The Concordian Vol. 31. Issue 3

theconcordian Volume 31 Issue 3

Independent Student newSpaper at ConCordIa unIVerSIty. SInCe 1983.

September 10, 2013

Negotiations burn out Concordia unions still without contracts p.3

Photo by Nathalie Laflamme

In this issue // life arts

Watch them wiggle P. 6

music

World Press exhibit Sink into ‘70s P. 9 psychedelica P. 9

we tell your stories. Follow us on twitter: @theConcordian

sports

opinions

To Montreal, Love Stingers can’t catch a break P.13 Chicago P. 18

theconcordian.com

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Tuesday, sepTember 10, 2013

Write to the editor: news@theconcordian.com

CITY SLoane MonTgoMery Co-news editor

>> Montreal’s

6th annual WienerFest

This year marked the 6th annual wiener dog race which took place on Sept.

7 at the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood dog park. The dogs were competing to be the city’s top wiener dogs. Judging was based on fashion and speed. Proceeds from this year’s WienerFest will go toward several charities and pet rescues; including Helping Homeless Pets and Tiny Paws Dog Rescue Canada.

>> Montreal

helps syrian reFugees

Montreal resident, Hala Maatouk, president of A Heart For Syria, is organizing a shipment of supplies to Syrian refugees. Maatouk said she had to do something to help friends and family caught in the violence back home. A dozen people gathered on Sept. 6 to pack a 12-metre container full of medical supplies including wheelchairs, crutches, and medications.

Campus // neWS

Sexual assault resource centre to open at Concordia Students successful after fighting a two year battle with university ChriSTina roWan Copy editor

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fter nearly two years of students trying to establish a sexual assault resource centre, Concordia will be opening a centre this fall, in the GM building on the Sir George Williams Campus.

On March 5, 2012, in an attempt to demonstrate how important and needed a sexual assault centre would be, students took it upon themselves to rally and campaign in and around the school to gain recognition. Students also created a petition in which they managed to receive more than 1,000 signatures. Nearly a year and a half later, students’ efforts have been acknowledged and they are being provided the space and funding to support the centre they’ve been asking for.

Administrative coordinator for the Centre for Gender Advocacy, Julie Michaud, acted alongside the group of students last year, to show her support and to bring as much

awareness as possible to the issue cess of the sexual assault resource of sexual consent. centre.

On Jan. 25, 2012 in a Dragonroot “Andrew Woodall, the dean of Radio interview, a workshop series students, brought a whole group of at CKUT radio, Michaud spoke people together for us to have a conabout the campaign to open a sex- sultation [with], which has been, in ual assault centre at Concordia and my opinion, a great consultative prowhy it is so crucial. cess that’s included representatives “We’re asking them to re-vamp from the CSU, centre 2110 [Centre their polifor Gender cies around Advocacy], We’re asking them to sexual asas well as re-vamp their policies sault to a variety around sexual assault make them of internal to make them more more comConcordia comprehensive, more prehensive, departaccessible and more more accesments.” understandable by sible and With a everyone in the university more underbackground community, standable in social - Julie Michaud work, Maby everyone in the unigonet will versity community,” said Michaud. act as a supervisor for the centre.

“That includes making sure that Interviews for a centre coordinator security staff and counselling and wrapped up last week. Many candidevelopment staff understand those dates applied to fill the position as policies really clearly and that they coordinator for the centre and after get sensitivity and awareness train- thorough background and resume ing around sexual assault.” checks by the advisory committee, Director of the Counselling and three applicants were chosen to be Development Department at Con- interviewed, after which the advicordia, Howard Magonet, was one sory committee came to a unaniof six members on the advisory mous decision about one candidate, committee that spearheaded the whose name cannot yet be given. organization and recruitment pro“The candidate [chosen] is very

“

eager, and we’re obviously very eager. I think he or she will be a great asset to the Concordia community,” said Magonet.

In order to further solidify the importance and actuality of opening the centre at Concordia, Magonet took to the streets of Montreal to spread the word.

“I’ve gone out and started initial conversations with external partners, such as the police, the Montreal Sexual Assault Centre, different CLSCs and different shelters, just to try to get the ball going before all this gets launched.”

Services that can be expected at the centre include interventions, education, outreach, as well as appropriate referral resources for survivors of sexual assault. Services will also include crisis intervention and accompaniment for individuals who require it and the development of peer support initiatives.

At the moment, there is no set date for the opening of the centre.

However, Magonet has said the centre can be expected to open “sometime at the end of September, [early] October.”

Concordia will be the sixth Canadian university to open a sexual assault centre on campus.

COME STOP BY THE LOYOLA INFO CENTRE!

TUTORS WANTED The Dean of Students Office is looking for tutors for any level, subject or course.

Earn $20/hour while helping others succeed.

For more information on how to apply and to see if you are eligible visit: deanofstudents.concordia.ca/services/tutors

We have: · A computer to access myConcordia Portal · Information on Student Services · University forms and applications · A free telephone you can use Dean of Students Loyola Info Centre: Monday – Friday 9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. Loyola AD 121 For more information about the Dean of Students visit: deanofstudents.concordia.ca

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Campus // neWS

‘So close to a deal...so close the deal’ 14 Concordia unions are still without a contract aDrian Mahon Contributor

On Sept. 3, faculty and staff took to the streets to protest Concordia’s refusal to renew contracts with its staff. Members from 14 different unions joined together to make a statement to returning students and the administration at Concordia. Many part-time employees are tired of years of insecurity, due to a lack of contracts and feel that the university is not being reasonable in its offers.

More than 150 employees from their respective unions took to the streets during their lunch break to emphasize the need for the univer-

sity to settle the ongoing dispute over the contracts. The banners and shouting were all part of an effort to send a message that it’s up to the university. The “ball is in their court,” so to speak, a message repeatedly echoed throughout the negotiating. Several of the 14 unions have been working for years without contracts.

One union, in particular, represented by a local branch of the SGW United Steel Workers, has been working without a contract for five years. Despite tireless negotiations, neither side is willing to come to an agreement.

One member of the unions negotiation team, David Douglas, said that they haven’t made much progress in the years of negotiation.

For Douglas, former council member of Concordia’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, the blame can be placed on the current administration. Many mem-

bers of the union feel that the university isn’t pulling its weight in terms of negotiations. The union states that they are seeking modest concessions to account for the increased cost of living and renewal of their contract. However, faced with budget cuts and reduced funding, the university doesn’t want to budge.

The announcement for the planned demonstration outside Concordia included an invitation for students or anyone wishing to join. Though on Tuesday, there did not appear to be any students who had accepted this invitation. It was not so long ago that it was the students who could be seen outside Concordia’s downtown campus yelling and waving signs. Ironically, the 2012 student demonstrations could be partly to blame for the unions woes.

Following the Parti Quebecois victory in the 2012 provincial election, Pauline Marois fulfilled her

campaign promise and froze tuition. The freeze blocked the Liberals’ plan to raise tuition by $325 per year. However, the PQ’s budget eliminated the annual increase in university funding provided by the province, a major source of funding for Concordia. This cost-cutting measure meant universities would have to seek other sources of financing or risk losing cash in the long run.

The union says that they will continue to strike until the university compromises and they come to an agreement. For the 14 unions, it has been a long and hard struggle without contracts these past years. Unfortunately, due to the tight budgets and the administration’s tough stance, it may be even longer. For many members of Concordia’s staff “so close to a deal…so close the deal” may actually be a lot further than they would like.

NATION KeLLy DuvaL Co-news editor

>> ‘n’ is For no-

Means-no

Student orientation leaders of Saint Mary’s University, in Halifax, apologized for their chant during frosh week that promoted non-consensual, underage sex. The offensive cheer spelled out the word young, with a line including “N is for no consent.” The president of the student union said the student leaders were shocked and disappointed by their actions after seeing themselves in a video posted online.

All 80 frosh week leaders are being required to take sensitivity training. The cheer has been sung in previous years but a university spokesperson said the student union promised it will no longer be part of frosh activities.

>> house sales

on the rise

CSu // neWS

Concordia preparing for new food contract emphasis is on communication between students and administration KeLLy DuvaL Co-news editor

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n preparation for the expiration of Concordia’s food contract with Chartwells in May 2015, a Food Advisory Working Group has been put together by the Services office of the VicePresident to decide on a new food services provider. The group is open to different ideas and wants as much input from students and administration as possible, while they’ve already begun making improvements to Chartwells. ”We’re trying to give a voice to the people actually eating the food,” said Sabrina Lavoie, Executive Director of Hospitality Concordia and chairperson of the Food Advisory Working Group.

No specific criteria for the next contract has been decided yet since it’s still early, but healthy eating and sustainable practices are considered crucial.

To ensure all areas of Concordia are given a voice, representatives from multiple organizations have been notified: the Dean of Students Office, the Concordia Student Union, the Graduate Faculty Association, the Concordia Food Coalition, Hospitality Concordia, Health Services, Residence Life, as well as faculty, staff and students.

Lavoie remarked that one member of the group has had a meal plan for over a year and isn’t shy to give his views on what should be improved.

“There was no such consultation before. There’s good communication right now and I really

want to keep it that way.”

So far, the group has met three times. They’ll be meeting every two to three weeks until December to discuss the necessary standards for the next food contract that will likely last seven to ten years. “[The process] is important because it’s such a huge contract,” said Lavoie. “We want to make sure the winning bidder will be a good one.”

In selecting a new food service provider, Concordia has to

follow specific regulations imposed by Quebec laws, making it a lengthy process. First, the established criteria for the new contract must be approved by VP Services, then a Request for Proposals (RFP) document will be made. This will be a public document anybody can add a proposal to, provided they’re able to offer their suggested services. The proposals will then be evaluated according to Concordia’s established food service requirements.

After financial negotiations, the

winning vendor will be selected, marking the start of the new food services program.

Lavoie, however, said the group isn’t waiting two years to start making changes.“We’re acting right now because we believe we can make a difference right away.” Such changes to Chartwells includes offering more salads and fresh fruits and vegetables.

While a student run organization could be part of the new contract, Lavoie said they might not be capable of providing almost a thousand meal plans per day. This does not mean food retail outlets cannot be run by students, as options are still open and a divided contract is a possibility.

“We’re not closing doors on any options right now,” said Lavoie.

While Chartwells and Hospitality Concordia currently manage many spaces at the university, the People’s Potato, Java U, Café X, the Hive and Guadagni Lounge are independent outlets that will not be affected by the new contract. According to Lavoie, “Hospitality Concordia has no intention of getting rid of such spaces.”

At the end of September, Hospitality Concordia will conduct a university-wide food services survey geared towards what can be done in the future. There will also be open discussion sessions at both the Loyola and Sir George Williams Campuses this month.

Students are encouraged to send feedback to food.services@concordia.ca

Canada is seeing an increase in the housing market with house sales in many large Canadian cities rebounding. Sales rose 21 per cent in Toronto and 52 per cent in Vancouver, compared to August 2012. The Toronto Real Estate Board predicts house sales will continue increasing in the Greater Toronto Area, partially because buyers have been rushing to beat mortgagerate increases.

>> saskatch-

eWan needs More schools Saskatoon will soon need more schools.

Statistics from Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Education reveal that enrolment has increased in most of the province’s school divisions. The Saskatoon public school system saw a 5.36 per cent increase in students from last year. One school’s grade five class had to take over part of the library due to lack of space. Growing neighbourhoods in the province, including Hampton Village, Stonebridge and Rosewood, will likely need one new school a year for nearly six years.

>> getting coached on unsaFe drinkin In the past week, Sudbury police reached out to more than 600 college and university students as well as bar owners in the city about the importance of safe drinking. The Community Alcohol Safety and Enforcement initiative, created last year by the police and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission, has organized lectures to educate post-secondary students on the matter.

Speakers also addressed bar owners and Sudbury Secondary school wait staff to raise awareness that they could be criminally liable for injuries that happen at their establishment.

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theconcordian

Tuesday, sepTember 10, 2013

CFS // neWS

WORLD MarC-oLivier LaraMée Contributor

>> u.s. and russia still divided The G20 summit has concluded without Russia and the U.S. coming any closer to an agreement on the crisis in Syria, last week. Originally Syria was not a planned topic for the summit, however Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said the discussions on Thursday evening lasted well past midnight. President Putin reaffirmed his opposition to attacking Syria, believing the chemical weapons were staged by rebels seeking foreign involvement in the conflict.

While President Obama said military action is necessary.

>> surprise Missile test The U.S. and Israel launched an unannounced missile test in the Mediterranean on Sept. 3. Israel’s Defense Ministry only announced it had carried out a missile test after Russia reported this to the rest of the world. While there are currently five U.S. destroyers in the Mediterranean for possible strikes against Syria, a U.S. official explained Israel regularly fires missiles to test its ballistic defense capabilities.

>> eu out oF

recession

The European Union’s economy has grown more than expected, confirming the region is no longer in recession. A 0.4 per cent increase for the 27 countries’ combined gross domestic product was seen in the EU’s second quarter, compared to the past three months where it shrank 0.1 per cent. Optimistic business investments as well as manufacturing and retail sales helped the economy.

While Europe’s unemployment rate remains at 12.1 per cent, the EU’s total population and annual gross domestic product, at around $17.3 trillion, is still ahead of the U.S..

>> kenya threatens to WithdraW FroM icc The International Criminal Court (ICC) wishes to prosecute Kenyan leaders for crimes against humanity, despite threats by the Kenyan parliament made Sept.

5 to withdraw from the court.

Kenya’s president and deputy president have been charged with being responsible for rape, the killing of more than 1,000 people, and the forced deportation of over 600,000 people. Kenya would be the first country to leave the ICC and the withdrawal could hamper the ICC’s ability to investigate crimes in Kenya.

Schools mobilize against CFS Dawson College among schools wishing to leave federation Jane LyTvynenKo CuP ottawa Bureau Chief

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ore than a dozen members of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) have begun a move to leave the organization, according to a press release sent out Sept. 4. Of the 83 members across the country, 15 are rallying to hold a membership referendum said Ashleigh Ingle, one of the spokespeople for the movement.

“There are large groups of students that are very dissatisfied with the way the CFS runs,” said Ingle, who was on the executive board for the University of Toronto’s Graduate Student Union last year. “After a long time of multiple student unions trying to make the same reforms over and over again and seeing no results, we aren’t seeing that as a productive way forward anymore.”

With 15 schools involved this marks the largest potential exodus from the organization since 2009, when 13 schools wanted to leave the CFS. This time members of student unions at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Capilano University in B.C.;

the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, York University and Laurentian University in Ontario and Dawson College in Quebec have confirmed they will apply to host a referendum.

Ingle said some schools are not going public with their campaigns yet.

“Not all of the people who are running petitions are in a stage where they want to be explicitly named especially because of the tendency for doing this kind of thing to attract a lot of attention for CFS campaigners,” she said.

According to Brent Farrington, the CFS spokesperson for internal affairs,

while the federation is aware of the campaign, it does not have plans to launch any counter campaigns To leave the CFS, members of that student union must collect a petition with signatures and present it to the CFS executive. Once the signatures are ratified, a date is set for the referendum to take place.

According to the CFS bylaws, which Farrington said could change every six months, the vote cannot be held during the regular electoral period and is a simple majority vote.

Ingle said leaving the CFS is not an easy process for its members.

“We are trying to follow the bylaws as strictly as we can so we can

avoid as much legal hassle as possible,” she said. “That said, if it does require legal action at some point to get this to happen for our fellow members, we have the resources to follow that through.”

Currently several schools across the country are in lawsuits with the CFS. Ingle said that’s one of the reasons some members are reluctant to leave.

“We wanted to spread the word that it’s happening now because we want people to know that it’s possible and that if they wanted to try to do something like this on their campus now, they wouldn’t be alone,” she said.

Farrington said CFS members “have the ability to collect petition on referenda on continued memberships.” He said members determine what the priorities of the federation are.

“As a membership-based organization, the federation is a network of the student associations,” said Farrington. “The loss of any members results in other associations having not as strong of a voice. In terms of our day-to-day operations, we would be affected by there being a fracturing of the student movement in Canada.”

With files from Kalina Laframbroise, CUP Quebec BuPhoto by Alexandra Posadzki Canadian University Press reau Chief

Campus // neWS

CUPFA president resigns, moves to BOG Peluso will still serve Concordia community on Board of governors SLoane MonTgoMery Co-news editor

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fter two decades at the helm of the Concordia University Part-Time Faculty Association (CUPFA), Maria Peluso is stepping down as president.

Having worked with the InterUnion Council and countless committees and advisory boards on behalf of students, staff, faculty and the community at large, Peluso has been a constant in the Concordia community. Peluso has earned a reputation for excellence “through her fierce dedication to the betterment of the institution she cherishes and the community she has nurtured through teaching, advocacy and influencing public policy,” says René Lalonde, former president of the Concordia University Union of Support Staff - Technicians Union.

What does her “stepping down” from her presidential role at CUPFA mean for Concordia? It means Peluso will be “stepping up” to dealing with problems at the prevention stage instead of at the intervention phase.

“I feel that it is time for me to accept a new role, to provide an ounce

of prevention instead of a pound of cure in the policy process,” Peluso explained. “One of the places to enhance our institution’s mission is alongside the other members on the board of governors, a group of dedicated individuals; volunteers who are offering their own diverse expertise.”

Thus Peluso will be continuing her work as a member of the Board of Governors, the highest decisionmaking body that influences public policy and the day-to-day lives of the Concordia community.

There is no doubt that her institutional memory, as a result of over 30 years with Concordia, will

help provide context to important discussions.

“Maria is first and foremost an educator and mentor, she has helped guide and teach all of us in the union movement as well as students, of the importance of accountable, universal and just policy implementation. I know she will continue to advocate for that at the Board level too,” said Lalonde.

Although her colleagues in the union movement will miss her at their table, (as will CUPFA members), Peluso feels CUPFA is in excellent hands with her successor, David Douglas. “[He] shares the view held by

part-time faculty and others on the role of CUPFA and “unions” – when required to defend members as a union, and to also safeguard the interests of the University community as an association. CUPFA’s two roles are not mutually exclusive, nor confrontational. Dave is a team leader, one who seeks harmony and who is solution-based as a thinker,” said Peluso.

Peluso’s commitment to the values of diversity, sustainability, and integrity, are critical components of her make-up.

“Maria is a force of nature, aimed at ensuring responsible, ethical management and enhancing Concordia’s reputation as an example of how society should function,” says Lisa Montgomery, a former executive with the Concordia University Support Staff Union.

“Maria is no armchair intellectual; she has a proven track record as an applied political scientist of public administration and public policy, a known federalist and solid advocate for government accountability. Her love of Concordia’s faculty, staff and students is in realtime.”

Montgomery believes that Peluso will bring a wide-variety of experience in organization, conflict resolution and relationship building to her continued roles within Concordia.

Tuesday, sepTember 10, 2013 //

life

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Write to the editor: life@theconcordian.com Finance // LiFe

Keep the bank off your buns: practice safe plastic

Consolidated Credit Counselling Services of Canada suggest students can be “financially ignorant” MarC-oLivier LaraMée Staff writer

New semester, new teachers and new friends often also means new clothes, new cellphone, new computer and plenty of nights out on the town. How do students manage to pay for all these expenses? A credit card is an easy solution and getting approved can be easy as pie. However, managing how you spend the money and paying on time is the challenge. According to Maclean’s Magazine, 9 students out of 10 have a credit card but the question is whether students

really know how to use one responsibly.

It is no wonder that financial institutions seek out students as customers; students need money, especially during back-to-school when tuition and school books are a major expense.

While many banks offer student friendly perks, it is important to remember how owning a credit card can be a double-edged sword. It can help balance your budget and build credit, but if used irresponsibly, can put you into trouble for years after you have graduated.

“Students should not be living on money they don’t have. They should calculate their cost of living with incomes if they work and establish a strict limit for the expenses,” said Kylie-Anne

Photo by Michael Swan, Flickr

Doerner from the Consolidated Credit Counselling Services of Canada (CCCSA). Students should take precautions with their credit cards by setting up a budget.

It is important to consider the reasons why you should get a credit card. Getting a credit card for a shopping spree is a bad idea, as is planning a whole Europe trip and charging it to your credit card. According to Valeria Fargnoli, an account manager at the Royal Bank of Canada, students should only use their credit card in case of an emergency.

“Some people use their credit card as current extra cash they can spend,” said Fargnoli, “and [this] results in spending money [they] don’t have.”

Banking has become more electronic which can make it hard to grasp how we dispense our money especially when all it takes is the swipe of a card. For some students it may be better to use cash.

“Using my credit card is so easy,” said JMSB student Nicolas Smith. “It is easier than going to an ATM to withdraw cash.”

However, when the end of the month rolls around Smith is left sitting with a maxed out credit card and a whole lot of regret.

CCCSA recommends that students own credit cards but that they be used responsibly.

One way of doing this is reading the fine print.

The majority of credit cards have a 19.99 per cent interest rate. Credit cards sold and solicited over the counter at stores often have higher interest rates of 25 to 40 per cent. Contact your financial institution and get informed on what

benefits there are to being a student credit card holder. Many banks offer reward points like Air Miles, Aeroplan, movie points and student price card discounts.

Paying your credit card balance is the next step. You have 21 days to pay your credit balance after the final day of your bill’s cycle.

CCCSA recommends paying the full balance of your account to avoid situations in which that $12 school book triples in price due to monthly interest. Programming automatic transfers to your credit card is an option to ensure timely payments.

Now, how to decide on a limit: Bank of Montreal encourages a $1,000 credit card limit for students. However, you might want to be conservative with your limit. Having a higher one can encourage you to spend more. Fargnoli advises that “expenses or your credit card should not be more than 10% of your biweekly income.”

“When I was a student, payments would go through automatically,” said Concordia graduate Carolina Gonzalez. “It was the best thing because it allowed me to prepare for the next step [of my life] without worrying about my credit card bill.”

Financial stress weighs heavily on students who pay rent, tuition, school books and the occasional round of beers when out with friends.

However, being aware of money spent and keeping informed on the amount a credit card is swiped is something that students should start and continue to do if they wish to remain financially stable.

Food // LiFe

‘When I say sake, you say Imadake!’

Japanese pub welcomes big crowds to its quirky atmosphere and delicious menu JaDe aDaMS Staff writer

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oukoso, or welcome, in Japanese, is the first thing I hear as I walk into Imadake near Atwater metro. It’s my third visit so I’m used to employees quickly looking up to address each patron but I love catching first-time customers who are startled by the welcome. Although it’s always better to reserve for groups or visits later in the evening, the hostess looks over her reservations and has no problem finding a table for three.

Since my last visit, they have added pictures to the menu to help with selections. Imadake actually means “only for now”, because the website says the restaurant aims to keep the menu new and interesting. The pages show a great range of appetizers, different types of ramen noodle dishes and a range of Japanese beers and cocktails. The prices are moderate but the servings are small so I negotiate which appetizers to order with my

friends. Luckily, the food always comes quickly and you are welcome to order more than once.

Japanese pop songs play as I sip my deliciously sweet Imadake Slammer and my friends drink their Sapporos. I always enjoy trying their cocktails and my friends appreciate the selection of beers you cannot always find elsewhere in the city. The whole atmosphere of the pub makes it feel like we have left the west end of Montreal. When our food arrives, we feel transported by the perfectly cooked dumplings, lightly battered pumpkin tempura and mashed potato covered in a unique spicy sweet sauce with mayonnaise. We finish by splitting the green tea cheesecake. It’s a small portion but enjoyable enough to make it hard not to order it at each visit.

For those who seek thrifty options, Imadake offers lunchtime specials and it can be great to order with friends to share.

Overall, I always enjoy my visits but limit them to once every few months when I really want somewhere nice to have a drink or am craving their delicious ramen.

Imadake is located at 4006 SainteCatherine St. West.

Photo Photoby byPress writer

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Tuesday, sepTember 10, 2013

theconcordian Fashion // LiFe

One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure Step into the closet of some of Montreal’s best fashion bloggers angeLa De CiCCo Contributor

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ontrealers love their thrift shops. St. Laurent Blvd. among many locations makes for an easy thrift shop-hopping experience with places like Friperie St-Laurent and Founderie.

Thrift shopping boutiques have proved that shopping for used clothing doesn’t have to take place in a clustered room full of musty smells and pushy old ladies. Instead, this trend is considered upscale and can get you looking fashionable at an affordable price.

However, the treasure hunt for good finds is not for everyone, which is why the brand new event called, Walk into Our Closet, taking place on Sept. 15 stands out as an interesting alternative.

Best friends Anabel Mayer and Sofia Cafaro have created an event where shoppers will have a chance to go through a variety of ‘closets’, where vendors will be selling lightly worn clothing, shoes and accessories at a fraction of the paid price.

“Every piece for sale was once a coveted item in someone’s closet and now that it ran its course on someone, you can turn it into

your own signature style,” said vendor Jonathan Panetta. Panetta will be among many other vendors emptying their personal closets, including Montreal fashion bloggers Gabrielle Lacasse, writer of Dentelles et Fleurs, and Concordia’s own Christina Monticcioli, writer of The Boho Flow.

“This will benefit everyone regardless of their age or salary. Everything at this sale is marked down, even the designer pieces will be hundreds of dollars less and that is simply amazing,” said Panetta. “It is great to see people turn their love of fashion into a pro-

ductive skill that brings people together over a common interest.”

It’s through their common interest in fashion that Mayer and Cafaro came up with the idea of Walk Into Our Closet.

“We spend a lot of our hard earned money on clothing, shoes, and of course, accessories that are sadly only worn maybe once or twice,” said Mayer. “Our solution? Creating an event where people can either sell their pieces or have the opportunity to buy practically new clothing for a great price.”

It’s a great event for those on the fence

about thrift shopping. The merchandise is new to lightly worn, and they are also offering sneak peeks at the items vendors will be selling on the Walk into Our Closet Facebook page as well as their Instagram, allowing potential shoppers to see what’s in store.

There is something fun about peeking into someone else’s closet and this event makes it possible that if you see something that you like, it can be yours.

Walk into Our Closet will be at Plaza Volare, 6600 Chemin de la Cote de Liesse on Sunday, Sept. 15 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m..

Fashion // LiFe

From the Mainline to The Wiggle Room The influence of his father and the girls in theatre club lead hechtman to open burlesque bar KaTherine WooD WiLLiaMS Contributor

On Sept. 3, Montreal’s first burlesque bar in decades, The Wiggle Room, opened on St. Laurent Blvd. Cocktails flowed on Tuesday night while a full-house enjoyed a modern vaudeville show with hilarious comedians and burlesque performers engaging an intimate audience.

The bar’s owner is Montreal performing arts guru, Jeremy Hechtman, 42, who was just a wee boy when he saw his first striptease. “I remember being nine years old, sitting at the bar in the strip club, eating a big plate of spaghetti dinner and watching her come out in a little red riding hood outfit,” he reminisced in an interview in his bar on Wednesday.

Hechtman was born in the Bronx to a Russian immigrant mother and an American father who dodged the Vietnam War draft by moving his family to Montreal. Hechtman Sr. became a devout patron of his new city’s notoriously debauched night clubs of the ‘60s and ‘70s, in which playful strippers accompanied comedians, musicians and MC’s in live vaudeville shows. He became close friends with a local stripper, Lindalee Tracey, whose comical performances were some of the last remaining vestiges of Montreal’s golden Jazz Age. Together they organized the Tits for Tots’ fundraiser, a series of stripteases to raise money for the Montreal Children’s Hospital. It was at such an event that nine-year-old Hechtman, already privy to all of his father’s late-night adventures, got his first taste of burlesque.

By age 14, Hechtman was sneaking into clubs such as the bygone legend Rising Sun on St. Catherine St., where he saw Jamaican

roots reggae icon, Burning Spear, perform. A few years later, an adolescent Hechtman was noticing that all the pretty girls in high school were joining the theatre club, and so he decided to do the same. This unexpectedly launched a decades-long career in the performing arts sector in which he notably headed the Montreal Fringe Festival and launched the MainLine Theatre.

“If the pretty girls in my high school had joined the chess club, I would be a chess master by now,” Hechtman joked. “If they had all joined the biology club, I would have cured

cancer!”

But in December 2012, Hechtman left theatre and started envisioning a new career. Unemployed and without direction during Montreal’s winter, he often went for drinks with buddy Patrick Charron to figure things out and throw around ideas. One particular establishment they frequented, a fancy cocktail bar on Parc Ave. whose plush decor contrasted with the crumbling theatre venues Hechtman was used to, inspired Hechtman to aim for something fancier. “No more warm beer and plastic cups, I want shaken cocktails,” he decided.

Photo by writer

Thus The Wiggle Room was born with its swanky leather booths, vintage cabaret tables, rich red velvet curtains lined with gold, tastefully exposed brick walls decorated with suggestive photos of local burlesque divas and a stage for live performances.

The Wiggle Room has 12 resident burlesque performers, including saucy local talents Miss Sugarpuss and Lady Josephine. In a phone interview, Lady Josephine was excited that Montreal finally had weekly burlesque.

For her, burlesque represents freedom, confidence, and helping women to assume the playfulness of their sensuality.

“It’s the ultimate freedom to find yourself naked on stage being whoever you want.

Many burlesque artists undergo deep positive personal changes when they start performing,” she said.

Lady Josephine also pointed out that burlesque shows offer a great alternative to the feelings of isolation and lethargy created by television. “Live performances bring people together,” she said.

On his side, Hechtman was content with where his career has taken him. “I haven’t punched the clock or worked an office job ever,” he said. “If you find a way to make a living by doing your hobbies, you never have to work a day in your life. My job now is to sit in a booth with a martini and laugh my ass off all night while watching beautiful women strut their stuff. This is an ideal world,” Hechtman said.

Every night except Mondays, The Wiggle Room presents a varying medley of comedy, music and burlesque. The bar will also host Sugarpuss Sunday School, where amateurs can learn to shake their moneymakers from experienced performers. Events are posted on The Wiggle Room’s Facebook page.

arts

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Write to the editor: arts@theconcordian.com

Literature // arts

Literature of the campus 10 campus-related books you may want to concern yourself with

history and one in love at that. Dealing with one bureaucratic colleague after another, he does his best to retain his cushy job and win the affections of the girl. Lucky Jim contains hilarious scenes as our hero navigates through the artifices and pretensions of a university establishment.

Roa Abdel-Gawad Arts Editor

Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov Published after Lolita and definitely standing in safer waters, Pnin is the story of a professor that has immigrated from Russia to the United States in the 1950s and struggles, comically and endearingly, to maintain his dignity through a series of misunderstandings, academic conspiracies, and manipulation from an unreliable narrator - a Nabokovian trademark.

Moo by Jane Smiley Though it’s set in an American agricultural college, the story’s central figure is a large white hog. But wait. Around this hog is a collection of odd characters, corrupt professors, and students who want academic excellence. Some want fame, and others want sex. But it is this hog that stands as a symbol of uninterrupted purity upon which the college experiment happens in this satirical story of greed and politics on campus.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach The Secret History by Donna Tartt Did you know that there is such a literary genre as the ‘campus novel’? The novels in this category tend to take place in academic institutions, with the focalization on either faculty or students. They were a major trend in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and while the genre went through a slump for a few decades, it’s been experiencing a steady rise within the last two, popularized by heavyweight authors such as Philip Roth and Joyce Carol Oates. The following list includes campus novel classics, as well as some exciting recent additions to the literary school.

The Big U by Neal Stephenson This underrated book may very well change your life. Or at least your perspective on it. Set in the fictional American Megaversity, this novel sails the reader through gaming clubs, political societies, and religious associations. It offers glimpses into the lives of every kind of student, including ones we would never have looked into otherwise. A satire, a drama, and an adventure novel all rolled into one, the book is as funny as it is sentimental. And while Concordia may have dodged a bullet last year, in this story the faculty and staff do indeed go on strike.

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis One of the most lauded works of the twentieth century, this novel remains as misanthropic and insightful as it did when it first appeared in 1954. Jim Dixon, the protagonist, is a hapless professor of medieval

Giles Goat-Boy by John Barth Read this book only so that you can say you’ve read postmodern Fabulism. The novel takes place on earth...only the entire earth is a single university, with deans instead of kings and queens. Before you get excited immersing yourself in a world where the pope becomes your THEO 101 professor, know that even a campus is not immune to feuds.

Published in 1966, the story is an allegory for the Cold War, where the West Campus is at odds with the East Campus, and rioting takes place instead of military tension.

Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me

by Richard Fariña In The Doors’ L.A Woman album, Jim Morrison based the song “Been Down So Long” on this very book. The story revolves around a trouble-making college student during the turbulent 1960s America of the Beat and Love generation, who goes on a journey riddled with police chases, drug dealers, and Cuban revolutionists to find love and meaning. The book has posthumously garnered a cult status among the literary community, namely for its rough-edged style yet profound subject matter.

Set in a fictional liberal arts college, this novel centers around Harpooners, the college’s baseball team. The protagonist, Henry Skrimshander, is a gifted infielder, scouted by major leagues as a top draft prospect.

But of course, Skrimshander experiences losses when he unexpectedly sinks into a funk. But this is not a story about baseball entirely. This 2011 novel examines the human condition through the bromances, and gay relationships of the team members.

The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis A wild literary ride, this novel is mostly narrated by three characters, Sean, Paul and Lauren. The three upper middle class bohemian college students experiment with their sexuality and their attractions to one another. There is a lot of sex, drugs and booze in this book. But mostly sex. However, it is through the examination of the debauchery of these characters that we gain an understanding of the emptiness that we are all susceptible to.

Narrated by the gawky and insecure Richard Papen, this murder mystery is set in a Vermont college and revolves around six classics majors. In contrast to the usual rowdy characters of the campus novel, these students abhor the party lifestyle.

The story opens with the murder of one of the students on campus, and the reader becomes absorbed in solving the case.

In the process, they grow to learn more about themselves, and begin to dissolve their pretensions.

Making History by Stephen Fry Everybody’s favourite polymath, Stephen Fry, writes a novel wherein a history graduate student and a physics professor, team up to prevent Adolf Hitler from ever being born. The first half of the book chronicles the young life of Hitler, his mother, and her abusive husband, along with Hitler’s time as a soldier in World War I. In the second half, the characters realize that the world they have now created, one without Hitler in its history, is far from well. Europe is subjugated by a more ruthless Führer, America is in a cold war with Nazi Europe, and the civil rights movement never took place. The novel is thoroughly charming and engaging, just like its author.

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Photography// arts

The powerful story of a single photograph Documentary re-enacts one of the world’s most infamous photographs Marc-Olivier Laramée Contributor

Man’s first step on the moon, Tiananmen Square, Auschwitz. These are some of the images that flicker across the screen. Meanwhile, as a man and woman discuss these pictures, an image of 11 people being executed, appears.

Remodeling the touching and heartbreaking Pulitzer prize-winning photo; Firing Squad in Iran, A Dress Rehearsal for an Execution aims to recreate the historical moment of the execution of 11 people during Iran’s revolution of 1979. The film, made in Montreal and directed by Concordia student Bahman Tavoosi, is “the story of a photographer whose photo becomes seen and celebrated around the world but he himself remains anonymous for a long time to save his life.”

In this meta-docudrama, Tavoosi traces the two-year period in which he tries to recreate the famous picture with actors, by constructing the set to resemble, as closely as possible, the same environment of the picture. We follow the auditions, rehearsals in the studio and the hours of research.

Creating the ambiance of the revolution tension with the presentation of original clips, the film perfectly involves its audience in the emotions of the victims. It was not enough for Tavoosi that the set be a copy of that of the photo’s, he was determined

to have the perfect casting. It was imperative that the actors understand the power of the photo, consequently, the team he assembled had had their own experiences with oppression.

“For my generation, growing up in postrevolution Iran, films played very significant roles,” replied Tavoosi when asked about his motivation to make this film. “From a very early age, we grew up watching the

works of the world independent masters of cinema, since any Hollywood products were banned. It therefore shaped a certain aesthetic and understanding of cinema among my generation which later on impacted our artistic path.”

A Dress Rehearsal for an Execution is as emotionally engaging for its director as it is for the audience as we see the reactions of the actors being rounded

up in a bus, taken to the location where the execution is to take place and standing in front of the firing squad. Although the orignal photo was in black and white, the final scene is perfectly lit, shot in full colour adding to the realism of this re-enactment.

They say a photo is worth a thousand words, but it is this film that fully speaks to the injustices that took place in this turbulent time in Iranian history.

The film re-enacts the above infamous Pulitzer prize-winning photo which was taken during the 1979 Irani Revolution

Tuesday, sepTember 10, 2013

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Photography // arTS

Utter beauty and humanity’s monstrous truths Photo by Rodrigo Abd

a photographer’s personal response to World Press Photo exhibits KeiTh raCe Photo editor

D

ecayed and motionless, a corpse floats in a liquid, rippling sky. Its only companions are a disposable coffee cup and some piece of unidentifiable, discarded garbage. This is the World Press Photo exhibition: impressive, iconic, and incredibly removed from the idyllic.

The World Press Photo is an annual exhibition of the most iconoclastic images from the preceding year... with some sports, nature photography, and a few topical and less soul-crushing news events like the Olympics or an American presidential campaign thrown

in as a buffer between your lunch and the pavement.

The corpse suspended in the pool of leaking oil comes from Sudan. The photographer, Dominic Nahr, captured the image in the aftermath of a battle in the contested town of Heglig. Heglig, which lies in the oil-rich border region between what is now Sudan and South Sudan, had seen some of the area’s worst fighting in recent years as the conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (now the army of the Republic of South Sudan) intensified over disputed oil fields and resources.

It was one more battle in a struggle that spanned more than half a century. This soldier is not the first victim, and he is far from the last; faceless and discarded, this is the portrait of an oil struggle.

Alongside conflict zones and war-ravaged, blood-splattered streets, this year’s exhibition also features several sets from photographers that confront you with the brutality perpetrated against women.

A shocking mother-daughter portrait

by Ebrahim Noroozi displays the mon-

Photo by Emilio Morenatti

strous results of a vindictive patriarchy.

Somayeh Mehri, 29, and daughter Rana Afghanipour, 3, were attacked, silently, as they slept by a husband and father who frequently beat and locked Somayeh away and promised revenge should she carry out her divorce. One night he carried out his threat and poured acid over the two while they were tucked in their beds, considering it just retribution for her attempts at leaving him.

The horrified duo avert their gaze from the camera. Rana smiles, though the smile is only discernible through her left eye.

The rest of her face, and that of her mother’s, has been transformed into something horrid. Burnt, deformed, and shrouded in bandages that cover the purulent skin, these two women represent a microcosm of the oppression foisted onto women in many parts of the world. These photos draw you in. They are taken in black and white and the textures of seared, melted flesh form a visual tapestry of struggle and spirit; these living corpses are filled with more life and capacity to endure than any asinine simile. This is the life of two

women living in Iran.

All in all, the exhibition leaves you with conflicting emotions. The photos, gory and horrifying, are real moments; unadulterated fractions of seconds, caught on celluloid or digital sensors across the world.

They stand there, frozen and presented without frames or pretense, but the artistic and technical precision, the conscious editing and manipulation of reality that is photojournalism, can be overwhelming. How can depictions of the most acrid slices of humanity bear so much painterly beauty? Could it be the only recourse open for journalists: to interpret brutality with bokeh and saturation, to turn it into something disturbingly beautiful? Or is it simpler than that - are we so enamored with war that we find excuses to stage traveling exhibitions? Whatever the reasoning that founded and propagates its success, this exhibition is a portrait of the human condition. This is World Press Photo.

World Press Photo is open daily, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., from Sept. 4 to 29 at 350 Saint-Paul Street East, in the Old Port of Montreal. Ticket prices are $12.

Photo by Micah Albert

music 10

// Tuesday, sepTermber 10, 2013

Write to the editor: music@theconcordian.com

festivals // MuSiC

Sampling the psychedelic ‘70s

Lilacs & Champagne serve up a playfully sinister sound STePhanie uLLMan Contributor

Don’t let the charming decadence of the name Lilacs & Champagne seduce you into thinking that tuning in will be an easy listening experience - on the contrary, indulging in the sample-heavy duo’s product provides the listener with some of the dankest, impurest stuff on the market today.

“The friendliness of the name helped sell us on it, because that’s kind of what its not,” said Emil Amos, partner in crime of Alex Hall, who comprise the duo. “It’s trying to slip a pill into your drink - you’re drinking this saccharine thing, but there’s an insidious drug waiting behind it.”

Sure as shooting, Lilacs & Champagne tries - and succeeds - to crawl under your skin and stay there. Both their self-titled debut album as well as Danish & Blue, which dropped this past April, serve up the unlikely atmospheric mix of the sinister and the playful, which manage to co-

exist perfectly under the umbrella of influence that is ‘70s rock and psychedelica.

Harking back to the past and paying homage to its vibe, whether it be via their samples dating back decades or the availability of their albums as LP’s, is the group’s joie de vivre.

“You could say it’s almost a device,” said Amos. “Unfortunately, in the end of the ‘70s, when analog equipment was at its very height and records had never sounded as beautiful as they did, digital technology came in and destroyed this incredible language - this totally amazing, intricate, mysterious language that human beings had written and sculpted.”

In order to artfully resurrect what Lilacs & Champagne regard as a period of auditory mastery, Amos and Hall regularly make a sport of digging through record shop stock, looking for “the most embarrassing pieces of music that people have made in the last century, where they accidentally show a piece of their soul that they didn’t even understand they were revealing.”

These hand-picked samples then be-

come both the sculptor and the sculpture itself as they are delicately worked into each and every track. Much like the limitations imposed by preconceived notions of what sounds good on piano, guitar, and drums in a regular recording environment, sample-based records dictate an entirely new cocktail of limitations that an artist must accommodate.

“A lot of people assume it’s easier working with samples, but it’s that much harder to defy the initial purpose of what the sample was trying to do,” said Amos.

“Trying to build smaller clips into a new tapestry and iron them out into a cohesive composition could very well take you more time than writing something on guitar and bashing it out.”

The resulting content is as impure as it is soothing, and as eerie as it is rewarding to figure out for yourself. From the unfamiliar sounds of obscure Scandinavian pornography, underground films from their preferred era, and the twangy, seductive remains of what may have once been a Bollywood track, samples make up the skeletal structure of Lilacs & Champagne.

“It’s an attempt to recapture the spookiness that music can convey, the particular kinds of experiences that you’ve had in the past,” said Amos. “That music that you heard wafting out of your uncle’s porn den when you were a kid that was so soft and so cheesy, or the music that your neighbour was ODing to next door. We’re trying to reclaim these things you thought were scarring, strange, and slightly insidious. You have to go to the ‘70s for that feeling.”

Revisiting fuzzy, dreamy memories of yore and throwing them back in everyone’s face decades later is Lilacs & Champagne’s way of gently nudging the modern music world towards a curiously surreal, oddly dreamlike time - and jogging willing listeners’ minds while they’re at it.

“We’re trying to create a discomfort in that little area where darkness and sense of humour meet in the middle,” said Amos, “and make it weirdly fun to listen to so that you want to hear it again and again.”

Lilacs & Champagne play Il Motore on Sept. 17

“We’re trying to create a discomfort in that little area where darkness and sense of humour meet in the middle, and make it weirdly fun to listen to so that you want to hear it again and again.”

- Emil Amos

theconcordian 7. Appetite For Destruction - Guns N’ Roses Originally conceived as a tattoo, the ‘80s American rockers’ debut album cover features the five band members as cartoon skull versions of themselves over a cross. The first attempt at the artwork was deemed too controversial for record stores and was replaced by the current iconic image.

Top 10 Album Covers

Tuesday, sepTember 10, 2013

3.Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles Preceding their extremely minimalistic cover for The White Album, the lads from Liverpool created one of their most eye-popping album covers.

It shows the Fab Four clad in flamboyant military garb surrounded by cardboard cutouts of some of the most influential historical figures like Marlon Brando, Edgar Allen Poe, and humbly, the early ‘60s versions of themselves. The group stands behind a floral arrangement of the band’s name, making this the most colourful cover of this list.

Compiled by Jessica Romera Music editor 10. The Ramones - The Ramones Everything about The Ramones’ debut album cover screams ‘70s badass. From the black and white nature of the photograph to the leather jackets and tattered jeans, the four New York City punks unknowingly posed for what would later become one of the most recognized album covers ever.

6. Is This It? (International Version) - The Strokes The cover art for the band’s debut album raised quite a few pulses. The cover flaunts a photograph of a black leather glove resting on a woman’s bare bottom and hip plastered against a white background.

2. Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd Pink Floyd once again graces this list with Dark Side Of The Moon. For their eighth studio album, the band displayed a simple prism set against a black background, fitting for the darker themes explored by songs on the album. The cover, with artwork done by English art group Hipgnosis, is arguably one of the most classic, and most recognized images from the 70s and in rock ’n’ roll history.

9. War - U2 For their 1983 album War, the Irish rockers decided not to put a typical war image of a battlefield or of a soldier. Instead, the band opted for a close up shot of a child with a bloodied lip and angry expression. It’s a striking black and white image that reminds us that the victims of war extend further than just those involved on the battlefield.

8.Absolution - Muse At first glance, we’re not really sure what’s happening on the album cover. We see a man staring up, surrounded by the shadows of outstretched human-like figures. We’re not really sure if the figures are descending down on Earth, or if they’re leaving it. All we know is that it’s creepy, and we kind of like it.

5.Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd Pink Floyd is no stranger to eye-catching album artwork. Wish You Were Here’s cover art is deeply ambiguous and slightly disturbing: the cover shows two suited men casually shaking hands in an apparently empty backstreet while one is engulfed in flames. It remains one of the most striking album covers in the band’s repertoire.

4. The White Album - The Beatles Recognizable for its minimalist concept, the aptly named White Album follows the psychedelic nature of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with a beautifully basic white background. The two discs of Beatles magic make up for the lack of colour and detail on the cover.

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JeSSiCa roMera Music editor

>> No more “Wonderwall”?

Contestants on the British version of The X Factor have supposedly been banned from covering Oasis songs during auditions and throughout the competition.

The newest addition to the judges’ panel will be Canadian pop star Nicole Appleton who is rumoured to be separating from husband Liam Gallagher, a member of the British rock band. The couple have supposedly ended their five year marriage after rumours circulated that Gallagher had fathered a child with an American journalist. Current judge Louis Walsh has asked contestants not to perform any Oasis songs in order to appease Appleton, who joined the panel after Kelly Osbourne backed out at the last minute.

>> Tupac: The Musical Soon fans of Tupac Shakur might be able to see the late rapper’s life unfold on stage in the form of a Broadway musical. The Wall Street Journal reported that the task is being undertaken by stage director Kenny Leon. Instead of solely focusing on the rapper’s short life, the musical will have a strong “anti-violence message”, according to the Journal. Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas in May of 1996, an event that unwittingly changed the face of rap and hip hop.

>> Kanye criticized for performing in Kazakhstan

1. Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Red Hot Chili Peppers Perhaps the band’s greatest album and definitely their most striking album cover, Blood Sugar Sex Magik takes the number one spot. The cover depicts the guys as four black and white sketches with their tongues sticking out, their tongues stylistically transformed to resemble the thorny stems of a rose they all surround. The deep red roses are juxtaposed perfectly by the black and white nature of the rest of the artwork. Bravo boys.

Kanye West gave an exclusive and intimate wedding performance in Kazakhstan for the grandson of the nation’s authoritarian president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, at the end of August. West has since been criticized by human rights organizations for performing in the Central Asian country because its authoritarian leader has been accused of perpetuating human rights violations throughout his rule. Previously in 2011, Sting cancelled a performance in Kazakhstan after discovering that several people had died in an oil strike crackdown. West has made no comment on the matter thus far.

>> Daft Punk interview dance off Would be employees at a local Welsh branch of the electronic retailer, Currys were forced to compete in a dance off with each other as part of the interview process. The interviewees danced to Daft Punk’s classic tune “Around The World”. Upset and humiliated, a university graduate who took part in the dance off spoke out against the U.K. electronics chain saying that “it was like a scene out of The Office,” according to The Mirror. A spokesperson from Currys has since released a statement apologizing to the applicants and has offered them another shot at an interview, this time without any dancing.

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theconcordian

Weekly Mixtape: Cover Songs

L

Compiled by: Angela De Cicco

et’s face it - covering songs is usually a make it or break it type thing. There are those who love it and those who believe musicians should just stick to their own tunes. The thing about great covers is that they’re often unexpected but, if done brilliantly, they shed new light on the song and the musician taking on the challenge of covering it. Often enough, it’s through covers that we hear some of our favourite artists’ in-

fluences, making this whole experience even sweeter.

This playlist captures covers that are classics of course, and some that are just downright surprising. Side A is for those who appreciate an artist’s courage, while Side B is for those who don’t believe in messing with the original. Some say cover versions might even trump the original, so hear out this playlist and be free to judge.

Side A – Open to change

Side B – Don’t mess with the original

1. Lykke Li – “Knocked Up” 2. Vampire Weekend – “I’m Going Down” – iTunes Session 3. Fleet Foxes – “(I Can’t Help) Falling in Love With You” 4. Nirvana – “The Man Who Sold the World” – MTV Unplugged in New York 5. Ray LaMontagne – “Crazy” 6. Jeff Buckley – “Hallelujah” – Grace 7. Bastille – “Of the Night” – Other People’s Heartache 8. Nouvelle Vague – “Dancing With Myself” – Bande à Part 9. She & Him – “You Really Got a Hold on Me” – Volume One 10. Jerry Douglas featuring Mumford & Sons and Paul Simon – “The Boxer” – Babel (Deluxe Edition)

1. Kings of Leon – “Knocked Up” – Because Of The Times 2. Bruce Springsteen – “I’m Going Down” – Born In The U.S.A. 3. Elvis Presley – “(I Can’t Help) Falling in Love With You” –Blue Hawaii 4. David Bowie – “The Man Who Sold the World” – The Man Who Sold the World 5. Gnarls Barkley – “Crazy” – St. Elsewhere 6. Leonard Cohen – “Hallelujah” – Various Positions 7. Corona – “The Rhythm of the Night” – The Rhythm of the Night 8. Billy Idol – “Dancing With Myself” – Kiss Me Deadly 9. The Miracles –“ You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” – The Fabulous Miracles 10. Simon & Garfunkel –“The Boxer” – Bridge Over Troubled Water

Quick Spins

Babyshambles - Sequel to the Prequel (Parlophone; 2013)

Jack Johnson – From Here From Now To You (Brushfire Records; 2013)

Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You (ANTI-; 2013)

MGMT – MGMT (Columbia; 2013)

Despite a rocky six year hiatus, Babyshambles released their latest album Sequel to the Prequel.

The album features 12 new tracks showcasing the band’s maturity as musicians and lyricists.

The tracklist holds a handful of different genres, all the while staying true to their British postpunk, alternative-rock sound. The opening track “Fireman” sets up listeners for a good time with its fast-paced beat, pounding drums, slick guitar riffs and lead singer, Pete Doherty’s, signature semi-inaudible vocals. While Doherty was battling his own demons, bassist Drew McConnell was recovering from a near fatal accident which served as inspiration for “Picture Me In a Hospital”. The track stands out on the album with its warm, English country feel and violins. Safe to say that the Brits’ third album boasts a musical maturity hardly seen in their previous work. The album dropped Sept. 2.

It has been three years since beloved Hawaiian musician (and surfer) Jack Johnson has released an album. Johnson has an ability only a few artists have these days: he stays true to himself. He doesn’t make music for business but for his own pleasure and for those who appreciate it most.

This is proven when hearing the beginning of his first single “I Got You”. It’s mostly a mix of mellow guitar, catchy whistling and soft percussion for listeners’ enjoyment. Not entirely different from his previous work, but still worth listening to. Why? Simply because his music is filled with sunshine and soothes the soul. It was created to make our hearts at peace. Keeping everything casual, nobody would be surprised to learn that Johnson records his music barefoot and goes surfing while on break. From Here From Now To You is the perfect album for an endless summer. It comes out on Sept. 17.

With her sixth studio album and first release in over four years, Neko Case demonstrates what an artist in the clutches of deep personal loss and depression sounds like. During the inception of The Worse Things Get, Case experienced the death of both her parents and grandmother. However, don’t expect a mournful album in the traditional sense. With her distinct brand of fire and humour, the alternative-country queen reveals the tension and intensity that arises from facing loss, regret and isolation.

Deeply personal without becoming selfindulgent or sentimental, this album is not as immediately accessible as her previous releases. What it lacks in ease, it makes up for in wit, audacity and passion.

Even though they won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best New Artist, the duo promise not to fall into the commercial side of the industry. Their latest selftitled album will still provide that psychedelic signature sound not intended for mainstream radio.

Their first single “Your Life Is A Lie” is a twominute tune featuring cowbell, grunge-like guitar and bass, and repetitive percussions. Add to this a curious solo and you get the entire sense of the song. At least we can appreciate the goofy video they made for it. Some fans might regret the synthesizers and catchy melodies of their previous songs (think of the most famous “Electric Feel”), but we can’t judge the entire album simply off the one single. Let’s say we’ll take the time to listen to the leaked tracks before buying MGMT’s third opus – unless you’re an unconditional aficionado. The album drops Sept. 17.

Trial track: “Picture Me In A Hospital”

Trial Track: “I Got You” or “Radiate”

Trail Track: “Where Did I Leave That Fire”

Trial Track: “Your Life is A Lie”

7/10

- Jessica Romera

9/10

- Béatrice Viens Côté

7/10

-Paul Traunero

7/10

-Béatrice Viens Côté

sports

Tuesday, september 10 , 2013 //

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Write to the editor: sports@theconcordian.com

Game report // sports

A game it would be better to forget Concordia suffers first loss in Shaughnessy Cup in eleven years Tim Lazier Contributor

T

he Concordia Stingers and McGill Redmen football teams faced-off at Percival Molson Stadium for the 45th annual Shaughnessy Cup last Friday night. Looking to get their first win of the season, the Stingers lost 32-19 and fell to 0-2 for the year.

The game started out as a defensive battle as the first touchdown was not scored until the second half. McGill got on the board first with a 29-yard field goal by kicker Samy Rassy. Rookie Stingers punter, Clark Green, put up Concordia’s first point of the night with an impressive 57-yard punt for a touchback. Then, late in the first quarter, kicker Keegan Treloar showed off his leg strength with a 42-yard field goal to give Concordia a 4-3 lead.

In the second quarter, after the Stingers conceded a safety, the Redmen took a 5-4 lead. The Stingers offense finally found some traction late in the second quarter when they had their best drive of the half. Starting on their own 47-yard line, Concordia put together a six-play drive that ended with a 17-yard field goal

by Treloar. Quarterback Reid Quest, had three completions on three attempts that accumulated for 33 yards. The biggest play of the drive was an 18-yard completion to Stingers’ slotback Jamal Henry.

The Stingers went into the locker room at the end of the half leading 7-5.

In the second half, the Redmen gave the home crowd something to cheer about as their offense came alive and defense stood strong. McGill scored 17 unanswered points in the third quarter and gave the Redmen a 22-7 lead. After a 32-yard field goal by Rassy, the first touchdown of the night was scored off a 21-yard rush by McGill running back Luis Guimont-Mota.

The Redmen scored their second touchdown of the quarter when quarterback Jonathan Collin found Joel Brtka for a 15yard touchdown completion.

The Stingers scored their first touchdown of the night, and the season, on a 35-yard pass from Quest to Kris Bastien.

After a failed two-point conversion, the Stingers trailed 22-13 but had life for the first time in the second half. Concordia’s momentum quickly ended as Rassy kicked his third field goal of the game for the Redmen, restoring McGill’s double-digit lead. Shortly after, Guimont-Mota found the endzone for his second touchdown of the game with a 28-yard run.

Stingers’ Bastien got his second touchdown reception late in the fourth quarter off a pass from backup quarterback, François Dessureault, to make the score 3219. Including his two touchdown catches, Bastien reeled in six receptions and had 90 yards receiving on the night. Despite Bastien’s touchdown, it was too little too late.

McGill’s offense came to play in the second half while the Stingers offense was inconsistent. Concordia’s defense had a solid start, keeping the Redmen out of the endzone and gave the Stingers a chance to win. As the game went on, however, the team as a whole did not execute.

“It was a tough game and our players played hard,” said Concordia’s assistant offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Bryan Chiu. “You have to give credit to McGill, but we have to get back to work as soon as possible.”

The frustration on the Stingers sideline was evident by the end of the game. In the final three minutes, the Stingers took four unnecessary roughness penalties and an objectionable conduct penalty.

The loss marked the first time since 2002 that the Stingers have fallen to the Redmen in the Shaughnessy Cup game.

The annual Cup given at the beginning of every season is named after Frank Shaughnessy, who was a football coach for both the Stingers and the Redmen. He was known as a Canadian university football innovator as he was the first coach to adopt the forward pass in 1931.

Shaughnessy was the first full-time Canadian university football coach when he was appointed head coach of the Redmen in 1912. Shaughnessy was later inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1963, and the McGill Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.

Concordia’s next game is this Saturday at 1 p.m. at home when they host St. Francis Xavier.

Photos by Keith Race

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theconcordian

Tuesday, september 10 2013

Games // sports

Upcoming Stingers games Samantha Mileto Sports editor

Come support your Concordia Stingers!

More info at www. stingers.ca

Preseason: Thursday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. vs McGill at Molson Stadium

p.m. vs McGill at Molson

Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 7:30

Stadium

p.m. vs John Abbott at Trudeau Park

Preseason: Friday, Sept.

13 at 7 p.m. vs Université

Wednesday, Sept. 11 at

du Quebec à Trois-Riv-

7:30 p.m. vs McGill at

ières at Stade de l’UQTR

Trudeau Park

Football Men’s rugby

Sunday, Sept. 15 at 2

Sunday, Sept. 15 at 1

p.m. vs Carleton at Kins-

p.m. vs Sherbrooke at Concordia’s Loyola Campus Saturday, Sept. 14 at 1 p.m. vs St. Francis Xavier at Concordia’s Loyola Campus

Men’s hockey

Women’s rugby Saturday, Sept. 14 at 1 p.m. vs Université Laval at PEPS

Men’s soccer Friday, Sept. 13 at 6:30 p.m. vs UQAM at Concordia’s Loyola Campus Sunday, Sept. 15 at 5

Baseball

men Field

Women’s soccer Friday, Sept. 13 at 8:30 p.m. vs UQAM at Concordia’s Loyola Campus Sunday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. vs McGill at Molson Stadium

Tuesday, sepTember 10, 2013

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game report // SPorTS

Stingers fall hard in first game of the season Lack of offense drives Concordia to loss george MenexiS Staff writer

T

he Concordia Stingers failed to get the result on Sunday afternoon as they fell 5-1 in the first game of the season against the Montreal Carabins.

“I don’t think the score dictated the way we played. I think we played fairly well,” said Concordia Stingers head coach Greg Sutton. “We had some mistakes and some mental breakdowns that led to almost all of their goals really.”

Both teams had excellent opportunities early on, but most of the first half was in a deadlock in the midfield, both teams playing an excellent defensive game, leaving no room for movement in the back four. The Carabins did have a slight edge, as their best opportunities came off partial breaks, both stopped by amazing last-minute sliding tackles from a scrambling Concordia defense.

“We wanted to come in here and get a result so we knew we had to defend well,” said Sutton.

It seemed like the game would go into the break even until Concordia’s

Jose Prida tackled a Carabins player in an excellent position right outside the box. Carabins’ Maxime Laurey stepped up and put it away perfectly over the wall and under the crossbar, keeping the keeper rooted on the spot with no choice but to watch it sail by him into the back of the net, giving the Carabins a 1-0 lead after one.

Concordia came out stronger at the start of the second half, finally pressing offensively instead of playing a strictly defensive game. As a result, the game opened considerably and Concordia was able to create a few chances.

It didn’t take long for Concordia to answer back. In the 49th minute, a beautiful give and go through ball between Stingers Mohamed Omar and Jose Prida saw Omar behind the defense, easily tucking it away passed a surprised Kenan Morina.

The possibility of a tie seemed to affect the Carabins, as they exploded offensively. It took a mere 10 minutes for the home team to regain the lead, when Adama Sissoko placed a perfect cross into the back of the net with the back of his head. Concordia had to come back yet again.

The rest of the game was signed Samuel Leblanc. It started in the 69th minute, when a streaking Leblanc received the ball on the edge of the Concordia box, and easily tapped it over the keeper who had come out to play it. Concordia was two goals down with

game report // SPorTS

Carabins serve Stingers second loss of the season unlucky deflection makes the difference in 1-0 loss george MenexiS Staff writer

T

he Concordia Stingers came close to a tie but fell short against the Montreal Carabins, losing 1-0 in their second game of the season, Sunday, Sept. 8.

After losing 2-1 in their opening game of the season on Friday, Sept. 6 against Bishop’s, the Stingers came to the Cepsum Centre looking for results against the Carabins.

“We’re a young team that came off a really disappointing result on Friday, we really shouldn’t have lost, and if played like this on Friday, we would’ve won,” said Stingers head coach, Jorge Sanchez.

They knew it would not be an easy game, with the Carabins being one of the highest ranked teams in the country. Still, they came in as an attacking force and were able to keep up with the high-seeded team.

After a few chances on either end, it was the shot from Chloe Malette in the 14th minute that was unluckily deflected off a Concordia defender and into the net that had Concordia keeper, Saby Dagenais, jumping the wrong way.

“Considering it’s one of the best teams in the country, the only difference was a deflected goal,” said a disappointed Sanchez.

Concordia continued to press, not letting the

fluke goal bring down their morale. In the 32nd minute, after a few easily stopped free kicks, Concordia’s Alexandra Dragan had the keeper beat but couldn’t beat the swarm of defenders that came rushing in to protect the net.

The half was close to ending when the Carabins came near to doubling their lead. In the 39th minute, Virginie Labossiere’s shot was stopped by Dagenais. Laurianne Garant-Saine grabbed the rebound and shot off the crossbar. The game went into the break with a 1-0 score.

Concordia continued to press in the second half. They completely outscored the Carabins on corners and on free kicks, and came close to equalizing in the 79th minute when the cross was headed onto the crossbar by Stingers Gabriela Padvaiskas.

Dagenais had an exceptional game, making two key saves in the second half that had the crowd gasping at the Cepsum Centre, and that kept the Stingers in it until the very end.

The home team also missed quite a few chances because they were offside, something they had a hard time avoiding for most of the match. At the end, it was quite frustrating for the Carabins offense, which resorted to crosses in order to avoid the trap.

“The second half they didn’t really do a lot, we just missed very opportunistic chances around the box,” said Sanchez.

“The other team was resorting to grabbing shirts and pushing, which shows that we have the pace to keep up with anybody.”

The Stingers next game will be Friday, Sept. 15 at home against UQAM.

20 minutes remaining in the second half.

Concordia’s best chance of the half came from Sam Tork, who chipped the keeper only to see it parried by a flying hand and go out of play.

Leblanc shined as he easily chipped the keeper on a breakaway to slot his second goal of the game, a mere dozen minutes after his first one. He then completed the hat-trick off a penalty shot in stoppage time to easily secure a 5-1 win for the Carabins and a disappointing loss for the Stingers.

Catch the Stingers next game against the UQAM Citadins Sept. 13.

Photos by Keith Race

SGW Office: H-260 hojo@csu.qc.ca

SGW office: H-729 LOY office: SC bldg 1.115 advocacy@csu.qc.ca

Advocacy Centre SGW Office: H-731 legalclinic@csu.qc.ca

For more info on all these services, check out csu.qc.ca!

opinions 16

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Tuesday, sepTember 10, 2013

Write to the editor: opinions@theconcordian.com editorial // oPinionS

Where are the students, where is their outrage?

Lack of student support for Concordia union workers is upsetting

F

or a campus that was heavily involved in protesting the proposed tuition increase, citing the injustice of asking cashstrapped students to pay more, Concordia students don’t seem to care that their own faculty and staff are still without a contract.

Many staff and faculty members showed up and spoke out during the 2012 tuition increase protests, however, when the same staff and faculty gathered to protest their lack of settled contracts with the university on Sept. 3, students were nowhere to be seen.

Concordia cannot function without full and part-time teachers, support staff, library employees, administrators, facilities management staff and technicians.

These people make Concordia what it is everyday and yet the university won’t concede to any of their requests. Therefore, they have had no pay increases, no added benefits, some for the last five years.

If these union workers decide to go on strike, students are the ones who are going to lose out. Classes will be cancelled, halls will be dirty and the list goes on and on. Suffice it to say, students should be extremely motivated to help the unions get their contracts but so far student associations have been silent.

On Sept. 3, while union workers were outside protesting, the CSU used their Facebook page to advertise their Open Air Pub and free breakfast rather than encourage students to participate.

Other associations, like CASAJMSB and ASFA, were also busy promoting their own events and didn’t spare one post for Concordia’s union workers.

Furthermore, part of the reason the university hasn’t closed a deal is because they are working with a tighter budget thanks to the cancelled tuition increase. The PQ, elected on the promise that they would freeze tuition, subsequently announced a $124 million slash to university funding across Quebec. As explained in The Concordian’s article published on Jan. 29, the cuts made to the budget accounted for five per cent of the university’s operating budget. As a result, Concordia declared a $13.2 million deficit at the end of the fiscal year. Thus, the university has very little money to grant the wishes of the unions, which is one of the reasons why contracts have not been finalized.

This is not to say that students should feel guilty or at fault, but given the circumstances, they should perhaps be incentivized to stand behind the unions.

Tuition costs have been frozen but the cost of living has not. Union workers

need a pay increase to keep up with the rising costs of food, rent, gas and so forth. This is not unreasonable but from the university’s point of view, they just don’t have the funds. From this standpoint, perhaps the fight should be taken up not with the university but with the government. Students have proven they are capable of getting the government to listen so why not use that power to help the very people that make it possible for them to be students?

The battle for a tuition freeze has been won but now the battle is for the right to fair pay for the people who make university life worth living. As students, we need to stand behind our staff and faculty in their quest to get what they rightly deserve: a just and beneficial contract with the university. Fair is fair, they supported students in their fight, now we must support them in theirs. We are all part of the same community and we need to stick together.

Safety // oPinionS

The curious case of texting and driving Cellphone offenders should receive harsher penalties

george MenexiS Staff writer

A

growing problem in the so-called ‘smart phone era’ is the presence of mobile devices in vehicles. Despite hands free technology, texting and driving is becoming exceedingly difficult to curb. Year after year, statistics keep growing as police give away tickets, with over 21,000 tickets given out in 2012 alone for using a cellphone while driving.

“Distracted driving has always been a major factor in collisions, but it’s been a result of electronic technology that has really brought it to the forefront,” Ontario Provincial Police, Sgt., Pierre Chamberland, told CBC. The current penalty in Quebec is a ticket ranging from $115 to $154 and three demerit points, a penalty fairly similar to the one for speeding or burning a red light. However, considering the danger it poses, authorities are beginning to question whether or not the penalty should be more severe.

Every province has put laws into place against handheld devices in vehicles. The problem is more severe than ever, with collisions due to texting and driving going up by 17 per cent between 2006 and 2010, according to Statistics Canada. In Nova Scotia, it is officially the primary cause of death while

manipulating a vehicle, surpassing driving under the influence.

The statistics clearly show that more needs to be done to address this major issue on our roads. Our society is becoming more demanding, and people’s stress levels are skyrocketing. When you combine people’s hectic lifestyles with the fact that technology allows us to conduct most of our business on our phones, it becomes evident that it won’t be an easy task.

“There are different ways you can be distracted, either visually, manually or cognitively,” Christine Yager, a researcher for Texas A&M University, told CBC on May 30.

Yager conducted research to measure the

dangers of texting and driving by having a group of people drive a closed course without cellphone use at first, and then with a series of texting exercises. The results were crystal clear.

“No matter which texting method was used on the cellphone, the response times were approximately two times slower than the no texting condition,” said Yager.

Stricter laws are in desperate need here, at least for a start. Take the state of New York as an example. If you are caught texting and driving in the Empire State, your license will automatically be revoked for a period of 60 days, and for a period of six months for repeat offenders. That’s taking the long claw

of the law and using it to your advantage.

Although it may seem harsh, perhaps even cruel, it’s a penalty severe enough to actually have positive effects on this problem.

Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, who signed the legislation into law, told WRVO Public Media that,“those two, three, four, five seconds that you look down to answer the text, that period of inattention is all the time in the world.”

The governor is right. To have the ability to drive is to have a responsibility for your safety and the safety of others. Ultimately, banning cellphones entirely may be the only valid solution to a problem that is this consistent.

Flickr

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Society // oPinionS

Proper pronouns please: don’t call ‘her’ a ‘him’ how media’s lack of respect erases advances in transgender rights greg ToDaro Staff writer

W

hen the show Fox and Friends ran a segment on Chelsea Manning, (born Bradley Manning of the leaked U.S. intelligence reports fame), two weeks ago, producers chose to introduce the story with Aerosmith’s “Dude (Looks like a Lady).” This move sparked widespread criticism and anger at the insensitivity of the news station towards Manning’s announcement that she wished to be identified by her preferred gender.

CNN, which is considered more liberal than its Fox and Friends counterpart, has also misgendered Manning (and continues to do so) in their coverage of the release of the largest set of restricted documents ever leaked to the public.

The actions of both American media giants go against guidelines set forth by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, which state that the media should refer to people by their preferred name and gender. Other media outlets have already switched to correctly identify Manning, but Fox and Friends and CNN are among those who continue to disrespect her wishes to be identified as a female.

This is an example of the unique chal-

lenges faced by the transgender community.

While LGBTQ individuals all face challenges across the globe, the transgender community, in particular, has some of the most violent and deadly treatment directed towards them.

This blatant show of inconsideration from a large number of media outlets demonstrates how the rights and treatment of the transgender community are not making the same strides towards equality as the rest of the LGBTQ community.

This is not to say that there have been no moves toward better rights for the transgender community. Just this year, the House of Commons passed a transgender rights bill.

The Canadian Press also brought to light the

story of 11-year-old Wren Kauffman’s transition from female to male, and how he has helped other students come to terms with their gender dysphoria. In Colorado, six-yearold Coy Mathis won a civil rights case allowing her to use the girls restroom at school.

However, it is a mistake to let these cases of triumph mask how much work is still left to be done.

The working rights and conditions for the transgender community are still an issue despite anti-discrimination laws. According to a report from Vancouver Coastal Health, 49 per cent of transgender people responding to a British Columbia survey reported needing employment services, and evidence indi-

cated that transgender people who are “visibly gender-variant or ‘out’ as transgender” habitually experience discrimination in the workplace.

The Human Rights Campaign — the largest LGBTQ advocacy group in the United States — claims that 44 per cent of transgender adults are underemployed and are nearly four times more likely to have an income under $10,000. The Center for American Progress reports that 90 per cent of transgender workers have experienced, “some form of harassment or mistreatment,” on the job.

Violence against transgender people is also incredibly disproportionate when compared to the rest of the population. An American study revealed that about 50 per cent of transgender adults are survivors of violence or abuse, and 25 per cent have experienced physical, sexual or attempted assault.

These issues all stem from the fact that despite the laws, speeches, and support that people claim to offer the transgender community, the social behavior surrounding them has not yet caught up. Transgender people are facing discrimination across the globe for their decision to acknowledge their gender dysphoria, and the fact that a media organization won’t change that “he” to a “she” in their coverage shows how far they really are from getting the rights they deserve.

The media has the power to push for positive change in the world, and when they make these careless, shameful errors it not only degrades the individual, but also acts as a dismissal of all the work that’s been put in to make the transgender community an equal part of society.

World politics // oPinionS

United States turns blind eye in pursuit of its interests Free Syrian army being furnished with more weapons only creates more casualties Tareq ShahWan Contributor

A

s the Syrian civil war escalates, bringing with it a large death toll, western politicians are making this crisis the top priority on their agendas. Amidst all the chaos, it is important to stop and question the rhetoric used by U.S. politicians and their allies concerning the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

On Dec. 12, 2012, the United States recognized the Free Syrian Army as the representatives of the Syrian people instead of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. This move was taken without any regard to elections or democratic measure of any kind – ironic for a country that criticizes

Photo from Flickr/FreedomHouse

Assad for being anti-democratic. A couple of months later, the United States vowed to supply the FSA with weapons in order to boost its capacity to fight Assad’s regime, in hopes of ending the civil war.

Oddly enough, this measure was met by an increased number of casualties and

refugees and recently, by the introduction of chemical weapons. The million dollar question which ought to be asked of the U.S. government is will arming the FSA solve the conflict and reduce the amount of casualties or will it just continue to feed the chaotic situation?

Consider Operation Cyclone, in which the U.S. government armed and financed the mujahideen in Afghanistan during the 1980s to fight the Soviet Union, thus instilling one of the most radical Sunni governments the world has ever seen, the Taliban. There are clear resemblances to the current American objectives in Syria.

According to many reports from intelligence coming out of Syria, Al-Qaeda militants are the most armed factions of the Syrian rebels under the name AlNusra Front, outnumbering the secular fighters. Their main objective is to create a Muslim Caliphate and unify the Syrians under strict Sharia law. Their arguments have little to do with the Syrian people’s aspirations for freedom, democracy and the rule of law.

The issues regarding the FSA are not just within its radical factions but rather its actions and sources of funding. Thousands of Syrian Christians and Kurds have already left their homes because of the massacres they faced by the Syrian rebels, for the mere reason of being Christian, Kurd or Shia Muslim.

On Sept. 5, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, hundreds of FSA rebels stormed the Christian village of Maaloula and surrounded its main church. A week

before, 450 Kurd families cold blood by the Syrian U.S. government did not ment on that. On top of

were killed in rebels, yet the give one comthe strict sec-

States government was sincere about its intention to instill democracy and the rule of law in Syria, it would have pushed for a democratic solution to the conflict, as op-

Photo from Flickr/ FreedomHouse

tarian mentality that drives the FSA, the Saudi and Qatari Sunni governments keep providing money and weapons to the FSA, which are known to be overwhelmingly Sunni.

The United States and its allies keep supporting the FSA, yet the Syrian conflict escalates daily. The time has come to question American actions based on historical and current evidence. If the United

posed to the ongoing discourse of military threats by direct intervention and arming the rebels.

The United States emerged in the Syrian conflict not as positive force but a force that embraces a highly sectarian group and aligns itself with its economic interests in the Arabian Gulf, as opposed to aligning itself with the Syrians’ democratic aspirations.

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Tuesday, sepTember 10, 2013

anonymous // oPinionS

Confessions of a 20-something i know i’m not alone, but no one will talk about it

E

veryone is better than me. It is as if a secret handbook to life was handed out in elementary school on a day where I had the flu or the chicken pox. I often find myself looking around and thinking everything is going wrong, all because it’s going differently for others.

A few years back if you would have asked me what I thought being 20 would feel like, I probably would have answered very differently than if you asked me how I feel right now. I’m an adult, right?

I shouldn’t care what people think, because that’s the right thing to do. I should be like the nonchalant people who appear to stroll through their days. I’m independent, strong and tenacious.

Thing is, I am a walking contradiction.

I doubt myself to the point where it even annoys me. I could probably attribute this mentality to being bullied for a large part of my childhood. Despite that, I’d like to think that everyone feels this way once in awhile. However, no one really talks about it openly. I often have people tell me “Wow, you have everything put together,” or “You’re so confident.” I get this from the very people I envy.

That’s when I almost spit out my pickme-up pumpkin spice latté in disbelief.

So this is how it works? So many of us are thinking the same thing, but no one

wants to talk about it. No one wants to run through these weird and afflicting feelings of inadequacy? Does anyone want to open a dialogue that would help rid us of the extra anxieties and complexes we don’t need? I’m not saying we all need to hug it out and sing “Cumbayá” together, but a little more openness wouldn’t hurt.

It’s seen as a weakness.

We’re adults now, we aren’t supposed to care about how other people conduct their business. If that is the case, then why are societal norms constantly pushed down our throats? Why is everything so codified — the rules, marking systems, perception of beauty, sex appeal, the list goes on. It seems like the foundation of our society makes it impossible to ignore what and how others are doing. In a transitional time such as your 20s, it is hard to focus on you and being yourself.

I love how people tell me to be myself, but then mock and shun me for doing exactly that. Because I feel like I’ll never be

pretty enough. I’ll never be smart enough, clever enough, and funny enough. I’ll never be “normal.” It astonishes me how many people I’ve met who have felt this way. Amazing, intelligent, kind hearted people. It hurts me to see young people struggling with this, and it frightens me as well.

We’re constantly plugged in, making it terribly difficult to shut the world off.

Our mistakes are documented now more than ever. I don’t know about you, but no matter how well I am doing in school, work and with my social life, I feel quite lost in the world we are currently march-

ing forward in.

These are the confessions of a 20something. These are the silly, trivial, embarrassing, but rather common feelings, stories and issues that no one wants to talk about. The little thoughts that rumble about inside of our minds and keep us awake at night. I’m opening the dialogue.

Let’s do this.

Have something to say? A suggestion, comment, question or your own confession? Email theconcordianconfessions@gmail.com. It’s anonymous. Do it, you’ll feel better.

exchange student // oPinionS

Letters from abroad: Chicago Marilyn Santucci represents Concordia in the heart of the Midwest MariLyn SanTuCCi Contributor

G

reetings from Chi-town! It’s the city where sporting black hair is a sign that you’re Brazilian!

No seriously, I have never been asked so many times in my life if my ‘funny accent’ is Brazilian, which by the way, it isn’t.

The moment I stepped off the plane, I got the foreigner stare. People here seem to know right away when Chicago is not your home. They find it really entertaining to ask you to say something in French when they find out that you’re Canadian (I don’t find it entertaining), because ap-

parently you aren’t Canadian if you don’t speak it. Once you crack and say something, they respond with ‘ou la la!’ which apparently is their way of telling you they know how to speak French too.

Besides their annoying demands that you speak French, everyone here in the city and at Loyola University Chicago is pretty nice. It’s funny though, because I never understood those articles that name Canadians as some of the friendliest people until I moved to the United States.

People are nice, but they don’t want to be bothered.

The vibe is just very different here. The competition is obvious to an outsider like me who back home would rather help my peers succeed than see them fail. Not to say that competition is a bad thing, it’s actually a great thing if the reasoning behind it is positive.

The school itself is just a world of its own. The journalism program here is pretty popular and like at Concordia, has its

own J-School building. The broadcast studio has windows around three of its walls, so those outside of the building can see and hear what is being broadcasted. Many of the professors are known journalists who are recognized not only locally and nationally, but internationally as well. It’s thrilling to be around so many people who have the same dreams and aspirations that you do.

Downtown Chicago is just a masterpiece. I have travelled to many places, but something about this city sends shivers down my spine every time I step onto its streets. You discover something new about the city everyday. Magnificent Mile truly is magnificent. The architecture, restaurants,

Photos by Marilyn Santucci

shopping and parks are unique, and nothing short of great. I literally got lost for four hours in Millennium Park the other day, and it turned out to be the best day I have had here so far. It’s very difficult to put into words how beautiful the city is, as Frank Lloyd Wright said, “Eventually, I think Chicago will be the most beautiful great city left in the world.”

I truly do love and miss Montreal, but right now, Chicago isn’t doing such a bad job of stepping in as my temporary home.

Currently on exchange or heading off in Winter 2014? Interested in taking part in “Letters from abroad?” Let us know!

Email: opinions@theconcordian.com.

From our Kitchen

Tuesday, Sept 10, 2013 Vol. 31 Issue 3 Amanda L. Shore Editor-in-Chief editor@theconcordian.com

Nathalie Laflamme Production manager production@theconcordian.com

The trend on Twitter this past week was to rap like Lil Wayne. People put on their thinking grillz in order to capture the essence of Weezy’s lyrics.

Kelly Duval Sloane Montgomery News editors news@theconcordian.com Sabrina Giancioppi Life editor life@theconcordian.com

@SpeakingRealill: “stealing iPhones in the hood, call me apple jacks”

Roa Abdel-Gawad Arts editor arts@theconcordian.com

@DFB_3: “Batman’s sidekick getting fat, call him robin thicke ”

Jessica Romera Music editor music@theconcordian.com

@DerekMann11: “burnt my tongue on some hot tea, call that T-Pain” @mikeycasey1: “Eating hot dogs in the pacific, call it Frank Ocean” @JaayPeters_ : “Farted on my wallet that’s gas money…rolled a quarter down a hill that’s fast money…” @mickeymora23: “She caught my iPhone before it hits the ground… she my screen saver” @geutskeegan: “pushed Tyra Banks down a hill, now that’s a role model” @BrendansFitz__: “I cut a hole in my pants, I had to get it fixed. She sewed it in an hour, I call her Tailor Swift” @XoCMR: “Smacked Dora with a pan, now she Pandora” @TheRealKvng: “Ate some lettuce while putting my shirt on, call that salad dressing!” @DillionLung: “Stepped on my lollipop, call it candy crush” @RamaTheCreator: “Got my grandma on speed dial, I call that instagram” @I_AM_LEGEND_30: “There my Rolex at her head, call it Facetime” @evanturnaa: “Pushed a nun in a wheelchair, call it virgin mobile” @Daaron72: “Had dinner with ya girl up in the sky, that’s an update” And this guy has a theory: @MarioPalush: “People think this is a clever trend, little do they know Wayne is just using them to write his next album”

theconcordian

recipe of the week // eTC

Concordia’s weekly, independent student newspaper.

Sugar Donut MuffinS CaSanDra De MaSi opinions editor

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ack to school getting you down? Well, nothing is better than eating your feelings. This is a quick recipe that is always a crowd pleaser. It was one of my first to try and play around with when I started baking. These always hit the spot, but a warning, they are a tasty addiction. Proceed with caution.

Here is what you need: Muffins 1/2 cup white sugar 1/4 cup butter (or margarine), melted 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 cup milk 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 cup all-purpose flour Topping 1/4 cup butter (or margarine), melted 1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (the one in the packets, I always add a little more as I dip) Instructions 1) Make sure your oven is chilling at 350 degrees, and grease your mini cupcake tins.

I like making them in mini tins because they are Timbit sized and they are also quite rich in flavour with the cinnamon.

Samantha Mileto Photo from Flickr Sports editor sports@theconcordian.com Cassandra De Masi Opinions editor opinions@theconcordian.com Keith Race Photo editor photo@theconcordian.com Lee-Ann Mudaly Online Managing editor onlinemanagingeditor@theconcordian. com

2) Mix the sugar, butter and nutmeg into a bowl. Pour the milk in and then mix in the baking powder and flour. Make sure it’s all well mixed!

Natasha Taggart Online editor online@theconcordian.com

3) Fill your mini muffin tins! Not all the way to the top, a little more than half.

Jennifer Kwan Graphics editor graphics@theconcordian.com

4) While your muffins are baking, start the topping. Melt the ¼ cup of butter. In a separate bowl, mix in your cinnamon and sugar.

Once your mini muffins are out of the oven, dip them in the melted butter (careful, it’s HOT!) and roll them around in the cinnamon-sugar mix. Let them settle. Do a happy dance while you wait. Then enjoy.

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Elizabeth Tomaras Christina Rowan Milos Kovacevic Copy editors copy@theconcordian.com Besher Al Maleh Philippe Labreque Marilla Steuter-Martin Production assistants Editorial office 7141 Sherbrooke St. Building CC-Rm 431 Montreal, QC H4B 1R6 514-848-2424 ext. 7499 (Editor-in-Chief) Pascale Cardin Business manager business@theconcordian.com Tyson Lowrie Cindy Lopez Ruben Bastien Board of directors directors@theconcordian.com

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