A A Caro KS gs 4 i ef bei GAVIN FISHER photo If you’re looking for love, someone to casually date, friendship or even just a hookup, look no further than your Smartphone ls Tinder sexy or superficial? Langara students are using new meet-up matchmaker By GAVIN FISHER ooking to find someone to hook up with? There’s an app for that. Say hello to Tinder. This app creates a profile based on your Facebook pictures and “likes”. Then, using GPS, it provides profiles of other Tinder users in your area — to within a distance of one mile. Swipe right if you like, swipe left if you don’t. If two users “like” each other then they can chat using the app. Students at Langara are divided - some say it’s superficial and they would never use it, while others find it amus- ing and fascinating. “Tt’s a lot of fun to use, it’s a very ri- diculous hot-or-not website basically,” said Jordan Hildebrand, a second-year science student. Hildebrand said that people may use it for reasons other than meeting for casual sex. “T know of a number of people that have used it but none with the inten- tion of using it to hook up.” For Hildebrand, it’s mostly just to have some fun on his phone. “It’s a game more than it’s a genuine way to meet people.” First-year student Tristen Birch said he hasn’t tried Tinder, but likes the simplicity of it and would consider us- ing it if he decided to try online dating. “You can go through more people than going through everyone’s individ- ual profiles,” Birch said. Tinder will show you up to five pic- tures of other users’ profile, any mutu- al Facebook friends, and any mutual Facebook likes. Other than that, all you have is their name, age - and possibly a catchy tagline if they chose to write one. “It’s interesting, it’s different, but I think it’s solely based on physical looks,” said Priya Prasad, a second- year psychology student. Arianne LaBoissonniére, an envi- ronmental sciences student, said she wouldn’t use Tinder or any other on- line dating site. “With the Internet it’s more superfi- cial,” said LaBoissonniére. First year student Jordan Melny- chuk said, “I think it’s just as valid as meeting somebody in person. Maybe not quite as effective because you don’t have that physical response of seeing them in the flesh, but I think nonethe- less it could still be a helpful tool for somebody trying to find somebody.” Whether you choose to ‘Tinder’ or not, healthcare professionals recom- mend taking proper precautions. “Make sure that you are in an envi- ronment where there are a lot of people around when you’re meeting some- body for the first time,” said Pauline Sumel, a nursing instructor at Langara College. Sumel also said that people who meet online should practice safe sex to prevent STIs. Top5 Tinder lines 1 “God bless America, uare beautiful!!” “Erik” 2 “| put the STD in stud, I'll | need is u” “Matt” 3 “Hey girl can | buy you a canary? “Drew” 4 Excuse me, are you a sharpie? Cause you are ultra-fine!” “Joey” 5 “Is it ok if | use sloth stamps on our wed- ding invitations?” “Ryan” Source:Tinderlines.com Hamper Heroes Langara staff unite to help students for the holidays By JESSE LAM ra College are now able to spon- sor students with hampers of goods just in time for the holiday sea- son. In the Adopt-A-Family program dif- ferent departments are to supply ham- pers of goods based on a family’s situa- tion. “We participate in the Adopt-A-Fam- ily program in order to bring aware- ness to and help less fortunate families who are in need during the holiday sea- son,” said Ahmad Rahi, assistant regis- trar of continuing studies at Langara Laura Vail, an assistant registrar in Langara’s financial aid department said, “The department doesn’t know who the student is,” “TThe department] only knows the family’s make-up. For example, how may kids [the family has].” The program started in early No- vember, when the financial aid servic- es notified all the departments of Lan- gara asking for volunteers. “If a department wishes to partici- pate,” said Vail, “they let us know and we assign them a family, sometimes multiple families, depending on the size of the department.” For a student to be chosen for the program, they need to apply through bursaries with financial aid. Students are then chosen based on their finan- cial need according to their bursary ap- plications. “As we get departments volunteer- ing, we asked these students if they would like to participate,” Vail ex- plained. “Students typically have chil- dren, and are often single-parent fami- lies.” “This is our way of supporting the community and making a difference in people’s lives.” Food, gift cards, and toys are donat- ed. Vail said it’s up to the department what they donate to the program. “It’s really wonderful that children of these families are able to receive gifts as well,” said Vail. “It’s just a love- ly way for Langara staff members to support our students and their fami- lies.” DD: departments from Langa- Langara grad hopes to inspire change Langara grad hopes to inspire others with radically new online community By NADIM ROBERTS Daniel Dubois is gaining attention for his idea for a website and app that will teach us something we learned in grade school but may have forgotten since: sharing. Share Shed, which is currently in de- velopment, will be an online communi- ty where members can interact with one another and share goods and ser- vices through various networks that are defined by geography. For example, suppose you live in Marpole and you want to borrow a lawnmower. Dubois’s website would hook you up with some- one else in Marpole with a lawnmower to lend. The sharing can involve anything from lending a neighbour that lawn- mower, to offering a language class, to just giving someone a ride. Unlike Poe Langara business student Craigslist, everything is free. According to Dubois, Share Shed is about “rede- fining wealth from what you own to what you have access to.” On Oct. 18, Dubois shared a Rogers Arena stage with figures such as for- mer U.N. Secretary Kofi Annan at We Day Vancouver where he presented his concept to a crowd of over 20,000. Dubois, currently a business student at Capilano University, first developed the idea while travelling with friends through Australia and Fiji for six months with next to no money. “For the first three weeks we stayed in hostels, and the rest we couch- surfed,” says Dubois. “When you go travelling, you shouldn’t have to bring everything you need, and it was so cool that the people we were meeting were willing to share everything they have.” Dubois was also inspired by the ideas of social innovator and author Rachel Botsman. Botsman is known for her work on “collaborative consump- tion,” which she describes in her popu- lar TED Talk as a social revolution in which individuals share items with others instead of having personal own- ership over them. For now, Dubois is starting with his own community. Part of his research has involved asking other students what they would be willing to share on Share Shed. Many are willing to share, he says, but there are some obstacles. “Trust is the biggest barrier for any sharing economy,” says Dubois, “but it can be broken down when people have positive experiences.” For Dubois, Share Shed is a small part of the larger change he wants to inspire in his community. “T see Share Shed as a platform that helps break the ice so people can con- nect with their neighborhood and their community,” says Dubois. “People who use Share Shed should feel like they don’t even need to go online to request something, they can just go knock on their neighbour’s door.” Daniel Dubois photo Daniel Dubois underlines the core idea behind his site