6 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCT. 28, 2014 EDITOR BEN ZUTTER social media Key to young voters have always thought I was too busy to vote, especially in a municipal election. Let me clarify: not too busy to actually go and mark my ballot, but rather too busy to research where each candidate stands on current is- sues. Apparently ’m not the only youth who is not voting either. According to Elections BC participation statistics, less than 50 per cent of 18- to 24-year- olds who were eligible to vote in 2013 and less than 40 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds voted. With the Vancouver municipal elec- tion coming up on Nov. 15, politicians are out campaigning across the city. The question is, how do you get youth to vote in municipal elections or participate in the democratic process of voting at all? I have to be honest, while writing this I navigated to social media web- sites many times. Once or twice it wasn’t even a conscious decision; I got myself to Facebook, realized nothing new had come up on my news feed, and then racked my brain as to why I had gone to the website in the first place. Politicians should be using social media to engage youth. I did a simple search on Facebook to see if I could find any pages that put the election into perspective and came up with a few events and one page about the Vancou- ver civic election with a meager seven “likes.” I’m not saying that this information needs to be served to youth all neatly organized and easily assessable but I’m saying that maybe it wouldn’t hurt for candidates to engage youth on so- cial media with discussions. Go to where the voters are, and in this case it’s online. That said, Lang- ara College was scheduled to host a mayoral debate at the college on Oct. 22. For those who made the effort to attend, put their a Mi, phones down and pay attention, in- OPINION formation was CHARLOTTE available to help DREWETT make informed de- cisions on the mu- nicipal election. Privacy concerns | le should not have to choose Wresce our privacy and our safety.” Those were the words of victims’ rights advocate Carol Todd in response to the federal government’s so-called cyberbullying bill. I tend to agree with her. Bill C-18 is, for all intents and pur- poses, a resurrec- tion of the defeated C-30, intended to give police war- rantless access to users’ information. The previous bill gained notoriety across the country after former public safety minister Vic Toews gave Canadians an ultimatum. “Either stand with us or with the child pornographers,” he said. That outrageous comment was more than enough ammunition for the bill’s critics, but the Conservative govern- ment is at it again. Unfortunately for them, most Cana- dians didn’t want C-30 when it was first introduced and we don’t want it now. They can dress it up in a new name and change some of the wording without any real difference, but we still won’t buy it. Let me be frank: these bills are about extending the reach of online police en- forcement at the expense of Canadians’ privacy. While protecting children from Internet predators is an admira- ble cause, giving police the authority to access private information from Inter- net service providers without a war- rant is ripe for exploitation. Who is making sure the police don’t abuse their power? What’s to stop governments and po- lice from using easily accessible data to undermine public dissent or legitimate criticism from the media? Too many questions without any clear answers, if you ask me. OPINION BEN ZUTTER HAVE TOU VOTED TET? MONICIPAL ELECTIONS BY BEN ZUTTER FOR WHAT? — WwW. BITSTRIPS.COM 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 Erica Bulman oversees The Voice. Email her at ebulman@langara.be.ca Student volunteering worthwhile It’s tough to admit, but when it comes to volunteering, I’ve been a real Scrooge. I won’t go so far as to say I’ve never done it, but more often than not, my in- tentions to volunteer my time go by the wayside. I’ve signed up for countless volun- teer orientations and even attended a few, but when the time comes to get out there, head to an unfamiliar location, mingle with strangers and donate my time, my passion for the cause is too easily replaced by my desire to do any- thing else. As guilty as this makes me feel, I’m sure I’m not the only student with this [i a shameful confession to make. mentality. After all our assignments are finished, and our shifts at work are in the bank, how many of us have any extra time we are willing to part with? It’s not always a matter of laziness or apathy, however. We have relationship commitments and family obligations. We have personal hobbies that we are passionate about and these things take time. That being said, I think there’s really no good reason not to volunteer. A wide range of organizations can benefit from student support. Whether you care about rescuing abandoned kittens or rebuilding communities dev- astated by natural disasters, there is an outlet for you to make a difference while building your resume. As important as it is to nurture our friendships and maintain our per- sonal health, vol- unteering, too, has an important role to play in our well- being. Not only does it feel amaz- ing, volunteering to help a charitable fundraiser or pro- mote awareness of an issue we care about is a necessary reminder that we are part of something much greater than ourselves. OPINION ALICE D'EON 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 wwwilangaravoice.ca EDITORIAL STAFF THIS ISSUE: MANAGING EDITOR/ PAGE 6 Ben Zutter PAGE EDITORS PAGE 1 Megan Bobetsis PAGE 2 Madelyn Forsyth PAGE 3 David La Riviere PAGE 4 Ashley Legassic PAGE 5 Mike Hodder PAGE 7 Edrick Dudang PAGE 8 Lukasz Jonca WEB EDITORS Karly Blats Chiis Slater Ali Crane Ash Kelly Lauren Collins REPORTERS Lena Alsayegh Mary Beach Natasha Chang Vivian Chui Alice D'Eon Charlotte Drewett Melissa Edgar James Goldie Jessica Hovanes Nich Johansen Shannon Lynch Sableen Minhas Kera Skocylas Sandra Powlik Orvis Noel Contact us: Online at langaravoice.com Twitter at @langaraVoice