langara voice - november 5th, 2015

8
Printed on recycled paper Check out our web exclusives at http://langaravoice.ca/ PRODUCED BY LANGARA JOURNALISM STUDENTS HULA HOOP DANCING ...................................8 Classes are being offered all over South Vancouver to get people of all ages into the groove the V oice Check us out online at langaravoice.ca This week look for special features on traffic chaos and the GoHere campaign to open up more public washroom op xop xop xop xop xop Pedaling flour to empower By KATE RICHARDSON T he Royal Canadian Legion has continued to play an important role for South Vancouver commu- nities and their veterans, despite the dwindling number of its members. Legions provide support for aging veterans, especially those of the Korean War and Second World War. While younger veterans from conflicts like Af- ghanistan have stayed away, according to Legion Branch 30 vice-president Tom Johnson. “They’ve diminished a little bit,” he said. “We don’t seem to be able to at- tract them.” Charles Fleming joined the military in 1954 and toured in Germany before eventually joining the RCMP, started coming to the Legion for companionship after his wife passed away. “I was very, very lonesome,” he said. Reluctance to talk to family is not un- usual for returning veterans says Oliver Thorne, director of operations at the Veterans Transition Network. The VTN is a national program based in Vancou- ver for all members of the Canadian Force, which the Legion funds. “Our program helps identify and overcome barriers to transition to civilian life,” said Thorne. As the largest military fundraising organization in Canada, the Legion has supported VTN since it’s beginning in 1997, donating $500,000 in 2012 to turn the 15-year-old UBC program into a na- tional organization. Thorn also said that VTN provides counseling services for soldiers that may have troubles talking about their past. For veterans coming to terms with their experience, Remem- brance Day can be especially difficult. “For us, it’s really to honour and give quiet respectful thanks,” Thorne said. “For them, it’s a reminder of the death of someone close to them.” On Nov. 11 , Legions all over Canada will hold ceremonies and rituals of re- membering. By JAKE COSTELLO A Langara College graduate and his brother are hoping to expand on an international aid project that brings pedal-powered agricultural technology to rural communities. In 2013, Chris and Josh Hergesheimer travelled to Panlang, South Sudan and built a grain mill out of bicycle parts. The brothers funded the project with donations collected on Indiegogo, and chronicled their adventure in the book The Flour Peddler. According to Josh, who graduated from Langara’s journalism program in 2009, the brothers hope to expand with one or two projects per year, and start- ing with a tentative partnership with the Kuwangisana Organization, an aid group in Mozambique that reached out to the brothers after their project in South Sudan. Though the Indiegogo campaign worked once, they may have exhausted that resource, said Chris, who’s in Ec- uador working on his PhD through UBC’s Land and Food Systems pro- gram. “We really hit the crowdfunding curve at the right time,” he said via Skype. Chris said this time they’ve applied for funding through private sponsors, who have asked to remain anonymous. He said that with their experience the brothers are in a good place to help companies fulfill corporate social re- sponsibility commitments, adding, “One of these mills can impact 40, or 60, or 100 people in a community.” Pedal-powered machines can boost the quality of life in rural communities according to Jesse Cooper, project co- ordinator with Pedal Energy Develop- ment Alternatives (PEDAL), a non- profit group that runs a community bike shop in Vancouver. PEDAL funds Maya Pedal, an organi- zation in Guatemala that makes water- pumps, grinders, blenders and more out of bicycle parts. Cooper said using machines to help with manual labour allow work to be “more efficiently, or more effectively or much faster, or all three together.” He added gaining independence from fos- sil fuels, or other expensive forms of energy is “super empowering.” If their funding applications are suc- cessful the brothers are hoping to be on the ground in Mozambique next April. “This is not work,” Chris said. “It’s just passion.” Killarney set to build badly needed seniors centre A Langara graduate and his brother have embarked on a unique mission to help people in Africa For us, it’s really to hon- our and give quiet respectful thanks. For them, it’s a re- minder of the death of someone close to them OLIVER THORNE VTN DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS A long-awaited senior centre in Killarney is ready to be built after an agreement between the Vancou- ver board of parks and the Killarney Community Centre Society NOVEMBER 5, 2015 • VOL. 48 NO. 5• VANCOUVER, B.C. KATE RICHARDSON photo Charles Fleming joined the Legion after his wife passed away. Fleming used to serve in the military and RCMP. ‘I was very lonesome’ By TESSA VIKANDER A new agreement is bringing hope to South Vancouver seniors. The Vancouver board of parks and recreation has signed a deal with the Killarney Community Centre Soci- ety to build a new seniors centre, and is now seeking contractors to build it. The new centre won’t be completed for three years. Mich Soga, secretary for the Killarney Community Centre Senior’s Association (KCCSA) said “It’s a dream come true for the Killarney Community Centre. It’s really nice that the seniors will finally have their own space.” “Some of the seniors are very isolat- ed,” Soga said. “Soon they will have somewhere to come to share their mem- ories, make friends.” Soga said several of the neighbouring community cen- tres don’t have a designated se- niors’ program- mer. As a result, many seniors come to Killarney from outside of the centre’s catchment area. She said once the new centre is built, there will be less strain for space at the community cen- tre, adding if the KCCSA were to offer more programming right now, they would be taking space away from other centre users. “The new centre will offer luncheons daily, (and) will be connected by a hall- way to the fitness centre at Killarney,she said. Nelson Didulo, South Vancouver resi- dent and chair of the South Vancouver Seniors Hub, a seniors advocacy group, said if he wants to go for a seniors’ lunch he has to take three separate buses to the Kerrisdale Seniors Centre. “Once the Killarney Seniors Centre is built then it’s just one bus, only a 20 min- ute commute. That’s pretty good, so I will go more often,” he said. Park Board chair John Coupar said he heard from seniors during the consulta- tion phase of the project that program- ming isn’t always in a convenient loca- tion. “[We need to do] some work on in- creasing seniors’ programs across the city,” he said. The Royal Canadian Legion gives crucial support to vets MICH SOGA Secretary for the Killarney Senior’s Assoca- tion Soon they will have some- where to come to share their memo- ries, make friends MICH SOGA KILLARNEY SE- NIOR’S ASSOCIA- TION SECRETARY 1 Founded in 1926 2 One in three mem- bers of the Legion are veterans 3 Recognized as Guardians of Remembrance in Canada 4 Helps all vets in Canada directed toward family need Source: Legion.ca LEGION FACTS

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Page 1: Langara Voice - November 5th, 2015

Printed on recycled paper Check out our web exclusives at http://langaravoice.ca/

PRODUCED BY LANGARA JOURNALISM STUDENTS

Hula Hoop Dancing ...................................8Classes are being offered all over South Vancouver to get people of all ages into the groove

theVoiceCheck us out online at

langaravoice.ca

This week look for special

features on traffic chaos

and the GoHere campaign

to open up more public

washroom

FIRST LASTNAME photoPhoto cutline goes here, one line, xop xop xop xop xop xop xop

Pedaling flour to empower

By KATE RICHARDSON

The Royal Canadian Legion has continued to play an important role for South Vancouver commu-nities and their veterans, despite

the dwindling number of its members.Legions provide support for aging

veterans, especially those of the Korean War and Second World War. While younger veterans from conflicts like Af-ghanistan have stayed away, according to Legion Branch 30 vice-president Tom Johnson.

“They’ve diminished a little bit,” he said. “We don’t seem to be able to at-tract them.”

Charles Fleming joined the military in 1954 and toured in Germany before eventually joining the RCMP, started coming to the Legion for companionship after his wife passed away.

“I was very, very lonesome,” he said. Reluctance to talk to family is not un-

usual for returning veterans says Oliver Thorne, director of operations at the Veterans Transition Network. The VTN is a national program based in Vancou-ver for all members of the Canadian Force, which the Legion funds. “Our program helps identify and overcome barriers to transition to civilian life,” said Thorne.

As the largest military fundraising

organization in Canada, the Legion has supported VTN since it’s beginning in 1997, donating $500,000 in 2012 to turn the 15-year-old UBC program into a na-tional organization. Thorn also said that VTN provides counseling services for soldiers that may have troubles talking about their past. For veterans coming to terms with their experience, Remem-brance Day can be especially difficult.

“For us, it’s really to honour and give quiet respectful thanks,” Thorne said. “For them, it’s a reminder of the death of someone close to them.”

On Nov. 11, Legions all over Canada will hold ceremonies and rituals of re-membering.

By JAKE COSTELLO

A Langara College graduate and his brother are hoping to expand on an international aid project that

brings pedal-powered agricultural technology to rural communities.

In 2013, Chris and Josh Hergesheimer travelled to Panlang, South Sudan and built a grain mill out of bicycle parts. The brothers funded the project with donations collected on Indiegogo, and chronicled their adventure in the book The Flour Peddler.

According to Josh, who graduated from Langara’s journalism program in 2009, the brothers hope to expand with one or two projects per year, and start-ing with a tentative partnership with the Kuwangisana Organization, an aid group in Mozambique that reached out to the brothers after their project in South Sudan.

Though the Indiegogo campaign worked once, they may have exhausted that resource, said Chris, who’s in Ec-uador working on his PhD through UBC’s Land and Food Systems pro-gram. “We really hit the crowdfunding curve at the right time,” he said via Skype.

Chris said this time they’ve applied for funding through private sponsors, who have asked to remain anonymous. He said that with their experience the brothers are in a good place to help companies fulfill corporate social re-sponsibility commitments, adding, “One of these mills can impact 40, or 60, or 100 people in a community.”

Pedal-powered machines can boost the quality of life in rural communities according to Jesse Cooper, project co-ordinator with Pedal Energy Develop-ment Alternatives (PEDAL), a non-profit group that runs a community bike shop in Vancouver.

PEDAL funds Maya Pedal, an organi-zation in Guatemala that makes water-pumps, grinders, blenders and more out of bicycle parts.

Cooper said using machines to help with manual labour allow work to be “more efficiently, or more effectively or much faster, or all three together.” He added gaining independence from fos-sil fuels, or other expensive forms of energy is “super empowering.”

If their funding applications are suc-cessful the brothers are hoping to be on the ground in Mozambique next April.

“This is not work,” Chris said. “It’s just passion.”

Killarney set to build badly needed seniors centre

A Langara graduate and his brother have embarked on a unique mission to help people in Africa

“For us, it’s really to hon-our and give quiet respectful thanks. For them, it’s a re-minder of the death of someone close to them

OLIVER THORNE

VTN DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

A long-awaited senior centre in Killarney is ready to be built after an agreement between the Vancou-ver board of parks and the Killarney Community Centre Society

NOVEMBER 5, 2015 • VOL. 48 NO. 5• VANCOUVER, B.C.

KATE RICHARDSON photoCharles Fleming joined the Legion after his wife passed away. Fleming used to serve in the military and RCMP.

‘I was very lonesome’

By TESSA VIKANDER

A new agreement is bringing hope to South Vancouver seniors.

The Vancouver board of parks and recreation has signed a deal with the Killarney Community Centre Soci-ety to build a new seniors centre, and is now seeking contractors to build it. The new centre won’t be completed for three years.

Mich Soga, secretary for the Killarney Community Centre Senior’s Association (KCCSA) said “It’s a dream come true for the Killarney Community Centre. It’s really nice that the seniors will finally have their own space.”

“Some of the seniors are very isolat-ed,” Soga said. “Soon they will have somewhere to come to share their mem-ories, make friends.”

Soga said several of the neighbouring

community cen-tres don’t have a designated se-niors’ program-mer. As a result, many seniors come to Killarney from outside of the centre’s catchment

area.She said once the

new centre is built, there will be less strain for space at the community cen-tre, adding if the KCCSA were to

offer more programming right now, they would be taking space away from other centre users.

“The new centre will offer luncheons

daily, (and) will be connected by a hall-way to the fitness centre at Killarney,” she said.

Nelson Didulo, South Vancouver resi-dent and chair of the South Vancouver Seniors Hub, a seniors advocacy group, said if he wants to go for a seniors’ lunch he has to take three separate buses to the Kerrisdale Seniors Centre.

“Once the Killarney Seniors Centre is built then it’s just one bus, only a 20 min-ute commute. That’s pretty good, so I will go more often,” he said.

Park Board chair John Coupar said he heard from seniors during the consulta-tion phase of the project that program-ming isn’t always in a convenient loca-tion.

“[We need to do] some work on in-creasing seniors’ programs across the city,” he said.

The Royal Canadian Legion gives crucial support to vets

MICH SOGASecretary for the Killarney Senior’s Assoca-tion

“Soon they will have some-where to come to share their memo-ries, make friends

MICH SOGA

KILLARNEY SE-NIOR’S ASSOCIA-TION SECRETARY

1 Founded in 1926

2 One in three mem-

bers of the Legion

are veterans

3 Recognized as

Guardians of

Remembrance in

Canada

4 Helps all vets in

Canada directed

toward family need

Source: Legion.ca

LEGION FACTS

Page 2: Langara Voice - November 5th, 2015

At large 2

By SEYEDMOSTAFA RAZIEI

Children in South Vancouver can take their first steps into ‘universi-ty-level’ computer software coding

skills with a class that puts them at the control of their favourite games.

Under the GUI, which stands for graphical user interface, is a two year old program designed for children aged seven to 15. Students are placed into class groups based on their skill

level, not their age.Jamie Chang, managing director of

Under the GUI, said some students first need to learn how to use a mouse and keyboard.

“You cannot use abstract computer concepts for them to understand the m a t h e m a t i c a l models they need to know,” Chang said.

Despite teach-ing ‘university-lev-el’ practices and algorithms the program uses a familiar language for

children: video games.“The ultimate goal is to fire up these

kids to do what they love to do,” Chang said.

Ivan Le and Jerry Lin are in a level one class where they create their own versions of video games. At first the two kids appear to be playing a video game, when in fact instructor Dylan Jenken is teaching them basic coding techniques through the Game Maker Language (GML) program, which shows Le and Lin the scores on the video games they’ve created.

Chang created the program after seeing the film Iron Man. He wished he had learned how to write general com-puter user interface code like the one displayed in the movie.

EDITOR BRYAN MC GOVERNTHE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCT. 5, 2015

B.C. receives C- in ‘Access to Childcare’ for women’s rightsBy SERENA PATTAR

Access to affordable childcare is a growing concern across the Lower Mainland, particularly here in South Vancouver, be-

cause of a lack of available spots.The province’s childcare ranking in-

creased from a D in 2014, to a C- this year in the annual Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimina-tion Against Women (CEDAW) report card, put forth by West Coast LEAF.

Waitlists are a growing reality in B.C., said Susan Judge, principal of CEFA Early Learning Burnaby-King-sway.

“The waitlist for the infant/toddler [care] is almost two years long. If par-ents don’t apply literally the week they find out they are pregnant they will not get in,” Judge said.

South Vancouver resident Rajwind-er Basi has a son and daughter, aged nine and five respectively. Basi has never used a daycare due to the costs.

“It’s ridiculous how much they

charge, and I don’t understand why the government lets it happen,” said Basi, whose parents babysit her children. Li-censed childcare in Vancouver can reach up to $900 or more per month.

Basi recognized not everyone is for-tunate enough to share her childcare situation, and rec-ognized the impor-tance of having af-fordable options.

“If I didn’t have anyone to help me, I don’t know how me and my hus-band could afford it,” Basi said.

West Coast LEAF’s director of law reform, Kendra Milne, said that B.C. “has [the] in-ternational legal obligations to con-tinue to take action

to end discrimination against women.” The report card states “women dis-

proportionately bear the work of rais-ing children.” According to Milne, this can make access to education and em-ployment difficult, because they have to stay at home with their kids.

The increase in the grade is because of two programs: the newly introduced Early Childhood Tax Benefit, which provides extra funds to families with an income of up to $100,000, and the Provincial Childcare Subsidy Program aiming to support low-income parents.

The CEDAW report card notes the maximum subsidy allowed has been frozen since 2005.

Milne acknowledged the minor prog-ress of both programs, but said there’s still plenty work to do.

“The improvement is minimal be-cause the benefit does not do anything to improve the number of licensed childcare spaces available or to cover the true costs of childcare,” Milne said.

JAIMIE CHANGManaging direc-tor of Under the GUI

SEYEDMOSTAFA RAZIEI photoVitor Castanheira teaches his class basic computer coding through video games at Under the GUI West Madrona off West Broadway.

Class offers computer coding for kids Local program is train-ing youth ages seven to 15 basic tools to write and de-velop computer algorithm

SARA RABEY photoJeff, Danae and A.J. Myles climbing a jungle gym.

Check out langaravoice.ca for a map of all South Vancouver’s daycare centre options

Survey of local drivers reveals traffic complaints

Traffic chaosfor New Westcommuters

By ETHAN REYES

Janet Reid says she can’t even get from one side of tiny New West-minster to the other at rush hour

because of the heavy traffic flow from neighbouring cities.

Whether it’s the traffic jams or aging infrastructure, nearly half of all New West residents said in the city’s 2016 pre-budget survey that they are dissat-isfied by what council is doing to ad-dress transportation issues.

“You can’t get over on that side of town when traffic is backed up on the Pattullo Bridge,” said Reid, who isn’t alone in her frustration.

Reid, a long-time New West resident, said that besides traffic congestion, an-other complaint she has is about the poorly maintained streets in the Queen’s Park neighbourhood. She didn’t think the city had “paved a road in 20 years.”

The transportation issue is one that’s been a longstanding thorn for New West.

The pre-budget survey, done every five years to help the city set priorities for spending, showed that transporta-tion is the only issue “that has not seen any significant improvement over the past 12 years,” according to the report.

Coun. Patrick Johnstone said that the city is now carrying out its master transportation plan. This year’s focus is on making sidewalks and bus stops more accessible.

That plan outlines a future where New West will lobby to have the prov-ince reduce tolls for heavy trucks on the nearby Port Mann Bridge, as well as banning or restricting heavy trucks on the Pattullo Bridge. Truck traffic in-creased significantly on that bridge af-ter the new Port Mann Bridge, which is tolled, opened in 2012.

Johnstone admits that New West’s location was a huge benefit when the city was founded more than a century ago, but it is suffering now from its po-sition as the heart of a region with over two million people.

“We’re a small city with a small bud-get, but we’ve got 40,000 people driving through [the city] each day.”

Childcare options fall flat

“It’s ridicu-lous how much they charge, and I don’t understand why the govern-ment lets it happen

RAJWINDER BASI

SOUTH VANRESIDENT

Vancouver. Key

Admissions Strat-

egy and Learning

Enrichment. 5th

Floor, 5750 Oak St.

North Vancouver

Columbia Aca-

demic Preparatory

School. #300-133

17th St. West

West Madrona.

2050 W 10th Ave

Source: underthegui.com

GUI locations

Page 3: Langara Voice - November 5th, 2015

Campus news 3THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCT. 5, 2015

By SCOTT DRAKE and RUMANA DSOUZA

The Langara Students’ Union (LSU) has announced it is restarting

its fall election campaign — while still remaining silent about the “numerous irregu-larities” that caused the abrupt cancellation of last month’s voting.

The official list of candidates re-mains the same as last month, and none of the candi-dates have been disqualified. Offi-cial notice of the ‘redo’ election ap-peared on posters around campus and on the LSU website. According to the website, the first attempt at the fall election was de-clared void because of “numerous ir-regularities,” found by the electoral committee.

LSU councillor Jared Braverman said, “The LSU does not plan to make those irregularities public.”

The campaign period restarts on Nov. 16 and voting will be held Nov. 23 to Nov. 26 in the Students’ Union Build-ing.

Braverman explained that to his knowledge “there is no plan to host an-other all-candidates forum,” meaning that students will have no additional opportunity to meet the candidates in one place prior to voting.

According to the official notice of elections, any questions about the elec-tions should be directed to the elector-al committee at [email protected].

By BEN BENGTSON

Two Langara College programs, journalism and publishing, are celebrating after big wins for their publications at the 2015

Pinnacle College Media Awards. Langara’s journalism program won

best two-year weekly newspaper The Voice. The publishing program won best two-year feature magazine for it’s annual publication, Pacific Rim Maga-zine.

The Pinnacle Awards honour the best college media organizations across North America. This year’s cer-emony took place on Oct. 30 in Austin, Texas and received entries from 252 colleges and universities.

Frances Bula, department chair of Langara’s journalism program, said it was “really an honour” to win.

She credited the success to the fac-ulty.

“We have more [staff] who have re-ally specific areas of expertise.”

Bula stressed that Erica Bulman, journalism instructor and faculty managing editor of The Voice, also played a large role in the newspaper’s success.

Alice D’Eon, a 2015 graduate who both reported and edited The Voice, agreed that Bulman helped make a great newspaper.

“[Bulman] made everyone work re-ally hard and held us to high stan-dards,” D’Eon said. “She got us to work quickly and with attention to de-tail and deadlines.”

Darren Bernaerdt, the program co-ordinator for the publishing program and publisher of the magazine, praised his fellow instructors for their excep-tional work.

By MURRAY B. HUNT

Langara College is hosting a stress management workshop to help stu-dents deal with the pressures some

college students may feel in school.Tim Charters, a counsellor at Langa-

ra, will host the one-hour Stress Man-agement workshop for students who are feeling overwhelmed. Based on the model developed at Vancouver’s Changeways Clinic.

“The workshop looks at what is causing the stressors, the physical re-actions and how students interpret these reactions,” said Charters.

Langara psychology instructor Dr. Antonia Henderson said college is one of the most stressful situations for stu-dents.

“A major life change, living on your own, a new environment, lack of mon-ey, and loss of friends can cause many college students to suffer from depres-sion,” added Henderson.

The workshop will be held this Thursday, Nov. 5 between 2:30 p.m. and 3:20 p.m. in room L216.

Langara’s counselling department offers short term counselling on man-aging anxiety and stress, dealing with depression, and those who have thoughts of suicide.

By BEN BENGTSON

Some Langara College students say that they have been avoiding the cafeteria be-

cause it’s too messy.

An anonymous post last month on the Facebook group Langara c o n f e s s i o n s sparked a discus-sion about the “of-ten disgusting” conditions in the cafeteria.

Students com-plained that tables in places like the cafeteria were of-ten covered in trash or sticky food residue, and that it was at its worst around lunch.

“I see a lot of stu-dents just leave their garbage on the table,” said Sandra Waldun, a second year family studies student at Langara. “And then someone wants to sit there and they can’t real-

ly.”Waldun, who was eating her lunch

on the floor outside the cafeteria, said she chose not to eat inside.

While Langara hires janitorial ser-vice providers, Waldun said that keep-ing the cafeteria and other common spaces clean “goes both ways,” and stu-dents have to take personal responsi-bility to ensure their cafeteria remains clean for all users.

Sarah Draper, a second-year psy-chology student at Langara, agreed it’s up to students to keep common areas clean.

“I feel like it is our own responsibil-ity to clean up after ourselves,” said Draper. She added that the “bystander effect” contributes to apathy about caf-eteria cleanliness.

The Bystander effect refers to the tendency of onlookers to ignore things like garbage because they believe that others will throw it away for them.

“Someone doesn’t pick up their gar-bage and then the rest don’t,” said Draper, about groups of friends that eat together on campus.

In response to student complaints about consistent messiness in the caf-eteria, Raymond Yeung, facilities ser-vices coordinator at Langara, said that his janitorial staff rely on students to keep the campus clean, especially with how high the traffic in the cafeteria has been this term.

“Enrolment numbers are certainly up from last year,” said Yeung.

There are 10,457 students enrolled at Langara this year compared to 9,649 enrolled in 2014.

Voice voted continent’s best

Student gripe: meal areas ‘disgusting’November workshop to address stressors of life in a competitive academic environment

Langara’s student govern-ment plans on restarting fall elections

LSU prepares to retry vote

Workshop to help students destress

1 Simi Sara

Radio host at CKNW

2 George Affleck

Vancouver city councillor

3 Gary Mason

Globe and Mail columnist

4 Douglas Todd

Vancouver Sun Columnist

NOTABLE j-school grads

“I feel like it is our own responsi-bility to clean up after our-selves

SARAH DRAPERSecond-year psy-chology studentat Langara

Garbage left in most campus common areas is a big problem, but also easily avoidable according to some.

BEN BENGTSONphoto

Langara’s paper wins prestigious Pinnacle Award

Langara journalism

students and jour-

nalism instruc-

tor Erica Bulman

working on The Voice, winner of

the 2015 Two-Year

Weekly Newspaper of the Year

award.

BEN BENGT-SON, ETHAN

REYES photos

The state of eating areas around campus are dis-tressing to students

EDITOR ETHAN REYES

“The LSU does not plan to make those irregulari-ties public

JARED BRAVER-MAN

LSU COUNCILLOR

Page 4: Langara Voice - November 5th, 2015

ntertainment4 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOV. 5, 2015 EDITOR JOCELYN ASPA E

METRO THEATRE submitted photosThree staged episodes of John Cleese and Connie Booth’s Fawlty Towers are showing until Nov. 21, 2015.

No fawlt in this towering taleBack by demand, a classic 1970s British show hits the Metro Theatre By KEVIN UNDERHILL

In the early 1970s, John Cleese and Connie Booth visited a hotel in Tor-quay, Englad, and were inspired by the staff, or so the “Fawlty” tale

goes. Forty years later, director Alison

Schamberger has staged three epi-sodes of Cleese and Booth’s Fawlty Towers at the Metro Theatre in Van-couver.

Schamberger said Fawlty Towers stood the test of 40 years because of the show’s keen edge and combination of clever dialogue and physical humour.

“I’ve always been a bit ambivalent of slapstick humour because it appeals to the lowest common denominator of in-telligence,” Schamberger said.

Chris Dellinger, who plays the lead character Basil Fawlty, said he was raised on British humour and loves the layered aspect of the writing.

“There’s a lot of subtle complexity to the writing and structure of the come-dy that I think is unique to British com-edy,” he said.

Paul Matthew St. Pierre, an English professor at SFU, who has studied film and performance, said British humour remains popular in North America not only for its cultural ties to the United Kingdom but also for the humour’s ab-surdity.

“Those shows were quite subversive in their comedic aesthetics and they struck North American audiences be-cause they were really absurd,” he

said.This year marks the 40th anniversa-

ry of Fawlty Towers and St. Pierre said the strength of the writing has kept the show relevant and popular.

“John Cleese and Connie Booth’s scripts read absolutely brilliantly,” he said.

Taking the television scripts and adapting them for the live stage is a challenge that Schamberger said limits the number of episodes they can do.

“Last year we did three episodes, this year three more,” she said. “We re-ally can’t do any more after this be-cause we’ve exhausted what we can do on the stage.”

Approximately 100 people attended the Oct. 31 opening night at the Metro Theatre. The play runs until Nov. 21.

“There’s a lot of subtle com-plexity to the writing and struc-ture of the comedy CHRIS DELLINGER

LEAD CHARACTER

BASIL FAWLTY

Diwali on in fading Pun-jabi MarketSweet shops in South Vancouver’s Punjabi Mar-ket are ready for the festi-val of lights celebrations

By KATHRYN WU

Indian sweet shops on Main Street are gearing up for Diwali despite the Punjabi Market gradually getting

smaller.Diwali, also known as the “festival of

lights,” is India’s biggest festival, and widely celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains around the world. Sweets are ex-changed between friends and families as gifts, while fireworks and candles play an integral role in celebrations.

Manjit Pabla, the owner of Himalaya Restaurant, remembers the Punjabi Market being a bustling and popular area 25 years ago.

“It was like having a mini carnival almost every day,” he said. “Weekends were just crazy. Long weekends were even crazier. Summer holidays were a nightmare. We couldn’t even think of traveling.”

Pabla said Main Street was the meet-ing point for celebrations on Diwali.

Although Pabla anticipates the festi-val to be busy this year, he recounts when his father opened the restaurant on Main Street.

“We used to have line-ups out the door,” he said, adding the shop used to dread Diwali because it would get so

busy. “We would have incidents where people were playing around with fire-works.”

Steve Ram, the owner of All India Sweets & Restaurant, said Diwali is still their busiest day of the year.

“It generally takes us a good month to prepare for it,” he said.

Now, there are more options in the Metro Vancouver area for Diwali. Di-wali Fest has organized two large cele-brations this year: one at the Yaletown Roundhouse Community Arts & Recre-ation Centre, and the other at the Sur-rey City Hall.

Kriti Dewan, vice chair of Diwali Fest for the Lower Mainland, estimates that yearly attendance for these events are 7,000 to 10,000 people.

Diwali Fest will have 14 small events throughout the Lower Mainland.

STEVE RAMAll India Sweets & Restaurant

From tragedy to friendship: fifty years honoured

By ANNE-SOPHIE RODET

A chilling soprano-piano duo brought German and Jewish com-munities together to recognize

and honour their strong ties in a celebration of 50 years of diplomacy.

The Israel and Germany perfor-mance marked the anniversary since the first German ambassador was sent to Israel in 1965.

The German consulate general of Vancouver selected the musicians for the Oct. 29 performance at the Norman Rothstein Theatre.

“Music is always a very good means to bring people together,” said Joseph Beck, consul general.

Vocalist Johanna Krumin and pia-nist Markus Zugehör came from Ber-lin, Germany, for the show.

“To have a chance to be invited is a gift for us,” said Krumin.

At the event, members of both com-munities expressed how much they value the relationship they now have.

Elke Porter, a German blogger from Vancouver, remembers being called a Nazi as a child even though she grew up in Canada after the war.

“I like to see that there has been some healing,” she said.

Janice Margolis, a former executive director of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Vancouver, said she has seen this partnership grow firsthand when she witnessed young

Germans coming to Israel. “It is a good model to show how peo-

ple can move on,” she said.Celebrations of the 50 years of

friendship have been happening throughout the year. In May, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin went to Berlin to mark the anniversary date on May 12.

DJ Schneeweiss, consul general of Israel to Toronto and Western Canada, was born in Australia, but immigrated to Israel in 1987 and lived in Jerusalem.

“This is a story we want to tell every-where,” he said.

Krumin and Zugehör said they want-ed to show through the pieces they chose to interpret how much the Ger-man classical music shares its roots with the Jewish culture.

“They are absolutely connected,” said Krumin.

The Norman Rothstein Theatre hosts a German and Jewish performance honouring their ties

ANNE-SOPHIE RODET photoMarkus Zugehör (left) playing the piano and Johanna Krumin (right) singing to recognize the friendship.

Page 5: Langara Voice - November 5th, 2015

Lifestyles 5EDITOR ERIN BOE THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOV. 5, 2015

By SCOTT DRAKE

While educational tools, such as books and websites, that help raise awareness about autism spectrum disorder

(ASD) in children are becoming an in-creasingly prevalent. Adults living with ASD often suffer as a result of the lack of adult-specific mechanisms.

ASD, a neuro-developmental disor-der that causes impaired social interac-tion skills, affects one in 68 children in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-vention. While the Canadian govern-ment is without national stats, Canadi-an organizations such as the Autism

Society of British Columbia (ASBC) currently use the same statistic as the United States.

Recently, the iconic children’s televi-sion show, Sesame Street introduced Julia, a muppet with autism, to raise public awareness and prevent discrimi-nation in children with ASD. Julia’s character has received praise from ASD organizations.

“Anything like the Sesame Street ini-tiative that builds broader community awareness, is a welcomed initiative,” Deborah Pugh, executive director of Autism Community Training said.

Awareness is on the rise, according to Richard Stock, applied behaviour analysis - autism program coordinator

at Capilano University. He points to movies like Snow Flake, in which Sigourney Weaver plays an individual with ASD, and Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory to show that re-cent years have brought increased awareness.

However, Stock thinks that this awareness could be broadened even further, especially in the areas of public education and employment.

For instance, adults with ASD would have difficulties obtaining and retain-ing employment. They may have areas of deficit such as poorly developed so-cial skills, in addition to employers not being well informed about ASD.

“The fact is, many people with ASD

can do ‘real work for real pay’ and be tax payers,” Stock said. “They just need the supports to find jobs they en-joy, are good at, and support to get started. Employers need to be educated to see the value in employing people with ASD and understand it can be good for their bottom line … not just as a form of charity.”

Stella Hui, a resource analyst for the ASBC, agrees. She says the ASBC of-ten takes calls from employers trying to find out what types of accommoda-tions are possible. Ultimately, she would like to see funded adult pro-grams “for employers, so they are able to employ with support, which includes training and coaching.”

Adults who have autism need a JuliaSesame Street muppets Abby, (left) and Elmo, (right) play with Julia (centre), who has autism.

SESAME WORKSHOP submitted photo

TM and © 2015 Sesame Workshop. All rights reserved.

Sesame Street’s Julia teaches kids about autism

By SEAN LEE

There’s a growing trend of fundrais-ing that gives organizations a way to spread their message further

and quicker with little overhead cost.Crowdsourcing fundraisers use the

Internet and social media rather than events to generate funds.

The Movember Foundation, a chari-ty movement that raises awareness for prostate cancer and men’s health, has been using this fundraising model since 2003.

Movember takes place over the en-tire month of November. Men, called “Mo Bros”, are encouraged to grow out their moustaches throughout the month for pledges.

This method of fundraising allows the organization to cut operation and administrative costs compared to tradi-tional, event-based fundraisers such as the CIBC Run for the Cure for breast cancer.

Last year, the ALS Association’s Ice Bucket Challenge fundraiser went vi-ral using the crowdsourcing method. Due to its wide success and exposure for ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), it has been established now as an annual event. It raised $115 million dollars last summer for the rare dis-

ease. Tyler Small, a representative from

the Movember Foundation Canada, said social media is one of crowdsourc-ing’s advantages.

“Movember is a technological digital campaign,” Small said. “We don’t spend money on advertising and any-thing we do is usually donated. So the biggest part is that everything is run through movember.com, and that is the biggest way we keep the costs low.”

Last year, the Movember Foundation Canada raised $105.1 million, with 17.4 per cent allocated to administrative costs and future fundraisers.

Comparatively, the 2015 audited fi-nancial statement for CIBC Run for the Cure showed that out of approximately $42.9 million, about 46 per cent went to-ward operations and administrative costs.

Small said lowering costs isn’t the only advantage to using social media to crowdsource for fundraisers.

“It starts conversations,” said Small. “For the whole month it is [raising awareness] about our goal, which is for men to live healthier and happier lives. We also see a higher level of engage-ment because people can really own their campaign. When you sign up you can really do what you want with the campaign, and have it be whatever you want it to be.”

A representative from CIBC Run for the Cure couldn’t be reached for com-ment.

Movember, first to use the trend, laid foundation for ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Langara Kendo Club president Brandon Vernon had previous martial arts experience before joining the club last fall

By JULIA WICKHAM

Brandon Vernon had to start from the beginner’s level before becom-ing the president of the Langara

Kendo Club despite his black belt in karate.

The 19-year-old presi-dent of the Langara Ken-do Club began practising karate at the age of five. He practised for 10 years before he decided to give kendo a try when he be-gan studying at Langara College in the fall of last year.

Vernon said that even though he has a background in martial arts, he still had to learn kendo from the basics, but became president in only a year.

“I had to learn it from scratch just like my fellow classmates have,” he said. “But I did carry over my spirit of sparring and self control.”

In his role as president, Vernon is in charge of recruiting new members, or-ganizing events for the club to partici-pate in, and keeping students up to date with all kendo-related news.

Vernon’s kendo teammate, Wendy Chiu, who is new to the club this year, said that Vernon is dedicated and is al-ways doing his best to ensure that practice runs smoothly.

“He’s helpful and takes care of the

beginners when they need help,” she said.

The Langara Kendo Club took part in the British Columbia Kendo Federa-tion (BCKF)’s Mudansha Taikai (kendo tournament) at SFU on Oct. 24. They participated under the umbrella of UBC’s kendo club be-cause the Langara Kendo Club isn’t offi-cially affiliated with BCKF.

“We did pret-ty good consid-ering most of the people from Langara have only

b e e n

d o -ing it for about two years,” Vernon said. “We thought we did pretty well for new-bies.”

JULIA WICKHAM photoLangara Kendo Club president Brandon Vernon during kendo practice on Nov. 3. He has previ-ous martial arts experience from practising karate for over two years.

Dan Aykroyd, actor

Susan Boyle, singer

and Britain’s Got

Talent finalist

Tim Burton, film

director

James Durbin,

finalist on the 10th

season of American

Idol

Temple Grandin,

food animal han-

dling systems

designer and

authorSources:

babble.com,huffingtonpost.com

5 CELEBS with ASD

Crowdsourcing trend trims charities’ costs

Karate black belt promoted to kendo president after 1 year in club

“We did pretty good con-sidering most of the people from Langara have

only been doing it for about two years

BRANDON VERNON

LANGARA KENDO CLUB PRESIDENT

Page 6: Langara Voice - November 5th, 2015

viewpoints6 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOV. 05, 2015 EDITOR FIRST MONA BUTLER

We want to hear from youGot a different point of view?

Write to us.Problems with something we’ve said?

Let us know.Think we got a fact wrong?

Tell us.

Journalism instructor Erica Bulman oversees The Voice. Email her at

[email protected]

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.

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No one is certain about what the meninist movement stands for because it is teeming with con-tradictions. Nobody, not even

meninists, can work out whether the movement is an effort to ad-dress the difficul-ties of being a man in the 21st century or an attempt to mock and under-mine feminism.

Those who op-pose meninism say there is a lack of u n d e r s t a n d i n g among men and people in general about what feminism

stands for. Feminists have emphasized that feminism is about equality be-tween genders. They say it’s about men and women having the freedom to be themselves without any backlash from society.

But if feminism is about achieving social, political and economic equality between the sexes, do men really need a meninist movement?

Not all meninists are out there airing legitimate grievances. It’s common for them to use language that is down-right offensive and hateful against women, especially on Internet forums.

One such forum is Return of Kings, a popular website that describes itself as, “a blog for heterosexual, masculine men.” Its creators claim that, “yester-day’s masculinity is todays misogyny.”

Here are men who believe that femi-nism is a grave threat to their mascu-linity and way of life, which needs to be shot down with an aggressive attack.

The repungent nature of such pro-tests invalidates the legitimacy of any men’s rights movement.

But I also believe that meninism has successfully highlighted the unfortu-nate double standards that exist in our society. There’s no denying that men are vulnerable similar insecurities, in-justices and threats as women.

So if the meninist movement is a fight for achieving true gender equali-ty, then I’m on board.

But if it’s an attempt to empower and improve the lives of men at the expense of women then meninism is a juvenile cause that will further divide us.

Meninism just isn’t clear

OPINIONRUMANA DSOUZA

SEAN LEE comic

Buy a poppy from a veteranThe Royal Canadian Legion does not

get enough r e c o g n i t i o n

for all they do for veterans, and their efforts are often understated.

The legion’s membership is in decline as veter-ans from more re-cent conflicts chose not to join. Lower member-ship numbers mean less revenue available for their services.

The legion provides many vital ser-

vices to veterans including helping them adjust to civilian life after their time in service is up. It can be difficult for veterans to discuss their experi-ences with family. Legion halls act as a safe space, where veterans can discuss their past with those who share similar experiences.

The legion has been safeguarding the poppy as a symbol of remembrance since 1948. Its annual Poppy Campaign allows people to show their support while raising funds to provide financial assistance to veterans and their fami-lies, as well as grants for basic necessi-ties such as food, clothing, and pre-scriptions

The Canadian government cut $34.8

million from Veteran Affairs in 2014. This made the legion more integral to veterans than before.

The poppy is not only a symbol of re-membrance, but also one of support for the risks they have taken. It is impor-tant to ensure that the sacrifices of those veterans are not forgotten, and that future generations realize what those sacrifices still mean to Canadi-ans.

So when you’re coming out of the grocery store, or walking through the mall, and you see a legion member handing out poppies, take one. Make sure you know you’re not only remem-bering veterans’ sacrifices, but you’re continuing to support their well-being.

OPINIONSERENA PATTAR

Clean up like a grown-upIf you spend time down in the cafete-

ria, especially after the lunch rush, you’ll notice a lack of clear table

space. Instead, you come across a sea of garbage left over from sloppy people too lazy to carry their leftovers a few meters to the nearest trash bin.

It’s hard to always be neat and tidy. At home, leaving dirty clothes on the

floor or letting old dishes pile up until we absolutely can-not stand the sight of them isn’t a big deal.

Some students who still live at home might even have a parent who cleans up after them, making it easier to be messy without conse-quence. Regard-

less of your situation, a little bit of a mess in your own space is fine.

What some students obviously don’t realize is that there is a big difference between their own home and the school cafeteria. It’s not okay to leave garbage lying around in a public space where other people are going to want to sit. It is not up to the next person to clean up after. Someone eating later shouldn’t have to ferry garbage back and forth to the trash just to be able to sit and eat for five minutes.

Sure, Langara College does have janitorial staff whose job is to clean up. It is not, however, up to them to follow stu-dents around to clean up the min-ute a piece of gar-bage is left behind. They are severely outnumbered by the amount of stu-dents who use the cafeteria and it’s not fair to make more work for them than neces-sary.

Nothing is worse than when some-

one excuses their messiness by saying, “its ok, I’m keeping them employed” or “It’s okay, it’s their job.”

As grown adults, students should be responsible enough to know not to leave the cafeteria a mess, whether or not you have someone who cleans up after you.

We all share this school and students should show some pride in it by not be-ing so sloppy.

OPINIONMONA BUTLER

“As grown adults, students should be responsible enough to know not to leave the cafeteria a mess

Page 7: Langara Voice - November 5th, 2015

Issues & ideas 7THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOV. 5, 2015 EDITOR TANYA COMMISSO

Women’s lib in today’s worldMedia influence on feminism has spurred unique counter-movements and trends

Men’s issues are feminist issues VINCENT MATAK photo illustration

Men’s rights groups argue that feminism contributes to harmful male stereotypes that suggest men over-assert their strength.

Contrary to the meninist platform, feminism is not to blame for gender-based stereotyping

By VINCENT MATAK

Meninist issues have more in common with the feminist movement than meets the eye.

#Meninism began trending on Twit-ter in 2013 as a satirical effort to “stop the objectification of men” in the me-dia. However, over the last two years, meninism has become a platform for men who feel discriminated against as a result of the feminist movement.

Modern feminism, according to Na-tional Coalition For Men president Harry Crouch, has allowed women to use male stereotypes, painting men as aggressive and stoic, to propagate fe-male victimhood.

“I can’t tell you how many calls I’ve had from how many [men] over the

years where they’ve been attacked, they call the police, the police show up, and they get arrested,” he said.

Research presented on the NCFM website states that these stereotypes lead to higher rates of suicide, stricter sentencing for crimes and less support for domestic violence among men.

But blaming these issues on femi-nism is just ignorant, according to Emma Lutz, an ex-ecutive member of the UBC Feminist Club.

“It comes from a fundamental mis-understanding of what feminism is,” she said, adding that issues related to gender-based stereotypes are rooted in our patri-archal society.

“When feminists talk about destroy-ing the patriarchy, it’s all about de-stroying these masculine and feminine ideas,” she said.

The club, and feminism as a whole, view men’s issues as integral to femi-nist discourse, she said. But the menin-ist way of dealing with these issues does more harm than good, according to Lutz.

“There’s a huge misogynistic compo-nent,” she said. “It’s deliberately ex-cluding women’s issues and acting like they aren’t there, and acting like men are more oppressed than women, which is something I believe we all can agree is not true.”

David Ryan, a publishing student at Langara College, agreed – meninist groups are “deplorable” and akin to “Internet trolling,” he said.

“What men are maybe too afraid to ask of our culture is helping deal with the emotional side of life through means other than the expression of an-ger and violence,” he said.

This is something that can be achieved through feminism, he said.

“Our society really needs to address the way it’s failed our men in their abil-ity to deal with the natural emotions that come with being a human.”

“When feminists talk about destroying the patri-archy, it’s all about destroying these mas-culine and feminine ideas

EMMA LUTZ

UBC FEMINIST CLUB

White voices dominate pop cultureWhen looking at famous feminist celebs, it’s hard to find diversity

By MARK STUART

While feminism is an established movement, what constitutes a feminist icon is still up for de-

bate.There is no set definition for what

traits make a feminist icon. It can fall anywhere between a woman who owns her sexuality and speaks openly and unabashedly, to a woman who places more emphasis on academia and mod-esty.

Langara College English instructor Jill Goldberg, host of the Pop Stars and Feminists: Allies or Adversaries forum put on by the department of English, believes that reaching icon status as a feminist can sometimes indirectly fuel an already male-dominated society.

“If a woman is using her body and her sexuality to gain power ... she is still trading on the idea ... that women’s bodies are a commodity, which is – in one sense – the antithesis of feminism because she’s still playing in the patri-archal marketplace that values certain women’s bodies more than others,” said Goldberg.

“It’s complicated. Of course it can be fun, and pleasurable, and even seem empowering for both celebrity and reg-

ular woman to flaunt or embrace her sexuality, but is that because we’ve drank the patriar-chal Kool-Aid?” she added.

Female students at Langara have a less pointed stance.

“For me, I think a feminist icon would be a more outgoing person. Someone who is okay with their sexuality, but then again, not somebody who just takes off all their clothes,” said business stu-dent Oola Dixson.

“Feminists who are more outgoing have a voice that can be heard more than that of an academic, who is some-one that isn’t really heard, or as popu-lar,” she added.

While female students at Langara acknowledged the impact that profes-sors and policymakers can have on the movement, having a dominant voice was the most important trait in their ideal feminist icon.

“It’s definitely important to have the academics, they can influence laws and all that, said first-year general studies student Évangéline Lapalme.

“But for changes in the social realm I think we would need someone more geared towards speaking out.”

When discussing what makes an icon, the smart vs. sexy debate marches on

By NANCY PLECHATY

In the media’s portrayal of feminism, the most privileged voices are pushed to the forefront. “White feminism” refers to making

straight, white women the mouthpiece for feminist issues, and in doing so, ex-cluding women of colour and other mi-norities. Though the feminist move-ment is designed to represent all women, the opposite becomes true when only one kind of feminist is pre-sented to the public.

“I think the media always perpetu-ates privilege and it’s not restricted to feminism, and so I think there are cer-tain voices that have more privilege than others,” said Jennifer Marchbank, associate professor of the department of gender, sexuality and women’s stud-ies at SFU. “As a white woman, my voice certainly is more privileged than that of some, and of women of colour.”

Nancy Pollak, Langara College wom-en’s studies instructor, stresses the im-portance of intersectionality. This con-cept connects people of all social backgrounds by acknowledging that each person will face different kinds of discrimination or disadvantage.

Intersectionality also examines “the valuable insights that flow from look-ing at the complexity of female experi-ence,” said Pollak.

However, Pollak disagrees with the use of the term “white feminism”, say-ing it sounds like a “‘just plucked it off BuzzFeed’ concept,” she said. “Femi-nism is many things, but it’s not a piece of fluff. It’s not a lifestyle.”

Gugandeep Gill, a second-year Lan-gara kinesiology student, said race doesn’t always matter when talking about feminism. Comparing media icons Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift, Gill said, “I don’t look at it as a colour dif-ference. I look at the way they are rep-resenting themselves.”

Marchbank said neither Minaj nor Swift are exemplary feminists. “Femi-nism is about inclusivity and equality and fighting for equality of all people.”

BEYONCÉ

LENA DUNHAM

JOAN JETT

NICKI MINAJ

ELLEN PAGE

AMY POEHLER

TAYLOR SWIFT

EMMA WATSON

Source: madamenoire.com

POPSTARicons

DAVID RYANLangara publish-ing student

OOLA DIXSONLangara business student

Icons in feminism: social impact trumps all

Page 8: Langara Voice - November 5th, 2015

8 portss

By BRIDGETTE WATSON

Dressed in floral skirts and swaying their hips like island danc-ers from the South Pa-

cific, South Vancouver com-munity members have caught the wave of the latest dance craze.

Sunset Community Centre was the first to offer Hot Hula fit-ness, an inten-sive core work-out inspired by Polyne-sian dancing.

Now seven c o m m u n i t y centres, including Hillcrest and Mar-pole-Oakridge, are offering classes to partici-pants of all ages.

Instructors Kay Linan and Judy Mulder, who have both spent a substan-tial amount of their lives in Hawaii, are looking forward to sharing their passion for hula dancing with Vancouverites.

“What better way to work on having the body you want than to do something fun and imagine you are on vacation,” said Linan. “Every-thing we do, we do with the utmost respect for the Polynesian culture.”

Participants learn basic hula moves while warming up to traditional Poly-

nesian drumming. Instructors teach a choreographed routine that can then

be performed to authentic hula mu-sic or modern hip-hop.

Anna-Rita Sloss, the California-based founder of Hot Hula fitness, explained by phone from Orange County that the exercises are de-signed “for everyone and any-

one.”“When you teach a class,

it’s not about your front row people,” said Sloss, “It’s always about your back row people. It’s about everybody getting their groove back.”

Mulder follows a similar philosophy when teaching in Vancouver.

“It’s gentle mo-tion and no-impact cardio, you can kick off your shoes and just go for it,” said Mulder, “Are you having a good time? Then you’re good at it.”

Mélodie Chervin, 29, a student in Mulder’s class, said she is hooked.

“It’s accessible to every-one and you don’t need to be a dancer to do it,” Chervin said. “I’m sad when class ends, it’s really a lot of fun.”

According to Sloss, the

basics of Hot Hula fitness are simple: Rather than just moving side-to-side, draw a U with your hips, slowly lower-ing them, as you increase the tempo.

“Look at yourself in the mirror and just pre-

tend you’re having sex. The only thing moving is your lower body.” Sloss said.

THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOV. 5, 2015 EDITOR XIAO XU

Hot Hula: A steamy fitness fadSouth Pacific dance brings a sexy, new fitness style for the masses

By ROSEMARY NEWTON

One of Western Canada’s top eques-trian show jumpers and trainers is coming to the Southlands Riding

Club to raise the bar next weekend. Alexander Grayton, the 2007 Nation-

al Talent Squad Champion, will run the clinic and offer one-on-one instruction on Nov. 14 and 15.

Southlands Riding Club member Marta Modzelewska, who came up with the idea for the clinic, said the event is aimed at helping participants improve their skills.

“[We want to] offer our riders an op-

portunity to ride with a top national rider and learn,” said Modzelewska. “Some of the riders ride for pleasure, but a lot of them are competitive.”

The clinic will focus on flat work—the fundamental movement of the horse—and ‘gymnastics’, which refers to a series of training jumps, and course work.

Modzelewska will also be participat-ing in the clinic.

“I’m eager to hear what pointers he will have for me and my wild beast to be a more harmonious duo,” she said.

The clinic’s content will depend on the skills that participants want to work on, according to Grayton.

“We’ll be able to focus on each horse and rider individually,” said Grayton. “We’ll start with the riders, talk about positions, the horse’s tendencies and

then it just expands from there. It’s very fluid.”

Gill Winckler, interim general man-ager of the Southlands Riding Club, sees Grayton’s involvement as a good opportunity to keep club members en-gaged.

“He’s apparently very good and a very nice guy,” Winckler said. “We try to bring opportunities to members to have clinics and then riders learn from different people.”

The clinic has 16 participants who will be broken up into eight groups of two for hour-long ‘semi-private’ les-sons.

The clinic’s registration is open to the public; however, Modzelewska said all 16 spots have been scooped up by Southlands Riding Club members.

Instructors Kay Linan (left)and

Judy MulderBRIDGETTE

WATSONphoto

Top equestrian trainer leaps to coast

A talented horse trainer is coming to Vancouver to teach fellow riders

Leda Degoz-zaldi rides horse Cece for practice at the Southlands Riding Club.

ROSEMARYNEWTONphoto

1 Sunset Community

Centre

2 Marpole-Oakridge

Community Centre

3 Killarney Commu-

nity Centre

4 Hillcrest Commu-

nity Centre

5 Creekside Com-

munity Centre

6 Roundhouse Com-

munity Centre

7 Kitsilano Community

Centre

8 Ponderosa Studio

UBC

Source:Hot Hula fitness

Facebook page

PLACESto attend

B-ball men struggling out of the gatesThe new roster has suf-fered a series of tough losses

“We’ll start with the riders, talk about positions, the horse’s tenden-cies and then it just expands from there

ALEXANDER GRAYTONCanadian equestrian show jumper and trainer

By JASON HAMILTON

The Langara Falcons men’s basket-ball team got off to a rocky start this season.

The team consisting of nine new players lost three consecutive games in the last week and suffered a scare when Gary Minhas, a first year guard, was injured in the initial game against the Quest University Kermodes.

“Gary got a few stiches tonight, he cut his chin open and went to the hospi-tal.” Ravi Basra, another guard on the team said.

Minhas recovered enough to come back and compete in the tournament that was held in Oregon through Pac-West.

During the tournament, the Falcons lost 93-66 to Idaho College and then again to East Oregon University 93-39.

Falcons head coach Paul Eberhardt, a two-time PacWest coach of the year winner, said it is a very strong tourna-ment. “We’re playing to very strong teams, the reason I like to do this early in the year is to get on the road a little bit, get some bonding going with the guys but at the same time, to play some really tough competition and help pre-pare us when we get back.”

In the first game against Kermodes, Falcons were down 12 points by the end of the second quarter. They managed to pick up in the third and fourth quar-ter, but lost with a score of 81-62.

According to Eberhardt, the Falcons are going to work on their defence and taking better care of the ball.

“Some of the turnovers were passes directly to the other team for layups and dunks and those will kill us every time,” Eberhardt said.

With nine out of 14 players in their first year it may be hard to duplicate the success the Falcons have had in the past. The Falcons are coming off two PacWest provincial championships in the last three years.

JASON HAMILTON photoKanwar Grewal takes a shot dur-ing practice.

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Falcons’ TallyWOMEN’S BASKETBALL

W-L

0-1

Ranked: 8th

MEN’S BASKETBALL

W-L

0-1

Ranked: 7th