6 College ignores black tribute hroughout the year, Langara has many cultural festivi- ties, celebrating events from different parts of the world, includ- ing Diwali and Lunar New Year, but why doesn't the school celebrate Black History Month? Perhaps it is because of the school’s overall population, which has more students of Indian and Chinese descent than of African descent. Langara also has many international students from these countries and hosting the events may make them feel less home- sick and help in creating friends. On the Government of Canada’s official website, it says “During Black History Month, Canadians cele- brate the many achievements and contribu- tions of Black Canadians,” and yet there is no recognition of Black History Month at Langara. Having an event for a specific culture can also be a teaching strat- egy. Vancouver is very multicul- tural and people from all over the world live here. Some international students may be unfamiliar with certain cultures residing in Vancou- ver. Through events like Black History Month, students can learn about other cultures and understand “Through events like Black History Month, students can learn about other cultures and understand them better.” them better. It may alleviate prej- udice towards people from differ- ent backgrounds and cultures, and allows people to share the unique wonders and characteristics of their culture. Langara should do more to honour and celebrate Black History Month on campus because of the long history of oppression and systemic racism towards black people and culture in North Amer- ica. Even though people of Afri- can descent make up only 1.7 per cent of Metro Vancouver's popula- tion, Black History Month is just as important as any other cultural tribute in the city, and is just as worthy of being represented at a school event. OPINION TIERNEY GRATTAN THE VOICE | THURSDAY, FEB. 28,2019 | EDITOR KELSEA FRANZKE Viewpoints OR, AS MUMAINS MOULD GALL Ir, ODS D by Beds, sleep pods or whatever you want to call it, Langara needs them. TAESA HODEL ILLUSTRATIO Desperately seeking 1277 f anyone could reap the bene- fits from a midday snooze, it would be a college student. In 2016, BCIT installed two sleep pods in its Burnaby campus library for students to take naps, making it the first post-secondary school in the Lower Mainland to do so. No other schools have followed suit, but it’s time that Langara seri- ously considered installing a desig- nated sleep area on campus. A clinical review published by Sleep Medicine found that sleep qual- ity and quantity are closely related to academic performance and learn- ing capacity. This means that when a student’s sleep is restricted by trying to balance school, work and a social life, they will experience lower neurocognitive performance, and poor declarative and proce- dural learning. The clinical review also found that students from vari- ous education levels are chronically sleep deprived and often suffer from daytime sleepiness. Asa student, I’m all too familiar with the feeling of heavy eyelids and having my head bob like a chicken while trying to stay awake in class. I've also caught drool slipping from my lips while I dozed during a lecture more times than I’d like to admit. A quick catnap between classes could provide students with the ability to feel signifi- cantly more alert — a benefit for both students and instructors. Considering that Langara does not have student residences, right now the best place to count sleep on campus is a quiet corner in the library OPINION KELSEA FRANZKE (although I doubt the librarians appreciate sleeping students in study spaces). The National Sleep Founda- tion suggests a nap of just 20 to 30 minutes to restore alertness, enhance performance and reduce mistakes and accidents. A quick shut-eye lasting any longer is more likely to be accompanied by grog- giness, so it’s best to keep your mid-day siesta to a minimum. So please Langara, give us some space to sleep on campus. Both students and staff could use a quick nap sometime during their busy days — I know I sure could. Businessnews Millennials lead the tech field Being surrounded by technology from a young age gives industry a boost = By KRISTIAN TREVENA he technology workforce in B.C. is thriving, largely thanks to millennials who have been surrounded by tech from a young age, according to one soft- ware development manager. Millennials, anyone born between 1981 and 1996, make up a large portion of technology-based jobs, which make up about five per cent of B.C.’s total workforce. A main reason why millennials pursue careers in technology has to do with the way they were raised in an environment saturated with technology, said Jordan Rieger, a software development manager at Webnames.ca and special industry guest at the Feb. 28 Tech Thurs- days event, a monthly Lang- ara session about careers in tech- nology. “You can’t discount the impact of L computer games,” Rieger said, adding that the habits of fixing up and tinkering with these games lead millennials to learn more about “You can't discount the impact of computer games." — JORDAN RIEGER, SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, WEBNAMES.CA their computers and how to make them run better. The technology industry is booming, but many employ- ers are looking for candidates with a good deal of experi- ence, something new graduates often lack, said Ryan White, a video game developer at Kabam in Vancouver. But tech companies are look- ing for more than just computer smarts, said Raymond Chow, who coordinates Langara’s web technol- ogy program. Many companies also want to see social skills and how candidates will fit in with company culture. “A lot of technology jobs out there require a good sense of team- work and collaboration,” Chow said. That said, millennials sometimes face the challenge of youth and inexperience, White said. “Tech companies always want more experienced and more senior people, but people can’t get that experience unless someone actu- ally hires them,” he said. The Voice is pub- lished by Langara College’s joumalism government and administration. We welcome letters to department. Editorial — the editor. They may opinions are those be edited for brevity. of the staff and Your letter must in- are independent of clude your name and views of the student phone number. 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