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NOVEMBER 12, 2015 • VOL. 49 NO. 6 • VANCOUVER, B.C.

By KATHRYN WU

A first-of-its-kind partnership be-tween two B.C. and Ontario post-secondary institutions will allow students to transfer Lan-

gara College credits towards a degree at Queen’s University.

Last week, a memorandum signed by both institutions will allow Langara students with associate of arts or asso-ciate of science degrees to transfer to pursue faculty of arts and science de-grees at Queen’s. This is the first part-nership between a college in British Columbia and a university in Ontario.

Lindsey Fair, associate director of marketing and communications at

Queen’s said, by email, that the univer-sity wants to open as many doors as possible for Langara students.

“The exciting news is that not only are these programs set up for ease of transfer between our two institutions, but on a case-by-case basis we will also look at other transfer requests from Langara students as well,” Fair said.

Depending on the program, the mini-mum GPA required for Langara trans-fer students starts at 2.6., compared to 2.0 minimum requirement at UBC.

The initial conversation between the two institutions began in the spring of 2014 Julie Longo, the dean of arts at Langara, said in an email.

“We are always working to build

more educational pathways for stu-dents,” Longo said.

Second year Langara kinesiology student, Winston Yeung, said he hopes to transfer to UBC next September, and that partnerships with other post-sec-ondary institutions will “definitely in-crease the popularity of Langara.”

Based on his experience, Yeung’s ad-vice to students looking to transfer to Queen’s is to carefully plan out their course schedules while at Langara.

“While registering for my first two semesters, I was waitlisted on all my courses, but luckily I was able to fill my schedule full of electives,” Yeung said.

Visit the registrar’s office for more information on transferring to Queen’s.

“We are always working to build edu-cational pathways for stu-dents

JULIE LONGOLANGARA’S DEAN

OF ARTS

Schoolshuffles staffers

By BRIDGETTE WATSON

A Vancouver brewmaster is bring-ing the city’s beer drinkers their first local organic pints.

The Lower Mainland has seen a

surge in microbreweries in recent years. South Vancouver’s Dogwood Brewing distinguished itself as the city’s only organic brewer when it opened six months ago.

The brewery caters to beer drinkers looking for local brews from an envi-ronmentally sustainable company, as some commercial breweries can leave a large carbon footprint.

STORY CONTINUES ON PAGE 5

By ANNE-SOPHIE RODET

Vivian Lee, Langara College’s direc-tor of financial services, is just one of three senior administrative staff

members who have either left their po-sitions or been shuffled to others with-in the college in the last year.

Despite the numerous changes in the college’s ad-ministration in re-cent months, the college has not been forthcoming with information as to why.

On Nov. 2, Viktor Sokha, vice-presi-dent of administra-tion and finance at Langara, sent out an email to staff an-nouncing that Lee was no longer em-ployed at the col-lege.

He made no mention about the reason she left.When asked why Lee was no longer employed at Langa-ra, Dawn Palmer, associate vice-presi-dent of human resources at Langara, said only that “Changes in administra-tion happen at all levels in organiza-tions as big as Langara,” and that the

college sometimes needs to restruc-ture itself.

Lee’s departure follows those of Bradley O’Hara and Roy Daykin.

O’Hara left his position of provost and vice-president, academics and stu-dents in Septem-ber for the same position at Univer-sity Canada West.

Roy Daykin, for-merly the vice-president, administra-tion and community engagement at Langara, left in December of 2014 for the position vice-president of finance and administration at Okanagan Col-lege after four years at various senior administrative positions at Langara.

Palmer said to The Voice by email: “Both Vice Presidents moved because the roles that were offered to them were a perfect fit for what they were personally looking for at this point in their career.”

Trouble with organic brews has bubbled to the surface Finding ingredients is an issue for local producers

JOURNALISM

B.C. and Ontario schools signed new groundbreaking agreement

Departure of senior admin raises questions about the college’s recent turnover

BRIDGETTE WATSON photoDogwood Brewing is the first to serve

organic beers in Vancouver.

theVoice

EN GARDE! .....................................8Tapping into childrens’ combative side key to harnessing their energy, says one parent

ROY DAYKINFormer vice-president of administration and community at Langara

“Changes in admin-istration happen at all levels in orga-nizations as big as Langara

DAWN PALMER

ASSOCIATE VICE-PRESIDENT OF HU-MAN RESOURCES

KATHRYN WU photo illustrationThe newly signed memorandum will give Langara students the opportunity to transfer certain credits to Queen’s University in Ontario.

Historic transfer deal sealed

Beau’s Brewery, ON

Mill Street Brewery,

ON

Crannóg Ales, B.C.

Nelson Brewing

Company, B.C.

Alley Kat Brewing

Company, AB

ORGANICBrewers

At large 2 EDITOR SARA RABEYTHE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOV. 12, 2015

South Van MP rising star Political rookie, Harjit Sajjan, is set to represent his riding, and Justin Trudeau’s defence portfolio

FLICKR photoLt. Col. Harjit Sajjan, the new minister of defence Canada

LSU info is hard to come by onlineFinancial records and meeting minutes available only by requests and in person, no notes allowed

By ALEX HOEGLER

After years of little usage, the Gar-den City Lands that sit in the heart of Richmond will be trans-

formed into something Canada hasn’t seen before.

Kwantlen Polytechnic University will be running a research lab farm on the Garden City Lands, in partnership with the City of Richmond.

The university will be creating a minimum of eight hectares on the lands to be used for instructors to help students with farming skills. Students and agricultural scientists will re-search skills such as crop producing and managing organic soils.

“This farm will directly support our applied research work in small-scale

agriculture,” said Kent Mullinix, direc-tor of institute for sustainable food sys-tems at Kwantlen.

The farming school falls in line with the regional food system action plan put forward by staff for the Metro Van-couver planning committee of the re-gional growth strategy, which looks at expanding regional food systems, food security and production.

“We are developing a world-class, small-scale alternate market research and teaching farm (to extend our) under-graduate teaching program,”Mullinix said.

The Garden City Lands are, by law, to be used for agriculture, since they are considered part of the Agricultural Land Reserve.

Long-time cattle farmer and Rich-mond Coun. Harold Steves said that in 2006, delegates from the United Na-tions approached fellow Coun. Chak Au, then school board trustee, about a farming school in Richmond, which led to an agreement by Au, Mayor Malcolm Brodie and then KPU President Skip Triplett.

Steves also said that the United Na-tions delegates told him that a farming school on the Garden City Lands would be “an international training example.”

Given the limited land available in Richmond, Steves also said how it’s critical to make sure there is enough farmland available for students when they graduate

“Some people who’ve finished school are looking for farmland. We’ve set aside farmland for students where they can farm … until they find a place for themselves,” Steves said.

Mullinix also said how farming schools are incredibly crucial to the fu-ture of farming.

“We’re the only university in Canada doing this…community-linked commu-nity farming (and) food systems, it is going to be increasingly important[in the future].”

KPU hopes to have the research farming operating this spring.

“We’re out to feed the world. It was their (the UN’s) idea. We said yes and we’re ready for it,” Steves said.

The city will be turning a large tract of unused land into a way for scientists to study agriculture

Richmond begins tilling the soil STEPHAN REES photo

A small group gathering at the Garden City Lands in Richmond, B.C. on International Day of Climate Action

By VINCENT MATAK

Canada’s new minister of defence will keep local issues on govern-ment’s agenda, expert says.

Harjit Sajjan, member of par-liament for the federal riding of Van-couver South, was named minister of defence last Wednesday, less than one month into his first term in Ottawa. Sa-jjan is the first Sikh to be given the de-fense portfolio.

Stephen Phillips, a political science instructor at Langara College, said Saj-jan’s “powerful position” on the federal scene will help ensure the federal gov-ernment pays attention to local issues.

He said Sajjan’s recent experience in the Canadian military could mean more government empathy for military issues and for veterans. Sajjan served

11 years with the Vancouver Police De-partment and had four operational de-ployments with the Canadian Armed Forces: three in Afghanistan and one in Bosnia.

“There’s a lot of attention on the quality of the appointment,” Phillips said. “I can’t think of a defense minis-ter who’s been a military man since General McNaughton and [his role] in the Second World War.”

Stewart McGillivray, president of the Vancouver South Federal Liberal Rid-ing Association, said Sajjan’s cabinet position solidifies strong local repre-sentation in Parliament.

“It’s really important for people to see themselves in the government, and it’s important for people of the riding and for Vancouverites and British Co-lumbia to have a cabinet with such

strong local repre-sentation,” said McGillivray, who helped develop Sa-jjan’s election cam-paign.

Sajjan’s appoint-ment includes a position on the cabinet committee on agenda and re-sults, which deals with overarching government priori-ties. His responsi-bilities also in-clude public security, military intelligence and emergency issues.

Sajjan did not respond for comment.

“Some peo-ple who’ve finished school are looking for farmland. We’ve set aside farm-land for students where they can farm ... until they find a place for themselves

HAROLD STEVES

RICHMOND CITY COUNCILLOR

By KEVIN UNDERHILL

Despite a 10 day wait, the Langara Students’ Union allowed The Voice to view, in the LSU office, financial audits and budget information. The records show summarized accounts of the bod-ies spending and the auditor reported all was in order.

B.C. student advocacy groups such as the Kwantlen Student Association and University of Victoria Students’ Society have information such as meet-ing minutes and financial statements posted on their website. Brontë Ren-wick-Shields, spokesperson and chair of the UVSS said, the society keeps cop-ies of minutes and financial statements in the office for anyone to take at any time, adding student governments have a duty to be transparent with their electorate.

Langara Students’ Union media spokesperson Jared Braverman said via email, the union is transpar-ent with its mem-bers by posting lots of information to its website and on social media, “be it the cancella-tion of elections, or LSU events.”

“Many students get information by coming in and speaking with staff at the front desk or looking at the notice boards,” Braver-man said.

According to article 13 of the LSU by-laws, members are allowed to look over union records, but must provide 48 hours notice and must be supervised by an LSU staff or board member “to ensure that records are not reproduced or noted in any way.”

Though members must provide no-tice to request such documents, LSU bylaws do not specify a time by which they must be provided.

Meeting minutes are also only avail-able subject to an article 13 request.

BRONTË RENWICK-SHIELDSSpokesperson for UVSS

Justice Minister

Jody Wilson-Ray-

bould, Vancouver

Granville

Defence Minister

Harjit Sajjan,

Vancouver South

Minister of Sport

and Persons with

Disabilities Carla

Qualtrough, Delta

Source: pm.gc.ca/eng/cabinet

B.C.federal ministers

Campus news 3EDITOR MICHAEL LYLYK THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOV. 12, 2014

By SEYEDMOSTAFA RAZIEI

The new Langara Space and As-tronomy Club is looking for oth-ers who are interested in scenes outside of Earth’s atmosphere.

Initiated by two physics students, Charlie Rud and Derek Greenaway, the club is trying to fill the gap of an ab-sence in scientific based clubs at the college.

Since similar clubs like the UBC As-tronomy Club has many members, the absense of one at Langara was a reason for Rud to jump start his own.

“I created this club, because I love space and astronomy, and there was a lack of such a club here,” Rud said. “Also I was looking forward to joining a community of people who are interest-ed in physics and space.”

With their own personal telescopes, and other equipment available from Langara, they are planning stargazing events on and off campus.

A trip to Vancouver observatory the ‘H.R. MacMillan Space Centre’, or to places like the town of Merritt, which is considered the best place in B.C. for stargazing.

During the day, they use special fil-ters, to provide a sungazing oppourtu-nity as well.

“Watching space is an exhilarating experience. You feel very small, which actually is very cool,” Rud said. “It is remarkable how big the universe be-comes when you look at it from your telescope.”

For stargazing, this club needs a clear, dark night, just after sunset. From campus through telescopes, it is possible to see planets, nebulas, or even galaxies.

“Any bright thing in the sky, to be

honest, what you can see with your na-ked eyes.” Greenaway said.

The next meeting of The Langara Space & Astronomy Club is Friday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m.. Their first stargazing meet-up will happen this weekend after sun-set on Langara campus. Further infor-mation is available on their Facebook page.

“Come out with us, or come to our meetings,” Greenaway said. “See the beauty of space through a telescope. No math is involved. You will enjoy the fun and pleasurable side this experi-ence.”

By JULIA WICKHAM

Though playing video games is usu-ally more about having fun, a group from the Langara eSports

Assiciation dedicated a full day to gam-ing for a more serious reason.

Gamers from around the world teamed up with a fundraising event called Extra Life, where gamers live stream themselves playing video games for 24 hours to raise money for their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Six members from the Langara eS-ports Association played in the mara-thon on Saturday, Nov. 7 and gathered $1,111 in donations.

Jonathan Wong, second year busi-ness administration student and chair of the Langara eSports Association, said that this is the club’s first year tak-ing part in the event.

“We are participating in the mara-thon to not only fundraise money for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation

but to do our part in the community and to raise aware-ness of the club,” he said.

Since its cre-ation in 2008, Extra Life participants have raised more than $14 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospi-tals.

As of Nov. 10, this year’s gamers have added just over $6.7 million to that number.

According to a blog post on the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation web-site, 778 Extra Life gamers in B.C. raised $130,993 last year for the BC-CHF.

Graham Bevelander, second year chemistry student and member of the Langara eSports Association, said the team’s fundraising goal of $500 was surpassed with a donation of $1,000 from Scott Cawthon, creator of the game series Five Nights at Freddy’s.

Bevelander said that the team lasted about 22 hours and they got through it by consuming “lots and lots of energy drinks and coffee.”

By RUMANA DSOUZA

Japanese cartoons have grown from a small cult following to a major pop-culture phenomenon. Its influ-

ence on Western culture is clearly evi-dent, according to some Langara Col-lege students.

Third year general sciences stu-dent Wren Go, said that contemporary western cinema owes a lot of it’s tech-nique to anime.

“Anime has influenced a lot of things, it’s one of the most original forms of art and film which has come out within the last century. If you’re familiar with [the film] Pacific Rim, that was actually in-fluenced by an old anime title called Evangelion,” Go said.

Go also said that the iconic film The Lion King, which has spawned musi-cals and video games since its release in 1994, very closely resembles the Jap-anese animation, Kimba the White

Lion, which ran from 1950 to 1966.The college’s English department

now offers a film studies course called Studies in Anime: From Astro Boy to Attack on Titan which covers the origins, genres and influence of an-ime and its graphic novel sibling, man-ga. The course, taught by Langara pro-fessor Megan Otton, will outline various examples of anime’s influence on western film and television.

“Most of my colleagues are not sure what I’m on about, but the course at-tracts an interesting group of stu-dents,” Otton said. “It attracts people already obsessed with anime and man-ga, as many students in the college are, and it also attracts many who don’t know anything about it and are fasci-nated by it.”

Otton said she hopes her course will disprove misconceptions that anime is only for children, and show it for the sophisticated art form it is.

“I like to show my students forms of anime that don’t exist in the West be-cause here anime tends to be only for kids,” said Otton. “But anime in Japan is for everybody, and it can often be very sophisticated, original and cre-ative in how it uses film technique.”

Make a place for the wonder of space

eSports club stays awake playing games to raise money for sick kids

Curriculum of English department course exam-ines Western pop-culture’s Eastern influences

New student club looks to engage, excite and educate others about the stars above us

1 Inception (2010):

Inspired by Paprika

2 The Matrix (1999):

Inspired by Ghost

in the Shell

3 Black Swan (2010):

Darren Aronofsky

acknoledges simi-

larities in his film

and Perfect Blue

4 Looper (2012):

Inspired by Akira

5 Van Helsing

(2004): Hugh Jack-

man’s costume

shares similarities

with Vampire

Hunter D

6 Avatar (2009):

alleged influence

from Princess

Mononoke

7 Scott Pilgrim Vs.

the World (2010):

too many refrences

to list here

Source: mentalfloss.com

ANIMEinspired

CHARLIE RUD photo (left) SEYEDMOSTAFA RAZIEI photos (right)A shot of the moon captured by a Newtonian reflector telescope (left), Charlie Rud in a meeting with other members (top right) planning a stargazing trip (bottom right).

Anime is everywhere

“Watching space is an exhilarat-ing experi-ence

CHARLIE RUD

PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

STUDENT

GRAHAM BEVELANDERSecond-yearchemistry stu-dent

Earning others an extra life

By JAKE COSTELLO

With a debut novel out, two pro-ductions in Vancouver, and one play being produced across the

globe—in Lithuania, no less—it’s been a good year for Langara College in-structor Aaron Bushkowsky.

Bushkowsky, whose latest play Dressing for a Wedding opens this week at Performance Works on Gran-ville Island, has been teaching writing with Langara’s English and Studio 58 programs for 15 years.

“He’s a living-breathing-thriving playwright, and our students are lucky to be able to interact with someone like that,” Tess MacMillan, English depart-ment chair at Langara College said.

Having someone on staff working as much as Bushkowsky can inspire stu-dents to follow a career path they oth-

erwise might not have considered, MacMillan said.

Bushkowsky said that part of why he teaches is to help get young people working in theatre. In fact, he discov-ered the assistant sound designer for Dressing for a Wedding, Tanika Charles, in a film writing class at Lan-gara.

“She did this soundscape for a little film that they had produced in my class, and it was so good I said ‘you’ve got to work in the-atre,’” Bush-kowsky said.

Kathleen Oliver, English instructor at Langara, said she first met Bush-kowsky in a writ-ers group in the late ’90s.

“Aaron is really good at creating interesting charac-ters and putting them into situations that are just slightly off-kilter,” she said.

Eccentric characters finding them-selves in complicated situations are at the heart of his debut novel, Curtains for Roy (which was nominated for the Stephen Leacock humour award) and his latest play Dressing for a Wedding. Both are dark comedies that have their roots in Bushkowsky’s own real-life ex-periences.

“I’ve been married three times. That’s three weddings. So I took the best, and the worst of all those wed-dings,” he said.

“It’s easier to write about things that have really happened, and lie about it a little bit, because there’s an element of truth to it.”

Right now theatre is a growing field in a “golden era” according to Bush-kowsky, whose play Strangers Among Us is currently being produced by the National Youth Theatre company in Lithuania.

“Everybody thought we were going to be cocooning, because of our cell phones and iPads and all that, but the very opposite happened. People want to get away from that. They want inter-action—they want theatre,” he said.

By SCOTT DRAKE

It might be the provocative nature of the title, Bad Jews, that draws audi-ences into the theatre, but the play

itself will have them talking a month later, according to director Jay Brazeau.

The play by Joshua Harmon is set to make its Vancouver premiere at the Norman Rothstein Theatre on Nov. 12. The story revolves around three Jew-ish cousins who meet up after their grandfather’s death, only to battle it out over faith and family, in the unique humour of family relationships.

“There are some very moving and very poignant moments in that play in terms of family, faith, culture: things that really make you think and make you feel,” producer of the play Bill All-man said.

Though the play deals with heavy themes of spirituality and secularism, it is, according to Brazeau, “a different kind of play.”

He expects that it will challenge au-diences and provoke many different reactions.

“There will be people, I’m sure, who will be laughing hysterically on one side of the house and on the other side they are going ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’”

The play has been staged in New York and London where producer, Bill Allman, first saw the show.

While the name was initially what piqued his interest, after watching it he knew immedi-ately that he want-ed to stage the show in Vancou-ver.

“I laugh[ed] my-self sick for about 90 minutes,” All-man said about watching the Lon-

don production.By the time he made it back to his

hotel that same night, Allman had se-cured the rights. He said there was “no hesitation” and had decided on the di-rector and location, “all of it.”

Bad Jews runs until Nov. 19.

ntertainment4 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOV. 12, 2015 EDITOR BRYAN MC GOVERN E

Local performing group ‘Vancouver Pops’ plays movie soundtracks

‘Pops’ heading to Los Angeles ROSEMARY NEWTON photo

Director and founder of the Vancouver Pops Symphony and Orchestra Tom Kuo conducts a rehearsal in South Vancouver.

By ROSEMARY NEWTON

With a Disney playlist on their side, a South Vancouver group of musicians have their eyes set on Hollywood.

The Vancouver Pops Symphony and Orchestra recently launched their ‘Hol-lywood in Concert’ tour, which will take them to the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles next July.

Jaelem Bhate, jazz director and prin-ciple conductor for the Los Angeles performance, said these soundtracks appeal to a ‘classical ear’ but are acces-sible to everyone.

So far, the playlist features tracks from Star Wars, Disney’s The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Pirates of the Caribbean.

He expects the Star Wars set to be a hit given the December 2015 release of

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens.

“It’s a soundtrack that’s so monu-mental and pivotal to how we perceive music in movies,” said Bhate, who is also director of the Vancouver Pops’ 45th Avenue Jazz Band and a principle percussionist. “Every single note in the score has deep meaning.”

Rachel Wong, a cello musician in the orchestra and an alto in the choir, said the Star Wars set sounds “epic.”

“I love it. Everyone knows what the soundtracks are from [their] child-hood,” Wong said. She’s been with Van-couver Pops for two of their six years.

The tour consists of four Vancouver concerts—the first took place in Octo-ber at the Chan Centre for the Perform-ing Arts—before ending in Los Ange-les.

Tom Kuo, symphony and choir direc-

tor, said two successful performances at Carnegie Hall in New York City led to another trip across the border.

“The members decided they loved doing it so much we set our own desti-nation and our own genre with the goal to do an entire production ourselves in a different city,” Kuo said. He noted the New York City performances had been by invitation.

He said the final performace in Los Angeles will include music from Broad-way hits, like Mamma Mia!

According to Kuo many college-aged students join Vancouver Pops because they can’t find many opportunities to perform after graduating high schools with music courses.

Their next performance is a Christ-mas concert with the Vancouver Pops’s piano quartet at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on Dec. 13.

JAKE COSTELLO photoCurtains for Roy, Bushkowsky’s debut novel, will be adapted into a screenplay.

Modern playwright earns praiseAward-nominated Langa-ra College English instruc-tor launches new theatre project on Granville Island

BILL ALLMANProducer of Bad Jews

New play uses dark humour to deal with deathJewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver de-buts comedy about family dynamics and religion

E.T. the Extra-

Terrestrial

Star Trek

The Incredibles

Forrest Gump

Aladdin

The Little Mermaid

Source: orchestraclub.com

POPSsoundtracks

KATHLEEN OLIVEREnglish instruc-tor at Langara College

Lifestyles 5EDITOR TONY SU THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOV. 12, 2015

New climate, new challenge

Standing desks may provide better healthPaper suggests standing in the workplace is ideal, as people are not meant to be stationary

By SERENA PATTAR

New research is showing why the decades-old format of sitting in desks may not be the best op-

tion for the classroom.Recent studies have shown that

standing and working for short periods of time can reduce the risk of obesity and increase concentration.

The study Sick of sitting by James A. Levine of the Mayo Clinic states that humans were not meant to do all of their work sitting. According to the study, “People were designed to be bi-pedal and, before the industrial revolu-tion, people moved substantially more throughout the day then they do pres-ently.”

At Langara College, the library has a number of height-adjustable standing desks that can be used for quick refer-ence searches, or for students who pre-fer to stand and do their work.

Joyce Wong, the library department chair at Langara believes the standing desks create a more amiable atmo-sphere for students and librarians alike, and that is what prompted their implementation.

“I find that it provides for a more friendly look and feel for students when approaching us for help,” said Wong.

“Height-adjustable also makes it very ergonomically accommodating.”

Manveer Sanghera, first-year gen-eral studies student occasionally uses the standing desks in the library, par-ticularly when she tires of sitting and needs a change of scene.

“They’re a good way to let your body stretch out,” said Sanghera, “Some-times when you’re studying, you tend to slouch over, but with the standing desks, you’re level with the computers, so it’s good for your posture too.”

Although the response to the stand-ing desks at Langara has been a posi-tive one, there are no plans to imple-ment more on campus.

“There are no plans to install stand-ing desks in classrooms at this time,” Langara director of facilities Wendy Lannard said, however she did not say why.

By KATE RICHARDSON

After last summer’s extreme heat, farmers are doing what they do best—adapting to changing weather by carefully selecting

crops and planning ahead. The rising temperatures are the real

challenge, according to Pemberton po-tato farmer, Anna Helmer.

“It’s chaos,” she said. “Completely unpredictable.”

The hot and dry trend will continue according to Helen Chesnut, gardening columnist for the Times Colonist and horticulture expert.

“It calls for a lot of trial and error and adaptation,” Chesnut said, who will be moving her planting season up by three to four weeks next year to take advan-tage of cool weather before the heat comes.

Adjusting schedule is just one strat-egy she and other growers are trying.

“Different things affect different crops,” said Holly Rooke, farms man-ager for Edible Garden Project in North Vancouver. She says planting a variety of plants in different locations around a farm can help mitigate extreme weath-er risks.

Despite challenges, Rooke and Ches-nut said there were clear winners in the heat, listing “hot crops” like tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, garlic and some sur-prises like ginger, melons, grapes and even bananas.

Some are now e x p e r i m e n t i n g with sweet pota-toes, a notoriously finicky plant.

“That one still takes a lot of work to grow, up here. You still need to baby

them in the beginning stages,” Rooke said.

Chesnut has been growing sweet po-tatoes in Qualicum Beach since the 1980s.

“You need to plant a short season va-riety,” she said, among other tricks like pre-heating the soil.

For Helmer, the sweet potato might be a fun experiment, but she said it is not yet commercially viable.

“I think we’re still a ways away from that,” she said.

The changing cli-mate is a pressing is-sue for farmers who are on the front lines

of the struggle for food security.“Our livelihood depends on weather,

and our energy is connected to the weather,” Rooke said.

“Our liveli-hood de-pends on weather, and our energy is connected to the weather HOLLY

ROOKE

FARMS MANAGER FOR EDIBLE

GARDEN PROJECT

ORGANIC BREWS, continued from page 1

KATE RICHARDSON photosThe first day of the winter market at Nat Bailey Stadium on Nov. 7, 2015. It featured 18 varieties of potatoes, root vegetables and others.

SERENA PATTAR photoA Langara College student using a standing desk.

Hotter summer weather has farmers seeking new planting plan

Molson Coors Canada sent 7,067 tonnes of waste to landfill in 2014 ac-cording to the 2015 corporate responsi-bility report by Molson. That is compa-rable to the weight of 3,000 cars.

“We make every decision to de-crease the impact of our business,” Claire Wilson, Dogwood Brewing own-er and brewmaster said. This includes donating grain waste for animal feed and mainly package their beer in cans because aluminum can be recycled in-definitely.

The Fraser Valley Organic Produc-ers Association certifies Wilson’s brew-ery under international standards, al-though she admitted it is not easy or cheap to maintain organic status.

“Sometimes I feel like I am banging my head against the wall. It is so hard to find organic ingredients,” Wilson said, who sources organic hops, malt,

barley and yeast. “We get a smaller profit margin be-

cause of the cost of our materials.” Other microbreweries argue organic

certification is not worth the headache.“It’s difficult and expensive to get or-

ganic licencing,” explained Morgan Munro, an employee at Brassneck Brewery.

“We buy product that may not be la-beled organic, but is still top quality.”

Wilson said that ingredients being local is just as important as organic sources. She made supplier connec-tions through farmers she befriended before opening her brewery.

“Local is so important to us. To be able to see our money go into local farms and to see more farmland con-verting to organic, that is going to safe-guard the security of our province for the future.”

BRIDGETTE WATSON photosClaire Wilson is enjoying her freshly brewed organic beer.

1 Organic honey lager

4.5% ABV

paired with salad

and seafood

2 Organic IPA

5.9% ABV

paired with spicy

Thai curry or mild

blue cheese

3 Organic Fest lager

6.9% ABV

contrast with spicy,

savoury cusine or

complement with

almond biscotti

4 Organic stout

4% ABV

paired with BBQ

dishes, meat pie or

tiramisu

Source: dogwoodbrew.com

Beerpairings

viewpoints6 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOV. 12, 2015 EDITOR BAILEY NICHOLSON

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When it comes to what they con-sume, Vancouverites are most passionate about organic hor-

ticulture and craft beer.Naturally, the

two have joined forces in South Vancouver to form Dogwood Brewing, the Lower Main-land’s first ever all-organic craft brew-ery and tasting room. And while organic breweries might feel easy to label as a market-ing gimmick, if the passion from brew-ers for organics is real, it’s hard to dis-miss.

But why is organic beer easy to dis-

miss in the first place? Organic food and drink, while ideal in theory, is so often coopted by corporations that seek to exploit it. Companies like Whole Foods Market, for example, are the kind of big-box organics that go against what proper organics stand for, which should be hyper-local, small-batch products that are free of plastic.

Buying organic can also be an ex-pensive endeavour, and since the health benefits of eating “naturally” are relatively unproven it’s a tough sell for anyone.

However, if a brewery makes the de-cision to go organic and do it properly, such as Dogwood Brewing has, their attempts should be supported. Organic brewing should be focused on the im-portant stuff: cultivating relationships with farmers and creating beer in an ethical manner.

Most breweries aren’t organic be-cause it’s expensive. It’s expensive to purchase all-organic ingredients to brew beer, but if a brewery chooses to do so they should do it because they favour organic principles, not selling organic beer for it’s trendy marketabil-ity.

Brewers, for example, should be pas-sionate about dealing with local farm-ers and knowing where their ingredi-ents come from – that’s what’s important to consumers and, hopefully, the brewers as well.

Organic beer won’t be a game chang-er, but it’s hard not to be impressed with the passion and principles that can go into it when a place like Dog-wood Brewing does it. If other brewer-ies want to go this route – if they really believe in it, if they don’t treat it as a gimmick – then I say go for it.

OPINIONBEN BENGTSON

Organic beer: passion over price

I can honestly say that I’m feeling pretty stressed, and I’m sure I’m far from the only one. Having

some cute, cuddly puppies on cam-pus would certain-ly take my mind off things.

UBC and SFU have tonnes of things that we don’t have, and typically that doesn’t bother me. But bringing in stress-relieving

dogs during exam time seems like it shouldn’t be this difficult.

I feel like I’m constantly walking past empty classrooms that could be donated for a few hours of puppy time. Also, we have a giant, grassy lawn just begging for paws to run all over it.

In terms of people with allergies or a fear of dogs, it seems easy enough to just avoid the room where the ‘scary’ puppies are being held. I’m not too fond of birds, but I still manage to shuf-fle past the crows that line my morning walk to school. I think that if a room full of puppies terrifies you, not enter-ing that room would be easy.

Stress can take a toll on you mental-

ly. Yes, there are counsellors on cam-pus willing to listen, but there’s just something about the calming nature of animals that provides a different kind of relief and relaxation.

It’s not like we’re asking for puppies all-year-round (although I wouldn’t ar-gue against it), just briefly during the time of year that we all need it the most.

I understand that certain policies may need to be put in place, and that it isn’t as easy as just finding dogs and transporting them over here to be played with, but for something that so many students would love, Langara should try a little harder.

OPINIONBAILEY NICHOLSON

Puppies relieve pressure

God gave me a large bum for a good reason.

Stand-up desks are available in the library at Langara College for stu-dents to use while doing their course work, but stand-up desks aren’t new. Winston Churchill, Leonardo Da Vinci and Ernest Hemingway were known to use their stand-up desks.

They became popular in Silicon Val-ley, where peoples’ desire is to brag about long work hours and introduce new trends to draw attention to their own trumped up self-importance.

Supporters of stand-up desks reference a study from 2010, Sedentary Be-haviors Increase Risk of Cardio-vascular Dis-ease Mortality in Men. This study claimed that people who sit for 23 or more hours per week had a 64 per cent great-er chance of dying from heart disease than those who sat for only half as long.

Those who support the promotion of this ill-conceived fad argue that sitting for extended periods of time can send indi-viduals to an early grave. But the advice they give is false, and those who choose to stand can end up in the same place.

An October study by Cornell Univer-sity Ergonomics Web shows that stand-ing while working is problematic. It is

more tiring for men with heart disease because it increases the load on the circulatory system. Prolonged standing at work also increases the risks of varicose veins. Fine motor skills are reduced when people stand rather than sit,

and standing requires 20 per cent more energy than sitting. Standing all day is unhealthy.

I will continue to plant my bum on a chair when I work at my desk and promise to do my share of exercise. I am not prepared to trade in my desk and comfortable chair for the stand-up desk fad without true benefit.

Standing desks just don’t sit right

OPINIONMURRAY B. HUNT

“I will continue to plant my bum on a chair when I work

MICHAEL LYLYK comicCORRECTION

In last week’s edition of The Voice, we incorrectly printed “Hula Hoop Dancing” in our front page masthead, when in fact it should have read “Hot Hula fitness”. We apologize for the er-ror.

Issues & ideas 7THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOV. 12, 2015 EDITOR MONA BUTLER

Dogs are a student’s best friendA pet can be a fun, useful companion, but having one can bring about unique issues

By MARK STUART

Being able to de-stress with cute dogs during exam time has be-come a popular trend at other post-secondary institutions but

Langara College has been left out of the trend for lack of space.

The inaugural exam-time “puppy room” took place at Dalhousie Univer-sity in Nova Scotia in 2012 and quickly caught on at other schools.

One of the schools to hold this activ-ity is SFU. According to Martin Mroz, director of health and counselling ser-vices at SFU, the process has been a glowing success every year.

“We’ve had amazing responses to it. We started it in 2012, when I first took my dog in, and since then the response has really been quite overwhelming,” said Mroz.

As for why Langara can’t host such

an activity, space and liability seem to be the primary hur-dles.

Wendy Lannard, director of facilities at Langara said that, “the main is-sue right now would be space to accommodate such an activity. Pres-ently Langara has a space shortage and would not be able to entertain the idea because we would have no-where to accommo-date this.”

“Secondly, if Langara did sup-port a puppy room on campus there

would have to be a policy in place which would address issues like liability, noise disruption, people will allergies, fears, etc.” she added.

When SFU was posed with space problems, Mroz said that it was never an issue finding new locations.

“I’ve done it in small lounge areas, you really don’t need that much space to accommodate it,” he said, “When it became a bigger deal, we moved it out-side.”

It’s something that students at Lan-gara are onboard with.

“I think it would be a cool idea, pup-pies are pretty cute,” said third-year psychology student Alysha Watt.“It’s hard to be stressed when you’re play-ing with something that’s so adorable and has no stress itself, puppies are so carefree.”

No space for de-stress pupsLangara struggles to get room to accommodate puppy therapy but SFU has no problem

Courtesy of MARTIN MROZA PADS service dog lays down during a dog therapy session at SFU during the exam period of spring 2014.

Ferrets who alert

their owners to

seizures

Boa constrictors

who squeeze their

owners harder to

alert them to a

seiziure

Parrots who talk

their bipolar

owners out of a

psychotic episode

Miniature horses

who act as seeing-

eye guides

Pigs are easily

trainable for many

assitant tasks

Capuchin monkeys

trained to assist

with grasping items

Souce: NCHPAD blog

WEIRDservice animals

Housing harder to find with FidoHaving a pet makes it dif-ficult to find an apartment but there are ways to make your pet rental-friendly

By JASON HAMILTON

To increase your chances of finding a rental unit as a student with a pet you may want to consider cre-

ating a pet resume according to the BC SPCA.

The associations renters guide says that only 15–20 per cent of downtown Vancouver apartments allow cats and even fewer allow dogs. It is far easier to find a rental unit that allows pets in the suburbs than downtown.

Ryan Voutilainen, manager of the Burnaby branch of the BC SPCA advis-es students to go to check the pet-

friendly housing resources. Their web-site helps with putting together a letter for potential landlords and how to draft a pet policy.

“About 20 per cent of the animals we receive through our shelters is usually due to housing related issues,” Vouti-lainen said, “tenants with pets stay on average for 46 months compared to 18 months for those without pets.”

Global Education City Holdings Inc. (GEC) is a student-focused real estate company that retrofits apartments and old hotels into luxury rental units for students.

Rodney Davidson, property manag-er for GEC, said that although they don’t have pet-friendly units available yet, it is something they might consider in the future.

“It’s hard when you have students living together with shared spaces. When it comes to pets, not everyone

likes having animals around, especially those without pets. We are not opposed to the idea of pets and it is something we may look into,” Davidson said.

As for service animals, he said, “We don’t discriminate and service animals aren’t considered pets. We will follow the laws regarding service animals.”

According to the BC SPCA, if you find a place that allows pets, keep in mind they may charge a pet deposit. This deposit can be up to, but no more than, half a month’s rent regardless of the number of animals and can only be used by a landlord to cover damages incurred directly from a pet.

Voutilainen also explained that al-though many people are refused hous-ing due to potential damages incurred by pets, there is factually no significant difference in damages between tenants with pets and those without them.JASON HAMILTON photo

A Nicola street resident takes his dog Chulo for a walk.

Service pets welcome on campusesThe use of guide dogs is becoming more common as their jobs expand beyond the traditional roles

By SEAN LEE

Everyday life on campus is becom-ing easier for students with guide dogs, according to John Wheel-

wright, the executive director of Dogs with Wings.

Service animals such as guide dogs on campus weren’t very common years ago, but as their jobs expanded beyond just visual or hearing impairment, in-stitutions are seeing an increase in number of them.

“It’s not just guide dogs. We have dogs being used for emotional support, helping people with autism spectrum disorder, and other physical or psycho-logical challenges,” Wheelwright said.

Students with guide dogs may face challenges that are unique to campus life.

Hallways or stairwells may be crowd-ed, the dog might get startled, or the planned routes may not be optimal in which case the trainers would have to retrain the dog, he said.

However, despite these challenges, Wheelwright said that generally peo-ple on campus are helpful to these stu-dents.

“You get a good deal of buy-in from the general student population. The person with the dog may become a bit notorious. I think people go out of their way to help. Stepping out of the way, or making sure there’s a bowl of water around,” said Wheelwright. “We found that people want to be helpful.”

Any student who requires service animals must visit disabilities services on campus in Building B, room B139 and fill out the proper documentation for approval. Any Langara staff that re-quire service animals must visit hu-man resources in Building B, room B201.

Disabilities services was unable to give a comment by deadline.

“I’ve done it in small lounge ar-eas; you re-ally don’t need much space to accommo-date it

MARTIN MROZ

Director of health and councelling services at SFU

8 portssTHE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOV. 12, 2015 EDITOR OWEN MUNRO

RUMANA DSOUZA photoTwo fencers practise at the Killarney Community Centre, where Tri-City Fencing Academy will hold a program for ages eight to 15.

Fencing on guard in Killarney Classes take aim at bringing fresh faces to a historic tradition

Three Falcon women earn all-star nodsKappeli, Graeme and Tasaka selected as PAC-WEST all-stars

By RUMANA DSOUZA

The Killarney Community Centre will soon be transformed from classroom to battlefield for swashbuckling kids who want to

learn the centuries-old sport of fencing. The community centre is offering be-

ginner and intermediatetraining cours-es, structured for kids ages eight to 15. The program, run by the Tri-City Fenc-ing Academy, begins Nov. 16.

According to Brad Kelly, founder of the Tri-City Fencing Academy, fencing is becoming more popular among chil-dren who have a competitive spirit and are not interested in team sports.

“Fencing is one of the original Olym-pic sports, and it has a strong psycho-

logical aspect to it, much like any mar-tial art,” Kelly said. “You’re measuring yourself; not against a clock, but against another person.”

Fencing has its origins from duel-ling, in the days when military cavalry fought on horseback. After the inven-tion of firearms made it obsolete, fenc-ing developed into a sport over the years. Kelly said swordplay is naturally appealing to children.

“Sometimes, moms come to me and say, ‘I’m not sure if my 12-year-old son will like this sport,’ and I say, ‘Well, I’m going to give him a stick and tell him to hit other kids. Of course, he’s going to like it,’” Kelly said.

Harry McCullough, 11, learns fenc-ing at the LaSalle Fencing Club & Stu-

dio. “I like playing with a sword and hitting people,” he said. “I like getting tired. I want to be a great fencer.”

The Tri-City Fencing Academy ad-vertises their courses in program guides. Kelly said parents enrol their kids in the program because fencing of-fers many health benefits.

Dr. Cameron Leong, a naturopathic doctor and director of Jericho Integrat-ed Clinic, specializes in sports medi-cine and is a fencer himself.

“Fencing requires a lot of physical endurance. It involves a lot more move-ment and flexibility than people think,” he said. “Fencing is considered a mar-tial art, so there’s a discipline to it. Im-proved flexibility and hand-eye coordi-nation come with training.”

“I’m going to give him a stick and tell him to hit other kids. Of course, he’s going to like it

BRAD KELLY

TRI-CITY FENCING ACADEMY

Marpole mini league hits it right on the button

1 Marpole Curling

Club

2 Vancouver Curling

Club

3 Royal City Curling

Club (New West-

minster)

4 Tunnel Town Curling

Club (Delta)

5 Cloverdale Curling

Club

Source: Google

CURLING clubs

Six-week mini league in Marpole hopes to draw a new generation as older curlers move out of Vancouver

By NANCY PLECHATY

Despite a disappointing finish to the season, three Langara College women’s soccer players took

home some hardware.The Langara women’s soccer team

finished in fifth place in the PACWEST league, but proud to produce three all-stars at the end of their 2015 season. The all-star selections, Olivia Kappeli, Alyssa Graeme and Tessa Tasaka said it’s about the friendships they earned, not the awards.

Only 11 women are selected as all-stars from the six participating teams in their division. “Three girls being recognized says a lot about them indi-vidually,” women’s head coach Ryan Birt said. “Because it’s awards that are voted on by the other coaches. You can’t vote for your own players.”

Kappeli said she feels grateful to have had the opportunity to play at pro-vincials and nationals last year, but the most important thing for her was mak-ing best friends.

“It feels nice to be recognized. I don’t show off about it and tell everyone,” said Kappeli, who won her third straight PACWEST all-star award.

Alyssa Graeme, a second-time all-star winner, said she didn’t expect the nomination again.

“I followed my best friends here. We went to Nationals last year. It’s been fun. We all just connect so well,” Graeme said.

Tessa Tasaka, a second-year player, won her first all-star award. Last sea-son, she suffered an ankle injury near the beginning of the year and saw lim-ited minutes. She credited her nomina-tion to her friends and coaches.

“Honestly, I just played for the team.”

ALYSSA GRAEMETwo-time PAC-WEST all-star

By TESSA VIKANDER

The Marpole Curling Club is sweep-ing up a new demographic with a six-week mini league for beginner curlers.

The club introduced the mini league for beginner teams who aren’t ready to commit to the usual 24-week season. General manager Melinda Michalak said the initiative stems from a need to attract younger adults to the club in face of a decline in number of older members. The club has also increased its focus on beginners’ clinics and group rentals.

“A lot of our older curlers who are retired, and used to make up a large portion of our membership have decid-ed to go with the trend, sell their [Van-couver] property, and move to the sub-urbs,” she said, “the suburban curling

clubs are busier.” Michalak said people who

first attended beginner clinics or who partici-pated in a private group rental formed some of the teams in the mini league.

D e a n n a Brummitt, 34, first got involved at a beginner’s clinic. Michal-ak said she was “in-strumen-tal” in h e l p i n g fill the

m i n i l e a g u e both this year and last because she rallied 30 of her friends and ac-quaintences to join.

B r u m m i t t ’ s hooked on curling because of how

strategic it is.“ I t ’s

kind like chess on ice. You’ve got to think a few moves ahead… Plus I like how it’s social. You get to come and drink beer after.”

One of Brummitt’s recruits, Jenni Sheppard, age 34, said the club is

friendly and welcoming. Sheppard said she likes the el-

ement of suspense in curling. During her team’s last turn, she

could knock the other teams’ rocks out of position on the ice

sheet, causing an unexpected win.“You don’t know how [the game] is

going to end until the very last rock,” she said.

NANCY PLECHATY photoMembers of the Royal City Curl-ing Club sweep the ice.

Falcons’ TallyWOMEN’S BASKETBALL

W-D-L

2-0-1

Ranked: Tied 2nd

MEN’S BASKETBALL

W-D-L

2-0-1

Ranked: Tied 3rd