6 THE DAILY VOICE, FRIDAY, NOV, 28, 2014

EDITOR ERIN BOE

lewpoints

Protest ensures voices are heard

ock(ing)
Leo to
the

courthouse door
is pointless!’ said
a comment posted
by an anonymous
person called
Undefeated, on a
news report by

OPINION.

SABLEEN MINHAS CBC about the lat-
est demonstration
of anti-pipeline

protesters.

Anti-pipeline protesters locked

themselves to the front doors of B.C.
Supreme Court the morning of Nov.
27 to stop lawyers representing
Kinder Morgan from entering the
court.

The lawyers, who were there to
ask for expansion of the injunction
area at Burnaby Mountain, were
redirected through other doors into
the court.

Whether this was an appropriate
move by the protesters or not, is not
the question.

In my opinion, the protesters were
right in their demonstration in

getting their voices heard.

With police arresting protesters
for something they did not do, such
a drastic demonstration to get their
point heard is appropriate and very
much to the point.

Kinder Morgan’s lawyers are
asking the court to help the com-
pany and cordon off more space to
keep protestors at bay, so that the
company can keep drilling a tunnel
at the conservation area.

Some view the demonsirations
are disruptive because they are not
aware serious the situation is

One commenter, Barney Bassett
said, “ They are not making a
contribution to society, they are
hindering society.”

The comment further called the
protesters “lowlifes,” but the whole
100-something word post did not
even touch the issue of digging a
pipeline in a conserved area, which
shows the extent of awareness
among people about it.

I think if citizens like Barney
Bassett get involved, however
superficially into the debate, the
protesters have made their point.

Proposed
subway can
ease traffic

love the freedom my all-zone
[ers gives me, being able to

hop on any bus and any train as
often as I want. At less than $40 a
month, the pass really got me in the
habit of ditching the car and taking
public transit, especially to places
like UBC and downtown.

That is, when a
bus actually
comes when I
need it and goes
to the places I
travel to.

With $170 for a
monthly all-zone
pass and the fact

OPINION.

that taking the
bus only margin-
VIVIAN CHUI ally shortens the

commute to some
of my destinations, I wouldn’t be
convinced to purchase the pass
when I am not a student.

It’s understandable that public
transit in Vancouver cannot be
compared to cities of much higher
population density such as Paris or
Hong Kong, where driving is a
hellish battle of traffic and finding
parking throughout the city.

Transit fares can only be so low
when only so many people are
around to use the system, and buses
and trains can only come so often to
cover the entire city.

So if a subway is built along the
Broadway transit corridor, UBC
students and those who work or live
along Broadway will be thankful, as
they will not have to see full 99
B-Lines drive past them anymore.

Drivers along the route will also
be thankful, as many buses would be
taken off the road, easing traffic.

The question I have now is, will
there be more drivers due to better
traffic circulation, or will more
people take the subway because of
its efficiency?

We want to hear from you

Got a different point of view?
Write to us.
Did we get a fact wrong?
Tell us.

Problems with something we've said?
Let us know.
Journalism instructor
Erica Bulman oversees
The Voice. Email her at
ebulman@langara.be.ca

I HOPE HE BUYS
THE PICTURE.
MY ARM IS
KILLING ME!

YAY! PICTURES
WITH SANTA!

ERIN BOE comic

Spirit of Santa: lost in holiday chaos

ince the start of November,
S Christmas music, movies and

TV specials and other refer-
ences to the holiday can be found
wherever you go.

But what about the mysterious
figure of the night who comes into
our homes and leaves us presents?

In the U.S. and
Canada, we know
him as Santa
Claus. We see him
in Christmas
specials, commer-
cials for Coca-
Cola and in the
malls taking
pictures with
children.

Personally, I
feel that it’s
stupid to commer-
cialize Santa just to prompt people
to buy certain products during the
holidays.

How is having Santa on a product
going to help sales when it’s only
once a year?

Besides Coca-Cola, I’ve seen Santa
commercials for Oreo cookies as
well as for M&M's.

This reminds me of a few years
ago when news broke on a police
chief in Abbotsford who sent out
Christmas cards to gangsters with a
picture of Santa wearing a bullet-
proof vest, helmet and holding an
automatic weapon.

The point of the card was to help
gangsters turn their lives around.

It is in the 1823 poem The Night
Before Christmas by Clement Clarke
Moore that we have the image of
Santa Claus, but it seems that the
Coca-Cola-commercialized image
that has solidified how we imagine

OPINION

ERIN BOE

hie

‘we

Ke

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Whisk List
Will yon he

Ori tieXt
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DIGITALSPY.CA photo

A chief of Abbotsford police sent out Christmas cards to gangsters with him
dressed up as Father Christmas with a bullet-proof vest, helmet and a couple

of automatic weapons.

him to look like.

However, it seems that it is only
North America that has commercial-
ized the image of the jolly old elf,
and this “threatens to overcome the
European St. Nicholas, who has
retained his identity as a Christian
bishop and saint,” according to the
St. Nicholas Center website.

While searching for international
Santas, I came across Russia’s
Grandfather Frost. He’s dressed
similar to how we picture Santa, but
he also has a magical staff. He also
has a granddaughter named
Snegurochka or Snow Maiden.

Just between you and me,
Grandfather Frost’s granddaughter
Snow Maiden reminds me a bit of
Frozen’s Elsa.

Although her story is loosely
based on Hans Christian Andersen’s
fairy tale The Snow Queen, I'd like to
think she and Snow Maiden are
distant relatives.

And like Santa, it seems Elsa has
also be commercialized quite a bit
since the movie came out last year.

How would you commercialize
this? Have Elsa help Snow Maiden
and Grandfather Frost with the
Christmas plans, of course!

Fil fay ce)

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THIS ISSUE:

MANAGING EDITOR/
PAGE 6

Erin Boe
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PAGE 1

Lauren Collins

PAGE 2
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PAGE 3
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PAGE 4
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PAGE 5

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PAGE 7
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PAGE 8
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