Author: Sloane Montgomery

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Concordia Transitions; a conference on sustainable change

On Feb. 8 from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. a series of speakers and discussion panels will be held on the 7th floor on the Hall building to provide students with information on ways they can help transition Concordia’s food system to be more affordable and sustainable.

Photo by Keith Race

A central focus of Concordia Transitions is to help students grasp the idea of having a food system that literally goes “from farm to plate.”  To further explain this concept a representative from Action Communiterre, the local urban-farm network in NDG will be there to provide students with a tangible understanding of the development of urban farms for institutional food-systems.

A $5 donation is requested upon arrival and will provide students with local, healthy food.

The event will kick off at 8 AM with a breakfast.  All the food offered at the event throughout the day will be vegetarian with both vegan and gluten free options.  Ben Prunty, VP sustainability of the CSU, explains the food options that are to be offered are based on accessibility, aiming to feed as many hungry students as possible.

Curtis Stone, a Canadian urban farmer who is also the president and founder of Green City Acres, a successful backyard-farming model in British Columbia, will be speaking to students about strategies that helped him eliminate start-up costs.

Concordia’s former principal of the School of Community and Public Affairs and recent winner of the Prix du Quebec for her decades of work in the social economy, Marguerite Mendell will share her social economical expert opinion on sustainable food systems.

Ben Flanner; head farmer, CEO and co-founder of Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farms based in New York City, will also be present to speak to students.  Flanner’s organization pioneered an urban farm operation producing vegetables, herbs and honey on green rooftops in Brooklyn.  Widely recognized for transforming rooftop agriculture, The Brooklyn Grange received the Green Business Award in 2010, the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Award of Excellence in 2011, and Queens Community Business Award in 2012.  Flanner will be speaking on both the challenges and rewards of creating a small farm and the importance of developing local food systems.

The Concordia Transitions event has been supported and put together by many different student organizations and is still accepting any and all student volunteers to donate their time and help spread the word of tangible ways to change Concordia’s food system.

“Five out of the six main organizers are from the Community Food Coalition (CFC), teaming up with the Sustainability Action Fund (SAF) for sustainable realization and the Greenhouse for inspiration.  But not only them, we have had help and support from ASFA, FASA, GUSS, UPA, SCPA, LICSA, LAS and CUPA.  This kind of continued positive response from student organizations really speaks volumes to the desire for a sustainable food-system,” said Prunty.

The CFC will be hosting a student panel at the event to discuss and provide further information on their aspirations and plans for ways students can move forward on transitioning their food-system.

“Information on its own isn’t enough for sustainable change to take place, we really need to emphasize the importance of what we’re calling hyper-local action. At Concordia students are really empowered to step up and help make the changes they want to see become a reality. The sky is the limit, students have the resources, they just need to be mobilized towards a common goal – and healthy, affordable, and sustainable food is something that I think everyone can agree with,” said Prunty.

For more information students can stop by Concordia Transition’s desk in the mezzanine of the Hall building every Wednesday or Thursday and can check out their Facebook event page.

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Concordia Student Union News

CSU hires a marketing specialist

Photo by Keith Race

The CSU hired a marketing intern to work within a six-week contract to create a strategic marketing plan that would outline the different aspects of communication available for use with their large undergraduate student body.

Photo by Keith Race

Originally the communications coordinator was in charge of creating a marketing plan, but as VP Finance, Scott Carr informed The Concordian,

“The reality was that there was already too much to do and with this came a load of questions as to how to move forward. I am someone who believes that having a plan that is clear, consistent, and well thought out is the key to success and I wanted to take that approach with the CSU’s marketing.”

With this issue at hand, Carr suggested the idea of hiring a marketing intern. Interviews were conducted in early December by Carr and VP Student Life, Katrina Caruso. The student selected was third year marketing major, Adrian Mahon.

Carr explains that marketing is a really important aspect that has lacked emphasis at both the CSU and Concordia University as a whole and that communicating with over 35,000 undergraduate students is no simple task.

“The CSU throws multiple events, speaker series, campaigns, provide services and so much more; but what use are they if no one knows they exist? Too many times people have no idea what the CSU does, yet they are the ones funding the activities; they are the ones that it is all for. It is of course not just the CSU that has this problem, even the university’s communication with its students has much room to grow; marketing isn’t as easy as people believe. It isn’t about the small group of students who know about the CSU, it is about making sure that we answer the needs of as many students as we can. It is because of the entire student body that the CSU exists—it better be doing everything it possibly can to help them,” explained Carr.

The six-week contract will wrap up at the end of January and Carr looks forward to reviewing it with the rest of the CSU executive team.  Carr believes the report will establish an objective perspective to CSU executives concerning their audience; Concordia’s undergraduate students, which will be used to realize CSU’s strengths and more significantly, their weaknesses.

Marketing intern, Mahon explained to The Concordian that his main task is to help the CSU evaluate and manage its marketing strategy and determine ways that it can better serve the undergraduate student body at Concordia.  With his 25 hour per week, six-week time cap, Mahon stated that,

“It is always nice to have more time to work on projects, especially large ones such as this. That being said, I feel that I am able to fulfill my obligations under the current time constraints.”

With such a large number of undergraduate students to reach, Mahon suggests that there be someone to work with the CSU regularly.

“Ideally it would be nice to have someone continuously working with the CSU on a part time or full time basis to help them with their marketing, in reaching students. However, there are always financial constraints that must be considered. This decision will be part of my recommendations in the marketing report.”

“This communication is an important aspect to being able to uncover the needs and challenges of undergraduate students so that the CSU can better serve them in the future” said Mahon.

 

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News

CUSACorp kick-starts Reggie’s revamp

Big goals have been set for Reggie’s revamping and the restoration of the mezzanine space of the Hall building brought on by CUSACorp.

The for-profit sector of the Concordia Student Union, CUSACorp, is responsible for the management and oversight of spaces on campus, such as Reggie’s. It was established in order to generate profits to offset the growing costs of student life initiatives and services provided by the CSU in the long-term.

The board is managed by five undergraduate students and two community members, and all the work is done on a voluntary basis. Four undergraduate students currently run the board: James Tyler Vaccaro, CSU’s VP Clubs & Internal Affairs; Scott Carr, CSU’s VP Finance; Antonin Picou, President of Engineering and Computer Science Association; and undergraduate student Melanie Hotchkiss, currently there are no community members on the board.

“CUSACorp seeks to collaborate with the CSU and university to create a space that caters to the different needs of students. A revival of the mezzanine would entail creating locations with food options, areas to sit and socialize, and easy access to services offered by the CSU. The renovation of Reggie’s Bar fits perfectly within this vision, and can contribute immensely to improving the use of space on the Mezzanine,” states the CUSACorp Board in their press release.

CUSACorp is aiming to create these spaces on campus, in an effort to unite the Concordia community. One way in which the Board would like to achieve this goal is through renovating the space that is currently occupied by Reggie’s.

“This is a unique spot on campus with great potential. We believe that Reggie’s Bar can be a space for students to work communally or socialize. It can act as a hub of student life on campus by hosting a variety of events and catering to the needs of different student groups. This year the bar can change its image from a dark dive bar on campus to a warm and welcoming venue,” continued the press release.

Vaccaro said that for the first time in years, Reggie’s was actually generating revenue. He and Carr took on some immediate changes to the bar to drive down some unnecessary costs such as decreasing the number of beers on tap from 12 to 2 in order to curb wasted revenue.

Moreover, Reggie’s was opened Monday to Friday from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m. but was often empty which is why the board decided to have the bar only opened during peak hours such as Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and starting at a later time.

With proper renovations the cost estimate is between $400,000 and $500,000. There have been plans laid out but now students are waiting to sit down and discuss the cost breakdown with facilities management. Ventilation and plumbing should be taken care of as part of the bar’s lease with the university, which would bring down the overall cost for students, because their money would be going solely to the aesthetic aspect of the renovations.

Vaccaro explained that contractors have many concerns about safety conditions and that Reggie’s should not have been open for business. There are issues with the bar’s bathrooms as only two out of eight toilets work and the constant leaks are causing damage to both the bathrooms and the space itself. The ventilation is even more problematic, since it is the same system used in the Hall building and would therefore be shut off after school hours. This is a health concern, as the bar is open much later than the rest of the building, causing the venue to become extremely hot and suffer from lack of fresh air.

To coincide with the beginning of the semester, there will be a Reggie’s Bar website launched Wednesday Jan. 8, created primarily to deliver information to students about why the bar is closed, when it will be opened and all other updates. Once the plans are more concrete, the website will continue to be used as a communication portal for student opinion.

For more information check out the new website: www.reggiesbar.com

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Concordia-Votes-YES to sustainability

The outcome of the November CSU byelections had one of the best voting turnouts in Concordia history and resulted in the gain of 12 new councilors and all referendum questions passing with extremely high volume votes in favour.

Press photo

The Arts and Science Federation (ASFA) had the highest voter turn out with 440 student votes.  As the largest student organization, ASFA had nine students competing for just four spots.Gabriel Velasco got 170 ‘yes’ votes for his campaign promise  which stated; “A vote for me, will insure a fresh, uncompromisingly progressive voice on campus.”

“I’m very excited to have been elected. It’s also great to see both the CFC fee levy and Java U questions pass. There is a lot of work to get done,”said Charles Bourassa, a Western Society & Culture major.

Bourassa also explained that he would soon be meeting with the organizers of the Concordia Students for Silent Blue Zones group within the next couple of weeks.  Bourassa thinks a silent study zone for students should be more seriously provided.

Also elected as ASFA councillors are Patricia Martone a Psychology major and Justin Caruso a Human Relations major.

John Molson School of Business had 160 student voters turn out. Eight students ran for five spots and those councillor spots have been filled with  Maylen Cytryn, a management major who is also currently the chairperson for Commerce and Administration Students’ Association (CASA);Michael Richardson, currently the VP External Affairs for CASA; Virginia Law,  finance major; Kabir Bindra, a Management major ;and Ahmed Mustafa, a finance major. Bindra and Mustafa had a tie vote, each receiving 52 votes.

The Engineering and Computer Science faculty had 81 student voters turnout, there were three candidates running to fill three spots.  Ahmad Choukair, from Electrical Engineering, Alaa Ajam from Building Engineering and finally, Kyler Arseneau also majoring in Building Engineering.

Students were tense regarding the referendum questions.  Unsure of how the effects the opposing “Concordia-Vote-No” campaign and its website had caused.  While the opposing points were valid and found to be ‘legal’, the high volume ‘yes’ votes for all Community Food Coalition (CFC) referendum questions shows that Concordia students most definitely want more sustainable, student run food options on campus.

The CFC fee levy increase passed with 605 votes for and 145 votes against.  The question regarding the Java U space to be taken over by a student run co-operative passed with 542 votes for it and 82 against it.

“Students have given the university community a clear message: they want the university to completely rethink its food-system, and they are willing to help pay for this transition over the long-term,” said CSU VP Sustainability, Benjamin Prunty.

For further information on the outcome of the CSU byelections students should visit csuelections.wordpress.com.

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Concordia-Vote-No website goes live

The CSU meeting on Nov. 13 was taken over by suspicion and scandal when a group opposing the Community Food Coalition’s referendum revealed itself and its website on Twitter.

Concordia Student Union Chief Electoral Officer Andre-Marcel Baril confirmed the site was not approved by the CSU and said it does not comply with electoral campaign standing regulations. According to Baril, the CSU Rules and Regulations for byelections state that you cannot have a campaign opposing a referendum question without the CSU or the Chief Electoral Officer’s approval. However, when questioned, Baril could not provide the specific regulation in which this is stated. The Concordian was unable to find a corresponding regulation that would make a campaign opposing a referendum question illegal or subject to the approval of concerned parties.

Live tweeting directed at the CSU meeting from the Concordia-Vote-No team, using the hashtag #csumtg, caused a lot of commotion, and no one knows who to blame. Speculators were quick to assume VP Finance Scott Carr was the culprit, basing their assumptions on Carr’s open and prominent opinion against the CFC’s referendum. Carr was quick to deny these allegations, publicly tweeting so at the meeting.

Carr later confirmed to The Concordian that he did not create the website and stated: “If you are asking my opinion, I believe the undergraduate students of Concordia deserve to be informed of both sides. I think we should be focusing on what people have to say rather than who is behind it; there is likely to be more argumentation coming from the ‘no’ side, but we will have to stop disregarding them to hear it.”

Supporters and members of the CFC, as well as CSU Chief Electoral Officer Baril, tried to investigate to see if they could uncover who the website’s creators were with little success. The suggested issue for these parties was not that the website voiced an opposing argument, but that it was done outside of byelection campaign standing regulations.

VP Sustainability, Benjamin Prunty was unimpressed with the strategic illegality of the website and its launch. He condemned them on Twitter for relying on illegal tactics and unfounded arguments while claiming to be the harbinger of truth and justice.

Prunty later told The Concordian, “It seems pretty clear who is behind the website and the backdoor campaign, but I hope that the unprofessionalism of one individual does not negatively impact the relationship between the CSU and any other association.”

Despite many speculations, there has not been enough legitimate evidence to link anyone to the creation of the website. CSU Councillor Chuck Wilson encouraged the Vote No Team to step forward, explaining that councillors could likely find a loophole for their having missed the campaign deadline.  While the team never publicly came forward, they did anonymously answer questions for The Concordian.

The Vote No Team explained that they had no intention to create a stir at the CSU meeting, but merely wanted to raise awareness about their website, and presumed it to be the best way. The team confirmed they never tried to get the website approved, as they launched the campaign well past the CSU’s limit to register.

“We do not intend to ever reveal our identities,” the Vote No Team told The Concordian. “While we can confirm that we are all Concordia undergraduate students and that we hold positions on various student bodies and fee levy groups, we do not want to risk reprisals on these groups by revealing our identities. Especially after the CSU and the CSU CEO have been trying to hunt us down, and the CFC has tried to shut down our website.”

 

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Concordia Student Union News

Upcoming CSU byelections to be held Nov. 19, 20 & 21

If the numerous posters have yet to catch your eye, you should be aware of the upcoming Concordia Student Council (CSU) byelections running from Nov. 19-21.

The byelections are being held to fill the remaining councillor positions and to have students vote on several referendum questions. The CSU is supposed to have councillors from every program to represent all students as best as possible, though this time around no Independent or Fine Arts students submitted candidacy and those programs will not have direct representation.

For Engineering & Computer Science all three positions are filled, for John Molson (JMSB) there are eight candidates for five positions. The largest amount of candidates is in the Arts & Science (ASFA) department where there are nine candidates for four spots.

CSU President Melissa Kate Wheeler encourages students to participate and states that it is a great experience.

“Working through the Union to better our community has been the single most fulfilling experience of my professional life. It has transformed the way I see my world, while offering skills and tools necessary to create a better tomorrow. I’ve learned what it means to manage a team, and what it feels like to work collectively towards large scale goals,” said Wheeler.

Wheeler also encourages students to take initiative and vote to get the strong representation they need,

“The CSU offers a unique opportunity for students to engage in their community, impacting their peers and creating change in ways that matter to them. It is an underused resource that too often goes untapped by talented, passionate students. Concordia’s undergraduates need strong representatives who will fight for social justice and for doing things the right way.”

The campaigning period ends on Nov. 18, the day before the polling period starts. CSU has set up a Facebook page and a special website just for the event, giving students as much easily accessible information on all the candidates as possible.

“We have also contacted certain members of faculties who do not have adequate representation on council via e-mail contact lists, utilized word of mouth campaigns and of course allowed for our greatest asset, the referendum committees and candidates to engage the voting public through in-class speeches, postering and meet-and-greets scattered around campus,” said Chief Electoral Officer Andre-Marcel Baril.

A brief rundown of the candidates are as follows. From Engineering & Computer Science; Alaa Ajam, a 24-year-old student doing his second undergrad in Building Engineering. Alaa now wishes to step up his involvement in student life by joining the CSU.

Also running is Ahmad Choukair, a first year Electrical Engineering student. During his time at Champlain College he was highly involved and active in student activities and school politics and has brought that same enthusiasm to Concordia University.

The final engineering candidate is Kyle Arseneau, a 23-year-old, third year building engineering student. Arseneau is currently President of the Concordia University Building Engineering Society.

The eight candidates running for the five JMSB spots are: Michael Richardson, currently VP External Affairs for Commerce and Administration Students’ Association (CASA). With regards to student’s interests Richardson said, “I take these responsibilities to heart.”

Ahmed Mustafa is a second year International Finance student from Yemen. Mustafa is currently Vice President and VP Communications at Ramadan Ghair, a Yemeni humanitarian organization.

Soufian El Malki is a JMSB Accounting major in his final year. If elected, El Malki stated, “I will maximize your university experience as a JMSB student.”

Mohamed Nasser was part of the Darfur Club, a student run charity that raised money to help bring awareness to the tragic situation in Darfur.

Kabir Bindra is a third year Management major. Bindra was a competitor in the Jeux-Du-Commerce debate, “The training for the competitions really made me be able to think on my feet, analyze two sides of an argument, and gave me valuable critical thinking skills.” Bindra also encourages students to approach him about his stances.

Virginia Law is a Finance major, and in CEGEP she planned a humanitarian trip to Nicaragua where she helped set up and run a mobile clinic. “I am only 4’9,” but I have a strong voice, and if I get chosen to be on council, I will make sure it represents you” said Law.

Maylen Cytryn is a second year Management major who is currently the Chairperson for CASA and Vice President of the John Molson Marketing Association (JMMA). Cytryn also urges students to contact her, and gives her e-mail on the byelections website.

The last candidate for JMSB is Patrick Rivest.

The candidates for ASFA are: Alexandre Hureau, an Anthropology and Sustainability major whose main goal is to make the food system more sustainable and to give Concordia a more holistic approach to the way it runs itself and tackles problems.

Majed Jamous is a second year student studying Human Relations with a minor in

Education. Jamous is the VP External for the Muslim Students Association.

Patricia Martone is a second year Psychology Honors major who has been an active volunteer for ASFA and the Concordia Undergraduate Psychology Association (CUPA).

Gabriel Velasco is in his third year of his undergrad. He has big, sustainable food plans for Concordia students, “A vote for me, will insure a fresh, uncompromisingly progressive voice on campus.”

Damian Skulic is a Biophysics major who enjoys traveling and hopes to join the CSU mandate.

Charles Bourassa is studying Western Society & Culture and hopes to bridge the gap between social and academic events. If you have any questions, Bourassa shared his e-mail on the byelectionss website.

Shahzad Dal is a second year Economics student. Dal would like to ensure more programs and workshops are created to helps students find jobs after graduation.

Justin Caruso is a second year Human Relations major whose main focus is equality and sustainability.

Also running for a position is Youssef Ennajimi.

For more information visit csuelections.wordpress.com

 

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News

Vote it Up campaign encourages English-speaking youth to take initiative

With the municipal election growing closer, Quebec Community Groups Network’s (QCGN) Vote it Up campaign encourages students and youth to go to the polls on Nov. 3.

“QCGN is a not-for-profit organization bringing together 41 English-language community organizations across Quebec. Its mission is to identify, explore and address strategic issues affecting the development and vitality of English-speaking Quebec and to encourage dialogue and collaboration among its member organizations, individuals, community groups, institutions and leaders,” explains Director of Communications and Public Relations Rita Legault.

The Vote it Up campaign was created just before the 2012 Quebec provincial elections out of QCGN’s concern that young English-speaking Quebecers were not included in any of the other campaigns encouraging youth to vote.

“We made a proposal to the Directeur général des élections du Québec (DGEQ) to build a 2.0 campaign seeking to encourage young English-speaking Quebecers aged 18-35 to vote. We renewed our partnership with the municipal elections and look forward to continuing this collaboration over the next few years,” said Senior Project Manager Roseline Joyal-Guillot.

According to Creating Spaces, a 2009 study by the QCGN, English-speaking youth in Quebec face lower political participation and representation and higher unemployment rates compared to their Francophone counterparts.

Joyal-Guillot insists, “Vote it Up aims to spark youth interest around voting because voting is the first step in understanding the political landscape and actually contributing to some important decisions that affect their day-to-day lives.”

The main spokesperson for Vote it Up campaign is Rosanna Tomiuk, former national water polo Olympian, singer-songwriter, and young entrepreneur. The campaign has been working hard to recruit young ambassadors to spread the word on the importance of an English-speaking youth vote for Montreal.

“Youth are more inclined to get out and vote and get involved when they are engaged directly by someone they know. We have proposed a series of activities our young recruits can implement in their community to educate their peers about the importance of voting,” explains Tomiuk. “Youth aged 18 to 35 represent 25 per cent of the population of Quebec, but less than 30 per cent of us went to the polls in the last municipal elections.”

To stimulate further interest in English-speaking youth, Vote it Up is reaching out to young people where they gather most: on social networks such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter.

For further information visit voteitup.ca.

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News

Noam Chomsky sells out D.B. Clarke Theatre in less than an hour

Credit Catherine Anne Lafontaine

Tickets for Noam Chomsky’s lecture, “The Neo-liberal Assault on the Population,” went on sale at 1 p.m. on Oct. 17 and sold out all 400 seats that were on sale, at both the Sir George Williams and Loyola campuses, in under an hour.

Credit Catherine Anne Lafontaine

The Concordia Student Union (CSU) has been trying to get Noam Chomsky to come and speak at Concordia for many years. Former CSU executive Adrien Severyns put Concordia

on a waiting list three years ago and reminded CSU’s current VP External, Caroline Bourbonniere to get in touch with Chomsky’s people. In July, Bourbonniere enthusiastically called Chomsky’s assistant on behalf of Concordia.

“I was persistent for a month and insisted that Concordia was an especially relevant community for him to visit and that we had been waiting for years. Chomsky finally wrote me back a personal e-mail from Geneva saying he would be in Montreal at the end of October and that we would touch base soon,” said Bourbonniere.

After a month with no word from Chomsky, CSU’s hopes began to dwindle but Bourbonniere pleaded to Chomsky’s team with one last e-mail, and finally got confirmation in early October.

The topic of neo-liberal assault was chosen by Chomsky with regards to what themes Concordia wanted him to touch upon. Chomsky’s traditional work revolves around linguistics, philosophy, and critiquing U.S. foreign policy, state capitalism and mainstream news media.  Bourbonniere told Chomsky’s team about the campaigns currently being worked on by Concordia students, such as the fossil fuel divestment campaign, the Anti-P6 campaign, the NSA and surveillance issues in addition to some more timely themes such as deregulation and the commodification of education.

Bourbonniere explained that, “given that all these themes are linked to neo-liberalism, Chomsky chose that title. The word choice of ‘assault’ was especially relevant, Chomsky will explain why.”

Having Noam Chomsky come to Concordia is especially exciting given the university’s strong activist culture and history. Bourbonniere told The Concordian that the CSU team is thrilled and that it is a milestone for both the CSU and the university.

“With many accomplishments, Chomsky is one of the most prominent intellectuals of our time, he has vastly contributed to the fields on linguistics, philosophy, cognitive science, logic, activism and politics and has also written over 100 books,” said Bourbonniere.

There will be a 45-minute question period at the end of Chomsky’s speech. The busy activist has another talk at the Université de Montréal that same night, so he will be in a rush to get some rest. Because of this, students will not have the opportunity to speak with him or to get a photo or autograph.

Since the event sold out so fast, the CSU is in the process of trying to book the BMO auditorium for the overflow of students. The auditorium would be set up with a large screen where the talk would be live streamed.

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Concordia Student Union News

Motion passed for fee levy referendum at Special CSU council meeting

A Special CSU council meeting was held on Wednesday Oct. 16 to address a student petition to allow an exception to Standing Regulation 138, that would allow the Community Food Coalition (CFC) to have their fee-levy referendum on ballots for the November byelections.

The motion passed with a 90 per cent vote of CSU council members in favour.

The CFC petition was signed by 975 students. The petition showed that there was a significant number of students who desired that there be an exception made to Standing Regulation 138. The regulation states that a fee levy increase must be approved by the Policy Committee at least one month prior to the first day of the nomination period of the byelections for it to be considered by council, a deadline the CFC was unable to make.

The referendum states that the CFC would receive an increase in its fee levy fund from Concordia’s undergraduate students.The CFC is in favour of sustainable, ecological, and healthy food options for both Sir George Williams (SGW) and Loyola campuses.  The ballot will be open for voting from Nov. 19-21, for the 2013 byelections, with polls at both SGW and Loyola campuses.

“CFC is very happy that the CSU has empowered students to voice their opinion and play a role in the future of Concordia’s Food System,” said Jessica Cabana, a member of the CFC.

The CFC wants to offer a local, sustainable and ecological food service to Concordia students; its increase in funds would be used to work towards this.

“Putting together a rival bid requires funds, something that would rival a corporation,” said Cabana.

The student run organization would be competing with major companies such as Chartwells, which is currently in contract with the university.

While the CFC has many ideas, for both the SGW and Loyola campuses, they have major plans to end the “food desert” at the Loyola Campus. The CFC would like to aid Loyola’s landscape by creating food producing “Green Rooftops,” including a greenhouse on top of the Hive.

Cabana insists that “a food system must be considered from ground to fork to waste, and Loyola has the potential to have a completely sustainable food system.”

The CFC would also join together with The Hive Café Solidarity Cooperative to provide students at Loyola with an increase in access to sustainable, healthy and affordable food.

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News

Pervert prevention plan in place

Since the publication of last week’s article “Perverts plague SGW library,” the university has been working to change and improve security.

The recent event involving a non-student perpetrator who inappropriately touched himself in front of several female students in the Webster Library, has left students suggesting that the library should not be accessible to the public.  Although Webster Library’s priority is the university community, as a public institution, a Canadian academic library’s principal mission is to support learning, teaching and research for everyone.

University spokesperson Chris Mota has informed The Concordian that the university has readjusted their protocol so that the police will be called immediately every time an incident is reported.  There will now be absolutely zero tolerance for harassment, inappropriate or offensive behaviour.

In addition, security presence in the library and throughout campus will be increased.  Finally, although it is only in it’s beginning stages, the university has plans to spearhead a prevention and safety program on campus, teaching students how to protect themselves and what steps to take in such uncomfortable situations.

“We want our students to feel safe, and we want them to know we are working hard to ensure their safety,” said Mota.

Should any such circumstances happen to you, the university insists you inform security right away.

“Any incident must immediately be reported to security.  Together, we can ensure that our library is a safe place for our students, faculty and staff, and still respect our commitment to share knowledge with the wider community,” said Guylaine Beaudry, interim university librarian.

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News

Reggie’s Bar has major renovation plans

The redesign of the bar area will be mostly aesthetic, creating a more welcoming environment for students.

On Oct. 19 Reggie’s Bar will be closed indefinitely for major renovations and revamping, with the project’s estimated cost to be between $300,000 and $400,000.

The renovations will include a complete change of the bar area, ventilation, lighting, sound equipment, plumbing and electrical as well as a much needed upgrade to the bathrooms, and finally the addition of a full commercial kitchen.

The complete renovation plan is still being developed, however the initial proposal which will include a theme and design for the bar will be presented to the CUSACorp board of directors on Oct. 16.

James Tyler Vaccaro, Chairperson to the board of directors and CSU’s VP Clubs & Internal Affairs said, “The project will realistically cost between $300,000 to $400,000. The project managers understand that any funding that will be allocated to the renovation must be approved by the CSU’s financial committee; because of this, they will be able to make adjustments to the proposal according to the funding allocated.”

CUSACorp and its board will be making all the decisions regarding the renovation project.  Vaccaro informed The Concordian that the project managers have hired a designer to create illustrations of the bar’s planned interior.

“These illustrations will be based on conversations with the CUSACorp board and will be included in their proposal,” said Vaccaro.

In the to-be released press release CUSACorp states “This project has plans to encompass a wholesome change to the space known as Reggie’s, transforming it into a respectable establishment which will cater to the Concordia community.”

Improvements to both sound and lighting are being made to allow the bar to host better events and offer a venue that can offer a greater variety of live performances and promote student bands.  The ventilation improvements will be required with the addition of the commercial kitchen.

The kitchen will create a sustainable, student run food option for all students and staff downtown.

The plumbing renovations will be needed to install a new ice machine, mend existing issues, as well as supply the new kitchen and bathrooms.

While the Reggie’s bathroom renovations are long overdue, the project will provide functional, more hygienic and accessible rest room facilities.

The redesign of the bar area will be mostly aesthetic, creating a more welcoming environment for students.

“The goal is to create an establishment that is used by students throughout the week to grab a bite to eat or have a drink, not only on Thursday nights. We have a lack of space at Concordia, and students demand a place on campus that is theirs,” said CUSACorp. “After the renovations, we hope that Reggie’s will act as a meeting place that students are proud to frequent.”

The re-opening of the new revamped Reggie’s will only be known once the project proposal has been finalized and the construction has begun.

Although there are currently no plans for a grand re-opening, Vaccaro has assured The Concordian that there will be. The theme and date of the grand opening event will be widely publicized throughout Concordia closer to the end of the renovations.

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Females being bothered at the Sir George Williams library

Concordia has had to deal with recent incidents concerning a middle-aged man who has been indecently touching himself in front of women studying alone at the Sir George Williams campus library.

The man is described to be in his 40s with a dark, receding hairline and glasses. He was last seen wearing a plaid shirt with jeans, and one victim specifically noticed he was wearing a wedding ring. Incidents reported of the same man have been made during the evening, around 5 p.m. and at night, at approximately 10 p.m., on both the second and fourth floor of the SGW library. Both incidents occurred to girls studying alone in the private cubicles.

According to two female students, Tess Juan-Gaillot and Althea Thompson, the man did not outwardly expose himself, but was clearly playing with himself under his clothes.

“It began with what seemed to me to be scratching himself, then after an hour of the occasional “scratch” he started to touch himself and I realized what was happening and left right away,” said Thompson.

Similarly, Juan-Gaillot described her incident as having been, “completely alone in my cubicle area when he sat in the cubicle right beside me. This made me rather aware of his presence (…) After a few minutes, more people sat down in the cubicle area, which put me at ease. I stopped paying attention to him until I absentmindedly looked in his direction. That is when I noticed his right arm muscles pulsating as he repeatedly tugged at himself and rubbed his groin area.”

Juan-Gaillot said she immediately understood what he was doing and knew of him previously doing this to a few of her fellow students. Thinking fast, Juan-Gaillot decided to leave her supplies and books at her cubicle, pretending not to notice what the man was doing. She then proceeded to the security desk where the guard followed her quickly back to where the perpetrator was sitting. After asking and getting confirmation from the perpetrator that he was not a student, security insisted he leave the library and escorted him out.

“I felt violated. My space was intruded upon by an unwanted act, directed at me. He did not do this in the privacy of his own home,” she said. “He clearly chose to sit right beside me when there were multiple other empty seats. I felt uncomfortable and even unsafe.”

When the issue was discussed with President Alan Shepard, he replied “Security in this environment is an extremely difficult proposition because we’re a public institution. We have thousands of people every day coming and going on campus.”

“Security is a huge priority, we do our very best to ensure everyone’s safety [but] even having strong security doesn’t mean you’ll have zero incidents. I feel confident that our security services do a good job and they’re in touch with the police when they need to be,” he concluded.

According to an article published by CJAD, the police were not called and when Juan-Gaillot tried to file a police report she was told there was not much they could do and that it would have been better if they had been called at the time of the incident.

 

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