2 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2014 EDITOR VANESSA SZPURKO Cws Locals support Venezuela The growing violence and civil unrest in the South American country has Vancouverites taking note By GRAHAM MCFIE ered outside TELUS Science World on March 2 in solidarity with those facing turmoil in Venezuela. Stand Up Venezuela is a Vancouver- based organization aiming to protest and raise awareness toward a range of issues in the country including incar- ceration of Venezuelan students, inse- curity, corruption, and shortages of ba- sic goods. “We are civilians standing up for hu- man rights, justice and the separation of powers in Venezuela,” said member Laura Aveledo. Venezuela has been racked by civil unrest following a protest by students which quickly gained momentum. Isabel Cristina said Stand Up Vene- zuela started in Vancouver. “We're just a group of Venezuelans and we decided we wanted something a little more organized in terms of how to bring people to protest,” she said. Jessie Smith, Langara instructor of Latin studies, said the issues being ad- dressed are not new. She said Venezuelans are divided al- most in half between government sup- port and dissent. Aveledo said that events have reached their breaking point. “Students have an issue, because they do not see any future for them,” Aveledo adds. Cristina recalled watching the first protest. “Myself and another friend... saw how terrible the first protest was,” she said. “After that me and my friend fig- ured we needed to do something here.” Building awareness is important for those in Stand Up Venezuela because of the censorship they have seen with- in the country by the government, Cris- tina said. “Since there is no [free press], it’s all been transmitted through Twitter and social media,” she said. However, Smith encouraged careful consideration when viewing social me- dia in a case like this. She said that there has been some controversy surrounding some photos from other conflicts being labelled as Venezuelan. “People are free to lie,” Smith said. “There’s no editor. There’s no official body, in theory, to ensure people are being truthful.” DD: the rain, protesters gath- ~ GRAHAM MCFIE photo Stand Up for Venezuela outside TELUS Science World on March 2. PA seein THE PEOPLE & THE OLIVE The Story of The Run Across Palestine AARON DENNIS and CHELSEA BAY DESIGN photo Producer Chelsea Bay says The People and the Olive ‘is about doing good’, not pointing fingers or blaming. Film festival outrage Controversy surrounds the Langara College documentary festival series on social justice By ASH KELLY angara found itself tangled in a sensitive debate recently when it was criticized for supporting the social-justice-themed Just Film Festival. Jewish Student Association spokes- man Ben Edelstein sent a letter to cam- pus administration outlining his con- cerns. tion.” Festival coordinator Erin Mullan said the festival has featured similar films previously, but has never faced this level of criticism. “Documentaries have a point of view, they often take unpopular posi- tions,” she said. “They put people from the margins into the centre stage and give voice to perspectives that aren’t always heard.” 66 Langara is Edelstein said Langara shouldn’t Chelsea Bay co-produced The People ‘th ll have its logo or name attached to the and the Olive, a film about long-dis- e college event because the festival is biased and tance runners who plant olive trees to 9) if higher largely features films sympathetic to help fair trade olive oil producers in learnina.’ Palestinian solidarity. Palestine. 9; “Langara is ‘the college of higher “It’s about people, it’s about olives, but learning,’ but promoting a festival with about doing good. It’s not about us ver- romotin a biased leaning is far from higher sus them, or they’re horrible, or point- p g learning,” said Edelstein. ing fingers,” she said. a The festival’s Palestine and Israel “We like to very much be for some- fe stival program featured four films, three of thing, not against something. But inevi- . which Edelstein and other Jewish com- tably you’re going to be a little bit bi- witha munity members said were biased ased.” biased against Israel after they saw the trail- Edelstein said he didn’t want to dis- . . ers. courage attendance at the festival, but leaning ts The continuing studies department wished organizers had reached out to far from has sponsored the festival for nine the Jewish Film Festival for films that . years and is standing by its roleas an — would provide a different perspective higher official sponsor. on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. learnin g “The Key for us is that the discus- sion be free, open, that non-violent dis- course be the aim,” said Daniel Thorpe, dean of continuing studies at Langara. “This film festival has a long history of meeting that aim.” Thorpe said the festival fosters a de- bate that he considers to be “well with- in the remit of an academic institu- “T think that the sharing of informa- tion is very important whether I per- sonally agree with it or not,” he said. “If you thought that what you saw raised a lot of questions then you should definitely continue asking those questions and follow up with things that are also going to continue dia- logue, like the Jewish Film Festival.” BEN EDELSTEIN Fasting for world hunger a dangerous cause: VCH Engaging in planned stoppage of food intake to raise awareness can trigger youth eating issues By ALI CRANE Vancouver Coastal Health is warn- ing youth against fasting to promote awareness around world hunger be- cause participants could develop harm- ful eating patterns and unhealthy body image. Each year World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine rallies students across Canada to raise money and awareness for food- security projects around the world. In order to raise awareness around global hunger, participants can choose to not eat for 30 hours. In their warning, VCH cited a study in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. It said 24-hour fasts increase the chance of future eating disorders such as bulimia and binge eating in youth. “Having an event where it’s OK to not eat for 24 hours makes it harder to eat healthily,” said Helen Yeung, public health dietitian for VCH. Yeung listed headaches, increased anxiety, and reduced ability to do both mental and physical work as just a few of the affects of short-term fasting in adolescence. The Vancouver School Board is cur- rently investigating the issue, said VSB spokesperson Kurt Heinrich. “Tf there are ac- tivities that are happening that could adversely af- fect even a tiny percentage of our kids, we take that very seriously,” said Heinrich. ”We will be tak- ing steps to make sure that we rectify that situation.” Cindy Mielke, manager of youth and student campaigns at World Vision, said the charity and VCH are battling for the same cause. “The point of 30 Hour Famine is to acknowledge that food and nutrition is incredibly important to child develop- ment,” she said. “Tf anything [VCH’s warning] raises the awareness of the importance of food and nutrition.” Mielke said that though fasting is an effective way to bring awareness to world famine, there are alternatives available to students who want to par- ticipate without giving up food. They include abstaining from tech- nology, shopping, and even furniture. Yeung said that the goal of VCH in releasing the warning was to make their information and resources avail- able so that the public could make in- formed decisions for themselves. CINDY MIELKE Spokesperson at World Vision VANCOUVER COASTAL HEALTH photo Fasting can cause headaches, anxiety and reduced work abilities.