2 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOV. 19 2015 EDITOR DUSTIN GODFREY tlarge Langara denied one-time tuition hike College asked province for permission to hike fees beyond allowed annual two per cent How can I afford school? SCOTT DRAKE photo With funding cuts from the provincial government, Lan- gara College has struggled to replace funding. By SCOTT DRAKE angara College’s request to raise tuition fees has been denied by the select standing committee on fi- Nance and government services’ Report on the Budget 2016 Consulta- tions. In its submission to the select stand- ing committee on finance and govern- ment services, Langara asked for a one-time tuition hike above the two per cent increase they are legislatively al- lowed and a raise in the per full-time equivalent (FTE) operating grant in or- der to bring them in line with Lower Mainland colleges. According to the written submission, Langara has “the lowest combined tuition and operating grant among BC’s urban institutions.” While Langara’s tuition is $92 per credit, Douglas College charges $98 and Kwantlen Polytechnic University costs students $138.65 per credit. Ian Humphreys, vice-president of strategic planning and business devel- opment, said Langara faces increased costs and decreased funding with no expectation that provincial funding will enable them to keep pace with growth. “We become increasingly dependent on our own revenue generating abili- ties,” Humphreys said. “We do that principally ... through international student tuition ... and as well through our continuing education department.” This model is “fraught with danger because now you are reliant upon sources of revenue that you have little or no control over,” Humphreys said. Carole James, deputy chair of the se- lect standing committee on finance and government services, said she ac- knowledges that additional revenues, such as international tuitions, generat- ed by universities and colleges should be used to “supplement and support” core services, rather than replace them as the prime source of funding. “Core funding is not sufficient—we agree—that’s what we heard in our public consultations, and that’s why we've recommended a multi-year in- vestment plan to the minister of fi- nance,” she said. Michael Lo, candidate for Langara Students’ Union councillor, said in an email statement, that a small tuition increase would maintain Langara’s competiveness while retaining its af- fordability and decrease the burden on international students. “Increasing international students’ tuition will put even more stress upon them,” he said. The committee’s report contains 63 unanimously agreed upon recommen- dations for the minister of finance for the 2016 budget, including an increase to operating grants for all post-second- ary schools in B.C. High rents means low refugee flow Vancouver is set to receive a small portion of B.C.- bound Syrian refugees By XIAO XU around 10 per cent of the 2,700 Syr- ian refugees coming to B.C. be- cause of its high housing costs. That means only about 270 refugees will likely end up settling in this expen- sive city, where rents have reached nearly $1,200 on average in recent months, said Caroline Daily, resettle- ment assistance program manager of Immigrant Services Society of B.C. “Where they will live is mostly based on the affordability of accommoda- tion,” Daily said. Instead, a lot of the refugees will likely move to Surrey, Burnaby and Tri-City area, she said. Nafees Shams, who created an event—Help Vancouver Resettle Syri- an Refugees—on Facebook, was disap- pointed with the low number of refu- gees that Vancouver is predicted to receive. “T's sad that Vancouver can’t host more refugees, especially when there are so many empty condos and hous- es,” Shams said. He said he hopes the community will “step forward” and temporarily accom- modate refugees. Mohammed Alsaleh arrived in Van- couver last November as a govern- ment-assisted Syrian refugee. He said he experienced difficulties finding af- fordable housing as a newcomer after living two weeks in a welcome house. Alsaleh tried to find a place in Van- couver first, but due to the high cost of housing, he ended up living in New Westminster. Alsaleh is now attending the health-care-assistant program at Drake Medox College. According to a 2014 rental market report published by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the average rent of private apartments in Vancou- ver is $1,176 per month. The cost in Burnaby is $1,007, New Westminster $921 and Surrey $856. Vancouver Coun. Andrea Reimer said in an email that 10 per cent is just the “best guess ... because people can chose [sic] which city to live in and it’s hard to know exactly how people will chose [sic].” Yorn may end up taking only “WIA o a lal - | ol ——— ower atte aa: DUSTIN GODFREY photo Acab slows down to let pedestrians leaving and entering the Marine Drive Station cross Cambie Street. Transit users jaywalk to evade danger J-WALK laws HM Vancouver: Jaywalkers can be fined $100 HE Toronto: City law only covers some jaywalking viola- tions, and tickets can be between $50 and $85 HE Montreal: Jaywalk- ing in Montreal will land the offender with a $37 fine Multiple Sources Statistics show fewer incidents at de facto Marine Drive pedestrian crossing than at crosswalk By TESSA VIKANDER tats show that pedestrians who S = across Cambie Street af- ter leaving the Marine Drive Sta- tion could be safer than those who choose the nearest crosswalk. At an unofficial pedestrian crossing, down Cambie from SW Marine Drive, only one traffic incident was reported to ICBC between 2009 and 2013. Con- versely, at the intersection on SW Ma- rine Drive, ICBC reported 445 traffic incidents during that same time span, 150 of which caused injury or death. Marcel Dézel said he and his service dog, Galaxy, jaywalk on Cambie almost every day, after exiting the station. Ac- cording to Dézel, most pedestrians heading west cross a two-way bike lane and two lanes of traffic, often with their sights set on an alleyway across the street, a central pedestrian route. “Most of the drivers understand [it is a popular crossing spot] and let us go,” Dézel said. Still, he noted the potential danger for jaywalking pedestrians at the location. “You never know ... [if] from the oth- er side there’s a car coming but you don’t see them,” Dézel said. Some experts weighed in on why there might be more jaywalking there. Edward LeFlufy, a consultant on with the station’s design, said that sep- arate entities control the layouts of the station and the street, complicating the process. “The initial design may not have an- ticipated what ... users ended up doing on a day to day basis,” he said. “It’s not a science, you use your best judgment.” Darren Proulx, co-founder of urban design firm Slow Streets, said for pe- destrians, “the instinct is to go the shortest distance.” He said the solution could be simpler than the options cities often resort to. “The typical response in this case would be to put up a fence or a barri- cade,” Proulx said. “Why can’t we put up a crosswalk there?” City of Vancouver communications coordinator Jag Sandhu said the city was not aware of the issue. “City staff will conduct a study at this location to determine if further ac- tion is needed to address concerns,” Sandhu said.