Tag: concordia

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Music

Hip-hop culture with Milla Thyme

After releasing his EP, Eternally the Student, the rapper returned to study jazz at Concordia

For Milla Thyme, rapping is about bringing light to important social matters. “You have to talk about things that are unjust and speak about them,” he said. Milla Thyme fuses a mix of soul, hip hop, and jazz into his music. Milla Thyme is the MC name of Concordia student Max Miller. It’s a name he developed in his early teens. “Milla Thyme is 100 per cent me. It’s when I’m playing bass and rapping and I’m writing all the music myself,” he said.

The MC can be spotted at Le Cypher, a popular hip-hop jam session party at Le Bleury-Bar à Vinyle, which takes place almost every Thursday night. It’s one of his favourite Montreal hotspots. In fact, the rapper said it’s like his second home. “We get 150 people average per week so it’s a good platform for people to see you perform regularly,” he said.

People from all walks of life can get a chance to come up on stage during Le Cypher and try out rapping—even if they’ve never done it before. “It’s a safe space for people to communicate,” Miller said. “You get people of all different genders, ages, sexual orientation. We don’t care. We’re all the same, right?” Miller has been rapping and playing bass with the band Urban Science at Le Cypher almost every Thursday night. The band is comprised of about 20 to 25 artists, some of whom played on his recent EP, Eternally the Student. “It was my friend Thomas Lafrance, a.k.a T-Cup, on the drums,” Miller said. “And then on keys we had one of the baddest under-25 keyboard players in the city, named Nicolas Dupuis, who goes by the name Anomalie. I’m just so grateful that he had the time to play with us.”

Come see Milla Thyme perform live on Thursday evenings at Le Bleury-Bar à Vinyle. Photo by Emily Vidal

Urban Science has also played at many popular venues in Montreal, including the Jazz Festival two years in a row, which Miller said he’s grateful to have been a part of. “That group has taken me to amazing places,” he said. For the rapper, there is no better feeling than freestyling on stage during Le Cypher nights. “It’s like having an amazing orgasm, a sweet release. It’s one of the best feelings, a natural high,” he said.

When he’s not busy performing as Milla Thyme, Miller is focused on his jazz studies program at Concordia. He said it’s important for him to keep up his studies, to never stop learning or growing, both as a person and as a musician. The artist is also the president of Concordia’s Hip Hop Community, a student club that holds rap battles for social justice. Each week, a different social issue is addressed at the rap battles, such as police brutality and gender inequality. The club also holds workshops that allow people to work on different elements and aspects of hip hop, and allow them to share their music with others on stage.

“It’s a good way for Concordia students and members of the community who don’t have much experience but want to be involved with hip hop and social consciousness,” Miller said. A rap battle on police brutality will be held on Feb. 15 at the Le Belmont nightclub on St-Laurent. The proceeds for this event will be going to Montreal Noir, which Milla Thyme said is a socially-conscious group advocating equality. Miller feels very lucky to have always been pushed to chase his dreams by his parents, who are artists themselves. “Michael Miller, my dad, is actually the most produced black playwright in Canada. And my mom was a TA at Juilliard in her 20s,” he said. “My parents are both established in their careers. They told me, if I’m going to pursue arts, that I have to [give it] my 100 per cent.”

Concordia’s Hip Hop Community president, Max Miller, also known as Milla Thyme. Photo by Ana Hernandez

This support really helped Miller overcome the struggles involved with creating his music. “I think the biggest challenge we all face is ourselves,” he said. “That’s always the biggest challenge because it’s an internal conflict, just questioning [yourself], like we all do, in some way. That’s something, as an artist, you deal with a lot.” Miller said artists like Kendrick Lamar and J-Cole allowed him to forget about the hardships of the music industry. Through their meaningful lyrics, they inspired him to focus on being real in his music as well. “They gave me a renewed sense of purpose,” he said.

Miller’s EP, Eternally a Student, which was released in October, touches on deep subjects that truly matter both in his own life and in society. The songs, he said, are a true representation of what was going on in his life as well as what he saw going on around him. For the artist, that’s the ultimate goal: to express himself in a way that can be relatable to someone else. “I hope my music can help people in their day-to-day, and if someone’s going through something, that it helps them get through that,” he said.

If there’s anything Miller wants artists to take from his story, it’s that the most important thing is to believe in yourself, and in your own music. “Just keep pushing,” he said. “Don’t give up, and just know that no one can tell your music better than you can.”

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Music

Wray Downes: Not just a music man

On Jan. 14, Downes performed at Upstairs Jazz Bar to celebrate his birthday. Photo by Alex Hutchins

Jazz pianist Downes talks about his many careers and his love of teaching

“It’s cold out there!” exclaims Wray Downes, as he settles into a chair in the music department’s large conference room, located in Concordia’s GM building.  “At least it’s not raining,” he adds, with genuine relief, as he takes off his cloth bucket hat and unzips his jacket.  On the table, he sets down the only item he is carrying: a copy of Ted Gioia’s book, History of Jazz.  Downes pulls a small parking ticket out of his big winter jacket. “Oh, we’ve got plenty of time,” he says, before tucking it safely back into his jacket pocket.

Looking across the table at one of the most famous Canadian jazz musicians of all time, it is charming and unnerving to see that, at the end of the day, Downes is just another 86-year-old man who will just as happily discuss the weather and parking as he will his career.

Downes, born Rupert Arnold Downes, is a celebrated jazz pianist, composer and conductor.  The musician was born in Toronto on Jan. 14, 1931. With racial discrimination present in Toronto in the 30s and 40s, Downes says life was hard growing up, but his character made it easier. “I had a big mouth, I could run fast and I also had a big fist. So, I could fight my way,” he says.

Downes recalls life was also hard because his parents didn’t have much money. He says they had to make a lot of sacrifices for him to take piano lessons for the first few years. His father was a porter. Downes says, back then, it was considered a good job at $125 to $150 a week. But with piano lessons costing $10 a week and the paycheck rolling in every two weeks, he says it wasn’t easy. So when Downes’ mother found out he could play in piano competitions for money and scholarships, the game started to change.

At 13, Downes started participating in music competitions. Quickly, he started winning… a lot. Downes recalls giving his father attitude when he would get scolded for not practicing. “When my father said… ‘Well you didn’t practice today!’ I’d say, ‘Yeah, but I just won 700 bucks for a scholarship, man!’” Downes said, leaning back in his chair theatrically and folding his hands behind his head. “I was mouthy and cheeky,” he says with a smile, and a glimmer of pride.

At just 18 years old, in 1949, Downes became the first Canadian to win the prestigious British Empire Scholarship to the Trinity College of Music in London. There, Downes recalls, there was “subtle prejudice,” which he first experienced while searching for a place to live.

He says he would see nice-looking rooms for board in the paper, give the owners a call and set up a time to visit. But then, when he arrived, the owners had magically found someone who better suited their needs. Downes started to understand what was going on. “I thought, ‘this crap is over here too.’” Luckily, he eventually found a room to call home, at Mrs. Stanley’s home.  He recalls the small elderly British lady giving him quite a different welcome than the other landlords had.

“She said, ‘oh you’re the first one! Come in!’ and she gave me a big hug.  And I just about swallowed my face.”

After his time in London, Downes would go on to study at other prestigious music schools, including the Paris Conservatory and, eventually, Oscar Peterson’s Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto. Peterson, one of Downes’ many mentors, was the one who suggested Downes try out jazz. Downes recalls the switch to jazz first happening when a London recruiting agency refused him because he was black. “He said, ‘I don’t think we can do anything for a black person.’ And I looked at him and said, ‘I don’t quite understand.’  And he just said, ‘What I am going to do with you?’”

Downes’ and Dave Young’s Juno award-winning album, Au Privave. Press Photo

While Downes had to deal with similar situations throughout his life and career, he said he eventually learned not to give into anger. “Anger doesn’t do anything. Anger only affects you, because the other person doesn’t know that you’re angry, you know? Don’t let [yourself] do this to yourself. I learned that lesson a long time ago,” he says.

Downes’ jazz career kicked off in the mid-50s, when he toured all over France and Spain with Bill Coleman, a world renowned jazz trumpeter.  He would go on to work with other big jazz musicians like Buck Clayton, Annie Ross, Milt Jackson, Coleman Jackson and Lester Young, to name a few. He would eventually lead his own trios and quartets and release albums. In 1982, Downes won the Juno award for Best Jazz Album for his and Dave Young’s album, Au Privave.

Although music was always an important part of Downes’ life and career, it was never the only part.

On top of being a jazz pianist, Downes took breaks from piano to be a short-order chef, a chauffeur and a drapery installer. He finally turned to teaching in 1990. “I always did want to teach. I always did want to give back somehow, somewhere. And then, Concordia came calling.”  Downes says he enjoys teaching and mentoring students, and is joyful in helping them find their own style and success.

Downes says he likes to reinforce to his students that, as a musician, it is always important to keep the audience in mind. “I say this to my students: you got to get out there and understand the people that you’re playing to. Because, no people in the club, and you’re out of work.”  Downes says he learnt this lesson a long time ago, when he was told he couldn’t just play his bebop, because some want to hear the standards.

Downes’s 1995 album, For You, E.
Press Photo

“You’re playing for those folks, because they’re the ones who put the money in your pocket and the bread and butter on your table. And, if you adhere to that, then success, hopefully, will come your way. But don’t look down on those people,” says Downes, his tone serious, and his respect for his audience apparent.

Downes is an extremely respected figure in the Canadian jazz scene. However, he is equally respected within academia. “Wray represents a vital link to the past,” says Joshua Ranger, an assistant professor in Concordia’s department of jazz studies. “It’s said that jazz music advances while standing on the shoulders of giants—and Wray is one of our giants.”  He says that Downes teaches jazz in the way of Oscar Peterson and Phineas Newborn Jr.—two jazz moguls. “Sadly, Wray is one of the last such teachers, and the fact that he is still at it after so many years really is a testament to his energy and tenacity.”

These days, Downes contents himself with teaching, cooking, spending time with his wife and kids and playing piano when he wants to. “Been there, done that,” says Downes with a laugh about his jet-setting and musically-busy past.

As he gets up to leave, Downes zips up his winter coat and secures his cloth bucket hat back on his head.  He tucks his book back under his arm before walking out the door to go house to play with his dog, play some piano or maybe cook.

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News

Concordia hosts “One in Five” for Mental Awareness Day

Concordia’s Counseling and Psychological Services held its event in conjunction with #BellLetsTalk

Concordia organizes mental health fair in collaboration with Bell Let’s Talk on Jan. 25

“We want students to know that they are not alone. It is hard enough when someone is suffering from depression, but it’s made worse when you blame yourself for it and think that you’re all alone,” said Dale Robinson, the manager of Counseling and Psychological Services at Concordia University.

According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, one in five people will suffer from a mental illness or addiction, in their lifetime. Two out of three of those individuals will suffer in silence. In response, Concordia offers a variety of programs to students suffering from mental illness and looking for assistance.

On Jan. 25, Bell Media held its seventh annual #BellLetsTalk campaign to help de-stigmatize mental illness while raising funds for Canadian mental health programs.

In conjunction with this social media event, Concordia’s Counseling and Psychological Services hosted “One in Five” Mental Awareness Day, on Jan.25,  in recognition of the one in five people who will suffer from mental illness in their lifetime.

The Mental Awareness Day at Concordia included a fair, which welcomed students, faculty and staff at the EV Building from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The fair offered information on different resources for support available at Concordia as well as in the greater Montreal region.The event featured several kiosks that provided students with insight about the different programs the university offers.

“Students with diagnosed learning disabilities are encouraged to come to the Access Centre for Students with Disabilities,” said Sanu Ariyarajah, a representative for the organization. “We offer a variety of services such as smaller classrooms, more time during exams, individual advising and workshops.”

Photo by Chloe Ranaldi

Jack.org, a non-profit organization designed by students for students with mental illnesses or suffering from emotional hardship, also had a kiosk at the event. “Jack.org reaches out to students who need help, and we help guide them to different resources available in their area,” said Michael Dorado, a Jack.org representive. Concordia also has its own Jack.org chapter.

“Most often times, students don’t know that counseling and psychological services exist at Concordia. Our role is to show students that [services] exist and are available to help them,” Dorado explained.

“Talking to someone, finding a group or going to counseling can be helpful,” Robinson said. “Talking in a group can help students get a sense of validation that what they are going through is normal and can happen to anyone.”

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Student Life

Disconnect virtually to reconnect to reality

Photo by Danielle Gasher

How a social media detox might benefit everyone’s health

For many of us, our phones are the first thing we look at when we wake up and the last thing we look at before going to sleep. According to a 2014 report conducted by the Media Technology Monitor, social media is widely used on a daily basis in Canada. In fact, over half of Canadians are signed up to at least one social media platform, and over 79 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 16 and 26 are connected to at least one platform.

Social media platforms were engineered with the goal of helping people communicate and connect them together. However, it seems the opposite might be happening. Psychological and sociological research is increasingly linking anxiety and depression to social media.

A 2016 study conducted by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found a direct correlation between heavy social media use and depression in young adults.  The effects are also being felt in the halls of schools. Research conducted by sociology and anthropology Concordia professor, Francine Tremblay, found the engagement of students in school has been affected by technology. “Students seem to be detached,” said Tremblay.

In Tremblay’s opinion, students should focus more of their time and energy prioritizing their well-being and their studies. “You are studying to succeed… A bachelor’s degree is extremely demanding. You are the most important thing right now,” said Tremblay.

It’s no wonder some students need a break from technology. Alexa Pepper, a communication studies student at Concordia, decided it was time for a detox when she noticed how much her social media use was feeding her anxiety. She decided cut herself off from social media for a week, and for her, it was a very positive experience. “I needed to focus on me… I was doing fun things and I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything,” said Pepper about her experience.

Pepper said the break taught her that she didn’t actually need social media to function and be happy, but she likes the idea of being able to log in when she wants to. “It teaches you self-control,” said Pepper.

For political science student Emma Nablsi, as she embarked on her detox mission, she thought: “If previous generations could do it, why can’t I?” When she felt social media was weighing her mood down and affecting her sleep, Nablsi decided to go on a month-long social media detox. “It was honestly the best time I’ve ever had…because you can live life the way you’re supposed to. I was more social, and I felt that I was in contact with people,” said Nablsi.

Photo by Danielle Gasher

She said she detoxed to challenge herself and to focus more on her real, non-virtual social life.  “It’s like a medicine, a treatment, a kind of therapy. It heals you from the inside and the outside,” said Nablsi.

Performance creation major Tiernan Cornford believes she’s never missed out on anything in the ‘real world’ because she limits her social media use. Cornford is only active on Snapchat. She believes this has permitted her to have a controlled relationship with social media.

“I didn’t want to be on it all the time and be on this crutch. I like talking to people in person,” she said. Cornford said, when you don’t have social media, or decide not to go on it for a while, the people who want to get in touch with you, will. This ‘fear of missing out’ is a common source of stress among young adults.

For Nablsi, the social media detox was “an eye-opening experience.” Nablsi and Pepper said they now realize that the virtual world of social media just isn’t that important. It took them taking a break from it to realize it.

Research conducted in 2016 by McMaster University researchers found that most students can’t control themselves when it comes to social media. The survey found 48 per cent of McMaster’s students couldn’t control their social media use, and 29 per cent weren’t able to control their instant messaging.

“[Today], everything is being turned into an urgent matter,” said Tremblay. She said social media has become a compulsion for many young adults, and of course, a health issue. While the students mentioned above have been able to detach themselves from social media, it is becoming increasingly hard for most students to do so.

If keeping up with social media is making you feel anxious, stressed or depressed, know that it’s something you can put a stop to. You can try your own social media detox, or talk to a health specialist at Concordia’s Health Services.

We asked Concordia students what they think about a social media detox. Watch below for their reactions.

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Sports

Men’s soccer team stays warm through winter

Karl Gouabé believes the indoor league is a great way to develop during the off season. Photos by Ana Hernandez.

The Concordia Stingers men’s soccer squad has kicked off their indoor league season

Despite the cold temperatures, the Concordia Stingers men’s soccer team stays warm all winter long. This is because they have an advantage not many other universities have—they can practice all season long.

For head coach Greg Sutton, the Stingers Dome offers the soccer team a home-field advantage like no other.

“It’s awesome, and I think that’s a huge advantage for our program. There’s not too many in our conference that have the facility at their door step,” Sutton said.

Only the Laval Rouge et Or have an indoor field, while all the other universities have to rent indoor stadiums for practices.

The team’s first-string goalie, Karl Gouabé, said the Stingers have an edge over rivals because of the indoor field in their own backyard.

“We train three [times a week], while McGill could only do it once or twice because they have to rent a place, so that’s a major advantage,” Gouabé said.

The men’s soccer team competes in the Réseau de sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) indoor soccer season during the winter. Although the winter season only consists of seven regular season games, it lasts for nearly three months.

For Gouabé, the indoor season isn’t about getting results, but rather preparing for next year.

“The big league is the fall season, so the winter season is kind of pre-season,” Gouabé said. “The result is not as important.”

Sutton has the same opinion of the winter league, but still wants his players to play hard in games.

“We always want to win,” Sutton said. “I think [the winter league] is very competitive.”

For the head coach, the winter league presents an opportunity to evaluate players who didn’t play as much in the regular season. With nearly 30 players on the roster and a regular season consisting of only 12 games, not all team members get a chance to play.

Along with that, the indoor season allows the team to play together all year long.

“It’s great for us,” Sutton added. “One, for the team trying to continue to grow as a unit, then secondly, we could start to give some opportunities to guys who didn’t see as many minutes in the fall.”

Samuel Pelletier, the team’s third-string goalkeeper, benefits from the added playing time. He said it allows the body to keep in tune with the motions and the feel of the game.

“It’s pretty important just to keep in touch with the ball, and stay in chemistry with your team,” Pelletier said.

Sutton also has the opportunity to introduce new recruits to their future teammates and opponents in this league. The head coach added some players to the roster, one of whom was selected during the school’s open tryouts. Although he expects more players to arrive only next summer because of the flow of the academic calendar, he said the new players benefit from the indoor league.

“We were able to bring in three new guys, and get them in the fold,” Sutton said. “When we get them in the fall, it won’t be new to them.”

Gouabé also appreciates the fact that he could meet his future—or potential future—comrades in the winter.

The indoor league includes all of the RSEQ teams the Stingers play against during the fall season. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

“[The winter league] helps us with assessing new players for next year. A lot of the guys are going to be on a long-term tryout,” Gouabé said. “That’s the importance of an indoor league.”

Playing as a team all year long also enables them to improve on their recurring problems throughout the fall season. The Stingers went 4-6-2, finishing seventh in the RSEQ, but only three points out of the playoffs. Four of those losses were one-goal losses, including a 3-2 defeat at home against the Université de Québec à Montréal Citadins, in which Concordia blew a 2-1 lead in the final five minutes.

A better showing in those close losses could have put the Stingers in a playoff position.

“If you look back at our fall season, we had some great performances and we laid some eggs,” Sutton said. “It’s about consistency, and I think that’s the most important factor from year to year.”

The head coach’s aim to improve every year is evident, as the Stingers have been on a rise since he took over in 2014. They went 0-7-5 in his first season, and 3-9-0 in 2015. Sutton has a simple key to success he looks for in his players during the indoor season.

“You’re only as good as your abilities could take you, but you [have] to have that extra motivation, that extra work rate in order to be successful consistently,” Sutton said. “That’s our message to our guys—you’re all good players, but you’re not great players unless you’re working hard.”

Pelletier believes the Stingers Dome helps in that regard.

“When you play all year, you’re always going to get better,” he said.

In the team’s first indoor game, they lost 5-2 against the Université de Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes.

Their next game will be on Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. in the Stingers Dome against UQAM.

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News

Homa Hoodfar returns to Concordia

Homa Hoodfar has been back since Sept. 26. Photo by Frederic Muckle.

Retired professor comes back to personally share her story with students

Retired Concordia anthropology professor Homa Hoodfar will be returning to Concordia University on Feb. 20 to speak about her experience in Evin prison in Iran. This will be the first time since returning to Montreal that Hoodfar will be opening up to students about the 112 days she spent incarcerated.

Julia Sutera Sardo, ASFA’s vice-president of internal affairs and administration, told The Concordian about the event the student association is organizing. “She’s a survivor, and having her come to meet the students is something great,” Sutera Sardo said about Hoodfar.. “She is an amazing woman, and she has experienced so much. The fact that she has accepted to come and talk about it with other students makes me very excited.”

In addition to her experience in Evin prison, Hoodfar will be talking about how women are viewed in Middle Eastern countries. Hoodfar will also give advices on conducting field work in hostile countries, and discuss the representation of women in these countries, a topic she has been researching and teaching for many years.

“She’s determined to make everyone else feel empowered,” said Sutera Sardo. “Homa Hoodfar will help the community grow and get closer and stronger.”

Hoodfar was arrested during a trip to Iran, her home country, during their elections in early 2016. In an interview with The Concordian in mid-November, she said that Iranian women were questioning why so few of them were in Parliament, and many of them were forming organizations to change the face of Parliament. “The guards want to believe that these ideas are coming from outside of Iran,” she said in the interview, which was the main reason they arrested her, thinking she was an ally of these groups of women.

During the upcoming conference, Hoodfar will discuss her story by answering a series of questions from a facilitator. A question period will them be opened up to the audience. “She told me she was very excited about this. She is coming back to her roots,” said Sutera Sardo.

During her previous interview with The Concordian, Hoodfar said she wanted to thank the students for their support. “I was very touched to see the videos and pictures from the demonstrations, which was a very nice surprise for me,” she said. To this day, according to Sutera Sardo, Hoodfar is very thankful to the Concordia community.

The event will be held in the Hall building, in room H-767, on Feb. 20 at 11:30 a.m. The event is open to all students interested in meeting and asking Hoodfar questions, and hearing her story. Seats are first-come, first served.

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Sports

Stingers blowout Gaiters in Thursday’s doubleheader

The men’s team played great defence in the win.

Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams were impressive against Bishop’s

The Concordia Stingers women’s and men’s basketball teams were victorious on Thursday night. Both teams took on the Bishop’s Gaiters, with the women’s team winning 57-42 and the men winning 76-55.

Women’s Basketball

On a night when the Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team struggled to find an offensive groove, they were able to prevail with a strong defensive effort.

The women’s team bounced back after a big loss to McGill. Photos by Ana Hernandez.

“We picked it up on defense. That’s one thing that we emphasized at half-time. We weren’t doing well defensively [up to that point],” said Stingers head coach Tenicha Gittens. “I thought we were forcing them to take bad shots but then we allowed them to get to the glass. They were very aggressive in that first quarter, but we definitely have to clean that up.”

The Stingers came out sloppy, committing 18 turnovers and attempting bad shots throughout the game. However, it started pretty well for the Stingers as they went on a 9-2 run in the first three minutes of the game. The Stingers only managed to make one field goal for the remainder of the quarter and were only up 11-9 by the end of the quarter.

The second quarter was more productive and saw the Stingers outscore Bishop’s by 21-14. Stingers guard Jazlin Barker scored seven of the team’s  last nine points of the quarter. The Stingers were up 32-23 at halftime.

The Stingers were finally able to pull away from the Gaiters in the third quarter when Stingers guard Richelle Grégoire took matters into her own hands and scored 13 of her game-high 15 points. It is an effort she attributes to the hard work of her teammates.

“My teammates try to help me when I am struggling, and they tell me to keep my head up and eventually it’s going to drop,” Grégoire said.

With six minutes left in the game, Grégoire buried one of her two three-pointers, which gave the Stingers their biggest lead up to that point. The Stingers never looked back, cruising to a 57-42 win.

Despite the 15-point win, Gittens felt there was room for improvement from her team.

“As a player, as an athlete, you should be up to play,” Gittens said. “It doesn’t matter who is in front you.”

Men’s Basketball

Thanks to the strong play of Stingers guards Ken Beaulieu and Adrian Armstrong, as well as forward Michael Fosu, the men’s team was able to cruise to a 76-55 blowout win against Bishop’s.

The first quarter starred a red-hot performance from Armstrong. With the score 12-10 in the Stingers’ favour, the second-year guard from London, Ont. scored 14 consecutive points for his team to end the first quarter.

Armstrong did most of his damage from behind the three-point line. The whole gym erupted in response to his spectacular play. Armstrong, who came off the bench in the first quarter, finished the game with 17 points.

Stingers head coach Rastko Popovic was impressed with his bench’s play in the game.

“It’s good when you can get in different guys,” Popovic said. “That was the whole point this year. Having a good recruiting class. Having depth to come in and play.”

The Stingers started the second quarter the same way they ended the first. With six minutes left in the half, Fosu scored a nice basket after some great passing plays by Stingers forward Schneiders Suffrard and Beaulieu. Fosu’s basket put the Stingers up 30-19. Soon after, with just under three minutes to go, Beaulieu finished off a nice effort by grabbing his own rebound and scoring. The Stingers took a 17-point lead into halftime, with the score at 40-23.

The Gaiters never managed to be a threat to the Stingers in the second half. With seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Stingers guard Nicholas Noble made a three-point shot after some nice ball movement that buried any chance of a comeback from the Gaiters. The three-pointer put the Stingers up 63-46.

“Definitely this week we did focus on playing a little bit faster,” Popovic said. “I thought our starters did a better job [in that aspect], and I think we need our bench to come in with energy and push the ball more.”

Both Stingers teams will take on the Bishop’s Gaiters again on Jan. 28 in Sherbrooke.

Categories
Sports

Bell Let’s Talk reaches Concordia

Philippe Hudon shared his personal story with the media in his last year of Junior hockey. Photo by Ana Hernandez.

Stingers men’s hockey forward Philippe Hudon speaks out about his experiences with mental illness

In any given year, one in five Canadians suffer from a mental health or addiction problem, according to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

One of those Canadians is Philippe Hudon, a forward and assistant captain on the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team. In 2010, Hudon was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

The condition is described as a disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions) and/or behaviours (compulsions) that they feel the urge to constantly repeat, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Since sharing his story with sports network RDS in 2014, Hudon has turned his condition into a positive experience and has lent his voice to the discussion surrounding mental illness. This year, he is the Concordia Stingers’ representative for Bell Let’s Talk Day.

According to Bell Canada, on Jan. 25, more than 20,000 university athletes from 53 schools across Canada will take part in an initiative to promote mental health awareness on campuses.

For Hudon, helping Concordia take part in the Bell Let’s Talk campaign is something he’s always been interested in doing.

“The Stingers have been really involved with community work,” Hudon said. “When I came in, about two years ago, I really wanted to make a difference, especially with the Bell Let’s Talk initiative which I had already touched upon previously when I was playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.”

One of the Stingers’ contributions leading up to Jan. 25 was the Bell Let’s Talk Day hockey game, which was held at the Ed Meagher Arena on Jan. 7. Before the match, which was against Ryerson University, the Stingers gave out pamphlets to raise awareness about Bell Let’s Talk and mental health in general.

Hudon, who is in his third year with the Stingers, got to take part in the ceremonial face-off before the game—an honour usually reserved for captains.

“It felt great to be a spokesperson for a great cause, especially with myself having been through times of hardship where I had to battle and come back better than ever,” Hudon said. “Being able to host a game and being able to be a part of the puck drop was pretty emotional, especially with all of my brothers on the ice with me.”

Apart from the game against Ryerson, Hudon has been involved with the Bell Let’s Talk initiative in other ways. For instance, he recently gave a talk at Kuper Academy in the West Island, where just one year ago, a student committed suicide.

Hudon talked to the students about mental health and his struggles with OCD. The assembly was organized by Kuper Academy student Ethan Chang with the goal of helping to end the stigma surrounding mental illness.

“At first I was really excited to do it because I love getting involved like that, but I was also really nervous. I’ve done presentations in class but talking to 500 students was something big,” Hudon said. “It turned out to be a success and that’s something that I’m really proud of.”

As part of Bell Let’s Talk Day, Hudon was given the opportunity to share his story on a national level. Earlier this month, he spoke to a representative at Bell about his struggles, and was approached by media outlets such as CTV and TSN for features.

Since airing his story on a major network three years ago, Hudon said he has become more confident in sharing his experiences. He said he will talk to anybody who is willing to listen, and believes it’s important to share his story with as many people as possible.

Hudon took part in the ceremonial face-off during a game against Ryerson on Jan. 7. Photo by Brianna Thicke

“I think that I can make a difference,” Hudon said. “By sharing my story, I hope I can help people whether they are affected personally by mental illness or not, or whether they know someone who is affected and that it gives them the tools that will help them in the near future.”

The Bell Let’s Talk initiative, whose official spokesperson is Olympian Clara Hughes, has been around since 2010 and has grown every year since. In 2016, the campaign broke its donation record, with over $6 million raised for mental health programs across Canada.

Hudon said it’s been incredible to see the increasing support for the initiative, and he feels that people are really starting to care about issues surrounding mental health.

“It makes me feel comfortable and happy that people aren’t just supporting Bell Let’s Talk for hashtags and social media. I think there’s more to it,” Hudon said. “I see more and more people actually want to get involved and want to know more. We want to include everybody in society and the growing number of spokespeople and donations is progress that makes me feel warm and happy.”

For those with mental illness who are worried or afraid about sharing their experiences, Hudon said it’s a tough situation. However, he said something that helped him when he was struggling was surrounding himself with his friends and family who were truly there for him.

“By sticking with your true friends, it’s going to make it a lot easier to talk because you know those people won’t judge you and will just listen,” Hudon said. “My motto is ‘lend an ear.’ For people who aren’t affected, just listen and be there for someone and make sure they aren’t lost and don’t feel like an outsider.”

If you’re a student at Concordia who is suffering from any mental health issues and needs someone to talk to, Health Services is open to all students and is located at 7141 Sherbrooke St. West in room 131 of the AD building.

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JMSB talks about mental health

CASA Cares is responsible for spearheading the #TalksAboutIt initiative Photo by Alex Hutchins

Concordia students open up about mental health with the hashtag #TalksAboutIt

JMSB students have created a video series using the hashtag #TalksAboutIt as a way to encourage Concordia students to open up about their experiences with mental or emotional hardships.

The campaign was organized by CASA Cares, a non-profit organization of the Commerce and Administration Student Association (CASA) at JMSB, which promotes social awareness and inclusion. The student association is a volunteer-based organization with a mission to inspire students to get involved in their community and help destigmatize mental illness.

“The #TalksAboutIt campaign all started when one JMSB student approached us about an idea he had to help students affected with mental illness,” said Yasmine Ait Bihi, president of CASA Cares. The #TalksAboutIt campaign is a YouTube video series where students film themselves talking about their personal experiences with mental illness and depression.

“We wanted to create a hashtag on social media to encourage students to talk about the cause,” Ait Bihi told The Concordian. “Many times the issue is that students [are afraid] to talk about their struggles.” The campaign allows students to share their experiences in the hopes of helping others in a similar position, she said.

“One thing I’ve learned about depression is that you are not alone. We’re not alone,” said one Concordia student, Frankie Lee Sunnyshine, in a #TalksAboutIt YouTube video. “Speaking to other people who you can console with and talking to friends [and] family helps you to deal with the pain.”

“We want to empower students to make a difference in someone else’s life,” Ait Bihi said. “It’s a small action that can make an impact on a stranger’s or a friend’s life.”

CASA Cares invites all Concordia students to participate and send in videos of their stories, said Ait Bihi. Students can simply send their videos directly to CASA Cares or post a video themselves with the hashtag.

She said she and her team hope this year-long initiative continues in future years. “CASA Cares promotes social awareness and raises money for a variety of causes,” Ait Bihi said. Some examples include Movember, which raises funds for prostate cancer research, and an annual fashion show to benefit the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

Concordia University offers a variety of programs for students who need emotional guidance and help. The Everyday Therapy campaign, organized by Concordia Health Services, is among one of the many Concordia programs geared towards helping students with everyday personal struggles.

Everyday Therapy hosts four sessions throughout the semester to give students tips and suggestions for dealing with daily obstacles.

In addition, many Concordia students have been involved with this year’s Bell Let’s Talk campaign. On Jan. 25, Bell Let’s Talk will be launching its seventh annual conversation about Canada’s mental health. On the same day, Concordia will host “One in Five,” an event in conjunction with Bell Let’s Talk, from 10 a.m to 3 p.m. The event will feature different resources for students and will discuss internal and community resources to help deal with mental health said, Dale Robinson, Manager/Psychologist, Counselling & Psychological Services at Concordia.

Bell will donate five cents to mental health initiatives for every text or call on Jan 25, regardless of the topic. As well, every tweet of instagram post with the hashtag #BellLetsTalk, or every time someone watches a Bell Let’s Talk video on Facebook. In addition, five cents will be donated if a picture is taken with the Bell Let’s Talk snapchat filter.

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Snowyola: A winter wonderland

Snowyola brought together over 100 students to the Loyola Quad. Photo by Ana Hernandez

ASFA held its first winter orientation with outdoor fun at the Loyola quad

Over 100 students gathered at the quad on Loyola campus to celebrate Snowyola—the first-ever winter orientation.

The event was held by the Arts and Sciences Federation of Associations (ASFA) on Jan. 19, and ran from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. An after-party was also held at Reggies from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. During the main event, DJ Czich, who was in charge of music for the night, gave Snowyola attendees a wide variety of music to groove to. Everything from hip-hop to EDM to pop filled the air, complemented by an impressive display of colourful LED lights fixed to the DJ setup.

Partygoers had access to Molson Canadian beer, which was the official sponsor of the event. Not only was there an abundance of beer, but bags of chicken and falafel pitas were also made available from the newly-opened Boustan in NDG, along with a large tray of  a variety of Subway cookies.

While Snowyola offered new and returning students a unique way to socialize and connect after the winter break, ASFA used the event as a means to fundraise and raise awareness for Dans la Rue, an organization which helps homeless and at-risk youth in Montreal.

“Dans La Rue is a local Montreal charity, so we were confident that our input would impact the community directly,” said Rachel Rammal, one of the event’s head organizers and ASFA’s vice president of academic and Loyola affairs. “We were also drawn to this charity because their help mainly targets the youth, kids our age even, so it’s definitely a cause that we feel strongly about.”

At the event, students could buy Snowyola-themed pom-pom hats, which were striped white and burgundy with a snowflake embroidered on them. One hundred per cent of the pom-pom hat sales went to Dans la Rue, as well as at least 25 per cent of the total ticket sales, according to the event’s Facebook page. Fifty per cent of the after-party ticket sales were also donated.

When asked about the possibility of hosting a Snowyola event in years to come, Rammal said: “I am confident that we have laid down a strong foundation to build upon should the future executives want to take on the challenge.”

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Hackers meet up at Concordia

Winners Youssef Chahdoura, Nicholas Lee, George Shen and Michel Jing. Photo by Nelly Serandour-Amar

ConUHacks II brought together students from all over North America

ConUHacks, Concordia University’s hackathon, was held this weekend at the John Molson School of Business. More than 400 students from all over North America in the fields of software engineering and computer science came together to create an application or website with their respective teams.

The students began working on their projects Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. and had until the same time on Sunday to finish them. During the closing ceremony at 4 p.m., the six teams who made the finals showcased their projects to the other participants.

The application that won first place was Blindspot, a selfie-taking application for blind or visually impaired people completely controlled by voice commands. Youssef Chahdoura, Nicholas Lee, George Shen and Michel Jing created the app. Chahdoura studies at the University of Ottawa, while the other three study at Waterloo University.

“I came in with the idea that I wanted to help blind people, and then my teammates had the idea to take the perfect picture,” said Jing. When asked what the hardest part of their hackathon was, Jing said that, for some of them, it was their first time coding in Java for Android so it was a challenge. It was Chahdoura’s first hackathon, so he said to win first place was “a really awesome experience.”

A particularly interesting project that came out of the hackathon was  the Go.study application created by Team 70. The application, explained by the team as a mix of Tinder and Facebook, initially invites the user to log their course number and university and they will then be matched with someone from their class to study with. The team said they will eventually expand their application and create a group chat.

Another interesting application was storyflow.me, a website that allows people to bring all their Instagram stories together to create a big story. The user creates a story and then invites friends to add on to it. The website is currently available for Instagram users to try out.

Over the weekend, students were also welcomed to attend different workshops offered by the sponsoring companies, such as Microsoft and Morgan Stanley. Attendees were able to visit a career fair where some company representatives were recruiting students for internships, including Google and Spiria.

ConUHacks will be back next year, but the date of the hackathon has not been decided yet.

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Fighting breast cancer at Concordia

Stingers women’s hockey captain Tracy-Ann Lavigne helps sell baked goods on Friday night.

The Stingers participated in the 10th Shoot for the Cure campaign this past weekend

This year, the Shoot for the Cure drive celebrated its 10th anniversary, and all 47 U SPORTS women’s basketball teams participated in the event. Included among those 47 teams was the Concordia Stingers, who decided to make both their basketball and hockey teams a part of the event.

The Stingers incorporated Shoot for the Cure into their rivalry weekend. On Jan. 19, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams took on McGill, while the men’s hockey team played McGill on Jan. 20 and the women’s hockey team played McGill on Jan. 21.

The initiative was created in 2007 by University of New Brunswick women’s basketball head coach Jeff Speedy and, over the last 10 years, the campaign has raised over $1 million in donations, according to The Lance. The campaign is essentially a weekend where all of the teams in U SPORTS raise money for breast cancer research.

“These kinds of events tie together something that touches everyone on an emotional level, and we all want to be part of each other’s athletic lives,” said Swarm president Antoine Marchand. “We’re humbled by all of the efforts that have been made.”

Throughout the weekend, the Stingers sold baked goods at all of their games and had a kiosk set up where fans could buy memorabilia, with all of the proceeds going to breast cancer-related charities.

In addition to Shoot for the Cure, the Stingers have lent a hand to other initiatives this year, including Bell Let’s Talk Day which is happening on Jan. 25. For Marchand, helping out in the community is a large part of the Stingers identity.

“Helping out represents who we are,” Marchand said. “When you do things like this and try to help the community out as much as you can, it shows the core values behind how we carry ourselves and how we want to just generally make a difference.”

Over the last 10 years, the Shoot for the Cure campaign has helped raise over $1 million.

One of the big contributors of the weekend was the women’s hockey team, who, according to captain Tracy-Ann Lavigne, baked 200 cookies to sell at the games. The team also made bracelets and ribbons out pink skate laces to auction off.

The Ed Meagher Arena was decorated in pink as well, and players from all the teams wore pink jerseys and T-shirts during their warm-ups.

According to Lavigne, being a part of the Shoot for the Cure initiative was important for everyone on the team.

“We all did our part for it,” she said. “It’s important because one in nine women get breast cancer, and being part of a women’s sport here it could happen to us also so it’s good to raise money for it.”

Julie Chu, who is the head coach of the women’s hockey team, said Shoot for the Cure is a great way for the Stingers to reach out to the community. Chu said breast cancer is something that affects almost everyone, and has also had close family members go through hardships with the disease.

“In my family, we’ve had a bunch of cancer survivors as well as my grandma who passed away from cancer,” Chu said. “It’s definitely touched my life in a lot of ways, and it’s one of those things where we can’t take it for granted. Anything we can do to get more research to combat cancer is something we as a team want to be a part of.”

The women’s hockey game against the McGill Martlets was the last game for the Shoot for the Cure weekend which saw the Stingers beat the Martlets 3-1.

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