News.

Douglas Students Union beating the bottle

Campaign in swing
with new filling station
installed

By Dylan Hackett,
News Editor

ast week, the Douglas

Students’ Union’s (DSU)
‘Beat the Bottle’ campaign
marched forward with the
installation of a new bottle-
filling station. Located on
the top level/ main floor of
the DSU building, adjacent
to the fourth floor at the
New Westminster campus,
the station is a step forward
for a bottled water-free
campus and provides an
easy-to-use alternative to
purchasing the water sold
on campus.

“We are very excited
to have our first filling
station installed on the
main floor—the second will
be installed very soon!”
said Jill Griffin, External
Relations Coordinator for
the DSU.

The Beat the Bottle
campaign is a localized
component of the
Canadian Federation of
Students’ Back the Tap
movement—an initiative

against the privatization
and commoditisation of
drinking water in public
buildings and facilities. The
movement is largely led by
post-secondary institutions,
student and labour unions,
municipalities, and school
boards.

“The sale of bottled
water is being banned on
more and more campuses
across Canada,” said
Griffin. “To give you some
local examples, Vancouver
Island University was the
first school in BC to ban
the sale of bottled water,
followed by Vancouver
Community College. We
are working closely with
the college and are hopeful
that together we can move
towards banning the sale of
bottled water on campus.

“Students were
very clear last year that
this is what they want
and we have made it
a priority,” explained
Griffin. “Along with
installing the water filling
stations, we are working
on a comprehensive
policy geared towards
sustainability. We are
leading by example and
showing the college that
banning the sale of bottled

Calling all tutors

The Learning Centre
seeks peer tutors

By Dylan Hackett,
News Editor

he Learning Centre,

Douglas College’s in-
house tutoring room, is
looking for peer tutors to
join their team of well-
trained tutoring staff this
fall. Applications are being
received for the positions
for online tutors, technology
tutors, and office hour peer
tutors.

“We look for students,
above all, who have a love
of learning themselves,”
Learning Centre
4

Coordinator Holly Salmon
said. “In the Learning
Centre, our primary goal
is independent learning,
which means we want peer
tutors to share that love of
learning: the inquisitiveness,
the pursuit of knowledge,
and the desire to both ask
questions and find answers.
“We also have an
extensive training program
for our tutors, so we look for
students who we feel will
understand the concepts
involved in training.”
Available for free use
to all Douglas College
students, the centre
provides drop-in tutoring
for those looking for advice
and help during open

water is beneficial for
everyone: students, the
college, and the community
at large.”

The Back the Tap
movement cites that among
their reasons to campaign
against bottled water is
the principle of water as a
commons.

“Water is a commons.
This means that it belongs
to current and future
generations, as well as the
Earth and other species.
Governments must manage
water resources on our
behalf as a public trust.
They must ensure water
is distributed fairly and
responsibly,” says the Back
the Tap campaign.

Beat the Bottle aims
also to include the often-
overlooked David Lam
campus in the expansion
of accessible public water
access,

“There is currently one
filling station in the CD
building at David Lam.
When we talk to the college
about these issues, David
Lam is always included
in the conversation,” said
Griffin. “It is important that
students at both campuses
have equal access to all
services.”

hours, concentrated weekly
tutoring sessions, and 24/7
online tutoring for students
looking for help beyond
office hours.

“We're free for all
Douglas College students
and we hope it’s pretty easy
to try us out,” Salmon said.
“Tt takes five minutes to
send your paper off to an
online tutor for feedback.
We also have 25-minute
tutoring sessions you
can sign up for through
Student Self Service section
on myDouglas. I can’t see
how it wouldn’t be worth
trying it out to see how our
services might help you.”

For students looking
to get involved with the

 

Learning Centre, Salmon
says “The first official step
is to fill out an application
on the Learning Centre
web site. We also love
when applicants stop by
to say hello and introduce
themselves, so once your
application is submitted, a
quick introduction is also
welcome! We recognize
many faces already
because students who
have benefitted from peer
tutoring often apply to work
here too.

“I'd also recommend
contacting instructors who
know your work. You can
ask them if they mind being
a reference for you and even
if maybe they are willing

to contact faculty in the
Learning Centre on your
behalf to let us know how
well you've done in their
classes.”

The Learning Centre
is open Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday and Friday at both
campuses from 9:30 a.m. to
5:30 p.m. and Wednesdays
from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Those who send their work
in for 24/7 online help
are guaranteed a response
within 48 hours.

To view all postings
for peer tutoring positions
visit www.douglas.bc.ca/
employees/human-
resources/jobpostings/
student-postings.html.