WINTER 2014 OLYMPIAN FEATS Equipping top athletes for physical and mental rigours UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE MAGNETIC MONTREAL > SPARKING YOUTH INTEREST > CANADIAN BUSINESS STRENGTH You’ve paid your dues. Start paying less with TD Insurance. University graduates can save more. You could WIN At TD Insurance, we recognize all the time and effort you put into getting $60,000 cash where you are. That’s why, as a Concordia University graduate or student, to build your you have access to our TD Insurance Meloche Monnex program which offers dream kitchen!* preferred group rates and various additional discounts. You’ll also benefit from our highly personalized service and great protection that suits your needs. Get a quote today and see how much you could save. Request a quote today 1-888-589-5656 melochemonnex.com/concordia Insurance program recommended by HOME | AUTO | TRAVEL The TD Insurance Meloche Monnex home and auto insurance program is underwritten by SECURITY NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY. The program is distributed by Meloche Monnex Insurance and Financial Services Inc. in Quebec and by Meloche Monnex Financial Services Inc. in the rest of Canada. For Quebec residents: We are located at 50 Place Crémazie, Montreal (Quebec) H2P 1B6. Due to provincial legislation, our auto insurance program is not offered in British Columbia, Manitoba or Saskatchewan. *No purchase is required. There is one (1) prize to be won. The winner may choose between an amount of $60,000 CAD to build a dream kitchen of his/her choosing or $60,000 CAD cash. The winner will be responsible for choosing a supplier and for coordinating all of the required work. The contest is organized by Security National Insurance Company and Primmum Insurance Company and is open to members, employees and other eligible persons who reside in Canada and belong to an employer, professional or alumni group which has entered into an agreement with the organizers and is entitled to receive group rates from the organizers. The contest ends on October 31, 2014. The draw will be held on November 21, 2014. A skill-testing question is required. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. The complete contest rules are available at melochemonnex.com/contest. ®/The TD logo and other trade-marks are the property of The Toronto-Dominion Bank or a wholly-owned subsidiary, in Canada and/or other countries. 48_MM9178-13_MMI.EN•concordia (8.125x10.75).indd 1 13-10-30 9:27 AM Projet : Annonce MMI 2013 Province : Québec Épreuve # : 2 Publication : Queen’s Alumni Review Client : TD Assurance Date de tombée : 30/10/2013 Format : 8.125x10.75 Dossier # : 48_MM9178-13_MMI.EN•concordia (8.125x10.75) Couleur : Quad Graphiste : Yannick Decosse Hamelin-Martineau Inc. • 505, boul. de Maisonneuve O, Bureau 300 • Montréal (Québec) H3A 3C2 • T : 514 842-4416 C : [email protected] ATTENTION : MERCI DE VÉRIFIER ATTENTIVEMENT CETTE ÉPREUVE AFIN D’ÉVITER TOUTE ERREUR/PLEASE CHECK THIS PROOF FOR ERRORS You’ve paid your dues. university magazine Start paying less with TD Insurance. COLD CLIMATE, IS THE CANADIAN WARM MEMORIES BUSINESS MODEL Montreal’s charms often prove 18 OFF TARGET? to be a deciding factor for John Molson School of Business international students who decide professors Michel Magnan and Harold to attend Concordia and, ultimately, Simpkins evaluate the impact of live in the city permanently. competitors from south of the border By Athena Tacet on national retailers. By Jason Magder 12 30 LOAN SUITE: PERFORMANCE SELECTED POEMS OF A LIFETIME Verse from the winner of Concordia experts — and current a 2013 Irving Layton Award and former Olympians — discuss for Creative Writing. what it takes to prepare for and By Emma Healey succeed at the highest levels of international competition. COOKING UP MUSIC, ALONG By Scott McCulloch 24 WITH OTHER PROJECTS OF NOTE A look at Concordia’s groundbreaking electroacoustic studies program. 38 By Julie Gedeon ESTRANGED FROM THE BALLOT BOX 44 FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: Today’s young adults haven’t ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE yet met their great potential The faculty’s year-old District 3 Innovation and for political and community Entrepreneurship Centre is already proving to be a hit. involvement — and the blame By Laurence Miall University graduates can save more. may lie at the top. You could WIN By Donna Nebenzahl 32 48 HOMECOMING 2013 At TD Insurance, we recognize all the time and effort you put into getting An overview of Concordia’s exciting reunion festivities. $60,000 cash where you are. That’s why, as a Concordia University graduate or student, to build your you have access to our TD Insurance Meloche Monnex program which offers dream kitchen!* preferred group rates and various additional discounts. You’ll also benefit from our highly personalized service and great protection that suits your needs. Get a quote today and see how much you could save. Request a quote today 1-888-589-5656 winter 2014 volume 37 number 3 concordia.ca/magazine melochemonnex.com/concordia Insurance program recommended by Cover: Illustration by Christopher Alleyne; 3 EDITOR’S VOICE vector graphic Thinkstock 4 LETTERS 5 CONCORDIA NEWS This publication is printed on 100% recycled paper, 50 ALUMNI NEWS including 20% post-consumer waste. Each ton of recycled paper that displaces a ton of virgin paper reduces total 54 CLASS ACTS HOME | AUTO | TRAVEL energy consumption by 27%, greenhouse gas emissions by 47%, particulate emissions by 28%, wastewater by 33%, 62 WORDS & MUSIC solid waste by 54% and wood use by 100%. The TD Insurance Meloche Monnex home and auto insurance program is underwritten by SECURITY NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY. The program is distributed by Meloche Monnex Insurance and Financial Services Inc. in Quebec and by Meloche Monnex 64 ENOUGH SAID Financial Services Inc. in the rest of Canada. For Quebec residents: We are located at 50 Place Crémazie, Montreal (Quebec) H2P 1B6. Due to provincial legislation, our auto insurance program is not offered in British Columbia, Manitoba or Saskatchewan. *No purchase is required. There is one (1) prize to be won. The winner may choose between an amount of $60,000 CAD to build a dream kitchen of his/her choosing or $60,000 CAD cash. The winner will be responsible for choosing a supplier and for coordinating all of the required work. The contest is organized by Security National Insurance Company and Primmum Insurance Company and is open to members, employees and other eligible persons who reside in Canada and belong to an employer, professional or alumni group which has entered into an agreement with the organizers and is entitled to receive group rates from the organizers. The contest ends on October 31, 2014. The draw will be held on November 21, 2014. A skill-testing question is required. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. The complete contest rules are available at melochemonnex.com/contest. ®/The TD logo and other trade-marks are the property of The Toronto-Dominion Bank or a wholly-owned subsidiary, in Canada and/or other countries. 48_MM9178-13_MMI.EN•concordia (8.125x10.75).indd 1 13-10-30 9:27 AM Projet : Annonce MMI 2013 Province : Québec Épreuve # : 2 Publication : Queen’s Alumni Review Client : TD Assurance Date de tombée : 30/10/2013 Format : 8.125x10.75 Dossier # : 48_MM9178-13_MMI.EN•concordia (8.125x10.75) Couleur : Quad Graphiste : Yannick Decosse Hamelin-Martineau Inc. • 505, boul. de Maisonneuve O, Bureau 300 • Montréal (Québec) H3A 3C2 • T : 514 842-4416 C : [email protected] ATTENTION : MERCI DE VÉRIFIER ATTENTIVEMENT CETTE ÉPREUVE AFIN D’ÉVITER TOUTE ERREUR/PLEASE CHECK THIS PROOF FOR ERRORS accent alumni-newsletter Put an Accent on news. AccentAccent delivers delivers Concordia Concordia news convenientlynews conveniently to your inbox.to your Sign inbox.up for our Sign monthly up for e-newsletter our monthly at e-newsletterconcordia.ca/alumni at concordia.ca/alumni/accent. Professor Bhupinder Singh Mangat with his wife Surinder and daughters Simmi (left) and Rishma (right) following Simmi’s iron ring ceremony. She received her SETTING AN BEng from Concordia in 997. EXAMPLE: The gift of education EUBAUER N OSH J Rishma Mangat is the daughter of Bhupinder Singh Mangat, a long-time My father, Professor Mangat, taught generations of students at professor in Concordia’s Department of Biology who passed away in 202. Concordia’s Department of Biology, starting in 973 at Loyola The family recently established an endowment to fund the Dr. Bhupinder College (one of the university’s founding institutions). He was Singh Mangat Award, which is intended to encourage and reward students very popular with students, who appreciated his approachability currently enrolled in any undergraduate program. and sense of humour, and played a significant role in building the “My father used to say material things are ephemeral — but biology department into what it is today. His research explored education is the one thing you can’t take away. plant tissue culture and development. His love of teaching is what inspired our family to carry the torch and As demanding as he was of his students, he was even more perpetuate the gift of education through a donation to Concordia — demanding of his children. I credit him for giving my sister and his professional home for nearly four decades. We will be funding an me such a solid foundation upon which to develop, and the undergraduate student award in my late father’s name. strong work ethic that still serves us both today. As someone who left his home in East Africa at just 7 for the A gift to Concordia seemed such a fitting tribute, because opportunity to study abroad in the United Kingdom, I think he’d education was the one legacy he felt was so important for him be so honoured to know this award will help knock down financial to give to his children.” hurdles for academically deserving students.