The Voice • October 12, 2017 • Volume 49 • Issue 1

ONLINE SPECIAL

ENTERTAINMENT

ISSUES & IDEAS

As You Like It

Alternative healing

Complex sets and props transform a Sharespeake classic at Studio 58. P4

Pet Reiki, yoga and hollistic practices are new trends claiming to help heal. P7

Sunny pumpkins

South Vancouer pumpkin patch see's more business thanks to the sun. langaravoice.ca

ER SPAP R W E A N E YE of TH2 0 1 5 ACE d 2n PL 6 201

PRODUCED BY LANGARA JOURNALISM STUDENTS | WWW.LANGARAVOICE.CA

No space at family place

OCTOBER 12 , 2017 • VOL. 49 NO. 1• VANCOUVER, B.C.

A toke for your vote

As South Vancouver densifies, community spots become crowded  By ANA ROSE WALKEY

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rowing development but lack of affordable housing and childcare is causing overcrowding at the South Vancouver Family Place and other community spaces in the area, according to community service workers.

As South Vancouver grows, family places, community centres and neighbourhood houses are experiencing more overcrowding than usual.

Kim Berger, executive director at South Vancouver Family Place, posted a notice on their website this September explaining how people could help decrease overcrowding at the centre.

Some of the suggestions included limKim Berger iting visits up EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT SVFP to three hours daily and only twice a week, not bringing schoolaged children and visiting other community centres and playgrounds.

“We never want to turn anybody away,” she said. “I think there's definitely a greater need for the service … Our community is changing drastically in terms of demographic.”

A denser population, she said, means more residents in tighter living spaces who want to meet and spend time with people outside their homes.

“Very large-scale city developments do provide public amenities such as daycare and community centres,” said David Rawsthorne, a civil engineer for the City of Vancouver. “But the small to medium ones don't.”

Melissa Needleman, secretary at South Vancouver Neighbourhood House, said she has also noticed a problem. She believes it is due to the fact these community spaces are non-profit and, therefore, cheaper than using the city’s resources.

Berger said the notice was not meant to deter visitors but to help manage a growing problem. SVFP is working to make no cost, low barrier programs more accessible for families in the future.

Mary Jean “Watermelon” Dunsdon addresses supporters with a megaphone at a campaign rally the Wise Hall & Lounge on Oct. 2. TREVOR NAULT PHOTO

Vancouver's 'weed diva' is using cannabis to fill ballots  By TREVOR NAULT

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he has a broad platform. Yet Vancouver City Council hopeful Mary Jean “Watermelon” Dunsdon has narrowed in on one main strategy to lure voters and supporters: cannabis.

Her platform includes free public transit, affordable housing, harm reduction and the easing of rules surrounding cannabis dispensaries.

But what drew in the crowds to her Oct. 2 rally in East Vancouver was the free joints and edibles, glowing hula hoops and burlesque dancers, with smoking paraphernalia available at several tables.

“You have to rally the troops, but you also have to entertain those troops,” Dunsdon, a well-known marijuana advocate, said of the night’s festivities at Wise Hall & Lounge.

Throughout her campaign, Dunsdon has taken aim at the region’s “no fun city” image, driving around in her pink and green tour bus, painted like a watermelon.

“Cannabis definitely inspired this group to get together,” said the Sensible Vancouver candidate, who acknowledges she’s in bed with the cannabis industry though denies her party is running a single-issue campaign.

“We talk a lot about cannabis,” said campaign manager Dana Larsen. “But we’ve also got a pretty broad platform.”

Larsen, a cannabis activist and founding director of the Vancouver Dispensary Network, said the Oct. 14 byelec-

tion is a huge opportunity.

“No one else is talking about cannabis dispensaries and how to deal with them, and really, the many benefits they’re bringing into Vancouver,” he said.

Tristan Risk, a supporter who attended the rally, said Dunsdon’s platform has a lot to offer, even beyond pot.

“She’s running under the Sensible BC campaign, and while their platform is largely cannabis, sensible relates to all things sensible,” she said, pointing to the campaign’s solutions for the housing and opioid crises.

The Vancouver City Council by-election was triggered in July when Vision Vancouver councillor Geoff Meggs gave up his seat to take on a new position as Premier John Horgan’s chief of staff.

LSU fails to capture audience

Turnout a flop at candidate forum  By PERRIN GRAUER

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ast week's all-candidates forum at the Langara Students' Union went largely unnoticed by dozing and lunching bodies, which, according to those running in the election, showed a communication breakdown between the students and their union.

Each of the 10 candidates were allotted a minute and a half to speak to their platforms. Eight

candidates read from what they had could be disqualified if the rest of posted online days earlier. The floor the hopefuls were not given an was then opened for questions, equal amount of space in the paper. though none of Only half the canthe students nearby didates listed on the took advantage of LSU website attendthe opportunity. ed. Several candidates Listen to our Speaking after noted that the LSU’s the event, candistandard approach has LSU election dates mostly agreed been to self-promote podcast at the LSU needs only during orientafresh strategies to tion week. The rest langaravoice.ca promote student of the year, said one engagement with candidate, the union the union. The is mostly invisible and Voice cannot idencan be tremendously tify individual candidates because difficult to reach.

LSU campaign protocols state they A clerk at the student union of-

fice said that LSU policy is to put up election posters, and if there were none, they had been taken down by mistake.

Gurlal Singh, student representative on Langara's education council, was unconvinced.

“I was a little bit disappointed with that excuse," Singh said. "I came to know [of the forum] very late and if I came to know very late, it means the only people who come to attend will be the candidates or random people (by accident)."

Jeannie Bates, chief returning officer who oversees the student election, said in an email the campaign schedule is set in August.

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Atlarge

THE VOICE | THURSDAY, OCT. 12, 2017 | EDITOR SYDNEY MORTON

Locals blow off voting in Port Moody

'Bullying' taints school board race

Hunter Madsen won a byelection Sept. 30 in which 12 per cent of voters cast a ballot  By DANIEL

DADI-CANTARINO

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newly elected Port Moody city councillor believes the low voter turnout in the byelection he won last month shows that many residents aren’t interested in local government.

Hunter Madsen, who ran as an independent candidate, won 1,277 votes in a race that saw only 12 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot Sept 30. Madsen replaces former councillor Rick Glumac, who won a seat with the NDP in the May provincial election.

“I ran into some people when I was door knocking who said, ‘Your candidacy sounds good but no, I’m not voting,’" Madsen told The Voice.

This Saturday (Oct. 14), Vancouverites will vote in a byelection for a new city councillor and a new nine-person school board.

Nine candidates HUNTER MADSEN are running for COUNCILLOR IN council and 19 for PORT MOODY school board.

Janice MacKenzie, Vancouver's chief election officer, believes the number of seats available will translate to a bigger voter turnout.

“This [byelection] is a little bit different because we got the school board — an entire board that people can vote for — and because of how things played out, and how the board was dismissed, there’s greater interest," Mackenzie said.

Trustees were fired last October by former Liberal Minister of Education Mike Bernier after the board refused to balance its budget. Allegations of trustees bullying senior staff later surfaced in two reports ordered by the Ministry of Education and WorkSafe B.C. The byelection was called after Geoff Meggs resigned his council seat in July to become chief of staff to Premier John Horgan. Horgan's government then decided to tack on the school board race to the ballot.

Madsen said he spent “thousands” on his campaign, whereas the ruling Vision Vancouver raised more than $3 million for the 2014 general election.

“I do think that big money plays a role in local politics in Port Moody, but it’s a question of scale,” he said.

2014 GENERAL ELECTION

 Port Moody 35%  Vancouver 37%  Delta 30%  Langley 20% SOURCE: ELECTION2014.CIVICINFO.BC.CA

Vision Vancouver candidate Ken Clement, was the first aboriginal person elected in the City of Vancouver and is running for re-election. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Candidates in Vancouver byelection hope for fresh start  By CASS LUCKE

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former Vision Vancouver school trustee campaigning to get back on the school board says if elected he will work to ensure there is a better relationship between trustees and the district's senior staff.

Ken Clement, a former two-term trustee who failed to get elected in the 2014 civic election, is one of 19 candidates running in the Oct. 14 byelection for one of the nine spots available on school board.

In the last term of the board, trustees were accused of bullying senior staff.

Clement was not a member of the board but is familiar with the controversy that involved members of his party and others.

“The best way to ensure the issues are dealt with is to work together cooperatively for students, parents, teachers and stakeholders in the district to make sure the needs of our district are being met by all parties so none of these accusations are put forward again,” Clement told The Voice.

The accusations Clement is referring to were detailed in a report conducted by Roslyn Goldner.

She determined that bullying and harassment occurred and that

a toxic work environment existed at the school board.

In the fall of 2016, then-educa-

“ It's one thing to rationalize your behaviour at the beginning, but for them to not take responsibility for what has happened is shameful. ” — FRASER BALLANTYNE NPA CANDIDATE

tion minister Mike Bernier fired the entire nine-member board for not balancing a budget.

The board included three of Clement's current Vision col-

leagues.

NPA candidate Fraser Ballantyne was on the previous board, but, along with his colleagues, denies he was a part of the bullying.

“It's one thing to rationalize your behaviour at the beginning, but for them to not take responsibility for what has happened is shameful,” Ballantyne said when asked about Vision Vancouver’s redacted confidential version of Goldner’s report they released on March 7, 2016.

The byelection was called after councillor Geoff Meggs resigned to take a job as Premier John Horgan’s chief of staff.

Horgan's government later decided to include a school board race on the ballot.

Hungry for change and cheddar, business owner lures voters in Denise Brennan will make you a free sandwich if you vote

 By JAKE WRAY

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Vancouver business owner hopes to boost participation in the Oct. 14 city byelection by offering free sandwiches to voters.

Denise Brennan, owner of the Creative Coworkers work studio in Railtown, said she is hosting an election night party — which is open to the public and advertised on Facebook — and will make a grilled cheese sandwich for "anyone who voted."

“I don't necessarily think democracy is a great thing, but it's what we've got, so not engaging in it changes nothing,” said Brennan, who ran in the 2005 provincial election as a candidate with The Work Less Party of B.C. “For me, the important thing is not who

you vote for. The important thing is that you participate, so I encourage people to go.”

The byelection was triggered July 4 when Vision Vancouver Coun.

Geoff Meggs resigned his seat to become Premier John Horgan’s chief of staff. While the campaign for the byelection has been intense—nine candidates are vying for the open seat—voter turnout is generally low for municipal byelections. The previous byelection in 1992 only saw 10 per cent of voters participate.

Jesse Adams, a 20-year-old Vancouver resident and a communications student at Langara College, said he was aware of the byelection.

But he said he doesn’t intend to vote because he has “absolutely no engagement whatsoever,” in municipal politics. “[Municipal politics are] not popular. You never hear about it at all,” he said. “Honestly, politics is a joke nowadays, especially in Canada. No one is involved.”

The Voice interviewed four Lan-

gara students who are Vancouver residents, none of whom said they will vote in the byelection. Most of the students said they can’t vote because they are not Canadian citizens, including Kenda Kobayashi, who is from Japan.

“What is [a byelection]?” he asked.

Photo by 'torbakhopper' via Flickr

Campusnews

EDITOR SASHA LAKIC | THURSDAY, OCT. 12, 2017 | THE VOICE

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Langara Arts move in question Department move to Granville Island faces competition  By

NATALIA CALVILLO

BUENDIA

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Austyn King and other smokers roared out in discontent and agony after learning that the school will demolish the smoking hut between Buildings A and B in the new year. PHOTO BY SASHA LAKIC

Smokers jeer hut removal Demolition of the smoking hut is scheduled for January '18  By TARAN GILL

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mokers at Langara College are upset over the scheduled demolition of the smoking hut outside Building B, which they consider to be a place to socialize not just for themselves but for non-smokers, too.

A survey conducted last spring semester showed 74 per cent of Langara students, faculty and staff in favour of a smoke-free campus, while 39 per cent supported creation of designated smoking areas (DSA’s). Despite the latter statis-

tic, the college’s smoke-free com- smoke and that removing it won’t mittee has decided to get rid of change his habits. the two smoking areas on campus, “We are not close to doorways, including the or the daycare; removal of the we’re not close to “It's going to be smoking hut in other students,” January 2018.

King said, adding unfair to everyone A u s t y n that he has yet to else.”

King, marketsee a non-smoker ing and BBA at the hut convert — JORDAN V.D. SCHAAF-GRANT, BUSINESS STUDENT student and a to smoking. smoker, said “All the research that it is wrong and work they put for the school to remove it because into it was someone simply trying they don’t realize that it is also a so- to find a problem, and when you ciable place for people who do not look for a problem, you’re guaran-

teed to find one.”

Jordan van der Schaaf-Grant, business student and a non-smoker, does not think that it is fair that smokers are losing the hut.

“They should have a choice, otherwise they would just smoke around everyone else,” SchaafGrant said. “It’s going to be unfair to everyone else who does not want to be around it.”

Dawn Palmer, co-chair of the smoke-free committee, did not respond in time to queries regarding the impact of the hut demolition on smokers’ behaviour.

Robbery sparks little fear Students are unfazed by campus robbery thanks to quick action  By LISA TANH

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hough students were surprised that a robbery took place at Langara College last July, they have trust in the campus security protocols after a quick arrest by Vancouver police.

On July 21, during night classes, two students were robbed at gunpoint. Security personnel initiated a lockdown and informed the police, who arrested the robber a short while later close to Main Street and East 17th Avenue. Within an hour the lockdown was lifted and students were free to leave classes.

Nainpreet Uppal, a bioinformatics student at Langara College, was surprised that a robbery had happened on campus.

“These things can happen, but I don’t doubt the security system here,” Uppal said. “This [incident] proves the system is quite good and

fter spending the last year trying to secure the recently vacated South Building at the Emily Carr University of Art + Design campus on Granville Island, Langara College may be out of luck.

Rodney Porter, communications director at the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills & Training, said “in the coming weeks we will be reviewing the next steps to determine the future usage of the space.” The ministry, and long-term leaseholder of the South Building, cannot disclose who has shown interest or what type of institution will occupy the space.

Porter could not say whether the space would, in fact, be used by an educational institution.

Ajay Patel, vice-president of external development at Langara, said via email that the college has reiterated its interest to take on the available space to Minister Melanie Mark during her visit last August.

News reports have speculated that Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Capilano University, Arts Umbrella, and even the U.S.-based organization Delancey Street Foundation are among the institutions said to be interested in the space.

Some 2,500 Langara Creative Arts students from departments such as web development, photography, aboriginal carving and other fine arts would be the potential new users of the facilities.

Under Langara’s plan, the potential Granville Island location would house the art departments of Langara. Prerequisite electives, such as mathematics, English and history, would still have to be taken at the main campus.

Alston So, a first-year fine arts student, said the commute between campuses would be difficult if electives were still at Langara.

“I really don’t think I would like that,” he said. “If so, I would definitely like the courses to be separated by day.”

For other students, it is the atmosphere at Langara that makes them hesitant to change campuses.

“It wouldn’t be the same vibe as Langara, I like it here,” said fine arts student Miho McLaughlin.

“Different people getting together. If it was just going to be for creative arts then it would be kind of a small school vibe."

Langara College's campus security team was on guard on the night of July 21, when an armed robber took off with two students' electronics. PHOTO BY LISA TANH

fast, and the best thing was that nobody was hurt.”

Constable Jason Doucette, media spokesperson with the Vancouver Police Department, could not com-

SUBMITTED PHOTO

ment on the robbery as the case is now before court, but said that the security firms on Vancouver’s campuses are crucial during security incidents.

“They assist us in allocating “These things can our resources in a way that can happen, but I don't get everyone safe and come doubt the security to a successful resolution,” system here.”

Doucette said.

— NAINPREET UPPAL, “They are our BIO-INFORMATICS STUDENT eyes and ears.”

Michele Bowers, chair of Langara College’s counselling department said she is not aware of students wanting to talk about the summer incident, and that generally campus security is not a frequent topic of discussion.

“Events in the world have raised our concerns and hyper-vigilance around safety,” Bowers said, referring to high-profile shootings and other security incidents across the world over the last decade. “I think, there is more of an institutional level of concern around safety and responsiveness to critical incidents.”

Artful lockers may soon be a thing of the past at Langara College. PHOTO BY NATALIA BUENDIA CALVILLO

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THE VOICE | THURSDAY, OCT. 12, 2017 | EDITOR EVAN HAGEDORN

Arts&entertainment Vancouver Diwali Fest to include unorthodox dance types Festival of lights to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary  By LISA TANH

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From left to right: Marguerite Hanna, Michelle Morris and Teo Saefkow perform as weary travellers in Studio 58’s production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It.

Design dilemma resolved PHOTO BY DAVID COOPER

The Studio 58 production required complex props and set  By DANICA WALKER

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ourcing props and designing an elaborate set were just some of the issues Studio 58 faced in their modern rendition of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, set in a refugee camp.

The Shakespearean comedy centres around a group of people living in exile in a French forest. Though Studio 58’s production of the play has the same language as the classic version, it steps away from its conventional setting.

The director, Michael Scholar

Jr., saw a correlation between the current refugee crisis and Shakespeare’s script and attempted to address these issues throughout the play.

“I couldn’t help but see the current migrant crisis and the refugee crisis as a parallel to the story that, 500 years ago, Shakespeare was writing about,” Scholar said.

While trying to include, not only the actors, but the audience into the design of the refugee camp, the studio faced challenges sourcing and creating the set.

Theo Bell, a fourth-year student

and props manager said many of the props needed to be hand-made.

“One of the challenges we found was finding the pieces that looked the part but were also able to be broken down,” Bell said. “One of the ways we kind of dealt with that issue was by having things being hand-made.”

Michelle Morris, who plays Celia in the play says the director has changed the original theatre to look like a refugee camp.

“He has taken what is a newly outfitted theatre as of this past summer and completely torn it

down to its bare minimum,” Morris said.

The crew and the director wanted to use the play as an art form to raise discussion among the audience.

“What the audience walks away with is of course up to them,” Scholar said. “I hope this promotes an interesting discussion about the current migrant crisis but also what art can do and how art can be a vessel in a container for various different messages.”

Showings of As You Like It run until Oct. 15.

Studio 58 bond leads to VIFF film

Grads attribute their success to chemistry developed at Studio 58  By ALLISON HAYES

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fter premiering their film Public Schooled at this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival, two Studio 58 alumni attribute their success to their unique rapport.

Producer and screenwriter Josh Epstein and director Kyle Rideout both graduated from Studio 58 in 2004. The two then formed the production company Motion 58 after they attended a theatre tour put on

by Studio 58. This relationship between the two has led to four productions including Public Schooled.

The film stars notable actors like Judy Greer and Russell Peters, the film is about a teen yearning to break away from his overbearing home schooled mother, played by Greer, to pursue his love for a girl with one-leg.

Epstein says their successful duo was formed while they were attending Studio 58 at Langara College.

“We have a sort of writing, producing, directing chemistry and it’s usually very rare to have that,” Epstein said. “I think a lot of partnerships are formed at Studio 58, a lot of companies have come out of that school”.

Rideout and Epstein aren’t the only Studio 58 graduates who took part in the film, as 2014 graduate Daniel Doheny plays the main role of Liam in the film.

Doheny met the duo when he attended a workshop at Studio 58, but never thought he would be a part of one of their productions.

“When I was at Studio 58 Kyle and Josh had taught a workshop at school, they did a bunch of scenes

Studio 58 alumni Daniel Doheny in the film Public Schooled. SUBMITTED PHOTO

from the movie,” Doheny said. “I had been hovering around the project but I didn’t know I would be so involved.”

Both Rideout and Epstein were excited when their film was showed Oct. 2 at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver.

“Playing at the Rio is fantastic.

So many people and familiar faces it is the best crowd to play for,” Rideout said.

The film Public Schooled will tour film festival throughout North America.

he traditional Indian dance groups that perform at Diwali festivals throughout Vancouver are far more versatile than one might imagine.

Though the performers will please crowds with their tradition Indian dancing in performances leading up to and including Oct. 19 to 23, in their down time the groups are actually practicing and performing culturally diverse dances including Bhangra Highland Scottish fusion, South African Bhangra fusion [and] belly dancing Bhangra fusion says Hardeep Singh Sahota who runs the Royal Academy of Bhangra.

“Our focus is towards providing a wide range of education about our culture, dance and to learn about others,” Sahota said.

Kriti Dewan, the board chair of Diwali Fest in Vancouver says this year’s event will incorporate a spectrum of Indian cultures — as well as Canadian soul music and spoken word poetry to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary.

“Our focus is towards providing a wide range of education about our culture, dance and to learn about others" — HARDEEP SINGH SAHOTA, ROYAL ACADEMY OF BHANGRA

“There will be 12 different performances and some of them will be doing Bollywood belly dancing and Bhangra dancing, while others are performing Canadian soul music and spoken word poetry,” she said.

Some of the performances will take place in Downtown Vancouver, Kitsilano, and the Trout Lake community centre.

The Royal Academy of Bhangra, will also perform on Oct. 19 at the start of Diwali at the Channel Punjabi Diwali Gala in Surrey, which will educate attendees on the importance of cultural change through various traditional dances such as Dandiya and Gidha .

“When we opened our academy, the morale was to actually promote the education about the Punjab folk dance and music culture,” Sahota said.

Diwali Festival, or the Festival of Lights, begins on Oct. 19 and runs until Oct. 23.

This year's Diwali throughout Vancouver will also celebrate Canada's heritage in the form of traditional Indian Dance.

Lifestyles

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EDITOR DUNCAN ANDERSON | THURSDAY, OCT 12, 2017 | THE VOICE

Coffee cups a grande waste Over 20 per cent of waste at Langara is generated from cups One of many beehives at EquiFlora micro apiary that beekeeper Janne Potter looks after all year round TOP FOUR RANKED CAUSES OF BEE COLONY MORTALITY IN B.C., AS CITED BY BEEKEEPERS IN 2016/2017 WINTER LOSS SURVEY

1. WEATHER

Beekeepers in Western provinces say most bee colonies died in April, which was the coldest, wettest/ snowiest April in years

2. STARVATION

The inability of bees in weak colonies to store enough food during the fall.

3. POOR QUEENS

Prince Edward Island reported the highest winter losses of 41.8 per cent in 2017 with poor queens cited by beekeepers as the most frequent cause of colony mortality.

4. WEAK COLONIES IN THE FALL

Caused by some beekeeping operations making splits late in the season to increase numbers of colonies.

SOURCE: WWW.CAPABEES.COM

 By

NATALIA CALVILLO

LINDSEY LLOYD PHOTO

To bee or not to bee W Proper winterization is key to hive survival

 By LINDSEY LLOYD

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ith winter around the corner, beekeepers in Vancouver are readying their hives to prevent bee deaths.

Apiculturists, otherwise known as honey farmers or beekeepers, have many different techniques to keep their colonies alive year round, but getting through the winter season is difficult.

According to a study by the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists, beekeepers across the country have reduced their winter losses to about 17 per cent of the hives, compared to 33 per cent in previous years.

Janne Potter, the owner of EquiFlora micro apiary, said she estimates deaths over winter vary between 10 and 30 per cent.

“When I first started doing this, I would agonize over the loss of a

hive but you begin to realize it’s going to happen,” Potter said. “I think the biggest concern going into the winter is that you have enough bees, healthy bees, and that, cross your fingers, your queen doesn’t die in the winter.”

Paul van Westendorp, the provincial government’s apiculturist, said that it is hard to identify a singular cause in the deaths.

One major factor in the deaths

“You don't have a chance in hell if you don't have mite control.”

JULIA COMMON, CO-FOUNDER OF HIVES FOR HUMANITY

is the Varroa mite, first detected in B.C. in 1990, according to van Westendorp. The mites transmit

dangerous diseases responsible for decimating many bee populations around the world.

“There is nothing more severe and nothing more damaging than Varroa mites in terms of diseases,” van Westendorp said.

Julia Common, co-founder and chief beekeeper at Hives for Humanity, monitors for mites all year long because of their destructive nature.

“The mites end up reducing the immune system of the bee which gives them all sorts of secondary infections,” Common said. “You don’t have a chance in hell if you don’t have mite control.”

Other practices for the winterization of bees include putting boxes filled with water absorbent material on top of hives and covering them to prevent damp weather from intruding.

Building T earns 67 LEED points Langara is first with energy technology but falls short of platinum  By BECCA CLARKSON

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angara’s Science and Technology Building earned 67 LEED points, missing the 80 points required for the highest level of certification, it was revealed last month.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a rating system challenging buildings to be as environmentally friendly as possible. It was announced last year that Langara received a gold certification, though the its score was not divulged. To earn platinum, the highest level, a building has to have its own energy source.

The first ever Thermenex-InA-Box is installed on the roof of Building T, according to Jeff

Weston, Thermenex engineer. Thermenex is patented piping that combines heating and cooling systems so energy can be recaptured from its exhaust.

“We went to Langara and said ‘I've got this idea, I'm pretty sure it will work and it's going to be revolutionary if it does’,” Weston said. “They teach their students to be entrepreneurs and risk takers, so Langara practices what they teach.”

Stephen Teeple, architect at Teeple Architects, one of the firms that designed Building T, said science buildings can be large energy consumers. Reports from Teeple Architects show that Thermenex technology saves the building 46 per cent in costs, and 63 per cent in energy consumption. Thermenex

was first used by Langara in Build ing C and the Students’ Union Building in 2008.

“To make them work efficiently for the college is a massive savings in annual energy costs,” Teeple said.

As well as environmental sustainability, the team behind the Building T also designed with social sustainability, according to Kori Chan, architect at Proscenium Architects & Interior. “The vortex lounges connect at half levels, so we're hoping that as a student from the fifth

floor comes to work in the lounge, someone from the fourth floor also comes up. Then you’ll have students from every department working and socializing together,” Chan said.

The infrastructure of the Building T is set up for solar panels to be installed in the future, according to Chan, and the physics department also hopes to install monitoring instruments and incorporate that data into their course work.

“I've got this idea, I'm pretty sure it will work and it's going to be revolutionary if it does.”

SUBMITTED PHOTO

—JEFF WESTON THERMENEX ENGINEER

The students lounge in Langara’s environmentally sustainable Building T BECCA CLARKSON PHOTO

BUENDIA

hile coffee cups are generally low cost for businesses and consumers, convenience comes with a high cost on the environment.

Coffee cups comprise 20 per cent of the total waste produced at Langara College. In 2016, Langara launched a ‘think green’ campaign that focused on reducing waste on campus. Engagement among students has increased since the implementation of the campaign.

“Coffee cup waste is the plight of all schools and being creatures of habit, it's difficult to convince current students to sacrifice a few seconds,” Marco Buktaw, the coordinator of the Green Team volunteer program, said.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Buktaw has a team of 10 to 15 students whose job is to re-evaluate how recyclables are disposed at big events such as Langara’s Welcome Week and Orientation Week for international students.

A June 2017 report by Vancouver City Council mentions there is an increasing trend towards single use items that is driven by convenience, lack of free time, marketing and food and health safety.

The administrative report stated that in Vancouver alone, an estimated 2.6 million paper cups are thrown away as garbage each week.

Also, disposable cups, lids and sleeves make up 22 per cent of large litter items and are the most common. A first-year health and sciences student at Langara, Naudeep Kaur, is already on board with bringing her own mug.

“I do not drink coffee everyday but when I do I bring my mug," Kaur said. “[It’s] more environmentally friendly.”

Coffee drinkers on campus use disposable cups more than personal mugs because it is more convenient.

“I think it would be more environmentally friendly to bring your own mug, but disposables may be good if you don’t drink coffee every day,” Langara student, Sumit Dhull said.

Buktaw, who is currently doing a co-op program, will continue to fight towards sustainability and waste reduction even after his coop term is finished.

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Viewpoints

THE VOICE | WEDNESDAY, OCT. 12, 2017 | EDITOR SHOJI WHITTIER

Butt hut up in smoke

Will bylaws whack weed?

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T

he Lang a r a Smokefree Committee is planning to tear down the Building B smoking hut, but that may do more harm than good.

SHOJI Cast your memory back WHITTIER to last semester, and one may remember the smoke free survey, put on by the Smoke-Free Committee back in February.

According to the survey, 74 per cent of students voted for a smoke-free campus. In response to this, the committee plans to tear down the Building B smoking hut, scattering Langara’s smokers to the winds.

Smokers consider the hut a popular hangout place and without it, students will be forced to smoke off-campus.

OPINION

OPINION

“Results show that 74% support moving towards a smoke-free campus.”

— LANGARA SMOKE FREE CAMPUS SURVEY

According to the Smoke-free Committee, their decision to ban smoking across campus will encourage smokers to change their ways, but is that really up to the college?

While it’s good that second-hand smoke around campus will become a thing of the past, it’s not up to the college to regulate the health decisions of the students. We’re all adults here – or at least old enough to make our own decisions, and as long as the smokers light up in their own little space, who are we to judge?

The decision to close the hut might also have negative impacts on Langara’s neighbours.

With smoking banned at Langara, students would have to leave campus to smoke, taking to local streets and sidewalks. Nearby residents might not be all too excited about having college kids taking their smoke breaks in front of their property.

Keeping the smoking hut would be the perfect compromise. Smokers would have their beloved hangout space, the rest of us wouldn’t hack up a lung walking around campus, and our neighbours won’t have to seal their windows every school day.

Maybe the committee will consider this, and let the cigarette embers warm their hearts.

The Voice is published by Langara College’s journalism 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 include your name and phone number.

f cities have souls, then Vancouver’s is buried somewhere under a stack of bylaws. For one so young and beautiful, Vancouver’s self-regulation is astounding and it JENNIFER occasionally forgets to truly enjoy WILSON itself in a soul-baring, ‘gorging on the sweet melancholy of existence’ kind of way. I have sat in baffled sobriety at many an outdoor festival, gripping a seven dollar latte and wondering how to leave politely. Days at the beach here are fabulous, but even the beach has a closing time and you can’t have a beer.

Marijuana is Vancouver’s last, glorious, refuge of civil disobedience and love – or at least greet – thy neighbour.

This is why we need more outspoken, pot-positive legislators like Mary Jean Dunsdon as we prepare for legalization July 1.

Dunsdon's recent campaign for city council is centred on creating a fun city.

She calls nudist Wreck Beach the last bastion of freedom, and warns that, after legalization, over regulation of cannabis could kill the heart of the city and make pot less accessible to those who need it most. I am worried she may be right.

The hard labour of the anti-prohibition movement has been sustained by advocates like Dunsdon, who see it not as a market commodity or a deviant luxury, but as a treatment for addiction, a community unifier and a healer. They deserve a seat at the table to continue to question the negative perceptions behind high licensing fees and incapacitating site restrictions.

Celebrating the end of prohibition is not the end game. As cannabis is fed into the great regulatory machine, we must continue to do our civic duty and monitor those who would legislate the heart out of the community. In Dunsdon, I see someone crying out for us to remember the soul of the issue. While there is much talk of protecting people from cannabis, I want voices like Dunsdon’s protecting cannabis from people.

Alternative medicine practices, such as the Integrative Energy Healing Program offered by the Continuing Studies Department, might not be based in medical science. ILLUSTRATION BY PERRIN GRAUER

Fringe medicine just hocus-pocus

L

angara College should take a closer look at its alternative medicine courses, as they sit on scientifically shaky ground with studies contradicting their legitimacy.

Medical experts, like Dr. Steve E Hartman at the University of New England, have questioned the efficacy of these therapies and have recommended academic institutions to stop offering these courses.

In an article published in Chiropractic & Manual Therapies journal, Dr. Hartman concludes, “until outcome studies show that these techniques produce a direct and positive clinical

effect, they should be dropped from all academic curricula.”

In another article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, authors Dr. Marcia Angell, and Dr. Jerome TARAN P. Kassirer, argue GILL that the scientific community should stop giving a free ride to alternative medicine.

The study, published in 1998, concludes, “Alternative treatments should

be subjected to scientific testing no less rigorous than that required for conventional treatments.”

The temptation of these alternative medicines has the ability to distract patients from life-saving western medicine treatments.

Valuable time could be lost when patients opt for alternative therapies that mislead them about the cause and cure of their condition.

Langara offering these courses could damage the legitimacy of the other medical courses offered.

The days might not be far when we see ghost-busting and Quidditch offered on the course list.

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Issues&ideas

EDITOR CASS LUCKE | OCT. 12, 2017 | THE VOICE

7

Student bashes 'magic' therapy Langara College Continuing Studies Program accused of teaching baseless holistic practices  By DANICA WALKER

A

former Langara College student is taking a moral stand against the school for its “magic” therapy courses offered by the Continuing Studies department.

Brian Lynchehaun, who had considered taking holistic health classes at Langara in 2014, nixed his plans because he said Langara offer courses that are not scientifically proven.

Instead he studied philosophy, mathematics and sciences.

Lynchehaun says that he no longer puts Langara on his resume because he does not “want to be associated" with Langara's questionable academic choices.

“They are claiming to teach you how to heal people and (the practices) do not work,” Lynchehaun said.

“There's a real possibility of helping people in new ways.”

— KATHRYN BROWNING, CONTINUING STUDIES PROJECT COORDINATOR

The Health and Human Sciences Department offers classes on holistic approaches to healthcare such as integrative energy healing, aromatherapy and, until recently, craniosacral therapy, which ended with the instructor's departure. The college isn't ruling out craniosacral therapy courses in the future.

Kathryn Browning, Continuing Studies Project Coordinator and graduate of the Integrative Energy Healing Program, has worked as a nurse and a midwife.

Browning said she sees where the limitations and needs for change are, but “there’s a real possibility of helping people in new ways and Continuing Studies has been a great home for this program.”

However, Dale BRIAN LYNCHEHAUN Beyerstein, a reprofessor FORMER LANGARA tired STUDENT of history of science and ethics at Langara is skeptical in a 2009 article in The Globe and Mail.

"There is not a single peer-reviewed controlled study backing up any of the treatments taught in that program, and it is an embarrassment to Langara," Beyerstein said at the time.

More than 70 per cent of Canadians regularly use complementary and alternative healthcare therapies, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Mayuko 'Coko' Nakashima, an integrated healing practitioner who has studied and taught all over the world, said holistic therapy is “a more long-term solution to chronic pain than what is offered in conventional medicine.”

Sandi Melody leads her Yoga-Sing class in a warm up. PHOTO BY BECCA CLARKSON

Overall health balanced by harmonizing practices

Singing and yoga merge for enhanced vocal performance

By BECCA CLARKSON

S

ingers and yogis harmonize in a new program led by Sandi Melody of Harmony House Music School in Vancouver where body awareness and performance are combined.

Melody has been a voice, piano and performance specialist since 1993, but only began teaching yoga this past summer. While earning her Yoga Teacher Training Certificate at Langara College, Melody recognized that both yoga and singing rely on a knowledge of subtle body movements and energy.

“Anything that you pursue, whether yoga or singing, it’s about

refining and deepening,” Melody said. “It doesn't matter what art form it is because in the end it's all meditation, it's about getting to that centre.”

"It's not about entertainment, it's about singing for your health."

— SANDI MELODY, CREATOR OF HARMONY HOUSE MUSIC SCHOOL

Yoga-Sing classes began on Sept.

8 and run every Friday at 10:30 a.m. at the Labyrinth in St.Paul’s Angli-

can Church on Jervis Street. Due to its time-slot, classes have become popular among Vancouver’s retired community and those who do not work a nine-to-five job.

Classes begin with 45 minutes of yoga followed by 45 minutes of singing. The program will run for six consecutive weeks, but Melody hopes to offer evening and weekend classes in the future.

"Songs with long phrases achieve the same effect as breathing exercises in yoga. In other words, through song we can exercise a certain control over mental states,” Björn Vickhoff, Musicologist for the University of Gothenburg, Sweden said in a 2014 study.

Approaching animal healing with hollistic practices Reiki performed the same way on animals and humans

By NICK VALKA

A

healing technique based on the transfer of energy called Reiki has been gaining popularity all over Vancouver, but why should it stop with humans?

Reiki is being practiced on pets the same way it is practiced on humans, and can be practiced in person or over a distance. The practitioner “channels healing energy through [their] hands to the animal through a light touch either directly on the body or from a distance,” as explained by Ingrid King, a Reiki practitioner based in Northern Virginia.

Sessions typically last 15 to 30 minutes with the end goal of balancing a pet’s energy to relax them and make them less susceptible to sickness.

Some people like Hakam Bhullar, a 42 year veterinarian at Atlas Animal Hospital, are skeptical of the effectiveness of Reiki.

"I’ve had a lot of interactions

with clients [who] have been taken advantage of,” Bhullar said. “Something has happened to their pet, they try distance Reiki, they’re charged (and believe everything) will be fine, but here I am, knowing that the dog is dying of cancer and he can not make it.”

Kelly Kiss is a Reiki practitioner based on Salt Spring Island who said Reiki can be performed on almost anything.

“Your animals will be naturally drawn to it, you can do Reiki on your plants, on your food,” Kiss said. “We can send distance reiki to the other side of the world. So you don’t need to be touching your animals, it’s just energy,” Kiss said.

Kiss said she honours everyone’s belief system, but suggests they try it themselves before making any conclusions.

Willow Mainprize, a pet Reiki practitioner based in North Vancouver, admits that she understands the skepticism surrounding the practice.

“Reiki is never a substitute for western medicine or veterinary medicine,” Mainprize said. “If anything, we’re there in a supportive and complementary nature. I just think it’s really important for people to remain open, and embrace and try new things.”

There are currently three practitioners of Reiki in South Vancouver.

Donna Kurtz has practiced yoga for twenty years but only incorporated singing after joining Yogasing. Kurtz said laughter and play in classes make the program appropriate for all ages.

“The feeling of singing is more important than how you sound,” said Kurtz. “There’s a tenderness that gets tapped into during class and it’s a really safe place to just let go.”

"In our western civilization we have this idea that only the gifted people can sing, and if you are not born with talent you should not do it," Melody said. "It's not about entertainment, it's about singing for your health."

Willow Mainprize demonstrates Reiki on her dog at her home studio in North Vancouver. PHOTO

BY NICK VALKA

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Sportsnews

THE VOICE | THURSDAY, OCT. 12, 2017 | EDITOR VIOLETTA KRYAK

Ex-Falcon helps kids soar Former Langara basketball player opens his own academy  By MYRA DIONNE

T

he sound of basketballs pounding hardwood floors, the swish of a net and squeaking rubber soles is more than just familiar noise to coach Jamie Oei. It’s the sound he listened to while watching his father coach high school basketball as a kid.

His father passed away one year ago and now its Oei’s turn to mentor small kids.

Now he coaches and directs Vancity Basketball Academy in North Vancouver. He opened the academy four years ago to provide accessible space for kids to play, even if it meant taking a pay cut.

“I'm not a great business man to be honest,” he said. Oei, 40, played for the men’s basketball team at Langara College in 1999. At 23, he became their head coach – a rare achievement. “In the grand scheme of things, it pays off, because when you do positive things for people you get that kickback later on from somewhere else.”

Rana Lee, who played for the women’s basketball team at Langara in 1999, currently sends her son to the academy. She said Oei is tough on the kids, but fair and fun.

“He’s such a good coach in assessing the kids’ level, where they are and what skills need to be developed. That’s why I trust him, you know he knows basketball,” Lee said.

Head coach of the UBC basketball team, Kevin Hanson, coached Oei at Langara and said the job can be an emotional rollercoaster, but it’s the relationships that leave the deepest impression.

“Life after basketball is not just about the X’s and O’s on the court.

It’s about lifelong friendships,” Hanson said.

He once caught Oei past curfew on a tournament trip to Hawaii, but allowed him to play the following day. They lost their game by one point.

Oei said Hanson is one of his biggest influences next to his father, Ernie Oei. “It's funny, you try to get away from your parents when you're younger but then you actually start becoming a lot like them,” Oei said.

He is organizing a free basketball camp this winter in honour of his dad.

Golfers in the rough

Langara golf team season ends after failure to make finals  By NICK VALKA

I

Jamie Oei, head coach at Vancity Basketball Academy, raises his arms in the air after a ball made the net at the sound of the whistle during Wednesday night practice with the Grade 4/5 division at Norgate Community Elementary School in North Vancouver, B.C. MYRA DIONNE PHOTO

nconsistent play and injuries left Langara’s golf team struggling to find their swing in their third season of PacWest competition.

The season ended for the Falcons this weekend after they didn’t qualify for nationals.

Fourth-year player Jacob Vanderpas, who went into the final tournament six strokes back of the individual lead, said the team needs more consistency.

“Kind of up and down, mixed emotions. We had a little hiccup over the last couple of weeks with some players injured, there’s some good competition,” Vanderpas said, who was named the PacWest Athlete of the Week this September.

“I want to make some damage,” Vanderpas said, going into the last tournament of the season and within striking distance of another individual championship.

Josh Kujundzic’s first season as a Falcon was derailed with injury, as he missed several tournaments throughout the season, which played a role in the team’s woes.

Kujundzic suffered an ankle injury the night before the team left for their second tournament, and was unable to play in the second and third competition.

Despite this, Kujundzic said he had a lot of fun playing with the team.

“The golf could have been better, I didn’t play very good in either of the tournaments I played in, but I enjoyed playing for the team and had a good season overall.”

Head coach Tom Flockhart is optimistic about the future of the team’s chances next season.

“We have bigger goals next year for sure,” Flockhart said. “We’re hoping to keep this team together throughout the winter, spring, summer, and then maybe add some pieces next year.”

The Falcons placed fifth as a team in PacWest league and no players moved on to nationals individually.

Soccer: women pull ahead, men languish Heading into second half of season, Falcons must notch wins  By JENNIFER WILSON

M Midfielders Colin Hempel, Jonah Pang and Alexander Escobar, during practice at Musqueam turf on Oct. 2, 2017. JENNIFER WILSON PHOTO

idway through the season, things are looking up for the women’s soccer team who now stand third in the PacWest league, while the men remain at the bottom of the league.

As the season moved into October, both Falcons’ teams grabbed their first wins and the women took home a second victory against Douglas College over Thanksgiving weekend.

With 11 rookies starting this season, new head coach Rachael Pelat, said the women had put a lot of hard work into forming relationships on and off the field.

“Every player was a warrior on the field and that's the same mentality that they're going to have to bring into every game going forward,” Pelat said. “I think they know they might be considered the underdogs in this league, but they can win.”

Captain Sydney Bell said the Falcons were coming together as a unit during training sessions.

“We’re feeling good because we’ve had some really consistent practices recently,” Bell said.

The team tied five games before their first win of the season against Douglas.

The men continue to trail the league and the game over the holi-

day weekend put their total season losses at seven, despite the win against Quest University on Oct. 1.

Head coach Marc Rizzardo said the team’s confidence had been boosted by the win, but there is still work to be done.

“I had to bring them down a little bit and remind them it was their first win,” Rizzardo said. “It's not like we've been playing really poorly, we've just missed chances and Sunday [on Oct. 1] we finally put them together, so I'm hoping the momentum carries on.”

Center back Devon Sandhu said that despite a shaky start, the team is feeling determined.

“It gives us more incentive now to focus even harder,” he said.

Both teams will play Vancouver Island University once again on Oct. 14.

GAMES SCHEDULE WOMEN Oct. 14, 2017

vs. Vancouver Island University 12:00 p.m.

Nanaimo Turf

Oct. 15, 2017 vs. Capilano University 12:00 p.m.

Musqueam

Oct. 22, 2017

vs. Quest University 12:00 p.m.

Quest Campus

MEN Oct. 14, 2017

vs. Vancouver Island University 2:30 p.m.

Nanaimo Turf

Oct. 15, 2017 vs. Capilano University 2:30 p.m.

CapU

Oct. 18, 2017 vs. Douglas College 7:30 p.m.

Cunnings