WAKING SAFE cuunaeaaedaesenneuseeseeseeneeneensenenssadiitestl Langara’s Safe Walk program is available but no one’s using it Ix ™ yer, \A4 NEWSPAPER \ THE YEAR . Y 2015 \ . 2ND PLACE . sl 2016 b Changes coming to LSU Changes meant candidates could campaign online, have more time to lobby By KRISTYN ANTHONY finished their by-election and has elected a new set of student repre- sentatives. The results of the voter turnout had 282 students that went to the polls for the council’s by-election, with only 19 ballots counted as spoiled. For the first time, candidates were given the opportunity to campaign on- line and amendments to electoral dates meant more time for campaigning and Te Langara Students’ Union has voting. r4 4 Fred Schiffner, president of Schiff- ’ ner Consultants We're hop- Inc., conducts elec- ing for tions and referen- dums as an inde- [b etter can- pendent third didates| to _ party. hear us He also served as the LSU’s chief returning officer. “My prime ob- jective is to make sure the election is conducted in a fair and unbiased fashion,” Schiffner said, “Just like the federal and provincial elections, it’s important.” Schiffner also said those elected de- termine what benefits the students re- ceive and voter turn out was disap- pointing, but not entirely unexpected. Devinder Singh, a computer science student at Langara had cast his ballot for the second year in a row. “Voting is a very important job for us because we are electing representa- tives who will help us,” Singh said. “We're hoping for [better candidates] to hear us.” Each candidate was encouraged to provide an approved scrutineer to oversee the count. Sixteen students ran for seven coun- cil positions and two officer roles were filled by acclamation. A lack of interest for the four advisor positions leaves those roles unfilled until the spring election. Diksha Arora, a Langara biology student, was excited to be elected in council for her first term. She said students from outside Can- ada face a variety of challenges from registering courses to navigating tran- sit and having a go-to person who re- lates will be helpful. “The education system in India is very different than here. In India, it’s still books and pencils,” Arora said. “m going to focus on helping people cope with [Langara’s] online systems and registering courses.” DEVINDER SINGH LANGARA STUDENT i) By CHAHIRA MERARS] and SEAN HITREC angara students expressed anger and fear Wednesday at the news that Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. Trump confounded polling experts by winning the presidency on Tuesday night. Hillary Clinton, his opponent, conceded defeat on Wednesday morn- ing. First year general arts student Clar- issa Rempel, was shocked that Ameri- cans elected someone that campaigned on racism and bigotry. “He’s racist, homophobic, he’s every- thing wrong with this world,” Rempel said. “People are aware of that yet they’re still choosing to elect [him]. It’s really sad for everyone who’s a minori- ty watching it and being aware. I can’t even put it into words.” Rempel believes that a Trump presi- dency will validate the worst of human behaviour. “ they were saying ‘now that Don- ald Trump’s elected I can go out and grab girls by the p**** tomorrow’ and that is the thing that people are getting from this.” Second year theatre arts student Caitlin Volkert is worried about what the future will look like under Trump. ‘Tm a little bit terrified,” Volkert said. “It has never occurred to me that I might have to worry about war at home and now I’m legitimately terrified that a civil war could break out in a G8 country.” “With somebody so unable to take criticism, someone who reacts so quickly in charge of quote unquote one of the greatest armies in the world and with us so close to that border and with ora ast TRUMP TEXT “TRUMP’to 88022 Las Vegas, Nevada MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! GAGE SKIDMORE Wikimedia photo Donald Trump fires up his supporters at a Republican primary rally, leading up to the election. Students stupefied Donald Trump’s shocking presidential election victory elicits whirlwind of emotions, questions him being [so unpredictable] I don’t know how it’s going to affect us.” Paul Prosperi, department chair of history, Latin and political science, said it’s too soon to know how the Trump presidency will affect Canadian stu- dents. “We won’t know until we know what his policies are going to be,” Prosperi said, adding that while Canada won’t be directly affected, it will be indirectly with respect to NAFTA and trade deals. “Also, of course, international con- cerns, the use of force, the military,” he said. “There are a whole range of is- sues which could indirectly effect Ca- nadians. But we'll have to wait and see.” Prosperi said the Trump presidency could have impacts on a more local level. “T think British Columbians, myself included, have a right to be concerned about some of the things he mentioned in the campaign with respect to protec- tionism,” Prosperi said. “What we understand to be protec- tionism, so the idea of having tariffs and renegotiating trade deals, so there is the potential that it can reshape Brit- ish Columbia’s economy.” He also said the Lower Mainland could be affected. “In this province we are reliant on the wealth that is generated from re- source extraction,” he said. “Although we might have issues with the nature of this resource extraction, the quality of life here is heavily dependant upon it, for good or for bad. “The Lower Mainland is no different from the rest of the province in that re- spect.” President-elect Trump will be inau- gurated on Jan. 20 2017. VIEWS What’s the best or worst- case scenario with Trump as president? y= JUAN SOTO Langara student “At least [he’s] only [a] man, ..he has limits, so maybe it will be ok. But the first impression is fear and [I’m] a little bit scared about the future.” GAY LAI 3rd year health science “Best case, he doesn’t do any- thing to undo any of the good stuff that’s happened in the past eight years.” International Students’ labour rights often abused Students from abroad of- ten find themselves work- ing more hours for less, to make ends meet By STUART NEATBY national students at Langara Col- lege and elsewhere to illegally, for pay rates below minimum wage. Shila Avissa, who helped coordinate an international student task force at Douglas College back in 2013, thinks high tuition rates drive students into these exploitative conditions. “The main thing that we were asking was to have some kind of oversight on this matter, some kind of regulation of international student fees,” Avissa said. The B.C. government has set a target of 141,000 international students for the 2016/17 school year. Most pay double or triple the tuition rates of domestic students and their work visas per- H::: tuition has driven some inter- mits them to work only 20 hours. One Langara student wanted to remain anony- mous out of fear of deportation. — SHILA AVISSA She said that . Created a student one of her first task force in 2013. job experiences in Canada was at a small restaurant that offered to pay her in cash. Her employer later refused to pay her after her first shift. She thinks this is common with em- ployers who hire students under the table. “If you try to work under the table, they take advantage of you. For a week you have to work relentlessly, and then they just don’t pay you for that,” she said. Some students are working for $4 per hour, $6.45 less than B.C.’s mini- mum wage. A graduate of UBC, who is also a per- manent resident, asked not to be identi- fied to reduce the risk of being fired from his accounting firm. He works with several international students, most of whom hope to gain permanent residence status in Canada. They regularly work 11-hour days, including three hours unpaid. “They need a reference letter to ap- ply for [permament residence status] and, they can get a reference letter from [the] boss,” he said. This letter may make the difference between a student leaving Canada or becoming a resident after graduation.