In the spirit of sharing ideas worth spreading, TedxConcordia Talks is coming to the D.B. Clarke theatre on May 3.
TED is not-for-profit organization that started as four-day conference in California 25 years ago. Devoted to finding ideas worth spreading, TED now has multiple initiatives to support people who have world-changing ideas.
TEDx is one of these initiatives; the “x” stands for an independently organized TED event. The “x” program promotes local, self-organized events to bring together inspiring individuals to spark discussion amongst a group.
There will be 13 speakers in total, however only 11 speakers have been announced so far as organizers have not finalized the last two speakers.
So far the speakers include Andrew Gonzalez who will be discussing scientific solutions that are necessary to reconnect nature’s networks to be more sustainable as a result of ongoing human pressure.
Diana Bronson, director of Food Secure Canada, will be there to speak about practical solutions to problems in our food system.
Francois Legare will explain how scientific research has changed and is helping us bring about a better future.
Henry Tsang, a professional and sustainable architect who is a member of Emergency Architects of Canada and Habitat for Humanity, will be speaking about reconstructing and rebuilding communities after disasters.
Nicholas Venelosi and Mehdi Sabzalian will be speaking about the importance of re-emerging space exploration in the 21st century.
Eric Spano is a former public accountant who is heavily involved in digital
currencies. He plans to discuss the advantages digital currency offers to finance, law and society as a whole.
Omen is an artist who specializes in street art and spray paint, he wants to share his ideas about creativity which he believes cannot be contained within a classroom.
Eliane Ubalijore is a scientist of research, policy and business and will be speaking about her plans to have her home continent of Africa viewed as a continent of opportunities rather than a continent of abounding problems.
David Roemmele will be speaking about our societies’ constant search for wealth and want for more and will explain how yoga can be the answer to this desire and “create true wealth.”
David Zangwill will be talking about his experience as a dancer and how the “Dancefloor” experience can be transcended into everyday moments.
Students and staff are required to register online before the event and are encouraged to do so as soon as possible since there is a limit of 400 spots. Registration requires a brief self-description and two words you feel best describe you; these are the guidelines followed by all TED Talk events.
“Since space is limited the [TedxConcordia team] are looking for students who will spark conversation, who will come to the event to be inspired and who hope to someday inspire others,” explained the event’s curator Nicolas Feller.
The TEDxConcordia event is still looking for its final two speakers and it is possible to nominate a fellow student, professor or Montrealer. They are looking for intriguing, interesting and fascinating individuals who can share and deliver their idea or experience in an 18-minute TED Talk-style speech.
The Community Matters affiliation took the vote in the CSU general election, with candidates from their team filling all eight executive positions after approximately 3, 100 students voted this past week.
CSU’s Chief Electoral Officer, Andre-Marcel Baril stated that it was “the best voter turnout in three years.”
Votes for Community Matters affiliation were double or more for almost every position.
The 2014-2015 CSU executives will be; Ben Prunty for president, Heather Nagy for VP Finance, Jessica Cabana for VP Sustainability, Terry Wilkings for VP Academic, Katherine Bellini for VP Clubs & Internal Affairs, Charles Bourassa for VP Student Life, Gabriel Velasco for VP Loyola, and Anthony Guertin-Banton for VP External & Mobilization.
For CSU Council the spot for independent councillor has been filled, all three Fine Arts positions have been filled, all five John Molson School of Business positions have been filled, all 14 Arts & Science spots have been filled. For Engineering & Computer Science all four spots have been filled; however, ENCS councillor Kyle Arseneau may be disqualified after Baril accused him of violating rules and regulations of the campaign via Facebook. The decision is now in the hands of the CSU Judicial Board, with a decision expected within the next few days.
Community Matters leader and newly elected CSU President Ben Prunty believed strongly in his affiliation as a team and not just in himself. While a mixed executive team was what students and current council had predicted, Prunty was ecstatic to have his entire team elected in together, placing a firm sustainable future in the CSU’s hands.
“It was really great to see such congruence between our vision for the CSU and that of the students which we’re here to represent and work for,” said Prunty.
Community Matters presents themselves as a cohesive team that are all on the same page and who have had experience working together in the past.
“This means that we are well positioned to play to our individual strengths for the benefit of student projects, and student based-projects,” explained Prunty.
With promise of a community-based approach the affiliation explains that that is exactly what they will bring. The main plan for the future is to empower and unite the student-base by including as many individual students and student groups as possible in the CSU’s processes and discourse.
With such a dominant win over the election, Community Matters feels they won because they reached the largest number of students.
“We think it is a combination of being active and consistent all year, being confident in our own qualifications for each of our positions, having teammates that are connected to the community-at-large, having projects that we are already working on steadily, and our emphasis on one-on-one conversations with students,” said Prunty on behalf of the team.
This past campaign was one the most competitive the CSU had seen in years with three complete affiliations and two independent councillors running. Community Matters said that is was an honour to run against such dedicated students.
“We hope that people are not discouraged, and that those with aspirations of further civic engagement continue to refine their skills and build leadership in society where they see it lacking,”said Prunty.
To the high number of students who went out and voted in the general election Prunty said, on behalf of Community Matters;
“Thank you for the privilege you have granted us, and you can count on us to do our best all year to fulfill the projects that we spoke about during our campaign, and to bring as many benefits as possible to students for the short and long term.”
For a more information on the outcome of the CSU elections please visit: csuelections.wordpress.com/category/csu-elections-2014/ .
(Councillors listed in highest to lowest votes per faculty)
Facebook and Instagram campaigns are just an excuse for compliments. Graphic by Jenny Kwan.
The new wave of social media nominations are doing nothing for awareness
Am I the only one seriously not feeling these incredibly awkward Facebook and Instagram nominations? Are these actually in the slightest way relevant to a meaningful cause at all? This is a strongly worded letter of my hatred of “no makeup” or “cock in a sock” nominations and “awareness campaigns” that are plaguing social media.
Where do I even begin? First off, how does taking a selfie do anything for cancer? If you actually want to raise money or awareness for cancer, taking a selfie and saying it’s for “cancer awareness” certainly doesn’t do anything beyond feeding your ego and being fooled into thinking that you’re actually making a contribution to society. Please get off your lazy rear and run, bike, or even walk in a weekend to end cancer event if that’s actually what you want to do.
Why are people so obsessed with these fake “raise cancer awareness” campaigns? It started off with a weird array of shocking statuses that would scare your family into thinking you were like 16 and pregnant or reporting on your fave sex position for the world wide web to see. I mean, was I the only one who Googled statuses that said things like “I like it on the table” from my 56-year-old aunt or “I like it on the stairs” from my 13-year-old cousin?
Facebook and Instagram campaigns are just an excuse for compliments. Graphic by Jenny Kwan.
Upon searching Google I discovered it was for “cancer awareness.” Well, the statuses never even mentioned cancer, all they did was haunt me for half an hour while I frantically searched for a reasonable explanation (which I still have yet to find) and tried to overcome overly vivid images of my family having sex…
This shock value approach is something men are definitely aware of. I dare you to search #cockinasock. Apparently, men have taken to Facebook and Instagram, stripped down, and literally put their cock in a sock in the name of “prostate cancer awareness.”
Now, should you actually dare to take a look, your reaction will be something like “AHHHHH” or “oh my god, oh my god, AHHHH,” and it will actually make you think of prostates, wieners, shlongs…you get it.
Then, there’s the no makeup selfie nomination, which has literally consumed my news feed. Not only do 95 per cent of these photos make me want to vomit, but I tend to notice a type of girl so vain that they, clearly still wearing makeup, try to rake in compliments like “omg you’re like totally naturally pretty.”
So if we can agree that not wearing makeup, or worse, pretending not to wear makeup and taking a gratuitous selfie does nothing beneficial for cancer research, why we are focusing on the face to create breast cancer awareness? While I can understand the notion that mentioning breast cancer can make people think about it and maybe that thought could turn into a potential donation, what does this makeupless selfie have to do with it?
You want to shock me? You want me to think about breast cancer from a photo you post onto my news feed? Then ladies please, unbutton your tops and show me the real deal: shock the hell out of me by flashing your breasts on social media and then I might actually think of breast cancer for like five whole minutes.
Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz tour came to the Bell Centre this past Saturday night to take over Montreal, at least for any girl in their tweens, teens or twenties.
The screams started in the line outside the Bell Centre before you could even enter the building, and they only got increasingly louder as the night progressed. Thousands of girls in crop tops, spandex and pleather swarmed into the arena smiling, squealing and “literally dying.”
Opening up the show was Swedish pop duo, Icona Pop. Dressed in futuristic looking outfits reminiscent of Milla Jovovich’s character Leeloo in the movie The Fifth Element, they pumped up the ‘smilers’ (Miley fans) with their fantastic energy. Dancing, jumping and rolling all around the stage, the duo opened with their hit “All Night,” finished with their first hit “I Love It” and even played a plastic kazoo somewhere in between.
More than 17,000 people packed the Bell Centre for Miley Cyrus on Saturday night.
After a short intermission, the room went black and screams louder than any you’ve ever heard in your entire life pierced your eardrums and took over the arena. It was time: Miley Cyrus was going to be on stage in a matter of mere moments.
A huge projection of Cyrus’ face including her rolling eyes rose from the floor, then her projected mouth opened and let out a huge tongue-shaped slide. As the tongue descended anticipation silenced the screamers, but when Cyrus began to slide down, the screams got louder than what I had imagined to be humanly possible.
Opening with her song “SMS (Bangerz),” Cyrus danced with a flock of fuzzy animal mascots and back-up dancers of all shapes and sizes while ‘90s inspired cartoons lit up the backdrop.
Her props included a gold truck, a giant bed, a monstrous owl and a huge, jumbo hot dog that descended from the ceiling; which of course Cyrus got on and rode while it floated all around the stage.
The concert also had a twerkfest, a kiss-cam during her song “Adore You” which scoured the audience and encouraged friends, couples and strangers to make out, and a grandma sitting front-row who threw her gigantic bra at Cyrus.
While some parts of the concert were expected, like her obscure bodysuits, sticking out her tongue or her endorsement of marijuana, there were many highlights fans were not expecting.
Cyrus showed her passion for entertainment and her dedication to her fans by singing many extra songs and really engaging as much as possible with her audience. Cyrus covered and performed “Jolene” by Dolly Parton, “The Scientist” by Coldplay, “Summertime Sadness” by Lana Del Rey and also brought out a few of her older songs.
Finishing off her set with “We Can’t Stop” and “Wrecking Ball,” the two biggest singles off the album thus far, Cyrus only left fans begging and screaming for more. As some of the crowd started to exit the stadium, a row of eight girls wearing matching white crop tops, jean shorts, pig buns and red lipstick warned the other concert-goers: “IT’S NOT DONE YET!”
Cyrus appeared for her final act dressed in an American flag bodysuit, a blonde wig and white leather cowboy boots with a matching hat. Every tween, teen and twenty-something knew it was time for “Party in the USA.”
A student’s guide to who council is and what they do
The Concordia Student Union (CSU) represents and provides services for over 30,000 undergraduate students at Concordia University, but did you know that the decision making force behind the executives are the councillors?
With most of the attention focused on the executive candidates, The Concordian wanted to reach out to councillors and councillor candidates to share with students a better understanding of what they do, and why it is essential to look into students running for councillor positions as well as the executive spots.
The council is the CSU’s board of directors. Council is made up of 30 students; 16 from Arts & Science, three from Fine Arts, three Independent students, six John Molson students, and four Engineering and Computer Science students. Your elected councillors are responsible for representing your wants and needs as a student at Concordia. A councillor position is unpaid and is thus comprised of a group of students who are passionate and dedicated to advocating the wants and needs of their peers.
“It’s council who makes the decisions, and directs the executive. We’re literally directors, the board of directors for the union, and we’re the ones who pass resolutions, change laws and bylaws, develop policy, and can direct the executive to participate or not participate in certain campaigns and initiatives as we wish. And they are required by law to follow our instructions. So it’s pretty critical people figure out who their councillors are. A strong council can easily stymie any plans an executive has, and a weak council can be ineffective at preventing any disasters an executive may be in the midst of trying to create,” said Wendy Heitmann, current Arts & Science councillor who is running again this year.
“If there is anybody students should come forth to with an idea, it’s your representing councillors so we can get that idea to grow. This is why the councillors are as important, if not more important than the executive team,” said Kyle Arseneau, current Engineering and Computer Science (ENCA) councillor who is also running again this year for council.
Vicky Rodgers, running to be a John Molson councillor explains that she is running to enforce more diversity at Concordia, and for her, becoming a councillor is the best way to do so because “councillors are there to ‘check and balance’ the executive. If there is no strong voice on council to challenge them, this is when the problems start.”
Marcus Peters, an Arts & Science councillor candidate explained that if students care about what the CSU will be doing next year then they will take a proper look at all the running candidates.
“The interaction between council and the executive is how the CSU makes its decisions, and a wise voter would know not to focus on half the equation.”
James Tyler Vaccaro, current VP Internal & Clubs,is running to become a member of council for 2014-2015.
“At the end of the day, the executives are mandated to do the work council tells them to…it is important that councillors are aware of the issues and history of the CSU, and can think critically while making objective decisions. This is a really important role because the decisions made in council affect thousands of students,” said Vaccaro
For a more in-depth look and bios on all the councillor candidates please visit csuelections.wordpress.com.
The Concordia Student Union (CSU) Executive candidate debates were held last week on both campuses to provide students with information and to answer questions about their plans should they be elected for the coming school year.
Despite their differences all three affiliations and independent parties overlapped in their desire and pledge to provide students with improved student space; an increase in communication between CSU, council and students; the uniting of campuses and student groups; and bridging the gap between academic and social functions.
Community Matters believes in connecting communities by forming strong personal relationships, supporting fee-levy groups at Concordia and by remaining transparent at all times by keeping students up-to-date and publicly showcasing their finances.
“Myself and my team have stuck to a method of personal consultations, focusing on the heads of student associations, getting to know them and what they know about the students,” explained Community Matters’ presidential candidate and current CSU VP Sustainability, Benjamin Prunty. “By building relationships with them we can understand, reach and communicate with the largest amount of students possible.”
Backing up their idea to promote transparency, Community Matters has already put their campaign budget online for all students to see.
CSUnited feels passionate about building a united Concordia and making resources easily accessible and known to students, which they believe will give a voice to students who generally do not have one.
“Representing students who are not already part of student politics, we feel we can provide the right resources and information to reach students who generally are oblivious to the CSU,” explained CSUnited presidential candidate, Jon Kim.
Experience CSU is focused on student diversity, showcasing a strong belief in student choice and difference in opinions. They want to represent a wide range of pupils and create a CSU that is relevant to a larger number of undergraduates. Much like their title suggests they want to represent student wants, needs and ideas as their own to create “your experience.”
The Experience slate does not publicly support or reject the ‘per faculty fee-levy opt out’ referendum question. Expressing that their personal opinions only count for one vote, the same as any other student, as a team, they decided to remain neutral, promising to represent whatever outcome the majority of students decide on at the ballot.
“Sure, each one of us has our own opinion on the matter. Each one of us will have our say at the ballot box, just like you. Nevertheless, we feel that as executive candidates for the CSU, it is inappropriate for us to collectively endorse a political position that will alienate a large number of students,” stated the Experience CSU affiliation in a press release sent out March 18.
Independent candidate for VP Sustainability, Michael Abbott, is majoring in ecology and has been a student at the Loyola Campus for the past four years. He has plans to move sustainable focus from short-term issues such as the use of paper to long-term issues such as a waste in energy, in addition to wanting to bridge the gap between the two campuses, he hopes to shed light on what the CSU does for the majority of students who are unaware.
Abbott explained that above all things, he’s learnt that there is a huge lack of awareness in the student body when it comes to understanding the CSU and what it is they do.
“You don’t need to vote for me, but get involved in knowing who’s governing you as a student,” said Abbott.
Graphic by Jenny Kwan
Independent presidential candidate Chuck Wilson explained that he is running independently because to him the main focus of the president should be to unite and mediate the team of executives. Wilson wants to make decisions based off data and concrete information, enforce collaborations amongst students and student groups and deliver important information to all Concordia students.
He stated that a vote for him would be a vote for a “united community experience.”
The question period was first open to general students, then to members of student associations and members of the current CSU government, and finally to questions from students who were not able to attend the debate and had posted their questions online.
Each question was asked to every affiliation or independent councillor, but no specific or personal questions were permitted.
With three affiliations, two independent candidates and a clear divide in student votes, current VP Loyola, Crystal Harrison, asked the candidates how they plan to overcome their differences as a mixed executive team.
On behalf of Experience CSU current VP Finance, and VP Finance candidate, Scott Carr said, “We get elected as individuals, it’s about an individual mindset and every individual should come in with an open mind.”
Presidential candidate Melissa Payette elaborated on that statement.
“We all want to commit a year of our lives to CSU and to Concordia students, on an individual basis that’s a huge commitment.”
On behalf of Community Matters, VP Student Life candidate, Charles Bourassa, explained that “the focus will be on creating common goals as a team, there is an overlap in our wants and ideas for students.”
Following up his statement, VP Sustainability candidate, Jessica Cabana said “it won’t always be easy, but I think it’s really important that we be able to learn together what we’d want to do for Concordia students.”
Independent presidential candidate Wilson reiterated his commitment to running alone explaining that his aim is “to bring the groups together as president.”
“Concordia literally means harmony, working together to achieve a greater community and I feel all the candidates have great ideas,” said CSUnited’s presidential candidate, Jon Kim.
VP Internal candidate, Simon Dansereau added to Kim’s idea by stating that “it’s about a pragmatic mindset, in the end the goal is for students to benefit, there should be no other agenda beyond benefiting students.”
Abbott explained that he was running alone and thus was willing to work with everyone.
With the voting process already started, students are encouraged to research and reach out to candidates on social media, such as Facebook fan pages or candidate websites, as well as in person.
26 candidates made up of three affiliations and two independent candidates
Experience CSU
VP Clubs & Internal Affairs- Maylen Cytryn
TC: Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“I truly want to help students. [I am] currently a councillor on the CSU Clubs and Space Committee and have tried my best to contact as many clubs as possible to discuss with them their needs from CSU.”
TC: Strength & Weakness?
“My greatest strength is my passion. I do not take on a project unless I am deeply passionate about it, and once I begin the job, I work tirelessly to make it perfect, which brings me to my greatest weakness: my need for perfection.”
VP Finance- Scott Carr
TC: Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“Currently CSU VP Finance, I have an in-depth understanding of every aspect of the role, and I actually study finance; there are a lot of technical skills required for this job and I would have trouble believing that a non-finance student could successfully complete the role.”
TC: Strength & Weakness?
“My biggest strength is the fact that I’ve already done it before. I won’t need to go through training and I know what is required in order to get the most of every dollar of student money. My weakness is what work is most important.”
VP Loyola- Alex McCulloch
TC: Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“As a student who pays for tuition and living costs, I know the importance of realizing the services provided to us by our university. With my background in communications I can help bring awareness to these services.”
TC: Strength & weakness?
“I would say my biggest strength is my positive attitude, which brings me to my weakness, [I] sometimes having trouble [saying] no.”
VP External & Mobilization- Kristina Rourke
Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“I have a creative and open mind that wants to collaborate with Concordia students to bring new projects, interesting and inspiring speakers and support innovative ideas. I am here for students and want to celebrate our differences by empowering equality, respect and fairness.”
TC: Strength & weakness?
“I am a doer , I am a hard worker and am passionate for whatever I take on. My weakness is that I sometimes get caught up in the small stuff and have trouble letting go.”
VP Student Life- Sabrina Jorrin
TC: Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“Votes for me means votes for someone who will stop at nothing to ensure you enjoy your university experience. If elected I would like to collaborate between faculties to host brand new events that would attract a wider range of Concordia students”
TC: Strength & Weakness
“My biggest weakness is that I am sometimes so passionate about my projects that I put everything else aside…including life.”
VP Academic & Advocacy- Cameron Tisshaw
TC: Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“I am a passionate academic, my goal is to attend graduate school and study Alzheimer’s disease. I truly care about the education that we receive and Concordia, and I am committed to finding innovative ways to enrich and improve our educational experience.”
TC: Strength & weakness
“My greatest strength is my ability to act as an intermediary between diverse parties with opposing views. My weakness is that I sometimes take on too many projects.”
VP Sustainability-Toshimi Muniz Losos
TC: Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“I understand that the position is about more than being responsible in executing green initiatives. I believe I can make the significant changes needed that will allow Concordia to become more sustainable; environmentally, socially and financially.”
TC: Strength & weakness
“My biggest strength is my empathy. My weakness is my spontaneous personality.”
Community Matters
President- Ben Prunty
TC: Why do you think you affiliation is the best for Concordia?
“Our team is 100 per cent cohesive, there is not a single weak spot, and I am confident in saying that every single candidate is highly qualified for their positions. As President I can proudly say that our members compliment each other and accentuate one another’s strengths. Committed and passionate, I prioritize putting collective student needs first, and my team echo’s this very loudly.”
TC: Above all things, what does the Community Matters team stand for?
“We stand for a facilitator CSU; one that shares resources and information transparently; that never works alone, but always in collaboration with as many groups as possible; and whose projects and vision are informed by direct student-consultation.”
VP Clubs & Internal Affairs- Katherine Soad Bellini
TC: Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“I am highly organized and truly care for the success and well being of others. By supporting fee-levy groups and increasing relevancy of the CSU as a student leader, I can ensure cross-faculty development within the university.”
TC: Strength and weakness
“My weakness is my humbleness which lead to people underestimating my experience and qualifications. My strength is my passion.”
VP Finance- Heather Nagy
TC: Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?”
“My priority is to once and for all demystify our student finances by making easy to understand financial statements and budgets as well as financial committee minutes. I hope to rebuild confidence in the membership and public at large of the CSU’s finances.”
TC: Strength & weakness
“My strength is bringing together people that hold different ideas. My weakness is my humorous, self-deprecating attitude.”
VP Loyola- Gabriel Velasco
TC: Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“Student’s spaces, services as well as student-run sustainable and affordable food is what I commit to bring to Loyola. As a Loyola student who has been actively working on developing a better food system for several years, I am confident that my knowledge and experience is unique.”
TC: Strength & weakness
“Both my greatest strength and weakness is that I am a visionary.”
VP External & Mobilization- Anthony Garousflais-Auger
TC: Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“I want to develop exciting campaigns on campus, and bring leading individuals working around issues affecting our generation such as climate change, growing income inequalities, and eroding civil liberties. I also want to use CSU resources to help other student groups reach as many students as possible.”
TC: Strength and weakness
“My greatest strength is my experience with external groups. My weakness is that I hard on myself.”
VP Student Life- Charles Bourassa
Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“I feel I already have a strong presence on campus, and I am engaged with various student groups, associations and faculties. My overall goal is to bridge the gap between social and academic events on campus.”
Strength & weakness
“Biggest strength: I love meeting new people, and get along well with others. Biggest weakness: I work too much.”
VP Academic & Advocacy- Terry Wilkings
Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“My priorities lie in making use of privileged institutional information to directly support students. I firmly believe undergraduate students want to have meaningful participation in academic governance, which is why I helped organize Concordia Student Congress.”
VP Sustainability- Jessica Cabana
Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“I am passionate, driven and have tangible ideas to make our university more sustainable. I’ve gained experience in sustainability through my employment, education and volunteering engagements at Concordia. I want to implement a student-run, cooperative café, the Loyola Greenhouse project and make sustainable initiatives more accessible to students.”
Strength & weakness
“My greatest strength and weakness are the same thing—that I care.”
CSUnited
President-Jon Kim
Why do you think your affiliation is the best for Concordia?
“Our team best represents the Concordia student body, and the diversity that makes Concordia special. We have representatives from every faculty, and we all come from very different backgrounds, which allows us to look at what the union should be in very different ways. We’re not really part of the political scene in the school, but we still are very involved in the Concordia community.”
Above all things, what does the CSUnited team stand for?
“Above all things we stand for diversity and creativity.”
VP Clubs & Internal- Simon Dansereau
Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“I wish to foster and encourage Concordia’s diversity by promoting club activities and growing student space, and to empower every student to make their experience here what they dream it to be.”
Strength & weakness
“My greatest strength is my indomitable and effective work ethic, nothing can stop me! My weakness is my difficulty approaching people in large crowds, but I feel I make up for it by being very approachable.”
VP Finance- Alicia Chan
Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“I’ve been managing Queer Concordia’s financial endeavors since Fall 2012, in the Fall of 2013 I became Queer Concordia’s first Financial Coordinator. I constructed a system of financial organization that can be easily understood and is implementable for my successor, and developed a system of financial accountability for the board.”
Strength & weakness
“My biggest strength is my objectivity, my biggest weakness is that I am uncomfortable talking from a personal standpoint.”
VP Loyola- Niki Fronesca
Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“I see Loyola as being a blank canvas where the ideas generated will be able to create a plan for a campus that is more dynamic, involved and part of Concordia as a whole. I’m motivated to put into action the ideas that are feasible and brought forth by students, and I genuinely want to help connect the two campuses.”
Strength & weakness
“My biggest strength is my hard work ethic, my weakness is that I sometimes take on too many activities.”
VP External & Mobilization- Mathieu Guertin
Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“Concordia students should vote for me because I am ready to work with all faculties and councillors, fee-levy groups and other outside stakeholders from an objective point of view that is constructive and beneficial for Concordia students.”
Strength & weakness
“Biggest strength: my collaborative approach. Biggest weakness: little patience for delays.”
VP Student Life- Charles-Eric Sum
Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“As a student I missed a lot of events regarding orientation and frosh. I want to create more awareness for these activities because I believe they are moments where new students make friends and start making positive bonds with others which will increase their involvement in the university.”
Strength & weakness
“My weakness is that I am not familiar with politics, but my strength is that I can learn anything.”
VP Academic & Advocacy –Mareike Michele
Why should students vote for you?
Academics and Advocacy really do go hand in hand, I am continuously reminded that mutual understanding is largely built through education and productive dialogue can only happen once understanding is reached. My personal goal as VP Academic and Advocacy is to break down walls between groups that rarely communicate, but could benefit greatly from doing so.
Strength & weakness
My weakness is that I take on a lot and sometimes stress easy. Still, my greatest weakness is the other side of the coin to my greatest strength. The desire to execute everything properly and putting as much time and effort into the objectives I devote myself to as possible has yielded very positive results so far.
VP Sustainability- Bailey Watson
Why do you think Concordia students should vote for you?
“Growing up in a First Nations culture, the idea of interconnectedness between all of the earth’s creatures and our tasks as humans to maintain a balance that has taken billions of years to establish, has been something that has become deeply embedded in my psyche and guides my everyday decisions. My focus will be to support existing sustainable student groups by providing them with the resources, initiatives and collaborations they need.”
Strength & weakness
“My strength is my creativity and adaptability, my weakness is that I am shy.”
Independent
President- Chuck Wilson
Why do you think you make the best President for Concordia students?
“I think I am the best candidate for president because of my extensive qualifications, networks within the university, and ability to bring together both sides of an issue. I’ve held positions as a student representative throughout the university, which collectively has given me the legal, financial, and leadership skills to effectively direct the CSU executive. Besides my involvement in student politics, I’ve also experienced Concordia from the perspective of an uninvolved student, a TA, and a staff member. Combined, it’s given me a lot of insight into what students expect from their union and their university, as well as how the University bureaucracy approaches different issues.”
Why did you choose to run independently?
“While being an independent candidate certainly has its disadvantages when campaigning, the lack of “us versus them” mentality is a clear advantage to a presidential candidate in a non-slate system. I am not on one particular team I am on everyone’s team.”
Above all things, what do you stand for?
“Inclusivity and legitimacy.”
VP Sustainability- Michael Abbott
Why do you think you would make the best VP Sustainability for Concordia students?
“My key driving force in running for VP Sustainability lies in developing positive environmental planning via research, practice and hypotheses. I advocate for individual empowerment via sustainable mobility and local food policies.”
Why did you choose to run independently?
“Running independently is an amazing challenge. I was not expecting the amount of courage needed to stand solo and promote my ideas. I chose to run solo because I was tired of not being aware and feeling distanced from a student union that I belong to.”
On Thursday, March 27 CASA Cares has plans to take you from Paris to Berlin for their 11th annual fashion show “Come Away With Me” to benefit the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation.
The event will be held at Arena nightclub from 9 to 11 p.m. with an afterparty to follow. The show will present the 2014 spring and summer collections of various Canadian designers. Throughout the past decade, CASA Care’s fashion shows have raised and donated over $96,000 to the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation.
CASA Cares is the non-profit segment of the Commerce and Administration Student Association (CASA) at Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business.
“We hope to reach our goal of $110,000 by the end of our 11th year,” said CASA Cares’ President, Melissa Payette.“The 17 members of the CASA Cares association have been split up into task teams, working hard to get all the work done.”
The association hired some outside help; Natalie Solomon and Myriam Feltham-Lauzon will be working as VP Fashion Sponsorship and model co-ordinator, respectively, along with 25 volunteers.
Payette was excited to announce that all 31 models participating in the event have set up donations pages to raise extra funds for the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation, which has never been done in previous years.
Not all of the designers have been finalized as of yet, but some confirmed highlights will be Dylan Ribkoff, Aqua Di Lara, New Regime, Red Factory, and Annie 50.
The association has themed and organized the entire fashion show from décor to lighting to provide attendees with the feeling of a 24-hour European getaway. The show will start off in Paris proceeding to a beach in Barcelona for the afternoon, then on to London for dinner, finishing off the night with a rave in Berlin. The clothing has been chosen specifically to reflect the fashion needs of all these situations.
The event will also have a photo booth and a silent auction.
The auction is being sponsored with prizes from MAC make-up, Lululemon, tickets for Bal en Blanc, and a hockey stick signed by the entire Habs hockey team.
The Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation was established in 1973 with the mission “to support excellence in care at The Montreal Children’s Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre.” The money raised from the annual fashion shows goes towards an emergency fund within the foundation.
For more in depth information on the The Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation, check out the hospital’s website at http://childrenfoundation.com/your-gifts-at-work/most-urgent-needs.php
For more information and to purchase your ticket visit https://www.facebook.com/events/482789141820543/
CASA Cares is the non-profit segment of the Commerce and Administration Student Association (CASA) at Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business.
“CASA Cares is committed to promoting social awareness and responsibility within the JMSB community. We bring students together to raise funds benefiting great charities and non-profit community organizations in the advocacy, cultural, health and human service sectors in the Montreal community” explained CASA Cares VP Communications, Frederique Bouchard.
Enactus Concordia will be hosting a DJ battle on March 7 at Le Belmont on St. Laurent, part of the student association’s Help Hunger Disappear campaign, aiming to raise awareness about the issue of hunger in the Montreal community.
For the second year in a row, the Enactus team has been working towards supporting this project through a series of fundraisers and events. Play and Destroy will kick off at 10 p.m. with DJ Kr!pto followed by DJs from UQAM, McGill and Concordia.
Over the course of the evening, students will compete one-on-one by playing songs from their iPods and music players from a variety of different musical genres. The aim of the contest is to gain the loudest reaction from the crowd by measure of cheers and applause. The student who gets the loudest praise moves on to the next round until at the end of the night a winner is chosen.
The campaign this year is being coordinated by two of Enactus Concordia’s newest members, Genevieve Normandin and Valerie Sicard.
“Even in Canada, a startling 700,000 individuals turn to food banks every month, knowing this we knew we needed to do something,” said Normandin.
Their goal is to reach these individuals by hosting events and collecting money. Breakfast Club of Canada’s mission is to provide healthy breakfasts in a safe environment in order to support and encourage student learning. The organization currently operates 36 clubs, reaching 2,278 students in the Montreal area.
The Help Hunger Disappear campaign was originally started by Campbell’s Soup in 2008 with the aim to tackle the issue of hunger across Canada. The company put out a challenge to Canadians to help find ways to alleviate hunger in their communities. Taking note of this challenge, members from Enactus Concordia put together their program as an initiative for the movement.
Enactus describes themselves as, “an international non-profit organization that works with leaders in business and higher education to mobilize university students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders.”
Enactus Concordia is one of 1,600 chapters of an international organization of students that encourages entrepreneurship in their community through an environmentally sustainable approach. It currently has 30 members and operates five major projects targeting the community. The organization plans to grow and is constantly seeking new talented students.
If you or anyone you know would like more information about Enactus Concordia or to help support this cause by purchasing a ticket, contact Genevieve Normandin or Valerie Sicard at gnormandin@enactusconcordia.com and vsicard@enactusconcordia.com or check out the event page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/350873888386659/.
Arts and science students are encouraged to come out to the ballot box for the ASFA Annual General Elections from March 4-6 to vote for the 2014-2015 executive team.
Graphic by Jenny Kwan
From 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. polling booths will be up at Sir George William Campus in the first floor of the Hall building and in the Library building lobby; and at the Loyola Campus in the Vanier Library lobby and the atrium of the SP building.
The Arts & Science Student Association (ASFA) is the largest student association representing nearly 18,000 students. ASFA is made up of member associations who represent the individual departments of the arts and science faculty.
ASFA is responsible for organizing events, for managing their member association’s funds and for trying to engage in various initiatives to better the experience of arts and science students at Concordia.
While 700 students voted in last year’s general election, ASFA’s Chief Electoral Officer, Trevor Wilkinson, would like to see that number increase:
“Voting, for me, is like a statement to the organization and the University about who we believe is best suited for the job of representing our rights, managing the funds we give them, and ensuring that our interests and voices are heard.”
Beyond voting in student elections Wilkinson suggests students should take the opportunity to get involved in student life.
“There are multiple advantages of joining a student executive like ASFA. For one, it provides those who are successful at acquiring the position a chance to effect change, which can benefit their fellow students. For another, the steep learning curve required of first-time executives as well as the ability to manage one’s studies, the executive position, and work outside of school as many of the current executives do, provides one with a set of skills that many employers look for in recently graduated students.”
Paul Jerajin, ASFA’s current president, is running for re-election for the second year in a row with no competitors. Jerajin explains that his favourite part of the job is seeing fellow executives and councilors get together and discuss change they want to implement in the university and then actually working together to achieve it.
“The multidisciplinary aspect of ASFA is unmatched. Having so much diversity within a faculty is a great way to see many opinions and expertise come together and have a critical yet constructive discussion on various topics,” said Jerajin.
Jerajin explained that working for ASFA has been not only essential to his university experience, but also to his life experience.
Candidates for the 2014-2015 ASFA Executive
President
Paul Jerajin
VP Internal:
Jenna Cocullo
Veronic Godbout
Peggy Kabeya-Honeyglow
Pauline Sarah Pfingsten.
VP Finance:
Melina Ghio
Parisa Mehrabi
VP Communications:
Justin Caruso
Haroon Mohar
Tiffany Thompson.
VP Social Affairs:
Farhana Jumki Haque
Sean Nolan.
VP Academic & Loyola Affairs:
Patricia Martone
VP External Affairs & Sustainability:
Charles Bourassa
Damian Skulic
There are eight students running for five independent councilor spots:
After being closed for nearly a year, the CSU has plans to re-open the Swap Shop as a Pop-up shop this March at the Sir George Williams campus.
Photo by Keith Race
“When our team took office, the Swap Shop was in disarray. It was clear that no one had taken the time to curate the items inside, or advertise that the service existed,” explained VP Internal James Tyler Vaccaro.
The majority of the items in the Swap Shop were unusable, broken, damaged or dirty, consisting mainly of old electronics and soiled clothing.
“The space was unsanitary and had a high likelihood of creating or spreading infestations. For example bedbugs can thrive in old clothing, and silverfish can be found in old books; both items that were commonly found in the Swap Shop,” said Vaccaro.
Additionally there had been an issue with individuals who took up residence in the Swap Shop, sleeping there overnight. After security dealt with this matter, a decision was made by the CSU executive to close down the shop indefinitely. Further keeping in mind the safety and health of students using or acquiring products from this space, the executive decided to not re-open the shop until a more sanitary alternative could be found.
“Our initial plan had been to turn the space into a conference room that would be bookable, free of charge, to all student groups. However, we are in the process of reconsidering all space managed by the CSU, so we did not want to spend money on improvements that would not be permanent,” said Vaccaro.
With students wants in mind and appreciation for the space’s original concept, the executive has come up with an alternative, which will involve the creation of a CSU club that organizes Pop-up Swap Shops around campus.
“This way, students would still have the opportunity to bring unwanted items and give them a second life. This would ensure the project’s continued success, because the club would have the responsibility to properly supervise the events and curate the items,” explained Katrina Caruso, VP Student Life.
To experiment with this concept, the CSU will be hosting the first Pop-up Swap Shop from March 10-12 in the CSU Lounge on the 7th floor of the Hall Building. Any student interested in participating in the event should get in touch with the VP Student Life, at studentlife@csu.qc.ca.
For your enjoyment and education and just in time for Valentine’s Day, the Concordia Biology Student Association will present Sexpo 69, an event that aims to provide students with both fun and factual information on sexuality.
Photo by Keith Race
Set to take place on Feb. 12, the idea of Sexpo 69 was born out of the BSA’s desire to do something for students to mark the occasion of Valentine’s Day.
“Originally, we wanted to host something fun like a tea party, but we felt maybe it was a bit too girly,”said Rasha Al-Homsy, VP Internal for the BSA.
With the desire to create a fun event for both male and female students, their Valentine theme began to gear more towards sex than love. Eventually the BSA team came to the conclusion that they wanted to provide Concordia students with information on sexuality and health services at Concordia, in addition to exploring a more fun side, which would look into fetishes and sex toys.
Highlighting the event will be guest speaker Dr. Jim Pfaus, a Concordia psychology professor whose research specializes in sexual behavior. Speaking at Sexpo 69 about his research on rats, Dr. Pfaus will explain how different fetishes and sexual preferences appeal to different people.
“We asked Dr. Pfaus to speak at our event because after working with him, we know he is not only down to earth but that he is very knowledgeable on the subject of sexuality and well known in the scientific community,” said Eva Fog, a member of the BSA.
Concordia Health Services, the Centre of Sexual Pleasure and Health, Queer Concordia and, Concordia’s Centre for Gender Advocacy,will each be hosting a booth in order to provide education and information on sexual health services. There will also be a fetish booth and a sex toy booth.
The sex toy booth will offer both information and options for purchasing.Should you wish to purchase a toy, the booth will be set up with forms where you can select the toy model you would like and set up a payment method so that your toy will be delivered to your home. This option is available to provide students with a bit more privacy, should they choose to make such a purchase.
The BSA in collaboration with the Association of Biochemistry And Chemistry Undergraduate Students (ABACUS), Communications Guild (COMS), Journalism Students Association (JSA) and Science College Student Associations (SCSA), welcomes students from all faculties to come and check out Sexpo 69.
The event will be held in the basement of the SP building at Concordia’s Loyola Campus from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
