The Concordian

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t h e concordian In this issue // PREMIER P AULINE MAROIS ANNOUNCED THAT SOCIAL UNREST IN QUEBEC WAS OVER BEFORE 10, 000 STUDENTS TOOK TO THE STREETS LAST T UESDAY AFTERNOON AGAINST INDEXATION. PHOTO BY MADELAYNE HAJEK Last week’s provincial summit on higher education leaves many questions unanswered life A tale of two tea rooms: part II P. 6 arts music Ra Ra Riot brings the party P. 12 sports Olympic medalist as coach P. 15 Bill 14 & language issues P. 17 theconcordian.com We tell your stories. Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian Student drama is centre stage P. 8 Volume 30 Issue 23 March 5, 2013 IndependenT sTudenT neWspaper aT ConCordIa unIVersITy. sInCe 1983. opinions Quebec’s long-awaited summit on higher education came to a largely in- conclusive end last Tuesday as students returned to flooding the streets. The two-day conference, intended to address unresolved and lingering is- sues from the student movement last spring, left a bitter taste in many stu- dent leaders’ mouths. The Parti Québécois proposed an indexation of tuition fees by roughly three per cent annually for an indefi- nite amount of years much to the out- rage of Fédération étudiante univer- sitaire du Québec President Martine Desjardins. The indexation, compared to for- mer Premier Jean Charest’s proposal of $325 per year over a five-year pe- riod, hit a sore point for both univer- sity rectors and student leaders. Those governing universities feel it will only delve Quebec post-secondary edu- cation deeper into financial despair, while Desjardins cried foul on not pro- viding accessible education. “I’m telling you there will be an impact,” said Desjardins, who called the proposal “disappointing.” However, Premier Pauline Marois simply stated that her hands are tied and that “a decision had to be made.” A NEW COUNCIL The summit, while still contentious in its final outcome, did shed some light on other issues concerning university governance and financing. Continued on P. 4 KALINA LAFRAMBOISE News editor Seeing red on the horizon >> See our protest coverage P. 2 >> Bureau-Blouin backlash P. 3

description

Volume 30 Issue 23

Transcript of The Concordian

theconcordian

In this issue //

Premier Pauline marois announced that social unrest in Quebec was over before 10, 000 students took to the streets last tuesday afternoon against indexation. Photo by madelayne hajek

Last week’s provincial summit on higher education leaves many questions unanswered

life

A tale of two tea rooms: part II P. 6

arts music

Ra Ra Riot brings the party P. 12

sports

Olympic medalist as coach P. 15

Bill 14 & language issues P. 17

theconcordian.comWe tell your stories. Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian

Student drama is centre stage P. 8

Volume 30 Issue 23 March 5, 2013IndependenT sTudenT neWspaper aT ConCordIa unIVersITy. sInCe 1983.

opinions

Quebec’s long-awaited summit on higher education came to a largely in-conclusive end last Tuesday as students returned to flooding the streets.

The two-day conference, intended to address unresolved and lingering is-sues from the student movement last spring, left a bitter taste in many stu-dent leaders’ mouths.

The Parti Québécois proposed an indexation of tuition fees by roughly three per cent annually for an indefi-nite amount of years much to the out-

rage of Fédération étudiante univer-sitaire du Québec President Martine Desjardins.

The indexation, compared to for-mer Premier Jean Charest’s proposal of $325 per year over a five-year pe-riod, hit a sore point for both univer-sity rectors and student leaders. Those governing universities feel it will only

delve Quebec post-secondary edu-cation deeper into financial despair, while Desjardins cried foul on not pro-viding accessible education.

“I’m telling you there will be an impact,” said Desjardins, who called the proposal “disappointing.”

However, Premier Pauline Marois simply stated that her hands are tied

and that “a decision had to be made.”

A new councilThe summit, while still contentious in its final outcome, did shed some light on other issues concerning university governance and financing.

continued on P. 4

KALInA LAfRAmBOISenews editor

Seeing red on the horizon

>> See our protest coverage P. 2

>> Bureau-Blouin backlash P. 3

CUFA holding a vote to strikeOrganization fed up with administration’s negotiation progress

After more than 15 months of con-tract negotiations, Concordia Universi-ty Faculty Association has been voting throughout the week on an unlimited strike mandate.

Due to their constitution the vote began on Feb. 28 and will continue on-line for five days, with results likely to be available by March 7 or the morn-ing of March 8, according to Lucie Le-quin, president of CUFA.

“The administration team, most of the time, came to the table not prepared and used some of the time set aside for negotiations to pre-pare while the CUFA team had to wait and waste time and money,”

Lequin said.If the motion is approved members

of CUFA will begin actions that could include a full strike, but for a strike vote to pass it requires 60 per cent in favour.

“We are still in negotiations,” uni-versity spokesperson Chris Mota said. “We don’t want to reveal any informa-tion but there are meetings set up to meet with representatives from both CUPFA and CUFA.”

Lequin stated that negotiations should not last more than six months approximately.

“That is never the case at Concor-dia,” Lequin said. “This Concordia style of negotiations is very costly fi-nancially and does not create a climate of respect.”

CUFA negotiations began on Dec. 15, 2011, and the teams have met on

more than 35 occasions. In December 2012, the university requested the as-sistance of a conciliator

from the Ministry of Labour. The parties met in January and February and further meetings are scheduled for March 1, 18, 21 and 27.

“It is really a pity that negotia-tions have dragged for so long without reaching an agreement acceptable to both parties,” said full-time mathemat-ics and statistics professor at Concordia University, Jose Garrido. “ The univer-sity needs negotiations carried out in good faith, between parties acting in a responsible collegial way. We seem to be very far from that right now.”

In November, the Concordia Uni-versity Part-Time Faculty Association voted 95 per cent in favour of an un-limited strike mandate should collec-tive bargaining negotiations fail, but

have not yet taken any strike action.The most recent contract of CUP-

FA expired Aug. 31 and part-time fac-ulty members were not satisfied with the proposal offered by the university. They took action by holding a special General Assembly pressuring the ad-ministration to further amendments to the collective agreement. Similarly, CUFA called a special meeting in early December where councillors unani-mously voted for the executive to hold a strike vote.

Lequin said normally the relation-ships of the CUFA office and the ad-ministration dealing with CUFA affairs are respectful and collaborative.

“Why is it so different when both sides reach the negotiations table is a mystery; we think it is a question of style that we called old-fashioned ne-gotiations,” said Lequin.

People take to the streets againThousands demonstrate against indexation

Following the end of the education summit, over 10,000 protesters led the way through downtown Montreal last Tuesday in the largest protest since last summer.

The protest was organized by the Association pour une solidarité syndi-cale étudiante in response to the exclu-sion of any discussion about free edu-cation at the education summit and the provincial government’s subsequent proposal to index university tuition fees. While it was largely peaceful, the protest was eventually broken up by police following incidents of snow, rocks, eggs and glass being thrown at police and their horses.

Premier Pauline Marois declared at the end of the two-day conference that the civil unrest of last spring was over but nonetheless thousands marched through downtown Montreal for hours shortly afterwards.

The demonstration officially began at 2 p.m. at Victoria Square, the former location of Occupy Montreal, open-ing with speeches and rallying cries before proceeding slowly but peace-fully through the downtown core. The protest was deemed illegal almost

immediately because an itinerary was not provided, violating a Montreal bylaw. Some protesters repeat-edly pelted Service de police de la Ville de Montréal officers with snowballs whenever they approached, in some cases causing them to retreat.

By the time pro-testers reached Berri St. police had formed barriers and fired stun grenades to break up the protest. After charging the crowd, police followed pro-testers down Berri where they divided the demonstrators and attempted to disperse the crowd.Tear gas and stun grenades were used at certain points against protesters, as was a weapon the SPVM identified as a 40mm gun which fired green paint. The SPVM declined to elaborate on the purpose of the green paint saying that they can-not discuss strategies.

After being divided repeatedly by police lines and charges, the protest finally came to an end not far from the Berri-UQAM metro station around 5 p.m., with individuals still lingering and small contingents roaming nearby streets.

The SPVM confirmed 13 arrests once the protest was over for reasons including damaging police cars, attack-

ing police officers and illegal assembly. According to the SPVM two individu-als were also found to be carrying mo-lotov cocktails.

Benjamin Prunty, a councillor for the Concordia Student Union who at-tended the protest, explained he was pleased with the turnout and with the message they sent, but was critical of the actions of the police.

“I am a peaceful person, and I felt very much provoked. There were way too many riot police and they were way too close to us,” he said. “[The police] represent the use of force and the protesters represent discontent-ment. Discontentment should be allowed to express itself freely and loudly without the looming threat of being beaten back by batons or

newsWrite to the editor: [email protected]

2 // Tuesday, march 5, 2013

mATTheW GuITéAssistant news editor

city// neWS

campus // neWS

ROBIn DeLLA CORTeAssistant news editor

Photo by Leonardo Nieto-Montenegro

>> Et ça continuE

Restaurant Caffè in Gamba is another Montreal business that chose to speak out about the Of-fice Québécois de la langue fran-çaise, the agency that administers the provisions of the provincial language law. Owner Jean-Fran-çois Leduc received two fines to-talling over $1,800 because of the word “caffè”, the Italian word for coffee, which has two Fs and not one as with the French version. Leduc, a francophone, says he has done everything else that was asked of him but that this went too far, infringing upon the brand and trademark food he offers.

KALInA LAfRAmBOISenews editor

CITY

>> ‘Don’t bE afraiD of

your DrEams’

Former Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau took to the stage of the Option Nationale conference in Montreal this weekend, telling those in attendance that Quebec sovereignty is still attainable. Parizeau, who led the 1995 Que-bec referendum to a narrow loss, slammed the current provincial government headed by the Parti Québécois for not working toward national independence. Simi-larly, leader Jean-Martin Aussant said that the proposed Bill 14, an all-encompassing revision to the French Charter, did not go far enough. However, Aussant also reached out to anglophones saying that sovereignty was for all.

>> a fatal stanDoff

An officer in northern Quebec was fatally shot dead while responding to a domestic disturbance call on Saturday night. The two Kativik Regional Police officers reached the home in Kuujjuaq where they were shot as they left their vehicle. Steve Dery, 27, was pronounced dead shortly after he was brought to the hospital. The other officer, who has yet to be identified, is in stable condition. While the wom-an fled to safety, the suspect bar-ricaded himself inside his home. Sûreté du Québec officers from Montreal flew to the community to provide their assistance and the suspect was found dead after a 17-hour standoff.

burning chemicals.”Prunty also said that he hoped the

goal of free education continued to be a part of the conversation going for-ward.

“Having free education, combined with a responsible free press, is one of the surest methods of equalizing all segments of our society,” he said. “We need to worry far less about the people on the top and far more about the peo-ple on the bottom, all the while bring-ing each side closer to the other within a framework of healthy, diverse, and inclusive dialogue.”

Another protest is planned for Tuesday night at 8 p.m. from Place Émilie-Gamelin, where more than 3,000 individuals have already con-firmed their attendance.

Photo by Gabriel Ellison-Scowcroft

3Tuesday, march 5, 2013 //

>> somEonE is DElusional

A former senior advisor for Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized after a video surfaced in which he expresses “grave doubts” about jail-ing individuals who view child por-nography. Tom Flanagan was giving a lecture in Alberta on the Indian Act when he made the comments, which were recorded and posted online by someone in attendance. In the video Flanagan says that while he “has no sympathy for child molesters”, he was less certain about jailing people for “their taste in pictures.” Flanagan also called it a “real issue of personal liberty” before proceeding to say it does “not harm another person.” He was then jeered by the crowd for his remarks.

mATTheW GuITéAssistant news editor

NATION

>> orangE to bluE

A Member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party has made the deci-sion to leave and join the ranks of the Bloc Québécois after the NDP’s posi-tion on Quebec sovereignty made him uncomfortable. Claude Patry, the MP for Jonquière-Alma in Quebec, said that after voting for independence in both referendums he could not stay with a party that put Canada’s inter-ests ahead of Quebec’s. “Some things in life are non-negotiable,” he said when announcing his decision. Patry will become the Bloc’s fifth member to hold a seat in the House of Com-mons after it was decimated in the last federal election.

>> last EvEr roll of pEn-niEs fEtchEs

big monEy

A Toronto resident’s decision to purchase a commemorative roll of pennies may prove to be a profit-able one after he discovered it was the last roll ever printed. The roll, one of a series of 20,000, carries a serial number identifying it as the very last roll printed. The owner, who purchased it for $10 from the Royal Canadian Mint, put the roll up for auction on eBay where it was bought for $6,600. The owner, a coin collector himself, told CTV that he chose to sell the roll because he thought someone else might ap-preciate it more. “I might just put it in a safe somewhere, whereas someone else might put it on dis-play,” he said.

city // neWS

Student leaders slam Léo Bureau-Blouin

Photo by Gabriel Ellison-Scowcroft

‘no surprise but a lot of deception’: Desjardins

mATTheW GuITéAssistant news editor

Léo Bureau-Blouin, for-mer student leader and current Member of the National Assembly for the

Parti Québécois, has come under fire following the provincial government’s announcement of an increase tuition by three per cent in line with the cost of living next year.

Bureau-Blouin, who first came to prominence as the president of the Fé-dération étudiante collégiale du Qué-bec during the student protests last year, has stood by the decision of his party to index tuition by roughly $70 a year, a stance that has not pleased his former colleagues.

Martine Desjardins, president for the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, told The Concordian that she was disappointed when Bureau-Blouin chose to support the indexation proposal, but that she was not sur-prised.

“Personally, when he decided to go up front and support the inflation proposed by the government, it was a shock,” said Desjardins. “But at the same time it’s easy to understand why because he’s like, you know, a deputy and he needs to follow the line of the party,” she said.

Desjardins explained that students felt deceived when Bureau-Blouin went against his initial position for a tuition freeze, something he advocated for as a student.

“There’s no surprise but there’s a lot of deception,” said Desjardins.

Following the announcement of

the increase, Bureau-Blouin’s Face-book page became a place for students and protesters to vent their frustrations over his decision to support the index-ation. One poster called Bureau-Blouin a traitor and demanded he resign, while another accused him of letting down a generation of students. Con-versely, others voiced their support for Bureau-Blouin and congratulated him for his work.

The day after the education sum-mit, Bureau-Blouin wrote that he had received threats and attacks but would still attend a monthly event to meet with his constituents on March 16.

When reached for comment, Bu-reau-Blouin’s office said that he would not comment on the threats on Face-book but did, however, call the situa-tion “deplorable.”

On Facebook, Bureau-Blouin de-fended the increase by stating that by the 2015-2016 academic year students would be receiving an average of $1,140 in additional bursaries.

However, Desjardins called into question the suggestion that additional money for financial aid programs would help offset the increase claim-ing that not all students are eligible for bursaries.

“We know that there are a lot of problems with the financial aid pro-gram,” she said. “Actually it’s only 40 per cent of the students that have ac-cess to the financial aid program, so what are we doing with the other 60 per cent?”

On the Facebook page for the monthly meeting, critics promised to attend in order to face Bureau-Blouin and demand answers. Spokesperson Camille Robert for the Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudi-antes, the student group in favour of free tuition, asked if he would be using his salary to help cover the cost of the indexation.

Simon-Pierre Lauzon, VP external for the Concordia Student Union, said he was not surprised that Bureau-Bl-

ouin’s interests had shifted from those of a student to those of a politician. He hoped, however, that the former stu-dent leader would push for student’s interests from within the PQ.

“He cares about his position with-in his new political context, and at the same time we should stop looking up to him as a peer,” Lauzon said. “He no longer is a FECQ representative, and we should treat him as such,” he said.

Lauzon believes students are now divided between those who see index-ation as a realistic compromise and those who are in the streets again be-cause they reject any increase.

“We went in the streets in signifi-cant part because we had no seat at the table, and our voices fell on deaf ears,” he said. “With the PQ, although we might not have every single thing we ask, we still have a measurable influence. Our leverage is still very po-tent, and while the printemps érable is in the PQ’s short term memory we will act to get as much as we can.”

campus // neWS

A resolution in the worksJudicial Board to issue decision over Concordia Student union presidency

KALInA LAfRAmBOISenews editor

The Judicial Board is expected to render a decision on the issue of electing a new president for the Concordia Student Union, where an impasse is preventing council from moving forward.

Following the unexpected res-ignation of Schubert Laforest in early February, councillors and executive remain divided over who is best to lead the organiza-tion for the last months of the mandate. In a contentious coun-cil meeting on Feb. 13, the ex-ecutive’s recommendation of VP internal Nadine Atallah to fill the

empty position fell flat with the councillors.

Not a single councillor voted for Atallah, who the executive felt was best for president. A compro-mise was not reached as both sides adamantly refused to reconsider their choices — including Atallah who did not want to rescind her candidacy.

Councillors Gonzo Nieto and James Vaccaro filed a complaint to the JB, where the three members will rule Wednesday on the issue of presidency and provide clarity on the CSU’s bylaw 7.4.

Bylaw 7.4 states that should there be a vacancy in the presi-dency, council shall appoint a president from the vice-presidents; should no vice-presidents be will-

ing then a councillor may be ap-pointed with two-thirds majority of votes.

However, the bylaw does not state what to do if only one vice-president is willing but council does not agree.

To end the complaint, Nieto wrote that he hoped the JB could remedy the situation and provide clarity on the bylaw.

“It is our belief that this situa-tion should be handled the same way as if there were no vice-pres-idents willing to fill the vacancy of the presidency — namely, that a member of the council of repre-sentatives would be appointed to fill the vacancy of the presidency, as per bylaw 7.4,” the complaint read.

Vaccaro said that he hopes the issue will be resolved quickly so that the CSU can move forward.

“I’m hoping the JB can clarify the bylaw because as written, it is unclear and does not state how we should proceed if the only willing executive is not appointed by the council,” said Vaccaro. “I would be happy to see another executive state they are willing as I’m sure their team dynamic would be best with a leader they’ve been work-ing with throughout the year.”

Conversely, Atallah hopes that other than volunteering herself for the position of presidency, she hopes that JB will offer different interpretations of the bylaw.

With files from Robin Della Corte.

>> gEt a grip

A hockey association in Prince Ed-ward Island released a statement warning players about aggressive be-haviour during the post-game hand-shakes following a trio of incidents in which players displayed inappropriate behaviour while shaking hands. Rob Newson of Hockey P.E.I. told CTV that the issue wasn’t a major one but that a warning was considered neces-sary after the incidents in January.

theconcordian4 // Tuesday, march 5, 2013

>> QuEEn out of hospital

Queen Elizabeth left the hospital Mon-day morning from London after being hospitalized overnight with a stomach infection. The palace stated that 86-year-old British monarch had expe-rienced symptoms of gastroenteritis and was being examined at London’s King Edward VII Hospital. The illness was first announced Friday, when she had first canceled her visit to Swansea, Wales. “She’s going to spend the next few days resting, we’re told, and then she hopes to resume some of her nor-mal engagements next week,” CBC reported.

ROBIn DeLLA CORTeAssistant news editor

WORLD

>> guns for protEction

School police officers will now have access to 14 AR-15 assault rifles, in case of a mass shooting or a threat of an attack in Fontana, California. Last fall, before the Sandy Hook elemen-tary massacre in December, the rifles were purchased for Fontana school po-lice. “It scares me, it frightens me. It’s not the way I was brought up. It’s just the fact they’re dealing with violence with more violence.” Virginia Nuño, a mother of three school-age daughters in Fontana, Calif. told CBC. The Fon-tana school board voted in favor of keeping rifles in the school’s safes on Wednesday.

>> romnEy stylE

Mitt Romney believed he was going to win the presidential election, until early results came in on election night. According to the National Post, Rom-ney knew that he was in trouble when results revealed a close race in Florida. Romney said his campaign didn’t suc-ceed in connecting with minority vot-ers, in appealing to African-Americans and Hispanics while President Barack Obama did. The interview with Fox News, which aired Sunday, was one of the first major public appearances by the Romneys since the Nov. 6 election.

>> mEga QuakE hits china

An earthquake in southwest China caused hundreds of homes to col-lapse and injured at least 30 people on Sunday. The earthquake reportedly damaged 2,500 houses and destroyed 700 homes in total. The earthquake bureau in Yunnan province says three injured individuals are in serious con-dition and the U.S. Geological Survey stated that the magnitude-5.5 quake struck 51 kilometres from the city of Dali at a depth of 33 kilometres. Ap-proximately 34 aftershocks were re-corded after the quake. With 55,000 people affected, suppliers were sent to the site of the earthquake with 6,000 tents.

continued from cover

A formal council will be created to supervise and review the gover-nance and financial management of universities. Minister of Higher Ed-ucation Pierre Duchesne promised the Conseil national des universitiés would improve the efficiency of the universities while remaining inde-pendent and largely for consulta-tion. However, details remain under wraps for now.

INVESTMENTS AND CUTSThe provincial government also announced several investments including additional positions for staff. Additional employment will involve an extra 1,000 support staff,

Concordia president discusses education summit2,000 teaching assistants and 1,000 professors.

Starting in 2014, Marois also promised that the provincial gov-ernment would pump $1.7 billion into universities over seven years. The PQ stated that approximately $15 million would be invested into special projects between universi-ties and CÉGEPs.

However, universities will still suffer a loss of $250 million in fund-ing cuts for the next two years — a decision that has become a source of stress for rectors who say Que-bec’s institutions are already under-funded, overwhelmed and strapped for the future.

WHAT’S NExT FOR CONCORDIA?

According to a statement released by university president Alan Shepa-rd, a main concern for Concordia is the slash to university funding over the next year including a shortfall of $26.4 million. Shepard emphasized that the cut put the university in a tight spot and forced administration to “make some difficult decisions.”

In an interview with The Con-cordian, Shepard said that what concerns him the most is ensuring that Concordia remains competitive and does not become a second-tier university despite the budget cuts.

“We want to provide a nation-ally competitive education,” said Shepard. “This can’t be done on the cheap.”

Shepard said that a two-day

summit led him to a “complex re-action” because it was so intense. While Shepard said he was happy with some aspects of the summit, he added that two days doesn’t provide enough time to discuss the policy of higher education in Quebec.

“You can’t expect to get to the heart of the matter,” said Shepard. “No one walked away feeling like they won the lottery.”

Shepard added that while he believed the summit was well or-ganized, there is still a much larger discussion to be had and that a plethora of issues were not ad-dressed including e-learning and at-tracting older students who want to reshape their skills.

The Concordian is hiring!All positions for the 2013-2014 academic year are open!

Send a CV, a cover letter, and three samples to [email protected] by march 15, 2013.

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against typos, errors and bad ideas, this person keeps things moving forward week after week.

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5Tuesday, march 5, 2013 //

ASFA elections: Meet the candidates

KALInA LAfRAmBOISenews editorPhotos by marilla Steuter-martin

The Arts and Science Federation of Associations is holding a vote for po-sitions in the 2013-14 academic year this week from March 6 to 8. There are only seven candidates vying for the seven positions available as ASFA executives — not a single candidate is running opposed. Here is our guide to ASFA’s candidates for the upcoming year.

PAUL JERIJIAN - PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

experience-Former VP external and sustain-

ability of ASFA, 2011-12-President of the mathematics and

statistics students’ association-John Molson School of Business

councillor for the Concordia Student Union

-CSU events committee, Loyola committee, Sustainability Action Fund

Goals“A lot of my presidential goals for

ASFA include structural and procedur-al changes. A lot of ASFA’s operations are not clear and not recorded. Re-ports, FAQs and templates should be implemented as transition, and institu-tional memory have always been a big concern for associations in general at Concordia. There needs to be a focus on initiatives geared towards new de-mographics as the student population is very diverse and multicultural.”

Strengths and weaknesses“My strengths include my expe-

rience, my determination and hard work. I will do whatever I can in my power to ensure the association thrives and continues to thrive for years fu-ture years. My biggest weakness is my stubbornness, though I have made it clear to myself and my future execu-tive that ASFA is going to function as a team.”

JUSTIN OCCHIONERO - VP Ex-TERNAL AND SUSTAINABILITY

CANDIDATE

experience-Independent councillor for ASFA,

2012-13

Goals“I believe primarily, ASFA needs

some structural changes. In regards to my position, this would mean re-working ASFA’s sustainability annex in order to improve ASFA’s commitment to organizing events that promote a culture of sustainability. Externally, ASFA should strive for open commu-nication between itself and external student unions such as the CSU and the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec. It is important that ASFA and its members communicate with these entities and collaborate on initia-

Arts and Science federation of Associations elections will take place march 6 to 8

campus // neWS

tives together. The rights of Arts and Science students need to be properly represented at higher levels of stu-dent governance and this can only be achieved if ASFA, its members and the above mentioned entities communi-cate with each other efficiently.”

Strengths and weaknesses“My biggest strength is probably

my enthusiasm. I always tackle new challenges with the highest of hopes and I think this attitude is what has made it possible for me to achieve some of my greatest goals. As for weaknesses, I think that sometimes I can harp on one idea for too long, even if it has proven to be weak or unnecessary. Having said that, I think my year working within ASFA has taught me that this is not always the best approach.”

SEAN NOLAN - VP SOCIAL CANDIDATE

experience-Independent councillor for ASFA,

12-2013-Organized, promoted and DJed

for hometown events

Goals“My ultimate goal for ASFA is to

make the social experience more ben-eficial for our students. I plan to do so by improving our orientation week, increasing the amount of social out-ings hosted by the association, hosting ASFA sports tournaments to engage students in fun and stimulating activi-ties, and establish a better connection with the rest of Concordia. I plan on having MA booths available to stu-dents on the first day [of orientation] in order to help them become better acquainted with their new school as a whole.”

Strengths and weaknesses

“In terms of my strengths, I am or-ganized, prompt as well as extremely committed to anything I put my mind to. I also feel that I am very person-able and easily approachable by any-one and therefore very easy to work with. My biggest weakness, however, would be my determination when it comes to completing projects.”

TINGLI LUCIA LORIGIANO - VP ACADEMIC AND LOYOLA

CANDIDATE

experience-Various initiatives at Vanier Col-

lege including projects to renovate the library, tutor and organizing student study groups in math, biology and chemistry

- Active member in student gover-nance during high school and CÉGEP

Goals“I would like to be given the op-

portunity to equip Arts and Sciences students with the knowledge, skills, and tools to sculpt more defined ca-reer paths. As a student who has courses are at both campuses, I myself

am a frequent shuttle bus rider and am aware of the discrepancy of student services and resources available at both campuses. I want to ensure the equalization of student services and resources, as well as working towards satisfying the student body. Lastly, as the only science student in this year’s elections, I would like to introduce more extensive science career shadow-ing opportunities.”

Strengths and weaknesses“Well, I’ve always benefited from

being able to help others, like tutor-ing, or being able help foster an envi-ronment to help motivate, or inspire, students academically. The cold hard truth is that I am an optimist: my big-gest strength being my ability to fuel, to drive, to motivate, myself and oth-ers to reaching peak potential. As for my weakness, I sometimes forget to schedule time in for myself. I get so caught-up with getting things done that I forget to relax.”

FRANCIS BOYER - VP INTERNAL CANDIDATE

experience- VP internal of students of history

at Concordia 2012-13- Active member of the ASFA aca-

demic committee, internal committee, departmental relations committee and ASFA talks committee.

Goals“I intend to strengthen the bonds

between Member Associations as well as the bond between said associations and ASFA. Also, as the executive re-sponsible for all annexes and bylaws, it is my intention to accurately and efficiently inform the MAs of any questions they might have pertaining to said legal aspects. I also intend to review the annexes and bylaws to en-sure that they are correct and do not require correction. It is also the respon-sibility of all ASFA executives to best represent my peers and I will do so regardless of my personal opinions of the topic at hand.”

Strengths and weaknesses“As far as my strengths and weak-

nesses are concerned, I am a very organized and committed individual. Once I begin a task, it will receive my entire attention until it is finished and, while I have never missed a deadline, I sometimes dwell too long on the task at hand before moving onto the next to ensure that it is done properly. I also need to work on knowing my own limitations as I have taken on too many tasks at once and, while it always gets done, causes strain in my personal life.”

ANNE-SOPHIE GRENIER - VP FINANCE CANDIDATE

experience-VP finance of Communications

guild, 2012-13-Former treasurer of The Word-Pursued commerce in CÉGEP

Goals“My first goal in general is to

bring student involvement up. There’s been a lot of crap with the CSU and everyone’s been disheartened. I want to clean up finances because some things just don’t get enough money. A lot of money is spent recklessly when it should be spent more toward indi-vidual student projects and academic initiatives and not just parties.”

Strengths and weaknesses“My weakness is sometimes I

come off a little too forceful and I work hard and get it done but sometimes I have to calm down. I think despite being forceful, I am very patient and understanding. I’ve worked in a lot of different environments like math and arts, that I know how to deal with dif-ferent personalities.”

STÉPHANIE GAGNON - VP COM-MUNICATIONS CANDIDATE

experience-VP communications of the math-

ematics and statistics students’ asso-ciation, 2012-13

-VP social of the mathematics and statistics students’ association, 2011-12

Goals“My goal for ASFA is making sure

we use every resource available to reach out to students whether through newspapers, social media and more. We need to promote student events, student initiatives. We want every stu-dent in ASFA to feel there’s something for them. [I also] want to improve online services, so everything is docu-mented, everything is organized and available online.”

Strengths and weaknesses“I’m very organized, and I’m a

person that will stay calm in any cir-cumstances, and I may not always have the answer, but I always know where to look for it. I’m a little bit of a lunatic and sometimes I have my bubbles where I’m thinking of a mil-lion things at the same time.”

6 // Tuesday, March 5, 2013

lifeWrite to the editor: [email protected]

tea // life

A tale of two tea rooms: part II

Sara Baron-Goodman assistant life editor

It was a blustery winter afternoon when a handwritten chalkboard sign beckoned me into Totem Tea and Spice, promising hot apple cara-mel tea lattes. It’s been a beautiful love affair ever since.

The shop is located just a few blocks away from Concordia’s Loyola campus. Radiating warmth, the homey café is an instant mood lifter.

At the end of February, owner Julie Peder-son moved the small walk-up, one-room shop to its new location at street level. The vibe is like a modern English tea room — white paint with grey and exposed brick accents, eclectic frames scattered on the walls and teacups hanging from the light fixtures that Pederson made herself. A handful of tables provide sit down room for a good number of customers, but the space is usu-ally quiet, inviting easy conversation or a good atmosphere to get some work done.

The shop is an expansion of Pederson’s on-line business of the same variety.

“I wanted a space to be able to grow a local clientele and interact with customers,” she said.

Pederson keeps everything in the shop close to home: all the teas are organic and everything is from local Canadian suppliers.

“That’s something that’s very important to me,” she said. “My customers look for healthy options.”

The new space is bigger, brighter and offers up an improved menu. In addition to tea and tarts, customers can now enjoy fresh sandwiches, soups, cookies and cakes. To boot, the menu is vegetarian friendly; I chowed down on a fresh vegetable and avocado sandwich with a red pep-

Totem Tea and Spice will add a kick to your day

SaTurn de loS anGeleSStaff writer

As I walked up Park Ave. on a mild and foggy Friday night, I saw nightclub warriors revelling in their little bubble on the left and students hang-ing out on the street enjoying each others’ com-pany on the right.

Desperate for a hot drink, I soon discovered this cozy little lounge right at the corner. I walked inside already drenched from the flakey snow melting on my scalp. A young lady greeted me, enthusiastically offering a pot of delicious Kyoto Cherry flavoured tea to warm my soul.

I couldn’t resist. I gave in and poured myself a cup. At the moment I took that first sip, I was in heaven.

“We’re a tea shop, and a tea [accessory] shop, and a lounge.” said François Philibert, manager of CHAÏ T’ Lounge.

CHAÏ T’ has been in business since the be-ginning of last fall and operates as an extension of its more bistro-oriented café called El Mundo. Both establishments have the same owner.

The lounge is full during evenings and week-ends with the majority of customers coming from McGill University. There’s also a good blend of tourists, local folks and tea aficionados.

“French people are more used to classic teas than the English people, “ said Philibert. “I see [the French] ask for green tea, but the English or-der more flavoured ones.”There is a huge selection of tea available ranging from traditional to flavoured. Popular choices in-clude the chocolate mint flavour and the Monas blend of black tea, vanilla and grenadine. Gen-maicha, a green tea with roasted rice, is a staff fa-vourite. Kyoto cherry and Long Island strawberry

These teas and scones will warm the cold soul

per spread and was wholly satisfied.Lunch specials are served up daily, and re-

volve around a hearty vegetarian soup and savory scone, accompanied of course by your choice of tea.

Most important, is the seemingly endless se-lection of 65 loose leaf teas to choose from, each with a cute quirky name. My favourite would have to be the Karma Sutra, a floral and chai blend that warms you up from the inside out.

For my fellow chocoholics, I recommend the red velvet, a tea that channels the flavours of the classic cake. There’s also the Cocoa Chanel and the Caramel Latte, which are sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

For the health conscious, sip on one of the more holistic organic teas, which boast properties from helping digestion to curing a cold.

As far as snacks go, the Melting Moment cookies are sure to live up to their name. The or-ange blossom butter dough pairs decadently with a creamy lemon zest filling that makes my mouth water just thinking of it.

Totem also offers a selection of 100 spices to take home. Packaged neatly in gift sets with or without the loose leaf teas, there are salts for bar-beque, baking and everything in between. The Java Love Rub, made with coffee beans, is a cus-tomer favourite that pairs well with red meats.

All the teas and treats are available to enjoy in house or to take home. For the latter option, infuser mugs and teapots come in a variety of shapes and sizes so you can steep your favorite tea wherever you are.

To top it off, Totem is very student friendly; a full meal of a sandwich and tea latte is only $7. A tea alone is $2.50, while a latte goes for $3.50. Everyone from the Royal West Academy boys to the older women who frequent the yoga studio upstairs seem to love this place. Honestly, there’s very little not to love.

Totem Tea and Spice is located on 51 Westmin-ster Ave. N.

are recommended picks.A tea pot will cost you $3.99 and will give

you four to five cups. You can get an extra refill of hot water for a $1.

The macarons and cupcakes are also a popu-lar staple. Macarons go for $1.75 each and there are 21 flavours to choose from such as pistachio and salty caramel. There’s also the option of pur-chasing a box of six for almost $10 or 10 for $15. Each cupcake will cost you $3.49, while you can get a box of six at nearly $20. But don’t let the prices fool you: they’re absolutely filling.

They even have locally made scones from a baker in the West Island. What goes better with tea than freshly made scones? Red Velvet cup-cakes also grab a lot of attention. There are also S’More and Oreo flavoured variants as well.

Philibert is preparing a new menu for the summer by creating concoctions with naturally flavoured bubble tea (iced cold tea with tapioca bubbles) and tea soda (steeped tea with spar-kling water).

Philibert explained that it is important to him that CHAÏ T’ Lounge stand out. “There are four coffee shops on the same corner . . . but we wanted something different. Tea [shops] are getting interesting and getting more popular. We thought at the beginning to make it [as such], but we wanted to be a place to relax and study.”

His passion for tea is something that grabs people’s attention, and it is something that he’ll continue to do as CHAÏ T’ Lounge reaches its first year of operation in September.

CHAÏ T’ Lounge is located on 3506 Park Ave.

Photos by Natalia Lara Diaz-BerrioPhotos courtesy of Julie Pederson

7Tuesday, March 5, 2013 //

cafe // life

A salute to the city of blinding lightsla Croissanterie figaro will charm you into a Parisian stupor, one delicious buttery croissant at a time

GeorGe menexiSopinions editor

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris, as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”

None other than the infamous Ernest Hem-

ingway spoke those words about Paris, where he spent many years alongside the likes of Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzger-ald, roaming the streets and writing what we know today as works of artistic genius. Hemingway held Paris on a pedestal and immersed himself in its charm.

There isn’t a place quite like Paris. Whether your reason to visit is the cafés, the art or the history, it’s the Parisian charm that seduces you to stay. Sadly, most of us don’t have the funds or the time to grab a quick six hour flight. Fortunately for us, we live in a city that has been described as very European and is filled with numer-ous quaint cafés and bistros that can satisfy your cultural needs.

La Croissanterie Figaro has encompassed the Parisian charm and established it into a miniature café in the Mile End of Montreal. Upon entry, you’re immediately enthralled by the smell of fresh croissants au beurre, a stereotypical parisian tune resembling the one from Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, antique furniture and Renaissance-style statuettes.

I felt like I was transported to Paris in

food // life

the 1920s. Surprisingly, to my immediate displeasure, there was no Hemingway or Fitzgerald glaring at me from the dark cor-ners of the room.

Figaro describes itself as “un petit coin perdu de Paris,” which translates to “a little lost corner of Paris,” summing up the place perfectly.

La Croissanterie Figaro has quite a long history. It was initially a house before it was transformed into a boutique in the early ‘20s, and then a candy store. It went through many changes as it was passed from one owner to another over the years,

from a bakery to a type of fast-food joint. It was only in 1991, when Al Charmant took over the business, that it became the elegant and charming bistro that it is today. Interestingly enough, the ancient oven that was installed when it was known as a hippy bakery in the ‘80s is still visible in the bistro today, adding to its compelling glamour.

To complete the look, every waitress and waiter speaks in a thick Parisian accent, a nice prerequisite to working in this bistro and something I did not expect. The menu is kept small and simple; the desserts and the petit déjeuner, as well as their dynamite

coffees, are the heart of it. In the summer, a terrace is set up along the sidewalk, where one can enjoy the sights of one of Montre-al’s oldest neighbourhoods.

French writer Honoré de Balzac once said that “whoever does not visit Paris regu-larly will never really be elegant.” So to add a bit of charm to your day, a venture to this little slice of Paris they call La Croissanterie Figaro, is something we can do to get closer to the elegance we so desperately desire.

La Croissanterie Figaro is located on 5200 Hutchison St. in Outremont.

Cook up something tasty with Montreal’s top talentsa hidden treasure in the mile-end offers tips, tricks and tools for foodies and wannabe chefs

niCole YeBaStaff writer

The phenomenon of the foodie is growing in big cities, especially in Montreal. There are so many food festivals in the city and food trucks are also making a comeback. The term ‘foodie’ is used to refer to people who are afi-cionados in the field of food and drinks.

Located in the trendy Mile-End neigh-bourhood that is filled to the brim with cute restaurants, Les Touilleurs offers a range of kitchen appliances. With white walls and bright lighting, the cool atmosphere makes you feel welcome.

The kitchenware is strategically placed, with the colourful KitchenAid appliances and accessories attracting the eyes. It began as a partnership between Sylvain Côté and François Longpré. The former attended the Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec and the latter was a comedian with a love for kitchen tools. They have been partners

in business since 1998. The store opened in 2002 and a kitchen was added in 2005 when the local next door was free for rent.

Cooking workshops are offered with re-nowned Montreal chefs such as Stéphanie Labelle, who owns Pâtisserie Rhubarbe, Tav-erne Square Dominion’s chef Éric Dupuis and many others. The lessons are on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. They last three hours; starting at 6:30 p.m.. Prices for the current winter lessons are between $95 and $110.

“It is an intimate and exceptional night. You get a chef who gives you tips and shares laughs with you, which you would not get in a big class of 40 people,” said Côté. The maximum per class is 12 people and you can bring a bottle of wine to sip on while cooking the three to four recipes Les Touilleurs have prepared for you.

Schedules are posted two months before the season and you can sign up to receive them on their website through their mailing list. Côté makes it clear that early sign-up is a must — classes usually fill up seven to 10

days after the calendar is released.The pair also launched a book for their

10-year anniversary in October called Les Touilleurs - Techniques gourmands.

They co-host a television show as well, airing on ARTV every Friday at 8 p.m. They

discuss different aspects of gastronomy and have a chef who offers a culinary workshop.

Les Touilleurs is located at 152 Laurier Ave. W. For more information, check out their website http://www.lestouilleurs.com

Les TouiLLeurs gives you aLL The TooLs you need To be a Top chef. photo by writer

Photo by Madelayne Hajek

artsWrite to the editor: [email protected]

profile // arts

8 // Tuesday, march 5, 2013

amanda L. shorearts editor

three women assist Charlotte Gilman Perkin’s Victorian character out from the confines of her text

Jane enters the room and sits on the fold-ing chair that’s been placed beside the bed they’ve created out of a stained folding table. She clasps her hands in her lap and crosses her ankles.

“What is your relationship with the wallpaper?” director Jen Cressey asks from across the room. Jane raises her eyes and an-swers in a despairing, timid voice that has a distinctive Victorian era intonation.

“I’m not quite sure, it’s obviously there and it’s what I’m looking at and it’s what I can engage with. I guess right now I’m just very, very sad. I’m sad that my husband didn’t listen to me and that I wasn’t impor-tant enough to listen to. I’m very sad that as hard as he tries he won’t be able to make me better.”

The year is 1899. Jane has just given birth to her first child, a boy. Unfortunately, she is suffering from postpartum depression. Her husband, John, a physician, is treating her. He has prescribed bed rest, a diet heavy in meat and absolutely no writing or other artistic activity.

“I tried very hard. I tried very, very hard to follow what he wanted me to do but none of it really worked, it only ever made me more upset and more deceitful,” Jane la-ments.

She spends her days in her room at the rental house they’ve leased for the summer. The room looks like it might have previously been a children’s nursery; the windows are barred and there are rings in the wall like one might see in a gymnasium. Furthermore, the floor is scratched and gouged and there is a black “smooch” running around the base of the room. Most notably, however, is the

yellow wallpaper. The paper is peeling in places, it is stripped off in great patches all around the head of the bed, about as far as you can reach while lying on your back and in a great place on the other side of the room near the baseboard.

Natasha Perry-Fagant, who embodies Jane onstage, believes that John loves Jane very much and only wants her to get better.

“He loves her very, very deeply and he just thinks if she just believed in this treat-ment, if she just actively participated and put these thoughts out of her head, she would get better.” The reality is that Jane is not thriving within John’s confinement treat-ment, though she tries her best. She finds herself getting more and more depressed.

It’s been a 114 years since Charlotte Perkins Gilman first put Jane onto paper in the form of a short story called “The Yellow Wallpaper.” She put her there as a way to set her free from the confines set upon her by her husband. For a century she’s lived and thrived within the text, opening society’s eyes to her situation and consequently that of many women like her.

Now, three women are trying to bring her out and onto the stage so her story can impress the world in a new fashion. Perry-Fagant is serving as a conduit through which Jane can speak. Cressey is in charge of fa-cilitating Jane’s emergence. She takes on the role of therapist in order to help Jane connect to her feelings and she directs the portrayal of Jane’s story as it will appear onstage.

Miranda Abraham keeps everything run-ning smoothly. She makes notes on every decision that is made concerning Jane’s stag-ing and sets up the appropriate set pieces. The women have been working on bringing Jane forth since the winter semester of 2012. It has been a long process, but their devotion to having Jane come across as accurately as possible speaks to their love for her.

As Perry-Fagant is where Jane resides for the most part, she often finds that Jane takes over outside of rehearsal. Sometimes Perry-Fagant will realize she’s thinking Jane’s thoughts or seeing things through Jane’s eyes, “Sometimes, I’ll be walking down the street and I’ll turn into Jane,” she said.

In the play, Jane is preoccupied with the wallpaper in her room.

“This wallpaper has a kind of sub-pattern in a different shade, a particularly irritating one, for you can only see it in certain lights, and not clearly then. But in the places where it isn’t faded and where the sun is just so, I can see a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about behind that silly and conspicuous front design,” she explains from her text.

The Yellow Wallpaper’s Jane comes off the page

The Yellow Wallpaper Jane comes out from the pages of Charlotte Gilman Perkins and takes the audience through the exegesis of her postpartum depression.

Idem Eadem Idem is a movement based performance in which the performers walk through aspects of their own lives and their experiences. Using minimal set pieces and props, the production looks into the way human identity is shaped.

Not Suitable For Children is based on a true murder story, with the performers explor-ing deep into the minds of their characters.

Whirligig is an adaptation of Jean Genet’s play, The Maids. The production will ex-plore the traditional “being” or “not being” in the repetitive scene of two sisters plan-ning to kill their mistress.

Information about Untitled, is to remain undisclosed until the festival’s opening night. The only way to find out about it is to see the show.

The SIPA Short Works Festival will take place from March 7 - 10 at the Cazalet Theatre on Concordia’s Loyola Campus. Tickets are $2 per show. For more infor-mation visit Facebook.com/SipaConcordia.

Jane finds in the yellow wallpaper an en-gagement she can’t get from John. Confined as she is in her room, the paper becomes her escape from reality. She’s been spending all her time staring at the paper, peeling away the paper in spots, she thinks, John won’t notice. She sees something in the pattern of the wallpaper, she sees something...

Jane, why are you touching the paper so? What is it that you see there?

“A woman. A woman trapped within the pattern. She’s out. She’s gotten out!”

Round and round the room she goes, creeping along the baseboard, dragging her body around and around the room.

“What is the matter? For God’s sake, what are you doing!”

Jane smiles, “Creeping.”

The SIPA Short Works will feature five short shows

9 Tuesday, march 5, 2013 //

nuit blanche // arts

Concordia students light up Nuit Blanche

Concordia students were featured at an art matters, in collaboration with mainline theatre at nuit Blanche this past saturday. they performed an original contemporary dance piece by Jess alley (Centre) accompanied by an original soundscape piece by mallika Guhan (right) and daniel marquez (Left). the performance was bluesy, romantic and visually stunning.

here we see the lovely Victoria performing both an original piece and a cover. her melodic folky voice inspiring the spectators eagerly awaiting her next note.

Five Concordia students dance, sing and act the

night away

Photos & text By madeLayne haJekPhoto editor

exhibit review // arts

theatre review // arts

10 theconcordian// Tuesday, march 5, 2013

Exploring the identity paradox

ariana triGueros-CorBoassistant arts editor

the FoFa Gallery’s new exhibits make reality and fiction cross paths

Art is a dialogue between the artist and the spectator. Artists are story-tellers, forever intent on the ritual of showcasing their unique vision,

of expressing their understanding of complex themes and issues. At times, a piece will rep-resent a part of an artist’s story, a shard of who they are. Other times, artists will take a step back and delve into their observations of the world and all that surrounds them. Thus, un-surprisingly, artists may often take completely opposite paths to expose their views and spur our imaginations.

The FOFA Gallery’s most recent install-ments, Snowbirds and Falling Through a Mir-ror, are both intent on exploring the theme of identity, delving into what provides us with a sense of belonging as individuals. That being said, the artists, Mika Goodfriend, Tammy Salzl and Emily Jan, could not have more diametri-cally opposed approaches when it comes to ex-ploring this theme in particular.

Snowbirds, the portion of the installments that belongs to Goodfriend, gives the impres-sion of wanting to provoke some sort of re-action amongst its viewers. Unveiling a sort

of stagnant truth about Quebec’s “Snowbird generation,” viewers are left to deal with this photographic instance of truth, often fighting back defensive sentiments in a spot of cultural vulnerability.

Goodfriend was just awarded prizes in the BMO 1st Art! Invitational Student Art Competi-tion, for two of the pieces in his photography series, Benoit et Suzanne and Reynald et Maryl-da. Snowbirds, he explains, was made to take an anthropological view on the immigration (or rather the export) of Quebec culture.

The photography truly has a “social docu-mentary approach to it,” as the gallery descrip-tor so eloquently puts it. Shot entirely in an RV trailer park in Breezy Hill, Florida, the snap-shots meticulously study the habits of what Goodfriend considers a generation that should be treated as an “endangered species,” under-lining the fact that these retirees are the last of Quebec’s residents to immigrate “en masse.”

The second part of the exhibit, put on by the FOFA Gallery, is a joint venture between Jan and Salzl, who have formed a collective for the occasion. Combining their artistic mediums of choice, the artists showcase both painting and sculpture in one given space. The collaboration is titled Falling Through The Mirror and, coin-cidently, will remind its spectators, one more than one occasion, of a horror-filled version of Alice In Wonderland.

Salzl, the painter portion of the duo, has completed a master’s in Fine Arts at Concordia, specializing in painting and drawing. Her por-tion of Falling Through a Mirror has a mytho-logical feel to it, combining the role of humans

and animals in a way that is reminiscent of fairy tales. The result is an eerie but captivat-ing series of portraits that will leave the weaker of heart with goosebumps. Much like Goodfriend, Salzl deals with the concept of identity: as she puts it in her artist’s profile, she is illustrating “true par-ables from a fairy tale book about a society distorted and chaotic.”

As for Jan, her sculp-tures are breathtakingly horrific, in fascinating sense. Selkie, the main piece she is showcasing, is a seal-like looking carcass that is realistically strewn across the gallery’s main portion of space. With the FOFA Gallery plunged in darkness, lit up only by a few selective spotlights to showcase the work of the collective, Jan’s work takes on a mythic feel. Viewers will easily be reminded of those dark fairy tales told by creators like the Brothers Grimm, and how close to reality these stories always seem to be. Jan’s work is the meeting place for fiction and reality, a place where we find ourselves pushing the limits of our comprehensive imagination through art

a fresh new play about two tired old men

roa aBdeL-GaWadContributor

There’s nothing quite as Irish as a mistrust of the English, a drunk priest and a fiddle. Ordinarily, a play that centres around a pair of old men, of which the youngest is an im-pressive 100-years-old, would not see the light of day. That’s what makes the Centaur Theatre’s most recent production, TRAD, such a great feat. Its playwright, Mark Do-herty, has managed to bring to life a robust work full of colourful dialogue that tells an expansive and quintessentially Irish story.

TRAD is the story of an Irish centenar-ian, Thomas and his father, Da. A series of laments on Da’s behalf about the impend-ing end of his family line push Thomas

to reveal that, although he never married, when he was a 29-year-old young lad, he fathered a child during a brief affair with a girl from another town. Without even the child’s name and with only the mother’s first name, Thomas and Da set out to find the youngest member of their family, a now 70-year-old son.

As the duo’s journey takes them across Ireland, a historical journey is also under-taken through a series of Da’s recollections, who is played by actor Patrick Costello. Cos-tello brilliantly captures the physicality of a centenarian: a hunched, restless body, com-plete with twitchy eyebrows, rounded jittery fingers and a hoarse but proud Irish voice. In addition, Da is missing a leg and wears a prosthesis during the search for his grand-son. One can’t help but think that it’s a true accomplishment on Costello’s part to endure 80 minutes without bending his knee.

On another hand, Thomas, who is played by Graham Cuthbertson, offers a re-freshing contrast to the centenarian’s char-

acter, putting forth a great deal of vivacious-ness throughout the entire play. Managing to deliver his character’s sweet and docile nature, Cuthbertson’s sincerity was a per-fect foil for the embittered and cynical Da. The two characters played off each other, complementing Da’s role as a man trying to move forward after a century of being told to look back.

While the subject and message of the story are certainly laden with depth and acu-men, that is in no way the case of the play itself. The third actor in TRAD is the play’s own director, Andrew Shaver, who takes on the roles of two different characters. The more important of the two is Father Rice, a ridiculous Gary Busey-looking priest who helps the pair locate their kin. Shaver is ut-terly hilarious playing the drunken priest, making the audience roar with laughter as he incorporates both lively story-telling and his physical comedy into his acting.

The physical theatrics that the characters engage in during the play were no doubt

enabled by the deceptively simplistic set design. Each prop on set was well thought out, surprising the audience and giving more dimension to a play that is already rich in content. Old men jumping around, apples thrown towards the audience and booze being spit all over the place was com-pletely energizing and emphasized a sense of involvement for the spectators. As a final touch, the musical score, composed by Do-herty’s own father, Jim, completed the play masterfully. Played through a guitar and a fiddle, it transported us to a rural Irish scene and helped intensify both the tragic and co-medic moments in the play. Silly and playful from beginning to end, TRAD is as hilarious as it is poignant.

TRAD will be running at the Centaur The-atre (located at 453 Saint-François-Xavier St.) until March 24. Tickets are $36. For additional information on showtimes, visit http://www.centaurtheatre.com or call (514) 288-3161.

The Irish have come to town

Falling Through The Mirror and Snowbirds will be on display at the FOFA Gallery (main floor of the EV building) until April 4. Admis-sion is free of charge. For additional informa-tion, visit http://fofagallery.concordia.ca

Fairy tales and trips down south inspire the art at FoFa.

fiction serial // arts

11 Tuesday, march 5, 2013 //

Instinctively, Anya threw up her hands to shield her face from the bright light. It reminded her of her step-mother; the way Mary-Anne would always sneak up on her when she least expected it and take a photograph. One time Anya almost broke Mary-Anne’s camera and

she had to do extra chores around the house for an entire week.

Anya blinked, but for a moment everything was out-of-fo-cus and the three old women were blurred together. The stool creaked when a pair of hands held up a roll of red tickets. Anya had to lean over to see what was happening. The woman with the white and matted hair on the left unrolled the roll of tickets, slow and easy, while the woman on the right tapped her foot impatiently — “Stop!” She jabbed her index finger at the sixth ticket. “There.”

With a half-smile, the old woman in the middle ripped off and slipped the tickets through the slot. “I hope you will enjoy your stay,” she said with a toothless smile.

Hesitantly, Anya reached out and took them. “Thank you,” she whispered and turned to leave.

“Don’t forget,” they all chimed at once. “You need a ticket to get back on the train . . . ”

But Anya was more interested in the tickets they’d handed her; it puzzled her how warm they felt against her cold hands. She looked around when she heard her name being called and found Miranda and Billy not too far away. She made her way toward them. Miranda storm-stomped at Billy and shouted: “Go ask them why.” Billy shrugged a little, looking uncomfortable, fixing his eyes on the ground, avoiding Miranda’s glare.

“How many tickets did you get?” Miranda barked at Anya.“What?” For the first time, Anya noticed a dark look in

Miranda’s eyes.“Miranda only got two tickets,” Billy explained. “I got four

—”“What am I supposed to do with two tickets?”“That’s weird,” Anya muttered. “They gave me six…” Some-

thing odd caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She ignored Miranda’s raging rants and peered behind her where she saw a boarded-up carousel ahead. Without saying a word Anya walked past them. The closer she got the more familiar the carousel became — it looked exactly like her music box — there was even a horse missing a front leg.

Part 7 of an ongoing fictional story from our staff writer andy Fidel

Tourne au Rouge

“What is it?” asked Billy.Anya stood dumbfounded in front of the carousel and

said: “It’s mine.” Miranda made circles with her finger around her ear. Billy

nudged her in the ribs with his elbow and mouthed “stop it.” He walked up behind her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Come on, let’s go find your brother.”

“Who?”“Your brother,” said Billy, “Todd.”It took Anya several seconds to realize that her brother

was lost in the carnival. But for some reason Anya didn’t feel like searching for him anymore. “Oh?” She lingered for an-other moment, looking up. The first thing she saw was the Ferris wheel which towered far above any of the circus tents. It must have been at least a hundred feet high.

“How about we look from up there,” said Anya. The line for the Ferris wheel moved forward swiftly. It

was much bigger than Anya had thought, at least a hundred feet high. At the head of the line, an old mime carefully took each of their tickets and frowned heavily each time he ripped them in half. He said nothing, but his face was scrunched up in thought. Miranda climbed into the open carriage and sat down next to Billy, followed by Anya. When she was seated the mime pressed down on the lever with all his weight and the carriage wobbled into motion. Miranda screamed excit-edly, wrapping her arms around Billy.

There was nothing to see from horizon to horizon but tree stumps and the carnival. It appeared as though they were in the middle of nowhere. As far as they could tell there were no cities or towns, forests or seas. The carriage suddenly stopped, suspending them high above the crowd that appeared no big-ger than a colony of ants. As the carriage descended, Billy was able to scan the crowds in search of Anya’s brother. He spotted a ginger boy beside Jester Thingrim.

“I think I found Todd,” said Billy, “looks like he’s in trou-ble.”

A surge of anger rose within Anya as soon as the carriage was at ground level. The boy with the ginger curls and crooked tiger mask froze and looked at her oddly as she marched to-ward him. With an angry bellow, Anya raised her hand in a threatening manner. The little boy cringed and hung his head in shame. As usual, Anya thought to herself, Todd always gets

me in trouble.“Anya!” said Jester Thingrim as he stretched out his arms

wide, palms in the air. “I was just telling your brother how worried you were.”

“Thank you for finding him Mr. Thingrim,” said Anya, and wrapped her hand tightly around his small wrist. “I’m not let-ting you out of my sight,” she hissed. A shudder went up her spine, Todd’s hand felt weirdly cold and clammy.

“I told you not to worry,” said Jester Thingrim with a grin. He leaned in so close to Todd that his nose almost touched his. “Stay with your sister,” he hissed, playfully tapping the boy’s head. Then Jester Thingrim mounted his tricycle and rode away, laughing hysterically whenever someone had to jump out of his way.

Todd immediately tried to pull himself from her gasp the moment Jester Thingrim was out of sight, but she was too strong.

“What is wrong with you?” shouted Anya. She desperately tried to keep a hold on him and get a firmer grip on his wrist, but he was literally slipping past her fingers. His eyelids flick-ered. Anya caught a glimpse of an unusual pair of black, round eyes. The boy flashed a look of panic and looked right into Anya’s blue eyes, and then bit her.

Anya let him go. “AHH! Fine, go! See if I care.”The boy ran around and through every ride, circus tent and

candy-stand as though he knew the carnival like the back of his hand. It only took him a few minutes to arrive back at the ticket booth. He made a fist of both hands and pounded on the door until the old women opened up. He lifted his mask and let it rest on top of his head.

“Hello, dearie,” chimed the three old women. “What’s the hurry?”

He tapped his long finger against his lip. Then he bent down and grasped a large brass ring, that was partially hid-den in the grass. “You were right, I’ve got a new friend,” he laughed. Then he heaved the brass ring upwards, revealing a plank of wood covering a small square hole in the ground. There was a ladder that led down to a musky chamber. The young boy climbed down and tossed his tiger mask and or-ange wig onto the bed. He hurried to the back of the room and, with a firm grip, pulled open the heavy drapes that covered a large birdcage. “Hi, Todd,” he grinned.

Illustration by Jihane Mossalim, Gallery 203

12 // Tuesday, march 5, 2013

musicWrite to the editor: [email protected]

profile // music

A masterpiece of an “accident”Ra Ra Riot grew from fledgling college band to international jetsetters

Ra Ra Riot is a kaleidoscope. Their upbeat melodies, catchy instrumen-tals and signature synths come together

to form audible shapes and patterns that their listeners won’t soon forget.

“We formed basically to play house parties around campus,” said bassist Mathieu Santos. “That was our main reason for existing, and af-ter one semester everyone was going to graduate and go our separate ways.”

For a band that’s now toured the world, in-cluding North America, Europe and Asia, they were shockingly close to not existing at all.

“It was sort of an accident,” said Santos, referring to the creation of the band outside its former college-party guise. “We had so much fun that first semester, that when it ended, we de-cided to book a small tour. … We started getting positive reviews and more people coming to our shows. Once that happened, we just decided to keep going. Here we are, seven years later, still touring.”

Santos, the only member of the band who wasn’t graduating at the time of its formation, left school to pursue music.

“I’m glad the music thing is working out,” he said with a laugh. “I always wonder what I’d be doing otherwise. I was studying painting. I’d probably be living in my parents’ house, paint-ing in my bedroom, trying to be some kind of artist.”

Ra Ra Riot’s third album, Beta Love, has a distinct sound that remains true to the roots of

JoRdie YeageRstaff writer

>> Berettas for Beyoncé //Music manager Michael “Blue” Williams has pro-posed a new initiative to help clean up New York’s streets, and he’s hoping people are willing to go from NRA to Beyoncé in order to make it work. The Guns for Greatness program seeks to offer people a chance to trade in their guns for concert tickets in the city’s first private sector gun buyback program. Though it is currently only under con-sideration, NYPD commissioner Raymond Kelly has said they’re not against the idea: “We want to get as many guns off the streets, and if this works, we’d like to support it.” If the program is given the go-ahead, Williams, who’s managed acts like Outkast and Cee-Lo Green in the past, says he’ll reach out to top stars like Jay-Z and Beyoncé for help. “The Beyoncé show is coming to Brooklyn; the Jay-Z show is coming to Yankee Stadium. Our goal is to reach out to individuals who are in my in-dustry, in my world and who I have an association with and get their support,” Williams said.

>> Pilot: Ejected //Nineties rockers Stone Temple Pilots have decid-ed that they’re better off without their frontman, as announced in their one-line press release early last week: “Stone Temple Pilots have announced they have officially terminated Scott Weiland.” The termination comes after the rumour mill started a couple of months ago, when Weiland’s ex-Velvet Revolver bandmate Slash said in an interview that STP had given him the boot. This comes as news to the frontman, however, who released a statement to Rolling Stone not long after STP’s announcement: “I learned of my supposed ‘ter-mination’ from Stone Temple Pilots this morning by reading about it in the press. Not sure how I can be ‘terminated’ from a band that I founded, fronted and co-wrote many of its biggest hits, but that’s something for the lawyers to figure out.”

>> Beautiful dark twisted rantasy //Rapper-producer Kanye West is known for both his talent and for going a little crazy on a regular basis. It’s the latter part of his infamy that’s put him back in the spotlight, after a series of rants he went on during shows in Paris and London, blasting “corporations” and the music industry, among other things. At one point in his Paris show, Yeezy compares himself to Picasso, Michelangelo, Basquiat, Walt Disney and Steve Jobs, telling the concertgoers he’ll return to the music world in two months, bringing “that real shit” with him. As in-explicable as that is, the real crazy came out during the London show, where West went on for nearly 10 minutes rapping stuff like “Can I sell your drink for you, please? So you can help me put on a better show, please? Corporations? Can you please sup-port me, please? Me, Kanye West? I swear I’m a nice nigga now. I swear I’ll put the pink Polo back on. I swear to you! Please. Just for $3 million. I need it so bad, I need a new pool in my backyard! I’ll tell all my fans that your shit is cool. And if they believe in me, then they should also believe in you.”

andReW guilbeRt staff writer

Quick spins // music

- Victoria Kendrick

Johnny Marr – The Messenger (Warner Bros.; 2013)

8.0/10

Expectations were sure to be incredibly high for Rolling Stone’s 51st greatest guitarist, Johnny Marr, as he released his first solo album, The Mes-senger on Feb. 26.

Boasting quite the impressive musical career including big-time groups such as The Smiths, Modest Mouse and The The (and that’s just to name a few), Marr’s newest addition to his highly anticipated musical roster places his signature sound front and centre.

Chock-full of riff-driven, catchier-than-the-common-cold tunes that certainly don’t fail to invigorate or impress, The Messenger displays Marr’s style in a raw, undistilled form.

Refreshingly, Marr chose to highlight instru-mentals, with crystal clear guitar and assertive drums, letting vocals, hazy and unpretentious, take a back seat.The Messenger is a collection of what we’ve come to eagerly expect. Marr is gra-ciously giving his fans what they want to hear, and who can argue with that?

Trial track: “Upstarts”

- Paul Traunero

Woodpigeon - Thumbtacks + Glue (Boompa! Records; 2013)

7.0/10

Calgary native Mark Andrew Hamilton of Wood-piegon is one of Canada’s most underappreciated singer-songwriters. With his fifth studio album, Thumbtacks + Glue, Hamilton may finally re-ceive the accolade that he rightly deserves.

Showcasing a bolder side of Woodpiegon’s lo-fi folk and baroque pop formula, this album intro-duces a more electronic edge, all while preserving Hamilton’s soft vocals and quirky songwriting.

Songs like “The Saddest Music in the World” and “Sufferin’ Suckatash” highlight an emotional release with instrumental breakdowns and whin-ing synthesizers, while “Edinburgh” emphasizes its catchy melody with the use of vocal layering. “Children Should Be Seen and Not Heard” is a total rock-out track. Ruggedly complex, while highly personal, Thumbtacks + Glue sometimes feels unstructured, but what it lacks in clarity, it makes up for in emotion and sincerity.

Trial track: “Edinburgh”

The latest offering by Australia’s PVT, pronounced and previously known as Pivot, is a steady stream of ambient distorted vocal work, a consistent skel-eton of rhythmic synth drums, and smooth, full-bodied background hums.

At first listen, the album’s tracks have a ten-dency to melt into one another, creating an almost-too-homogeneous musical soup. Upon further inspection, however, it becomes apparent that Ho-mosapien’s non-invasive sounds aren’t just white noise. They’re majoritarily pillow-soft, with the exception of a few rock-heavier tracks like “Love & Defeat” and “Casual Success,” which swap fuzzy vocals for buzzing guitar riffs instead.

Infusions of rock are all well and good, but as far as their sublime sound goes, it seems that the beautiful comes easier to PVT than the terrible. Notable tracks include “Cold Romance,” and the glitchy title track “Homosapien.”

Trial Track: “Cold Romance”

PVT - Homosapien (Felte; 2013)

- Stephanie Ullman6.5/10

its predecessors but simultaneously sprouts new branches of its own.

“The biggest change for us was our at-titude going into it,” said Santos of this per-ceptible difference. “In the past, we started to overthink things. This time around we wanted to capture the attitude we had when we first started, which was about being open to whatever was feeling good at the time.”

That attitude is reflected in their live shows as much as it is in their recordings.

“This tour’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “We tried to up our production for the first time in a long time. Having new songs to play is amazing, and they were written with the live show in mind. The shows have been pretty energetic on the whole: a lot of singing along, a lot of dancing and just having fun.”

University students’ tastes are as diverse as the musical spectrum, so it’s not hard to believe that the preferences of each member of Ra Ra Riot influence their sound. From indie to new wave to pop, Santos describes their band as a “collage.”

“It’s fun being in a band with so many peo-ple, because there’s always a huge mix going on,” he said. “Just last night everyone was tak-ing turns DJing and playing all kinds of different music for each other.”

A love for music, of course, is the force unit-ing the band. It’s also what sends them on tours worldwide, allowing them to discover aspects of the world they wouldn’t otherwise have been exposed to.

“We get to do all this travelling for free, so we try to make the most of it,” said Santos. “That’s one of the best things about this job. If you’re not careful, it can turn into this monotonous grind;

you don’t even know where you are some of the time. It’s good to go out and get the feel of wher-ever you are, even if it’s just going to a record store or a bookstore nearby.”

Between the shifting scenery flashing by their tour bus windows and their ever-evolving sound, there remains one constant: the band’s loyalty to each other.

“We’ve been together for seven years now, so it’s been a natural evolution,” said Santos. “It’s nice, because it’s the same core people making the music. We’ve changed a lot, but it still feels like us, you know?”

Ra Ra Riot play Il Motore on Thursday, March 7 at 8 p.m.

13Tuesday, march 5, 2013 //

top 10 // music

10. Trainspotting (1996)With a film as raw and twisted as Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting, it’s necessary to have a matching soundtrack. Boyle combines clas-sic rock tracks from David Bowie and Lou Reed with funky electronic music to create a chaotic score that highlights the harsh re-ality of drug addiction in Scotland during the ‘80s.

9. Wayne’s World (1992)It’s almost impossible to dissociate this Mike Myers comedy with its soundtrack; the film is fueled with monster hits like Queen’s “Bo-hemian Rhapsody” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady”. From the classics to the characters’ own musical creations, we can’t help but sing along every time we watch.

8. RockNRolla (2008)Guy Ritchie’s gangster pic has got one slick, edgy score: with fast-paced head-bangers like The Subways’ “Rock and Roll Queen” and mellow mood-setters like Lou Reed’s “The Gun”, Ritchie handcrafted a perfect sound-track for his Cockney crime film.

7. 500 Days of Summer (2009)This summer hit was packed with awesome jams; the film features tracks from the likes of Feist, Regina Spektor, the Temper Trap and The Smiths and not a single song seems out of place in any scene. This smorgasbord of great artists makes for one killer soundtrack.

6. PS I Love You (2007)This film adaptation of Cecilia Ahern’s novel by the same title makes us laugh and sob uncontrollably not only because of the heart-breaking story, but because of the beautiful soundtrack. It combines tearjerkers from James Blunt with folksy Irish tracks to create a completely heart-wrenching yet uplifting soundtrack.

[Non-Musical] Movie Soundtracks

Jessica RomeRastaff writer

5. A Night at the Roxbury (1998)It’s hard to tell what the best part of this mov-ie is: the genius comedic combination of Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan, or the perfect retro dance soundtrack. Every single song makes us wish we were at the Roxbury circa 1998 in some tacky monochromatic outfit with sky high, matching platform shoes.

4. Pulp Fiction (1994)Quentin Tarantino is known for having amaz-ing music in his films, but Pulp Fiction defi-nitely takes the cake for soundtracks. Every song blends perfectly with each scene, mak-ing it as essential to the film as any dialogue between characters. Try picturing the dance scene with any song other than Chuck Ber-ry’s “You Never Can Tell”, I dare you.

3. Inception (2010)In true Hans Zimmer fashion, the German composer delivers a soundtrack of epic pro-portions. Each track is designed to send shiv-ers down our spines and succeeds in doing so, propelling us into an eerie dreamlike state of our own.

2. Blow (2001)This amalgamation of musical genres makes Blow’s soundtrack incredibly entertaining. Disco, rock and mariachi — this soundtrack leaves literally no genre untouched. The film spans several decades, each of which is rep-resented musically, resulting in an extremely well-crafted soundtrack.

1. Snatch (2000)The genius story and cinematography of Guy Ritchie’s Snatch is rivaled only by its epic soundtrack. Each song enhances its respec-tive scene, even stealing the limelight on some occasions. With tracks covering every musical genre, the soundtrack for Snatch is quirky, captivating and just plain awesome.

sportsWrite to the editor: [email protected]

women’s basketball // sports

14 // Tuesday, March 5, 2013

men’s basketball // sports

Concordia falls by three to rivalsthe stingers women’s basketball team almost completes fourth quarter comeback

samantha miletoassistant sports editor

The Concordia Stingers fell 51-48 in the RSEQ championship game against the McGill Mar-tlets in a heartbreaking loss, despite their late comeback attempt in the fourth quarter on Saturday afternoon at Love Competition Hall.

The Stingers came out strong early in the first quarter as they took a quick 8-4 lead. However, when the Martlets tied it up at 6:22, and then took their first lead 11-8 shortly af-ter, McGill never looked back.

Stingers point guard Ashley Clarke’s two-points on a breakaway with 3:30 left in the first quarter cut the Martlet’s lead to 11-10.

One minute later, McGill forward Anneth Him-Lazarenko picked up a rebound off a missed shot to give them a 13-10 lead. The Martlets lead 19-12 at the end of the first.

Lazarenko gave her team a 23-17 lead when she picked up another rebound for a basket about halfway through the second quarter.

The Stingers replied with two quick bas-kets by Tamara Pinard-Devos and Tina Mpon-dani, respectively, making it 23-21 Martlets.

McGill finished the second quarter strong

scoring nine-straight points. They had a 32-23 lead at the half.

Stingers point guard Arianne Duchesne three-pointer with 6:37 left in the third quar-ter, cut McGill’s lead to four points and put Concordia right back in the game. The Mart-lets finished the frame strong and took a 42-34 lead after three quarters.

Less than one minute into the fourth quarter, Stingers guard Kaylah Barrett re-ceived her fifth foul of the afternoon and was fouled out for the remainder of the game.

“I think [losing Barrett] hurt her more than it hurt anybody else,” said Concordia head coach Keith Pruden. “She’s such a com-petitor. It was painful for her; it was painful for the rest of the team. She’s a big chunk of our offence. But, it happens.”

With just under five minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Stingers began their at-tempt at a comeback. For the first seven min-utes of the frame, Concordia went on a 8-2 run, making it a two-possession game.

In the final minute, Concordia’s Marilyse Roy-Viau made it a three-point game. After an intentional foul to stop the clock, Roy-Viau scored once again to make it two-point deficit with 17 seconds to play.

That’s as close as the Stingers would get. McGill narrowly won the game 51-48, and the title, in front of their home fans.

“We had trouble scoring,” Pruden said following the game. “We shot poorly from the three-point line. We didn’t shoot particu-larly well from the floor. And we were only five-for-11 on the free-throw line. Full credit to McGill for playing good defence.”

“I told my kids I’m very proud of how tough we were at the end,” he continued. “[But] you’ve got to make some shots. We

missed the opportunities that we got. We lost because we couldn’t put the ball in the basket.”

This capped off an impressive season from the Stingers, which saw them break into the CIS top 10 ranking earlier this year. This is the second consecutive season Concordia falls to the Martlets in the RSEQ Champion-ship game.

Photo by Madelayne Hajek

Concordia loses RSEQ final for the first time in three yearsmen’s basketball team fails to defend their two-straight championships

Kevin Duartesports editor

The Stingers men’s basketball team was faced with a tough away playoff game in Sher-brooke last Wednesday, as the Réseau du sport étudiant du

Québec playoffs got underway.Concordia missed their chance to secure

home-court advantage for this playoff match after failing to beat the last-place Laval Rouge et Or in the final match of the regu-lar season. For finishing third in the confer-ence, the team had to visit the second-place Bishop’s Gaiters in the semi-finals.

The first quarter was a roller-coaster. Af-ter Concordia’s 8-0 to start the game, Bish-op’s scored eight straight points to level the

score. The Gaiters stayed strong and were up 18-11 with 1:45 to play. The Stingers

scored seven straight points to tie the game after the first 10 minutes.

Concordia held a small lead for most of the second quarter. The home Gaiters team kept answering their opponents and pulled ahead with a four-point lead at halftime.

Both teams traded baskets throughout the third quarter. Concordia feverishly tried to pull ahead to no avail. It finally happened when Taylor Garner scored with 44 seconds to go. Bishop’s hit a basket right after to have a marginal one-point lead going into the final frame.

As expected, both teams went back-and-forth knowing the RSEQ championship game was on the line. Concordia managed to tie the game, but Bishop’s was able to pull ahead with a couple of baskets. The Stingers were unable to get any closer than that. Bishop’s took the game 70-63.

This ended the Stingers’ tough season. The team finished the regular season with a 9-7 record. The seven losses account for more defeats in their last two seasons com-bined.

15 Tuesday, March 5, 2013 //

profile// sports

athletes of the month // sports

A touch of gold hides behind the benchCaroline ouellette brings her leadership and experience and olympic experience to Concordia

DaviD s. lanDsmanstaff writer

Most hockey fans of all ages remember the triumphs Canada’s hockey teams went through in Vancouver 2010, when both the men and women’s teams took home the gold medal.

Caroline Ouellette, the assistant coach of the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team, was there, in the thick of the action, playing for national pride, and she recalls the memories fondly.

“It was a pretty unbelievable experience, with the whole journey leading up to it,” said Ouellette. “It was so exhausting men-tally and physically, but when we achieved our goal, the journey came to a full circle.”

Thirty-five-year-old Ouellette has had the distinction of playing in the past three Olympic games: in Salt Lake City, Torino and, most recently, in Vancouver. She has helped lead her team to a gold medal in each of them.

Serving as a leader on Team Canada, she was asked last summer if she would consid-er bringing her leadership skills to help the

Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team and work alongside Les Lawton and his 31 years of experience; Harry Yeramian and his 10 years; and her teammate on the Montreal Stars, Lisa-Marie Breton.

“Breton approached me with a proposi-tion, and it was such a great offer allowing me to coach [part-time],” said Ouellette. “I’m so very thankful to Les and his organi-zation for allowing me to join their squad.”

Not many people know this unless they’ve really done their homework but, in fact, Ouellette played half a year under Law-ton during the 2000-01 season.

“I was in the middle of a transition, I had just finished my police tech course and I figured I knew I’d get good training for Salt Lake,” she said. “Being able to go to school, get practices and for the first time being able to study in English, it really helped me. It was a great environment.”

The Rosemont native credits France St. Louis, a member of the national team since 1999 and her idol, when it comes to her style of play. She remembers attending her hockey school when she was 12, look-ing up to her and being amazed by her play. She remembers how in St. Louis’s last world championship they became teammates and

roommates.After Ouel-

lette’s short stint with the Sting-ers, she traveled south of the border and went on to play three seasons with University of Minnesota-Du-luth where she learned some of her coaching tac-tics.

“My college coach Shannon

Miller really helped make the best of all her players. She held a leadership half-full stance on winning,” explained Ouellette. “She was very open to give and take, and knew what buttons to push. It was definitely a great fit, some of the best years of my life.”

Not to be outdone, she also credits Mel-ody Davidson, her national coach in Van-couver, whom she says she has “the utmost respect” for her.

When she isn’t playing hockey for Team Canada, she is also playing for the Montre-al Stars of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, where she has helped lead her team to the Clarkson Cup in 2009 and 2010.

“When we won the Clarkson Cup, it felt just like winning the Stanley Cup,” said a smiling Ouellette. “Seeing our names en-graved on it was really special; we treat it like it’s the Stanley Cup.”

Ouellette also serves as ambassador for RBC Olympian Program, and the Right to Play initiative. Both have allowed her help showcase her skills and share her stories.

With Right to Play, in 2010, she got the opportunity to travel to Benin, Africa, a

trip she recalls as a “mind-blowing experi-ence.” She saw things around her that really grounded her, and made her realize how lucky we are.

Ouellette was also bestowed upon her by the mayor of her hometown of Rosemont with an arena in her name, what she de-scribes as “one of the most humbling things that has ever happened to me.”

At Concordia, she is nothing but thrilled to be a part of the organization.

“It’s really a great opportunity, and I’m glad to develop such a great relation-ship with the girls,” she said. “It really is the best situation. I can show my skills and they can teach me. Knowledge gained and acquired.”

Next up for Ouellette is the women’s na-tional tournament in the beginning of April. Afterwards she hopes to join Team Cana-da at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

“Going there and representing my coun-try again would be unbelievable,” said Ouellette. “But for now, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Athletes of the Month: FebruaryThe Concordian selects some of the Stingers’ most stand-out athletes

Kevin Duartesports editor

MEN’S HOCKEY - ANTONIO MASTROPIETRO

The Montreal native finished the season on a high note, cementing his status as the team’s number one goaltender entering the 2013-14 season. Mastropietro played all four games in February, compiling a 2-1-1 record, 2.00 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage, and a shutout.

- Anthony Abbondanza, Concordian staff writer

WOMEN’S HOCKEY - MALLORY LAWTONDespite going winless in the month in February, Concordia Stingers captain Mallory Lawton led the women’s hockey team with two goals. She netted goals in the final two games of the sea-

son, against Ottawa and McGill respectively.The tallies were the final two of her five-year

career with the organization, one that is synon-ymous with the name ‘Lawton’. The women’s hockey team failed to make the playoffs this year.

- David S. Landsman, Concordian staff writer

MEN’S BASKETBALL - EVENS LAROCHEThe men’s basketball team had a busy month, playing six regular season games and one in the playoffs. The Stingers had a losing record of 3-4, and subsequently had their season come to an end with a semi-final loss to Bishop’s.

Forward Evens Laroche made a significant contribution in each game throughout the month. Offensively he led Concordia with an impressive average of 15.1 points a game. He was also the team’s leading scorer in three of the seven encounters. Laroche averaged 25.6 minutes per game.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL - KAYLAH BARRETTThe women’s basketball also had a busy

month of February. Like the men’s team, they also played seven games total, six regular sea-son and one playoff game. Concordia posted a 5-2 record, including a semi-final victory over UQÀM this past week.

Guard Kaylah Barrett was a major part of the team’s success during the month. She played in all seven games and averaged 14.6 points per game. She led the team in four of these games, most recently in the playoff game where she scored a team-high 17 points. She was named Athlete of the Week, twice by Concordia in Feb-ruary.

MEN’S SOCCER - ANDREW BRYANThe men’s soccer team wrapped up their regu-lar season with four matches this month. The Stingers had a 1-3 record, with the one victory coming against former league-leaders Montréal

Carabins. The team has one playoff match to play this coming Sunday.

Striker Andrew Bryan scored three times in his four appearances. He scored a volley in the team’s 5-3 loss to UQTR and scored a brace in Concordia’s 2-0 clean-sheet victory over the Carabins the following week.

WOMEN’S SOCCER - JENNIFER DUFFThe women’s soccer team had a roller-

coaster month. They had a 2-2 record in four lopsided matches. Concordia started the month with a 3-1 win over UQTR, followed by a 3-0 loss to Montréal, 4-0 win against UQÀM and a 7-0 defeat to Laval. The team will rematch Laval in the playoffs.

Striker Jennifer Duff continued to lead the team. She had three goals in the four match-es, scoring a double against UQÀM. Duff was named MVP in three of the four encounters. She leads the league in this category with four MVP selections.

Photo by writer

Photo by Phil Bocchia

theconcordian women’s hockey // sports

16 // Tuesday, March 5, 2013

SCORE BOARD

Sunday, March 10Women’s Soccer: concordia Stingers @ Laval rouge et Or at 3:30 p.m. (Stade Telus - Playoffs)Men’s Soccer: concordia Stingers @ uQTr Patriotes at 3:30 p.m. (centre alphonse-desjardins - Playoffs)

Upcoming games

WedneSday, Feb. 27Women’s basketball: Concordia Stingers 65-62 UQÀM Citadins (RSEQ Semi-Final Game) Men’s basketball: Bishop’s Gaiters 70-63 Concordia Stingers (RSEQ Semi-

Final Game)

SaTurday, March 2Women’s basketball: McGill Martlets 51-48 Concordia Stingers (RSEQ Champion-ship Game)

A season with plenty to learn froma review of the women’s hockey season

DaviD s. lanDsmanstaff writer

When you look up the statistics of the Con-cordia Stingers women’s hockey team from the 2012-13 season it may look bleak, or disap-pointing — however it may not be a complete oversight.

Coming into the season, there was a mix of new and old. Head coach Les Lawton returned for his astonishing 31st season behind the bench with his 600-plus victories. Alongside him were returning assistant coaches Harry Yeramian, Lisa-Marie Breton and goaltending coach Dave Pare. A new face, and welcome addition to the Stingers coaching staff, was three-time Olympic-gold medalist Caroline Ouellette, teammate of Breton on the Montreal Stars. She signed a contract in the offseason to work part-time with the Stingers.

When you looked at the roster, it was a lot of inexperience at the varsity level, with a stag-gering eight rookies.

Up front, you also still had the leadership of recently-named captain Mallory Lawton, as-sistant captains Emilie Bocchia and Erin Lally,

and the veterans Veronique Laramee-Paquette and Alyssa Sherrard.

On the back end was a mass rebuild with many rookie defenders inserted into the lineup. You had the leadership and experience from

Laurie Proulx-Duperre, Gabrielle Meilleur and Mary-Jane Roper to help the new crop ease into their new careers.

Between the pipes was also a tandem with only two games experience in Concordia’s ma-roon and gold colors. Carolanne Lavoie-Pilon was the sophomore goaltender who played two games in the 2011-12 season, both in relief. Rookie Chelsey Hodges got the nod to serve as the alternate goaltender, meanwhile Caroline Switalski and Michelle Purdie would serve as third and fourth goaltenders respectively.

The team started the year with a tournament in Toronto, where they took one of three games, defeating the York Lions 4-0 in exhibition play.

The first game of the season showed a great example of a young and inexperienced team. Concordia dropped an 8-1 decision at the hands of their cross-town rivals, the num-ber-one nationally ranked McGill Martlets.

They bounced back, however, and con-tinued to play close games all throughout the season, dropping many one-goal games that would inevitably prove crucial to the Stingers not making a trip to the postseason yet again.

They salvaged their first win in their fourth game of the year, defeating the Ottawa Gee-Gees in a 3-2 shootout at the Minto Sportsplex on Oct. 27, with Lally getting the decisive shootout tally.

Their only other victory came at home at Ed Meagher Arena, Nov. 16, narrowly es-caping another shootout and beating the Carleton Ravens 2-1 with Bocchia getting the clincher.

Overall it was a hard year for the Stingers who only finished the season with five points. They couldn’t get past McGill or the Mon-tréal Carabins despite some close calls. Their goal scoring wasn’t always the factor as they were able to get some production from every player.

At the end of the season, it was also time to say goodbye to four players who had solid careers with the Stingers. Forwards Bocchia, Laramee-Paquette, Lawton and blueliner Proulx-Duperre all hung up their skates. This will open the door for the sophomores to step up and the rookies to take what they’ve learned throughout the year to expand to a more productive 2013-14 campaign.

The ConCordia STingerS women’S hoCkey Team played a Tough SeaSon and only managed To finiSh iT off wiTh a ToTal of five poinTS.

17 Tuesday, March 5, 2013 //

Write to the editor: [email protected]

editorial // opinions

opinions

bilingualism // opinions

Quebec’s struggle to embrace bilingualism Why Bill 14 has completely backfired

GrÉGory Wilsonstaff writer

Quebec, for many years, has been a melting pot of various cultures, languages and customs. There was even a time when francophones were justifiably worried they would lose their language and culture as time went on.

However, Quebec has instead grown to ac-cept herself as a true bilingual state. Although still aware of her need to protect the French culture, she accepts her English side as well.

And yet, there are still political parties set on making language an issue once again.

Apart from tuition fees and ensuing riots, recent news in Quebec revolves around the notorious “pastagate” and the effects Bill 14 will have on our society if the PQ government successfully passes it through the National As-sembly.

Colin Standish is a third-year law student at Université de Laval. He is president and Ed-itor-in-chief of the Revue Juridique des étudi-ants et étudiantes de l’Université de Laval. Last week, Standish was also on the popular Que-bec television show Tout le monde en parle to speak out against this bill.

‘‘Bill 14 is an amendment to the Charter of the French Language. But the government is not actually protecting French, it’s taking away the rights of other groups,’’ said Standish to the Concordian.

For example, one of the proposed laws is to strip the bilingual status of those Quebec mu-nicipalities and boroughs that are composed of

50 per cent or less anglophones.The mayors of these municipalities decid-

ed they would not go down without a fight. Last week, Pierrefonds-Roxboro got the major-ity of the Union of Quebec Municipalities to help defend its bid to remain bilingual. Even francophone mayors supported the decision.

Longueuil is considered a PQ stronghold but it too is backing Pierrefonds-Roxboro. It is also actively supporting its own borough, Greenfield Park, in its quest to remain bilin-gual.

Ironically enough, the bill also has legisla-tion that would hinder francophones.

The bill proposes to base the CÉGEP ap-plication process on the language spoken by the students’ parents. Anglophone CÉGEPS will have to accept all anglophones applying before considering francophone applications.

‘‘The application process will not be on academic merit anymore and so this will re-duce the quality of education in Quebec,’’ said Standish.

According to him, another highly conten-tious aspect of the bill is the right it will give to the Office Québécois de la langue française to search and seize ‘‘anything from your busi-ness without warning’’ if they find it objec-tionable.

After “pastagate” blew up in the OQLF’s face, other businesses came forward to re-count their run-ins with them. The general idea was that even ‘‘on/off’’ labels for light switches needed to be changed to French. Does that mean the proposed seizures would include anything remotely English?

Twitter erupted with both English and French speaking Quebecers mocking the OQLF over the pasta debacle.

This unity of voices alone shows that there is solidarity between Francophones and An-

glophones in Quebec, despite what seems to be an effort by the PQ government to create new divisions between them.

The PQ is wrong in thinking that French will die off in the future if we don’t take strong action today and expand Bill 101. According to Statistics Canada, new immigrants seem to be eagerly adopting French as their main lan-guage in 2011. It is actually their use of English that is waning.

The PQ government is trying to reinforce their base of francophones for the coming elections, but Bill 14 is not achieving its in-tended objective. Rather, it will only appeal to those few xenophobic cells that still persist in a largely accepting Quebec.

Francophones in general will not rally behind them as they once would. Instead, they’re rallying behind the anglophones and fighting back.

Graphic by Jennifer Khan

Wanted: someone who is not NadineCsU infighting leaves Concordia students too long without a president at the helm

You’d think being president of the Concordia Student Union was the worst job in the world. That’s how it seems when executives are run-ning scared at the sheer mention of the open po-sition. The CSU has been without a leader since former President Schubert Laforest resigned in February due to health reasons.

The ongoing tug-of-war between CSU coun-cil and the executive concerning who to appoint as a new president is, at its core, tiresome and illogical. Clearly, no executive other than VP in-ternal and clubs Nadine Atallah wants to take on the role. It’s a wonder to us that she is willing in the first place.

Taking on “presidential duties,” whatever they may be, seems to be an undertaking which

makes other executives shake in their boots. If someone is willing to grin and bear it while passing their own portfolio off to someone else, then why create needless obstacles?

Then again, the objections to Atallah’s can-didacy are legitimate; primarily that she is not a suitable choice because she cannot sit on the university’s Senate and Board of Governors. While there is no question that the person rep-resenting Concordia’s undergraduate student body should be sitting on its governing bod-ies, people are too quick to forget that Laforest wasn’t eligible to sit on either for the duration of his time in office.

The fact is, the decision of council not to ac-cept Atallah’s candidacy, whatever the justifica-

tion, should be respected. All year we have seen a systematic approach by the CSU executive to make decision behind closed doors and then try to force council’s stamp of approval.

Clearly more than one councillor has picked up on this trend over time and are now choos-ing to take a stand. They have been picking their battles all year and this, it seems, will be the final standoff.

After a member of the executive threatened to sue council if they did not approve Atallah’s bid for the top spot, we can understand and even sympathize with council’s frustration. What we don’t understand is why the executive think even for a second that they will be able to push their candidate of choice through, despite

the objections, by sheer force of will. Forcing a candidate is unfair to council and

unfair to the students the CSU represents. Atal-lah was shot down, they should accept it. Time for a new plan.

In the meantime, while the CSU wastes weeks on a Judicial Board decision over the interpretation of bylaw 7.4 and procedure for choosing a new president, the title of president and accompanying duties go untouched. This is not remotely the quality of service which students deserve. If a president is needed, then someone has to step up. It may not be the most appealing job but someone has to do it and all things considered, an unpopular president is better than no president at all.

theconcordian sports // opinions

18 // Tuesday, March 5, 2013

ottawa // opinions

Potential criminal will continue to make ends meetBrazeau’s case pulls senate into question

AriAnA TriGUeros-CorBoAssistant arts editor

Politics is a tricky game when it comes to strategic alliances. Everyone has dirty secrets, just waiting to be uncovered, the kind that can turn the ideal candidate

into a political party’s worst nightmare. Politi-cians are like time bombs: they are waiting to explode with erratic behaviour, the kind that can either unveil their full potential or destroy it completely.

During the 2008 elections, Patrick Brazeau was Stephen Harper’s secret weapon. The Liberals were in the midst of trying to pass the Kelowna Accord, an attempt at tentatively making peace between the federal govern-ment and the aboriginal communities. In an article published in The National Post on Feb. 13, journalist Ira Basen underlined that, in the midst of the 2008 electoral fever, the soon-to-be outgoing Liberal Party had argued that only they could maintain the momentum necessary to push through with the Kelowna Accord.

At the time, by getting Brazeau on his side, Stephen Harper had found a way for the Conservatives to say that they were equally

concerned for their voters, just in a different way. In other words, Brazeau was the key to Harper seeking out the swing vote in aborigi-nals.

Now, with his golden boy Senator being charged with both assault and sexual assault, our Prime Minister is probably secretly kicking

himself. Upon hearing about the allegations, Senator Brazeau was immediately removed from the Conservative caucus. Brazeau now sits as an independent, at the back of the Sen-ate.

Despite this, Brazeau is not truly being left to fend for himself; although he has been dis-

missed for his actions, the Senator will still be entitled to the $132,000 annual salary that he receives as a member of the Senate. This is exactly the kind of incident that has had the Canadian electorate questioning the perti-nence of the political body that is the Senate altogether.

The number of scandals related to fraudu-lent expense reports for this political body is ever increasing and, to parallel recent political activity in Quebec, the more we dig, the more we uncover ugly truths.

In light of this, it only seems legitimate that taxpayers would want some sort revision made in order to establish whether we actu-ally need a Canadian Senate. After all, if it’s going to cost $90 million to maintain annu-ally, it better be worth every penny.

Brazeau’s case underlines the point that although we are definitely functioning in the confines of a democratic parliamentary sys-tem, perhaps we should revisit the idea of our “checks and balances” system. After all, we, responsible Canadian voters, elect the Prime Minister and, in turn, he appoints the Sena-tors as needed. Is that constitutional to begin with? Reworking this procedure to include some sort validation system would require amending the Constitution and, necessarily, some sort of Canadian consensus on behalf of most provinces on an array of “touchy” top-ics. This can only make voters wonder what kind of major scandal will have to be uncov-ered for us to consider “updating” the Cana-dian political machine, once and for all.

Unchecked checking will lead to troubleWhy we should be keeping violence away from younger players

GreGory TodAroAssistant opinions editor

We all love a good hockey hit. One of my fa-vourite parts of the game is seeing a player line up his opponent perfectly and knock him into another time zone (see P.K. Subban’s hit on Brad Marchand), and I know I’m not alone.

While this rough physical play has become ingrained into hockey culture, the quantity of violent plays at the youth level has been in-creasing too rapidly for comfort. Between 2008 and 2009, the number of penalties for serious hits to the head doubled in the Greater Toron-to Hockey League. In 2010, the GTHL added and built on rules in order to better protect the players. Now it’s having parents fill out a sur-vey on more strict body checking rules, trying to figure out where to draw the line.

Having parental involvement is one of the best ways for any league to establish its safety rules, especially determining the appro-priate age when checking should be allowed in the game. While officials of any league are involved with the children who play, it’s the parents who see more directly the effects the sport is having on their children. By giving parents a say in the safety issues, it allows for a much safer game.

There’s no question that safety precau-tions at young ages need to get revamped; when a team of 11-year-olds at the minor peewee AA levels sees seven concussions, ob-viously something is lacking. With the new

regulations the GTHL is suggesting, such as banning checking in the A division and in-creasing the checking age to 13 instead of 11, it would more than likely help cut back on the number of young concussions. While this increase in violence isn’t just limited to the youth teams of Toronto, having the world’s largest competitive minor hockey league in the world (which contains over 40,000 young players) take a stand against this violence will help bring about change in the hockey world.

No matter how much you enjoy the check-ing aspect of the sport, it’s important that leagues limit the amount that younger play-ers are allowed to hit. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises that hockey leagues ban body checking for any ages younger than 16. The AAP also claims that good sportsmanship programs as well as the education of coach-es, players and parents, all help reduce the number of injury and penalty rates in youth hockey.

The Canadian Paediatric Society also stresses the importance of educating coaches and trainers about body checking, along with “implementing Hockey Canada’s four-stage skill development program for body checking (body positioning, angling, stick checking and body contact) for all leagues.” The CPS also recommends banning body checking in all recreational/non-competitive men’s hockey leagues.

We have nothing to lose on protecting young players. Keeping the game safe, even if that means eliminating body checking at younger levels and less competitive leagues, is the best way to prevent serious injuries to hockey youth. Most young players will never make it to the NHL, and the last thing we need is for our next generation to be permanently injured in ways that could have easily been prevented.

Photo from Flickr

Photo from Flickr

As always, the Boston Bruins/Montreal Ca-nadiens rivalry rarely fails to impress fans. Sunday night’s game

was particularly intense because both teams

were fighting for first in the East. Needless to say, things got ugly fast,

and there was no lack of entertainment. Here

are the best tweets from last night’s game!

@CharmPantiesOff:“Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara took a face off in last night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens — Alexei Emelin’s.”

@Mainely_Hockey: “Ok. Type into You Tube “Montreal dive” the first vid is hockey. Type in “Boston dive” it takes 8 videos... I’m just saying”

@FlipFlopHockey: “Hey Claude Julien and the Boston Bruins!! Montreal faking?!! Seguin was so hurt that he played over 7 minutes in the third! Miracle?!”

@mrbananacheeks: “Last night’s post game interviews - Montreal gives credit to the other team, Boston whines about diving and what not. Grow up”

@the_polemicist: “You know who’s pissed the most about Boston/Toronto/Montrealall not sucking simultaneously? Florida. Enjoy your higher cap floor!”

Concordia’s weekly,

independent student

newspaper.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Vol. 30 Issue 23

theconcordian

Marilla Steuter-Martin

[email protected]

Sophia loffreda

production [email protected]

Kalina lafraMboiSe

news editor [email protected]

Stephanie la leggia

life [email protected]

aManda l. Shore

Arts [email protected]

Stephanie ullMan

Music [email protected]

Kevin duarte

sports [email protected]

george MenexiS

opinions [email protected]

Madelayne hajeK

photo [email protected]

nataSha taggart

alySSa treMblay

online [email protected]

jennifer Kwan

Graphics [email protected]

robin della Corte

Matthew guite

Assistant news [email protected]

Sara baron-goodMan

Assistant life editor

ariana trigueroS-Corbo

Assistant arts editor

SaMantha Mileto

Assistant sports editor

gregory todaro

Assistant opinions editor

ChriStine beaton

Sara King-abadi

elizabeth toMaraS

Copy [email protected]

Cynthia dupuiS

nathalie laflaMMe

production assistants

editorial offiCe

7141 sherbrooke st. W. - CC.431Montreal, QC H4B 1r6

514.848.2424 x7499 (editor-in-Chief)

514.848.2424 x7404 (production)

brennan neilltySon lowrieCindy lopez

ruben baStienBoard of directors

[email protected]

Staff writerS and ContributorS saturn de los Angeles, nicole yeba, Victor Barbaros, Andy Fidel, Felicia

di palma, roa Gawad, Jordie yeager, Jessica romera, Andrew

Guilbert, david s, landsman, Greogry Wilson.

the etc. page // opinions

Letters to the editorAn ideological divide

If you read The Concordian last week, you might have noticed that I stole their front-page headline.

Pasted boldly across a photograph of student protesters marching alongside riot police, ‘An Ideological Divide’ describes the tense feelings in downtown Montreal last week. It also describes the feeling I got when I looked at their photo.

The photo of riot police and protesters marching side-by-side had been manipulated. Manipulated, edited, altered, changed—call it what you will. The fact remains that the picture was sliced in two using Adobe InDesign: the middle of the picture was edited out, bringing the protesters and police closer together.

Is this kind of photo manipulation unethical? I believe it is. Does it matter what the intentions of the editors were? Linda Kay, chair of the Journalism Department at Concordia University, believes that it does. “It’s not a great decision,” she said. “But it is important that you ask them what their intentions were.”

I sat down with the editor-in-chief of The Concordian, Marilla Steuter-Martin, to talk about why they chose that picture and why they chose to manipulate it.

“We had a lot of options for the front page,” she said. “We had to decide, ‘Which part of the protest do we want to represent?’ The article that we had was about two opposing sides.”

The original photograph has a snow bank right down the middle that divides two lines of marching riot police and student protesters. When you look at it, your eye immediately follows the line of the snow bank until it hits a silver Toyota parked right in the middle of the picture. The edited version places a protester closer to the car and changes the geom-etry of the picture, thus shifting the focus.

“The change was purely aesthetic,” said Steuter-Martin. “We thought that a really subtle change would take the focus off the car in the middle and put the focus onto the people.”

If you want to compare the two pictures the original is on The Concordian’s website. “We put the original online because we don’t have anything to hide,” said Steuter-Mar-tin.

The editors at The Concordian used an editing tool to manipulate a photograph for aesthetic reasons. Some will argue that it was their intent that mattered. In the words of their editor-in-chief: “It wasn’t an attempt to make it seem like it was more tense than it was.” They weren’t trying to mislead people.

Still, I disagree.Yes, this kind of photo manipulation is unethical. No, it does not matter what their

intentions were.As a photojournalist I simply cannot understand editing a photograph like this. Pho-

tojournalists strive to take photographs that tell the story of what they see. Sure, news photographs have an aesthetic appeal. But they also provide a window into the reality of a particular moment.

Chopping out a piece of that reality—no matter how small—is unacceptable, regard-less of the intent. If there is a car in the middle of the picture and you don’t like it, you should use a different picture.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be so surprised. Nowadays I can take a picture with my iPhone in downtown Montreal when it’s -30 degrees, blow out the colours, ramp up the saturation, add a little lens-flare and—hey look!—I’m in the Bahamas.

Aesthetics should never jeopardize the integrity of a news photograph or of a photo-journalists, which is why it will never be okay to manipulate a news photograph in such a way.

-Gabriel Ellison-Scowcroft

With seasonal depression hitting even the best of us, this week’s feature recipe is a versatile, creative meal

that can be spiced up a night of solo dining or even a much a grander dinner party. Ceviche, for those of you who have never had the chance to try it, is a seafood dish that’s extremely popular in a variety of countries in both Central and South America.

INGREDIENTS1 lb. of frozen shrimp½ cup of freshly squeezed lime juice½ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice½ red or white onion, finely diced1 cup of diced, seeded tomatoes1 cup of diced cucumber1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce1 tsp. of saltTomato juice (ex: Clamato)Tabasco sauce

From our kitchen: ceviche!STEPS BY STEP1) Ceviche doesn’t actually re-quire you to dice your ingredients particularly finely, a grosschopping job will make it more appealing visually, more colorful. Toss the diced tomato,cucumber, onions and parsley into a large mixing bowl, prefer-ably made of ceramic or glass, so as to avoid having the ceviche take on any additional flavors while it marinates.

2) Proceed to mix in Worcester-shire sauce, tomato juice and Ta-basco sauce. Quantity of tomato juice required in your recipe will vary based on how ripe your tomatoes are and how much ad-ditional liquid is required to create a “marinating base” for your ceviche. As for the Tabasco sauce, that obviously depends on how spicy you like your food. Season with salt.

3) Allow ceviche to marinate in the fridge for an hour. Then remove to stir the mixture. Make sure you mix thoroughly so that all the fish can mari-

nate in juice. Repeat this process over the span of a few hours: the long the ceviche marinates, the more it will take on the taste of the rest of the ingredients, making it richer.

We recommend serving this plate with crackers or tortilla chips, the same way you would serve a tomato-based salsa. Make sure you provide some sort of starch and, if you can get your hands on some, serve with fresh cilantro.

AriAnA TriGUeros -CorBoAssistant arts editor

Events of the week: March 5Tuesday -

+THEATRE - TRAD - 20h - Centaur Theatre

Wednesday -

+THEATRE - Cornered - 20h - Bain St-Michel

Friday -

+THEATRE - The Mahalia Jackson Musical - 20h - Segal Centre

+ART- Vincent Bonin lecture - 18h- FOFA Gallery

Saturday -

+CINEMA POLITICA - Status Quo? The Unfinished Business of

Feminism in Canada - 19h - H-100