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FEBRUARY 9, 2012 • Vol. 44 no. 14 • vancouver, b.c.
LSU benefits coverage may change Rising costs may force a college referendum on fate of health and dental plan By AUDREY McKINNON
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photo courtesy of ANE PRODUCTIONS, INC.
Anderson Cooper speaks with 13-year-old Sarah MacLeod and her mother, Julia Denholm, on his daytime talk show in New York.
Langara linked to Cooper show Division chair’s daughter appears on daytime TV for YouTube video By Cara McKenna
‘Y
es I’m 13 and I’m talking about slut shaming. Deal with it,” says Sarah MacLeod, a young Vancouver feminist, in her YouTube video gone viral. Slut shaming is the act of degrading or attacking women because of their sexuality, and could contribute to an attitude that it’s acceptable to rape. “Rape is caused by misogyny, structural violence and institutional violence,” says MacLeod in her video. “Not by a woman’s clothing or makeup, not the way she talks or walks, not by her drinking, not by her being careful enough, and certainly not by her being a slut.” Response to MacLeod’s powerful video has snowballed since she posted it at the beginning of January.
LSU
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It was reposted on many feminist blogs before eventually getting so many views that it gained the attention of Anderson Cooper. “It was so fast, it was crazy,” said MacLeod’s mother Julia Denholm, the Department Chair of Humanities at Langara, adding that her daughter sees nothing special about being so insightful at 13 years old. “She really gets irked that people can’t believe she’s only 13. It’s really gotten to her how people underestimate the intelligence of young people.” MacLeod says it’s her interest in feminism that makes it easy for her to inform herself on women’s issues. “I’ve always had a strong urge to educate myself, and I’ve sort of dedicated my life to the Internet, so when I found the feminist community on Tumblr . . . I decided to read up on it more. It’s just
been something I find fascinating.” Scott Anderson, a University of British Columbia professor and expert on feminism and sexuality, is impressed by Sarah’s insight. “It seems that the kind of background she has acquired in feminist theory helps her make a convincing and confident case for her position here, in a way that speaks to lots of people, including some much older than she is.” Anderson also reinforces the harm of using the word “slut” and says girls and women can help protect themselves against sexual assault by being aware, having a sense of one’s rights to self-determination and having basic self-defense skills. “[However], it is everyone’s job to assure that women are safe from attack,” he said.
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Yes I’m 13 and I’m talking about slut shaming. Deal with it. SARAH MacLEOD, Vlogger
Low voter turnout for LSU again
angara students might decide at the polls if health and dental coverage should be cut back or if they should pay more for better coverage. The Langara Students’ Union is coming up to the end of its contract with insurance company StudentCare, which could mean readjusting the plan, said LSU board member Eli Zbar. The results may be left up to a college-wide referendum. “If there are any major changes obviously we will have to consult the students. And then we also have to look at balancing rising costs with stable benefits,” Zbar said. “We don’t want to put too much financial strain on the students, but . . . $20 extra a year or a couple students have to pay five grand to get wisdom teeth removed. It’s a tough balance.” Zbar said renegotiating a new plan will allow for picking and choosing between different kinds of coverage. “It’s almost like an insurance department store,” he said. For example, everybody could pay marginally less JAMES LI and Pharmacare LSU Treasurer drugs, where the price is already reduced depending on personal income, could be cut off completely. LSU services director Zohra Moshtaq and treasurer James Li will be attending a two-day conference in Montreal on Valentine’s Day. They will be attending the conference, hosted by StudentCare, to learn the ins and outs of benefits before the LSU makes further considerations. Zbar said coverage had been underused by students in past years, but recently started catching on.
See CLAIMS, page 2
CORRECTION
OCTOBER 2011 only two per cent of eligible student voters cast ballots
FEBRUARY 2011 less than 500 voters turned out in a student body of nearly 8,000 Source: The Voice archives
Recent LSU election results reflect the low interest in student politics at Langara By Tyson Cornfield
T
he Langara Students’ Union didn’t have to count many ballots this past week as the election results
Printed on recycled paper
once again showed the low student voter turnout typical of recent years. The election, in which only 141 ballots cast over three days of voting from among a student population of about 10,000, saw Naoko Shiratori awarded the position of Environmental Issues Coordinator, taking 84 of the 120 votes cast in that category. Also victorious in her bid was Tamomeizi Gao, who ran unopposed for International Students Representative,
for which only 21 votes were cast. However, the election was news to 23-year-old fine arts student Rachel Seburn. “I didn’t even know there was an election,” she said. “I didn’t hear about it.” The problem, she says, may be a lack of awareness amongst the student body. “I think voting is important, but [the candidates] need to promote themselves a little bit more,” she said.
A story about an art auction entitled “Auction earns only $1,000 for students” that appeared in the February 2nd issue of The Voice contained several errors. First, the story misspelled the name of the event. It was called Art-Fully Yours, not Artfully Yours.
See CORRECTION, page 6
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