AMPUS NEWS — enroressnessons THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 3 Long wait for voting results Even though the results are already available, the LSU won't reveal results from the election yet By KEVIN HAMPSON most two weeks for the LSU elec- tion results. Although the polls closed last Friday, the LSU executive will not post the re- sults until next Tuesday, according to LSU media and queer liaison Andy Sandberg. The election will fill five openings on the board of directors: board member at large, disability liaison, environmen- tal issues co-ordinator, queer liaison and women’s liaison. In federal and provincial elections, the results are made public as soon as the polls close. When the Capilano Uni- versity Students’ Union had an election last fall, the unofficial results were posted online as soon as the polls closed, according to Capilano’s web- site. The CSU’s policy on elections posted on their website states that “prelimi- nary results of an election” can be made public “as soon as all votes have been counted.” But the LSU has a different policy. Although the ballots at LSU elections are counted as they come in, the re- sults cannot be made public until they are approved in a meeting by the board of directors, Sandberg said. That meeting ¢ he pretty Les students have to wait al- will be held Oct. 15 at 4:30 pm. Since it will finish at the Sure with- end of the day, the in the span election results will not be posted of 11 day S, Sandbers 16, said they could andberg. . Second-year_ bi- find the ology student Jef time [to frey Du was sur- I prised at the delay. reschedule “No special pre- the meet- arrangements?” . ” he asked. “I’m ing] pretty sure within the span of 11 days, they could find the time [to re-schedule the meet- ing].” However, Sandberg said it would not have been possible to schedule an ear- lier meeting, adding that the LSU board members are all students with busy schedules. Ballots are counted by an LSU staff member and three members of the LSU board of directors. Jeffrey Du, biology stuent Journalists to hold bake sale next week Students enrolled in the first year of a two-year journalism program at Lan- gara College want to go to the Webster Awards next Thursday. The Webster Awards are held each year to honour some of the best-known and best journalists in the province. This year’s awards ceremony will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. But it’s not cheap. Even student tick- ets cost $65. So to raise that kind of money, the students in the journalism are planning to hold a bake sale next Thursday, Oct. 18, from noon to 4 p.m. in the main foyer of the A Building. Cupcakes, cookies, bars and more will be on sale then. Satisfy your sweet tooth. Larry Railton, manager of services for aboriginal students at Langara, talks to the Voice about the new initiatives Langara partners with UBC A new transfer program will give aboriginal students coming to Langara up to $8,500 in scholarships among other benefits By RICHARD HODGES new Langara-UBC Aboriginal Transfer Program announced last week aims to help guide ab- original students through the traditionally treacherous path of post- secondary education. Students who self-identify as aborig- inal during registration are eligible for the program. They will spend two years at Langa- ra before transferring over to UBC with guaranteed admission to the faculty of arts. Each student is also eligible for up to $8500 in scholarships over their four years in school. Graeme Joseph, coordinator of UBC’s strategic aboriginal initiatives, says the program identifies three main areas to give students a pathway to suc- cess. “We're helping them academically, financially, and within the community,” said Joseph. “We’re trying to take away the barriers that traditionally discour- Faregate system goes ahead despite bugetary problems Continued from page 1 much the government was contribut- ing, Zabel wasn’t sure. According to a press release on TransLink’s website dated January 2011, the provincial government is providing $40 million and the federal government is providing “up to” $30 million. However, this still leaves TransLink to fund the remaining $100 million. Zabel says that Langara students will still be able to use their U-Pass, but it will be integrated into the new system. “Everything is migrating towards the Compass Card,” Zabel said. “It’s a reloadable, one-time ap- proach that can be used anywhere on transit.” He explained that users can load their cards similar to how one would load a reusable gift card, either online, by phone or in person. The fare gates will be installed in SkyTrain, Canada Line and Seabus stations. Langara students currently pay $120 for their U-Pass per semester. This price is guaranteed until March 31, 20138. age aboriginal students.” Currently the high school gradua- tion rate among aboriginal students is just 50 per cent. This helps explain why just seven per cent of aboriginal adults hold post- secondary degrees compared to 25 per cent of the general population. To combat these numbers, the pro- gram aims to inform aboriginal stu- dents in high school of their post-sec- ondary options, says Larry Railton, manager of services for aboriginal stu- dents at Langara. “We're going to target high schools and talk to counsellors and aboriginal workers to make sure students know of their opportunities provided by Langa- ra to go to UBC,” said Railton. Students will also take part in the ab- original plus program during their time at Langara to cultivate life and study skills. “The aboriginal plus program is workshops and engaging in learning, and it could be as easy as going to the writing centre,” said Railton. “It’s go- ing to be about financial management and time management and things that are critical for all students to do.” Those students who have already navigated the Langara to UBC post- secondary leap, , like Graeme Joseph, see considerable potential in the pro- gram. “T floated around after high school and was struggling by the skin of my teeth,” said Joseph. “I certainly could have benefited from a program like this.” Randy Robinson, an aboriginal UBC law student who transferred from Lan- gara, believes the community aspect of the program is the most important as- pect. “A program like this is valuable for an aboriginal student because it takes into consideration the cultural identity and specific needs of aboriginal learn- ers,” said Robinson. “When aboriginal students are com- fortable both culturally and academi- cally, their success rates are dramati- cally improved.” JEREMY SALLY photo THE INITIATIVES HM Each aboriginal student is eligible for up to $8,500 in scholarships HE An Aboriginal Plus Program is avail- able for learning engagement ME Guaranteed admission into the UBC faculty of arts after two years at Langara warrenmillerc@#m AND MORE TRAILERS GoPro Bea HERO. 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