6 THE DAILY VOICE, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012

EDITOR LEY DOCTOR

lewpoints

Free jackets
not helping
homeless

didn’t know what a homeless
Fa was until I moved to

Vancouver, since sleeping out-
doors is illegal in Orange County. I
assumed that was a job, people got
up every day to go sit on the corner
and ask for spare change.

Now I know
better, but I feel
like some people
are still missing
the point of trying
to help the
homeless.

I’m always
uncomfortable
when corpora-
tions offer to help
the needy ~ I feel
like there’s always
a catch of some sort.

Maybe I’m just a cynic but I can’t
fathom the idea of a company
actually helping out.

Arec’teryx is offering waterproof
ponchos with help from the VPD to
deliver them to Vancouver’s home-
less population.

They take their unusable scraps
and make capes out of them to be
distributed from VPD patrol cars.

My question is, how will raincoats
help these people sleep at night, in
doorways, on benches or somewhere
worse?

While I commend Arc’teryx for
giving back and not throwing away
their fabric scraps, I have to ask if
that’s really the best investment of
VPD time.

Giving away raincoats, which
appear to be simple waterproof
outer shells with no real warmth or
lining, instead of actually helping
these people find places out of the
rain to sleep seems counterintuitive.

We’re supporting the idea that
these people will be on the streets
and we're trying to make it a little
less awful.

My old high school had a program
called Knit Fit where kids would
knit scarves and toques for home-
less people to help them out as well.

My biggest problem is that they
have cops handing out these jackets
and not volunteers or previous
recipients. Instead police are
spending their time handing out
coats instead of catching crooks.

There are predictions of snow on
the ground as early as Dec. 11.

I’m pretty sure ponchos won’t
make much of a dent in the unbear-
able freezing that winter nights
bring.

Thanks for trying Arc’teryx but
nothing is really going to help
homeless people except helping
them find stable jobs and housing
they can afford.

LEY DOCTOR

We want to hear from you

Did we get a fact wrong?
Tell us.
Got a different point of view?
Write to us.
Problems with something we've said?
Let us know.

Journalism instructor

Nicholas Read oversees
The Voice. Email him at
nread@langara.be.ca

Pay for movies and music

ccording to an article in The

Voice from Nov. 28, the

Canadian government’s move

to crackdown on online
piracy is receiving mixed reactions
from Langara students.

Most students viewed the track-
ing of their IP addresses as an
invasion of privacy.

Others, like opinion writer Ryan
Banagan, remarked correctly that
wireless Internet connections are
not always safe against intruders.

This means linking the IP address
to fines of up to $5,000 is not satisfac-
tory. I agree with all of that.

I completely disagree with
Banagan’s other argument that $15
for a movie ticket is overpriced.

Overpriced is a word that might
apply to other entertainment
providers like concerts (Lady Gaga’s
Jan.11 concert ranges from $50-$195
per seat), sports events (Canucks
tickets used to start at $80) or the
current Cirque du Soleil show,

Amaluna ($44-
$130.50 for a
student admis-
sion).

Considering
how many people
are involved in
the production of
a single movie,
and considering
that many of
them do not
receive a decent
salary for their work, I believe that
$15 for a two-hour visual adventure
is not too much to ask for.

However, film distributors and
independent filmmakers should find
creative ways of making their work
available to a worldwide audience
for a modest price.

iTunes, which currently charges
$1.29 for most downloaded songs,
may be a good example.

Netflix and other providers offer
an affordable way of watching

t ,

KATJA DE BOCK

movies and TVseries.

Surrey filmmaker Manjit Bains
suggests models such as makelo-
venotporn.tv, where every video,
regardless of length, is only $5 to
rent, after which it is yours for three
weeks to watch as many times as
your heart (and body) desires,“as
the website states.

Abbotsford director of photogra-
phy Ryan Skeete is impressed how
controversial filmmaker Larry Clark
(Kids, Ken Park) bypasses Holly-
wood by distributing his latest film
Marfa Girl on his website for $5.99
per 24 hours.

B.C.’s own Knowledge Network
offers a free 30-day online catch-up
for most of the documentaries in its
program.

The bottom line is, filmmakers
want their work to be seen and
discussed by a worldwide audience.

But most of them, especially the
independent crowd, need to find a
way to get their piece of the pie.

Pramiet Clark

i
am

Peace officers are more efficient

ment has been faced with
budget cuts, and it came up
with a solution.

So why is it facing flack about
vacant police positions?

The police force is proposing a
three-year, $6.5 million pilot pro-
gram that would introduce peace
officers as a new tier within the
police force.

These officers would essentially
be an extension of the existing jail
and traffic authorities.

The union spokesman, Tom
Stamatakis, has said he is more
concerned about filling 57 vacant
police positions than starting talks
about a new lower level of peace
officer.

According to Chief Const. Jim
Chu, the police department prom-
ised city council that it would keep

Te Vancouver Police Depart-

the positions
vacant because of
budgetary
constraints.

Let’s look at the
reality. We don’t
have money to
protect union jobs
for officers that
haven’t been
hired yet.

We can give
somebody a job at
a pay-level they are suited for by
creating this new tier of peace
officers.

Thirty full-time equivalent jobs
would be created this way.

Police officers’ time and taxpay-
er’s money is being wasted when
full-fledged officers respond to
low-priority calls for lost wallets or
get stuck directing traffic after an

OPINION

JULES KNOX

accident.

Bringing in these lower-level
officers will free up some time for
those that don’t need to be buried in
paperwork or stuck with mundane
tasks.

It will make our police force more
efficient.

Right now, if somebody breaks
into your home and leaves before
you get there, you can expect a
six-hour wait.

With peace officers on the ground,
call response times will be faster.

The VPD also expects to increase
revenues by $600,000 as more
officers would be available to write
tickets.

In an era of fiscal constraints, the
VPD came up with an innovative
solution to meet the public’s safety
needs.

Let’s not stand in its way.

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

wwwlangara.bc.ca/voice

EDITORIAL STAFF
THIS ISSUE:

MANAGING EDITOR/
PAGE 6
Ley Doctor

PAGE EDITORS

PAGE 1
Stacy Thomas

PAGE 2
Clay Paterson

PAGE 3
Dennis Page

PAGE 4
Alex Skerdzhev

PAGE 5
Jeremy Sally

PAGE 7

Cara McKenna

PAGE 8
Omar Shariff

WEB EDITORS
Audrey McKinnon
Michelle Gamage
Brandon Reid

REPORTERS
Ryan Banagan
Judy Chem
Steven Chua
Katja De Bock
Annie Ellison
Gillian Hames
Kevin Hampson
Tanya Hill

Richard Hodges
Brandon Kostinuk
Jules Knox
Michael Letendre
Jana Minor
Simone Pfeiffer
Sam Reynolds
Bronwyn Scott
Jennifer Thuncher

Contact
us:
Our blog at

www.langara
voice.com

Twitter at
@langaraVoice

Youtube at
VoiceLangara

Flickr at
Langara Voice