AMPUS NEWS _ wroxrvatoore THE VOICE, THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2014 3 — ee” Students and faculty were able to catch a live stream of the Ted Talks in the library and learning commons. LOW TURNOUT FOR TED Despite being streamed for free, little interest given to TED Talks By ALI] CRANE espite TED Talks _ being streamed live at Langara last week, few students attended. TED Talks is an annual con- ference where live speakers come to- gether to talk about innovative ideas and inspiring topics. This year the 30" annual meeting of TED was held in Vancouver with tick- ets being sold at $7,500 and higher. The talks were streamed for free for students and employees in the Langara library. Langara vice-president Brad O’Hara said he was excited to have the college selected to serve as a screening venue, enabling students to view them with- out the high price. “There has been quite a buzz around the city for weeks about TED,” O’Hara said. “I’m happy that we can provide our students, faculty, and staff with op- portunities to participate without cost.” However, the low student turn- out, said Langara criminology — stu- dent Melissa Mala- no, could have been caused by lack of advertising on campus. MELISSA MALANO “There really Criminology isn’t an easy way student to see who is going to be speaking,” Malano said. “I don’t know what the schedule is, and I haven’t seen any posters about it.” Coby Friesen, currently in the Studio 58 program at Langara, said students did not get enough information on what the talks were about and that he was too busy with school to attend. “IT heard about it one time, but then it just slipped my mind,” he said. “I think TED Talks appeals to me, but I’m also so busy in my program.” Lindsay Tripp, a copyright librarian at Langara, attributed the poor turnout to the time of year. “It’s such a busy time for students, everyone is immersed in studying for exams and preparing final papers,” she said. As for lack of advertising, Tripp said TED has restrictions on how widely you can advertise for the live stream and that Langara was confirmed to stream the talks only a few days before the conference started, giving the col- lege little time to spread the word. sal ALISSA CRANE photo 66 I think TED Talks appeals to me, but I’m also so busy in my program Coby Friesen Langara hosts first Pride Fair Langara Health Services organizes event to raise awareness of LGBTQ By DAVID LA RIVIERE first Langara Pride Fair on March 20. The fair was organized by Langara Health Services and nursing students as a way to raise LGBTQ awareness on campus. Twelve different organiza- tions from around Vancouver, such as Qmunity and Vancouver Pride Society, as well as some Langara departments, set up booths to provide students with information on subjects ranging from LGBTQ rights to safe-sex practices. Eva Snyder, Langara’s sexual and gender diversity advisor, hopes that the momentum gained from the success of the fair will continue into the next school year. The fair has already helped Langara’s queer community make themselves known to LQBTQ commit- tees in other colleges. A future meeting between LGBTQ representatives from other college committees in the Lower Mainland is currently in the works. The idea for the fair came from Lan- gara’s community health nurse, Susan Kensett. Kensett works with term-sev- en nursing students who hold health- themed events as part of their commu- nity health practicum. Kensett said she thought about ways to make Langara more LGBTQ friendly for quite some time and since nursing students need- ed to organize a community health event this semester, she figured a pride fair would be a good way to accomplish both. “My hope is to increase awareness among the general Langara populace,” Kensett said. Langara student Tehseen Ahmed, who is a representative of the Rainbow Refugee Committee, said it was pro- grams like Rainbow Refugee that helped him flee Pakistan where homo- sexuality is illegal. P::: flags adorned the halls for the LSU accepted into B.C. student organization The LSU joins seven other members as the largest student organization in B.C.: the Alliance of British Columbia Students ABCS MEMBERS By ASH KELLY positioned to help shape the direc- @ = Alma Mater Society of UBC @ = Graduate Student Society of UBC @ = University of Victoria Students’ Society @ = Capilano Students’ Union @ = University of the Fraser Valley Stu- dent Union Society @ = = Kwantlen Student Association @ = BCIT Student As- sociation @ = TheLangara Students’ Union T: Langara Students’ Union is now tion of B.C.’s largest student organi- zation. Early in March, the LSU was accepted into the Alliance of British Columbia Stu- dents (ABCS), joining seven other post- secondary student groups that collective- ly represent more than 140,000 students, according to the ABCS website. “Ultimately the whole idea is that we believe and the student associations within us believe, that together we’re bet- ter able to advocate on behalf of our stu- dents as a unified voice,” said ABCS chairman Coltm Connolly. The ABCS held its inaugural meeting in November. While they are actively lob- bying on issues, Connolly said they are in the developmental stage and the LSU will play an active role in developing the di- rection of the alliance. The member-driven advocacy group currently focuses on long-term afford- ability and accessibility to education, but also advocates for a range of issues in- cluding campus childcare, facility im- provements, and public transit. Chairman of the LSU students’ issues action committee (SIAC), Ameer Moham- mad, is working with the ABCS to devel- op the organization’s focus. SIAC’s man- date is similar to that of the ABCS: to lobby for affordable and accessible educa- tion. Mohammad said the provincial gov- ernment should take the requests of the ABCS seriously because they represent the voices of many post-secondary stu- dents. “ABCS right now is the only platform that brings so many colleges and univer- sities of this province together to have a common voice ... we [students] are the guiding voice and this is the loudest voice we have in this province,” said Moham- mad. Mohammad also wants to work with the ABCS to develop minimum standards for campus sports and recreation facili- ties to find a better balance between rec- reation, sports and academics. ASH KELLY photo Childcare support for students is one of the many topics the ABCS lobbies for. Ameer Mohammad stands outside Langara’s child care facility.