AMPUS NEWS — sororsxsno THE VOICE, THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2012 3 Grad show prep is time to reflect Design formation students have been working hard on this year’s grad show By JEREMY SALLY midst the whine of power saws Aj pops of staple guns, students in Langara’s design formation program are painting the walls white, readying their canvas for next month’s grad show. The program merges industrial and interior design and architecture, all of which will be shown off in late April. Tip-toeing over plywood frames, sec- ond year student Laureen Takeshita tapes up window frames in preparation for painting. She completed her associ- ate of arts degree in 2009 at Langara, but found herself attracted to design formation’s dramatic displays. “T passed by these windows every day and I saw all the amazing stuff they made,” laughed Takeshita. “So I’m here.” Now nearing her second graduation, she cannot say enough about the pro- gram. “It’s been absolutely amazing! The stuff you learn here, you cannot learn at any other school.” “This is only one of the two display design courses in Canada,” says Marchel Eang. He’s interested in creat- ing window displays for retail stores. “I was initially interested in fine arts but the career choices in this field are way cooler.” The show is intended for students to show off their individual works to po- tential employers. “Our grad show is going to have a more simple look so we can focus more on our individual portfolios,” says An- drea Diaz. But she also said there will be some subtle, visual treats that students may enjoy. “We’re doing an anamorphic wall by the entrance,” says Diaz. “The logo will shift as the person moves.” Creative use of arrows will also be a major part of the theme for the show. Diaz and her partners aim to incorpo- rate them in their group effort, the ‘wow wall.’ “It’s something that will be a little more showy and it may be a backdrop for pictures and speeches,” said Diaz. But she was mum about what the group had planned. Students have been equally hard at work fundraising for the show. “Lots and lots of bake sales,” sighed Eang. “And chocolate, too. But I think our budget is fine now, though we may have yet one more bake sale in the fu- ture.” Opening night for the show is April 26 at 6 p.m. in the design formation stu- dio, room A101. The show runs until April 29. Latin Week shakes things up Students can learn all about social justice issues in Latin America By ASHLEY VIENS o you eat bananas? Do you drink coffee?” asks Jessie Smith. It’s an illustration of how “we are inti- mately connected to Latin America all the time, even though it seems so far away,” said Smith, program co- ordinator for Lan- cae Ame” assum L . host Latin Week angara is host- organizer ing its first ever Latin America Week from March 26 to April 3 to raise awareness about issues that affect both Canada and Latin America. Smith hopes this week will provide an open educational forum for students and faculty. “If you learn about Latin America, you learn about the world,” said Smith. “It’s a channel that allows you to un- derstand the whole world.” The fair includes a “tour” of the booths and a passport that can be stamped at each table. “If you answer all six questions, you get to fill out an entry for prizes,” said Smith. Organizations such as CoDevelop- ment Canada and Amnesty Interna- tional have booths set up in the main foyer of the college with information on how closely Latin America and Canada are linked. “There have been more protests against Canadian mining companies in Latin America because mining tends to be more controversial,” said Steve Stewart, program director for CoDevel- opment Canada. “These mining corpo- rations are affecting intact indigenous cultures and areas of ecological signifi- cance by contaminating water sourc- es.” Stewart also gave a lecture on Mon- day about Latin America perceptions of Canada and Canadians because of the activities of mining companies. “We at CoDev want to help make stu- dents aware of what’s being done in [Canada’s] name,” said Stewart. University-transfer student Hilary Mcllvride started helping out with Lat- in America Week through the SWAP program. She said she’s learned a lot in the process. “Tm just reading that banana work- ers there are being assassinated,” said Mcllvride. “All they’re asking for is a better quality of life, and they are get- ting murdered because of it.” The fair also includes conversations with Guatemalan and Canadian jour- nalists about their work in Latin Amer- ica, and a screening of the film Return to El Salvador. 66 If you learn about Latin America, you learn about the world JESSIE SMITH Program Co-ordinator Latin American Studies — y ss ASHLEY VIENS photo Alberto Gonzalez and Theresa Szefler show off their moves as part of Latin Week. Gonzalez and Szefler are both instructors at Hot Salsa Dance Zone. SOS sent out to raise money for student awards Annual silent auction aims to raise big bucks to help outstanding Langara students pay for school By CARA MCKENNA to raise $25,000 through online and silent auctions. The Support our Students campaign aims to raise money for student schol- arships and bursaries. The $25,000 goal was set by Shirley Kamerling-Roberts, T: spring, Langara College hopes manager of student assistance pro- grams, and Sue Street, executive direc- tor of college advancement. In past years the auction has raised between $4000 to $7000. “If we have strong employee partici- pation in the auction we shall raise con- siderably more money than in past years,” Kamerling-Roberts said. An online auction is already under- way. “We have about 180 items that are being auctioned off online through our employee intranet,” said Kamerling- Roberts. “Another 30 items will be auc- tioned off at a live employee event.” Items being auctioned off include yoga and photography lessons, gift baskets, jewelry, paintings and tickets to various events. “We currently have items that add up to a total value of almost $20,000,” said Kamerling-Roberts. The SOS campaign also included a tulip sale in March. The SOS live auction will take place in the Employee Lounge at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 4. New this year, the school will match donations to the SOS campaign, and double-match them if the gift is over $100 and up to $20,000. CARA MCKENNA photo Some of the items up for auction to raise money for scholarships. ON THE block Unusual auction items: HE scustom orthotics HM teeth whitening HM scustom graphic design HH social media set-up service Source: Shirley Kamerling-Roberts, Manager of student assistance programs