2 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOV. 6, 2014 EDITOR LAUREN COLLINS Cws Civic election understanding Is crucial Voting takes about 10 minutes, according to the Voter’s Guide to Local Elections in B.C. * a 7 SHANNON LYNCH photo For some students, finding out important information about the upcoming civic election can be difficult. For more information visit vancouver.ca/vote. By ALICE D’EON ith students’ busy schedules, figuring out who, where and how to vote in the Vancouver municipal election on Nov. 15 may be a daunting task. Despite the many layers of informa- tion for potential voters to sift through, the process of casting a vote need not be exhausting or intimidating. Paul Prosperi, Langara political sci- ence department chair, said voters have a limited amount of time to research all the candidates and their platforms. Prosperi said what’s important is that “vou do the best you can with the time that you have.” While it’s important for potential vot- ers to do a little work online to figure out where the candidates stand on a range of issues, Prosperi said voters should give themselves a bit of a break. Some offices will be of greater inter- est to voters than others, Prosperi said. “You can focus on the ones you want to focus on. So if council and the mayor- al election is what matters to you, then you check that out,” he said. Voting times and locations aren’t as restrictive as people may think. According to the Voter’s Guide to Lo- cal Elections in B.C., the official election day in Vancouver is Saturday, Nov. 15. Voters can go to any one of 120 voting stations throughout the city to vote. There are eight advance voting days from Nov. 4 to 12 (excluding Nov. 11) where voters can go to any one of eight voting stations from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wince Leung, 22, business adminis- tration student, has been voting since she turned 18. “Tt’s not enough to just sit back and assume that everything will be taken care of, especially because we’re a dem- ocratic country. We should have our voices heard whenever possible.” HOW to vote A voter must be a Canadian citizen and be at least 18 years old A voter must be a B.C. resident for at least six months and a Vancouver resident for at least 30 days A voter must present two pieces of identification, one containing a signature Source: vancouver.ca/vote BY THE numbers 27 officials will be elected for the four- year term One candidate is elected for mayor 10 candidates are elected for council Seven candidates are elected for park board and nine candidates are elected to school board Source: vancouver.ca/ your-government/ candidate-profiles LENA ALSAYEGH photo Parents have access to the app and can view the information in real time. App oversees, but violates Students who are monitored by ClassDojo don’t think there will be much benefit to teachers’ feedback system By LENA ALSAYEGH ers to track student behaviour has been introduced into Ontario classrooms to mixed reviews. The app, ClassDojo, is about four years old, but has only recently been implemented in Canada. Teachers as- sign points for positive behaviour and deduct points for negative behaviour. Already, there are concerns over competition and privacy. Parents can access the information in real time. Erin Skinner, assistant department chair of Langara psychology said, “Chil- dren seem to be under a lot of pressure these days to become very high achiev- ers.” “Depression and anxiety are increas- ingly being diagnosed in the student population,” Skinner said. Eric M. Meyers, assistant professor at UBC’s school of library, archival, and in- A: phone app that allows teach- formation studies, has a background in developmental behaviour and educa- tion and sees ClassDojo as part of the “gamification” trend in education. Gamification uses game thinking and game mechanics in non-game contexts to engage users in solving problems. Meyers said teachers have seen higher grades and improved engagement. “This does not always equate to bet- ter learning outcomes, or long-term benefits for students,” Meyers said. Langara student Jeremy Smolik said, “Tt’s like that Spider-man line, ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’ I think they could totally abuse it, but it could also have positive reinforcement,” Smolik said. Meyers said he wouldn’t use a system like ClassDojo with his grad students, as it would be insulting and juvenile. He said there are merits though, such as the rapid feedback on behaviour and performance. New test for B12 deficiency Students prone to heavy drinking might face more than just a hangover By VIVIAN CHUI tries. fie Vitamin B12 deficiency can stem from lack of meat and dairy products in a person’s diet. VIVIAN CHUI photo oped a single-blood-drop method to test for vitamin B12 deficiency. Yvonne Lamers, PhD, and Canada research chair in human nutrition and vitamin metabolism said the new method makes blood collection very easy. The procedure includes a spot of blood being taken from a finger prick and then left to dry overnight. The vitamin is essential for human body processes such as blood cell for- mation and brain functions. The main sources for vitamin B12 come from meat and dairy products, states Health- LinkBC’s website. According to MedicineNet, moderate to heavy alcohol consumption can af- fect vitamin B12 levels. The deficiency is also linked to oral contraceptive usage, Lamers added. A Statistics Canada study based on results from 2009 and 2011 says 5 per cent of Canadian adults have insuffi- cient levels of vitamin B12, which can lead to low blood levels and cause per- manent neurological damage. A recent World Health Organization survey concluded that B12 deficiency is a worldwide health problem and can be found in both wealthy and poor coun- U: researchers recently devel- Environmental studies student Ash- > ley Gallant and her son are vegetarians - and were instructed by their family doctor to take daily supplements of vi- tamin B12. “It’s easy to forget to take vitamins,” Gallant said.