New Trail Spring 2011

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U n i v e r s i t y

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A l b e r t a

Spruce Meadows The Southerns Create a Show Jumping Eden

A l u m n i

M a g a z i n e

PANDAS HOCKEY: Heading to the Hall of Fame IDENTITY CRISIS: Protecting your Good Name INTO AFRICA: A Trip to the Heart of Tanzania

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Augustana A ugustana C ugustana Celebrates eleb b at br a ess 100 y years! earss! ear "+1"+ /6 ,*" "+ "+ /6 "+1 " /6 ,*" ,*" , ,*&+$ ,*&+$ Äź ,+3, *&+$ $ Äź ,+ ,+3, 1&,+ 1&,+ & + ")" / 1&,+0 2+" Ä‹Ĺ–Ä?1%ġ ĊĈĉĉ ")" 1&,+0 ")" / 1 ,+ 1& +0 2+" Ä‹Ĺ–Ä?1%ġ Ä‹Ĺ– 1% % ĊĈĉĉ ĊĈ Ĉ &1Äś)6 &1Äś)6Ĺą 2$201 + ĉĈĈ 1 )66Ĺą 6Ĺą Ĺą 2$201 + ĉĈ 2$20 2 ĉĈĈ centenary@augustana.ca ce cent ente enary@august ary@ @aug st stana. an .caa ,/ ĉĜÄ?ÄˆÄˆÄśÄŽÄŽÄ‰ÄśÄ?Ä?Ä‰ÄŒÄś , ,/ / ĉĜÄ?ĈĈ ĉĜÄ?ĈĈ ÄˆÄśÄŽÄŽÄ‰ÄśÄ? ÄŽÄŽ ĎĉĜÄ? Ä?Ä?ĉČ ÄŒÄś ÄŒÄś

For a paper copy of the Alumni Weekend event details, plea se call 780-492-6530 to request your copy .REGISTER NOW WWW.UALBERTA.CA/ALUMNI/WEEKEND

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features 14 On the cover: Jessica Springsteen, daughter of legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen, jumps her Belgian Warmblood gelding, Vornado Van den Hoendrik, in the ATCO Power Queen Elizabeth II Cup during the Spruce Meadows North American Tournament on July 10, 2010. Her mother and father were in the stands to cheer her on. Calgary’s Spruce Meadows was founded by U of A alumni Marg, ‘53 BPE, and Ron Southern, ‘53 BSc, ‘91 LLD (Honorary), and over its 35 years has become one of the world’s premier show-jumping venues. Photo by Mike Sturk.

Cover story

CCIS The Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science opens its doors

19 Into Africa An alumnus takes a trip into the bountiful heart of Tanzania

22

Easy Rider Endowment

24 31 36

A non-grad extends a hand to the U of A in the name of her father

Horse Sense Spruce Meadows—a show jumping Mecca built by two U of A alumni

Hall of Famers The entire 1999–2000 Pandas hockey team is heading to the Hall

Identity Crisis Someone is out there right now phishing for your precious data

departments

ISSN: 0824-8125 Copyright 2005 Publications Mail Agreement No. 40112326 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Office of Alumni Affairs, University of Alberta, Main Floor, Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, AB T5J 4P6

Your Letters Our readers write to us

42 Reviews Featuring U of A authors & artists

5

Whatsoever Things Are True A column by Aritha van Herk

44 Alumni Events Engage with your alma mater

6

Bear Country Goings-on around the U of A

46 Class Notes Keeping classmates up-to-date

10 Question Period A student interviewing session

54 In Memoriam Bidding farewell to friends

12 Learning Curve Education doesn’t end with school

56 Photo Finish The picture-perfect finale

C O N TA C T U S

Do you receive multiple copies of New Trail magazine? If you would prefer to receive only one copy at this address please contact us at alumrec@ualberta.ca or call 780-492-3471; toll free 1-866492-7516.

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New Trail

Office of Alumni Affairs

Reader Response Line: 780-492-1702 Class Notes/Comments: alumni@ualberta.ca Advertise: 780-417-3464 or bl5@ualberta.ca Address Updates: 780-492-3471; toll free 1-866-492-7516 or alumrec@ualberta.ca Online: www.newtrail.ualberta.ca

Call: 780-492-3224 or 1-800-661-2593 Fax: 780-492-1568 Online: www.ualberta.ca/alumni Write: Office of Alumni Affairs, University of Alberta, Main Floor, Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, AB T5J 4P6

This University of Alberta Alumni Association magazine is published three times a year and mailed free to over 138,000 alumni. The views and opinions expressed in the magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the University or the Alumni Association. All material copyright ©. New Trail cannot be held responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. Spring 2011

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Supervising Editor Cynthia Strawson-Fawcett, ’05 BA Editor Kim Green Associate Editors Sarah Ligon, Christie Moncrief Contributing Editor Jodeen Litwin, ’90 BSc(HEc) Art Director Lisa Hall, ’89 BA Advisory Board Tom Keating Lawrence Kwok, ’04 BSc(Eng) Deb Hammacher John Mahon, ’76 BMus, ’83 MBA Julie Naylor David Newman Jane Potentier OFFICE OF A L U M N I A F FA I R S

Sean Price, ’95 BCom, MBA Associate Vice-President Cynthia Strawson-Fawcett, ’05 BA Director, Marketing, Communications & Affinity Relationships Gina Wheatcroft, ’94 BEd Director, Alumni Programs * * * Brandon Aune, ’09 BEd Assistant, Alumni Branches Chloe Chalmers, ’00 BA Coordinators, Students & Young Alumni Colleen Elliott, ’94 BEd Coordinator, Alumni Special Events Coleen Graham, ’88 BSc(HEc), ’93 Med Executive Project Manager Kim Green Editor, New Trail Lisa Hall, ’89 BA Coordinator, Graphic Communications Jennifer Jenkins, ’95 BEd Assistant, Alumni Special Events Sarah Ligon Christie Moncrief Communications Coordinator Jodeen Litwin, ’90 BSc(HEc) Coordinator, Alumni Recognition Ann Miles Assistant, Marketing and Communications Cristine Myhre Coordinator, Alumni Chapters John Perrino, ’93 BA(RecAdmin) Coordinator, Alumni Branches Andrea Porter, ’03 BCom Finance and HR Administrator Tracy Salmon, ’91 BA, ’96 MSc Manager, Marketing & Special Events Angela Tom, ’03 BA Assistant, Alumni Education Diane Tougas Assistant to the Associate Vice-President Vi Warkentin Assistant, Alumni Chapters Debbie Yee, ’92 BA Coordinator, Electronic Communication

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ALUMNI COUNCIL 2010/11

Executive Director Sean Price, ’95 BCom, MBA

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Spring 2011

Executive Committee President Jane Halford, ’94 BCom Past-President / Vice-President Nominating & Bylaws Jim Hole, ’79 BSc(Ag) Vice-President: Alumni Awards Anne Lopushinsky, ’79 BSc(SPA) Vice-President: Scholarships Don Fleming, ’76 BEd Board of Governors Representatives Bill Cheung, ’86 LLB Jim Hole, ’79 BSc(Ag) Senate Representatives Judy Zender, ’67 BA Stephen Leppard, ’86 BEd, ’92 MEd, ’03 EDD Secretary Brent McDonough, ’77 BSc, ’79 BEd Faculty Representatives Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences Kirstin Kotelko, ’06 BSc Arts Michael Janz, ’08 BA Augustana Jason Collins, ’97 BA Business Rob Parks, ’87 BEd, ’99 MBA Campus Saint-Jean Cindie LeBlanc, ’01 BA Dentistry Cornell Lee, ’01 BSc, ’03 DDS Education Don Fleming, ’76 BEd Engineering Glenn Stowkowy, ’76 BSc(Eng) Extension Mary Pat Barry, ’04 MA Graduate Studies Mark Ramsankar, ’87 BEd, ’04 MEd Law William Ostapek, ’83 LLB Medicine Richard Fedorak, ’78 MD Native Studies Darlene Bouvier, ’91 BA, ’09 BA(NA) Nursing Janis Sasaki, ’83 BSc(Nu), ’87 LLB Pharmacy Adam Gordon, ’08 BSc(Pharm) Physical Education & Recreation Hugh Hoyles, ’66 BPE Public Health Grant Frame, ’87 BSc, ’93 MHSA Rehabilitation Medicine Anne Lopushinsky, ’79 BSc Science Luca Vanzella, ’81 BSc, ’88 MSc Members at Large Terry Freeman, ’82 BCom Brent McDonough, ’77 BSc, ’79 BEd Academic Representative Randy Wimmer, ’87 BEd, ’96 MEd, ’03 EdD Ex Officio Honorary President Indira Samarasekera Vice-President (External Relations) Debra Pozega Osburn Executive Director, Alumni Association Sean Price, ’95 BCom, MBA Dean of Students Frank Robinson Students’ Union President Nick Dehod Graduate Students’ Association President Roy Coulthard

Up Front

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n the age of social networking and the electronic proliferation of all kinds of communications and transactions, it behooves us to take a step back and think about what we’re doing each and every time we surrender information about ourselves that, should it fall into the wrong hands, could cause considerable damage to our finances, our reputation or even our health. But the tangible data that comprise the nuts-and-bolts of who we are is only one aspect of our identity. There are many other modifiers that distinguish how we identify ourselves. Some will self-identify as fathers or mothers. Other identities might be motorcycle-rider, volunteer, churchgoer, coach, dog-owner, plumber, teacher, son or daughter. One thing most people reading this magazine will identify themselves as is a member of the University of Alberta alumni family. That family has almost 240,000 members around the world in over 135 countries. Of course, most of them are right here in Alberta, where a large group—some of whom are profiled in this issue—will henceforth identify themselves as hall-of-fame inductees. The members of the entire 1999-2000 Pandas hockey team are joining such luminaries as Wayne Gretzky, ’00 LLD (Honorary); Randy Gregg, ’75 BSc, ’79 MD; and Clare Drake, ’58 BEd, ’95 LLD (Honorary), in the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame (see pg. 31). On the other side of the country, former Pandas’ player and Olympic women’s hockey coach Melody Davidson, ’86 BPE, was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in Moncton, NB. Other hall-of-fame inductees include Nobel Prize-winner Richard Taylor, ’50 BSc, ’52 MSc, ’91 DSc (Honorary), and Raymond Lemieux, ’43 BSc, ’91 DSc (Honorary), in the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame; Lorne Tyrrell, ’64 BSc, ’68 MD, and Tak Mak, ’72 PhD, in the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame; and Gino Fracas, ’57 Dipl(Ed), ’58 BEd, and Joe Poplawski, ’78 BSc, in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. We may not all identify ourselves as hall-of-fame inductees, but as part of the U of A family we can bask in the reflected glory. And for those fortunate enough to be hall-of-fame members, that’s part of their identity that no one can take away.

Jane Halford, ’94 BCom President, Alumni Association

Sean Price, ’95 BCom, MBA Associate Vice-President, Alumni Affairs; Executive Director, Alumni Association

Your Letters School Bored How refreshing to read Theresa

Hockey Mom

Shea’s [’97 PhD] learning curve

Seeing the New Trail photograph

article, “Skipping School”

of the 1918 Varsity female basket-

[Winter 2011, pg. 12]. I, too,

ball team [Winter 2011, pg. 56]

spent significant time reflecting

reminded me that I have two pho-

on how people learn as my hus-

tographs: University of Alberta

band and I educated our chil-

Ladies’ Hockey Team 1917-1918

dren at home. Initially I had

and Girls’ Hockey Team Varsity

panic attacks worrying that we

1919-1920. The reason that I have

might “miss” something. But of

them is that my mother, Helena

course we missed things; it was

Hurlburt (Barclay), ’15 BA,

the trade off for learning inter-

appears in each of them. My

esting things which were not in

mother was also the third woman

public school curricula. I real-

admitted to the bar in Alberta.

ized that adults study what they

W. H. Hurlburt, ’48 BA, ’49 LLB,

are fascinated by for as long as

’97 LLD (Honorary)

the interest lasts—sometimes a

Edmonton, AB

very long time, sometimes just

Editor’s Note: Although the U of A

minutes. Why should our chil-

Faculty of Law was created in

dren not be permitted to love

1912, it didn’t start conferring

learning by focusing on their

degrees until after 1921. Helena

interests?

Barclay would have been an arti-

Home-educated students

cling student with a law firm and

have the world as their class-

also taking courses offered by the

room and the flexibility to pur-

U of A Law Society and, thus,

sue individual interests. Like

would have retained her student

Theresa, I discovered that chil-

status, enabling her to play hockey

dren who learn at home follow

for the U of A team.

University of Alberta Ladies’ Hockey Team 1917–18, left to right: H. Tillotson (Rover), M. Hotson (Manager), H. Barclay (Cover Point), I. Ayer (Goal), G. Stewart (Captain R. Wing), J. Stuart (Point), M. Robertson (Centre), B. Gardiner (L. WIng), W.F. Seyer (Coach).

University of Alberta Girls’ Hockey Team 1919–1920, left to right: J. Hennessy (Spare), C. Schade (Rover), C. Crystal (Spare), D. Whiteman (R. Wing), R. Cleland (Coach), L. McGregor (Goalkeeper), H. Morris, (Assistant Coach), C. McQueen (Manager), R. Wood, (L. Defence), H. Tillotson, (L. Wing), M. Robertson (Centre), H. Barclay (R. Defence).

their interests and socialize with people of various ages are well-

Tory Tale

prepared to become functioning

I especially enjoyed the New

was a member of parliament for

I really enjoyed the article on

and contributing members of

Trail issue [Winter 2011, pg.

13 years beginning in 1921, and

the library cornerstone caper

society. In Charlotte Mason’s

24] with the story on Henry

I remember being with him just

[Autumn ’08, pg. 26], just

words: “Self-education is the

Marshall Tory. In 1937, I was

after the NRC building was

one of the delicious pranks that

only possible education: the rest

working as a summer student at

completed and hearing Dr. Tory

is mere veneer placed on the

the National Research Council

say that he felt a bit guilty asking

surface of a child’s nature.”

[NRC] in Ottawa — for no

for that much money for a hand-

Eleanor D. Mitchell, ’77 BEd

pay as it was during the Great

some building during such trying

Airdrie, AB

Depression but good experience

times. My father was also a

for me. Dr. Tory’s term as presi-

member of the University senate,

dent was soon up, and normally

and a mountain in the Beaufort

would have been renewed, but

Range on Vancouver Island was

Prime Minister R.B. Bennett — a

named after him. About 25 years

Editor’s Note: Charlotte Mason (1842–1923) was a British educator who pioneered the Charlotte Mason Method of

My father, Henry Spencer,

Caper Connection

happened while I was at the U of A. One other outstanding memory was the “gravestone” outside of the Arts Building. The photo of one of the authors of the cornerstone caper reminded me that I am no longer young. Paul

Calgary lawyer who had never

ago my siblings and I climbed it

Somerville, [’49 BSc], who

education, popular with home-

forgiven the slight of having the

and built a cabin where we put

co-wrote the story, was in the

schoolers, in which children are

U of A established in Edmonton

our parents’ ashes.

same honours math group of

taught through a wide range of

and not Calgary — appointed General McNaughton as presi-

and good habits.

dent instead of Tory.

Elvins Y. Spencer, ’36 BSc, ’38 MSc London, ON

nine that I was in.

books, firsthand experiences

Lillian Flint, ’49 BSc Lloydminster, AB Spring 2011

new trail

3

Corrections (Defence), Edna Tharp (Side-Centre), M. McLean

In the Winter 2011 edition of

(Defence) and M. Hull (Jumping Centre).

“In Memoriam” you entered my

I also recall my grandmother mentioning that

father’s name incorrectly. You

some of the girls from that U of A team played

entered Harold Ted Rodnunsky.

for the Edmonton Grads.

His name is Harold Theodore

Elizabeth Mowat, ’72 BSc, ’73 Dipl(Ed),

Rodnunsky, ’68 BEd.

’92 MEd, ’10 PhD

Lawrence Rodnunsky, ’95 BSc,

Edmonton, AB

’98 MSc

Editor’s Note: There is a W. (Winnie) Martin

Edmonton, AB

that played for the Edmonton Grads in 1922.

* * *

Players Identified

The Edmonton Grads basketball team compiled

When reading the last issue of New Trail [Winter

a record of 502 wins and 20 losses between

2011, pg. 56] I noticed that on the “photo finish”

1915 and 1940, when the team was disbanded.

page there was a picture of the women’s basketball

They won their first Canadian title in 1922, and,

team from 1918 that includes my grandmother,

in 1923, they won the Underwood Trophy (pro-

Edna Tharp, ’19 BA, ’57 Dipl(Ed), ’57 BEd. I

vided by the Underwood Typewriter Company)

remembered that I have an original copy of this

in their first international competition against an

Winter 2011 New Trail “In

photo. I found it, and it has all the players names

American team. The Grads also bested chal-

Memoriam” notices. I am not

and the positions they played as well as a photo

lengers in Paris, London, Amsterdam and Berlin,

currently deceased. Because I

credit for “Castor Edmonton.” I called my daugh-

and swept four consecutive Olympic Games from

live and work outside Canada

ters—Katherine Kupchenko, ’07 BA, and Mary

1924 to 1936, winning all 27 Olympic matches

and have lost touch with many

Kupchenko, ’04 BA—about the photo, and they

they played and outscoring their opponents

old classmates, I would not

were very excited.

1,863 to 297. This achievement was unrecog-

My uncle, Joseph Zizek, passed away in Edson, AB, in October 2010 at the age of 72 years. As our names are almost identical (I was named after him,) this has led to an error in the

want them to be unduly dis-

The names of the players and the positions they

nized on the medal podium as women’s basket-

tressed by this error.

played are, from left to right: E. Anderson (For-

ball did not become an official Olympic sport

Joseph John Zizek, ’84 BSc,

ward), W. Martin (Capt. Forward), S. McLennan

until the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal.

’88 BA Auckland, New Zealand * * *

records but of all financial mat-

first president of the Canadian Basketball Association. He

I was captivated by Anne Bailey’s

ters from 1910 until a bursar

In the Winter 2011 issue of

excellent retrospective on Henry

was named in 1920. He also

coached the U of A women’s

New Trail, we incorrectly listed

Marshall Tory [Winter 2011, pg.

lectured in accounting, mathe-

team for a number of years, and

David Walter Hewko,’80 BCom,

24]. In 1903 my grandparents,

matics and business administra-

the C. E. Race Trophy for inter-

as deceased. David is alive and

Cecil E. and Annie Race, then

tion. He was still the registrar

university supremacy was estab-

well and living in Calgary. We

newlyweds living in Ontario,

of record when, while on med-

lished in his honour.

were recruited for the first teach-

ical leave in 1927, he died an

apologize for the error. * * *

ing staff at Edmonton’s Alberta

We inadvertently misspelled

College, which had an academic

untimely death at age 50. My reminiscing on the Tory

These pieces in New Trail are examples of how your publication maintains a fair and inter-

connection to McGill University,

story took a surprising twist

esting balance between historical

BSc(Eng), and Ruth Mattheis,

whose liaison officer was H. M.

when I came to the back pages

and contemporary articles.

’58 BA, in the Winter 2011 New

Tory. Tory’s visits to Alberta

of New Trail and noticed a

Cecil L. Race, ’63 BA, ’78 MEd

Trail. We apologize for any

College resulted in a friendship

familiar picture of my grandfa-

North Vancouver, BC

inconvenience or confusion that

between him and my grandfa-

ther with members of the 1918

may have resulted from this error.

ther. Their relationship became

Varsity Women’s Basketball

closer when, in 1910, my grand-

Team [photo finish, pg. 56]. My

Margaret-Ann Armour, ’70 PhD,

father accepted Tory’s offer to

grandfather loved basketball,

[Winter 2011, pg. 27] is not a

become the U of A’s first official

and his concern that its spread in

letters via postal mail or

popularity occur in a sound, uni-

e-mail to the addresses on

the last name of Edwin, ’57

* * *

U of A chemistry professor but, rather, the Associate Dean of Diversity in the Faculty of Science.

4

Race Relation

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Spring 2011

registrar. My grandfather was not only chief administrator of student

fied way within Canada led him in the mid-1920s to become the

We would like to hear your comments about the magazine. Send us your

page 1. Letters may be edited for length or clarity.

whatsoever things are true

Peers & Enemies Writer and alumna Aritha van Herk, ’76 BA, ’78 MA, on the rewards and risks of friendship

M

ore than the tides of love, friendship tests honesty and falseness. Of all the interrelationships and alliances that human beings form, friendship is the sphere where trust must fully flourish. But the dynamics of friendship are such that it is also an arena that tests truth and its difficult telling, lies and their inevitable necessity. Friendship is the most reciprocal of connections and yet it requires the greatest flexibility. It is not governed by legislation but by a loose mutual agreement more coincidental than deterministic. Friends serve as mirrors and sounding boards, and see in their campadres their own mistakes and triumphs. The honesty between friends is fraught territory. While it is important for friends to believe that they are transparent with one another, it is equally important for friendships to practice skillful subterfuge. Nothing can kill a friendship faster than poorly-timed, brutal honesty. But it is just as critical that old friends can be trusted not to leap to judgment when we are stupid or silly or just plain wrong. Today, Facebook has given friendship a whole new dimension. The designation of “friends” has become a social utility, a communication tool useful for everything from car-pooling to purgation,

the confession box after eating that whole tub of ice cream. Instead of the old-fashioned and purer version of friendship, Facebook offers a social graph that filters and enhances who we know and with whom we connect. Friends are now an algorithm of sta-

“While it is important for friends to believe that they are transparent with one another, it is equally important for friendships to practice skillful subterfuge.” tistics and networking opportunities, and friendship has become a weirdly articulated space for exhibitionism and voyeurism. But friendship is, at root, still a link between humans, which means it can be risky. The trust we place in someone can rebound. And the dynamics of friendship are such that it can wreak havoc with our lives, can wound and degrade us. The scalding pain of friendship betrayed is incalculable, for it shakes our confidence in ourselves, an irrevocable shift in our belief in what we thought we knew, understood or could rely on. An unforgivable rift in a friendship is divulged confidence, one friend reveal-

ing another’s secrets. Increasingly under pressure in this over-revelatory world, the friend who can keep a secret is better than gold. Shared knowledge cements the closeness between two people, but it is a time bomb that can tempt disclosure as retaliation. Even careless leaking of insider information can provoke a hovering mistrust. And we can be ambushed. I have never been so wounded as when someone I thought was a friend excoriated me for a fault she perceived in my character. I was sincerely trying to be a good friend, offering support and strategies for mutual challenges we shared, and the sting of what I felt was an unjust accusation left me devastated, not least because the manner in which the judgment was dispensed was cruel. I went over and over our association in search of what had led to her rancor, and it was only over time that I came to realize she simply did not want to be friends and needed to find an excuse — any excuse — to “unfriend” me. I had outlived my usefulness. That recognition hurt even more. Nothing feels worse than knowing you’ve been used for someone else’s ends, you’ve been lied to in the name of friendship. That experience taught me a valuable lesson: be wary and know when to give up. And it made me laugh at Oscar Wilde’s acerbic comments on friendship. “He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends” is one, while another declares “true friends stab you in the front.” But in a non-Wildean life, the quality of friendship, like the quality of mercy, blesses the one who gives and the one who receives.

Aritha van Herk is the author of novels, non-fiction and hundreds of articles and reviews. She lives in Calgary. Spring 2011

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5

bear country

HOT TIP W e’d like to show you a picture of the object that put researchers at the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) and the University of Alberta into the Guinness Book of World Records for the first time.* But we can’t. The record is for the Sharpest Object Ever Made. To get that sharp means you can’t see the tip of the item with the naked eye, the item in question being a tip used in electron microscopes that is just one atom wide at its end point. The team that made the electron microscope tip is comprised of NINT principal investigator and physics professor Robert Wolkow, NINT research council officer and physics professor Jason Pitters, and Mohamed Rezeq, formerly of NINT. The tip of an electron microscope emits electrons, or ions, instead of light, and these can be used to illuminate everything from cells to semiconductor chips. “Our new source of ions is really, really small,” says Wolkow. “It’s like we have a light bulb the size of one atom. And, it turns out that an ion beam ema-

nating from a single atom has great advantages in terms of image resolution and depth of field and contrast.” Wolkow says the NINT nano-tip looks like an ordinary needle, unless you look closer, trying to see the very end of it — which you can’t see, unless you were to look at it with another electron microscope. The same tip is now the imaging source in a new holographic electron microscope built over the last couple of years at NINT. “We think it will reveal features of molecules and other nanoentities that can’t be observed in any other kind of microscope,” says Wolkow, who also notes that the team didn’t set out to establish a world record. “We were just trying to make a better tool for our research,” he says. “Having a world record is a fun achievement, but we are really interested in commercializing this product.”

Treating the King Georges of Edmonton... and Calgary

E

ight-year-old Tyler MacDonald can relate to the stuttering King George VI, played to perfection by Colin Firth in The King’s Speech, which won four Oscars at the 2011 Academy Awards. A year ago, MacDonald’s stutter kept him from participating in group activities where he might be called upon to speak in public. “He didn’t want to be in social settings,” says

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Terry MacDonald, Tyler’s father. “He didn’t like going to school or hockey.” The University of Alberta’s Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research (ISTAR) recently opened an office in Calgary to help people like Tyler regain their confidence by overcoming their stuttering. Headquartered at the U of A’s Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine—which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this

Robert Wolkow and an electron microscope.

Although a world record wasn’t the goal of the research team, Wolkow says he still takes pride in knowing that the record can’t be broken. “Unlike some world records,” he says, “the atomic sharpness of the tip means that the record can’t ever be broken— one can’t get sharper.” To learn more about the National Institute for Nanotechnology go to www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca. * The other U of A Guinness record is for the Largest Game of Dodge Ball established in 2011 when 2,012 participants played in the U of A’s Butterdome.

Tyler MacDonald with his father Terry at the opening of ISTAR’s Calgary office.

year — ISTAR is a world leader in stuttering research and for 25 years has been offering specialized treatment to children, teens and adults who stutter. ISTAR opened its Calgary office in

Mussel Man axonomy—the study of classifying species—has long been considered one of the driest of the scientific fields. But it only takes one conversation with mussel expert André Martel, ’90 PhD, to dispel that notion. He’s so taken with the tasty bivalves that he has devoted his life and considerable intellectual prowess studying what most of us are primarily familiar with as Mussels Marinara. Why? For one thing, he says, the relationship between mussels and their habitat is fascinating. Mussels can act as facilitator species, meaning that their presence in a habitat makes it possible for other species to populate the same area. “One species of mussel alone creates a home for well over 200 species of invertebrates,” says Martel, who expresses equal fascination for red turf algae, the complex, leafy marine plants that serve as homes for mussels just starting out in life. “If you were to take a 10-by-10 centimetre square of algae and count all the species living there—from the tiniest single-celled protozoa to the snail and the mussel—there would be hundreds,” Martel says. Martel is currently on the verge of identifying what he suspects is a new species of mussel, tentatively christened Adula. “I could literally spend the rest of my life studying this one new species,” he says, without a hint of hyperbole. “Where this thing is from, what it does, where it lives, when they settle—it’s all fascinating to me. When you begin investigating their lives, you realize it’s not simple. It’s complicated. It’s fascinating. It’s full of questions. It’s like us humans. We have a life, we go to school, we do this, we do that, and they have their own story, too.” Martel’s mussel research was conducted at the U of A affiliated Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre that can be found at www.bms.bc.ca. —Katelyn Low

T

February 2011, ensuring that Calgarians who stutter have the same access to treatment as Edmontonians do. “Stuttering can have serious emotional, social and vocational consequences for adults and school-age children,” says Marilyn Langevin, ’88 BSc, ’91 MSc, acting executive director of ISTAR.“It can limit children from reaching their potential in school and limit adults from seeking the work they, in their hearts, want to do. Our recent research shows stuttering can even prevent preschoolers from participating or leading peers in play. Play is hugely important for children.”

It’s estimated that one in 100 people have the disorder. “Stuttering affects as many as 11 percent of preschool children,” says Martin Ferguson-Pell, dean of rehabilitation medicine. “Expanding our services to Calgary and building awareness around stuttering is important. We want to serve as many Albertans as we can.” For their part, Tyler and his father feel extremely well-served by ISTAR. Tyler has regained his confidence, is no longer afraid to raise his hand in class, and, best of all, “I’m also better friends with my dad,” he says. Previously, Tyler spoke only to his mom most of the time.

André Martel with his friends.

“My relationship with my son has improved so much after being involved in his treatment at ISTAR,” says Terry. “Tyler’s progress in school and sports has improved as a result of his new confidence — because of ISTAR.” For his part, Tyler says he once again loves playing hockey. He likes school now, too. ISTAR is a self-funded institute in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine. It receives vital operating support from donors, including the Elks and Royal Purple of Alberta and Canada. For more information, visit their website at www.istar.ualberta.ca. Spring 2011

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The Wayback Machine

O

ne of the most advanced isotopic microbeam technologies in the geosciences now exists right here at the U of A. The Cameca IMS-1280 ion probe—the only one of its kind in Canada—is the centrepiece of the University’s new Canadian Centre for Isotopic Microanalysis, a place where the past can be isolated, revealed, studied and analyzed. This multi-million dollar time machine can, for instance, analyze animal teeth, bones or rock and, by burrowing down to the sample’s atomic makeup, expose its past. “The probe can capture a moment in time, possibly millions or billions of years ago when the molecular structure of a mineral was being formed,” says Thomas Stachel, researcher and director of the Centre, housed in the subterranean analytical facility at the new Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science.

Richard Stern at the console of the Cameca IMS-1280 with ion probe technologist Gayle Hatchard in the background.

Biologists, for instance, can use the probe to learn a lot from an animal’s tooth. Rather than grinding up a polar bear’s tooth and analyzing its molecular content in bulk, a tiny slice of the tooth is put into the new probe and, much like the process of analyzing tree rings, says Stachel, “we can look at every single year in the life of that polar bear and analyze what it ate, where it lived, and extrapolate the environmental conditions it experienced.” With a resolution level of 10 microns, about one-tenth the width of

Campus Connections

A

s illustrated in the Autumn 2010 issue of New Trail, the University’s ties to China are many and varied. Add one more: Augustana Campus has announced a partnership agreement with United International College (UIC), a Chinese liberal arts college in the city of Zhuha, near Hong Kong. The accord extends cooperative alliances between the schools in the areas of teaching, research and student and faculty mobility — instruction at UIC is in English. Then-Augustana Dean Roger Epp, ’84 BA, visited UIC in April 2010 and said, “the world is going to have to understand China, and a globally minded campus like ours has a responsibility to give students an opportunity

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to experience the country and its culture. In some respects, UIC represents a soft landing, an entry-point, for a student going on exchange or for a faculty member considering a sabbatical.” Not only has Augustana “found a strikingly like-minded, collaborative partner in an important country,” said Epp, who brokered the deal between the two institutions, “but there is also a historic dimension to it in our centennial year [2010-2011]. I couldn’t

a human hair, the ion probe will benefit the natural resources industry. The probe will be invaluable in capturing new information about mineral and fossil fuel formations, which will aid in extraction and development. “Mineral revenue from the north is 98 or 99 percent diamonds,” says Stachel. “And keeping the costs and efficiency of exploration down is essential for keeping that Canadian industry alive.” To learn more about the Canadian Centre for Isotopic Microanalysis go to http://research.eas.ualberta.ca/ccim.

help but be mindful that stepping into China was stepping into the country that formed Chester Ronning.” Ronning, ’16 BSc, ’42 MA, ’65 LLD (Honorary), was born in China to Norwegian parents and was principal of Camrose Lutheran College—which became the U of A’s Augustana Campus—from 1927 to 1942. Ronning also taught in China in the early 1920s and returned as a diplomat after the Second World War, beginning a distinguished Foreign Service career and becoming a long-time friend of Zhou Enlai, the first premier of the People’s Republic of China. For more about Augustana Campus go to www.augustana.ualberta.ca.

Ultra-Sonic Performance T

o say that Mike Holmes and Maya Cieszynska don’t believe in sticking to the script is not an exaggeration. Hours before they were to present their ideas at the 2011 Canada’s Next Top Ad Executive competition in Toronto, they made some changes to their presentation. Obviously, the gamble paid off. Holmes and Cieszynska beat out nine other teams of business students from across Canada, marking the first time students from the University of Alberta have come away with this title. “I think we walked in a little scared, a little uncertain,” says Holmes. “We were actually stunned at the reaction we got. We got some very positive feedback after our presentation.” As part of the competition, participants had to develop a multi-dimensional marketing campaign that would build awareness and help launch a new compact automobile, the Chevrolet Sonic.

The win means that both students walk away with brand new Sonics, once the vehicles roll off the production line later this year. It also provides a wealth of opportunities for the winners. Cieszynska, who graduates this year, has already been interviewing for jobs in Toronto; Holmes has another year to graduate but is sure the win will serve as a valuable mention on his resume. “Just being able to say that you came in first in this competition holds tremendous weight with people in the industry,” says Holmes. “I couldn’t ask for anything more.” While this is not the first time the two have teamed up together, with Cieszynska graduating, it will most likely be the last. With a year of university still to go, Holmes jokingly wonders whether he should quit while he is ahead. “But,” he says, “there is a part of me that is tempted to throw in another submission for next year.” —Jamie Hanlon

Weird Science niversity of Alberta astronomer Craig Heinke and his research team have looked into the heart of a neutron star and found a world where the physics can only be described as “weird.” Using NASA’s Chanda space satellite telescope to investigate a neutron star about 11,000 light years from Earth known as Cassiopeia A, Heinke and his team found the neutron star’s core contained a superfluid, a frictionless liquid that could seemingly defy the laws of gravity. “If you could put some of this superfluid in a jar it would flow up the walls of the container and over the edge,” says Heinke. A neutron star is the extremely dense core left behind from an exploding star, or supernova. And this one, says Heinke, “is only 330 years old. We’ve got ringside seats to studying the life cycle of a neutron star from its collapse to its present, cooling-off state.”

Casey Reed, courtesy of Penn State

U

Heinke says the core of the neutron star also contains a superconductor, a perfect electrical conductor. “An electric current in a superconductor never loses energy — it could keep circulating forever.” The researchers determined that the neutron star’s surface temperature is dropping because its core recently transformed into a superfluid state and is venting off heat in the form of neutrinos, sub-atomic particles that flood the universe. They also found that the neutron star’s interior contains a superconductor, which affects how the neutron star cools. “This research helps us better understand stars and the behaviour of matter at levels of density and heat that could never be duplicated and studied here on Earth,” says Heinke To learn more about Heinke’s research interests and the courses he teaches go to www.ualberta.ca/~heinke. Image: Artist’s rendering of a neutron star. Spring 2011

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question period

JOHN GEIGER, ’81 BA John Geiger—author, journalist, Arctic explorer, and now president of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society—talks with U of A graduate student Megan Highet about exploration in the 21st century, the final vestiges of Canada’s frontier, and his own extreme adventures.

You were recently elected president of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. These days, exploring our own world feels like a relic of the 20th—even the 19th— century. What role does the Society serve in the 21st? Had you asked that question 15 years ago, you would have been dead on. The discipline of geography was waning. There were fewer people enrolled in geography programs, but there have been some radical developments since then. Climate change has altered the way geography is viewed. It is once again one of the most relevant disciplines, and you certainly see that in the large numbers of people who are entering geography programs. Our organization has been invigorated by this influx. Are there any new frontiers left for us to explore? It’s true that humanity has, over centuries, gradually charted coastlines and constructed maps, but for each individual Canadian there is a vast and uncharted country of opportunities for their exploration. It’s not only about science pushing back the frontiers of knowledge, it’s also about personal explorations and journeys, as Canadians come to understand their country and landscape and geography and ecosystem — all things we ultimately have to take responsibility for. 10

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You’re very well-travelled. What have been your personal frontiers? I’ve been to the Canadian Arctic and undertaken field research there. I’ve also, just because of my own interest, travelled to all sorts of places in the North: the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Greenland. I’ve been to Lapland and Antarctica and South Georgia, which is the Serengeti of the polar region. I remember standing on a beach in South Georgia with this absolute army of King penguins — half a million it seemed—and fur seals and elephant seals and the smaller Chinstrap penguins and so forth. It’s really an extraordinary part of the world that’s very seldom visited. Your most recent book, The Third Man Factor, delves into explorers on the brink of personal, physical and geographical limits. What is the “third man factor”? Well, the third man factor refers to an experience that Sir Ernest Shackleton, the great British Antarctic explorer, had after his ship Endurance was trapped and crushed in the ice while at sea. Essentially it’s a sense that an unseen, incorporeal being has joined you during a time of tremendous stress and has aided you in your survival. It has happened to aviators, astronauts, climbers, shipwreck survivors, 9/11 survivors, solo sailors and polar explorers. Clearly the third man factor is a response—probably a neurological response—to an extreme environment and extreme stress, and it provides psychological comfort. It’s a coping mechanism for people who are confronting life-and-death situations.

Vincent Lions

I understand your interests lie primarily in the Arctic, what initially drew you to the North? I have a family history in the North. As a young person I went up to visit my grandfather in Uranium City. So I saw firsthand— before I was 10— what the North was like, and I was intrigued by this outpost in far northern Saskatchewan.

You’ve written a number of books about polar exploration: Frozen in Time, about the 1845 Franklin expedition; and Dead Silence, about the disappearance of the Knight expedition in 1719 [both with Professor Emeritus Owen Beattie]. What is it about Arctic exploration that captivates you? The Franklin expedition and the Knight expedition are tremendously interesting mysteries. In the case of Franklin, you had 129 men, two ships, the bestequipped expedition that the Royal Navy had ever sent, and cutting edge technologies —all vanished, and to this day they have not been found. Franklin’s remains have not been found. His journals have not been found. Only the remains of two- or three-dozen sailors from the expedition have been found— most of them scattered over the gravel of King William Island.

John Geiger at the gravesite for the Franklin Expedition on Beechy Island, NU. (Right) Geiger’s most recent book, The Third Man Factor, has been published in 10 different languages and has inspired a feature-length documentary, “The Angel Effect,” which premieres on the National Geographic Channel this spring.

The U of A’s Northern Reach The University of Alberta is Canada’s leading university for research on the circumpolar North and is home to the Canadian Circumpolar Institute [CCI], which supports students and faculty from many disciplines across campus, awarding more than $175,000 in grants and scholarships annually. Some of the most important northern research to come out of the U of A and the CCI in recent years has addressed: • declining polar bear populations • water quality and management • northern diamond mining • impact of climate change on the health of northern children Visit www.ualberta.ca/polar for more on the CCI’s research and public programming.

More at New Trail online at www.newtrail.ualberta.ca • Read Megan’s full interview with John and New Trail’s review of The Third Man Factor • Watch an excerpt from Explorer: The Angel Effect, based on Geiger’s book, which aired on the National Geographic Channel. • Follow a grad who is currently trekking to the North Pole.

Why is it important to make northern regions more accessible to the individual, if not by physically being able to go there, then at least through print and other media? As Canadian citizens, we have a responsibility for a vast proportion of the world. It’s a very important trust that we’ve inherited. Our goal at the Royal Canadian Geographical Society is to bring stories about Canada to the world through Canadian Geographic magazine and Géographica, (the French-language equivalent), and various other platforms, including the Internet and social media.

Before you became president, you sat on the Society’s Expeditions Program Committee for many years. What drew you there? It’s a great program. It’s aimed at anybody who wants to undertake an expedition somewhere in Canada. We’ve had all sorts of people apply, everything from bicycle trips to canoe trips to mountain climbs to visits to extreme places like Ellesmere Island. It’s a way for us to reach out and tempt Canadians to become more adventurous. Do you have any advice for young, aspiring explorers? I wish there were more young explorers. It’s interesting that Canadians — young people especially — tend to look outside of Canada to other parts of the world for travel experiences. So many of us live our lives huddled within 100 miles of the American border. So the idea of the North is there, it’s part of our essence, but we don’t do enough to explore and learn about it first-hand. My dream is that more Canadians would see that while they may think they know Canada they haven’t a clue unless they’ve been to the Arctic archipelago or Ellesmere Island or Banks Island or communities in the North like Yellowknife or Rankin Inlet. Interviewer Megan Highet, ’05 BA, is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology and is pursuing a career in academia. Her research explores issues of health and well-being in northern boomtown communities, including the frontier population residing in Dawson City during the Klondike Gold Rush.

Spring 2011

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learning curve

Writing the Right Life An alumna changes course to return to her earliest dream —being a writer By Sophie Lees, ’93 BA

I

met Beth the year I turned 10, and I knew when I first met her we’d be best friends. We played exclusively at Beth’s house for many reasons; the reason most important to this story was the unused, but fully furnished, motherin-law suite in her basement. It was the perfect imaginative space for our thenfavourite game, which consisted of projecting our 10-year-old selves into a New York-like future. It was like playing house, only we didn’t have husbands and children, we had boyfriends and careers — glamorous ones. But here’s the thing: I was always the haunted, yet brilliant, stage actress, and Beth was always the intrepid, yet earnest, writer. Honestly, I quite fancied being a writer. But I was so certain that I lacked whatever abilities a writer needed, I couldn’t conceive of even play-acting the role. Not since those fleeting fancies did I contemplate writing as anything but a particularly nasty task to be avoided. In fact, the older I grew, the more aware I became of my inability to write anything more than a chatty thank-you letter. During my U of A degree, my essays were returned, unreadable for the amassed red ink, with comments such as childish, immature, vague, limp, ham-handed, impotent. From these comments — strangely consistent over four years — I determined my writing was in dire need of Viagra. But, alas, I found no little blue pill. Yet, today, I am a writer. How does such a transformation happen? How does one fall in love with the

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act of writing after 31 years of loathing it, choking in frustration over an ineptitude to translate thought onto paper? In part, the answer is simple: I am a reader, a self-taught one. I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t slipping between the covers of a book and launching myself into worlds different

“It’s a terrible thing to dip your bucket in your creative well and find it dry. It’s terrifying — as I discovered — to find you don’t even have a creative well.” from my own. Who needs a mother-inlaw suite when one has a book? But even pre-Beth, I found reading and writing categorically different: reading was like breathing whereas writing was like colouring within the lines of a preprinted picture. Reading = natural. Writing = unnatural. The reason writing was unnatural had to do with the mechanics of it. My hand-eye coordination was poor, to say nothing of my motor-skills. The moment I picked up my pencil I was doomed. While the rest of the class learned to write cursively, first in pencil and then in pen, I alone was restricted to printing in pencil. Beth had beautiful handwriting: rounded, even and pert.

However, my antipathy for writing manifested not only as a matter of external mechanics but also something I believed to be absent in me. I became aware of this absence at age nine when I undertook my first and only intrinsically motivated literary endeavour. I submitted a book to a book-writing contest the school librarian put on. It was about a group of rabbits that, displaced by human actions and betrayed by their tribe, seek to establish a new warren. Sound familiar? If you’ve read Watership Down by Richard Adams, then no doubt you recognize the storyline. So I began writing. Only the story had already been written and needed no improvement from me. It’s a terrible thing to dip your bucket in your creative well and find it dry. It’s terrifying — as I discovered — to find you don’t even have a creative well. Discovering that I was fundamentally defective didn’t deter me from completing my book; I suffered through it with grim determination. I despised it, and yet I submitted it. And that was that: it won no awards, garnered no acknowledgement. I never saw it again, but its legacy lived on in me: reading appreciates creativity; writing requires it. Playing Career Girls! with Beth I may have been certain I didn’t have the chops to be a writer, but I still vibrated with ideas and thoughts and energies that demanded some form of expression. As I moved through junior and senior high, drama class allowed for some release, unlike English, which tormented me. In English, I discovered I

Illustration by Nickelas Johnson

didn’t have what was needed to read literature properly. For example, I learned that 1984 was really about the Soviet Union and not a reflection of the hypocrisy, duplicity and delusion inherent to human civilizations or a warning to us all, the students sitting in English class reading the book in 1984! This kind of reading made me feel stupid: as far as I could tell, you had to read the writer’s mind and, failing that, the teacher’s. But what did it matter? I went into theatre and I pursued directing, vibrating as I did with ideas. In hindsight, I’m not certain I was a particularly brilliant director, but I was lucky enough to be successful and earn a living. I was certainly dissatisfied, however. I managed to avoid dealing with my dissatisfaction until I was 30, when I found before me an offer of an assistant director position at Stratford. As any actor or director will know, Stratford is the next step — it’s like getting drafted for the NHL or called up to the Majors. It was my ticket to New York. And I didn’t want it. I don’t know how many people wake up one day when they’re 30 and realize they’ve been living the wrong life. In case you’re not one of those people, let me tell you that as terrifying a feeling as it is, it’s equally exhilarating to know you can exercise your free will, that you have the power and courage to change your life’s course.

In the summer of 2001, I had to figure it out: if my life was not theatre, then what was it? From Watership Down to 1984 to Romeo & Juliet, I realized it was literature that had raised me, had made me the person I was. As it happened, Grant MacEwan College was offering an editing stream in its then-new degree in professional writing. I decided “editor” would be my new and improved career. That fall, sitting in a class called “Grammar for Writers,” I began to appreciate what a degree in professional writing might entail. In my first degree, I had had to write 10 papers over four years. That term alone, I had to write 15. Awash with memories of writing those 10 papers — the pounding of my head against the wall and the ripping out of my hair until my scalp bled — I started to hyperventilate. Had I really given up my New York future to do something I could not do, not even in my imagination? In the midst of my ever-quickening shallow breathing, the instructor kept right on teaching. Being one of those teachers who make even the driest subjects fascinating, compelling and accessible, he brought me back to the classroom and back to writing. It was as if I

had travelled back in time to when I first picked up that cursed pencil; only this time I didn’t fret about the shape and size of my letters. Instead, I learned how words come together to form meaningful sentences, and that certainty I’d been holding rigid for 20 years softened. George Orwell stepped in to sweep the last of it aside. Reading his essay “Politics and the English Language” for class, I learned that a writer need be neither more nor less than herself. She does not need to sound like someone else; she does not need to sound smarter or more important. She simply has to write what she means to say, and she has to live as she wishes to write. Writing is not a state of being; it’s an action. In other words, I wasn’t stupid or defective; I was Sophie and that’s all I ever needed. It wasn’t a matter of assuming a role; it was a matter of putting one word next to another, thoughtfully. Sophie Lees, ’93 BA, is an awardwinning essayist and a writing instructor at Grant MacEwan University. The U of A’s Faculty of Extension is running a variety of writing courses this summer, including a week of intensive writing workshops as part of Women’s Words: Summer Writing Week (June 3–12, 2011). For more information, visit extension.ualberta.ca.

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Students on the move and at work inside CCIS. Bottom right: Detail of the Scott Parsons-designed CCIS main floor.

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U of A’s Newest Building Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science

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uad has officially been given a facelift. Rising in place of the old demolished V Wing for the past five years has been the new Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science (CCIS). This signature building at the north end of Quad opened its doors to faculty, staff and students in April. Dean of Science Gregory Taylor says the spring 2011 move-in date marked an historic occasion and is the culmination of many years of planning, fundraising and, finally, construction on the stunning new facility that begins a new chapter for one of Canada’s top faculties of science. A $285 million commitment by the provincial government kick-started the project in 2006. “It is truly a thrill for me to see this initiative come to fruition,” says Taylor, who invites science alumni to return to campus this Alumni Weekend (September 22–24) to tour through CCIS, check out some of their old haunts, and take part in some of the activities being planned to celebrate the completion. “So many people have been instrumental in getting this project off the ground. It’s encouraging to know so many have shared this important vision, one that will not only open the doors to more students, but will also facilitate innovative research and foster discoveries happening at the interface of disciplines.” CCIS will house the Department of Physics, five interdisciplinary science research groups, specialized research

infrastructure, lecture halls, teaching laboratories and faculty administration. The Centre is one of only a few buildings of its kind in the world to house interdisciplinary science research teams in one facility and will enable the U of A to continue to attract and retain worldclass teaching and research talents. The main floor of CCIS is one of its most prominent features. The 40,000 square-foot (3,715 square metre) terrazzo floor was

designed by artist Scott Parsons who says, “walking across this floor should offer a sense of journey and discovery, like education itself. I would like for people to come, think, sit and wonder — bridging their ideas and thoughts to what it is they have come here to study and what they see in the floor.” The principal organizing element Parsons used for the floor design was to treat the surface with overlapping and interwoven imagery to visually bring together the multiple fields of inquiry in the building. “Art, like science,” Parson says, “shares a deeply rooted bond in an emotional, if not spiritual, sense of awe, and artists, like scientists, often begin their work from careful observation.” —Wanda Vivequin

CCIS By the Numbers... • Approximately 150 miles (240 kilometres) of conduit (a little less than the distance from Edmonton to Calgary) • 455 miles (730 kilometres) of wire (approximately the distance from Edmonton to Regina) • 825,000 cubic feet (23,632 cubic metres) of concrete • 17,700 lights (taking one minute to install a light, it would take 37 working days to change them all) • 2,200 lecture theatre seats and writing tablets

• Over 1,500 doors • 800 miles (1,290 kilometres) of plumbing piping (a little more than the distance from Edmonton to Winnipeg) • 90,000 square feet (8,361 square metres) of exterior glass (almost the size of two Canadian football fields) • 136,000 square feet (12,635 square metres) of interior glass (almost the size of three Canadian football fields) Spring 2011

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U of A’s Oldest Building: A

thabasca Hall turns 100 this year. It’s interesting to note that as the Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science is the newest building to embrace scientific inquiry, so, too, was Athabasca Hall in its day. “The lecture room of the science faculty is noteworthy for the excellence of its equipment,” boasted an October 1911 article in the The Gateway. An “expensive flashlight machine* being an innovation which will place the work on a par with that in many of the best known universities. Adjoining is an admirably equipped class laboratory for the science department.” But Athabasca was never intended to be the first university building to celebrate a centenary. That honour was initially intended to be held by the Arts Building. However, initial construction

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on that building never got past a hole dug in the ground in 1909 as thenPremier — and Minister of Education — Alexander Rutherford resigned and his successor, A.L. Sifton, balked at using public funds to complete the elaborate structure. But the need for a physical space for students and staff was still acute so a new plan was put forward to build three residential halls with temporary classrooms. The idea sat well with Premier Sifton and the multi-purpose Athabasca Hall was built in 1911. An article in the Edmonton Journal after Athabasca opened quoted U of A President Henry Marshall Tory as saying: “The first university building to be opened this fall and reached by a footpath on the edge of an oat field, has a dining hall for its students, seven class-

Athabasca

rooms, three laboratories and residential accommodation for about sixty students.” At first, Athabasca stood alone in the bush with neither sidewalks nor roads connecting it to anything else. All supplies were hauled in by horse-drawn wagons, which could sink to their axles in mud during wet weather. Athabasca Hall has gone through many incarnations during its 100 years. From being everything to everyone at the beginning, it later provided dining facilities for the two residences to follow it — Pembina and Assiniboia. Behind Athabasca there used to be a gymnasium that hosted four main dances a year attended by up to 300 people, and, during the Second World War, the three residences became the RCAF Training School, housing up to 1,200 men at one time.

U of A’s First Science Grad:

Decima Eveline Robinson, ’11 BSc, ’12 MSc B

Hall In 1971 it was announced that the three old residence halls would be demolished. But because of their central place in the University’s history and in the affections of 60 years of alumni and staff, demolition plans were halted. Athabasca—as well as Assiniboia—was beyond renovation so both were completely rebuilt inside their old shells. Athabasca Hall was officially reopened on October 8, 1977, by thenPremier Peter Lougheed,’51 BA,’52LLB, ’86 LLD (Honorary), who had been an Athabasca resident in 1952. Interestingly, at that 1977 ribbon-cutting ceremony, for a brief time Athabasca Hall reclaimed its former glory as the newest building on the University campus. —Kim Green *If anyone knows what a flashlight machine is we’d like to know.

orn in Brighton, England, Decima Robinson emigrated to Edmonton with her parents as a child. She was brilliant in school and excelled at math. But when it came time for university there was, as yet, no post-secondary schooling available in western Canada. And so in 1906 — the year the new Alberta legislature passed the first University Act — Robinson’s parents sent her to study at London University in England. When the U of A began classes in 1908, they called her back home to finish her degree in Edmonton. Robinson was one of three undergraduates—and the only woman—with advanced standing. The others were Albert James Law, ’11 BA, and Robert Howard Dobson, ’11 BA, ’14 MA. She was also the only one seeking a bachelor of science degree. Forty years after graduation, she recalled her first day of class: “My spirits were rather low on registration day, for I couldn’t help contrasting my former hopes for a career as a student at Cambridge with the realities, as I pictured them, of a brand new university in the Far West.” But Robinson’s forebodings disappeared once she met her classmates and professors, led by the inimitable President Tory, a gold medalist in mathematics from McGill. “I doubt that even now, forty years later, the university could give a better four years’ course than we received,” she wrote. “I

feel that I owe a tribute of thanks to Doctors Tory and Sheldon for my life-long interest in mathematics, to Doctor Lehman for his friendly and competent guidance in chemistry, and to Doctor Broadus for his unequalled lectures in english.” Robinson graduated with a major in mathematics. In those early years, the U of A published every student’s grades in the University Calendar where her high marks earned her the nickname “Calculus Maid.” But she wasn’t to be a “maid” for long. Although all seven women in that first class formed the Society of Independent Spinsters — vowing not to marry so that they could pursue careers after graduation — Robinson was not to keep her vow. She fell in love with the 1912 class president, a handsome philosopher and mathematician by the name of Edwin T. Mitchell, ’12 BA, ’13 MA. The couple married in 1915. Mitchell took his PhD in philosophy from the University of Chicago, after which the couple moved to Texas where Mitchell taught at University of Texas at Austin from 1923–1952. Both Robinson and Mitchell kept in close touch with their U of A professors and fellow students, often returning to Edmonton in the summers to renew friendships and visit with family and their beloved alma mater. Edwin Mitchell passed away in 1953; Decima Robinson passed in 1962. —Ellen Schoeck,’72 BA, ’77 MA

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Into Africa By Lyndsay Hobbs, ’11 BSc

An alumna takes us into the heart of Tanzania

Photos: Lyndsay Hobbs, istockphoto.com

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here is a perpetual heaviness to the air in Tanzania. It is thick with dust and heat and the scent of vegetation and sweat. But last summer, as I stood underneath the canopy of deep green leaves at the base of the Sanje Falls, the air was clear and the temperature several degrees cooler than usual. Although a chill ran through my body, I knew I would probably only get one chance to swim in a pool at the base of an African waterfall. I hesitated for a moment, my toes curling around the slimy bark of a log balanced across the water, then I took the plunge into the falls and dove headlong into the culture of East Africa. I had travelled to Tanzania as part of a month-long field course in environmental and conservation studies at the U of A, led by Naomi Krogman and Lee Foote. Our group was small, about 15 students, and the size and pace of the course encouraged personal reflection. Tasked not with typical assignments or papers or presentations, we were mainly responsible for observing and experiencing this remarkable country.

Open Hearts & Open Doors It’s easy to develop an intimate relationship with Tanzania. Storefronts, bars, restaurants and homes all open up onto the road, creating a vibrant street life, where neighbours always stop to talk and where music crackles out of tired, old speakers. Gates and fences are scarce, so there are no physical or emotional barriers between you, the tourist, and the real Tanzania. However, this means that the country’s social and economic problems— such as the vast gap between the rich and poor, the lack of infrastructure and access to education — are also on display. This openness extends from the personal to the political in Tanzania, which openly struggles between western and more traditional values and models of economic progress. To the western eye, Tanzania may seem underdeveloped, but it has stumbled across a balance between traditional community self-sufficiency and big business, privatization and conservation. For each massive, foreign-owned sugar cane plantation—a

Children mugging for the camera at Arusha's annual Nane Nane Agricultural Fair.

major export and employer—there are hundreds of tiny family farms, where Tanzanians raise livestock and grow coffee, yams and bananas, employing traditional—and sustainable—methods. Not just some recent fad, sustainability has long been important to the farmers of East Africa, who have traditionally used natural pest control, such as boiled tobacco leaves, and raised diverse crops to prevent the risks inherent in monocultures. Likewise, within this country of vast national park space, there is a dialogue happening in each conservation area about how best to support traditional hunting and grazing needs and guard people from dangerous animal species, while still protecting the rare and exquisite biodiversity of the region. Spring 2011

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Flamingos landing in a lake in Ngorongoro crater; Wildebeest grazing on the crater’s plains.

Capital Experience Our journey into the heart of Tanzania began at the Kilimanjaro Airport, where my classmates and I piled into a creaky, dusty bus for the drive through the centre of Arusha, the nation’s capital. Ensure that upon arrival you search the skyline for a glimpse of Mount Meru, an active volcano that can be seen from almost anywhere within the city. Besides a beautiful view, Arusha hosts the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, bringing employment and political representatives to the city since 1994. Although Arusha has a population of 1.3 million, this number belies the serenity that permeates its crowded streets. “Crowded” does not mean the same thing in Tanzania as it does in Canada. Being surrounded by hundreds of bodies that move with a languid, almost rhythmic lilt will lull you into a sense of security that is both unexpected and soothing. There is no notion of anticipation in Tanzania, only contentment with one’s immediate present. This becomes obvious while travelling through the country and watching carefully planned timetables crumble away. Learn to embrace 20

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the moment and let the country sweep you up and carry you in any direction it pleases. Just north of the city lies Arusha National Park, the safari park that shattered my preconceptions of what a

An elephant wanders past tour trucks during a safari in Lake Manyara National Park.

safari is. When I visited in the summer, the savannah was surprisingly lush and green. Alkaline lakes hosted flocks of flamingos so large that they created a seemingly solid pink surface on the water. And, glimpsing the curve of a giraffe’s neck rising suddenly from the nearby treetops, I was reminded of why conservation of the vast wild spaces in Tanzania is so imperative.

Down the Rabbit Hole From Arusha, you can travel westward toward the Ngorongoro region, whose rich colour palate derives from the area’s dark red soil and stands out in stark contrast to the more jungle-like surroundings of the capital city. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that incorporates wildlife conservation and human habitation in a multi-use system, and its highlight is the Ngorongoro Crater, which was created when a large volcano collapsed in on itself two- to three-million years ago. Our long drive down into the Ngorongoro Crater, some 2,000-feet deep, was foggy and damp. Reaching the crater’s floor felt a lot like falling down the proverbial rabbit hole. My proportions were all off balance. The surrounding walls seemed to stretch up forever. And although I could see shapes in the distance I couldn’t tell how far away they were or what lay immediately ahead of me. It took the sun until almost noon to breach the crater’s edge, but, when it did, it illuminated the scene with the evocative blues and yellows that are synonymous with the Serengeti. The afternoon heat

The western rim of the Ngorongoro crater at sunrise.

evaporated any trace of moisture in the air, and a mass of hundreds of slowly moving wildebeests blended into the grey-wash of the sky. Sitting cross-legged in the grass on the base of the Ngorongoro Crater I felt myself — for the first time during my trip — to be an integral part of this incredibly diverse and exciting ecosystem. The same grass scratching my bare legs was — a few feet away — forage for water buffalo and gazelles, warthogs and waterbucks. The same wind carrying the scent of prey to lions was blowing through the tangles of my unwashed hair. And the dirt kicked up by herds of zebras was settling itself onto my skin.

U of A Connections to East Africa Several U of A alumni are making a difference in the East African nations of Tanzania and Kenya: Leslee Greenaway, ’79 BSc, ’89 MSc, founded the Alberta-based not-for-profit Save A Village, dedicated to improving the lives of Kenyans, one village at a time. (See page 50.)

Breaking away from my group one afternoon, I walked down the road to a small market to catch a glimpse of daily life in Tanzania. Women were setting up produce stalls filled with coconuts, avocados and sugar cane — common to the Tanzanian diet — right in front of their homes, while their children played beneath their feet. The men ran their own small storefronts nearby, selling candy bars and soda, scolding misbehaving children as they ran past. For the first time since getting off the plane in Africa, I felt a part of the country. And if you are able to go there and adopt the relaxed pace of the people around you, you might find yourself feeling as much a part of Tanzania as any local, too. U of A medical students, Abraham Isaac, ’09 BMS, ’10 MD; Abdullah Saleh, ’10 MD; and Tyler van Mulligen, ’05 BSc, ’10 MD; are distributing a revolutionary water filtration system they designed to help rural Kenyans enjoy safe drinking water—a simple clay pot.

Lyndsay Hobbs is a recent University of Alberta graduate with a BSc in Environmental and Conservation Sciences. She is working at the U of A’s Office of Sustainability and will begin graduate studies in 2011. Make your own journey into Africa: Join other U of A alumni as they experience the wonders of Arusha and the Ngorongoro Crater — to name just a few of the destinations — on the Alumni Association’s Learning on Location Travel Program: “Treasures of East Africa” (Oct. 24 – Nov. 7, 2011). Visit www.ualberta.ca/alumni/travel for more information.

Alfred Orono, ’00 BA, ’03 LLB, prosecutes perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide at the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania. More online: For more information about these graduates’ work in East Africa — and for a detailed look at the U of A’s institutional partnerships in Kenya and Tanzania —visit New Trail online.

Are you a grad living or working in Kenya or Tanzania? Let your alumni association know what you’re doing — drop us a line at alumni@ualberta.ca.

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Easy Rider Endowment A non-grad lends a helping hand to students in memory of her motorcycle-riding, U of A-attending father

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lthough no one could ever accuse Carol Milo of letting moss grow on her, she is rather partial to the peaty version of this cryptogamous plant of the class Musci. In fact, when initially called for this story, Carol was in the garden of her Duncan, BC, home where, she says, “I’m always gardening. Today I’m trying to remove some Himalayan blackberries.” Carol sold her other house last year and moved into a condo. But having no backyard wasn’t for her, so she rented out the condo and found another “small house with a nice garden.” But it’s not just the garden that keeps her busy. “I go out with people to plant willow whips along streams to help prevent erosion of the stream banks,” says Carol. “One of my specializations is in stream restoration.” She’s also got a weekend workshop on bioengineering coming up at the University of Victoria, where she’s working towards a diploma in environmental studies that will complement her science degree in biochemistry from the University of Calgary and her bachelor of education degree from UVic. The fact that she has degrees from two other universities raises an interesting question: Why would she choose to establish the Vincent P. Milo Memorial Scholarship at the University of Alberta rather than at schools she appears to be more closely affiliated with? “When my dad passed away and there was some estate money, I wanted to give to the U of A because that’s

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where my dad went,” she says. “ It seemed like the right thing to do.” The scholarship is named after her father, Vincent Paul Milo, ’49 (BSc ChemEng). “My father was in the oil business,” Carol says. “At first he was based in Edmonton, where I started school and lived until I was 12. Then we moved to Calgary. I got my bachelor of science in Calgary, and I was accepted in the education program at both Edmonton and Calgary, but then my parents moved to Victoria, and I decided to stay near them and enter the UVic program. Circumstances being slightly different, I probably would have gone to the U of A. It’s a good school, and I have a strong family connection with it, and my family has a historical connection to Alberta.” That historical connection to Alberta dates back to 1904. Carol’s not certain, but she knows her grandfather, who was born in 1898 or ’99, was either six or seven when he arrived with his parents from Campolieto, Italy. Fresh off the boat, the family settled in Crowsnest Pass, AB. “I heard different stories about what they did,” says Carol. “I think my greatgrandfather had a store. There was even a rumour that he kept a bear. But he died quite young and left behind eight

Vincent Milo on his Harley.

“I know that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity that I had if not for my dad’s education.”

kids, so my grandfather had to start earning money to support the family when he was only 12 or 13 years old. He worked for the railway at first and then went into the coal mines and became a mining electrician. He also used to wire houses on the side.” The family was living in Drumheller, AB, when Carol’s fatherto-be learned he’d been accepted into the U of A engineering program. So, as Carol says, he took the train “up country” to Edmonton and worked during the summer to pay for his tuition. “He worked in Ontario one summer,” Carol recalls. “He got a job at the INCO smelter in Sudbury. He drove all the way out there on his motorcycle. I’m pretty sure it was a Harley, and I remember as a kid that he still had some of his motorcycle gear.” But it’s not as an easy-riding, freedom-chasing motorcycle enthusiast that Vincent Milo will be remembered. Carol says that his graduating from the U of A was basically a turning point in her family’s story. He was the first person in the extended family to earn a university degree. “My dad’s life was so much different than what came before him,” she says. “Life can be such a struggle. My grandfather arrived here with no money and then got hit by a war, the Great

Depression and then another world war. But he laid the groundwork for my dad to get a degree from the U of A and then do his master’s degree in the U.S. I know that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity that I had if not for my dad’s education.” Now she wants to pay that opportunity forward. The Vincent P. Milo Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to a student with superior academic achievement in the chemical engineering undergraduate degree program. The recipient is selected on the basis of academic achievement. Carol also has a life insurance policy that the U of A is the beneficiary and owner of. In time, funds from the insurance policy will top up the award established in memory of her father. “I hope this scholarship makes it easier for students to get an education, especially ones who are in the upper ends of the class, as my father was. It’s also my hope that anyone who has the interest and ability to enter engineering won’t be held back because of finances. “It’s nice for me as well,” laughs Carol. “I get these letters every year from people who’ve been helped. It’s nice to see it in action. My dad’s been gone for a long time now.” Carol pauses for a moment to savour a memory. “It’s nice to give back in his name.” —Kim Green

How Carol’s Gift Works Carol Milo established the Vincent P. Milo Memorial Scholarship after consulting with the Student Awards Office and the Office of Advancement. Funds from her father's estate were then directed to the endowment fund to permanently fund the student award. Carol also advised the Gift Planning unit that a portion of her own estate would be directed to her father's memorial scholarship. In addition, the scholarship will be receiving funds from a life insurance policy that Carol transferred to the University. Establishing a memorial scholarship in her father's name "seemed like the right thing to do" for Carol Milo. To "give back in his name" provided Carol with the satisfaction of being able to see how her father could still make a difference in the lives of so many, for generations to come. If you would like to learn more about establishing a student award or an endowment fund, or if you are interested in receiving information on how to leave a legacy gift to the University, we would like to hear from you.

Ê

Name:______________________________ Address:____________________________ ___________________________________

Telephone:___________________________ e-mail:______________________________ Please contact us at: Office of Advancement, Gift Planning Unit Enterprise Square 3-501, 10230 Jasper Avenue Edmonton, Alberta T5J 4P6 Telephone: 780-492-0332 Toll Free: 1-888-799-9899 e-mail: giving@ualberta.ca Spring 2011

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Horse Sense In a city known for rodeos and big oil, two alumni have made Calgary’s Spruce Meadows a premier destination for international show jumping.

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crowd several-thousand strong collectively holds its breath, as the horse and his rider clear one hurdle after another. On this sunny September day the grandstands are filled with a mixture of people: distinguished looking international visitors, amateur riders, young families — and even their dogs. They have all turned out for the last day of competition in the annual Spruce Meadows Master’s Tournament, one of the biggest days in international show jumping with over $1 million in prize money going to the world’s top riders. The size of the audience and the fact that a number of the weekend’s top competitors are Canadian is a testament to the success of the sport in Canada — due, in no small part, to University of Alberta grads Ron, ’53 BSc, ’91 LLD (Honorary), and Marg Southern, ’53 BPE, who opened Spruce Meadows in 1975. Understandably, when the Southerns first imagined Spruce Meadows, they didn’t envision a world-class showjumping venue. “We really just wanted to build a cinder-block stable that wouldn’t burn down and a riding ring where the horses could jump,” remembers Ron. It was the early ’70s and the couple’s young daughters, Nancy and Linda,

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were both passionate about show jumping; however, Canadians interested in the sport had to travel to the East for most of their training and competition. Marg was finding it increasingly difficult to shuttle two daughters and their horses across the country, so when a fire burned down the stable where they boarded, it was the final straw, so to speak. In 1971, the couple purchased 80 acres about 20 minutes outside of Calgary’s city limits from Mrs. Coppithorne. “She was a grand old Western lady,” remembers Ron. “And she fixed me with her eyes and said, ‘That’ll be $2,000 an acre, Mr. Southern, and that’s my price.’” Despite the incredible sum, he paid it. “Then a friend of mine said, ‘Ron, if you’re going to do that, make sure you don’t just do it for your own girls but that you do it for everyone,’” he says. “I thought that was great advice.” And so the seed of the idea for Spruce Meadows was planted. Although his enterprises have always started small, Ron Southern has never been one to think small. Before he had even begun his studies at the U of A, he and his father had already founded a company — Alberta Trailer Hire — with a combined savings of $4,000, half of which Ron had earned working summers as a busboy, waiter and night porter at the Banff Springs Hotel.

Mike Sturk

by Sarah Ligon

(Left) The Southerns look over plans before breaking ground on Spruce Meadows in 1973. (Above) One of the challenging jumps in the International Ring.

“We took that $4,000, and in 1947 we bought 10 little yellow trailers, which we rented out at service stations for $2 a day,” he remembers. “We were going to call it Ron’s Trailer Hire, but my dad said we should have a bigger view of things.” While completing his undergraduate studies at the U of A — switching majors several times from liberal arts to engineering to medicine — Ron con-

tinued to grow the business, first from renting trailers to selling trailers, then ultimately expanding into logistics, manufacturing and utilities. “Given the number of things I’ve been involved with, I couldn’t have had a better education,” he observes. Today, Alberta Trailer Company, or ATCO, as it is now called, is a publically traded company with 8,000 employees around the world and revenue of more than $3 billion a year. Like ATCO, Spruce Meadows has had “a bigger view of things” since its earliest days.

In fact, the very first competition held at Spruce Meadows in the summer of 1976 was optimistically named the “Spruce Meadows International,” although the 1,200 spectators who attended were mostly from Canada and came more out of curiosity than anything else. However, the Southerns knew that in order to make their venue truly international, they needed to attract the world’s top talent to the “remote” foothills of western Canada. And to do that they needed to offer the highest-quality facilities and the biggest cash prizes.

In its first tournament season, Spruce Meadows offered $10,000 in prize money and its facilities consisted of stables and two meadows for tournaments. Today, thanks to the support of more than 100 corporate sponsors, it awards $5 million a year, and incorporates six different tournament rings, year-round facilities for events and concessions, and stables for up to 1,000 horses. As accomplished varsity athletes (and 2006 Canadian Sports Hall of Fame inductees), the Southerns knew that in order for show jumping to appeal to a Spring 2011

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CANSPORT

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vice-president for media, who is perhaps better known as the face and voice of Spruce Meadows on television. Allison began working in the stables at Spruce Meadows during that first Mike Sturk

broad audience they needed to push it out of the society pages and into the sports section. And one of the secrets to their success in making names like Ian Millar and Big Ben household names was their early adoption and dominance in the emerging field of sports television. In the early ’70s, sports television consisted of about three hours a week of programming: including Hockey Night in Canada and the Wide World of Sports. Nonetheless, the Southerns made sure there was television coverage of their very first tournament. Today, Spruce Meadows houses its own in-house television production company, which produces more hours of international television broadcast to 108 countries than any other venue in Canada — and it’s all footage of show jumping. “One of the things the Southerns recognized from the very beginning was if Spruce Meadows was going to be more than a regional or local event, television was going to be a big part of it,” says Ian Allison, ’83 BA, senior

Venezuelan rider Pablo Barrios

1975 season, when he was just 16, and has been announcing the tournaments since 1978, when the regular announcer became unavailable because of a sched-

uling conflict with the Calgary Stampede. “Now, when I travel abroad, I have people say, ‘Oh, I watch you every Tuesday night,’” says Allison. “Who would have thought that more people see international show jumping in a year than see CFL football or the Stampede rodeo and chuckwagon races?” “We never expected it to be as large as it is right now or as worldrenowned,” says Marg, with characteristic understatement, “but we set out with three objectives when we first started Spruce Meadows: we wanted a place where young riders could train, we wanted a breeding program, and we wanted to put on show-jumping competitions. And we’ve never gotten away from those objectives.” In each of those three areas, Spruce Meadows has become a world leader. Here, junior riders warm up in the practice ring alongside the biggest names in the sport — Ian Millar, Beezie Madden and Eric Lamaze, just to name a few. Students from as far away as Germany come to apprentice themselves to head trainer Albert Kley.

(Left) Queen Elizabeth II visited Spruce Meadows in 1990 to inaugurate a cup named in her honour. (Middle) John Garner, left, and Ian Allison give commentary on Spruce Meadows Television. (Right) Marg and Ron Southern.

In addition, the Southerns have grown a respected breeding program, helping to introduce the Hannoverian breed of horse to North American show jumping. Today, one of the most popular events at Spruce Meadows is the “Name the Foal” contest, in which members of the public can enter to win naming rights to some of the six or seven Hannoverian foals born there every spring. But the central focus of Spruce Meadows has always been its tournaments. “We’re a professional sports franchise without a team, like a Wimbledon or an Augusta,” says Allison. “Often sports gets plagued by a numbing sameness, but Spruce Meadows has character. We like tradition here, but it’s tradition tempered with innovation. Under the turf out there is one of the most sophisticated drainage and footing systems in the world, because that’s where our athletes compete.”

There are 16 tournaments held on the grounds every year from February to November, drawing an estimated 5,000 competitors and their crews to Calgary. Another 500,000 people turn out to watch them, and admission has always stayed just five dollars. Some tournaments are even free, making Spruce Meadows perhaps the only self-sustaining sports venue with an international reputation not to charge a hefty admission. What’s seen it through the years has been a combination of Ron’s vision and Marg’s determination. “Ron’s always been a dreamer,” says Marg. “He’s got a great ability to see new ways of doing things, to say ‘Yes, we’ve gone this far,

but here’s how we could go further.’” For her part, Marg has been the doer, coming into the office every morning at 8:30 and staying until 6:00 or 7:00 at night to oversee the building of buildings, the relationships with sponsors and the general day-to-day operations of an organization that now includes 87 full-time employees (and up to 2,000 additional workers during the height of the tournament season). “I’m the hands-on person who gets things done,” she says. “I’ve become good at hiring people and managing construction. If I look at the new rings and grandstands we’ve built, it’s been Ron’s idea to get it done and my determination to see that it’s done right.” Spring 2011

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Mike Sturk

A horse and rider clear the liverpool in Spruce Meadows’ International Ring.

Michael Holly/U of A

Spring Alumni Events at Spruce Meadows

Marg Southern with Le Primeur, a 14-year-old Hannoverian, that is one of Spruce Meadows’ two breeding stallions.

It’s an incredible partnership that began more than 60 years ago at Calgary’s Crescent Heights High School, when a young Marg caught Ron’s eye one day while playing on the girls’ basketball team. Now, that partnership has been extended to a second generation. The couple’s younger daughter, Linda Southern Heathcott, took over the mantle as president and CEO of Spruce Meadows in 2006. Linda was a champion show jumper herself and competed on the Canadian team in the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. And their older daughter, Nancy Southern, became president and CEO of the other family business — ATCO — in 2003, with her father remaining chairman of the board. There’s also a third generation that has taken up the reins of the family passion for horseback riding. Ben Asselin, the 16-year-old son of Nancy Southern and her husband, two-time

Olympic rider John Asselin, made a stunning show on last year’s junior circuit, winning two gold medals at the North American Junior and Young Riders’ Championships in Kentucky. But as the Southerns themselves will tell you, anything worth doing is worth doing well — and will take time to mature. Like good show-jumping horses, who don’t hit their stride until they are 9-to-12 years old, good riders don’t reach their prime until they are in their 30s. “Our sport is interesting,” muses Marg. “There has never been anyone under 30 who has won an individual Olympic gold medal. It’s wonderful in the sense that you can ride for so long, when in other sports you are finished when you’re 16 or 17.” Some riders, like Canada’s Ian Millar, are still going strong at 64. And for international show-jumping visionaries? The lucky ones, like Ron and Marg Southern, are still in peak performance at 80.

Come see the horses and riders— and your fellow alumni—at two Spruce Meadows events this spring. On June 9, 2011, enjoy a buffet dinner in the Spruce Meadows Pavilion during the Thursday evening of the National Tournament. This is a popular annual event —a yearly get-together for many Calgary alumni—so reserve your tickets early at www.ualberta.ca/ alumni/sprucemeadows2011 or by calling 1-877-492-1059. Also, on June 18, the U of A will be hosting its first Family Fun Day at Spruce Meadows during the Continental Tournament. Activities include a barbecue, face-painting, balloon artists, stable tours and, of course, access to the tournament. For more information, visit www.calgary.ualberta.ca or contact Matt Burns at 403-718-6387 or matthew.burns@ualberta.ca.

The U of A’s Calgary Centre The University of Alberta Calgary Centre officially opened in January 2009, as a gateway to the U of A and its campuses in Edmonton and Camrose, AB, and has quickly become a focal point for U of A activity in Calgary. The Centre offers Calgary’s 20,000 alumni cultural, networking, athletic and family events, as well as a signature lecture series featuring the leading U of A minds. It also hosts a wide range of courses, sells merchandise such as degree frames, and provides a multiuse space for use by alumni, faculty, students and other external groups. To find out more about the Calgary Centre, please contact Acting Director Matt Burns at 403-718-6387 or matthew.burns@ualberta.ca or visit www.calgary.ualberta.ca.

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Circled players, left to right: Stacey McCullough, Lori Shupak, Susan Huculak, A. Danielle Bourgeois.

Hall of Famers A look back at a special Panda championship hockey season, and a few questions for four of that team’s alumnae

S

omething glorious happened on ice Under the leadership of head coach for the U of A Pandas at the conHowie Draper, ’91 BPE, for the past 14 clusion of the 1999–2000 hockey years, the Pandas have collected six season—they won it all. In that champimore national titles, including one in onship season the Pandas became the first 2009-10, for a league record seven Western Canadian women’s team to win women’s hockey championships. the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic But Draper will never forget the Union (CIAU, now CIS) national chamfirst time his team brought home gold. pionship. They got there the hard way “The group of players that won that after team captain Susan Huculak, ’99 gold medal was pretty good in terms BEd, scored the winning goal in a shootof individual skills,” says Draper, who out victory over the Concordia Stingers was also named the 2011 Canada West in the semi-final game to send the Pandas Coach of the Year. “But what made to their first-ever gold medal game. For their achievement possible was the the final game, the Pandas travelled to amazing collective determination they Montreal, where they defeated the heavdisplayed as a team, side by side. That ily favoured hometown McGill Martlets win paved the way for much of the sucby a score of 2-0. In recognition of the cess our program has enjoyed over the team’s accomplishment, the entire group ensuing years.” is being inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Melody Davidson, ’86 BPE, has been inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in Moncton, NB. Davidson Fame, joining the likes of coached the Canadian women’s hockey team to Olympic such hockey greats as gold in 2010 and 2006. She was also assistant coach of Wayne Gretzky, ’00 LLD Canada’s 2002 Olympic champions and head coach of (Honorary), Mark Canada’s national team when they won the 2000 world title. Messier and Hayley She is also a 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award winner. Wickenheiser.

The talented group of players featured five CIAU top scorers and five conference all-star selections, including firstteam selections A. Danielle Bourgeois, ’05 BA, ’09 LLB; Krysty Lorenz, ’00 BEd; and Stacey McCullough, ’02 BSc. Bourgeois and McCullough were also named to the CIAU all-Canadian team, while Draper was named Conference Coach of the Year and Bourgeois was selected as Canada West Rookie of the Year. “This is a very proud moment for us and for the Pandas hockey program,” says Draper about being inducted into the Hall of Fame. “It’s an honour to be inducted into the building that houses so many great Alberta sports players, teams and builders.” The induction ceremony will take place in June. The Hockey Hall of Fame is located within the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Red Deer. Spring 2011

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A. Danielle Bourgeois, ’05 BA, ’09 LLB Then & now: Played left wing for five years. Currently a lawyer with Field LLP in Edmonton. When did you start playing hockey? I started playing hockey unofficially when I was three and taught myself to skate while watching my brother’s outdoor practices. My parents gave me a hockey stick to help with balance and a pair of elbow pads to cushion the blow when I fell. I started playing hockey officially when I was five years old. What’s your best memory from the 1999–2000 team? My best memory happened when we landed at the Edmonton Airport after defeating the McGill University Martlets for the CIAU championship. We came down to the baggage area, and as we rounded the corner there were (what seemed like) hundreds of people jammed in the baggage area cheering for us! It was an unreal feeling and a moment I will never forget. What did you feel upon learning you were being inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame? I felt instantly honoured to have been part of Alberta sport history. We were the first university women’s hockey team from the west to win a CIAU national championship. I’m also excited to have a chance to reunite with the 1999-2000 team and hope that other alumni come out as well. What was it like to play for coach Howie Draper? Playing for Howie Draper was a great experience. During my five years on the team, Howie and I learned how to bring out the best in each other and how to work together at our weaknesses. Howie taught me so many invaluable lessons about hockey and life, and I am proud to say we still are, and will always be, great friends.

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Photos by Richard Siemens/U of A Marketing Services

Hometown: Edmonton, AB

Stacey (Phillips) McCullough, ’02 BSc Hometown: Valleyview, AB Then & now: Played goaltender for five years. Currently working for a company called Edmonton Valve and Fitting. I do engineering work with designing systems and build custom solutions for customers. When did you start playing hockey? When I was four. What’s your best memory from the 1999–2000 team? Winning nationals that year and just how much fun we had everyday on and off the ice. We pushed each other hard and had fun with it. What did you feel upon learning you were being inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame? I was excited to relive some of the memories from that year. I’m still friends and keep in touch with a lot of the teammates from that team, and we are all excited for an excuse for another get-together. Our 1999–2000 team had a chemistry that was second to none. We were successful on and off the ice. Everyone respected everyone else and accepted their role on the team. What was it like to play for coach Howie Draper? Howie is a great coach and remains a great friend. He successfully laid the foundation for a tradition of excellence for the Panda hockey program. Howie did a great job of instilling values in us, and we were the true definition of a team. He knew exactly how to get the most out of each and every athlete. His hockey knowledge is phenomenal, and his interpersonal skills were exactly what they needed to be. I feel honoured to have had the chance to play for him and, more recently, coach with him. [She was the Pandas goalie coach from 2005 to 2008.]

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Lori Shupak, ’03 BSc(Kin), ’06 MSc Hometown: Sherwood Park, AB Then & now: Played centre for five years. Currently a physiotherapist at Leading Edge Physiotherapy in St. Albert, AB. When did you start playing hockey? When I was 16. What’s your best memory from the 1999-2000 team? Winning. We all play sports to win and be the best. That year we were. As a team we had high goals and Howie pushed us hard. On a personal note, scoring the winning goal in the final was pretty exciting. What did you feel upon learning you were being inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame? I told my family and close friends about the accomplishment, and I’m very excited to have a chance to see everyone again. That Pandas team — and so many to follow — were exactly what “teams” are supposed to be. We were successful on and off the ice because we treated each other with respect and unconditional acceptance. As a unit we had excellent chemistry, and, no matter what we did, we had fun doing it. The energy we had when we were together was so positive and contagious. It was the start of a winning tradition that is expected of Pandas Hockey. What was it like to play for coach Howie Draper? Howie is an amazing coach. His ability to manage athletes and communicate effectively is second to none. He always challenged me as an athlete and a student and encouraged community involvement. Howie could put together the best practice plan and game strategy and find words to effectively motivate you. He created a familylike environment and was instrumental in all of us getting better every single time we played hockey.

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Susan Huculak, ’99 BEd Hometown: Edmonton, AB Then & now: Played centre for three years and was assistant captain in 1998–1999 and captain in 1999–2000. Currently a teacher at Bev Facey High School in Sherwood Park, AB. When did you start playing hockey? At 19. Up until then, I played competitive ringette. Ringette provided me with many similar experiences to travel and compete at a very high level, provincially and nationally. What’s your best memory from the 1999–2000 team? Raising the CIAU Championship Trophy. It was also great to score the winning goal during the semifinal shootout to dethrone the two-time CIAU Champions Concordia Stingers. What did you feel upon learning you were being inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame? Nostalgia and pride. I also felt fortunate and thankful for all of the people who supported women’s hockey from the grassroots to varsity level. We were the impetus to building a dynasty. It’s impressive and inspiring to think what our team/program accomplished in three short years and continues to build on. What was it like to play for coach Howie Draper? He was always prepared, devised well-planned and strategic practices, personified passion for hockey, and encouraged us to be successful on the ice and academically. Being part of a hockey program in its infancy and winning the CIAU Championship with Howie only three years into the program was great. We were always going out to support the other varsity teams, and, likewise, other student-athletes supported the most successful athletic program in Canada at the time.

More online: Visit the Pandas website at www.pandas.ualberta.ca; the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum at www.albertasportshalloffame.com; and the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at www.physedandrec.ualberta.ca. Spring 2011

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Identity Crisis In the time it takes to read this story someone somewhere in Canada will become the next victim of identity theft. So if you aren’t shredding personal information, limiting what you post to social networking sites, and making sure the person online or on the phone is who they say they are, you might want to rethink that so that the next victim of identity theft isn’t you. by Judy Monchuk • Illustration by Dominic Bugatto

I

t wouldn’t surprise any of travel writer Debra Cummings’ friends to hear that she was in Scotland. But it certainly surprised Cummings when her home phone started ringing off the hook with calls of concern about her welfare. It quickly became apparent that someone masquerading as the Calgary-based Cummings was appealing to her friends from Scotland for money via a grammatically fractured e-mail. The e-mail her friends received begins: “It is me Debra Cummings and this is coming directly from me.” It goes on to say she is stranded in Edinburgh after losing her wallet, credit cards and cellphone. “I will like you to assist me with a soft loan of sum of 2,500USD urgently or any amount you can afford (No amount is small please) so as to sort-out my hotel bills and get myself back home immediately.” The appeal was sent to some 1,500 contacts in Cummings’ Gmail address book, prompting a quick flood of phone responses. One caller quipped: “So when did English become your second language?” None of Cummings’ friends were taken in by the clumsy scam letter, but the scenario could have played out with far more dire consequences if, she says, the perpetrators had crafted a more sophisticated story. Whoever tapped into Cummings’ Gmail account also locked her out of her own account and had access to more than 5,000 messages in her mailbox, many filled with identifying details about her family, her interests and her life.

For Joanne McNeal, ’82 MEd, having her online identity compromised had more severe consequences. In January 2010, she received a series of persistent messages about her Yahoo email account seeking “verification” of her name, address and password. Late one night, when yet another warning notice arrived, she let her guard down and surrendered the data.

“The convenience of free social media has a personal information price tag.” “I certainly learned how fast your information can be just blown wide open,” says McNeal, who teaches in the U of A’s Faculty of Education. Soon, financial appeals ostensibly from her were made via e-mail to family and professional colleagues in places as diverse as Africa and Saudi Arabia to the University of British Columbia and the Smithsonian Institution. Some were taken in by the scam, including a professor in Vancouver and a former neighbour in Virginia. McNeal now shares her identity theft experience with her class of future teachers in the hope that the classroom discussion it prompts will serve as a wake-up call for the students. “Most of us are too trusting,” she says. “When something like this happens, you have to learn from the experience.”

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (PhoneBusters) received over 11,000 reports of identity fraud in 2010. But law enforcement officials say that national figure is just a tiny fraction of the problem, with many cases logged in police files as commercial crime or fraud. Altogether these offences are now thought to be as profitable as drug-related offences, estimated at between $10 and $30 billion annually in Canada. Cummings is sheepish about her role in the identity theft incident. She knowingly allowed her anti-virus protection to expire, making her computer vulnerable to those who troll the Internet looking for unprotected prey. But she’s not unlike many cyberspace citizens who are often blasé about privacy. In 2010 U.S.-based data security provider Imperva analyzed 32 million user passwords that were posted to the Internet after a hacker attacked RockYou.com, a company that makes applications for social networking sites. Despite years of warnings about the need for complicated passwords, investigators found that most computer users were embarrassingly uncreative in their online protection. The most popular entry code was 123456, followed by 12345 and 123456789. Many people simply use “password” or the name of the site being accessed. QWERTY, the first six letters at the top of a keyboard, was also popular. The troubling data does not end with the RockYou.com examination. Spring 2011

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Other studies have also found that more than half of consumers use the same or similar passwords for all websites that require log-on entry. These patterns are welcome news to hackers who are increasingly using more passwordcracking software. Security is only part of the equation. There are growing concerns about privacy and what consumers are giving up on a regular and irretrievable basis. We have become addicted to the convenience of free social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube. But the old chestnut that “nothing comes for free” still holds true in the 2.0 world. The convenience of free social media has a personal information price tag. For instance, Google offers consumers Gmail and Google maps at no cost but, in return, the Internet giant gathers information it uses to individualize advertising pitches.* “Google targets advertising based on the contents of your e-mail,” says Gordon Gow, who teaches communication and technology at the U of A’s Faculty of Extension. “That’s the bargain of Google.” Those who are adamant about protecting their data can choose not to use social networking sites, or even the Internet, for that matter. But opting out is increasingly difficult (and impractical) in a wired world. Meanwhile, online collection of personal information has increased exponentially. Statistics Canada found that in 2009, one in three Canadians with Internet access posted content to the web. In January 2011, Facebook had more than 600 million active users, while there are more than 500 million Hotmail or Gmail accounts worldwide. Money matters are also changing. A decade ago, many people were leery of buying anything over the Internet. But, in a 2007 study, Statistics Canada revealed that 8.4 million Canadians spent $12.8 billion on online purchases. 38

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Gow says the public has become accustomed to online convenience and shopping is part of that package. People trust that merchants will look after the security of the transaction. “The convenience of using credit cards and e-commerce often outweighs

“The lack of specifics makes it difficult for identity theft victims to attain any closure and move forward.” any privacy concerns consumers have at the moment,” says Gow, adding that consumers tend to go to the sites they expect will be safe. “The Amazons and RBCs of the world are working within the accepted privacy practices.” But there is always an element of risk, a chance that a hacker has set up a fake site. And it only takes a few victims to make the scam profitable. “There’s a huge black market once credit card information is stolen,” says Gow, noting that the financial impact can be fast and devastating. In the time it takes to read this article, a criminal can run up tens of thousands of dollars in bills and be on to the next target. Canadian law enforcement officials are trying to develop a national strategy on identity theft, but it’s difficult. “It’s like chasing a moving target,” says Sergeant Sylvie Tremblay, coordina-

tor of the RCMP’s identity fraud unit in commercial crime. Most of the culprits are hiding behind computer screens outside Canada, sending e-mails in hopes of getting a nibble from a naïve victim willing to part with private details. In May of 2010, Gmail users in India received a “legal” notice supposedly from the Gmail team asking that a collection of personal details be updated as part of a security verification process. The kind of request— known as phishing—was seeking the user’s occupation, birth date, country of residence and, of course, account password. The notice also warned that users who failed to provide those details within seven days would lose their account permanently. Once that information has been surrendered, there is no simple way to stuff it back in the cyber bottle. McNeal found that even her Facebook account was compromised, and, in a chilling twist, several of her friends reported carrying on Facebook conversations with the imposter who was seeking money for a supposedly stranded McNeal. “You just feel violated, like you’ve been opened up, drawn and quartered,” says McNeal. “Certainly, you learn you need to be vigilant and to not discuss personal information or passwords.” These feelings aren’t unusual, says Jessica Van Vliet, a U of A educational psychology professor and one of the few academics to have studied the psychological impacts of identity theft. Each of the 14 victims who recounted their experience to Van Vliet expressed a pervasive sense of vulnerability each time they use a credit card or a bank machine. Most also felt financial institutions were treating them as criminals. “It was very clear the participants in the study no longer felt safe conducting everyday financial transactions most of us take for granted,” says Van Vliet. Most of the identity theft victims felt they were taking appropriate pre-

cautions to safeguard their personal information and had no idea of how that data fell into the wrong hands. The lack of specifics makes it difficult for identity theft victims to attain any closure and move forward. For all they know, their personal information could be lying dormant in the hands of someone who may wait weeks or months to use it, leaving victims with the everpresent fear that the ordeal is not over. “No matter how well they monitor things for the rest of their lives, they are still vulnerable,” Van Vliet says. Very few of the people in Van Vliet’s study had sought any counselling. But that doesn’t mean the experience isn’t traumatic, only that identity theft may not be well enough understood by the general public who often take years to realize some issues can have lingering effects. “If you don’t say ‘this can be a big deal,’ people may minimize their own suffering,” says Van Vliet. Another consideration is that society often doesn’t believe victims are blameless, they must have done something wrong to bring

Faculty of Education assistant professor Jessica Van Vliet teaches in the Department of Educational Psychology. Among the courses she teaches is EDPY 442: Introduction to Counselling. Go to her profile at www.edpsychology.ualberta.ca/People to view her other U of A courses and research interests.

this upon themselves. “It’s terrifying to think you can do everything right and still be a victim,” she adds. In a coordinated effort to combat identity theft, law enforcement officials assembled a framework that connects the resources of police departments, different federal agencies, credit bureaus and financial institutions, but Tremblay stresses public education is the other key component in any fight against identity theft. Although criminals have focused on middle-aged consumers with established jobs, bank accounts and

credit ratings, Tremblay warns that young people now in university who have grown up posting their lives online could be the next target. “We’re not keeping up with educating them,” says Tremblay. “We need to educate the youth to withhold information.” But convincing people to change their social networking habits and online purchasing behaviour is a tough row to hoe. As con artists become increasingly sophisticated, creating dummy company websites and sending “security verification” e-mails that can seem very legitimate, the best advice to avoid being a victim of identity theft is this: Don’t be shy about asking questions to verify that a website or e-mail is authentic. Take the same precautions that you would with a stranger at your door. * The U of A has teamed up with Google to provide e-mail to everyone on campus— a move that can save the U of A up to $2 million. Google won’t own the content, and, unlike public accounts, it won’t be allowed to scan through the text, nor will advertising or data-mining be sanctioned.

Reducing the Risk

Taking Action

A few precautions to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft: • Don’t post your birth date on social network sites such as Facebook. • Never hand out your Social Insurance Number and don’t carry it with you. Legally, your SIN is not needed by anyone except your employer, Revenue Canada or any financial institution that needs to report information to Revenue Canada. You have the right to refuse to give your number to anyone else. • Complicate your passwords. Avoid using easy-to-access information like a birth date, child’s name or mother’s maiden name. • Ensure any home wireless network is protected with a complicated password. A techno-savvy stranger can gain access to anything in your computer through an unprotected network.

If you suspect your identity has been hijacked, there are immediate steps you need to take: • Start a log of dates and information, noting the people you spoke with and details of those conversations. • Contact the fraud departments of major credit bureaus—Equifax: 1-866-828-5961 (www.equifax.ca) and Trans Union 1-800-663-9980 (www.transunion.ca). Request that a “Fraud Alert” be placed on your files and order copies of your credit reports. • Contact the fraud departments of your credit card companies, banks and utilities providers to discuss any accounts that may have been tampered with or opened without your consent. • File a report with your local police. Contact the RCMP through PhoneBusters (www.phonebusters.com) National Call Centre 1-888-495-8501 (info@antifraudcentre.ca).

• Guard and keep tabs on your mail. Bills and credit card offers are a potential gold mine for criminals looking for personal data. • Shred any documents that have personal information on them. • Never click on e-mail links to “verify” information. This can direct you to phony, lookalike sites that collect personal data. • Don’t give out identifying information over the phone or the Internet unless you initiated the contact or you’re certain of who you’re giving it to. • Always ask how your personal identification will be used. Will it be shared?

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Following

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Alumni

Lantern: 2009, rice paper, silk, metal, wood, ink, charcoal and Alberta wheat as the floor component, 2.4 m x 2.7 m (diameter)

my Loewan, ’92 BFA, ’95 MFA, was born in Hong Kong. She emigrated to Canada in 1978 and became a Canadian citizen in 1981. Many of her works illustrate the integration of her Chinese heritage with western postmodernist art practices. “In the past decade,” she says, “I have been focusing my work on the promotion of peace and understanding. This work, Lantern, was created in 2009 as a sequel to my previous installation, A Peace Project, which was created in 2001 to mark the turn of the millennium. A Peace Project was certified as a Cultural Property of Canada in 2010. “I begin my work by transforming sheets of rice paper into long weaving strips. These strips are then woven to form an integrated whole, a panel. Woven into these large rice paper panels are words in over 35 languages, words which I consider vital in fostering relationships: compassion, kindness, respect, understanding, patience, tolerance, gentleness and forgiveness. “This installation is intended to serve as a point of departure for viewers to tap into their inner resources. I hope that viewers find here a quiet place to explore their own personal quests for peace, inside their hearts and in the world beyond.” To see more of Loewan’s work or to view her exhibition schedule go to www.amyloewan.com. Spring 2011

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r eviews Music Departing The Rural Alberta Advantage Nils Edenloff, ’02 BSc (CompEng), Amy Cole and Paul Banwatt Saddle Creek Records

Only online: Watch the music video for “Stamp” on the New Trail website: newtrail.ualberta.ca.

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Spring 2011

Nils Edenloff (left) with Cole (centre) and Banwatt (right)

Film The High Level Bridge Trevor Anderson, ’95 BA Dirt City Films

E

ver wonder what it’s like to jump off Edmonton’s High Level Bridge? Filmmaker Trevor Anderson has. Tossing his video camera over the rails in his poignant five-minute personal documentary, Anderson acts out for himself—and for all of us — the empathy and curiosity of what it feels like to make that final leap.

Fish Griwkowsky

hope your heart is good and strong,” sings Nils Edenloff, lead vocalist and guitarist, in the opening song “Two Lovers.” This lover’s threat draws us in to The Rural Alberta Advantage’s newest album, Departing. What follows is a perfectly organized swirling of emotion and small-town stories, performed with an urgency that is both inviting and alarming. The album is best taken as a whole, with each song placed right where it should be. “North Star” is wonderful in the middle, providing a small respite and sense of direction with sparkling keys that swell, yet never gain their maximum brightness. “Stamp” pulls us back under dark, crashing currents. It is not until the closing track— “Good Night”— that there is true release. The song opens with dampened foot stomps and stark vocals. Gone is the heart-racing percussion, and the final departing words convey a sense of open reconciliation. This ordered chaos of feeling is what makes Departing a memorable album — and proof that, in this age of digital singles, there are still artists who prefer to take time to carve out something more meaningful. Reviewer Rebecca Anderson, ’02 BA, ’06 MA, is one half of the alt-folk duo F&M, whose latest album, Sincerely, has received national attention, charting in Earshot!’s Top 20 Folk for 2010. (fandmtheband.com)

Vanessa Heins

“I

Part exercise for a talent lab run by the Toronto International Film Festival and part ode to recently departed friends who both jumped off the bridge to their deaths, The High Level Bridge is a thoughtful, if somewhat provocative, meditation on the ebbs and flows of life in Edmonton. Shot by Fish Griwkowsky with Anderson’s deadpan monotonous voiceover, the film begins where it ends: on the note of suicide. Weaving in and out of the history books and pitfalls of civic identity building, Anderson’s story parallels Griwkowsky’s visuals of the meandering ice chunks below, coasting and clashing with itself as the great North Saskatchewan rushes along. Becoming a maverick in the new genre of the short personal documentary, Anderson is steadily achieving international success on the film festival circuit (with appearances at Sundance, Berlin, TIFF, AFI and SXSW to name but a few), and he’s succeeding by telling endearing stories rooted in the politics of identity and place. Offering a unique voice within Canada and abroad, Anderson and his œuvre are offering a dose of redemption to those who live in Edmonton by re-imagining a reality beyond isolation. Reviewer Amy Fung, ’05 BA, ’09 MA, is a cultural critic, curator and the founding editor and publisher of PrairieArtsters.com. (AmyFung.ca)

Anderson in front of the HIgh Level Bridge

See it for yourself: Watch Trevor Anderson’s full five-minute film on the New Trail website (newtrail. ualberta.ca) or see it in May at both the Reel Shorts Film Festival in Grande Prairie, AB, and at the Doxa Documentary Film Festival in Vancouver. For more information, visit dirtcityfilms.com.

Books Will The Real Alberta Please Stand Up? Geo Takach, ’81 BA, ’85 LLB, ’03 MA University of Alberta Press, uap.alberta.ca

I

f Alberta is as quirky a place as Geo Takach claims in the introduction to his witty and engaging analysis of our province’s oft-misunderstood character, then he is its perfect chronicler. After all, who else would write a study of Alberta’s complex geographical, social and political makeup that includes first-person testimony from beyond the grave (in the form of legendary newspaperman Robert “EyeOpener Bob” Edwards and Princess Louise Caroline Alberta) and even from beyond the species (in a fourpage interview with none other than Albertosaurus, arguably our province’s most famous citizen)? Takach is an amusing and inventive writer, and his passionate engagement with all things Albertan blows like a welcome chinook over the dull and uninviting terrain too often encountered in such texts. At the same time, there’s no dearth of solid research and fascinating information in these pages. The author knows his subject inside and out, and he explores it with the sort of free-spirited panache that he— and the dozens of others across Canada that he interviewed for the book—defines as fundamentally Albertan. Divided into six sections, each titled with a question (e.g. “Mavericks or Sheep?” “Boom, Bust, and Eco?”), Will the Real Alberta Please Stand Up? covers a wide range of Geo Takash

material — from our province’s striking geological diversity to its redneck reputation to its aboriginal and immigrant narratives — and does so with such a fluid pace that it’s no surprise to learn that the book evolved from a one-hour documentary film Takach wrote, hosted, directed and co-produced for Citytv in 2009. But it is neither the form nor the ideas that make this book so refreshing; it is the tone. While Takach openly admits his mission is to attack the various stereotypes perpetrated about Alberta, his writing never veers far from its sunny, lighthearted quality — a quality that gains much from the abundance of personal interviews woven into the text. The author allows all kinds of famous and non-famous Albertans — from Preston Manning, ’64 BA, ’08 LLD (Honorary), and Tommy Banks, ’87 LLD (Honorary), to elementary school children — to comment on the province’s character. The result is an up-tempo and highly readable book that consistently breathes life into the most pedestrian of facts and statistics. As an entertaining antidote to the stereotyping of our province, Will the Real Alberta Please Stand Up? succeeds so admirably that its author should not only stand up himself but he should also take a modest, un-Albertan (or is that Albertan?) bow. Reviewer Tim Bowling, ’97 MA, is currently writer-in-residence at the University of Alberta and is the author of 14 books, most recently In The Suicide’s Library: A Book Lover’s Journey (Gaspereau Press 2010).

NON-FICTION

A Sky Full of Dreams: Memories of Earlier Days on the Farm Victor Carl Friesen, ’75 PhD Kingsley Publishing, kingsleypublishing.ca

Fort Chipewyan and the Shaping of Canadian History Pat McCormack, ’69 BA, ’75 MA, ’84 PhD University of British Columbia Press, ubcpress.ca

Storied Landscapes: Ethno-Religious Identity and the Canadian Prairies Frances Swyripa, ’73 BA, ’76 MA, ’88 PhD University of Manitoba Press, uofmpress.ca

Bronc Busters and Hay Sloops: Ranching in the West in the Early 20th Century Ken Mather, ’68 BA Heritage House, heritagehouse.ca

27 After 25 Raymond St. Arnaud, ’75 BA Available from amazon.ca.

Canadian Business and Society: Ethics and Responsibilities, 2nd Edition Robert Sexty, ’64 BCom McGraw-Hill Ryerson, mcgrawhill.ca

One Hundred Years of Social Work: A History of the Profession in English Canada, 1900–2000 Therese Jennissen, ’74 BA, and Colleen Lundy Wilfrid Laurier University Press, wlupress.wlu.ca

FICTION & POETRY

The Phantom of Lone Pine Lake Jennifer Flanders-Van der Hoek, ’05 BA Available at Blurb.com

Gangson (poems) Andy Weaver, ’05 PhD NeWestPress, newestpress.com

FILM

Code Breakers Tom Radford, ’66 BA, and Niobe Thompson Clearwater Productions; watch the full documentary online at cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/ 2011/codebreakers/

MUSIC

More Than One True Love Celtara Tami Cooper, ’82 BMus; Mark Arnison, ’83 BSc(MechE), ’90 MBA; Steven Bell, ’99 BDes, ’03 MDes; Bonnie Gregory and Andres Illig Celtara.com

You Don’t Want to Miss This Radio for Help Michael Erickson, ’06 BPE, Greg Shostak, Matt Shostak, Steve Pritchard radioforhelp.com Spring 2011

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1

Alumni Events For more events and up-to-date information, subscribe to e-trail, the Alumni Association’s monthly electronic newsletter, at www.ualberta.ca/alumni/e-trail. For additional details about events listed here, visit www.alumni.ualberta.ca or call 780-492-3224 or 1-800-661-2593.

May 10, 2011 – Fort McMurray, AB Join U of A President Indira Samarasekera for the Northern Alberta expansion of the APPLE Schools program (Alberta Project Promoting active Living and healthy Eating) during this fun community event.

The Educated Adventures — Edmonton, AB Kick-start your warm-weather outdoor pursuits with the Alumni Association: a spring bicycle tuneup and river valley ride for new and casual bike riders (May 14), golf for beginners (June 13, 15, 20, 22), and a canoe daytrip on the North Saskatchewan (July 9). For more details check www.ualberta.ca/alumni/events. May 19 & July 21, 2011 – Vancouver, BC Network Nights: Mix with other U of A alumni in your field and enjoy a cocktail, too. May 20, 2011 - Tokyo, Japan Support the U of A Jazz Charity Concert for Japan organized by the Japan Association of Alumni and Friends of U of A. May 25, 2011 – Edmonton, AB Graduating Pharmacy students are invited to a BBQ lunch celebration at RATT hosted by the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Pharmacy Alumni Association. May 26, 2011 – Jasper, AB The University of Alberta Dental Alumni Association invites U of A dental alumni to attend the annual Alumni Awards Reception in Jasper, AB. Join your fellow colleagues in congratulating the 25th- and 50th-anniversary year classes from the U of A’s DDS program. May 29, 2011 – Lethbridge, AB Dean of Pharmacy Jim Kehrer will discuss the changing relationship between you and your pharmacist at this alumni and friends reception. May 29, 2011 – Edmonton, AB Honour alumni and students who passed away in 2010 at the Alumni Association’s Annual Memorial Service. For more information please call 780-492-0866.

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June 1 – Toronto, ON June 2, 2011 – Ottawa, ON Join fellow alumni and friends as they learn from one of the U of A’s top scholars about leadingedge campus research at this cocktail reception. June 9, 2011 – Calgary, AB Come see elite horses and their riders compete in a national show-jumping tournament and enjoy dinner with fellow alumni and their friends at Spruce Meadows. Reserve your tickets early; event sells out quickly. June 9, 2011 – Edmonton, AB Graduating medical students and their families are invited to a breakfast celebration at the Fantasyland Ballroom hosted by the Alumni Association.

5

June 10, 2011 – Edmonton, AB Graduating students of Dental Hygiene and their families are invited to a celebration luncheon hosted by the Dental Hygiene Alumni Association at Lister Centre. June 10, 2011 – Edmonton, AB Graduating students of Dentistry and their families are invited to a celebration luncheon hosted by the Dental Alumni Association held at the Mayfair Golf and Country Club. June 18, 2011 – Calgary, AB Come out to see show jumping at the Spruce Meadows Continental Tournament and enjoy a family-friendly reception with a barbecue lunch and entertainment for all including, face painting, magicians, pony rides and stable tours. June 24, 2011 – Edmonton, AB All U of A orthodontic alumni are invited to attend the 2011 graduation celebration held at The Royal Glenora Club. Ismaili Alumni Chapter: Just this spring, the Alumni Association formed the Ismaili Alumni Chapter, aimed at providing opportunities for alumni who are members of the Ismaili Muslim community to connect and engage in leadership roles and professional development. If you would like to learn more about the chapter, please email Cristine Myhre at cristine.myhre@ualberta.ca.

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10 1) Jonathan Ng, ’07 DDS, and classmate Dwayne Olatonade, ’05 BSc, ’07 DDS, at a Dental Alumni Association reception in Vancouver, BC. 2) New York alumni lace-up for their annual skating party in Central Park in February. 3) (L-R) Pandas alumna Diane Smith, ’04 BSc(PT); Alumni Association Executive Director Sean Price, ’95 BCom; and Bears alumnus Alex Steele, ’09 BCom, present fourth-year student Colin Hoehne (second from right) with a cheque for one semester’s free tuition at the Alumni Association’s “Shoot to Win Your Tuition” event held in the U of A’s Main Gym in February. 4) Colin Hoehne shooting his winning basket.

5) Jim Yih, ’91 BCom, shares smart investment 9) (L-R) Phoenix Branch President Norm strategies at the Alumni Association’s sold-out Nichol, ’71 Dipl(Ed), ’73 BEd; Grant Fairley, ’56 BCom; and Alumni Association Executive “Educated Wallet” workshop in March. Director Sean Price, ’95 BCom, at the annual 6) Alumni show off their winning door prize alumni brunch in Phoenix, AZ, in February. at “Cocojava,” an evening of chocolate and 10) Members of the Pharmacy Alumni Hockey coffee in February. The event featured chocoTeam pose for a group shot after winning the late by Kirsten Roos, ’95 BA, and coffee First Annual Pharmacy Students vs. Alumni from Transcend Coffee, owned by Paul Hockey Game at Clare Drake Arena on March Mark, ’99 LLB. 26, 2011. Final score: Alumni 8, Students 3. 7) David Kraus, ’71 BSc, ’76 MSc, and Brit 11) Ross Reekie, ’80 BA (third from left), and Trogen, ’08 BSc, at the New York President’s fellow gourmands hear from a wine vendor at Reception in February. Edmonton’s d’Lish Urban Kitchen and Wine Bar 8) Garrett Poston, ’98 BA, and Janis Isaman, during the Alumni Association’s “Gourmet ’99 BCom, also at the New York President’s Pairings” event in March. d’Lish is owned by Amanda Babichuk, ’01 BCom. Reception. Spring 2011

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c lassnotes

’60s

’64 Robert Sexty, BCom, recently published the textbook Canadian Business and Society: Ethics and Responsibilities, 2nd Ed. (McGrawHill Ryerson). The book is designed for undergraduate courses in business, ethics, social responsibility and sustainability.

’65 Myrna Kostash, BA, was recently selected as the recipient of this year’s Matt Cohen Award for lifetime achievement in writing. The author of 10 books, she was recognized for her works of non-fiction, which tackle difficult subjects. The Matt Cohen Award is a $20,000 prize awarded by the Writers’ Trust of Canada. ’67 Robert Shalka, BA, ’68 MA, retired last July from the federal government after 36 years as an immigration foreign service officer with various assignments in Ottawa and overseas postings in Stuttgart, Bangkok, Moscow, Singapore, Kyiv, Riyadh, Bonn and Berlin. His career included policy and program development and coordination in Ottawa and immigration and refugee program management overseas. He plans to spend his retirement in Ottawa, where he hopes to enjoy writing and time with his family.

’68 Roger Jewitt, BEd, ‘71 LLB, of Beaverlodge, AB, writes, “Unfortunately, I won neither tribute awards nor honours; but on the upside, I am still bald and have all my own teeth! I am in the telephone book.”

’69 Terry Cook, BA, writes that he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2010, the first fellow specializing in the academic discipline of archival studies. His latest book is Controlling the Past: Documenting Society and Institutions, and he remains affiliated with the graduate program in archival studies at the University of Manitoba, commuting from his home in Ottawa, ON. Gord Maron, BSc, of Sherwood Park, AB, was recently appointed the executive vice-president of PCL Construction Holdings Limited, one of the largest contracting firms in North America.

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’70s

’70 Shauna L. Landon, BA, ’71 Dip(Ed), writes, “I have been living in Denver, CO, for the past 28 years and am presently enjoying having an empty nest and spending my golden years with my husband Richard.” Margaret (Bamford) Welwood, BA, ’89 Dip(Ed), edited To Teach, To Learn, To Live: The Complete Diabetes Education Guide for Health Care Professionals, 2nd Ed., by Diane O’Grady, RN, BSN, CDE. The book took first place in the reference category of the Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards.

’72 Mark Lathrop, BSc, ’78 MA, ’80 PhD, one of the world’s top genomic researchers, has been named as scientific director of the McGill University and Génome Québec Innovation Centre. He spent the last 30 years in England and France, most recently serving as scientific director of the Centre National de Genotypage and the Centre d’Étude du Polymorphisme Humain.

’73 Donald Denmark, BSc, ’75 MD, was recently named chief medical officer at Carondelet St. Joseph’s Hospital in Arizona. Previously, he was vice-president of medical affairs at NorthBay Healthcare Group in Solano County, CA.

Several U of A alumni were reunited at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Pictured here are, from left to right: Bob Merner, ’63 BA; William Geoffrey Lucas, ’61 BPE, ’66 MA; Maury Van Vliet, Jr., ’61 BSc, ’64 LLB; Rennie Bradley, ’63 BSc, ’67 DDS; Ted Frechette, ’64 BSc CivE; and Wayne Armistead, ’58 Dip(Ed), ’60 BPE, ’61 BEd. All of these alumni played for University of Alberta sports teams, and they all currently live in Victoria, BC — except for Bob Merner, who divides his time between Alberta and Tokyo, Japan.

’74 Patti Young (Hawrelak), BA, received a “Volunteer of the Year” award from the BC Liberal Party as well as a leadership award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of BC and the Yukon. She writes, “I recently retired from contract work in politics and business and am living in Vancouver, BC, with my husband Howie Young. Our children are doing well. Lindsay is an ornithologist in Hawaii, Courtney attends medical school in Calgary, Riley is a

Reunion Revelry: In 1969, a number of us in graduate studies at the U of A really bonded, so, even after we left Edmonton, we stayed in touch. Then, in 2006, nine of us happened to be in England, and we saw a chance to come together to celebrate some of our 60th birthdays. That loosely organized experience was so much fun that every other year we gather somewhere in the world near where one of us lives. In 2010, 18 people attended our reunion in Essen, Germany. We have also met in Eyam, England, and in Edmonton, where we first During their 2008 reunion in Edmonton, the gang toured the Athabasca glacier. Pictured here are: Barbara Gillian Donmall, ’72 MA; Patricia Murray, ’72 MSc; Linda Offenburger, ’72 MA; Valerie Purton, ’72 MA; Chirapa Suvanprakorn, ’73 MSc; Arlene Davies-Fuhr, ’74 MA; Terry Eagles, ’74 PhD; Bryan Fuhr, ’74 PhD; David Pulleyblank, ’74 PhD; Desmond Wynne, ’74 MSc; Mary Fairhurst, ’75 PhD; Juan Kuon, ’75 PhD; Campbell Purton, ’75 PhD; Patricia Wankiewicz, ’79 MSc.

mortgage broker in Vancouver, and we also have a new granddaughter, Robin.” Patti and Howie also enjoy travelling, and Patti says that, of all their excursions, they were most intrigued with their trip to Myanmar. Frank Watzke, BDes, ’75 LLB, of Regina, SK, reports he has accepted a short-term government position that includes travelling to a number of remote Northern Communities in Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories.

connected— all places that begin with “e!” Now, we are branching out to “t,” as we make plan for Toronto in 2012. Will Thailand be next? For one fantastic week, we cook together, wear our official reunion T-shirts, hike, chat, sing, visit museums, compose a reunion song, and pore over thousands of old photographs— as well as capture a few new ones. We have a terrific time, and we really encourage folks to copy our example. Call your U of A peeps, get together, and have a blast! —Arlene Davies-Fuhr, ’74 MA

Three new Alberta Health Services Board members were recently appointed by Health and Wellness Minister Gene Zwozdesky, ’68 BA, ’76 BEd. Joining the Board are former CEO of the Alberta Mental Health Board Ray Block, ’76 BCom, ’96 MSc(Ag), ’08 PhD; noted cardiologist and professor Ruth Collins-Nakai, ’72 MD, ’98 MBA; and past president and CEO of Capital Health Sheila Weatherill, ’66 Dip(Nu), ’89 BSc(Nu).

’75 Victor Carl Friesen, PhD, a prolific freelance writer since 1983, is the published author of stories, poems and more than 250 articles, which have appeared in such publications as Queen’s Quarterly, Nature Canada and Canadian Geographic. An avid birdwatcher, his studies of the crazy flight phenomenon of the ruffled grouse have drawn response from wildlife researchers and university biology departments in the U.S., Scotland and France. Victor has spoken about history and literature at six provincial conferences and at a symposium in Nebraska, conducted workshops on science instruction, and been interviewed on the CBC radio programs Identities and Morningside. Friesen continues to write in Rosthern, SK, where he lives with his wife Dorothy. Verlyn Olson, BA, ’78 LLB, the MLA for Wetaskiwin-Camrose, was promoted to the position of Minister of Justice and Attorney General in February 2011.

’76 Don E. Sieben, BCom, ’94 PGDip, of Edmonton, was recently named a fellow of the Chartered Accountants of Alberta. Don is a partner with Peterson Walker LLP and is currently a member of the board of directors as well as the

chair of the audit and finance committee of Alberta Health Services. Robert Yaro, BEd, reports that he is now the pastoral coordinator at St. John the Baptist Parish in Fort McMurray, AB. ’77 Henry Vos, BSc(Ag), of Fairview, AB, was re-elected District 1 director of the Canadian Wheat Board. ’78 Lucinda Chodan, BEd, an award-winning journalist, was recently appointed editor-in-chief of the Edmonton Journal. For the past five years, she was editor-in-chief at the Victoria Times Colonist. ’79 Gordon Keller, PhD, director of Toronto’s McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, was recently named as one of 25 Transformational Canadians. The Transformational Canadians program is a partnership between The Globe and Mail, CTV and Cyberpresse which celebrates Canadians who have made a difference by immeasurably improving the lives of others. Bruce Wiskel, BSc, reports that in 2007 he returned to Calgary, AB, where he is president of Corrpro Canada, Inc. Prior to this, he was vice-president of Corrpro in San Francisco, CA, and president of Harco Technologies in Singapore.

Meet Your Reunion Organizer: Hugh Hoyles, ’66 BPE For 33 years, Hugh served as the U of A’s director of campus recreation, which provides year-round recreational sports, fitness and lifestyle programs to more than 37,000 students and 7,000 staff. He also taught in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation and coached the Golden Bear and Panda volleyball teams for 13 years. Outside of the University, Hugh served as director of volleyball for the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, QC, and for the 1983 World University Games in Edmonton. As a result of his efforts, he received the Sports Canada Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal. He was also inducted into the Alberta Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2004 and into the Canadian Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2007.

Karen Lynch, ’79 BA, is the executive director of Volunteer Alberta, Alberta’s only provincial capacity builder for the non-profit and volunteer sectors. Originally established in 1990 to organize National Volunteer Week celebrations in Alberta, Volunteer Alberta has grown from having six staff in 2004 to now having 15 staff supporting nonprofit organizations and volunteers across the province. According to Karen, one of the best things about her organization is that its core staff are U of A alumni. Volunteer Alberta delivers innovative and community-centred programs and policy solutions to build the capacity of non-profits and to strengthen local communities. To learn more about Volunteer Alberta’s support for local non-profits, board and volunteers, visit: volunteeralberta.ab.ca.

Current staff at Volunteer Alberta include many U of A alumni. From left to right: (front row) Ellie McFarlane; Rosanne Tollenaar, ’96 BSc; Lisa Michetti, ’08 BA; Toby Rabinovitz, ’73 BA; Donna Smith; Amanda Leipert; (back row) Cindy Walter; Yvonne Rempel; Jean Wrathall; Robert Mitchell; Karen Lynch, ’79 BA; Evan Romanow, ’08 BA, ’11 MA; and Victoria Poschadel, ’06 BPE. Missing from the photo is Blythe Morrow, ’06 BA.

’80s

’81 Glenn Feltham, BA, recently assumed the role of NAIT’s sixth president. Glenn is the former dean of the I.H. Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba. Prior to entering academia, he was a lawyer with Atkinson McMahon in Calgary, AB.

After retiring in 2004, Hugh has remained busy in sports organization, serving on boards and committees for the 2005 World Masters Games and Edmonton’s GO Community Centre, just to name a few. He also sits on the U of A Alumni Council as the representative for the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation. Hugh and his wife Bev Hoyles, ’74 BEd, live in Edmonton and have four adult children. ® Class organizers plan events for their class and encourage their classmates to return to campus for Alumni Weekend. If you want to learn more about becoming a class organizer or about attending Alumni Weekend, contact Colleen Elliott at 780-492-0866 or colleen.elliott@ualberta.ca. Are you a class organizer? Send us your story and photo to be featured here in the next issue. E-mail alumni@ualberta.ca.

’82 Larry Louie, BSc, placed first in National Geographic Traveler’s 2010 “World in Focus” contest. He won with his image of Nepal’s Tripureshwar Mahadev Mandir Temple, beating out more than 3,700 amateur photographers who had entered more than 10,000 images into this annual competition. Larry is a photographer and optometrist in Edmonton. Dru Marshall, MSc, ’89 PhD, University of Alberta deputy provost, was presented with a Geoff Gowan Lifetime Achievement Award on November 19, 2010. Created in 1996 by the Coaching Association of Canada, this award recognizes lifetime contributions to coaching development. Inger Eakin, BA(RecAdmin), recently returned to Edmonton after many years and is working as a project manager for Alberta Health Services. Tammy Oberik, BSc(HEc), of St. Albert, AB, recently joined Cash Store Financial as vice-president of human resources. Tammy is a past member of the U of A Alumni Council. Spring 2011

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Meet Your Reunion Organizer: Verna Yiu, ’84 BMedSc, ’86 MD Dr. Verna Yiu is the vice-dean for faculty affairs in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta. After receiving her medical degree from the U of A, she completed a fellowship in pediatric nephrology (kidney disorders) at Harvard University before returning to the U of A as a faculty member in 1994. In 2000, Verna became the faculty’s assistant dean for student affairs, where she formalized the student advisor program, extending it to all four undergraduate student programs; helped to initiate the dental careers development program; and implemented the first program in humanism in medicine for Canadian medical students. In 2009, she assumed the role of vice-dean; however, she continues to practice as a pediatric nephrologist and an educator, teaching medical students and residents. ® Class organizers plan events for their class and encourage their classmates to return to campus for Alumni Weekend. If you want to learn more about becoming a class organizer or about attending Alumni Weekend, contact Colleen Elliott at 780-492-0866 or colleen.elliott@ ualberta.ca. Are you a class organizer? Send us your story and photo to be featured here in the next issue. E-mail alumni@ualberta.ca.

The following five alumni were recently elected as Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada, the highest honour a scholar can achieve in the arts, humanities and sciences: Terry Cook, ’69 BA, an adjunct professor at the University of Manitoba, who has shaped and defined the field of archival studies as a distinct academic pursuit; Candace Savage, ’71 BA, a creative writer and author of more than two-dozen books;

Colin A. Chapman, ’81 BSc, ’83 MA, ’87 PhD, a leading Canadian figure in tropical ecology and conservation at McGill University; Michel Desjardins, ’72 BA, whose University of Montreal team has made ground-breaking discoveries that have been published in prestigious scientific journals; and Donald Bruce Dingwell, ’84 PhD, a respected researcher in experimental geosciences at the University of Munich.

’90s

’90 Ray Muzyka, BSc, ’92 MD, and Greg Zeschuk, ’90 BSc, ’92 MD, were honoured for their leadership in the gaming industry in February. The co-founders of BioWare, the developer of award-winning video game series Mass Effect, Ray and Greg were inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame at the 14th annual Interactive Achievement Awards in Las Vegas, NV. ’92 Jeffrey Sundquist, BA, was

Gary Michalchuk, BSc(Eng), president of E.I.L. Environmental Services, was recently recognized with a 2010 Ernst & Young Prairies Region Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the “clean tech” category.

’85 Rebecca Schalm, BA, has relocated to Vancouver, BC, to take on the role of senior vice president, human resources for Finning International, Inc., the world’s largest Caterpillar dealer. Avinash Vashistha, MSc, was recently appointed by Accenture, the world’s second-largest tech consulting firm, as its managing director for India.

’86 Abdullah Al Rabeeah, MSc, was appointed minister of health for the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia in 2009. Abdullah received his master’s degree in experimental surgery from the U of A and is a wellregarded specialist in the rare field of surgically separating conjoined twins. Jonathan R. T. Lakey, BSc, ’90 MSc, ’95 PhD, recently accepted the position of director of research and associate professor of surgery at the University of California, Irvine.

Glenna Mageau, BPE, is writing a book titled Inspire Me... The Footprint of a Woman, which will include interviews with women over the age of 70 who challenged and overcame the gender inequality of their time through the pursuit of education and professional careers. If you are a U of A alumna with such a story to tell, Glenna would like to hear from you at 780-387-1240. For more information about the project, visit thefootprintofawoman.com.

’87 Gordon Panas, BCom, was recently appointed chief financial officer of PCL Construction Holdings Limited. ’88 Michelle Foisy, BSc(Pharm); Tamar Koleba, ’03 BSc(Pharm), and Kim Smith, ’08 BSc(Pharm), were recently honoured with Commitment to Care awards from the Canadian Healthcare Network.

’89 Zhang Hongli, MSc, was recently appointed vice-president of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world’s largest bank for market capitalization.

recently appointed managing director for the Province of Alberta’s UK office in London. Prior to this posting, he worked as vice-president of corporate development for a Canadian technology company in the energy services sector and as the dean of business development at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton. Jeffrey has served as an Alberta representative on the China National Petroleum Corporation-Alberta Petroleum Centre Board and is the past chair of Workforce Diversity Edmonton, an Edmonton Chamber of Commerce initiative advocating employment for persons with disabilities. Jane Walter, BEd, founder of organicKidz — the first stainless steel baby bottle company in the world — recently won an Emerging Enterprise of the Year award from the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. Founded in 2008 out of a desire to produce the safest and greenest children’s drinking containers, organicKidz produces BPA-, PVCand Phthalate-free products that are now sold in 35 countries worldwide. (organicKidz.ca.)

Comfort C Comfo fort more than just a guestroom Conference Services 48

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780-492-6057 | con conference.services@ualberta.ca nference.services@ualberta.cca

n November and December of 2010, the U of A Alumni Association hosted cocktail receptions in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, giving alumni the chance to reconnect with old friends and classmates and to find out the latest news about the University. Here are updates from a few of the alumni who attended:

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Ruth Smith, ’54 Dip(Nu), is married with two adult children: Cameron, who lives in Wisconsin with his wife and two girls; and Kelly, who lives in Mornington with her two children. Now retired, Ruth enjoys spending her time socializing with friends and walking. Wayne Pendleton, ’65 BCom, ’83 BEd, recently retired as a seasonal instructor at James Cook University, where he specialized in Australian business law and management accounting.

John Graham, ’68 BPE, ’79 MA, retired in June 2007, but returns to Canada regularly as his wife Ann is originally from Alberta. John taught at Archbishop O’Leary High School from 1968–1973 and then at Toorak State College in Melbourne from 1974–1981. Jane Ibell, ’69 BA, ’71 BEd, has lived in Melbourne since 1974 and now is a semi-retired teacher, who works in schools to keep the computers, networks and teachers up-to-date. Glenn Watkins, ’69 MA, ’72 PhD, has been working as an academic and consultant for 30 years. Just over a decade ago he set up an international education business in China. About 1,500 students from China come to Australia each year to complete their undergraduate or post-graduate degrees at Australian universities. He is married with four children and nine grandchildren.

Alumni in

Cidney Kowalchuk, ’82 BSc(Ag), ’85 MPM, is a managing consultant at Enterprise Services Group in Fujitsu, Australia. Her responsibilities include business development and account and project management.

Prior to starting this new business Catherine worked in aged care and then taught community services for the Australian Technical and Further Education system. Darren Wolchyn, ’94 BSc(Eng), is specializing in mobile video streaming solutions. Initially he planned to settle in Melbourne for only six months, but the trip turned into a permanent relocation, and he loves the lifestyle change.

Chris Hanson, ’83 MBA, is a semiretired financial planner. Michael Dixon, ’85 PhD, has been working at IBM for the past 25 years and is currently managing IBM’s consulting and systems integration business with the public sector. James Sarros, ’88 PhD, is a professor of management and the director of a leadership research group at Monash University. James has worked since 1988 and still enjoys teaching and supervising graduate students on leadership, strategic management, character and values. Bryan Mykityshyn, ’89 BSc(Eng), is married with two children and is enjoying life on northern beaches. Catherine Gerhardt, ’93 BA (Rec Admin), started a new franchise called Kidproof that provides preventative child safety education.

Rachel Leung, ’98 BSc, moved home to Hong Kong following her graduation from the U of A. In 2007 she completed her master’s degree in medical science and moved to Melbourne to study adolescent drinking behaviour. Todd Oliynyk, ’02 PhD, is a lecturer in the school of mathematics at Monash University. His wife, Romalynn, ’94 BSc, ’97 BSc, ’01 MSc, is a stay-at-home mom to their six-year-old daughter Giorgia and their three-year-old son Edward. Nasim Amirjani, ’05 PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow of neuroscience research. Christopher Sims, ’07 BSc(Eng), is currently working as a consultant in acoustics and theatre planning for Arup, a global engineering and design firm.

Australia Diane Fagan, ’71 BA, is married with four kids. She lives on a 1,000acre farm and alternates her time between Sydney and Tooma. Anne Robertson, ’71 BSc, has lived in Melbourne for 21 years and is currently working as a cytogeneticist and quality manager for seven genetics laboratories. David Carlson, ’72 BSc, has been working for the last 29 years at Macquarie Group in information technology and risk management. Judy Scott, ’72 BSc, is currently the manager of Tamworth Family Relationship Centre, which provides a wide range of services to assist families in building better relationships.

Paul Meagher, ’75 MEd, has retired as a schoolteacher. Linda McCoy, ’77 BA, has lived and worked in Australia since 1979. Currently, she is the director of community services for a regional health service in the Gippsland area. Lori Chizik, ’79 BSc, has had a long career coaching basketball, including for the Australian Opals national basketball team and at Wesley College in Melbourne. She is currently a basketball commentator on ABC TV. Madeleine Linger, ’80 BSc(Pharm), has expanded the pharmacy she bought with her husband in Grafton. She has three children: Matthew, who just graduated from pharmacy; James, who has been scouted to play for the Atlanta Braves baseball team; and Kathryn, who is currently in high school.

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An Alumni “Operation” in Ecuador or the past 14 years Edmonton orthopedic surgeon Thomas Greidanus, ‘64 MD, has been leading an annual medical and dental mission to Ecuador, and Operation Esperanza (Operation Hope), as it is known, has always included many U of A alumni. In 2011, the volunteer team of 52 included a record number of alumni —17 altogether — from the faculties of medicine & Dentistry, Nursing, rehabilitation Medicine, Education and the School of Business. For 10 intense days each January, “Dr. Tom” and his surgical teams set up a clinic in the city of Cuenca, high up in the Andes, where men, women and children come limping in with swollen, painful joints, dislocated hips or twisted club feet. By fixing their patients’ joints, the team not only relieves their pain but also allows the adults to return to work and earn an income for their families. This year, one woman was carried into the clinic on a chair. “Her

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arthritic hip was protruding into her pelvis,” remembers Tom. Another patient, a 70-year-old man, travelled six hours with nothing but a tree branch for a crutch to be treated for a severely arthritic hip. Both of these patients underwent surgery and were able to be discharged within two days. During Operation Esperanza 2011, the volunteers saw about 250 patients; the surgical team conducted 39 hip-and-knee Front row: Chelsea Wood, ’05 BScN; Sharon Litchfield, ’05 BScN; Lindsay Gustavsson (Poelzer), ’00 BScN. Middle row: Thomas Greidanus, ’64 MD; Lorna Cote Greidanus, ’94 DDS; Cari Noelck, ’96 BScN; Bev Bourdin, ’99 BScN; Vivien Wulff, ’78 BCom; Mark Labrentz, ’85 BSc, ’91 BScPT. Back row: Thomas Greidanus, Jr., ’90 BSc; Janet Greidanus, ’94 BScN; Carmen Brauer, ’93 BSc; Rachel Plaquin, ’10 Rehabilitation Medicine, Susan Schubert, ’74 BED; John Schubert, ’75 MD; Helen Vergilio, ’72 Dip(Nu); Nelson Greidanus, ’93 MD.

replacement surgeries; the pediatric team performed another 15 surgeries on children, and the dental team provided dental care to about 200 adults and children in outlying rural communities.

“We had some interesting treks this year, getting the equipment up the mountain to the schools and then back down to our bus—one day during a rainstorm,” remembers Vivien Wulff, ’78 BCom. Vivien, the chief operating officer of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry,

One Village at a Time n 2004, licensed realtor Leslee Greenaway, ’78 BSc, ’89 MSc, made an impulsive decision that would change her life forever. Needing a break from her routine, Leslee picked up the phone and booked herself on a three-week African safari, something she had wanted to do since childhood. The package tour took her around Kenya and Tanzania, and, although it was exciting staying in five-star hotels, “the contrast to the way average people were living was shameful,” she says. During her travel she developed a great admiration for the people of Kenya, who showed hope and passion despite insurmountable daily hardships. When Leslee returned to Canada, she knew she

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A Kenyan villager presents Leslee with a melon as a sign of gratitude.

wanted to do something to make a difference in the lives of the people she had met. The solution to improving their lives, she believed, had to begin at the village level — one village at a time. And so the Alberta-based non-profit organization Save-a-Village was born. The mission of Save-a-Village is to provide clean water, proper

nutrition, education and medical care to the poverty-stricken orphans, widows, grandmothers and families in Kenya’s rural Nyanza Province. Helping villages to become self-sustainable is the ultimate goal. So far, Save-aVillage has helped the village of Omondi by building a school, a medical clinic, a community hall,

makes the trip annually to assist the dentists and hygienists. The children “very bravely” endured multiple procedures in makeshift dental clinics, she says. “Every year there are more people than we can help,” says Tom. “But the patients are always incredibly grateful.” —Julia Necheff, ’81 BA, ’83 BA(Cert)

a rainwater harvesting system, and bio-sand filters for access to clean drinking water. Leslee has also worked to improve the village’s agricultural yields, introduced adult literacy classes, and helped install two playgrounds, which provide recreation for 500 children. “It’s amazing what can be done with a little effort,” she says. “The rewards” — both for the village and for her personally — “are indescribable.” Leslee’s plan for the future is to turn her attention to a second village, where she will continue training locals on issues of health, nutrition, sanitation, agriculture, teaching and entrepreneurship. To find out more information about Save-a-Village, e-mail Leslee at lesleegreenaway@yahoo.ca or visit saveavillage.ca. —Janice Annett, ’11 BCom

(L–R) Back Row: Mark Arnison, Bonnie Gregory, and Andreas Illig. Front row: Tami Cooper and Steven Bell.

Tami Cooper, ’82 BMus, produced her latest flute recording, More Than One True Love, with the quintet, Celtara, in January 2011. A flutist and vocalist, Tami was instrumental in founding the five-piece band, which also includes Mark Arnison, ’83 BSc(MechE), ’90 MBA (bodhran, percussion); Steven Bell, ’99 BDes, ’03 MDes (accordion, piano, vocals); Bonnie Gregory (violin, harp, vocals); and Andreas Illig (guitar, Irish bouzouki). Of the group’s inspiration for their album, Tami writes, “We are all engaged in work and other interests that we enjoy, have families that sustain us, and we love playing music with one another —in other words, we all have more than one true love in our lives.” Since graduating from the U of A, Tami has remained in Edmonton where she teaches music and works as a freelance musician.

Kit Koon, BA, of Edmonton, writes, “I am thrilled to move back to the valley of green and gold after spending the past decade and a half in Lotus Land. Over the years I have used my language training from U of A teaching, translating Japanese Anime for subtitling, working as an accredited interpreter for government and community agencies, and working as a reporter/anchor for two different local ethnic media outlets in Vancouver.” Kit is working for OMNI TV as the anchor for Cantonese News. You can watch her on cable channels in Edmonton and Calgary, or track her down at the OMNI offices in Edmonton’s Enterprise Square. Kit also adds that she was baptized last year and got engaged in March. Shelagh Robinson, BA, writes that since graduating from the U of A her company, Mirror Read, has produced two children’s books, in both English and Frenh, as well as two Mirror Read word game applications on iTunes.

’94 Michael Bulva, BCom, Daryl O’Dowd, ’95 MSc, chief meteorologist for Weatherdyne International, was hired to keep an eye on the sky at the recent Tim Horton’s Heritage Classic hockey game in Calgary, AB. This regularly scheduled NHL game pitted Calgary against Montreal and was unique in being held outdoors at McMahon Stadium. Luckily, puck drop temperature was a seasonally appropriate -8 C, and beer was reported to stay unfrozen for almost a full period, suggesting a good time for all — except perhaps for Habs fans. The Flames won 4-0. O’Dowd stands next to a remote weather station used during the Heritage Classic hockey game in Calgary.

appeared on the CBC program Dragons’ Den in February 2011, to pitch his invention, the Solo-Strength Home Gym, a weight resistancebased piece of equipment targeted at those who find it difficult to get to the gym. Because of the interest generated by his appearance on the show, Michael will relaunch this product in a few months.

’95 Donald Vanderrick, BA, writes that he has been a member of the RCMP for almost 10 years and is currently working in Eden Valley with the Stony Nakoda people. “I work on a reserve under a Community Tripartite Agreement, my main goal being crime prevention and community justice,” he says.

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“Basically, instead of charging people, I look at the root cause and try to help families through mediation, education, referrals and prevention. I work directly with the community consultive group. We are always looking at new ways to deal with the root causes of crime. Things such as the over-representation of aboriginals in the justice system, high illiteracy rates and family violence have been problems that have plagued Eden Valley as well as other aboriginal communities in general. ” Eight alumnae were recipients of the 2010 Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards by the Women’s Executive Network for their achievements in the private, public and non-profit sectors: Margaret-Ann Armour, ’70 PhD, associate dean for diversity in the U of A’s Faculty of Science; Janet Davidson, ’84 MHSA, president and CEO of Trillium Health Centre; Susan Gallacher, ’88 LLB, president and CEO of Schedule 1 DirectCash Bank; Irene Lewis, ’80 BEd, ’84 MEd, president and CEO of SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary, AB; Cairine MacDonald, ’73 BEd, British Columbia’s deputy minister of Housing and Social Development; Loreen Paananen, ’81 BSc(Pharm), executive vice-president, retail development, Shoppers Drug Mart; Arlene Ponting, ’69 BSc(Pharm), ’95 PhD, CEO of the Science Alberta Foundation; and Jacqueline Shan, ’93 PhD, co-founder and CEO of Afexa Life Sciences Incorporated.

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Sean (left) and Tim Caulfield

In April 2010, a group of artists, scholars and scientists met in Banff, AB, to explore the questions surrounding biotechnology, which resulted in an exhibition of paintings, sculpture and drawings entitled, Perceptions of Promise: Biotechnology, Society and Art, which appeared at Calgary’s Glenbow Museum in early 2011. Participating artists and scholars include U of A alumni Sean Caulfield, ’92 BFA, ’96 MFA; Timothy Caulfield, ’87 BSc, ’90 LLB; Bernd Hildebrandt, ’73 BFA, ’80 MVA; Liz Ingram, ’76 MVA; Royden Mills, ’88 BFA, ’90 MVA; and Clint Wilson, ’85 BFA. To find out more about the project and to see an online gallery of the exhibit, visit perceptionsofpromise.com.

’99 Michelle Rae MartinAtwood, BMus, joined the faculty of the Crane School of Music, State University of New York, Potsdam, NY, in the fall of 2010 as an adjunct lecturer teaching music theory for nonmajors, aural skills and the history of sacred music. Michelle also teaches beginning piano for adults through the Center for Lifelong Education and Recreation and has designed a course through the St. Lawrence chapter of the American Guild of Organists entitled, “The King of Instruments: Introduction to the Organ for Use in Worship.” Grant Fedoruk, BSc(PT), and Anita Cassidy, ’03 BSc, ’06 MSc, will launch the RunWild Leading Edge Marathon in St. Albert, AB, on May 15, 2011. As the first foot race of its kind in St. Albert, the inaugural event will raise money for the Zebra Child Protection Centre, while also commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the City of St. Albert. Races will include a 5-km run/walk, a 10-km run, a half-marathon run/walk and a full marathon, as well as a kids program called the WildOnes Marafun.

Six alumni were recently recognized in Calgary’s Avenue magazine’s “Top 40 Under 40” list for their leadership, success and community service: Kristen Brown, ’09 BSc (Nutr/FdSc), development coordinator of Calgary’s Inter-Faith Food Bank; Michael Sikorsky, ’96 BSc(CmpE), CEO of Robots and Pencils Incorporated;

Jocelyn Grozic, ’94 BSc(CivE), ’99 PhD, associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Calgary; Lawna Hurl, ’96 BA, legal counsel for Chevron Canada Resources; Chad Saunders, ’95 BCom, station manager of CJSW Radio; and Trevor Smith, ’94 BA, director of programming at the Calgary International Film Festival.

Rina Chan, ’03 BFA, ’05 BDes, and Anthony Chan, ’05 BSc(Eng), have achieved international recognition for their photography from the Wedding and Portrait Photographers’ International (WPPI) organization. In March 2010, their photography company, Infused Studios, was recognized with seven awards for their visual, technical and creative abilities at the WPPI Photography Conference in Las Vegas, NV. Their engagement album entitled “The Pursuit” placed third in the album competition and starred fellow U of A alumni Lisa Thang, ’06 BEd, and Ken Chian, ’06 BA. To view photos from their award winning album visit: goo.gl/XmttW.

ALUMNI AMBASSADORS Volunteers giving their time and talent insupport of the University of Alberta

Alumni can get involved and give back in many ways:

• giving career advice • giving back to the community through special projects • helping with Alumni Association events • recruiting students To learn more about becoming an Alumni Ambassador, visit www.ualberta.ca/alumni/ambassador or contact Jennifer Jenkins at 780-492-6530.

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Press’d Sandwiches avin Fedorak, ’06 BCom, and Scott Gordon, ’07 BCom, have been teammates since the day they met in 2006, when both men played for the Golden Bears basketball team. And although they started careers in corporate accounting following graduation, they dreamed of one day owning a business together, perhaps a sandwich shop. The inspiration for the shop struck back in 2006, during a Golden Bears trip to Phoenix, AZ, where they stumbled upon a local hotspot, Dilly’s Deli. Dilly’s operated on a simple concept: build the best sandwiches using the finest ingredients and sell them for a fair price and business will prosper. After noshing a few dozen sandwiches that day, they wondered if this concept would work in Edmonton. Despite the daunting track record of the restaurant industry, they decided that if it could work in Phoenix, it could work in Edmonton, and they would be the team to make it happen. Fast-forward five years, and their dream has become a reality. Gavin and Scott have partnered with Gavin’s brother, Grant, to launch Press’d, in downtown Edmonton. Based in the lower level of Edmonton City Centre West, Press’d offers healthy soups and sandwiches. One of their signature sandwiches even pays homage to their former team: the “Golden Bear,” which

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(L-R) Gavin, Grant and Scott

comes with smoked chicken, baked brie, roasted apples, spinach and fig jam. Since its grand opening in September 2010, Press’d has capitalized on one of the coldest winter seasons in recent memory. Downtown workers are sticking to the pedway system for lunch, and the trendy offerings and chic decor at Press’d have won a huge — and loyal — clientele. The shop is already turning a profit, with demand for its sandwiches, soups and catering growing daily. And even though it’s been a bit of an adjustment for Grant and Scott to switch from a regular nine-to-five office job to beginning work at 5:00 a.m., baking bread for the day’s sandwiches, they plan to introduce the Press’d brand into new markets in the near future. Teamwork — and the hunger for a quick, cheap and healthy sandwich — has changed the lives of these two grads forever. —Janice Annett, ’11 BCom

’00s

“I recently started a small farm east of Edmonton where I produce vegetables, honey and free-range eggs.” You can follow Tracey’s farming adventures on her blog: northcookinglake.wordpress.com.

Nicole Hornett, BSc, writes that she is working in Airdrie, AB, as a farm safety coordinator with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, and has started work toward a certificate in environmental and occupational health with the University of Victoria’s Distance Education Services.

’04 Greg Stevens, BA, of

’07 Nate Box, BSc, and Sharon

’03 Tracey Smith, BSc, writes,

Yeo, ’05 BEd, were recently honoured as restaurateur and media activist, respectively, on Western Living magazine’s 2011 list of the “Top 40 Foodies under 40.” Box was recognized for his Edmonton eatery, Elm Café, and Yeo for her food blog, onlyhereforthefood.ca.

Vancouver, BC, writes that after graduating from the U of A, he pursued his interest in racing by moving to Toronto, ON, where he participated in a racing program that consisted of building and maintaining a Formula 2000 race car and instructing people in how to race it on a track. Later, he worked as a “jackman” and a chassis mechanic for an American NASCAR team. After switching careers several years ago, Greg now works as an investment and life insurance advisor and enjoys working with people and educating them about their financial health. He also recently joined the Vancouver Rotary Club, plays competitive hockey in the Vancouver area, and is engaged to be married in August.

Kaj Johnson, BA, an athlete on the Canadian National Luge Team, reports that he placed 13th in the FIL Würz Energy World Cup in Kindberg, Austria, in January 2011. Kaj will be returning to Austria later in the year to compete in the 2011 World Winter Games.

’10s

’10 Emma Wilkins, MPH, reports that she is back on the U of A campus working at the Centre for Health Promotion Studies with the Alberta Health School Community Wellness Fund.

’05 Niki Kux-Kardos, BCom, recently visited the U of A campus to speak about her work as a family business facilitator. Niki is the founder of Nexus Facilitation.

Guillaume Tardif, MBA, an internationally renowned violinist, performed at Carnegie Hall in New York on March 25, 2011. Guillaume is an associate professor and string coordinator in the department of Music at the U of A.

Amy Clarkson (Webber), BSc, reports that she is working as an environmental scientist for Matrix Solutions, Inc., of Grande Prairie, AB. Jennifer Flanders-VanderHoek, BA(Ed), recently published her first novel, The Phantom of Lone Pine Lake, about an orphan girl searching for her father while solving a murder. The novel is geared towards reluctant readers, ages 13 and up, and can be purchased at blurb.com.

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In Memoriam The Alumni Association notes with sorrow the passing of the following graduates:

’31 Lorna Jean Jay (Chisholm), Dip(Nu), of Kitimat, BC, in February 2011 ’34 Victor Thomas, BSc(ChemEng), ’36 BSc(MineralEng), of Ottawa, ON, in November 2010 ’38 Eileen Violet Mason (Bawden), BA, ’60 BEd, of Fort Macleod, AB, in December 2010 Kenneth Andrew Clarke, BSc, ’40 MD, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2010 Miriam Anita Dougall (Amundsen), BA, of Claresholm, AB, in November 2010

’39 Edward Joseph Godard, BSc(MiningEng), of North Vancouver, BC, in June 2010

Jack Duncan Harper, BSc(ChemEng), of Calgary, AB, in January 2011

Eli Ambrosie, BSc(Pharm), of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011

Thomas Wesley James, DDS, of Victoria, BC, in November 2010

Margaret Lilas Christensen, Dip(Ed), of Calgary, AB, in January 2011

Helen Irene Coroon, BEd, of Cobble Hill, BC, in January 2011

’46 Barbara Mary Mayhood, BA, of Kelowna, BC, in December 2010

Richard Joseph McCaffrey, BSc, of Calgary, AB, in February 2011

Myrtle Irene Blain (Magnuson), Dip(Pharm), of Calgary, AB, in January 2011

William Archibald Moore, BSc(ChemEng), of Calgary, AB, in February 2011

’56 Jean Ashmore Hudson, BEd, ’63 MEd, of Clitheroe, UK, in November 2010 John Morrison, BEd, ’56 Dip(Ed), of Calgary, AB, in January 2011

’47 Allan Lockwood Hepburn, BSc, ’48 MD, of Vancouver, BC, in November 2010

’51 George Leslie Talbot, BEd, of Lethbridge, AB, in December 2010

Phillip Aloysius Lamoureux, BEd, ’64 MEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2011

Dorothy Margaret Boyle, BSc(Pharm), of Kelowna, BC, in May 2010 Harold Bruce Gish, BEd, ’53 MEd, of Calgary, AB, in January 2011

Josephine Novakowski, Dip(Ed), of Delta, BC, in February 2011 Karl Christian Ivarson, BSc(Ag), ’53 MSc, of Calgary, AB, in August 2010

Kenneth McNabb Simpson, BSc, of Abbotsford, BC, in November 2010

’52 Anthony Valentine Kallal, BSc(MiningEng), ’61 BSc(Pharm), of Edmonton, AB, in December 2010

Mary Gander (Frost), BSc, ’42 MA, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011

Robert C. Dilke, BSc(CivEng), of Victoria, BC, in August 2010

Frances Doreen Hiron, BSc, of Stittsville, ON, in February 2011

John Corbett Staples, BA, ’48 MD, of Sidney, BC, in October 2010

Samuel Stanley Hein, BSc, ’48 MD, of Lethbridge, AB, in November 2010

Hazel Macdonald Peterson, Dip(Nu), of Edmonton, AB, in February 2011

’40 Agnes Alma Johnson (Ballantyne), BA, ’41 Dip(Ed), of Vernon, BC, in June 2010

Stanley W. Sawicki, BEd, ’58 MEd, of Lethbridge, AB, in January 2010

Henry James Charles, BEd, ’58 MEd, of St. Clairsville, OH, in December 2010

’48 Alfred Gordon Gibson, BSc, ’52 MD, of Abbotsford, BC, in January 2011

’53 Elsie Dorothy Milne (Chivilo), Dip(Ed), of Fort Macleod, AB, in November 2010

Miriam Jean Hutchinson (Horn), BSc(HEc), of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010 Robert Carss Jamieson, BSc, ’49 MD, of Sherwood Park, AB, in November 2010

Robert Bruce Walker, BSc(ChemEng), of Des Moines, WA, in December 2010

’49 George R. Younie, BSc, of Nanaimo, BC, in January 2011

Jadwiga Pierzchajlo, Dip(Ed), ’54 BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011 Katherine Stuart McAllister, BEd, ’61 BA, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011

’57 Adolph William Goettel, BSc(Ag), ’62 MSc, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010 Sheila Mary Edwards (Mooney), BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2010

’58 Edward William Overbo, BSc, ’61 BEd, of New Norway, AB, in January 2011 John Alan Bryan, BA, ’59 LLB, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2010 Perry Baird, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011

’59 James Benjamin Ferguson, BSc(CivEng), of Hazelton, BC, in December 2010 John Martin Liivam, BSc(Ag), ’62 BEd, of Abbotsford, BC, in October 2010 Marvin Benno Bayer, BSc(ElecEng), of Slocan, BC, in December 2010

’41 Douglas Harcourt Galbraith, BCom, of Calgary, AB, in November 2010

Gordon Ellis McCormack, BSc(ChemEng), of London, ON, in October 2010

Ian Graham Dunlap, BSc, ’46 BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010

Miles Hudson Patterson, BA, ’50 LLB, of Calgary, AB, in January 2011

Margaret Jean Saunders, BEd, of Calgary, AB, in November 2010

Katharine Martha Bailey (Van Der Mark), BSc(HEc), of Southampton, ON, in October 2010

Paul D. Tillemann, BA, of Calgary, AB, in February 2011

’54 Elmer Roy Eburne, DDS, of Delta, BC, in November 2010

Philip John Wacowich, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010

Gerald James Kirkpatrick, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2010

Robert Andrew Weeks, BA, ’50 LLB, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010

John Mekechuk, BSc(CivEng), ’81 MEng, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011

Walter Holmes Worth, BEd, ’52 MEd, of Nanaimo, BC, in December 2010

Lyda Toth (Novak), Dip(Ed), of Pickardville, AB, in November 2010

Robert Donald Freeze, BA, ’47 LLB, of Calgary, AB, in January 2011

’50 Alan Ferguson Affleck, Dip(Ed), ’51 BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2011

Mark J. Baron, BSc(CivEng), of Ottawa, ON, in February 2011

’43 Evelyn Marie Black, BCom, of Calgary, AB, in December 2010

Claire Madeline Robertson, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011

William Richard Duke, BSc, ’57 BEd, ’66 MEd, ’70 PhD, of Victoria, BC, in December 2010

Sigurd Balfour, MD, of Lethbridge, AB, in December 2010

Craig Wilfred Edwards, BSc(Ag), of Calgary, AB, in November 2010

Yataro Iwasaki, DDS, of Kamloops, BC, in January 2010

Walter Dunham Gainer, BSc(Ag), of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011

Gino Leone D’Appolonia, BSc, ’54 MD, of Trail, BC, in January 2011

’55 Arthur Otto Jorgensen, BEd, ’61 BA, of Edson, AB, in February 2011

Mary Nancy Forster, Dip(Nu), ’61 BSc(Nu), of Fort McMurray, AB, in February 2011

’45 Andrew Sheldon Gibson, BSc, of Calgary, AB, in December 2010

Isabella Cooper Stevenson, MD, of Calgary, AB, in February 2011

Dale Leith Hunter, BSc(Pharm), of Palm Springs, CA, in January 2011

Thomas Arthur Hatch, BSc(CivEng), of Victoria, BC, in December 2010

Robert Guy Williams, BSc, ’43 MD, of Calgary, AB, in December 2010

’42 Patrick Blair Rose, MD, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011 Queena Esther Klein, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011

54

Marguerite Irene Henry (Hayes), BSc, of West Vancouver, BC, in March 2010

new trail

Spring 2011

Lois Mary Brinton, BSc(HEc), of West Vancouver, BC, in February 2011

G. Mercyn Lloyd, BA, of Qualicum Beach, BC, in January 2011 Victor Shymanski, BSc, ’64 BEd, of Calgary, AB, in November 2010

’60 Allan Manuel Stein, MD, of Scottsdale, AZ, in January 2011 Christopher Davidson, BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011 Claude Rudolph Owen, BA, ’61 MA, of St. Catharines, ON, in February 2011 Glen Scott Shortliffe, BA, of Ottawa, ON, in May 2010 Heather Ruth Tillotson, BA, ’78 BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010 John Anthony Hustwick, BA, ’64 LLB, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010 Lou-Anne Dallison (Carscadden), Dip(Nu), of Bragg Creek, AB, in November 2010

William Gordon Leslie, MSc, of Calgary, AB, in November 2010

Elsie Marie Stitsen, BEd, of Westlock, AB, in December 2010

Paul Lucas, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2010

’83 Brian Theodore Tywoniuk, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010

’61 Thomas David Morrow, BSc(Ag), ’64 BEd, of Thorsby, AB, in November 2010

Janet Elizabeth Kennedy, Dip(DentHyg), of Burnaby, BC, in January 2010

’74 Bohdan Taras Boruszczak, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2011

’85 Patricia Claire Leske, BEd, ’91 MEd, ’02 PhD, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010

William George Tatton, BSc, ’65 MD, of Almonte, ON, in January 2011

June Carol Chen (Smith), Dip(Nu), of Dexter, MO, in November 2010

’62 Carol Ann Cowell, MD, of Port Perry, ON, in January 2011

Morris Simons, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010

Mary Katherine Petley-Jones, BA, ’77 SpecCert(Arts), of South Cooking Lake, AB, in December 2010

Dmetro Hunchak, BSc(ElecEng), of Edmonton, AB, in February 2011

Rudolph R. Luttmer, BEd, of Calgary, AB, in February 2011

Peter M. Zapisocky, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011

Peter John Miller, BEd, ’65 MEd, ’69 PhD, of St. Albert, AB, in January 2011

’69 Ernestine Pauline Battryn, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2010

Nick George Hauca, BEd, ’68 BA, of Willingdon, ON, in January 2011

’70 Heather Anne Yuschyshyn (Wheeler), Dip(RM), ’79 BSc(OT), of Edmonton, AB, in February 2011

’75 Garry Wilfred Hannigan, Dip(Ed), of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010

Mary Sawchyn, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in May 2010

Shiu Hung Luk, PhD, of Mississauga, ON, in February 2011

Rita Alma Durand, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2011

’76 Kevin Ernest Shaw, BMedSc, ’78 MD, of Boca Raton, FL, in January 2011

Gary Erhard Pansegrau, BCom, ’65 BEd, ’73 Dip(Ed), of St. Albert, AB, in January 2011

’71 Donald Edward McGregor, PhD, of North York, ON, in September 2010

’77 Carmela Amelio-McCaw, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011

Nick Mosychuk, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in April 2010

Ellen Mae Krywiak, BA, ’76 Dip(Ed), of Myrnam, AB, in February 2011

Christopher Paul Gonnet, BPE, ’91 MEd, of Grande Prairie, AB, in January 2011

’91 Christine Leigh Humphreys, BSc(HEc), of Calgary, AB, in December 2010

Henri Paul Chatenay, BEd, of Red Deer, AB, in December 2010

John Dennis Johnson, BEd, of Calgary, AB, in January 2011

’92 Mark Anthony Glaser, BSc(PetEng), of Calgary, AB, in January 2011

Irene Sylvia Gordey (Oshanyk), BEd, of Peace River, AB, in January 2011

Valerie Irene Nielson, BEd, of Camrose, AB, in December 2010

Donald Leslie McDougall, BSc(ChemEng), of Lamont, AB, in January 2011

Mary Poohkay, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2010

Victoria Odynski, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2010

Sylvia James (Hargreaves), BSc(HEc), ’99 LLB, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2010

William Edwin Marx, BEd, of High Prairie, AB, in November 2010

’78 David Albert Stuart, BEd, ’81 LLB, of Vegreville, AB, in December 2010

Karen Eleanor Brimacombe, BEd, of Calgary, AB, in November 2010

’72 Arthur Glen Kirkland, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2010

Thomas Clayton Besse, BEd, of Calgary, AB, in November 2010

Darlene Margaret Senio, BEd, of Leduc, AB, in December 2010

Gisele Marie Kleinmann (Bordeleau), BEd, of Bonnyville, AB, in December 2010

Olga Rachel Dorish, BEd ,’73 (Dip)Ed, of Sherwood Park, AB, in June 2010

Elizabeth Georgina Mackie, BEd, ’78 Dip(Ed), ’81 MEd, of Peachland, BC, in November 2010

Russel John Terlesky, BSc(MineralEng), of Calgary, AB, in December 2010

’63 Douglas Lorne Hayes, BPE, of London, ON, in October 2010

’65 Dale James Drever, BA, ’67 BEd, of Salt Spring Island, BC, in December 2010 Dennis Eugene Konasewich, BSc, of West Vancouver, BC, in October 2010

’66 Elgin Arthur Wells, BA, of St. Thomas, ON, in March 2010 Johann Bartholdt Ludwig, BEd, ’70 MEd, of Edmonton, AB, in October 2010 Shayne Hazen Page, BA, ’70 BEd, of Cardiff Echoes, AB, in December 2010

Elizabeth May Forseth, BEd, ’97 MLIS, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2010 Gregory Robert Fraser, BSc, ’75 Dip(Ed), of Richmond, BC, in December 2010

Charles F. Cotton, BSc(CivEng), of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010

William John Hooper, BA, of Toronto, ON, in November 2010

’86 Edward John Karpetz, DDS, of Calgary, AB, in December 2010 Philip Louie, DDS, of Calgary, AB, in December 2010

’87 Michael Ronald Edwards, SpecCert(Sc), of Whitehorse, YK, in January 2011 Valerie Joan Brenton, BEd, of Birchdale, BC, in November 2010

’88 Anne Mervina Townsend, BA(RecAdmin), of Lloydminster, AB, in February 2011 Manfred Karl Rockel, BSc(PetEng), of Calgary, AB, in January 2011

’90 Marie Claire Yuen, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in August 2010

’93 Mina-Ann Elizabeth King, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010 Valerie Diane Wolski, BA, of Camrose, AB, in February 2011

’95 Brian Paul Spilak, BSc(MechEng), of Sherwood Park,AB, in February 2011

Susan Leslie Campbell, BA, ’83 MA, of Halifax, NS, in February 2011

Patricia Janet Rykes, BEd, of Sherwood Park, AB, in January 2011

Ricky Lance Kisilevich, BA, ’84 LLB, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011

’96 Salima Ladha (Dada), BSc(OT), of Calgary, AB, in December 2010

’80 Leonard Ted Kurowski, BCom, of Calgary, AB, in September 2010

’98 Bradley Reeves, BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in 2007

Mary Elizabeth Mathias, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2011

’00 Rodney Steven Murray, BPE, ’03 MA, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010

’81 Keva Marie Bethel, PhD, of Nassau, Bahamas, in February 2011

Winnifred Ann Kolodkewych, BEd, ’70 BA, of Vegreville, AB, in February 2011

Mary Georgina Baxter, Dip(OT), ’73 BSc(OT), of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010

’67 David Zukerman, BSc(Ag), of Calgary, AB, in February 2011

’73 Douglas Gordon Orbeck, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011

Karen Charlyne Rosehill, BEd, of Sundre, AB, in December 2010

Edith Anne Aitken, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2010

Moses Charuwanang Chirambo, MD, of Lilongwe, Malawi, in August 2010

Jeannette Lillian Lagadyn (Floria), BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2010

’82 Frances Gertrude Stelck (McDowell), BA, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011

’68 Clifford Joseph Perritt, BEd, ’69 BA, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2011

Lovie Geny Nimchuk, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2011

Robert John Kleinmann, BEd, of Bonnyville, AB, in December 2010

Sally Joan Andrekson, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2010 Susan Carol Jurczak, BA, ’88 BSc(OT), of Mansfield, CT, in December 2010

’06 Kristy Lynn Beinert, BSc(ElecEng), of Edmonton, AB, in December 2010 ’10 Dustin John Campbell, BSc, of Stettler, AB, in January 2010

*** Submit remembrances about U of A graduates by sending a text file to alumni@ualberta.ca. Tributes are posted on the “In Memoriam” webpage at www.ualberta.ca/alumni. Spring 2011

new trail

55

photo finish

Train Wreck T

his is one image from an exhibition titled “Glimpses of the Prairie Provinces from the Golden Age of Postcards.” It’s part of the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library and is on display at the U of A’s Rutherford Library (South) until June 24. The exhibition consists of postcards from the settlement and urbanization of the Canadian Northwest. The complete Prairie Provinces Postcard Collection contains thousands of historic images of the Old West. This postcard shows a train car hanging precariously off a collapsed Canadian Northern Railway bridge near Saskatoon, SK. Twelve passengers were injured, two seriously, in the accident which happened on March 12, 1912, as the CNR train was en route to Regina, SK. The last cars of the train jumped the track knocking out one span of the bridge, sending the sleeping car, “Kipling,” down onto the ice, 57 feet below. For more information on the postcard display, visit www.library.ualberta.ca/specialcollections.

56

new trail

Spring 2011

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Tune T une & Cruise Cruise May M ay 14 ($5, K Kids ids 8 - 12 2 fr free) ee) Dust bike, become D ust off yyour our old bik e, get g it rroad o oad rready eeady and b ecome riding. Bike mechanicss will b bee onmoree ccomfortable omfortable ridin ng. Bik ke mechanic sitee tto tune-up about maintenance. sit o tune -up and tteach eacch yyou ou ab out maint enance. through river TThen h hen join a guided ride thr ro ough the riv ver e vvalley alley wheree yyou trail etiquette, points wher ou will learn tr rail a etiquett e, visit p oints of interest, have chance prizes! (Kids int ereest, and hav ve a cha ance tto o win priz es! (K Kiids 8 and welcome.) up p aree w elcomee.))

Swing S wing into into Summ Summer er - G Golf olf ffor or B Beginners eginners June 13 -22 ($50 ffor or o 4 sessions) Want friends Wa ant to to join yyour our friend ds and colleagues takee colleagues on the ccourse oursse or tak up a new hobby? workshop hobb by? y The Th he w o orkshop will ccover basicss of over game basic o swing, swing g, pitch drive. Individual pitch and driv e. Individu ual attention from pro. attention fr rom o a tteaching eachiing pro o. Space Space is limited. limited d.

Paddle P addle ddl through th ough thr h Time Time i July 9 ($30) Paddle from Paddle the North North Saskatchewan Saskat a chew wa an fr rom o Devon Devon to to Edmonton Edmonton in a vvoyageur oyageu ur ccanoe, anoe, stop stop for lunch at Big Island, from Island d, and see the city citty and a Fort For o t Edmonton Ed dmonton fr rom o a new p perspective. erspective. Space Space is limited. limited d.

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r leer e l avel trav China C hi and hina d th the Y Yangtze angtz a t eR River iver iv September S eptember 25-October 25-October 8, 2011 1 Discover great diversity People’s witness D iscover the gr eat div ersitty of thee P eople’s Republic of China and witne ess a rremarkable emark e kable a culture. You’ll explore legendary Great Wall; experience Gorges cultur re. Y ou o ’lll explor re the legenda arry Gr reeat W a all; exp erience the dramatic drra amatic Three Thre h ee G orrg ges River Xi’an, army warriors; on a Yangtze Yangtz a eR ivver e cruise; visit Xi ’an, a home of the ffamous a amous arm my of tterra-cotta errra a-cotta w arriors; a beauty immerse yyourself ourself in the b eautty off Guilin during a cruise along the serene serrene e Li River; Rivver er; and marvel modern mar vel e at the mo dern hustle hustle and d bustle of Shanghai. FFrom rom US$3,790 per person (airfare (airfare a e not included)

Treasures Tr reasures of East A Africa frica October Oc tober 24-No 24-November vember 7, 2011 walking Imagine waking wak a ing in the morning and a watching wat a ching zebras zebrras a w alk a ing along grass-filled for prey, gr rass a -filled plains, plainss, cheetahs searching searrching c prreeyy, colourful colourful birds bird ds soaring g to to sky, stretching dream becomes on the sk ky, or lions stre etching lazily in n the sun. TThe h he dr reeam b ecomes a rreality eali e itty o once-in-a-lifetime adventure best and this onc e-in-a-lifetime adv enturre that visits the b est national parks in Tanzania Tan a Kenya. K en enya. JJoin oin this exclusive exclusive small-group small-gro g oup accommodating accommodating a maximum maximum of o 28 travellers, trra avvellers, e s, for an experience experience that will resonate resonat e e with w vivid memories for years years to to ccome. omee. (airfare FFrom: rom: US$5,770 per person (air fa arre not included)

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www.ualberta.ca/alumni/travel w ww.ualberta.ca//alumni/travel or call 780-49 780-492-1835 92-1835

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