2 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011 EDITOR ANNE WATSON ews & features Newly elected LSU members have big plans for students Yoga classes, a food bank and reducing water bottle usage are just some of the ideas being put forth by the various council members By LYNDA CHAPPLE Ihe newly elected Langara Stu- dents’ Union council were out for a meet and greet in the lobby of Building A last Thursday. They were there to discuss their new initiatives for the year and what they hope to offer to the student body. The various members each had a ta- ble set up displaying the departments they represent. Carmen Chan, the new internal af- fairs coordinator, was instrumental in arranging the event. “I am trying to bring in some new services and figure out what the stu- dents really want,” said Chan. One service is an internal food bank to assist those students who need an extra helping hand. Ryan Hill, Rabia Mapara and Gunki- rat Randhawa are the three new direc- tors of the LSU. They are coming forward with prac- tical plans for the students but are also putting some personal experience into their decisions. Hill, the disabilities liaison, is an ad- vocate for other students that are dis- abled, like himself. He hopes to establish support groups, in conjunction with disability services, for students with various types of disabilities. Randhawa, women’s liaison, is plan- ning to offer yoga classes and assis- tance to female students who deal with abuse and harassment issues. Freya Olson, environmental commu- nity coordinator, has two main initia- tives: to reduce the use of plastic water bottles used on campus and to encour- age students to use the LSU bike shop which is a free service. Olson also takes care of the compost- ing and the community garden on cam- pus. “We all keep an eye on it but stu- dents are definitely welcome to come and work on it,” said Olson. She credits their “great volunteer” Naoko Shiratori for the garden’s suc- cess. Stephanie Boha, a second year photo imaging student, likes the events the LSU has put on and would like to see more in the future. “Langara Days created a light atmo- sphere, a bit of fun around the school,” said Boha. “Tt was nice to see.” The LSU also arranges student health insurance, tax returns and the U-Pass program, to name a few. The new LSU members will be busy in the upcoming months with the addi- tions they are making available to stu- dents this year. LYNDA CHAPPLE photos Clockwise from top: Freya Olson, environmental com- munity coordinator; Gunkirat Randhawa, women’s liaison; Rabia Mapara, United People of Colour Campus could be home for tent city Organizers say a protest outreach program might be just around the corner for Langara College DANIEL PALMER photos By ALEXANDRA GRANT currently developing an outreach program that would expand its discussion of social and political issues to several Metro Vancouver post-sec- ondary campuses. Occupy Vancouver organizer Mi- chael Mityok believes students are one of the groups that would benefit from becoming involved in the protest’s dia- logue. “Let’s face it right, it’s cliché but it’s true, these kids who are in school now, these are the people who are going to inherit all of [these problems] that we're talking about,” he said. “Obvi- ously, it makes sense for them to be in- volved.” He added that the outreach pro- gram’s aim is not to encourage stu- dents to protest, but simply to bring awareness to campuses. “We can’t stop people from doing what they want to do but our intention is not to incite kids to [protest],” he said. “Basically, what we’d like to see is some debate and some discussion about the issues that we’re trying to raise.” Ian Humphreys, the director of com- munications and marketing at Langa- ra, said the college would have to allow OQ: Vancouver organizers are any outreach program or Occupy Van- couver initiatives to come on campus. “What could we do? It’s a public in- stitution,” said Humphreys. Melanie Prokop, a recreations stu- dent at Langara, said she strongly sup- ports the Occupy Vancouver move- ment and feels students should get involved. “It’s generational. If we don’t start now, it’s going to be too late by the time we decide we want to say something,” said Prokop. “Right now, we need to be the voice, we need to be the ones to push decisions through.” Some students such as Meghan Moug sympathize with Occupy Van- couver’s call for change, but she feels the demands made by the protest are too vague. “You know, sometimes you really just wish people would take all of that energy and channel it towards some- thing more specific,” she said. Moug said people can become in- volved in the community by volunteer- ing or organizing events for the com- munity rather than protesting. “It’s great for the community, and it brings happiness and joy and connec- tivity,” she said. “We can’t always be like fight, fight, fight!” No date has been set for the initia- tion of the outreach program yet. Sabrina Modder, another Occupy Vancouver organizer, encouraged the public to implement their own ideas while the committee organizes their initiatives. “There’s a small group of us working on things, we would love it if people just initiated and did whatever they felt was appropriate,” said Modder. Occupy Vancouver facts Top: Occupy Vancouver protestors take part in a sit-in at the intersection of Burrard St. and Georgia St. on Saturday Bottom: Protestors outside of the Vancouver Art Gallery TENT CITY The protest started Oct. 15 in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery GENERAL ASSEMBLIES Meet daily at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. to present and discuss arguments Source: Occupy Vancouver website Election not as important as protest Students are more will- ing to partake in Occupy movement than to vote in next municipal election By CARLY WIGNES hile many young people joined Wi: protest at Occupy Vancou- ver, a political scientist at Lan- gara said youth participation in elec- tions is in decline. “You can’t distinguish between ac- tive defiance by a non-voter versus an apathetic voter who is indifferent to the results,” said Stephen Phillips. Phillips added some politicians, par- ticularly those who win elections, per- ceive low voter turnout as proof they are doing a satisfactory job. However, students outside the art gallery at Occupy Vancouver said they want to make a statement to their po- litical leaders. UBC sociology student Jill McBride said she will not be voting in the up- coming municipal election. “T don’t know enough about it,” said McBride, referring to the candidates and their campaign platforms. McBride said she thinks young peo- ple choose to abstain from voting ei- ther to make a statement or because they are apathetic to the process. John Connor, another young adult protesting in the Occupy movement, said there is no point in voting. Connor said that regardless of who is in power “corporations tell the elect- ed what to do anyway.” According to Phillips, political par- ties concentrate on issues that are of importance to the people that vote. “If few young people participate in elections, political leaders are less in- clined to pay attention to youth issues,” he said. This “very unfortunate” cause and effect circularity “reinforces the alien- ation that young people feel,” Phillips added. Some students at Langara said they “should” take part in the civic election, but admit chances they actually will are slim. “T always get lazy and forget the dates,” said John Lam, a social sciences student. Phillips said the lowest levels of vot- er turnout, historically, have been at the local government level. “People pay the least attention to the government that is closest to them, which seems a little paradoxical.” Facing competition Continued from page 1 we're smart about it,” said McNeil. “Our biggest problem is that we don’t have enough space. We had to turn away students this summer.” McNeil said Langara’s experience, reputation, and urban location are all draws for international students, but that Langara faces competition from other public colleges and private ESL (English as a second language) schools. Fine arts student Anchi Lin chose Langara over Douglas College because she wanted to take art history courses, which were not offered at Douglas. She describes her Langara experience as “amazing.” “Ever since I got into Fine Arts, I just feel like I can connect with everyone and we can share ideas about art, and anything,” said Lin, who is from Tai- wan. “It’s a small college and all the pro- fessors are super friendly and helpful.”