Letter to the Editor

Spending a wad of money from parents but not taking the responsibility for their education, this concept is entirely an error for the international students.

As I am an international student from Hong Kong spent a minimum of four years studying in Canada, I have well-observed how the majority of international students wasting their parents’ effort and also their precious time of learning the language or furthering their education but instead of making an “Asian Gang” at school.

By defining the word “Asian Gang,” international students will gather as a group of four up to eight people sitting in a quarter at cafeteria gossiping with their friends using the first language but hardly ever have I seen any of them sitting beside a native speaker speaking in English.

Also, you will hardly able to see the international students involve themselves with the college nor the community. I have never known any of my friends so far working on campus or in Castlegar.

It seems to me that studying abroad is merely about so-called “focusing on study” but never attempt to experiencing the culture, the people nor the social structure of the country.

Acknowledging what studying means would be prominent for some international students. Having profit the time while we are studying abroad by involving with the natives and experiencing everything as we could is the main ideal reason to come studying abroad. Otherwise, why wouldn’t us pursuing our education in our home country but to spend massive amount of money to study abroad? Shouldn’t we contemplate the intention to study abroad to show some responsibility for our parents since we all believe in Filial Piety?

Ryan, Chu Chun Hong

Selkirk College International Student

]]> http://selkirksentinel.ca/?feed=rss2&p=111 http://selkirksentinel.ca/?p=99 http://selkirksentinel.ca/?p=99#comments Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:20:47 +0000 admin http://selkirksentinel.ca/?p=99 This February, the province of British Columbia is throwing a $6 billion+ party.

When that amount of money is put in one direction, it inevitably comes from another direction.

Unfortunately, that other direction I’m referring to is social services, such as healthcare and education. What’s more, the Olympics further exacerbates the serious issues this province faces such as homelessness, expansion of sport tourism on unceded [sic] indigenous lands and environmental destruction. One billion dollars alone will be spent on police and security surrounding the Olympic Games as well.

As the corporate-sponsored torch relay crossed Canada like a travelling pep rally, activists attempting to raise awareness around the adverse effects surrounding the 2010 Olympic Games protested in meaningful and impassioned ways: both disrupting the torch and blocking it altogether, but where were the student protestors?

Some of the sponsors of both the torch relay and Olympic Games are involved is serious human rights abuse allegations; apparently this was not enough to mobilize a substantial number of student demonstrators.

This past December, in Copenhagen, an unprecedented hundred of thousands activists took to the streets voicing their concern in regards to man-made climate change and uncertainty. Some of the key players being protested against in Copenhagen (namely those involved in the tar sands development in northern Alberta) are throwing a massive party in our backyard and most of the students in BC and across Canada are barely saying a word.

A Roman poet once remarked, as long as the people have their bread and circuses they will be happy. With the Olympics and the preceding torch relay, we certainly have our circuses, but thousands of people across BC and Canada, including students, are struggling for their bread.

This February, surrounding the Olympics, there will be an unprecedented effort by activists to demonstrate and move towards a more peaceful, egalitarian and environmentally friendly province, country and world. An unparalleled $1 billion dollars’ worth of police and security will attempt to ensure that this message is not heard globally.

Who wins will depend largely on whether or not the students of Canada and BC decide to smash the label of “indifferent” and “apathetic” painted on them.

When the 2010 Olympic party is over and the people of British Columbia are left to clean up and pay for the mess, will they be wondering to themselves, “where were the student protestors?”

Submitted by: Mike Scott

I think that is a good sign; it shows that people are taking this H1N1 vaccine issue seriously and are thinking about both sides of the issue (getting vaccinated versus not getting vaccinated).  I must add that everyone, of course, is entitled to their own opinion, especially since the subject of H1N1 is so controversial these days.

Every week I see something new in the local and provincial newspapers, and if anyone wants to read something interesting about vaccinations they should read J.L. Craig’s (Ph. D) Dear Editor letter to the West Kootenay Weekender (November 13 issue) and Dr. Richard Fleet’s letter arguing against Dr. Craig’s information.

Something else that has come to my attention about my piece is that there have been claims made by some students at Selkirk that my vaccine ingredient information was incorrect, such as that the virus culture in the vaccine is dead not alive and that there are no chicken embryos in it. The information that I wrote was something that I discovered during my research. Egg ingredients are used in the manufacturing process of flu vaccines and that is why people who have egg allergies cannot be vaccinated against the seasonal influenza and H1N1. As for the virus in the vaccine being dead or alive, I will leave that up to H1N1 conspiracy theorists to ponder.

At this point, I do not know what is true and what is untrue about the ingredients in the vaccine. That is the problem that we have with the information available: on one hand we have our federal health care system and the World Health Organization telling us one thing to believe, and then independent parties telling us another. Who are we to believe?

My piece was discussing the argument against getting vaccinated because we are constantly being bombarded by information that the vaccine is safe. However, the point of my article was to get students to start thinking more about their health and to start thinking for themselves by doing their own research into whether they should get the vaccine or not.

Sincerely,
Chelsea Sweeney

Sentinel Correspondent

We are fourth-year nursing students and are writing in response to an article published in the October 19, 2009 issue of the Sentinel, entitled “Get Informed! Swine Flu Pandemic and Vaccinations Information.” This article, although very passionate, is merely an opinion and is not founded in balanced and credible research.

This flu season has been particularly dizzying as information regarding H1N1, and the vaccine has changed virtually on a daily basis. Mass media has latched onto this issue and the public is being bombarded with what can only be described as a tsunami of information.

With such seemingly decisive information coming at us from all directions, we need to remember the importance of remaining critical of these sources. We would like to address some of the misinformation, and fear-instilling statements, within the aforementioned article.

The H1N1 vaccine (like all other influenza vaccines) does not contain live virus. It contains killed virus (attenuated to the degree that it is non-virulent) that your body, once exposed through vaccination, builds antibodies against and thus builds immunity. Testing time of the vaccine is another issue that is controversial, and we feel needs to be addressed. (Health Link BC website, 2009).

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, there is a stringent series of processes and steps that span approximately 24-weeks of testing, development and review, before a vaccine is released to the public, and this is true for the H1N1 vaccine.

Thimerosal (an organomercurial compound) is a preservative/stabilizer used in many vaccines including Hepatitis-B and seasonal flu, but it is present in extremely trace amounts. The amount of Thimerosal in one dose of vaccine is less than the amount of mercury found in one can of tuna, and it is evidently a different form of the metal (an organomercurial compound, or ethylmercury as opposed to elemental mercury). (FDA website, September 1, 2009)

The immune-booster, or adjuvant used in a variety of vaccines including the H1N1 vaccine, is called Squaline. According to the World Health Organization, Squaline-containing vaccines are safe. Following the administration of 22-million doses of Squaline-containing flu vaccine in Europe in the late 1990’s, there was an absence of significant vaccine-related adverse events. However, as this vaccine and new Squaline-containing vaccines are being introduced to the public, “post-marketing follow-up to detect any vaccine-related adverse events will need to be performed.” In other words, the long-term effects are not entirely known at this point. (WHO website, 2008)

Health Canada will be rolling out a non-adjuvanted H1N1 vaccine as an alternative to the adjuvanted version.

In this time of media frenzy, it is increasingly important to be a critical thinker and to be conscious of potentially misleading information. We encourage people to get informed and to wield their knowledge wisely in the world. No one is immune to the influence of the media.

We wish you clear-thinking and abundant health during this flu season.

We encourage you to explore the following websites to further your understanding of this issue:

http://www.who.int/vaccine_safety/topics/adjuvants/squalene/questions_and_answers/en/

-WHO (World Health Organization), Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/alert-alerte/h1n1/guidance-orientation-05-03-eng.php

-Public Health website “How to look after someone at home with H1N1 flu virus”

http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/kbaltindex.asp

-Health Link BC website

http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/flu/#anchor

-Flu Clinic Locator website

http://www.interiorhealth.ca/index.aspx

-Interior Health BC website

http://www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvaccines/safetyavailability/vaccinesafety/ucm096228

-FDA (Food and Drug Administration) information on Thimerosal in vaccines.

Yours truly,

Krystal Thorpe and Katie Greene