concordia’s independent newspaper a million fireflies having intercourse since 1980 LLovin’ovin’ tthehe buzzbuzz SStingerstingers versusversus LavalLaval inin fourthfourth yearyear iinn a rowrow • SportsSports pagespages 2020 & 2121 • News page 5 Quebec immigration minister wants you... to speak French Prisoners escape... into a world of reading • Literary arts page 9 Wait, Ctrl-Z that! • Opinions page 22 volume 29, issue 12 • Tuesday, November 4, 2008 • thelinknewspaper.ca volume 29, issue 12 • Tuesday, THE LINK • NOVEMBER 4, 2008 • THELINKNEWSPAPER.CA/NEWS NEWS 03 No man left standing CEO jumps ship after promising not to ‘rock the boat’ Day in court turns out to • TERRINE FRIDAY Druker turned the focus to the negli- mistaken,” Teixeira said of Druker be only an hour and a half gence of the CSU. and Sanajko. Former chief electoral officer “I just got an email saying ‘Would “They’re just going to get one of • TERRINE FRIDAY Jason Druker stood outside room you please mind running the elec- their friends to run and they’re just AD 210 at the Loyola campus last tion’,” said Druker, claiming he was going to vote their friend in,” said The lawsuit filed against the Concordia Student Union Thursday contemplating entering never asked to provide information Tony Alfonso, former CSU council- has been dropped, mainly because the referendum was can- the room. about his student status. lor. Alfonso, a member of the celled. Druker, a former employee of the People’s Potato collective, says the The 10-day injunction, filed by former CSU president and Concordia Student Union since “[I] will have to be paid pattern of CEO appointments points Montreal lawyer Patrice Blais, was based on the CSU’s disre- March 2007, was supposed to over- for my time.” to transparency issues. gard for its own bylaws. see the smooth running of the heat- But the pressing issue of finding a Blais said he was told the CSU referendum had already ed referendum last week, including —Jason Druker, new CEO pales in comparison to the been cancelled when he approached the judge. former CSU election CEO hiring and managing the office’s possibility of holding a referendum “[The court appearance] was very short,” Blais added, employees. right before exams, no matter who’s “the judge looked at me and said, ‘Well, you got what you But Druker, who now works for a As the meeting with Druker came running the show. wanted’.” small accounting firm in Montreal, to a close, he recommended current “[Students are] not going to be The CSU officially halted the referendum hours before is no longer an undergraduate stu- deputy electoral officer Nestor worried about applying to be CEO, ballots were to be cast. In a notice sent by email, the CSU’s dent. Although Druker plans to Sanajko to take over the electoral they’re going to be worried about VP Communications, Elie Chivi, cited the CSU’s responsibil- return to Concordia next semester, office. their final exams,” added Alfonso. ity, “to ensure that proper procedure is followed at all times,” he finally admitted he was holding In response to this revelation, In the end, Druker didn’t have to as reasonable grounds to cancel the referendum. his position illegally. former judicial board chair Tristan sign a letter of resignation because Chivi said the CSU intended to look into the claims of its When Druker entered the room, Teixeira had but two words: “Oh according to CSU standing regula- chief electoral officer and “more information is to be confused and speculative chatter gosh.” tions he was never CEO this semes- announced shortly.” stopped and all eyes were on him. Teixeira, whose term with the JB ter. Tony Alfonso, member of the People’s Potato collective, is “Hi everybody, I’m Jason was cut short last month, says it’s But Druker didn’t forget to still waiting to hear about the status of the Potato’s referen- Druker,” was his opening line after obvious the cycle of hiring buddies remind the CSU: “[I] will have to be dum question and possible rescheduling of the referendum. being called to the front of the room will likely continue with Sanajko’s paid for my time.” “We’re supposed to submit expense reports tomor- for questioning. appointment. row,” Alfonso said, “if we’re following the rules of During the heated discussion, “They’re good friends, if I’m not —with files from Sebastien Cadieux the referendum.” What happens in Montreal... Gambling study surveys Concordia students • JENNIFER FREITAS recherche sur la société et la culture. “If [the FQRSC] gives us the green light, Concordia University, in collaboration it’s because the project is good,” said with Université de Montréal and the Centre Dubois, who is also project field coordinator for Addiction and Mental Health, is con- of this study. ducting one of the first university surveys on To try to understand new gambling gambling and substance use in Montreal. domains, researchers have also simulated The University Student Gambling Habit Internet gaming. “There are many different Survey 2008, which started just two weeks dimensions to this [gambling] problem,” ago and will run until mid-December, will Dubois said. She also pointed out assess the individual and environmental researchers are trying to be “innovative in factors involved in gambling and substance- surveying students about their use of inter- use behaviours as well as the interaction net.” among them. This study has been approved by the The survey is broken down into five Commission d’accès à l’information du parts: gambling habits, alcohol consump- Québec, responsible for protecting personal tion, drug use, health status, and personal information, and by the Ethics committee at background. Gambling is the main focus of Concordia University. this study and has approximately 76 ques- The principal investigator of the study, Students don’t get a free pass on gambling and addiction. PHOTO RACHEL TETRAULT tions out of 110 centered on students’ gam- Slyvia Kairouz of Concordia’s Sociology and bling activities such as purchasing lottery Anthropology Department, said the purpose it drug use.” randomly selected from Concordia tickets, playing table poker, and betting on of the study is to mimic the real world. Kairouz said that by examining gambling University, Université de Montréal, UQAM, sports over the past 12 months. “We want to better describe the reality of “behaviours that could potentially become HEC Montréal, École de Technologie According to Evelyne Dubois, faculty gambling in order to provide clear recom- addictive,” gambling addiction intervention Supérieure de l’Université du Québec, and member in Concordia’s Sociology and mendations for prevention,” Kairouz said, could be redeveloped to include pre-existing Polytechnique Montréal to participate in Anthropology department, the success of adding “people experiencing problems with substance abuse problems. the survey. the project can be measured by the financial gambling are more likely to experience A total of 6,000 full-time undergradu- Kairouz said she expects a response rate backing of the Fonds Québécois de la other addictions related to alcohol and illic- ates, with a valid Quebec address, have been of more than 50 per cent. 700 6 13 1,000 60 number of completed per cent of students who gam- per cent of students approximate number of per cent of students who gam- online and paper ble that have a moderate or who gamble that are at Concordia students, chosen ble in a typical year questionnaires produced by severe gambling problem risk of developing a at random, participating in the study to date gambling addiction the survey —stats courtesy Dr. Kairouz 04 NEWS THE LINK • NOVEMBER 4, 2008 • THELINKNEWSPAPER.CA/NEWS A green with voting envy • ION ETXEBARRIA Diane Randolph, an American expatriate living in Canada for the last 26 years, looked out her window on Nov. 2 and found that her pro-Obama sign was missing from the front lawn of her Westmount home. Randolph, a self-proclaimed “fervent Barack Obama supporter,” is eager to sink into the hot politics of our southern neighbour, especially since she could- n’t vote in last month’s Canadian federal election; “the U.S. government precludes its citizens from voting in any other elections,” Randolph said. Diane has already cast her vote for Democratic nominee and senator Barack Obama as an overseas absentee with hopes of social policy reform. “The healthcare situation in the U.S. is an embar- rassment and the education system has declined sig- nificantly with the ‘No child left behind’ failed policy of George Bush,” Randolph said of the current American president. Although Randolph had to skip out on the Canadian political mambo, she thinks the significance of partici- pating in the American election means much more to the world. “I don’t think that in Canada, regardless of the out- come of the election, the change to the country or to the world would have been as dramatic as what the potential exists in the U.S.” As for the sign, Diana found it a few blocks from her home attached to a car in place of its plate, which she assumes is most probably the work of some Hallowe’en partygoers. Montreal’s chapter of Democrats Abroad will be gather- ing at Burgundy Lion Pub (burgundylion.com) to follow the U.S. presidential election results. No gathering is organized by its Republican counterpart in Montreal. Diane Randolph lawnsits her Barack Obama yardsign in Westmount. PHOTO ION ETXEBARRIA Don’t vote or die another day Youth rock the vote in American election • JULIEN MCEVOY is the biggest raise of any age cohort. Saturday Night Live and hosts of interviews on leading Alex Leduc, an American citizen studying at American television networks, Obama has gone beyond Young Americans are about to do exactly what Concordia, made the trip down south with three friends the power of traditional media to reach out to young vot- Canadians didn’t: vote in massive numbers.