First the robot, then the divers enter Vancouver's dark depth P4&5
Falcons basketball teams make it into post-season tournament
First intimacy co-ordinator brought to Studio 58 langaravoice.ca
While South Vancouver suffers from the worst ratio of overdose deaths to emergency calls, mobile services could be one option to help keep people alive, according to city councillor Pete Fry.
Fry said he is unsure whether a harm-reduction site would be suitable for South Vancouver “because of the sheer size and de-concentration of users and overdoses.”
He said, “I'm more partial to a mobile solution, to be honest.” A mobile solution aims to provide harm reduction service where people live.
Data from B.C. Emergency Health Services and B.C. Centre for Disease Control shows that South Vancouver has had the worst death-to-call ratio in the city for the past six years.
In 2022, there was one illicit drug toxicity death for every eight overdose calls attended by paramedics in South Vancouver, compared to a 1:14 ratio in the entire city that same year.
Amal Ishaque, co-founder of the Marpole Mutual Aid Network, said the lack of city resources in South Vancouver is a problem.
“We hear the ambulances all the time,” Ishaque said, adding that South Vancouverites “need a safe supply.”
Ishaque said at least one safe consumption site is needed to begin with. “At the same time, I think we definitely need more mobile services to come into the neighbourhoods.”
get to them.
“We go to mansions … and we also go to street corners and down alleyways and into parks.”
Selby-Brown said the van also transports samples of users’ drugs to the organization’s office for testing.
“The weekend warrior, for example, who uses coke on the weekends or MDMA or something with his partner or by himself, isn’t likely to come into a safe injection site to access drug checking,” she said. “That's why we fought so hard to get the permission from the Ministry of Transportation to be able to legally transport drug samples so that we could include those people.”
Upkar Singh Tatlay, the founder and executive director of Engaged Communities Canada Society, which operates the Mobile Health Unit, said the program helps to break down cultural barriers to harm reduction in Surrey.
Like South Vancouver, visible minorities in those areas represent more than half of the population in 2016 Census data by Statistics Canada.
Tatlay said it makes all the difference when people who speak their languages reach out, especially in South Asian communities.
“It was our family, friends and loved ones, our relatives. We were attending funerals,” he said, adding that he recognized there were no resources within ethnic communities when he saw a spike in deaths a decade ago.
THE LOWER MAINLAND PURPOSE SOCIETY FOR YOUTH AND FAMILIES
Mobile services could reach those using drugs who “invisibilize themselves” to avoid harassment, not just by police or during street sweeps but also by some neighbours who don’t want them there, Ishaque said.
Kristina Selby-Brown, the co-ordinator of the Mobile Health Van at The Lower Mainland Purpose Society for Youth and Families, said, “Wherever people are that need the services, we will
In an email to the Voice , Vancouver Coastal Health’s communications department stated VCH has not opened overdose prevention sites in South Vancouver because the authority “prioritizes and delivers substance use services based on community needs or demands, and overdose risk.”
The Vancouver health authority said it offers harm reduction supplies in South Vancouver through the South Mental Health and Substance Use Team clinic on West 73rd Avenue.
Artificial intelligence experts say chatbots are becoming more sophisticated, making it easier to scam victims out of money and steal personal information.
ChatGPT, released three months ago, is such a convincing chatbot that it can be confused for a real person.
Designed to simulate conversations with humans, chatbots have been used to deceive people through romance scams by persuading them to send money or stealing their information.
A worldwide online protection organization, McAfee, released a research report last month showing two-thirds of the 5,000 people surveyed were unable to tell if a love letter was written by ChatGPT.
An informal poll conducted by the Voice showed that 24 of 32 Langara students were afraid of being scammed by chatbots on dating apps.
UBC computer science professor Jeff Clune previously worked as a research team leader for OpenAI, the company that developed ChatGPT. He said it is increasingly difficult to tell the difference between computer-generated and humangenerated texts.
Clune said scams can begin with a fake romantic relationship and lead to stealing people's money and personal information.
“If you gain trust, as any scammer knows, eventually, you can take advantage,” Clune said.
Tools to identify chatbot texts “will never be good, and almost certainly will never be perfect,” he said.
AI specialist Jesse Hoey, a computer science professor at the University of Waterloo, said today’s advanced chatbots can gather information on dating techniques and behaviours and use that information to scam more victims.
He said some techniques used can be misogynistic and are used to manipulate people, especially the
most vulnerable.
“People who are looking for a romantic encounter might be willing to just believe what they read,” Hoey said.
Justin Yao, deputy chief information officer at Langara College, told the Voice in an email that people should not reveal too much about themselves. Yao also advised people to take their time in their interactions as scammers usually try to “rush you into things.”
“Be suspicious and curious,” he said. “If something is too good to be true, it usually is.”
First-year Langara student Deborah Nwankwo said she was matched on Tinder with a person she thought was a “tall Italian.” Nwankwo became alarmed when his pictures suddenly changed. She realized it was someone who was faking their identity.
Nwankwo said if she could be deceived by a person, she could not rule out being tricked by a chatbot. “I don't think I'll ever know.”
Advocates say at least one harm reduction site in addition to mobile services are desperately needed in neglected South Vancouver
“We go to mansions … we also go to street corners and down alleyways.”
— KRISTINA SELBY-BROWN , MOBILE HEALTH VAN CO-ORDINATOR
As Coquitlam’s seven advisory committees reconvene this month, questions remain about progress on LGBTQ+ participation in these civic bodies.
The issue was raised in a March 2022 meeting of Coquitlam’s universal access-ability advisory committee (UAAC), where there was discussion of “the belief that LGBTQ+ issues were not addressed within the city’s advisory committee mandates, other than universal accessibility issues,”the meeting minutes show.
At that time, a council member “noted that staff would follow-up regarding LGBTQ representation on
advisory committees, if available.”
But one year later, the status of that follow-up is unclear, to the disappointment of some advocates who want to see members of the LGBTQ+ community taking a more active role at city hall.
City officials say Coquitlam remains committed to promoting and celebrating diversity.
Coquitlam Coun. Teri Towner, who now chairs the UAAC, says council is not considering establishing a new advisory committee made up of and focused on the LGBTQ+ community, but the city does offer other initiatives that strengthen equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). She noted the inclusion of Coquitlam’s rainbow crosswalk in 2018, special lighting and banners
during Pride, and the hiring of an EDI manager last year.
Manisha Dutta, the city’s manager of EDI, said she works with city staff, including the legislative services department which oversees advisory committees, to ensure “a diversity of lived experiences is valued and acknowledged.”
Coquitlam’s advisory committees includes seven volunteer bodies who meet regularly and advise council on issues including sustainability, multiculturalism, cultural services, community safety and the universal access-ability advisory committee.
The debate comes as LGBTQ+ issues remain a topic of conversation in Coquitlam and the Tri-Cities after controversy surrounding January’s
Drag Queen Story Time at Coquitlam Public Library. Protesters gathered outside the library, followed by counter-protesters showcasing support for the children’s event.
Nicola Spurling, a social justice advocate and former president of TriCities Pride, attended the counterprotest in January, and described it as the “biggest queer gathering the TriCities have ever seen.”
Asked for her opinion about the potential for a LGBTQ+ advisory committee in Coquitlam, Spurling said it could create positive change.
“I think having an advisory committee would help that [EDI] work actually be accomplished and take it from performative to something action-based,” Spurling
said.
Of the LGBTQ+ Canadians living in urban centres, 10.8 per cent reside within Vancouver, a municipality with an established LGBTQ+ advisory committee for over a decade.
Eddy Elmer, former co-chair of Vancouver’s 2SLGBTQ+ committee, says that LGBTQ+ British Columbians deserve more localized communities outside of Vancouver, noting that some members on Vancouver’s committee reside in the Tri-Cities because of factors like affordability.
“I think there’s just going to be more LGBTQ+ people living there [in the Tri-Cities], because Vancouver’s not necessarily the epicenter of our community,” Elmer said.
land.” The bog is also part of the traditional, unceded territories of several First Nations.
By LAUREN ACCILIAcold storage facility to be built near what some call a critical part of the Lower Mainland’s environment has moved closer to reality over the objection of North Delta residents.
Following a public hearing at the municipal hall in Ladner on Feb. 14 that featured vocal community opposition, Delta council unanimously moved the proposed facility to final approval pending certain conditions being met by the developer.
Delta Fresh has applied to build a cold storage warehouse and food processing facility near Burns Bog in North Delta. The Burns Bog Conservation Society calls the bog the “lungs of the Lower Main-
Wesley Wollin, project director and architect for Delta Fresh, said the intended site for the Delta Fresh facility is not “farmable.”
“We do work very closely with many engineers and specialists and environmental assessments,” Wollin said.
“Both professional reports said … the current condition is not farmable, nor would it be feasible to be farmed.”
Environmental impacts were the biggest concerns for the 11 Delta residents who spoke at the February public hearing. They included Christine Johnson who was worried about the number of mature trees that would be cut down.
“Where does it all end?” Johnson said.
Kelly Jamieson, another North Delta resident who attended the public hearing in opposition to the
construction of the cold storage facility, created a petition called No Cold Storage that received 750 signatures within the first two days of its creation.
ety who also spoke against the proposal, said she’s concerned with the cumulative effects.
“This [cold storage facility] will disrupt how wildlife will communicate.”
Burns Bog, and I think what a lot of people do not realize is there are extremely stringent controls in place around that bog,” Wollin said.
Jamieson NORTH DELTA RESIDENT“It’s just a wrong location. There are so many other industrial areas that already have the infrastructure to handle something like this,” Jamieson said. Jamieson grew emotional while speaking at the hearing and said that the facility along with the construction of the cold storage warehouse will “change the way we come home.”
“As soon as you start encroaching on those spaces, you permanently change the feel and the sense of community,” she said.
Beverly Hobby, one of the directors of the Burns Bog Soci-
Prior to the public hearing, Delta city councillor Dylan Kruger said the facility would give the farming community more opportunities for their products to be processed.
“It’s not as simple as building a warehouse on agricultural land in the sense that it’s supporting agriculture,” Kruger said. “And the farming community actually is vocally in favour of it.”
The Delta Fresh facility would be used for distribution of fresh produce and dairy products, cold storage and processing. It would not include meat products.
Wollin said he disagrees with those concerned about how the Delta Fresh facility will affect Burns Bog.
“We’ve actually looked at the interface between our site and
“There are always concerns with new developments, but there’s also no rational reasons for those concerns to be backed up.” Wollin said he has a lot of confidence in the application and that it will contribute to the resolution of food security.
“We get the anxiety that’s happening around the community, but inside the team we see this as kind of an exciting facility that Delta, we think, will be proud to have on its ground once it’s up and running,” Wollin said. “I think people imagine worst case scenarios.”
Delta council unanimously voted to move the application past third reading. The application is now on its way to a fourth reading for which the developer will have to meet various conditions. Meeting those conditions could take up to a year.
Proposed facility near Burns Bog moves closer to approvalNicola Spurling outside Coquitlam Public Library on Jan. 14, 2023. Spurling says that January’s Drag Queen Story Time was the “biggest queer gathering the Tri-Cities have ever seen."
City officials say Coquitlam is committed to inclusion, but advocates want an established LGBTQ+ advisory body
Kelly
Olga Byrledianu didn’t hear the first explosions when they began in Kyiv, Ukraine as Russia launched its invasion of its neighbour more than a year ago.
Three days later, she fled with her family and her dog, Roger, to the Czech Republic.
Outdated signs with floor maps potentially in breach of the fire code have been removed from Langara College walls.
The signs came to the attention of students when Jackson Belec, a second-year geography student, shared a post in February on Reddit showcasing inaccurate signs and maps around campus.
The signs had apparently not kept up with updates to campus buildings.
“If there's issues with vision, and there's issues of navigation, having a floor plan that is not accurate, could pose issues in the event of an emergency,” said Belec.
Several days after the Voice reported on the story online, the signs had disappeared.
Langara facilities department has not responded to questions from the Voice about the fate of the signs.
There haven’t been any complaints to the facilities department regarding the signs, said Langara facilities director Dwayne Doornbosch, who noted that changes to campus signs are continuously being made.
Failing to update emergency signs and maps when building layout changes can create a risk, especially in an emergency, said Matthew Trudeau, captain of public information for Vancouver Fire Rescue Service.
He said the service has assigned a
fire inspector to the campus but no recent inspections have been done.
Upgrading signs on a building is not mandatory but it is a responsibility of building owners because buildings are constantly changing, said Peg McAndrews, a business development manager for Vancouver Fire and Radius Security.
Changes should be made to the fire plans if the renovations would change the “footprint” or the escape plan for the building’s occupants, she said.
McAndrews said that these plans should display how people can access the emergency exits, fire extinguishers or hoses, and how to call the fire department.
But students might not refer to posted signs and maps in the event of an emergency.
“Very often, what actually happens is people leave the building the same way they enter it,” Weisner said. Some departments have their own emergency plan in place. For instance, students of Studio 58 say that they were told to go to the loading dock in case of an emergency takes place.
“I honestly feel like in my survival instincts I just find the closest door to me and just leave,” Gabby Friedman, a first year production student said.
In his Reddit post, Belec also said the emergency exit at the end of the psychology offices’ hallway on the third floor of the C Building is being blocked by a door.
Felix Weisner, an expert in fire structural safety and an assistant professor at UBC, said blocking access is a problem.
“Generally, any sort of routes that are designated for emergencies should be kept clear and unobstructed,” he said.
in March 2022 and it covers a period of three years.
During her time in the Czech Republic, Byrledianu directed a short film, building on her studies at the Ukrainian Film School, she said.
She wanted to continue her studies in film and decided to come to Langara College when she found out the college would waive international fees and only charge her as a domestic student, Byrledianu said.
Union, came to Canada in 2019 from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. When news of the invasion broke in 2022, Shubina said she couldn’t focus on anything else.
“It was extremely challenging to continue my studies,” said Shubina. “Ukraine was all that mattered to me.”
—Nine months later, she arrived in Canada, and in January became a film arts student at Langara College.
“I've only been here one month but I already love it,” she said. “I feel big support from people here, especially from teachers or mentors or program coordinators.”
Byrledianu is being offered the chance to apply for the Ukrainian Support Bursary through Langara College Foundation. The college established the $30,000 commitment
Film arts program coordinator Jonas Quastel said he is thrilled to have Byrledianu in his class but said he believes Langara College can do even more to help refugees.
“I think [the Langara] Foundation could probably get a fundraiser going for Ukrainian refugees so that they can just come and have their tuition covered in total,” he said. Even away from home, Ukrainians are still feeling the effects of the war.
Anna Shubina, founder and president of the UBC Ukrainian Student
She said she is grateful to her professors for supporting her at the time both in allowing accomodations for school work and raising awareness about the war in her classes. She said Ukrainian students found it difficult to find support from someone who understood what they were going through.
“It was difficult to find counsellors specializing in trauma. So many Ukrainian students, especially internationally, did not know who to trust or look for support,” Shubina said.
“In my case, I’m thankful to my parents for supporting me.”
Arriving in Vancouver, Byrledianu found support in a Ukrainian homestay to start her life in a new city.
“A lot of people actually were very helpful here," she said, noting many people would donate items such as clothing, "because we're carrying only one luggage and a dog.”
“I've only been here one month but I already love it."
OLGA BYRLEDIANU, LANGARA COLLEGE FILM ARTS STUDENT
When remotely operated robots meet their limit in the city’s sewers, it’s time for a human diver to delve into the complete darkness of Metro Vancouver’s toxic raw sewage.
In an age of human jobs conceding to the efficiency of robots, sewer divers are a rare exception where humans need to do the work. For several years now, Metro Vancouver has started to use humans rather than robots for some sewer inspections and repairs.
Divers tasked with entering the
rately as humans making a human sewer diver faster and cheaper.
“Sewer divers can … actually ascertain the defect much better,” he said.
Ryan Anderson, a former diver with 22 years of experience using both robots and human divers, now owns and runs Canpac Marine Services Inc., which occasionally deals with sewer diving.
Diving, like most trade work, is not a job devoid of risk, he explained.
“If you make it over 20 years in this business and you, yourself or someone you know closely hasn’t been injured or killed, it’s pretty rare,”
to five people. The sewer-bound diver is fitted with a fully sealed “vulcanized rubber suit,” attached to a dive helmet and air supply. The suit is put to the ultimate leak test when entering the subterranean network of sewer pipes where any opening could mean exposure to diseaseridden sewage.
When the diver emerges from the sewer, Anderson said they must go through a critical three-phase cleaning process to avoid contamination or illness.
“Anything someone flushes down the toilet is going into those reservoirs,” Anderson said.
For now, humans must still go into sewers and do the work necessary, but robotic advancements will only advance and could one day replace sewer divers, according to Anderson.
“In 50 years, the way robotics are going, I’d be surprised if there are lots of manned diving operations going on.”
Left: A contaminated diver for Canpac rine Services SUBMITTED PHOTO
Bottom middle: Bran don Maynard directs the crawler in the sewer from the view of computer screen.
TY LIM PHOTO
Middle: A Metro-Van sewer where robots and divers inspect repair. SUBMITTED PHOTO
Top: Trevor Lane finished inspecting sewer for defects that diver may repair.
TY LIM PHOTO
Top right: A camera crawler used to videosurvey the sewers.
TY LIM PHOTO
Bottom right: Trevor Lane pulls the crawler out of the sewer after an inspection. TY PHOTO
Before human divers enter Metro Vancouver's City sewers to conduct repairs, their robotic ally, known as a camera crawler, must go down to inspect the damage.
A camera crawler is a robot equipped with a camera that human operators can control from the surface.
Bill Cameron owns Dougness Holdings Ltd, a company that inspects Metro Vancouver’s sewers using camera crawlers.
Cameron’s semi-trailer vacuum truck will first flush the sewer with enough water to fill a small swimming pool at high pressure, then a cutter robot is lowered down by his crew and driven through the pipe to clear any roots that would block the crawler's path.
Cameron said roots grow between openings in the sewer pipe’s joints when they are not installed properly.
Next, the crawler is lowered into the manhole by its tethered power source. A human operator
like Brandon Maynard can then remotely drive the crawler through the sewer, using a screen and control panel linked to the crawler's camera.
But the process is not as simple as it sounds.
Sometimes, when cold air on the surface flows down through the warm dank air in the sewers, the crawler's camera can fog up.
“You can't see a thing, it's just all fogged up,” said Maynard.
Maynard said it would be easier if he could inspect the sewer walls with his own eyes rather than the hazy camera lens.
While sewer divers can see and feel for defects in sewer pipes that a crawler’s camera might easily spot, they are fortunate that some obsta cles in the sewer are seen by the crawler first, not the human diver.
To Cameron, the most surprising obstacle encountered was a live raccoon.
“He backed up and got out,” he said. “He took off,” Cameron said.
contaminated Mainc.
PHOTO Brandirects sewer of his screen.
PHOTO Metro-Van robots and PHOTO Lane is inspecting the that a repair.
PHOTO camera videosewers. PHOTO Trevor crawler after TY LIM
PHOTO
drive screen camera. sounds. flows sewers, up,” could rather defects not obstaand obstacle he just
Comprehensive adult sex education is vital for the safety and wellbeing of every person, especially young adults.
Gaps in sex education can lead to difficulties for mental and physical health. Action Canada states that comprehensive sex education can help reduce the incidence of sexually transmitted infections, reduce the rates of unplanned pregnancies, and reduce sex abuse.
Some parents and organizations such as ParentsVoice BC, which ran candidates in the November 2022 civic elections, express concern about overexposing their children to sexuality and wish to censor their children’s education. However, comprehensive sex education has been shown to lead to less risktaking behaviour and an increased use of condoms and contraception, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
This wisdom applies not only to teenagers, but also to young adults.
Sex education helps counter cultural myths that may have been harboured by young people, such as how it’s impossible to get someone pregnant while they are on their period.
In B.C., the sex ed curriculum is age-appropriate for children from kindergarten to Grade 12. Five-yearolds learn about respectful behaviour and safety, whereas students in high school learn about infections, how to use condoms, and more.
Our societal understanding of sex is constantly evolving, with new research and studies being coming out every year. For example, the Kinsey Institute is currently conducting research on how COVID-19 affected sexual relationships.
Sex education from a decade ago
is now severely outdated. According to the 2013 B.C. Adolescent Health Survey by the McCreary Centre Society, “Students felt sex education often focussed too much on the
mechanics of sex and should include information about STI prevention and contraception as well as sexual assault,” as well as expressing desire for sex education to begin in elemen-
tary school. In the years since, strides have been made in many schools exploring LGBTQ+ curriculums and healthy relationships, starting in early elementary school.
In addition to safety and health, sex education can assist in uplifting mental wellbeing. Those who experience things that are culturally considered “abnor mal” — including queer experiences, low libido, or unusual fantasies — can be assured that what they are experi encing is normal, or even common.
Proper sex education for adults can continue to grow in sophistication as people age. In adult hood, the challenges and experi ences can be very different from those faced in childhood, and sex education must grow to fit those changes.
Many topics in sex education, such as BDSM and kink, are either not appropriate or applicable to younger audiences. Adult sex education can plug the gaps left by high school health curriculums.
Accessibility to sex education in youth is not always a reality, and easy access to comprehensive adult sex education can help to spare many adults from being hurt, feeling broken, or engaging in risk-taking behaviour.
Comprehensive sex education can lead to healthier relationships as well as physical and mental wellbeing. Additionally, sex is fascinating but the psychology and physicality of it is rarely discussed beyond mechanical details. There is a great deal to learn about how human bodies work, how desire works, and why sex even exists.
Unlike calculus or the anatomy of frogs, sex education is relevant to every single person, and knowledge of sex should continue to develop past high school. After all, every person has genitals and will likely use them at some point, but I can comfortably say that I’ve forgotten how to solve for “x” and I don’t plan to relearn it.
Dismantling the taboo around drugs for immigrant communities in South Vancouver can help prevent overdoses.
While Indigenous people continue to be disproportionately affected by the opioid crisis in North America, South Asians have emerged as a highly vulnerable community. A crucial factor is the stigma surrounding substance abuse that is deeply embedded in South and Southeast Asian cultures.
There are only six harm reduction sites in Vancouver, and they are all located in and around the Downtown Eastside, leaving a vacuum in other districts, including South Vancouver. Immigrants comprise more than 60 per cent of this part of the city, with the dominant groups being of East Asian, South and South East Asian descent.
Even though Downtown Eastside consistently reports the highest number of overdose deaths, South Vancouver registered one drug toxicity-related death in every eight overdose calls attended by paramedics in 2022. This is a higher ratio than the Downtown Eastside, where the numbers are one death for every 14 calls.
An unspoken horror haunts the South Asian diaspora in Canada as more lives are lost daily because of the paucity of culturally appropriate services for substance abuse and race based data to make targeted intervention in specific communities possible.
A report by the Fraser Health Author ity in 2020 depicted how the family members or friends of drug users in South Asian communi ties refused to acknowledge the elephant in the room.
While the reasons behind this negligence is multifaceted, one of the factors could be that many South Asian communities wrongly
consider dying of a drug overdose to be out of character and pretend it only happens to people in the West.
Many racialized drug users are compelled to hide their habits from society or loved ones back home lest they be exposed or bring shame to their families.
International students using substances for recreational purposes or working immigrants coping with pressures from family also have no idea how potent these drugs are.
There is conclusive evidence then that safe supply and overdose prevention services are in dire need
and must be uniformly distributed across the city so we can catch those who slip through the cracks.
Vancouver Coun. Pete Fry told a Voice reporter that mobile overdose prevention vans could possibly counter the service deficit in South Vancouver.
The City of New Westminster recently launched a pilot project called the Peer Assisted Care Team (PACT), which is composed of a mobile crisis assistance team staffed by a mental health worker and a peer support worker to attend calls.
This is a valuable example of how civic governments can bring sensitivity and a deeper understanding to saving the lives of people with substance abuse issues.
Sex educators say young adults are learning more about sex on their own than they are during high school sex education courses.
Dee Stacey, a certified sexual health educator, has taught young adults in Vancouver since 2018. She said young adults’ sex education has many gaps because teachers are uncomfortable with talking about sex.
“If you can get somebody in there that is comfortable talking about bodies and body fluids and what sex actually is . . . then hopefully that can have a lasting impact on just somebody's general ability to become a young adult and explore the world in the way that they want to, ” Stacey said.
In B.C. high schools, sex educa-
tion is mandatory up until Grade 10, but focuses more on sexually transmitted infections and abstinence than consent and pleasure. A 2019 study done by the non-profit organization Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights says the amount and quality of sex education students receive differs from school to school based on where students live, the local school board and the amount of community health support. The study says that provincial governments aren’t giving young adults adequate access to “the sexual health information and skills-building opportunities they are entitled to.”
Dr. Lori Brotto, a licensed psychologist and UBC professor who specializes in women’s sexual health, says that she often sees clients who have gotten a majority of their information from unreliable sources.
“We really don't have adequate,
comprehensive, gender-sensitive, trauma-informed sex education in our schools. Because of that people do turn to the internet, or they'll, you know, flip open a magazine and that becomes a source of information about sexual health for a lot of people,” Brotto said.
Brotto said that many of the questions she gets from clients could have been answered by a more thorough sex education.
“There's so many different things that could have been addressed
through good sex ed,” said Brotto.
First year Langara biology student Davis Macphail said a lot of what he was taught in school about sex was more anatomy than anything practical.
“They didn't cover how to have safe sex or anything like that. It was all like, how the physiological changes that happened during puberty and the ovulation cycle and all that,” said Macphail.
Young designers are energizing the vintage fashion movement in Vancouver as they combine old materials and tattered clothing through “upcycling.”
Upcycling describes the reuse of vintage clothing to create new designs through reworking, redesigning or completely transforming pieces.
Anna Dinh, an applied science student at Langara, is a designer and clothing stylist who uses old fabric to inspire her fashion creations.
“I always try to work around capturing the essence of the pieces and the life that they lived before,” said Dinh.
The popularity of vintage clothing is growing in Vancouver and the
vintage fashion industry worldwide is expected to grow 11 times faster than the “fast fashion” industry by 2025, according to a report by Vestiaire Collective, an online marketplace that sells used luxury clothing. The report says buying reworked and recycled items saves 90 per cent more of the environmental cost compared to buying new clothes.
Dinh uses secondhand fabrics and new materials in her designs to stitch together unique pieces. “A lot of my work is really trying to reduce the amount of waste I produce,” said Dinh.
Montreal fashion designer Braden Quinn, who sold his design pieces at a Langley vintage market event in February, said his designs revolve around the theme of human connection. “One of the biggest problems in the world is a lack of connection, like
connection to yourself, connection to the people around you, connection to the earth,” said Quinn.
Quinn said he thinks deeply about the properties and quality of clothing, including items others see as trash. He experiments with unconventional materials like leaves to create designs that emulate nature on clothing.
“I think that if we dress to look more like nature in a way, we’ll feel more a part of it,” said Quinn.
Former Langara fashion instructor Gio Amenta said that he believes young designers will help vintage fashion “trend upwards with a twist.” Amenta said upcycling will be a major channel for new designs inspired by the past eras in fashion.
“Just because that era is done, why not bring some of the pieces back, some of the colours
back,” said Amenta.
Amenta said he wants designers to create new art on top of vintage garments because older fabrics and materials used were of higher qual ity.
Young designers use these fabrics to create original designs that allow them to express themselves.
Quinn said creating his fashion brand is a way for him to find his true self.
“Clothes are just what makes you feel like the best version of yourself. It's like having your outward expres sion matches your ideal inward expression,” said Quinn.
Amenta hopes that people start buying from individual artists who are making unique pieces rather than buying from large commercial fashion brands.
“The line between fashion and
Macphail said a lot of the gaps left in his education were filled by his mother, but other students didn’t have the resources they may have needed.
“I didn't go to in-person school, I did mostly online learning, so there was a very wide range of people that went. So, you'd have people that their parents didn't teach them anything and people [whose parents taught them] like me,” he said.
Georg Barkas, a Vancouver shibari instructor, said that misinformation on the internet is misleading young adults and leaving them without guidance in exploring a wider scope of sexual experiences.
“People don't know how to judge information that is out there so you can . . . end up with some [online] pages that might teach a complete bullshit,” Barkas said.
The Langara Falcons women’s basketball team heads into the postseason PACWEST Championships on a high note, having won three of its last four games to cling onto sixth place in the league standings and earn themselves a berth in the PACWEST Championships.
The men, meanwhile, moved into fourth place in the rankings despite losing half of its last four games. As a top-six team, they will also make the championships.
The men’s team have bowed out in the quarterfinals at the last two PACWEST Championships, while the women made the semi-finals in their last two post-season outings.
The Pacific Western Athletic Association PACWEST Championships, which begin March 2 at Camosun College in Victoria, are the next stop for both teams. Going into the postseason, the men first play Douglas College on March 2. The women also travel to Victoria on the same day, taking on Camosun in what will be a challenging first playoff game.
The women’s new head coach, Cameron MacGillivary, could not be more proud of his players’ development in light of a bumpy start to the season.
“The team is awesome, they’re fun to be with,” he said. “We’ve worked hard and we’ve improved a lot.”
The highlight of the season for the women’s team was their early-season away victory against Capilano University, with the final score of 62-58. MacGillivary had previously been part of Capilano’s coaching staff.
“We definitely had our battles with them in previous seasons and especially Cam coming from Capilano, to beat them in their home court made us feel good that we gave that win to him,” said Katelyn Lafleur, a
third-year guard.
Teamwork has been key to the women’s team’s performance.
“No matter how bad the feedback is, coach is always saying, ‘I know we can do this, I know we’re capable,’”
Three men's soccer players tried out for the new professional team, though none made the squad.
By CALA ALIThe three Langara players who accepted an invitation to try out for Vancouver FC failed to make the grade.
Athos Michellepis de Siqueira, a second-year kinesiology student and winger for the Langara Falcons, was part of tryouts for Vancouver FC. They are the newest addition to the Canadian Premier League, a division that debuted only last year, becoming the country’s first professional league.
Vancouver FC, who became the Canadian Premier League’s eighth team, will play their first match against Victoria's Pacific FC on April 15.
Siqueira, an international student from São Paulo, Brazil, said Vancouver FC is “a huge step forward” from the current level of professional soccer in Vancouver.
“Having another team that competes in a different league than
the Whitecaps is very good,” he said. “It’s going to help a lot of players who want to increase or improve their level as well.”
Lafleur said.
The men’s team managed to improve its position in the standings despite having an up and down season, finishing with a 9-9 record.
Joey Dhillon, who was promoted
to head coach this season, said he was proud of the team dynamic and how the players have adjusted to his leadership. They lost by single digits seven times throughout the season, something Dhillon said could have
demoralized the team.
“When you have that many close losses, it’s possible for a team to fall apart and all it has done is bring us closer together,” said Dhillon.
In the last four games, the men’s team squandered a chance to finish the season off strong, with two losses in four games against last place Columbia Bible College and second place Camosun College.
These wins would have improved their playoff positioning and potentially allowed for an easier first round opponent.
“Games play out the way they play out and no one really has full control over it,” said Jas Dhudwal, co-captain and leading rebounder for the team this season.
Going into the post-season, the team will focus on mental strength and composure.
Dhudwal said the coach is “big on composure.”
“He’s been trying to teach us that aspect,” Dhudwal said. “We have the skill, half of the game is mental, and as a young coach he understands that.”
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Upcoming game:
-Thursday, March 2
Langara vs Camosun College
PACWEST Championships
@ Camosun College 5:30 P.M.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Upcoming game
-Thursday March 2
Langara vs. Douglas College
PACWEST Championships
@ Camosun College 8:00 P.M.
Last season’s Langara men’s soccer team captain Connor Thompson said the creation of another professional team in Vancouver brings new options for players to develop at a high level.
“Canada doesn’t have usually as many opportunities as different parts of the world,” he said. “So, it’s definitely a cool opportunity for people or even younger kids to look up to and get to a goal to strive to.”
Vancouver FC’s assistant coach Niall Thompson also emphasized the impact that a second professional team will have on Vancouver’s soccer community.
“Right now, there’s the Vancouver Whitecaps and they are the only professional team within B.C.,” he said. “This has now opened up another pathway for a young player.”
The head coach of the Langara men’s soccer team Marc Rizzardo is hopeful that establishing relationships with Vancouver FC can show
students at Langara what they can accomplish while playing sports and studying.
“This is the first time some of these players have been able to go out to these teams,” Rizzardo said. “And our connection with VFC has been really positive so far.”
Although none of the Langara players were selected to join Vancouver FC, both teams say they will continue working collectively to create a strong, long-lasting relationship.
Falcons midfielder David Rodriguez Zegarra and defender Wizaso Chavula, who also tried out, were cut in the first round, while Siqueira made it to the second round. Siqueira said that over 120 players took part in the highly competitive tryouts. Zegarra and Chavula were unavailable for comment.
Midfielder and 2022 PACWEST player of the year Takumi Ota also was invited, though he turned the opportunity down to focus on his studies.
“Our connection with VFC has been really positive.”
— MARC RIZZARDO, LANGARA MEN'S SOCCER HEAD COACH
