AMPUS NEWS _ ororsssoms

THE VOICE, TUESD,

|AY, NOVEMBER 29, 2011 3

Higher education = lower grades

First-year post-secondary students fail to make the grades they did in high school: study

By DEVON MACKENZIE

.C.’s first-year post secondary

students are failing to perform to

the same standards they did in

high school, says a new study by
the University of Saskatchewan.

The study, which was conducted over
the last three years, saw the U of S ex-
amine 12,000 first year students from
Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Saskatchewan
and Ontario.

The results showed that students
from B.C.’s secondary schools as well
as Manitoba, Saskatchewan and On-
tario, are experiencing a 19.6 percent-
age point decrease in their grade aver-
ages during their first year of post

secondary studies.

Comparitively, first year students
from Alberta generally only faced a 6.4
percentage point decrease in their
grades during first-year.

Langara students agreed with the
study.

“T would say I’ve noticed about a 10
per cent drop in my grades,” said one
first year student who didn’t want to be
named.

Brad Pearce, a second year universi-
ty transfer student, who hopes to go
into engineering, said that he hasn’t
noticed a drop in his grades compared
to high school, but worries he might
once he transfers to university.

“T think [the workload] might be

harder once I’m actually in my pro-
gram, so I might see a difference in my
grades then,” Pearce said.

In an interview with the Montreal
Gazette, Dan Seneker, manager of un-
dergraduate recruitment at U of S, sug-
gested that the gross deviation in the
grades of first-year students from Al-
berta, compared to the other provinces
examined, comes from grade inflation
and the abolishment of standardized
tests in some provinces.

The study confirmed what some uni-
versities were already acting on in
their admissions departments - Alber-
ta students have it tougher than most
others.

Already, Carleton University, St.

Francis Xavier, Wilfrid Laurier Univer-
sity and the University of British Co-
lumbia have been adjusting their en-
trance requirements for students from
Alberta, knowing that those students’
high school grades may not be as high
as those coming from other provinces.

“An inequity had developed and we
wanted to level the playing field,” said
James Ridge, UBC’s registrar, in an in-
terview with The Gazette.

The Voice contacted Langara’s regis-
trar’s office as well as the registrar’s
office at Douglas College, Simon Fraser
University, UBC, and the Ministry of
Education for further insight into
grade inflation in B.C., but none were
available for comment.

STUDY
tips
ME Arrange your sched-

ule to eliminate
distractions

HE sCreate flashcards
with key words and
phrases

HE Find a quiet place
to open your books

HM Create practice
tests and questions

Source: Study Guides and
Strategies

Few hits
for cyber
Monday

Here at Langara students
prefer to see the real thing
when it comes to shopping

By JENNIFER FONG

in the U.S. yesterday, but Canadi-
ans are slower to catch on to the
trend.

A 2010 Nielsen report showed that 28
per cent of Canadians had never
shopped online, compared to 15 per
cent of Americans.

In the U.S., Cyber Monday sales
topped $1 billion last year, with this
year expected to reach $1.2 billion, ac-
cording to a report from the Los Ange-
les Times.

But in Canadian consumer centres
like Langara College, students say no
way.

Several students said they don’t
shop online because they don’t have
credit cards. The ones who do shop on-
line do so sparingly.

“T like to try things on and know the
size. I want to see it,” said business stu-
dent Patrick Hayes.

Part of the reason online shopping
isn’t as popular, according to Langara
marketing instructor Deland Jessop, is
that “We always tend to be behind in
terms of innovation.”

Since many companies are based in
the U.S., companies “get more bang for
their buck” marketing to more popu-
lated countries like their own. “Califor-
nia is the same as Canada population
wise,” he added.

Arts and science student Fiona Ham-
ilton is more open to online buying, but
said “I would only [shop online] if I
couldn’t find the item in store.”

Jessop said that he expects sales to
increase in the future as Canadians
have higher than average Internet us-
age when compared worldwide.

“Not in my crowd, but the younger
generation,” said Jessop. “It’s hard to
teach people new tricks, so it would be
a little more difficult to do the switch.”

Fine arts student Angela Luong does
shop online, but not for Christmas
gifts. “Sometimes you don’t know when
they'll come in,” she explained.

Psychology student Marena Mar-
tens said she’s a “pro” online shopper.

“I don’t like shopping,” Martens
said. “I can’t stand spending more than
two hours max at the mall.”

Cr Monday may have been a hit

_ of flickr creative
ommons: Hobvias
udeneighm and Erwin
Karim

New car owners
don’t mind the
high price of gas as
long as they have a
status vehicle.

New cars guzzling gas, Langara drivers don't care

Students care more about
their vehicle’s reliability
over its fuel efficiency

By MORNA CASSIDY

anufacturers promises of fuel-
vv aia vehicles are mislead-

ing, according to a new study,
but it doesn’t seem to bother new car
buyers.

A new survey completed last week
by the Automobile Protection Agency,
and the CBC, reveals green vehicles
are not as fuel-efficient as manufactur-
ers purport them to be.

The misrepresentation is due to the
testing methods that don’t reflect real-
istic car use and only consider ideal
conditions, says the APA. Factors such
as tire pressure; weather and traffic
variances are not integrated into the
testing standards.

However style and status, conve-
nience and ticket price matter more to
several new car purchasers.

“Fuel efficiency doesn’t factor into
my decision to drive. It’s for conve-
nience. I have to go to work after class-
es and the bus service from where I live
is terrible,’ said Mina Karima, who
drives a 2006 Honda Civic, every day to
Langara. “My mom bought this civic
because we needed a car, the ticket
price was right and it has a good repu-
tation.”

“IT knew I wanted a Dodge. I do a fair
amount of driving and I want it to be a
comfortable ride,” said Thomas Camp-
bell, a Langara business student.

Campbell travels back-and-forth to
campus daily and drives to Port Co-
quitlam once a week to visit his girl-
friend. He fills his 2005 Dodge Dakota
with medium grade gas about three
times a month at $105 a fill-up.

“T bought the car I wanted and the

amount I spend on gas is just a fact of
owning the car, it doesn’t bother me.”

Fuel efficiency was a deciding factor
to Scott Myers, marketing product ex-
pert for Nike Canada, when purchasing
his last car.

“T remember a VW radio ad a few
years ago that claimed 900 km per tank
and think I probably averaged a little
less than that, but probably got 1,100
km plus on a few occasions,” Myers
said through Facebook.

“Most of my driving is for work, I
drive a lot so my car needs to be fun
and peppy, I used to drive a Volkswa-
gen TDI, and just upgraded to the Audi,
they are both great cars and I like that
they are fuel efficient.”

Kevin Kim, who drives a 2003 BMW
openly admits, gas mileage was not a
factor in his purchase.

“T knew going into it that it wasn’t a
fuel efficient car. That’s not what I was
looking for.”

66

My mom
bought
this civic
because
we needed
a car, the
ticket price
was right
and it has
a good
reputation.
MINA KARIMA