November 27, 2018

theconcordian

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY’S WEEKLY, INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

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

VOLUME 36, ISSUE 14 | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2018

Rising to the occasion

Rookie Myriam Leclerc wants to be a leader for her team Sports p. 14

feature Uncovering Indigenous knowledge in nature p. 10

news

life

arts

music

opinions

Creative healing Shad makes a Fighting stigma UQAM students Cozy co-op in go on strike p. 4 Hochelaga p. 7 in Hyper Real p. 8 comeback p. 12 and addiction p. 17

news

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

ACTIVISM

Fighting for trans rights in Quebec Centre for Gender Advocacy will have its lawsuit heard in early 2019

CITY IN BRIEF MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR A 66-year-old man died in a Côte - de s- N e ige s apartment fire on Sunday morning. The police are investigating the fire, according to CTV. The man was found unconscious by firefighters, and later died in the hospital. One f iref ig hter w a s injured during the mission, and fractured his arm and leg after a hard fall.

From left: Adrianna Diaz, Dalia Tourki, Audrey Boctor and Florence Ashley. Photo by Ian Down.

IAN DOWN NEWS EDITOR In June 2016, Adrianna Diaz was in a minor traffic accident. She phoned the police to file a report. Diaz, a Concordia undergrad in software engineering, said the responding officers were “very nice” and accommodating.

Then, Diaz said that as she was retrieving her photo ID, one of the officers happened to spot her health card. When Diaz received a copy of the police report a month later, she discovered that the officers who had filed the report had identified her as a man.

That’s because, at the time, Diaz’s health card still displayed an “M.” Despite moving to Quebec from Mexico seven years ago, and obtaining permanent residency status in 2014, Diaz was not a citizen at the time of the accident. Article 71 of the Civil Code of Québec requires residents to be citizens in order to change their gender marker on legal documents.

Concordia’s Centre for Gender Advocacy (CGA) is hoping to change that. For more than five years, the CGA has been working to challenge parts of the Civil Code of Québec, such as article 71, which the centre says violate the rights of trans people.

In a press conference on Nov. 20, the centre announced that court dates for the lawsuit have finally been set for winter 2019. Multiple hearings with the Superior Court of Quebéc will take place from Jan. 7 to Feb. 1.

In total, the CGA is challenging 11 articles of the Civil Code of Québec. These

include article 59, which prohibits people without citizenship from legally changing their name, and article 146, which compels nonbinary people to identify as either male or female on “certificates of birth, marriage, civil union and death.”

The laws being challenged fall into four broad categories, each of which will be heard on a different day: laws concerning trans youth, trans parents, nonbinary people and trans people without citizenship.

In addition to academics and psychologists, members of the trans community will testify at the hearings, including representatives from each of the four communities.

“These laws prevent the integration of trans people into society, and they contribute to the marginalization of trans people,” said Dalia Tourki, a trans advocate and public educator with the CGA. “We’re challenging those ar ticles because they violate values and principles of integrity, safety, freedom [and] right to privacy that are guaranteed and protected under both the Canadian and Quebec charters,” Tourki told The Concordian.

Quebec is the only place in Canada that requires residents to be citizens in order to change their name or gender marker, even those who have undergone surgery.

“Because they do not have a citizenship yet, they have documents that do not match who they are, and that creates a lot of troubles and a lot of discrimination,” said Tourki.

The history of the lawsuit dates back to 2013. In August of that year, the centre

filed a human rights complaint with the Commission of Human Rights and Youth Rights, arguing that article 71 of the Civil Code of Québec violated the rights of trans people. At the time, article 71 stated that any person wanting to change their gender marker had to be a citizen 18 years or older and had to first undergo gender reassignment surgery. The rules requiring applicants to be legal adults and undergo surgery were abolished in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Although the complaint was refused on technical grounds, the centre filed a lawsuit the following year.

The lawsuit faced many delays before being granted a hearing. Although the changes to article 71 in 2015 and 2016 were important legal victories for the trans community, Tourki said the CGA’s lawsuit had to be rewritten after each modification. This is because the lawsuit would not be allowed to proceed if it included challenges to laws that no longer existed.

Diaz is now an interim member of the CGA’s board of directors. “I always admired their work, I always found support [from them] as a Concordia student,” she said, adding that she hopes to be voted in as a full member during the centre’s next general assembly.

Tourki said the CGA will focus on its current lawsuit before contemplating any new ones. However, Tourki said “there are still a lot of things to do for the full integration of trans communities into society, for sure.”

The City of Montreal will pay close to $30,000 in damages to a woman who broke her ankle in January 2016 after slipping on an icy sidewalk, according to CBC . The woman needed surgery and her lawsuit included compensation of damages such as loss of income and pain and suffering.

This compensation shows the municipality was negligent.

La Presse’s management told its unionized employees that 37 jobs will be terminated due to low advertising revenue, as reported by The Financial Post. The news outlet, which tur ned to online content with a notfor-profit structure in 2017, has 230 journalists and 550 employees. The management team is seeking volunt ar y re sig nat ions from its employees.

A human body was found inside a burned car in S t- L a u re n t o n Fr i d ay morning, according to The Montreal Gazette .

It is being t reated as a suspicious death rather than a suicide. The body has yet to be identified, and police have yet to find the owner of the vehicle, as the car was completely torched.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

TRANSPARENCY

Contract confusion at CASA

CASA subsidiaries ask executives to clarify their limitations and benefits

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NATION IN BRIEF MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR A First Nations community with a population of 13,000 in southern Alberta issued a public warning on Saturday after the community saw 22 opioid-related overdoses—one of which was fatal—in the span of 48 hours, according to CTV. Carfentanil is believed to be the drug in question.

Methamphetamines have also been found in the community.

CASA executives will create a clear document to explain sponsorship contracts. Photo by Mia Anhoury.

MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR Clarifications about sponsorship contracts that the Commerce and Administration Students’ Association (CASA) has with companies were requested at a board of directors meeting last Tuesday.

The association has 15 subsidiaries, including six associations and nine committees. CASA has also entered into sponsorship contracts that affect all its subsidiaries. However, the presidents of these associations were unclear about the conditions and limitations of these contracts.

Claire-Madelaine Kelly, co-president of the John Molson Competition Committee (JMCC) association, started the discussion on the need for more transparency with regards to what these contracts mean for CASA’s subsidiaries.

Kelly said potential sponsorships aren’t discussed openly between the board of directors, which includes CASA executives, and the presidents of the

subsidiaries, because it is considered a win-lose situation. “I think it can be a win-win situation where you are sharing tactics, sharing where you are, sharing not necessarily sponsors that you have just signed but you are sharing general info” as to how they were signed, said Kelly.

Kelly tabled the creation of a document so all sponsorship information that subsidiary presidents of CASA need to know be condensed into one place. Additionally, Kelly said she would like it if “any clauses that affect us as subsidiaries as a whole are brought before the board so that we are all aware of what is going on.”

JMCC recently came into agreement with a company for a sponsorship, which infringes the contract CASA signed with Molson Brewery two years ago. The contract made all the subsidiaries exclusive to Molson. This agreement was the result of a misunderstanding of the limitations of that exclusivity between CASA and JMCC. However, the details of these constraints cannot be discussed publicly.

Vice President External of CASA, Keira Baldwin, said that a blacklist of sponsors

does exist. “That’s my error for not sharing it with you and making it more public,” said Baldwin. According to Baldwin, there was a lack of conversation regarding what subsidiaries can and cannot do when it comes to sponsorships. “We will make it more clear and I think [Kelly’s suggestion] is a great idea,” said Baldwin.

Over an hour of the meeting was dedicated to questions about the restrictions and benefits of the sponsorships CASA has in place. Many members of the board of directors had misunderstood the matter.

Baldwin said it was the result of miscommunication between the subsidiaries and CASA. “We are young professionals but we are still students that are learning as we do these mandates,” said Baldwin.

Karina Bosca, president of CASA, told The Concordian that a presentation was made earlier this semester to discuss these sponsorship contracts by a former executive of CASA. “It was verbally stated but we learn from it,” said Bosca.

“As proposed, we are going to have something written so that everyone is on the same page.”

FACILITIES

Student frustration quickly escalates University says constant repairs are a must to maintain service EITHNE LYNCH ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Escalators in the Hall building create issues for students with limited mobility when they’re out of order.

“Honestly, it sucks,” said journalism student Nick Lariviere, who has cerebral palsy. He said anyone can be impacted by an out of order escalator. “It can get really hard to navigate that building for anyone, let alone people with mobility issues.”

University Spokesperson Mar y-Jo Barr noted that in 2012, all elevators and escalators in the Hall building were replaced to increase efficiency. “We have seen a dramatic decline in comments about escalator/elevator downtime,” said Barr.

According to Barr, escalators in the building are also required to undergo a certain amount of daily, monthly and yearly repairs in order to meet safety standards and industry regulations. Barr said some

of the unscheduled interruptions are often the result of vandalism. “If interruptions do occur outside of regular scheduled maintenance operations, Concordia has onsite certified technicians to expedite repair work,” said Barr. “In instances of unscheduled downtime, communications are issued to building stakeholders and the internal Concordia community.”

The unscheduled downtime, however, can create a lot of traffic throughout the building, forcing students to use the elevators and stairwells. “I can use the stairs especially since I've never had a class above three floors from the ground floor there, but for some people it's a lot of work going up those stairs,” said Lariviere.

Interruptions can also make students late for class. “My class is on the 10th floor, so I had to run up the escalators that weren’t even working. It made me a few minutes late in the end,” said English and creative writing student Bryony Hoare.

“I'd rather walk up stairs than up another broken escalator,” said Lariviere.

He finds the escalator steps harder to walk up. “I think due to my right leg, the wider steps are harder on my knee."

Vancouver was ranked the most expensive city in Canada for a date night, costing $149, as reported by The Vancouver Courier.

The research by the dating service Elite Singles defined a date night as dinner for two with a bottle of wine at a moderately expensive restaurant, two movie tickets and a ride home in a cab. Montreal placed fifth at $119.

Toronto approved an 18-month pilot project with Communauto, the Montreal-based car sharing company, according to Global News. It allows for drivers to pick up a car in close proximity without having to drive it back to where it was picked up. Communauto launched 200 cars in Toronto last Thursday.

Halifax’s airport road was renamed after Canada’s first black jet fighter pilot, Walter Peters, on Thursday, according to CBC. Now, Walter Peters Drive intersects with Mabel Hubbard Drive—Hubbard was the first woman to fund research in aviation. Peters was part of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

With 49 incidents in 2017, Edmonton’s homicide rate ranks third in Canada preceded by Thunder Bay and Abbotsford Mission, according to Global News. A Statistics Canada report indicates that the city’s homicide rate is 3.49 per 100,000 people.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

Out of order escalators can cause traffic and delay students. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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theconcordian

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

WORLD A demand for paid internships IN BRIEF STRIKE

Tens of thousands of university and CEGEP students march for remuneration

MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR In a referendum on Saturday, the legalization of same-sex marriage was rejected by Taiwanese voters, according to the BBC. Additionally, af ter the defeat of the proindependence party known as the Democratic Progressive Party, President Tsai Ing-wen resigned from her position.

Tijuana, Mexico declared a humanitarian crisis when the migrant caravan, carrying around 5,000 people from Central America, arrived in the city on Saturday, according to The Independent.

The mayor called for the UN’s help, as the caravan may stay in Tijuana until they find a way into the United States. The group left Honduras in mid-October.

A student holds a placard that reads, in French, “Exploitation is not a vocation. Pay our internships.” Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

MINA MAZUMDER ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Tens of thousands of university and CEGEP students braved the cold on Nov. 21 to protest against unpaid internships.

Coinciding with International Interns Day on Nov. 10, about 20,000 students from associations from Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Université de Montréal and McGill University took part in the demonstration as part of their week-long strike against unpaid internships from Nov. 19 to 23.

Jessica Mitchell, a worker at Campagne unitaire sur le travail étudiant (CUTE), said that multiple student associations announced the strike by voting in October during their general assemblies.

The purpose of the strike was to demand that students’ work be recognized and remunerated. Many students from Cégep du Vieux Montréal, Collège Montmorency and Cégep de Saint-Laurent were also present at the demonstration. The event began at 3 p.m. at Place Émilie-Gamelin, next to the Berri-UQAM metro.

Throughout the march, students chanted in French, “Let’s scream louder so no one can ignore us” and “Remuneration for internships.”

“The message I would give to the government is to stop exploiting interns because they need us,” said Maryse Forget, an education student at UQAM. “All internships must be paid in all fields.”

According to Forget, the biggest challenge many education students face is that they often aren’t allowed to work part-time jobs in addition to their internship because of concerns that the students won’t be able to fully commit themselves to the internship.

“We want internships to be paid so that we do not have to deal with this financial stress,” Forget said. “Being an intern is already emotionally stressful. On top of that, having financial stress can result in a burnout.”

According to a survey conducted in 2017 by the committee for the remuneration of internships at the l’Université du Québec en Outaouais, heavy workloads during internships can have unhealthy impacts.

Twenty per cent of survey respondents said they felt overworked, were sleep deprived

Students hold a banner that reads, in French, “Remuneration for all internships!

Toward a general strike #winter2019” Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

and experienced a difficulty in balancing work, internship, studies and personal life. In addition, 42 per cent of respondents reported experiencing anxiety, isolation and psychological distress during their internship.

According to UQAM’s education department’s student association, about 84 per cent of interns in the education field are women. Forget added that many unpaid internships are in female-dominated fields, such as teaching, social work and nursing. “It’s a feminist strike because we see that fields for women are being exploited,” she said.

Jacqueline Ohayon, a McGill student and social work intern at Just Solutions legal clinic, said that there is an issue of trust between employers and interns. “We are trusted to provide the services but not trusted with the wages,” Ohayon said. “We want that labor to be recognized.”

Mitchell said that this is an issue of sexism because internships in predominantly male fields, such as engineering and computer science, are often paid whereas those often geared toward women are not.

“People will often say that interns are supposed to be learning and you should not be paid to learn,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell added that unpaid internships are becoming more common in Quebec due to the competitive nature of many fields.

“Some students are expected to boost up their resumes through unpaid internships,” Mitchell said.

Although many students have called for an unlimited general strike in January 2019 if the government does not implement changes, Mitchell said that this is not necessarily set in stone. “We will hold general assemblies among student associations and vote to decide whether or not we will go on strike or not,” she said.

John Hutton, the finance coordinator for the Concordia Student Union (CSU), also participated in the march, and said that the CSU is in favour of the strike. “There are a number of students at Concordia who have

A 26-year-old Norwegian man was charged last week for sexually abusing over 300 boys, who he had coercing into meeting him in person in Norway, Sweden and Denmark since 2011. The man identified himself as a teenage girl in online chat forums and asked young men to send him explicit images, according to The New York Times. He then blackmailed them into sending more images, over 16,000 of which were found on his computer. His trial is set for Jan. 22 and 11 lawyers will represent the victims.

Six Ukrainian navy crew members were injured when three Ukrainian ships were seized and fired at in the Black Sea on Sunday, according to The Guardian. The ships were sailing towards the Port of Mariupol in the Sea of Azov, an area with high tensions with Russia. The Ukrainian navy said Russia is responsible for the incident. Russia said the ships were illegally entering Russian waters.

A 6.3-magnitude earthquake in northwestern Iran injured at least 200 people on Sunday, according to CNN. Many buildings were damaged and tremors were felt in Baghdad.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

to deal with this as well, and we are here to support them and say that all work should be paid,” he said.

According to Hutton, this problem isn’t specific to Montreal. “There are many students across Canada who are forced to work unpaid internships in order to complete their degrees,” he said. “That’s not fair, and it’s a question of justice. All work should be paid.”

“Pay people for their work,” Hutton said. “It can’t be said enough. It is as simple as that. You work, you get paid. Doesn’t matter if you’re young or a student. If you work, you deserve to be paid.”

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

theconcordian

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ELECTIONS

Fee-levy increase to allow more spending

Graphic by Ana Bilokin

ASFA is asking to increase fee-levy to $1.40 per credit in referendum

ALEXIA MARTEL-DESJARDINS STAFF WRITER In the upcoming by-elections, the A r t s a n d S c i e n c e Fe d e r a t i o n o f Associations (ASFA) will be posing a referendum question asking students if they agree to increase their fee-levy to $1.40 per credit.

ASFA’s fee-levy has been at $1.22 per credit since 2009. The federation is asking to hike it up by 18 cents.

If the increase is approved, ASFA’s main objective is to cover rising expenses and to provide enough money to its member associations to pay for their expanding activities, which mainly include events.

“A s member associations grow and become more popular, they’re having larger events and more participation,” said Marguerite Rolland, advocacy and executive coordinator of ASFA. Rolland said ASFA is not able to provide member associations the funds they are asking for with the federation's current budget.

The funding of each of the member associations would rise in proportion to the fee-levy’s increase, according to Rolland. “Right now, we want to make sure that we give out [money] to every member association in a fair and equitable way,” she said. “So every member association can really benefit from just getting a boost in funding.”

Moreover, Caleb Owusu-Acheaw, ASFA’s finance director, noted that the failure to increase the fee-levy does

not reflect the changing prices of the last years. “Ten years is a long time, you have to account for inflation, you have to account for rising costs,” said Owusu-Acheaw.

With expanding associations, ASFA plans on reforming many of its policies, which include paying lawyers to check these changes. “We need to utilize our lawyers a little bit more because when we update policy and when we create policy that reigns over associations and over its members, we need to make sure that it’s legal, that it’s enforceable,” said Rolland.

ASFA plans to modify other policies, as it did with its new anti-harassment and sexual violence policy which was reviewed t wice by law yers. “ That ’s been our first policy that we’ve had to have the lawyers verify and we plan to revamp a lot of other ones and to look at other issues,” Rolland said.

Aside from the expenses related to legal issues and member associations, ASFA also wishes to use the money from the potential fee-levy increase to create the council discretionary fund. ASFA would allocate $2,000 per year to council, who would then decide to whom it would be given.

It could be given “to campaigns, to charities, to non-profit organizations […] to some sort of Montreal initiative,” said Rolland.

The fund would be created next spring if it is approved during the March elections.

The fee-lev y is one of the many financial measures ASFA has implemented in an attempt to maximize the member associations’s budget. “What we did to try to boost more funding for MA’s [member associations], is we cut our office budget,” said Obusu-Acheaw.

“We cut our frosh expenses, we cut our committee budget, our idea was to make them more efficient.”

According to Obusu-Acheaw, the potential fee-levy increase would not be used to cover a possible deficit because the expenses in the last couple years, which resulted in a surplus between 10 and 20 thousand dollars, would serve that purpose. “Our intention is, if we were to be in a deficit, we would use that surplus from last year and previous years to absorb the deficit this year,” said Obusu-Acheaw. Although he had projected a deficit in July, Obusu-Acheaw said the finances are doing better than

he expected. “We made more money than we thought, in ter ms of f rosh revenue as an example. Our member associations are doing a really good job in reducing costs in terms of the budgets they were given while growing the number of events they have.”

In the last general elections, the proposal to increase the fee-levy failed by three votes. Rolland believes it is more likely to pass in the upcoming by-elections. “I think there are more chances, because we made sure that our member associations, so the people who hold events, the people who could potentially benefit from this, know about it,” said Rolland. “This year we made a presentation at council […] to show what we are acting for, what we intend to do with the money and why we need it.”

The by-elections begin Nov. 27 and end Nov. 29.

life

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

PROFILE

Making a name for themselves

Four Montreal students take home first place at HackHarvard

Broken Pencil: Gift-giving it your all Tips and tricks for financially feasible gift-giving over the holidays ANA LUCIA LONDONO CONTRIBUTOR

Nicolas Macbeth (right) poses with Alex Shevchenko (direct left), and two other teammates from McGill, Jay Abi-Saad and Ajay Patal, after winning ‘overall best’ at HackHarvard Global 2018. Photo courtesy of interviewee.

ALEX HUTCHINS LIFE EDITOR “HackHarvard was maybe my 10th hackathon,” said Nicolas MacBeth, a first-year software engineering student at Concordia. He and his friend Alex Shevchenko, also a first-year software engineering student, have decided to make a name for themselves and frequent as many hackathon competitions as they can. The pair have already participated in many hackathons over the last year, both together and separately. “I just went to one last weekend [called] BlocHacks, and I was a finalist at that,” said MacBeth.

Most notable of the pair’s achievements, along with their other teammates Jay Abi-Saad and Ajay Patal, two students from McGill, is their team’s first place ranking as ‘overall best’ in the HackHarvard Global 2018 competition on Oct. 19. According to MacBeth, while all hackathons are international competitions, “HackHarvard was probably the one that had the most people from different places than the United States.”

Essentially, MacBeth, Shevchenko, Abi-Saad, and Patal spent 36 hours conceptualizing, designing, and coding their program called sober.AI. The web application uses AI in tandem with visual data input to “increase accuracy and accessibility, and to reduce bias and cost of a normal field sobriety test,” according to the program’s description on Devpost. “I read a statistic somewhere that only a certain amount of police officers

have been trained to be able to detect people [under the influence],” said MacBeth. “Drunk, they can test because they have [breathalyzers], but high, it's kind of hard for people to test.”

MacBeth explained that the userfriendly web application could be helpful in a range of situations, from trying to convince an inebriated friend not to drive under the influence, to law enforcement officials conducting roadside testing in a way that reduces bias, to employees, who may have to prove sobriety for work, to do so non-invasively.

Sober.AI estimates the overall percentage of sobriety through a series of tests that are relayed via visual data—either a photo of an individual's’ face or a video of the individual performing a task—that is inputted into two neural networks designed by the team of students.

“We wanted to recreate a field sobriety test in a way that would be as accurate as how police officers do it,” said MacBeth.

The first stage is an eye exam, where a picture of an individual is fed to the first neural network, which gives an estimation of sobriety based on the droopiness of the eye, any glassy haze, redness, and whether the pupils are dilated. The second stage is a dexterity test where individuals have to touch their finger to their nose, and the third is a balance test where people have to stand on one leg. “At the end, we compile the results and [sober.AI] gives a percentage of how inebriated we think the person is,” said MacBeth.

Participating in such a prestigious competition and having sober.

AI win ‘overall best’ left MacBeth and Shevchenko thirsty for more.

“HackHarvard had a lot more weight to it. We were on the international level, and just having the chance of being accepted into HackHarvard within the six or seven hundred students in all of North America that were accepted, I felt like we actually needed to give it our all and try to win—to represent Concordia, to represent Montreal.”

MacBeth and Shevchenko have gone their separate ways in terms of competitions for the time being, however the pair’s collaborations are far from over. Both are planning to compete separately in ConUHacks IV at the end of January 2019, where MacBeth explained that they will team up with other software engineering students who have yet to compete in hackathons. “We’re gonna try to groom other people into becoming very good teammates,” said MacBeth.

The first-year software engineer concluded with some advice for fellow Concordia students. “For those in software engineering and even computer science: just go to hackathons,” advised MacBeth. “Even if you’re skilled, not skilled, want to learn, anything, you’re going to learn in those 24 hours, because you’re either gonna be with someone who knows, or you’re gonna learn on your own. Those are the skills you will use in the real world to bring any project to life.”

See the full version of this article on The Concordian’s website.

The holidays are always a fun time to spend with your closest friends and family. Each year, it brings us joy to surround ourselves with the ones we love most. However, when it comes to buying gifts for the whole family, budgeting and planning what to get and for who can be a daunting task.

Christmas shopping was never something I had to think about as a kid (Santa Claus didn't allow me). When you're young, money isn't exactly the first thing on your mind.

Now that I’m older, the task has been passed on to me, but I never realized just how difficult and expensive Christmas shopping can be.

For struggling students, some of whom may or may not have part-time jobs, finding the extra money to spend even twenty bucks on four or five people can feel next to impossible.

In t h e p a s t, I have h elp e d my p arent s with Christmas shopping, which was a huge challenge. In my family, we try to discreetly investigate what other members of the family want, but we tend to end up more confused than we were in the first place. As we grow older, I feel like it’s always a challenge to figure out what we want for Christmas; for the most part, we have everything we could ever wish for. From toys and video games, to a pair of headphones, gift ideas come much easier in your younger years.

As students, we have many obligations that require us to spend money, which can make it difficult to be able to provide everyone in our lives with the gifts they want. Now, you don't want to overdraft your bank account just for the holidays. I've never bought gifts for the whole family or my entire friend group; I usually only buy gifts for a handful of people.

For example, my closest friends and I throw a small Christmas party where we buy presents for just one other person. It's a good way to spend a small amount of money and be able to give something special to a friend.

Remember, sometimes making a gift for someone, or just spending time with family can really show them how much you care more than a store-bought item. Try taking the time to create something by hand; make a card or put together a small scrapbook of memories.

Maybe take your siblings out for an afternoon of skating, or treat your mom to dinner at her favorite restaurant. The list of possibilities is endless once you get creative and work within your budget.

I used to give my parents gift ideas for the family, and that was my contribution to the shopping. This year, I plan to start by getting presents for my siblings, then I'll see if I can afford gifts for the rest of the family. But of course, the holidays aren't all about material things and spending money. Budgeting has helped me combat holiday-induced stress, but at the end of the day, remember to spend as much time with loved ones as you do shopping for them.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

theconcordian

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COMMUNITY

Discover a new cozy coffee nook Coopérative Rond-Point adds to Hochelaga’s eclectic community

ESTEBAN CUEVAS CONTRIBUTOR The Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of Montreal may not be the first place that comes to mind when searching for a beautiful place to share a coffee with a friend or relax while studying. However, amidst the bustle of Ontario St., a welcoming spot has recently opened. On the outside, the small entrance of what looks like an old residential building may go unnoticed, but inside, there is an unusual coffee shop that’s quickly becoming one of Hochelaga’s hidden gems.

Coopérative Rond-Point is a self-run, non-hierarchical coffee shop that opened during summer 2017, where every decision is taken democratically by all staff members. For Héloïse Lanouette, one of the three founders of Rond-Point, the idea of creating a cooperative of workers came naturally.

“We did not want to recreate a hierarchical system of employee and bosses,’’ said Lanouette. “We thought this is the model we wanted to develop.”

The first thing that attracts attention when entering the place is the vibrant atmosphere—regular customers talking to the staff by the counter, university students preparing for their finals, a group of friends catching up during brunch. Most walls are covered by the work of local artists and posters of future shows, and there is even a piano at the entrance, which was a gift from the previous owner.

Coopérative Rond-Point is a self-run, non-hierarchical coffee shop and community space. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

The shop stands out for its inclusivity and its accessibility for people of different ages and economic backgrounds.

“I come here for the human warmth,’’ says Francine Masson, a 68-year-old retiree from Montreal who is a regular customer.

“That’s what I find here. The human warmth, different people of many ages and people from all nations. You can find this here.”

The same energy not only comes from the clients, but from the staff as well. The new members of the team have the same power and responsibilities as the founders do.

“I think we have a space where people feel good. We offer unlimited coffee for two dollars. People feel good to just come here to use the internet, drink something, and stay

for the afternoon,” said Lanouette. “We have also a lot of people that are retired and come pass some time at the shop. It’s something we appreciate a lot.”

“What is fun in a cooperative is that we are all in the same boat,” says Jean-Luc Barrière, a new member of the communications team. “We are all equal. We have a good amount of tasks that we share in a perspective that we take care of each other. We make sure that everyone feels well in the workplace.”

One of the missions of the shop is to work with the community. It offers visibility for small artists and organizes weekly free events including poetry readings, comedy shows and movie screenings, that contribute

to creating a social presence. Just recently, Rond-Point became the home of the Ligue d’Improvisation des Pas Sages (LIPS), an improvisation group that now puts on a show at the coop every other Thursday.

“The atmosphere is fun,” says Martin Dumais, a member of the LIPS for the past five years. “We are close to the young families which are the public that we are targeting. We also have here a room that is perfect for shows.”

“It’s a beautiful place,” says Marie Calmé, also a member of the LIPS. “I think it’s excellent to be working with a place that promotes local artists and culture.”

“It’s a beautiful discovery,” said Dumais.

“We really fell in love with the place.”

want to go to a different country to learn a new culture.”

According to its website, AIESEC is the largest youth-run organization and is present in 126 countries with over 80,000 members.

“I’m originally from Sri Lanka, and over there AIESEC is a big movement,” said AIESEC Concordia Outgoing Global Exchange Vice President Sathsala Perera.

“I was really inspired by what they do with youth development.”

The application process is done online using a step-by-step guide. First, you need to create a profile. According to Perera, the

reason for this is that the organization is highly selective of their applicants in order to ensure the best possible outcome for all parties involved. The plane ticket is covered by applicants themselves, and there is a fee of $570 that goes towards the individual’s accommodations, food and basic care while they’re abroad.

“I joined AIESEC for empowerment,” said Perez. “I stayed with AIESEC because I saw this as a platform. A lot of people at Concordia don’t know about it, but it’s an important organization.

Come and use us, use the resources we have here.”

CAMPUS LIFE

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

AIESEC at Concordia

Volunteering abroad is only a few steps away FATIMA DIA ASSISTANT LIFE EDITOR If volunteering abroad is something you’re interested in, AIESEC (pronounced eye-sek) is an organization to look into. A non-profit international youth-led organization offering global internships, AIESEC aims to take young adults out of their comfort zones and into a world where their help can make a difference.

On Friday, Nov. 23, AIESEC held a conference at the John Molson School of Business where volunteers, who now work with the organization, spoke about their experiences abroad.

AIESEC has three main sectors for its internship programs: Global Talent, Global Entrepreneur, and Global Volunteer. All three revolve around an exchange system where young adults from different parts of the world travel to share their talents, entrepreneurial skills, and volunteer. The projects they organize are based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) created by the UN, as well as the #Envision2030 17 goals for persons with disabilities.

“I wanted to go somewhere completely different from what I knew,” said StéphanThomas Trembley, who went to Indonesia last summer. He worked with consultants on a project aimed to help the economic

growth and development aspect of the SDGs. “I think about it all the time, and I wish I could live it again. It’s inspired me to want to travel more, talk to people, and get to know their side of the story,” Trembley said.

Harnessing leadership and communication skills is only part of what is gained from going abroad. Students also learn about different cultures, different day-to-day routines, and even find similarities where they thought would be none. One of the things Trembley found most inspiring is that “people are the same.”

From beginning to end, AIESEC ensures its trips are safe. The Outgoing Global Exchange sector’s purpose is helping students with their exchange process—from airport pickups, to transportation, to accommodation, everything is planned carefully. Volunteers stay with assigned host-families while they’re overseas, and these families are often also volunteers. Depending on the project the student chooses, the time varies from six weeks to three months.

“I went to Romania to develop leadership skills and ended up meeting wonderful people and really creating a network of people all over the world that made this experience the best it could ever be,” said Ève Provencher-Dagenais, Local Branch Manager of AIESEC Canada. “I promised myself I’d go back to Romania, and I also

arts

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

EXHIBITION

A platform for creativity and healing The VAV Galler y and Ar t Matters shine a spotlight on black histor y

DAISY DUNCAN ASSISTANT ARTS EDITOR The personal and the political, the individual and the communal, the historic and the contemporary are all explored and considered within Hyper Real. In a collaboration between the VAV Gallery and Art Matters, the month of November has welcomed a range of events related to contemporary black art. With an interdisciplinary art exhibition, a film screening and a healing workshop led

by Sisters In Motion and Shanice Nicole, these events celebrate November as a month of black history.

As stated by the VAV Gallery in their description of the three events, Black History Month in February can leave artists overworked and with a lack of support and exposure during the rest of the year. The VAV and Art Matters hope to change this by making November a month to celebrate the work of artists of colour and provide a platform for exploration, creativity and healing.

Made up of a range of complex and dynamic artworks from nine of Concordia’s undergraduate artists of colour, the work featured in Hyper Real ranges from video and photography to painting, print and sculptural installation. Each work explores a distinct theme within the overarching focus of black culture, identity and history. The varied works play into each other, creating a full, dynamic and overall emotional exhibition.

Artworks on display included a diptych

by David Durham, titled Hidden Figures .

The two works mix acrylic paint, mixed media collage and coffee to create striking images of two ambiguous figures. The paintings find ties to the history of coffee and the significant role it played in the slave trade and colonization. With the continued presence and consumption of coffee today, the works acknowledge this history, while also considering its role and presence in the contemporary world.

Braids, by artist Theran Sativa consists of a series of woodcut and and wood burned prints on stained paper. As explained in the artist’s statement, Sativa, who specializes in print media and fibres work, looks at black identity and black culture while also incorporating her own experiences. Meaning is found in every aspect of the artwork—the artist draws a connection between the intricate process of printmaking and the act of braiding or twisting hair, through the time and care spent on both practices.

On Nov. 22, in connection with Cinema Politica, Hyper Real also hosted a film screening as part of the Black History Month. This screening featured three films, all directed by women of colour: Black Men Loving by Ella Cooper, Yellow Fever by Ng'endo Mukii, and Ninth Floor

by Mina Shum.

The screening began with Black Men Loving , a film that questions the typical representations of black fatherhood while

Theran Sativa’s Braids draws a connection between the intricate process of printmaking and the act of braiding or twisting hair. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

talking to black Canadian fathers. Made invisible by these negative representations, this film and the fathers featured can reclaim the stereotypes often placed on black men by society.

Yellow Fever incorporates mediums of poetry, dance and movement to address ideal beauty standards for women, specifically those related to colonialism. Colonialist history and actions perpetrate these ideals, particularly those of skin-lightening and hair-straightening.

The feature documentary film, Ninth Floor, looks at the anti-racist protest of 1969 at Concordia (then Sir George Williams University). The film highlights the ties still present between the protest and the contemporary context of the racist allegations made towards the university by splicing footage of the event with recent interviews.

As part of the VAV and Art Matters Hyper Real event series, the He(art) Healing Workshop scheduled for Nov. 29 will be led by Sisters In Motion and Shanice Nicole, a feminist educator, writer and spoken-word artist. The workshop will provide a safe space for people of colour, women and femme-identifying people to share their stories and heal. It is open to everyone, however priority will be given to black students, with 15 spaces reserved specifically for BIPOC students.

The He(art) Healing Workshop will take place in the VAV Gallery on Nov. 29, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Spots are limited. Those interested can register online. Hyper Real will be exhibited in the VAV Gallery until Nov. 30. The gallery is open between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. from Monday to Friday.

Artworks on display included a diptych by undergraduate student David Durham titled Hidden Figures. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

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9

COMMUNITY

Fighting homelessness with art The St-James Drop-In Centre takes everything into consideration

ABBY YAEGER CONTRIBUTOR While a blanket of fresh November snow falls on Montreal, the St-James Drop-in Centre is warm with laughter.

The front room buzzes with activity, and dishes clink together as members ser ve lunch. In the corner of the dining area is a piano painted in bright colors. In the kitchen, crates of fresh fruits , vegetables and grains are spread out across the counters and in stacks on the floor. Downstairs in the art studio, drawings and paintings hang on the walls, unfinished projects sit on easels and shelves are lined with supplies.

St-James is a communit y cent re located in the Gay Village, about a block up from Ste-Catherine St. It’s open five days a week and serves as a space for marginalized people. Its members are predominately homeless or struggling with mental illness; as St-James intervention worker Lisa Zimanyi pointed out, the two often go hand in hand.

“We are much smaller than most centres, and the idea there is to make people feel more at home,” Zimanyi said. With just three rooms, the space is certainly cozy. “People who struggle with anxiety or different types of mental illness don’t always feel safe in larger places, so we are kind of an alternative resource for them.”

In addition to offering counselling, crisis intervention or just a conversation over a cup of coffee, the centre hosts poetry, music and art workshops. The centre’s team also hosts several ar t events in the community, including art exhibitions to showcase the pieces that members make. Although the centre has exhibited work at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in the past, Zimanyi said it's the smaller vernissages held throughout

Concerned with more than basic necessities, the St-James Drop-in Centre and art studio serves as a safe space for marginalized people. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

the year that allow members to connect with the community.

According to Zimanyi, the staff at St-James works hard to get to know members on a personal level. Having worked full-time at the centre for five years, Zimanyi said she has had the chance to “accompany them through all different aspects of their life.” Although t he cent re prov ides member s wit h a roof, a shower and hot meals, the staff’s focus isn’t just on survival. “We do meet people's physical needs, but at the same time, we’re trying to build relationships with people,” Zimanyi said.

Members are also encouraged to

volunteer and help out at the centre as much as they can. “I actually rely on the members to help me out with r unning the place on a day-to-day basis,” Zimanyi said. “ The members feel at home, and we get to know each other in a more informal context. It’s more like a family.”

The way the centre hums with jokes, and hearing members greet each other when they walk in, it is clear St-James has created a unique atmosphere—one that feels like home.

Lysanne Picard is the creative arts program coordinator at St-James and oversees the Concordia art education

St-James’s members have painted bright portraits on the piano in the centre’s dining room. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

students who intern at the centre. A Concordia alumna herself, Picard said the students are in charge of running their own workshops with the members and she encourages the students to think outside of the box. “The student workshops really add some diversity and excitement.” This year’s interns, Concordia students Stephanie Talisse and Jude Ibrahim, have done exactly that. With Talisse, members assembled and drew still-life scenes of the things they kept in their pockets. In another activit y, Ibrahim had members make prints on postcards, focusing on social change and the message they want to send to the world.

“It’s really neat to see the members meet other artists and experience that artist-to-artist connection they might not get otherwise,” Picard said.

Even af ter members have gained some stability, they are still welcome to spend time at the centre, and many do.

Paul Hicks, a long-time member who also work s at the centre, joined the community in the 80s, when the centre first opened. Hicks often participates in the art workshops offered at the centre, but said he particularly enjoys working with the interns.

“I really like when the students come in and do lessons,” Hicks said. Behind him, one of his recent paintings, an intricate and colourful scene of a gondola in the canals of Venice, was hung up to dry.

A few of Hicks’s pieces, along with those of other members, will be available to purchase at the centre’s annual art sale fundraiser on Saturday, Dec. 1 from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. All profits will go towards supporting the centre. Anyone searching for a unique Christmas gift or simply looking to support the centre can stop by 1442 Panet St. to shop and chat with the artists. The centre also accepts donations year-round.

feature

HISTORY

Uncovering Indigenous knowledge in nature Two students explore the history of Montreal’s First Nations in the Botanical Garden

A trail guides visitors to one of the plaques.

HUSSAIN ALMAHR STAFF WRITER MARIA LUCIA ALBARRACIN CONTRIBUTOR The Olympic Stadium looms in the background as snow slowly falls on The First Nations Garden. Part of the Montreal Botanical Garden, the installation was founded in 2001 with the help of Innu singer Florent Vollant. While the rest of Montreal resembles any other North American metropolis, the garden is one of the few spaces in the city that still honours its Indigenous history. However, the relationship between Indigenous knowledge and urban spaces is much more complex than a single spot in the middle of the city.

According to the Espace pour la vie Montréal website, the garden is intended to represent the knowledge of Mont real F ir s t Nat ions . “ Nat i ve people were ecologists before the term was ever coined,” the website reads. “Over time, they acquired an intimate knowledge of nature, knowing exactly where in its natural habitat to find a particular plant to meet a specific need.” This knowledge has been suppressed by settlers’s hegemonic education system that values European traditions and actively subordinates

Indigenous knowledge in the process.

This settler legacy is reflected in the way the cit y is designed; there is a lack of visual indication that Montreal is on unceded land.

The Olympic Stadium, which stands directly beside the garden, is quite indicative of the city’s priorities. The stadium is a representation of the way Montreal sought to attract visitors, grow its economy and give the cit y international recognition—during the Olympics, all eyes were on Montreal.

The economic benefits of the stadium did not necessarily go according to plan, with maintenance costing millions of dollars, making the stadium a financial burden. According to CBC, the project cost taxpayers more than $1.5 billion dollars, despite the fact that t h e n-m ayo r J e a n Drapeau said there would be no deficit.

T h e S a i n t Lawrence River also suffers. Mohawks, or Kanien'keh , have a

special tie to the river; it is a place for traditional fishing, which provides people with a constant source of sustenance. Despite this, the Saint Lawrence is polluted and uncared for. In an inter view with the CBC, Eric Kanatakeniate McComber, a local traditional fisherman, spoke about the state of the river, saying “People are so detached from the river now, they only notice it when

they go over the bridge or to go to the movies. We were people of the river here, before the seaway was made 60 years ago. People used to live and fish off that river."

This is why the First Nations Garden is important—it is a physical space that represents knowledge that has long been suppress ed in Mont real . T he g arden provides information about plants, crafts and activities that various First Nations

The Olympic Stadium looms in the background of the First Nations Garden.

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

around Montreal continue to practice and engage with. Plaques around the garden inform visitors of the traditions and practices of various tribes.

One plaque explains the differences between the canoe bark of each of the Nations; Malecite canoes have very elaborate decorations, while the Cree canoe is more rough. Birchbark was also used to make baskets and de coy s w it h de sig ns inspire d by plants and animals, sometimes with a geometric flare.

The organizers and builders of the garden consulted with various First Nations about what to include in it. One of these features is a sweat lodge, a structure made for a ritual meant to cleanse the mind and spirit, while also serving as a rite of passage. It is said that sweat lodges are also used in a ceremony to transition from one life stage to another. According to one of the plaques, from the mid 1800s until 1951, the Canadian government banned the use of sweat lodges, which affected the dissemination of traditions in many Indigenous communities. The garden’s designers decided to include a sweat lodge in order to provide a space to alleviate the stresses that Indigenous people face.

M o h aw k e l d e r, S e d a l i a Fa z i o, conducts the sweat lodge ceremonies in the garden. Fazio is outspoken when it comes to the violence that Indigenous people face. At a recent public inquir y for mistreatment of Indigenous people in Quebec, she condemned the not-guilty ruling of the killing 22 year old Colten Boushie.

In the cit y, places like the First Nations Garden are reflections of how Indigenous spaces are distinct and cordoned off, instead of being incorporated into the population’s everyday life. The colonial impact on Montreal is felt ever yday, but is practically

invisible to settlers. For example: Montreal’s streets are named af ter colonial explorers and officials. This city sits on unceded Indigenous territory, yet there are many representations of Europ e an c o lonialism, and very little of Indigenous peoples. According to Francis Adyanga Akena, a professor of education who studied the relationship between colonialism and the production of Indigenous knowledge in Uganda, Western education systems devalue Indigenous knowledge. This stifles the grow th and emancipation of Indigenous knowledge in society as a whole, and within Indigenous communities as well.

At a time when we are finally beginning to acknowledge the cultural, ecological and spiritual value of Indigenous peoples, it is cr ucial to also question the European foundation of Montreal.

By fostering more Indigenous places in cities, like the Native Friendship Cent re of Mont real and the First Nation Garden, we c a n c h a l l e n ge t h e h e ge m o n y of European settler values and knowledge systems.

Photos by Hussain Almahr and Maria Lucia Albarracin.

theconcordian

11

Inside a sweat lodge.

The garden's organizers consulted various First Nations during its construction.

Cattails, or passwekenak in Algonquin and pisekan in Attikamek, are commonly used as a remedy by the Algonquin people.

music

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

INTERVIEW

Quickspins

Shad is not a fluke

After a five-year break, the MC is back with his most complete album yet

t1

JADEN SMITH

The Sunset Tapes: A Cool Tape Story Roc Nation Jaden Smith wants people to express their love to their crushes with the help of his new album The Sunset Tapes: A Cool Tape Story. While the album is a pleasant listen, it doesn’t hold nearly enough emotional weight to provoke deep sentiments. The album’s production is rich and lush, and Smith can hold a melody even if there’s a lot of auto-tune and reverb, but he fails to rap about anything that’s worth remembering. From corny lines and recycled melodies on the intro cut “SOHO,” to watered-down dancehall on “Yeah Yeah,” The album never quite decides in which direction it’s headed. There’s good intention on Smith’s part and the songs are listenable, but the album never amounts to anything greater than his influences.

5/10  TRIAL TRACK: FALLEN Part 2

 STAR BAR:

The mic froze over ‘cause he know I’m Frozone / Everything I wear on the air is the wardrobe (whoa) - Jaden Smith on SOHO

Shad interspersed heavier cuts from his new album with his classic, lighthearted tracks. Photo by Simon New.

SIMON NEW MUSIC EDITOR "If I'm honest, it's not exactly what I wanted to do, but at the end of the day I have to do the thing that feels like I'm giving people something real. That's what this was," said Shadrach Kabango, a rapper known as Shad. He just released A Short Story About A War, his first album since taking five years off of music to host CBC’s flagship arts interview show, Q, then Hip-Hop Evolution , a Netflix docuseries produced by Russell Peters about the growth of today’s most popular genre.

A Short Story About A War is a concept album that was birthed from a poem Shad wrote about societal inequality. It’s a war metaphor in which snipers represent merciless capitalists, stone-throwers are everyday people, and the central character, the fool, doesn’t believe in the power of bullets. The violence in war stands for social inequality. “What do our governments and corporations do, here and abroad? Violence, really," Shad said. The album was inspired by his time in Vancouver, where he got a master’s degree in liberal studies from Simon Fraser University. The city has the highest percentage of low-income households in Canada, while the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is the highest in the country, rising above $3,000, about $1,000 more than Toronto, the next highest city. “That's where that story came from.

My subconscious mind trying to grapple with what does it mean to live well in a place like this,” Shad said.

The album presents a bleak depiction of this war, concluding that fear is at the

heart of the conflict. The main character including an Emmy and a Peabody Award defies this conflict. “There's many different for Hip-Hop Evolution, and snatched the ways to participate in the violence and the 2011 Juno for Rap Recording of the Year tension that you're feeling. And there's an from none other than Drake. As decorated alternative, but it's very difficult; this fool as he is, Shad values consistency over character," Shad said. The fool comes to any specific prize, particularly after his realize that violence stems from fear, and 2013 album, the last before his five-year although the album is at times dark, this break. “When I finished Flying Colours character leads the listener to look within and that album was well received, for themselves to find hope. It is a sprawling some reason that was significant to me. message packed tightly into a metaphor Because it felt like I wasn't a fluke,” he that is the perfect backbone to A Short said. With A Short Story About A War, he handles complex topics with succinct clarity, Story About A War. On Friday night, Shad put on a show that all while delivering top-shelf punchlines was exuberant as often as it was somber and and metaphors inside of five-star flows. reflective, mixing his new, heavy cuts with Shad is certainly not a fluke. the material that got him to where he is. Thoughtful, slick and technically sharp rap that is all too often given the dreaded, trite label of “conscious.” “The bigger part of me loves entertaining people, loves giving people a certain style that they've come to know and enjoy with my music," Shad said. That was certainly apparent when he brought freestyles, calland-response and quick banter to Le Ministère.

Shad has won a Shad coiled the mic cord in his hand as the show went on, looking like a stage tech by the end of his set. Photo by Simon New. number of awards

— LOUIS PAVLAKOS, STAFF WRITER

2

KIRK KNIGHT IIWII Pro Era

IIWII , the second album from Pro Era member Kirk Knight is a dark affair. His debut, Late Knight Special, experimented with hazy production and thoughtful bars, but Knight fleshes it out in his newest effort. “Leverage” and “Downtime” are standout track s that have great verses and sticky hooks. Knight’s lyrics are often self-reflective. He raps about struggling with his rising career on “Not For Nothing,” and reminisces about old flames on “Never Again.” It’s a lyrically-focused album that does require some patience, but Knight succeeds at telling a gripping, gritty story.

8/10  TRIAL TRACK: Leverage

 STAR BAR:

I'm a star now, shit I gotta keep my distance from shitty propositions Same eyes, lookin' at me different Oh, now you hungry, you need a taste of my living, huh?

- Kirk Knight on Not For Nothing — LOUIS PAVLAKOS, STAFF WRITER

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

theconcordian

13

OPINION

N o H o l i d a y fo r G re e n D a y Why Green Day's influence is not lost in a 30-year career

BEN FRASER STAFF WRITER In terms of 1990s and 2000s punk rock, several names emerge as the giants of the decade. One of those bands was G reen Day. The trio of Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool, and Mike Dirnt dominated the 90s and parts of the 2000s, and remain to this day one of the most influential punk bands in existence.

Despite this, many in music found that as time wore on, Green Day abandoned their traditional punk style and transitioned into an alt/pop-punk sound. Even with their massive success, Green Day's change of style comes with the idea that they've lost their place, often seen as overrated. This could not be more wrong. Green Day, along with their transition into other genres, remain one of the best groups of the era.

Green Day debuted in 1990 with 39/ Smooth , but became known for their second studio album Kerplunk. They rose to prominence with Dookie in 1994, one of the greatest albums of the last 25 years.

With the release of 1995’s Insomniac, and 1997’s Nimrod, the band experienced rapid success. However, with 2000’s Warning, the doubts about Green Day’s change of tone started to emerge. In his review of the album, Greg Kot wrote in Rolling Stone that “The problem is, (Armstrong) can’t muster

the same excitement for his more mature themes.”

When Green Day came into the spotlight after a four year hiatus, and American Idiot was released in 2004, they hit gold with the most successful album in the band’s history.

The problems began to arise after American Idiot and 2009’s 21st Century Breakdown, which again, was both a critical and commercial success. “If it’s a continual surprise that Green Day are the ones to pick up the torch and run with it, that’s part of what makes 21st Century Breakdown so fresh and vital,” wrote Rob Sheffield in Rolling Stone. The band’s release of the critical and commercial failure of the Uno... Dos... Tré! compilation album in 2012, and Armstrong’s drinking sent Green Day into a downward spiral that still plagues the band, to a certain extent. After the fallout of the albums, in an article for Billboard magazine, Jason Lipshutz wrote,

Green Day’s pop-punk transition was iconic.

“With all three members now in their 40s, however, is this really the version of Green Day we want to return?” For many, this was the resounding thought, as Green Day mostly disappeared until October of 2016.

The politically charged, Revolution Radio, brought Green Day back into the spotlight.

Despite Green Day’s slip ups, they are still producing good music, and should be revered as one of punk rock/pop music’s greats.

Revolution Radio mar ke d a ke y return to form for the band, and one that signals good things for the group.

Green Day has certainly stepped away from their peak content in the early to late 90s, but the band is far from overrated. They are still a voice of the generation that grew up with them and will continue to be a presence in their genre for as long as they continue to make music.

SHOW REVIEW

Killitorous invades Piranha Bar

Headbanging sextet keeps metal lighthearted and collaborative HUNTER WALWASKI CONTRIBUTOR Killitorous—both a band and a tonguein-cheek play on female anatomy—is currently touring in support of its forthcoming album, AfterParty. The technical death metal outfit has certainly been making rounds within the extreme music community, as a result of both their place of origin and unique thematic presence.

Unfortunately, Canadian metal bands are few and far between, at least in comparison to the United States. Due to our country’s sparse major cities and extreme weather, bands trying to tour and make a name for themselves often struggle and end up remaining underground. Killitorous, however, have been seeing steady career success since their first EP, titled Pretend to Make Babies, dropped in 2010.

Standing the test of time, the band is currently headlining a North American tour, with one of their last dates being at Piranha Bar in Montreal.

The band’s lighthearted aesthetic is representative of their mentality. Within the

current politically-charged sphere, people will try to attach some sort of meaning to bands like Killitorous. However, Aaron Homma, the band’s only original member, stated that Killitorous is a freeing project, not one that puts them in a corner.

“Metal has always been about brutality, but we’re just not brutal guys,” he said.

“This band allows us to do all the things we want musically, we’re more free.”

Killitorous’s demonic blend of technical death metal and grindcore offers a viable platform for the band’s humorous drive.

From songs like “George Costanza’s Father’s Son,” to “It’s not Stanley, It’s Stan Lee,” the band’s unusual take on the genre make them nearly incomparable to any other metal act. “We actually come up with our song titles first, and then build the song around that,” Homma

Killitorous crowds the Piranha Bar stage on Friday night. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

said. He further expanded upon this, describing how Killitorous’s music has and will always be a group effort. They come up with everything from track titles to complete songs as a group. “I love the collective mentality of the band.”

T he g roup’s li ve show cer t ainl y lives up to their aesthetic. Comprised of six members, the band crowded the Piranha Bar stage, but this blended well with their chaotic music. The sextet was one of the liveliest bands I’ve seen live, with their stereotypical headbanging and frontman Mark Phillips’s deranged composure. The combination of smoke effects, seizure-inducing lights and lively attitudes were three of the strongest aspects of the show. Killitorous’s music also transitioned well in a live setting, with their interchanging song sections going from blazingly fast to crushingly slow. They were, by far, the highlight of a night with three other bands.

Killitorous has a handful of dates left on this tour. The band plans to finish recording their upcoming album, AfterParty, in the coming months, as it is set to release mid-2019.

sports

COLOUR COMMENTARY

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

COVER STORY

Taking on a leadership role Rookie Myriam Leclerc is already impressing the women’s basketball team

Growing up in Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu, Leclerc moved to Quebec City to play basketball in Cégep, and now lives in Montreal. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI SPORTS EDITOR It’s clear Myriam Leclerc can score points for the Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team. In her three years playing for Cégep Ste-Foy in Quebec City, she averaged 12.7 points per game, and led the league in scoring in her final season last year. But what she brings to the Stingers is so much more than just scoring—she brings leadership.

“I need to be a leader, speak and don’t be shy to say what I think,” Leclerc said about her leadership style. “I think I’m the type of person you could talk to.”

Leclerc is in her first season with the Stingers and when head coach Tenicha Gittens was recruiting her, she challenged her to be a vocal leader.

“She always has this poise to her, you never know what she’s thinking, and as a point guard, you have to be poised,” said Gittens about Leclerc. “But you also have to be vocal. You have to get other people involved, directing using hand gestures, and that’s something I challenge her everyday to do in practice.”

The point guard is one of six rookies on the new-look basketball team. Coming out of Cégep, Leclerc chose Concordia because she knew it’s where she belonged right away.

“When I visited here, I felt like it was my place with the girls and coaches, and the atmosphere felt really good,” Leclerc said. She enrolled in accounting because she enjoys working with numbers and business, and heard great things about the John Molson School of Business.

“Everything was just a good choice for me, academically and with the team sports.”

Leclerc said she’s enjoying her first semester at Concordia, but is only taking three classes because it’s the first time

she’s doing her schooling in English. It’s not the first time she’s playing basketball in an English environment—she first did that with the Canadian national team at various youth levels. Since 2014, Leclerc has been participating in training camps for the youth national team in Toronto, where she first learned how to be a leader.

“The whole experience [with Team Canada] was great, and I could speak more English than I was before, and I’m more confident with meeting people,” Leclerc said, adding that it helped her come to Concordia with knowledge of English basketball terms. Still, her teammates are there for her when she needs them.

“I know if I’m struggling [to find a word], I know the girls have my back, so I’m confident about it,” Leclerc said.

“We make a lot of fun of my accent in the locker room,” Leclerc added with a big laugh, saying it’s all in good fun. “We know it’s friendly and lovely.”

The rookie’s play on the court is nothing to laugh at. She instantly made an impact for her team, carrying the Stingers to a perfect 3-0 record and winning the MVP award at the Concordia Classic tournament. She has already been named the female Stingers athlete of the week twice this semester, once for her performance at the Concordia Classic on Oct. 9, and again on Nov. 13 for her 17-point game in the home-opener.

As a point guard, Leclerc controls the play and sees the court well. “My greatest strength is my IQ, like I know when to rush [the ball up] or when not to,” Leclerc said.

“She’s a floor general and understands the game,” Gittens said. “She can score freely and get other people involved. She creates [chances] for other people and creates them for herself, and brings a calmness to the team.”

Gittens is benefitting from having a player like Leclerc. A year after going 4-12 and missing the playoffs, the Stingers went

9-1 in the preseason and sit in second place in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) with a 3-1 record. Leclerc is averaging a team-high 17.8 points, 3.8 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game. But this doesn’t come as a surprise to Gittens.

“If anyone followed her throughout her Cégep career and saw what she did on the court with the team she had, then coming here with [the players we have], then it’s no surprise to what she’s done,” Gittens said.

Leclerc credits the team’s success to a good atmosphere. “We’re always together and bonding, we’re a loud team and we’ve just had so much fun so far this year” Leclerc said. “We just like each other, there’s no one [girl] you like more than any other.

We’re just like a family with a bunch of sisters and we have each others’s backs.”

The first-year grew up in Saint-Rochde-Richelieu, a municipality of over 2,000 people close to 80 kilometres east of the Loyola campus. There, she started playing basketball at eight years old, before moving to Quebec City for Cégep. Now in Montreal, she’s closer to her family.

Leclerc said her biggest role models growing up were her parents, Rosanne and Bruno, who were always there for her. “They worked so hard for me and pushed me,” Leclerc said.

“When I was not knowing what to do or didn’t know if I wanted to continue playing basketball, they were there for me and kept pushing me.”

The rookie point guard said there were times, such as between high school and Cégep, when she wondered if it was worth pursuing basketball. “But for me, it wasn’t an option to stop—I needed to play basketball.”

Luckily for the Stingers, Leclerc has continued playing until now, and wants to help her team succeed. “We want to be the provincial champions for sure. We have the team to do it, we just need to keep pushing and get better every day.”

WITH NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI The Montreal Canadiens’s start to the season has been a promising one: they have an 11-7-4 record and sit in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Not many people, including myself, expected the Habs to be this good this season, so it’s been a pleasant surprise.

One particular stand-out is forward Max Domi. When the Canadiens acquired him in June for Alex Galchenyuk, fans were outraged, mainly because Domi scored nine goals last season with the Arizona Coyotes. Now, he has 26 points in 24 games, and had an 11-game point streak until the Habs's loss on Nov. 23 against Buffalo.

New acquisition Tomáš Tatar is impressing fans with his work ethic and scoring ability, while Jonathan Drouin is finally becoming the player people expected him to be. 18-year-old rookie sensation Jesperi Kotkaniemi doesn’t look out of place either.

Despite all the promise they have offensively, the biggest worry for the Habs in this young season is their defence. They’ve allowed the fifth-most goals in the NHL, with 81, and no other team in a playoff spot has allowed more than 75.

They’re lucky their 74 goals for is one shy of the top-10 in the league, which explains why they’ve been winning games.

The defence is to blame for allowing so many goals—not goalie Carey Price. When looking at the Habs’s defence, players like David Schlemko and Jordie Benn just aren’t good enough for today’s fast NHL. Even a young player like Victor Mete, who had the potential to be a first-pairing defenceman, struggles to defend bigger players.

At this point, the defence is being carried by Jeff Petry, who averages 24:57 ice time per game, which is the second-most in the Atlantic Division.

This defence core is really missing captain Shea Weber, who will be returning from an injury as early as Nov. 27. Weber brings a style of play that is both physical and calm—he knows when to pick up the tempo or slow it down. There’s no other defenceman who can do that right now.

Still, even with Weber back, Price will still need a good defenceman on the left side. Too many times this season have the Canadiens allowed a player open on the left side to score. I think the Habs are one good left-handed defenceman away from being a strong team, but for now, they will struggle to hold the fort defensively.

Until the defence can improve, the Habs have to rely on Price to stand on his head and bail his team out. But you can’t expect him to bake a cake without eggs or milk.

theconcordian

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

15

VARSITY

A look at the 2018 Stingers all-stars Men’s rugby highlights individual accolades by Concordia athletes in the RSEQ

NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI SPORTS EDITOR

led the league in receiving with 527 yards on 24 catches with two touchdowns.

Assistant coach Peter Regimbald, who was in his 50th and final season with the Stingers, also won the RSEQ’s assistant coach of the year award. He has been with the team since they were still known as the Loyola Warriors.

The 2018 fall varsity season is coming to an end, and Concordia saw its athletes in football, soccer, and rugby represent the Stingers with pride. Some teams did better than others, while some athletes were recognized for their stellar performances. Here’s a breakdown of all the Stingers’s award winners and Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) allstars for the fall season.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

MEN’S RUGBY Being the only Stingers team to win their championship this fall season, it’s no surprise the men’s rugby team have the most allstars. Out of the 14 RSEQ first-team all-stars, seven are Stingers: Stephen Martinez, Julian Alexander, Charles Debove, Thomas Goetz, Jackson Marquardt, Eliott Goussanou, and Lucas Hotton. Surprisingly, none of these players won any of the individual awards.

On the second all-star team, Dylan MacDonald, Michael Laplaine-Pereira, Jérome Lévesque, and Jonathan Banks represent the Stingers.

After winning their second-straight RSEQ championship, the Stingers finished fourth at nationals in Victoria, B.C.

REVIEW

The men’s rugby team led all fall teams with the most all-star players. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

WOMEN’S RUGBY

FOOTBALL

Under new head coach Jocelyn Barrieau, the Stingers just missed the playoffs with a 2-5 record. The women’s rugby team was young—out of 28 players on the team, 21 were in their first or second year, with only two fifth-years.

Despite the amount of younger players, fourth-year veteran back Lia Hoyte was the Stingers’s sole representative on the first all-star team. Two of the other team’s backs, second-year Shawna Brayton and first-year Jasmine Baxter, were on the second all-star team.

Like the women’s rugby team, the Stingers football team had a new head coach this season. Brad Collinson faced plenty of challenges, as the team went 2-6, missing out on the playoffs for the first time in five years.

The football team had two stars shining bright this season. Offensive lineman Maurice Simba and wide receiver Jarryd Taylor both made the first all-star team.

Simba is draft-eligible for both the NFL and CFL, and will be one of the first players from a Canadian university to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in January. Taylor

Following the theme of new coaches, the women’s soccer team, in their first season under Greg Sutton, finished with a 4-9-1 record, 13 points out of a playoff spot. Regardless, it’s tied for the most wins they’ve had in a season since 2013.

Even though forward Sarah Humes and defender Claudia Asselin finished tied ninth in league scoring with five goals each, only midfielder Chama Sedki made the second all-star team.

Sedki played in 12 games, scoring three goals and adding three assists.

MEN’S SOCCER On the men’s side, the Stingers had their worst season since 2014, finishing with a 1-10-1 record. It’s at least one win better than their winless season four years ago. Forward Yazid Dawiss led the team with two goals, while eight other players had one goal each.

No players made the RSEQ all-star teams.

The best of the 2018 sports year Besides Montreal's losing teams, fans had fun things to watch

MBAPPÉ SHINES IN RUSSIA

NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI SPORTS EDITOR

The FIFA World Cup is meant for players to shine, and French forward Kylian Mbappé did exactly that. He helped France win the World Cup, and tied in second for most goals scored at the tournament with four. He made his mark in the round of 16 match against Argentina, where he scored two goals four minutes apart in the win, including the game-winning goal.

Mbappé’s strength and speed showed the world he’s the next soccer star. The 19-year-old won the tournament’s best youngest player award, and he also completed his permanent transfer to Paris SaintGermain, worth over CAD$250 million. What a year for Mbappé.

The past 12 months in the world of sports have seen plenty of interesting stories. Montreal sports teams can’t find a way to win, a king found a new home while a prince emerged in Russia, and we saw sports can be fun sometimes. Here is The Concordian’s 2018 sports year in review.

NO PLAYOFFS IN MONTREAL Since 1995, at least one of the Montreal Canadiens, Alouettes or Impact have qualified for the postseason in any given year. For the first time since then, none of Montreal’s men’s professional sports teams made the playoffs in their respective leagues.

The Canadiens finished the 2017-18 season with a 29-40-13 record, missing out on the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. Goalie Carey Price did not look like the MVP goalie he was in 2015, posting a 12-19-9 record with an 89.5 save percentage and 3.22 goalsagainst average in 2018. The Canadiens also traded captain Max Pacioretty, which originally did not look so good, but things are improving for the team.

The Impact and Alouettes both had new head coaches this year, going 14-16-4

JAMES HEADS TO LOS ANGELES and 5-13 in their respective seasons.

You can’t forget the Canadiennes of t h e C a n a d i a n Wo m e n ’s Ho c key Le a g u e , w h o f i n i s h e d f i r s t w i t h a 22-5-1 record. They were upset by the Markham Thunder in the first round of the playoffs, with a 2-0 series sweep.

So really, no professional team in this city won a playoff game in 2018.

THE PHILLY SPECIAL Who says there can’t be fun in the pressure-filled world of professional sports? The Philadelphia Eagles certainly

had fun at the Super Bowl in February.

Up 15-12 in the second quarter, with a fourth down on the one-yard line against the New England Patriots, the Eagles ran a trick play to throw a touchdown pass to quarterback Nick Foles. The play has become known as “The Philly Special” and it’s probably one of the boldest calls ever made in a championship game.

The Eagles had perfect execution on the play. Foles fooled the Patriots’s defence by pretending to bark out orders to his linemen, before scrambling off to the side for the open catch.

After spending four seasons back with the Cleveland Cavaliers, basketball superstar LeBron James decided to join the L.A. Lakers. The Lakers finished last season with a 35-47 record, but with the help of James, they’ve instantly become a much better team.

James’s exit from Cleveland shifted powers in the league, putting the stars and best teams, like Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors, in the Western Conference. The Toronto Raptors also traded fan-favourite DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard, becoming the beasts of the Eastern Conference in the off-season.

Graphic by Ana Bolokin.

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

EDITORIAL

Enjoy a guilt-free break!

It’s finally happening. Soon, we’ll get the break we all deserve. We at The Concordian think it’s safe to assume that this semester has been hectic and exhausting for most of us. The seemingly infinite weight of deadlines, assignments, projects, essays—we cannot wait until everything is finally submitted and done with. We thought it would be a good idea to dedicate this last editorial of the semester to promoting a radical idea: you can be lazy this upcoming break.

A recent CBC Radio piece highlighted why we should stop being so obsessed with productivity. “We tend to judge other people and their status by the number of hours of work they put in every week,” Brad Aeon, a researcher at Concordia’s John Molson School of Business, told the CBC. The piece also featured some of Aeon’s rules about time management, which include prioritizing leisure time over work and being clear about your boundaries.

His research emphasizes that it’s OK to set your own limits and disregard other people’s expectations about how much a person should work.

Perhaps taking a step away from a productivity-oriented lifestyle doesn’t have to mean a lesser work output. One of the fundamental pillars of behavioural psychology is that positive reinforcement creates desirable behaviour patterns. It’s

OPEN LETTER

important to reward yourself as a means of self-care, but also because this will ultimately lead to a lifestyle that effectively balances responsibilities in healthy ways. Rewards are what make hard work meaningful. If you take the time to let yourself experience them, you will be more driven when it’s time to work again.

Developing a rhythm of hard work mixed with downtime is not encouraged in our super productive, go-go-go society.

We often celebrate overworking ourselves to the brink of exhaustion and dismiss the

importance of finding a healthy relationship with our work. In fact, in Aeon’s research, he noticed a tendency for people to view productivity as an investment in their happiness. With this mentality, productivity takes on a sort of desperate, addictive quality that consistently leaves people unsatisfied with their performance level. This contributes to an environment in which everyone is constantly working themselves to the extreme and reinforcing an unrealistically high standard for work output. Aeon proposes an important idea that happiness doesn’t

lie in overworking yourself, but rather in taking lengthy amounts of time for self-care.

We do realize, however, that this is all easier said than done. Taking time for yourself can be guilt-inducing. As students, most of our free time is overshadowed by impending deadlines for assignments or projects, and so moments of self-care can feel like simple procrastination. There is no easy answer for how to combat this feeling during the semester—sometimes there simply isn’t enough time for self-care, and the boundaries between self-care and procrastination can become blurred. That is precisely why it is so important to let yourself experience the reward of relaxation during the winter break.

Of course, your break will not be void of responsibility or anxiety. You may be working full-time, Christmas shopping or attending stressful family gatherings.

But you can still take a break from less urgent pressures in your life. At the end of the semester, the stress of school is replaced by other anxieties—like getting work experience, reading books or making new friends—and while these may be important, remember that it is OK just to chill out for a few weeks after a taxing semester. We at The Concordian celebrate guilt-free self-care and taking an adequate amount of time to focus on yourself. Enjoy your break!

Graphic by @spooky_soda

Crying out for change

We must never forget the victims of shootings in the United States TIA GIANNONE CONTRIBUTOR I am a student, a millennial, a daughter and a lot more. The reason I’m writing this is because I can’t sleep, I can’t go to school, I can’t walk around or go out with my friends without being scared. I lay awake thinking of the headlines, the numbers, the names and the families.

I’m not one of them. I didn’t lose a friend or family member to gun violence, but I am still so bothered. The recent shootings in the United States have pushed me beyond my limit. So here’s my question: What’s it going to take? How many more students, millennials, children, parents, friends and family members have to lose their lives?

Have you watched the news coverage?

If yes, then you’ve seen their yearbook pictures. That’s all we get—a yearbook photo and a name, and then they’re gone.

I walk into class thinking of the quickest exits in case of an emergency.

I can’t go to a club without the thought that I won’t hear screams or gunfire over the music. Maybe you think I’m overreacting.

Maybe you think this isn’t my business because I’m not an American citizen; but I am a citizen of the world. I have a voice

and I’m so, so tired. Tired of seeing innocent people hurt, tired of seeing people who just wanted to go out with friends never come home and tired of being afraid. I go to bars and restaurants, to school and concerts, and so do you. It could be me and I refuse to be apathetic just because it didn’t happen to someone I know.

I want to know when it will be enough to tip the scales. I want to know why they didn’t tip a long time ago. After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, I had so much hope for change. I believed that, if anything was going to spark change, it would be that horrific event. I was wrong. In the last year, in school after school, at clubs and churches and concerts, people have been killed. After the Parkland shooting, students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School started an amazing revolution, but it’s barely reported in the news anymore.

The Borderline Bar and Grill was hosting a college night which allowed 18+ clients for one night, when the gunman walked in and ended 12 lives, just a few weeks ago. Yet the media has already moved on because a more recent shooting happened somewhere else. The violence has been everywhere and it seems constant. I am asking anyone reading this: Aren’t you tired?

I want to act, I want to change, I want

to yell and shout and make something happen—then I remember I can’t. I’m not loud enough, strong enough or important enough to create that change because I am one person. I am alone. So I’m writing this to express what I feel because I don’t know what else to do. We watch the news, we see their faces, and then we see them replaced by the next faces, moved aside and too quickly forgotten. Shock dies down, but they died first. How is it possible that we talked about the death of Harambe in my class for five weeks, when the lives lost in mass shootings are practically forgotten the next day? The world moves on so quickly, but the victims couldn’t, so why should we?

The news shows us the facts, the families, the sadness and then moves on to the next story. I’m not asking for them to change. I’m asking for all of us to take on a small piece of responsibility. To not forget their names or their faces. I feel heavy with the weight of the victims. It feels like everyone else is moving forward and forgetting too fast, and I am carrying them.

Let’s not forget them. Let’s carry them together. We are from the same generation as so many of the victims, and we are the ones who will make a change. Let’s start now. Research, speak up, make change, but most of all, remember their names.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

theconcordian

17

ADDICTION

The artificial bliss of opioids

One student’s experience with drug addiction—and why the narrative must change ANONYMOUS When I would come home from school, my mom would often tell me to walk the dog. This used to bother me because I hate even the most mundane exercise, but then something changed. In my senior year of high school, I started to walk the dog more often, sometimes without my mom even having to ask.

Unfortunately, my new love of dog-walking had a darker side; it became part of my routine for taking the painkiller Vicodin.

Hydrocodone (the active ingredient in Vicodin) is a semi-synthetic opioid, similar to morphine. Morphine comes from the opium poppy, a plant used for decorations, bagel seasoning and heroin production, among other things.

After taking Vicodin and leashing up the dog, I would hike through the hills of my native Oregon. About half an hour into the walk, my worries of the day would begin to fade, and a sense of relaxation would overcome me. At that stage in my addiction, the pills did not impair me; in fact they helped me navigate my daily life with more ease and greater joy.

My affair with opioid painkillers (not to be confused with over-the-counter ibuprofen or Tylenol) started with a headache. Earlier in the school year, I had come home one day with a throbbing headache. I drank some water, and when that did not work, I took an aspirin. A few hours later, my head was still pounding. Out of desperation, I went into my mom's purse and took one of her Vicodins.

At the time, I did not know how dangerous Vicodin is. I thought it was just a super strong Tylenol. My mom was recovering from surgery and had been prescribed the drug. Ironically, my grandmother, who had come from Los Angeles to take care of my mom, broke her collarbone on the flight up and left the hospital with her own 90-pill prescription. Both my mom and grandmother hated taking painkillers; this left an abundant supply for me.

When I took my first Vicodin, I was stage managing a school production involving 300 people. It was a terrific but stressful job; the Vicodin not only took away my headache but freed me from my worries.

A critical point is that my addiction could have been avoided if physicians had been more aware of the dangers of opioids at the time. Had that been the case, my mom and grandmother wouldn’t have been prescribed enormous quantities of opioids.

Had there been safer prescribing practices in place, perhaps my addiction would never have started.

After that first pill, I did not take another one for a few days. Slowly, I began to develop excuses to use them—if my mom wasn't going to take them, why should they go to waste? I developed a tolerance after a few weeks and started taking two pills to get high. Being high on painkillers isn't like being high on other drugs. I could still function, attend school and go about my life, but everything just felt better. Nothing bothered me. I felt confident, and a warm sensation enveloped my body. At the time, I did not consider myself to be abusing drugs, and I was oblivious to this destructive pattern.

As time passed, I began to get careless. After months of a constant opioid buzz, I forgot what it felt like to be sober.

Vicodin began to make me aggressive, and I started to yell more often at the actors and crew I managed at work. I stopped caring about everything, and my A in chemistry plunged to a dangerous C-. At home, my parents seemed none the wiser about my habit, and I took extraordinary steps to hide my pill-popping.

The gravy train came to an end when the pills ran out six months later. Taking the last pill in the bottle felt like a sacred event—the end of a relationship I believed I could handle on my own. Within hours, I had called my mom who was in Albuquerque.

We got in an argument, and I blurted out that I had used all of her painkillers and needed help because I felt terrible. She started sobbing and flew home the next day.

My parents helped me access the resources and treatment I needed. Growing up, I never suffered from any serious mental health issues, but following my opioid use, I turned into a depressed, anxious mess. There were medications to treat my ailments, but they could only do so much. My first moments of sobriety were difficult as I mourned the end of my relationship with Vicodin. The drug turned the most mundane moments into extraordinary ones. Losing that perpetual excitement took months to get used to, and to this day, I miss the months I spent in artificial bliss.

No one wakes up one morning and decides they want to become addicted to drugs. Stealing drugs or causing my family heartache horrifies me. Opioids

had an amazing capacity to mute my moral compass. Getting high no longer became something to relieve stress, but rather a necessity to remain functional and have the ability to experience happiness. Once this emotional shield began to fade, things that used to bother me enraged me; moments that hurt me devastated me and life felt like a mission without a goal.

In learning how to live without opioids, I had my “aha” moment. Most users are not lazy; they’re not failures or junkies—they are just like you and me. Often, they are just more sensitive or perhaps suffer from a mental illness.

Unfortunately, the stigma against those who suffer from substance abuse remains static with little to no improvement in public compassion. It took becoming addicted for me to realize it's time we must shift our mentality and try to help instead of judge.

Although I chose to tell my story anonymously, I hope a day will come when someone can write an article like this without hesitating to reveal who they are. Those who fight daily to stay sober ought to be celebrated as the warriors they are.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

18

theconcordian

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

ELECTIONS

Changing the voting game

On e CSU m e m be r exp l a i ns th e a dva nta ge s of b e i n g a ble t o vot e o n li n e PATRICK QUINN CONTRIBUTOR Full disclosure: I work for the Vote YES to Online Voting campaign. I am chair of the Concordia Student Union elections and participation committee.

Today, I am writing to tell you why I am for online voting at Concordia.

TO SAVE MONEY

For the last four elections, the CSU has spent an average of $36,000. Last year, $53,000 was spent on an election that only saw 1,424 votes cast. That’s approximately four per cent of the student population.

Each year, the money spent on elections goes toward paying for ballots, polling clerks, deputy electoral officers, ballot counters, the chief electoral officer and security. Last year, the CSU spent $14,000 on security alone. The amount of money spent on student elections at Concordia is excessive given the number of people who actually vote.

A lot of money would be saved if voting was done online. One external company estimated that using their system would cost $7,500. Based on the CSU’s 2018 General Elections CEO Report, this

would have saved the union nearly $22,000, which could have been reinvested in new electoral practices, such as new election positions and advertising

TO IMPROVE SECURITY

Although some people have concerns about the security of online voting, it’s important to recognize that the current CSU election procedure is not secure either.

In October, ballot boxes from the CSU’s 2017 by-election were left unattended in the hallway on the fourth floor of the Hall building. Those boxes contained people’s names, their ballots and the ballot ID associated with them. This information could be used to identify who each person voted for. It’s also important to consider that security is about risk management.

Before selecting a company to administer online voting, the CSU can do its due diligence by asking questions about security measures and ensuring certain standards are met.

TO BE MORE SUSTAINABLE

Currently, the CSU uses paper ballots in their elections. The union’s sustainability policy defines sustainability as “the process and outcome of achieving social justice,

economic equality and environmental health by reducing our economic footprint and empowering communities.” Switching to online voting would allow the CSU to further reduce its economic footprint and contribute to environmental health. The less paper used, the better.

TO INCREASE ACCESSIBILITY

As is, the CSU’s voting system is not accessible to people who have disabilities, such as hearing or vision impairments. Some online voting companies, such as the Montreal-based Simply Voting, offer accessibility features and are regularly audited by the Bureau of Internet Accessibility. By working with an online voting company, the CSU could make its elections inclusive for all Concordia students.

this worse. A long commute, disruptions to public transit or bad weather can all contribute to a student’s decision to stay home and miss the opportunity to vote. Although the CSU voting period lasts three days, it’s not uncommon for students to wait until the last minute. Time is of the essence and casting a ballot online would be faster and easier.

At the end of the day, we all want what’s best for the CSU. Online voting has the potential to get more people to participate in student elections. I have seen a lot of apathy toward voting at Concordia.

We need to do something to fix that, and this is a start. Let’s change how we do things at the CSU by saying “yes” to online voting from Nov. 27 to 29.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

TO INCREASE CONVENIENCE

The truth is, online voting is convenient. I live off island.

It normally takes me an hour and a half to get to school by public transportation. The winter weather only makes

ELECTIONS

Vote yes to support clubs, advocacy services How students can improve the funding for CSU programs without paying more

JOHN HUTTON CONTRIBUTOR From Nov. 27 to 29, Concordia undergraduate students will vote in their union’s by-election.

On the ballot, there will be a referendum question to reallocate Concordia Student Union’s (CSU) fees. Students will be asked if they agree to reduce the amount of fees they pay for a renovation fund and increase fees for student clubs, advocacy services and general operations by the same amount. As the CSU finance coordinator, I believe students should vote yes, because it will protect valuable student services without raising fees.

The CSU offers a wide range of services, campaigns for student rights and hosts fun events. It creates jobs for students and provides support for student-led projects and clubs. All of this is funded by six per-credit fees from students. Currently, for each credit, students pay $2.11 for general CSU operations, $0.24 for the advocacy services, $0.24 for the Off-Campus Housing and Job Resource Centre (HOJO), $0.17 for the Legal Information Clinic, $0.20 for clubs and $0.74 for the "Student Space, Accessible Education and Legal Contingency (SSAELC) Fund."

All of this money is given to the CSU, however, it can only be used for its designated purpose. Money collected for HOJO, for example, can’t be used for orientation week

events. This means that when the CSU council approves the budget, it’s actually approving five separate budgets.

In previous years, the CSU ran surpluses in a few departments, specifically for clubs and the advocacy services. As a non-profit organization, we’re not supposed to do that, so the executives ran referendums to reduce the fees. The advocacy services fee was reduced in 2015, and the fee for clubs was reduced in 2017. However, almost immediately after these referendums passed, demand for the services increased. More students were going to the Advocacy Centre, forming clubs and increasing club activity, but the CSU now had less money for those resources than before.

This has placed these departments in a structural deficit. Advocacy services are projected to run a deficit of roughly $30,000 this year, and clubs is $70,000 in the red.

These deficits have been absorbed by CSU cash reserves from previous surpluses, but that can’t go on forever. This year, we have to choose between raising revenue or reducing student services.

Don’t panic. Despite these challenges, the CSU is in a good financial position overall.

Its net value increased this year to over $13 million. However, much of that money is in the SSAELC Fund and, because fees have restricted use, the money has to stay there.

What is the SSAELC Fund? It’s a large reserve of funds that can be used to build or renovate student spaces, support student associations that vote to go on strike, and pay legal settlements if the union gets sued.

The fund has roughly $10 million in it, and is

invested in stock portfolios that help it grow from year to year. It was recently used to fund projects like the Woodnote Housing Cooperative and the CSU daycare—and even after those big projects, the fund is still growing strong.

The CSU has plenty of resources, but they’re not being allocated in the best way possible.

To fix that, we’re proposing to reduce the fee levy for the SSAELC Fund by $0.36, while also implementing a fee increase of $0.06 for advocacy services, $0.10 for clubs and $0.20 for general operations. All the budgets will balance out, and students won’t have to pay anything more.

The SSAELC Fund will still grow by approximately $250,000 per year after this reform.

By collecting a bit less for the renovations fund, which already has $10 million in it, we can increase funding for the many clubs that enrich student life and give us extracurricular experience. We will be able to maintain the advocacy services that protect student rights, and invest more in services, bursaries, programming and campaigns. All of this will be possible without students having to pay even one extra cent.

On the other hand, if this referendum fails to pass, we’ll be required to reduce funding for clubs and advocacy services.

No student will benefit from that. The proposed new fee structure is a simple, responsible and effective way to manage our union’s finances. To support student clubs and the important services students depend on, without having to pay more, please vote “yes” on Nov. 27, 28 or 29.

Graphic by Ana Bilokin

etc WORD SEARCH ASFA BROKEN PENCIL CASA COMMENTARY EDITORIAL HACKHARVARD HYPER REAL IN BREIF QUICKSPINS REFERENDUM SHAD STINGERS UQAM VOLUNTEER

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR EXAMS! GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR EXAMS!

I wish you all the best on your upcoming exams and final projects.

After the term ends – enjoy the break!

I wish you all the best on your upcoming exams and final projects.

After the term ends – enjoy the break!

Alan Shepard President alan.shepard@concordia.ca Alan Shepard President alan.shepard@concordia.ca

T19-51087

CO N CO R D I A .C A

T19-51087

CO N CO R D I A .C A

20 theconcordian

NOVEMBER 27, 2018 Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth.

You're invited to our AGM Join the discussion on November 27th at 7 p.m. at our Loyola office in CC-431.

theconcordian's team EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MAGGIE HOPE editor@theconcordian.com MANAGING EDITOR CANDICE PYE managing@theconcordian.com PRODUCTION MANAGER LOREANNA LASTORIA production@theconcordian.com PRODUCTION ASSISTANT ELENI PROBONAS SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR MATTHEW COYTE online@theconcordian.com

NEWS EDITORS IAN DOWN MIA ANHOURY news@theconcordian.com ASSISTANT NEWS EDITORS MINA MAZUMDER EITHNE LYNCH

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OPINIONS EDITOR SANIA MALIK opinions@theconcordian.com

ASSISTANT LIFE EDITOR FATIMA DIA

ASSISTANT OPINIONS EDITOR TYSON BURGER

ARTS EDITOR CHLOË LALONDE arts@theconcordian.com

PHOTO EDITOR MACKENZIE LAD photo@theconcordian.com

ASSISTANT ARTS EDITOR DAISY DUNCAN

PHOTO ASSISTANTS GABE CHEVALIER HANNAH EWEN

MUSIC EDITOR SIMON NEW music@theconcordian.com ASSISTANT MUSIC EDITOR IMMANUEL MATTHEWS

GRAPHICS EDITOR WEDNESDAY LAPLANTE graphics@theconcordian.com GRAPHIC ASSISTANT ANA BILOKIN

SPORTS EDITOR NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI sports@theconcordian.com

VIDEO EDITOR SANDRA HERCEGOVA video@theconcordian.com

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR ALEC BRIDEAU

VIDEO ASSISTANT ARIANNA RANDJBAR

Concordia University’s weekly, independent student newspaper HEAD COPY EDITOR VICTORIA LEWIN COPY EDITORS KATYA TEAGUE KAYLA-MARIE TURRICIANO KATELYN THOMAS copy@theconcordian.com BUSINESS MANAGER FRANCIS LADOUCEUR business@theconcordian.com ADVERTISING MANAGER BILAL QADRI advertising@theconcordian.com BOARD OF DIRECTORS NATHALIE LAFLAMME DAVID EASEY directors@theconcordian.com

CONTRIBUTORS: Abby Yaeger, Alexia Martel-Desjardins, Ana Lucia Londono, Ben Fraser, Esteban Cuevas, Hunter Walwaski, Hussain Almahr, John Hutton, Louis Pavlakos, Maria Lucia Albarracin, Patrick Quinn, Tia Giannone

VOL. 36, ISSUE 14 NOV. 27, 2018.

OUR COVER THIS WEEK “Myriam Leclerc rises up” Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

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