September 18, 2018

theconcordian

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY’S WEEKLY, INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

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

VOLUME 36, ISSUE 4 | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

A guide to the sacred traditions of Montreal's trees

As the leaves begin to fall, discover the island's hidden roots Life p. 6

also in this issue...

news

arts

music

sports

A new listening Video games Student lawsuit Discover polar against ASFA p.2 identities p. 9 experience p. 10 and violence

opinions

p. 12

How to stay sane and studious p. 14

news

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

CITY IN Lawsuit filed against ASFA BRIEF LEGAL ACTION

The lawsuit was filed for failing to address his sexual harassment complaints

MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR A 27 year-old man was shot early Sunday morning on St-Laurent Blvd., near Pins Ave. Af ter being rushed in critical condition to the hospital he is currently recovering. At the time of the shooting, the boulevard was crowded as it was closed to traffic for a street festival.

A i r Tr a n s a t d e l aye d t h re e Europe-bound flights for over 40 hours in Pierre Elliott Trudeau this weekend. The flights destined to England, Spain and Portugal were postponed due to mechanical i s s u e s , t h at h ave n ow b e e n resolved.

Beaudry metro station will be closed for eight months from Oct. 1, 2018 to June 2, 2019 while it undergoes major reconstruction. According to the STM, a shuttle ser vice will provide transportation to Papineau and Berri-UQAM stations.

Turpin and his CRARR representative Fo Niemi. Photo by Mia Anhoury.

MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR On behalf of Concordia student Harris Turpin, the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) has filed a complaint against the Arts and Science Federation of Association (ASFA) for failing to effectively address his complaint of sexual harassment against the federation’s former president.

It is claiming major moral and punitive damages against ASFA. “We believe this to be the first same-sex campus sexual harassment case in the province,” said Fo Niemi, the CRARR executive director.

“I want to set a precedent here. Last time with the Mei Ling incident, they said ‘there’s not going to be a next time.’ I am the next time,” said Turpin.

In 2015, CRARR filed a complaint against ASFA and two of its executives on behalf of Mei Ling (a pseudonym), a biracial executive who was subjected to racial and sexual discrimination. The case was settled on the condition that the federation create a task force to address these issues.

In 2016, Turpin went on a date with former ASFA president Jonathan Roy, but nothing came out of it. Starting in 2017, Turpin claims he was physically and verbally harassed by the president on a regular basis.

“This included uncomfortable and unnecessary touching towards me and unsolicited sexual messages,” said Turpin. “I also received a number of rude nicknames from fellow members of my student association [Concordia’s Classics Students Association (CCSA)],” which according to Turpin, included “bitch-boy” and “butt-boy.” These instances happened on campus and at university events. At a CCSA event on Jan. 25, Turpin said Roy flicked his nipple and yelled at him.

In February, Turpin informed ASFA’s then-internal affairs and administration executive, among other executives, of his harassment.

He was discouraged from going through the proper channels set out by ASFA’s sexual harassment policy.

Although a mediation session was held with Turpin, Roy, ASFA executives and a CCSA representative, the agreed-upon

consensus was not abided by.

Within that week, ASFA’s council put its sexual harassment policy under review, and mandated its task force to make it survival-centric in light of the sexual harassment allegations in the english department. However, according to Bakry Alsaieq, ASFA’s academic coordinator, the councillors didn’t know that a complaint had been brought to the executives when they suspended the policy.

In April, Turpin shared his story with The Link and publicized it on a Tumblr page. “I decided to go public to gain the justice I deserve,” said Turpin. Additionally, Roy stepped down as president.

A week later, Turpin received a letter from ASFA’s lawyer demanding he take down the Tumblr page on the basis of defamation of Roy. According to ASFA’s current Advocacy and Executive Coordinator, Marguerite Rolland, the letter was commissioned by Roy. ASFA has sinced changed its procedures regarding the commissioning of work to lawyers, said Rolland. Now both executives allowed to commission work to the

Robert Laramée, a 55 year-old repeat sex offender, has been ordered by the Parole Board of Canada to spend another year in a halfway house. Since Laramée has a long record of sexually abusing women and girls, the decision was taken to control the risk he poses.

federation’s lawyers must agree on the commission.

The number of pedestrian deaths “We are doing this to ensure in Montreal is increasingly that any action that is taken significant compared to last on behalf of ASFA represents year, according to the CBC. So the entirety of the organifar in 2018, 14 pedestrians have zation,” said Rolland. Today, been killed, three more than in both the president and the 2017. In the last ten days, five general manager of ASFA pedestrians have been hit by must agree to send the work. moving vehicles.

At the time the letter was sent, Roy’s approval was enough to commission it.

According to Rolland, there Graphic by @spooky_soda was a very short time frame for executive oversight between the time the letter was the Quebec Commission of Human Rights and Youth Rights. commissioned and then sent.

“What should've been done A statement was later released

by ASFA apologizing for sending was to inform the individual of all the processes that were available the cease and desist letter.

“It was a general apology outside of ASFA —referring him to issued to the public that shows a the Sexual Assault Resource Centre, general lack of empathy not to be the Centre for Gender Advocacy mentioned by name. [...] I made a [for example],” said Rolland.

“It certainly took a toll on my huge case of this and they didn’t even take the time to apologize to health,” said Turpin. “Last time I visited [Niemi], I was not looking me,” said Turpin.

“It’s not about the president so good, eating poorly, awful anymore, it’s about ASFA,” said diet, horrible sleep schedule.

Turpin. This is the second time in Because of this incident, not the last three years a complaint has only my grades suffered but my been filed against the federation to person suffered.”

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

theconcordian

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CONSENT

CSU launches sexual violence campaign Executives prepare to create new policies to promote consent on campus MINA MAZUMDER ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR “We shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not we are going to get sexually harassed on campus, especially by a p r o f e s s o r,” s a i d C a m i l l e Thompson, External Affairs and Mobilization Coordinator at the Concordia Student Union (CSU).

Student safety was the highest priority at the CSU’s first sexual violence campaign launch on Sept. 13 at The Hive Café. “I want students to feel safe on their campus,” she said. “I want them to feel that they can come to study in a safe environment.”

T h e ide a for a c amp aig n emerged due to the current climate at the university related to sexual misconduct and allegations against certain professors, Thompson told The Concordian. “The more people are aware of what’s happening, the stronger the students’ voice is,” she said. According to the CSU website, two thirds of campus sexual assaults happen during the first eight weeks of classes.

Thompson is responsible for changing rape culture at the university, while Mikaela Clark-

Gardner, the CSU’s Academic and Advocacy Coordinator, is responsible for changing student policies, which are the two focuses of the campaign.

Thompson said rape culture exists as a result of ignorance towards the stories of victims, and a society based on patriarchy.

“Giving more information and making people aware of what is consent and what you should and shouldn’t do, is a good start,” she said.

During the event, snacks and light refreshments were served to the mingling crowd. There were people wearing purple wristbands to show individuals affected by sexual violence that they were available to help or listen.

There are three main goals that Thompson hopes to accomplish during this academic year. Firstly, Thompson wants to raise awareness of consent and sexual violence, and secondly, get people involved so they feel included in the campaign. She also wants to provide resources to survivors while making sure the university is fulfilling its promises.

Alex Decarie, a political science and history student, present at the

event, said he was interested in the campaign after being an active listener for some of his friends who were victims of sexual assault.

He also wanted to demonstrate that straight white men can be supporters. “I want to show that consent is for everyone,” he said. “Guys should be respecting consent and be decent human beings to each other.”

Decarie believes that men are also victims of sexual assault but he presumes that it happens more than we think. “I have known men who have dealt with sexual assault but it does not outnumber my female friends. It’s already rare for women to say ‘this has happened to me’ so I think for men it would be increasingly so,” he said. He added that there is stigma surrounding male victims, so they often feel emasculated as a result of sexual assault.

As a student, Decarie hopes the campaign will help victims disclose their experiences to professionals and show that it can happen to anyone. He also wants the university to be more proactive in how it responds to victims of sexual misconduct.

Finally, Decarie wants people

Graphic by @spooky_soda

to be more aware of what consent is so they don’t intentionally or unintentionally violate another person’s rights. “Always ask and make sure,” he said. “If the other person does not seem sure, then that’s a ‘no.’

It’s always best to ask, even if it’s in the moment.”

The CSU will be hosting a r a p b at t le a g a i n s t s e x u al violence on Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. at Reggies Bar, as well as an

exposition called “What were you wearing?” in late October at the LB building, which aims to dismantle stereotypes on sexual violence and slut-shaming.

If you or someone you know have been a victim of sexual assault, please contact the Sexual Assault Resource Centre in room H-645 on the downtown campus or call Jennifer Drummond at 514-848-2424 Ext. 3353.

ENGINEERING

We’re number eight in aerospace!

Concordia’s aerospace engineering program ranked eighth in the country

EITHNE LYNCH ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Concordia has been ranked eighth in the country for its aerospace engineering program, following McGill which earned second place.

A n a r t i c l e b y U n i ve r s i t y Magazine said Concordia’s “stateof-the-art labs give you experience with the tools and equipment you may use in the field.” This and Montreal being one of the three largest aerospace hubs in the world is the reason its aerospace engineering program has been named eighth in Canada.

Although McGill has outranked Concordia, it only offers a masters degree in aerospace engineering, whereas Concordia offers both undergraduate and graduate engineering degrees.

Concordia engineering professor Luis Rodrigues said Concordia’s aerospace engineering program “has characteristics that other universities's programs don’t.”

Ae ros p a ce e n g i n e e r i n g focuses on the design, construction and testing of aircrafts, spacecrafts, satellites and even missiles. Quebec is among the largest global aerospace

equipment manufacturers in the world with over 200 aerospace companies in the province, such as Bombardier and Aero Montreal.

Concordia has a four-year undergraduate aerospace engineering program. During t h o s e f o u r ye a r s , s t u d e n t s take core engineering courses, such as Introduction to Flight and Aerospace Systems, Thermodynamics, Statistics, and Modelling and Control Systems, totaling 33.25 credits.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

“I can already tell this knowledge is leading me somewhere,” said Daniel Baranci, a second-year student in the program. Aerospace students must also take 59.75 elective engineering credits from a list of three main concentrations.

Like many other schools, Concordia offers concentrations in aerodynamics and propulsion, and aerospace structures and materials. What sets the university apart is its avionics and aerospace systems concentration.

Rodrigues said avionics and aerospace systems is a growing field of study. This is in part due to research into ways of applying the science behind electric cars to work for aircrafts with the goal of reducing the carbon footprint. Offering this concentration is one of the many ways the university distinguishes itself from others.

Despite the wide range of courses offered, Rodrigues said “the program can improve the

number of courses offered in space systems.”

Concordia engineering students can get hands-on training through one of the many engineering labs. “We have a wind tunnel, a composite structures lab and two flight simulators, among many other labs,” said Rodrigues.

The program also grants its students many opportunities to gain work experience within their field of study. A co-operative education program is available for students in the aerospace program at Concordia, which allows them to “alternate between study and work terms in industries,” according to its website.

Baranci said the co-op program is what attracted him to study at Concordia and has lead him to an internship with Bombardier as well as Airbus.

The Concordia Institute of Aerospace Design and Innovation’s (CIADI) website states that CIADI “promotes and supports aerospace research and education at Concordia.” CIADI is the first aerospace institute in Quebec, according to Rodrigues. Finally, students can access apprenticeship programs that provide opportunities to take on relevant internships.

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theconcordian

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

NATION CASA’s break with private tutors IN BRIEF JMSB

What went wrong between CASA and its last private tutoring sponsor?

MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR A Canadian surgical team performed the country’s first facial transplant. The surgery was performed four months ago after six months of planning. The patient, Maurice Desjardins, lost his nose, lips, teeth and jaw after a hunting accident.

Canada’s ban on the use of trans fats in food products was put into effect on Monday. It targets the main source of industrially produced trans fats in all food sold in Canada; partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs). It is now illegal to use this additive in any food made or imported into Canada, as well as in meals prepared in restaurants.

Niagara College in southern Ontario is offering a full-year cannabis production program.

As Canada is getting close to making the recreational use of pot legal, the program is in popular demand.

According to the CBC, over 300 people applied for 24 spots.

Until the winter of 2017, CASA had just one private tutoring sponsor: SOS Tutoring. Photo by Ian Down.

IAN DOWN NEWS EDITOR If you’re a student in the John Molson School of Business (JMSB), you won’t see ads for major tutoring companies at Frosh, or any JMSB-sponsored events. Any posters advertising private tutors in the MB building are quickly taken down.

This wasn’t always the case. For years, JMSB’s student association, the Commerce and Administration Students’ Association (CASA), had one private tutoring sponsor: SOS Tutoring. The Montreal-based company sponsored Frosh, posted ads on CASA’s website, and hung posters around the MB building.

For most of their relationship, “There were no issues with us and CASA,” said Aaron Benshabat, an executive at SOS. “We had a very healthy relationship.”

Then, in the summer of 2016, CASA’s then-VP External, Rudy Grow, said he discovered that another local student association was getting a better sponsorship deal from SOS. “They were basically getting a steal from us,” he said.

Although the exact details of the contracts are private, Benshabat said the $4,000-$6,000 sponsorship contracts SOS has with its partner schools are generally within a few hundred dollars of each other. However, Grow said his organization was getting paid less “per student” than the other, smaller student association. CASA’s existing contract with SOS was set to expire at the end of the year.

Benshabat said the friction between CASA and SOS was caused not by an unfair deal, but by pressure from the

JMSB administration. “They got light pressure in the beginning,” he said.

“And then, over time, it seemed every time I was talking to a new president, it was more of, not a comment that they received from academia, but more of a ‘Hey, you should start thinking about not working with [private tutors].’”

He said the school’s alleged pressuring of CASA to cut ties with SOS, which he blamed on institutional bias against private tutors, compromised the association’s independence from the administration.

Grow, who would become CASA’s president in the spring of 2017, said that the university did pressure CASA to end its relationship with SOS, although it was never stated what would happen if CASA refused. “They're not gonna tell you ‘We’re gonna do this,’ but you can tell in the tone of their voice that something would likely happen.”

“The JMSB administration did articulate to CASA how it felt about sponsorship agreements with tutoring firms,” said university spokesperson Mary-Jo Barr.

“However, CASA is an independent body and for this reason, the administration did not, and would not, direct them to end their relationships with any third parties.”

Grow said that following his discovery, he and Benshabat met several times bet ween September and November 2016 to discuss their contract. By their last meeting in November, CASA had a new price tag: $50,000 a year. Grow said that when he presented this amount, he was “laughed out of the room.”

Finally, in February 2017, after failing to reach a deal with SOS, Grow introduced a motion at a regular council meeting

to “Prevent all CASA subsidiaries from signing any form of sponsorship contract or agreement with any company or person external to the Concordia umbrella that offers tutoring services and/or crash courses for courses offered at Concordia University.”

The minutes show that the motion was overwhelmingly approved, with 11 votes for, one against and three abstentions.

Grow said the decision wasn't just about being unhappy with their contract. “[We] were also opposed to people profiting off of student money,” he said.

“We wanted to encourage students to utilize the free services included in their tuition (weekly tutorials, extra tutoring...) rather than spend so much on external companies.” said Evan Pitchie, who was CASA’s president in the 2016-17 academic year.

In addition, JMSB now has an app that connects students with private tutors.

Launched in the winter of 2018, CASA+ allows students to find tutors by subject, according to CASA’s website. Grow said that unlike a private tutoring company, the app isn’t designed to make a profit.

“CASA’s not making money off of it; it’s really about making that service more accessible and affordable to students,” he said.

Pitchie said CASA provided its tutors with extra training to ensure the quality of tutoring was competitive with private companies.

Benshabat said it’s the students who lose out in this situation, since they might not know what private tutoring options exist for them. “It’s not that they would choose either/or, but [CASA] at least made them aware that if you need help and it’s

Canada’s housing market was ranked the third riskiest in the world according to a new study

by Oxford Economics. Since Canadian housing markets are the most overvalued in the world, it’s also associated with a significant risk of future price declines.

Vancouver and British Columbia are pushing the city’s Chinatown to be named a UNESCO World Heritage site. It exemplifies the crucial contributions of ChineseCanadians. The pledge for the designation comes after two recent apologies for historical wrongs against Chinese-Canadians.

Amid an Amber Alert, a six-yearold girl in Saskatchewan was found alive after 13 hours, two kilometres from where she went missing on Monday morning. The girl was in the back of an SUV while it was stolen on Sunday. The focus has now shifted to determining who is responsible for stealing the vehicle.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

extra than the standard, it’s there,” he said.

A s for SOS, Benshabat said that although Concordia is the private tutor’s biggest partner, his company was able to adjust its business strategy to avoid any major financial losses.

JMSB students can download CASA’s tutoring app off of the App Store.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

PROFILE

Fusing community work with politics Green Party candidate Chad Walcott hopes to be a catalyst for change

theconcordian

WORLD IN BRIEF IAN DOWN NEWS EDITOR More than three million people in southern China were evacuated in anticipation of Typhoon Mangkhut making landfall on Sunday.

The storm previously swept Macau as well as the Philippines, where it killed dozens of people.

Brett Kavanaugh, U. S .

President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, had his confirmation jeopardized by allegations of sexual assault. Christine Blasey Ford alleged that Kavanaugh and his friend sexually assaulted her at a house party when they were in high school in the early 80s.

Walcott was actively involved in many of the tuition hike protests in 2012. Photos courtesy of the interviewee.

ALEX HUTCHINS LIFE EDITOR “Each different experience that I've had informed the next, and I've taken away something important from each one,” said Chad Walcott, a Concordia political science and government alumnus. Particularly, he’s learned how to communicate with people; how to get them motivated and wanting to take action on a given issue, he said.

Walcott is the Green Party of Quebec’s candidate for the borough of NotreDame-de-Grâce (NDG) in the upcoming provincial election. It’s Walcott’s first time appearing as a candidate affiliated with the Green Party of Quebec, according to his candidate profile.

Walcott said he was introduced to politics in 2012 when his time as External Vice President of the Concordia Student Union (CSU) coincided with the tuition hike protests. During this movement, Walcott was actively involved in many demonstrations, according to his profile.

“It was a very formative experience,” said Walcott, during an interview with The Concordian . “The power of people was really what stood out to me. That campaign gave me a taste for provincial politics that I couldn't let go of.”

Walcott has a rich history of working with non-profit organizations (NPOs).

After his time at Concordia, he worked with at-risk youth and children for about six years. “Then I went to work for the Jewish General Hospital raising money for cancer,” the candidate said.

His involvement with various NPOs is, in part, what motivated him to run for the Green Party. “Having worked in a few [NPOs] I know that part of the struggle is finding funding for their core

mission,” said Walcott.

Currently, Walcott said, when NPOs apply for government grants, they have to “fit projects into very narrow boxes [and] bend over backwards to try to see how a given grant will fit in their larger mission.”

According to Walcott, a review of funding structure on the provincial level is needed in order to address this issue.

Another change that Walcott calls for in his campaign platform is increased representation of minority groups in provincial government. As a person of colour, he emphasized the importance of encouraging minority communities to mobilize and draw attention to their issues. “If I were to be elected I [would hope] to be a catalyst for those kind of mobilizations,” he said.

One promise in the Green Party’s platform, according to the CBC, calls for the formation of a permanent council to address racism in Quebec. This past summer, according to the Montreal Gazette, former Project Montreal candidate Balarama Holness circulated a petition calling for the city of Montreal to hold a public consultation on racism and discrimination. According to the same article, the petition received more than 20,000 signatures.

Initially launched in February, the petition was at first deemed inadmissible on both the municipal and provincial levels before being accepted just recently, said Walcott. “The government doesn't want to look at the fact that [...] there are issues of systemic racism in Quebec,” he said.

“They just refuse to look into it.” Walcott believes that, at a minimum, the council that the Green Party is suggesting should formulate an annual report assessing systemic racism, which will influence government policy. “Our voice is not represented right now in parliament,” he

said. “I want to see that changed.”

Walcott also calls for free public transportation for all. This initiative would be partly funded through a carbon tax on gasoline, according to the Green Party’s website. Walcott has been heavily criticized for taking this stance, particularly from those who predominantly use vehicles not wanting to subsidize other people’s transportation costs. “But we're looking at multiple sources of revenue to fund this,” he said, such as increasing taxation on large corporations, particularly mining companies.

One of the ambitious, long-term goals for the Green Party, Walcott said, “is to have [the] downtown core and the island of Montreal be essentially car-free.” The Green Party hopes to accomplish this through a combination of incremental changes, starting with improving public transportation infrastructure, abolishing limitations on carpooling legislations and encouraging carsharing programs, according to its website. “We're not completely deleting cars from the urban landscape,” said Walcott, “we're using them better.”

Walcott is aware that the Green Party of Quebec’s platform is ambitious and it’s unlikely to be voted in after this upcoming election. “Because of the position that we occupy in the political spectrum, we need to [...] be ambitious,” he said. Walcott hopes that his and the party’s platform will influence other parties to follow in their stead. On Tuesday Sept.

11, Premier Philippe Couillard announced that, if re-elected on Oct. 1, he will make public transportation free for all full-time students and seniors, according to the CBC. “This is not something where we would just flip the switch and now everything's eco-friendly,” said Walcott. “[Large-scale] change is something gradual.”

Pyotr Verzilov, a Russian activist and member of the punk group Pussy Riot, is in critical condition after what his family allege was a poison attack. Verzilov and his bandmates made inter national headlines recently for storming the pitch at the World Cup final in protest of political imprisonment in their country.

A study by Japan’s Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry found that 20 per cent of the country’s population is over the age of 70.

According to an ar ticle by Naoko Muramatsu in Oxford Academic, Japan has the oldest population in the world, which is “a salient factor in crucial public policies, such as pensions, health, and long-term care.”

The Scottish government has passed a new set of regulations outlawing designer breeding of animals.

The rules target the breeding of animals to have certain desirable physical traits, which can cause significant longterm health problems in some species.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

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life

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

Graphic by @spooky_soda

DENDROLOGY

Unearth the historic roots running throughout the island of Tiohtiá:ke KENNETH GIBSON STAFF WRITER Historians of science speculate that it was Aristotle who first decided all living things could be divided into two domains: plants and animals. While biological taxonomy is a touch more complicated these days, the conceptual divide between flora and fauna remains central to western scientific thinking about nature.

But here’s the thing: a key assumption of that conceptual divide is that animals are apperceptive, while plants are not.

Plants don’t feel pain, while animals do. Yet, over the past few decades, there have been a number of startling studies—such as one led by Antonio Scialdone at the U.K.’s John Innes Centre, which found that Arabidopsis thaliana were “capable of doing some complex arithmetic to prevent starvation at night.” These findings, as well as others, suggest this divide may not be as clear cut as it seems.

Trees, in particular, are known to have strangely sentient qualities about them.

The belief that trees have some kind of innate intelligent life has been with us for millennia, as Cambridge professor Stanley Arthur Cook wrote in the 1911 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica. So, it is not surprising that trees are cited as having spiritual properties in many sacred traditions.

The Concordian teamed up with the Concordia Multi-faith and Spirituality Centre to create this guide to the sacred traditions associated with the trees found on the island of Tiohtiá:ke/ Montréal, unceded Indigenous territory of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation.

You can use the provided map to find locations where these trees grow, and the leaf graphics to help identify specific species. For each one, we mention which aspect of life it is

supposed to help with, from prosperity to fertility. If you're struggling with something, why not try meditating on it under one of the trees associated with your problem? _Rapides du Cheval Blanc Park: _Ash tree According to the Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, the Ash tree was very important to the ancient druids of Briton, and had a prominent place in Celtic culture. It was considered the female partner of the Father Tree, the Oak. The Celts valued Ash for its healing and enchantment properties. The Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes region have also had a long connection to the Ash tree, according to Nicholas J. Reo from Michigan State University.

Within these communities, though, it is valued less for it’s spiritual properties and more as a construction resource, particularly for baskets and snowshoes.

However, there is a tradition within the Wabanaki Confederacy that maintains that humans were first created from Black Ash trees, according to Native Languages of the Americas, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Indigenous languages of the western hemisphere. _Corner of St. Sulpice and _Picket Roads: Birch tree According to Trees for Life, Scotland's leading conservation volunteering charity, in parts of Europe the Birch tree is linked to fertility, healing magic, new beginnings and purification. This is likely because its seeds can thrive in extremely inhospitable environments, so they’re usually the first trees to grow again on land that has been razed. Through their resiliency, they set up the new ecosystem for the slow-growers like Oak and Beech. In some Ojibwe and Chippewa communities, Birch bark is thought of

as a sacred gift, and was sometimes used in ceremonial wrapping of the deceased for burial, according to Dr. Kelly S. Meier, the Senior Director of Institutional Diversity at Minnesota State University. In fact, Birch bark does have medicinal properties for pain relief, and birch leaves can be used for treating arthritis, according to WebMD. _Corner of Guy Street and _Argyle Avenue: Cedar tree According to Paula Giese—a late professor at Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College—in Ojibwe traditions, the Cedar tree is associated with cleansing, protection and prosperity. It is thought of as the most sacred tree among some Indigenous communities.

The west coast Indigenous peoples consider the Red Cedar to be the “tree of life” and believe that it plays a key role in nurturing the mind, body and soul. A prayer of respect is recited prior to any part of the tree being harvested. This is because of Cedar’s ubiquitous use in all parts of northwest Indigenous peoples’ lives, including canoes, clothing, cooking utensils, medicines, ceremonial masks and more, according to The Canadian Encyclopedia. _Raymond Park: Oak tree For many Indigenous tribes of east and mid-eastern North America, Oak is a medicine tree, connected with strength and protection, according to Native Languages of the Americas.

Individual Oaks are known for their tremendous size and longevity. According to Indigenous tradition, the location of Oak trees often serve as spiritual and civic centres for important gatherings.

In Celtic lore, the Oak is regarded as the holiest of holy trees, according to the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids.

The ancient Greeks and Romans also associated the Oak with their highest gods—Zeus and Jupiter respectively. Even the Norse associated it with Thor, their god of thunder. The Oak tree is the ultimate spiritual symbol of strength and endurance. _Wilfrid Laurier Park: _Maple tree Maple syrup was known and valued

by Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands, according to The Canadian Encyclopedia, long before the arrival of European settlers. This tree is so central to some Indigenous cultures that the explanation of the origin of maple syrup production figures into their story about when the Creator made earth itself. In many North American Indigenous legends, maple syrup originally comes out of the maple tree already edible.

However, at some point, an intervening trickster god—whose name differs from community to community—forces people to process the sap if they want the sweet reward. According to Indian Country Wisconsin, in Anishinaabe legend the god’s name is Wenebojo, but in Abenaki legend he’s named Gluskabe. The Maple tree is also seen as a tree of tolerance and gentleness in many Indigenous traditions. It is also the preferred source of 'talking sticks', a tool used during council meetings to indicate whose turn it is to speak.

T h e C o n c o rd i a M u l t i -fa i t h a n d Spirituality Centre runs a series of field-trips every school year to various sacred sites. For more information about this year's outings, contact the centre at: MFSC@CONCORDIA.CA

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

theconcordian

PROFILE

Carving out inclusivity at ConU Florence Gagnon is creating the LGBTQ+ community she never had MACKENZIE LAD PHOTO EDITOR Florence Gagnon has spent the last 10 years working to ‘spread the word’ and increase visibility for lesbians within and outside of the LGBTQ+ community. Her message? “We exist, and these are our experiences.”

Gagnon is the guest speaker at the second annual Queer Homecoming, an event that carves out a unique space for the queer community amidst Concordia’s orientation activities.

This year, she is set to share her success as an entrepreneur, founder and president of a non-profit LGBTQ+ organization and co-creator of a successful web series, to name a few accomplishments. Before she began her prolific career, Gagnon was a first-year student at Concordia, surrounded by hundreds of others at her own homecoming.

It was her love for art, coupled with the search for something outside of the small, suburban world that didn’t entirely accept her sexuality, that led Gagnon to move to the big city to study photography at Concordia. She said the experience changed her life before she even stepped foot in a classroom. “I felt like I was in the right place, that people were different and I was fitting in,” she recalled. “I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but I guess it was the right context because I got to try so many things. I partied a lot, and I just met so many interesting people.”

One of those people was filmmaker Chloé Robichaud, who was studying in Concordia’s film production program at the time. “We talked a lot about our coming out, and the context we lived in in Quebec,” said Gagnon. “I come from the suburbs, so my coming out wasn’t the best experience ever, so at the time I felt like I was missing role models and information about what it is to be a lesbian.”

Their conversations turned into brainstorming sessions, and in 2012, they launched Lez Spread the Word (LSTW), an online platform that describes itself as seeking to “gather, inform, and shed more light on the lesbian community in Quebec and elsewhere. As well as offering informative and entertaining content, the site is a resource for women who do not

Printers from hell How to ensure printing an assignment doesn’t hold up your day SARA CHAHROUR ASSISTANT LIFE EDITOR

Florence Gagnon. Photo by Saad Al-Hakkak.

have many references with regard to the lesbian community.”

Only two years later, Robichaud and Gagnon crossed the second item off their project list: a web series by and for lesbians. Féminin/Féminin follows a group of lesbians as their lives intertwine and their stories unfold against the familiar backdrop of Montreal.

“We wanted to create something that we didn’t have at the time [of coming out], and thought we could help people, and also just for us to meet other girls,” said Gagnon. Following its premiere in 2014, Féminin/Féminin received much acclaim, winning the Best Fiction Web Series award at the Gémeaux Awards, and was renewed for a second season.

Keeping up with the momentum of her success, Gagnon spearheaded the launch of the LSTW magazine in 2016. LSTW is now distributed in 17 cities worldwide,

Lez Spread The Word (LSTW) magazine. Photo courtesy of LSTW.

with a third issue launching Oct. 23.

Still, with a reach greater than she ever imagined, Gagnon says visibility remains a significant obstacle. “Even now within the LGBTQ movement, it’s difficult to have a place. People think that within this movement [that] we’re all equal, but as women, it’s more difficult than it is for men,” she said, adding that even the use of the word ‘lesbian’ is contested within the community.

“People ask us why we use that word and not queer. At first it was really personal; I was identifying as a lesbian because I didn’t know anything else at the time. But at the same time, I’m happy to honour the past fights of women in the 80s. I think the word is loaded, but for us, we are pretty proud.”

Despite some pushback, Gagnon is optimistic for the future. “Things have changed over the past years. More visibility for the community and just being ‘different’ is celebrated more than it was before.”

Whether English or French speaking, there is visibility and power in numbers.

Gagnon hopes people will come out to events like Queer Homecoming and get involved with projects in the community.

“I would love for the francophone and anglophone scene to mix more,” she said. “I think it’s really important—we need more communication.

We still have so much to do.”

Assignment deadlines are the worst, but not only for the obvious reasons.

Writing the assignment is one task, but the hassle of having to use Concordia’s printing stations after all of that hard work makes due dates so much more stressful. This is how my day usually goes when I have papers to print and submit: The bus arrives 15 minutes late, it’s pouring rain, and the printer is out of ink. There’s now all of 10 minutes to get it done and get to class. But hey! Ten minutes to print a mere two pages is plenty of time, right? Think again.

“I never rely on the printers,” said Stephanie Ricci, a second-year journalism student at Concordia. “I just print at home and avoid the risk.” This is a nice alternative, and you can spend about $40 on a half-decent printer at the Concordia Bookstore and most other tech stores. But for those of us who haven’t invested in this, what choice do we have?

“If you’re counting on printing here, just make sure you come really early,” said Catherine Hansen, a student at Concordia. Aiming to arrive at least 30 minutes before your lecture starts is essential. Here’s why: the nearest two printers will likely have four people in line waiting to use them; the other three printers either have paper jams, are out of ink, or both. There’s always that one person who randomly pushes all the buttons and takes forever. There’s also the chance that there will be an an issue sending your file through the server.

“I tried printing here a few times and the printers were always out of order,” said Camille Perrin-Ridgway, a journalism student at Concordia. This is another possible outcome when trying to print on campus. When this happens, you honestly have no choice but to go find another printing station.

If, somehow, everything goes smoothly up until you have to swipe your student ID card, you’ll realize you haven’t loaded money on to it. Oh, you also don’t have any cash on you. Realistically, you must account for all of the above.

On the Loyola campus, there are printing stations on all floors of the Vanier Library. You can also print through the bookstores on both campuses, and in the LB building on the Sir George Williams campus, there are printing stations on the second to fifth floors.

All this to say, never assume printing at Concordia will be easy. Like, ever.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

7

arts

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

FILM REVIEW

White Boy Rick is no stranger to crime

New release falls short, despite stellar performances by Matthew McConaughey and Richie Merritt LYES MAHOUCHE CONTRIBUTOR

White Boy Rick , a riveting film set in 1980s Detroit, is stylized and well-acted, but was dampened by its uneven pacing and convoluted storyline.

White Boy Rick tells the true story of Richard “Rick” Wershe Jr., a 14-year-old FBI informant-turned-drug dealer. Rick, played by newcomer Richie Merritt, lives in a completely dysfunctional family. His father, Richard Wershe Sr. (played by Matthew McConaughey), is an arms dealer who dreams of opening a video store; his sister (played by Bel Powley) wrestles with drug addiction. Rick is no stranger to crime, so the FBI decides to use him as an informant in their war on drugs. With such a premise, things can only go wrong—and boy do they.

What really makes the film is its colourful main characters. For one, Rick’s father is completely erratic. Less than five minutes into the movie, he chases his daughter’s boyfriend at gunpoint while fighting with his parents who live across the street. However, there is nuance to his character. Yes,

he sells guns out of the trunk of his car, but Wershe Sr. isn't just another lowly outlaw.

He does what he does so his children can have a better life than he did. He is a father first, a hustler second. McConaughey is perfect for the role. Rocking a mullet, he impeccably juggles the comical dialogue and emotional scenes.

Wershe Sr.’s son and the titular character is just as interesting. Rick tackles everything that life throws at him head-on and with

the nonchalant confidence—or stupidity, depending on who you ask—of a teenager who’s on top of his world. Merritt delivers a compelling first performance. He matches McConaughey in some hilarious backand-forth dialogue, which is no easy feat.

Max Richter's soundtrack is also worth mentioning. The music—or lack thereof in some dramatic scenes—really helps set the atmosphere and compliments whatever is on screen.

Matthew McConaughey and Richie Merritt star in White Boy Rick, based on the true story of criminal and FBI informant Richard “Rick” Wershe Jr.

Where the movie ultimately falls short is in its screenplay. The film is dense, too dense. There are so many things happening that the story becomes too convoluted for its own good. The audience doesn’t have time to truly appreciate an event before it’s on to the next act. This problem may stem from the fact that the story is about true events, limiting the director's choice .

Regardless, the movie ends up seeming more like a succession of events rather than a testament to the intricate storyline. Everything happens too quickly; the audience doesn’t have the chance to get invested in the story. Overall, the movie is entertaining, but it fails to really connect with the viewer.

In the end, White Boy Rick is perhaps a bit too ambitious in terms of what it can cram into its runtime, but the performances and aesthetics make it worth the asking price. It balances humour and drama, and it makes for a good time at the theatre.

White Boy Rick is currently screening at the Cineplex Odeon Forum and other select theatres.

FILM FESTIVAL

Stop. Drop. Motion!

Exposing a different frame of mind

CHAD HARTLEY CONTRIBUTOR For anyone who has ever found themselves spellbound by the clockwork movements of a miniature world, or drifted into an incurable interest when Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas happened to pop up on TV in October, last weekend’s 10th annual Festival Stop Motion Montréal was a goldmine.

At the head of this rolling monument to the patience and creativity of stop motion artists is Erik Goulet, an aficionado of the meticulous medium and architect of the festival since its inception in 2009.

This year’s presenters were too numerous to list, with nearly 60 films from 23 countries competing in six different categories.

Adorning the crown of the festival was a series of masterclasses intertwined with workshops, interactive programs, free activities, lectures, and more, all in Concordia’s EV building and J.A. de Sève Theatre.

Two highlights of these masterclasses were Amanda Strong, who is based out of unceded Coast Salish territory, commonly

known as Vancouver, B.C., and Tim Allen, a veteran of the stop motion and animation industry.

Strong premiered her new film, Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes), gave a special opening lecture on Sept. 14.

Drawing from the continued displacement, disruption, and distrust that reverberates in First Nations communities from the days of colonization by European empires, Strong’s work deals with the current state of affairs for various groups of Indigenous peoples. A common theme in Strong’s work is to showcase the effects of colonization and how it continues to be felt indirectly

by First Nations youth.

Strong encapsulates these feelings in beautifully constructed short films that generally follow a youth enveloped in a struggle with invasion. Delivered in haunting gusts of scenes perfect for her medium of stop motion (though she often splices it with other media), Strong displays a dedication to stop motion.

Biidaaban centres on a gender-fluid Indigenous youth capable of temporal visions and a shape-shifting sasquatch who seeks out sugar Maplewood sap in urban

Ontario. This ambitious work is doubtlessly as beautifully sequenced as her earlier films, such as How to Steal A Canoe and Indigo. Biidaaban follows a familiar pattern of representing the echoes of the past that still sound in the hearts and minds of today’s Indigenous youth, and will serve as a reminder of troubles too easily unseen.

Complementing Strong’s onset to the festival was Tim Allen’s culminating masterclass on Sept. 16, which focused on the many well-known productions Amanda Strong is an Indigenous interdisciplinary artist to which he has lent his and the owner of Spotted Fawn Productions. expertise, including Corpse Photo courtesy of Spotted Fawn Productions Bride, Shaun the Sheep and Frankenweenie. Allen’s most recent of pointed information and anecdotes from contribution to the industry came to a his experience in the field. crest in Wes Anderson’s recent film, Isle of Dogs . Allen is a specialist in puppet Between the plenty of lectures, animation and has been utilizing his skills screenings, workshops, and seminars in the animation film industry since the there was something for everyone at this early 80s. His masterclass was a diffusion year’s Festival Stop Motion Montréal.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

Happening in and around the White Cube this week…

theconcordian

9

EXHIBITION

Reclamation and resitance

Exploring contemporary focuses of circumpolar communities and identities

CHLOE LALONDE | ARTS EDITOR

SLĀV RESISTANCE COLLECTIVE DISCUSSION As part of the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) DisOrientation series, the Slāv Resistance Collective will be discussing the cancellation of Slāv, created and produced by Betty Bonifassi and Robert Lepage. The theatre production was cancelled in June in response to the demands of protestors and critics, who argued that Slāv was created out of cultural appropriation. The discussion will expand on why the show was cancelled, what it meant for the production team and what can be done to avoid similar instances in the future.

When: Tuesday, Sept. 18, 6:30 p.m.

Where: QPIRG-Concordia, 2100 Guy St., Suite 204 Admission is free.

CULTURE TOPO, a digital arts and technology laboratory in the Plateau, will be showcasing the work of art duo Et tu, Machine in their vitrine until Oct. 13. CULTURE celebrates the legalisation of the recreational use of cannabis and aims to foster a discussion about the social stigma surrounding its use. According to TOPO, “Et tu, Machine is concerned about the opportunism of corporate production and distribution companies in collisions with the state.”

When: Now until Oct. 13 Where: TOPO, 5445 Gaspé Ave., Suite 107-B Admission is free.

DARLING Toronto artists Keight MacLean and Moira Ness combine their interdisciplinary backgrounds in Darling. MacLean’s modern take on historical portraiture is juxtaposed with Ness’s handwritten text to express notions of love, loss and longing.

When: Now until Oct. 14 Where: BBAM! Gallery, 808 Atwater Ave. Admission is free.

WHAT WE ALL KNEW BUT COULDN’T ARTICULATE Featuring Marcela Armas, Daniel Monroy Cuevas, Lorena Mal, Armando Rosales,and Rogelio Sosa, What we all knew but couldn’t articulate marks the closing of a year-long curatorial internship between the FOFA Gallery and SOMA México. The project aimed to foster cultural exchange between Mexico City and Montreal, and the exhibition showcases the engaging artworks of the five artists that explore this [lack of] connection. According to FOFA, “What we all knew but couldn’t articulate seeks to bridge the space between the gallery, the university, and the city, while also weaving connections and blurring the boundaries between Mexico, Canada, and the neighbour these two political entities share.”

When: Now until Oct. 19 Where: FOFA Gallery, 1515 St-Catherine St. W Admission is free.

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

The variety of pieces span many mediums, including film, sculpture, photographs, textile and performance, creating a diverse collection of artistic works. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

DAISY DUNCAN ASSISTANT ARTS EDITOR Language, land, sovereignty—how do these concepts and areas of focus play out in the regions of the circumpolar arctic? How do topics of identity and colonialism define themselves in these communities? Such is addressed and explored through the art of 12 Indigenous artists from this region in the exhibition Among All These Tundras.

Curated by Heather Igloliorte, Amy Prouty and Charissa von Harringa, Among All These Tundras showcases works exclusively by artists from the circumpolar arctic, whose respective works address and explore contemporary and historic focuses of this location, including language, colonialism and sovereignty. The variety of pieces span many mediums, including film, sculpture, photography, textile and performance, creating a diverse collection of work.

The title of the exhibition is drawn from “My Home Is In My Heart,” a poem written

by Nils-Aslak Valkeapää. Valkeapää is a well-known Finnish Sami poet, known for his writing, music and eight collections of published poems. The poem is written in Sami. In it, Valkeapää addresses and connects to different realms of Indigenous life and knowledge, while highlighting aspects of decolonization. He uses language as a form of resistance, which gives greater significance to the title of the exhibition. Connected to this, in viewing the works of Among All These Tundras, it is necessary to recognize that the presence of colonialism has touched, and is prominent within, every artwork shown. Viewers can further consider these ties and the reclamation and resistance explored within the artworks.

Sami Shelters #1 - 5 is an ongoing project by artist Joar Nango. It consists of several hand-knitted wool sweaters of various shades, designs and patterns, hanging at different lengths near the entrance of the gallery. The designs on the sweaters depict landscapes—architecture and nature—of the region of Sápmi, the artist’s place of origin, in Norway. Nango, who also works in architecture, questions and explores Indigenous identity through his art. This is

seen within Sami Shelters, which provide discussion and consideration of circumpolar a visual representation of the artist’s home life and identity, specifically that of Indigenous peoples of this region. Perhaps solidifying and his identity.

Artist Allison Akootchook Warden’s We this even more are the backgrounds of the Glow The Way We Choose To Glow (2018) is curators—Igloliorte is from the region of a sculptural piece consisting of 3D-printed Nunatsiavut and is a professor in Indigenous figurines of polar bears, displayed on a studies at Concordia, along with her curaglow-in-the-dark filament. The figurines tional work in various galleries across the are positioned in a pattern and the bright country, while Prouty and Harringa are shades of pink and purple from the filament both art history PhD students at Concordia are distinctive and eye-catching. Warden with specializations in Inuit art.

Addressing indigeneity and the presence is Iñupiat, from Fairbanks, Alaska, where she witnessed the impact of colonization, of colonialism (along with the impact of which has influenced her artwork. By climate change and politics), Among All including her identity and culture within These Tundras provides representation her work, Warden also addresses ideas and resistance. It encourages greater and issues of climate change and the consideration, knowledge and awareness of circumpolar communities and identity, current political landscape.

Tusarsauvungaa (2018) by Taqralik along with the specific complexities and Partridge, is a series of five hanging elements significance within the region.

Among All These Tundras is on made up of beading, fishing lures, coins and display in the Leonard & Bina Ellen other material components. Each element is distinct—one consists of an image of a Gallery in Concordia’s LB building fish with beading at the bottom and coins until Oct. 27. The gallery is open 12 attached to the central part of the piece. to 6 p.m. from Tuesdays to Fridays Another, using the material of a thermal and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. emergency blanket, connects Canadian dollars through gold detailing. The artist is also a writer and spoken word performer,from the communit y of Kuujjuaq, the largest Inuit village in Quebec.

The exhibition showcases a diverse range of artwork from a large selection of artists from circumpolar regions. Collectively, the works explore general themes, issues and aspects unique to these areas. Yet with the diverse forms and subject matters of each respective work, further complexities, ideas and personal/specific focuses are considered.

The exhibition proSami Shelters #1 - 5 (2009 - ) by artist Joar Nango consists of vides representation, several hand-knitted wool sweaters of various shades, designs and patterns. Photo by Mackenzie Lad. along with space for

music

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

SHOW REVIEW

Ka l e o b r e a k s h e a r t s

The Icelandic band rocked Laval’s Place Bell on Sept. 11 KATELYN THOMAS COPY EDITOR “I’ve busted bones / broken stones / looked the devil in the eye / I hope he’s going to break these chains.”

Kaleo didn’t break any bones at their Place Bell show last Tuesday, but they probably did break some hearts. Made up almost entirely of lifelong friends, the four-man band pulled at their Canadian fans’ heartstrings when they emerged on stage eclipsed in blood-red lights.

It’s always interesting to see which songs bands choose to start and end their shows on. That night, when frontman JJ Julius Son’s deep voice broke the silence by gently groaning the first few lines of “Broken Bones,” the crowd erupted in blissful cheers.

Anticipation, meet satisfaction. The song began faintly—a capella, save for the rhythmic claps—until the 23-second mark when full volume was attained; then Rubin Pollock and his guitar skillfully snatched the spotlight.

Next up on the setlist was the band’s fourth single, “Can’t Go on Without You,” which they delivered with precision and

AUDIOPHILIA

Hollingworth performing one of the band’s latest singles, “Hot". Photo By Katelyn Thomas

poise. If there’s one way Kaleo sets themselves apart in today’s music scene, it’s by sounding even better live than they do on their records.

Of course, no Kaleo concert is complete without “No Good,” the textured tune that earned them a nomination in the Best Rock Performance category at the 2017 Grammy Awards. As the seventh song from the start, as well as from the end, it served as the

perfect mid-show banger.

Three quarters of the way in, they sang my personal favourite, “Automobile.” This feel-good track confirms the versatility that inspired the title of the band’s second album, A / B. According to Son, the album name represents both sides of a record as a nod to their split sound: blues-rock and folk. “The ‘A’ side is more rock and roll and blues… While the ‘B’ side is a bit softer with

more ballads,” he said.

The crowd swayed to the ending of “Automobile,” and the energy in the arena swiftly reached its peak as the band began to play “Way Down We Go.” Certified platinum in the United States, this is the song you’d play for a friend if they said they didn’t know Kaleo, in an effort to make them recognize that they do. That’s not to say the other songs aren’t equally deserving of attention or critical acclaim. In fact, Kaleo’s A / B is one of the only records that never lets me hit the skip button.

Aside from the exceptionally wellrounded music, a standout element that tied the show together for me was the lighting. It was perfectly in pace with the timing and ambiance of every song, guiding the audience to clap along, quiet down or lose control.

Max Lenox, the band’s lighting designer, programmer and director, outdid himself this time.

Kaleo’s current tour is set to end on Sept. 30 in Asbury Park, NJ. So, if you’re in the mood for a last-minute road trip, throw some clothes in a bag, hop in a car or on a bus, and put A / B on an infinite loop.

Headphone heaven

$75,000 makes you think about your audio setup SIMON NEW MUSIC EDITOR It’s a Sunday evening, you’re scrolling through Instagram and you find out your favourite artist just dropped a surprise album. It’s go time. You text your friends to make sure they know you heard of it first and you post on your story to let your people know of the drop. It’s time to listen. What do you turn to? Do you turn off all the lights and crank your system? Do you grab your favourite set of headphones? Do your headphones come encased in carrera marble and cost $70,000? The Sennheiser HE 1 does. It’s known to be the greatest headphone system ever created, and on Monday, September 10th I got to try it.

Sennheiser opens up a new office in Dollard-des-Ormeaux as a hub for their Canadian operations. There’s an inaugural celebration with sound demos, a live band, and ostentatious seafood. Co-CEO Andreas Sennheiser flies out from Germany to cut the ceremonial red ribbon. It’s a party celebrating sound. Me and my co-editor are then ushered into a small, ambient room filled with nine zealous journalists, all waiting to have their minds blown by this marble slab. At the back of the room, I see it. The

HE 1. In between a blissed-out tech writer and a guide from Sennheiser, was a refined block of marble that has made people on the internet cry with joy. It is finally my turn and with my glass of single malt scotch in hand, I sit down to listen. The guide explains that there are four songs that Sennheiser wants to demo for me, and I can then pick one of my own. I put the headphones on and they feel imperceptible. $75,000 CAD gets you comfort, that is unquestionable.

I’m handed a sleek, hefty aluminum slab of a remote to adjust the volume, and the guide takes me from Paul Simon’s “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes,” to a heavy Elvis deep-cut, to a sprawling orchestral piece from the soundtrack to Assassin's Creed.

Each song highlights a different aspect of the headphones: Presley’s deep, resonant voice, Simon’s panning, shifting backing vocals.

I hadn’t heard any of the tracks beforehand, save for Simon’s. What struck me initially was the sound separation. Every instrument, sound effect, and vocal track felt perfectly distinct and clear as air. This is as much a testament to the headphones as it is to the engineers of the songs themselves. I close my eyes and forget where I am. I am engulfed by the sound. Thoroughly impressed by what is the best audio reproduction I’ve ever heard, but the urge to cry is absent.

I feel like I am taking part in a tech demo.

This is when the fourth song comes to a close and I am given my choice among Tidal’s entire library. I choose Kamasi Washington’s rendition of Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” from Washington’s stunning 2015 album, The Epic.

The track starts and I stop breathing. I’ve come back to this song over and over since it came out, to the point where it is almost the musical backbone to those years of my life.

Despite being purely instrumental, I revere this track for how lyrical it is. This time, the song speaks to me. As trite as that sounds,

the technology we listen to music with changes our experience. If grabbing your Apple earbuds is like stuffing a dry sandwich into your mouth while sprinting into class, this is like sharing a perfect home-cooked meal and a bottle of champagne with your sweetheart. Whether that feeling is worth the ludicrous price tag depends simply on how much you are willing to spend. As tech reporter Séamus Bellamy said, “Listening to them feels like a treat, owning a set of them would feel like hedonism, it’s just so much. It’s too much.”

Every instrument, sound effect, and vocal track felt perfectly distinct and clear as air. Photo by Immanuel Matthews.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

Quickspins

theconcordian

11

SHOW REVIEW

Let’s Eat Grandma takes a seat

1

Poptronica duo served up epic tracks for big moods at Bar Le Ritz

IDLES Joy as an Act of Resistance (Partisan Records) English punk rock band IDLES’s latest album, Joy as an Act of Resistance, is an emotional rollercoaster, driven by socially charged lyrics and energetic instruments.

The group’s latest album, released on Aug. 31, is an expertly produced body of work in all its rawness. Staying true to the genre’s spirit and grit, this project delivers all the energy and emotion you would expect—and hope for.

From the consistent pounding drums to the unapologetic electric guitar melodies, Joy as an Act of Resistance is powerful. The only song that strays from the album’s consistent drive is “June,” which slows e ve r y t h i n g d ow n fo r t h e l i s te n e r, mid-album.

While IDLES’s themes throughout the album differ, their unifying message throughout demonstrates their awareness of today’s social issues, like immigration and sexuality.

If this album leaves you wanting more, you can check out the band at their Montreal show tonight (Sept. 18), at Théâtre Fairmount.

Hollingworth and Walton drop "It's Not Just Me" to an adoring crowd. Photo By Kenneth Gibson.

KENNETH GIBSON STAFF WRITER

11 Trial Track: “Great”

7.5/10 — IMMANUEL MATTHEWS, ASSISTANT MUSIC EDITOR

2

M AC MILLER Watching Movies with the Sound Off (Rostrum Records) Mac Miller is the writer, and Watching Movies with the Sound Off is his diary.

Released in 2013, Miller’s sophomore album delves deep into the MC’s mind, uncovering his struggles with fame, addiction and love.

From prescription painkillers, to the infamous rapper cocktail known as lean, he raps about attempting to fight off his dependance on said substances, though he explains that he knew about the dangers they hold.

Through calculated, hard-hitting bars, Miller effortlessly flows over every beat, as though he could do it in his sleep.. Fitting that on the second track, “Avian”, he raps “Feel like I do this in my sleep/Literally, I do this in my sleep.”

The 19-track project features diverse instrumentals with a wide variety of sounds, demonstrating Miller’s affinity for musical creativity. From the spacey piano and string duo on “Avian” produced by the rapper himself, to the classic boom-bap beat on “Red Dot Music,” Watching Movies with the Sound Off is far from a predictable hip hop tape.

While Miller undoubtedly gave so much to hip-hop, we must appreciate our favourite artists while they are still here, creating music for us all.

R.I.P. Mac Miller 11 Trial Track: “Avian”

9/10 — IMMANUEL MATTHEWS, ASSISTANT MUSIC EDITOR

Since the release of their sophomore album, I’m All Ears, critical response for Norwich, U.K. duo Let’s Eat Grandma— comprised of Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth—has grown to a crescendo of fawning adulation. Recently, they received a “Best New Music” nod from Pitchfork. So, please indulge me as I add one more sterling review to the pile.

Walton and Hollingworth are two of the biggest bosses I’ve ever seen stand on a performance stage. My friend that accompanied me to the show can confirm this. By the last song of the night she was simply yelling “Yas, queen” every few minutes. The two held the crowd captivated for the entirety of their hour-long set, demonstrating an effortlessly breezy attitude while performing and interacting with their audience.

This included a moment, after they had finished their fourth or fifth song, when Hollingworth sat down, cross-legged on stage and seemed to get lost in thought for about ten seconds before snapping back to reality with a “Sorry guys, it’s been a long day.”

By this point, the band’s mythology has been cemented by the press. They’re two creative wunderkinds, best friends since they were four years old. They met when one of them admired a drawing the other was working on in kindergarten.

The drawing was either of an orange and turquoise snail, or a hot-pink elephant, depending on which interview you read.

By the time they were 13, they’d started writing and playing music together. By 17, the duo had released their debut album, I, Gemini, on Transgressive Records, also home to Alvvays, Flume, Neon Indian and SOPHIE. I, Gemini was a careening, kaleidoscopic brew of contemporary freak-folk and psychedelica, combined with a proclivity toward the pulsating rhythms of rave and dance culture. And, like most bands’ first album, it was a bit rough around the edges.

Of course, because they were women, and not yet technically adults, they struggled to be taken seriously by the music press.

There was widespread speculation that they were not the true authors of I, Gemini, but rather fronting the creation of someone else.

Perhaps in response to this, or simply as a result of maturing tastes, the production on I’m All Ears is more streamlined and precise. It pushes songcraft to the fore, clearing away all unnecessary flourishes to deliver a massive slab of anthemic, pulse-racing alternative pop music. They’ve put idle speculation to rest with I’m All Ears; they’re the real deal.

So, when they stepped out on stage, Saturday, September 8th at Bar Le Ritz, you got the feeling that every show for them right now is a gleeful celebration of the dunk they’ve just got on the music industry.

Clearly, Let’s Eat Grandma is being savvy about wrapping their musical interests around a sound that can be taken into large performance spaces. The smoothly elevated sound of I’m All Ears is tailor-made for arenas and large concert halls.

The first two singles were produced by label-mate SOPHIE, who has produced for Madonna, Charlie XCX, and Vince Staples.

SOPHIE also released her real debut album in June (after a compilation album a few years ago), Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides, to critical acclaim.

So, I don’t think they ever intend on playing a room as small as Le Ritz in Montreal again, and Montreal slept on this one. They have only a few more North American tour dates left before they head off to open for CHVRCHES in a string of concert halls across Europe. Yet, only about 150 people showed up to the 300-person-capacity Bar Le Ritz to see Let’s Eat Grandma. They had sold out a venue with the same capacity the previous night in Toronto.

For the show, they played their new album, I’m All Ears, from front to back, and only played one song from their debut as an encore, which seemed like the right choice as they’re clearly interested in moving on from that material.

The set began with just their drummer on stage, pounding out the rhythms of the John Carpenter-esque opening instrumental, “Whitewater,” before Walton and Hollingworth bounced on stage, ready to hype the audience with their particular brand of performance: part musical virtuosity, part searing vocal

delivery, and part party that someone brought a karaoke machine to.

After “Whitewater,” the duo led straight into the two big singles, the most directly catchy songs on the new album. “Hot-Pink” is a quasi-bratty, menacing pop song, fusing the more extreme elements of SOPHIE’s sound with a conventional pop and R&B song structure, while “It’s Not Just Me” is a smart, sweet and summery indie-pop song about sharing your feelings with a new romantic interest.

By the end of their fourth song, the galloping, robust piece of twinkling electronica, “Falling Into You,” Hollingworth had busted out her saxophone for the soaring outro solo, elevating the performance that much more.

I mean, who doesn’t enjoy a good sax solo?

Throughout the rest of their set, Let’s Eat Grandma showed a love for the communal aspects of musical performance, playfully engaging with the crowd. Hollingworth crowd-surfed at one point, mock-collapsing upon being returned to the stage. There were also a few games of patti-cake played between the pair.

The second to last song of the night, gentle and stripped-down piano ballad, “Ava,” was particularly noteworthy. Hollingworth emoted in gorgeous overtures about a troubled long-lost friend, whom she wishes she could have helped somehow. It brought an audible hush over the crowd.

The eleven-minute final song, “Donnie Darko,” weaved its way through several parts, beginning with a meandering guitar centred intro, then driving through on a pristine, hand-clapping disco beat to arrive at a plaintive, organ-blaring climax that wouldn’t be out of place on a late-90s post-rock album.

It was the perfect closer.

I have no doubt that Walton and Hollingworth will go on to produce some era-defining albums in the near future.

The press should resist tokenizing them for their age and gender, as they’ve expressed sincere frustration over this in interviews.

However, I also think it’s okay to celebrate the emergence of a group that can serve as such strong, positive role models for other young women wanting to break into the music industry. I am optimistic that by the time of their third album, their media narrative will have shifted from age and gender, to simply “check out these kick-ass musicians.”

sports

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

FEATURE

Don’t blame shooting on video games: expert Concordia Esports club says gaming addiction is a big problem Graphic by @spooky_soda

NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI SPORTS EDITOR On Aug. 26, David Katz walked into a restaurant in Jacksonville, FL, where a Madden NFL 19 tournament was taking place, and shot and killed three people, including himself.

Immediately after the incident, media outlets searched for the motive behind the shooting. USA Today reported that one of the victims killed, Eli Clayton, who went by the gamer name “Trueboy,” had beat Katz at the tournament earlier that day. CNN found documents about Katz’s parents’ divorce. They stated that the 24-year-old had mental health issues, and “was in treatment for psychiatric issues at least as early as the age of 12.”

Global News also suggested possible video game addiction that Katz could have had as a teenager. “Katz played video games obsessively as a young adolescent, often refusing to go to school or bathe,” the article stated.

Multiple media outlets were trying to blame the shooting on Katz’s obsession with video games and mental health issues. However, video game experts don’t blame either for the incident. Mia Consalvo is a professor in the communications department at Concordia, and the Canada Research Chair in Game Studies and Design. She said the vast majority of people with mental illnesses aren’t dangerous, and only a small minority are dangerous to other people.

“It’s a common stereotype that people

with mental illness will snap, lose control, or that they are a danger to others,” Consalvo said. “In terms of the shooting in Jacksonville, it seems more indicative of the mass shootings in the United States now in general, rather than something to do with a video game.”

In 2015, over 200 academics signed an open letter criticising a study in the American Psychology Association, linking video games and violent behaviour. Dr. Mark Coulson is an associate professor of psychology at Middlesex University in London, and signed the letter.

“I fully acknowledge that exposure to repeated violence may have short-term effects—you would be a fool to deny that—but the long-term consequences of crime and actual violent behaviour, there is just no evidence linking violent video games with that," Coulson told the BBC in 2015.

"If you play three hours of Call of Duty you might feel a little bit pumped, but you are not going to go out and mug someone."

In fact, Consalvo has done research on people who play sports video games, such as Madden NFL , which was played during the Jacksonville shooting. She said sports video games actually produce positive feelings for the user. “[People who play sports video games] had really strong and positive memories of playing games with members of their family, or friends. Sometimes those memories would go back years, and sometimes even decades for them,” Consalvo said

about her findings. “It would have a really strong and positive influence in their life.”

The media also touched on Katz’s video game addiction as a possible reason for the shooting. The World Health Organization recognized “gaming disorder” as a mental health condition in June 2018, and the Concordia Esports Association (CESA) thinks it’s a major problem, especially for first-year university students.

“It’s more of a problem in secluded communities,” said co-president of CESA, Dimitri Kontogiannos. “What happens a lot is students come from abroad and first-year students live in residence. So it’s usually what they only do, they play by themselves.”

Consalvo disagrees, and believes there’s no agreed-upon definition for video game addiction just yet.

“There’s a lot of controversy, and there are a lot of arguments within the scientific community whether video game addiction is actually a thing,” Consalvo said. “Before anybody could even say if there is a problem and how widespread it is, they need to agree on a definition, and that still hasn’t been done yet.”

Guillaume Bélisle is the League of Legends team manager for CESA. This summer, he ran a video-game design camp for kids in the West Island. He said one time, while they were singing happy birthday to one of the campers, the birthday boy was playing Fortnite on his phone, and didn’t look up once.

“One thing I noticed is that the parents were not doing anything about it,” Bélisle

said. “It’s not just that the kid is the victim.

The parents give them whatever they want, and the kid takes whatever they want.”

Bélisle has also seen severe cases of video game addiction with students at Concordia.

He said he had to cut a player from his team because he was playing video games for 16 to 18 hours a day and failing classes.

“He would literally show up to class with a laptop and play, then go home and play,” he said. “That was a very extreme case, and we tried helping him.

But if he doesn’t want to help himself, there’s not much you can do about it.”

Kontogiannos, Bélisle, and Consalvo all agree that video games can be used as a social connection for some people. CESA organizes events for gamers to meet at a pub and play a game, have drinks, and socialize. “Socializing around a passion really breaks the player out of having the one focus of having the need to play,” Kontogiannos said. “Once you get isolated and in the mode to just play, it’s even bad for your mentality.”

Consalvo’s current research is about gamers who live stream their gameplay on Twitch. She said people do that because they enjoy the social aspect of video games, and interacting with their viewers.

“We seem to have this image of people who play video games as loners who are socially inept, and for the most part, I find people who just want to be social, and share that activity with other people,” she said.

As for the Jacksonville shooting, Katz’s motive remains under investigation, according to CNN.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

PROFILE

Teaching at all levels

Jocelyn Barrieau takes what she learns from coaching to her teaching NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI SPORTS EDITOR In July 2018, the Concordia Stingers named Jocelyn Barrieau the head coach of the women’s rugby team. With that, Barrieau’s career has come full circle.

Barrieau played rugby at the university level for five seasons, with the first four at McGill. She came to Concordia to play for the Stingers in 2011, to pursue her dream of playing for the Canadian national team, which never panned out. She did help the Stingers reach the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) final. They lost in the final against the Université de Laval Rouge et Or. “It was definitely a good year and good experience for me,” Barrieau said.

While playing at the university level, she also coached the Dawson Blues women’s rugby team from 2007 to 2011, winning four championships. She’s also been a skills coach with the Stingers men’s rugby team since 2013. Having coached at the CÉGEP level, and now as a head coach at the university level, Barrieau said there’s a big difference between the two.

“CÉGEP is important, but [university] is a pretty important part of people’s lives because they’re really figuring out what path they’re taking,” Barrieau said. “It’s a pretty intense time, and to throw on the fact that you’re a varsity athlete on top of all the stuff that's going on is a pretty big load.”

She also added that players are more mature at the university level, and are better organized with school. “All that stuff is a practice run in CÉGEP and it’s a bigger task here,” Barrieau said.

Barrieau also said there’s added benefits to coaching at Concordia versus at Dawson. “The support from the university is unbelievable,” the first-year head coach said. “At Dawson we were supported, but even just having a locker room, field, and our own space [here at Concordia] is amazing.”

When the Stingers hired Barrieau, she said her goal as a coach was to make sure her players have a 100 per cent graduation rate. She said she’s working with Craig Beemer, the head coach of the men’s rugby team, and the Stingers’s academic

theconcordian

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COLOUR COMMENTARY WITH NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI On Sept . 13, the Humboldt Broncos returned to the ice for their first game in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) since the team’s fatal bus crash on Apr. 6. The Broncos were travelling to Nipawin, SK for their playoff game against the Nipawin Hawks when the team bus collided with a semitrailer, killing 16 out of 29 people on the bus, ten of which were players.

ers, and is Jocelyn Barrieau played one season for the Sting .

Ewen ah Hann by Photo . them now back to coach

coordinator, to make sure the players’ academic needs are fulfilled.

“One of the big things for me is to try to see and identify problems [players might be having] before they happen,” Barrieau said. The head coach also said she understands the overwhelming pressure of being a student-athlete. After all, Barrieau was one herself.

“People have been there and it ’s important to talk about it,” Barrieau said.

“If people are willing to talk, I am willing to listen [...] Maybe they even just need a night off training to sleep.”

Outside of Concordia, Barrieau is also a high school teacher at Laval Junior Academy, and is teaching eighth grade French this year. She’s been teaching in the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board for a decade now.

“At that point in their lives, students are much younger and are still figuring themselves out in a different way than the athletes here,” Barrieau said. “There are some drive differences too. School is not for every kid and those kids kind of get pushed to the side, but in university, everyone tries to be more inclusive because they want to be here.”

“The way I am on the field is quite similar to how I am in the classroom,” Barrieau added. She said the majority of skills she uses as a teacher come from coaching, such as “time management, organizational skills, clarity and com-

munication, love and compassion, drive, desire and competitiveness.”

As a rookie head coach, Barrieau deals with a young Stingers team. A handful of veterans left the team, most notably Frédérique Rajotte and Alex Tessier. Rajotte was the Stingers’s female athlete of the year, and was named U Sports MVP for the 2017 season. On this year’s team, out of 28 players, there are 21 in their first or second season, with only two fifth-years.

“We had a pretty big turnover rate so [the challenges are] getting people up to speed on our basic concepts, vocabulary and systems,” Barrieau said. “We’re not starting from scratch, but close to it. We’re a very young team so we also don’t have tons of on-field and game experience.”

Although Tessier graduated from the team at the end of last season, she joined Barrieau’s staff to work as an assistant coach this season. Barrieau said Tessier offered to give back to the women’s rugby program as soon as she finished playing for the team, and is excited to have her.

“I don’t have enough nice things to say about Alex Tessier,” Barrieau said.

“Having her here is amazing because she has such a high level of rugby knowledge [...] She’s just a real, quality person to have around.”

The Stingers women’s rugby team started the season with a win and a loss, and won the Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup on Sept. 16 against McGill.

When the Broncos had their home-opener at the Elgar Petersen Arena last Wednesday night, it was emotional. Only two players from last year’s team, Derek Patter and Brayden Camrud, played in the game, while Tyler Smith is still with the team but recovering from his injuries. Seven of the crash survivors joined the three for a ceremonial face-off and received a standing ovation from the crowd. Ryan Straschnitzki is still in physical rehabilitation while Morgan Gobeil and Layne Matechuk are still in hospital, nearly six months later.

The game was broadcast commercial-free across the nation on TSN and CTV, and TSN did a fantastic job honouring the victims.

The ceremony at the arena was simple, yet beautiful, and TSN transmitted those emotions to the rest of the nation.

TSN spent four hours honouring the victims, telling their stories and remembering them. During the game, Chris Cuthbert and Ray Ferraro were exceptional on the broadcast, and it was clear they prepared for hours before the game. They shared anecdotes about the players on the ice, talked about their careers, told stories about the victims, and most importantly, didn’t pretend it was just a normal hockey game. James Duthie hosted the program with compassion, while Ryan Rishaug interviewed the families of the loved ones, and the past players, with so much class and dignity.

Everyone was so professional and it was amazing to watch.

On a personal note, it was so hard to watch. All the players who died were younger than me, and they were on their way to play a sport I play. It was heartbreaking to hear the story of Tyler Bieber, the team’s radio announcer, because that’s what I’m in school for.

Barrieau is happy to have Alex Tess ier (pictured) join her coaching staff.

Tessier graduated from the team last year. Archive photo by Alex Hut chins.

At the end of the night, the Broncos hung up banners honouring the 16 victims: Tyler Bieber, Logan Boulet, Dayna Brons, Mark Cross, Glen Doerksen, Darcy Haugan, Adam Herold, Brody Hinz, Logan Hunter, Jaxon Joseph, Jacob Leicht, Conner Lukan, Logan Schatz, Evan Thomas, Parker Tobin and Stephen Wack.

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

EDITORIAL

Well, we’re back folks. This week’s editorial may seem pretty uncontroversial, but it is important nonetheless.

The Concordian would like to remind all of you Quebec residents out there that you should definitely vote in the upcoming provincial election. There are plenty of reasons to go vote, including exercising your right to freedom while we’re not yet living under a fascist regime.

The main reason is this: voting is fun!

Go out and vote, tell your friends, hell, make an event for you and some people you know to go to the polling station together. Talk about the candidates while you wait in line, socialize, net work, exercise your skills in the art of virtue signaling. Voting is really as much about the journey as it is the destination.

It is easy to feel small and insignificant next to the scale of the faceless, multinational capitalist machine that is our contemporary society. But one way of confronting that is to pull up your bootstraps, go out, and be a responsible citizen.

As important as your vote is in the singular goal of electing a new political leader, it is also powerful as a statistic.

If politicians see that a higher percentage of young people are voting, or whatever

Voicing our votes

Graphic by @spo oky_sod a

other demographic you’re from, future political platforms will be more tailored to your priorities and ideologies.

Politicians will see that x number of young people/students voted, what their political ideologies are, and future

political campaigns will be tailored to that new information. Your vote has a direct impact in letting the powers that be know what you want.

You might feel like there’s no point in voting because none of the running

candidates have your interests in mind.

While there may be some truth to this, the best way to change that is to let them know that you are watching and you are invested enough to vote. If you really dislike all of the candidates, you can vote “no preference,” which still gets your opinion out there.

There’s really no excuse not to vote, especially if you claim to care about political issues. We get the whole day off from school (though sadly, the make-up day is on a Sunday), so you might as well use that time to do something productive that will make you feel accomplished and fulfilled. To find out where to vote, all you have to do is go to electionsquebec. qc.ca and enter your home location. It will provide the exact address, dates and times you can vote. If your riding isn’t in Montreal, use this as an excuse to go home for a bit. Like, “Yeah, I’m totally not homesick at all I’m just going home to vote,” in case you need to save face or protect your rep.

Vote to speak and have your voice heard. Vote to shift the structure of the society that we live in. Vote to move toward an idealized, socialist utopia. If nothing else, vote to gain a sense of superiority over those who didn’t vote. That’s always fun.

Archive graphic by Alexa Hawksworth.

UNIVERSITY

The life and hard times of a Concordia student Here are some tips on how to become a better version of yourself this semester

ANTONIA MACRIS CONTRIBUTOR Welcome all Concordians, old and new, to the fall semester! As a new academic year kicks off, the campuses are buzzing with students as we swarm the halls and classrooms. Some of us are back to conquer yet another year, and the rest of you are beginning your journey as a Concordian.

Either way, after a long summer off from school, we all need some time to mentally prepare and readjust to student life.

I don’t know about you, but even after a few weeks, I’m still having trouble accepting the busy semester ahead. But denial won’t get me anywhere. The semester is here; there is no stopping this train. After five years of experience as a Concordia student—I’m finishing my master’s in environment—the best advice I can give you is to dive in head first. Now, some of you might be afraid to do this. You may be wondering if you’ll sink or swim. That is a valid question, but my answer is simple.

How can you sink when you’re surrounded by life preservers? If you’re struggling to stay afloat and on top of your academic work, just reach out and grab one. We’re surrounded by so much support, you just have to know where to look.

First thing’s first: Get with the program, literally. We may dread, at least a little bit, the idea of starting another semester, but at the university level, we’re here because we want to be. And if you’re going to do anything, do it right! It’s important

to remember we signed up for this life of learning, and we’re so lucky to be in an environment that allows us to grow intellectually, socially and personally.

To take advantage of a full Concordia experience, here are some tips on how to excel as a Concordia student and tap into your inner nerd.

Start by balancing your social and academic lives. You need to be able to do both in order to stay sane. Detach every so often and redirect your energy so you can perform better when you return to your studies.

Try joining a student club or association, attend campus events, or volunteer. These are great opportunities to learn new skills outside of the classroom. Get involved in something you enjoy.

Take care of your physical and mental health. As students, it’s easy to live off of coffee and Timmie’s bagels for extended periods of time. But a healthy body and mind will help you with your studies. Be mindful of what you eat and how much you’re sleeping.

As for dealing with the inevitable roller coaster of emotions, stress and anxiety that come with being a student, know that you’re not alone. We’re all going through the same thing, and what you’re experiencing is normal. You can also check out Concordia’s Counselling and Psychological Services for more tips or

if you want to speak with a professional.

But before all else, to excel as a student, you must adopt a student mindset. Get back on track, stop procrastinating and do those readings. Be the best student you can be. Be curious and dare to ask the questions no one is asking. Think outside the box and challenge your professors. Understand that they are people too, and they’re not always right. Be open to other student’s perspectives; you can learn a lot from your peers. And take advantage of the services available to us for help in all areas of student life. If you’re not sure what help you need or where to find it, stop by the Welcome Crew offices on either campus and a student mentor (maybe even me, if I’m on shift) will be happy to help.

Lastly, make the right friends for the right things. Who you hang out with and when is key to being a good student.

Form study groups for your classes, and find like-minded people to motivate you through your studies and push you to do better. When studying, embrace your inner Concordia nerd. Remember that sometimes (not always) there needs to be a distinction between the friends you have for your academic life and the people in your social life. Your study friends are your study friends and your Reggies friends are your Reggies friends, but you’ll need both to kill it at Concordia.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

theconcordian

15

SOCIAL MEDIA

Digital detoxing and the dark side of social media One student’s account of the pressure to post and how they dealt with their anxiety ZACHARY COOK STAFF WRITER As a journalism student, social media plays a major role in my studies and my future career. With this in mind, I struggle to describe my relationship with social media; we’ve been through a lot these past years. There have been many highs followed by sickening lows, but ultimately, I always came back wanting more.

I appreciate the benefits and abilities that social media comes with. However, from time to time, I find myself lost in a whirlwind of anxiety caused by the pressure to conform to the “norm.” It is important to acknowledge that everybody has a unique experience when dealing with social media and anxiety.

For a long time, my anxiety stemmed from how others reacted to what I posted on social media. Instagram and Snapchat, specifically, were platforms that caused me to worry myself sick and over-analyze every detail. I would search for validation through likes and replies. When a post did not receive positive reactions from my followers, I would worry I was doing something wrong.

On Instagram in particular, I would over-analyze my photos, my captions and

my decision to post each one in the first place. A 2017 study titled “#StatusofMind” by the Royal Society for Public Health and the Young Health Movement, a public health organization in the U.K., found that Instagram and Snapchat were the most detrimental platforms to young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

“Avoid certain filters unconditionally.” “Don’t use the #nofilter hashtag.”

“Avoid the cliché.” These are just three examples from an article written by Narcity titled “The 20 unwritten rules of Instagram you should be following.”

The idea that there are “rules” for social

media is absurd. I think young people in particular are susceptible to following these rules and getting lost in social media.

I have gotten carried away with these unwritten rules. There were times when I would not post for months because of the societal pressure to adhere to a certain standard on social media—something completely out of character for me. It was during one of these times that I decided a digital detox would be in my best interest.

The first time I stepped away from the digital world was in 2016. My anxiety towards social media had peaked, and temporarily deactivating my accounts

seemed like the only solution.

I spent a week social-media free, focusing on myself and the people around me. During my digital detox, I no longer felt the pressure to update my social media. I became aware of how much time I used to spend on social media. I realized that it is a major distraction that can quickly become toxic if not used appropriately.

As a generation that grew up in a digitalized world, constantly hearing adults tell us that our phones are a distraction is something we have learned to tune out.

I think the most important realization I came to was why I started posting on social media in the f irst place: for myself. After a week, I felt ready to log back on, but this time with a fresh mindset. It has been two years since my first digital detox. Whenever I begin to feel anxious again, I immediately detach myself from social media and take some time to reflect.

There is no doubt that social media use will not decline anytime soon, which makes it all the more important to learn how to balance it and our well-being. I am still learning how to do that myself, and I believe digital detoxes give me the chance to unplug and realign my priorities without giving up social media altogether.

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

STUDENT LIFE

To be or not to be? Or, to stay or not to stay?

The city of Montreal’s role in preparing students for life after university FATIMA DIA STAFF WRITER I have two more years in the safe environment of university life before the boundless and merciless maze of a world takes over my life. Much like other longterm planners, the question that plagues me night and day is: What’s next?

I moved from Lebanon to Montreal two years ago, and Concordia has quickly become a haven in the metropolis. Now, I don’t like to get too comfortable in places where I know my stay is temporary, so I make a point of planning what comes after my time at Concordia. The problem this time is that, unlike high school, I will be thrown into the mad world of adulthood where my sole focus will be to find whatever purpose I should fulfill.

I often find myself walking across René-Lévesque St., looking at all the suits rushing around and wondering if this is my purpose. Am I to walk these same streets, go about these same routines, all the while still trying to master a language that I have yet to learn?

Oh, yes—I should mention that I don’t speak French. Yet, I love Montreal.

Part of what makes it amazing is how quickly I adapted to the snowy, moody, beautiful city-life. The metropolis makes it easy, really. Compared to other places, even around Canada and the province of Quebec, Montreal is so eclectic that you are bound to find something you identify with.

Although it’s in a French province,

Montreal’s bilingualism makes the city home to immense diversity. I’ve heard about 17 languages being spoken while walking from the Hall building to John Molson. I’ve seen a woman wearing the hijab laugh audibly with a woman in shorts and a tank top. The city’s mélange of cultures is almost palpable.

linguistically diverse, and is seen as a place where students and graduates can prosper.”

In addition, while most universities in the province of Quebec are seeing a decrease in student enrolment, The Concordian reported that Concordia is experiencing the opposite. The fact that it’s located in Montreal and its main language of inst-

Also, Concordia University is a beacon of innovative ideas; it constantly creates chances for students to make the best out of their time, personally and in their careers. Mary-Jo Barr, the university’s spokesperson said, “Montreal offers many advantages for those who want a complete university experience. It is culturally and

ruction is English are substantial reasons, according to Concordia’s chief financial officer, Denis Cossette, and the senior director of financial planning and budget services, Jean-François Hamel.

I think this city is perfectly equipped to help students adapt to a balanced lifestyle. Unfortunately, I don’t think this

privilege extends to graduates looking for a job. According to an article from the Montreal Gazette, Montreal’s unemployment rate has risen 0.4 per cent this past July—now sitting at 6.2 per cent.

There are discounts and offers for students all around the city that help make our stay more affordable; this perk does not extend to non-students. And for me personally, I’m a future journalist studying in a bilingual city whose media outlets rely heavily on French.

On top of that, having spoken to a few people who came here and stayed, what I noticed they all have in common is routine—they settle themselves here, go to work or university or both, come back home, have the occasional weekend outing, and repeat. The excitement of newness and diversity becomes normalcy.

At one time, perhaps the beginning of winter was exciting for newcomers—but then, the cold breeze announcing winter becomes a cold reminder instead: “Here comes another six months or so of weather-induced depression.”

I do believe that those who are comfortable with a set, continuous routine can find their calling in this city. But I left home at 18 to come to a strange city, meet new people, make connections, be at Concordia, and then see where I can take what I've learned and do something with it. I don’t believe the Montreal that lies outside the safety net of Concordia is apt for me. I do, however, believe it’s the perfect city for transitioning into adult life.

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

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SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

Graphic by @spooky_soda

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CONTRIBUTORS: Antonia Macris, Chad Hartley, Fatima Dia, Kenneth Gibson, Lyes Mah, Zachary Cook

Concordia University’s weekly, independent student newspaper HEAD COPY EDITOR VICTORIA LEWIN

ADVERTISING MANAGER BILAL QADRI advertising@theconcordian.com BOARD OF DIRECTORS NATHALIE LAFLAMME DAVID EASEY directors@theconcordian.com

VOL. 36, ISSUE 4 SEPT. 18, 2018.

OUR COVER THIS WEEK “Montreal's hidden roots” Graphic by @spooky_soda FOLLOW US ON    COME TO OUR WEEKLY STORY MEETING AT THE LOYOLA CAMPUS CC-431 FRIDAY AT 12:00 P.M. PITCH. WRITE. EDIT. Editorial office 7141 Sherbrooke St. W Building CC - 431 Montreal, QC H4B 1R6 (514) 848-2424 ext. 7499