, Student Voice Sara Weeres Guest Contributor ff campus or on campus? Deciding whether to live in residence or off campus is one of the most influential decisions in a student’s life. I speak from experience. I feel that I learned a lot and exposed myself to many different things by deciding to rent my own place, but residence offered me invaluable friendships and experiences for the two years I was there. So, off campus or on campus? Let’s break it down. Res is a fantastic option for first year students. It offers security when first moving to Prince George, forces students to interact with each other, and allows students without transportation to easily access the school. You don’t have to worry about finding roommates, a place to rent, or furniture. The rent is paid in full at the beginning of the semester so you don’t have to think about monthly expenditure. Living on res is the best way to meet and constantly interact with fellow new students and get to know them, whether it be through roommates, friends of roommates, or people you met in class who happen to live on res. It’s a great way to get connected and stay connected to your peers. You don’t have to figure out the bus system right away and you can get up fairly late without a commute to class. One of my favourite things about res was that you didn’t have to pack a lunch; between classes you just mosey on back home and relax while making and enjoying a nice meal you created right then and there... Oh wait. Second year is when things get a little confusing. You’ve experienced the loud, drunken people when you're trying to study, the fire alarms at 3am, the thin walls that gave away FAR too much about your roommate’s sex life, but it’s just so convenient. Maybe you have some roommates you really clicked with that want to be on res again. It could be that the ability to run back home to grab something you forgot outweighs the $90 in quarters you spent on laundry. So you do it. Even though you're starting to go a little crazy not being able to separate your home life from your school life, you do it. Third year is when I moved off res. Not only is it cheaper, it’s more private, nicer looking (hopefully), and good god I needed to find a way to get away from school sometimes. You can live by yourself or have roommates, and even have more than one bathroom! Having a larger living space and bedrooms is an additional possibility. Living off campus offers you a whole new smorgasbord of options, and it feels good. The only thing is, now you're further away from your friends (whether they’re on OR off campus), and by the time you're off campus for 3 months, the Prince George Transit system has elicited every curse in the English language from your mouth. However, if you somehow find a way to navigate said transit system, you'll find that living off campus opens your eyes to the many entertainment and restaurant options available in Prince George. I myself became much more engaged in the amenities the city had to offer rather than holing myself up at UNBC all the time. You do have to get up a little earlier to make yourself a lunch and bus up to the university, but showing off your awesome new place to your friends makes up for it, especially when you all end up drinking and crashing at your place on Friday night because you have way more space than they do on res. So, in fourth year, stay off campus. Res has its place in uni- versity life, but living off campus offers such a great growing experience that I would highly recommend it. It exposes you to the city, can aid your mental health while going to school, and often offers way better living conditions. I hope you are at least considering it if you haven’t already done it, and if you have, kudos to you! Jessica Bagnall Guest Contributor ince the Arab Spring revolutions of 2011, turmoil has has erupted in many countries including the Syrian Arab Republic. The revolts had inspirations from internet capabilities which gave the citizens of the world the ability to mobilize and create larger protest effects against Bashar al- Assad the President of Syria, as well as commander-in-chief of the military and a handful of other positions. Many criticize the west for not intervening, and pressures continued to be placed upon states that are now receiving the mass immigrations caused by the cruelty of the regime. The European Commission reports that Europe is the biggest supporter of international crisis and has spent 3.1 Billion Euros since 2012. They estimate that 7.6 million people which were displaced and that are in need of immigration. 12.2 Million people are in need of assistance, and 4 million are registered refugees. They report that is the largest humanitarian crisis since world war II. UN aid workers were also reported to be regularly attacked, kidnapped, and there has been 77 murders. The European Union asylum procedures map out the procedures that are necessary to grant refugees that ability to enter the EU. Because of an agreement of mobility within the borders, anyone within the Union can freely go within the countries because of economic benefits which were lost from tariffs. This causes an increase of security on the outside to control the population of the Union. The new directive as of July 2015, states that an application must not take more than 6 months and is judged by a document called the minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers, which is not yet posted with the policies. Applicants also have an entitlement to a personal interview to state their case. The Council on Foreign Relations reports that the main entry has been Greece and Italy, and that 464,000 migrants have crosses the Mediterranean Sea in 2015 (International Organization for Migration). The refugees cross the borders illegally in the south and travel towards richer countries in the north. The Dublin Regulation (2013) states that the asylum seekers must remain in the country that processed their asylum or risk deportation. The CFR also reports that detention centers in Europe have also violated article III of the European Convention of Human Rights because of neglect which resulted in inhuman or degrading treatment of humans. The BBC reports that in response to this inflation, 40,000 migrants will be accepted into other countries in the EU without placing quotas for the states from Greece, Italy and Hungary. Italy urges for more support, and the UK has opted out of the agreement based on stipulations in the Libson Treaty (2013). With tensions increasing upon the EU from Syrian refugees and those of the surrounding states, political and bureaucratic limits are now being shaken as the effects of population crisis emerge. The refugees are facing a complex legal battle in cost for their aspired freedom and also cultural tensions are keeping refugees from legally entering the EU. With the state of the legal framework at hand, what measures will the commission take to round up the illegal refugees. Where will these people go? Perhaps the concept of overpopulation is a threat you the european identity. The human rights violations and poverty that the refugees are fleeing is not a problem that can be masked by a slow moving integration. Countries must work together to create a place where all of these people can find homes. If the spread of a liberal-democracy is your goal, and now the world’s people are responding to that message then how can you make them suffer more without helping them.