ampus hews

EDITOR VINCENT MATAK

THE VOICE, THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2016 3

Addiction
fair focuses
on help

Campus clinic representa-
tives say they can refer
students suffering from
addiction to receive treat-
ment nearby

By JASON HAMILTON

with addiction there is help avail-
able on or near campus.

That was the focus of a substance
abuse fair held on campus last week,
organized by Langara’s student health
services. Held in the main foyer, the
event brought attention to addiction is-
sues and provided information on how
to access support services.

While Langara doesn’t have any pro-
grams to deal with addiction on cam-
pus, they do have a medical clinic that
can refer students to external clinics.

Susan Kensett, a community health
nurse who works in the Langara stu-
dent health services clinic, encouraged

C C students suffer-

ing from addic-
Everybody | ine

F:: Langara students struggling

tions to stop by
clinic or

has ad- counselling de-
«ge . partment to re-
diction in ceive help, in-
their world “luding referrals
to specialists.

some- “People can
where; in see myself or the
hei doctor and we
t eir fe am- will refer them
ily system to services in the
° community an
there is same with the
addiction counselling de-

partment,”
Kensett said.

She added
that students are
often surprised
Langara offers all the services of a reg-
ular clinic, including resources avail-
able to aid students struggling with ad-
dictions.

At the fair, booths were set up to pro-
vide students with information on the
dangers of distracted driving.

‘Drunk goggles’ were given out to
demonstrate what it’s like when you
are under the influence of alcohol.

The fair also included booths from
Health Initiative for Men, community
policing volunteers and the Avalon
Recovery Society, a women’s only re-
source and drop-in centre that
provides help to women dealing with
drug addictions and abusive relation-
ships.

Operating for 25 years in Metro Van-
couver, the Avalon Recovery Society
provides help to women suffering from
addiction.

According to Michelle Swan, a man-
ager at the society, women of all ages
— including students —can access sup-
port at any of their three locations.

“Everybody has addiction in their
world; somewhere in their family sys-
tem there is addiction,” said Swan.

MICHELLE SWAN

Manager, Avalon
Recovery Society

JASON HAMILTON photo
The fair was held last Wednesday.

LSU councillor expenses

$90,000

Number of LSU council members

TERT

TTT

2015 @ 2016

Pe he Th Te

VINCENT MATAK graphics

LSU reveals budget

Union grants access to budget after three
months of dodging repeated requests

By ALYD LLEWELLYN and VINCENT
MATAK

fter almost three months of

skirting requests from The

Voice to review its budget, the

angara Students’ Union al-

lowed access to the figures Tuesday,

but only under strict supervision and

without permission to record the infor-
mation.

The 2016 LSU annual budget —
which The Voice requested to examine
back in January — appeared in order.

However, the delay in granting The
Voice’s request violates the LSU’s own
bylaws, which state that members (stu-
dents) only have to provide the union
with 48 business hours notice to view
the budget.

After its original request in January,
The Voice repeated its requests in Feb-
ruary and early March. The Voice was
permitted to see meeting minutes in
February but was told its budget re-
quest would need to go through the
union’s board for approval.

On Tuesday, when The Voice editors
went to LSU offices to check in again,
the union said it had sent an email just
the day before with permission to see
the budget. However, staff said The
Voice supplied the wrong address.

The Voice was finally granted an
hour to look at the budget, under su-
pervision of LSU staff. LSU prohibits
members to record, reproduce or take
notes while reviewing any of its docu-
ments. British Columbia’s Society Act,
which regulates student organizations
and governments, states documents
and accounting records of a society
must be open to the inspection of all
members on reasonable notice to the
society.

Jenelle Davies, the secretary trea-
surer for the Canadian Federation of
Students’ B.C. branch, said she’s never
heard of a union delaying for this long.

“Certainly that’s troubling,” Davies
said. “It’s student money that’s going
into the organization that’s meant to
provide advocacy and services back to
those students. Often [these issues]
happen because people think they can
get away with it.”

During its half hour perusal of the
budget, which includes actual 2015
spending and the projected 2016 bud-
get, The Voice noticed a near 30 per
cent planned increase in total council-
lor budgeted expenses for 2016 com-
pared to actual expenditures from the
year prior — from roughly $70,000 to
$90,000.

According to the staff member pres-
ent during The Voice’s review, who
wouldn’t provide her name, the in-
crease was owed to more councillors
elected to the union compared to last
year. Only four councillors worked for
the second half of last year, she said,
but this year there are 19. The 2016 pro-
jected amount is “standard” for a full
council, she said.

Stipends, meals and promotional
items for councillors were also project-
ed to be about 30 per cent more. Travel
expenses were also forecast to increase
by minimal amount. Expenses for ori-
entation were expected to climb by
about $9,000.

The LSU budget must be approved
by students who show up to the Annual
General Meeting — which the union
chooses to hold mid summer. Minutes
from several LSU meetings are also be-
ing kept from students. Meetings from
as far back as September have a unusu-
ally high number of items listed as hav-
ing been discussed in camera — anoth-
er way of saying off the record.

“[Students] ought to feel
empowered enough to request that in-
formation and for that information to
be given to them,” said Davies. “At the
end of the day that’s what the body is
there for, to serve the membership as a
whole.”

JENELLE DAVIES
Secretary treasu-
erer, CFS B.C.

66

Certainly
that’s trou-
bling ...

it’s student
money
that’s
going

into the
organiza-
tion that’s
meant to
provide
advocacy
and ser-
vices back
to those
students

College
appoints
provost

Ian Humphreys selected as
new provost after serving
10 years at Langara

ee ae

Pngi i
'9INg Education Paradigms, London 16.69
CHANGING EDU

NATALIE DUNSMUIR photo
lan Humphreys, Langara’s provost.

BY NATALIE DUNSMUIR

Ian Humphreys is touting a new
title and new responsibilities.

Humphreys was officially appointed
to the role of provost on March 11. How-
ever, he has been acting in that role
since September, when former provost
Brad O’Hara left. Humphreys previ-
ously held the title of vice-president of
enrolment and business development
as well as director of communications
and marketing at the college.

Humphreys said he wants to focus
his attention in the new role, which
oversees the college’s academics and
budget, on reviewing existing academ-
ic programming, among other initia-
tives.

“Looking right now, the things that
might drive us as an institution are the
academic plan and the strategic plan,”
Humphreys said.

Humphreys said he will focus on im-
plementing Langara’s academic plan,
which covers broad areas such as
learning and teaching, student sup-
port, aboriginal initiatives, internation-
al initiatives and environmental, finan-
cial and social sustainability.

“Tm really looking forward to being
more engaged with faculty and being
more engaged with the departments,”
said Humphreys. “And actually finding
out from students, what students want
and need in the institution.”

And it all stems from a passion for
education, he added.

“What I wanted to be able to do was
to actually combine my passion for the
education side of the organization with
all of my other knowledge about how
the organization works,” he said.

Other Langara College administra-
tors are welcoming Humphreys to the
role.

“THumphreys] is the very best per-
son to do the job,” said Marg Heldman,
the dean of science at Langara and a
member of the academic planning com-
mittee. “He will make an excellent pro-
vost.”

Lane Trotter, president and CEO of
Langara, said in a press release that he
is pleased by the appointment of Hum-
phreys. “In both our strategic plan and
academic plan, we have set ambitious
goals for teaching and learning at Lan-
gara. Dr. Humphreys’s academic expe-
rience and deep knowledge of the insti-
tution position him well to lead this
important work,” he said.

Julie Longo, dean of arts at Langara,
said in an email that she thinks Hum-
phreys is a good match for the job. “I
have worked with Ian for six years now
and I have learned a lot from him,” she
said. “He is talented, tenacious, intelli-
gent, and student-focused. He has a
great sense of humour, which I really
appreciate.”

A: 10 years at Langara College,