Douglas students spread random acts of love

» Project Valentine’s Day seeks to curb depression

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor
& news@theotherpress.ca

hat started as a

personal project for
Jacquoline Martin two years
ago has expanded to something
larger, and now includes
the DSU Focus Club.

Project Valentine’s Day,
nameless prior to this year,
was started in 2014 by Martin,
who bought 50 roses to hand
out to lonely individuals on
Valentine’s Day. The goals
of the project are to dispel
loneliness and inspire others.

“ve been lonely in the
past on Valentine’s Day and |
wanted to change that for other
people; I didn’t want anyone
else to be lonely,” said Martin.

Martin also explained
that #loneliness is one of
the most frequently used
hashtags in Metro Vancouver.

The project caught the

: attention of Martin’s current

: coordinator, Raymond Norton,

: who volunteered to help expand
: the project for this year.

“After I jumped on, I got

: my girlfriend involved to help
: design a website for us,” explained : throughout the Lower Mainland,
: Norton. “She got someone else :
: involved—a web programmer—
: to help build the site and a

: crowdfunding platform for us.”

The Focus Club has offered

: their assistance in fundraising

: and distribution. One of the

: project’s fundraisers involves a

: bottomless pancake breakfast
>on February 3. In addition,

: the DSU will be matching the

: proceeds raised at the breakfast.

Martin explained

: that as she mentioned the

: project to students around
: Douglas, the interest in

: volunteering has increased.
: As well, a large portion of the
: project’s engagement is coming
: from social media. On top of

: their own website, the project

: now has accounts on Instagram,
: Facebook, and Twitter. The

: project has two hashtags:

: #youareloved and #PVD2016.

: The project is not only

: picking up momentum

: but also the world. Groups in

: Thailand and other parts of

: Asia are looking to pick up

: the movement in the future.

: However, the project

: has faced some challenges,

: particularly with securing

: three separate locations

: and avoiding conflict with

: other events occurring on

: Valentine’s Day. For the

: moment, speculative locations
: include New Westminster

: and downtown Vancouver.

: Martin and Norton have been

: communicating with local MPs,
: MLAs, and city councilors to

: help reach a final location.

: Martin and Norton hope to
: spread love outside of Valentine’s
: Day as well, by getting out into

: the community and helping

: people feel less lonely. One of

: the ways they wish to do this is

: by handing out Anti-Depression
: Kits. These kits contain

: symbolic items: a Hershey’s

: kiss, to symbolize love; a star,

: to tell the recipient that they

: are one; and an elastic band,

: should the stranger need one.

Another way is by

: emulating something similar
: to Humans of New York and

  

Project Valentines Day's Facebook Page

: the Stranger Project—talking

: with those in public and sharing
: those people’s thoughts and

: stories with others online.

Martin expressed gratitude

: to all those helping with the
: project thus far, and is optimistic
: in regards to the project’s success.

“We want to let people

: know that they’re not alone.
: That they’re loved. That

: someone is looking out

: for them,” Martin said.

 

Provincial Eating Disorder
Awareness Week approaches

» Douglas student and alumni raise awareness of disorders

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor
© news@theotherpress.ca

rovincial Eating Disorder
Awareness Week (PEDAW)
will be taking place from
February 1-8, with activists
hoping to bring more
awareness and education
to eating disorders.

Tayler Fuller, a current
Douglas student studying
business, and Susanne Carlson,
a Douglas graduate, have shared
their personal accounts in order
to provide more insight on what
it’s like to experience a disorder.

Like many, neither Fuller
nor Carlson received much, if
any, education surrounding
eating disorders until they
suffered from them personally.

Carlson developed a
disorder after experiences with
bullying and family difficulties.

“I think the eating disorder
came about as a way to manage a
lot of feelings that I was having,”
Carlson explained. “I didn't
feel properly equipped to deal
with it ina healthier way.”

Fuller’s battle with “eating
disorder not otherwise specified”
(EDNOS) spanned throughout
her teen years. She received
a diagnosis in October 2012.
Consecutively, she was also
diagnosed with depression.

Although many would

: believe that eating disorders

: come from a perspective of body
: image and vanity, they actually

: involve other mental health

: problems. Anxiety, depression,

: and stress have often been

: linked with eating disorders.

In their recoveries, Fuller

: and Carlson faced different

: challenges. For Fuller, fears of
: gaining weight proved to be most :
: challenging. As for Carlson, she

: had difficulties finding a support
program that worked best for her.

Both Fuller and Carlson

: accessed therapeutic services
: while recovering from their

: disorders, and both partook

: in group and individual

: therapy. Carlson also tried out
: an intensive stay-program.

Carlson praised the work of

the Looking Glass Foundation
: and the Kelty Mental Health

: Resource Centre for their

: work with those recovering

: from a disorder, while Fuller

: praised her local centre, Delta
: North Mental Health.

As well, both women had

: a healthy support network of
: family and friends, avoiding

: those who proved to be an

: unhealthy influence.

While they did receive

: the healthy support needed

: in their recovery journeys, it

: became apparent to both that

: the community needed to learn
: more about eating disorders,

: and how to approach them.

“When I was not well, people

: tended to walk on eggshells

: around me,’ said Carlson. “They
: didn’t really understand what it

: was that I was dealing with, and
: it made them apprehensive...

: they didn’t know what was

: going on, so they just distanced

: themselves from me”

‘A lot of people thought

: that I was just dieting and

: exercising, and they were

: congratulating me,’ said Fuller.
: “It wasn’t until the end of my

: Grade 12 year that J came out

: and said that I had struggled

: with an eating disorder.”

Some of the most common

: public misconceptions

: surrounding eating disorders

: include body type, and that the

: symptoms are mainly physical.

: Eating disorders occur in people
: of different body shapes, and

: manifest themselves as a mental
: health problem. Many believe

: that anorexia and bulimia

: are the only eating disorders,

: yet those disorders are only

: two ona broad spectrum.

On February 6, The Looking

Glass Foundation is organizing

: the Something’s Gotta Give

: Campaign Rally in Vancouver,

: which will involve performances
: and speeches. Looking Glass

: hopes that the rally will result

: ina greater conversation

: about eating disorders.

Let's Get Consensual
campaign Douglas

bound?

» The anti-sexual violence movement

sweeping the island

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor
MU news@theotherpress.ca

L“ Get Consensual is

an anti-sexual violence
campaign that promotes
healthy sexual relationships in
post-secondary institutions.

The campaign, which is part
of the Anti-Violence Project, has
been being adopted by various
post-secondary student unions
throughout Vancouver Island,
including the University of
Victoria and Vancouver Island
University. The campaign is soon
being adopted by the Canadian
Federation of Students-BC (CFS-
BC). Given Douglas College’s
close relationship to these
student unions and membership
in the CFS-BC, it could be
speculated that the campaign
may soon be mainland-bound.

Let’s Get Consensual started
off as a video collaboration at
UVic, where the campus, the
student union, and the Anti-
Violence Project published
a video aimed at improving
student knowledge about
consent. In the video, students
and faculty are asked to define
sexual assault. From there, the
video explains the six stages of

: consent: that there is mutual

: and verbal permission, that

: consent is enthusiastically

: given, that ensuring consent is

: the responsibility of the person

: initiating sex, that consent in

: maintained at every stage, that it
: isnot pre-determined, and that

: it is not given while intoxicated.

It has been built upon by

VIU. Inspired to provide a safer
: space for students, partially

: considering the long and

: delayed processes experienced
: by sexual assault victims at

: UBC, VIU decided to expand

: the campaign to include more
: consent education workshops
: on its campus, as well as to

: assemble a team to respond

: to reports of sexual assault.

The campaign also aims to

: expand the way the people think
: about consent. In an interview

: with VIU’s newspaper, The

: Navigator, the VIU’s Student

: Union Women’s Representative

: Connie Graham explained:

: “Central points of the campaign
: focus on what consent looks

: like. It can even be learning to

: say things like, ‘Hey, can I shake
: your hand?’ because some people
: don’t like being touched. It can

: be things we don’t often think

: about but still need consent for”