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sports Concordia s womens rugby capture the Cup P. 15

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Home open heartbreak P.17

Few Concordia students

wave their flag at concert

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

life Re-inventing the dorm.

P. 7

Photo by Tiffany Blaise

Orientation concert fails opinion to attract the majority of Concordia students An open letter to students P. 19

Despite running smoothly, less than 4,000 students attended the CSU event Evan LePage News editor

music Montreal’s Chromeo talks about their latest P. 12

Despite holding the concert on campus, packing a line-up with big names in Canadian music and revitalizing their bracelet distribution strategy, the Concordia Student Union’s annual Orientation Concert last week was marred by mediocre attendance.

“We were expecting around 6000 people, but we got a little bit less than 4000,” said Andres Lopez, the CSU’s VP student life and the main organizer of the event which headlined three-time Juno award winner K’naan and Montreal’s very own Chromeo.

Lopez admitted that despite what he felt was an aggressive marketing campaign, there were still many students who simply were not reached by the adver-

tising.

“Even though we did really good marketing, it’s very hard to reach 30, 000 students,” he said. “So we did our best.”

Lopez recounted how on Thursday morning, the day of the show, he was asking students in the hall whether they would be attending and was greeted with reactions of surprise, with many completely unaware as to the event and performers.

This was the case for first-year human relations student Marlene Tawfik who found out about the event the morning of after she was texted by a friend.

“I don’t think that everyone knew about it,” she said.

In total, approximately 8000 bracelets were printed, Lopez said, but only around 6500 were distributed, still over 2000 more than the number of students that actually attended the event.

These numbers come despite a campaign that saw students dressed as superheroes running around campus handing out information, booths stationed in multiple areas on both campuses and a new mobile website to promote the event.

The changes were a massive improvement from

See “‘Orientation...” on p.3 Volume 28 Issue 3

Online video game invites players to reenact Dawson shooting Game released one week before 4-year anniversary of fatal CEGEP shooting Sarah Deshaies Editor-in-chief A video game recently posted to a gaming website invites players to walk in the footsteps of Kimveer Gill and go on a shooting rampage at Dawson College.

Gill is the gunman who strode into Dawson in 2006 and opened fire, killing one student and injuring 19 others before killing himself. It was the most recent of the three school shootings

See “‘Dawson...” on p.2

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Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

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published five other games on the site, including “Skunk Launch Cannon” and “Cyber Mini-Putt.” Little informaDawson College tion is posted in their biography, but it is indicated that the account has been continued... active since Nov. 2009.

The hyped-up description of the “Dawson College Massacre” was posted online on Sept. 8, a few days be- game would seem to glorify Gill’s acfore Sept. 13, the four-year anniversary tions: “Take the role of Kimveer Gill and storm Dawson college with your favorof Gill’s shooting spree.

The game’s style is very basic, ite rifle,” it reads. “Kill those students comparable graphically and in terms of and kill any cops you can! Be careful, game-play to early video flash games, those cops are quick on the scene and and begins with Gill’s biography and see you, get in that school and kill evphotos of himself he had posted online. eryone before the cops have the chance Then, the game begins on de Maison- to ruin your plan!”

However, another video game auneuve Boulevard, where Gill’s shooting rampage also began at 12:50 p.m. The thor thinks that Virtuaman isn’t trying players must aim at and shoot student to glorify the Dawson shootings.

“I do not believe Virtuaman’s intencharacters while moving into the school and avoiding the aim of police officers. tions were malicious at all,” said Danny When the player is shot by police, the Ledonne in an email. “Like many young Gill character commits suicide against a people, this game designer wanted to understand something foreign to him red background. and chose the medium of games to do this.”

Ledonne himself caused an uproar when he created a 2005 game called Super Columbine Massacre The only way anyRPG. Players re-enact the 1999 Colone will learn about umbine shooting, when teenagEric Harris and Dylan Klebold these events ... is if ers killed 13 people at their high school. the story is shown to Ledonne’s intentions had been to explore bullying and understand the them infront of their path the boys chose. “Games are a sophisticated and still poorly-underlives stood medium, so how to communi-A blogger posting under the name cate an idea - or investigate a social Virtuaman issue - is difficult to understand with games.”

A private message questioning their intentions to Virtuaman The website where it was posted, through Newgrounds went unanNewgrounds.com, hosts flash games swered as of press time. But someone and animations designed by site mem- under that name posted a statement to bers. Virtuaman, the creator of DCM, Ledonne’s website on Sept. 11 saying,

“

“I am not quite sure why I made [the game].” Upon having studied school shootings, and seeing that they happen again and again, the writer noted that “hiding from the problem does not make it go away. The only way anyone will learn about these events and what causes them is if the story is shown to them in front of their eyes.”

Reviewers had mixed reactions to

the game: Wetalo, supposedly a current Dawson student, admonished: “Seriously man, this game isn’t ‘art,’ it’s assholeism. Shock value no longer makes entertainment.” Another reviewer assigned the game a score of 10: ”Yes, people are going to hate this, but what form of art doesn’t have its detractors?”

Whether gamers or the larger public view DCM as a lesson in how a nice

kid becomes a cold-blooded killer or as an inappropriate, glorified electronic killing spree remains to be seen.

But Virtuaman, who claimed to be Canadian, apparently meant no harm, according to posts on Ledonne’s website: “In the end I hope the game doesn’t ruin anyone’s day. I never made it with the intention of hurting anyone.”

Gill’s photo was used as the start screen for the game Dawson College Massacre! Photo taken from game.

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/theconcordian Orientation cont ... the previous year’s concert, where bracelets were only given out at the CSU’s office on the seventh floor of the Hall building where students were forced into long line-ups. This year, in contrast, volunteers at line-less tables across campus could be seen yelling at passing students encouraging them to get a bracelet and attend the event.

“They were giving them out at John Molson,” said second-year Commerce student Mariel Langlois, “so I just walked up to the table and got it right away.”

More improvements from the Snoop Dogg-headlined concert in 2009 include the fact that the artists performed almost exactly as scheduled, shuttle bus transport chauffeured students to and from the venue, and the location on the Loyola Quad was offered to the CSU at no charge.

Another positive taken away by Lopez is that, other than an overly intoxicated female student who was taken to the hospital, there were no security-related incidences, unsurprising considering the mass of security guards on hand. Along with some campus security, guards from hired company Maximum Security were stationed about every ten metres along the fence enclosing the concert area and spotters could be seen keeping watch from the roof of the psychology building.

“Especially being on campus we wanted to invest a bit more into secu-

rity,” Lopez said. “I mean it’s our campus, we want to have fun but we also want to preserve it.”

He added that after meeting with campus security following the event, he was actually congratulated and told to “keep in talks for next year.”

Student response from those in attendance also offered a generally positive outlook on the entire event.

“Honestly the show was amazing, K’naan is one of my favourite artists,” said first-year political science major Terrence Adams. “The crowd action, everyone was excited, it was amazing!”

The night also went well for political science student Alexander Louis who said, “It was a great experience and we’re definitely going to repeat the

it for next year.”

Despite the lower-than expected turnout, Lopez called the event a total success. “The people I’ve talked to, administration, students, everyone seems really happy with the turnout.”

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City in brief Sarah Deshaies

Class-action success

Montrealers, take note: sometimes it’s better to work in numbers. The Montreal Gazette reported that a Sept. 3 judicial ruling called for the city’s blue collar union to pay $2 million to Montrealers who suffered damages and injuries during an illegal strike. The union went on strike for about a week in Dec. 2004, and ignored a call to return to work. Since workers were not spreading salt or sand on the sidewalk, the streets and sidewalks turned icy and dangerous.

In another decision rendered that same day, Quebec Superior Court Judge André Prévost ruled that Yves Boyer can proceed with a class-action lawsuit against the Agence métropolitaine de transport. The suit is in the name of commuters who were delayed by the constantly late or cancelled trains on the Deux Montagnes and Dorion-Rigaud lines during the months of January and February 2009.

Munroe-Blum talks, McGill slips

McGill principal Heather MunroeBlum tried to convince a National Assembly commission on culture and education on Sept. 7 that Quebec’s universities need new funding models with higher tuition.The McGill Daily reported that MunroeBlum faced some hard questions from MNAs, like the Parti Québécois’ Marie Malavoy who stated that she felt ‘anxiety’ about McGill’s direction with tuition. Malavoy also said she worried that the school is headed towards a North American school model where “the richest schools can attract the best students... and where the poorest remain on the periphery.” Universities make presentations to the 12-member commission every three years. The Daily also reported that the McGill delegation brought a barrel of apples from McDonald campus with them to the commission.

Suck-ups.

Top schools shmools

K’naan worked hard to pump up the crowd of around 4,000 students that took over the Loyola Quad. Photos by Tiffany Blaise.

LEGAL

New CRARR initiative will work to advocate for student civil rights CRARR spreading rights information through Concordia and Mcgill Trevor Smith Contributor The Center for Research-Action on Race Relations has teamed up with student associations from both Concordia and McGill to launch

the Student Civil Rights Information Project to help better inform students of their rights and protect them from discrimination.

“What it comes down to is that most students just don’t have a lot of the information they need,” said executive director of CRARR Fo Niemi. “Sometimes they don’t even realize they are being faced with discrimination or that there is anything that they can do about it.”

Initiatives from the new project can be seen in this year’s CSU student handbook with the first-ever civil rights page. SCRIP also plans on holding student information panels on discrimination and where

students may encounter it.

At one such panel planned for this October, SCRIP is trying to make students aware of the policy of International Traffic in Arms Regulations. ITAR prevents engineering students born in nations considered hostile towards the U.S. from gaining internships or being hired for jobs in the aerospace industry with companies that receive contracts from the U.S. military.

In some of the most extreme circumstances of discrimination, students may be unjustly faced with criminal charges. In those cases, said Niemi, SCRIP will also be there to help.

“It can be very traumatic and stressful. And students don’t realize they can file suit against the police,” he said. “But there is a window of six months that action must be taken within or else there is nothing that we can do, and your permanent record will display these criminal charges.”

In order to cover the costs of this service, SCRIP is looking to raise $7,000 by means of donations and sponsorship. To date, about $2,000 has been raised for this project with the help of donors and partners like the CSU, the Center for Gender Advocacy and small businesses in the NDG area.

In other news, McGill slipped a notch in international school rankings announced on Sept. 7. The 2010 QS World University Rankings had McGill as 19th in the world, one lower than last year, on the 500 school list.

The ratings are handed out according to a number of factors, including the number of international faculty and academic peer review. The ‘Harvard of the North’ is the only Canadian school to place in the top 25, while the Universities of Toronto, Alberta and British Columbia also ranked in the top 100. Another six Canadian schools made the list, but Concordia missed that boat.

Midnight Poutine likes our food

Montreal blog Midnight Poutine posted a comparison on Sept. 6 of McGill and Concordia in a “face-off in a battle of the best around-campus food and drink.” The evaluation, posted by one ‘Amie’, crowned McGill ghetto’s Lola Rosa as the best vegetarian food over Bishop Street’s Burritoville. Apparently, they preferred Lola Rosa’s atmosphere over Burritoville’s ‘bohemain’ air. The Frigo Vert got a mention as the best takeout vegetarian food, with its samosas and sweet potato cinnamon loaves and Cafe Myriade on Mackay Street was selected as the best campus coffee. The Kanda all-you-caneat sushi restaurants at both campuses were given the thumbs down with the following missive: “Sushi, like sex, is about quality, not quantity. At least sex won’t make you sick...well, give you food poisoning anyway.” Yum.

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Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

Nation in brief Evan LePage

Sauerkraut explosion quarantines B.C. school

Apparently sauerkraut is a food not to be taken lightly. After a can of the German cabbage dish exploded in a B.C. school last Friday, 24 students and four staff members had to be quarantined for fear of the spread of botulism. Botulism, from the Latin word for sausage, is a rare illness caused by a certain toxin occasionally found in canned food that can lead to paralysis of the face and limbs, and potentially death. Obviously that’s a cause for concern. So when the old, fermenting can of sauerkraut exploded onto students at Kelly Road Secondary School science class, the fire department and a hazmat team were called in, the school was evacuated and a quarantine temporarily enforced. It was quickly determined there was no risk and students got to go home early, meaning many Canadian kids are probably hunting through their pantries for expired canned goods as we speak.

Alberta runs pro-oilsand ads in Times Square

The Big Apple just got a little bit slicker. Unhappy with the bad rap the oilsands are getting throughout North America, the government of Alberta have started to run a series of positive ads in Times Square.

The two 10-second ad clips will run three times an hour, and at a total of $17,000 for the 45-day campaign; it’s clear the provincial government is willing to fork over a pretty penny to potentially garner support for their projects. One of the ads reportedly reads “A good neighbour lends you a cup of sugar. A great neighbour provides you with 1.4 million barrels of oil per day. And does it responsibly.

Alberta, Canada.” The ads will continue to run until Oct. 15.

‘Turn left here. At the next light, hide your children.’

As part of an Alberta governmentsponsored research project, sex offenders, domestic dispute offenders and other high risk criminals will be monitored by GPS-EM technology after being released from prison. Announced Friday, the province’s policing and corrections agencies will be testing the electronic monitoring system at a cost of $1 million in funding from the Safe Communities initiative. The three-year project, working in partnership between the province and the University of Calgary, hopes to assure that the global system technology is functional and effectively tracks these individuals in real time.

Clean hands, dirty livers

Regina has a sanitation problem, but not in the way that you might think.

Hand sanitizers have apparently become all the rage for alcoholics in the area, with police reporting that many large-size containers full of alcoholbased soaps have seemingly been stolen from the downtown area. Police made the link after picking up many people intoxicated in public in possession of the product. This type of sanitizer is available in many public places, from shopping centres to city hall, with extra large 800-millilitre containers also present in hospitals and health centres. The problem has motivated some in the province to call for some type of labelling system which would allow officials to identify where the containers were taken from.

EDUCATION

McGill university administrators call for funding increase “Substantial” tuition increase on administration’s agenda Jacob Serebrin Online editor McGill administrators used a routine presentation before a National Assembly committee to criticize the way the province funds universities and regulates tuition.

“If the government of Quebec wants our universities to be able to continue to compete with the best universities in Canada, it must give us the tools,” Pierre Moreau, executive director, planning and institutional analysis and senior advisor (policy development) for McGill told the National Assembly’s Education and Culture committee on Sept. 7.

Administrators from Quebec’s 17 universities began appearing before the committee in mid-August. While the subject of tuition and funding came up in most of the presentations, which occur every three years, the majority focused on strategic plans, general information about the universities and the schools’ achievements in surveys and international rankings.

McGill Principal Heather Munroe-Blum called for a “substantial increase” in tuition and the introduction of different tuition rates for different programs.

“Through their taxes, low-income families finance the university education of young people from more affluent families,” she said.

“Moreover, despite its low tuition, Quebec still has one of the lowest university attendance and graduation rates in Canada. It is therefore clear that accessibility to a university education for a greater number of people does not come from maintaining low tuition.”

Munroe-Blum said she’d like to see more financial aid at the institutional level to offset the impact

Flickr

of increased tuition for low-income students.

Université de Montréal Rector Guy Breton echoed McGill’s concerns during his university’s presentation.

“Only a university whose programs cost less than the average is able to generate a surplus of revenue over expenditure,” he said.

Breton also called for a tuition increase and differentiated tuition.

According to Breton, a student in literature pays 40 per cent of the cost of their education, while a student in veterinary medicine only pays five per cent.

Breton said that if the province doesn’t increase tuition, universities will have to find other ways, such as ancillary fees, to get more money.

“Beware, if you do not give us the means, we will continue to be resourceful,” he told the committee.

But while most university heads agreed that their schools need more money, the solutions put forward by McGill and UdeM didn’t sit well with some.

“We need to train our people.

We need doctors who come from backgrounds that are not rich,” said

Université du Québec à Montréal Rector Claude Corbo.

He added that while some disciplines lead to higher incomes after graduation, those graduates will pay higher taxes.

Munroe-Blum also had to defend McGill’s decision to increase tuition for its Executive MBA. Tuition in the program, which will no longer receive government funding, increased from just under $2,000 to $29,500 this year.

According to Munroe-Blum, the program costs $22,000 per student, but the school only received $10,000 per student in funding and tuition.

She said McGill had been paying the difference by cutting funding for undergraduate arts and sciences.

“Graduates of this MBA program, in their first three years after their graduation, make more than $100,000, $300,000, $400,000 or $500,000 per year in compensation.

It just simply wasn’t fair, it wasn’t equitable.”

Under heavy questioning from Marie Malavoy, the Parti Quebecois education critic, Blum struggled to speak in French, frequently switching to English.

While questions from Government members of the committee focused on the number of PhDs graduating from McGill and the university’s distance education program, Malavoy took several opportunities to criticize Munroe-Blum’s position, saying that Quebec’s system, where the government pays the majority of the cost of a university education, was a choice Quebecers could be proud of.

McGill has also faced criticism from student groups. In a joint statement the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, the province’s largest student lobby group, and Post-Graduate Students’ Society of McGill University called for education minister Line Beauchamp to take action against the MBA tuition increase.

Beauchamp, who does not sit on the education and culture committee, took over as education minister in an Aug. 11 cabinet shuffle. She has yet to make a public statement on the increase.

Her predecessor, Michelle Courchesne, had threatened to cut funding from McGill equal to the amount of the tuition increase.

ENVINRONMENT

Environmentalists hit streets to

protest World Energy Congress Citizens and environmental groups protest event attended by oil company reps Renee Giblin Contributor The sky was grey with the promise of rain, but that did not stop a group of grassroots activists from gathering together in front of the Palais des Congrès to protest the opening of the World Energy Congress on Sunday.

“It’s good to show the government that there are people who are against what they [the oil companies] are doing,” said Alex Lefrançois Leduc, a student at l‘Université

de Montréal and participant in the demonstration.

Leduc said that protests may not make an immediate difference in the way executives and governments conduct business, but it is important for people to fight for what they believe in and have a place to be able to voice their objections.

Held in Montreal, the five-day congress will discuss current environmental conditions and attempt to find concrete solutions to combat climate change. There are 300 speakers from major oil companies from around the world and 70 energy ministers from various governments who will be participating in and facilitating workshops.

“Solutions to climate change,” according to Climate Justice Montreal organizer Cameron Fenton, “are never going to come out of these boardrooms.”

“

Fenton joined other members at Dominion Square on Sunday afternoon to plan out and begin their demonstrations. The activists took to their bikes and pedaled to Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle in protest against the fossil fuel companies.

They met up with other groups such as Greenpeace to educate the public about what the oil companies and governments are doing to the planet.

The Climate Justice Action Camp also organised various workshops and discussion forums for the general public to participate in.

Fenton was positive about the outcome of the day. “Around a hundred people came to the camp and participated in the movement,” he said, adding that “there will be more events like these going on to involve people in Montreal.”

Solutions to climate change are never going to come out of these board rooms.

Cameron Fenton, Climate Justice Montreal organizer

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/theconcordian JOURNALISM

Locked out journalists set to release weekly tabloid Free 48-page paper by lockedout Journal de Montréal workers will hit stands every Thursday Geneviève Trudeau Senécal Contributor Locked-out Journal de Montréal workers will soon be bringing their cause from the web to the streets.

At the end of October, the employees running RueFrontenac. com will also start distributing a weekly publication of 48 pages to complement the work they are doing online.

“Readers have been asking for a paper copy for a very long time,” said Richard Bousquet, the coordinator of Rue Frontenac since its creation. “There have been special editions before, but we wanted to ensure economic stability before getting started on this new weekly project.”

Bousquet, the former desk manager of the Arts et Spectacles section at Le Journal de Montréal offered another reason why the employees waited to produce a newspaper “We also wanted to get our name out there and ensure our credibility as a media of our own at first.”

Every Thursday morning, the new tabloid-format, color-printed newspaper will be available for free on 1,400 stands from Saint-Jérôme, on the North Shore of Montreal,

to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, on the South Shore. The vast majority of papers, or 90 per cent, will be available in the Montreal metropolitan region, and will be distributed weekly in various commercial areas, like cafés, restaurants, and boutiques.

The lock-out employees will also do hand-to-hand distribution on Thursday afternoons at various points on the Island of Montreal.

The 75,000 copies to be given out, and quantity of stands and pages, are only a starting point which may be increased in the future.

Whereas the website is mostly devoted to news, the new tabloid will include in-depth reports, exclusive investigation, analyses and chronicles which will be divided into four sections: news, business, culture and sports.

RueFrontenac.com was created on the day the lock-out at Le Journal de Montréal was declared, almost 20 months ago, on Jan. 24, 2009. The idea of a tangible copy of the journalists’ work has been around since then.

Bousquet explains that RueFrontenac.com has been self-financed for a little while now. Advertising on the site brings in revenue, along with the support of Rue Frontenac’s “friends”: readers, for the most part, who offer monetary contributions to the employees’ cause

ORIENTATION

through the website. The new weekly will also count on these two sources of income to support itself.

Many followers have reportedly already asked for a way to subscribe to the weekly. Bousquet ensures that they are looking into it, trying to find a way to make the delivery available for cheap, especially since the weekly will be free. “To deliver it the next day is a problem. It would cost $6 per copy to do so. We are trying to find another way,” he said.

As for the ongoing conflict, a mediator was appointed on Aug. 9, 2010, after 18 months of dead ends and silent negotiations.

Pierre-Karl Péladeau, CEO of communications company Quebecor, whose subsidiary Sun Media owns Le Journal, announced during the recent launch of the new Videotron cellphone plans that his group has made an offer to the employees and they have 30 days to approve or reject it.

If the deal goes positively, some employees think that Rue Frontenac would have to change name and locations. “We expect Pierre-Karl [Péladeau] to include the closure or renaming and relocation of Rue Frontenac in his final offer,” said Diane Messier, who used to work at the classified advertisement section at Le

Journal de Montréal.

Bousquet, however, is more optimistic: “It won’t change names,” he said. “We might have to move, but we won’t know until we get there.”

“One thing is for sure: if the offer includes as many layoffs as it did last December, there will be a lot of people to come back and work for Rue Frontenac. We will then have to figure out a way to pay everyone,” Bousquet added.

The locked-out employees have been living on their union’s conflict funds since it all began. On Oct. 15, they will be celebrating their 600th day “in the street.”

“

Readers have been asking for a paper copy for a very long time.

Richard Bousquet, Rue Frontenac, Coordinator

World in brief Evan LePage

Chinese UN diplomat goes on drunken rant about Americans

China’s top-ranking UN diplomat, Sha Zukang, apparently had a little too much to drink during a meal at a UN retreat in Austria last week, and proceeded to rant about his dislike for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the entire American race. According to the Telegraph, the 62-year-old allegedly went on for about 15 minutes before they were able to coax him away from the microphone. Sha kicked things off by saying that he never liked Kimoon, before moving onto American UN diplomat Bob Orr with “I don’t really like him. He’s an American, and I really don’t like Americans.” When he sobered up the next morning Sha said sorry to the former, but there is no word on whether Mr. Orr got the same apologetic treatment.

230,000 elderly Japanese fall off the government radar

A survey released last week revealed that over 230,000 Japanese people still listed in the country’s government records cannot be located and are likely dead. All family registration records in Japan were reviewed after the Justice Ministry found nearly 900 people still listed who would be at least 150 years old, and almost 80,000 who would be 120. Based on these figures, officials have admitted that faulty bookkeeping is behind the statistical mistake and that since they cannot confirm whether many of these elderly people have passed away, their whereabouts will simply be listed as unknown. To find those who may be still alive, we suggest they check the mall and the park.

Brokes and smokes: mine melodramatics

Miners in Spain have chosen an odd form of self-punishment in order to protest low wages and support for the country’s coal mining industry, according to the BBC. Fifty mine workers have been staging a “sit-in” 500 meters below ground since Sept.

2, consequently preventing their employers from continuing to work, as a protest against unpaid wages and the government’s lack of investment into the coal industry while it pushes funding at renewable energy projects. As these 50 Spaniards voluntarily stay underground, across the Atlantic, 33 Chilean miners would do anything to get themselves above ground after being trapped 700 metres below for over a month. At least now, however, they’ll be able to relax with a nice smoke. After initially refusing to send down cigarettes, improvements to the ventilation system have prompted the country’s health officials to approve the transfer of two packs a day down to the workers. Unfortunately for them, officials are still saying no to alcohol.

‘I do, your hono... I mean Father.’

As part of orientation week, the CSU hosted a club fair and barbecue on the Mckay street terrace behind Reggie’s this past Wednesday. About 40 to 60 clubs participated in the event, showcasing the range of clubs that Concordia students can be a part of. The many students who attended were treated to free food and beautiful weather. VP of Student Life Andres Lopez said that the club fair was a success and that he “was pretty happy with the student turn out.” Photo by Tiffany Blaise

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When Rodney King was infamously beaten by L.A. police in 1991, he probably didn’t expect anything good to come of it. But not only did he win a cool $3.8M in a suit against the city of Los Angeles, now one of the jurors who helped award him that sum of money will soon become his wife, reported Radar Online. After meeting for a pizza following the case, King and juror Cynthia Kelly apparently “got along” quite well.

Having been in a relationship for a while and then splitting up, the duo reunited four months ago and King decided to put a ring on it.

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theconcordian

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

CAMPUS

Reform FASA movement questions

constitutionalism of council s actions

Fine arts students trying to encourage peers to get involved, have their voice heard Evan LePage News editor

When VP finance Laura Glover was fired from the organization in September after having only held her position for about four months, other Fine Arts students took notice, and so the FASA reform movement was born.

“It was very much so started by a group of Fine Arts students who are very concerned about what about what’s happened,” Glover said, “specifically because of the principle of just how unconstitutional this whole situation has been handled.”

On the FASA reform website Glover’s involvement in the council and ultimate termination are

described. According to their account, Glover remained in Montreal working for FASA over the summer while the rest of the executive pursued other commitments. When co-presidents Neal Moignard and Paisley Sim returned to the city, they allegedly encouraged her to resign on multiple occasions “due to their concern over her course load and commitment to being a Resident Assistant at Grey NunsResidence, a commitment that was made perfectly clear upon Glover`s hiring in April.” After being blocked from accessing the finance email account and left in the dark by the executive, Glover was apparently fired by the co-presidents and Student Life Coordinator Tricia Middleton, in what she felt was extremely unconstitutional procedure.

“It was unconstitutional because terminating an executive must be brought to council and it must be brought to a two thirds majority vote,” Glover said. “Because my position was VP finance, it is totally unconstitutional to terminate any vice president without bringing it to council.”

Current VP Finance Julie Johnston, who was also Glover’s predecessor last year, had a different

perception of the events that occured, however.

“Most of the confusion is based around the fact that Laura interprets that her title of VP Finance requires the same termination procedures as an elected executive,” Johnston wrote in an email. “However she was not elected but rather hired as a paid employee by FASA.” Johnston also said that she felt FASA was justified in their actions since in her understanding, as a hired employee, the executive had the right to terminate Glover if she were not performing her job properly.

“As far as I understand she was fired based on the fact that she has been unavailable to perform urgent tasks required of her for most of the summer, did not respond to emails and was unable to attend several meetings,” Johnston added.

Despite the conflict of opinion, Glover wants to assure students that the reform movement isn’t a battle against the council, but that she just wants the best out of the great organization.

“FASA is an institutional that provides an amazing opportunity for students to get funding and get their art into the community and i

think it as an institutional provides endless opportunities for students,” Glover said. ““It just needs to be a constitutional institution.”

While the movement was spawned from Glover’s firing, the goal has since been expanded, according to Michaela Ryan, a studio arts student very involved in FASA reform.

“In researching this issue particularly we’ve sort of started to realize that just the whole set-up of FASA is maybe not ideal,” she said.

“We would hope that in the long run once we’ve sort of dealt with this immediate issue we could start to figure out the ways that we could make sure FASA measures up to the other institutions on campus.”

Thus, the mandate of reform has shifted to student involvement from encouraging Fine Arts students to run for councillor positions, to simply increasing the student presence at council meetings.

“Really, we’re just pushing for involvement,” Ryan said. “Se just want to make sure everyone is getting involved and having their voice heard and we want to make sure FASA is run ethically, responsibly, sustainably.” It is through involvement that they believe the improve-

ment will be made, she added.

This point was reinforced by Glover, who really does not want the focus to remain on her situation, but on improving the student institution.

“This movement is really not about me getting my job back or anything like that. We want fine arts students to be fairly represented and there needs to be transparency and consistency,” she said. “Fine Arts students put a lot of trust in the FASA executive so things need to be handled constitutionally.”

As far as Johnston is concerned, the FASA is already in favour of many of the reform’s goals. “I have looked at her website, which encourages students to attend meetings, register for clubs, and participate actively in student government, and I actually agree with this,” she wrote. “FASA has been trying to get Fine Arts students to become more active in student politics for years, so if the FASA reform succeeds in doing this, all the better for FASA.” FASA’s two co-presidents could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.

CAMPUS

Music department moves up a bar Music joins dance and theatre in new JMSB building Alyssa de Rosa Contributor Concordia’s music department has found a new home at the John Molson School of Business build-

ing in the heart of the downtown campus, where it will join its fine arts colleagues in the Department of Contemporary Dance and the Department of Theatre.

The move from Loyola’s Refectory building has been in the works for about two years and was completed this summer, according to music professor Christopher Jackson.

Jackson stated that the reason for the move was more of an architectural problem than anything else. “It was triggered by a complete rebuild,” he said. “The refectory building was

turned into a conference building that was never a good place for the music department to begin with.”

Jackson noted that the dining halls and big stained glass windows of the program’s former home were characteristics that are unaccommodating to sound and musical performance.

This September, students relocated themselves to the MB building where classrooms and studios can be found on the eighth floor. Singers, musicians, and faculty can now enjoy spaces created with their art in mind.

“It was purposely built for music,” said Jackson. “The new space is the best accommodation the department has ever had.”

The modifications include proper soundproofing, spaces designed by an acoustician to meet the department’s needs, along with jazz, electro-acoustic and choir “smart rooms.” Pianists can enjoy playing on brand new pianos and soloists can hit their high notes in state-of-the-art practice modules.

All the enhancements were made possible by government funding,

according to Jackson. An $11 million grant was given to the Faculty of Fine Arts from the Canada-Québec Knowledge Infrastructure Program.

Generally, the response in the department has been all positive. At the Loyola campus, the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall will continue to be used for performances and recordings.

CAMPUS

Are you a virgin? ad yanked from wall Employee complained that poster was innappropriate Sarah Deshaies Editor-in-chief An advertisement flagged by a Chartwells employee as inappropriate has been removed from the Hall building’s seventh floor cafeteria. The large white poster had large black and red capital lettering and read: “Still a virgin? For help call: 888-743-4335 Toll Free.”

Normally, ads on campus need to be approved before being placed.

“Hospitality Concordia is the point at which the approval process happens,” said Concordia director of media relations Chris Mota. But she admitted that the in-your-face ad had slipped by the usual veto process used

by Hospitality, which oversees several

things at Concordia, including advertising and managing food retail outlets.

The poster had been hanging on the wall along with a second poster advertising a ski resort since last week but the ‘virgin’ poster was taken down by lunch hour this Monday.

The cafeteria, which is frequented mostly by first-year students living in residence, is a new ad space, the result of a deal between Concordia and a consortium of three ad companies, Mota said.

Last spring, the university put out a request for proposals from media companies interested in using the university’s advertisement space. They then selected a group of three companies: Rouge Media, UB Media and MU Media for a deal that started on July 31 of this year.

The consortium was chosen for a few reasons: besides offering Concordia the best deal in ad revenue, they offered to create student internships, provide bursaries, and replace aging advertisement screens around campus, like the one to the left of the escalator on the first floor of the Hall building.

Also, the consortium offered to display Concordia ads off-campus.

The amount of money the university will pocket is undisclosed, said Mota, because it is a private contract and cannot be made public.

The questionable ‘virgin’ advertisement, a publicity stunt for a Will Ferrell movie called The Virginity Hit, was submitted by one of the three companies and it escaped approval or veto by Hospitality Concordia. The department has regulations that prevent any advertising on campus that supports a political party or military organization, or sells tobacco products, sex, alcohol, gambling and illegal drugs. Ads must not violate the law, be dishonest, or attempt to mislead the consumer.

Additionally, ads must not suggest that a university body endorses or that it is A similar ad was hung in the Hall building, but has since been removed. perceived as endorsing a product. use of ad space in the cafeteria, while we get enough of it outside [...].”

While the ‘virgin’ poster might not others thought it made good business The ‘virgin’ poster has also fit into these criteria, someone did take sense. “I don’t mind. It’s more money showed up on billboards in some offence and filed a complaint. Mota refor the university,” said first-year urban American cities and has caused a bit of ported that Hospitality then “contacted planning student Phil Brougham. a stir. More than 70,000 people dialed the company and reminded them of Others, like Eric Seguin, a first-year the toll free number within five days the procedures.” philosophy student, felt that students to hear messages pre-recorded by the Some students sitting in the don’t need more advertising “because film’s actors. cafeteria were ambivalent towards the

life

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

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Write to the editor: life@theconcordian.com DECO

Tips and tricks for dorm room decorating Cheap and creative ways to personalize your space Alecs Kakon Copy editor Decorating a new apartment or dorm can be both an exciting and a daunting task.

Exciting because, from floor to ceiling, this place is your blank canvas, but daunting because how on earth can you afford to decorate your place on a student budget?

Here are some points to consider that are cheap, easy to execute and impermanent: Walls First thing to think about is your colour scheme. Depending on the size of your space and your frame of mind, different colours work better than others. For small apartments or rooms, it is best to go with a monochromatic palette which helps make the room appear bigger.

For those who are easily over-stimulated, think colour therapy: blue is calming and peaceful, while yellow promotes happiness.

While it may be a throwback to the ‘80s, wallpaper is a great alternative to paint because it provides texture, pattern and a softening effect to your space. But, if you are not ready to commit to an entire wall lined with a purple paisley print, cut out a piece of your favourite pattern, frame it and hang it up on your wall.

Another cheap and creative way to add some personality to your walls is with chair-rail moulding. This simple addition can really make your place look more sophisticated. Just buy a couple of mouldings from a hardware store and nail them a quarter of the way up the wall. Paint the top portion one colour and then choose a contrasting colour for the bottom half.

Furniture While furniture is one area that tends to get a little more expensive, stores like Home Sense and Ikea are great places for some economicallypriced pieces. However, a little time, manpower and some artistic talent can make for some great do-it-yourself pieces that are all about reusing and recycling. “Think outside the box,” says interior designer Melissa Buntin. “If you have mismatched chairs then paint them all the same

Dorm rooms can be made warm and cheery with bright lighting, artwork, and mirrors. colour, or if you want them to be mismatched then go ahead and paint them each a different colour. It’s eclectic, but that works for those on a budget.” Buntin also explains that it is important to tailor your apartment to your individual style.

When doing projects of this kind, Value Village and the Salvation Army are two bargain stores that have great inventory to work with.

They also never lack in kitchenware or appliances.

If you are really low on cash or have too much junk you no longer need, try out the barter system. You may own a chair you no longer want, but have a friend in need of one who would be willing to part with her lamp.

Montrealers also tend to leave their unwanted furniture on the streets. With a quick cleaning or paint job you can be the proud owner of someone else’s junk.

One of the best ways to furnish and decorate is through online marketplaces. CB2.com offers great deals on odds and ends, such as rugs, lamps, vases, and the like. However, if the sales aren’t “sale” enough, then the inspiration you may draw from browsing might still make the visit worthwhile. Another internet gem is www. apartmenttherapy.com, a blog that offers all sorts of styles and ideas for outfitting your home. They even have a whole section on small spaces done cheaply.

Flickr

paintings, floating shelves, mirrors, the list goes on. All of these accessories are a great, easy way to accent your space with colour and hints of personality. Buntin mentioned that a lot of people go without the little things, really sticking to the bare minimum when it comes to decorating, which can leave a room looking flat and sterile.

“Your space should reflect you,” says Buntin.

Accessories Lamps, frames, rugs, curtains, throw pillows,

“If you love plaid, tweed or bright orange, then throw some of that in there by way of a pillow or throw blanket.”

A lot of this can be accomplished with some simple creativity, like taking an old bed sheet and transforming it into curtains or stuff it and sew it into a throw pillow.

For Buntin, one of the most important accessories to include when decorating are mirrors.

They give off the illusion of space, so not only are they decorative, but they are also very functional for individuals with smaller apartments. It also helps to fill one’s apartment with lamps: not only does everyone need to be able to see, but lamps also make a place cozy and hospitable.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the freedom to paint, nail or cut away at the walls and furniture in their apartments. One way to battle this is by purchasing decals and vinyl cutouts. These images peel off mess-free and are a great and cheap alternative to paintings. And, of course, a university student staple is posters. With a little tape or sticky-tac you can hang up your favorite band, some words of wisdom, or a movie you love, no frame necessary.

Finally, it is important to remember that decorating your apartment or dorm is definitely worth the time. Try not to get overwhelmed by the size of your space or the lack of money in your pocket. Invite some friends over, pop open a bottle of whatever and just have fun with it.

Sacrifice a night (or two) of eating out for an apartment tailor-made for your personality.

Graphic by Katie Brioux

ENVIRONMENT

On the oil-blackened shores of the Gulf New Orleans recovers in the wake of the BP oil spill Alexandros Mitsiopoulos The Cord (Wilfrid Laurier University) NEW ORLEANS, L.A. (CUP) — It’s been just over five years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the southern coast of the United States. The anniversary was met with the ramifications of another catastrophe, this time man-made.

Facing the aftermath of the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which was caused by an explosion on the BP rig Deepwater Horizon, President Barack Obama’s administration

pledged stringent fiscal measures in order to jump-start recovery following the disaster.

“I’ll not be satisfied until the environment has been restored, no matter how long it takes,” Obama said in Panama City Beach, Florida on Aug. 14.

Many, however, simply cannot wait any longer. Life along the Gulf has become a balancing act of survival. For small fishing communities, recovery programs following Hurricane Katrina have progressed slowly. The floods and destruction claimed more than $100 billion in damages, along with the lives of over 1,500 people in New Orleans alone.

However, revival of the region was progressing until the recession flattened economic advancements in 2008, when unemployment rates rose to almost six per cent in September (compared to 3.7 per cent the previous September). The BP catastrophe seemed to deliver the final blow to the people and region of the Gulf of Mexico.

Following an explosion that took place on April 20, which claimed the lives of 11 workers on the drilling platform, millions of gallons of

crude oil were released into the Gulf.

The weeks that followed the initial disaster saw varying levels of success in capping the spill. The leak was eventually capped on July 15, but not before releasing what the BBC has reported as 4.9 million barrels of crude oil into the Atlantic Ocean at a rate varying from 53,000 to 62,000 barrels a day.

at risk in the Gulf region and more than 5,000 dead animals have been recovered thus far.

The spill has also taken a toll on an animal preservation program close to the hearts of Gulf natives. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries launched an alligator management program in 1972, which has since grown to become one of the most successful programs of its kind in the world.

What it means for wildlife A Coast Guard operator from Tennessee, who wished to remain anonymous, said that crude oil regularly leaks from slits in the ocean floor, allowing the region to have the capacity to absorb oil via bacterium naturally occurring in the water. Weather patterns have also aided in dispersing the oil into low-threat regions. As well, the clean-up responses of both BP and the federal government have had an integral role in greatly diminishing the impact of the spill.

Yet the incident has still taken an undeniable toll. Eight U.S. national parks are threatened by oxygen depletion and petroleum toxicity. More than 400 species of animals are

Louisiana has the largest alligator population in the U.S. In 1972, alligators numbered close to 150,000 in Louisiana. As a result of the program, the alligator population has since grown to over three million. However, the spill threatens to diminish the population.

A Consolidated Fish and Wildlife Collection Report released on Sept. 7 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service placed the number of dead birds, sea turtles, mammals and other reptiles collected on the coast as a result of the spill at a staggering 6,372. The number of visibly oiled live organisms collected by the service since the disaster was pegged at 2,512.

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Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

Reuters has reported that scientists are expressing concern about the effects that cannot be seen caused by underwater plumes of dispersed oil, such as longterm disruptions in the food chain.

In layman’s terms For the people of New Orleans, the oil spill has become the primary determinant of their livelihood, whether good or bad. Many in and around the fishing communities of Louisiana endure a love-hate relationship with BP. Some quietly tolerate the presence of the oil giant, some refer to it with disdain, while others live by the company.

The quality of life for Robert Jefferson, a commercial fisherman living in Covington County, La., has increased exponentially at the hands of BP. “We love BP,” Jefferson said. “They put me and my ship back to work right after the disaster.”

As a facet of BP’s clean-up response efforts, captains and their fishing boats were employed to help clean up the spill.

“They’re paying me $1,500 a day for my boat, they’re paying me $800 as a captain and they’re paying my wife $600 a day to continue work as my first mate as she did before,” Jefferson continued.

Many fisherman, like Jefferson, were hired to deploy and collect containment booms to absorb oil in the water.

“I’m receiving an exorbitant amount of money to continue working at a rate that none of us ever expected. Above and beyond that, I’ve been instructed that I can still sue for damages, even after all the money I’ve been paid so far,” he added.

However, Jefferson represents a minority of fishermen in the area who were selected to continue with the assistance. Many workers in the industry were ordered ashore due to the presentation of a variety of health risks.

As a result, some individuals do not share Jefferson’s enthusiasm. For those like Peter Jenning, a fisherman living near Lake Pontchartrain, La., extensive damage has already been done.

“We were unsure exactly how badly the spill would affect our lives. The oil may be cleaned up, but the spill area has become a dead zone, maybe for decades to come,” said Jenning.

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/concordianlife “Katrina took away most of what I had and BP came along to claim the rest.”

Many feel alienated and forgotten by BP. Those in the fishing communities are unsure to what extent BP will be prosecuted and held responsible.

For now, it is a struggle for many to even become eligible for BP’s $20-billion compensation fund. Many families are confronted with the challenging decision between enduring years of litigation or accepting a settlement without being sure of the damages sustained.

Further, the existence of a controversial clause that establishes eligibility by proximity to the Gulf and the spill has complicated matters. Many fishermen or boat operators whose businesses have been directly affected by the spill should have no difficulties submitting claims.

However, out-of-state companies whose business contracts are held with partners in the affected region, for example, will be hard-pressed to make a case.

Ron Abellard, the owner of a bait and tackle shop in Meridian, Mississippi said his store has been

supplying fishermen in the Gulf for nearly a decade.

“My business has suffered a lot after the spill. My lawyer has told me the outlook for claims is grim,” Abellard said. “But it’s not over, and we’ll keep pushing.”

explained that the team’s victory earlier symbolized how the city could transcend the ruin they faced and truly believe that success was possible.

“I feel like the Saints almost had to win to give this city the wake up it needed,” she said.

That NOLA optimism While recovery has been difficult, the people living in and around the Gulf area have proven their resilience.

According to the Brookings Institute, more than 90 per cent of New Orleans residents have returned to the region since Hurricane Katrina and 85 per cent of the jobs had been re-established as of June 2010. Neighbourhoods and communities have banded together in civic duty, which the Wall Street Journal has attributed to grassroots organizations, rather than governmental intervention.

“The people are very optimistic,” said Judy Leonhard, a chef in the city’s French Quarter.

“As trivial as it may sound, folks here were given a boost when the Saints won the Super Bowl.”

Leonhard

Open season As New Orleans is experiencing some newfound buoyancy, the state of Louisiana turned its attention to the start of shrimp fishing season. Typically set on the third Monday of August, few shrimp docks actually opened at that time.

Since the spill began, certain areas of state water were kept open to harvest brown shrimp, but it was only recently that the larger, more desirable white shrimp were deemed safe for human consumption by the U.S. government.

However, it has proven difficult to convince consumers.

John Morin, a restaurant employee in the French Quarter, explained the difficulties in finding suitable seafood to serve.

“We do not sell Gulf products here,” he assured. “We simply can’t do it. The customers would never eat here.”

The majority of the Gulf of Mexico fisheries in U.S. federal waters were shut down following the spill. Overall, Louisiana accounts for 72 per cent of the seafood that is collected from the Gulf region.

According to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, 17 million kilograms of seafood was caught last year. This year, the catch stands at just over six million kilograms. The department has estimated that it will be more than five years before consumers will trust the Louisiana brand again.

Graphic by Vincent Beauchemin

Looking ahead For the population of New Orleans, the next few years present an interesting scenario. The spill has thrust the city back into the spotlight.

Many residents are optimistic that this will help expose some of the lingering needs that remain unaddressed since Hurricane Katrina, such as stimulating economic diversity and rebuilding the region.

“Everyone’s focused on all the negatives here; I like to think of it as more of an opportunity. There’s a lot of unfinished business here,” said Jefferson.

arts

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

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Write to the editor: arts@theconcordian.com FILM

Paint me a photograph Montreal International Film Festival winner explores human depths Radina Papukchieva Assistant arts editor

When the painter paints his muse, is he responsible in some way for what stands before him?

In Tromper le silence, a photographer (an exquisite Suzanne Clément) becomes obsessed with her model (a brooding Maxime Dumontier). The movie, winner of the Coup de coeur prize for most popular Canadian film at this year’s Montreal World Film Festival, is written and directed by Quebec’s own Julie Hivon. Her previous works include the comedy Ice Cream, Chocolate, and Other Consolations (2001). Tromper le silence also won the Innovation award at the Festival.

When Guillaume steps into Viviane’s studio for the first time, she notices something underneath his messy appearance and nonchalant attitude. Something about him stirs feelings within her, and she asks Guil-

laume to model for her for a personal project.

He reminds her of her younger brother, who disappeared from Viviane’s life a long time ago. Later, she learns that like her, he has a brother whom he feels he let down. While Viviane uses Guillaume to heal a wound from the past, he uses her to put some order in his present.

“

The look of the movie is perfectly calculated to create hidden bitterness and inner struggle

Tromper le silence doesn’t move with a plot, but with complex characters. Viviane is quiet and doesn’t talk about herself too much. Guillaume becomes the perfect channel for her emotions. He is a Kurt Cobain look-alike, with lots of scars on his body, greasy blond hair, and a scruffy beard. He

looks like something scraped off the floor of a bar after a fight. Like Viviane, he doesn’t say much. The one sound most heard between them is the click of the camera. When Guillaume is sitting down on the sofa and Viviane surrounds him slowly with the camera, it is like watching a vulture circling its prey.

You’re made nervous that at any moment one of them might explode with anger, or passion, or any other emotion. But it never happens, and their scars never burst out completely.

They become friends without really knowing each other, or themselves for that matter.

Although the movie does not offer a specific plot, you are pulled into it because of the relationships between the characters. It is not what happens at the time in which the movie takes place that is interesting, but what seems to have taken place before.Throughout, there is a lingering hope that the characters’ lives will be revealed in more detail, and though this eventually happens, nothing is given away completely. For Viviane these moments are explored in flashbacks with her brother, a series of grainy photograph-like instants. And for Guillaume, we are made to struggle to understand him alongside Viviane, to whom he slowly begins to open up and eventually confesses why his brother is in a wheelchair.

The look of the movie is perfectly calculated to create this atmosphere of hidden bitterness and inner struggle with the past.

Tromper le silence is shot in nuances of cold blue and smoky gray, evoking a feeling similar to a Dickensian novel. The action takes place in the winter, thus emphasizing the themes of alienation and loneliness.

The charm of Tromper le silence lies in the fact that the film doesn’t take itself seriously; there is no profoundly emotional dialogue, but a lot of closeups that speak volumes.

Tromper le silence is a fresh and different approach to drama. There is no romance, no particular pursuit. It is worth seeing because it’s beautiful, like a photograph. The film gets its acclaim because it is framed like a picture of the human condition.

The movie simply introduces a platonic meeting between two human beings, with a lot of emotional baggage. And the more often they meet, the more their personal dilemmas become clear. In the same way, with every picture that Viviane takes, more of Guillaume’s scars appear on the photograph.

Click.

You can catch Tromper le silence at movie theatres now, including Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin, near Berri-UQAM metro.

The exquisite Viviane (Suzanne Clément) is a photographer obsessed with her model, in Tromper le silence, an award-winning film that premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival.

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theconcordian

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010 REVIEW

Where the dangers of marijuana lurked around every turn Raunchy production turns the corruption of youth into a good thing Bianca Puorto Contributor Mainline Theatre is known for taking its audience on original, slightly strange adventures that force one to take a step outside the box and onto the edge that is fringe theatre. Nichole Carlone’s interpretation of Reefer Madness lives up to the Mainline’s reputation by bringing spectators back to 1936, a world where teens still hung out at the local malt shop and the dangers of marijuana lurked around every turn.

Reefer Madness is based on a 1936 propaganda video that was designed to warn teens and their parents against the harmful effects of substance abuse. The play is a musical parody of the video that tells the story of Jimmy Harper, an upstanding young man, who is lured off the path of the righteous and down the highway to hell. When Jimmy is picked up at the malt shop

by Jack Stone, a shady drug dealer pedaling dance lessons, his world is turned upside down and his budding romance with high school sweetheart Mary Lane is put in jeopardy.

Actor Christopher Hayes brings the character of Jimmy Harper to life with a part that has him playing both Jekyll and Hyde. At the start of our story, young Jimmy is as fresh-faced and innocent as they come. After just one encounter with what is referred to as “the reefer,” Jimmy goes through a night-and-day transformation that turns him into a miscreant who pulls hit and runs on senior citizens and steals from church

donation boxes.

Emily Skahan plays the part of Jimmy’s doeeyed girlfriend Mary Lane, a girl so sweet she’ll make your teeth ache. Surprisingly, her saccharine Mary Lane works for Carlone’s over-the-top rendition. Skahan has the audience roaring with laughter at Mary’s cheesy turns of phrase and her thorough conviction of Romeo and Juliet’s “happy ending.”

George Bekiaris and Joanne Sarrazen bring a more mature air to the cast as drug dealer Jack Stone and his girlfriend Mae Coleman, who struggle with their own relationship.

The entire play is narrated by actor Marc-Andre Poulin; his character is so grating that you’d swear he was the guy in those Grade 9 “Just Say No” videos.

Finally, Helena-Marie Patte and Jade Hassoune play Sally and Ralph, two addicts who constantly haunt Stone’s drug den. Hassoune is a real treat in this production, taking on no fewer than three characters as well as being part of the chorus.

If newcomer Carlone’s cast is packed with energy and talent, her set balances it all out.

Mainline’s black box stage leaves little room for elaborate sets that would fit in a larger theatre; the director/set designer makes do with four painted cubes and cardboard cutouts that are moved around like a rubik’s cube to create the play’s different locations. Though this may seem slightly low budget, she somehow manages to make it work. With the cast doing their own set changes, the show has a more intimate and genuine feel. The director also uses the theatre’s structure to her advantage; a surround sound effect is created when the chorus sings from behind the curtains that encircles the theatre.With its cast of angels dressed like Vegas showgirls and songs that have audience members roaring with laughter, theatre production company Processed Theatre’s first production is a hilarious, if slightly raunchy, show that may not turn you off the green stuff but will definitely show you just as good a time.

Do you have an eye for the arts?

Do you have a taste for the finer things in life?

Do you have a grasp on the pulse of your community?

We’re looking to elect three members to expand the Concordian team: - arts editor - assistant life editor - assistant news editor If you answered yes to any of the above -- we want to talk to you.

Email your CV with a writing sample to elections@theconcordian.com by Friday, Sept. 24. Elections will be held Sunday, Sept. 26. All staff writers are eligible to vote.

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/concordianarts

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

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BOOKS

Of Lincoln and zombies

Seth Grahame-Smith releases his second literary mash-up — Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Hisham Kelati The Fulcrum (University of Ottawa)

OTTAWA (CUP) — Abraham Lincoln was one awesome president. He was freakishly tall (for his time), wore top hats, was the first president with a beard — oh, and he freed the slaves. There’s only one thing that could make old Abe any cooler than he already is, and author Seth Grahame-Smith knows exactly what that is.

In a followup to his wildly successful 2009 novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Grahame-Smith is back with his latest literary mash-up Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

The story, which is surprisingly historically accurate, revolves around Lincoln — a gangly, awkward, kind-hearted kid from Kentucky, who grows up to lead America through its Civil War, uniting a country and ending slavery in the process. What the rest of the world doesn’t know, and what the fictional work claims, is that there was a deeper, uglier, supernatural aspect to Lincoln’s life that haunted him until his last moments on Earth, promoting slavery and wishing to see the secession of the South from the Union — vampires.

With careful attention to detail, GrahameSmith recounts Lincoln’s entire life, creatively weaving in a vampire-themed subplot that blends well into the story. The author partners supernatural themes with major points in Abe’s life such as his mother’s death, his election into the Illinois State Assembly, and major events in the American Civil War. The novel starts off with a promising introduction to the fictional aspect of the story, explaining how the author came across a set of authentic, undiscovered journals through a strange acquaintance (Henry the Vampire) who asked him to write the true story of Lincoln and the American Civil War. The author fills in the details of Lincoln’s epic vampire-killing life using the evidence he “finds” in the fictional journals, which detail every major event in Lincoln’s life — from his childhood, to his work as a vampire hunter, up to his eventual presidency.

Grahame-Smith does a great job jumping into the plot. He introduces the vampire aspect with relative ease and little backstory, but what starts out as a promising story ends up falling apart midway through the novel. The central concept of the book ends up as its major failure: instead of an actionpacked, humour-filled adventure of Honest Abe kicking ass, all the reader is given is Grahame-Smith taking himself too seriously and turning the book into a detailed epistolary novel. As a result, the work ends up as little more than a slightly entertaining Lincoln biography.

Although it can be argued that the subject matter (American Civil War, slavery) may require a certain level of creative restraint, the main concept of the book is Lincoln killing vampires — so more humour, adventure

Graphic by Sean Kershaw

and ass-kicking would have been greatly appreciated.

Such a fantastic concept could have been made better by taking a less sincere and more fictional perspective, rather than sacrificing entertainment value to produce a historically accurate story.

That being said, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is still worth the money, if for nothing more than to see how well Grahame-Smith deftly fuses the concept of the American Civil War and the blood-sucking undead into a decent book.

music Write to the editor: music@theconcordian.com

INTERVIEW

Chromeo is sincere yet silly,

sexy yet dorky, business yet casual Montreal act talks about longevity, diversity and the legs Shannon H. Myers Music editor Having just wrapped up an international tour, Chromeo have returned to Montreal to spend a few days in their hometown - including last Thursday’s show at Loyola campus with K’naan - before hitting the international circuit again, this time with a brand new album.

The tour exceeded expectations, selling out bigger rooms than they’re used to playing, even with the release of Business Casual around the corner.

“We came into the European part of this tour thinking that everyone had forgotten about us and that we were going to have to win audiences over again and play for empty rooms,” said David Macklovitch (a.k.a.

Dave 1); one half of Chromeo, with Patrick Gemayel (a.k.a. P-Thugg).

The unexpected success of “Night by Night” in the European club circuit ensured that this would not be the case, and Chromeo’s international presence continues to grow with the aid of remixes by MSTRKRFT, DFA, Bloc Party, and Yusek, just to name a few.

Business Casual officially drops today and the album is being touted by reviewers as sounding bigger and slicker than the first two. There are a number of new elements, such as a string section and a song in French (their debut album She’s in Control features a French track called “Ah oui comme ca” but it’s mostly instrumental).

According to Macklovitch, a lot of work went into making this album “more musical” than the others, including a refined songwriting process that has a stronger emphasis on vocal harmonies and chord progressions.

Alongside references as diverse as A Tribe Called Quest and The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin’s album progression is used for comparison.

“The second album was the one with all the big risks but a lot of people like the third one the best because it’s deeper; it has ‘Immigrant Song’ on it,” stated Macklovitch. “‘Night by Night’ is our ‘Immigrant Song.’”

This reference may seem out of place for a synth-heavy, love-tunes electro band but on closer listen to any of Chromeo’s work, the diversity becomes evident. They’re often pigeonholed into an ‘80s synth-pop category; however, Chromeo has notably also produced a French ballad, a seven-minute funk jam, and a song that evokes ‘70s sitcoms.

In fact, the two began their musical careers as hip-hop producers and their first song, released under the band name Hijack, is evidence of the importance hip hop had to these two kids coming of age in the ‘90s. Then, when 9/11 happened, the name was dropped and the band began to find their own unique brand of funk.

“We were able to fit pretty much everything we wanted to do within the Chromeo format,” said Macklovitch. “It’s gotta have that quirkiness, it’s gotta be edgy.”

It doesn’t get much edgier than Chromeo’s use of the feminine silhouette and legs as synth stands and album covers, which Macklovitch states are often misinterpreted as symbols of feminine sexuality. In fact, they are arbitrary clichés used as throwbacks to the artistic freedom of ‘80s iconography, ‘60s French iconography and films, erotic magazines and album covers that have a distinguished beauty and class that Chromeo want to replicate.

“People are conservative,” said Macklovitch, “but I always remember my first erection being to ‘I Wish They All Could be California Girls’ by David Lee Roth - that video, it was amazing, you know?”

To still be relevant six years after debuting and to have a healthy career after three

MIXTAPE

albums is no small feat for a couple of guys from Outremont. A third album warrants comfort with their identity. Chromeo have come into themselves and are now able to enjoy the many facets the band’s maturity encompasses.

With the winner of the Polaris Prize being announced Sept. 20, we decided to present you with a mix of this year’s short- and longlisted candidates. Sit back and enjoy some good ol’ Canadian talent.

To listen visit, www.8tracks.com/the_concordian/polaris-prize-mix SIDE A: The short list 1. “Forced To Love” – Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record, 2010 2. “Odessa” – Caribou - Swim, 2010 3. “Albatross” – The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night, 2010 4. “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt” – Owen Pallett – Heartland, 2010 5. “Le Bon Sens” – Karkwa – Les Chemins De Verre, 2010

Polaris Prize nominees Arranged by Cora Ballou- Assistant music editor

Chromeo, shown below, playing Concordia’s Orientation Week is made up of Dave 1 and P-Thugg. Photos by Tiffany Blaise (top) and Shannon H. Myers (below).

6. “The Indie Queens Are Waiting” – Dan Mangan - Nice, Nice, Very Nice, 2009 7. “Another Year Again” – The Sadies Darker Circles, 2010 8. “Guess What?” – Radio Radio - Belmundo Regal, 2010 9. “A Good Name” – Shad - TSOL, 2010 10. “Don’t Rush” – Tegan & Sara – Sainthood, 2009 SIDE B: Close, but no cigar - Our faves from the long list 1. “Tom Cruz” – Plants & Animals - La La Land, 2010 2. “Your Hands (Together)” – The New Pornographers – Together, 2010 3. “Celestica” – Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles II, 2010 4. “There is XXXX (Within My Heart)” – You Say Party – XXXX, 2009 5. “Love Is A Dirty Word” – Jason Collett – Rat a Tat Tat, 2010 6. “Marching Through Your Head” – Zeus – Say Us, 2010 7. “Go On” – Basia Bulat – Heart of My Own, 2010 8. “I’m Going To Stay That Way” – LeE HARVeY OsMOND – A Quiet Evil, 2009 9. “Wind Blows” – Yukon Blonde – Yukon Blonde, 2010 10. “Already Yours” – Bahamas – Pink Strat, 2009

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/concordianmusic BACKSTAGE PASS

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

13

GUIDE

How to start a kick-ass band in Montreal

An essential guide to forming a band Jake Freekin Smith Contributor

So you wanna start a band? You saw some sweaty person give it their all at some bar in exchange for a wad of cash and free beer and you thought, “Wow I can sweat that much!” Great!

I can help. As daunting as it seems, it’s seriously way easy. I’ve created a step-by-step process that ought to do the trick.

Step 1: Find some bandmates This is step one because it is the easiest of easy steps. There are lots of places you can look: coffee shops in Mile End, loft parties, Tam Tams, Your circle of friends and family, etc. If you really don’t know musicians, I recommend craigslist.

A sample ad might look like this: “I need a bassist, drummer, lead guitarist and WE ARE GOING TO BE EACH OTHERS NEW BEST FRIENDS which means we call each other everyday even if it’s to go out and have a drink eventhough it has nothing to do with music BUT WHEN IT’S TIME TO PLAY MUSIC WE FUCKING DO IT if you have a WORK HARD, PLAY LATER ATTITUDE PLEASE CONTACT ME” This was a real ad titled “SERIOUS SERIOUS SERIOUS”. If you post anything other than this, you will probably get replies.

Step 2: Think up a sweet name This step sucks. Hard. This is the worst and most difficult part of starting a band anywhere.

You want your name to be relevant to the music you’re playing, yet simple enough for drunk people to understand in a loud room.

A common trick is to name yourself after the song of one of your influences. Or name yourself some weird, cool-sounding word in another language. If all else fails go to Wikipedia.com, hit random article, and name your band whatever pops up. Go ahead, I’ll wait. I got “Penny Dreadful,” “Hinduism in Mozambique” and

“Bendigo Pioneers” - all decent.

Step 3: Create a bold and sexy image This is probably the most important step. Your image is what’s going to sell you before your music will, so make it good.

You’ll want to grunge yourself up a bit. Try to look as though you haven’t showered in a couple days, just rolled out of bed, and had sex with someone whose name you’ve forgotten. Facial hair, tattoos and piercings are always good, as are large sunglasses and homemade clothing.

You’ll need lots of narcissistic photos of this look. Find a photographer friend and get them to take your photo somewhere interesting, like a rooftop, hospital, or dumpster. Then spread it around. I want to see your hungover face on the cover of the Mirror by next week.

Step 4: Learn an instrument Obviously you need to play something, but you don’t really need to be good at it. Try learning four or five chords on a guitar. That is enough right there to play almost any pop song.

Or get a synth and a beat machine and just mash buttons until it sounds good. You’d be surprised and frightened at how many high-profile bands use this method. If you have been blessed with a singing voice then you don’t need to learn anything.

Step 5: Define your style You can make all kinds of weird-sounding garbage, call it “indie” and you’ll probably be safe.

Try to have a weird combination of instruments like bouzouki, lute, drum pads, piccolo, and Mongolian throat singing. That actually sounds quite good in my head. If you make said band, let me know when you’ve got some shows.

Step 6: Practice Bummer, I know, but it has to be done. Try to find a studio if you’re loud, or if you’re not, just do the same nine songs over and over again in your duplex. The downstairs neighbors will love you. Make sure to crank the bass.

If you’ve followed my steps you should now be the frontman/woman of the next big thing.

Congrats! I want my cut; so go out, book some gigs and get rockin’!

Jake plays in bands Who by Fire and Slutdrive. You can catch him performing with Who by Fire at Barfly on Sept. 23.

Photo courtesy of writer Jake Freekin Smith (fourth from the left) jams atop his roof with some friends.

LOYOLA DEAN OF STUDENTS INFO CENTRE IS NOW OPEN SO BEFORE YOU DASH FOR THE SHUTTLE CHECK IT OUT! THE INFO CENTRE OFFERS YOU… COMPUTERS TO ACCESS myCONCORDIA PORTAL INFORMATION ON STUDENT SERVICES UNIVERSITY FORMS AND APPLICATIONS FREE TELEPHONES

What to do and listen to this fall semester How to stay on top of your music game Cora Ballou Assistant music editor Now that the new school year is in full swing, it’s time for us to let you know how to avoid wasting your semester away in some cold, beige basement classroom. And let me tell ya, this fall is jam-packed with cool stuff to do and listen to. Here you’ll get the lowdown on what albums will be coming out, what shows and festivals you can’t miss, as well as information on bands to watch out for so you can impress all those new friends you made at orientation week.

Press play This fall will be a time for old bands to shine once more. This month, ’80s legends Manic Street Preachers will be releasing their 10th studio album, Postcards From a Young Man, which has been in the works for over a year and has been dubbed by the band as “one last shot at mass communication.” Music stores everywhere will also see new albums by Eric Clapton (Clapton) and Neil Young (Le Noise) come out the same day, which both promise a return to their original rock ’n’ roll roots.

In October, rock icon Bryan Ferry will release his solo album Olympia, which will feature model Kate Moss on the cover. He will need to compete with the much younger, hipper bands that will also be dropping records this month, including Sufjan Stevens with his electronicameets-orchestra album The Age of Adz and the long-anticipated Kings of Leon follow-up Come Around Sundown. For alternative music fans everywhere, Belle & Sebastian will also be coming out with new music (Write About Love) which will most likely be heard in an upcoming indie film.

November and December will see Bryan Ferry’s old bandmate Brian Eno release Small Craft On A Milk Sea which will feature extensive collaborations with artists Leo Abrahams and Jon Hopkins and has been described as sounding “live” and “alien” at the same time.

On the more musical side of things, Elvis Costello will be releasing yet another album (National Ransom) which will be in an “Americana and R&B” vein.

But it is likely that the big winner this fall will be a tie between Kanye West with his fourth studio album, Dark Twisted Fantasy and the Beastie Boys. The latter is finally releasing the long-awaited Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1, which was originally slated for a fall 2009 release but was pushed back due to Adam “MCA” Yauch’s cancer diagnosis.

Festival fever Listening to records can be quite enjoyable, but the live experience is what all music fans crave. This year the city has outdone itself.

Four major festivals will be hitting the streets before the year is out, featuring great local talent as well as some long-awaited international acts.

Pop Montreal will be running from Sept.

29 to Oct. 3 and will feature performances by Gotan Project, The Dears, Braids and Macy Gray. Make sure not to miss up-and-coming bands such as Serena Maneesh, Hollerado, The

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For those who missed this summer’s Jazz Festival, there will be The OFF Jazz Festival which will be happening from Oct. 15 to 23.

Featuring Quebec-based jazz musicians, this festival allows amateurs the chance to play with professionals in various local watering holes. Stay tuned for the lineup announcement on Sept. 21 at www.lofffestivaldejazz.com M for Montreal is our local version of SXSW and will be showcasing some great local talent this Nov. 17 to 20. Industry professionals from all over the world will be swooping into the city, ready to put the next big band on the map. The lineup will be released soon at www. mpourmontreal.com Stage dive For those looking for one-off shows to bring friends and sweethearts to, local promoters will not disappoint this semester. CJLO, our very own radio station, will be presenting Caribou (Sept. 16 – La Tulipe) and Superchunk (Sept.

23 – Le National) as part of their Disorientation Week. As extra incentive, Concordia students get in for only $10 which means you get to spend the money you saved on beer and an awesome new T-shirt!

It is the month of October that will be the most fruitful, with shows by garage rock legends King Khan & The Shrines (Oct. 9 – Cabaret du Mile-End), psychedelic rock band Deerhunter (Oct. 17 – La Tulipe) and indie rock heroes Hot Hot Heat (Oct. 16 – Le Belmont).

On the international level, the Bell Centre will see the Gorillaz play on Oct. 3 and the CEPSUM will welcome Phoenix on Oct. 21.

November and December will also be good months as The Dandy Warhols play Nov. 2 followed by Mumford & Sons on Nov. 12, both at Le National. Stars (Dec. 4) and Broken Social Scene (Dec. 18) will the close the semester with shows at Metropolis.

New arrivals A confession: we here at the Concordian believe we are psychic. This is why we’ve decided to finish this list off with a few bands that you should get to know before they’re on everyone’s radios. The good news is that they’re also going to be playing here in the next few months! So take a pen and some paper and get ready to amuse acquaintances with your obscure references.

Kurt Vile is definitely a musician to look out for. His brand of psychedelic ambient rock is not only hypnotic but also incredibly catchy.

Make sure to see him opening for Superchunk on Sept. 23 and watch for a profile in our next issue. Also in September will be a show by lo-fi pop darlings Best Coast at Sala Rossa on Sept. 27. Girlfriend to the Wavves frontman, she sings about crushes, first kisses and smoking weed to simple three-chord pop melodies.

Blonde Redhead have started to make a name for themselves with their quirky alternative-rock sound. They’ll be playing at Metropolis on Oct. 16. The next day, make sure to also catch The Drums who will amaze you with their psychedelic art-rock sound at the Cabaret Juste Pour Rire. Finally, keep an eye out for Two Door Cinema Club who will be gracing Le National’s stage on Oct. 24. Playing fun electro pop, they’re sure to make you dance the night away just in time for Halloween and midterms.

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14

theconcordian

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

Quick Spins

Retro review

Brandon Flowers – Flamingo (Island; 2010)

Weezer - Hurley (Epitaph; 2010)

Les Savy Fav - Root For Ruin (Frenchkiss Records; 2010)

Gun N’ Roses – Lies (Geffen; 1988)

After the enormous success of The Killers (including four albums and countless hit singles), it’s not surprising that the band’s frontman Brandon Flowers’ first solo effort does not veer away from the Vegas quartet’s synth and ‘80s-inspired sound and style. Why should it?

The often-sombre Flamingo does not disappoint. While the album’s subject matter is dark, in true Killers fashion, it is sometimes playful like on the up-tempo tracks “I Came Here To Get Over You” and “Was It Something I Said?”

While Flamingo does not break new ground, it gives Flowers the opportunity to express himself honestly and personally. The sincerity and grit cannot be faked; Flowers must be drawing on his experiences to lament about loss, abandonment, breakups and life in general. Great album opener “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas,” Flowers’ love letter of sorts to his hometown, also tells the listener what to expect in the next 13 songs.

It’s rare for a band to have enough great material to successfully put out three separate albums in consecutive years. Unfortunately for Weezer, their new album Hurley is not an exception. Their first record since leaving longtime label Geffen seems lazy and rushed. While their last effort, 2009’s Raditude, actually had some catchy songs, this album has not one original recording worth listening to a second time. Actor Michael Cera makes a guest appearance on “Hang On”, but his backing vocals are drowned out by lead singer Rivers Cuomo’s increasingly whiny voice. “Memories” is the album’s first (and hopefully only) single, but it’s a track I’d much rather forget. The closest the album comes to having one worthwhile song is the cover of Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”, included on the album’s deluxe edition, but even that feels like a lazy effort.

If you want to listen to some quality Weezer tracks, skip this and listen to their older stuff. You can stream their album at www.myspace.com/weezer.

Les Savy Fav still haven’t managed to replicate the unhinged craziness of their sweat-drenched live show onto disc, and their tendencies to indulge in arty punk on their albums have also alienated fans previously blown away by their bringthe-party wall of noise. While this fifth full-length album won’t convert any naysayers, it is a welcome addition for the rest of us. Plenty of “fuck yeah!” guitar moments make the occasional lapse into self-indulgence all the more palatable.

Singer Tim Harrington gets awkwardly sexy on “Lips ‘n Stuff”, where he sings: “Pretend with innocence, we’re just friends with benefits, we don’t even say we kiss, we just touch our lips…” That’s so hot it makes the Jonas Brothers sound like a bunch of impotent molesters.

While it’s certainly as great as anything they have ever done, Root For Ruin still serves as something of an appetizer for Les Savy Fav’s chaotic live show – shirts, of course, are optional.

Trial Tracks: “Crossfire” and “The Clock Was Tickin’”

Trial Track: “Viva La Vida”

Trial Track: “Appetites”

Lies is an album that has been forgotten in the annals of rock history. Released shortly after GN’R’s record breaking debut Appetite for Destruction, it was regarded as an industry tactic to profit from the band’s newfound success. This might be true, but over time the album’s cash-grabbing traits have overshadowed the fact that Lies is a pretty solid album. The A side is composed of re-released “live” tracks, which had in fact been recorded in a studio, with audience noises added at a later date. Yet they still retain the rock ‘n’ roll grittiness that made GN’R famous, including a great Aerosmith cover of “Mama Kin.” The flip side was originally intended as a throwaway of acoustic tracks.

But it is here that the hidden gems are to be found. Besides the rather sappy “Patience” there are tough, blues-infused tracks like “You’re Crazy.” And no Lies review would be complete without mentioning “One in a Million” in which lead singer Axl Rose rails against every minority under the disguise of being a “simple country boy.” In the simplest terms, Lies is the perfect representation of GN’R at its best: loud, controversial and just plain insane.

8.0/10

4.0/10

7.0/10

- Chris Hanna

- Jamie Gewurz

- Chris Morin

Trial Track: “You’re Crazy”

- Cora Ballou

Did you know… …that you can apply NOW for the 2010-2011

Undergraduate In-Course Bursary Program!

The online In-Course Bursary application is now available on the MyConcordia Portal.

The Concordia University Foundation, along with various corporations, private individuals, and alumni, contribute funding to the In-Course Bursary program, which assists Undergraduate students in acceptable academic standing and financial need.

For further information, consult the online In-Course Bursary application which is available through the MyConcordia Portal, or visit the Financial Aid and Awards Office website at http://financialaid.concordia.ca To apply for the Undergraduate In-Course Bursary Program, log on to your MyConcordia Portal account, then follow the Financial > Financial Aid links to the web applications section.

Please note that the Undergraduate In-Course Bursary program is only open to Undergraduate students in second year or higher, with a Last Annual GPA and Cumulative GPA of at least 2.00.

As well, students receiving an Entrance Scholarship, Entrance Bursary, or In-Course Scholarship at Concordia University for the 2010-2011 school year are not eligible to apply for the In-Course Bursary program.

Graduate-level students and Visiting Students are not eligible to apply.

Applications will be considered in late November 2010 and results will be announced to applicants in early December.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Sunday October 17, 2010 at midnight Apply today! Don’t delay!

sports

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

15

Write to the editor: sports@theconcordian.com RUGBY

Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup safely at home Exhibition game honouring late rugby star ends in victory for Stingers Kelly Greig Contributor Jackie Tittley had an important mission on Wednesday night at Concordia stadium. The women’s rugby captain was responsible for keeping the Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup safely in her grip, and out of McGill’s hands. “I have to keep it safe, it’s an important piece,” she joked as she cradled the glass trophy. “It’s under very high security.”

Tittley and the Concordia Stingers squeaked by the McGill Martlets 3-0 to bring home the Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup for the second consecutive year.

The game is played in memory of Kelly-Anne Drummond, a member of the Stingers’ rugby squad who was murdered in 2004. Her boyfriend was found guilty of the murder in 2006.

The friendly is played against McGill because Drummond loved the game and the cross-town rivalry.

“Kelly-Anne loved playing rugby, she loved being at Concordia, she loved the competition, she loved the feeling of winning,” said Doreen

Photo by Cindy Lopez Stingers captain Jackie Tittley tackles a Martlet on the way to a 3-0 victory. machine with scrum half Jessie Lapointe alterHaddad, Drummond’s mother. “Kelly-Anne was nating between backs and forwards plays. like all the girls on both squads that were here The Martlets were back on their heels this evening. They were team players, spirited, when a punishing tackle on Concordia’s Ariane she was the same way. I just want [the players] Beaulieu brought the game to a screeching halt. to know her, know what she was like.”

Beaulieu suffered a dislocated hip and was taken Drummond’s spirit of competition was away by ambulance. certainly present as the game was a hard fought “I thought we had a great game up until contest. Both squads were a mix of rookies, Ariane got hurt,” said head coach Graeme Mcsecond-stringers and starters as the game had no Gravie. “For both teams, that just took the wind bearing on conference standings, but was used out of the sails, we both really struggled to get as an opportunity for players to prove themgoing after that.” selves.

The second half was a grittier back-and-forth The Stingers set the tone early, penetrating game. Both teams were struggling to generate deep into McGill territory and testing the Martlet defence. Concordia was working like a well-oiled a consistent offence and every ball was fought

for with tooth and nail. Penalties plagued both squads as valuable territory was just given away.

However, there were strokes of brilliance in the second half. Fly half Erika Hamilton made up for a fumbled pass by weaving through the Martlets for a 15 yard run, Jessica Beaudry broke through tackles on a solo run and fullback Jenna Giuliani was near perfect in her kick returns.

“I personally don’t think we played a very good game as a squad but we had some really good individual efforts,” said Tittley post-game, citing the second half heroics.

With only seven minutes to play and the score still 0-0, Concordia had their chance. Backto-back McGill penalties put Tittley in range for a penalty kick. From 37 yards out, she put the ball between the uprights to put the Stingers ahead by three. “Those kicks are routine kicks for me, I knew it was going in,” she said.

Despite a late onslaught by the Martlets, that’s how the score would remain. Their lastminute hopes were squandered by a missed penalty kick opportunity.

After the game, Haddad addressed both teams, telling them how much they all seemed to follow Kelly-Anne’s spirit towards rugby and encouraged them to continue playing with integrity.

Although there was no entry charge for the game, money raised at the entrance through a raffle and will be donated to Women Aware, a Montreal non-profit organization for women and children facing domestic violence.

According to Haddad’s blog, over $1,500 was raised, a slight increase from last year’s tally.

HOCKEY

The resurgence of the Tampa Bay Lightning

GM Steve Yzerman leading the way for a once lost franchise

By Richard Obrand Contributor

It’s puzzling, really, how a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning, just six years removed of a Stanley Cup championship, was forced to drop everything and start all over.

Although you can blame former wacky owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie for a bulk of the organization’s problem, the team was also in shambles on many levels below ownership.

Former general manager Brian Lawton made headlines for all the wrong reasons in seasons past: awarding lucrative contracts to less-thanstellar players, and making trades that would seem almost fair in NHL 11. Lawton was also at the epicentre of the Vincent Lecavalier trade rumours, citing numerous times that his star forward was indeed on the trading block, and on other occasions announcing the contrary.

The Lecavalier saga may have been a roller coaster, but the franchise was in the midst of a big free fall, the bottom of which was the hiring of ESPN’s NHL insider Barry Melrose as head coach for the start of the 2008 season. That experiment lasted just one month, as Melrose was fired, leaving his coaching record at 5-7-4.

The Lightning were in a complete state of disarray. Gone were the memories of the 2004 Stanley Cup run. Gone were the memories of arguably the best line hockey had to offer in Lecavalier, Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis.

Gone were the amusing, yet effective, methods of Coach John Tortorella.

The identity that NHL fans had become familiar with over the organizations short history was all but erased. There was nothing left.

However, as is usually the case with bottomfeeding teams, the Lightning were given a new lease on life. Out were Koules and Barry, in was Jeff Vinik. Though unknown to the hockey world, Vinik has made substantial changes since

Flickr

Do these lightning fans have something to look forward to? Our columnist thinks so. taking the reins for the Lightning. Interim head coach Rick Tocchet was replaced by up-andcoming coach Guy Boucher, and most noticeably, management replaced Lawton with Steve Yzerman.

This is where it gets interesting.

Already blessed with some immense on-ice talent in Lecavalier, St. Louis, Steve Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Ryan Malone and Mattias Ohlund, Yzerman put his stamp on the organization by acquiring some marquee names during the off-season.

His tenure began at the draft, where he used

his sixth overall pick to select Prince George Cougars forward Brett Connolly. Connolly is viewed as a high-risk, high-reward prospect as injuries have already begun plaguing his young career.

Two years ago, Connolly recorded 30 goals and 30 assists in 60 games for the WHL’s Cougars and followed that up with an injury filled 2009-2010 season that saw him register just 19 points in just 16 games.

Yzerman’s summer of rebranding the Lightning continued with the additions of Simon Gagne, goaltender Dan Ellis and depth forward Dominic Moore.

The Southeast division has arguably been the worst division in the NHL in years past, with only the Washington Capitals making the postseason in 2009-2010. The Tampa Bay Lightning’s exciting off-season has led many to believe that they can make the playoffs out of the Eastern Conference. With parity at an all-time high in the new NHL, don’t be shocked to see the Lightning make a push in the East.

And who knows, with Yzerman’s championship pedigree, don’t be surprised to see a competitive Tampa Bay team for years to come.

16

theconcordian

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

CAMPUS

Mixed results this weekend for Stingers as four teams hold home openers Jamie Gewurz Sports editor It was a decent week for the Stingers as they managed to win half their games while keeping it close in the others.

The women’s rugby team got it started last Wednesday night by eking out a 3-0 win over McGill to win the Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup for the second straight year. The annual exhibition game is played in honour of the late Kelly-Anne Drummond, a former Stingers rugby player who was killed six years ago.

They then took care of business in the regular season by beating Ottawa 31-14 in their home opener on Sunday. Cara Stuckey led the way with 2 tries.

The men weren’t too shabby on Sunday either during their home opener; they beat Bishop’s by the same point differential, 24-7.

Based on both teams’ performances we should be seeing a great season for Concordia rugby. The baseball team won both halves of a doubleheader versus Carleton, 3-0 and 4-3.

With four games coming up in the next seven days, the defending national champions are about to embark on a very busy week.

Meanwhile, a young Stingers football team also opened their home season, losing a close game against Montreal, though the 29-8 would indicate otherwise.

The soccer teams were not entirely successful either, as the women’s team tied with Bishop’s (1-1) Friday night before both teams lost Sunday in Sherbrooke (4-0 for the women, 1-0 for the men).

With the pressure of home openers out of the way for all of the fall teams (hockey and basketball count as winter teams), the Stingers can now focus on improving. With a busy fall schedule, Concordia students will have plenty of opportunity to cheer for their team, whether it be at home or on the road.

Stinger pitcher Mehdi Djabbar led his team to victory on Saturday. Photo by Kevin Raftery

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/concordiansport

17

FOOTBALL

Stingers crushed by dominating rushing attack Concordia can’t contain MontrÊal as they lose in home opener Jamie Gewurz Sports editor The Stingers sent a crowd full of maroon-andgold-clad fans home from Concordia Stadium with a sour taste in their mouths last Saturday, after they lost their home opener to the MontrÊal Carabins 29-8.

Playing without star quarterback Robert Mackay, who was out with an undisclosed injury, the Stingers and new starter Terrance Morsink struggled to get moving on offence, managing just a single point in the first three quarters of play.

The Carabins got started early and took advantage of two Concordia facemask penalties to march down the field late in the first, scoring the game’s opening points on a 31-yard pass to a wide-open Frank Bruno. Two field goals and a rouge had MontrÊal up 14-1 as the fourth quarter began, leaving the hometown fans to wonder what was going on.

The worries were temporarily put to rest just minutes into the fourth quarter, when Morsink connected beautifully with receiver Sanchez Deschamps on a 55-yard pass that was also that drive’s first play. That play was the longest of the game for either team, and accounted for almost 20 per cent of the Stingers’ total output for the game.

Concordia was kept in the game for the most part thanks to a defence that performed well in clutch situations, despite giving up some major yardage on the ground. Linebacker Alex Lemire made a huge play for Concordia by forcing MontrĂŠal running back Rotrand Sene to fumble in the endzone and preventing MontrĂŠal from extending their lead.

Despite fielding a mostly young and inexperienced team, the Stingers were able to stay in the game against the second-ranked Carabins.

MontrÊal’s Jean-Christophe Morin-Phaneuf makes a leaping catch under double Stingers coverage. Photo by Sarah Deshaies The inexperience seemed to show as the Stingers committed many penalties that extended MontrÊal drives. Even with everything going against them, Concordia still found themselves down by just six points late in the game as MontrÊal prepared to punt.

Cornerback Kris Robertson fielded the punt in the endzone, and then made some moves to try and prevent MontrĂŠal from adding another point from a rouge. After a bruising hit by MontrĂŠal cornerback Julien Hamel, the ball poked loose and was recovered by MontrĂŠal, giving the Carabins the ball at the four-yard line and ending all hopes of a Concordia comeback.

Head coach Gerry McGrath was not disappointed at all in Robertson’s decision to run the ball out as opposed to taking a knee, saying it was the right call. “When you run the ball out of the endzone you’re guaranteed to have it placed at the 20-yard line‌ we didn’t want to give up

the point.� The rouge would’ve given MontrÊal a seven-point lead and a potential overtime battle if Concordia was able to score again.

After the fumble, Sene added to his phenomenal game (177 yards on the ground) by punching the ball in for the touchdown. On Concordia’s next drive, they turned the ball over yet again as quarterback Morsink’s arm was drilled midthrowing motion, with Garl Duclervil scooping it up and running it into the endzone, sealing Concordia’s fate.

With Concordia seemingly imploding after the fumble, coach McGrath remained certain that the situation would be different had they fumbled earlier in the game. “[The fumble] put the game out of reach‌ not like early in the game when you can overcome it. That basically sealed out fate and took away our chances,â€? he added after the game.

The Stingers’ chances were hurt before the

game even started, when Robert Mackay was ruled unfit to play. Terrence Morsink answered the call and finished with 236 yards, a touchdown, and two turnovers in his first-ever university start. Though Morsink found out just hours before the game that he’d be getting the starting nod, he was ready to lead his team. “You always got to prepare like you’re the starter‌ watch just as much film as Rob, and always be ready to go,â€? said Morsink after the game.

Coach McGrath was happy with his young team’s performance, as they continue to improve with each passing game. “At the end of the day it didn’t show that way, but our team was a lot better this week than it was last week and they’ll be a lot better next week,� he said after the game.

The Stingers’ next game is Friday, Sept.

17 against cross-town rivals McGill. You can catch the game at 7 p.m. at Molson Stadium.

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18

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

Write to the editor: sports@theconcordian.com RUGBY

FOOTBALL

Rugby Weekend Sweep Men’s and women’s teams pound out easy 17-point wins Kelly Greig Contributor

Wait is over for NFL fans as season opens with few surprises Jamie Gewurz Sports editor As I woke up on Sunday morning in a haze, feeling sick and wondering when, if ever, I would get out of bed, I was startled by phone vibrating.

I reached for the phone and read the message; “WAKE UP YOU A**HOLE IT’S SUNDAY!!!”

And he was right, it was. Finally, the moment that die-hard football fans had been waiting for for over seven months was here. After speculating on how teams would be affected by April’s rookie draft, free agency, trades, and suspensions, fans everywhere got to finally see their team in action for the first time (except for New Orleans and Minnesota, who played last Thursday) in what seemed like forever. While only 14 teams could come away with a win (four more play each other tonight, after presstime), there were bound to be some unhappy fans.

The unhappiest of them all might have been those who root for the 49ers. Quarterback Alex Smith and receiver Michael Crabtree had

no chemistry all game, and allowed their team to get crushed 31-6 by the lowly Seahawks. If the Niners, who were almost unanimously picked to win the division, hope to do anything this year, they’re going to need to fix that lack of chemistry, and fix it fast.

The Cowboys’ and Lions’ fans also must be upset after watching a last-minute win being negated by a holding penalty and a controversial rule, respectively. While the Lions weren’t expected to do much on the road in Chicago, the Cowboys have to be devastated by losing to a division rival with so much baggage (new QB, head coach, offensive coordinator).

Fans of the Texans and Giants, on the other hand, should be ecstatic. The Texans used a dominating rushing attack led by Arian Foster’s team-record 231 yards to dominate the defending AFC-champion Colts. With the Texans’ passing game already being proven, fans in Houston have got to be optimistic about what this season could bring.

Though the Giants were playing at home and favoured against the Panthers, the way they handled them in the air must have people excited. Hakeem Nicks had a career day by hauling in three touchdowns, and running back Ahmad Bradshaw busted out a beautiful 29-yard run to add to an already productive day. Eli Manning’s three interceptions, however, looks a little alarming.

With the first weekend finally in the books, we were only given a small taste of what this season could bring. Hopefully, for the sake of the Texans, Giants, and others, it will be more exciting wins like this.

It was a weekend sweep at home for both of Concordia’s rugby teams as the men defeated the Bishop’s Gaiters 27-4 and the women posted a come from behind 31-14 win against the Ottawa Gee-Gees.

On the women’s side the Gee-Gees came out strong and had the Stingers back on their heels early. They wasted no time punching through Concordia’s defence to gain a 7-0 lead.

The try lit a fire under the Stingers who responded minutes later when rookie Cara Stuckey found a hole in the Ottawa defence on the try line to put the Stingers on the board. The failed conversion attempt by captain Jackie Tittley left Concordia trailing 7-5.

It was all Concordia again as Mandie Aldridge evaded two Gee-Gees and Tittley made the kick to give the Stingers a 12-7 lead.

Ottawa fought back late in the first to take the lead 14-12 when Concordia’s back line found themselves flat footed and let the Gee-Gees in for an easy try.

After halftime, the forward pack was more focused and they repeatedly pushed Ottawa back at least 10 yards off line-outs. “It’s hard to see the people up front,” said head coach Graeme McGravie. “Sara Scanlon did really well, and Lea Leahy had a fantastic game.”

Near the end of the second half an Ottawa Gee-Gee was sin-binned (a penalty that warrants the player leaving the game for 10-minute period and leaving their team a player short). In such a tight game, having a one-player advantage left the door open for the Stingers and they made no mistake punishing the Gee-Gees for the penalty.

Stuckey beat her defender for a 20-yard solo run to put Concordia ahead once again and Tittley added the extra points to make it 19-14.

Minutes later on a quick penalty Erika Hamilton offloaded to Tittley who found the tryzone clinched the game 31-14.

“That’s just a cruel way [for Ottawa] to lose, I thought they totally outplayed us. I don’t think we deserved to win at all, we didn’t do anything except in the last 10 minutes,” said McGravie.

“It was a sloppy win,” added Stuckey. “It feels good now that it is over and that we got the win in the end.”

A mere 10 minutes after the kick-off in the men’s game the Stingers had pulled ahead 14-0.

Two quick trys by forwards Ted McGregor and Curtis McKinney and a conversion by Xavier Birot caught the Bishop’s Gaiters back on their heels and struggling to keep up.

“I think we went out so hard that we exhausted ourselves after the first 10 minutes,” said veteran eight-man David Biddle, “but I think it’s important that we got the lead early and didn’t give it up.”

Bishop’s cut the Stingers’ lead in half minutes later by pushing their entire forward pack and the ball into Concordia’s try zone.

The game started to get sloppy as tensions mounted. Both team’s back positions took penalties and were warned about dangerous play.

“There were some stupid penalties that cost us dearly,” said head coach Clive Gibson. “At least two of which were for our mouths.”

Early in the second half captain McGregor found bobbed and weaved between defenders to make it to the corner of the try zone to increase the lead to 19-7. Soon scoring, McGregor was sin-binned leaving the Stingers one man short.

Playing at a disadvantage forced the team to step up their game. Fullback Jonathan DextrasRomagnino frequently jumped into the back line play to lend a hand and forwards Biddle, Paul Bouet and Jimmy Bang tackled almost anything that moved.

Concordia ended the game with a try on the last play. Birot took advantage of a Bishop’s errant pass and pounced on the ball in the end zone. He added the kick to round out the scoring 24-7.

Both rugby teams have a tough week ahead at home. The women face Laval (1-0) at 7 p.m. and the men play McGill (1-0) at 9 p.m. Friday.

editorial

19

Write to the editor: opinions@theconcordian.com HEALTH

Cold welcome for Inuit health centre Chilly reception cause supporters to ditch plans to set up centre for travelling Inuit patients in Villleary Citizens of the Villeray district of Montreal were divided about the new potential neighbours.

Nunavik’s Regional Board of Health and Social Services was looking for a centre to house temporary Inuit visitors travelling to Montreal from the North for medical treatment.

Currently, seven different locations scattered across Montreal house the patients, who come to Montreal to get the treatment unavailable to them in their home. A bus brings the patients to their treatment at the Montreal General Hospital.

The centre’s planners thought that they had found a solution to their search.

An empty hospital - the old Chinese hospital stands in the Villeray area, which, with St-Michel and Park Extension, forms a borough in the north of Montreal. The right size for the planned project, the hospital was picked as a prime spot for practical reasons.

And so began the division between Villeray residents.

Some of the residents were ready to roll out the welcome mat to a group of temporary visitors, while others were rallying to make the potential new guests feel terribly unwelcome.

Opposition to the project has created some of the most loathsome comments this city has heard for awhile. While the health centre’s planners had picked their location for practical reasons -- size, availability -- in terms of community atmosphere and support, they could not have made a worse choice.

Opponents were concerned that drugs and rapists would descend on the neighbourhood should the plan go through. Others said they would rather help their own elderly before helping other communities’ senior citizens.

Those in opposition were no doubt thinking of what is a reality for many Inuit patients who come down to the city for treatment. Sometimes patients miss their flight home, for whatever reason, and end up living poor and destitute on the streets, in a society different from the one they grew up in.

But the proposed centre would be treating children and the elderly, said reports. And one can imagine that with one central location instead of seven scattered homes, the support system at the Chinese hospital would be stronger and more tightly-knit. A community would help patients return North.

Supporters saw the project as a welcome addition to the neighbourhood. Montreal officials were pro-centre, and a 650-strong petition was submitted to the borough council in favour of the centre.

But before either group had the chance to experience new visitors, the plug was pulled last week, when supporters announced they were scrapping their plans to set up the centre in Villeray.

s, n o i n i r op u o d a re urs. o e v y ’ r u a o Y o he t t n a ew now w

The reason? As you can imagine, the planners felt that their plans were not welcome in Villeray.

This insensitivity to the need to build what is essentially a community centre for sick, temporary out-of-towners shows a remarkable lack of empathy and fear of others.

While Montrealers and Quebecers may moan about the quality of health care and how long it may take to get an appointment with a specialist or even get a regular family doctor, nothing compares to not even having those medical services in your community. Every Montrealer is a bus, car or ambulance ride away from a drop-in clinic or emergency room. For those who complained about helping their elderly before others, a noble cause to be sure, but how can you compare sending your grandfather ‘away’ to a hospital on the other side of the city to sending your grandfa-

ther more than halfway across a huge province?

Quebec’s medical infrastructure is crumbling, and the province has taken steps and created partnerships to combat this: the building of two super-hospitals. But how can we construct two super-hospitals on the island of Montreal, one to satisfy each side of the great language divide, but ignore the plight of northern Native people who lack basic medical services?

The provincial governent should be stepping in to guide Nunavik’s Regional Board of Health and Social Services. The Board should receive help with finding a location, and should planners encounter resistance from locals, further help should be doled out to help Nunavik reach out to the community in the interest of mutual learning and appreciation.

Also, we should all try to not be so racist.

Graphic by Katie Brioux

Send us your thoughts, in-depth or superficial, your musings, inspired or uninspired. Just let us know what you’re thinking.

We want to give you a voice.

The Concordian’s letters policy: All letters must be submitted to opinions@theconcordian.com by 4 p.m. on Friday. Please include your full name, contact information (mobile phone or weekend phone number), and student ID number. The opinions expressed in the letters section do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff.

opinions: CRIME

Canada s prisons not prepared for the mentally ill Recommendations are a step in the right direction, but far from a solution Brennan Neill Managing editor This past week, the Correctional Service of Canada released some deeply startling statistics. Since October 2007 more than 130 inmates have died while in custody. Of the 130 cases, nine have been considered suspicious enough to be reviewed. At the moment, the highest-profile case under review is that of Ashley Smith.

Smith, 19, committed suicide in 2007 at a Kitchener, Ont. correctional facility by strangling herself in her cell while seven guards looked on. The guards claim they were told by senior officials at the facility to keep their distances as long as she was breathing.

It’s worth noting that Smith had shown a history of self-harming and had spent approximately six years in correctional care before arriving in Kitchener. Surely the guards were aware of her history when she arrived, but did little to prepare for her, leading to a tragic and untimely end. What’s even more disturbing is that there are eight other cases like Smith’s.

Along with releasing their findings on deaths in custody, the Correctional Service of Canada made a number of recommendations, including the practice of not placing mentally ill or suicidal offenders in prolonged segregation, round-the-clock health coverage, introducing audits to ensure the quality

of security patrols, and training staff to deal with emergency medical episodes.

While most of the recommendations are based on common sense, more could be done.

In a 2009 survey the Correctional Service of Canada found that more than 13 per cent of male offenders and 29 per cent of female offenders incarcerated at a federal facility suffered from a mental illness, a figure that has almost doubled in both sexes since last reported in 1997. These figures are a clear indication that Canadian prisons will be facing a growing challenge in rehabilitating the mentally ill. Canada’s correctional investigator Howard Sapers said, “The preservation of life is an integral part of the mandate of the correctional service,” and added that he “expect[s] this principle to be embedded in policy, reflected in the culture of the organization and orient its day-to-day interactions with offenders.” While the recommendations are a step in the right direction, it’s still far from a complete solution.The Correctional Service of Canada should be screening each and every offender sent to federal prison and follow up at predetermined intervals to ensure no underlying mental illnesses come to light while they are serving their sentence.

Guards and frontline staff should have extensive training to deal with and recognize mental illness, in particular depression or suicidal behaviour. It’s also important to make sure that the proper counselling services are available and taken advantage of. It’s also worth questioning whether those convicted and found to have a mental illness should really be serving their time in a federal prison rather than the proper mental health facility. Smith’s original offence was throwing crab apples at a mail courier. From there, it spiralled out of control and at the end of her life she was

Graphic by Katie Brioux

still in custody at a federal prison. There was clearly a long-standing issue, but for whatever reason she remained incarcerated rather than being sent to a mental health facility.

If the Correctional Service of Canada is to succeed in it’s goal to rehabilitate offenders then they must recognize that not all offenders will respond positively to treatment and

that this could be caused by some form of mental illness. If the proper steps were taken, the nine suspicious deaths at federal facilities could have been avoided and Ashley Smith would now be receiving the care she really needed.

ONLINE

Dawson College Massacre! is an

insensitive way to learn about tragic events of Sept. 13, 2006 Online game about Dawson shooting is irresponsible Chris Hanna Opinions editor On the afternoon of Sept. 13, just after 12:40 p.m., a man dressed in black walked into Dawson’s atrium and went on a shooting rampage, injuring 19 students and killing one before getting shot in the arm by police and then offing himself. The shooter, Kimveer Gill, had an affinity for knives, goth culture and guns, like the Beretta CX4 semi-automatic rifle he used on the tragic day.

Gill, 25, often took to his online journal to post the sombre thoughts he had and was also a member of the VampireFreaks.com web group. “Work sucks... School sucks...

Life sucks... What else can I say?” he said in one post. A caption under the last photo posted of Gill, wearing a black coat and holding a rifle, read “Ready for action.”

All this information was gathered in seconds using an elementary Google search.

Alas, the Newgrounds.com user known as virtuaman thought it would be appropriate and useful to create a video game in which players assume the role of Gill and reenact the events. Virtuaman strived to “stay true to the reality of this event.” In his striving for accuracy, he must have forgotten about treating the subject matter with any form of decency and delicacy. He invites people to “Take the role of Kimveer Gill and storm Dawson

“

What’s more dangerous and irresponsible is copycats seeing this as their ticket to quick posthumous fame.

College with your favorite rifle! Kill those students and kill any cops you can!”

A game similar to - and just as unnecessary

as - Dawson College Massacre! was released about the Columbine shooting called Super Columbine Massacre RPG! Kimveer Gill was known to be a big fan of that game. Virtuaman cannot guarantee that his game will not influence a teen - or any other person - to repeat Gill’s actions. What’s more dangerous and irresponsible is copycats seeing this as their ticket to quick posthumous fame.

By turning Gill into the video game’s hero, virtuaman is telling people that they, too, can be crusading, gun-toting main characters in video games by emulating Gill.

Before users assume the role of Gill in the game, they are taken through a sequence placing and describing the events. The slide show includes quotes from Gill’s VampireFreaks page and can immediately be skipped, enabling users to get straight to the killingnot that sitting through the sequence and then getting to the killing would be any more appropriate or artistic.

In the game, players control a two-dimensional Gill in their quest to shoot as many students and cops as possible - there is even a counter to keep track of your kills in the bottom-right corner of the game screen. Gill did not kill any cops. Instead of making the game about a nameless gunman in a fictional town and university, Virtuaman exploits a

landmark and devastating event in Canadian history to get extra hits on his web page.

Incidentally, the game was also uploaded just days before the four-year anniversary of Dawson shooting last week.

In fact, the game fails to mention that the Montreal police force’s work that afternoon was exemplary. The game also fails to consider the actual lives that were lost and endangered on Sept. 13, 2006.

What’s most disturbing is Newgrounds users reviewing the game: of the 13 reviews on the website at the time of publication, only three gave the game a failing grade.

Creating a game about the shooting and calling it a learning experience is insensitive. When the game ends, ‘RIP Gill’ scrolls across the screen. When Denis Villeneuve and Michael Moore made films about the Polytechnique and Columbine shootings, both filmmakers acknowledged the severity of the crimes committed by the men they were exploring and extended their sympathies to all those involved in and affected by the tragedies.

Virtuaman’s “Sorry if you are offended in some way” disclaimer on his game’s web page just does not cut it.

theconcordian

Concordia’s weekly, independent student newspaper.

Tuesday, Sep. 14, 2010 Volume 28 issue 3.

Sarah Deshaies Editor-in-Chief editor@theconcordian.com Brennan Neill Managing Editor managing@theconcordian.com Evan LePage News Editor news@theconcordian.com

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

STUDENT LIFE

To my fellow Concordia students There are some things you just don’t miss over summer break...

Carly Yuck Contributor

Kamila Hinkson Assistant Sports Editor

Welcome back! We are just one week into this new semester, but we’ve all already had to put up with our schoolmates’ pesky habits and other general annoyances that go along with back to school.

Some last for only the first few weeks, like lineups at the bookstore or waiting to get your ID card, agenda and CSU concert tickets.

Others, like the bathroom lineup, seem to last year-round. Have we all synchronized our bladders? Is it possible that we all have to relieve ourselves at the same time?

The shuttle lineup is also a major bummer (when you’re in the back of it). Being at the end guarantees standing and inevitably, a bumpy ride: the shuttle-bus drivers must think they’re reenacting a scene from 1994’s Speed.

Then there are all the annoying classmates - you know who you are. One thing is guaranteed: each class has the one student

Chris Hanna Opinions Editor opinions@theconcordian.com

CONFLICT

Emily White Life Editor life@theconcordian.com Daniela Smith-Fernandez Arts Editor arts@theconcordian.com Radina Papukchieva Assistant arts editor Shannon H. Myers Music Editor music@theconcordian.com Cora Ballou Assistant Music Editor Jamie Gewurz Sports Editor sports@theconcordian.com

Owen Nagels Assistant Opinions Editor Jacob Serebrin Online Editor online@theconcordian.com Tiffany Blaise Photo Editor photo@theconcordian.com Katie Brioux Graphics Editor graphics@theconcordian.com Aeron MacHattie Chief Copy Editor copy@theconcordian.com Alecs Kakon Effie Sapuridis Copy Editors Jill Fowler Production Manager production@theconcordian. com Jennifer Barkun Francois Descouteaux Vincent Beauchemin Production Assistants Editorial 7141 Sherbrooke St. W. CC.431 Montreal, QC H4B 1R6 514.848.2424 x7458 (Newsroom) 514.848.2424 x7499 (Editors) 514.848.2424 x7404 (Production)

who asks countless questions relentlessly.

You start wishing they would get the flu or something, just so they could miss a lecture or eight. While these students may think their questions are brilliant, everyone else just thinks they like the sound of their own voice.

And what’s with you people who never seem to have a pen or paper handy? After at least 12 years of schooling, you would think that you would know that you might need school supplies. Also, we all know that all you people who are “taking notes on your laptops” are actually playing solitaire or looking at your friends’ vacation pictures on Facebook.

Last, but certainly not least, are the people who love to eat in class. How lucky you were to have a break that allowed you to buy delicious/foul-smelling food before class.

While you’re enjoying your pad thai, shish taouk or tzatziki, half the class is wishing they had a gas mask. Soon after you unwrap your very-well packaged meal (stapled brown paper bags and Styrofoam containers are never as loud as they are in class), a wave of stomachs begin to grumble, and everyone’s mind begins to wonder about what they are going to be eating as soon as they can get out of this seemingly never-ending class.

Bear in mind, this distracts everyone from paying attention. A classroom is shared by

Business and Advertising: 1455 de Maisonneuve W. H.733-4 Montreal, QC H3G 1M8 514.848.2424 x7420 (Office) 514.848.7427 (Fax) STAFF WRITERS AND CONTRIBUTORS: Renee Giblin, Alyssa de Rosa, Geneviève Trudeau Senécal, Trevor Smith, Bianca Puorto, Jake Freekin Smith, Chris Morin, Kelly Greig, Richard Obrand, Alex Woznica, Carly Yuck.

too many students for you to selfishly bother people you have never even met. Just don’t wonder why no one wants to do group work with you.

Graphic by Katie Brioux

Why we must stay the course in Afghanistan

The recent trouble with the country’s biggest bank raises questions about Canada’s involvement after 2011 Alex Woznica Contributor

As the Canadian military’s involvement in Afghanistan comes to a close, recent events are making the departure seem like a bad idea.

Earlier this month, Kabul Bank, the largest commercial bank in Afghanistan, which handles the Afghan government’s payment to its employees, nearly went under.

The bank had amassed debts which exceeded

its assets, prompting crowds of Afghans to attempt, many times unsuccessfully, to extract their savings from various branches of that bank.

The bank’s top two executives, who collectively own 28 per cent of Kabul Bank, were forced to resign amid allegations of mismanagement and outright corruption. The near failure of Afghanistan’s biggest commercial bank must be seen as yet another sign of the chronic instability which has plagued that country for too many years. As well, it must be seen as a sign that the international forces, including those of Canada, must remain in Afghanistan for many years to come, or until that country is able to establish the sort of infrastructure that can provide its citizens with economic security.

Not only has the Afghan government and its commercial partners demonstrated that they are totally unable to ensure Afghanistan’s economic security, they have also demonstrated they are

Francesco Sacco Business Manager business@theconcordian.com Marshall Johnston Advertising advertising@theconcordian. com

21

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1435 Guy, Montreal GUY CONCORDIA 5 1 4 . 9 3 3. 9 2 2 9

incapable of ensuring the physical security of their people.

The Afghan National Army is in no way capable of defending Afghans without immense support from Coalition forces. It currently has one of the highest defection rates of any armed force in the world. The army often shies away from fighting the Taliban, and its soldiers are known to frequently sell their weapons on the open market, often to Taliban forces.

The Afghan National Army is not a fighting force that is capable or seemingly willing to defend the people of Afghanistan, and it would be a horrible mistake for the government of Canada to leave the people of Afghanistan to be defended by such a poor excuse for a national army.

While there are many Afghan factors that would lead many to believe that Canada’s military departure from that country in 2011 would be premature, there are also some very “Canadian” reasons why the departure would be premature.

Over 150 Canadian soldiers have died in combat in Afghanistan: the largest death toll for any Canadian combat operation since the Korean War and, proportionally, the most of any nation involved in the mission. To abandon the military mission in Afghanistan and to leave that country in one of its greatest moments of need since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001 would be insulting to the Afghan people and our 152 soldiers who have paid the ultimate price in defence of democracy and human rights.

The chaos engulfing Afghanistan’s main commercial bank must be seen as yet another sign of that country’s enduring instability. As well, the Taliban-directed insurgency is as strong as ever.

We as a nation must conclude that the planned departure of Canadian forces from Afghanistan in 2011 is a grave misjudgement that will have horrible consequences for the people of Afghanistan. While more Canadian soldiers will certainly die fighting in Afghanistan, as a nation we owe it to the Afghan people, and to the Canadian soldiers who have already been killed in Afghanistan, to maintain our fighting forces in Afghanistan.

We must stay there until such time that the Afghan government, economic leaders and military forces can demonstrate that they are capable of providing the essential services and protecting human rights that have, until now, been primarily the responsibility of the military forces of Western powers like Canada.

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Write to the editor: opinions@theconcordian.com

Diversions

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

Horoscopes

23

Trying to get back into the swing of things after months off can be tough.

No one wants to fall back into a tedious routine. This week, keep yourself guessing and do something that you’ve never done before every day.

Aries – March 21 to April 20 Escape and spend an afternoon in the kitchen. Ditch the recipe book and create something original. You’ll finally have the control you’ve been yearning for all week.

“Over Anchorage, AK. Looking everywhere but can’t see Russia from here. Will keep you updated as search continues.” - Governor

Taurus April 20 - May 20 You know, you don’t have to wait until food starts to rot to clean out your fridge. Invite some friends over to help and catch up.

Gemini May 21 - June 20 The only thing more fun than Game Night is Drunk Game Night.

Arnold Schwarzenegger tweets from plane over Alaska (@Schwarzenegger)

“Kim Kardashian makes me long for the days

Cancer – June 22 to July 23 Pay for a movie: your laptop in bed doesn’t compare to the cineplex. Just pass on the snacks and stick with water, even if it’s more expensive than Coke.

when girls like her were hired to show prizes on game shows and we never had to hear them speak.” - Kelly Oxford (@kellyoxford)

“Man... whatever happened to my antique fish tank?” Kanye West (@kanyewest)

“Michaele Salahi may pose in Playboy. Salahi said her main motivation for posing in Playboy is the fact

Leo July 23 - August 22 An unexpected invitation will catch you off-guard. Say yes, drop your guard and just try, for once, to have a good time.

Quit hating.

Virgo – August 24 to September 23 Disconnect for just one night. No phone, no computer, no iPod. Just you and your thoughts. You’ll learn some very revealing things about yourself.

Libra – September 24 to October 23 Go to the library and pick up that book you never read that you keep telling people you love.

that no one’s invited her to.” - Jimmy Fallon, on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, on the female half of the infamous White House party-crashing couple.

Scorpio – October 24 to November 23 Luck is on your side this week. Take a chance on something or someone. You’ll be rewarded and surprised.

Sagittarius – November 24 to December 21 The trip you’ve been planning will have a few setbacks but you quickly regroup and overcome the hurdles.

Capricorn – December 22 to January 20 You’re finding this new semester especially tough. You miss lounging around your house in pyjamas until 7 p.m.

But hey, there’s always Sunday for that...

Aquarius – January 21 to February 19 You’re so eager to help everyone else out that you neglect your own needs. Do you even remember the last time you showered? bartonflats.wordpress.com

Pisces February 19 - March 20 Remember to keep your Thursday night free. Rescheduling again would put a strain on an already rocky relationship.

You share a birthday with...

Sept. 14 - Amy Winehouse (27), Tyler Perry (41), Dmitry Medvedev (44) Sept. 15 - Heidi Montag (24), Oliver Stone (64), Agatha Christie Sept. 16 - Nick Jonas (18), Amy Poehler (39), Mickey Rourke (54) Sept. 17 - Kyle Chandler (45), Cassandra “Elvira” Peterson (58), John Ritter Sept. 18 - Lance Armstrong (39), Aisha Tyler (40), James Gandolfini (49) Sept. 19 - Jimmy Fallon (36), Jeremy Irons (62), Adam West (82) Sept. 20 - Sophia Loren (76), Upton Sinclair

EVENTS T AT EVENTS A A GLANC E GLANCE

TUES 14

+STINGERS +MUSIC +FILM +THEATRE

Men’s Baseball vs John Abbott College Dirty Projectors + Happy Birthday Tromper le silence Reefer Madness

20h00 Trudeau Field Le National 20h30 Cineplex Quartier Latin 12h35-15h30-18h30-21h10 20h00 Mainline Theatre (3997 St-Laurent)

WED 15

+STINGERS +MUSIC +FILM +THEATRE

Men’s Baseball vs McGill Deaken (of Animal Collective) + Prince Rama + Pop Winds Tromper le silence Reefer Madness

Trudeau Field 20h00 Il Motore 20h30 Cineplex Quartier Latin 12h35-15h30-18h30-21h10 20h00 Mainline Theatre (3997 St-Laurent)

THURS 16

+STINGERS +MUSIC +FILM +THEATRE

Men’s Baseball vs McGill Caribou (polaris prize short list) + Russian Futurists Tromper le silence Reefer Madness

Trudeau Field 20h00 Le National 20h30 Cineplex Quartier Latin 12h35-15h30-18h30-21h10 20h00 Mainline Theatre (3997 St-Laurent)

+STINGERS +STINGERS +STINGERS +STINGERS +STINGERS +MUSIC +MUSIC +FILM +THEATRE

Women’s Soccer vs UdeM Men’s Football vs McGill Women’s Rugby vs Laval Men’s Soccer vs UdeM Men’s Rugby vs McGill Milow + Matt Moris Intensive Care + Sick Friend + Freelove Fenner (PREMIERING TODAY) The Town, Easy A, Incendies, Devil Reefer Madness

CEPSUM Molson Stadium Concordia Stadium CEPSUM Concordia Stadium Metropolis Casa Del Popolo

18h30 19h00 19h00 20h30 21h00 21h00 20h30

Mainline Theatre (3997 St-Laurent)

20h00

SAT 18

+STINGERS +MUSIC +THEATRE

Men & Women’s Cross-Country Elephant Stone +Lights Off +Keven Kane Reefer Madness

Field TBA Casa del Popolo Mainline Theatre (3997 St-Laurent)

12h00 + 14h30 20h30 20h00

SUN 19

+STINGERS +STINGERS +STINGERS +MUSIC

Men’s Baseball Doubleheader vs Carleton Women’s Soccer vs McGill Men’s Soccer vs McGill David Bazan (of Pedro the Lion) + The Mynabirds + The Panda Attack

Ottawa Concordia Stadium Concordia Stadium Il Motore

12h00 & 14h30 13h00 15h00 20h30

MON 20

+MUSIC

FRI 17

The Pack A.D. + Young Rivals

Le Divan Orange

20h30

!

S T N E V E A I D R O C N O C E T E E O R M F O R R O F D E S I T HELP P R M ARE ADVE

O S C G .

N N I A T I S I D L R T O C N E N V O E C E L H T AL @ S E T M N I E T V D E N O A T , N S A O I E T D A I C R SEND YOUE LIST NAME OF EVENT, LO PLEAS