck - Yuck 12. “My Ma” - GIRLS - Father, Son, Holy Ghost 13. “Saw You First” - GIVERS - In Light 14. “Human Error” - We Were Promised Jetpacks - In the Pit of the Stomach 15. “Endless Blue” - The Horrors - Skying 16. “Peso” - A$AP Rocky LiveLoveA$AP 17. “Do The Astral Plane” - Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma 18. “Never Fade Away” - Spector Single 19. “Last Known Surroundings” - Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care 20. “Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls” Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yanqui X.U.O. Part 2 of 2

Quick spins

Retro review

Little Chords - Afterlife (Lefse Records; 2012)

Mark Stewart - The Politics of Envy (Future Noise Music; 2012)

Tanlines - Mixed Emotions (True Panther Sounds; 2012)

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold As Love (Track Records; 1967)

When B.C.-based singer-songwriter Jamison is not producing records under his other monikers, Teen Daze and Two Bicycles, he is churning out music as Little Chords, an ‘80s drum-based, lo-fi, indie pop project from Vancouver. His new record Afterlife was released on Bandcamp on March 20.

Chiming guitars, bathed in reverb and delay effects, synths, drum machines and quiet, almost haunting vocals lead the listener through the journey of the record. It’s a welcome excursion, as some of the songs, such as “Firsts,” seem as if they could come right off the soundtrack of an ‘80s flick—think The Karate Kid (no, not the one with Jaden Smith). Others, such as “Afterlife,” are quieter introspectives, giving the album balance and contrast.

The record runs just over 36 minutes and treats listeners to a scenic, pop-psych drive. While it won’t bring back glam rock bands on cassettes, it will surprise listeners with some nostalgia.

Mark Stewart has burst back on the scene after a four-year break, with his raw and dangerously sexy album The Politics of Envy. I have a feeling Stewart would spit in my face if he knew what I’m about to say, but here it goes: This album is like TV on the Radio and Nine Inch Nails bonding at a dubstep-fuelled afterparty. Trust me, it’s a good thing.

Stewart keeps alive the experimental, industrial, hip-hop sound that he’s been celebrated for since his first band, The Pop Group, split in the early ‘80s. The tunes are moody and rife with anti-“corporate cocksucker” messages and the album features a handful of punk’s and postpunk’s most respected pioneers such as Keith Levene of early Clash fame, Slits bassist Tessa Pollitt and The Raincoats’ Gina Birch. Birch’s deep, robotic voice makes “Stereotype” one of the most haunting pop songs I’ve heard this year.

What’s a better way to end the academic year than with something as overtly non-academic as Tanlines? After years of teasing with endless singles and EPs, Brooklyn duo Jesse Cohen and Eric Emm have finally released their full-length debut album Mixed Emotions. Best described as electropop with a tropical flavour, this album is like a piña colada in a test tube: fun and refreshing, but completely synthetic.

At times influenced by Paul Simon’s Graceland, the production has a strong emphasis on dance floor beats and catchy pop melodies, with a heavy reliance on synthesizers and an afropop veneer. Emm’s muffled baritone vocals both accentuate and compliment the artificiality of his soundscape.

Like a coconut-wielding caricature imprisoned in a souvenir shop snowglobe, Mixed Emotions may ultimately be the desperate plea of a man trapped in a kitschy tropical dystopia.

Late legendary musician Jimi Hendrix has never failed to impress with any of his releases. Following the success of his debut album Are You Experienced?, Hendrix was keen on expanding his musical horizons. Axis: Bold as Love, recorded in 1967, combines elements of rock, blues, psychedelic and jazz, creating a beautiful hodgepodge of sound.

Out of Hendrix’s three albums, Axis is often the most underrated, largely due to the fact that it was released in between his two most commercially successful albums. With Axis, the late rock ‘n’ roll icon displayed remarkable growth, asserting his position as a multifaceted musician.

The album features one of Hendrix’s finest performances, as well as his most emotional. “Little Wing,” a two-minute odyssey through sound, showcases his versatility and superior songwriting skills. All of Hendrix’s albums are definite musthaves for any music enthusiast, but Axis stands out as his most experimental and original record.

Trial track: “afterlife”

Trial track: “Want”

Trial track: “Real life”

Trial track: “little Wing”

8.5/10

- A.J. Cordeiro

9.0/10

- Lindsay Briscoe

7.0/10

- Paul Traunero

- Gabriel Fernandez

sports

22

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Write to the editor: sports@theconcordian.com WreSTLing

Concordia wrestler Olympic-bound David Tremblay getting ready for London 2012 Julian Mei Sports editor After qualifying for the Olympics last week at a tournament in Orlando, 24-year-old David Tremblay from the Concordia Stingers wrestling team is getting ready to head to London and represent his country. The first-time Olympian has lofty expectations for himself this summer. He sat down with The Concordian for an interview.

How do you expect to do in London?

Obviously everyone wants to go for the gold, that’s the best outcome. I just want to go out there and perform my best. Last summer I beat some of the top guys in the world so, if I can perform well, I know I can [compete for a medal]. A medal [in London] would be great and I’m a real competitor so I’m not planning on going to the games and losing.

Are you nervous about the games?

I’m not nervous. I’m just excited. I want to get back to training and preparing and just get ready for London.

What are you most excited about heading to the Olympics?

Who has been the most help in your career?

I’m not sure. I think it’s just going to be an overall great experience. I’m looking forward to the opening and closing ceremonies.

I talked to some past Olympians and they said the ceremonies were a great part of going to the games. And just the fact I’m going to a tournament that only comes once every four years where you have to qualify against the best of the best is great.

I’d have to say definitely my dad. My dad’s the one who brought me into the sport and he was pretty strict on me in high school in order to achieve my goals, but he did a really good job of being a coach and also a father.

He wasn’t too much of one or the other.

When in your life did you really believe and think one day you could be in the Olympics?

When I was really young, around 15, I wanted to go without knowing how to really get there. You win your first national title at a young age, people are asking you if you want to go to the Olympics and you say, “yeah, of course I do,” without knowing how hard it is to make it there. Then when you get older you realize it’s not as easy as you think. You hope you can make it, but it’s still a long way away. I moved to Montreal after high school thinking I could make it to the 2008 Olympics before even realizing how far I was from that. I had to re-analyze my goals and focus on 2012.

How did you get started in the sport?

It was my dad — he was a high school wrestling coach in Ontario. I was into all the sports in grade school and he asked me if I wanted to try wrestling and I said “I don’t know, I don’t really know anything about wrestling.” So he took me into the living room and showed me a couple techniques.

Then he put me in a high school tournament which I won and I just started liking it from there.

Will your family be coming to London to watch?

I think some of them are going to come, but the games aren’t cheap. I think it’s $500 just to watch me wrestle one day. We’re going to do some fundraising to hopefully help with the cost, but my immediate family will probably be coming.

DaviD Tremblay will be compeTing in his firsT olympics This summer. phoTos by riTa DaviDson

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian

23

beST Of

Most exciting Stinger moments of 2011-12 A look at some of the best games of the year Julian Mei Sports editor

During the course of a long year, teams go through many ups and downs.

And seeing as no one wants to relive the low points because they’re depressing, let’s use this school year’s final edition of The Concordian to take a trip down memory lane and remember the best games from this season.

Men’s basketball

rSeQ semifinals — feb. 29 Concordia 66 vs. Laval 65 This was by far the most exciting game of the school year. Playing in front of a packed and rowdy gym at home, Concordia was a heavy favourite against the Rouge et Or. Only Laval didn’t seem to care. Despite going 5-11 in the regular season (nine fewer wins than Concordia), Laval was up six points with just over two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and seemed poised to pull off the upset of the year. Then the Stingers turned it on. Concordia forced four turnovers in the final two minutes, electrifying the small gym which was about as loud as a 20,000-seat arena that night. All-star guard Kyle Desmarais scored five points in the final 30 seconds to advance Concordia to the RSEQ finals where they would defeat UQAM and move to nationals.

sTingers men repeaTeD as rseQ champions. phoTo by navneeT pall

The sTingers women beaT bishop’s in The semis. phoTo by navneeT pall

Women’s basketball

rSeQ semifinals — feb. 28 Concordia 65 vs. bishop’s 53 Concordia struggled down the stretch in the regular season and played a horrendous first quarter against Bishop’s. Down 24-7 after the game’s opening 10 minutes, it looked as though the season was going to come to an abrupt and disappointing end. Things began to turn around in the second quarter though. Conference MVP Kaylah Barrett scored 10 points in the quarter and helped bring the Stingers within four points of the Gaiters. After a halftime pep talk from coach Keith Pruden, the Stingers came out going for the jugular. Sharpshooting and tough defensive play gave the Stingers an eight-point lead into the fourth and the team never looked back. It was the team’s biggest comeback of the season.

Men’s hockey

regular season — feb. 3 Concordia 4 vs. Mcgill 2

The women’s rugby Team won an exciTing game over mcgill To aDvance To The rseQ provincial championships. phoTo by anThony isabella

Battling for their playoff lives, the Stingers were in tough on the road in McGill’s McConnell Arena playing the future national champs. Not to be intimidated by the circumstances though, Concordia defeated its archrival for the second time in the season—two of McGill’s only six losses came against the Stingers this year. Tied at one in the third period, Michael Blundon and George Lovatsis scored power-play goals within 32 seconds of each other to give Concordia a 3-1 lead that they would not relinquish. The win put Concordia in the driver’s seat in the OUA east playoff race. However, the Stingers came up short of the post-season.

Women’s rugby

rSeQ semifinals — Oct. 21 Concordia 18 vs. Mcgill 8 After a successful regular season, Concordia faced its rival in the semis and, for the second time of the year, defeated McGill. The game was very close, but the Stingers were able to dig deep and advance to the RSEQ finals for the second year in a row. Unfortunately, Laval put up a roadblock again, denying Concordia a trip to nationals.

men’s hockey came up shorT of The playoffs, buT DiD manage To upseT rival mcgill Twice in The regular season. phoTo by navneeT pall

opinions 24

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Write to the editor: opinions@theconcordian.com eDiTOriAl

The summer is ripe for change

The administration has a golden opportunity to fix things at Concordia

This summer, two all-too familiar faces will be leaving Concordia. Both Peter Kruyt, who has held on to the chairmanship of the Board of Governors for far too long, and interim President Frederick Lowy, who already did a 10-year stint at this university in a previous life, will be relinquishing their posts. There has never been a better time for Concordia to usher in a new era of openness—it all depends on who gets selected to fill Kruyt’s and Lowy’s positions.

To be fair, Lowy is an all-around pleasant gentleman, who at least gives off the impression that he cares about students; he might even wave to them on the rare occasion he ventures down from his perch on the MB building’s 15th floor. One notable example of Lowy’s openness was his decision to speak to students who staged a sit-in outside his office on April 2. He even went as far as indicating his interest in scheduling a further, much lon-

ger meeting. What a guy.

That being said, Lowy’s successor will have many challenges to deal with upon assuming office this August—including not getting fired, a fate that befell Lowy’s two predecessors. The new Concordia president will need to use their term to rebuild students’ confidence in their educational institution. Students have had it with the severance packages and high salaries, and want—and deserve—better.

Should Lowy’s successor truly care about this university and all of its many merits (because despite its less-than-flattering reputation lately, Concordia still has some merits), then perhaps they would be interested in a pay cut?

Because let’s face it, at a time when universities are asking students to pay more money for their education because schools say they’re broke, it really isn’t the best time for university presidents such as Concordia’s to be earning $350,000 a year, right?

The new titleholder will also need to be much more visible on campus than those who have held the post in the past. It would also help to know what exactly Concordia’s president does to earn such a massive salary. This

closed door policy on the movement and responsibilities of Concordia’s top administrator has to change. Advice to an incoming president, whoever that might be: approachability is your best friend. Take a page from Provost and active tweeter David Graham’s book, and make an effort to be visible in the Concordia community. Show students you care, or risk proving that you don’t.

As for BoG Chair Peter Kruyt, is there really that much to say? The man has shown nothing but contempt for student representatives on the board this year as they tried to push for more transparency at Concordia’s highest governing body. Watching him in action at a BoG meeting, particularly when dealing with student reps, is like watching someone’s extremely cantankerous uncle work his magic at a family dinner party, the magic of course being unpleasantness and downright hostility.

If Concordia is actually serious about moving ahead with good governance and a new era of openness, then it needs someone on the BoG who treats all of its members equally— and who doesn’t address the student reps by their first names while politely addressing the

rest of the BoG crew as “Mr.” or “Mrs.” It must be proven to students that they are legitimate stakeholders in this university’s best interests, and what better way to show that than by having a welcoming and respectful chair at the Board of Governors?

Finally, this summer will also see a report released by a team of external auditors who have been tasked with reviewing five severance packages totalling $2.4 million handed out to senior employees between 2009 and 2010. Who knows what the report will actually say, but in reality it’s difficult to imagine why auditors worth $25,000 are necessary in the first place. The administration should know by now that they messed up with the severance packages, and should avoid handing out golden parachutes in the future as if they were fresh cupcakes given to please a grumbling child.

Hopefully with the added hours of daylight, Concordia’s top administrators will make the right decisions that will place Concordia on the right track to once again becoming an institution that isn’t the butt of all mismanagement of public dollars jokes in Quebec.

finAnCe

Why Quebec shouldn’t be using our credit cards Our broken society is in desperate need of repairs Mark Della Posta Staff writer Just make students pay. It seems like a simple enough solution.

According to the Conference of Rectors and Principals of Quebec Universities, the university system in this province is severely underfunded. Tuition in Quebec is the lowest in Canada, so what’s the harm in bringing the rates in La Belle Province closer to the national average?

Newspaper editorials, such as the one in The Gazette on March 12, have been telling students to face the reality of today’s economy and pay their “fair share.” What they seem to disregard, however, is that today’s university students will end up paying far more than that in the very near future. The hikes represent yet another burden this government and this society are unloading onto youth.

Finance Minister Raymond Bachand indicated during the presentation of his government’s budget on March 20 that the Charest Liberals would not back down from increasing tuition by $325 a year over the next five years, as previously announced in his 2011 budget.

Admittedly, it’s difficult to argue that the hikes act as an insurmountable barrier to higher education. The total increase of $1,625 can likely be made up in two months of summer work. The increases do, however, make it abundantly clear that the politicians in this province seem to care very little about the generation that will one day take their place.

The infrastructure in Quebec is crum-

Graphic by Sean Kershaw

bling. The Champlain bridge and Turcot interchange need to be torn down and rebuilt.

From 2010 to the end of 2015, the Quebec government will have spent $44.6 billion on infrastructure, including $20.4 billion on transportation infrastructure, money that this province, which is already $184 billion in debt, simply doesn’t have. Which generation of Quebecers will be stuck with that bill?

Rising debt and an aging population

have forced the federal government to push the age eligibility for Old Age Security benefits from 65 to 67. Furthermore, considering the massive $40 billion lost by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec in 2008, the next generation of university students will likely have to work longer than any other generation.

They will also be burdened with Canada’s environmental issues. “Canada’s emissions in 2009 were 17 per cent above 1990

levels,” according to a national inventory report from Environment Canada. Peter Kent, Canada’s Environment Minister, recently said “when you’re talking about environmental rules, less can be more.”

With that nonsensical approach to climate change part of Canada’s official doctrine, it’s likely that the bulk of future costs associated with combating environmental challenges will fall on the same students who are being asked to pay more for their education now.

Aside from the bills that current Quebec students will one day have to pay for, they have to prepare themselves for a life in which they will be among the highest taxed people in Canada.

One solution is to follow Australia’s model and do more about mining revenues. The Australian government recently introduced a “super tax” on mining profits, which means that the 30 per cent tax on coal and iron ore production will increase the government’s revenues by approximately $11 billion.

The Liberals should do the same here.

PQ finance critic Nicolas Marceau said that the Liberal Party “doesn’t have the courage of Australia, where they tax excess profits,” according to a CBC article.

The profits could help ease the burden on the future generation, and improve our health, education and transportation sectors.

Upon the unveiling of the provincial budget, Coalition Avenir Québec leader François Legault accused the government of using “the credit card” of future generations.

Today’s university students will be forced to deal with the overspending and mismanagement of today’s government.

Having Canada’s lowest tuition rates was like one final breath of fresh air before being thrust into a broken society in desperate need of repairs.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

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25

yeAr in revieW

The most interesting stories of 2011-12 The Concordian’s editors and staff writers weigh in on the events that impacted them the most this past academic year Uncertainty in Greece

SOPA

Occupy Montreal

Hacktivism

It was an extremely tough year for Greece.

Bankruptcy has been looming on Greek society for quite some time now. As the rest of Europe struggles with Greece’s enormous debt, they’re also considering excluding the country from the eurozone, something that would be detrimental to Greek society. The population has greatly suffered from the austerity measures that are being put in place to keep the Greek economy at bay. Riots have shown the population’s discontent with their government and violence in the streets has made Athens a dangerous place. The lack of jobs and high taxes are making more and more people poor. Recently the country hit its highest unemployment rate yet: 21 per cent. It’s a mess.

“The kids didn’t even have new books at school this year because the school couldn’t afford them,” said Chris Politis, a 42-year-old Greek citizen and friend who lives in Athens with his three children.

I am of Greek origin and most of my relatives currently live in Greece. Every day they wake up to a weakened economy, engulfed by the fear of possibly losing their jobs. They struggle with important decisions such as possibly leaving the only home and country they’ve ever known.

To see my second home fall apart like this, and to see my cousins, uncles, aunts and fellow Greeks riot and suffer, was saddening and frustrating.

I was most affected by the introduction in the U.S. House of Representatives of the Stop Online Piracy Act, better known as SOPA. I am an avid Internet user and this bill threatens many of the sites that I find useful. I’m all for protecting the entertainment industry from piracy, but the bill affects the Internet as a whole. The legislation would destroy innovation, threaten free speech and allow law enforcement to block access to entire domains just because of a single blog or post that contains copyright-infringing content. Popular sites such as YouTube, Wikipedia and Facebook would most likely be shut down or at least severely debilitated. I see freedom of speech as quite important in our lives and it is something that differentiates us from countries ruled by dictators. I find it frustrating that a bunch of old men and women implementing laws initially made to punish a small portion of Internet users will end up punishing everyone else in the process. While the main goal is to protect artists, shutting down user-generated sites will not make the artists any richer. The blackout of many sites including Wikipedia and Google in protest against SOPA worked, but the bill is not completely gone. Sure, it is an American law, but Canadian websites would also be affected. This legislation would move us backwards and threaten the progress we’ve made in terms of Internet accessibility.

Joining over 20 other Canadian cities and some 900 jurisdictions worldwide, Occupy Montreal was one of most defining moments in news for our community.

Beginning on Oct. 15 with the Global Action Day, protesters took up residence in tents under the watchful gaze of Queen Victoria’s statue and the SPVM. Just over a month later, on Nov. 25, protesters were evicted from the square. Did the protesters actually accomplish anything? Well, the protest was not about accomplishing a specific set of goals, but rather sending a message of frustration from the 99 per cent movement. As a result, they were heard and cited in every major media outlet across Canada. What began as an effort to make the institutions and authority-company relationships in governments fairer and more just for citizens was stalled by the lack of unity on a specific set of goals. Instead, the main element which characterized the movement was disorganization. Occupy Montreal had a myriad of spokespeople, yet had a complete lack of leadership. One person would spout off about the present government administration, while another condemned the education system and others criticized health and social services. How can you communicate a unified message when everyone is talking at once? In the end, the only images that remain are the ones of city workers restoring the Queen’s image and taking down tents, as police marked protester hands with UV paint.

According to a Verizon study, hacktivists are to blame for 58 per cent of all stolen data in 2011. They’re organized, extremely smart and angry. From the takedown of the FBI website (in protest of SOPA) to the 78 Syrian government email accounts that were hacked into, hacktivists have made serious headlines in the past year. Hacktivism is a movement with zero discrimination: anyone who possesses aboveaverage IT skills and who wants to use digital tools in the pursuit of political goals against a particular government or corporation can participate. Hacktivists have leveled the playing field; governments are suddenly extremely vulnerable to attacks. When it comes to groups like Anonymous and LulzSec, no challenge is out of their reach. They know they have considerable support for their actions, and they’ll keep justifying their mischievousness. Last December, using stolen credit cards, Anonymous hacked servers belonging to security think tank Stratfor and planned on donating around $1 million to various charities. Theft, in most cases, is condemnable, but there’s something romantic and somewhat empowering to know that there are anonymous groups out there, the modern-day Robin Hoods, bringing about chaos and destruction in the name of causes that many of us support. They advocate freedom of speech, truth, transparency and the right to protest: Who can argue with that?

- George Menexis

- Shaimaa El-Ghazaly

- A.J. Cordeiro

- Myles Dolphin

Mismanagement of funds

Deteriorating infrastructure

6party occupation

Turcotte murder case

It seems only fitting that one of my last contributions to The Concordian as its editor-in-chief would focus on the tuition debate, but more specifically the mismanagement of public funds in many Quebec universities. The news items that affected me the most this year were Concordia’s announcement that it was hiring external auditors to review the severance packages it handed out between 2009 and 2010, and Education Minister Line Beauchamp’s decision to fine Concordia $2 million for its mismanagement of public dollars, which include tuition fees. Maybe I’m just bitter because my plan to become the principal companion of a wealthy hedge fund manager will never actually happen, and I’ll have to find some other way to pay off my tens of thousands of dollars of student debt, but I became exceedingly outraged this year when it became clear how badly some Quebec universities handled money being given to them by students and the government.

Former Concordia president Judith Woodsworth receiving a $703,500 severance package and current president Frederick Lowy scoring a $350,000 salary plus a $1.4 million interest-free loan for his condo are only some of the examples that I could throw out there. Yes, Concordia is clearly trying to fix the problem (finally!), but I remain unconvinced. If I ever bank a few extra thousand dollars in my future career (as a journalist, so I suppose I should keep dreaming), I don’t see myself ever donating a penny (or a nickel I should say) to this university.

Many drivers’ worst fears were confirmed this fall when the Champlain bridge, the busiest bridge in the country, was reported to be deteriorating and increasingly unsafe to drive on.

Used by thousands of motorists every day, the news about the bridge gave people something else to worry about other than infuriating rush hour traffic.

Now, the classic nightmare of being late for work got a terrifying new twist—sleeping through the alarm was replaced by the very real possibility that on your way into the office, the bridge will finally give out, sending you plummeting through a gaping hole in the middle lane and into the icy depths of the Saint Lawrence, trapped in the sinking metal coffin that is your Honda Accord.

In October, Ottawa announced that they would foot the $25 million bill to replace the bridge with a new structure – a nice gesture if you ignore the fact that they plan on taking 10 years to build it.

To add insult to (literal) injury, the federal government had to be cajoled last summer into releasing the 86-page safety report on the bridge to the general public. Transport Minister Denis Lebel’s comforting explanation: they didn’t want to scare people.

Meanwhile, living on the South Shore got a whole lot edgier and dangerous once we realized that our daily commute was like playing Russian roulette with a 50-year-old hot mess of concrete and metal.

Now more than ever, there is a strain on the relationship between university administrators and students. What better example of this could there be than the February 2012 “6party” occupation of McGill’s James administration building. Students felt their voices were not being heard and so in typical Montreal fashion, they made their discontent heard through protest. And how, you may ask, did the university respond? They tried everything to force students out. These young people, who spend thousands of dollars a year to attend this institution, were denied access to food, electricity and washroom facilities. In this day and age? I was appalled and frankly surprised that there wasn’t more of a public outcry. What many are apt to forget is that protesters are just as much human as those who abuse authority in their comfortable upper management offices, and they deserve to be treated with just as much respect. Furthermore, there is certainly no reason to set such a dangerous precedent as McGill security has this past year. The very thought of trained adult guards leaning out of windows trying to cut makeshift pulley systems set up by students in order to transport necessary supplies into their camp, is more pathetic than it is hilarious—if only by a fraction. I mean, is this truly the level we’re at? I say next time students decide to peacefully set up shop, McGill administrators would do well to remember that the world is watching them, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt the university’s image to send an olive branch, or a fruit basket, the student protesters’ way.

On Feb. 20, 2009, cardiologist Guy Turcotte killed his two children. He stabbed both of them more than a dozen times in a blind rage, shortly after discovering that his ex-wife had been cheating on him with his best friend.

This story was being discussed in Quebec even months after it had happened. During his trial last summer, Turcotte admitted that he had killed his children—Olivier, 5, and AnneSophie, 3—but said he had not intended to do so. After the trial, he was found not criminally responsible for the deaths of his children. I’m sorry, but what? A lot of people were in disbelief at the announcement of the verdict, and so was I. It totally shocked me. Turcotte was a reputable cardiologist, so I don’t buy the mental illness excuse. There are many signs indicating that he was aware of his actions and that they were premeditated. But what shocks me the most is that he might be released in society soon. He said he wants to start over, build a new family and start to practise cardiology again. How can someone go on after something like that? Unbelievable.

- Jacques Gallant

- Alyssa Tremblay

- Marilla Steuter-Martin

- Audrey Folliot

What story impacted you most this academic year? Go to theconcordian. com and let us know or email editor@ theconcordian.com.

26

theconcordian

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

POST GrAD

The silence before the storm

How to remain optimistic about the job market Myles Dolphin Opinions editor

I recently watched an interview with Peter Diamandis, founder and chairman of X PRIZE Foundation, who was very optimistic about the near future.

Diamandis, whose company manages public competitions in an effort to encourage technological development, was talking about the evolution of technology and how advances in various fields were going to transform our society into a quasi-utopia. Of course, that’s easy to say when you’re a millionaire whose business endeavours are associated with technology and space-related organizations.

After the interview I was led to question my own future. What’s in store for me, the guy who has a week left in his graduate diploma in journalism? The guy who has no job prospects, student loans to repay and most importantly, no business ties to Peter Diamandis?

After a brief alcoholic interlude, I needed some advice. I came across a TED talk by Larry Smith, an economics professor at the University of Waterloo. His talk was entitled “Why you will fail to have a great career.”

As you can deduce from the title, it sends a pretty ominous message. He starts off with: “Those trying to have good careers are going to fail because really good jobs are now disappearing.” Great jobs, according to him, are even more unattainable, and he’s probably right.

I won’t lie: I’m looking for a great job. I have high aspirations, but I’m also realistic. In journalism, just like in many other fields, you often have to start with an entry-level job and work your way up. You have to put in your time just like other people have done, and are currently doing.

I wish it was that easy, though. The prospect of finding a job right now is slim, especially in Montreal where the English market is restricted. Economic uncertainty means you may find something part-time, but you’ll be living off Kraft Dinner and boxes of wine.

You’re more likely to come across a Siberian tiger in Verdun than a decent entry-level position.

So, within all this confusion and turmoil, my future looks far more nebulous than ever.

It’s not easy staying positive these days, when

“ “

Why settle for interesting, when you can have amazing?

Those trying to have good careers are going to fail because really good jobs are now disappearing.

- Larry Smith, economics professor at the University of Waterloo

Graphic by Phil Waheed

internship and job opportunities are few and far in between. I don’t want to settle for a job outside of my field because then I’ll be depressed about all the work I’ve just done to get this far.

The key, says Larry Smith in his talk, is passion. The reason why people stop looking for great jobs when they’ve found a good one?

Lack of passion. As soon as I heard that sentence I felt better.

A late bloomer, I started this program as a 29-year-old. I always knew I wanted to go into journalism, but my time at Concordia is the first real taste of it. I’ve had many interests

over the years: some healthier than others.

Passion, however, is another beast altogether.

It far surpasses mere interest or even enthusiasm for something: it represents a fascination on a completely different level.

Despite the obstacles I will face in a few weeks, my passion for the craft is keeping me optimistic. Aspiring journalists are about to enter an age of technological advances the likes we’ve never seen (Diamandis is right about that), and there’s always going to be a need for good storytellers. I have a clear objective of what I want to accomplish: while I’ll gladly accept some surprises and bumps

along the way, at least I’ll be going in the right direction.

I’m not banking on luck to give me what I need, but rather commitment: applying to as many organizations as possible, until something turns up. Thankfully I’m pretty stubborn. I may not find something right away, but determination will lead me to what I’m looking for. Passion means doing this day after day after day.

Smith says, “Why settle for interesting, when you can have amazing?” Because I am passionate, I am suddenly not as worried anymore.

What did you think of this paper?

Send us your letters to editor@theconcordian.com before friday at 4 p.m. The Concordian reserves the right to edit your letters for length, clarity, taste and style. letters are limited to 400 words.

The Etcetera Page This week’s impossible crossword puzzle

Tuesday, April 3, 2012 Vol. 29 issue 27 Jacques Gallant editor-in-Chief editor@theconcordian.com

Kamila HinKson Managing editor managing@theconcordian.com

Across 1- _ well...; 5- Muscat native; 10- Bed support; 14- Falsehoods; 15- Aired again; 16- Gap; 17Bard’s river; 18- Cadge; 19- Fit to _ ; 20- Equinox mo.; 21- Dejected; 23- Journey; 25- Toward the mouth; 26- Vigorous; 29- Artificial; 33- _ Ababa; 35- Large wading bird; 37- Bikini part; 38- Hollow grass; 39- Belt site; 40- Uncle Remus title; 41- Young _ ; 42- Trio; 43- Precipice; 44- Exam taker; 46Climbed; 48- Bailiwick; 50- Lives in rented rooms; 53- French national holiday; 58- Floor covering; 59- Assist, often in a criminal act; 60- Breakfast fruit; 61- Cancun coin; 62- Carbonized fuel; 63Maker of Pong; 64- “Only Time” singer; 65- Household; 66- Grannies; 67- Rat- _ ;

cHris Hanna Production manager production@theconcordian.com

Joel asHaK marilla steuter-martin Co-news editors news@theconcordian.com

Paula rivas life editor

sHaimaa el-GHazaly Assistant life editor life@theconcordian.com

sofia Gay Arts editor

amanda l. sHore Assistant arts editor arts@theconcordian.com

allie mason Music editor

elizabetH macKay Assistant music editor music@theconcordian.com

Julian mei Sports editor

alex Giubelli

Down 1- As _ resort; 2- Alcohol processor; 3- Female spotted cat; 4Nine-digit ID; 5- Alloy of copper and zinc; 6- Cat call; 7- “East of Eden” brother; 8- Tortilla topped with cheese; 9- Innate; 10- Broken

fragments; 11- Trent of the Senate; 12- “Hard _ !” (sailor’s yell); 13- Ticked (off); 21- Ball belles; 22- Bern’s river; 24- Empty; 27Sign of injury; 28- Attempts; 30- Curtailment; 31- Not kosher;

32- Middle Eastern coffee holder; 33- Stuck in _ ; 34- Sand hill by the sea; 36- Just _ !; 39- Helmsman; 40- Ran, as colors; 42- Actress Garr; 43- Satiate; 45- Gossip; 47- Singer Morissette; 49- Prince

Valiant’s wife; 51- Gut course; 52- Brown ermine; 53- “Goldberg Variations” composer; 54- Peek follower; 55- Thin stratum; 56Brio; 57- “David Copperfield” wife; 61- Green shade

Saskberta, an Alberta-Saskatchewan merger @TWlTTERWHALE Ladies it’s April Fools

Day, leave a positive pregnancy test in the bathroom for your boyfriend to see. #AprilFools @mikerotman So today is when James

Cameron announces that Titanic 3D was just an April Fools joke? @QuestionsOnLifeWhat if #AprilFools day doesn’t really exist and its actually the longest prank in History? @DepressedDarth

We have decided to start using the Death Star to help develop planets instead of destroying them. @Lam_Chop

So tempted to text my boss, asking for bail money... #aprilfools

GeorGe menexis

Assistant opinions editor opinions@theconcordian.com

navneet Pall

Katie brioux Graphics editor graphics@theconcordian.com

The Dirty Shirley

@HuffPostCanadaWildrose propose

myles dolPHin Opinions editor

Photo editor photo@theconcordian.com

Drink of the week

April 1, the day when people try to get away with things. The long-standing tradition of pranking people on this day goes back to the Roman times, when Emperor Prankstus first covered his sword in tomato juice and ran towards his guards. Needless to say, the prank backfired and Prankstus was stabbed over 50 times in the head and chest. His body was cut up into pieces and buried in various parts of the world before they actually checked his sword. Upon realizing it was just a prank, they had a good laugh and moved onto the next orgy.

Assistant sports editor sports@theconcordian.com

if you’re a kid at heart, this is the perfect drink for you. it’s tasty, playful and impossible not to love. A fun variation on a childhood favourite, a Dirty Shirley is naughty without losing its innocent touch. it’s also super simple to make. if you’re feeling adventurous, swap the usual vodka for raspberry vodka. Don’t forget to garnish the drink with a maraschino cherry or two to complete the cocktail.

marissa miller HeatHer riminGton elizabetH tomaras Copy editors copy@theconcordian.com

Jennifer barKun soPHia loffreda Kerry macKinnon Production assistants

editorial office 7141 Sherbrooke St. W. - CC.431 Montreal, QC H4B 1r6

ingredients: 1 oz. vodka 5-6 oz. soda (7 UP or Sprite) 1 dash grenadine syrup 1 maraschino cherry

Pour the vodka over ice cubes in a highball glass. fill the rest of the glass with Sprite.

Add grenadine and garnish with a cherry.

514.848.2424 x7499 (editor-in-Chief) 514.848.2424 x7458 (newsroom) 514.848.2424 x7404 (Production)

- Kalina Laframboise mélissa Kate GaGnon Business manager interim advertising manager business@theconcordian.com

brennan neill emily WHite cindy loPez ruben bastien Board of directors directors@theconcordian.com

business and advertisinG 1455 de Maisonneuve W. - H.733-4 Montreal, QC H3G 1M8 514.848.2424 x7420 (Office) 514.848.7427 (fax)

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