6 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2013 EDITOR JANA MINOR LSU: stop twerking us around Ihe Langara Students’ Union is Tie Miley Cyrus ~ they’re so outrageous it’s normal now. Their antics are simply to be expected. You’d think with a new year, a new election and new bylaws, that things would be different, but no. They’re still up to their old tricks: dodging media requests and withholding meeting minutes. An elected government should be accountable to the media, but more importantly it should be accountable to the people who voted it into power. The cover of The Vancouver Sun read like a Fox News report last week: “Neighbourhoods in Revolt” it read in threateningly large font. But it wasn’t hyperbole. Vancouver citizens are speaking out in forceful unison these days, all over the city. Well, almost everywhere. Here at Langara, the LSU shifted its annual general meeting ~ its mandatory, once-a-year finan- cial kimono-open- Ps 4 ing —- from __ till September to OPINION i JANA MINOR Voice is not in production and only a fraction of students are on campus. But who noticed this sly yet critical adjust- ment? Who voiced protest? This week The Voice requested minutes from that meeting and were in- formed they had not yet been approved and made available. What are we paying them to do up there? City councillor George Affleck said the LSU is a “microcosm” of city council. I disagree. Yes, we share the same skewed media policy, but there’s a big difference: people actually march on city hall. Citizens pushing strollers and hobbling with canes are rallying there to protest their government operating in the dark. Community centres — the epitome of non-confrontational spaces — are taking legal action against the city. When meditation instructors and swim coaches start suing people, you know the times they are a changin’. Langara, maybe we’re overdue for a good old revolution of our own? We're students, for crying out loud. We practically invented the word “protest.” Maybe we should start acting like it. 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 VANCOUVER CYTY HALT. San gal a dag Kuff Xs Ose 1, hom much has been entrusted, much more will be asted,” Lute 12348 JANA MINOR cartoon Misbehaving Rogue Six: get onboard the OneCard e six Vancouver community centres that refuse to join the new OneCard program, known as The Rogue Six, don’t know how to play nice. Like a toddler who brings the best toys to the sandbox but won’t share — and kicks sand in the other kids’ faces — the six are being naughty and need a time out. They cry that the park board is centralizing finances in an effort to skim centre money, slash programs and reduce membership. Their response to this perceived threat is to waste taxpayer dollars in a lawsuit. Well, Six, over 50,000 people have signed up so far and demand grows. Vancouverites cherish their health. The six see this as a David and Goliath-type story, but the OneCard is for the under- dogs. It acts like socialized health care by making recreation cheap and accessible, especially for those with low incomes. If major hospitals decided they didn’t want to chip in to our glorious Canadian health care system, people would die. If the six keep this up, people won’t drop dead, but it will certainly be a pain for the OneCard users who rely on those great centres for health and recreation. That the other 18 community OPINION NICK EAGLAND centres have embraced the program doesn’t matter to the bullheaded six. They argue the card was created to destroy the centres. To them, the 18 are suckers destined for ruin. Now, for their legal tantrum, the six may face eviction on Dec. 31. Then the park board, that big bully, will drain all uniqueness from them. But I'll let you in on a little secret: Vancouverites like things to be special. They’re nostalgic, and grow weary of the homogenization of Vancouver culture. Community centres are no different. If the park board tampers with centres, it will be met with fervent resistance by Vancouverites, who care violently about things like cheap yoga and uniqueness. Why don’t the six play nice? Complaints of rezoning protesters justified streets, heightened noise and limited parking; these are all effects of housing densification on single-family neighbourhoods. Residents in Grandview-Wood- land, Marpole, the West End and the Downtown Eastside oppose the City of Vancouver’s plan to rezone the neighbourhoods from single-family home properties to ones that accommodate high-rise buildings, and for good reason. City council rushed into making plans for these neighbourhoods without consider- ing the current residents or the character of their neighbourhoods. In the long run, students may encounter lower rents as a result of an increased supply of apartments, but it will be some time before this benefit takes effect. For now, rents may actually increase. When properties are rezoned, property values increase, which increases property taxes. Although the houses feces rent, overcrowded will be rezoned for apartment buildings, that does not mean that those apartments are going to be built anytime soon. People are living in those houses, and the only way for them to be torn down is if they are sold. For now, students who are renting suites in these homes will pay higher rents. Housing density is also detrimen- tal to homeowners because of how it alters the feel of the community in which they have chosen to live. Residents in these neighbourhoods have spent money to live in areas that best suit their needs. A family wishing to raise their children in a peaceful neighbourhood with accessible parks and large yards will not be happy in a dense neigh- bourhood full of apartment build- ings and busy streets. It is not right to impose this kind of lifestyle onto people who have not chosen it. Vancouver prides itself on being a green city, yet city council appears to be willing to sacrifice thisunique characteristic to maximize profits for the city and developers. Last week, community members from Grandview-Woodland, Mar- pole, the Down- town Eastside and the West End gathered outside (= Ge’ city hall to protest + ) the proposed > )| rezoning of their =) ® neighbourhoods. As a result, city hall announced deadlines for proposed rezon- ing plans will be extended from four months (Downtown Eastside) to a year (Grandview-Woodland). Time will tell if council will listen to commu- nity members’ valid concerns or if they are simply buying time to better their case. OPINION ANDREA ANTHONY 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.com EDITORIAL STAFF THIS ISSUE: MANAGING EDITOR/ PAGE 6 Jana Minor PAGE EDITORS PAGE 1 Jesse Adamson PAGE 2 Dana Bowen PAGE 3 Brenna Brooks PAGE 4 Ben Bulmer PAGE 5 Deanna Cheng PAGE 7 Marie-Andree Del Cid PAGE 8 Puneet Dhami WEB EDITORS Kayla lsomura Warren Jane Jacqueline Langen James McLaughlin Quinn Mell-Cobb Patrick Colvin Kelci Nicodemus Niall Shannon REPORTERS Andrea Anthony Nick Eagland Tammy English Bill Everitt Gavin Fisher Tyler Hooper Amy Jones Jesse Lam Tricia Lo Jenny Peng Nadim Roberts Vanessa Szpurko Emma Taylor Glen Truax Kendra Wong Contact us: Online at langaravoice.com Twitter at @langaraVoice