Kwantlen student’s appeal supremely dismissed

It was a harsh math lesson this week for a Kwantlen student, whose bid to have his driving suspension reduced was denied by a B.C. Supreme Court.

Ali Maasoumian had his driver’s licence suspended for eight months by the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles after he accumulated 17 points by the end of 2008.

Prior to the start of that suspension, the superintendent noted that he had accumulated another eight points in a nine-week span and so extended the ban by six months.

Maasoumian requested a review of his second suspension because of the hardships not having a driver’s licence placed on him. These hardships include not being able to drive to North Vancouver where he takes care of his father’s property and increasing his commute to school from a 25-minute drive to an hour-and-a-half commute on public transit.

“I am satisfied that the hardship which is put forward is not a hardship that I should take into account,” wrote Justice Grant Burnyeat.

“Having a driver’s license and being able to operate a vehicle is not a right. Rather, it is a privilege.”

Leveque’s talk about sex

Hayley Leveque wants to talk to you about sex.

A fourth-year psychology student, Leveque is in her final semester of the honours program, which requires students to develop and run a research experiment.

For her project, Leveque is polling couples between the ages of 18 and 25, and those over 30, on their relationships, and seeing how the two compare.

Her inspiration came from her friends and the various issues in their relationships.

“I was getting anecdotes and stories from friends where they were having difficulty staying together or figuring out the status of their relationships,” she said.

Some friends had also started experimenting with casual sex, and it got Leveque wondering why all these issues were occurring at these ages.

Her research is centred around the work of psychologist Jeffery Arnett, who, in 2000, wrote an article on a phase of life he labelled “emerging adulthood.”

Young people from 18 to 25, Arnett theorized, are free of the rules and regulations that held them in adolescence but have not yet reached the point where they have taken on the responsibilities of adulthood, such as careers or children.

During this time, emerging adults spend a lot of time thinking about the direction their lives will take, an extended period of self-discovery.

But Leveque hasn’t found a lot of research on the sexual relationships of this age group and how they differ from older people.

“If we can get a glance at some of the normative sexual behaviours of emerging adults as a group, we can start to figure out why these things are happening,” she said.

She hopes that her research will uncover the motivations behind young people’s relationships, the reasons why they are having sex. She sees her work as creating a better understanding about the nature of young adult relationships in general, a knowledge that Leveque feels could assist services such as couples counselling.

Leveque is still early on in her study, collecting interview subjects and compiling data. After that, she’ll analyze the data to see what makes emerging adults tick.

She can’t say what her hypothesis is or how many people have signed up (for fear of tainting the interview pool) but she did say that she’s looking for more people, especially those couples who are 30 or older, to talk about sex with her.

“Older adults are definitely harder to collect. They have kids to take care of and longer work hours,” she said.

Anyone interested in participating in the study can contact Hayley Leveque at 604-315-3931 or via email her.

The Olympic Torch run in photos

First-year journalism students are covering the Olympic Torch Run, as it moves through Vancouver today (Thursday). This is the first of what will be several slideshows showing the run and the students’ work.

 

 

 

Election issues: What students are saying

An audio-slideshow that asks questions about how students feel about student government and life at Kwantlen.

Elections are in the air

Tomorrow (Thursday) will be the final day Kwantlen students can cast their vote in this year’s Kwantlen Student Association’s general election.

“Richmond is always really busy,” said Fran Schiffner, whose company oversees elections at the different Kwantlen campuses. “I think it’s because of where it is. It’s all in one building…I think there’s more exposure.”

Shiffner said this election has seen less of a voter turnout then in previous years.

“The last few [years] we’ve run out of ballots,” said Alice Rush, who works for Schiffner. “We need to get more people out to vote.”

Both women believe mid-terms and the Olympics may be distracting students from showing up.

Voting will be open until 7 p.m. tonight (Wednesday) and tomorrow, at Richmond and Langley campuses. Voting closed Tuesdays at Cloverdale and Surrey.

Thursday: Following the Olympic torch run

Note: the slideshows are actually appearing here.

On Thursday, Feb. 11, first-year journalism students will be following the Winter Olympic torch run as it enters Vancouver, from Burnaby, and makes its way across the city. The slideshow of their work will be updated throughout the day, beginning in the early afternoon.

Interactive: A visual guide to the KSA

Ever wondered what the KSA is all about? The following three interactive charts give you details about the various KSA positions, including duties and wages, as well as other information about how student government works at Kwantlen.

 

 

BC Supreme Court establishes precedent in KSA v. CFS-BC ruling

The B.C. Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Kwantlen Student Association Wednesday morning, putting an end to a two-year dispute over the Canadian Federation of Students-B.C. Component’s refusal to accept Derek Robertson, the student associations’s representative, on its board of directors.

Madame Justice Brown’s decision, stated that the CFS-BC board of directors was in violation of section 24 of the Society Act-BC and the CFS-BC’s own bylaws. The ruling set a precedent that bars societies in B.C. from applying provisions beyond those set in the Society Act-B.C. to determine qualification for appointment to a board of directors or membership of a society.

Brown awarded the KSA with Robertson’s appointment to the board of directors and legal costs associated with the court petition.

“We’re perplexed,” said Shamus Reid, chairperson for the CFS-BC. “The B.C. Society Act provides that directors of society are legally responsible for protecting the society from harm.”

Robertson, director of external affairs for the KSA and ex-officio representative for the CFS-BC, held office on the board of directors for the CFS-BC previous to a conflict of interest in February 2008, when he resigned to campaign to have the KSA leave the CFS.

Following a referendum, which reaffirmed Kwantlen students’ interest in remaining members of the CFS, Robertson’s nomination to rejoin the board of directors was not ratified by the CFS-BC.

“He intended to do damage to society in all comments. The only check against that is the ratification process,” said Reid.

Many other societies in B.C. have a dual ratification process, he added. “This ruling will have a profound negative consequence for societies all across B.C.”

Robertson said he is thrilled about the decision. “I’ve been quite discouraged by the fact that Kwantlen has been without a representative for almost two years. I have to keep in mind that I do now have obligations to both societies. I am there to represent the views of Kwantlen students and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

He admitted that he doubts Kwantlen students will notice any difference in benefits from their CFS membership. “A representative on the board of directors is simply a symbolic thing… The CFS will go on with business as usual.”

Reid is also concerned about whether Kwantlen students will see any improvement in the benefits they receive. He said Robertson has made it difficult for the CFS to be on campus but it will be a priority to ensure that members have access to services they are entitled to “regardless of whether the local leadership is being antagonistic.”

“I don’t like to speculate on the judge’s background and experience, but I certainly think that this ruling doesn’t show a familiarity with the societies system within B.C.,” he said. “Any court ruling that overturns the democratic rule of a majority ruling is not in the best interest of society so we don’t think that is an appropriate ruling to make.”

Robertson considered the court battle, which included screenshots of his membership in anti-CFS Facebook groups, “a hail Mary.” The KSA focused on the law in the Society Act regarding requirements for being a director of a society, he said.

“The CFS cannot prevent diverging views from the board of directors anymore, which I’m sure they’ve been doing.”

The CFS-BC is honouring the ruling but will be “evaluating our legal options,” said Reid, hinting at the possibility of an appeal.

“We accept that at this point Mr. Robertson is the director and we certainly expect that he will uphold his responsibilities, though I believe that he has shown inability to do that in the past,” he said.

Robertson’s current term as director of external affairs and ex-officio representative for the CFS-BC will end on March 31, 2010.

Kwantlen, KSA distribute on-campus H1N1 vaccines

In a joint effort, Kwantlen Polytechnic University and the KSA are providing free H1N1 vaccinations this week to students and employees at all four campuses.

Since Tuesday, more than a hundred on-vaccinations have been administered at the Surrey and Richmond campuses.

Lesley England, a registered nurse with ProGroup, said the turnout for vaccinations has been quite good. On Monday, she expected to give 70 vaccinations at the Surrey campus. She gave 88.

By 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, she’d vaccinated another 45 students on the Richmond campus.

“A lot of people who are getting the H1N1 [vaccine] have never had flu vaccines before,” said England, who is expecting a third wave of the H1N1 influenza virus to arrive in February.

Nurses will visit the Langley campus Thursday and the Cloverdale campus Friday in hopes of immunizing procrastinating students.

When the H1N1 vaccine was being developed last fall, the KSA hoped to include it in the health and dental plan. However, the government purchased enough of the vaccine for all Canadians and offered it for free at clinics.

“It’s readily available now. You can go to your doctor and get the shot,” said Eddie Lee, coordinator of the Student Health Improvement Program.

“However, we know that there are students and employees who probably still won’t go–it’s a lack of convenience for them, so we decided to bring it on campus.”

It’s that inconvenience that has kept Nick Mostar, 22, from finding time for the vaccination.

“I’ve been doing schoolwork and haven’t really had the time to go to a clinic or anything,” said Mostar who is in the engineering program.

Not all students have waited quite as long. Brandon Tuason, 21, got the H1N1 vaccine several months ago. He was at risk of getting the virus because, at birth, he was diagnosed with severe asthma, making him more prone to infection.

“We’re in an environment where everybody’s kinda in close quarters,” said Tuason. “Infections can spread really quickly. I think the school is taking a good initiative in preventing a lot of that by giving the immunization away.”

KSA gets students to give to Haiti, will try to match donations

In an effort to raise money for Haiti, the Richmond campus Kwantlen Student Association exchanged cereal for donations to World Vision yesterday.

Reena Bali, Richmond campus director, said the KSA no goal for the amount of money it wants to raise, but said that the KSA will try and match every dollar donated.

“We’re just hoping for anything, because for them even a little is a lot,” said Bali.

The KSA had originally planned a free toast and warm breakfast for students, but with the crisis in Haiti they decided to change the breakfast into a fundraiser.

The KSA at Richmond campus will be accepting donations until the end of the week, and urges people to donate whatever they can to World Vision or a similar charity.

Bali also advises people to research the charities to make sure that all the proceeds go towards the people of Haiti.

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