ampus news EDITOR JAMES McLAUGHLIN THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 3 By ANDREA ANTHONY angara students from Hong Kong have formed a new club this semester to promote Hong Kong’s unique culture. Club president Hin Yung Chiu said the Hong Kongers is Langara’s only club that focuses solely on Hong Kong, rather than Mainland China. “We wanted to get together all the Hong Kong people,” said Chiu. The club has 18 members, said vice president Jessica Kwok. Joey Mak, one of the club’s mem- bers, said the main difference be- tween Hong Kong and Mainland Chi- na is language. People from Hong Kong speak Can- tonese, while most from Mainland China speak Mandarin. “Language is a very important component in how people interact,” said Mak. He said it can be difficult to make friends with Mainland Chinese peo- ple because of communication barri- ers. However Mak said the Hong Kongers Club welcomes anyone who wants to learn about Hong Kong. Before the establishment of the Hong Kongers Club, students from Hong Kong only had the option of joining the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA), which has been around since 2008. The CSSA is for students from ei- ANDREA ANTHONY photo Members of the Langara Hong Kongers Club in the cafeteria, where they normally eat lunch together. From left to right: Jessica Kwok, Man Ni Kwok, Joey Mak, Hei Tung Tsang, Hin Yung Chiu. ‘Hong Kongers’ feel a distinction Language and culture attract members to Langara’s Hong Kongers Club but one member of the CSSA has mixed feelings about it ther Mainland China or Hong Kong, and currently has 200 members, said club member Henry Siu. He said he has mixed feelings about the new Hong Kongers Club. “We're all Chinese and we don’t want to make it so complicated,” said Siu, adding that the CSSA welcomes people from Hong Kong. However, he said he recognizes that those from Hong Kong may have started their own club because of Jan- guage differences. Siu said there are already many people from Hong Kong in their club, and he hopes the two clubs can work together. “We're definitely open-minded,” said Siu. “We’re all one nation.” 66 We're all Chinese and we don’t want to make it so compli- cated Henry Siu, CSSA member Experts fear a parched world nears Students are being urged to conserve B.C.’s water before scarcity becomes a major problem By JENNY PENG home last week when author and activist Kerry Coast flooded the minds of students and staff with issues around water mismanagement. Coast cautioned that 47 per cent of the world’s population will live in a wa- ter-scarce region by 2050. Solutions start with a universal rec- ognition that access to drinking water is a basic human right. Drinking water should not be comodified, said Coast. The talk, hosted by the human rights and international solidarity committee of Langara, in partnership with the Federation of Post-Secondary Educa- tors of BC, was part of the United Na- tions’ International Year of Water Co- operation. Coast cited Bolivia in the mid-90s as an example of people fighting against water privatization. Twenty years ago, committee chair- woman Susan Weber witnessed water shortages first-hand in Bolivia. “There was a serious water short- age. So the drought left people without water. Water had to be trucked-in in trucks that had huge water bladders and then there would be long line-ups of people with their containers of wa- ter. That was their drinking water, their washing water. Everything had to be put into a small container.” The city Weber lived in limited water usage to two hours a day. Water shortage was also a personal topic for political science student Syed Ahmet who attended the talk. “We have two countries, China and India, which have really large popula- tions and [water shortage] is one of the reasons for electricity shortage in Paki- stan. It gets privatized and it’s not as free flowing,” said Ahmet. Projections by the World Health Or- ganization suggest stories like these will be more common as world popula- tion increases. Even in Canada, where seven per cent of the world’s renewable fresh wa- ter exists, WHO warns that scarcity can still occur depending on how it is conserved, used and distributed in Te threat of water scarcity hit Mickey Mouse wants YOU Langara students are considering whether to use their tuition money to live and work as possible “character performers” at Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida By JESSE LAM study and work for Disney as Lan- gara once again looks to recruit students into its Disney International Program. As part of Langara’s fourth-year partnership with the University of Cal- ifornia, Riverside, students will take a two-week intensive course there be- fore flying to Orlando, Florida to study and work at Walt Disney World Resort. “Tm hoping to meet some friends. I just want to use this as an opportunity to maybe go around the world a bit and put something that differentiates me on my resume,” said 22-year-old Ste- phen Buerger, a marketing manage- ment student. Overall costs for the program come to around $8,700. Part of the bait is that students will Si: have the opportunity to be paid while working at Walt Disney World, however, don’t expect to bank much in savings. “One student came home with $200,” said Bronwyn Jenkins-Deas, dean of the University of California, River- side’s international education pro- grams. “We had a student that came home with $2,000. But he’s exceptional. He said he spent $100 in food over six months. He was very strategic. He found every party, every activity that had food in it.” Jenkins-Deas led an information session at Langara last Tuesday. “A, it’s a study abroad experience. B, it is work experience. C, you’re getting credits for it,” she said. Jobs at Walt Disney World Resort include resort hospitality, front desk, concierge, lifeguard, costuming or “character performer.” The working portion is five months long and students will get 12 transfer- able credits from the University of California, Riverside following the pro- gram’s completion. “You should not be going into this program thinking it’s an easy way to get credits,” said Jenkins-Deas. “This is one of the most challenging experiences you will ever have.” Sean Padley, co-operative education instructor at Langara, said students would be working during the Christ- mas season, the peak season of the year. “T cannot put into words how busy it gets at Christmas,” said Padley. “Just being a worker during that busy season, not only seeing that phys- ically but working in that environment, if you can work through the time, the stress, because of how busy it is, that would be an experience all itself.” communities. we, JESSE LAM photo University of California, Riverside’s Bronwyn Jenkins-Deas explains program requirements to a dozen or so Langara students last Tuesday.