The Concordian - January 12th, 2016 by The Concordian

Concordia University’s weekly, independent student newspaper

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VOLUME 33, ISSUE 15 | TUESDAY, JAN. 12, 2016

theconcordian.com  /theconcordian  @theconcordian

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Feature p. 9

An open hand and an open heart: Formerly homeless man finds his way

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

ARTS

New year, new you?

Queen of crime: Good tunes Christie in MTL p. 7 coming in 2016

p. 6

SPORTS

MUSIC

LIFE

p. 10

Women’s hockey is on the rise p. 12

OPINIONS Strippers. Male strippers. p. 16

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016 NEWS EDITOR GREGORY TODARO news@theconcordian.com

NEWS CITY JESSICA ROMERA Copy editor

@theconcordian

CAMPUS

Concordia provost off to Queen’s Shepard: Bacon’s departure is “bittersweet”

Man dies after being denied surgery A man in his 70s has died while waiting to see a doctor at St. Mary’s Hospital, according to the Montreal Gazette. The man was denied vascular surgery after having complained about abdominal pain. When the man lost consciousness, a surgeon was called and discovered he had a ruptured aortic aneurysm and was sent to the MUHC in an ambulance instead, but died on his way there. This comes after the St. Mary’s Hospital administration decided to put a stop to emergency vascular surgery due to budget cuts, according to the Montreal Gazette. The hospital has since received a flurry of criticism from the community.

Legal clinic requests Uber refunds from NYE A local legal aid clinic has sent Uber a formal request asking they reimburse Montreal clients for the abnormally high fees they were charged on New Year’s Eve. This comes after a woman was allegedly charged over $80 for a trip that usually costs her around $10 with an official Montreal taxi, according to the CBC. On the night of Dec. 31 2015, Uber rates surged to around 2.2 times their regular fare in Montreal due to high demand according to the CBC.

High winds cause severe damages in Montreal Sunday night’s high winds led to a series of damages to buildings and infrastructures across the city, according to Global News. Part of a wall collapsed on the 18th floor of an apartment building located in Shaughnessy Village. A similar situation occurred near the corner of Ontario Street and Papineau Avenue when the second-storey wall of a building also fell. Along with the physical damages to buildings, tens of thousands of homes were left without power across Quebec.

GREGORY TODARO News editor  @GCTodaro

Provost and VP Academic Benoit-Antoine Bacon. Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

Concordia University’s provost and vice-president of academic affairs will be leaving for Queen’s University later this semester. In an announcement released on Friday, Concordia president Alan Shepard revealed that provost Benoit-Antoine Bacon would be taking up his current role at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. “He’s worked alongside colleagues to leverage opportunities to enhance Concordia’s

reputation as a next-generation university,” said Shepard in his statement. “He’s renewed our academic leadership team and strengthened relationships with our full and part-time faculty associations. And he has fostered an environment that supports our students, academic leaders and faculty.” Bacon, a Concordia alumnus, was appointed to the role by the Board of Governors effective July 1, 2013, for a five-year term. The circumstances of his departure have not been announced. Shepard said that the process of finding a replacement will begin shortly, but he did not say how long the process could take.

CAMPUS

The Concordian wins national awards We take home photo of the year and feature story of the year awards GREGORY TODARO News editor  @GCTodaro

The Concordian took home two awards at the 12th annual John H. McDonald Awards this Saturday evening, including one third consecutive photo of the year award. Former photo editor Andrej Ivanov and copy editor and former editor-in-chief Nathalie Laflamme received their awards at the JHM Gala in Toronto during the 78th annual Canadian University Press Nash conference. The awards celebrate the best journalism from student publications across Canada. Ivanov’s photo, “student protest turns violent,” won the photo of the year award. The image was first published online at The Concordian on April 3, 2015. This is Ivanov’s second consecutive photo of the year award: at the 77th annual JMH Awards, his photo “missing, murdered, mourned” also took the top prize. At the 2013 awards ceremony, former photography editor Keith Race won the same award for his photo “anti-police brutality march.” The feature article of the year award was awarded to Laflamme for her story “helping student veterans succeed and survived,” published in issue 26 of The Concordian on April 14, 2015. Her article told the story of the Concordia

Veterans Association which, at the time, was the only veteran associations existing on Canadian university campuses. Fellow Concordia student pa-

per The Link also took home the award for best website (for newspapers with resources over $150,000) and received six other nominations.

TOP: Nathalie Laflamme and Andrej Ivanov taking a selfie. BOTTOM: A view of Toronto from the hotel.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

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CAMPUS

Create a new certificate program

Curriculum Challenge allows public to design new socially innovative program

NATION SARAH ARMIENTO Contributor

Canada to spearhead antinuke effort Canada is stepping up to be a leader in an international effort aimed at ridding the world of the key materials needed for nuclear weapons. The creation of a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty has been in talks with the United Nations since 1957 according to the Montreal Gazette. The upcoming Nuclear Security Summit and North Korea’s recent claim to have conducted a test of a hydrogen bomb have given the discussions a second wind. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is also expected to attend U.S. President Barack Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit in late March. Concordia is letting the community decide the focus of a new diploma program. Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

SAVANNA CRAIG Staff writer Students, faculty and members of the community at large are invited for the first time to create a new graduate certificate program available to Concordia students. The Concordia project under the name of CHNGR welcomes anyone to put forward new ideas for a new program through the community-developed initiative. CHNGR is a project funded by RECODE, a program of the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation which provides the opportunity for students to gain entrepreneurship skills. RECODE provides students with the knowledge to solve social problems to seek progress in our community and the world. Universities are able to apply for financing from RECODE, who picked 18 institutions including Concordia since the program’s establishment in 2014. Concordia announced the $500,000 award in November 2014. The contest asks groups to submit an idea for a 15-credit graduate certificate that will prepare students to be socially-aware entrepreneurs and social innovators. This program could fuse with new and current courses to provide students with co-operative education. Mauricio Buschinelli, a Concordia ambassador for CHNGR, said there’s a possibility Concordia’s Institute for Co-operative Education could be involved in find-

ing work for students in a new program. Those wanting to get involved the curriculum challenge must submit their ideas in a two to three page statement in which they address the purpose of their certificate program, the content offered in the curriculum and how the education will be conducted. “I think that it’s a really hot topic nowadays, a lot of universities are moving towards this model of experiential learning and learning the skills that you need to [produce] social impact,” said Buschinelli. The six winning ideas will be announced by Feb.1. Each idea

resentative mentors at Concordia University include Marguerite Mendell of the School for Community and Public Affairs and Deborah Dysart-Gale of the Centre for Engineering in Society. In the final stage, the Challenge Committee will address these ideas and choose one to be formed into a certificate program available to students at Concordia. This idea will receive $3,000 in additional funding and be available for enrollment in Fall of 2017. “The competition aspect of this is through the ideas and it’s not the team that will be approved or not to the next stage, it is the idea,” Buschinelli said. “Teams can dissolve and reform

“

Concordia has a lot of potential when it comes to the long-term social economy support through academics. — Ben Prunty, CHNGR ambassador will be joined by a mentor to further develop ideas and will receive a $2,000 grant to aid in the development of each plan. “Concordia has a lot of potential when it comes to the long-term social economy support through academics,” said CHNGR ambassador Ben Prunty. “A graduate certificate is a great move towards achieving that potential.” Concordia mentors are available to help groups during the development process. The rep-

to continue moving the idea forward.” When Buschinelli was asked about the idea his group prepared for the challenge, he said, “[my group] first did a lot of brainstorming around what did we want to include in this graduate certificate … what were the types of skills and themes we want these graduate students to cover and what are the kind of experiences we would like to offer them. We [then] started narrowing down what [this]

looks like in a curricular grid and in an experiential component [then] how we can merge them.” “The nature of what we are trying to accomplish is to create something new that is based on what the community wants and what potential graduates would want,” Buschinelli said. “So it’s being built out of experience of the people who are in the field of social innovation and social entrepreneurship and the people who will be potentially taking this course.” “I think that this is a unique opportunity to design a certificate program and because Concordia is on board it feels as though this is actually going to happen,” said CHNG project coordinator Nicolas Nadeau. “It’s called a compete to collaborate challenge and people submit their ideas, but the idea is that community will be brought back together with the first pick of ideas and then it will be re-discussed. It’s a collaborative process.” Ideas for the curriculum challenge should be submitted by Jan. 15, but organizers say it’s not a hard deadline. From the proposed ideas, the final product will be admitted in Fall of 2016 with the plan of offering this certificate program to students in Fall of 2017. To find out more information and to submit your idea to the curriculum challenge, visit online at www.chngr.ca/en/ curriculum-challenge/.

Oil prices hurting other Canadian industries Canadian oil prices are down by another 15 per cent this month, causing a wide-spreading slump in the national economy according to Global. Nick Exarhos, an economist at CIBC, told Global that “the hit from crude isn’t limited to the oil patch anymore.” Effects are beginning to spill over into other industries creating dire expectations for national growth this year. The Bank of Canada announced the intent for businesses to hire new employees is at its lowest level since the 2009 recession.

Canadian man released by Taliban after four years A Canadian man who had been captured by the Taliban was released on Monday. Colin Rutherford, a 26-year-old from Toronto, was first reported missing in Afghanistan in 2010, according to CTV. In 2011 the Taliban released a video of Rutherford whom they captured, accusing him of being a spy. While the details of his release have not been made public, it is reported the Qatar government had a hand in the Canadian’s release.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

LIFE

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LIFE EDITOR CRISTINA SANZA life@theconcordian.com @theconcordian

BARS

Mix, shake, sip: an English pub with a twist

Discover the creativity and art of cocktail making in the cozy atmosphere of Pub Bishop & Bagg

The pub has over 90 different kinds of gin, 15 types of amaro and 15 types of vermouth. Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

ANDREJ IVANOV Contributor With a recent renaissance of sorts in cocktail culture, making simple drinks has evolved into creating complex concoctions combining a plethora of flavours. Newly emerging cocktail bars are changing the game by adding their unique twist on an age-old tradition. With this resurgence, many cock-

tail bars have opened around Montreal. Some are well known while others have yet to be discovered. With its traditional exterior, it’s easy to miss Pub Bishop & Bagg or dismiss it as just another English pub. But this neighbourhood bar, located in the Mile End on the corner of St-Viateur Street Ouest and Clark Street, offers much more than meets the eye. The pub was created as a continuation of the very popular Burgundy Lion in Little

Burgundy. Bartender Sean-Michael McCaffrey said the pub was opened with the intention of having a smaller scale, more traditional cocktail bar in a completely different neighbourhood. In came its three bartenders: McCaffrey, Drahos Chytry, and Sabrina Mailhot. Combining their years of diverse experience and their knowledge in cocktails and service, the three were able to create a diversified, easily accessible seasonal menu of highend cocktails ranging between $10-$13. The bar stocks 90 different kinds of gin, 15 types of amaro and 15 types of vermouth, making the possibilities for variations and tastes practically endless. McCaffrey was eager to recommend some cocktails, which both beginner cocktail drinkers and seasoned veterans can enjoy. Newcomers should stick to the classics, but keep it diverse. “Try a bitter cocktail and sweet cocktail,” said McCaffrey, listing the bitter Negroni, made with gin, Campari and sweet red vermouth and the sweet bramble, a classic English cocktail with blackberry liqueur, gin, lime juice and sugar as examples. “Then try an old fashioned or a manhattan. Stick to the classics to gain knowledge about where cocktails come from,” he said. The little secret specialties of the bar will vary between bartenders. Each bartend-

er has their specialty drinks, said McCaffrey. Chytry’s specialty was also his claim to fame: a pisco sour. The cocktail is traditionally South American and mixes pisco, egg white, lemon juice and sugar. When asked what his favorite drink to make is, McCaffrey answered without the slightest hesitation: “Daiquiris. They are simple and there is a variety to them.” From its humble beginning as a traditional English pub, Bishop & Bagg has since grown and incorporated themed nights into their repertoire. McCaffrey said the most popular event is their Sunday night pub quiz, allowing people to compete in teams of six through two rounds of a variety of pop culture and general knowledge questions. The prize is $50 off the winning team’s bar tab. For a less traditional experience, the bar holds a cocktail competition every Tuesday. The idea is simple: bartenders from different bars need to create a twist on a drink that is announced the same day. The crowd judges—whoever gets more orders wins. McCaffrey said that there is a three-month waiting list of weekly bartenders who want to participate. Pub Bishop & Bagg is located at 52 StViateur St. and is open from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. on weekends and 11:30 a.m. to 3 a.m. on weekdays.

TECH

Cutting the cord: going wireless in 2016 Wireless power is expected to continuously grow during the year MINA MAZUMDER Staff writer As a generation of students that are known for constantly looking at some sort of screen, be it a cellphone or laptop, it’s only natural that we’re curious about what’s to come in the technological world. Whether it’s a new iPhone or an innovative gadget that facilitates our lives in some way, we’re all up on it. So what new gadgets will be coming our way this year? The annual event of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was held last week in Las Vegas and many visited from all around the world to experience and appreciate new technological releases. According to Wired, the most impressive products presented at CES included Bang & Olufsen’s BeoLab 90 speakers, Technics SL-1200 turntable, Kodak’s Super 8 camera, LG Signature OLED G6, Samsung Notebook 9, and smart glasses by Carl Zeiss. One particular technological advancement continuing to take the world by storm is wireless technology.

IHS, global market, industry and technical expertise provider, reported that wireless power would rake in $1.7 billion in revenue in 2015, and it’s said to grow to $17.9 billion in 2024. “Wireless power is about more than just getting rid of wires. It’s about helping all kinds of associated technologies transition from impractical to realistic. It’s about not having to put your devices in a specific place for a specific amount of time, or having to worry about whether your devices are charged,” Evan Ackerman, a senior robotics writer wrote in his article Why Wireless Power Is the Most Exciting Thing at CES 2016. He said that simple household gadgets will eventually become wireless in the future, including lights, surround sound speakers, and security cameras. “Wireless power would let you put these kinds of things wherever you wanted, and move them around freely,” wrote Ackerman. Cellphones are constantly being improved, too. ”Cellphones, even though [the technology] is not something new, are always expanding and always developing and possibly going to be replacing laptops, but computers will still be used for longterm assignments and programs,” said Dr. Nancy Acemian, a senior lecturer in com-

puter science and software engineering at Concordia. “Cellphones are getting smarter and people are relying on those things a lot more. We are paying our parking meters through our cellphones, as well as doing our banking through our cellphones. I still think that cellphones are going to evolve

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

into more being more than just a phone and more of a computer,” said Acemian. According to The Wall Street Journal, other products that are growing in popularity are T.V.s and other household electronics that are voice-operated—with only a simple word or two, your product is at your command.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

ARTS

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ARTS EDITORS ELIJAH BUKREEV and LYDIA ANDERSON arts@theconcordian.com @theconcordian

EXHIBIT

Discover the details of a beloved writer’s life The Pointe-à-Callière Museum is hosting Investigating Agatha Christie until April 17

Take a day off and immerse yourself in the inspirations, passions and reality of Agatha Christie’s life.

PAULINE NESBITT Staff writer

gatha Christie’s first visit to Montreal happened in 1922 as part of a world tour she did with her first husband, Archibald Christie, and now she is back in town. Get to know her at the Pointe-àCallière Museum where visitors can discover the many unknown aspects of her life that informed her literary process. The Investigating Agatha Christie exhibit opened in Montreal in early December and marks the 125th anniversary of her birth. Christie is the British author and creator of sleuth characters such as Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple. Many of her 66 mysteries, six novels, 150 short stories, 18 plays and two memoirs inspired films and television series. Christie has a way of mixing banal, everyday life events with mystery and intrigue by way of relatable characters who happen to be skilled detectives. Although Christie died in 1976, the exhibit is designed for visitors to experience the tour in her company, almost as if she was holding the visitor by the hand. To create this experience, curator Élisabeth Monast Moreau had to listen to over 15 hours of recordings Christie made during her later years while

working on her autobiography. Moreau described this process as similar to spending that time with Christie, which is made precious by the fact that Christie was known to be quite reserved and rarely gave interviews. Moreau described her as a very down to earth, yet practical, a woman who felt that she had to contribute something to the world. Even Christie’s own voice can be heard throughout the exhibit using strategically placed headphones. In a May 2012 interview with The Guardian, Christie’s grandson, Matthew Prichard, described her as a “fiercely private” recluse—very little about her private life had been available to the public until now. The Investigating Agatha Christie exhibit reveals Christie’s love for travel and her willingness to embrace the different cultures she encountered, but most importantly it reveals her deep passion for archeology and the key role she played in the discovery and preservation of ancient artifacts found in Mesopotamia, even though she was not an archeologist. The exhibit is meant to encourage Christie readers’ further appreciation of her work by revealing literary inspirations and to encourage those who haven’t picked up her work to do so, said Moreau. “For years, the museum wanted to pres-

ent an exhibition that mixed Christie’s work with archeology, because … this part of her life experience is not known as [well as] her novels,” said Moreau. In fact, Christie spent close to 30 years on her husband’s archeological digs in Iraq and Syria, where she worked as an active member of his team. Moreau shared that the 320 items on display are the result of a collaborative effort between the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Royal Ontario Museum, John Mallowan, Christie’s nephew, and Prichard. Objects displayed include first editions of Christie’s books, letters and postcards she sent from Canada

and a model of the Orient Express she took to Mesopotamia, and later made famous through her work. The second floor of the exhibit offers a focus on Christie’s activities while on archeological digs and contains many priceless artifacts on loan from the collaborating museums. Of note are the head of a deity that was excavated by Mallowan in 1938, Christie’s cameras and her 1937 Remington typewriter, items of clothing that belonged to Christie and Mallowan, a relief of Nefertiti and Akhnaton and a headdress and necklace made of gold and lapis lazuli. There are also photographs, taken by Christie, of ancient sites and treasures that modern audiences can no longer enjoy as they have recently been destroyed by Daesh. Exhibit goers can listen to Christie’s voice describe everything from preparations for her ventures into dig sites to her explaining the process of developing photographs in the sweltering heat. Although it appears that Christie was kept busy while at the dig sites, she was most prolific as a writer during these years, according to Moreau. But Christie was known to have fun too; through the headphones, she describes a workman’s foot race she organized to mark the end of the dig season at Tell Arpachiyah, in Syria, in 1933. Moreau said that working with Prichard on this exhibition was “like a dream, because … [he wants people] to get to know his grandmother and her work.” She added that he attended the exhibit’s opening and said that he was left speechless. Before visiting the exhibit myself, I reread a few of her short stories to get a reminder of her literary style, rather than drawing from the movie and T.V. adaptations of her work that so readily come to mind. Visiting the Investigating Agatha Christie exhibit truly enhanced my appreciation for her work. The exhibit continues at the Pointeà-Callière Museum in the Montreal Museum of Archeology and History Complex until April 17. Student tickets are $13. Every day at 1:30 p.m., the museum offers guided tours in English free of charge.

Christie was involved in archeological digs and some claim she was the most prolific as a writer during those years of her life.

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

FILM

A first look at the must-see movies of 2016

Resolve to take more trips to the movie theatre in the new year—you don’t want to miss any of these

George Clooney stars in Hail, Caesar! as a Kirk Douglas-like 50s superstar who gets kidnapped by a mysterious group that calls itself The Future.

ALEXANDRA COLATOSTI Contributor

hile 2016 is shaping up to be a year of exceptional sequels, with follow-ups to 2012’s Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and the Huntsman and just about every superhero movie that has come out in the last five years, there are also tons of non-sequential films coming out this year that shouldn’t be overlooked. Here is a list of some of the most anticipated films coming out in 2016.

January After a two-year hiatus, Natalie Portman returns to the screen in the Western drama Jane Got a Gun, in which she plays a woman who asks her ex-lover (Joel Edgerton) to help save her outlaw husband from a gang out to kill him. You can see Jane Got a Gun in theatres on Jan. 26.

Anesthesia is an ensemble drama that details the aftermath of a violent attack against a Columbia University professor. Starring Glenn Close, Sam Waterson, Tim Blake Nelson and Kristen Stewart in a small but pivotal role, Anesthesia will be out in theatres and on demand Jan. 8. February The Coen brothers are already gaining buzz with their latest, Hail, Caesar! The star-studded comedy, which includes George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum, to name a few, sees the filmmaking duo’s satirical take on the golden age of Hollywood. Out in theatres Feb. 5, this one is a must-see. March Fans of art-house director Terrence Malick have been waiting for his latest film, Knight of Cups, to come out since it

wrapped production back in 2012. This year, we’ll finally see Christian Bale and a bevy of other well-known actors star in the experimental, nonlinear drama, out March 4. Jeff Nichols, the filmmaker behind arthouse phenomenons Mud and Take Shelter, is reteaming with Michael Shannon for Midnight Special, a story of a father forced to go on the road after he discovers that his son possesses supernatural powers. With a solid supporting cast that includes Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver and the young Jaeden Lieberher (St. Vincent), Midnight Special looks like a suspenseful ride. See it in select theatres on March 18. April After the well-deserved success of Boyhood, Richard Linklater has turned to sports for his next project, Everybody Wants Some. Described as a spiritual sequel to his 1993 cult film, Dazed and Confused, Everybody Wants Some is set in the 1980s and follows the lives of college freshmen who are also baseball players. Fans of the director’s former projects can expect the same humour and authenticity in this one, out April 15. May Money Monster could end up being a prominent player in the top films of 2016, an assumption based on its cast (Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Jack O’Connell), its director (Jodie Foster) and its plot. The film follows a man named Kyle (O’Connell) who loses all of his family’s money on a bad tip, so he holds T.V. personality and Wall Street money guru Lee Gates (Clooney) hostage on air, threatening to kill Lee if he doesn’t get the stock up before time’s up. This thriller, out May 13 is all but certain to keep audiences on the edge of their seats.

July Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash received tons of critical acclaim during awards season last year, and now he’s cast Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, who share the screen for the third time, in his upcoming project, La La Land. The musical drama sees Gosling as a jazz pianist who falls for an aspiring actress (Stone) in Los Angeles. It hits theatres everywhere on July 15. If dramas and musicals aren’t your thing, you’ll want to check out the all-female Ghostbusters reboot, also out on July 15. Starring Melissa McCarthy and Saturday Night Live favourites Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon, as well as cameos from the original Ghostbusters Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, this comedy is setting up to be more than just a remake. August Jonah Hill teams up with Miles Teller in the upcoming buddy dramedy, Arms and the Dudes, which is out on Aug. 19. The film follows the true story of David Pacouz and Efraim Diveroli, who won a $300-million contract from the Pentagon to arm America’s allies in Afghanistan. October Paula Hawkins’ debut novel Girl on the Train did exceedingly well last year,

and its film adaptation is set to get a warm welcome when it comes out on Oct. 7. Emily Blunt stars as a distressed alcoholic who gets entangled in a couple’s murder mystery after witnessing something shocking while riding the train. November Harry Potter fans will be excited about this one. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them acts as J.K. Rowling’s screenwriting debut and takes place in the same magical universe, only 70 years earlier. Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne stars as Newt Scamander, future author of the Beasts textbook which later ends up at Hogwarts. The first in a planned trilogy, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will be out in theatres on Nov. 17. December Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt are next to take on space drama in the upcoming film Passengers, out on Dec. 21. The pair will play sleeping passengers transported on a traveling spacecraft to a distant colonized planet in another galaxy. Due to a mid-flight malfunction, one passenger (Pratt) is awakened too soon and decides to wake up another one (Lawrence) to avoid spending the next 100 years on his own.

In Midnight Special, Jaeden Lieberher shares the screen with Adam Driver.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

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BANNER

Home is where the heart is

Formerly homeless, Frank Sthilaire recounts his 14-year journey on the streets of Montreal The stories in this series are products of the Inclusive Journalism Project, a research initiative that seeks to develop a new way of reporting about poverty and homelessness. Whereas conventional articles speak about the poor and the homeless and address readers outside those communities, the stories produced by this project are written as dialogues, or conversations, with their subjects, and are intended to speak to their communities.

Photo by Matt D’Amours.

MATT D’AMOURS with FRANK STHILAIRE When you walk into your one-room apartment and take a seat in front of your small television, can you say that, at 51 years old, this is all you need—a single bed with warm sheets, a kitchen with a stove and a few dishes, a tiny closet space for storage? Is this your slightly chubby cat lying here peacefully on the blanket? By the way, I couldn’t help but notice that you’re missing some fingers when you pulled your right hand out of your pocket to stroke her head. To be honest this cat was with me the whole 14 years I was living on the street. Right up to the night this happened to my hand last year. Fell asleep under a bridge in minus 40 degree weather. When you’re drunk you don’t feel how dangerously cold it is. At some point in the night, the right hand slipped out of its glove, and got badly frostbitten. You told me that at the hospital they tried to restore circulation to the fingers, but it was too late—they had to amputate. I would expect someone who had most of his fingers on one hand removed would feel a sense of loss, but you tell me you gained from the experience. Remember when you said, “losing my fingers was a wake-up call ... It made me put the past behind me, and look ahead to the future?” You see, Matt, the trouble started in 2000, when family issues forced me to move

out of my home. This happens to lots of people in the street. We try living with different family members, but often we find them not to be much of a long-term fit. Eventually, I stocked my backpack with supplies and spent my first night living on the street. And when you end up on the street, your heart weakens. There’s no love there—you’re completely demolished and no longer part of society. The shock of ending up on the street must take its toll, struggling to find stability. I tried setting up a tent at Place Émilie-Gamelin, but was eventually forced to take it down by police. Viger Park is even less welcoming; city officials routinely call on firefighters to hose you down. I fell into a depression around that time. I didn’t have anyone and I didn’t know where to go. I drank more, and eventually, I got hooked on crack to cope. After several years, I learned how to survive on the street. I reached out to Le sac à dos, an organization set up to assist Montreal’s homeless. There, you can set up a

mailbox where you can have social benefit cheques sent. There are plenty of shelters where you can get a warm meal, too: La maison du père, Old Brewery Mission and Acceuil Bonneau, among others. You say you can eat six times a day if you know where to go? Yeah, but unfortunately, a lot of people don’t know about these places—and even worse, some people know, but are too shy to reach out for help. I know this first-hand. At first, I resorted to eating out of garbage cans because I was too ashamed to go to a shelter. After a while on the street, I became closed off, and the shame is accompanied by fear and paranoia. ‘Cause when you sleep on the street, you’re always checking your things. You’re worried about being beaten or stabbed by someone trying to rob you. I only ever had a toonie on me—I buried all of my money in the park to be safe. Living like this takes its toll. Over the 14 years I spent on the street, I attempted suicide three times.

“When you’re drunk you don’t feel how dangerously cold it is. At some point in the night, the right hand slipped out of its glove, and got badly frostbitten.”

But you’ve persevered, and you told me that one day you met someone who changed your life. A social worker from Acceuil Bonneau named Tommy, who told you that with some effort, paperwork and perseverance, you could pull yourself out of the street and into a government-subsidized apartment. This place. Tommy gave me the papers and showed me all the places I needed to bring them. He was willing to help me, but I had to be willing and ready to help myself. It took several years, but eventually, I found out that there was this one-room apartment available here near Berri Square. Not long after, I spent the night sleeping under a bridge in the dead of winter, and my hand slipped out of its glove. I would have hesitated to make the change if my hand was still normal. But the doctors who amputated my fingers asked if I had a place to stay to keep warm—the whole situation woke me up. Now, after a year, I am settled into this new life, spending free time volunteering with organizations like SOS Itinérant, and handing out sandwiches to people living on the streets that I have come to know so well. If you live the life I once lived, you should know that there’s a way out. I did it, and I believe with all my heart that you can too. If I go out into the street and reach out to people, maybe they’ ll think, ‘I know that he went through the same thing—I can make it out too.’ They just need a helping hand, and it’s my pleasure.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

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RECOMMENDATIONS

A beginner’s guide to stoner rock & metal You don’t need a medicinal prescription to enjoy these thick, crushing tunes SAMUEL PROVOST-WALKER Music editor Whether a casual smoker, a daily toker or a straight-edge lifer, almost everyone can agree on one thing; stoner culture is pretty damn toxic. From the excessive commoditization of Bob Marley flags and wear to the almost childlike opposition of the status quo and its rules, it’s all fairly insufferable. Well, almost. Though the subject matter may not appeal to all, stoner rock and

stoner metal were undeniably instrumental to the development of many popular genres, namely heavy metal and rock as we know them today. With genre pioneers Sleep stopping by Montreal’s Telus Theatre on Jan. 24, there’s no better time to look back at its origins. While the genre’s foundations are in early traditional doom metal, stoner metal’s roots stem from a very specific scenario: a few years before the seminal Master of Reality, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi had the tips of two fingers severed in a factory incident. Not ready to give up his other gig as a musician, Iommi downtuned his guitar from E standard to C# in order to relieve string tension and put less strain on his injuries.

Graphic by Samuel Provost-Walker.

To say the results were astounding may sound crass, yet songs such as “Children of the Grave” became essential in establishing the downtuned, bassheavy tones associated with stoner rock and metal. Starting in the late ‘80s, tons of bands, many hailing from the Californian heat, emerged pushing forth a chunkier, slower and more intensely psychedelic riff on Sabbath’s winning formula. Of these bands was none other than Sleep; though originally a quartet, Sleep quickly reformatted to the winning threepiece behemoth that thrived on their three studio albums. While Sleep’s Holy Mountain—the band’s second full-length album—pushed the Sabbath formula into heavier, foggier territory, their follow-up was a Herculean accomplishment and a landmark album in its own right. Entitled Dopesmoker, the album consists of a solitary 63 minute-long recording, glacial in pace and elephantine in scale, all engulfed in thick billowing smoke. Made up of only a handful of riffs yet played at a snail’s pace and laden in atmosphere and marijuana-laced imagery, Sleep take the formula to its illogical extreme, delivering something of a masterstroke. This is stoner metal in its most literal and extreme form. Of course, not all stoner metal is as unwieldy and ambitious as Dopesmoker. Take England’s Electric Wizard for instance: marrying the stoned, crushing riffs of Sleep with ferocious guitars downtuned to an absolutely guttural A# standard (among other tunings) and themes of religion, fantasy and the leaf, Jus Oborn’s brainchild is as mammoth-sized as it is

straightforward. Come My Fanatics opener “Return Trip” is a stunning example of efficiency over acrobatic fretboard excess, its buzzing guitars sounding like an atom bomb, while Dopethrone staple “Funeralopolis” is an instantly iconic, doom-infused spin on the classic Sabbath formula. Reliable and consistent, you just can’t go wrong with Electric Wizard. Not all stoner metal is as deeply indebted to Black Sabbath as these two however. Take genre-benders Boris for example; based in Japan, this powerhouse trio has a veritable laundry-list of releases spanning virtually every genre you can think of (yes, even J-Pop). Though the quality and consistency of their output is somewhat debatable, a surefire entry point to it is their 2005 release Pink. Combining the noisy sonic theatrics of Boredoms with the aggressiveness of hardcore punk and the crunch of sludge metal, Pink is Boris distilled down to its purest form. Whether hammering out some head-bobbing stoner rock on “Woman on the Screen” or embracing wall upon wall of buzzing, ear-shattering feedback on the exhaustive finale “Just Abandoned Myself,” Boris are as fun and innocent as they are artful and boundary-pushing. Though stoner metal often isn’t complete without a handful of oblique references to the plant that spawned it, one shouldn’t mistake it for the culture it’s unfortunately attached to. As with almost all forms of music, lyrics are but a facet of the entire package. Don’t let the fumes dissuade you; inside lies an onslaught of tasty riffs, colossal percussion and some endearingly corny lyrics.

CONCERTS

Bands we want in 2016 With winter in full effect, these hot bands may be our only saviours MIA PEARSON Staff writer Montreal becomes a desert in January and February because the tired tires on a band’s tour van can’t trudge through the mounds of snow. They’re right to stay away—Montreal is less inviting when the cold is biting. Here are bands we can only dream of coming to our city-size freezer and whose songs will keep you warm— but not literally. Heaters Crank up Heaters to warm your winter. This Michigan trio lays down a thick layer of grainy psychedelia that’ll coat you with warmth like a cozy coat. Contrasting clean 1960s rock and roll riffs with crunchy vocals you won’t understand a word of, Heaters aren’t afraid to turn beach music into something grittier. Their 7-inch Mean Green, released in April 2015, is available for sale on Bandcamp for US$7.50 if you’re willing to lower your hydro bill and live off the heat you’ll make from dancing. “No Fuss” off the al-

bum is a jangly mid-tempo song that’s as dreamy as it is grimy. Tijuana Panthers It’s been said that if you put cocaine on your rider in Tijuana, the venue delivers. Tijuana Panthers’ music is euphoric in a similar way. This Long Beach, CA, trio channels the energy from barreling Long Beach waves and serves up a garage rock sound sick with nostalgia. Their latest album, POSTER, sounds like Brit pop set out to lay in the California sun only to shrivel in the sand and soak in a pool. POSTER travels back to bygone eras of danceable garage pop. Book a ticket to the warmer coast with a listen to “Boardwalk,” and strap in for some California romanticism. Elvis Depressedly Even though Elvis Depressedly hit up Montreal in October of last year opening for The Front Brothers, this king of sulky lo-fi pop deserves to be the main attraction. A song like “New Alhambra,” off the 2015 album of the same name, is the perfect soundtrack to a day spent inside avoiding a storm. Working with wobbly melodic guitar and often employing broken equipment, frontman Mat Cothran sings languidly about being depressed

With their high-energy garage rock, Tijuana Panthers are sure to keep you warm through the harsh winter. and feeling a lot of things, or feeling nothing at all. Let Elvis Depressedly’s simple yet poignant lyrics lull you into your warm winter coma. Ween In a statement announcing their Colorado reunion shows, this infamously weird duo said that the shows are “going to be fucking mind-blowing.” A mix of strange pitch modulation and effects, some of

the oddest most unnecessarily descriptive lyrics, and rock and roll melodies that resemble the end result of Pink Floyd stuffed into a meat grinder, seeing Ween perform is like spotting the rarest bird in the Amazon. The oddities and combined musical prowess that sprouted their cultish fan base will keep your ears busy for days while you try to decipher exactly what the hell is happening on their albums.

theconcordian

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

SPORTS

SPORTS EDITOR ALEXANDER COLE sports@theconcordian.com @theconcordian

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

Growing the game for the next generation

Stingers women’s hockey head coach Julie Chu talks winter classic and how to popularize the sport SAMANTHA MILETO Contributor

“W

hen you step on the ice, there’s always that awe moment, whether you want to admit it or not,” Stingers interim head coach Julie Chu told NHL.com. “Some of us who’ve had a chance to experience it a few more times—and maybe worked on the mental confirmation of that moment— are able to shift out of that a little bit quicker and back to the focus of it.” Chu was talking about The Montreal Canadiennes of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) facing off against the Boston Pride of the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) in a New Year’s Eve showdown at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The outdoor game was the first ever for women’s hockey. The NHL officially announced that the game between the Pride and Les Canadiennes would take place ahead of the 2016 Winter Classic between the Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins on New Year’s Day. “This is really just about two teams wanting to expose the women’s game to the fans and to the world,” said CWHL commissioner Brenda Andress, according to Sportsnet. A Statistics Canada report published in 2013 revealed that in 2010, 23 per cent of men participated in hockey regularly, compared to only about four per cent of women. Participating in the Winter Classic and its festivities was therefore a step in growing the women’s game in Canada and around the world. But how else have Les Canadiennes been trying to get some recognition for the women’s game? In March of 2015, Les Canadiennes entered a partnership with the Montreal Canadiens, in the hopes of attracting more young girls to play hockey. Les Canadiennes will be participating in Habs events like the Canadiens annual blood drive, and various hockey camps. The Habs will also be helping the women’s team in promotions and with selling their merchandise. Chu said that being associated with the Canadiens is crucial and is definitely a step in the right direction in getting women’s hockey more recognition in this country. “I think it’s huge in the sense that the Montreal Canadiens have a vast network to be able to use their resources to get out into the community and that’s the piece that we were missing,” Chu said. “We tried our best to get out there but we have limited resources and I think that’s going to be huge when we get a chance to be in the visible eye. More girls are going to be able to see us as their role models and have the opportunities to ask their

Julie Chu is currently interim head coach of the Stingers women’s hockey team and has played in the Olympics. Photo by Marie-Pierre Savard. families or their parents, ‘Can I play hockey?’ and hopefully get interested in the sport. When it’s present and in visible sight, it makes it easier to grow the sport that we love so much.” Chu also said that it is important for women’s hockey players to get out into the communities they play in and inspire younger girls to engage in athletics. One of Chu’s role models growing up was Cammi Granato, who was vital in the growth of women’s hockey in the United States. Granato, like Chu, began playing hockey on all-boys teams. She helped the first ever U.S. national team win a silver medal at the 1990 World Championships. After playing for Providence College, Granato earned a Master’s degree at Concordia while playing for the Stingers. She then captained the U.S. at the 1998 Olympics, beating Canada in the gold medal game, and was named the American flag bearer at the closing ceremonies. In 2010, Granato was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. “I got a chance to look up to [Granato], who was a huge figure in women’s hockey on the U.S. side,” Chu said. “[She’s] so awesome and so humble. When I got a chance to play with her, I recognized what an incredible person she was, besides being an incredible hockey player.” Chu resembles her biggest role model in many ways. Like Granato, the Fairfield, CT native is a decorated Olympian. Besides her silver medal from Sochi, Chu also won a silver medal at the Olympics in 2002 and 2010 as well as a bronze medal in the 2006 Olympics. She captained the U.S. team to a gold medal in the 2013 World

Championships and was also the U.S. flag bearer at the closing ceremonies at the 2014 Winter Games. Still, despite Chu’s impressive resumé, despite Granato’s influence and despite the NHL partnering with Les Canadiennes and the Pride to play an outdoor game in front of thousands of people, there is no perfect solution to growing women’s sports around the world. This is an issue, mainly because of the mentality that hockey is considered a man’s game, Chu said. She added that a change in mentality among fans, players and parents alike is necessary to grow women’s hockey, or any female sport. In Chu’s experience growing up as a female hockey player, she said that in many cases, it was the parents who would be negative towards the idea of having a girl on the team. “[The parents] were the ones that had the little comments about ‘girls shouldn’t be playing hockey’ or ‘good luck that you have a girl on your team, she’s probably not very good,’” Chu said. “Unfortunately, it is often the parents that shape the mentality of their children. The kids half the time were just like, ‘Let’s play.’” Chu also believes that many hockey fans don’t follow women’s hockey because they think it isn’t physical enough. But Chu said they are wrong. “I’ve had people come up to me after some games when we played Canada at the Olympics and they say: ‘Are you sure there’s no checking in your game?’” Chu said. “I think there’s always a perception that non-checking hockey means there is no contact. But there’s plenty of physical contact within our game, it’s just in a more controlled manner, as we go into

the boards, we can’t necessarily do the big full-out body checks. But there is plenty of body contact. We still have to play a physical game.” In the end, however, Les Canadiennes are doing everything they can to make their games easily accessible to families; they play on the weekend, and their tickets are only $15 per person. They have increased their attendance league-wide from 2,000 in 2008 to 12,000 at the end of last season, according to thehockeynews. com. Though Chu said the CWHL is a long way from the million dollar contracts of the NHL, she is confident the league is headed in the right direction. For example, she said the CWHL’s operating budget has grown from about $200,000 in 2008 to $1.5 million this season. Today, CWHL teams have entered partnerships with NHL clubs in their respective cities. Though the CWHL players don’t get paid yet, the league plans to begin paying their players as of the 2017-18 season. “There are [always] some risks in paying players, and not being able to sustain it,” Chu said. “But I think [the league] is trying to do their diligence to make sure that as we’re continuing to progress, that we don’t throw [paying players] out for a year and then have to retract it. Obviously, that might always happen, but what the league has been doing is tremendous and the growth that we’ve seen year-to-year has been there and we’re just going to continue to push forward.” It may be a slow ascent for the CWHL and women’s hockey, but the sport is a growing one nonetheless. With the help of Chu and her Les Canadiennes teammates, it seems young girls can look forward to playing more organized hockey in the future.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

BASKETBALL

Stingers lose out against Laval

Concordia fails to win in home-and-home against the Rouge et Or CASEY DULSON Staff writer The Concordia Stingers hosted the Laval Rouge et Or on Jan. 7. These were the first games of the second half of the RSEQ regular season and the first home-andhome of the year. Both Stingers teams lost, with the women losing 66-60 and the men losing 68-60. The women’s basketball team started the game off well with great three-point shooting. The team got two three-pointers by forward Richelle Gregoire and shooting guard Marie-Ève Martin to give the Stingers a 17-8 lead midway through the first quarter. The Stingers lead dwindled late in the quarter as the Rouge et Or went on a 7-0 run, which brought the Stingers lead down to two points. The second quarter saw the two teams trading baskets between one another. The Stingers took a 28-19 lead halfway through the quarter after another threepointer by Martin. Later on in the quarter, the Rouge et Or cut the Stingers lead to 30-29 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Rouge et Or took their first lead of the game with three minutes left in the quarter thanks to guard Claudia Emond. Emond hit back-to-back threes to give the Rouge et Or a 41-38 lead. The fourth quarter saw the Stingers commit quite a few turnovers at key times in the quarter. The Rouge et Or ended up winning the game because of excellent three-point shooting from Geneviève Derome and guard Raphaëlle Côté. The Stingers did tie the game at 54 on a three-pointer by Martin, however Derome came back with a three-pointer of her own which was the turning point in the game. According to Stingers coach Tenicha Gittens turnovers and bad shooting from the free throw line were key to the Stingers loss. “They got six points off second-chance points and another seven off of when we went 7-13 from the free-throw line. We gave up 13 points where we shouldn’t have,” said Gittens. On the Men’s side, the Stingers led 1913 after the first quarter because of clutch three-point shooting from forward Jaleel Webb who scored six of his seven points in the first quarter.

The Stingers opened up the second quarter with an 8-0 run led by forward Jean Daniel Mathieu who scored four of his six points on the run to increase their lead. The Rouge et Or made a comeback to make the game interesting as forward Thibaud Dezutter took control of the game scoring 11 of his 18 points during the quarter. The Stingers led 33-29 at halftime. The Rouge et Or started the third quarter with a bang as guard Karl Demers-Bélanger hit a three-pointer which led to a 7-0 run and the lead. The Stingers shooters went cold for the first four minutes of the quarter up until forward Ken Beaulieu got a basket. The Stingers rebounded and made it a one point game, 43-42 after point guard Ricardo Monge got a three-pointer. The Rouge et Or went on a 6-0 run to regain their lead. The quarter ended with the Stingers trailing, 52-47. The fourth quarter started with a Rouge et Or three-pointer by Dezutter and a 9-0 run. The Stingers ended up scoring nine unanswered points to make it a one-point game halfway

through the quarter. In the last five minutes of the game, the Stingers were not able to score a single point. After the game, Stingers coach Rastko Popovic said his team lacked in terms of offensive rebounds and precise freethrow shooting. For Popovic, those were the reasons why the team failed to put up the win. The following night on Jan. 8, the Stingers played Laval in Quebec City. The women’s team got blown out by a score of 57-31. The Stingers had a shooting percentage of 16.1 per cent and only made 10 field goals. The Stingers leading scorer was forward Marilyse Roy-Viau who had 11 points. On the other side, the men’s team lost 71-62. The team lacked threepoint shooting as they only made four out of 25 tries. Stingers forward Ken Beaulieu had 17 points in the loss. The women’s team is now 1-5 on the year and the men’s team is 2-3 on the year. Next week, the Stingers basketball teams will participate in a home and home with the UQÀM Citadins.

theconcordian

STINGERS

WEEKEND RESULTS ALEXANDER COLE Sports editor

HOCKEY MEN’S Stingers vs. UOIT (LOSS 5-2) The team took to the ice on Jan. 8 to face the University of Ontario Institute of Technology at home. The Stingers lost the game by a score of 5-2. UOIT came into the game with a record of 10-5-1, while the Stingers came in with a record of 7-8-3. UOIT forward Loren Ulett scored a hat trick in the game while teammates Cameron Yuill and Ben Blasko each had a goal. Concordia forwards Philippe Hudon and Domenic Beauchemin were the two goal scorers for the Stingers. UOIT goaltender Brendan O’Neill made 32 saves in his team’s victory. The Stingers next game is an away game against Queen’s University on Jan. 15. The game is crucial if the team is looking for a playoff run. WOMEN’S Stingers @ McGill (LOSS 5-2) The team took to the ice in an away game against their rivals, the McGill Martlets, on Jan. 8. The game looked promising for the Stingers as the team was coming into the game fresh off of their championship win at the Theresa Humes women’s hockey tournament. However, the team was not able to carry that momentum into their games against the Martlets as they lost by a score of 5-2. Stingers goaltender Briar Bache was pulled after allowing four goals on 15 shots. Katherine Purchase, who came in as relief for Bache, stopped all 19 shots that she faced. McGill’s fifth goal was an empty netter. Stingers received goal scoring from forwards Claudia Dubois and Devon Thompson in the game. Stingers vs. Ottawa (LOSS 5-4(s/o))

Stingers guard Jaleel Webb goes up for a basket against the Rouge et Or. Photo by Marie-Pierre Savard.

Stingers forward Marilyse Roy-Viau looks for an open player in the Laval zone. Photo by Brianna Thicke.

On Jan. 10, the Stingers hosted the University of Ottawa Gee Gees who came into the game one point out of first place in the RSEQ division. The Stingers came up short in the match with a shootout loss. The score was 5-4. Ottawa’s goal-scoring was led by forward Roxannne Rioux who had two goals in the game. Marimee Godbout-Parent and Carol-Ann Upshall rounded out the scoring for the Gee Gees. Goal scorers for the Stingers included Ann-Julie Deschenes who had two, Devon thompson who had one, and Tracy-Ann Lavigne who also had one. Stingers goaltender Katherine Purchase made 26 saves in the loss. The loss brought the Stingers record to 3-8-1 which keeps them in fourth place in the RSEQ division. The Stingers next game will be against the Carabins from the Université de Montréal on Jan. 15.

theconcordian

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

theconcordian

STINGERS

The top eight Stingers moments of 2015

Looking back at the best games and memories from the last season of Concordia sports CASEY DULSON Staff writer The 2015 season was a fantastic year for Concordia’s teams and its athletes. Several of the teams picked up huge wins over big opponents, while a few athletes picked up impressive accolades. Among the award-winning athletes were Stingers quarterback Trenton Miller and women’s rugby centre Frédérique Rajotte who both won RSEQ MVP honours in their respective sports. Without further ado, here are the top eight moments from the 2015 season. 8. Stingers quarterback Trenton Miller wins the RSEQ MVP. Miller led the RSEQ in passes as he threw for 20 touchdowns and passed for 2384 yards this season. He became the first Stingers player to get the MVP honors since former quarterback Scott Syvret won it in 2005. 7. Frédérique Rajotte, third-year center on the women’s rugby team, wins the RSEQ MVP. She had 12 tries in seven games. Rajotte continued the trend of Stingers women’s rugby players winning the award. Last season, it was third-year center Alex Tessier who won MVP honours. 6. The women’s hockey team defeated the Université de Montréal Carabins 1-0. The Carabins were ranked

No. 1 in the CIS top 10 poll at the time. This was also the first victory for interim head coach Julie Chu. 5. The men’s basketball team won the Concordia Classic tournament for the first time since 2010. The team defeated the UPEI Panthers 82-70 on Oct. 10 to clinch the championship. The tournament championship was important because it gave the team momentum during the first half of the season as they finished with a record of 9-4. 4. The women’s basketball team had the rare opportunity to host the defending CIS champions Windsor Lancers in a preseason tilt at home on Oct. 16. The Stingers pulled the upset by beating the Lancers 70-63. They scored 40 points in the first half, which played a huge role in the win. The Stingers last win against the Lancers was on Dec. 29 of 2012. 3. This season, the women’s rugby team advanced to the CIS nationals for the first time since 2012. The team only had two losses in the regular season, both of which were against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, including one in the RSEQ championship game. The Rugby team ended up finishing fourth at the CIS national championship after they lost to the GeeGees in the bronze medal game. 2. The Stingers men’s hockey team

hosted the Windsor Lancers on the weekend of Oct. 16 and 17. The Stingers had not beaten the Lancers since November of 2006. The Stingers lost the first game with a score of 6-5. The following day, the Stingers finally beat the Lancers 6-5 in a thrilling shootout. 1. The Stingers football team went to the Percival Molson Memorial Stadium to play the McGill Redmen on Oct. 24. The winner of the game would get the last remaining spot in the RSEQ playoffs. The Stingers were in full control of the game and had a huge lead for the

majority of the match. The Redmen ended up taking a 41-40 lead with two minutes left. Stingers quarterback Trenton Miller led the Stingers offense down the field for 70 yards. This led to Stingers kicker Keegan Treloar kicking a 30-yard field goal to win the game. While the Stingers lost the first game of the playoffs, this game will never be forgotten. Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

COLUMN

Brendan Gallagher uplifts the struggling Habs The Montreal Canadiens forward has been a bright spot for the team this season SARAH KOSSITS Staff writer

in the lineup, the team tends to play better. They have more energy, and overall, they play better hockey. That’s because when Gallagher smiles on the ice, he’s not smiling alone. His teammates, his coach and his fans all smile with him. They thrive off of the fun that he has, and they start having more

fun themselves. It’s important for professional athletes to be able to take a step back from the game and recognize that, yes, although it is their career and they need to do well, they can have fun doing it, too. Gallagher does that, and that’s why players like him are so important to a hockey team. Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

While flipping between two hockey games on a Tuesday night, I came across a stoppage in play during a Habs game. The play had stopped because Habs forward Brendan Gallagher dislodged the opponents’ net and he was now inside the net, scrambling to get up. I mean, where else would he be? He has a league-wide reputation for bugging goalies and getting under their skin. There’s even a popular t-shirt for sale at hockey stores that has a picture of a goal crease on it and it says “Gally’s office.” Gallagher is the type of player you love to have on your team and hate to play against. Although he occasionally crosses the line of goaltender interference, he usually plays a game that irritates other goaltenders in a legal fashion. He brings them out of their game and often deflects his teammates’ shots just by being in front of the net. It’s no surprise that he was given an “A” at the start of the season, as he plays every game with a passion, intensity and a level of skill seen in so few players in today’s NHL. He brings energy to his team

simply by playing his game. With Gallagher in the lineup this year, the team was virtually unstoppable as they posted a record of 17-4-2. When Gallagher blocked a slapshot in November and needed surgery on two of his fingers, the team lost the player who arguably contributes to most of their success. Without Gallagher, the Habs went 5-11-1. In his first game back from injury, on Jan. 1 against the Bruins, he had a goal and an assist in the team’s 5-1 victory. Gallagher spoke of his success as a hockey player and why his presence lifts the team in a post-winter classic interview which was later uploaded to the Canadiens website. “We all had so much fun,” he said with a massive smile on his face. After all, that’s what makes Gallagher such a good hockey player. He always has a smile on his face. The Habs score? Gallagher’s smiling. Gallagher is getting shoved behind the net? He’s smiling. The other team is chirping him with some not-so-nice words? That’s when his smile is the biggest. Nothing bothers him. He would rather hurt the other team with goals than with words, and that’s what sets him apart from other players. His passion for the game and the fun he has playing it is infectious. When he’s

thec

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

ETC Tweets of the week This week we tragically lost an idol who tremendously influenced pop culture. The following tweets demonstrate his impact upon his peers as the world mourns the loss of David Bowie.

Instagram feature of the week: @Moonothing Moonassi Daehyun Kim is a Seoul-based artist who specializes in black-and-white illustrations. His drawings evoke a sense of raw emotion and really encapsulate the human condition.

@DavidBowieReal

January 10 2016 - David Bowie did peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle ..

@Kendrick Lamar

What a honor, what a soul. David Bowie, Spirit of Gold. RIP.

@KanyeWest

David Bowie was one of my most important inspirations, so fearless, so creative, he gave us magic for a lifetime.

@Flo_tweet

David Bowie was a huge influence on me throughout my life. The original star-man returned to the stars...

@TheRyanAdams

You made being yourself look so cool. The universe is only as bright as what you showed us.

Truly grateful

ADVERTISE WITH US

RIP Bowie

@AdamLambert

I love how Bowie challenged people’s perception of gender stereotypes and what an Outsider truly was. He was SO ahead of his time.

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Concordia University’s weekly, independent student newspaper VOLUME 33 | ISSUE 15 | TUESDAY, JAN. 12, 2016 Cover photo by Matt D’Amours.

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