ampus news EDITOR JENNIFER THUNCHER. THE VOICE, THURSDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2012 3 Business Students have new options University of Northern B.C.’s master’s degree in business administration to be offered at Langara By ANGELA HOLUBOWICH able to apply for a masters pro- gram in business administration at Langara. The college signed a deal with the University of Northern British Colum- bia that will see the program offered in the fall of 2013. The new program has many stu- dents reconsidering their futures. With tuition costs in mind, Matthew Kwok, a fourth year student in busi- ness administration, is really looking forward to applying. “UBC and Simon Fraser tend to be very expensive and sometimes unaf- fordable,” he said, adding that the pro- gram is “especially [good] for those on a lower budget.” The partnership “extends one of Langara’s strategic priorities - to pro- vide opportunities for learners, said Langara’s vice-president Bradley O’Hara. The “high quality graduate program on our campus does much to support working professionals in the Lower Mainland,” he said. “We’re excited and honoured to serve as the Vancouver venue for UNBC’s MBA program.” Students are equally enthusiastic. “This is really great to get Langara’s name out. Even though we are gradu- ating from a degree program here, we are not as well recognized,” Kwok said. Although not every business stu- dent is interested in applying, the part- nership with UNBC has been received as a step in the right direction. “It was definitely not something I considered, continuing education after graduation, but knowing there is a partnership in place with UNBC for business students to continue their education and to get their masters here at Langara is a great thing,” said Justin Lai, a recent business graduate of Langara. F: the first time students will be Closure elusive for grieving loved ones — counsellor Continued from page 1 “When you lose someone very quickly you never have a chance to make amends,” said Obedkoff. Counselling is very little about ad- vice and more a process of listening and witnessing a person’s story — it provides emotional support and allows people a safe, confidential environ- ment for people to work through grief, Obedkoff said. Often the people in your life aren’t always great listeners and although they care, counselling allows a person extra support and empathy, she said. The Langara counselling depart- ment is open for appointments between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until 3:30 p.m. Friday. The department also has daily drop- ins between 11a.m. and 2:30 p.m. BStreet gives punch Police-sponsored event at Langara helps ready women for the day they hope will never come By MARIE-ANDREE DEL CID e Vancouver Police Department and a number of non-profit agen- cies are hosting the second an- nual BStreetSmart Women’s Safety Fair at Langara on Feb. 8. The purpose of this event is to raise awareness and provide women with in- formation if they find themselves in a violent situation. The fair will feature information booths and community discussions from experts in support services and personal safety, as well as a safety demonstration — for women only — by VPD tactical training specialists. “Tt’s a demonstration with some in- teraction that’s going to talk about things that anybody can do no matter your size, your strength and your abili- ty. “Things that you can do to get out of a worst case scenario to get away and get help,” said Sgt. Richard Rabino- vitch, who is one of the organizers of the event. “Tt was originally my idea, just kinda falling on the heels of several incidents in the city of Vancouver,” he said. Lori O’Connell, owner and head in- structor at Pacific Wave Jiu-Jitsu in Richmond said effective overall self- defense is Key. “It’s really important not just to learn a bunch of physical techniques MARIE-ANDREE DEL CID photo Lori O’Connell, owner and head instructor at Pacific Wave Jiu-Jitsu, practices self-defence with one of her assistants. O’Connell says training and body awareness are important for women. that you could use if you get attacked, but to learn things and skills like awareness, de-escalation tactics, learn- ing to set boundaries and things that will keep you out of trouble in the first place,” she said. In O’Connell’s two-hour self-defence classes, she focuses the first hour on teaching awareness skills, such as learning how to carry oneself in order to be less likely chosen as a victim. The second hour she devotes to learning how to use force if you have to. O’Connell said having “latent abili- ties” helps women know they have the option of being physical if they need to. A first year Langara business stu- dent, Shaomin Li, agrees that women should take self-defence classes. “Of course, yes, it helps us to protect ourselves,” said Li. Sgt. Rabinovitch said while the safe- ty class is women-only, the rest of the fair is open to everyone. “T would encourage a lot of men to get involved and take part in this be- cause we have just as much of a role to keep women safe as women do.” The Information booths and commu- nity discussions will be located at the main lobby in Building A and will run from 12-2:00 p.m. The women-only safety demonstra- tion will run from 2-4:30 p.m. in Build- ing G. 9 TIPS for women SELF-DEFENCE TRUST YOUR GUT That nagging feeling is a vital first line of defence, and it's with you all the time. Listen to it. FIGHT BACK Use forceful physical and verbal attacks. Kick, bite, yell and scream. Studies show this works. USE YOUR CORE If you are going to be physical, give it all you got. Put the weight of your core behind each move. BE QUICK Every second counts. If your gut says fight then don't waste valuable time second- guessing it. Move. THINK IN THREES Make every move three times. Scream three times, hit three times, punch three times. This keeps you focused and effective. Source: http://huff.to/TLtmRM Study time hard for dad Father and student says having his son in Langara daycare has been a great help for the whole family By BRENNA BROOKS but for students who are parents adding a young child to the equa- tion can further distort the line be- tween personal and classroom respon- sibilities. For Michael Edmonson, a 32-year-old arts student, the Langara daycare makes that line a little clearer. “Balance is the hardest thing to sort out because you owe [your kids] your time and attention,” said Edmonson. “But at the same time you're going to school and you owe your time and at- tention to that as well.” He said that he has to prioritize his assignments because sometimes there just isn’t enough time to complete ev- erything and sacrifices have to be made in order to establish an effective schedule. Edmonson and his wife have a two- and-a-half-year-old son named Henry, who attends the daycare, and he said- that things would be much harder without it. According to Edmonson it was diffi- cult to get Henry enrolled. The daycare has a waitlist with priority given to the children of Langara students and staff, children with support needs and sib- lings of children already in the daycare. Children entering the daycare as a tod- dler must be a minimum of 18 months old, which for most, is past the length of their parental leave. Even though they applied soon after they were expecting, they faced an ad- ditional six month wait because there were only 12 spots available, which they say was a great inconvenience that required additional time they couldn’t afford to waste. The daycare is well respected and not cheap. The fee for a child Henry’s age is $975 per month while for a child aged three and up the cost is $675 per month. There are two subsidies avail- able for families who cannot afford the fees. Even though having a child in day- care doesn’t create a perfect balance, the confidence of knowing that they are in capable hands does create some peace of mind. “It’s weird to leave [him] at the day- care because you have this baby and it’s this soft and squishy, precious thing that you don’t really want to leave with anybody, but when he’s in daycare he’s fine, and I know he’s fine,” said Edmon- son, “ We couldn’t be happier with who Henry spends his days with.” Pests balance as a student is hard, Brenna Brooks photo Langara dad Michael Edmonson balances parenting and studies.