ampus hews EDITOR KEVIN UNDERHILL THE VOICE, THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2016 3 Strategy to seek more enrolment Langara College’s plan is to boost independent rev- enue by 15 per cent by 2020 By ASHLEY SINGH more financially independent and international and continuing studies students are the ticket. The college plans to increase enrol- ment for both categories of students in a bid to raise the money it generates inde- pendent of the provincial government. The goal is to increase total revenue generated independently by 15 per cent to comprise 75 per cent of all revenue, according to the Langara 2020 Strategic Plan. The revenue will allow the college to cover expenses not accounted for by the province, experts say. The Langara 2020 Strategic Plan was released in January and outlines goals for the college over the next four years. Viktor Sokha, vice-president of ad- ministration and finance, said the col- lege decided that increasing enrolment — rather than tuition for students — was the best way of achieving that goal. The administration wouldn’t elabo- rate on how much enrolment would in- crease, how much revenue would be gained by the increase or where the rev- enue would be directed. But according to administrative docu- ments, international student enrolment has increased by roughly 400 students since last year — currently comprising 15 per cent of regular students. The prospect of more students isn’t exactly desirable, said Aldo Torres, an accounting student from Mexico. “T can see how it’s getting worse and worse because there are more students,” he said. “I can’t even find a desk to study at the library.” Aidan Vining, an SFU professor of business and public policy, said when schools decide to increase independent revenue it usually means they want to spend the money without government oversight. “They want money where they don’t have to answer to anyone. Nearly all or- ganizations want more autonomy, whether for good or bad,” Vining said. He added the province will reduce the total amount given to the college to ac- commodate the increase in independent revenue. Le College is trying to become Nursing in remote Canada Langara nursing grads seize the chance and move north for work By JAKE WRAY itchell Vong and Angela Chan moved to the remote town of Hay River, N.W.T. and are now earning 50 per cent more than if they had landed jobs as nurses in Vancouver. The two Langara College nursing graduates — who are also a couple — spoke about the relocation to current students at a talk late last month, which focused on securing job oppor- tunities after graduation. Relocating to another province may be worthwhile to combat student debt and receive a more varied learn- ing experience, they said. They’re nurses at the hospital in Hay River, where they do everything from ma- ternity nursing to palliative care. And living in a small, rural town has its benefits, too. “Angela and I both got involved in the hockey community, which really helped us with meeting people. And hockey is huge here,” Vong said. At the talk, both students spoke about the uncertainties of gaining employment after graduating from the program. “We fired off emails to everywhere Langara nursing grads, Mitchell Vong and Angela Chan were eager for any opportu- nity once leav- ing school. They never thought they’d get jobs working in the remote town of Hay River, N.W.T. The total population of Hay River is 3,600. CONTRIBUTED photo across Canada,” Vong said during his presentation. “We didn’t even think of the Northwest Territories at the time.” But there are a few drawbacks to moving up north as well. Temperatures can dip below —40 C, he said, and it was difficult to leave his family and friends. His mom also had trouble letting him go. “She was not happy. She’s come around — I know she’s proud of me, but I guess it’s just a mother hen thing,” said Vong. Vong and Chan happened to be in town, which spurred the idea for the presentation, according to Sharon Ron- aldson, a nursing instructor at Langara. “I thought I'd seize the opportunity and say ‘hey let’s, y'know, come and share your experience,” she said, adding that the presentation was a perfect fit for the new global health course. 66 We fired off emails to every- where across Canada. MITCHELL VONG LANGARA GRAD Science ROAD to national science fair VANCOUVER FAIR March 4 - Langara College GREATER VANCOUVER FAIR April 7 to 9- UBC CANADA-WIDE FAIR May 18 to 20 - Montréal Source: http://www.gvrsf.ca/ ALISON PUDSEY photo Eric Miranda (above) and Waich- ing Won (right) show off their projects at the Vancouver District Science Fair at Langara College. rules! 200 teens descend on Lan- gara College for Vancouver District Science fair By ALISON PUDSEY School student Eric Miranda stood proudly in front of his popular project which showcased the carbon footprint of the Vancouver Canucks. His project, which showcased that the team emits roughly 130,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide every season, was one of over 120 on display at Langa- ra last week as part of the Vancouver District Science Fair. The top 85 projects will proceed to the Greater Vancouver Regional Science Fair held at UBC in GC 7 Tecumseh Elementary April. “T think it’s awesome. It’s so neat to see all these kids presenting, being re- warded for their interest in science,” said Miranda’s father, David. The proj- ects featured a diverse range of topics including an analysis of McDonald’s marketing, the unknown side-effects of Coca-Cola and the eye-catching display about the Vancouver Canucks. Coordinator of the event from Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School, Jeanne Yu, said the fair is geared to validate students’ efforts on projects they’ve been working on for months. “They get to collaborate with others, look at other people’s projects and inter- mingle with professionals and Langara professors. It’s an organized chaos but at the end of the day the students have a lot of fun,” said Yu. Gerda Krause, division chair of math and sciences at Langara, which hosts the event, said the biggest benefit of the fair is encouraging students to pursue sciences in future education and as a ca- reer. “Our five departments agreed to host this four years ago as a project to pro- mote science,” said Krause. She added that students get to experi- ence hands-on learning, rather than just reading or being told about science in the classroom. “People get ideas about science and math that it’s too hard, it’s not any fun, when the opposite is quite true,” she said. & CHEMICOKE A