“Way OF THE Sworp” cuuaeuaeaauaeuenuaeaguneuaenaennunenannst? er

The Langara Kendo Club has come a long way since its formation

Langara
security
on alert

Women’s group charges
Safewalk promotes
women needing men

By NICK EAGLAND

ith campus security gaurds
Wie: to respond quickly in

the event of an assault, Langa-
ra students can rest assured their safe-
ty is in good hands, but that doesn’t
mean they shouldn’t prepare for the
worst.

In the wake of recent assaults at
UBC, campus security has become an
important issue and Langara’s Safe-
walk program and blue emergency as-
sistance towers were constructed to
help prevent such attacks.

Langara Safety & Security Manager
Dan Krefting said he estimates Safe-
walk is used a few times per week but
that the nine-month-old towers have
never been used in an emergency.

“We encourage people to get to
where other people are, to call 911 and
to call campus security,” said Krefting,
adding that security’s response time to
a tower call averages two to five min-
utes, depending on which tower is
used.

Barry Eccleton, director of security
at UBC, said they used to average 10 to
15 Safewalks per night but peaked at 90
Safewalks in the midst of the attacks.
And like Langara, their emergency
towers haven’t been used at all in the
past year. Const. Brian Montague of the
Vancouver Police Department said as-
sailants prey on those who are alone or
distracted.

“Being aware of your surroundings
is critical - paying attention to what’s
going on around you and staying off
your cell phone.”

Montague said getting away from
the assailant should be a victim’s prior-
ity in an attack.

“Fight back with everything you
have and be as loud as you can to draw
the attention of others.”

Hilla Kerner of the Vancouver Rape
Relief & Women’s Shelter (WRRWS)
had criticism for Safewalk.

“It’s still promoting the fact that
women need men to protect them from
men,” Kerner said. “Conceptually, ’m
not very fond of this.”

Kerner urged women to call 911 if
they feel threatened but also to contact
the VRRWS, where they have access to
a safe house, counseling and strategic
advice from other women.

“The grouping of women together is
a very effective strategy to keep wom-
en safe,” she said.

&

TAMMY ENGLISH photo

A capoeira demonstration in A building was just one element of International Education week

Diversity displayed

Langara shows its cultural side this week with
demonstrations from around the globe

7 ®

at=)
BRAD VAN DAM
International stu-

dent coordinator

66

For Lan-
gara, we
want to
celebrate
not just
our own
interna-
tional
students

By TAMMY ENGLISH

early 10 per cent of Langara stu-
dents call a country other than
Canada home.

This week the value of cul-
tural exchange is being celebrated as
part of International Education Week,
and over 100 countries are marking the
event from Nov. 18 to 22.

“For Langara, we want to celebrate
not just our own international students .
.. but also local students who have gone
abroad and studied elsewhere,” said
Brad Van Dam, an international student
coordinator.

Langara’s participation in previous
years has been fairly low-key, but this
year the college is taking a campus-
wide approach, with events showcasing
international education, performance,
and film, said Sean Padley, chair of the
IEW planning committee.

Today, Langara will use the A build-
ing lobby to showcase over 20 cultural
and educational groups between 11 a.m
and 2 p.m.

“This is a great venue to peruse a lot
of programs that [otherwise] you might

not know about,” said Padley.

Gothic field studies, for example, is a
month-long university-transfer course
conducted primarily in the U.K. Instruc-
tor Karen Budra, who developed the
course, said integrating travel with
course work allows her to emphasize
the importance of atmosphere and con-
text to understanding Gothic literature.

Anne-Marie Dussault, program coor-
dinator for languages and culture, said
that in her experience, many people
dream of speaking a second language
but are discouraged by the difficulty.

“Just to learn to say ‘hello,’ ‘goodbye,’
‘how are you,’ is very satisfying. And
gives a window on the culture,” said
Dussault.

Earlier in the week, small but enthu-
siastic audiences enjoyed music and
martial arts performances — kendo and
capoeira — from groups representative
of Langara communities

If you’re looking for a lunchtime
break, the library is screening interna-
tional films in the lounge near their
front desk. Monsoon Wedding plays to-
day and The Motorcycle Diaries finishes
out the week on Friday.

Students
0 abroad

Langara delegates flew

to China to liaise with
educators teaching across
the Pacific Ocean

By VANESSA SZPURKO

international education program

with Chinese institutions this
month, and there might soon be more
opportunities for Canadian students
to study abroad.

Members of the Association of Ca-
nadian Community Colleges travelled
to China on Nov. 2 with a delegation of
multiple representatives from vari-
ous institutions, including Langara.

Former Langara president Roy
Daykin along with dean of interna-
tional education Ajay Patel attended
a joint conference between the ACCC
and the China Education Association
for International Exchange.

“It was quite a multi-layered mis-
sion,” said Patel.

One purpose was promoting an
ACCC program that Langara has
been participating in for four years, in
which presidents and vice-presidents
from Chinese post-secondary institu-
tions connect with their Canadian
counterparts.

“The Chinese
have asked us to
help them develop
their [post-sec-
ondary education]
leaders into more a
entrepreneurial <> |
leaders that re-
spond to their
communities and
focus on student
needs,” said ACCC
vice-president of
international part-
nerships Paul Brennan.

The Chinese delegates job-shadow
Canadian college presidents and vice-
presidents and discuss the differenc-
es between Canadian and Chinese in-
stitutions.

“The president attended a recruit-
ment that we do at a school in the out-
skirts of Beijing. He was able to meet
with their executive director for the
first time,” said Patel.

“We try and work with our part-
ners so that we have more of an inti-
mate relationship as that student
comes here, and help them transi-
tion.”

Patel thinks international students
are drawn to Langara for multiple
reasons: the city of Vancouver, the
South Vancouver neighbourhood, the
variety of successful academic pro-
grams and the Langara community,
including students and faculty.

“T certainly personally do hope
that’s something we look at in the fu-
ture because we do have good part-
ners in China,” said Patel.

Line: continued to develop its

AJAY PATEL
Dean of interna-
tional education