Three chances to explore Japan By Shaylee Pérez Associate News Editor ouglas College, Momoyama De University and the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies are offering three separate opportunities to visit and learn in Japan. The first, a two-week Business and Tourism study, runs from May 15" to May 29". Offered by Momoyama Gakuin University and taught entirely in English, the program is an opportunity to tour numerous high-profile firms including Toyota and Panasonic along with firms in the hospitality sector. The program cost is $2920 CDN and covers tuition fees, the factory visits, accommodations, all excursions and breakfasts. wae The second, offered by the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, is a three-week language and culture study that begins July 4". This program does include instruction in Japanese and requires knowledge of the Japanese alphabet. While airfare is not covered, tuition, room and board and local transportation are included. The cost of this program is $1100 CDN. The third study abroad program begins June 6" and goes until June 27". This program is also offered by the Monoyama Gakuin University in Japan and an understanding of the Japanese alphabet is required. The program costs $1800 CDN and covers tuition fees, room and board and local transportation. Again, airfare is not included. Both of the three-week studies available from the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies and the Monoyama Gakuin University are heavily subsidized. All three programs offer the experience of living with a Japanese family and exploring the Japanese tea ceremonies, Japanese flower arranging and calligraphy. Available space for all three programs is limited. The application deadline is March 15", and the applications are available in the Centre for International Education (room 2800), from John Newark or Sachiko Sunaga at the New Westminster campus. For more information, contact John Newark, Manager, International Contracts and Projects at newarkj@ douglas.be.ca or 604.527.5712. Gang-related shootings spark community involvement T recent slew of gang- related shootings has many in the Lower Mainland concerned. 12 shootings in 16 days have claimed the lives of six people. On Friday, February 6", just after four pm Kevin LeClair, 26, was shot down in his truck in the parking lot of a busy Langley mall. He later died in hospital becoming Metro Vancouver’s 11" homicide of the year. Another victim, Nicole Marie Alemy, age 23, was gunned down in her car February 16" in Surrey while her four-year-old son watched from the backseat. The car continued moving, until a man driving through the same intersection witnessed the vehicle rolling unmanned down the street, got out of his truck and ran towards the new Cadillac CTS and reached in the shattered window, unable to reach the shifter, he steered the car into a bush. Citizens of the GVRD showed their support for tougher stances on gang criminal activity at a rally on Sunday, February 22™ at the Central City Plaza in Surrey, spearheaded by Paul Hillsdon, 19, who ran for City Council in 2008 and Trevor Loke, also 19 years old, BC Green Candidate for Surrey-Newton. Many prominent politicians and family members touched by gang violence attended the rally, which was the first step in breaking the silence on gang violence. “We won’t tolerate this anymore—our community is better than letting this continue. Hearing [about] more shootings everyday has disturbed me, and I want to fight back,” stated Loke on his blog. At the rally and in the media, many ideas are being offered about the different methods to combat the immense amount of gang activity and violence prevalent in the Lower Mainland. Some believe that the legalization of marijuana would take away valuable profits in the drug trade which the criminals rely on for their income. Surrey Mayor Dianne aul Hillsdon Watts proffered the idea of a parents’ hotline, where parents who suspect their children are being pulled into gang affiliations would have a safe place to talk about their concerns and ways they can curb their children’s involvement in gang activity. Many are calling for police, court and the Crown to step up with tougher sentencing and higher conviction rates. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Tories introduced two new bills Thursday and Friday. The first seeks to make any gang-related killing a first-degree murder charge and the second seeks to attach mandatory sentences for serious drug crimes. ANF News Shorts By Matthew Steinbach, News Editor Business owners support sustainability The Wilderness Tourism Association is a group of small business owners who have come together to “ensure a sustainable future for B.C.’s wilderness tourism industry” according to a recent press release from the group. The own group’s numbers indicated that about $1.5 billion are at stake if BC is unable to become more sustainable, and one of their biggest concerns is the problem of sea lice in open net cage fish farming. The group sees the potential for this to destroy their groups’ operations and they “strongly support the formation of independent watershed groups composed of watershed users.” This was in response to a recent report released by the Pacific Salmon Forum, which suggested the formation of such groups. Canadian Wildlife Federation welcomes ruling The Canadian Wildlife Federation applauded the B.C. Supreme Court in a recent press release for seeing aquaculture as a separate designation from agriculture and the need for different regulations. The group saw this as a problem because according to a recent press release from the group, “The provincial management of salmon farms has been responsible for the location of the farms, which are often placed on wild salmon migration routes. Interactions between escaped farmed fish and wild salmon have neither been completely characterized nor have the cumulative impacts of aquaculture been identified. However, it has negatively impacted the environment, leading to pollution, disease, and habitat loss.”