2 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER EDITOR BEN BULMER Cws Smash & grab on the rise South Vancouver and Oakridge to see holiday theft increase: police By GAVIN FISHER Oakridge Centre shopping mall last week, stealing items from cars after smashing their windows. Const. Brian Montague, a spokes- man for the Vancouver Police Depart- ment, said three smash-and-grab inci- dents were reported at Oakridge Centre on Nov. 12. According to a VPD crime map, at least four incidents of theft from cars occurred near Cambie and 41st Ave between Nov. 6 and Nov. 12. Jeremy Sally, communications offi- cer for the Kerrisdale Oakridge Mar- pole community policing centre, said there may have been more thefts than were reported and that these incidents become more common as the holiday season nears. Sally said these thefts will likely oc- cur in the mid- to late-afternoon. “If there’s day- light it makes it a little bit easier for [thieves] to peer in.” Some shoppers were surprised to hear about these smash-and-grab Tes struck the parking lot of JEREMY SALLY incidents. Communications “During the day- y officer KOMCPC time T don’t feel like my car is in any sort of danger from this area,” said Vivek Sahay, an engineering student at UBC. “T just make sure there’s nothing valuable visible from the windows, and lock the car and put the alarm on. If I have anything valuable I put it in the trunk, which is locked.” Sally said these types of thefts are “entirely preventable.” “A lot of people just leave their pos- sessions in the vehicle .. . this makes it an easy target for thieves. “Tt only takes seconds for a thief to shatter a window, grab the good, and run,” Sally said. “If people would keep their cars free of valuables it would go a very long way to thwarting these criminals.” Susan Nicol, general manager of Oakridge Centre, said in an email statement that she is unable to com- ment on individual cases as they may still be under investigation, but said the security of patrons is taken seri- ously. Langara instructor is NDP president By BEN BULMER Langara poli-sci instructor has Piven: the new BC NDP presi- dent. Craig Keating, a North Vancouver councillor, and Langara professor for 22 years, won the race on Nov. 17. “It’s a lot of balls in the air, you’re trying to balance things and still do a good job in every realm, and hopefully so far so good,” he told The Voice in Oc- tober. The five-term NDP councillor told 24 Hourshe hopes to reinvigorate B.C. residents to engage in politics and en- sure the ruling Liberals are held to ac- count. He also said that the party lead- ership vote would be announced soon. tll photo courtesy of ERICA CARTER Jessica Radonich-Scanlan legacy will live on through her bursary benefiting Langara nursing students Bursary honours nursing student The memorial bursary will help future nurses attend conferences By BILL EVERITT angara College is recognizing nursing student Jessica Radonich- Scanlan with a memorial bursary aimed at helping nursing students attend professional health conferenc- es. Scanlan was in her fourth year of the nursing program at Langara when she suffered a brain aneurysm and died in hospital on Thanksgiving weekend. She would have turned 24 this Satur- day. Scanlan’s family, in conjunction with Langara College and fourth-year nurs- ing students are putting the new bur- sary together. They aim to raise $12,500 from which the interest earned will make up the award. According to Pam Robertson, man- ager of alumni and donor relations at Langara, the amount of the award has not yet been determined. “We try to keep awards over $500 so that it makes a real difference for stu- dents, but it will depend on how much the investment earns,” she said. A friend of Scanlan’s and fellow nursing student, Erica Carter, said the bursary fills a void in scholarships available for nursing students. Nursing conferences can be expen- sive and are often done on a student’s own time, she said. “[This bursary] is about supporting scholarly studies for serious nursing students.” Nursing student Frances Huang re- membered Scanlan as a student highly regarded by classmates. “T think that honouring her with this scholarship will encourage people to follow in her footsteps, to strive to do their best and help others reach their potential,” said Huang in an email to The Voice. According to nursing instructor Deb Filleul, Scanlan was “totally involved in the program and wanted to help oth- ers.” “She was one of the nursing tutors for biology,” she said. “Not only nurs- ing faculty have been contributing to the fund, but students as well. She was areally popular young woman.” The Scanlan memorial bursary has not yet raised enough funds to be a part of the fall awards ceremony on Nov. 27, but Pam Robertson said “they have reached the halfway point, with more donations coming in all the time.” Donations can be made in-person at the advancement office in room A171a, or online at 66 I think that honour- ing her with this scholar- ship will encourage people to follow in her foot- steps FRANCES HUANG Bookstore focus group discusses ‘branding’ Students discuss various ideas for wider choices By GLEN TRUAX The Langara Bookstore could soon offer more than just textbooks and cof- fee mugs. The bookstore and marketing de- partment invited volunteers to attend a focus group on Nov. 13 to gauge what new products students are looking for. Ideas from the eight students that at- tended included clothing, electronics and even food. “What else can we do to provide ser- vice?” asked Amelia Lau, manager of marketing and merchandising servic- es. Merchandising the Langara “brand” was the focus of the session. Lau sug- gested everything from Langara_ T- shirts, sweaters, mugs, pens, and even blankets could be sold, and she fielded ideas for other branding concepts. Actual book sales - specifically the sale of fiction and non-course related volumes — were briefly discussed, but the bulk of the session focused on Lan- gara merchandise and convenience items. The focus meeting was aimed at meeting students’ needs, above and be- yond simply buying texts, said Lau. The Langara logo itself was dis- cussed, and some participants voiced their support for the Falcon icon, if not the actual college name. “The store should be about books, not souvenirs,” said Emre Ogutcen, a marketing student. A focus of the group was the sale of food. The group was animated on this point, and a strong call was made for Asian snacks such as Pocky and cheap nutritional products. There was some question about the relevance all these items had for a col- lege bookstore. Lau said that “the main focus of the bookstore is still books,” but certain participants were confused by the di- rection of the focus group. ABC's. of branding WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE Creating a unique name and image in the consumers’ minds WHOM DOES IT TARGET Everybody. Through advertising campaigns usually with consistant themes. WHY? It aims to establish a significant difference from rival products, and maintain a relationship to retain loyal customers. Source: BusinessDictionary.com