theconcordian
VOLUME 33 | ISSUE 7 | INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY. SINCE 1983. | OCT. 13, 2015
NEWS p. 3
Speaking up for refugees
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
LIFE
ARTS
Doc reflects on YouTuber Laci Green talks sex p. 5 SGW race riots p. 10
MUSIC
SPORTS
OPINIONS
Lakes of Canada shimmer p. 12
Looking towards the playoffs p. 14
BIXI: a love story
We tell your stories. Follow us on social media @TheConcordian
p. 17
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NEWS CITY GREGORY TODARO News editor
UQÀM and hockey club developing new puck The Montreal Hiboux hockey club is a league for visually impaired people from low-vision to totally blind. They currently use a tin can painted black as a hockey puck, but according to CTV Montreal, the club is partnering with UQÀM to develop an adaptive puck. Using a tin can has several disadvantages, including not making noise while in the air or stationary. The new concept for the new puck includes a chip that can detect the puck’s motion and altitude and beep accordingly.
Dorval residents fight for golf course A group of Dorval residents are trying to save a golf course from being shut down. The land belongs to the airport who now wants the land back, according to CTV Montreal. The ninehole course has been open for around 90 years. Residents of Dorval hope to keep the course open instead of allowing the airport to develop the land. The airport was leasing the land to the Dorval municipal golf course but canceled the lease last spring. The golf course could be shut down by the end of the year.
Kayakers protest sewage dump A dozen protesters rode paddleboards and kayaks through the Lachine Canal on Sunday to protest the City of Montreal’s decision to dump billions of litres of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River next week. The protesters are against Mayor Denis Coderre’s decision to dump the eight billion litres of waste as part of a larger plan to clear a snow chute before demolishing the Bonaventure Expressway, according to CTV Montreal. The weeklong dump has already been postponed once due to public outcry. The dumping is scheduled to start on Oct. 18.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015 NEWS EDITOR GREGORY TODARO news@theconcordian.com @theconcordian
elections | news
Students turned away from polls Concordia says Elections Canada provided “erroneous information” GREGORY TODARO News editor @GCTodaro Students, staff and faculty were turned away from the polls on Friday after Concordia University received “erroneous information” from Elections Canada. In an email sent out Friday afternoon, the university said Elections Canada initially told them anyone eligible to vote in the federal election could cast their ballots from Concordia for early voting. However, “the polling stations in the J.W. McConnell (LB) Building from Oct. 9 to 12 are in fact restricted to voters who live in the riding of Ville-Marie–Le Sud-Ouest–Île-des-Sœurs and whose Voter Information Card
lists the LB Building as an advance polling station.” Early voting on campus was open to students registered in any riding between Oct. 5 and Oct. 8, but that did not continue through Oct. 12.
Concordia spokesperson Chris Mota said the university specifically asked Elections Canada if people from districts outside Ville-Marie–Le Sud-Ouest–Île-des-Sœurs would be able to vote the whole time Elections Canada was present
on campus. “We were told yes, but that was incorrect,” she said. However, Mota doesn’t want voters from different ridings that voted between Oct. 5 and Oct. 8 to worry. “Their votes are good, they will be counted,” she said.
Concordia University is telling students who are registered in a different riding and voted on campus by Oct. 8 their vote will be counted. Photo by Andrej Ivanov.
space | news
Space Concordia takes off to Israel Members presenting at International Astronautical Conference GREGORY TODARO News editor @GCTodaro Three Concordia students lifted off Friday afternoon—but on a plane instead of a rocket. While their destination is not as “out of this world” as space, the Space Concordia members are representing the organization at the 66th International Astronautical Conference in Jerusalem. Concordia mechanical engineering students Neil Woodcock, Prakul Mittal and Nicholas Velenosi, will be giving presentations at what organizers say is the biggest space conference in the world. Two students submitted abstracts about research or projects they took part in—and both abstracts were accepted and the three were asked to present the work. Woodcock, who is also president of Space Concordia, said he and Mittal submitted a paper on design simulations and analysis of carbon-fibre composite and aluminium honeycomb rocket fins. “[Wings or fins] will start bending a bit as the airspeed increases, so they’ll have a bit of a vibration,” said Woodcock. “But instead of the vibration kind of dying down, because there’s air flowing over it, it’ll start to in-
crease until it’ll just break off. It happens very quickly.” Meanwhile, Velenosi will be discussing Space Concordia’s open-source mechanical design standard for CubeSats—small, modular satellites generally used by educational institutions and small companies for research. That paper was written by five students who did their capstone project on the subject. Woodcock said getting test data for CubeSats is very difficult and having a standard, open-source design will allow others to use data and research that’s already been done, making it easier to try and calculate aspects of thermal effects and vibrations. This is the second year members of Space Concordia will attend the IAC—last year’s conference was hosted in Toronto. Velenosi went to that event, but this is Woodcock and Mittal’s first time. The IAC gives the Space Concordia members a chance to network with industry leaders and learn from a variety of experts, said Woodcock. “Airbus is doing a workshop on electric and hybrid propulsion, so they’re going to be talking about ion drives and plasma thrusters for use in satellites,” he said. “Also, there’s a breakfast that’s attended by the director of the European Space Agency and the deputy-administrator of NASA.” There are also countless presentations, workshops and exhibitions for
Three members of Space Concordia are representing the club in Jerusalem at the International Astronautical Conference. Photo by Andrej Ivanov. those attending. Woodcock said he hopes more members of Space Concordia get the opportunity to submit papers and present at the IAC. “This is an extremely good conference,” he said. “We really think that the more research we can submit to the conference, the better it would reflect on Space Concordia and engineering in the school in general.” Woodcock said he also
hopes he gets a chance to meet famous American astronaut Buzz Aldrin who will be attending the IAC. “We’re hoping we can get his autograph because he kind of snubbed us when we went to the International Space Development Conference [this year], he said he didn’t have the time,” Woodcock said, adding that he’d like to add a signed photo of Aldrin to Space Concordia’s wall of fame.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015
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protest | news
Dozens march in solidarity with refugees
Activist groups come together, calling for more refugees to come to Canada
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NATION GREGORY TODARO News editor
Mohamed Fahmy back in Canada
The march called on Canada to stop the deportation of Haitian and Zimbabwean refugees and increase the number of Syrian refugees allowed into the country.
GREGORY TODARO News editor @GCTodaro Dozens of protesters marched in solidarity with refugees on Saturday and called for the government to take in more refugees and stop the deportation of Haitians and Zimbabweans. The march was organized by Solidarity Across Borders, Let’s Unite, Le Comité d’actions contre la décision 168-13 de la République dominicaine and Le Comité d’action des personnes sans statut. The activists hoped the march would bring attention to several key issues. First, they called for an increase in the number of refugees being
accepted into Canada, an issue that’s been in the spotlight since the images of Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old boy who drowned while he and his family were fleeing Syria, went viral last month. The organizers also spoke out against the deportation of Haitian and Zimbabwean refugees currently living in Canada. A moratorium on deportations from Haiti and Zimbabwe has been lifted, giving refugees without status six months to apply for residency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds or be deported. “We’re here to ... call to an end to all deportations,” said Solidarity Across Borders member Rosalind Wong. “There
“No one is illegal.” Photos by Andrej Ivanov. have been no deportations yet, but they are coming and we’re standing in solidarity with [the refugees] saying that their place is here with the community.” The group marched East along Ste. Catherine Street from Norman Bethune Square to Phillips Square. At Phillips Square, police in riot gear were
waiting and created a line to keep the march from entering the space. The organizers of the march then decided to turn up their speakers and play music, encouraging the group to dance in the street. The police soon backed down to the corner of Cathcart Street and Union Avenue before leaving the area.
campus | news
ASFA: leader fired for “inappropriate contact” Councilor says appropriate action was taken SAVANNA CRAIG Contributor A group leader at the Arts and Science Federation of Associations’ annual orientation event was kicked out for “inappropriate contact” with launchees (formerly knowns as “froshies”). The leader, who has not been identified, had too much to drink during one of the events and began to have “sexual contact” with several launchees during Launch Week, according to ASFA Sensitivity Committee member Mariah Gills. “[He] was asked to stop three times, didn’t, and was kicked out,” Gills said during the October regular council meeting on Thursday. The group leader had persisted despite a rule that leaders were not allowed to have any sexual contact with event-goers.
While Gills wouldn’t name the leader, she did say he was not an executive of ASFA or member of the ASFA council. She also said it was event coordinators who caught the leader “making out” with multiple women during the event and that none of the women have come forward to complain. Gills said it was made clear to leaders before the event that no sexual contact would be tolerated under any circumstance.
However, “because it happened on the last day of events, there wasn’t much penalty because he was done his job,” she said. “It was something that was out of our control.” Gills also said despite the incident, this year’s orientation event represented a huge step forward in ASFA’s commitment to making these events a safe space. Around 450 launchees and 50 group leaders were given consent and harm-reduction training through a program developed by the Centre for Gender Advocacy. According to a committee report shared at council, “the workshops didn’t simply cover sexual consent, but also touched on deconstructing rape culture and gender
Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.
roles. They were a crucial first step in changing frosh culture at ASFA and Concordia overall.” This is a change in tone for ASFA, which has faced problems in the past including a human rights complaint filed against ASFA’s former president Paul Jerajian and former VP social Sean Nolan by a fellow executive who said she was being sexually harassed and subject to racial comments. As part of the organization’s attempt to move away from this reputation, ASFA renamed their week of orientation events “Launch Week” to dispel the stigma of sexual misconduct surrounding frosh activities. Gills was a member of council during the 2014-2015 academic year when the debate around offering consent workshops was ongoing. For her, the decision represents a huge victory in changing the culture and reputation of ASFA. “ It feels really good [to have these workshops],” she said. “It was nice to see students talking about consent, and some really great discussions were had.”
Mohamed Fahmy, the Canadian journalist who was imprisoned for nearly two years in Egypt on terror-related charges, arrived in Toronto on Sunday. The former Al Jazeera journalist was arrested with two colleagues in 2013 for airing what a court described as “false news” and coverage biased in favour of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the Canadian Press. Fahmy received a presidential pardon last month and waited for his name to be removed from a no-fly list before heading to London to meet with high-profile lawyer Amal Clooney.
High turnout for early voting Elections Canada is reporting that early voting is up 34 per cent from the last federal election in 2011. According to their website, Elections Canada estimates that around 780,000 people voted on Saturday. This brings the total of early voters up to 1.6 million people, an increase from the more than 1.2 million who had cast their ballots in the first two days of early voting during the 2011 federal election.
Randy Quaid arrested at the border Actor Randy Quaid was arrested at the Canada-U.S. border on Friday. The 65-year-old was taken into custody while trying to cross into the United States through Vermont, according to the Toronto Star. Quaid and his wife are wanted in Santa Barbara, California, on felony vandalism charges filed in 2010 after they were found squatting in the guesthouse of a home they previously owned, according to the Associated Press. The pair skipped court appearances and went to Canada, where Evi Quaid was granted citizenship. Randy Quaid’s bid for permanent residency was denied, according to the Associated Press. Quaid is to appear in court on Monday on a fugitive from justice charge.
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WORLD GREGORY TODARO News editor
Turkish Prime Minister blames ISIS for bombing Around 100 people were killed during a bombing in the Turkish capital city, Ankara, on Saturday. The Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said ISIS is the primary suspect in the attack, according to BBC. The government believes two male suicide bombers caused two explosions that killed as many as 128 people. The attack happened during a peace rally calling for an end to the violence between Turkish government forces and the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Russia accused of cluster-bomb use in Syria Human Rights Watch is joining Syrian activists who claim that Russia is responsible for the use of cluster-bombs against the Syrian government and its citizens. There are allegations that Russia supplied the Assad government with the bombs or even dropped them directly from their own warplanes, according to Al Jazeera. Up to 250,000 people have been killed and millions were forced to flee the country since the start of the Syrian conflict, which began as an uprising against Assad’s government in 2011.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015
elections | news
Youth “open-minded” about niqabs Activists and opponents accuse government of division politics
LAURA MARCHAND Staff writer @Marchand_L On Oct. 5, Zunera Ishaq, the woman who defended her right to wear the niqab during her citizenship oath in court, became a Canadian citizen. She stood fully veiled as she recited her oath and received her citizenship certificate. Even though the ordeal is over for Ishaq, the debate on the niqab continues to rage across Canada. Stephen Harper and the Conservative party claim that taking off the niqab when you gain Canadian citizenship is at the core of Canadian values. The Liberals and the NDP disagree, with Justin Trudeau accusing the Conservatives of playing “very reckless and dangerous games” of division. A taxpayer-funded poll ordered by Harper earlier this year concluded that 82 per cent of Canadians were in support of the niqab ban during citizenship ceremonies, with that support leaping to 93 per cent in Quebec. (NDP support in the province began to slide following the introduction of the niqab debate.) Are students as divided as the rest of the country? That’s a difficult question to answer, according to Richard Bisaillon, a political science professor at Concordia University. “My own experience is that this youth demographic doesn’t care as much about these issues, is much more open-minded on them,” said Bisaillon. “Do those poll results
reflect their position or their interpretation on the importance of the niqab? I would like to think not ... But I don’t have the numbers to run age-by-attitude and see if it’s different for that particular demographic.” Nikos Pidiktakis, a political science student at Concordia University, understands why the issue is so complex, especially in Quebec. “It plays to the whole issue of
Others don’t see the value in the conversation at all. “I think it’s, in part, good that they’re talking about it, because it helps me find out who I’m definitely not voting for—those who use terms like ‘old stock Canadians’ maybe,” said Karina Trubiano, a third-year political science student at Concordia. “At the same time, I feel like it’s a little outrageous that there needs to be a
Graphic by Charlotte Bracho. ‘reasonable accommodation’ that we had here in Quebec,” Pidiktakis said. “On the one hand, the case can be made that the symbolism of her wearing it during the citizenship ceremony may send the wrong message that she has not integrated enough … At the same time, we should not use the coercive power of government to mandate “acceptable” dress codes for the whole of society.”
discussion on this non-issue. Freedom equals choice. People should be able to wear what they want … Who the fuck are we to take that away?” Rana Salah, Canadian Muslim and member of the feminist collective Dragonroot Media, believes the niqab debate shows a lack of understanding of the Muslim faith. “Much of the biased arguments presented to me by
Guatemalan mayor lynched by crowd A mayor of a town in western Guatemala was lynched on Sunday by a crowd who accused him of ordering an attack on a political rival. Basilio Juracan was mayor of Concepcion in Guatemala’s Solola province. The residents believed he was behind an attack against Lorenzo Sequec, the mayor’s political rival, in which two women were killed and five other people injured, according to BBC News. The two women killed were Sequec’s 17-yearold daughter and 16-yearold niece. According to BBC News, Guatemala is one of the most violent countries in Latin America and gun crime is rampant.
people against the niqab include the concept that all niqabis are either forced to dress that way or are incapable of knowing what’s best for them, and thus we have to ‘save’ them,” said Salah. “By supporting the ban against the niqab, it silences the women who wear them by making assumptions about their lives and … demonstrates a deafness to listen to their reasons for why they wear it.” As for the allegation that the niqab is being used as a “wedge issue?” It’s not uncommon, according to Bisaillon. “Anything that’s going to catch the public’s attention during this period of time will be used by one party or the other as a hot-button issue,” said Bisaillon. However, Salah fears the impact focusing on the niqab could have. “It doesn’t make sense [for] a way of dress worn by an incredibly low number of women in this country should be the center of public attention,” said Salah. “[It’s horrible to] obsess over it instead of actual issues that affect women in this country such as violence, the gender pay gap or the lack of inquiry on missing and murdered Indigenous women.” Salah added that you don’t need to like the niqab to oppose the ban. “I think it’s important for people to realize that supporting one’s right to dress a certain way doesn’t mean you agree with them,” Salah said. “Just because you don’t like the way someone dresses doesn’t mean a law should be passed to regulate them.”
talk | news
Mobilizing society to act on climate change Dr. Catherine Potvin to discuss solutions for reducing Canada’s carbon economy CHLOE RANALDI Contributor
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ith the December 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference quickly on its way, a group of Canadian scholars with diverse backgrounds from across the country have been coming together to find solutions for reducing the carbon economy in Canada.
On Oct. 15 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., Concordia’s Science College will host the “Acting on Climate Change: Mobilizing Society to Find Solutions” conference at the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall at Loyola campus to discuss their findings. Dr. Catherine Potvin, a McGill biology professor specializing in tropical forest ecology and conservation, will be giving the lecture. In 2012, Potvin received the Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada’s Miroslaw Romanowski Medal for her contribution in improving the quality of an ecosystem through scientific research, and is Canada’s Re-
search Chair on Climate Change Mitigation and Tropical Forests. Potvin is also chair holder of the Sustainable Canada Dialogues (SCD), a group of 60 researchers from across Canada who hope that their input can help Canadian governments make commitments to emission reduction. Potvin will be presenting the SCD’s 10 key policies at the conference on Thursday. The SCD recommendations are aimed towards informing Canadians and the Canadian government on effective solutions to reduce greenhouse gasses and carbon emissions in our environment.
According to the SCD’s platform, they plan on “integrating sustainability and climate change into landscape planning at the regional and city levels to ensure that ... new and maintenance infrastructure investments are consistent with the long-term goal of decarbonizing [the country].” The SCD proposes eliminating subsidies on fossil-fuel industries and integrating the oil and gas production sector in climate policies. The Oct. 15 conference is free and open to the public at the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall from 8-10 p.m.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015
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LIFE EDITOR CRISTINA SANZA life@theconcordian.com
LIFE
@theconcordian
campus | life
YouTube star Laci Green comes to Concordia A series of talks, activities and workshops took place during ASFA’s Rad SexEd Week! CARL BINDMAN Contributor
Laci Green, YouTube vlogger and sex educator, brought her Best Sex Ever! talk to Concordia as the week’s lynchpin. Green’s recipe for the “best
show (118,015,248 views and counting), but the talk was augmented by the photos, descriptions and interactivity that YouTube prohibits. Over 230
@carlbindman
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ast week, Concordia got lucky. From Loyola to SGW to Grey Nun’s, sexiness was vibrating. Why? Concordia’s SexEd Week. The message? Nothing is sexier than communication. Organized by the Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA), ASFA’s Rad SexEd Week! (with Laci Green) drove that message home with a series of workshops, panels and activities between Oct. 5 and 8. The events varied in style, but not in purpose. Some were intimate discussions facilitated by experienced sexual educators, like Monday’s Solo Sex workshop with Melissa Fuller. Some were panels, like the Women’s Representation in the Media panel which took place on Tuesday. Some were sex toy fairs. Each event promoted awareness, communication and respect—of gender, sexuality, experience and boundaries. One of the week’s organizers, ASFA advocacy committee member Lana Elinor Galbraith, said, “we want to make sure the events provide a positive and safe space for everyone.” Perfect for the theme—and for the main guest.
Green talks to a room of over 230 students about communication during sex. Photo by Kelsey Litwin. sex ever” is a combination of knowledge, self-love, consent and safety. A lot of what she said would be familiar to anyone who has seen her Youtube
people were packed into E-104 in the Grey Nun’s building to interact—before, during and after her presentation. With this talk being just one stop on
a speaking tour where Green repeats the same topics from past videos, she must get bored or at least frustrated by the repetition. “No, I don’t!” she said during an interview in the ASFA office before her big talk. “The ‘ah-ha’ moments … where people are joining the conversation, I’m all about it. I’m very happy being the first sort of, ‘welcome in this door.’” She views simplicity as a good thing, as long as it’s accurate and entertaining. “I feel obligated to make sure it’s understandable to anyone at any level of education,” she said, lamenting how often you need an academic language to participate in the conversation—or to feel like you’re participating. Her personality shone during the presentation. Talking about anal sex, she asked everyone in the room to clench their butts. “We’re probably the biggest group of people clenching their butts in Montreal right now,” she said. Everyone laughed, still clenched. Everyone was included. Everyone was learning. And that’s the point, according to Green. As long as the conversation is ongoing, as long as people are joining and having their voices heard, as long as we keep trying, we’re succeeding. “We’re getting to a better place, very slowly, but surely,” she said. To get there faster, we should follow her hard-won advice: “use more lube.”
food | life
Eat healthy and save food from landfills Buy fruits and veggies by the basketful from SecondLife without breaking the bank BRIANNA BALLARD Contributor For students, eating healthy is a challenge. Produce is expensive and fresh food often goes bad before it can be used. But what if students could get fruits and vegetables by the basketful without going over budget? You can—just as long as you don’t mind if your produce is a little ugly. SecondLife is a Montreal-based company co-founded by Thibaut Martelain and Quentin Dumoulin. The two students came up with the concept for the company in 2014, and a year later, their little seed of an idea grew into something big. SecondLife sells fruits and vegetables—just a little differently. Grocery stores have criteria for the produce they carry. Fruits and vegetables can’t be too small, too big or have deformities that make them look “ugly.” SecondLife takes the produce rejected by supermarkets and sells it by the basket for
a much cheaper price. Not only are they offering an alternative for students to the more pricey fresh foods found in stores, but they are saving large amounts of food from going to waste in landfills. Co-founder Thibaut Martelain said that the goal of SecondLife is to reduce food waste. “Producers tell us that more than 20 per cent of the produce they grow goes to the landfill because of their shape,” said Martelain. Most of the time,
it is because the vegetables simply don’t look nice. Carrots are bent, potatoes are too small, tomatoes look odd—they are all rejected and thrown away. Since the start of SecondLife, the company has made huge steps in countering the issue of food waste in Montreal. To date, they have saved approximately four tons of produce from going to landfills, according to Martelain. They get their fruits
Even if produce doesn’t look perfect, it’s still packed with vitamins. Photo by Cristina Sanza.
and veggies from about 17 different producers in and around Montreal, and have a client base in the hundreds. However, Martelain also said that 50 per cent of food waste in Montreal happens at home. “A lot of it goes to the trash because we don’t have the time to consume it,” he said. This is not only a huge waste of produce, but a waste of money. For students, buying fresh and healthy food is already expensive—but throwing away produce from their fridge that has gone unused is an unnecessary expense, he said. Martelain said that students should plan their meals for every day of the week to avoid food waste. By deciding what they are going to eat at every meal, students can shop only for the foods they need, and be able to buy fresh fruits and veggies at a lower cost. By buying oddly-shaped produce, students won’t have to sacrifice nutritional value either. “[Rejected produce has] the same qualities, the same maturity,” he said, adding that SecondLife goes directly to local Quebec farms to pick up their produce. For more information, or to order a basket of produce, visit their website at second-life.ca
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015
science | life
Water discovered on Mars, life may be next Strong evidence shows that liquid water is present on the surface of the red planet MINA MAZUMDER Staff writer
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colder seasons. According to NASA, they appear in regions where the temperature is above minus 23 degrees Celsius. These streaks, known as recurring
n Sept. 28, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) confirmed strong evidence of liquid water on the surface of the planet Mars. Researchers discovered hydrated minerals on hills where dark streaks are seen with the help of an imaging spectrometer, according to NASA. These streaks are noticeable during warm climates, flowing down steep slopes of mountains, canyons and craters, while fading during
Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.
slope lineae (RSL) are possibly linked to liquid water, according to NASA. Just like road salts on Earth causes ice to melt, the hydrated salts have the same effect on a liquid brine, NASA said. Scientists said it is probably a subsurface with adequate water to explain the darkness. NASA’s MRO spectrometer found hydrated salts only in areas where the darkening was wide enough to detect. On NASA’s website, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA’s science mission directorate in Washington, John Grunsfeld, said that their quest on Mars has been to “‘follow the water’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected.” Lyle Whyte, professor of environmental microbiology at McGill University, who specializes in polar microbiology and astrobiology, said that the source of this water is the bigger question. Whyte gives us three possibilities as to where it may come from. “The salts are essentially sucking up water out of the atmosphere. Concentration gets high enough, and we see these
streaks like desiccation,” he said. Adding to that is the idea there is an aquifer where “water from that aquifer is seeping up to the top, or then coming up from the sides of these craters on these RSLs from salty water,” he said. “There might be byrd glaciers melting and then the water seeps onto these streaks,” he said as a third possibility. “A mission will probably be launched in 2025 with the sole purpose of going to those RSL landing areas and sampling them to tell us if they have any microbes there, or in other words, life,” he said. Until then, ExoMars 2018 and Mars 2020 are both upcoming Mars missions. Does water necessarily mean potential for life? His answer was neutral. He said that salty water in Antarctica, however, holds an active microbial ecosystem. “Microbial life can potentially exist within a similar, very cold, salty ecosystem on Mars,” he said, based on what he knows about microbial life on Earth. Within our solar system, liquid water is also present in Europa (sixth closest moon of Jupiter) and Enceladus (sixth largest moon of Saturn), he said.
food | life
Kyle’s Kitchen Pumpkin spice and everything nice, here are some fall recipe staples KYLE DAVIS Staff writer
PUMPKIN SPICE MIX Pumpkin spice is an autumn staple. Luckily you can have it in more than a latte with these pumpkin spice-inspired recipes.
Baked and stuffed squash and an ode to the apple. Photos by Kyle Davis.
Ingredients: - 1/3 cup ground cinnamon - 1 tablespoon ground ginger - 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg - 1 teaspoon ground cloves - 1 teaspoon ground allspice - 2 cups white sugar
chopped - 1 red pepper, washed, deseeded and chopped - 1 carrot, peeled and chopped - 1 zucchini, washed and chopped - 1 onion, peeled and diced - 1 beet, peeled and grated - 1 green onion, thinly cut
Combine, shake, and stir. You will need this mix for the following recipes.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place squash on baking tray. Coat with oil and butter. Season with salt, pepper and a good pinch of the pumpkin spice mix. Place in oven and bake for 35 -40 minutes. 2. In a large pan, add quinoa and vegetable stock. Cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes. 3. Remove quinoa from pan and let cool. Wipe pan. Heat stove to medium-high with two tablespoons of oil. Add vegetables (minus the beet and green onion), cook for 8 to 10 minutes with a tablespoon of oil or butter. Remove from heat and mix with quinoa. Season with salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, honey and a pinch of pumpkin
BAKED AND STUFFED SQUASH What I love about autumn is the variety of vegetables. This is a favorite go-to dish and it’s vegetarian! Ingredients: - 1 small squash, cut in half and deseeded - 2 cups of quinoa, have well rinsed - 4 cups of vegetable stock (water works too but will give less flavour) - 1 rib celery, washed and diced - 1 green pepper, washed, deseeded and
spice mix. 4. When the squash is cooked (flesh is soft) remove from the oven and let cool down for five minutes. 5. To prepare, spoon quinoa into the center of the squash. Garnish with grated beet and green onion.
PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE While everyone enjoys a PSL it can’t really be called coffee. This is a homemade take—without the $7 price tag. Ingredients: - 1 pot of brewed coffee - 4 tablespoons pumpkin puree - 2 cups milk - 4 tablespoons pumpkin spice mix - 1 spoonful of whipped cream 1. In a small pot on low heat, combine milk, pumpkin spice mix and pumpkin puree. Whisk thoroughly till hot—but not too hot as the milk can
burn on high heat. 2. Pour coffee to fill 1/4 of mug and topoff the mug with the mix from step one. Finish with a spoon of whipped cream.
AN ODE TO THE APPLE Nothing says fall like fresh Quebec apples. Here’s a sweet-but-spicy spin on them. Ingredients: - 3 Quebec apples, washed, quartered and cored - 1 tablespoon honey - Pumpkin spice mix - Whipped cream 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. On a baking tray, place apple slices. Generously coat in honey then sprinkle the PSL spice mix over them. 2. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes. 3. Serve with whipped cream on top.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015
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career | life
Work experience is as important as your degree Internships are an ideal way for students to experience the workplace TAYLOR YANKOWSKI Staff writer Many people believe that what you learn in school is all you need to land your dream job. But in this day and age it’s not enough. Internships are the key to showing your abilities to future employers. The hands-on experience will provide you with valuable lessons a textbook can’t. No matter what the field of work is, internships allow for an opportunity to test out your skills before committing to the job permanently. Through an internship, the company can determine if the intern would be a good fit for their organization in the future. For the intern, internships provide the opportunity to see what a job is really like. Many people choose a field of study based on their interest in the subject. But there comes a moment where everyone must decide if they are in a certain program for the love of the subject or because they want to have a future working on what they have learned. This is an overwhelming thought for most when asked what they want to do for the rest of their lives.
Mathieu Mackay, a finance student at John Molson School of Business, is an intern at the Business Development Bank of Canada as a financial analyst. Mackay knows exactly what he needs to do in order to land his dream job and seize all opportunities. “In this day and age more than ever, merely showing up to class and [taking] exams with minimal effort simply won’t
cut it,” he said. “More than ever, companies are looking for students that will offer added value through life experiences, work experiences and higher degrees.” Mackay has joined the John Molson Competition Committee in delegation. He will complete an exchange program in Amsterdam in the winter of 2016 and he is taking international finance courses to distinguish himself from his classmates.
Keeping your options open is key when looking for an internship. Photo by Marie-Pierre Savard.
Standing out and having an impressive resumé will help get you that crucial interview for your internship. Concordia journalism student Kelsey Litwin took part in an internship this summer as a communications assistant at TRIUMF in Vancouver. Even though TRIUMF is a physics company, Litwin did not need to be an expert in physics to land this job. “It is important to think outside the box and [not to] stick with the typical internships you think are necessary to your field,” said Litwin. “You never know what possibilities will lie outside of those strict guidelines.” When it comes to preparing for your interview, Litwin believes that researching the company beforehand helps you find your common interests with the company as well as what new skills you can acquire from this opportunity. When deciding what internship to pursue, choose a company you are interested in, no matter how wild the idea may seem. Check their website or call the human relations department to enquire about possible student hiring opportunities for a one to three month span, said Litiwin. Mackay believes that when you build a lifestyle filled with interesting projects, it’ll naturally lead you to an exciting internship and a promising career. There is an endless supply of possibilities out there, but only if you are hungry for the chase.
humour | life
Porcelain Pilgrim: the unclogging experience Taking the plunger sometimes backfires… onto your face STEPHEN HO Contributor Ladies and gentlemen of Concordia, I’ve recently been a bit under the weather or at least a bit under my books. I was having trouble finding the time to write a review. I discussed the topic with some friends and they reinvigorated me with memories and a reminder of an entire backlog of anecdotes I have yet to transcribe. I had originally thought to review washrooms in the Concordia area as a way to make it relatable to students, and I will continue to do that. But today, I would like to examine and justify my chosen topic of literature to those who might still doubt the legitimacy of this form. Toilet humour has a bad rap. It’s seen as a low form of comedy—cheap and dirty, somewhat unimaginative and immature. It isn’t classy, nor is it clever. Why does it persist? Dear readers, it is because toilet humour is a common denominator. We all poop. We can all relate to the harrowing misadventures of trying to find a washroom in time. Entire traditions have formed to establish the proper etiquette for relieving yourself. A multiplicity of synonyms and allusions, polite references to defecation, all so that you can explain
your brief absence without offending someone’s sensibilities. To grace the porcelain throne is something common to us all and yet we mentioning it in polite society. How strange for us to deny such common ground. We do not have the same skin colours, we do not speak the same language, but we all poop! Is that not reason enough for us to rejoice? So long divided by difference, here we have a perfect unifier that does not require some esoteric knowledge! Now that I have made my opinion clear, not only to you, but to myself as well, I would like to leave you all with a story. My family owns a pretty little cottage up in the Laurentians that we visit every so often. I am here now with my father, mother and sister. I woke up slowly this morning. Well to be perfectly candid, it was about noon when I woke up, for which I
am slightly ashamed. I went over to the bathroom to take my usual morning tinkle when I noticed there was already urine and tissue in the bowl. This did not bother me but I was somewhat curious since since my family is not the type to let yellow mellow. I thought nothing more of it, flushed, washed and departed. I returned some hours later to find that my urine, as well as that of the previous occupant still remained there, mingling unashamedly in a sick incestuous fashion. I tried to flush again. The water only rose a little higher. “The toilet’s clogged!” I called down to the rest of my family. First mistake. “Get the plunger then!” I should have just waited for someone else to happen upon it. “I didn’t even clog it,” I grumbled as I went to fetch the plunger from the other washroom. “Okay,” I said to myself as I rolled up the sleeves of my favourite green sweater and cracked my knuckles. “Let’s do this thing.” I put the plunger in and gave
Graphic by Kim Lam Shang Leen. it a single good pump. Well of course that wouldn’t do it. I like to think I’m not a one pump kind of guy anyway. I kept going, at a steady, even rate at first. But 10 seconds into this, the water, urine and bits of tissue and feces started splashing in all directions and I panicked. In my mind, the faster I got it done, the less I would have to endure septic waste splashing in my face and reduce my likelihood of contracting pink eye. I pumped frantically now, not even aiming as I was holding my head back and away from that gaping, spitting porcelain mouth. I chanced a glance. “Augh!” I cried, “it’s on my face!” I pumped even harder. Brown swirled around the bowl, the consistency of wet minced meat. I paused. That wasn’t there before. Had I done it? Was I free from this nightmare? I reached over to flush, profusely spitting into the bowl, for I was sure some had splashed into my mouth. A tense moment as the water began to rise and then, graciously, it went down. I exhaled and my shoulders slumped. I surveyed the devastation around me like some veteran of a senseless war coming out of the frenzy of fighting for the first time. It was over. Now, although this anecdote is light and somewhat comedic (I hope), it is my wish that these stories shed some light on these strange rituals we all perform but do not discuss. More to follow soon!
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ARTS
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015 ARTS EDITORS ELIJAH BUKREEV and LYDIA ANDERSON arts@theconcordian.com @theconcordian
profile | arts
Meet Montreal’s beloved Billy L’Amour Catch her in The Phi Centre’s upcoming Hysteria. She’ll put on a show you’ll want to drag everyone to MARCO SAVERIANO Staff writer It’s not every day you meet a performer who can light up a stage quite like Billy L’Amour. The Montreal-based drag queen extraordinaire boasts an impressive resumé—she is a former ballerina for Les Ballets Grandiva, an all-male drag/ballet hybrid, a soloist for the Paris Opera and La La La Human Steps—and with a string of upcoming shows and an impending move to California, it won’t be long before everyone knows her name. Before there was Billy L’Amour, there was just William, a boy from South Florida with a passion for dance who knew he needed more than what his hometown offered. So 16-year-old William moved to New York and pursued his dream of dance at the School of American Ballet—one of the most internationally renowned classical ballet schools— but soon discovered a whole new world just waiting for him to explore. “Dance was always my passion in life,
it’s what I was dedicated to, but New York offered such a smorgasbord of fabulous,” said L’Amour. “For a little art kid from a somewhat conservative family in South Florida, it was a dream come true to be hanging out with Amanda Lepore and all these club kids, and Patricia Field … I realized right away that I wasn’t going to be this classical ballet dancer. I didn’t want to be a prince. I wanted to be the princess.” The little boy who used to play with his mother’s makeup felt right at home with these colourful artists, and immediately joined in. “When I moved to New York, that’s when I started going out in drag, creating a look,” L’Amour said. “Then people started hiring me to show up at their club parties and just be a fabulous creature of the night.” Just like that, the queen known as Billy L’Amour was born. L’Amour has since become a fixture on the Montreal burlesque scene, performing regularly at The Wiggle Room. Now she’s debuting her very own “one wo-man” show, Gentlemen Prefer Billy, at this year’s Montreal Burlesque Festival. The show— which L’Amour says is “a dream come true”—features a full jazz band, and will take place at The Wiggle Room with shows on Saturday, Oct. 17 and Sunday, Oct. 18 (the latter features a special appearance
by Scarlett James, the festival’s producer). L’Amour will be performing jazz renditions of hit songs from artists like Lady Gaga, Madonna, and Whitney Houston, and she says there will be “lots of singin’, dancin’, and strippin’. And Billy L’Amour’s trademark ass and sass!” Not only is she busy putting the finishing touches on Gentlemen Prefer Billy, but she’s also collaborating with The Phi Centre for Hysteria, an “immersive theatrical experience,” this Halloween. L’Amour will be the “Mistress of Madness,” taking the audience on a journey through an asylum during a night filled with aerial and burlesque performers, puppetry and more. “The audience will be interacting with the performers,” said L’Amour. “And they will be forced to engage in the storyline.” Those shows, along with a Christmas spectacular—which L’Amour is keeping tight-lipped about—are leading up to her big move to Los Angeles in 2016. There’s one thing that some local drag queens try to avoid: the obvious RuPaul’s Drag Race question. L’Amour, however, excitedly admits that she’d love to be on the show, so that’s exactly what she’s preparing for. “That’s the goal,” she said. “You have to have something that people want, and I think people want talent and to be entertained, and so that’s what we do.”
Billy L’Amour in action. Photo courtesy of Phi Centre by George Fok. As drag becomes more mainstream, it’s finally getting the recognition it deserves—in large part due to the massive success of RuPaul’s Drag Race. However, as this artform had been misunderstood for years, some people have started to become too critical of it, stripping away its fun essence. L’Amour doesn’t let that get in her way, because one of the things she loves most about the art of drag is that it “doesn’t take life too seriously.” “Drag is just an explosion of whatever your little heart desires ... Let’s have fun with it,” said L’Amour.
exhibit | arts
Cuban artists celebrated in Montreal exhibit Galerie Aura is presenting pieces from artists specifically living and working in Cuba LYDIA ANDERSON Co-arts editor The United States embargo against Cuba being lifted isn’t the only notable recent news about the nation to hit Montreal—Art Cuba, an exhibit at Galeria Aura, is having its premiere on Oct. 14 and it’s sure to contain beautiful, engaging images and artwork ranging from the late ‘70s to more recent years. Sergio Veranes, who is half-Cuban, is the owner of the display space and opened Galerie Aura in May 2015. The gallery is mainly a contemporary photography exhibit space and, as a successful photographer himself, his experiences contribute to his knowledge, curating abilities, and focus as a gallery owner. “When I wanted to open this gallery I was thinking I was going to do it general, [have] everything, and then I realized that it’s too much for me and also I’m a photographer myself … and I think it’s better that I just concentrate on what I know how to do better,” said Veranes. For the upcoming exhibit, which according to Veranes will run until approximately mid-December, he curated most of the pieces himself and some are even a part of his personal collection. The pieces, the inspiration, and his choices of artists
stem from Veranes’ personal relationship with Cuba and artists he has encountered there. “It’s a reconnection with my lineage… In the past five years I’ve connected to people whose work I have liked and I’ve developed [friendships] with some of them,” said Veranes. “There’s no concept behind it, I don’t think I would’ve done any other show that was not a photographic show if it wasn’t because I started this relationship with Cuba in the past five years.” The exhibit includes sculptures, drawings, paintings and photography from artists who live and work in Cuba. To be sure, Cuba as a country and culture has its own unique traits, feeling, and personality, therefore something that makes this exhibit interesting is Veranes’ artistic connections and experience within the country. “I started going to Cuba and mingling with the artists, especially this friend of mine who knew everybody. So I started spending time with them, learning about Cuba, about how they think, about enjoying the art,” said Veranes. Along with the Cuban flavour that seeps into the pieces, so does the country’s political environment. The environment one creates in and the limitations of that artistic habitat affects how explicitly one can portray a concept. “It’s very interesting because a lot of these guys have
something to say politically, [but] probably not very directly because there’s a repression regime … you cannot just say whatever you want,” said Veranes. He then referenced the recent, notable eightmonth prison sentence given to the Cuban artist Danilo Maldonado who painted the names “Raul” and “Fidel” on two pigs. Cuba is also a hot topic when it comes to international politics at the moment, and although the exhibit wasn’t planned because of the embargo being lifted, it is complimented by the historical event. “What happened with Obama lately is
Carlos Quintana: “Intriga en el solar”
great because now all the American market can go to Cuba and they can buy from these people, they can help them come out, they can help them do more work— It’s fantastic,” said Veranes. On Wednesday, Oct. 14, from 5-7 p.m. the Art Cuba exhibit will premiere to the public. Galerie Aura is located on Crescent St., right near the downtown Concordia campus, so whether it’s for a moment after class or for a leisurely hour come and see the beautiful art that Cuba has to offer.
Adrián Fernández Milanés: “S/T #40” from the series Del ser o el parecer
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015
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film | arts
Malala’s historical heroism is hitting the big screen
A Nobel Peace Prize winner, an inspirational fighter, an advocator for female education—He Named Me Malala shows honourary Canadian to be a normal teen. Director: Davis Guggenheim Cast: Malala Yousafzai, Ziauddin Yousafzai, Mobin Khan Running time: 87 minutes
A documentary follows the human rights activist and champion of female education BASHIR RIFAI Contributor
M
eet Malala Yousafzai—a Pakistani teenager who was targeted by the Taliban for speaking out in favour of education for girls, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a present-day symbol for heroism, human rights activism, and courage. He Named Me Malala is a 2015 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim that chronicles the life of the young woman who was shot in the head by the Taliban and left for dead on her way to school. Yousafzai survived and rose to prominence as a human rights activist, with a focus on female education. The documentary starts with an animated sequence telling the story of Malalai of Maiwand, a young Afghani girl who rallied local fighters against British troops in the Battle of Maiwand in 1880. Around the same age as Malala, who is now eighteen, she was shot and killed by the British. Though she was killed, the inspiring words she imparted onto the Afghan troops led them to a victory against the British army. Malala, who was named after the heroine, was inspired by a phrase uttered by Malalai that has lived on in Afghan culture: “it is better to live like a lion for one day than [to] live like a slave for a hundred years.” The documentary is structured in a peculiar yet effective way as it does
not follow a linear storyline to document Malala’s life. Different scenes from her and her family’s life are interspersed throughout the film with the central theme that revolves around Malala’s relationship with her father, hence the title. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, is an influential figure in Malala’s life. An activist himself who spoke out publicly against the Taliban, Malala’s father started a school in Swat Valley with only US$50 where only three students attended on the first day. Animated sequences show Malala growing up in that school, which later had a considerable number of female students registered. She grew up in an educational environment, where she play-lectured to empty classrooms as a child—as she put it, “school was my home.” Malala’s father encouraged her to think independently, to challenge and question authority and ultimately he chose not to stand in her way as she took on the Taliban when they banned girls from attending school. First, she wrote an anonymous blog for the BBC about life under Taliban rule and then, as the Taliban gained power, Malala found her anonymous blog to be insufficient in the fight against their rule. She started speaking publicly, naming names and grabbed the attention of the Taliban. Those who spoke out were punished, usually by death, and as she gained more public attention, the Taliban targeted her. As she was going to school one day, militants boarded the bus she was on and attacked her. The attack that left her fighting for her life gained global attention. Malala used this and channeled it into activism on issues ranging from female education and the girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria, to the child refugee crisis that has resulted from the Syrian Civil War. Her relationship with her mother on the other hand is not focused on in the
film. Perhaps this was on purpose, as Malala’s mother, Tor Pekai Yousafzai, abandoned her education at an early age. Being the only girl in school, Malala’s mother chose to leave and join the other girls her age who spent their days playing in the fields. In contrast to what Malala stands for, her mother is portrayed in the documentary as somewhat weak, lacking in opinion and struggling to fit in her new environment in England, although she is trying to mend this by taking English lessons. Other than her relationship with her father, another interesting aspect of this documentary is that it shows Malala as a normal teenage girl. In their current home in Birmingham, England, the director shows her day-to-day life with her father, mother and two younger brothers. Whether it is her brothers complaining that, though she is an internationally renowned activist, Malala can sometimes be “a bit naughty,” or the fact that she blushes when asked about boys in school, her love of cricket, exam stress and so on. In spite of her heroism she is humanized as a young woman. She does meet important political figures and celebrities, but behind the scenes she is as normal as any other girl her age. “Rock stars don’t do homework,” she said, “they are lucky.” The Concordian took part in a joint phone interview with the director, Davis Guggenheim. An accomplished documentary maker and producer, he is the mind behind An Inconvenient Truth and Waiting for “Superman,” both of which currently sit on box-office reporting website, Box Office Mojo’s list of top 100 highest-grossing documentaries of all time. Guggenheim discussed why he highlighted Malala’s relationship with her father—to challenge those who question whether she is an independent thinker or whether she was a construct of her father’s ideals. He also spoke of the strong relationship his family formed with the
Yousafzais, along with his decision to use animation to show parts of Malala’s life as he felt the stories told to him by Malala and her father had a “storybook feel.” He also spoke about why the Yousafzais inspired him, the fact that they “don’t live in fear,” and his view that “characters are defined by the choices they make.” He touched upon the importance of education, mentioning the fact that Malala’s father was at one point inspired by extremist ideology—the notion that he could have been an ISIS or Taliban fighter—until he learned through his education about the value of human rights. When asked about the influence his film would have on audiences’ views of Islam and Muslim communities, the director said images from the Islamic world tend to have a narrow and negative narrative. It was his intention to start a different narrative by highlighting Malala’s achievements, he said. He also noted that at one of the screenings, he was thanked by Muslim college students for making this movie. This is not surprising as Muslim communities are often portrayed in a negative light by a large portion of the Western world, such as in mainstream media. It is therefore tempting for some to paint Malala as a Muslim hero, which this film does not. True to the director’s statement, Malala is portrayed as a hero who happens to be Muslim, not a Muslim hero. This important distinction highlights the point that each individual practices their faith—or lack thereof—differently. It combats the narrow view that the 1.6 billion people who practice Islam can be simplified into a single entity. The film appropriately concludes with scenes from Malala’s speech at the United Nations Youth Assembly, best exemplifying what she stands for and her immeasurable impact on the world with the line, “one child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.”
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film | arts
Coming to terms with the 1969 SGW riots An NFB-produced documentary puts the spotlight on Canada’s troubles with race
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Director Mina Shum, former student protesters Rodney John and Senator Anne Cools, Duff Anderson and Nantali Indongopose on stage after the screening. Photo by Andrej Ivanov.
ELIJAH BUKREEV Co-arts editor
S
ay you find a time portal and end up in Montreal during the late ‘60s. You would likely be overwhelmed by the pizzazz, the optimism, the resourcefulness brought on by Expo 67, the legendary World’s Fair. Dig a little under the surface, however, and, just like in a David Lynch film, you’ll find that a great darkness may be hiding behind idyllic appearances. In the context of Ninth Floor, a new documentary produced by the National Film Board, that darkness is xenophobia, the fear of people from other countries. “If we walk into a room together, you might be afraid of me, and then that just mounts into what might become a fire in the end,” said director Mina Shum in an interview with The Concordian. It is that fear, coupled with a lack of dialogue, that resulted in an actual fire on the ninth floor of Concordia’s Hall building in 1969. At the time, headlines such as “black students destroy computer lab,” could be read in major newspapers’ coverage of the incident, known as the “Sir George Williams affair”—hundreds of SGW students occupied Hall’s computer lab over a twoweek period, which came to an end after the RCMP deployed its riot squad. Even Selwyn Jacob, who produced the documentary, acknowledges that he initially only judged the incident by the headlines, and felt the students were in the wrong. It was the details of the case, many of which are included in Ninth Floor, that made the whole difference for Jacob—the students had occupied the computer lab in protest, after an allegation of racism made against a professor named Perry Ander-
son had, according to the documentary, not been dealt with by the school administration. As the film shows, the students had waited patiently to no avail. The students had a reason to mistrust authorities after their group had been infiltrated by a CIAtrained, RCMP-employed agent, who was attempting to incriminate students by making suggestions like bombing the school with dynamite. And the students, according to Jacob, are unlikely to have started the fire that destroyed the lab, an act for which they are still blamed for to this day. The event, which “might not have happened if [the students and the administration] had spent two weeks in a room together,” said Shum, resulted in 97 arrests—where, as told in David Austin’s Fear of a Black Nation, many students were brutally beaten and one died of her wounds, —a reported two million dollars in damages—although Jacob said that amount was vastly exaggerated by the media—and an indelible stain in Canada’s history. Ninth Floor tells this story by combining interviews with surviving key participants of the protests, several of whom went on to become politicians, with footage obtained from the Concordia University Archives, but also newspaper articles of that time along with recent footage made by Shum to illustrate the mood of the film, such as songs and historical reconstructions. There are two equally striking and surreal moments in the film, both shown and recounted by participants at the same time. The first is of occupiers of the lab throwing computer cards from the ninth-floor windows in a desperate bid for attention, the white papers falling all across Mackay Street like an early snow. The second is of a mob on the same street chanting “Let the niggers
burn,” in both English and French while ing your attacker in the eye, so that the computer lab is on fire, dark clouds they see you as a human being. “No of smoke coming through the windows. one was willing to look the students in “Why did I not know this story?” the eye,” said Shum. lamented Shum. “It’s crazy! Why was I According to Shum, while the events not taught this in school?” didn’t lead to immediate change, “at “You would never have heard of it be- least the question of race was suddencause it is ly on the tanot part of Let’s not be nice, let’s actually ble, [whereas] your narra- get into it so that we don’t end before everytive, but it’s one thought we up killing each other with our a part of my were an ‘Expo narrative,” 67 land’, where niceness. answered was all good.” — Mina Shum itWhile Jacob. Jacob, it would who, like be a mistake several of the protesters was born in Trin- not to acknowledge the progress that idad, said the riot is one of the stories that Canada has made since then, Jacob reinspired him to get into filmmaking in the marked that the police, who were quick first place and that he had been waiting for to resort to violence during the ’69 riots, 45 years to make it into a feature film. have not had a change of mentality. PoThe film was made in a spirit of rec- lice officers who were active at the time onciliation, and, commendably, avoids were interviewed for the documentary, any form of vilification. A parallel is but the footage didn’t make it into the drawn between the son of accused final cut. As Shum explained, “Some of professor Perry Anderson, who gets to the police still seem quite racist to me. speak out, and the daughter of Kenne- It was very deliberate not to have them dy Frederick, one of the main protest- look worse than they [already] do.” ers. Both were affected in a similar way, Shum said she worries that, by not with their respective fathers still suffer- talking about such events enough in the ing from stress and depression caused last 45 years, we might have become by the events. complacent, and she made the film to Anderson’s son, Duff Anderson, and encourage people to keep on improvFrederick’s daughter, Nantali Indongo, ing themselves. In our day and age, as well as several of the former students such improvements would involve, for featured in the documentary, includ- example, not politicizing the prejudicing senator Anne Cools, were present at es many may hold against the Muslim a screening of Ninth Floor on Oct. 9 at community, Shum said. Concordia’s Hall Theatre—the very room As a final statement, Shum calls for in which the occupation of the computer an open dialogue instead of politeness lab was voted over 45 years ago. and political correctness. “Let’s not be In our interview, while describ- nice, let’s actually get into it so that we ing her approach, Shum mentioned a don’t end up killing each other with our self-defense tactic that involves look- niceness,” she said.
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exhibit | arts
Tour the art installations in Montreal’s public spaces The Quartier des spectacles presents an outdoor exhibit called Common Space?
“Molysmocène.” Photos by Emmanuel Campeau.
EMILIE TREMBLAY Contributor
T
he Quartier des spectacles, in collaboration with MUTEK and the National Film Board, pushes people to get out and interact with art with Common Space? a collaborative exhibit between Montreal and various European cities that offers eight works from 13 international and local artists. The Concordian took a night guided tour of the exhibit. The two tour guides for the evening were Louis-Richard Tremblay, producer at the NFB, and Katharina Meissner, coordinator for MUTEK at the BAnQ (Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec). “Half of the projects are about technology as a new public space and our relation to it. The other would be more about objects that populate the city and the way we live and react to these objects,” said Tremblay as he led viewers through the themes of Common Space?. “Artists from Montreal were paired with artists from overseas, none of them knowing each other,” said Tremblay. “One of the Human Future projects’ intents was to have [artists] come together with the local community.” “Forgot Your Password?” Near the main entrance of the BAnQ, a video projection of hundreds of passwords and usernames are displayed on a wall. A collective group of hackers, the D33Ds Company, hacked personal information from Yahoo Voices users in the summer of 2012. The video projection is a 30-minute loop showing only 12,000 of the 450,000 passwords hacked that summer. “This is a lesson about carefully choosing your password,” said Tremblay. ”Although no visitor has seen theirs on the wall yet.” “We’re All Friends Here” A quick walk and you stop in front of another video projected on a building, but this time the artist, Sam Meech,
is there contemplating his own work. The video shows all kinds of messages, symbols and colours knitted out of wool that resulted from interviews Meech did with people living in the district. “I’ve spent a lot of time talking to people— business owners, tourists, people from [an] art organization, strippers, police, protesters in order to tell the story of people living in the area,” said Meech. The other piece of art that involves knitting was made in collaboration with local knitting artist Marilène Gaudet. The piece is a single Bell phone booth that projects recordings of the voices of people that Meech talked to. Inside the booth, you can choose to either listen to these voices or record your own message. “It is a very intimate experience, whereas most public art [installations] are very public,” said Meech. To accompany the phone booth, a video projected on a building uses the voices of the interviewed people to show knitting sound waves. “Unintended Emissions” Close to the St. Laurent metro station, an interactive video that tracks viewers’ cell phones is projected—any cell phone produces emissions that can be captured by third parties. A machine captures and uses information from people’s cellphones to create an interactive map. This map shows barely five per cent of what can be tracked by the machine. “Showing more than this is illegal and we would get sued,” Meissner said. “Îles invisibles” A few steps and you’re standing next to a pole with network instructions and symbols. “What Sebastien Pierre built is a device which is an off-net network. It allows you to connect to information, to other people, while being protected from the Internet,” said Tremblay. “He used this technology to tell a story within a city, using 16 sites with graffiti code numbers that allow you to enter the
Enjoyment of the Common Space? artwork that livens up Montreal’s public spaces. system. You can then follow the story of Ismari, a girl living in this neighborhood in 1959 who disappears into the future. She communicates with us through that technology and tells the story of that neighborhood through time.” “A Side Man 5000 Adventure” A little bit more walking and one finds himself near the Goethe Institute building. In front of your eyes, the oldest electric drum machine, the Wurlitzer Side Man 5000, is filmed with zooming and panning techniques as the machine’s noises set the rhythm of the projection. Inside the Goethe Institute, a T.V. screen plays a video of Nelly-Ève Rajotte playing on the machine. “She acts like a host in a T.V. show, explaining and playing around with the machine,” said Tremblay. “Molysmocène” “Molysmocène means the era of garbage,” said Tremblay. Displayed in front of you is a colourful stop-motion animation made of random objects. “Michel de Broin worked a full day with a group of kids ages eight to 12 and asked them to bring objects which he used for the projection we see now,” said Tremblay. “He is questioning how we
relate to what we leave behind, to how we consume objects.” “End of Broadcast” In front of the Place des Arts, a big screen is divided into large strips of colour. When someone walks or moves in front of the screen, a sensor picks up this movement and makes the sound and image in front of them glitch into one out of six free T.V. channels. “It is about disconnecting ourselves from the continuous flow of information,” said Tremblay. “Poème Mécanique” The visit ends inside Place des Arts, as you stop under a big metal ring. Inside, 840 tiny mirror disks move all at once, making a clicking sound that quickly becomes delicate music. Tobias Ebsen, the artist behind this piece, was present at the time of our visit. “What I find interesting about being in this public space is that if you stay quiet and concentrate on the sound, you tune into it and after a while you shut yourself out of the environment you were in,” Ebsen said. Free French guided tour on Oct. 15. Projections begin at 7 p.m. The exhibition ends on Oct. 18.
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MUSIC
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015 MUSIC EDITOR SAMUEL PROVOST-WALKER music@theconcordian.com @theconcordian
profile | music
Dive into Lakes of Canada’s deep songs
Blending classical, literary and folk influences, Lakes of Canada’s latest album is brimming with life
Presenting a more mature sound, the band’s latest album, Transgressions, drops Oct. 16. Photo by Wren Noble.
EMMETT STOWE Staff writer
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here’s a tendency in indie rock, pop and even folk to follow the typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure. Sure, these songs can be catchy and good background music at a party, but they lack depth. Lakes of Canada is a band full of deep lyrics. While their music is also great for parties, they should definitely be listened to with undivided attention to experience the full breadth of their sound. Coming from backgrounds in classical music and theory, film scoring and musical theatre, it’s clear that this band is anything but average. The band started as a duo between Jake Smith and Conor O’Neil. “We drunkenly sang together at a party and were like, ‘Hey, why aren’t we doing this more?’” said Smith. From there, Lakes of Canada was born. They started off as a soft folk-rock band with rudimentary drums, a viola and vocal harmonies. Their band then gained more members which shifted their focus from being a vocally-driven project to a band with an emphasis on instrumentation. “Originally, our goal with the band was to have everybody singing. When [guitarist Tim Dobby] joined ... he was so good at guitar that we told him that he could just do that,” Smith said. With the influx of members came a more definitive folk vibe and with the new focus on combining instrumentals and vocal harmony, the band put out Toll The Bell, their first full-length album, in May of 2012.
On the album, the harmonies have an enveloping quality; each member’s voice blends in melodically to give the songs a real gospel-choir feel. This is backed by a veritable folk-driven symphony of instruments. In their live video for their song “Neverland,” their range of musical instruments is on full display, showcasing a harp, a classical guitar, a cello, a xylophone, a mandolin and several percussive instruments. All of these come together to create a smooth, soft melody supported by their masterful use of vocals that take the listener on a breathtaking adventure. Though the band’s sound builds a serene atmosphere, their history
new instruments. Currently, the band consists of Jake Smith on lead vocals, guitar and percussion; Sarah Morasse on vocals, keyboard and organ; Conor O’Neil on drums, vocals, and synth; Tim Dobby on guitar and percussion; and Greg Halpin on vocals, guitar, bass, and percussion. With these new members and instruments came a shift away from the folk genre—they traded their mandolin and classical guitar for electric guitars. They now refer to their genre as “gospel-infused prog-rock.” Smith would originally write the songs and then the other band members would contribute their own instrumental and vocal parts. As the band grew, they
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We drunkenly sang together at a party and were like, ‘Hey, why aren’t we doing this more?’ — Jake Smith of studying classical music theory seeps into their song structures, employing more complex and intricate arrangements than the average folk song. As the album progresses, the listener is exposed to different moods, from anxiety and anger to zen-like peacefulness and bliss. Lakes of Canada are about to drop their second full-length album on Oct. 16 titled Transgressions, in which the band not only grew and built up their sound to make it heavier and more grandiose, but also altered their sound to fit into a somewhat different genre. The alteration to their sound came with the addition of new members and
started collaborating together, especially on Transgressions. “We’ve never been too static with the whole A B A B bridge sort of structure. I would say Transgressions goes even further in that direction,” Smith said of their songwriting process. The band really touches on their history of musical theatre and film scoring for the structure, which can be seen in the way all of their songs tell a story. Inspiration for Transgressions’ songs come from the book The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. After reading it, its content stayed with him and ended up becoming the inspiration for this album. The book is about a Christian theocracy
that takes over the United States of America and creates a very misogynistic society. Themes that stood out to Smith included violence against women, the way people treat each other, and the political dogma surrounding these issues. “Unfortunately, the subject matter of this book is still alarmingly relevant, if not even more so, given the climate of the two elections that are happening right now,” Smith said. The songs on Transgressions are generally allegorical in the way they portray these themes. Lakes of Canada have released two songs from their new record. The title track, “Transgressions,” is about a movement that searches for peace and equality. It features some beautiful choral melodies, piano, percussion and electric guitar that blend fervently to create an empowering arrangement. The other song, named “Eden,” is about choosing between Eden and Satan. The song consists solely of a bass drum, some finger snapping, and the band’s wide range of harmonic vocals, creating a foot-stomping raw sound. The journey Lakes of Canada has taken brought with it numerous changes and permutations. On Transgressions, the band showcases a mature and charged side to their already dynamic and broad persona. “We’re always going to be evolving to some degree. I’m sure we’ll always add or subtract certain instruments, change little colours here and there but I think overall we’ve definitely found our sound. This is the kind of sound we want to have, that we want to put forward,” Smith said.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015
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feature | music
Femininity and its stigma in rock Though progressing, rock’s ties with masculinity still linger today
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hat’s it like to be a girl in a band? I don’t quite understand.” That one line from Sonic Youth’s song “Sacred Trickster” had its embers burning in my psyche for a while. Noise-grunge icon Kim Gordon breathily yells it out in the song; her tone touches on annoyance. It’s probably a question she’s been asked many times. The line must’ve also resonated with Gordon too because she named her memoir, Girl in a Band, after the lyric. The lyric, a dormant rhyme for a while, sprung from its inactivity when my former band, Bitter Old Man, played our first show. I hadn’t really thought about being the only girl in the band—the only difference between my bandmates and I was that I struggled to lift the heavier equipment due to my petite stature.
major part of making music, the focus on a woman’s image is much sharper. Recently, Bethany Cosentino, frontwoman of Best Coast read a concert review of her show where the reviewer wrote about Cosentino’s outfit rather than her music and performance. “Sexism is alive and well people!!!!! This literally makes my blood boil,” she wrote on her Instagram. “If you aren’t happy with my show that’s perfectly fine, but leave my looks [and] outfit out of it.” A line can be drawn between Costentino’s recent experience and what Gordon said in an interview
Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.
MIA PEARSON Staff writer
While we were in the process of loading the gear into the venue, I had my guitar strapped around me to tune it. The show organizer was handing out drink tickets. He approached my three other bandmates, handed them their ticket, and then looked around the little venue for the fourth band member. He saw me tuning my guitar, came up to me and asked if I was “in the band?” I told him I was. Even though I had lugged equipment in, set-up pedals, and had a guitar strapped around my shoulders, he seemed shocked to find out that a rather innocent-looking girl was in this noise-alt-shoegaze-rock-(maybe jazz fusion?) band. I thought about it a little later, and it occurred to me that if I had dressed differently and presented myself in that classic “rock aesthetic” (leather? piercings?), then maybe he wouldn’t have gaped his mouth at my answer. “Do you want to look cool, or do you want to look attractive?” Gordon was once asked by photographer Michael Lavine, The Guardian reported. Even though cultivating an image for an artist is a
published by The Guardian, “the male music writers were cowardly in person. They would then go home and write cruel, ageist things. I assumed they were terrified of women,” Gordon said. “Women aren’t allowed to be kick-ass. I refused to play the game,” she continued. Wardrobe and image shouldn’t take precedent over the music, or, in my case, assumptions of musical ability shouldn’t be based on appearance. Practice for years, throw on whatever you want, and that’s that.
quickspins | music
Born Ruffians - RUFF (Yep Roc Records/ Paper Bag Records, 2015)
Selena Gomez — Revival (Interscope/Polydor, 2015)
Ryan Adams — 1989 (PAX AM, 2015)
Kurt Vile — b’lieve I’m goin down… (Matador, 2015)
A vocal exercise class in a nutshell, RUFF expands Born Ruffians lead singer Luke Lalonde’s sound repertoire to new heights, especially in songs “When Things Get Pointless I Roll Way” and “Yawn Tears,” the latter of which is especially sobering as Lalonde grapples with “what’s ahead and what’s behind.” RUFF finds Born Ruffians employing lyrics of a much more sombre quality, especially when compared to their previous hit singles. “We Made It,” the album’s lead single, is the odd man out; while it certainly has its share of bright tones, its cacophonous atmosphere and sounds are borderline annoying. “Don’t Live Up,” however, is full of life and brimming with positivity, tonally in line with their young audience. Optimism and maturity carry the album, though Born Ruffians don’t always deliver. While not the band’s best album, RUFF is definitely worthy of a listen.
For all her fame and fortune, Selena Gomez has had it rough. Being young, female and successful brings out the worst in the seething masses. And now, lupus. Eesh. Though Revival should be taken seriously, the results are seriously baffling. Gomez has one of the most expressive voices in modern pop, but all over Revival, it’s hidden by weird, artistically anachronistic production. EDM is necessary for chart success—but Trap? Faux-CHVRCHES? Why go from an A$AP Rocky-featuring banger to a piano ballad, then right back to the club? “Body Heat” is the perfect example of her lack of direction. Mashing Latin beats, murky Trap and lazy EDM, the song is disjointed and confusing. On it, Gomez sounds confused, like a hungover Shakira. If a functional 2015 pop album seemingly has to be all over the place, this collection of weirdness does Gomez’s so-called “revival” no favors.
He’s one letter away from Bryan Adams, sometimes sounds like Springsteen, and has now covered an entire Taylor Swift album. Singer/songwriter Ryan Adams surprised everyone, especially the pop queen herself, when he decided to cover her hugely successful album, 1989. In a recent interview with CBC, Adams explained how he saw something really special in Swift’s songs and wanted to see them have a new life as acoustic tracks. The results aren’t entirely consistent because a few of his interpretations do little to distinguish themselves from the originals; his takes on “Bad Blood” and “Wildest Dreams” are examples of that. However, a few of his covers do spring to life in exciting ways. The songs “Shake it Off” and “Blank Space” have a completely new albeit nostalgic sound that make Adams’ new album the perfect way to carry Swift’s summer tracks into the fall.
Steeped in melancholy and embracing a more sober sound, Kurt Vile’s b’lieve I’m goin down… is a fitting album to close out the summer season. While Vile’s signature lackadaisical approach to folk rock is still intact—his lyrics at times resembling a blasé word salad—the psychedelia has been diminished in favour of a more immediate sound. Although the immediacy does little to hide his exhausted songwriting template—even treading dangerously close to self-plagiarism on “Kidding Around”—Vile and his band bring forth a new dimension to their jam-based songs by increasing the repertoire of instruments. “Lost my Head there” is stunning, its bright keys signalling a sunny reprieve before bursting into the album’s most inspired arrangement. It’s these moments that make b’lieve I’m goin down… come to life.
Trial track: “Don’t Live Up”
Trial track: “Body Heat”
Trial track: “Blank Space”
Trial track: “Lost my Head there”
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ÉTIENNE LAJOIE
CARL BINDMAN
DANIELLE GASHER
SAMUEL P.-WALKER
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015
SPORTS
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SPORTS EDITOR PEGGY KABEYA sports@theconcordian.com @theconcordian
soccer | sports
Impact look to shake up the MLS landscape Montreal soccer is back, but this time under the forefront of new head coach Mauro Biello
Montreal’s Saputo Stadium home of the Montreal Impact Major League Soccer franchise. Photo by Andrej Ivanov.
GREGORY CALTABANIS Contributor
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fter assuming the reigns from Frank Klopas, Mauro Biello has managed injected fresh life into the Montreal Impact resulting in the team’s newfound a playoff position. In the first six games of Biello’s tenure, the Impact went undefeated, winning four games and drawing two. At the moment, the Impact sit in the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, four points ahead of Orlando City SC with only two games left to the season. With games against the New England Revolution and fierce rivals Toronto FC coming up, the end of the season promises to be an exciting one. This season, the Impact have yet to beat Toronto but have enjoyed success against the Revolution, recently beating them with a score of 3-0. With the help of their newly-arrived superstar Didier Drogba, the Impact will look to make a deep run into the post-season. In Drogba’s first seven starts with Montreal, the former Chelsea man scored nine goals and notched one assist. The former Chelsea striker’s recent form earned him the MLS’s Etihad Airways player of the month award for September, finishing ahead of Seattle Sounders forward Obafemi Martins and Toronto FC’s Sebastian Giovinco. “The designated players that [the Montreal Impact has] brought in have been impressive but Didier is of a different breed.
His winning mentality is infectious,” said the current assistant coach of the MonGrant Needham, a former Impact play- treal Impact, said he knew it was the right er and the current voice of the Montre- moment for Biello to assume first-team al Impact on TSN690 and CJAD. Prior responsibilities. “It was time for Mauro to to making the move to the MLS, Drog- take over a team with quality players. He ba won the English Premier League is a big part of the club’s history therefore four times and won the UEFA Champi- it’s easy for him to show the players just ons League once as a member of the how important it is to play for the Impact,” world-renowned Chelsea FC. With his said Di Tullio. Given the the Impact’s had collection experience and skill, it’s un- a congested schedule, it was going to be derstandable why fan optimism sur- difficult for Biello to bring new ideas to the rounding the team is at an all-time high. team. As a result, a lot of his success deMartin Binette, a season-ticket holder pends on his ability to get the best out of and passionate fan of the team for years, his players in the moment. Until now he said that with “King Drogba” leading the has had his team performing well but a line, the Impact can surprise many teams better understanding of this strategy will in the be revealed post-seaafter the Winning a championship is the son and Impact’s ultimate goal for us. perhaps upcomgo all the —Jason Di Tullio ing games. way. The “Under him contrasting the team coaching methods employed by Klopas is playing with more confidence as he and Biello are all too evident. “From what brings a calming effect. He is changing I’ve seen and heard, Biello has been put- his tactics as each game warrants,” said ting emphasis on communication which Needham. was really lacking during the Klopas era,” One issue has continued to manifest said Binette. Biello’s desire to communi- itself for the Impact under Biello. In the cate with his players has been a refresh- Impact’s last six games, they have picked ing change for the club and has helped in up four red cards. Most recently, it cost their recent upturn. them the three points against the Eastern Despite his success as a player with Conference leaders New York Red Bulls. Montreal, many were skeptical about Bi- “It’s been a problem all year. It stems from ello’s appointment as it wouldn’t have players playing with a lot of emotion and been the first time a former player failed decision-making in the moment. We are to make a good manager. Jason Di Tullio, aware that we can’t be successful finish-
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ing games with a man down,” said Di Tullio. In tight games, the Impact cannot afford to make such mistakes. If the Impact is able to eradicate these lapses of concentration, they will prove to be a tricky customer for anyone in the post-season. “Winning a championship is the ultimate goal for us. In the short term, our goal is to make the post-season and demonstrate progress,” Di Tullio said. This would mark the Impact’s second-ever playoff appearance after they made their debut in 2013 when they lost to the Houston Dynamo. Needham said it is imperative that Montreal win a playoff game in order to host a home playoff game. “For Montreal, making the post-season is not enough. Ask the guys and they think winning it all is not out of the question. Drogba effect? Maybe,” said Needham. Earlier in the year the Impact demonstrated their ability to get hot when it mattered and made a deep run into the CONCACAF Champions League. Montreal eventually fell short and lost in the final to Mexican outfit Club America. In the past, Montrealers have shown their desire to get behind a winning team, as seen through the Montreal Canadiens’ playoff runs. If the team manages to get a home game this post-season, expect Saputo Stadium to be buzzing with excitement. With the support of an entire city behind them and their new-found belief, the Impact might just be this year’s surprise package in Major League Soccer.
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015
men’s basketball | sports
Stingers take Concordia tournament Stingers end home preseason tour with tournament victory CASEY DULSON Staff writer The Concordia Stingers played their toughest opponent of the preseason thus far in an 82-70 win over the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers, in Saturday afternoon’s Concordia Classic Tournament fixture. Both teams headed into the game undefeated. A year ago, the Panthers finished second in Atlantic University Sports conference regular season but were eliminated by the Saint-Mary’s Huskies in the AUS semi-finals. The Stingers defeated the Panthers 82-70 to clinch the Concordia Classic Tournament. Concordia’s guard Jaleel Webb had a double-double in the victory with 20 points and 13 rebounds. The Stingers started the game slow as the Panthers scored the game’s first six points. The Panthers ended up regaining the lead and led 18-15 after the first quarter. The Panthers scored the first points of the second quarter with a basket by guard
Zachary Usherwood. The Stingers then stormed back with a 7-0 run which included another Schnieders Suffrard three pointer. The Stingers continued to excel from beyond the arc as Webb netted three three pointers in the second quarter. The Stingers opened the third quarter with a basket by point guard Ricardo Monge. UPEI at one point cut the Stingers lead to four points thanks to a timely three pointer by Panthers guard Jake Kendrick. Monge answered back to establish the Stingers advantage going off for back-to-back threes. The fourth quarter got off to a very slow start as both teams had trouble scoring baskets. Stingers forward Ken Beaulieu finally broke the deadlock and got the first point of the quarter with a made free throw. The Panthers did make it interesting as they went on an early 6-0 run to make it a three point game, but a three pointer by Webb cut their chances for the win. Webb, the second-year guard for the Stingers, was named the Concordia Clas-
sic Tournament MVP. Webb had 41 points and 24 rebounds in three games. “It’s a nice accomplishment. I hope it is one of many for me this year,” Webb said. Head coach Rastko Popovic was proud of his team’s defence in the win. “Our defense played with great intensity and held [UPEI] to 70 points when they have scored over 90 points in their last five preseason games,” Popovic said. The win was a personal one for Stingers forward Michael Fosu who was formerly a member of the New Brunswick University basketball program. “We went to UPEI and they beat us by 20 points. I wanted payback and I wanted to beat them on my home court,” said Fosu. The Stingers played their last home exhibition game of the preseason circuit and now head out west to compete in the Saskatchewan Tournament. They will play stiff competition in the Saskatchewan Huskies and the University of Windsor Lancers, both of whom made it to last season’s CIS final eight.
opinion | sports
3-on-3 overtime really sucks Guess which failed experiment is ruining hockey SAFIA AHMED Staff writer The NHL season is well underway with newly notable additions. Apart from the frenzy surrounding Connor McDavid, the NHL is causing some noise with their new 3-on-3 overtime (OT) format. Since 1983, 4-on-4 overtime hockey had been the norm in the NHL, followed by the shoot out, which only became a staple of the game after the lockout of 2004-2005. The new 3-on-3 format will, theoretically, make hockey games shorter and more exciting. Only time will tell if this change will benefit the game, but, as the Calgary Flames general manager Brian Burke put it in an interview with Sportsnet, 3-on-3 hockey is “horse-shit.” I couldn’t agree more. First, this over-time format was orig-
inally seen in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Compared to North America, European hockey is much slower because the ice surface is much larger and the style of play is different (east-west system that utilizes longer passes, for example). Therefore, it’s a mistake to assume that 3-on-3 hockey will work as well as it does in the SHL. Second, while 3-on-3 hockey promises to be entertaining and fast-paced, it also is not the hockey North America knows and loves. It’s the kind of activity you play for fun after a grueling practice; it reminds me of peewee hockey. Moreover, odd-man rushes aren’t going to be as exciting as we would expect. When they occur in the contexts of 5-on-5 or 4-on-4 hockey, they’re exciting because they’re unexpected. Unless the team can’t play defense to save their lives, odd-man rushes don’t occur that often. With 3-on-3 hockey, this kind of situation becomes the norm; it loses all its lustre. Thirdly, teams are going to adapt, and some will even lower their level of play
just to make it to a shootout. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to watch Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby rush down the ice at full speed and score a beauty, but the chances of that happening seem low. In a recent interview, Washington Capitals coach Barry Trotz said he is more likely to employ two defensemen and a forward in order to slow down the pace of the game, and bring it into a shoot out. Furthermore, a team like the Pittsburgh Penguins is also more likely to employ such a strategy because of their high level of skill to win in shootouts. Finally, the NHL needs to look at the bigger picture. If generating more excitement is the main priority, they should focus on the full 60 minutes—the majority of the game. Get rid of the extra point during overtime and you have a whole different scenario. For example, the SHL employs a 3-2-1 point system. If the NHL used such a system, teams would be more willing to play intense and exciting hockey, and the problem would be solved.
Upcoming Stingers games TUESDAY, OCT. 13 7:30 p.m.
Women’s rugby vs. UdeM Kelly-Ann Drummond League Cup
FRIDAY, OCT. 16 6:30 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 8:30 p.m.
Women’s Soccer @ McGill Women’s Basketball vs Windsor Men’s Rugby vs. Sherbrooke Men’s Hockey vs. Windsor Women’s Hockey @ UdeM Men’s Soccer @ McGill
SPORTS IN THE NEWS ALEX COLE Staff writer
Start to NHL season clouded in controversy The first week of the NHL season got off on the wrong foot as player suspensions and drug allegations made headlines around the league. The first controversy began with Montreal Canadiens forward Zack Kassian who suffered minor injuries in a car accident. The Gazette reported Kassian was later admitted to the NHL’s substance abuse program. Just a few days later, according to NHL. com, San Jose Sharks forward Raffi Torres was suspended for 41 games by the NHL for his vicious hit to the head on Anaheim Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg. Torres is a repeat offender and his latest suspension will leave him out for half of the season. Lastly, in a report by TSN, it was discovered and acknowledged by the NHL that cocaine use is on the rise amongst players. While the NHL does comprehensive drug testing, the league does believe it needs to do more to combat the issue.
Miami Dolphins fire head coach TSN.ca reports the Miami Dolphins fired head coach Joe Philbin this past week after a lackluster start to the NFL season. After a 27-14 loss to the New York Jets in London, England, the team decided that Philbin was no longer a good fit for the team. The Dolphins have shown a lack of effort out on the field so far this season and they are now at the bottom of the AFC East standings with a 1-3 record. Amongst the team’s problems is quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who was slated to have a great season, but his performance on the field has been lacking. It has also been reported that Tannehill has been taunting players in practice. As a result, his leadership has been brought into question.
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini suspended FIFA’s problems were made worse this past week when FIFA President Sepp Blatter and UEFA President Michel Platini were suspended for 90 days by the FIFA Ethics Committee. According to The Guardian, Platini was set to become Blatter’s successor as President of FIFA. Both suspensions came in the wake of a Swiss criminal investigation that claimed that Blatter had misused FIFA money to pay Platini a sum of $2 million. Blatter has also been accused of selling broadcast rights at an inexpensive price to former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner. Due to these lowered prices, Warner was able to take home a huge markup.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015
OPINIONS
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OPINIONS EDITOR MATTHEW CIVICO opinions@theconcordian.com @theconcordian
editorial
ELECTIONS CANADA FUMBLES
Photo by Andrej Ivanov.
I
t’s well documented that students are bad at voting. It’s not that we have a problem drawing check-marks or an x, it’s just that life is terrible. Between classes, registering to vote for the first time, homework, parttime jobs, trying to unravel party platforms’ meanings, essays and whatever bad luck life decides to throw at us, voting can feel like a pain in the ass. It doesn’t help that Elections Canada has been dropping the ball this year. They’re the people charged with making the exercise of democratic rights as painless as possible, and we’re seeing lots of people, students in particular, working up a sweat. Politicians have learned how to tweet, take snaps and make Vines. Apps have adapted to organize voter information to tablets, smartphones, and likely Google Glass too. So why has Elections Canada not
evolved similarly? Voting by text message is probably too much to ask for (and would likely be a fraudster’s dream) but that doesn’t mean voting shouldn’t be as easy as possible. Advance polling days and absentee ballots have done a lot to increase the opportunities we have to vote but keeping the public informed about all these options—especially students who place a premium on attention—is quite a task. Still, these are things we’ve all learned to live with. The situation gets worse when you add on Elections Canada spreading misinformation. On Oct. 8, Concordia students received internal emails saying campus polling stations would be open to all students before Oct. 19, not just students living in the campus ridings: Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—
Île-des-Sœurs and Notre-Dame-deGrâce–Westmount. This is pretty big deal if you’re from out of town, because one less ounce of stress in an already complicated student life is worth its weight in gold. But as it turns out, this information, which Concordia says they were given from Elections Canada, was wrong. An email sent out on Friday afternoon stated that the university was initially told that all staff, faculty and students eligible to vote in the federal election could cast their ballots on campus during the early voting period, no matter the riding they were registered in. In actual fact, the advance polling station in the LB building was restricted to those living in the Ville-Marie–Le SudOuest–Île-des-Sœurs ridings and whose Voter Information Cards listed the LB Building as an advance polling station, according
to an email from the university sent to students on Friday afternoon. Because of the miscommunication, early voting at the LB Building was open to students registered in all ridings between Oct. 5 and Oct. 8, but did not continue through Oct. 12. Now first-time-voters and other Concordians in the least-likely-to-vote demographic are all in a tizzy. Elections Canada, tasked with ensuring free-and-fair democratic elections happen, is harming the chances of students voting. Clear and straightforward information would be appreciated so students know exactly when, where and how they can cast their vote. We’re tasked with decoding politicians’ platforms already, and that’s more than enough misinformation to go around.
transit | opinions
Ride: a sustainable transport love story Taking Bixi for granted is not what Thanksgiving is all about WILLIAM FOX Contributor As a newcomer to Montreal and a new graduate student at Concordia, I needed to look at all transport means available to get me to and from Loyola campus. I began by researching the traditional ways of getting around the city: the metro, buses, cars, bicycles, and walking. When I saw the great bicycles paths that Montreal had, I thought that getting around on a bike would be a fantastic option. So, I was tempted to buy a bicycle. At first, a friend suggested that I buy a used one, so that I could save some money. Another friend recommended I try Bixi. I’m from Bogotá, Colombia so I had never heard of it before. I went online to look for it and I was really surprised by the service they offered. It gave me the option to use a bike without owning and caring for one. Also, the advantage of a large network of docking stations that allowed me to begin a trip in one
part of the city and finish in another, at any time of day. The best part was that I didn’t need to worry about parking, having an expensive lock, or even taking the bike all the way home. If it was raining or if I was tired, I could always hop on the bus or metro. I was sold on the concept and got myself a one-month Bixi subscription. My first month using Bixi was in the summer and I experienced what many Montrealers enjoy during the warmer months. The good weather, the free
activities and festivals, and freedom of Bixi bikes—I miss it. The real usefulness of Bixi is apparent when people combine it with other urban transportation options, which allows them to cover longer distances more easily. I’ve seen many people use it as a quick way to get to and from the metro, making their commute both easier and healthier. I was really encouraged to use the system in this way when I received six single-ride metro tickets from Bixi with my subscription. I have been using Bixi since arriving in
Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.
Montreal from Colombia four months ago. The bike-share service fulfilled a major need I had when I arrived—the same need everybody in the city has—to get from point A to point B. Now instead of waiting for buses to get to my classes at the Loyola campus, I get a bonus of fun and exercise instead. I ride Bixi bikes for short and long trips and I use them to connect with public transit, like the buses and metro. This seamless use gives me the feeling that I’m using a mass transportation system and not just enjoying a bike-share membership. If only they were usable for more than half a year, I think Montreal might actually be perfect.
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015
travel | opinions
Abroad on a budget: to Iceland and beyond New, icy, low-cost airline cleared for landing in Montreal but will it be worth the extra fees?
DIANDRA D’ALESSIO Contributor
bust in 2005) and Queen’s University marketing professor Ken Wong told the CBC that WOW Air’s cheap, nofrills nature could render it a niche service. It’s cheap for a reason though. You’ll have to pay extra for everything except your cramped seat and the shirt on your back, like $82 for a seat with more legroom and steep checked bag fees. Ultimately, although only time will tell if WOW Air takes off in Montreal
(pun intended), I remain optimistic. Budget airlines like Ryanair and EasyJet are hugely popular in Europe, and by saving money on a flight without the bells and whistles, one could spend more on the vacation itself. And as a side note, I’ve always wanted to see the Northern Lights and chill (or warm up?) in the Blue Lagoon. With WOW Air cleared for landing, I’ll be one step closer.
Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.
For seven months now, I’ve been working part-time for the international duty-free at Trudeau Airport. I’ve got to admit, it’s pretty fun for a student job. I get to meet people from all over the world, hand them shopping baskets and—to the delight of many tourists—alcohol samples (ask me about the Sortilège). Along with the tourists, I also get to keep track of the faraway destinations they’ll head off to, thanks to departure listings displayed in store. There seem to be more flights to Paris than anywhere else, but one can also get direct flights to cities like London, Amsterdam, Casablanca, and now even to Beijing most days of the week. While many of my friends were lucky enough to travel this summer (including my sisters on separate trips to Europe), I was finishing up my MA and decided to enjoy at least a bit of summer here in Montreal. I was happy to hear that my sisters had trips of a lifetime, but they both agreed that their flights left much to be desired. One went with Air Transat, the other with no-frills Air Canada Rouge, and paid full price for cramped seats and limited amenities. I’d like to travel to Europe soon but I also wouldn’t want to risk splurging on a so-so flight. So when I heard that WOW Air, a budget airline based in Iceland, would launch one-way flights
from Montreal to Reykjavik and other European cities for as little as $99 or $149 starting May 2016, you could imagine my excitement. Then I went to WOW Air’s website. I was disappointed to find the much touted $99 or even $149 one-way fares absent from the listings, but prices for flights in 2016 are still very affordable. For example, if I were to have a direct, round-trip flight from Montreal to Reykjavík, leaving on May 20 and returning on May 27, it would cost $478.77. Economy class on Icelandair would cost $200 more, and that’s if I left one day earlier and returned one day later. Same dates would cost over $900, and I’d have to connect via Toronto. WOW Air is certainly not the first budget airline to reach Canada (JetsGo went
advice | opinions
Ask a Wizard: be not foul, but share thy fowl A truly magical advice column TRYNAMINGUS III Grand Wizard
Trynamingus III, CEO of Ask a Wizard, Inc.
Dear Grand Wizard, I’m not looking for advice today but I was hoping you could share a bit about wizardly ethics. For instance, do you think it’s a waste to use magic to sweep, dust and do the dishes? Does being a wizard change how you celebrate Thanksgiving? Curious about jowly fowl
A fine question, a fine question indeed—and curious. I was so curious upon receiving it that I considered consulting a crystal ball to ascertain your motives. Unfortunately I sent all mine away with a local faun to be polished, at least I think he was local. If he was a traveling faun I’m unlikely to see those crystal balls ever again, but that’s neither here nor there—unless the faun is actually here, somewhere. Oh fine yes, I’m stalling. I’m embarrassed, but I’m not so proud as to withhold my wisdom, or at least not what little I have managed to glean from the practice of domestic upkeep. As a young wizard I had great ambitions. Though my ambitions were great in force, they were quite small and mean in nature. Yes, I picked up my first book of spells in the pursuit of
vice. Some might have called the vices small, but a drop of poison spoils the whole well, and I was soon mastered by these small vices. I thought of no higher use for my magical abilities than to serve myself. It is peculiar frailty that humans and wizards share, that we will break our backs to win ourselves freedom from burdens. Such is the temptation of sweeping, dusting, and scrubbing. So I pursued my studies and my training, and set the sponges to work for me—and the spoons and the wash basin and whatever else I could press into service. Then I took my rest, but it was a rest without ease, with no restoration. Soon my rest made me restless but I could not see the source of my unease. I went back to my books seeking the answer for what ailed me. I sought an answer to the pain of my effortless life. For the first time in my wizarding career, my dusty tomes failed me, but my rescue came one evening by the hearth. In the dim light of the hearthfire, I saw the shadow of a monstrous figure play against freshly painted walls. I thought a beast had stolen in; that in my wellmanaged insularity I had not sensed the approach of a rabid carbuncle or feral manticore. I stumbled and fell as
I jumped to meet my foe and there, facedown on my freshly mopped, I came face to face with a tiny dormouse. He had a bag of woven grass slung across his back and he looked tired. He wiped his brow with ball of lint and readjusted his load. “What’s in the sac?” I asked, not minding my manners. He gave a start and turned to reply. “The day’s forage m’lord, some thread for my lady’s apron and the last elderberry of the season for my young Susie.” At that moment the chains of my small ambitions were broken. I gathered my cloak and staff, put on an old pair of boots, and packed a few books into a satchel. I left my home in the care of Lewis, the dormouse, and his small family and promised them a generous stipend to be delivered by owl twice monthly. I set out that day to see what good I could do, and what truth I could learn in doing so. I hope that answers your question about the ethics of magical housework. As to your second question, wizards display their thankfulness in much the same way as everyone else. They go home and have big dinner with a large and lovely family of dormice and they invite whoever’s hungry.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015
theconcordian
19
ETC Tweets of the week
UNSOLICITED ADVICE HOW TO SURVIVE THANKSGIVING:
#ColumbusDay
1. If feeding both omnivorous and vegan humans at the same table, serve thick, ambiguous soups to throw both of them off.
You’re probably still digesting dangerous amounts of turkey-bird and hating yourself for it. So why not keep going and contemplate the evils of colonialism too? It’s Columbus Day in the USA—a holiday celebrating the completely painless discovery of America. So without irony let’s celebrate #ColumbusDay, even though Leif Erikson probably got here first, uh, second.
2. Start a new tradition by renaming gravy gobbledygloop. 3. When chastising the unthankful, blow pumpkin spice into their eyes and invoke the Turkey Faerie.
@lachlan “Columbus Day is the day where my dad ruins my day off from school with hourslong lectures about dead white people” @ShaunKing #ColumbusDay is the day where I teach my kids how history and holidays are used to spread white supremacy. @thisisWATERS It’s 2015. End Columbus Day. Celebrate #IndigenousPeoplesDay @EvansPosts I guess that a Columbus Day sale means that I can just walk into a store and take whatever I want. @NatGeoChannel Why Do We Celebrate Columbus Day and Not Leif Erikson Day? @Remroum No Columbus Day #MakeMondayBetterIn3Words
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Concordia University’s weekly, independent student newspaper VOLUME 33 | ISSUE 7 | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015 Cover photo by Andrej Ivanov.
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