AMPUS NEWS — sroesovans THE VOICE, THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018 3 * Bg = THEMATTHEWBLACK photo via Flickr.com Idle No More protesters perform a ritualistic chant at the Vancouver Art Gallery to bring awareness to the impoverished living conditions faced by many First Nations people. Aboriginals face campus obstacles Idle No More shows barriers to First Nations people extend to post-secondary schools By KELC] NICODEMUS irst Nations rights movement Idle No More has been sweeping the country to shed light on impover- ished living conditions that most aboriginals face on reserves, but the is- sues they confront don’t stop there. So- cial and financial problems encoun- tered by First Nations extend to post-secondary institutions like Langa- ra College, according to Shelley Wright, aboriginal studies director and instructor at the school. While the college does have a higher aboriginal population than most other institutions, First Nations populations in post-secondary schools are general- ly very low, she says. “There are a range of socio-econom- ic issues that aboriginal students can bring with them and challenges that most other students don’t face,” says Wright. Wright says that there are many fac- tors contributing to a lower number of students, such as racial discrimination, the damage dealt by the residential school system and the Sixties Scoop, a term describing the period in the 1960s when aboriginal children were taken away from their families and adopted by European-Canadian parents. In the case of Langara, First Nations students have support but also face challenges. Chris Cardinal, an aboriginal studies student, says what helps him as a First Nations student, is having a place to hang out — in this case the recently added aboriginal gathering space. He also says the on-campus elder provides counselling services and good insight. “She is a mentor to a lot of people,” says Cardinal. Not all aspects of the college make aboriginal students feel comfortable though. Chad Girardin, another aboriginal student, says the college is great for ac- commodating aboriginal students, but the Langara Students’ Union is some- thing that needs to be worked on. The LSU is “totally unaccommodat- ing to aboriginal students in general. Period,” says Girardin. Randy Robinson, the LSU aboriginal liaison, was not available for an inter- view in person but said via email that his personal experience at Langara as an aboriginal student is great and Langara is a “forefront for ensuring ab- original success.” What's being done? FIRST NATIONS ACCOMODATIONS First Nations have their own gathering space in the LSU building. AN IDLE NO MORE GROUP Aboriginal students at Langara are organizing their own division of the FN rights movement. Source:Shelley Wright Council vote begins The current education council authorized several changes to program curriculum this year By BEN BULMER ra education council, which has the power to authorize changes in the school’s curriculum content, exam poli- cies and grading criterion among other items, kicks off on Friday. The current council, which meets monthly, has approved several changes to programs throughout this school year, with most adjustments being brought to the publishing program. During the board’s November gath- ering three new web courses were in- troduced into the program while the electronic communications and intermediate new media publishing courses were dropped. The switch in curriculum, which was proposed by the department, was re- quired in order to keep up with the rap- idly changing nature of the business, said publishing program co-ordinator Darren Bernaerdt. “We have to respond to those chang- es and make sure our curriculum is rel- evant,” he said. When queried about the nature of Bees: campaigning for the Langa- the adjustments made, Bernaerdt said that technology was the underlying reason for remodelling the course load. At the heart of the matter are soft- ware changes. Different programs or versions of programs were required to keep up to the current standard and teaching practices had to be changed as a result, Bernaerdt said. Students appear to be pleased with the changes. “T feel like almost everything I’ve learnt is relevant to what I could do after,” said publishing student Jayme Brown when she was told the depart- ment was keeping its updating its cur- riculum. During this school year, changes to course content in the kinesiology de- partment and adjustments in admis- sion requirements to the film and the- atre arts programs were also made. The first department added a new course called selected topics in kinesi- ology while the latter two removed the English requirement for program entry in an effort to attract more inter- national students. Applicants must still pass the language proficiency index _ test, however. The education council is seeking to fill 14 out of the 20 positions on the board, with students taking two. Election apathy prevalent in schools 66 As elections for the education council begin, The Voice examines the causes of low voter turnout By DEANNA CHENG about it. Dean Tsatouhas, a former student representative on the education council, said he learned how the col- lege operates. The council oversees the “high-level decision-making process of what courses and what programs are at Langara,” he said. 3 wo student representative posi- , It’s I tions on the education council are Tsatouhas aappowts ProntZos rate ° : ment. “It is difficult because, at the en obviousl opening up. The week-long nan . y election campaigns start tomorrow and Ff the day, students don’t really care not just students can vote online because it doesn’t directly affect them,” F he said. the acto through their myLangara ac- ; ; . f count between Feb. 8 and 15. _ Tsatouhas said having the vot- voting. It’s However, most undergrads ing process online instead of cast- about don’t vote. ing a ballot in the main foyer was bei Political science instructor a good change, making it easier eng Peter Prontzos said many for students. fourth busi students don’t participate be- eresa Luis a lourti- year busi- prep ared cause they vat Peow ness student who voted in the to vote. about the elections. On the | PETER PRONTZOS last education council elections. PETER PRONTZOS other hand, others don’t get Langara political I feel it is my civil responsibili- involved because they feel the election is not relevant to them. “Tt’s obviously not just the act of vot- ing,” he said. “It’s about being prepared to vote. Knowing something about what you’re voting for.” Students also have a lot on their plates already and tend to opt for the easiest — though not the best — choice, he said. Prontzos adds it is almost an uncon- scious decision to say no and forget science instructor ty as a member of the student body to participate in the elec- tions,” she said. She believes voter apathy at Langara is an awareness issue. There is only an email about the election and then the voting process consists of choosing candidates through a hard-to-find win- dow on the myLangara website, she said. As a result, most people either miss it completely or ignore it, Lu said. The council terms last one year.