AMPUS NEWS _ oroessernve ww» THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCT. 20, 2011 3 Jennifer Fong photo ESL student, Cheong Kim, browses MyCampus Store, Langara’s online bookstore that enables students to buy supplies and merchandise Skip lines with web store Langara launched the MyCampus online bookstore in July that sells textbooks and merchandise delivered to your front door MERCH. By JENNIFER FONG store? MyCampus Store, Langara’s online bookstore, allows students Launched in July, MyCampus sells The site also lets students know “Tt’s just another value added for stu- online ired of waiting in line at the book- Hl Black or grey Dubwear Full Zip to shop from the comfort of their own Hoodie $33.99 ME Dubwear Womens home. Basic T-shirt in many colours all of the products Langara Bookstore $11.99- $12.99 does such as textbooks, apparel, and ME Polyfresh Lite gifts. Sports Bottle $5.99 what textbooks they need six weeks be- fore the semester starts. MI Cafe Mug $8.49 ME Skivertex Eco dents,” said Mark Adams, director of = Journal $10.98 ancillary services. If students can’t Apple Usb Cable make the trip to school, they have the White 990023101 : : : an $17.99 option of ordering online and having it Source: MyCampus Store shipped to them. Adams said that the site wasn’t ex- pected to increase overall business for the bookstore, but mentioned that the web store was launched because “it’s what students want.” Other features to the website include free e-books, a medical book database, and the option to order additional books not offered in-store. Items generally arrive at your door one or two days after the order is placed. Pricing is the same as the on campus location, but buyers will need to pay for shipping, which starts at $12 and goes up to $45 for international destinations. Shipping is free for orders over $300. Arts and science student, Isabelle Guimond has mixed feelings about the website. “Books are already so expensive in the first place,” said Guimond. But not having to stand in line for hours would be worth the extra shipping cost, she said. For budget- minded students, MyCampus in- cludes a swap site for used books. This is a free ser- vice that allows buyers and sellers to connect. Text- ISABELL GUIMOND books are linked to Arts and science student their correspond- ing courses so buy- ers can be sure they’re getting the right one. Business student Benjamin Wong said that he would likely use the ser- vice since he isn’t physically at school often. “I think that’s a big way to cut down time.” To order books online visit http:// mycampusstore.langara.be.ca/. LFA gets new deal, same pay Perks, not higher salaries resulted from contract negotiations but teachers hope future bargaining yields wage increases By MORNA CASSIDY Ihe Langara Faculty Association signed an agreement with the provincial government that en- sured students would begin the school year without disruptive job ac- tions from the faculty members, last June. LFA representative, Lynn Carter said the faculty began this school year with a ratified contract. There were “faculty friendly policies negotiatied,” Carter said. The college decided “to increase fac- ulty professional development funds and implement a one week spring break,” she added. The minister of advanced education, Naomi Yamamato said in a press re- lease, “I am very pleased with the agreement that Langara College and all of the parties involved have worked hard to secure.” Students were impacted last year when some classes were cancelled and final grades were withheld as a result of insructors carrying out job action. The faculty were in a legal strike po- sition after months of failed negotia- tions. Discussions for the next contract are set to begin in in the new year as the existing agreement expires Mar. 31, 2012. “Tn the next round, faculty is wanting to see improvements in wages and ben- efits,” Carter said. “We’ve lost ground in the past few years with no improve- ments in wages, and yet the cost of liv- ing has gone up considerably. So cer- tainly in the next round there’s quite a bit of expectation.” Public-sector schools are currently not allowed to pay the faculty any more money because of the B.C. govern- ment’s net-zero collective agreement perimeter. The faculty association intends to address the net-zero perimeter in fu- ture talks. Despite the enduring concern over salaries, the LFA maintains good mo- rale going into future talks. “[m always optimistic when we go into bargaining, that we can conclude a collective agreement,” Carter said. Classroom of the future comes to Langara The first of possibly many high-tech labs, will feature new technology and seating arrangements to enhance group collaboration By RUMAN KANG new $14,000 state-of-the-art Ph eriv-esmin lab will open in uilding C next January. The new lab, which is designed for 20 people to do group work and meet- ings, will include special chairs with storage space, an interactive white- board, a flat-screen TV and a ceiling- mounted projector. It is intended to provide students and teachers with a place where they can work together in groups, said Ian Humphreys, acting associate VP of stu- dent development and marketing at Langara. Its development has been a collective effort among Humphreys, Clayton Munro, dean of student ser- vices and the cooperative education program. “Students will be able to use the room for collaborative meetings, clubs and study groups,” said Humphreys. “They will get the opportunity to ex- periment with the new technologies in here.” The lab will be used as a testing ground for similar rooms that could be created in the future. It will feature a non-traditional classroom layout. The desks and chairs are mobile on wheels for example. And the group leader will be at a central station where he or she can project up to three different images at a time on three different surfaces. There will also be a rack of individu- al white boards that students can work on in small groups. Students can use a wall-mounted camera to take photos of what they’ve drawn on the boards and email them to other students in their group. All the pieces in the lab will be con- nected through the central station but each one can be disconnected from that station and used in other classrooms. Faculty reaction to the lab has been positive. “I think that lab is very excit- ing it’s going to bring us into a new technology era here at Langara,” said Marianne Gianacopoulos, manage- ment instructor. A design of the group- | learning lab opening January in building C, that features new technology. Photo Provided by lan Humphreys, acting associate VP of student development and marketing