6 THE DAILY VOICE, FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2014 EDITOR NICK EAGLAND lewpoints Cute cartoon cats don't belong In Major League Baseball nough is enough! I’ve had it with cats and their plans for world domination. Hello Kitty, the fictional feline mascot of Tokyo-based company Sanrio, is teaming up with Major League Baseball to produce mer- chandise for the league’s growing female fan base. That’s strike three. You can put Hello Kitty on anything you want, but keep it out of sports. Now, all 30 MLB teams will have their own line of custom- ized gear bearing Hello Kitty’s familiar face and the Toronto Blue Jays will get their own in time for the team’s home opener against the New York Yankees on Friday. The New York Times reported the Hello Kitty brand was worth $5 billion annually in 2010 and its worth is only going to grow with this new partnership with the MLB. While the character was origi- nally created for pre-adolescent females, now Hello Kitty’s popular- ity has expanded to include adults. It seems strange that actual, functional adults would buy prod- ucts with a giant kitty on it, but even my 50-something-year-old mother is a Hello Kitty doll collector. I have to stare into the eyes of these dolls every time I walk into my parents’ room for the hair dryer. I was born in Canada, but spent much of my childhood in Hong Kong, where Hello Kitty was plastered everywhere. The worst part of it was when McDonald’s occasionally sold limited-edition Hello Kitty dolls with Happy Meals and women of all ages — from those in school uniforms to those in business suits — would go crazy for them, including my mom. You will never understand the pain of my brother and I, who had to scarf down Happy Meals daily for the sake of our mother’s doll collection. The phenomenon is not a mystery, it’s rather simple: Hello Kitty is cute and even I can’t deny that. But get that anatomically incor- rect cat’s face away from baseball. OPINION LESLIE KAM We want to hear from you Did we get a fact wrong? Tell us. Got a different point of view? Write to us. Problems with something we've said? Let us know. Journalism instructor Ethan Baron oversees The Voice. Email him at ebaron@langara.be.ca TransLink: Spend $48-million surplus to protect your drivers ollowing TransLink’s announce- ment of a $48-million surplus for 2018 just a few days after it revealed a campaign to reduce bus driver as- saults, it became clear that TransLink didn’t actually want any part in solving bus drivers’ prob- lems. On March 31, TransLink announced its “Don’t Touch The Operator” campaign, which encourages commuters to respect bus drivers and report public transit incidents. But the message “Don’t Touch The Operator” loses its force when you consider that the company employing these drivers isn’t using that money to ease drivers’ worries. OPINION GRAHAM McFIE Instead of taking preventive measures, TransLink presented a campaign that shifts the responsibil- ity to protect its drivers onto its customers. On Monday, Ruth Armstrong, media spokeswoman for bus drivers’ union Unifor 111, said commuters must understand that drivers are under a great deal of pressure. “As far as our work goes, our work is being cut, our schedules are being cut and of course the passengers are feeling that,” Armstrong said. “Transit security are not hiring anymore people.” So, at a glance, the union is mentioning cuts and commuters are becoming frustrated and lashing out, while TransLink is achieving an impressive surplus. Armstrong recognizes that a realistic solution to bus driver assaults requires the public’s participation, but shouldn’t Trans- Link step up too? Instead of pressing for more severe fines against those who assault drivers, TransLink should consider putting more consistency in transit schedules to prevent commuters from becoming rage monsters. Bus drivers are the public face of TransLink, but schedules and operations are as much out of their control as it is ours. And if investing money into operating schedules doesn’t appeal to the public transit company, hiring a few more security personnel may be another positive alternative. TransLink is in phase 2 of its bus service review and an online questionnaire is available to be filled out before April 21, 2014. Take the time to fill this question- naire out so that this surplus can be used to keep drivers safe and commuters moving quickly. Charity can be dirty, but that's no excuse for local pocket-lining charity has taught me it’s OK for philanthropy to be dirty, so long as lives are being saved. The Gateses accept that charity is arisk. They grant and donate money to nonprofit organizations in developing countries with the hope that it will be spent on people who need it, but they understand that nonprofits don’t always keep their promises. However, I don’t think this understanding should be extended to organizations in developed countries such as the Portland Hotel Society, which was raked over the coals last month after an audit revealed it had misspent thousands of taxpayer dollars. Last week, the Bill & Melinda B: and Melinda Gates’ approach to A A, OPINION NICK EAGLAND Gates Foundation granted another $1.5 million on top of the $28 million they’ve donated so far to a UBC research project to improve care for women with a condition that causes maternal death. The university will probably spend that money wisely, but often the Gateses send money to organi- zations in developing countries run by shady governments knowing some of it will go missing. And that’s OK, they wrote in their foundation’s 2014 annual letter. “Small-scale corruption, such as a government official who puts in for phony travel expenses, is an inefficiency that amounts to a tax on aid,” the Gateses wrote. “While we should try to reduce it, there’s no way to eliminate it, any more than we could eliminate waste from every government program — or from every business, for that matter.” PHS has done great work and saved many lives with InSite and its other programs, but that doesn’t give its executive carte blanche to give itself bonuses in the form of expensive dinners, limousine rides and Disneyland vacations. PHS executive director Mark Townsend was forced to resign after it was revealed he did just that. It’s one thing for a government official in Ghana to line his pockets with World Vision cash, but for a person in Vancouver who works so closely with the people he is meant to help — I just don’t understand how Townsend can justify that. The Gateses know charity is vital to improve the living conditions of those who don’t have the means to help themselves, even if every red cent doesn’t make it into the hands of those people. But I cringe thinking of nonprofit organizers in North America thinking its okay to take a little bit for themselves. Local nonprofits must keep their hands squeaky clean or people may suddenly stop giving. The Voice is published by Langara College's journalism department. Editorial opinions are those of the staff and are independent of views of the student government and administration. We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must be signed. They may be edited for brevity. Names may be withheld in special cases, but your letter must include your name and phone number. HOW TO REACH US PHONE 604-323-5396 FAX 604-323-5398 E-MAIL thevoice@langara.be.ca DROP-IN Room A226 Langara College There is a mailbox at the entrance to the journalism rooms. SNAIL MAIL The Voice 100 West 49th Ave. Vancouver, B.C. VSY 226 WEBSITE wwwlangara.bc.ca/voice EDITORIAL STAFF THIS ISSUE: MANAGING EDITOR/ PAGE 6 Nick Eagland PAGE EDITORS PAGE 1 Nadim Roberts PAGE 2 Tricia Lo PAGE 3 Kendra Wong PAGE 4 Andrea Anthony PAGE 5 Vanessa Szpurko PAGE 7 Bill Everitt PAGE 8 Gavin Fisher WEB EDITORS Tyler Hooper Jesse Lam REPORTERS Karly Blats Megan Bobetsis Erin Boe Lauren Collins Ali Crane Edrick Dudang Madelyn Forsyth Mike Hodder Lukasz Jonca Leslie Kam Ash Kelly David La Riviere Ashley Legassic Edmondy Lu Jeremy Matthews Graham McFie Chiis Slater Renee Sutton Ben Zutter Contact us: Our blog at www.langara- voice.com Twitter at @langaraVoice Youtube at VoiceLangara flickr at Langara Voice