THE VOICE | 6 Keep French alive iving in Vancouver means the window of opportunity to practice my second language is small. The catch with having a second language is once you stop using, it you will eventually lose it. ‘That is why places such as the Al- liance Frangaise de Vancouver are important. ‘Ihis year 54,603 students are enrolled in French immersion pro- grams across B.C., according to the ministry of education. When stu- dents in the pro- gram graduate, their opportuni- ty to speak their second language drops dramati- cally. This might indicate to some that French as a second language isn’t all that use- ful — why would we need a skill we can’t use? Because those of us that grew up in the French immer- sion program lose the community it gave us once we graduate, the Alli- ance Francaise presents an oppor- tunity for folks like me to have that community. The French immersion program is a distinct English Canadian experi- ence. Like the house hippo com- mercial, French is something nostal- OPINION JOE AYRES “Places such as the Alliance Francaise are more than cultural hubs, they're a chance to reconnect with something close to many of our hearts.” gic for many Canadians. According to Statistics Canada 7.2 per cent of Vancouver's population speaks both French and English. Places such as the Alliance Francaise are more than cultural hubs, they're a chance to reconnect with something close to many of our hearts. Kids who grew up with the French language deserve the chance to keep that language. In a province as diverse as British Columbia I believe it’s important that we promote all the cultures that comprise our communities. The events offered by the Alliance Fran- caise celebrate French culture in an accessible way for all in the commu- nity and, to a great extend, those out side of it. If you want to brush up on your skills or even if you want to pick up the language, the Alliance Fran- ¢aise can do that for you. The pro- motion of the French language only serves to benefit our communities. THURSDAY, NOV.1, 2018 | EDITOR CLOE LOGAN Viewpoints Cultural centres like Alliance Frangaise de Vancouver provide an opportunity for B.C. students who grew up in French immersion programs to retain the second language they love. RENA MEDOW ILLUSTRATION Accused need more time tudents like Ishbir Heir must be afforded more time to appeal when it comes to being accused of commit- ting academic misconduct, specifi- cally plagiarism. Post-secondary institutions have processes in place so that stu- dents can make an appeal against academic misconduct accusations. Douglas Col- lege allows four months. BCIT allows 30 days. Langara recent- ly changed their time frame from two to five days. This would be the time frame allowed for stu- dents to appeal an accusation of plagiarism. Although each institution wants to make sure that proper proce- dure is followed and that students are educated about their options, the appeal process at Langara sim- ply isn’t long enough for a student to process the information in time. Each student is given time to submit a letter of appeal, which is sent to the dean of students, who reviews the appeal to see if the grounds for appeal fall within the a ~B OPINION DARREN AMNER policy. Compared to other insti- tutions in the Lower Mainland, Langara has by far the shortest timeline of any college for no ap- parent reason other than it being a long standing policy. Any student who finds them- selves in this position will need to think about it further. If they want to appeal they may need to talk to friends or colleagues for further opinion, or take time to read the policy implemented at their insti- tution. The appeal itself requires a strong letter to argue their point. Each student needs time to fully understand their case and the grounds on which they are ap- pealing in order to argue in their favour. Its unreasonable to expect this to be completed sufficiently in only a few days. As a student you need time to decide what you're going to do and your appeal might be in the middle of exam or a personal crisis, which affords you little time to focus on anything else. In this instance, it’s not wrong to say to your instruc- tor, “I need a bit more time, this is what’s going on, can we just be flexible on this.” Most people will need time to get over the shock of being ac- cused, especially if the student has not plagiarized or cheated. For those students from another coun- try, who don’t have a really clear grasp of what that really means, or don’t know what the repercussions of it might be, having more time would be really beneficial. It is important that students document everything they can to help prove their case and stay calm. They must ensure they ob- tain clarity on what happened, fig- ure out what makes the instructor believe this outcome, and then en- sure they gathered enough docu- mentation to support their case. All Langara students who find themselves in this difficult posi- tion should fight to appeal if they feel that the decision is wrong or unfair or unfounded. The LSU can provide basic procedural in- formation. International students can go to International Educa- tion for some advice. Anyone who is accused has they opportunity to say what they need to say, but don’t hesitate to do it. Submit your appeal and stand up for yourself. Make sure you seek help and guid- ance, it is there and available for you to use. Avoid having to retake classes. I know what Id prefer to do. Students like Ishbir Heir, who was accused of plagiarism, deserve more time to face allegations of academic misconduct. K&.SE4 FRANZKE PHOTO The Voice is pub- lished by Langara College’s joumalism 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. They may be edited for brevity. Your letter must in- clude your name and phone number. HOW TO DROP-IN REACH US Room A226 Langara College PHONE 604-323-5396 SNAIL MAIL The Voice E-MAIL 100 West 49th Ave. thevoice@langara. Vancouver, B.C. be.ca V5Y 226 WEBSITE MANAGING EDITOR langaravoice.ca Cloe Logan PAGE EDITORS PAGE 7 PAGE 1 Cameron Thomson Gabrielle Plonka PAGE 8 PAGE 2 Nikitha Martins Neil Amsler PAGE 3 Lisa Steacy MANAGING PAGE 4&5 WEBSITE Amanda Poole EDITOR PAGE 6 Desirée Garcia Cloe Logan REPORTERS Nicholas Laba Darren Amner Adam Levi Joe Ayres Rena Medow Kirsten Clarke Agazy Mengesha Mathilda de Villiers Mandy Moon Nathan Durec Patrick Penner Roxanne Egar-Elliott Kathryn Tindale Kelsea Franzke Alberto Tufano Nathan Gan Katelynn Gardiner Taesa Hodel Shabnam Jessa CONTACT US Online at langaravoice.ca Twitter @LangaraVoice