6 THE DAILY VOICE, TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2014 EDITOR JESSE LAM Be proud, sex pledge first step in the right direction By MADELYN FORSYTH nether I choose to wear a low- W: top or my _ boyfriend’s sweatshirt to school, I am not “asking” for anything. Melissa Malano is behind the pledge asking people to stand up against rape and sexual assault. I am fully behind it. Personally, I have never feared for my safety on campus but I know the same can’t be said for many others. What I find most frustrating is the necessity of the pledge. There is this idea circulating in social media that if a woman acts or dresses a certain way she’s “asking” to get raped or sex- ually assaulted. ue vie “stamms PINION needs to stop. Malano says some MADELYN women are afraid FORSYTH to come forward about an incident r4 4 because they feel like it was their J qm glad fault. The Canadian to see Federation of Stu- people dents Ontario pub- ° lished a fact sheet taking a last April outlining stand and some statistics i k . about sexual as- talking sault in post-sec- qbout it ondary institu- tions. Safe to say, I was shocked. Breakdown: more than 80 per cent of rapes are committed by someone the victim may know; women aged 18 to 24 are victims of the highest rates of sexual assault in Cana- da; and, in an older survey, 60 per cent of college guys said if they were certain they wouldn’t get caught, they would commit a sexual assault. On campus we should feel safe re- gardless of gender. I am still saddened by the need for a pledge like this in our society but Iam glad to see people tak- ing a stand and talking about it. The time for sweeping things under the rug and pretending everything is OK is over. So far, students are more than keen to sign the pledge. Keep it up, Langara. 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 Langara tuition plan makes free cake bitter By MIKE HODDER et them eat cake—and then charge them $390 for it. Langara is celebrating 20 years las an independent public college today and there is no better way to par- ty than with free food, and a tuition hike. According to a Langara core review published in February, the college has the lowest combined tuition and operat- ing grant among B.C.’s urban institu- tions. Currently there is a two-per-cent cap annually on tuition, and the issue from Langara’s point of view is provid- ing a quality of education that leads to success for its grads within its budget. Provincial grants are 42 per cent of Langara’s revenue while student tuition and fees comprise 45 per cent. The 2014 provincial budget cut $51 million in funding to post-secondary institutions over the next three years, which will sig- nificantly decrease Langara’s income. So the answer is... wait for it... raise tuition. Last year, student tuition and fees made up $45.7 million of Lang- ara’s $103.2 million budget. This year that number will jump two per cent to $47.8 million. Langara wants a one-time exemption from the tuition cap to raise fees by $390 for 30 credits over a two- to three-year period, roughly a 14 per-cent increase. This increase may seem modest when considered over three years, but when you factor in Langara’s 10,000 full- time students, it works out to about $3.9 million per year. That’s a lot of cake. Essentially, the government is cut- ting funding and students are footing the bill. The Langara core review says that low tuition rates and provincial operat- ing grants, combined with the tuition MAN, wit THE Néw CANGARA Tuition INCREASE T CAN GAR ELY AFFORD RENT ANYMOaS.. - cap, diminish the school’s ability to pro- vide high-quality programs. Yet that same core review boasted a 2012-13 survey that found 95 per cent of students were satisfied with the quality of edu- cation they re- ceived, and 85 per cent of university transfer students went on to further study. It seems Lan- gara is no stranger to doing more with less. It’s no secret that many full-time stu- dents go heavily into debt while study- ing. I'd be willing to bet that most of them would rather have $390 in their pockets than some free cake, no matter how sweet it is. 66 The 2014 provincial budget cut $51 million in funding to post-second- ary institutions over the next three years A OPINION MIKE HODDER 66 The government is cutting funding and students are footing the bill MIKE CLIMIE comic Canucks: a season to forget By JESSE LAM per cent chance of making the play- offs, but most fans are looking at missing the playoffs as a series of unfor- tunate events that happened the entire season. Since losing to the San Jose Sharks in the playoffs last season, the Canucks made Vancouver wonder what was go- ing to happen to the goaltending tan- dem of Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider, arguably the best one-two punch in goalies the past several years. Luongo was disgruntled and wanted out, even saying “my contract sucks,” last season. Schneider just wanted to play. At the NHL Entry Draft in June, Schneider was traded to the New Jersey Devils, leaving the disappointed Luongo in Vancouver. A new season began, and there were some highs. The Canucks started the season with nine wins in October. Lu- ongo wanted to prove that he’s still a T:: Vancouver Canucks have a 0.5 professional, and also wanted a spot in the Canadian Olympic team in Febru- ary. In November, the Canucks began to struggle, at one point losing eight in 10 games. Their stars can’t score, and that became one of the ongoing themes this season. December was the one bright spot for the Canucks this season, as they won seven straight games to start the month. The highlight of the month was thrash- ing the hated Boston Bruins 6-2 at home. However, since January, the Canucks just couldn’t find their stride, losing game after game, frustrating Canucks fans left and right. On Jan. 15, they lost to the Anaheim Ducks 9-1 at home, one of the worst loss- es in Canucks history. From a respectable seventh place in December, the Canucks dropped to 10th by March. After Luongo was benched for the Heritage Classic, he was extremely dis- appointed. That was also the last game fans saw him in a Canucks uniform. He was then traded to the Florida Panthers on March 4, two days after the game. From two of the top 10 goalies in the NHL, the Canucks now have two goalies that have played fewer than 100 NHL ca- reer games. In return for two world-class goalten- ders, the Canucks received a promis- ing player, a goalie who may have po- tential to succeed, and a third-line cen- tre. Their playoff A hopes continued to rw on drift away. OPINION JESSE LAM “Are we going to get in? It’s very slim, and we’ve known that,” said Canucks head coach John Tortorella in a press confer- ence yesterday. “But it still doesn’t stop you from working at your business, with your team.” Well, at least the Canucks are still giving it their all, and that’s the message you want to send to the kids, right? 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 Jesse Lam PAGE EDITORS PAGE 1 Bill Everitt PAGE 2 Gavin Fisher PAGE 3 Tyler Hooper PAGE 4 Amy Jones PAGE 5 Tricia Lo PAGE 7 Jenny Peng PAGE 8 Nick Eagland WEB EDITORS Kendra Wong REPORTERS Karly Blats Megan Bobetsis Erin Boe Lauren Collins Alissa Crane Edrick Dudang Madelyn Forsyth-Schiewe Mike Hodder Lukasz Jonca Leslie Kam Ash Kelly David LaRiviere Ashley Legassic Edmond Lu Jeremy Matthews Graham McFie Christopher Slater Renee Sutton Ben Zutter Contact us: Our blog at www.langara- voice.com Twitter at @langaraVoice Youtube at VoiceLangara flickr at Langara Voice