ampus news EDITOR ANGELA HOLUBOWICH THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2013 3 LSU cafe brings the bubbles Lollipop Moment serves bubble tea and fresh-baked goodies in the spot vacated by Dukes on the campus By TYLER HOOPER Moment, is excited to be providing Langara students and faculty with bubble tea refreshments and isn’t wor- ried about competition from other ven- dors on campus. Previously, Duke’s Gourmet Cookies & Cappuccino inhabited the location in the LSU, but over this past summer Sung won over LSU members who agreed to lease him the space. “T didn’t think I had a chance of get- ting it. know everyone wants to come in here,” Sung said. “I really appreciate the student union building giving us the chance here.” Sung said it’s hard to compete with big names like Starbucks, and instead he is looking at different markets by providing friendly and affordable ser- vice. “If a Starbucks opens near you, don’t think you can beat them, that’s impossible.” Instead, Sung said he wants to bring the “quality of the French restaurants and the speed of McDonalds,” provid- ing a balance between delicacy and ef- ficient service. Lollipop Moment is currently offer- ing seasonal pumpkin pie, but Sung said he doesn’t plan on introducing too many seasonal products this year. “Starbucks might have 10, 12 differ- ent drinks for that season, maybe that will happen next year,” Sung said. For the time being he wants to ensure his employees learn and understand his existing products. “TSung] is really great, he’s really helpful because in my past experience even though I worked in a bubble tea place I never got a chance to make bub- ble tea or coffee,” part-time employee Betty Chiang said. “I’ve really learned a lot from him.” Students are enjoying many of the products offered by Sung. “T usually get the banana bread,” said first-year design-formation stu- dent Cherie Lau, adding she enjoys bubble tea, particularly the honey green tea with pearls. P:::: Sung, manager of Lollipop TYLER HOOPER photo Powell Sung stands in front of cafe CORRECTION Last week’s Voice story on the volunteer program VOLT described VOLT as a group instead of an official Langara student service. Also, VOLT’s recognition system to record mem- bers’ volunteer hours on transcripts is in place, and VOLT does not have a group-trip program. Last summer two volunteers went to Nepal, one to Costa Rica and three to Kenya. The Voice regrets the errors. oe” a. #147 WAS THE LUCKY DUCKY a: a. ee Le or ae 3 —— <-> ae Me TYLER HOOPER Photo Langara sociology instructor Alan Brain gave a running commentary throughout the United Way rubber ducky race and added that “god Quack Quack” had ordered him to dress in drag. Students gathered by the fountains and cheered as duck number 147 took the win. A Berry sad day BlackBerry falls to fourth place in smartphone race By NADIM ROBERTS lackBerry is doing whatever it can to hold onto its shrinking customer base, but it may be too late. In an open letter posted on their website, BlackBerry reached out to customers to assure them that despite a disastrous drop in sales, a dwindling market share and a plan to slash its global workforce by 4,500, “You can continue to count on BlackBerry.” According to Gillian Shaw, digital life writer at the Vancouver Sun, when BlackBerry emerged in 1999 there was little choice for consum- ers and businesses looking for smart- ofa new genera QPINION tion of competing eItIAN SHAW smartphones, starting with Ap- r4 4 ple’s iPhone in 2007, hit the Ontar- io-based company Itwasa hard. leader and “It was a leader ° and a_ pioneer,” a pioneer said Shaw. “And and now now it is so far be- sy 7 hind it can’t catch it is SO far up.” behind it When Samsung can’t catch and Apple began to 9 redefine the smart- Up. phone market by taking their phones to consumers first and businesses second, BlackBerry failed to stay relevant, Shaw said. “BlackBerry was resting on its lau- rels when everyone else was innovat- ing.” First-year Langara student Devante Williams is a “BlackBerry type of guy,” and won’t consider switching. Art history student Gillian Huntley finds her BlackBerry phone problem- atic and “not that exciting.” “Tm probably going to get a different smartphone, either an iPhone or An- droid, once this one dies,” said Huntley. Student Victor Zhang threw away his BlackBerry and uses a Samsung Android. “[BlackBerrys] are old fash- ioned now,” said Zhang. English forums spur critical thinking Monthly gatherings in the HUB offer students and faculty the chance to discuss everything from books and films to video games in an interactive and engaging environment outside of the classroom By TRICIA LO hat do Game of Thrones, Pride W:: Prejudice, self-help litera- ture and BioShock all have in common? They’re all topics at the Lan- gara English forum. “Tt’s an environment that can stimu- late conversation and promote thinking about things in new, unconventional ways,” said Kathleen Oliver, host of yes- terday’s forum. It’s already seen success with psy- chology student Kaitlynn Schildt, who views instructors differently now. “Be- ing able to talk to professors in a non- instructional setting, I’ve learned they’re actually people,” she said. Schildt attended the first forum, Game of Thrones: Sexy or Sexist? The topic grabbed her attention, but she had no idea the instructors would be so pas- sionate about the series. The topics aren’t just designed to ap- peal to students, they’re actually in- spired by the interests of Langara’s English faculty, said Kina Cavicchioli, one of the project’s organizers. English instructor Greg Holditch pro- posed a forum on the subject of his mas- ter’s thesis: the video game BioShock. “It’s revolutionary in the video game world. It’s like a work of art. That’s why Treally want to talk about it.” Cavicchioli described students’ reac- tion to the topics. “There’s been a very pleasant look of surprise. ‘BioShock? That’s part of English?’ I’m going ‘Yes, yes! That’s why I love my job.” The project’s vision is to share this excitement, she said. “As English facul- ty, we really love what we do, and we want to show what that is beyond the grammar and essay writing. “There’s an instructive aspect too, the goal is to show how what we do ex- ists in the real world, not just when you're doing it for grades,” said Cavic- chioli. “You can talk about pretty much everything in an analytical way, and that’s not a chore; it’s a joy.” EVENTS HAPPY 200TH BIRTHDAY PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Nov. 13 2:30-4:30 p.m. BIOSHOCK: THE FUTURE OF NARRATIVE Nov. 27 2:30-4:30 p.m.