ews & features rorrnsrsessewnre THE VOICE, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2011 7 Engineering kids’ futures Science World gets a new, permanent engineering lab for children By RUMAN KANG ids laugh and squeal as they chase coloured scarves around the room. Other children tinker with vaccuum cleaners under the watchful eye of a Dyson engineer. As of today, Science World is now home to their first ever Engineering lab thanks to the James Dyson Founda- tion. The lab opening on Dec. 3 will be free to the public as a part of a Dyson-spon- sored admission day. The new lab will be a permanent fix- ture in Science World and features a two- story tall tangle of tubes and valves that al- lows kids to ex- periment with airflow. Brightly co- engineering. RUMAN KANG Kids got a sneak peak at Science World’s new engineering lab on Thursday. The lab is sponsored by the James Dyson Foundation and focuses on inspiring children to learn about da z loured scarves ’ j are sucked into na the tube — laby- ROB GREEN rinth, where kids Lead engineer can turn and di- with Dyson rect the valves to change the route r4 4 that their scarves take before they We want rocket out of the ° ° tubes at the top. to inspire “| liked when the next you can make the ° scarves go to dif- gen eration ferent areas in to consider _ the tubes. . _ My favorite en gineer part is trying to Ing... catch the scarves afterward,” said Malika, 10. “My _ favorite part was when ~ VM antustdnatg! ig \ \ ey i A 1, the purple scarf went all the way from one side to the other. It was so cool,” added Stella, 7. The engineering lab also includes an interactive classroom where children will learn about velocity, gravity, and other important engineering princi- ples. “It’s really about engineering and education. We want to inspire the next generation to consider engineering,” said Rob Green, lead engineer with Dy- son. During the launch of the interactive classroom children got first hand expe- rience taking apart and putting togeth- er all the pieces in a Dyson vacuum. “Tlike getting to see what was inside the vacuum, there are so many pieces and we get to use a screwdriver,” said Connor, 7. The James Dyson foundation oper- ates around the globe with the hope of inspiring and nurturing design engi- neers of the future. “The foundation’s main goal is to promote engineering and education and we work with really young chil- dren all the way up to university level students with competitions, scholar- ships, and grants,” said Green. The partnership with the James Dy- son Foundation began three years ago Cyclists Should be Insured: poll A new Ipsos Reid poll says that motorists won’t give cyclists respect until they start obeying road rules By MORNA CASSIDY ore drivers think cyclists M should be insured and carry an equal burden when it comes to respecting the rules of the road rules. According to a poll release by Ipsos Reid, four out of five Canadians say cy- clists need to respect the rules before drivers will respect cyclists. Cyclists, and advocacy groups, how- ever are of two mindsets about the pos- sibility of cyclist insurance. “We would like to see insurance available to cyclists,” said Erin O’Mellinn of the Vancouver Area Cy- cling Coalition, “but it should be uni- versally accessible.” “From all of our research and con- versations with ICBC, regulation like that is very costly to implement, it’s more costly than it benefits people.” If cyclers insurance were to be im- plemented by the province some of the more typical requirements for other forms of insurance, such as vehicle or property ownership or minimum age restrictions would have to be reconsid- ered said O’Mellinn. “A change in regulations would have to mean insurance is accessible to cy- clists but not mandatory,” she said. “This is the only way to ensure that cy- cling will still allow people of all ages and incomes to be able to get places in when Science World installed energy efficient Dyson hand dryers in their washrooms. “Most hand dryers are really lame and we found one that actually worked and it said Dyson. We contacted them and asked them if we could tell their story,” said Bryan Tisdall, President and CEO of Science World. “One thing led to another we got ex- cited, they got more excited and now we have this wonderful exhibit.” SCIENCE World info installation grand opening and free admission Dec. 3 Science World opening hours: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Mon- day - Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Weekends and Holidays an active and healthy way.” While the VACC can appreciate the 66 broader __ picture If [cyclists] benefits ofinsuring yew they cyclists, every day riders are less con. May have vinced and express {9 paya concern over the . added expense. deductible “I ride my bike for hitting because it doesn’t cost me anything. my car, My bike itself was maybe only $200 if it gets destroyed or stolen they would lll replace it for a thing twice Canadians not afraid of crime, but Vancouverites are: StatsCan adians are not afraid of crime. The study, released Thursday, shows The study was conducted in 2009 British Columbians and specifically “We do have an issue with organized Statistics By RUMAN KANG Canada new study released by Statistics study [eisc: yesterday shows that Ca- shows that residents of that 93 per cent of Canadians are satis- . fied with their personal safety from the rainy crime. city are Fi i n and surveyed participants over the age among of 15 in all ten provinces. the most those surveyed in Vancouver were the scared, least satisfied coming in four per cent but not the short of the national average at 89 per most cent. violent crime in B.C. that some other areas of Canada don’t have to deal with,” said Catherine Huth, criminal justice in- structor. While violent crime rates in Vancou- ver are higher than the national aver- age by nearly 18 per cent Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg were all between twice and three times as violent ac- cording to another StatsCan survey. “Especially in Vancouver it is really public if there is an incident involving organized crime it definitely makes the news,” said Huth. With a satisfaction rating of 89 per cent a majority of Vancouverites have little concerns about their safety. “T feel pretty good, living in the city I know what to look out for and I feel pretty safe,” said Dave Daniels, engi- neering student. “Vancouver is pretty safe, every city has its darks spots and those are place that you avoid,” said Nisha Fauzi, po- litical science and economics student. Despite the fact that a strong major- ity of Canadians are satisfied with their safety and crime rates are falling the federal government is trying to pass Bill C-10 calling for mandatory mini- mum penalties and longer jail terms. “It’s going to cost billions of dollars in terms of building new prisons, hav- ing more people go through the court system, and more police time so why are we spending all this money if it ap- pears at least in this survey that people are not overly concerned about crime,” said Huth. similar amount,” said Bethany Hunt- er a student at Lan- gara College. For cycling advocate and life-long cycle-commuter Emily Willobee, part of the problem is that the few cyclists who break the law make the rest of those on two wheels look bad. “When a cyclist runs a red light, it’s usually in front of a lineup of people waiting in their cars, so there’s a per- ception that more cyclists are breaking the law then actually are.” Drivers, however, maintain strong agreement with the proposition result- ing from the poll. “T think it would make cyclists more conscientious when running red lights and stuff, if they knew they may have to pay a deductible for hitting my car, maybe they would think twice,” said Matt Kilburn, a landscape architect who uses his car for daily commuting. Every year in Vancouver there is 1,300 crashes involving cyclists, small compared to the 200,000 vehicle acci- dents that occur annually. The Insur- ance Corporation of British Columbia currently only offers insurance to driv- ers of motor assisted cycles. MATT KILBURN