THEVOICE | 6 Tampon access needed he debate to make menstru- al products more available in all public washrooms has been ongoing in Canada for the last couple of years and it’s pretty obvi- ous that, just like toilet paper, they should be free. No woman or girl should have a fear of missing out because they don't have the products their bod- ies need. In March, Rob Fleming, the minister of education, an- nounced — that one in seven girls in Canada miss out on learning time due to a lack of menstrual OPIN ION products. i) In—SO March, MISSY the province announced JOHNSON that all public schools in the province would be required to provide tampons and pads for free to students. Menstruation is a basic and nor- mal bodily function that you can’t control and not being able to have access to these items means missing not only education but social activi- ties as well. Some colleges offer free tampons at the security office or health clin- ic, but you wouldn't expect some- one to run all over campus asking for toilet paper. I can’t imagine living in a world where men would have to pay for toilet paper or ask their friends for it if they don’t have any. “No woman or girl should have a fear of missing out because they don't have the products their bodies need.” Aiding in providing access to these items means we are helping to provide dignity and reduce the stress and anxiety that is associated with not knowing where to get your next tampon or pad. In a study done by Plan Interna- tional earlier this year, women and men overwhelmingly encourage making menstrual products free in public spaces. ‘The bottom line is men and boys have everything they need in public washrooms and women and girls deserve the same, especially if it means by not having these items they are socially and economically put at a disadvantage. ‘These products should be avail- able in men and women’s wash- rooms to ensure no one is left out. TUESDAY, NOV. 26,2019 | EDITOR JOSHUA REY Viewpoints Students rely on buses to get to and from school. They will be greatly affected by the bus strike. cHrisTINA DOMMER ILLUSTRATIO. People rely on the buses he Metro Vancouver re- gion relies on its bus sys- tem so much and if there are no buses, there will be total chaos. If no deal is reached between Unifor and Coast Mountain Bus Company before Wednesday, buses will not be running on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Many Langara students take the bus to school like myself: If the buses aren't running how are we go- ing to get to and from school? ‘This is an important part of the semester as major assignments are due and exams are coming up. With the buses not running, many students might as well stay home. Not everyone can drive. Taxis are expensive and unreliable and we will prob- ably have high speed rail to Seattle before Uber and Lyft come to Van- couver. If there were no. buses on the roads even for a day, it would be to- tal chaos. Could ou imagine the traffic? It will be a gridlock. Good luck trying to get to your 9 a.m. of- fice meeting when you are stuck in OPINION JOSHUA REY traffic bumper to bumper on the Granville Street Bridge. ‘There are better ways to strike. For instance, the drivers havent been wearing their uniforms but are still oper- ating the bus- es. I’ve seen drivers wear T-shirts and jackets instead of the uniforms. I [ have no problem with the drivers not wearing uni- forms as long as I can get to school on time. Here is another way to strike “We will probably have high speed rail to Seattle before Uber and Lyft come to Vancouver.” without ruining commutes. In Japan, when the bus drivers went on strike, they refused to take fare from _ people. That meant free bus rides for everybody. It would be much better if the drivers in Vancouver did that instead of a complete shutdown. Shutting down the system will just cause pandemonium all over the city and there are much better ways to strike. I just hope they resolve this soon. Black Friday causes stress lack Friday is coming and B retail employees don't need the added stress. Many stu- dents work retail and are currently juggling study- ing for exams, the end of the term, personal lives and their jobs. With the looming possi- bility of a transit OPINION strike, employers LAUREN are reminding GARGIULO their employees that they “are responsible for [their] shifts” post- secondary institutions arent plan- ning on cancelling classes, students who work in retail are feeling the pressure. Now with the general end of se- mester stress, the added question of “how am I going to get to class and work” is stressing me out, and my coworkers. A Retail Council of Canada sur- vey published earlier this month stated that nearly 43% of Canadi- ans will be going to a black Friday shopping trip. Unless Black Friday is a good op- portunity to get Christmas shop- ping out of the way with an incred- ible savings there isn’t a point. November and December are busy months for retailers. There will always be sales before Christmas. The only difference between Much like Boxing Day, Black Friday has morphed from one day of deals to an entire weekend, oo0z- Black Friday ing into Cyber and other | "Apart fromthe fact | Monday, _ giving sales is the a consumers end- hype. that 1t1s noted to be less possibilities to But Black submit to the retail Friday is an American tra- dition, hap- pening after American Thanksgiving, which is over a month after Cana- dian Thanksgiving. Apart from the fact that it is not- ed to be a day of sales, Black Friday holds no context in Canada. a day of sales, Black Friday holds no | context in Canada." | overlords. So that after the Black Friday frenzy has worn off they can work extra shifts to off their credit card bills. Christmas is coming, Boxing Day is coming, you don't need more stuff, but you do need to save money to buy other people more stuff. The Voice is pub- lished by Langara College’s joumalism government and administration. We welcome letters to department. Editorial — the editor. They may opinions are those be edited for brevity. of the staff and Your letter must in- are independent of clude your name and views of the student 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 INSTRUCTOR langaravoice.ca Erica Bulman CITY EDITOR PAGE 2 Missy Johnson Mathilda de Villiers PAGE 3 CITY DESKER Nathan Gan Adam Levi PAGE 4&5 Austin Everett MANAGINGEDITOR PAGE6 Liam Hill-Allan Joshua Rey PAGE7 PAGE EDITORS Mandy Moon PAGE 1 PAGE 8 Joe Ayres Maxim Fossey MANAGING REPORTERS WEB Anita Zhu EDITOR Henri Ngimbis Christina Dommer Kristen Holliday Gina Rogers WEB EDITORS Lauren Gargiulo Tierney Grattan Lina Chung Agazy Mengesha Palak Klaire Ray Chopping Soubhik Chakrabarti Steven Chang WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU CONTACT Have a different point of view? 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