the plant SINCE 1969 VOL 56 NO 2
MARCH @THEPLANTNEWS THEPLANTNEWS.COM
2 THE PLANT
Letter from the Editor Hello dear reader, We have passed the Vernal Equinox. The Sun’s pathway has crossed the celestial equator. The days are officially longer than the nights. The clocks have gone forward. It’s the beginning of Spring :) All these things are very exciting to me, and I hope they are for you too. Welcome back from March Break, all of you. I hope you took the time to catch up on work rest and recharge. You yourself come before anything else. As always, this issue of The Plant is filled with your wonderful articles, pictures, and poetry. Our staff has quite a few interesting reads for you as well, so take a minute for yourself and rifle through it. Don’t forget to follow our Instagram to keep updated with deadlines and submit for the next issue! March is very much the month of lightning and lengthening days. It’s the month of renewal, re-awakening, recharging, sunny days with the kiss of warmth in the air, windows full of light, busy classrooms, the possibility of finality, an incoming release. I feel motivated, invigorated, I feel like the end is approaching and I just have to keep going a little bit longer. A time to resume that which has been hibernating during the winter months (ie. my spare brain cells). Oh and before I forget, we now have a TikTok account! Go give us a follow @theplantnews, you may just find some poppin’ behind the scenes content... With my final words for this month I want to say: take care of yourselves, be kind to yourselves, and allow yourselves the space to breathe and exist. See you all next month! With a spring in my step, PIPA JONES Editor-in-Chief
ERRATUM We’d like to correct a mistake made in the February 2022 issue that was brought up to us by @_cyanide_ink on Instagram: “In the [article] “We Should Talk About Bruno” the writer refers to the Madrigals as an “immigrant family”. The story takes place in Colombia and so they’re not immigrants as they are in their own country. However, they would be “displaced” since they were forced from their original home”.
Index NEWS ARTS & CULTURE VOICES VISUAL ARTS PLAYLIST CREATIVE WRITING SPORTS SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT CURIOSITIES
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The Plant is an editorially autonomous student paper. All opinions expressed in The Plant do not necessarily belong to The Plant, but are those of individuals. All content submitted to The Plant or its staff belongs to the paper. We reserve the right to reject or edit all submissions for brevity, taste and legality. The Plant welcomes typed and signed letters to the editor under 400 words. Copyright 2022
NEWS 3 3
Kim Potter’s Sentence: Are 2 Years Enough? JACQUELINE LISBONA News Editor On Friday February 18 2022, 49-yearold Kim Potter, former suburban Minneapolis police officer, was sentenced to two years in prison and a $1000 fine for the death of Daunte Wright. Potter pleaded not guilty on all charges after admitting that she confused her handgun for her taser, resulting in Wright’s murder. The incident occurred when Wright was pulled over at a traffic stop by four officers, one being Kim Potter. Wright had an outstanding warrant for a weapons possession charge. Police also claimed that he had expired license tags and an air freshener hanging from his rear-view mirror. Civil rights advocates claim that laws against hanging objects from mirrors are frequently used as a pretext for stopping black motorists. Police body cameras and dash cams recorded the entire encounter, which was later shown to jurors in court. Wright was shown being stopped and asked to exit the vehicle. As he was being handcuffed by one officer, he pulled away and tried to re-enter his car. Potter then threatened to taser Wright if he continued to resist the officers. Moments later, Wright was shot with a handgun in the chest and died shortly after. Video footage shows Potter shouting, “Holy shit! I just shot him! I’m going to go to prison!” At the time of Wright’s shooting, tensions were already sky-high as the world watched the trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer accused and ultimately convicted of murdering George Floyd. Following Minnesota law, the maximum prison sentence for 1st degree manslaughter is 15 years. However, for someone like Kim Potter with no criminal history, the state guidelines on first-degree manslaughter are from six to eight-and-a-half years in prison. Potter only received two. The judge on this case, Regina Chu, justified the lesser sentence on grounds that Potter was “doing her job in attempting to lawfully arrest Daunte
Wright”. The judge also claimed that Potter was trying to protect another officer who could have been seriously injured had Wright driven away. Josh Kramer, a second-year commerce student at Dawson college, reacted: “I think if Kim Potter was being 100% honest about it being an accident, then her sentence is fair. But the question is, was she lying or was it the truth?” Lexi Rubin, second-year social science student, added: “It’s crazy how she was only sentenced to 2 years. As a police officer, you go through hours and hours of training. There is no way you confuse your gun for a taser. The biases and internalized racism in our judicial system are so prevalent and her case is the perfect example”. But what are the differences between a handgun and a taser? First, a taser and a gun have different triggers and safety mechanisms that must be engaged before firing. Second, the taser has a laser with LED lights that display before it is fired, while the handgun does not. Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon explained that the placement of handguns compared to tasers is very different: “We train with our handguns on our dominant side and our Taser on our weak side. This is done purposefully, and it’s trained”. Chief Gannon added that a fully loaded handgun is around 34 ounces, and a taser gun weighs around 8 ounces. Therefore, the handgun is signifi-
cantly heavier, which makes it easier to decipher the two. During the trial, Judge Chu called it “one of the saddest cases [she has had] in [her] 20 years on the bench”. She also acknowledged that she is anticipating backlash from the public, but would like to clarify that this case is unlike Derek Chauvin’s case given that this was a “tragic accident”. Wright’s family argued that the sentence was too lenient. They also accused the judge of sympathizing with the white officer rather than the black victim. Ben Crump, one of the Wright family’s lawyers, concurred, stating that the judge’s comments showed a “clear absence of compassion for the victim in this tragedy and were devastating to the family.” At the trial, Wright’s mother, Katie, tearfully pledged: “Today the justice system murdered [my son] all over again. Daunte Demetrius Wright, I will continue to fight in your name until driving while black is no longer a death sentence”. Chyna Whitaker, the mother of Wright’s son, said that Daunte will never watch his son go to school and play baseball with him. She also said that her son should not have to wear a “‘rest in peace’ shirt of his dad.” While Potter showed no emotion throughout the trial, a day later, she was photographed smiling in her mugshot, prison becoming her home for the next two years. p
Photo VIA MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
4 THE PLANT
Out With the New, In With the Old What happens when an old music group or artist releases new music?
ALICE MARTIN Managing Editor
You didn’t want to be on the subreddit r/RedHotChiliPeppers or on Twitter when the band released their new song “Black Summer” on February 4th. The lead single of “Unlimited Love”, their latest album dropping April 1st, riled up fans who had been waiting on an album for 6 years, which is the longest gap between Red Hot Chili Peppers albums. Granted, any content-starved community was bound to react strongly upon their urge being filled, but to them, the wait wasn’t satisfactory. Fans rushed to social media to express how weird Anthony Kiedis’ singing was. It even somehow overshadowed the awaited return of RHCP’s legendary guitarist John Frusciante. Truth is, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are just one in a series of older music groups and artists who received bad reviews on their newest releases, only on grounds that it doesn’t fit their usual style. When producing new records, artists are always faced with the same dilemma concerning their creative direction; Should musical artists be able to reinvent themselves, and follow their own path when making music? Or should they give the fans what they want? I was talking with a good friend of mine, Marius Bertrand, a guitarist of over a decade and a 4th semester Arts and Culture student at Dawson.
Photo VIA WIKIPEDIA
He thinks fans are an unwavering variable when a band releases new music: “Artists must unfortunately be ready to accept that their personal preference may not align with the desire of their target audience […]. It’s a gamble to take that more often than not results in outrage from the fanbase […] who makes the artist powerful in the first place”.
Artists must unfortunately be ready to accept that their personal preference may not align with the desire of their target audience. What the fans usually want to hear from their favorite artists is the material that got them into the artist in the first place. “Everyone has an attachment to a certain album that happened when they were a teenager”, says Vince Lentini, a Music teacher at Dawson and an artist himself. That attachment creates a fear that whatever new music the artist creates won’t live up to their early work. For example, “Living on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi is so iconic, how could they do better? Some artists thrive on sticking to a formula. It seems to be a recurring trend in hard rock and heavy metal bands. Iron Maiden released Senjutsu last year, and it was widely well-received. Glide Magazine praises the album in one of dozens of positive reviews: “Senjutsu is a towering work of heavy metal intensity that’s as good as anything the band has ever done before”. Speaking of intensity, the legendary rock band KISS is in its final tour “The End of the Road”, which Vince Lentini attended. While he often describes the show as excessively good, it still feels reheated to him: “Kiss is one of those bands that took the formula that made them
successful in 1975 and they still play the same concert today. Same thing, same pyrotechnics, and they sell out everywhere. Do they have an interest in being more creative? I don’t know, they don’t look like it. But that’s an exceptional band”. To Vince Lentini, there are two sides to a musician: “You are an artist, a songwriter, but then you’re an entertainer and people are paying to see you. […] The ones paying might not like them changing styles because they like the way they sounded.” Even if Lentini agrees with Marius that musicians should—to some extent—stay true to their best material, he also expects change from the musicians. As heavy metal or hard rock band members get older, he would like to see something more “mature” out of them. “As a songwriter, as an artist you want to grow. When they form, it’s raw. As they become better they become more open to other types of music and that’s when they start growing”, he also notes. Therefore, it is not necessarily always bad for a band to change. It’s an evolution of their style that’s ultimately critical to the evolution of music itself. Marius Bertrand picks the example of the Beatles: “They took the risk of evolving from classic boy band to psychedelic rock to everything in between. Although it was a risky gamble, it earned them the status of arguably the most popular band of all time. It’s a testament to their genius that they were able to pull off such a trick”. When a band releases new music, they must find balance between evolving while remaining faithful. Because of bands and artists that dared to do something different and against the norm, we can easily count over 1000 genres and subgenres of music. The bottom line is, as Lentini says, “‘If you’re a band and you’re still around, put out new music’”. p
ARTS & CULTURE 5 5
Faith, Resilience, And Fulfillment Album Review: God Don’t Make Mistakes by Conway The Machine
STEFANO MARIANO REBULI Contributor
On God Don’t Make Mistakes, Conway delivers a masterfully written and produced album that elevates his sound and style. His major label debut on Shady Records is characterized by introspective writing and immaculate production, making it one of his best bodies of work.
This album is remarkable in terms of quality and is the closest Conway has come to delivering his magnum opus. Above all, God Don’t Make Mistakes is a personal album. Conway uses the subject matter to tackle impactful topics and events in his life, without sparing the deep or dark details. He discusses his life in the streets of Buffalo, his career, grief, anxiety, depression, and getting shot in the head. He makes the heartbreaking revelation of losing a son on “Wild Chapters” and “Stressed”, the latter being a jarring, honest confession of his battles with anxiety, depression, and alcoholism. “So Much More”, in comparison, is a track where Conway breaks down the pros and cons of the music industry and his navigation through it. The title track is a reflective, career-defining moment where Conway looks back on the night he got shot and ponders upon all the “what-ifs” of his life and career. His level of introspection is what makes the writing on this album shine: its raw, honest nature is what compels the listener to devote their attention throughout the entire album. The production strikes a healthy balance between two distinct styles. On the one hand, Conway taps frequent collaborators like Alchemist and Daringer for gritty beats that capture the signature Griselda Records sound. Tracks like “Lock Load”,
“Piano Love”, “Drumwork”, and “John Woo Flick” pair sinister string and piano-based melodies with hard-hitting drums, creating the ominous soundscape that comprises most of Conway’s music. “Babas” features an eerie, piercing organ line and is easily one of the most haunting beats on the album. The other crop of instrumentals is characterized by a polished, lavish sound, courtesy of big names like HitBoy, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, and Bink! . “Guilty” and the title track feature elegant piano melodies that perfectly score Conway’s meditative state, whereas “Tear Gas” and “So Much More” feature ethereal soul and choir samples. Each beat is well-crafted and well-mixed, creating a consistent soundscape that stands out due to its quality. The featured artists also contribute to the greatness of God Don’t Make Mistakes. Whether they are rapping, singing, or delivering spoken word, each guest exerts their personality and presence over the track that they appear on. Westside Gunn and Benny the Butcher join forces with Conway on “John Woo Flick” to deliver yet another banger that showcases their excellent chemistry as Griselda Records’ leading trio. Beanie Sigel fits right into the menacing vibe on “Lock Load”, and neo-soul singer Jill Scott delivers an outstanding rapping performance that plays into the relationship dynamic on “Chanel Pearls”. The
spoken word features are perfectly delivered, too: Keisha Plum’s poetry on “Babas” is cold, vivid, and violent, and Wallo267 offers his segment with a load of conviction. Conway’s own mother (Annette Price) appears at the end of the album in the form of a heart-wrenching dialogue snippet. Her contribution closes out the LP on a heavy note and makes for one of the most jarring endings to an album in recent memory. The strength of Conway’s performances causes some features to feel less necessary (Rick Ross, T.I., Novel), but every appearance is great, nonetheless. All in all, God Don’t Make Mistakes feels like a realization of Conway’s full potential. His writing is the most personal it has ever been, and the production feels like a perfected evolution of his usual instrumental palette. This album is remarkable in terms of quality and is the closest Conway has come to delivering his magnum opus. God Don’t Make Mistakes lives up to its title: despite all the trials and tribulations that Conway has faced, he rises above them all and proves himself to be one of the best rappers in the game—exactly where he is meant to be. Best tracks: Lock Load, John Woo Flick, So Much More, God Don’t Make Mistakes 8.7/10 p
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Photo VIA CONWAY THE MACHINE
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6 THE PLANT
Wordle: A Game for All Ages Why this New Trend is Multigenerational ASPEN CRICK Contributor
“It’s like a little shot of espresso or a little treat. It’s fun. A break from thinking about all the bad news”, expressed English professor at our very own Dawson College, Sarah Gilbert, when describing her typical experience playing Wordle. Available in English, Spanish, German, French, among many other languages, Wordle is now trending. Wordle has become the new craze in toying with language. Mentioned in CBC News, The Guardian, The Montreal Gazette, and just about anywhere one can get their daily dose of news, it’s in your face: an article about the new word game. Especially popular with English teachers and students, it has gained popularity across all social media networks. You flex your brain by trying to guess a five-letter word within the six tries you have. If you do not succeed in the end, it will tell you
Photo VIA CBC
anyway. Colours provide hints: darker grey means the letter is not in the word, yellow indicates the letter is in the word but not in the right spot, and green means the letter is in the word and in the right spot, while letters you haven’t used yet are left in light grey. Just imagine having a long day of school assignments, cramming for the midterm exams and/or working at the same time. This is already a reality for most CEGEP students. Why not take a break while also giving yourself a small challenge– trying to guess the five-letter word of the day? Sarah Gilbert describes Wordle as “a little cookie […] a 5-10 minutes [of] pure distraction.” It is seen as a nightly ritual for a 2nd-year child studies student, Daniella Sforza. Sforza recounts it as something she plays every night with her mom and brother. The two of them usually beat her by guessing the word first. Typically, people post their results on Twitter, but why not
mix it up and make it a short family game night activity? If it becomes too easy, why not try it in a different language? If your second language is French, it might be an excellent way to squeeze in some language exploration and discover new words.
You flex your brain by trying to guess a five-letter word within the six tries you have. “Big picture, anything that encourages you to play with language is good. As an English teacher, I am all for playing with letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, you know, playing with words at any level,” explains Sarah when asked about the effects of playing Wordle. Now with the stamp of approval from a college-level English teacher, what more could one need? It is, after all, already sweeping the language fanatic nation. “I think it’s caught on because it’s so simple and yet always different,” continues Sarah. That is definitely a good way to describe it, as sometimes the words are not so simple and seem beyond the grasp of college students. “I also feel like I sometimes I don’t know the word exists […] and I just feel really stupid at the end,” explains Daniella. Wordle is teaching us new five-letter words whether we are pleased about it or not. Since the word changes daily, one could always redeem themselves the next day. Until now, it might have seemed like expanding one’s vocabulary is too big of an undertaking. However, Wordle makes it easier: a couple of minutes a day, and you will become a language whiz. “Everyone should play Wordle. It’s fun. Play with your friends, play with your family, play with everyone,” was the last thing Daniella Sforza had to say. She gave the final verdict; now go try it out if you’re not already hooked! p p
=ARTS & CULTURE 7 7
Oscars To Die For The epic rebirth of the film industry, and why this year’s Oscars aren’t one to miss! DARIA BOCICOVA Arts & Culture Editor
The chaos that was the last two years is slowly but surely settling down, and the film industry is being reborn from the ashes like a phoenix. It is coming back as strong as ever, from Andrew Garfield’s actor-in-a-leading-role nomination for his singing debut in tick, tick... BOOM!, a story of a young composer who worries that he chose the wrong career path, to international feature Drive My Car, to a semi-autobiographical comedy-drama, Belfast. Netflix landed four nominations for its new original Don’t Look Up, about two astronomers who desperately try to warn everyone that the end of the world is coming, only to discover
that people are too ignorant to notice. With an all-star cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, it is a brilliant dark comedy that we didn’t know we needed. Denis Villeneuve has yet again demonstrated why he is a four-time recipient of the Canadian Screen Award as he swept the audience off their feet with his new film, Dune. The new adaptation of a cult classic book of the same name, starring Timothee Chalamet, has received ten Oscar nominations, including one for best picture. After earning thirteen nominations and taking home four Oscars with The Shape of Water in 2018, Guillermo del Toro is back in the race for best picture with his new neo-noir psychological thriller, Nightmare Alley. The film
Photo VIA BELFAST, DUNE, NIGHTMARE ALLEY, DON’T LOOK UP
follows the story of Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) as he joins a traveling circus to learn the art of deceit before he meets a psychologist who turns out to be even more dangerous than the conman himself. Cate Blanchett made history this year being the actor in the most films nominated for best picture as she brought her number up to nine, surpassing Olivia de Havilland who had previously held a record at seven. This award season is definitely not one to miss if you’re even remotely interested in film. The 94th Academy Award ceremony is set for the 27th of March 2022, 8:00 p.m. EDT. While we are all impatiently waiting for the moment of truth, I invite you to take a look at The Plant’s picks and predictions. p p ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE The Plant’s pick: BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH The Power of the Dog The Plant’s prediction: ANDREW GARFIELD tick, tick...BOOM! ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE The Plant’s pick: OLIVIA COLMAN The Lost Daughter The Plant’s prediction: KRISTEN STEWART Spencer BEST PICTURE The Plant’s pick: NIGHTMARE ALLEY Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Bradley Cooper, Producers. The Plant’s prediction: THE POWER OF THE DOG Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Roger Frappier, Producers. WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY) The Plant’s pick: DON’T LOOK UP Screenplay by Adam McKay; Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota The Plant’s prediction: THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
8 THE PLANT
Sex Sells, and so Does Slut-Shaming A brief history of the media’s demonization of women JOSEPHINE ROSS Staff Writer
Women have been demonized, blamed, and vilified in just about every sphere of life. Patriarchal rules have dictated our way of life for thousands of years, from defining which clothes are acceptable to wear, to the extent of our bodily autonomy, to how dating should work. In a patriarchal society, any power or recognition that women may obtain is curated and dictated by men. The most visible, public, and influential example of the patriarchy in action is the media. Early newspapers served as a public platform to gossip about, defame and slander women of high society in the late 19th century. During The Golden Age of Hollywood, newspapers sexualized and demonized Hollywood stars. In the advent of tabloid culture, the media slandered women, from politicians to child stars in the “meltdown era”, a period where misrepresenting these young women as crazy and erratic was a common occurrence. Today, with more reach than ever before, online news outlets continue to hyperfixate on women in the public eye. American model Emily Ratajkowski in My Body writes: “the women who gained their power from beauty were indebted to the men whose desire granted them that power in the first place. Those men were the ones in control, not the women the world fawned over…[a woman’s power is limited] when she survives and even succeeds in the world as a thing to be looked at”. Marilyn Monroe is an early victim of the entertainment industry, being marketed as a sexual commodity and not as the serious actress she aspired to be. Monroe was forced to weaponize her beauty and sexuality to avoid being denied the serious roles she desired, which resulted in her being typecast as a ditzy blonde. This invoked unjust comparisons between Monroe and her peers in the industry, such as Audrey Hepburn. This led to Monroe further pushing for a chance at a role that would allow her to show her true range. After many years, she eventually succeeded in convincing 20th Century studios that she could go beyond being the sexy supporting actress. Despite this, the media jumped at any opportunity to villainize, libel and
Photo VIA PINTEREST, AMAZON, BUZZFEED
slut-shame Monroe as she attained a new level of fame, an example of which being when nude photographs she had taken at the beginning of her career resurfaced. Nonetheless, while filming The Seven Year Itch, the iconic picture of Monroe, her standing over a subway grate with her silky white dress being blown up by a gust of wind, was widely used for publicity. Monroe’s beauty and sexuality pushed her to the top of the Hollywood elite and propelled her acting career, but was also the cause of the endless slut-shaming backlash she received from the media. Monroe was ultimately at the mercy of male-influenced media, which dictated whether her sexuality was to be leveraged or shunned in the public eye. Another young woman affected by the media’s framing of women was former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. Her name grew to become synonymous with infidelity and sexual deviance. Lewinsky was portrayed as a slut and a homewrecker by various tabloids. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton, who was twenty-seven years older than Lewinsky at the time, in addition to being her superior, faced relatively less critique. This double-standard is rooted in misogyny; Lewinsky’s image was destroyed, and she struggled to find a new job due to the infamy clouding her name, while Clinton continued to have a successful career. Lewinsky’s sexual history could be used against her because her image was at the mercy of the media, while Clinton’s, at least from a sexual perspective, was not to the same degree. Britney Spears is one of many celebrities of the 2000s who fell victim to the child-star-to-tabloid-cover pipeline. Following the release of “…Baby One More Time” in 1998, when Spears
was only sixteen, she received critique from parents, media outlets and even politicians for her “sexual and provocative” clothing, lyrics, and attitude. The press asked her about her sex life from the very beginning of her career, her virginity (or lack thereof) being a hot topic of speculation. In the aftermath of her breakup with fellow popstar Justin Timberlake, Spears was depicted as a heartbreaker, a cheater, and a ruthless bitch, while the public sympathized with Timberlake. New York Times critic Wesley Morris describes the situation as Britney being “the school slut” and Timberlake “the school quarterback”. The public continued to side with Timberlake after the release of his music video for “Cry Me A River”, in which the singer runs after a Britney lookalike. The vicious, but all too common, double-standard was inflicted upon Spears after the split with Timberlake. While only twenty-two, her breakup was publicized and she was slandered, Timberlake escaping unscathed. This is a far from exhaustive telling of the various women who have been victims of the media’s unjust treatment over the years. In a male-gaze-dominated culture, women are most marketable if they are portrayed as sexy or beautiful. With the rise of tabloid culture, this sexualisation can be milked further by becoming the topic of gossip. In essence, many female celebrities have been built up to be beaten down for the sake of sales and views. The long history of women being victims of the media is far from over. I am desperately hoping that the media today will be kinder towards young women like Charli D’Amelio, Olivia Rodrigo and Millie Bobby Brown, but early hints point to a repeat of the same cycle. p p
VOICES 9 9 9
Admit Me, Admit Me Not A Rant on How Dawson Students Have Been Dealing with University Applications CASEY KISS Voices Editor
With university applications looming as I write this, I can’t bring myself to act like everything is fine and write a professional, soft-spoken piece. I’m ripping out my hair, and I’m well aware I’m not the only one feeling overwhelmed and overworked by applications and awaiting answers. Graduating Dawson students seem to be stressed as turkeys in October. There’s only one word that properly describes the process of getting into an institution of higher education; ridicustrating. Ridicustrating is a word I just made up, combining ridiculous and frustrating. I feel it perfectly captures the way people are feeling about that March 1st deadline, application fees, and waiting for that “Congratulations!” email. I also feel that I’ve already abused my last remaining brain cell by writing countless letters of intent and creating portfolios to market myself like a show pony. Candidly, ridicustrating is also birthed of a lack of enough energy to use spell check, my bad. I’ve obnoxiously brought up my complaints about the university application process with just about anybody who would listen, and I’m always met
Photo VIA GETTY IMAGES
with eager agreement. But why is the process so stressful? Well, each program has its own list of requirements, from R score levels, to mounds of additional documents, not to mention having to complete this extensive todo list for each individual school. “The McGill application process is whack,” says Elizabeth Woo in reference to her struggle to make sense of this important undertaking.
In an ever-changing political landscape, institutions of higher education are struggling, yet they ask students to jump through flaming hoops to get in. The clarity and guidance offered while applying is non-existent. “Concordia asked me to send my portfolio 3 times… SoRrY? Should I take screenshots of every page and put it in a word document? SIR?” offered Florian Breault about his experience with the chaotic warzone that is admissions sites. “I’d rather commit manslaughter than go through the highs and lows of university applications ever again”
says Colia Bach, another fellow graduating Dawson student, with a subtle reference to Riverdale. Receiving an admission acceptance only comes after the stress of building your application and then stewing in anxiety waiting for said answer. To top things off, the acceptance will cost you around the same amount it cost to apply in the first place. Obviously, all these CEGEP students are just itching to get rid of the wads of cash lining their pockets, right? All of this comes despite some Universities being desperate for new admissions. A totally very anonymous managing editor explained to me, “I kid you not, Bishop’s even invited me to a production of Godspell”. The email read, “Congratulations once again on being admitted to Bishop’s” which was followed by the invitation– and allow me to put emphasis on the “once again”. This isn’t an isolated experience though; A number of students I spoke to are getting spammed with emails reminding them to “Hey! Please come to our school!”. So, explain to me how this makes any sense; In an ever-changing political landscape, institutions of higher education are struggling, yet they ask students to jump through flaming hoops to get in. Despite the hassle of figuring out your plans for higher education (or not, both are valid decisions), I have immense faith in all you dear readers, as you were smart enough to pick up an issue of The Plant to begin with (wise decision). While I do pity those (myself included) currently facing the Goliath that is university applications, to those not yet facing these trials and tribulations but are planning on doing so: Good luck! You’ll do great, fingers crossed for minimal tears and multiple admissions. No matter how ridicustrating I find the admissions process to be, don’t show this article, written out of pure spite, to Concordia admissions. I still want to get in. I love University, it’s so great. Please accept my application. p p
10 THE PLANT
Ask The Plant ISABELLA BLU PTITO-ECHEVERRIA Copy Editor
Dear Plant, Why do feminists bitch and moan so much about “the patriarchy”? I’ve seen girls get free drinks for being girls, get into bars for free. I can hit another guy but WHOOPS can’t hit a girl! Women have privileges that men don’t. Isn’t that sexism? -PoonSlayer Dear PoonSlayer, When you think of a feminist, I gather you’re imagining some pestilential B.O-ridden fat lady with shittily dyed hair and a burning desire to call out bigotry whenever possible. “It’s the PATRIARCHY’S FAULT,” the caricature yells. “WE LIVE IN A WORLD SATURATED IN MISOGYNY AND BIGOTRY!” These words have been driven so deep into the ground that they’ve lost all meaning. Just empty buzzwords, right? I admit that this was my view of feminism for a long time; why should women complain about things? In the 21st century, women can vote, go to school, and, as of March 2021, according to a Forbes.com article written by employment lawyer Tom Spiggle, “when accounting for other factors besides gender, such as in education, experience, location, and industry, the gender wage gap shrinks dramatically to just a 2% difference. So the controlled gender pay gap [as of March 2021] means that women are making 98 cents for every dollar men make”. With legislative equality, a practically non-existent wage gap, and the female-exclusive ‘privileges’ you mentioned, what the hell is the problem? Let me define “patriarchy”, because that word gets thrown around with such reckless abandon that it’s a rotting rag-doll corpse of a word in this day and age. A patriarchy is a society that is hierarchical, a patriarch being at the top. To me, a patriarch is not simply ‘a man’. A patriarch is a role that a man is expected to fill. A patriarch is a man with the duty of leading a family or tribe, and as any leader often is, patriarchs are expected to be stoic, strong, and dominant. Being forced into such a role is obviously not easy. This is why patriarchal society isn’t just a matter of men being at fault for everything; The expectations imposed upon people by patriarchy hurt both men and women. Most societies on Earth are patriarchal. Even though patriarchy in the West is much less of an outright legislative issue, the patriarchal culture rooted in our history bleeds into every facet of our lives. Funnily enough, the ‘privileges’ women get (like free drinks, free bar entry, and immunity from being backhanded by a man even if she hits him first), are a product of patriarchy. If men are cast as the leaders, women are cast as the followers. If men are the conquerors, women are the conquered. If men are the heroes, women are the damsels in distress. As a result, women are defaulted into their roles to complement the roles expected of men.
VOICES 11 11 11
In a patriarchal world, bars often expect male clients to be seeking female conquests. As a result, it makes sense for bars or parties to let women in for free. More women means more men will want to come to the event. Simple business strategy. Why do women get free drinks? Because buying a girl a drink is an easy way to start a conversation, try to flirt, and try to fuck. If a woman is getting that free drink because she’s a woman, we can assume that free drink is an attempt at ‘conquest’. And yeah, a drink is a drink. That is a perk. The expectation of a woman being frail and defenseless is also a perk in the “can’t hit a girl back” situation you mentioned. That expectation is also shitty at times when a girl just wants to play sports or be taken seriously. Every role has its pros and cons. Being a leader, conqueror, and hero has its perks. So does being a follower and a damsel. The issue comes when roles are assigned to us and STUCK to us on the basis of something as arbitrary as gender. True equality is abolishing any ‘special treatment’ or idea about a person on the basis of their gender. Any person who says that ‘all men act like this’ or that ‘all women should be treated like this’, is not a true feminist. Thankfully, the rigidity of patriarchy gets more diluted with every generation. Less and less men are binding themselves to patriarchal roles, which, in turn, frees women from them. So, PoonSlayer, you are right to be upset about women getting special privileges. However, it would be skin-deep to blame women alone for the problem. Know who the real culprit is? Patriarchy. If you’ve got a problem with the treatment women get simply because they are women, I’ve got bad news for you, bud. You’re a feminist. Wishing you free drinks and poon, The Plant.
VISUAL ARTS
12 THE PLANT Artwork by Natasha Murmu @NATSHUHH
Artwork by Ana Sofia Castano @ANXSART
Artwork by Jane Hao @_KIRAGYU
Photo by Kim Dubuc @POGOMIK
Visual Arts curated by DANAÉE DESCAILLOT Visual Arts Editor
PLAYLIST 13
Playlist by DANAÉE DESCAILLOT Visual Arts Editor
14 THE PLANT
Hello gentle readers, This month, I have gathered for you a selection of poetry. I hope these poems inspire you as they have me, and that you enjoy them as one would enjoy a juicy peach; A perfectly bouncy balloon; A butterfly landing on your shoulder. I wish you to enjoy these poems with all your simple wonder.
Your Creative Writing Editor, LAURY CHARLAND
Untitled ADRIAN CERONE Contributor
A Wish for Someplace Else BEN BISAILLON Curiosities Editor Leave your jewels in old shoes salt water makes it easy to float still drown in ocean air setting sunlight rocks watch from the shore stars see shapes from the sky they are all guardians cold is bearable in due time wrapped and wading with seventy-one percent of the Earth
distance in years between us i wave goodbye each night to the man i was when i lay down looking for sleep, desperate beckon it, pray it will come i mourn the girl alive on my walls in my mother’s heart, her mouth stuck at the back of her throat you, too, are grieving she says you’ve put distance between us now more than years i bury myself in prose, badly i’m okay with that the distance between me and my every word spoken to you is enormous now but each pool i dive into i dive into deeper pulled to the bottom, sinking and deflating my lungs, i breathe in pure gold the water is yellow with dayfall farther down i go till i fuse to its mossy bed of grass and garbage people were too scared to keep from this distance, i am little more than the ripple your finger makes tapping on your reflection, the little hearts in your eyes rushed flow of water, the cries that shake my house in my tiny room i see every speck of dust with my head crowded in the corner threatening to break through the window breathe the glass in like the kisses i’ve never received and breathe them onto your face, your glitching mouth and nose i will champion your cause and absorb all the tears you cry into me and i will revel in the way they mix with my freshwater swirling at the surface and i will savor it like the last meal you ever give to me in your presence you, my executioner
CREATIVE WRITING 15 15 15
Patsy EMMA MAJAURY Contributor Sometimes, I am beautiful— But only when it’s right. Because they are afraid of me, A woman with looks that bite.
Humankind’s Features ÉMILIE HÉBERT Contributor Colored faces, black and white Eyes, lips, tears despite Minds torn turn upright Human nature all unite Ugly grief, naked, and bright Mothers, daughters holding tight Misery madness’s ultimate fight Human nature in delight
Other days, I’m ugly. So gruesome, they could cry. They’d cast me out in exile, And leave me there to die. At times, I’m simply radiant. No words could make me ill. It all would bounce right back at them. These looks could really kill. Most often, I am in-between. My beauty, a weapon concealed. And when the moment comes along, My true self is revealed.
Forever the Both in Limbo ALEXANDRA MERFU Contributor where did you go sweet young child when the weather warmed, a new mild temperament shaken by a wound too big to bear and a heart too fragile to care. where did you go young stranger looking on now in fits of anger where did your mind go where did mine? i don’t know dissipated into the clouds of screaming hail hail hailing down hail, wrenching me out of me again, just flail, flail, flail, into the dying and burning of the doubt pulled out by the back of my head i’m in some sort of here, in bed your voice never heard at all and too many of them around me in the walls. please gentle god or gracious goddess pull me out again so that i might stop my despair
Creative Writing curated by LAURY CHARLAND Creative Writing Editor Doodles by PIPA JONES Editor-in-Chief ALESSA ORSINI Graphic Designer
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SPORTS
Why Are We Suffering? How female athletes are affected by body image EMMY RUBIN Sports Editor
When we hear about sports in the news or the media, there are always two distinctions between athletes: the winners and the losers. There are the ones that triumph and become legends, and the ones who look up at the podium from below, mulling over thoughts that their training and sacrifice was not enough to get them the gold. What we do not see, however, is that suffering in the world of sports does not discriminate between athletes, be it the winners or losers. What the general public does not see in the media is that athletes, mostly female athletes, not only train their bodies incessantly for years whilst enduring physical hardships, but are simultaneously tormented by insidious mental disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and suicidal thoughts. These all stem from the same thing: the pursuit of an ideal body image.
“Until we acknowledge and respect that the female performance curve is different from the male version that sports was built on, girls will continue to face institutionalized harm”. The problem with this emphasis on an ‘ideal body’ is that it is sold to female athletes by their male coaches and the male-driven institution that is based on standards put into place by male athletes. If female athletes are being forced to train and perform in the same way that men, who have different developmental timelines, do, then it is no wonder that women in sports are torturing themselves trying to be their best, despite ‘best’ being defined by unrealistic male standards that are unsafe when asked of women. Lauren Fleshman, a former professional athlete, faced this problem
for years during her youth when she was competitively running and trying to mimic the Olympic women whom she looked up to. These women were thin. They had the “ideal” body, and she thought that since she did not look like them, she would never be as great as them. So, Fleshman restricted her diet. Even though she achieved the body she wanted, she had to deal with the consequences of losing her energy as well as her period. Years later, once she realized that this was not in any way normal, she began speaking out and correctly affixed the blame onto the institution by saying, “Until we acknowledge and respect that the female performance curve is different from the male version that sports was built on, girls will continue to face institutionalized harm”. It is paramount to note that even though professional female athletes competing at the highest tier are dealing with these problems, so too are the average, everyday women and girls that participate in sports at less intense levels. A source who prefers to remain anonymous had a lot to say on the subject, given her vast history with athletics. Since she was young, the source in question trained in every sport that was available to her, but spent most of her energy training in Karate. She eventually received her black belt and was recruited to represent Canada in the 2020 Olympics, which she was unfortunately unable to attend due to the pandemic. When asked how her experience as an athlete affected her views on body image, she replied by saying, “Being an athlete, I was always very insecure about how I looked. I was always too strong or not strong enough or too chubby…never being happy with how I appeared. And, especially with the media, you end up following all these things online that tell you, ‘Oh, if you do this then you’ll be a better athlete,’ or, ‘If you do that then you’ll look better, be able to perform better,’ and not only does it affect your mental health, but it also affects your performance”. Commenting on the well-known professional female athletes presented in the media, she said, “In the media,
there’s a lot about athletes and what they eat, and how they look: it’s less about how they perform and more about how they appear and what impression their bodies give off to the public viewing them”. For average athletes who have no claim to fame other than their love and dedication for their sport, it is easy to decipher between athletes that are truly happy and ones who are suffering, simply by looking at their eating habits. Eating regular amounts of food and not having emaciated frames is normal, and when we see otherwise in the media, it is obvious that not only is there a problem in the sports industry, but in society itself: people are influenced by what they see, so if we want to protect our female athletes, then we have to show them that it is ok to be healthy, to be human, to be women.We must reform the athletic world so that every female athlete, be it present or future, has the opportunity to be great as well as happy, healthy, and safe. p p
SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT 17
Beyond Meat Tips for eating sustainably ROBIN STEEDMAN-BRAUN Science and Environment Editor
There is no denying that these days, climate change is a hot topic. From more and more frequent natural disasters to constantly increasing greenhouse gas emissions, it is a worry that preoccupies many of us, leaving us wondering what we can personally do to ease our anxiety. The answer may lie right under our noses and on our dinner plates: eating sustainably. A sustainable diet is one in which the food consumed is produced in a way that protects the environment, has a relatively low impact on biodiversity, and sustains ecosystems without depleting natural resources. According to researchers of the Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, a sustainable diet should also ideally be “nutritionally adequate, safe, healthy, culturally acceptable and economically affordable”.
Sustainability is subjective and can mean different things for different people. From preparing one vegetarian meal a week to adopting a fully vegan lifestyle, a sustainable diet is not one-size-fits-all. However, it is important to note that sustainability is not black-andwhite, and evaluating the sustainability of a food item is quite complex. Countless factors, such as land use, water consumption, animal welfare, and greenhouse gas emissions from both food production and transport, must be considered. It is impossible for a food product to have no environmental impact, but there are certain products that are more eco-friendly than others. Adopting a sustainable diet can seem hard, but the trick is to
Photo VIA TO TASTE
approach it step-by-step. A rule of thumb for going on a sustainable diet is to consume more plants and less meat. Intensive animal farming uses almost 70% of our agricultural land, propelling deforestation rates and increasing the risk for drought, erosion, and forest fires on our fertile lands. A plant-focused diet generally uses less land, water, fertilizer, and energy than an animal-product-based diet. Another key component is reducing our intake of highly processed foods. Such food items are processed in large quantities and distributed worldwide, contributing large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere due to transport. Not to mention that such products tend to be high in sugar, fat, and preservatives or additives. In hopes of reducing our environmental footprint, we can also choose to buy local products when available. Farmers’ markets, community gardens, and community supported agriculture companies, such as Montreal’s Lufa Farms program, are all great ways to support local farmers while eating fresh produce and reducing your footprint. Adopting a sustainable diet is possible even at big-brand grocery stores. Buying in-season organic produce, even if it
is not necessarily from a local farm, is still a great way to decrease your environmental impact. Nevertheless, it is important to realize that sustainability is subjective and can mean different things for different people. From preparing one vegetarian meal a week to adopting a fully vegan lifestyle, a sustainable diet is not one-size-fits-all. Items such as fresh, organic produce and in-season products can often be expensive and not necessarily available at local shops. A sustainable diet is about doing the most you can given your circumstances. p
18 THE PLANT
City Trees: A Cure to Dystopic Summer Temperatures… for the Wealthy KIANA LALAVI Staff Writer
Author’s note: Names have been changed for anonymity. Montreal recorded its highest temperature since over a century ago on August 21st, 2021. This is just one of many signs of a fast rise in global temperatures, causing heat waves throughout the planet. These temperature highs are concerning, since they have the power to bend human society to their will. As Alex, a resident of Anjou recounts, “On a hot summer day, as I was walking to get some ice cream near my house, I felt the soles of my feet start burning. By the time I made it to the store, I realized my flip-flops were melting.” Equally concerning is the heat waves’ ability to rob human lives, leading to
66 deaths in Montreal alone, just over the span of the last 5 years. For now, there is one effective solution that has been offered to combat heat waves and hot spots: the planting of more trees, bushes, and greenery. As this map of that August day by CERFO portrays, there are places in Montreal, in very close proximity to each other, that have big gaps in temperatures. The blue zones have a temperature of around 25°C, while the red zones, also described as “hot spots”, have a temperature of 32°C and more. In the blue zones, the trees and bushes shield sunrays, preventing the absorption of heat by the ground, which significantly reduces temperature. Unfortunately, the location of these cool havens and hot spots is no
Photos were taken at the same intersection, Bd de l’Acadie. / VIA GOOGLE MAPS
mere coincidence. There is profound systemic injustice rooted in wealth and social class when it comes to canopy cover; We just need to look at the Town of Mont-Royal and Parc-Extension. Despite being right beside each other, these two towns have a 78,000$ difference in median household income and a shocking 33% difference in tree coverage, with TMR having nearly 6 times as many trees as Parc-Ex. This means that while people in TMR enjoy much lower temperatures during the summer, people in Parc-Ex do not. Worse, not only are there significantly less trees in marginalized communities, but there is lesser diversity and maintenance of said trees, which aggravates the spread of disease and leads the little number of trees present to wither away, magnifying the suffocating heat in these regions. As Jay, a resident near Hochelaga expressed, “we used to have a giant ash tree in front of our apartment building that protected the house against direct sunlight, but it was chopped down because of a disease”. The termination of this ash tree left the residents of the building extremely vulnerable to the summer heat, which can reach a high of 35°C in Montreal’s hot spot areas, with a feels-like temperature of up to 4550°C. This makes the fact that older establishments in Canada are terribly insulated so much worse, as it can create heat chambers as hot as the Grand Canyon desert. The lack of foliage and diversity of greenery also equates to a drop in biodiversity. The lack of trees and diversity of greenery in marginalized communities creates a threat to different butterfly and bird populations, which play a crucial role as pollinating agents. The Plante administration taking notice of these concerns is offering to reduce heat waves by planting 500,000 trees by 2030. Although this won’t solve the global rise in temperatures, it will reduce the impacts of heat waves by up to 12°C, which is necessary, especially within the city’s hot spots. Additionally, the trees
SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT 19
will have a beneficial effect on Montrealers’ mental health by providing them with more beauty, shade, and opportunities to walk outside during the heated summertime. Despite not curbing our current problem of mass national deforestation, like seen recently in BC, there is some good news for the environment as well. According to a recent study by Boston University, urban trees are the superhuman counterparts of the regular joe forest trees: they’re supertrees. They grow at much higher rates and absorb larger quantities of CO2 than their non-urban counterparts. Whether the Plante administration’s plan will be successful in actually providing heat relief to marginalized communities and in having a valuable impact on the environment depends greatly on their execution of the “Ville Verte” initiative. Currently, the Ville Verte plan has come under scrutiny for questionable decisions. There have been valid concerns of potential gentrification and poor execution, which will be explored in further detail in The Plant’s next issue. p
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Photo VIA RADIO CANADA
I Was Too Exhausted to Find a Title… EMILY MCQUEEN Staff Writer
Do you feel an overarching sense of failure and helplessness like every day is a bad day? Do you just feel exhausted all the time? You may be suffering from burnout. The term itself was coined in 1974 by Herbert Freudenberger in his academic article about the volunteer staff working at a clinic for drug addicts. Since then, hundreds of research papers have been published on the topic and it has become the most widely talked about mental health problem of our time. But what exactly is burnout? How can one prevent it, or restore one’s energy after feeling burnt out? This is especially relevant around this time of year, when students are susceptible to burnout in their struggle to keep up with midterms, employers, and social activities. Herbert Freudenberger described the symptoms of burnout as exhaustion from excessive life demands, sleeplessness, headaches, anxiety, depression, and lack of emotional control. Brady Wilson, a published author of four books, explains this phe-
nomenon from a neuroscientific point of view in his Ted Talk. The brain takes up 2% of your body weight but burns 20% of your daily energy. When someone is exhausted, the body will not cut the flow of energy to the parts of the brain responsible for breathing or heartbeat to save energy. Instead, the flow of energy sent to the executive sectors of our brain will be cut. The brain will then become what Wilson calls ‘depleted’. The person will lose part of their ability to focus attention, regulate emotions, connect dots, and make smart decisions. A student could go from hardworking, attentive, and emotionally intelligent, to unwise, impulsive, and absent-minded. With all this seeming so unpleasant, one must wonder how to avoid burnout. To do so, it is critical not to neglect other aspects of your life, even when school is demanding. The CDC recommends people between the ages of 16 and 18 get a minimum of seven hours of sleep a night. Exercise is also beneficial. Although it takes time out of your day, it increases productivity, and improves sleep quality as well as mood. If you are feeling extremely overwhelmed, creating a to-do list or
breaking down your tasks will give you better control of the situation, as the task will seem smaller and more manageable. Taking regular breaks from your schoolwork will improve concentration and energy levels. Even if you are scramming for an assignment, I recommend drinking some water away from your computer once every 20 minutes, especially since hydration can be neglected in these situations, causing headaches and dizziness. Lastly, to avoid burnout, do not compare yourself to others. It creates unrealistic expectations that will exhaust and disappoint you. One of the essential practices in avoiding burnout is to put yourself and your health above productivity, a truly difficult task in a society that values productivity above anything else. Although the techniques to recover and avoid burnout from this article are useful, it is not fair to solely place the responsibility of our society’s burnout crisis on individuals themselves. It would do society good to take a step back and collectively reconsider our priorities. What’s more important– the essence of a person, or what they yield? p p
20 THE PLANT
SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT
Octopus Factory Farming: Stop it Before it Starts KARINA MELM Contributor Octopuses are remarkable creatures. They can solve complex puzzles and can feel a variety of emotions such as curiosity, anger, joy, and pain. They work with fish to get food, and females fling sand at males who are annoying them. Despite their intelligence, they suffer greatly at the hands of humans. They are tortured for views on YouTube, and their corpses are thrown onto ice rinks during something known as ‘Legend of the Octopus’. The octopus population has also dramatically decreased due to rising demand for their tentacles. Indeed, the extent to which octopuses are now hunted is at least ten times higher than it was in 1950. However, out of all these issues troubling the octopus population, the greatest is the new threat of octopus factory farming. In 2023, Spanish company Nueva Pescanova will begin selling factory-farmed octopus. Their factory farm will aim to produce 3,000 tonnes of octopus each year. This company has refused as of yet to disclose the living conditions of the octopuses, what they will eat, and how they will
Photo VIA THE GUARDIAN
be killed. The company claims that their farming practices will help save wild octopus populations, but factory farming octopus is likely to cause more problems than it will solve. A main concern is that this will put even more pressure on already depleted fish populations, seeing as fish is octopuses’ main food source. There are much better ways of helping wild octopus populations than intensive farming. Actions such as reducing octopus consumption, protecting vital wild octopus habitats, and adopting more restrictive measures against the fishing of octopuses, are the things that will make a difference. Furthermore, factory farming octopuses will result in immense animal suffering. For a factory farm to be productive, it will either need to cram octopuses together in large containers or even individually in small cages. This will cause great amounts of stress for the octopi, as they are intelligent creatures who need stimulation. As octopuses are solitary creatures, being forced to live together in close proximity will cause them to harm each other, and perhaps even cannibalize one another. Lastly, due to their unique nervous system, there is no humane way to kill octopuses en masse. They
have eight brains in their tentacles and one central brain in their head. This is unlike any other animal that is slaughtered for food in a farmed setting, so chances are that the humane slaughter methods that apply to a pig will not apply to an octopus. One could say that octopus factory farming is okay on the basis that we do the same to pigs, chickens, and cows, but when we began farming those animals, we didn’t understand that they are sentient beings. We already know that octopuses are highly sentient animals, and we must protect them from being subjected to torture. There are many actions we can take to stop this, an important one being petitioning. There are already petitions online that one can sign, calling for the end of octopus factory farming. Another method is to tell others about the issue and try to educate as many people as possible. The company is banking on consumers thinking that they are helping the environment by buying factory farmed octopus, and spreading the truth could help stop it. Together, we can prevent this ethical crisis. p
CURIOSITIES 21 21 21
HOROSCOPES Happy birthday to everyone born in March! This month is all yours, so take advantage of the beginning of spring and savor the moments of beauty you find between your assignments. Schoolwork might be heating up, but the weather is too. ARIES (mar. 20 - apr. 18): We’re just about a third through the semester, and it may feel as though schoolwork and other commitments are piling up, inhibiting your happiness. Don’t be scared to vocalize your frustrations at this time, cancel those negative influences. You deserve the very best, Aries. Put yourself first in the coming month. TAURUS (apr. 19 - may 20): Ice is slowly melting, trees are beginning to blossom, and the days extend past 5pm, but you’re still recovering from last month’s snowstorm. You may still be feeling cold, stuck and alone, but sunshine is on its way to you, Taurus. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, you just have to open the right door. You ARE the main character. GEMINI (may 21 - june 20): There are some things that you’ll be happier not knowing, like the forecast announcing another storm. Nevertheless, it’s important to know when it will rain so you can be equipped with an umbrella to battle the harsh weather ahead. Face the uncomfortable truth head on, Gemini. The “G” in Gemini stands for girlboss. CANCER (june 21 - july 22): Manifestation is a very powerful tool. Adopt an attitude of positivity
ANSWERS FOR THE FEBRUARY ISSUE
this month, even if the gray skies are getting you down, a sunny day awaits you in the spring. If you are feeling deceived by life this week keep your head up, Cancer. Good things come to those who wait. LEO (july 23 - aug. 22): Taking risks is the way to go this month. Wear your sneakers despite the icy sidewalks! Impulsively go out with friends on a weeknight! Go on that Tinder date! You will be rewarded for your courage, Leo, though you may be frightened at first. VIRGO (aug. 23 - sept. 22): Lift your head from your desk this month, Virgo. You’re getting caught up in irrelevant intricacies, overthinking the simple things. It’s not easy to let go of these self-defence mechanisms, but they are holding you back. Go touch some grass. LIBRA (sept.23 - oct. 22): Like the seasons, you find yourself at a transitional point. While you’ve already taken the first steps, a quick look at the path ahead reveals it only gets harder from here. However, this is no reason to worry. Changes like these are often uncomfortable, and your hard work will be rewarded in the end. SCORPIO (oct. 23 - nov. 21): It’s easy to become overly focused on problems and forget the light at the end of the tunnel. Hope is always there, even when it isn’t obvious. The universe knows how much effort you’re putting in, and a reward is on its way. Do not be convinced by the snow around you, Scorpio. Summer is closer than you think.
SAGITTARIUS (nov. 22 - dec. 21): You may be tempted to ghost all your classes and spend your days in bed. While mental health days are important, don’t trick yourself into giving up. Remember: you should be thriving, not surviving. When you persevere, nothing can stand in your way. CAPRICORN (dec.22 - jan. 19): Give yourself some credit, Capricorn! You’ve had a lot to work through and you’re still going strong. While you might have made a few mistakes along the way, know that you pushed through, and that’s what matters. Look to your social life in the coming weeks to receive the fruits of your labor. AQUARIUS (jan. 20 - feb. 18): Pay close attention when you receive new info, because not everything is as it seems. Be mindful not to blow anything out of proportion as you receive news this week. Conversely, do not write off the little things too quickly. They may be small, but within them you can find great moments of joy. PISCES (feb. 19 - mar. 19): Sometimes, the world around you feels overwhelming. Don’t be tempted to leave things as they are, Pisces. It may be scary, but you know deep down that simply suffering through it just ain’t it. Forge your own path and create the right environment for you. Always make sure your surroundings give you more energy than they take away.
22 THE PLANT
PUZZLES ACROSS 1. Law & Order spinoff 4. Question 7. Passes away 8. Stick 10. Flower with good memory? 13. Morning hours 14. Remove 15. Negative 16. Building block for a sentence 18. Gender-neutral pronoun 20. Hold close 21. Laptop or desktop, for short 22. He wields Mjolnir 25. Units of electrical resistance 28. Loved one, abbrv. 29. Visitor 32. Half of a children’s toy 33. Generating station, and a clue for 10-Across, 2-Down and 5-Down 36. Winter trees 37. Mormon state 38. Public service announcement 39. Janitor’s tool
DOWN 1. Paul McCartney or Ian McKellen 2. Impossible fast food item? 3. The U in UI 4. Cash machines 5. Spud’s cousin 6. Like minded people 7. Word following Bio or Astro 9. 1939 film ___ With the Wind 10. Preferred, slangily 11. Children’s game with Freeze and Zombie variants 12. Woody or Buzz 17. Comes after pi 19. Confused noise 22. 1/48 of a cup 23. Where a horseshoe goes 24. Informal yes 26. The Fall of Icarus, for instance 27. Emergency signal 30. Major or Minor constellation 31. Low-class ghetto 34. Work in progress 35. Short rest
Curiosities by
COME BACK NEXT ISSUE FOR THE ANSWERS!
BENJAMIN BISAILLON Curiosities Editor
CURIOSITIES 23
CAPTION CONTEST Send us your funniest caption for a chance to be featured in the April issue!
FEBRUARY Winner: When your favorite bathroom is being occupied by 15 other girls so you need to run to the other one. By @pogomik Runner-up: Me running away from my fall tuition fees. By @basma-kharti
Photos courtesy of @DAWSONCOLLEGEMEMES
CONNECTIONS Alcohol Use & Sexuality During COVID-19 Study (18+) The Concordian Vision Laboratory is recruiting participants to take part in an online study on alcohol use and sexual behaviour before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involves completing a 60-minute online questionnaire that includes questions on your sexuality, health history, personality, well-being, alcohol use, beliefs about alcohol, and reasons for consuming alcohol. To be eligible, you must: Be 18+ years old Be fluent in English Have drunk alcohol at least once in the past year Participants will be compensated with a chance to win a $500 CAD cash prize. Concordia University Psychology students can choose to receive 1 participant pool credit. For more information, please contact us: AlcoholSexualityCOVID19Study@gmail.com A URL link to the survey and ID code will be sent to you. ISABELLA BLU PTITO-ECHEVERRIA Copy Editor
24 THE PLANT
MASTHEAD
CONTRIBUTORS
Pipa Jones Editor-in-Chief
Alyssa Scotti Cover Artist
Alice Martin Managing Editor
Emily Zahirovic Social Media Manager
Isabella Blu Ptito-Echeverria Copy Editor
Josephine Ross Staff Writer
Alessa Orsini Graphic Designer
Emily McQueen Staff Writer
Jacqueline Lisbona News Editor
Téa Barrett Staff Writer
Daria Bocicova Arts & Culture Editor
Kiana Lalavi Staff Writer
Stefano Mariano Rebuli Aspen Crick Ana Sofia Castano Jane Hao Kim Dubuc Natasha Murmu Emma Majaury Adrian Cerone Émilie Hébert Karina Melm
Casey Kiss Voices Editor Robin Steedman-Braun Sciences Editor Emmy Rubin Sports Editor Laury Charland Creative Writing Editor Danaée Descaillot Visual Arts Editor Benjamin Bisaillon Curiosities Editor
CONTACT The Plant Newspaper Dawson College 3040 Rue Sherbrooke O Montréal, QC H3Z 1A4 2C.15 theplantnews.com theplantnewspaper@gmail.com @theplantnews
