Counselling paper trail a concern hile institutions and individuals in Can- ada have made great strides in creating spaces where it is safe to talk about mental illness and to access help with- out stigma, there is still work to be done in the field of immigrant mental health. Langara College, like most campuses across Canada, is a place where people from many different countries study. Pursuing full time studies can be stress- ful enough without the extra pressure that might come with adapting to a new culture or environment. International students may not have the family support system that locals have to help them deal with academic, - relationship or fi- nancial problems. The pressure can be overwhelming. If this isn’t stressful enough, international stu- dents might also be worried that by accessing the ser- vices of a counsel- lor, the paper trail might make its way to those with CHERYL WHITING the power to renew study visas. Currently, if a student wants to access the counselling services at Langara, they need to bring without it being logged into the com- puter system. In this way, we might see increased international students feeling safe enough to their Langara "Perhaps itis time to access mental or other photo . 1 h health services. ID. Perhaps imp ement a system wnere Access to pro- it is time to students can register fessional coun- implement a ; selling services system where anonymously without has been shown students can : “Tu to increase register anony- leaving a paper trail. physical as well mously without as mental health, leaving a paper trail. Students could give a contact email or number, or pro- vide a student card at the appointment, and can lead to better mental well-be- ing and academic performance. With the known serious consequenc- es of mental illness on families and the economy, it only makes sense for there to be as few barriers as possible should someone want to access mental health services at Langara. If colleges in Canada are serious about encouraging mental health for immi- grants and international students, they need to understand barriers that might prevent students from accessing coun- selling services and make changes ac- cordingly. Providing healthy and safe environ- ments for students can only benefit col- leges in the long run. "AUREN BOOTHBY COMIC Clothes belong in closets, not landfills s thrift shopping and repur- posed clothing become more and more popular in Van- couver, events that shine light on eco- friendly fashion tend to catch my eye. With Eco Fash- ion Week less than a week away, I am very excited. Partially because I am inspired by Macklemore& Ryan Lewis’ hit single “Thrift Shop”, and and partially CHRISTOPHER THOROSKI from growing up with older siblings, I have become a recycled clothing enthusiast. T’m a sucker for hand-me-downs. In fact, I haven't bought a brand-new piece of clothing in well over three years. I veer away from buying brand name clothing and visit local thrift shops in- stead. By doing so I not only cut down my waste contribution but I save money and improve my fashion as well. According to the Council for Textile Recycling 85 per cent of clothing ends up in North American landfills per year. In B.C. 23,000 metric tonnes of cloth- ing and textiles are thrown out every year. I think that having organizations like Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver, which has 93 clothing bins around the city, gives the public a great opportunity to reduce their fashion waste. However, I don’t think enough peo- “I don't think enough people are aware of how much clothing is put into the garbage.” ple are aware of how much clothing is put into the garbage. Because of this, many people feel that keeping up with the latest trend is more important than protecting our environment. What I would like to see, are more local events that educate the public on waste management, and for the provin- cial government to take proactive steps to implement policies around house- hold waste. For example, each house- hold could have a donation bin that is picked up each month from the city. This would make it easier for those who do not own a vehicle. Additionally, it would be great to see educational institutions adopt programs that teach youth about the benefits of recycling clothing. I say this because there tends to be a taboo around recy- cled clothing being unhygienic, but that is definitely far from the truth. Building demo fallout unclear angara College hopes to de- L molish Building A, because it doesn’t meet the earthquake code, but currently there is no timeline for this plan. During the proposed demolition students whose classes were previously in Building A would go to the Emily Carr University of Art + Design cam- pus on Granville Island, when the art school moves to its new location on Great Northern For a student body who have traveled to Lan- gara’s South Van- couver campus for over four decades, the commute would be very inconvenient. In order to get there from Langara, it would take up to 45 minutes on public transit. Currently, Langara students have a 10-minute break between classes. If a student needed to travel from Langara’s campus to the campus on Granville Is- land, how would those 45 minutes be enough? One idea being considered is to move faculty to the Granville Island campus, so that students can stay where they are. That doesn’t seem feasible, as instructors would still need to find a way to com- mute between the two campuses. In addition to classrooms, Build- ing A also contains a number of spaces dedicated to services on campus. The international education office and the continuing studies office are two spaces that would need to find a new home. It is unclear whether these offices would also be relocated to Granville Island. A better solution to this would be buying, or renting, at a location closer to the current campus. So yes, Building A is on the chopping block, but is moving to Granville Island the answer? LAURA BROUGHAM The Voice is pub- lished by Langara College's journalism government and administration. We welcome letters to department. Editorial — the editor. They may opinions are those be edited for brevity. of the staff and Your letter must in- are independent of clude your name and views of the student phone number. HOWTO DROP-IN REACH US Room A226 Langara College PHONE 604-323-5396 SNAIL MAIL The Voice E-MAIL 100 West 49th Ave. thevoice@langara. Vancouver, B.C. be.ca V5Y 226 WEBSITE MANAGING EDITOR langaravoice.ca Kristyn Anthony MANAGING WEB PAGE EDITORS EDITOR PAGE 1 Melanie Green Tanner Bokor PAGE2 WEB EDITORS Kristyn Anthony Sean Hitrec PAGE 3 Bonnie Lee Michele Paulse La Madeleine PAGE 4 Chelsea Powrie Lauren Boothby Caitlin O'Flanagan PAGE5 Stuart Neatby Emelie Peacock Bala Yogesh PAGE 6 Evan Hagedorn Cheryl Whiting Violetta Kryak PAGE7 Sasha Lakic Alyse Kotyk Cass Lucke PAGE 8 Sydney Morton Clare Hennig Sam Mowers Cassandra Osbome REPORTERS Rica Talay Duncan Anderson Sasha Zeidler Laura Brougham Christopher Thoroski Jason Gilder Shoji Whittier Kurtis Gregory CONTACT US Online at langaravoice.ca Twitter @LangaraVoice Erica Bulman-The Voice instructor ebulman@langara.be.ca