LEONARD NIMOY'S LEGACY LIVES ONesessssncncnenencnnnesnnwnnld Members of Langara’s literary community reflect on the lasting impact of science fiction KELVIN GAWLEY photo Luke Wallace sings folk songs about environmental issues and wrote the soundtrack to his new documentary. One artist hopes to inspire new environmentalists in B.C. By KELVIN GAWLEY folk musician and documentary filmmaker is using his art as a tool in the environmental move- ent, and is coming to Langara College on March 12 to screen his docu- mentary, One Big Coast. Last summer, Luke Wallace traveled to Kitimat, B.C. to film scenery and in- terview locals about resistance to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project. Wallace hopes that his work will in- spire more people to be active environ- mentalists. Wallace said he decided to make the film during his geography degree at UBC, where he learned about the soci- etal shifts needed to stop climate change. “We sit around in university every day and don’t do anything about it,” he said. “I got extremely tired of that.” He said he has been approached af- ter screenings of his film by people in- spired to join protests against Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project on Burnaby Mountain, the En- bridge Northern Gateway Project and TransCanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline. Wallace sees successful resistance as watershed moments that will stop future project proposals. He’s correct in believing that music and art can affect real change, accord- ing to Andrea Smith, history instructor at Langara who also sings and plays folk songs as a hobby. In Canada, the union movement, women’s movement, and Quebec sepa- ratists have all successfully used music as a recruitment tool, Smith said. “The effect that a simple song can have on the world is real and tangible,” she said. Kalle Lasn, co-founder and editor-in- chief at Adbusters—a magazine that has championed leftist politics since 1989—said artists like Wallace are vital to political movements. Lasn said his magazine moved away from straightforward factual reporting and toward more artistic and subjec- tive ways of spreading their message after 20 years of publishing. “The real battleground is aesthet- ics,” he said. ANDREA SMITH Langara history instructor 66 The effect thata simple song can have on the world is real and tangible Your mental health site LSU provides more tools to help students with stress and psychological issues By DUSTIN GODFREY need to worry about news that the federal government will now tax mental health assessments, thanks to an addition to students’ benefits through the Langara Students’ Union. In 2018, the federal budget outlined the change, but until a recent consulta- tion by the Canada Revenue Agency, it was unclear whether the tax included mental health assessments. Ina press release earlier this month, the Canadian Psychological Associa- tion lamented the government’s move as being a barrier for Canadians seek- ing psychological care. “TAssessments] lead to treatment recommendations and ultimately to treatment,” CPA chief executive offi- cer Dr. Karen Cohen said. “An assess- ment of a health condition always has a health purpose.” This is one reason that, in 2014, the LSU added my Wellness to the roster of health services offered through the union’s insurance provider. MyWell- ness is a mental health program stu- dents can access online that includes an anonymous mental health assess- ment. In a written statement, LSU spokes- person Benjamin Friesen said that the new benefit is unique from what is al- ready offered through the counselling department. “We think the on-campus college departments delivering mental health services do a good job,” Friesen said. “We look forward to continued col- laboration with the college to promote mental health and wellness.” Li": College students won’t Household without tenants’ insurance hit by fire A group of 11 students and artists in Marpole lost everything in the blaze By JOCELYN ASPA in Marpole, destroying everything inside and leaving 11 people home- less, has left one of the residents ques- tioning the process of getting tenants’ insurance. An online crowd-funding campaign has been set up to help the victims get back on their feet. The housemates did not have tenants’ insurance. Sean Harten, one of the tenants since Sept. 2014, said that since none of them are related they would have had to pay a premium for insurance. “When you're in a situation like this [with roommates], tenants’ insurance isn’t easy to get,” he said. T: recent house fire that broke out i) Leonard Sharman, senior advisor in media relations at The Co-operators Group Limited, ac- knowledged _ that r4 4 one reason young renters typically ’ _ don’t buy insur- It Sp rob ance is because ably a they think it’s too good idea expensive. “I find [their de. to have fan cision is] often insurance based on a false as- . sumption about plan] in overall cost,” said - Sharman. “If you case any ask them to add up thing bad what it would cost happens to replace every- thing they own, TENZIN they'll come to re- YANGCHAN alize their stuff is valuable and worth STUDENT protecting.” Harten, who produces music, said he kept his equipment at home because renting a studio would be too costly. He said he lost about $14,000 in equipment. Sharman said renters should be pro- active and learn about getting insur- ance because it’s not as difficult as it seems. “The more that can be done to get young people to understand the value of insurance, the better,” he said. “It can save you from financial devasta- tion.” Many Langara College students live at home, but not everyone who is rent- ing has tenants’ insurance. Tenzin Yangchen, a first year nursing student, said she’d consider it. “It’s probably a good idea to have [an insurance plan] in case anything bad happens,” she said. JOCELYN ASPA photo J’nette Barnes and Sean Harten, two of the 11 victims in the Marpole fire that occurred on Feb. 24, 2015.