issue 26 // volume 40 — » Why should I fund your vacation? : fun African vacations behind : the facade of“volun-tourism.”—: : These people annoy the heck out : : of me; not because they insist on : posting pictures of themselves : with cute African children : on Facebook, but because : they often think that these : trips to Third World nations : aren't entirely self-serving. Aidan Mouellic Staff Writer enjoy giving money to worth- while causes. If someone is poor and needs money fora plane ticket to visit a dying rela- tive, they deserve some charity. But ifsomeone wants to travel the world to create an awesome Instagram feed, then they don’t need charity—they need a job. It used to be that a lot of students would come to my house and ask for donations to fund trips to Africa to build schools. This hasn't happened ina while, but while it did, it bothered me. Children in Africa do need schools, but they don’t need wealthy westerners to for my money are masking their Helping others is crucial : toa successful society, but our : motives are not always pure. If : the youth who came to my house : asking for my money really : wanted to help cute African : children, they wouldn't have : Spent $5,000 per person to go : to Mozambique to build simple : structures for a couple weeks; : they could put that money to : better use in the Third World : country. Or, they could have : used their time, money, and build them. The students asking efforts on the numerous worthy : causes in their own backyards. What happened to “Think globally, act locally?” Are we : not exploiting the poor in : Third World nations by turning : our volunteers’ actions in our : favour? It presents a bit ofa : moral dilemma. Helping others : who are disadvantaged is good, : but is helping them merely a : means to help ourselves? Many college programs and high schools have mandatory : volunteer-hour requirements, : and many employers require : potential job candidates to : have volunteer experience. By : making volunteer work man- : datory, we're making the poor : and destitute people a means : for us to accumulate necessary : experience. Merely helping : others out of the goodness of our : hearts isa fading occurrence. : Volunteerism has morphed : into “volun-tourism” which : has then turned into a way : to pad your resumé and feel : warmand fuzzy inside. The people no longer come : tomy door asking me to fund : their African-school-building : safaris. They have found a way : to reach a wider audience on : the Internet with the use of : crowdfunding websites. With : sites such as Kickstarter and : IndieGoGo, individuals can : make pitches online, with the : public hopefully donating to : their causes. At first, small- : time entrepreneurs hoping to : make their inventions come : to light or musicians needing : funds to record analbum : used these sites. But things : have progressed to the point : where people are once again : disguising their vacations as : humanitarian endeavours in opinions // 15 : hopes of garnering donations. Some folks are crafty at hiding the fact that they can’t : afford their road trip and want : some money, while others are : more upfront. There have been : many cases of brides going to : Kickstarter to “panhandle” for : their wedding costs—which : is sad, but at least they aren't : claiming their wedding dresses : will change the world. I often donate to worthy causes, and IndieGoGo and : Kickstarter have made it easier : forme to doso. But it has also : made it easier for people with : self-serving intentions to : take money from people who : are perhaps dumb enough : to part with it.I don’t want : volunteers, crowdfunders, : or philanthropists with deep : pockets to go away; I just hope : that all parties will keep it real. ‘You can't be » The return of 795.3 Sharon Miki Humour Editor 4 humour @theotherpress.ca Sometimes, you can go home again—but that doesn’t mean it wont be dusty and outdated when you get there. Growing up in Vancouver in : the ‘gos, it was hard to avoid the : pervasiveness of Z95.3 on the radio. In the days before iTunes and MP3s, the radio provided the omnipresent soundtrack to our days—and the Top 40 station played a mix that was safe and popular enough for the public consumption of 11-year- olds. The station’s poppy tunes and overplayed jingles (“Zed 95 point threeee.,. Vancouver!”) trickled out of car windows and tickled our auditory canals with an insidious uniformity : that’s almost impossible to find : today, thanks to the beautiful : mish-mash of music options : we now have access to. And : who can forget those mid-‘gos : summers when everyone and : their mother (well, I mean, we : didn’t have cars then—so it was: : probably just all of our mothers) : : had an obnoxious Z95.3 sticker : plastered to their bumper? a Virgin forever, and you cant go home again As of March 31, thanks to a change in station ownership : from Bell Media to Newcap By www.604now.com before. However, no matter how : : almost a decade after it left the : dial, and almost two decades : after its peak, can only weaken : the fondness of our memories : (because, after all, it’s no longer : 1996). : Radio, the frequency of 95.3 : reverted back to Z for the : first time in seven years. The : most common reaction to the : switch seems to be one of sweet nostalgia: “Oh, really? Cool. Aw, : : T remember how I used to love : listening to Z when I wasa kid. Remember those stickers?” I, on the other hand, feel : weirdly uncomfortable with the : change. : I’m not against Z becoming : : Zagain because I didn’t enjoy : it back in the day—one of my : favourite childhood memories : is of calling in about a hundred : times to try and get the poor : I did love it when it was in its : my fond memories. It’s human nature to want : to go back to what was great : much you've loved something : at a specific moment in time, : bringing it back now will : almost always just provide a : pale imitation. : Time passes, people grow : older, and the cultural context : changes. Just like the most : scrumptious cake tastes stale : after a week on the counter, : entertainment properties lose : their magic when you try to bring them back years later. : Just look at how Harrison : Ford’s sluggish pace sullied : the memory of a quick- : witted Indiana Jones in The : Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, : DJ to playa Spice Girls song for : : meand my friend at a sleepover : : (poor DJ). I’m against it because : : Development that was brought : prime, and I don’t want to sully : or how the jokes felt forced and stunted from the same cast in the reanimated Arrested back last year. While the new 95.3 station : may indeed be great for this : time, tugging on our social nostalgia by “bringing back” Z Just because the station was : sold doesn’t mean that it has : to emulate its past glory. Come : up with a new name—after : all, there are 25 other perfectly : good letters in the alphabet we : could get behind. “S” feels very : now.