6 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 EDITOR JACQUELINE LANGEN Escorts available ith the sun going down Wee: a lot of students are finished class and multiple sexual assaults taking place within the greater Vancouver area, it’s not preposterous to feel your safety is at risk, especially if you’re alone. Langara’s SafeWalk program is a wise initiative toward increasing student safety. Langara’s Security Services are available seven days a week to escort students to their vehicle, bus station or even another building on campus. The recent string of sexual assaults and chants that have occurred at UBC over the past few months have been alarming and unnecessary. No person, female or male, deserves to be violated in that manner. SafeWalk is a resourceful preventative program that will reduce the risk — if any — at Langara. The Safe Walk program at Langara began several years ago. “This type of service has been a safety and security best practice on post-secondary campuses and at other campus environments across North America for several decades,” said Langara’s Safety and Security Manager Dan Krefting. According to Krefting, serious assaults have rarely occurred on campus. Mg! is PINION Students are able to obtain a JACQUELINE security escort by calling 604-562- 1011 or by using the blue emergency call towers located in multiple places through- out the school grounds. I have never experienced any type of assault, or even felt threatened while on campus. However, the notion of SafeWalk does make me feel more conscious of what could potentially happen. Knock on wood. Unfortunately, some people have agendas that involve damaging the health and well being of others. I walk around nearly everywhere with my headphones on — including later at night. Perhaps it would be optimal if I were completely aware of my surroundings rather than feeling groovy. Whether it be walking with a friend, campus security or just heightening one’s own awareness, precautions should be taken when it comes down to personal safety. We want to hear from you Did we get a fact wrong? Tell us. Got a different point of view? Write to us. iProblems with something we've said?} Let us know. Journalisin instructor Ethan Baron oversees The Voice. Email him at ebaron@langara.be.ca New hook-up app is instinctual & addicting et’s be honest—we live in an overly superficial society. The novelty of Tinder is that it lerases the guilt associated with being shallow. It’s indulgent. It’s liberating. It invites you to be judgmental, and it’s kind of fun. Tinder isn’t a dating app. It’s not even a hook-up app. It’s —? a game, and it’s a. —<# one we’ve been r playing for as OPINION long as we can TRICIA LO remember. At its very core, Tinder is instinctive. Tell me you don’t make an unconscious, split-second judgment about whether you think a stranger is hot when you first meet him or her. Now, all of that has been packaged into a self-gratifying, addictive, and simple app. Using age, sex and location criteria, the app pulls up pictures of people located nearby. You swipe each one to the right if you’re interested, or to the left if you’re not. If the interest is mutual, you can chat with each other through Tinder’s built-in messaging feature. As for how many people actually meet up after being matched, your guess is as good as mine. Co-founder Justin Mateen said in an interview with the New York Times that 70 per cent of matches strike up a conversation. Beyond that, the company doesn’t track the number of meet-ups. Even if Tinder never lands you a date, the entertainment value is undeniable. For one thing, there’s the ego- stroking aspect. Every match brings the satisfaction of knowing that someone out there likes the way you look. Because it’s mutual, it’s somehow less creepy. Plus it doesn’t hurt that you never find out who says no to you. The app is mostly removed from the taboos of online dating. It’s not so much “I’m here because I can’t get a Friday night date,” but rather “Look how many people find me attractive.” That being said, it’s still an app you'd best hide from your friends — not because you’re ashamed, but because you don’t want anyone else on your phone swiping away those photos. Once they’re swept to the left, they’re gone for good. Sure, Tinder inadvertently encourages a society that prizes appearance over substance, but you can opt to get to know someone before committing to anything. The app is casual and there’s no pressure to actually interact with any of your matches. At the same time, there’s nothing to stop you from taking things as far as you like. So step aside, Candy Crush. There’s a new eye-candy app in town, and it makes swiping to get a match a whole lot more fun. — MEE. atl PATRICK COLVIN AND JACQUELINE LAN Video gaming time needs moderation nosed gaming addicts. Instead of doing what young adults are supposed to do such as playing on sports teams and getting rejected by potential employers, they substi- tuted the fear of failure with video and computer games. Nothing was more sad than watching intelligent young men tune out their poten- tial and get lost in the virtual world of gaming. We all seek an escape from disappointments we encounter in life. But we cross a line when the ambition to keep learning from personal chal- lenges stops, and a two-hour hobby F:: years I lived with two undiag- OPINION JENNY PENG turns into a six-hour gaming marathon. For those who know someone with a gaming addiction, it seems like a helpless situation. But the problem often starts before the compulsive behaviour manifests. Oddly enough, I have noticed a commonality among everyone I know or have heard about who develops a gaming addiction: they all lack strong adult mentors in their lives who can help them process difficult emotions and offer encouragement. It is not a coincidence that all of the gaming addicts I know are males who were raised by hardworking single mothers who don’t have the luxury of staying home and looking after their children all day. Last month, a college instructor told me a story about one of the students in his ESL class. The student is a single mother who recently moved to Canada and is worried about her teenage son who is emotionally traumatized from having to adjust to the Cana- dian culture. Because of her work, he is often left home alone after school and seeks the companionship of violent games. Instead of diminishing his frustrations, the games fuel them. Having attended a boarding school where student schedules were packed with extracurricular activities. I know that youths naturally don’t want to play games if they can learn survival skills in the wild or play soccer with dad. Instead of pointing our fingers it’s time to reflect on what the preventative measures are. Most cost very little except quality time between a parent and child and the steady comfort that a strong role model provides. GEN illustration The Voice is published by Langara College's journalism department. Editorial opinions are those of the staff and are independent of views of the student government and administration. We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must be signed. They may be edited for brevity. Names may be withheld in special cases, but your letter must include your name and phone number. HOW TO REACH US PHONE 604-323-5396 FAX 604-323-5398 E-MAIL thevoice@langara.be.ca DROP-IN Room A226 Langara College There is a mailbox at the entrance to the journalism rooms. SNAIL MAIL The Voice 100 West 49th Ave. Vancouver, B.C. VSY 226 WEBSITE wwwilangaravoice.com EDITORIAL STAFF THIS ISSUE: MANAGING EDITOR/ PAGE 6 Jacqueline Langen PAGE EDITORS PAGE 1 Brian Horstead PAGE 2 Ben Bulmer PAGE 3 James McLaughlin PAGE 4 Dana Bowen PAGE 5 Niall Shannon PAGE 7 Garin Fahlman PAGE 8 Kristen Harpula WEB EDITORS Jesse Adamson Marie-Andree Del Cid Puneet Dhami Kayla lsomura Warren Jane” Quinn Mell-Cobb Kelci Nicodemus COPY EDITORS Brenna Brooks Deanna Cheng Patrick Colvin PHOTO EDITOR Angie Holubowich REPORTERS Andrea Anthony Nick Eagland Tammy English Bill Everitt Gavin Fisher Tyler Hooper Amy Jones Jesse Lam Tricia Lo Jenny Peng Nadim Roberts Vanessa Szpurko Emma Taylor Glen Truax Kendra Wong Contact us: Online at langaravoice.com Twitter at @langaraVoice