Tag: CSU

Categories
Arts

Concordia’s EPIC Used Book Fair returns for the first time since 2019

Photo by Catherine Reynolds

Concordia’s annual book fair aimed to beat their goal of raising $30,000 for student scholarships through volunteer events

Concordia’s annual EPIC Used Book Fair made its grand return with over 1000 books to sell. The event took place in the EV building atrium on March 28-29. The fair aims to raise funds for student scholarships and give a second life to used books. 

This year, the fair received 30 pallets, with each pallet containing over 20 boxes of books. The books were donated by faculty members, alumni, students and people from the community. Event coordinator Luke Quin said they were accepting donations year-round. 

The book fair’s purpose is to raise funds for students. It is a charity event where all proceeds go towards student scholarships.

“Some of us are also passionate about used books and giving a second home to used books, so that’s an added incentive to running this fair,” said Quin, who would rather see a book go home with a new friend than see it end up in a landfill.

Students and members of the public can find books of all types, from science and math textbooks to books on performing arts. 

Giordano Imola is a student in the performance creation program of Concordia’s theatre department who stumbled upon the book fair. “I came looking for plays […] and I found a bunch that I’m just looking forward to reading. I’m just deciding what to keep now,” said Imola.

The pricing was one of the main selling points of the book fair. Book prices began at $3 and went up to $10. In previous years, the book fair had made up to $30,000 dollars. This year they hoped to raise more. 

The fair was entirely volunteer-run. The Concordian spoke with volunteer Ginette Leduc, who said that by 2 p.m. on the first day, her cash register alone had made around 150 sales, and she estimated that her partners had made similar sales.

It was Leduc’s first time working the cash register, which she found quite stressful albeit enjoyable. “People understand, there’s big lineups sometimes, but it’s for a good cause so that’s OK,” she said.

The book fair has been running for 20 years. Before Quin took over in 2016, it was run by Susan Hawke and a small core group of volunteers. Since then, they’ve been able to recruit new volunteers, accept electronic payment and get more book donations. Quin says they’ve had some support from Concordia’s University Advancement community and fundraising program to promote the book fair on social media, and a ton of support from the services and sustainability sector of the university.

Categories
Features

Where’s my (fee levy) money? 

Carleen Loney/ THE CONCORDIAN

Following the vote in favor of increasing Concordia Student Services fee levy, a new oversight body will be established to manage the funds.

In the recent Concordia Student Union (CSU) general elections, students voted 54.9 per cent in favor of an increase to the Concordia Student Services (CSS) fee levy. This is the first time Concordia Student Services have requested a fee levy increase since 2009. The $0.85 per credit increase brings the total fee levy from $10.26 per credit to $11.11 per credit, an overall 8.3 per cent increase. The vote was decided on a 9.1 per cent student voter turnout. 

Following the fee levy increase, the CSU and Concordia Student Services are set to create a mandating and oversight body to create greater transparency over the use of student funds.

A number of different units make up CSS, including the Student Success Centre, Campus Wellness and Support Services (which include counseling and psychological services) and the Dean of Students Office. In their application for an increased fee levy, CSS cited a net decrease in enrolment at Concordia due to the decline in 18-24 year olds living in Quebec. Currently, CSS has a surplus budget due to higher levels of enrolment previously. Without the fee levy, they expect to operate with a $2,316,991 deficit by the 2024-2025 academic year.

CSS helps students access many services at no direct cost, including but not limited to doctors, counseling, career advice and tutoring. In the 2021-2022 academic year, counseling and psychological services provided 9,654 student appointments, including triage and counseling. A deficit would see CSS needing to cut services.

“There are so many services offered in student services. It’s such a wide variety and I think each one is really important in its own way,” said Catherine Starr-Prenovost, a fifth-year psychology student at Concordia who currently works as a welcome crew mentor with the Student Success Centre, and as a homeroom facilitator as part of the Dean of Students Office.

“I can’t think of any student service that doesn’t have a huge impact on students’ lives.”

While student services are impactful, the nature of how their funding is allocated can be quite vague. 

​​”Students don’t have a way where they can govern this money, $9 million every year from their fees. They don’t have a way of knowing how it gets allocated. They can’t oversee it as there isn’t even a budget publicly available on their website,” said Fawaz Halloum, the CSU’s general coordinator.

The total revenue for CSS this year was $10,672,927 with student fees fronting 90 per cent of their funding, not including the surplus. Other student-run fee levy groups are required to hold Annual General Meetings, where board members can discuss budgets. They keep auditor’s reports and other financials ready at any time. This is not currently the case for Concordia Student Services. 

“There’s a trend that students do not want to keep paying into university services where they have absolutely no control over their money or to oversee or hold them accountable,” said Halloum.

Following CSS’ initial application for funding, Halloum suggested that an oversight body be created.

“I told them that students would want to see a board, a council of sorts, where students will sit along with the service directors. They will fight the budgets, make decisions and bring in student concerns directly and have a bit of a forum between the shareholders and the executives, which is long overdue,” said Halloum.

Halloum believes that with more oversight, the quality of work done by CSS could be improved.

“If you just start breaking it down one by one, you can find a slew of things that you can improve on pre-existing services, maybe even add certain facilities or services,” he said.

In most units of student services, a majority of the budget is directed towards salaries and benefits. According to their 2021-22 yearly report, CSS employs 118 professional employees across their units, with 322 students employees. During that year, student jobs accounted for $1,253,000 of the annual operating and non-operating budgets. This represents 10.44 per cent of CSS’ total revenue in that year, despite the fact that student employees make up 73.18 per cent of the CSS’ total workforce.

According to Laura Mitchell, Concordia’s executive director of student experience, the new funding from students won’t necessarily mean new services. “It’s to keep everything going that we have at present,” she said. “So this wouldn’t be money that would bolster one particular area. It would be spread across everything that we currently do.”

According to their application, CSS predicts a five per cent increase in costs to maintain their services every year. The extra money will help combat this increase and maintain salaries for professional and student employees amid rising cost of living expenses. 

​​”It’s all equally important, like our student jobs are really important to us,” said Mitchell. “We love working with students and we love supporting them. So obviously, we would love to be able to give a fair and generous salary to our student employees as much as we possibly can,” she added.

Student employees like Starr-Prenovost have spoken highly of their experience with CSS. “It’s been an amazing experience,” she said. “I feel like I’m treated really well and very fairly.”

A new oversight body has the potential to improve transparency to students, so they can better understand how their funds are being allocated. 

“Both sides were very enthusiastic about this idea,” Mitchell said.

Currently, CSS does have a committee called Concordia Council on Student Life that is a parity committee made up of students and staff. Mitchell says the new advisory body could resemble it. 

“We need to set up those consistent meetings and have these discussions and I think that will be great. I think it’d be really illuminating for both sides. To learn more about each other, because obviously these collaborations are really important for us too.” 

Now that the fee levy increase has been approved, a memorandum of understanding will be presented to the CSU’s council in one year to create a body staffed and operating in the following academic year.

“We don’t want to go in alone, we want to be in partnership as much as possible,” said Mitchell.

Despite the risk of deficit and increasing costs, students are the only ones currently being asked to increase their contributions to student services. The university’s contribution to CSS makes up just 4.11 per cent, which would diminish with an increased fee levy. It’s not as though the university does not have money to support these services. According to Concordia’s annual financial reports, a number of executives saw salary increases this year with President Graham Carr receiving a 9.56 per cent pay raise.

But Mitchell said they are having discussions with the university to see what that contribution looks like. “I think that’s another very important component,” she said.

Starr-Prenovost also thinks it’s important for everyone, including the university, to contribute to maintaining these services and that the efforts of people like Mitchell see results.

“I do hope to see that it comes to an increase in funding from [the university] as well. Anybody that could offer funding to the Student Success Center in student services, I think it would be a great investment,” she said.

“I really do think that the services are so important. Essentially, I think that it should be a priority  for everybody to increase funding for student services in general.”

Categories
Community Student Life

Concordia’s anti-consumerism week 2023

Community Editor, Dalia makes her bag at the Concordia center for creative reuse's workshop for anti-consumerism week. Kaitlynn Rodney // The Concordian

A look inside making your own t-shirt grocery bag.

With Earth Day on the horizon, the Concordia Student Union (CSU) hosted an anti-consumerism week. This year’s event theme was Food Sovereignty, Sustainability & Solidarity. 

In late February, the CSU put on a variety of talks, workshops, and presentations so that students could get inspired to lead a more sustainable life.

Personally, I am always curious about different methods and ways to lead a more environmentally-conscious life. When I was looking into events for the week, the ‘Make Your Own Grocery Tote bag!’ workshop appealed to me.

The use of single-use plastics has slowly but surely started making its way out of our everyday lives. According to a Global News article, two-thirds of people in Quebec say they use their own bags or bins to shop. 

Whenever I go to Dollarama or Walmart, I always forget reusable bags, so I always end up paying for them when I get to check out. So this workshop was perfect for me. It happened on Feb. 21 at the Hall Building at the Downtown Campus.

As soon as I got to the workshop space, I saw the event organizers setting up sewing machines and some tables in a ‘U’ formation. The event organizers were people from the Concordia University Centre for Creative Use (CUCCR). Leading the workshop were Sustainability ambassadors, Kavi Nera and Maya Jain. 

Kavi Nera, a Concordia sustainability ambassador, and Maya Jain, the Material Depot programming and coordinator for the CUCCR lead the participants in the workshop. Kaitlynn Rodney // The Concordian

Every participant was given a step-by-step guide on how to turn an old shirt into a bag. For participants who did not have an old t-shirt, the CUCCR provided one from past events, like Frosh week.

The workshop began by determining if you had a big enough shirt to make one bag and two smaller bags from the same shirt.

If you had a small shirt, you would begin by cutting the collar and sleeves off. Afterward, Neva gave a small tutorial on how to use a sewing machine to sew the bottom of the shirt closed. 

Community editor, Dalia makes her bag at the Concordia center for creative reuse’s workshop for anti-consumerism week. Kaitlynn Rodney // The Concordian

For those that had big enough shirts to make smaller bags out of, the procedure was a little different. People had to make small incisions on the bottom of the shirt and then use a double knotting technique to close up the shirt.

Al Turgeon, a contemporary dance major at Concordia is using one of the shirts supplied by the CUCCR to make her map using the non-sewing method. Kaitlynn Rodney // The Concordian

I feel that with inflation at the back of our minds, it’s always helpful to know some tips and tricks for cutting costs and helping reduce waste on earth. I look forward to next year’s activities for anti-consumerism week.

Categories
Concordia Student Union News

Concordia students plan the future of new student building

The CSU held a town hall to discuss what to do with the new building they bought

Community fridge, meeting rooms and open spaces: those were some of the many ideas the Concordia Student Union (CSU) and other student groups discussed at the town hall Tuesday, Feb. 21.

Unlike many other universities in North America, Concordia did not have its own official student building — until now. Bought in Winter 2022, the new student building will see its renovations start in Jan. 2024 after students agree on how they envision it being constructed. 

This town hall invited students and community members to take part in a small group discussion around a table filled with possible sketches of the new building. After this consultation process, the CSU will share a report on the different possibilities the building could offer students.

Located just across the Hall Building on Bishop Street, the new student building will help foster an even stronger student community, according to CSU sustainability coordinator Sean Levis. “It’s important for us that students are consulted in the planning process for what is going to be a part of the building.” 

After more than 20 years of raising funds, the CSU is now in a consultation process to find out how to make this new building an active and collaborative space. The student groups discussed the possibility of open spaces, a greenhouse, kitchen, and even showers for the brave souls biking to school.

Student groups attended the town hall to take part in the discussion. “This is a real important building. It is going to be a focal point on campus for years and years, centuries actually,” said Donald Armstrong, one of the collective members of Le Frigo Vert. 

Student groups asked students to have their voices heard and express their needs to make this future building their own. “You come to university to get a degree, but also to meet people, develop as a person and find what you are passionate about, and I think a lot of the groups sitting here today really represent that,” said Angelica Calcagnile, the president of the Concordia Student Broadcast Corporation.  

The CSU invites students to take part in the next annual general meeting in April to vote on the report gathered by the CSU and the student groups. 

Categories
Podcasts

The Update // New database for MMIWG2S, half a billion dollars for engineers, and Ukraine, a year later

The Update is a bit-sized news podcast show where you can get a full update on what is going on at Concordia, and around Montreal. Simply tune-in during your morning commute to be informed!

Welcome to The Update. A bi-weekly news podcast researched, produced and created by The Concordian team.

In this episode, a vigil commemorating Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Montreal sees first ever official database made for cases in Quebec.

The Montreal community took to the streets to condemn the unjust treatment and death of Nicous D’André Spring while he was illegally detained in Bordeaux Prison.

The Government of Canada invest $497 million into a team of Concordia engineers to create cheap and sustainable CO2 capturing and recycling technology.

News editor Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman dives into the Montreal Ukrainian community’s well-being one year after the war began.

Général Roméo Dallaire, who served the United-Nation during the Rwanda genocide, visited Concordia’s Journalism Department to discuss the role of media in conflicts.

Reporter Tristan McKenna reports on toll the Turkey/Syria earthquake has on Concordia students.

Produced by Cedric Gallant

Music by Saro Hartounian

Graphic by Carleen Loney

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theconcordian.substack.com

Categories
Podcasts

The Update // Stranded students, CSU divided and future Indigenous engineers

The Update is a bit-sized news podcast show where you can get a full update on what is going on at Concordia, and around Montreal. Simply tune-in during your morning commute to be informed!

Welcome to The Update. A bi-weekly news podcast researched, produced and created by The Concordian team.

Students stranded in Winter storms, the CSU is divided over their boycott, a first-of-its-kind Indigenous bridging program, and the Muslim community yet united even more.

In this episode, Podcast Producer Cedric Gallant goes through all the most recent news stories covered by our news editors, Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman and Lucas Marsh.

Music by Saro Hartounian

Graphic by Carleen Loney

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theconcordian.substack.com

Categories
Concordia Student Union News

Boycott of Concordia’s Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Violence committee continues

Concordia University's Sir George Williams Campus. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

The standing committee responsible for combatting sexual violence on campus remains highly unpopular Amongst the student body

Debates raged at the Concordia Student Union’s (CSU) regular council meeting (RCM) on Jan. 11, over the ongoing boycott of the University’s Standing Committee on Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Violence (SMSV) as student representatives discussed potential solutions to end sexual misconduct on campus. 

The boycott dates back to October 5, 2022, when the CSU, alongside the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) and the Teaching and Research Assistants at Concordia (TRAC) formally withdrew from the SMSV.

The action came after years of criticism from members of the SMSV and from the student body at large over the committee’s lack of transparency and failure to support survivors of sexual assault.

The conversation was sparked after it came to light that multiple candidates had been appointed to the SMSV during an appointments committee meeting last December. This action, if passed, would have ended the CSU’s ongoing boycott of the SMSV.

Fawaz Halloum, general coordinator of the CSU, explained the reason behind the appointments committee’s decision at the RCM on Jan. 11. According to Halloum, the decision was made in response to Lisa White, executive director of the Equity Office at Concordia University and chair of the SMSV, who was threatening to appoint students to the committee without the CSU’s consent.

“I find it very troubling because it takes a lot from our power as a union,”

Said Halloum. 

After consulting with a legal expert, Halloum said he was advised that the best course of action would be to appoint students to the SMSV — either to ensure the CSU maintains a voice on the committee, or to continue the protest by having committee members refuse to show up.

The proposed nomination was met with harsh criticism from many in attendance at last week’s RCM.

TRAC’s bargaining officer Mya Walmsley called the move “disgraceful.” Walmsley believes that the concessions the University’s offered in response to end the dispute was not made with the students body’s best interests, but rather to legitimise the SMSV’s poor track record. 

“Obviously [the administration is] going to try to get you back with honey [rather than vinegar],” said Walmsley. “Promising these sorts of vague and nonspecific concessions is the way to do it.”

Walmsley asserted that, due to the current circumstances, the best course of action would be to further escalate the conflict to press their demands.

“We have the power now, we have the opportunity to talk to Lisa White whenever we want, we just don’t have to do it through the committee [SMSV],” said Walmsley.

“The argument that we gain more power by ending the boycott is absurd. It’s like giving up power will give us more power.”

Said Wamsley.

The CSU’s External Affairs Coordinator Julianna Smith presented a motion which was passed to reject the appointment committee’s nomination to continue the boycott. 

However, CSU counsellor Mohamad Abdallah spoke out against continuing the boycott. He questioned the purpose of an indefinite boycott and argued that the decision was harming students. 

“How is this boycott harming [the administration] more than it is harming us by preventing us from representation? They have already appointed new people on that committee,” said Abdallah.

Abdallah also challenged the idea that those in favour of ending the boycott were, in essence, supporting the current policies that are in place.  

“Our goal is the same at the end of the day, but we are taking different roads to reach the same goal, which is to change these policies regarding sexual violence and sexual harrassment in the University,” said Abdallah.

Nevertheless, Abdallah’s position remained unpopular amongst CSU councillors. The boycott of the SMSV will continue into the foreseeable future.

Categories
Arts

Drop By And Drop Dollars at the CSU’s and FASA’s Holiday Market

Concordia’s Student Union and Fine Arts Student Association have teamed up for the Holiday Market this Dec. 7 at the CSU lounge, on the 7th floor of the Hall building

The idea of the Holiday Market came from the success of the BIPOC market hosted at the chapel on the Loyola campus on Nov. 8, organised by the CSU’s Loyola coordinator Sabrina Morena. Many tables were set up and decorated, with snacks included, and Concordia’s radio station CJLO made an appearance with their very own DJ. 

“It was relatively simple to organise in many ways which is why we thought short notice would do something similar,” said CSU Student Life Coordinator Harley Martin. 

The goal of this market is to expose artists downtown and at a more festive time of the semester. “We thought, ‘why not do something similar, closer to vacation time at the CSU lounge’ given there are so many people there at lunch,” added the Student Life Coordinator.

At this event, you’ll find beautiful tangible products such as ceramics, paintings, drawings and jewelry that you can buy for yourself and others. “We talked to FASA, and they said ‘let’s do it,’” said Martin

The Holiday Market was created with one two-sided goal: the first is to provide publicity for Concordia students in the fine arts, and with a great place in mind to do it. The 7th floor of the Hall building is always busy. “There are always people there,” said Martin. “It’s a great place to allow people to see some of the art and artists produced at Concordia.” 

The second aspect is the market’s capability of providing exposure for the artists, letting people know that fellow students create art, even though they’re not necessarily enrolled in a fine arts program. “They could do art on their own time in other departments or fine arts, but it shows other students that people are making beautiful and interesting things at Concordia, so [it’s] kind of exposure for both parties,” said Martin.

The CSU has collaborated with FASA many times in the past in order to stimulate and inspire unfamiliar students who are interested in getting involved with the fine arts. “The idea is that we try to get students involved in things that they are interested in, and FASA is one of the various groups that contribute to the school experience,” concluded Martin. 

Make sure to bring your friends, your eye for gift-buying, and your holiday spirit to the CSU lounge on the last day of classes!

Categories
Features

To evaluate or not? Course evaluations carrying doubts about their efficacy

JAMES FAY @jamesfaydraws

After A Two-Year Suspension, Course Evaluations Are Back With Students Doubting Their Ability To Affect Change And Professors Questioning Their Underlying Bias 

At the beginning of 2019, Concordia’s Student Union (CSU) conducted its annual undergraduate survey. In that survey, many students voiced their concerns regarding the evaluation system at Concordia and believed that course evaluations did little to improve the teaching or the syllabi.  

“Students who are filling out surveys could not benefit from professors’ adjustments and

thus many wouldn’t care to take time to do the surveys,” the survey concluded, which is why 84% of students wanted their professors to implement mid-term evaluations. 

JAMES FAY @jamesfaydraws

Others believed that professors did not care enough about their evaluations and were not willing to engage with their feedback. Some students doubted whether their feedback would lead anywhere with regards to tenured professors.

“I think the problem is that professors are not held remotely accountable for being bad professors. Those with tenure have no reason to improve their teaching style because they don’t care enough,” mentioned a surveyed student.    

A month after the 2019 annual survey was conducted, the pandemic was in full swing and Concordia’s courses had moved online. Following an agreement between the faculty unions and the University, course evaluations were suspended. “In part, this was done because course evaluations are designed for in-person courses and could not fairly account for the remote teaching context,” explained Vannina Maestracci, Concordia’s University Spokesperson.

While the students surveyed in 2019 had shown a strong preference for more course evaluations, they would not return until the summer of 2022.

Elisabeth Peltier, associate professor at John Molson School of Business and treasurer at Concordia University Faculty Association (CUFA) explained that “[Professors] had to learn how to work with technology and felt that having evaluations would not be fair because they weren’t doing their normal jobs.” However, CUFA was not involved in the prolonged suspension of course evaluations even after in-person courses resumed in the middle of the 2022 spring semester.

According to Maestracci, in 2021, a working group which included CSU and Graduate Student Association (GSA) representation, was set up to look at mechanisms for student feedback and issue recommendations on course evaluations at Concordia. However, there seems to be no concrete timeline to address the student issues that were put on hold due to the pandemic. 

The key request from students was to have mid-term evaluations that allowed students to give feedback before the course was over, in the hope that some of the feedback would be implemented before the course’s end. The Concordian spoke with Eric Friedman, a student taking courses in the philosophy department at Concordia who has also echoed this sentiment. 

“A discussion in the middle of the semester that addresses students’ concerns about the course and is done in class and as a discussion would be very helpful,” said Friedman.

However, as it currently stands, mid-course evaluations at Concordia are done at the discretion of the professor and are not mandatory, with many professors opting out of them. 

“During the pandemic all the efforts at the CSU was focused on advocacy around COVID,” said Asli Isaaq, academic and advocacy coordinator at the CSU. The focus on COVID-related issues has put many other student concerns on the back-burner, with annual student surveys also suspended for the last three CSU mandates.

Some faculty members might be hesitant to support the expansion of course evaluations. Some professors are skeptical of the underlying bias that students might have, and how that bias would affect the instructors’ performance evaluations. “We don’t trust teaching evaluations because there is so much research that shows that they are biased,” added Peltier. 

Recent research suggests that factors such as gender, accent, and appearance can play a role in how students evaluate their instructors. “The fact that the participation level is so low also makes evaluations not representative of an instructor’s performance,” explains Peltier.

Some students are also skeptical about course evaluations. Many were concerned that their feedback would not make a change if their professors were tenured and therefore they did not bother with course evaluations. “For tenured professors, research constitutes most of their responsibility and so course evaluations would not have much of an effect,” added Peltier.

Many students who are disappointed with the prospect of affecting change via course evaluations rely on websites such as Rate My Professors to avoid professors with bad reviews. However, external websites are not regulated and many of the reviews can be biased and untrustworthy. 

Creating an internal evaluation and reviewing platform that allows students to share their class experiences and feedback could be an idea that addresses these concerns. Some students stated that being able to see other students’ evaluations would incentivize them to take part in more evaluations. 

“I check my professors on Rate My Professors before I take a course and it helps me get a general idea of what people think overall,” says Asley, an undergraduate computer engineering student who did not want to disclose her last name. According to Asley, seeing other students’ comments is valuable and it can help incentivize participation. 

However, Isaaq believes that such a platform should have been planned for the beginning of the CSU’s mandate and logistically it would not be possible to implement it at this time. 

“I’m not saying that it’s a bad idea, but those are the types of things you plan at the beginning of your mandate,” said Isaaq. “My year is set and there’s only so many things you can do and decide on, but an idea like having your own platform to post your ratings […] takes a lot of labour and we already decided what our goals are for this year.” 

Isaaq believes that there are benefits to an internal platform since Rate My Professors does not include all of the part-time professors and has no index to show who is currently teaching or no longer teaching at Concordia. However, Fawaz Halloum, the CSU General Coordinator, said that the issue of having mid-course evaluations will be “shared with the academic caucus who may decide to take it up with the Senate.” 

The University maintains that course evaluations are taken seriously and that department chairs have access to them and can discuss any issues that arise from them with the respective faculty. 

There has been a lack of action since the survey came out in 2019 since there are still no mid-course evaluations for most courses. Maestracci affirmed that “the recommendations are under review and we will be sharing more on their implementation once that is done.” However, she did not share any specific timeline as to when students can expect this implementation.

Categories
Community Student Life

Let the good times roll

Graphic by Carleen Loney

How one student’s initiative is bringing the Concordia community together

Among the many clubs to choose from at Concordia, there is one that takes communal building up a notch.

The Concordian spoke with Asma Kattan, a human relations major and founder of the roller skating club, about how she got the idea to form it.

“I am the founder of the roller skating club, I’ve curated it and put all my heart into it. [I wanted] the community to have a place where people can get together to share one hobby and interest and gather to rollerskate,” Kattan explained.

When Kattan was looking for a club to join at Concordia, there was nothing that was remotely close to what she was looking for. 

She made a call to the CSU and got all the information she needed to start her own club at Concordia. Kattan was told that she had to write up a cover letter, a constitution, and petitions.

“We needed around 50 petitions and we exceeded that amount. It was so fulfilling. There is so much big interest for our club now and it is getting bigger and bigger,” Kattan said.

For Kattan, the main goal of the club has always been to unite people and allow them to truly learn from each other.

Roller skating is a great way to improve your overall fitness level because it is essentially a full body workout.

The CSU roller skating club is extremely active on their social media. Their Instagram handle is @rollerskatingclubmtl. On their feed, they have posted many photos and videos from their events that were held in August before school started.

The Concordian was curious to know what the club’s future plans are, going into winter. 

“We usually in the summer head to open tennis courts. In the winter, which is about eight months in Canada, we have it in private indoor safe-gated venues,” Kattan explained.

Kattan has planned four big roller skating events for the winter months. 

For newcomers who want to join the club, Kattan reassured The Concordian that there are full safety measures put in place.

“Precautions are important. We have first of all a tutor that makes sure what level each person is at. So if you’re a beginner, we definitely recommend wearing the protections for roller skating. Most of the people that are members have their own equipment. They’ve been around,” Kattan said.

The club makes all participants sign a waiver of the terms and conditions that outline that the participants are solely responsible for their own safety and security.

If you’re looking for free food, music and lots of good times, look no further. Sign up for the club using this link!

Categories
Briefs News

CSU byelections pushed back to late November

Haya Bitar appointed as CSU internal affairs coordinator at last week’s RCM 

On Wednesday Oct. 26, the Concordia Student Union convened for the third regular council meeting (RCM) of the fall semester. The major motions discussed at last week’s RCM are as follows:

CSU byelection postponed to late November as election process is already underway 

The CSU passed a motion in favour of rescheduling the upcoming CSU byelection dates from early to late November. The election period will now begin roughly three weeks after the original election dates presented to the CSU earlier this semester. 

The nomination period will occur between Monday, Oct. 31 and Friday, Nov. 18. The campaign phase will then begin the following week on Monday, Nov. 21 and last until Friday, Nov. 28. Polling is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 29, until Thursday, Dec. 1.

Academic and advocacy coordinator Asli Isaaq presented the motion at last week’s RCM on behalf of CSU CEO Ijkot Singh. Singh proposed extending the byelection period to ensure the CSU’s election policies are followed and to allow for additional candidates to come forward.

Singh also assured the CSU that the financial impact of the decision was minimal, since, according to Singh: “most of the prep work [still] needed to be done”.

Former CSU councilor Haya Bitar appointed as internal affairs coordinator of the CSU executive team

Bitar was interviewed alongside two additional candidates for the position during a closed session at last week’s RCM. Bitar’s appointment as internal affairs coordinator was to be announced in the days following last week’s RCM; however, the newly-appointed executive accidentally revealed the decision shortly after council returned to open session. 

Bitar is the third person to serve as internal affairs coordinator during the 2022-23 mandate. Both of her predecessors, Fawaz Halloum and Temmy Mthethwa, resigned within months of being appointed to the position, with the former being elected as general coordinator of the CSU and the latter departing from the executive team after experiencing issues with their employment visas. 

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The power of organizing as students and the possibility it provides

Union activist and writer Nora Loreto speaks at Concordia about labour organizing and the strength collective power.

Every year the Concordia Student Union (CSU) organizes a speaker series, collaborating with guest speakers from outside the University. This year, they decided to tie the series in with their annual campaign on housing and labour. 

“Things we really want to do with this annual campaign is bringing this conversation up, and have it in public discourse,” said Julianna Smith, external and mobilization coordinator of the CSU. “It’s important to have speakers coming in from different perspectives to help relate to all the different facets of the Concordia population.” 

She notes that during COVID “we’ve had an opportunity where people are reflecting on their housing situations, their employment, and they’re recognizing that things don’t have to be as they are.” She notes the possibility of action that comes from that. 

Smith emphasizes that she “really wants to make sure that the speakers who come in really represent Concordia students and are interested.” 

Writer and activist Nora Loreto came to speak at Concordia on Oct. 18 about her experience as an executive of the Canadian Freelance Union (CFU). The CFU is an organization representing freelance communication, acting like lawyers for people who are not paid for their labour. The work people do within the union is based on skill. 

Loreto co-hosts the Sandy & Nora Talk Politics podcast and has written three books. Her latest book, Spin Doctors: How Media and Politicians Misdiagnosed the COVID-19 Pandemic was nominated for the Quebec Writers’ Federation’s Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction in 2022.

Her talk included themes of organization, collective power, and how we build collective power in the context of today and throughout COVID. 

The talk was about the objective of the labour relations regime in Canada and how we can restore power to that balance, or if it is time to completely replace it with something more radical.

Loreto began her talk by stating, “I come at the world through student-organizing eyes, and when you are a student you realize you have almost no power.” 

“You want to have power, you want to shut stuff down, you want to occupy buildings or offices, but you really don’t have much power, and worse than that you’re paying these people to put a boot to your neck.” 

Thus far, the CFU has not lost a single case. “We use the tactics of the labour movement in our union,” said Loreto. Her history as a manager of a unionized office informed her work. 

“Within liberal democracy, the way it is supposed to work is you have different actors that interact for the operation of the state,” she said.

Labour relations were codified in 1946, and in the years that followed that compromise collapsed with “more workers having fewer rights, fewer workers covered by unions, balancing work for profit.” 

“The really cool thing about being part of a student union in Quebec is we have the same legal recognition as a labour union, so it’s interesting to think about our academic labour relations in terms of labour relations,” noted Smith. 

Judging by the success of the event, to the questions asked during the Q&A, it is clear that the talk was much needed by the Concordia student community.

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