Student unions fighting for standardized U 7 Pa SS By Nikalas Kryzanowski Wit a municipal election on the horizon, student unions from around the Lower Mainland have been mobilizing in an effort to bring the U-Pass to thousands of college students. Union executives from Emily Carr, VCC and Douglas College have suggested that the current state of the U-Pass is discriminatory towards college students in favour of students at larger institutions. UBC students currently receive the U-Pass for $23.75 per month, while Douglas students still pay $73 for a regular bus pass. “It’s unfair because students are paying the different prices for the same service,” said the Emily Carr union’s executive director Lori McDonald, in an interview with the Georgia Straight. TransLink offered institutions such as Emily Carr and VCC the U-Pass for $40-50, a move that the unions rejected. The Douglas Students Union has been campaigning in its own way to drum up support from students for the program. By offering surveys to students about their transit habits, they hope to show TransLink just how essential affordable transit service is to students. Also working to their advantage, they hope, is the upcoming municipal election. It is an issue that the unions say they will be very vocal about. “The campaign seems to be gaining traction,” said Jessica Magalios of the Douglas Students Union. “The media has started to take notice of the problem and we’re hoping to keep it in the public eye for the municipal election.” epi Nesndatenme oe Did you take the O. Thursday September 4" during Douglas College’s “Welcome Week,” Metro Vancouver staff members Greg Valou and Glenn Bohn set up a demonstration table, advocating the new Tap Water Campaign. In light of increasing the Metro Vancouver region’s sustainability, the campaign aims to reduce the usage of bottled water by 20 per cent by 2010, an effort that may significantly reduce the amount of bottles in the region’s landfills, which Metro Vancouver cites are currently in the millions. The campaign materializes itself through the Tap Water Pledge, which promotes the consumption of tap water through re-usable bottles rather than the purchase of one-time use plastic bottles. Valou and Bohn collected signatures for the pledge, and in turn provided re-usable bottles for students. “By not purchasing bottled water, you save money...why pay for plastic?” said Valou of buying bottled water. According to Metro Vancouver, tap water costs 80 cents per 1,000 litres, whereas one-litre of bottled water is roughly $2.00. p ! ed C e? By Lisa Bellano Instead, Valou feels Vancouver residents ought to take advantage of our high quality water. Vancouver’s tap water is derived from rainwater stored in various regions of Greater Vancouver, and according to Metro Vancouver, is “some of the best drinking water in the world.” When asked about the turbidity problem from two years ago which resulted in a week long boil water advisory across the Lower Mainland, they replied that “that was the first and only time in the history of the water system — since well back to the 1800s. They’re now building a new $600 million filtration system to eliminate turbidity forever.” This demonstration was one of many, as both Valou and Bohn have visited Vancouver’s major post-secondary institutions to familiarize students with the campaign and their goals. For more information on the Tap Water Pledge or Metro Vancouver and its functions, visit Metro Vancouver online at www.metrovancouver.org. Elections, elections everywhere, but nary a student to vote By Nikalas Kryzanowski, News Editor This fall could wind up being a bit overwhelming for first time voters. Students at Douglas will be facing the prospect of up to three elections in the next two months, and that doesn’t even include the all important US elections that will determine George Bush’s replacement in the White House. Here at home, Douglas students can expect a Student Union by-election to be called within the next little while to replace long- standing DSU fixture Ally MacGrotty, who resigned at the end of August. “We haven’t set a date, but we will soon,” said Jessica Magalios of the DSU. Also on the agenda are the Vancouver municipal elections (where the state of the U-Pass may be the issue of most interest to Douglas students) and the possibility of an upcoming Canadian federal election. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to formally dissolve parliament in order to renew his mandate, suggesting that the minority government in Ottawa has reached an impasse. An October federal election is widely anticipated. The likelihood of three elections might be enough to incite voter fatigue, but that’s if you can make Douglas students care in the first place. Average turnouts for student elections are around five percent, and the numbers for municipal and federal aren’t that encouraging either with approximately 30-60% turnout. “I don’t follow any sort of politics,” said Douglas student Elisa Penate. “Especially not college politics.” While there doesn’t seem to be any pressing issues in the college at the moment for students to worry about besides perhaps the U-Pass, they should note that students pay an obligatory fee to the Students’ Union every year and that the Union has the power to approve new fees such as the recent Athletics and Intramurals Fee. So it is up to students to watch their wallets and to flex their collective muscles when election time rolls around. September 08, 2008 NEWS SHORTS Nikalas Kryzanowski Discount Canucks Tickets on Sale at Douglas The Centre for Sport, Recreation and Wellness is offering up discount Canucks tickets for “students, faculty and friends of Douglas College” until they are sold out. There are approximately 36 tickets available for each home game. Dave Munro of the Centre says that it’s something that they have done for several years now. Students can get up to 35% off of regular prices and it includes Regular Match games as well as Premium Match games. If interested, students can order tickets from David Munro by calling 604.527.5041 with Mastercard and Visa information or email munrod @douglas.be.ca. Pride Society on Campus to Promote Conference The Vancouver Pride Society was on hand during welcome week to invite students to attend the 2008 Interpride Conference held this year in Vancouver from October 23-26". The event brings together people from all over the world to provide further understanding of the global GLBT community. “We have people coming from Sri Lanka, Belarus, and Iceland to name a few,” said organizer Ken Coolen. This year’s guest speaker is tennis legend Martina Navratilova. The conference offers workshops and seminars, as well. For more information visit www.interpride08. ca. Greenlinks 08: The Green Beyond Running at the Art Gallery The Amelia Douglas Art Gallery on the fourth floor of the college is featuring works by artist Phyllis Greenwood until September 18". Co- presented with the Douglas College Institute of Urban Ecology, the art show is a way to raise awareness of the institute’s aims of maintaining and improving biodiversity in urban areas. Greenwood is a local artist and teacher. She has a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from UBC and is also known for repairing antiquarian books.