Research opps Garden projects give students the chance to take classroom learning to the field. P3 ARTS & LIFE in collectives with the ai Creators together Local artists band together finding employment. P4 m of Roll the dice A new support group uses Dungeons and Dragons for counselling. langaravoice.ca PRODUCED BY LANGARA JOURNALISM STUDENTS | WWW.LANGARAVOICE.CA MARCH 31, 2022 « VOL. 55 NO. 7 » VANCOUVER, B.C. Ss. Van Streets all fuel, no fun Council approves $350,000 for traffic-calming infrastructure By KENNETH WONG ith just under three kilo- metres of slow streets, South Vancouver lacks the walkability and transit of the rest of the city. “There's definitely an awareness that we could use more [walking and cycling] inthe south ofthe city.” — ANGIE WEDDELL, TRANSPORTATION DESIGN ENGINEER Angie Weddell, a transporta- tion design engineer for the City of Vancouver, said the city is aware that South Vancouver doesn’t have as much walking and cycling infra- structure as other areas of the city. “There’s definitely an aware- ness that we could use more [walking and cycling] in the south of the city,” Weddell said. Encourag- ing residents to walk, roll cycle, known transportation, is intended to create a more comfortable commuting experience, getting people out of their cars and making it easier to exercise. According to a 2017 study by Canada’s chief public health and officer, a lack of active transpor- | tation is a factor in over-reliance on driving and can lead to a more sedentary lifestyle. Slow streets, introduced in 2020 as a social distancing measure in response to the COVID-19 | pandemic, use plastic barriers to restrict non-local traffic and limit the speeds to 30 kilometres per hour. However, the unweighted barri- as active | ers are easily moved, so city coun- cil approved $350,000 to make the infrastructure permanent. Vancouver has at least 40 kilome- tres of slow streets. Claire Lee, who wrote a master’s thesis on Vancouver’s slow streets program, thinks that active trans- portation will increase once the infrastructure is put in place. “There’s just a lack of infra- structure, like lack of investment,” she said. “That’s the biggest thing, having separated cycle tracks, wider sidewalks, and more access to bicycle parking, secure places to lock your bike. All these things can encour- age more uptake of active transpor- tation.” South Vancouver’s two slow streets — one that runs along 51st Avenue from Inverness Street to Ontario Street, and the other on Inverness Street from 41st Avenue to 51st Avenue — were the least used, according to a 2020 city survey. More popular slow streets included Lakewood Drive in Grandview- Woodland and Wall Street in Hast- ings-Sunrise. More than 70 per cent of those surveyed liked or really liked the slow streets program. Sandy James is the managing director at Walk Metro Vancouver, a non-profit organization promot- ing walkability in the region. James thinks South Vancouver gets over- looked in terms of urban planning. “South Vancouver’s kind of the cradle of civilization. It’s where families are still forming the rest of it in the rest of Vancouver, it’s gotten too expensive. But there’s a lot of families in that area ... there needs to be connections that need to be tied to get into commercial areas.” Weddell thinks slow streets infra- structure is important to the city, providing connections between destinations. “Changing the script in terms of how we talked about moving around neighbourhoods ... And again, kind of pulling that focus towards more sustainable modes of travel.” South Vancou- ver resident Janice |) Edgar thinks the |) city initiative to encour- age active transporta- tion. “We find the walk- ing just delightful,” Edgar said. “We just love it. And 7, we love the fact you can walk up and down the streets.” f Jagtar Singh Manak, a first-year computer science student at Langara, remembers the day he was contacted by a scammer. MARILYN REICHERT PHOTO International students targeted by fraudsters By MARILYN REICHERT bout 10 per cent of inter- national students are targeted by fraudsters, according to a Lang- ara student coordinator. Scammers use phone calls, deceptive emails, and illicit offers of higher pay to work over the legal limit of hours. Abdulla Ahmed, a first- year business manage- ment student, received such a call but has not been defrauded. He warns others to hang up if they are targeted. “They call you on your phone and say they are from Canada service agency, and they sound super legit,” he said. “They say your social insurance number is expiring in five days or 10 days ... ‘If you don't go to one of our agents, you will be arrested by the RCMP and you'll be deported.” Students who fall prey to scams can find themselves paying out large sums of money or compromising their personal information, which could create bad credit or put their student visas at risk. While studying at Vancouver Film School, Virender Singh received a call purportedly from the govern- ment. The caller said Singh was facing serious criminal charges and convinced him to empty his bank account and hand over the money. Singh, now in his first-year in the MARI Langara journalism program, said the scammers used someone who spoke his language to disarm him. “T blindly just trusted the person on the phone because they were Indian, so I felt a natural sense of familiarity,” said Singh, who is not legit.” LYN REICHERT PHOTO involved in the Voice. “I fell into that trap because I was in a new coun- try and I didn’t know how things worked here.” Another common scam involves rental fraudsters who convince student visa holders to send a month’s rent in advance, then block contact after the money is sent. Jagtar Singh Manak, a first-year computer science student, recently received a suspicious email in response to his Facebook ad looking for a place to rent. “IT knew right away it was a scam. They only wanted $750 for a flat to rent in downtown Vancou- ver,” said Manak. “The writer was very convincing, saying he was in England and the flat was empty because his daughter went overseas “They call you on — ABDULLA AHMED, LANGARA STUDENT to study.” Prerna Bedi, an international student coordinator with the Lang- ara global office, estimates one in 10 Langara international students have received threatening calls or decep- tive emails and text messages. The global office, a resource centre for Lang- ara international students, your phone and Say connects with students h fr c d before arrival in Canada. t ey are Irom Lanada “I’ve come across very ‘ few students who have Service agency, and paid. Many of them know they sound super what the scams are and what they must do,” Bedi said. “What I have seen lately is that students are very proactive.” Dupinder Kaur Saran, founder of One Voice Canada, a non- profit advocating for international students, said the threat that causes the most fear is deportation. “We have been able to alleviate some of that fear and teach students to say ‘no’ because they too have rights in Canada,” she said. In another scam, employers offer extra hours under the table to avoid paying taxes. Then they hold back cash salaries and make threats of deportation if they complain. “We teach them to just work 20 hours for the minimum wage,” Saran said. “You're not getting exploited, and you're not going to have a chance of deportation either.”