New Trail Spring 2009 by University of Alberta Alumni

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IT’S A WRAP!

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CAMPAIGN 2008: SUCCESS FROM A TO Z

Special Inside! Alumni Weekend 2009 24 pages of events

October 1 – 4, 2

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Enhance Your Investment Strategy with the New Tax Free Savings Account Starting January 2009, you will have a new way to build your savings with the Government of Canada’s introduction of the Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA). The TFSA will allow you to save or invest money without paying tax on the income it earns. Consider it as complement to an RRSP. Depending on your specific needs, you can use them together for a taxefficient and flexible way to save. Flexible Savings and Tax Treatment Like an RRSP, qualifying investments for your TFSA include: cash, GICs, mutual funds, publicly traded securities, government and corporate bonds. Contributions to a TFSA are not deductible for tax purposes, however, interest and investment income, including capital gains,earned in a TFSA is not taxable, even when withdrawn. TFSA Highlights • Beginning in January 2009, Canadian residents aged 18 and older can save up to $5,000 every year in a TFSA. • Unused TFSA contribution room can be carried forward to future years. • You can withdraw funds from the TFSA at any time for any purpose. • The amount withdrawn can be put back in the TFSA at a later date without reducing your contribution room. • Neither income earned in a TFSA nor withdrawals will affect your eligibility for federal income tested benefits and credits. • Contributions to a spouse’s TFSA will be allowed and TFSA assets can be transferred to a spouse upon death. Contact me today to open your Tax Free Savings Account.

Henry Thor Financial Advisor

Tel: 780-414-2510 Email: henry.thor@raymondjames.ca • www.henrythor.com Raymond James Ltd. Suite 2300, Scotia Place Tower 1 10060 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton AB, T5J 3R8 **Deposits cannot be made into your TFSA until January 2, 2009 but accounts can be opened in advance. Your 2009 tax-free contribution limit is $5000.

new trail Vo l u m e

6 4

N u m b e r

BASECAMP

features 13

It’s a Wrap

Mamma Mia

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Town & Gown

Forget Me Not

Law and Order

An Alumni Affairs à bientôt

On the cover: Olds Art Building

The A to Z of what the U of A’s Campaign 2008 accomplished A grad’s balancing act includes children, acting, music... and fame The story of the “other” U of A campuses — Saint-Jean and Augustana Out and about in the colleges and commons of Cambridge, England The story of some iconic U of A objects that have returned to the fold Making sense of other people’s wills led one lawyer to settle her own We say “see you later” to Susan Peirce who steps down after 28 years

departments 2

Your Letters Our readers write to us

Bear Country Goings-on around the U of A

11 Landmarks Accolades, honours and other milestones

42 Bookmarks University pages to be proud of

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

45 Alumni Events Our alma mater branches out

47 Class Notes Keeping classmates up-to-date

54 In Memoriam Bidding farewell to friends

56 Tuck Shop Taking a page out of the past

HERE’S HOW TO REACH US ... E-mail your comments, questions, address updates, and class notes to alumni@ualberta.ca. Join the Alumni Association’s online community at www.ualberta.ca/alumni. Call the New Trail reader response line at 780-492-1702. To advertise in New Trail contact Bonnie Lopushinsky at 780-417-3464 or bl5@ualberta.ca New Trail, the University of Alberta Alumni Association magazine, is published quarterly (circulation: 125,000). 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.

S TAY I N T O U C H On the Move? To keep receiving New Trail wherever you go call 780-492-3471 or 1-866-492-7516 (toll-free in North America) or e-mail your address change to alumrec@ualberta.ca.

WOW, what a year! Everyone in the University community and alumni around the globe stepped up with enthusiasm and embraced the opportunity to showcase the University of Alberta to the world during our Centenary celebrations that officially came to a close on April 21, 2009. Campus came alive with a myriad of lectures and special events, including the unique opportunity to hear from each of the living prime ministers of Canada during the Conversations with the Prime Ministers Series. During the Centenary Homecoming we celebrated all things green and gold while welcoming over 13,000 alumni back to campus to visit with their faculties and former classmates at open houses, lectures, receptions and the big Centenary Gala. The City of Edmonton pulled out all the stops for Homecoming, lighting the waterfall on the High Level Bridge with green and gold lights, blanketing the city with U of A banners and bathing City Hall in green and gold light. I hope that you as an alumnus of the University felt pride in your alma mater as you read our special issues of New Trail. Your Letters to the Editor and notes to our office indicated that you enjoyed the look to the past as well as the look into the future. After such an incredible high note in my career, I, too, will be looking to the future. On July 1, 2009, I will be retiring from my position as Director of Alumni Affairs. It was an incredible journey and a privilege to be in this role. I have seen amazing accomplishments at this University and am pleased to have participated in proudly proclaiming our success to the world. The Alumni Office has expanded from two, to a staff of 23 since I joined in 1981. This happened because the senior administration, deans and the entire university community realized how important alumni are in making the University the best that it can be. I am leaving a team of talented and capable staff in the office who are committed to moving on to even greater heights of alumni engagement with the University. My greatest joy has been the relationships that I developed with alumni who have so generously given of their wisdom, talents and support. Many of you have become lifelong friends. Although I will no longer working in the alumni office, I will always be an alumni— the best ambassadors for the University. Susan Peirce, ’70 BA Executive Director, Alumni Association Spring 2009

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Director Susan Peirce, ’70 BA Supervising Editor Rick Pilger Editor Kim Green Associate Editor Sarah Ligon Contributing Editor Jodeen Litwin, ’90 BSc Art Director Lisa Hall, ’89 BA Advisory Board Deb Hammacher Ruth Kelly, ’78 BA John Mahon, ’76 BMus, ’83 MBA Douglas Olsen, ’86 BSc, ’88 MBA, ’92 PhD OFFICE OF ALUMNI A F FA I R S

Executive Director Susan Peirce, ’70 BA Associate Director/Manager, Alumni Education Programs Rick Pilger Associate Director/Manager, Alumni Branches Gina Wheatcroft, ’94 BEd Executive Project Manager Coleen Graham, ’88 BSc(HEc), ’93 MEd Finance and HR Administrator Jacquie Reinprecht Coordinator, Alumni Branches Andrea Dunnigan, ’03 BCom Assistants, Alumni Branches Cristine Myhre Coordinator, Alumni Chapters John Perrino, ’93 BA(RecAdmin) Assistant, Alumni Chapters Vi Warkentin Communications Manager Kim Green Communications Associate Sarah Ligon Assistant to the Director Diane Tougas Assistant, Alumni Education Angela Tom, ’03 BA Coordinator, Graphic Communications Lisa Hall, ’89 BA Coordinator, Electronic Communication Services Debbie Yee, ’92 BA Coordinator, Alumni Recognition Jodeen Litwin, ’90 BSc Assistant, Alumni Recognition Ishani Weera, ’04 BA Manager, Marketing and Special Events Tracy Salmon, ’91 BA, ’96 MSc Assistant, Alumni Services Ann Miles Coordinator, Alumni Special Events Colleen Elliott, ’94 BEd Assistant, Alumni Special Events Jennifer Jenkins, ’95 BEd Coordinator, Students & Young Alumni Chloe Chalmers, ’00 BA HOW TO CONTACT THE OFFICE OF ALUMNI AFFAIRS

Write to us at: University of Alberta, Main Floor, Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, AB T5J 4P6 Phone: 780-492-3224 or toll-free in Canada and the U.S. at 1-800-661-2593 Fax: 780-492-1568 To advertise in New Trail contact Bonnie

new trail

Spring 2009

Letters

ALUMNI COUNCIL 2008–2009

Of Like Minds

Change that Charge

Executive Committee President Jim Hole, ’79 BSc(Ag) Past-President / Vice-President Nominating & Bylaws Heike Juergens, ’72 BA, ’79 MEd, ’87 PhD Vice-President: Awards Deni Lorieau, ’73 BA Vice-President: Centenary Jim Hole, ’79 BSc (Ag) Vice-President: Scholarships Stacey Denham Gibson, ’95 BA(Aug), ’98 LLB Board of Governors Representatives Dick Wilson, ’74 BA, ’75 LLB Bill Cheung, ’86 LLB Vice-President: Student Life Anand Pandarinath, ’93 BSc(For), ’00 MBA, ’00 MFor Senate Representatives Kerry Day, ’80 LLB Judy Zender, ’67 BA Vice-President: Volunteer Engagement Stephen Leppard, ’86 BEd, ’92 MEd, ’03 EDD Secretary Jennifer Rees, ’80 BSc (PT) Faculty Representatives Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences Anand Pandarinath, ’93 BSc(For), ’00 MBA, ’00 MFor Arts Colleen Judge, ’87 BA, ’90 MA, ’99 PhD Augustana Stacey Denham Gibson, ’95 BA(Aug), ’98 LLB Business Jane Halford, ’95 BCom Dentistry Cornell Lee, ’01 BSc, ’03 DDS Education Don Fleming, ’76 BEd Engineering Jim Funk, ’78 BCom, ’86 BSc(Eng) Graduate Studies Marlene Keanie, ’86 BEd, ’01 MEd, ’07 EdD Law Bryan Kickham, ’71 BA, ’74 LLB Medicine Larry Jewell, ’63 BA, ’68 MD Native Studies Heather Taylor, ‘97 BA (NS) Nursing Carol Duggan, ’59 Dip(Nu) Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Rose Anne Lawton, ’73 BSc(Pharm) Physical Education and Recreation Hugh Hoyles, ’66 BPE Public Health Grant Frame, ’87 BSc, ’93 MHSA Rehabilitation Medicine Anne Lopushinsky, ’79 BSc(SPA) Campus Saint-Jean Deni Lorieau, ’73 BA Science Mark Polet, ’77 BSc Members at Large Terry Freeman, ’82 BCom Brent McDonough, ’77 BSc, ’79 BEd Ex Officio Executive Director Susan Peirce, ’70 BA Graduate Students’ Association Ben Whynot Students’ Union Janelle Morin Academic Dr. Frank Robinson U of A Vice-President (External Relations) Sandra Conn Honorary President Indira Samarasekera

Having just finished reading

I found the University’s decision

James Muir’s thoughtful analy-

to reduce the role of God in the

sis in New Trail’s winter edition

convocation ceremony most

[pg. 27], I simply wish to con-

disturbing and unacceptable.

gratulate him on a job well

The decision should be reversed.

done. I wholeheartedly agree

The decision is just another

with his conclusion that, down

example that segments of soci-

the road, the most pressing

ety are giving up on traditions

legal issues will relate to envi-

and norms that have served

ronmental problems.

well in years past. A change is

W. K. Moore, ’49 BA, ’52 LLB, ’88 LLD (Honorary) Calgary, AB

not always better. It is a sorry day when a majority yields to the demands of a minority and that the position of a minority

Qualley Quandary

sets standards for all. It should

The Autumn 2008 issue of

be the other way! Minorities

New Trail has a Letter to the

and those with views different

Editor [The “Tooth” Be Known,

from the majority can have

pg. 4] with an editor’s note that states there is no record of Ole Kvale, [’31 DDS], having graduated from the University of Alberta. I am his daughter and he did indeed graduate. In fact, he won the gold medal for his graduating class. My brother, Eric Qualley, ’68 DDS, is also a U of A grad. Our father came from Norway and spoke no English when he began his studies at the U of A in the 1920s. His only connection to Canada was

their rights recognized but it should not be at the expense of the majority. It’s time that the values held by the majority be the norm, be respected and protected. In a democratic society the majority does have some say! Alumni who disagree with the decision the University has made should let the University know and request that the decision be reversed. C. L. Dmytruk, ’60 BSc(Eng) Edmonton, AB

an uncle who had also come

Editor’s Note: The U of A

from Norway and settled on a

Atheists and Agnostics student

farm in the Camrose, AB, area. In 1948 the family name was changed to Qualley—much easier to pronounce. My father died in 1977 and New Trail announced his passing. Susan Qualley, ’71 Dipl(DenH) Duncan, BC

group raised objections to the language commanding new grads to use their degrees for “the glory of God and the honour of your country.” The new charge to be read at the June convocation will encourage new graduates to use their degrees “for the uplifting of

Editor’s Note: We went back to

the whole people; to inspire

the 1931 Convocation Booklet

the human spirit; for all who

and, sure enough, there under

believe, to serve your God; and

the listing for DDS recipients

to pursue more steadfastly

was Ole Kvale.

whatsoever things are true.”

Hair Apparent

Helen spoke often and fondly

High (Exclamation) Marks

about her experiences at the

revolutionized the Department

Keep up the good work! I really

U of A where she knew such

of Chemistry.

enjoy keeping up-to-date with

professors as Walter Johns,

developments at the U of A.

[’70 LLD (Honorary)] and

sized Harris coming into the

The alumni magazine is just

about a time when Convocation

lecture room with a big smile

super and reading it creates

Hall was the place where you

that always put as at ease —

strong nostalgia!!!

actually attended convocation.

while shaking a volumetric

Nkosinathi Mkosi, ’04 MEd

Her influence was instrumental

flask and, with a glint in his

Together at Last

Alice, Eastern Cape

in each of her three children

eye, remarking, “you must do

I have been enjoying seeing New Trail, especially the centenary issues. I think I missed it for my first 12 years after graduation so it is welcome.

South Africa

attending university. (Her grand-

this for complete mixing, walk

daughter, Erin Creasey, ’00 BA,

up and down the hall shaking

is also a grad.) When I walk

it vigorously, it must be done at

around campus today and see

least 50 times”—still stands out

Pembina Hall where she lived,

vividly in my mind. I doubt that

Peter Mitham, ’94 MA Vancouver, BC

was a lifelong U of A supporter

or Corbett Hall where she

would that be allowed today.

studied, I always recall her sto-

And I am certain that I join the

ries of her times in Edmonton

approximately 10,000 other

and am grateful for the value

students who passed through

she placed on education.

Walter’s classes in wishing him

Barbara Hill, ’76 BA

continued good health.

Calgary, AB

Victor Snieckus, ’59 BSc

Thanks for writing such a great article [“Cine-File,” Winter 2008/2009, pg. 38] in New Trail. I’ve had many comments from readers—especially about my hair! Josh Miller, ’77 BA Edmonton, AB

Congratulations

The (Panda) Bear Facts My mother, Helen Hill (Plasteras), ’45 BCom, ’47 BEd, who was also what might be called an original ESL student — she started elementary school

Let me take this opportunity to congratulate you on the excellence of your publication. I read each issue thoroughly and still feel a part of the U of A. My mother, Hilda English, ’56 Dipl(Ed), ’57 BEd, attended Corbett Hall when it housed the Normal School program, but left after one year (1929) to teach grades one through 10 at Ryan School, a one-room schoolhouse east of Edmonton. Many of the names from those days appear in today’s obituaries, and although it is sad to think of their passing, it is a reminder of how the future of a province is shaped by the quality of its universities. I also see many names that I recognize in the magazine — my Grade 10 football coach was Clare Drake [’58 BEd, ’95 LLD (Honorary)]— and it makes me realize how fortunate I am to be an alumnus of the University of Alberta. Keep up your record of excellence. Cheers.

in Edmonton not knowing

James English, ’65 DDS Nanoose Bay, BC

much English as Greek was her first language. Helen often talked about walking with her father to the U of A campus

Shakin’ All Over

dynamic young chemists who

The image of the formidably-

Professor and Bader Chair in Organic Chemistry,

The well-written article on

where he would tell her that one

Queen’s University

Walter Harris, [’38 BSc, ’39

day she would attend this Uni-

Kingston, ON

MSc, ’91 DSc (Honorary),

versity. And attend she did... as

(New Trail, Winter 2008/2009

Bureau Eclat

well as participate. Helen was

pg. 44], warmed my heart since

an editor of various sections of

The quality of the alumni pub-

this excellent and personable

lication is top-drawer.

The Gateway, secretary treas-

teacher is one of the reasons I

urer of the Women’s Political

Rean Lauryane Smith, ’48 BEd,

am also a teacher. I also relate

Economy Club, vice-president of

’74 PhD

strongly with those Walter

the Commerce Club, a member

Edmonton, AB

mentions in the story including

of the Commerce Orchestra

Robert Wallace, [’51 LLD

Corrections:

(violin), CKUA radio’s provin-

(Honorary)], from whom I

In the Winter 2008/2009 issue

cial news director and one of

took the first sleepy analytical

of New Trail we incorrectly

six students who swallowed a

chemistry course — next year

identified the photo of Ron Gill

total of 25 live gold fish as part

Walter woke us up with excite-

(pg. 30) as that of Peter Allard.

of the fundraising effort for the

ment; R.B. Sandin, [’16 BSc,

We apologize for any confusion

World Student Relief Fund. But

’19 MSc], who made organic

this may have caused.

probably of most significance to

chemists out of many of us by

many U of A alumni is a report

doing experiments in test tubes

in the February 1945 issue of

in front of the class of less than

comments about the

the The Gateway about a stu-

10 honours chemistry students;

magazine. Send us your

dent named Helen Plasteras

and Harry Gunning, [’83 DSc

letters via postal mail or

suggesting the name “pandas”

(Honorary)], whom Walter

e-mail to the address on

for the then-unnamed women’s

brought in and, in turn, who

sports teams.

brought in a number of

We would like to hear your

page 2. Letters may be edited for length or clarity.

Spring 2009

new trail

bear country

A JobWith Its Own T

he yo-yos designed by Chris Mikulin, ’02 BSc(Eng), are nothing like the ones you remember from childhood. Depending on your age, those yo-yos would be either those cheap wooden ones from the Five & Dime store or the plastic ones from the dollar-store that were always getting tangled up in knots. Mikulin, a mechanical engineer by trade, produces yo-yos made of aircraft-quality anodized aluminum and cut to a precision of 0.0005 inches. These are yo-yos for true aficionados and, in the right hands, the tricks they can do will make your head spin. Mikulin and the company he founded, Caribou Lodge Yoyoworks (www.cariboulodgeyoyo.ca), are at the forefront of a yo-yo revival. In 2005, high-performance metal yoyos, such as those he produces, were finally allowed into competitions, and since then there has been a renewed interest and real innovation in the sport, with competitions cropping up across the globe and even TV coverage of the World Yo-Yo Contest held each August in Florida. Coincidentally, this was about the same time Mikulin got into yo-yoing. A co-worker at the engineering firm where he worked often played on his

lunch break, and soon Mikulin was playing along. Then one day he went online to purchase more string and stumbled across videos of players doing tricks with aluminum yo-yos. What he saw blew his mind. This new style of yo-yoing allowed players to keep their yo-yos spinning for up 15 minutes on a single pull, giving them time to do tricks previously unimaginable. Friends and colleagues encouraged him to try making his own yo-yo and, he says, “I always wanted to get into product design and thought this would be a good way to combine two of my hobbies — yoyoing and art — with something I had long wanted to do.” With the help of friend and air-brush painter Levi McCarroll, ’02 BSc, Mikulin designed his first yo-yo, “The Peak,” and put 50 of them up for sale on the popular site YoyoNation.com. They sold out in 15 minutes. Since then, Mikulin has released hundreds more of that design and added new designs to his repertoire. Recently 105 of his “Bear vs. Man” yo-yos priced at $100 apiece sold out online in just 20 minutes, and one of his limited edition yo-yos sold for $600

on eBay. “The value added by Levi’s custom-painted work makes our yo-yos a huge collector’s item,” says Mikulin. “We’ve painted comic book themes, video-game themes and all sorts of plaid designs. We’re really having fun with it.” But Caribou Lodge isn’t just about fun and games. It’s become a thriving business that is about to go into largescale production and sponsors a fivemember pro yo-yo team, sending them to competitions around the world. One of its team members, Jensen Kimmit, is the current Canadian national champion, and another, Sebastian Brock, ranked third at last year’s international competition. Mikulin is currently hard at work designing the prototypes for Kimmit and Brock’s new signature yoyos: the “Whooly Marmut” and the “Bassalope.” And he’s also got a new design up his sleeve that promises to be revolutionary: a fully adjustable yo-yo that can be modified on the fly with a series of snap-on rings. For all his success, though, Mikulin doesn’t want his company to grow too large. “I want to keep it small enough so that I can manage it myself and do this full time,” he says, “I don’t want to see my designs in toy stores or anything like that. It’s not about money, it’s about having fun and getting more people interested in yo-yoing and supporting the really awesome talent that’s out there.”

and Downs new trail

Spring 2009

hile most maps offer directions on how to get from one geographical point to another, The Handbook of Language and Literacy Development: A Roadmap from 0 to 60 Months (www.theroadmap.ca) provides a user-friendly platform to access a wealth of information on children’s acquisition of language and literacy. Linda Phillips, ’81 PhD—U of A professor and director of the Canadian Centre for Research on Literacy—acted as chief editor of the virtual handbook that is designed to help parents and caregivers recognize that language and literacy skills are acquired under the influence of a number of factors. The resources provided by the handbook project combine the best of what is known about each of the relevant factors and their interactions to provide the big picture of how

children’s abilities as language and literacy learners develop from infancy until 60 months of age. “The handbook project will enable parents and caregivers to track children’s development and promote their acquisition of language and literacy skills,” says Phillips. “It is critical that parents, caregivers and those who work with children are aware of this skill acquisition and that the proper steps are taken to assist children in their development.” Phillips was a Killam Professor (which recognizes excellence in teaching and research as well as community contributions) and is the first Beauchamp Laureate for excellence in research in education at the U of A. She also holds several national and international research grants and has been widely published in over 20 books.

Hoops Hire

Canada Basketball

Ups

Map of the Mind

he U of A Golden Bears basketball team is seeing its 26-year veteran coach —“The Legend” Don Horwood, ’79 MA — hand over his whistle to incoming new head coach Greg Francis, who will take his place courtside next season. Horwood led the team to three national championships, and Dale Schulha, ’72 BPE, ’74 MSc, ’74 Dip(Ed), U of A director of athletics, says, “We knew it would be a difficult task to replace Don Horwood; however, I feel that we have hired one of the brightest coaches in Canada.” The 34-year-old Francis is currently the head coach of the Junior Men’s Canadian National team as well as the head coach for the National Elite Development Academy. Francis played alongside NBA star Steve Nash for Team Canada at the 2000 Summer Olympics and also played hoops in the U.S. for the Fairfield University Stags, where he still holds the school record for the most career three-point field goals.

Greg Francis will be calling the shots after “The Legend” stepped down as coach of the Golden Bears at the end of this season. Spring 2009

new trail

bear country

Language Police ukari Meldrum, ’03 MSc, a U of A doctoral candidate in modern languages and cultural studies (as well as a professional translator), finds it ironic that scholars, linguists and cultural commentators in her native Japan are worried about the purity of the Japanese language. That’s why she has set herself the task of analyzing translated and non-translated books on the Japanese bestsellers list over the last 26 years in the hope of casting some light on what exactly “natural Japanese” is. “We didn’t have any writing system until the Chinese writing system was imported into Japan,” she says.“And as time went on we started making little manipulations to the Chinese text because Chinese and Japanese are not related.”

The two languages are structurally different in how words are organized in a sentence, so over time the Japanese developed their own writing system by adding diacritical marks to alter the Chinese text to read in a Japanese order. As with all languages, including English, other influences found their way in to create a written text that is a mixture of various influences. “Christian missionaries from Portugal came in first,” says Meldrum. “That was the Japanese people’s first encounter with the Western language.” But Japan’s tradition of dealing with foreign languages stopped after the country went into a period of selfisolation in the 1600s, a condition that would last for almost 300 years

before Japan again opened up to foreign influences—and also made its own military excursions abroad. “They sent students and scholars to Western countries and imported a whole bunch of Western books,” Meldrum says. These texts were then translated by scholars who also studied abroad in a foreign language so that odd foreign influences crept into the Japanese language leading to, she says, today’s “issue of the naturalness or purity in Japanese translation.”

Knowledge Energy he U of A’s new School of Energy and the Environment (SEE) brings together faculties from throughout the campus to identify, examine and attempt to solve the diverse problems—social, economic, cultural, environmental and others—that stem from the world’s rapidly growing and ever-changing energy needs. Affiliated with the new Canada School of Energy and Environment—a collaborative research and educational initiative between three Alberta universities—SEE is designed to serve as a resource for policy and industry leaders; guide discussion regionally, nationally and globally; be both a creator of, and a window to, knowledge on energy and the environment; and become both a virtual and a physical “gathering place” for important discussions on sustainable energy that can guide research and inform public and social policy decisions.

new trail

Spring 2009

Legal Riffs That aint workin’, that’s the way you do it Get your money for nothin’ and your chicks for free

— Mark Knopfler & Sting... “Money for Nothing”

ost who’ve toiled in the music business know that the money’s often illusory, and while a few rock stars strike it rich, most musicians find out the hard way that they’re the ones actually working “for nothin’.” U of A law professor Cameron Hutchison is offering a class he believes is the first of its kind in Canada to try to level the playing field between musicians and the record industry by training lawyers how to best take care of their musician clients. And “Law 599: Musicians and the Law” has quickly become a popular student choice. “Some people who don’t know me well enough might see Musicians and the Law in the course offerings and think it’s a ‘bird’ course,” says Hutchison. “Anything but!

This is what articling students and lawyers will actually do once they go into practice.” The entirely industryfocused course sees students engage in role-playing contract negotiation exercises such as might occur between members of a rock group and its record company. And at least half of the 20 students who enrolled in the course were in a band or once played in one. “People hear how everyone makes a whole lot of money except for the artist,” says David Stults, ’01 BA, ’05 MA, a second-year law student currently enrolled in Law 599 and a guitarist in a local band. “I want to learn how to maximize gains from my creativity or protect myself as an artist if my band ever gets a record deal.” Cameron Hutchison

Knee Deep in Debt I

n January, student loan debt in Canada owed to the federal government surpassed the $13 billion mark for the first time ever... and it’s increasing by about $1 million a day. This figure does not take into account the approximately $5 billion in student loans owed to the provincial governments or any personal debts students might have taken on through such things as credit cards or lines of credit. In the current school year, almost 360,000 students took out loans from

the federal government. “At current levels, student debt depresses consumer spending and could harm the Canadian economy’s recovery from the current recession,” said Katherine Giroux-Bougard, national chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students, to the Bulletin, a newspaper published by the Canadian Association of University Teachers. “Saddling a generation of students with billions in debt will have far-reaching implications for Canada’s economy and socio-economic inequality.”

Damage Detection F

etal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is the generic term used to describe developmental disorders associated with alcohol consumption by pregnant women. It is estimated that — in spite of enhanced educational programs for pregnant women — up to one percent of all babies born in North America still suffer from this disorder. Now U of A researchers have identified several regions of the brain that appear to be altered in children whose mothers overindulge. Using an advanced form of magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (under the leadership of professor Christian Beaulieu, ’95 PhD), identified the regions in the brain affected by a mother’s alcohol consumption, particularly the white matter connections for proper brain function and the deep grey matter that act as relay stations for information travelling through the brain. The captured images of the brains of children with FASD (shown in the picture) show that both the white and grey matter in their brains are reduced in volume, as is the brain itself. Beaulieu —an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research senior scholar whose work was funded by the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network—is hopeful this knowledge will lead to earlier detection, as well as earlier and more effective treatment of children with this disorder.

bear country

Death Race 2009 F

ollowing six years of research, U of A public health sciences professor Peter Rothe has come out with the book Driven to Kill, which details acts of intentional violence where the automobile was the weapon of choice. Combing through databases here and in the U.S.— as well as studying provincial Supreme Court files, medical examiner files, historical policy reports and media reports—Rothe found some disturbing motor vehicle findings, including the fact that a vehicle is the number one place in which sexual assaults occur (25 percent of all reported sexual assaults). Rothe, the author of nine other books prior to Driven to Kill, also discovered

new trail

Spring 2009

that nine percent of all reported motor vehicle accidents are hit and runs (four percent involving pedestrians). “One woman had the imprint of a person embedded in her car,” says Rothe. “She just parked it in the garage and tried to hide the fact it happened.” But perhaps the most surprising and perplexing revelation is the propensity people have for tossing objects off of

highway overpasses onto the vehicles below. “What we do when we build an overpass is we create a convenient location for people to drop stuff off,” says Rothe. “In 2002, there were 17 deaths caused by what people threw off of overpasses. People have thrown over rocks and microwaves; there have even been people who have thrown a refrigerator over.”

In March, the University announced the creation of a new research chair in urban traffic safety that will help make streets safer by finding solutions to road design and driver behaviour issues. The new Urban Traffic Safety Chair will be based in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “With this chair,” said U of A President Indira Samarasekera, “we will have the capacity to attract a world-class expert in this area who can provide invaluable leadership and bring to Edmonton and Alberta the best thinking in traffic safety planning and design in the world today.”

Curtain Call A

vant-garde theatre has found a new home in Edmonton with the opening of the U of A’s Canadian Centre for Theatre Creation, a first-of-its-kind centre whose mandate is to develop work that creates a more accurate reflection of the nation’s cultural diversity by bringing together independent artists, theatre companies and researchers to examine and experiment with new approaches to theatremaking. The Centre will also try to include innovators from other milieus and disciplines to create an environment in which artists will have the resources at hand to explore nonconventional theatrical creations. Centre director and U of A drama professor Kim McCaw says, “Until now, there hasn’t really been a place in

We WUN T

Canada where such a range of artists can be served. We are also committed to presenting new work— either on our own or in partnership with other companies and organizations — which is something else that sets us apart from most other play development centres.” The Centre has already commissioned a new play to be penned by Elyne Quan, ’95 BA, a rising Canadian playwright whose previous work includes the Sterling Award–winning play Lig & Bittle. “Knowing that the centre operates under a mandate that is innovative and inclusive,” says Quan, “I look forward to the exchange of ideas and the exploration of theatrical practice in the development of my play.” Photo above: Elyne Quan addresses a news conference after being commissioned by the CCTC.

Star Light, Star Bright

he U of A has accepted an invitation to join a consortium of 18 other leading research universities—the only other Canadian institution is the U of T— around the world in a collaborative effort to facilitate international research and communal teaching initiatives. The Worldwide University Network (WUN) offers the U of A opportunities to increase the knowledge base and mobility of its researchers and graduate students, who now can receive assistance for research or study trips abroad through WUN’s Research Mobility Program. Members can also make use of the Network’s web-portal applications that allow access to research materials and online seminars. “We’re members of a global community and the more opportunities that we have for our faculty and students to interact internationally, the better the research and the education students will get,” says Art Quinney, ’74 PhD, senior advisor to the provost and the University’s lead for the WUN network. “The mission of the University is going to be enhanced by linkages with faculty and students from around the world.” Quinney (art.quinney@ualberta.ca) plans to create a database of U of A researchers currently taking advantage of what WUN has to offer and encourages others to begin taking advantage of member benefits by going to www.wun.ac.uk.

eing that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has declared this the International Year of Astronomy, it’s fitting that the U of A has opened its doors to the general public on Thursday evenings to give people a peek at the stars. “We have a 12-inch telescope,” says physics professor Sharon Morsink, ’97 PhD, who is also the outreach coordinator for the observatory on top of the Fine Arts Building (currently nicknamed the “FABservatory”). “We moved here from the old Physics Building and will later relocate to the Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science when it’s built, so we have to let people know where to find us and that they can still come and visit.” Visitors who do come will be able to see the rings of Saturn, Jupiter and its four moons and, of course, the craters and mountains on Earth’s moon. “On clear nights we can make out the gas in nebulae and star clusters,” says Morsink. “It really gives us a very nice view.” For more info go to www.phys.ualberta.ca/research/astro/observ.php.

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bear country

The Skinny on FAT U of A endocrinologist Arya Sharma says obesity is about more than fat, which is why he’s developed the Edmonton Obesity Staging System. Instead of the combination of bodymass index and waist measurements used to see if a patient is within the proper weight parameters for a particular generic population group, Sharma’s system looks at the individual patient’s set of circumstances and assigns a number from 0 to 4 that fits them personally. Stage 0 is assigned to patients with no obesity-related health

problems while stage 4 designates those with severe obesityrelated health issues. Doctors can easily determine where their patients fit in this five-step spectrum through routines such as taking a medical history, doing a physical exam, and doing the usual blood sugar and cholesterol levels tests. “Our system was developed to provide health practitioners with a simplified approach to identifying the extent of obesity-related illness and guide in managing obese patients,” says Sharma, who worked with a colleague from Chicago’s Northwestern University to develop this more comprehensive method to assist physicians to assess and treat overweight patients.

Sharma— whose bona fides include being a U of A professor of medicine and chair for Cardiovascular Obesity Research and Management, the medical director of the Edmonton Capital Health Region’s interdisciplinary Weight Wise Program and the scientific director of the Canadian Obesity Network— says, “We know that obesity can lead to a whole host of health problems, including heart disease, kidney disease, fatty liver disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and depression. But increased body fat alone doesn’t necessarily imply or reliably predict these health problems.”

Magnetic Attraction U

sing a fleet of five NASA satellites, researchers— including U of A physics professor Ian Mann — have discovered that an explosion of magnetic energy a third of the way to the moon powers the Northern Lights. What the researchers found was that when solar winds hit the Earth’s magnetic field they can stretch that field into something resembling a comet’s tail. When two or more of those “tails” come in contact with each other much of the energy is released into space, but some returns to Earth in the form of light. The event is referred to as a “magnetic reconnection” and is a common process that occurs when the stressed magnetic field lines suddenly snap to a new shape, like a rubber band that’s been stretched too far.

Comfort C Comfo fort more than just a guestroom Conference Services 10

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

landmarks Third-year U of A medical student, Peter Gill, was recently conferred a Rhodes Scholarship. He is the U of A’s 67th Rhodes Scholar and the third to come from the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry in the last five years. “It’s like a dream,” said Gill, upon learning of the honour — the most prestigious scholarship in the Englishspeaking world. Gill, who was born and raised in Edmonton, was multi-talented from an early age. He started playing soccer at the age of six, and by the time he was in high school he was invited to try out for a professional team in England. However, an injury at the age of 16 sidelined his soccer career and ended his dream of eventually earning an athletic scholarship to an Ivy-League school, sending him in a different direction. “That door slammed shut quite dramatically,” Gill said, “but in hindsight, things have worked out for the best.” The Canadian Foundation for Innovation awarded a total of $1,122,214 to U of A scientists conducting cutting-edge research in science, engineering and medicine. Included in the monies to fund eight projects is $275,753 earmarked for a high-powered microscope so that biochemist Nicolas Touret can study a receptor molecule that plays a role in deadly fungal infections often contracted by people who are HIV positive and transplant patients. “I’m hoping to understand the first, initial step in order to be able to mimic anti-fungal immune response in immune-compromised patients,” says Touret. Other U of A funding recipients include Daniel Barreda, ’03 PhD, awarded $168,214 to develop a cell biotechnology suite to evaluate feeds and their impact on animal health; Roger Zemp, ’98 BSc, who received $135,000 to develop photoacoustic imaging technology; Jocelyn Hall, who was awarded $120,734 to study important floral and fruit traits in plants; James Harynuk, awarded $120,000 to research gas-phase separation science; Jianping Wu, who got $120,000 to study the value-added use of poultry products; Christian Haas, awarded $100,000 for an airborne sea-ice thickness sensor; and William “Ted” Allison, who received $82,513 to study prion proteins and neurodegenerative disease.

U of A pediatric infectious diseases professor Sarah Forgie was nominated for a Canadian Association for Medical Education (CAME) New Educator award for her innovative teaching style and ideas including “infectious disease mania morning,” and the development of “bug bios,” which could be downloaded to PDAs, and podcasts featuring students delivering lessons to their peers on infectious diseases by parodying songs. The award recipients will be recognized at the annual CAME Luncheon during the 2009 Canadian Conference on Medical Education held in Edmonton, May 2–9, 2009. Forgie was also this year’s Festival of Teaching keynote speaker, a tribute, in part, to the work she does with her med students in making her lectures not only informative and factual, but also fun. Forgie says that during her student days what made the biggest impact on her were the teachers who blended their personalities with their messages. “That’s the key to being funny and motivating,” she says. “Just remember, an engaged mind is a learning mind. Start by distilling your message down to something you want them to remember 20 years from now. Once it is distilled, come up with interesting ways on how you could present that message.” Founded a dozen years ago, the Women’s Executive Network (WXN) has become Canada’s leading organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of executive-minded women, with over 10,000 members across the country. Half a dozen years ago the WXN launched the prestigious Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 10 Awards. Two of the 2008 winners were U of A President Indira Samarasekera and Faculty of Science Associate Dean (Diversity), Margaret-Ann Armour, ’70 PhD.

Three U of A researchers were awarded a Canadian Institutes of Health Research 2008 Knowledge Translation award for making eye exams easier, faster and more accessible for people living in remote communities. Mark Greve, Matthew Tennant and Christopher Rudinsky (all from the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry) are using web-based computer technology to diagnose eye diseases remotely. The wireless technology they have developed called I-SITE (Intelligent Screening of Imagery via Teleophthamology) produces the same quality and reliability of diagnostic screening for eye disease in remote communities as that currently only available in major Canadian cities. Philip Bryden has been named the new dean in the Faculty of Law. Bryden spent five years as the dean of the law school at the University of New Brunswick and will take over his post a the U of A in July. Another faculty to get a Brydan new dean is the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry whose new dean-elect is Philip Baker. Currently director of the Manchester Biomedical Research Centre at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, England, Baker will take up his new post in September.

Barnet

English and Film Studies professor Patricia Demers is this year’s recipient of the Canadian Association of University Teachers Sarah Shorten Award. The award recognizes individuals for their accomplishments in the promotion and advancement of women in Canadian universities and colleges. Demers has devoted much of her career to the study of women’s writing. “A truly great teacher is one of a university’s most valuable resources,” said President Indira Samarasekera when Demers was given her excellence in teaching and learning in 2005. “Dr. Demers has touched more hearts and stimulated more minds than we can ever count. We are privileged to have her teaching here and grateful for her contribution.” University of Alberta staffer, Evelyn Hamdon (project coordinator for Global Citizenship Curriculum Development in the Faculty of Education), shares this year’s Salvos Prelorentzos Peace Award with the other members of Edmonton’s Arab/Jewish Women’s Peace Coalition. The Salvos Award is sponsored by Project Ploughshares Edmonton and has been handed out since 1996 to those who promote harmony, peace and understanding. It was named after a local peace activist who died of cancer in 1995. Bert Almon, an award-winning poet and U of A professor of creative writing and modern literature in the Department of English and Film Studies, was awarded the Salute to Excellence Citation at the annual City of Edmonton Salute to Excellence Citation and Performance Awards on November 26, 2008.

Loppnow

U of A drama professor David Barnet and chemistry professor Glenn Loppnow were both recipients of 2009 3M National Teaching Fellowships. The 3M Fellowships recognize excellence in teaching and are considered Canada’s highest award for undergraduate university teaching excellence. Of the 238 fellowships awarded to Canadian universities in the 23-year history of the award, the U of A leads the way with 30 awards to date.

Almon (right) accepting his award from Mayor Stephen Mandel. Spring 2009

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Campaign 2008: An A to Z Primer The numbers are in—$581.7 million, 1,114 scholarships, 50 endowed chairs, eight endowed professorships, 13 facilities, 90,000 donors—and they’re impressive. Thank you.

ampaign 2008 is officially over. With a final tally of $581.7 million raised, the University has realized the secondlargest completed fund-raising campaign in Canadian history. As a result of the generous gifts received from 90,000 alumni, friends, community foundations and corporations, the University of Alberta enters its second century on course for continued growth, success and accomplishment. Over the course of this campaign that officially began in 2004, everyone involved went from wondering what might be possible to believing that the U of A is headed to the top of the world; from hoping the University could achieve world-class status to knowing that we have the foundation of excellence and the talent to achieve it. But we’re not where we want to be yet. I can see yet another broader and brighter vista. Let’s forge on. Let’s dare to dream. Let’s dare to dream even bigger. I invite you to stay with us—be daring with us—as we continue our journey.

The Alberta Diabetes Foundation helped to establish the Alberta Diabetes Institute with a $10 million commitment. Other significant gifts to advance diabetes research include a $1 million gift from Don Hamilton and, in 2008, a $1.5 million donation from Edmonton-born philanthropist Peter Allard to create the Dr. Charles A. Allard Chair in Diabetes Research, in honour of Mr. Allard’s late father, a renowned Edmonton surgeon. The Allard Family Foundation and Campaign 2008 Honorary Patrons Cathy and Harold Roozen’s commitment of a $1 million gift early in the Campaign served as the impetus for others to support the Health Research Innovation Facility. Augustana Campus received a unique gift from alumna Berta Briggs, who established a Sustainable Food Endowment designed to support community-based research and servicelearning projects dealing with food issues. The Bocock family— Bill and Phyllis, John and Jenny and their daughter Rachel—is responsible for the largest gift of land for research ever to a Canadian university: 777 acres of prime farmland. The land, to be known as the St. Albert Research Station, secures the future of agricultural and environmental research in Alberta for years to come.

Alumnus John Bocock with aerial view of St. Albert Research Station.

Charles Chan—a Hong Kong-based businessman and Campaign 2008 Honorary Patron—donated $6 million for international student scholarships. CN—under the leadership of Campaign 2008 Co-Chair David McLean—donated $1 million to establish the CN Professorship in International Trade in the Faculty of Law and the Western Centre for Economic Research in Business in the Alberta School of Business.

Thank you for your gifts to Campaign 2008, for the impact of your support, for your loyalty and love of the University of Alberta.

Chancellor Emeritus Louis Desrochers provided a lead gift to Campus Saint-Jean to help establish a scholarship for students considering a master’s degree in Canadian Studies.

Indira V. Samarasekera, O.C., President & Vice-Chancellor

The Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in the Faculty of Education was established through a $1 million donation from Imperial Oil. The Centre promotes teaching, research and curriculum excellence in school science, mathematics and technology education. Dare to Deliver, the name of the U of A’s Academic Plan, identifies institution-level commitments and initiatives for 2007–2011. Gifts to Campaign 2008 align with and support the University’s academic mission and vision.

The late Stuart Davis, Edmonton’s 2003 Philanthropist of the Year, generously made a gift of $500,000 to the Faculty of Science to support the Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science, a world-class teaching and research facility.

Harry and James Hole—Campaign 2008 Honorary Patrons—along with their late brothers, Ralph and Bob, contributed $5 million to establish the Hole School of Construction Engineering. The future Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science.

The Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities Chair in Islamic Studies—created through significant financial support from Edmonton’s Muslim communities and the Alberta Government—is the first endowed chair devoted to Islamic studies in Canada. Campaign 2008 Co-Chair Nizar Somji personally supported this project and was instrumental in securing gifts for this chair. Encana Corporation gave one of the largest corporate gifts to Campaign 2008 when it contributed $7.5 million toward the advancement of research on energy and the environment. Endowed chairs and professorships enable the U of A to be competitive in the recruitment of world-renowned researchers and educators. Valued at $3 million for a chair and $1 million for a professorship, 50 chairs and eight professorships were established during Campaign 2008. Ella May Walker—a long-time instructor in the Faculty of Extension—was honoured by her family with the creation of the Ella May Walker Memorial Award in Liberal Studies. Walker’s life-long commitment to learning and curiosity in the areas of music, writing and the visual arts inspired her family to establish this award. Anne and Eldon Foote—Campaign 2008 Honorary Patrons—ensured the completion of Foote Field with a $2 million gift to the multi-use facility that accommodates athletics, academic classes and campus and community recreation activities. The Graduate Students’ Association and the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research moved to a new home in 2008 when the former South Lab facility was converted to the Killam Centre for Advanced Studies. Housed in what is now known as Triffo Hall—thanks to a $1 million gift from Campaign 2008 Honorary Patrons Ron and Dorothy Triffo— the Centre is integral to the U of A’s commitment to transform advanced studies. Pictured: Members of the Triffo family celebrate the official opening of Triffo Hall.

John and Susan Hokanson—Campaign 2008 Honorary Patrons—contributed a personal gift of $1 million to establish the Hokanson Environmental Engineering Research Wing in the Natural Resources Engineering Facility (NREF). This space enables researchers, teachers and students to work together to address many of the environmental challenges we face today. Honorary Patrons of Campaign 2008 were a unique group of individuals or families best described as people with vision who, through their personal philanthropy and influence, truly made a difference at the University of Alberta. Members, to name a few, included philanthropist Stan Milner and his wife Lorraine, business leader Ross Grieve and his wife Kathy, Toronto businessman Chuck Hantho and engineering alumnus Rohit Sharma. The Imperial Oil Centre for Oil Sands Innovation was established in 2006 thanks to Campaign 2008 Co-Chair Tim Hearn, who was instrumental in securing a $10-million contribution from Imperial Oil Limited, where he was once CEO. The mandate of the Centre is to find more efficient, economically viable and environmentally responsible ways to develop Canada’s oil-sands resources. The Petro Jacyk Education Foundation’s gift to the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies will enable students and scholars to continue to study modern Ukrainian history and society. Campaign 2008 Co-Chair Daryl Katz’s personal generosity and professional acumen are to thank for the U of A receiving the largest ever one-time gift to a Canadian pharmacy school. The total investment of $25 million from government and industry—including a $7 million gift from the Katz Group—will support the Katz Group-Rexall Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research. Peter and Doris Kule—Campaign 2008 Honorary Patrons and prominent members of Edmonton’s Ukrainian community—generously contributed more than $6 million to the University. In recognition of the Kule’s outstanding support, the U of A named an endowed chair and two centres in their honour: the Kule Chair in Ukrainian Ethnography, the Peter and Doris Kule Centre for Ukrainian and Canadian Folklore and the Peter and Doris Kule Ukrainian Canadian Studies Centre. Pictured: Embroidered ceramic rhinoceros piggy bank, part of the Ukrainian folklore collection. Spring 2009

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The Faculty of Law received a gift of $2.5 million from law alumnus Frank MacInnis and his wife Beverly to support renovations of the first floor of the 33-year-old Law Centre. The Edmonton-based Ledcor Group of Companies gave $2.5 million to help construct the Ledcor Foundation Clinical Training Centre, a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to teaching clinical skills to medical students.

Steele and his wife, Marie Elizabeth.

The second-largest research library in Canada, the University of Alberta Libraries, received an extraordinary collection: the official and personal documents, including love letters, of Sam Steele. A Canadian military leader and famous Mountie, Steele played a critical role in shaping Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Bob MacLean—Campaign 2008 Co-Chair—and his wife Maryanne gave $1 million to support scholarships in the Alberta School of Business. The Mactaggart Art Collection was the single largest gift to Campaign 2008. Comprising more than 700 rare and unique works of art, including textiles, paintings, handscrolls and other artifacts from ancient and modern East Asia, it was generously donated by Edmonton philanthropists and Campaign 2008 Honorary Patrons Sandy and Cécile Mactaggart. The collection—valued at $37 million—was the impetus for the creation of the China Institute at the U of A. Pictured: Dowager Empress Robe, late Qing Dynasty (1850–1912).

A gift of $1 million from alumnus Ron McCullough, as well as his family and friends, established an endowed chair in breast cancer surgery in honour of his late wife, Lilian. A gift of $1 million from Campaign 2008 Honorary Patron Gerry Maier helped to make the Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex a reality. The Complex, which includes the Maier Learning Centre, provides technologically advanced classroom space for more than 3,000 engineering students. The Allan P. Markin/Canadian Natural Resources Limited Natural Resources Engineering Facility opened in 2004. Constructed with a lead gift of $3 million from Campaign 2008 Honorary Patron Allan Markin and a matching $3 million from CNRL, NREF is a leading-edge teaching and research facility dedicated to engineering programs related to natural resource development. The Métis Nation of Alberta, through the Métis Education Foundation, contributed $2 million to create an endowment fund to provide awards to Métis students attending the U of A. 14

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The Faculty of Nursing, with the generous support of alumnus Gordon Arnell and his wife Reta, has established a successful program that supports faculty members from the College of Nursing at the University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto while they complete their studies at the U of A. Chancellor Emeritus Eric Newell and his wife Kathy made a personal commitment of $1 million to support the creation of the Aboriginal Gathering Place. The Gathering Place will create a welcoming space on campus for Aboriginal students, while also supporting their academic, emotional, spiritual and physical needs. The Newells also supported outstanding students in the Faculty of Native Studies by endowing the Dean’s Citation Award. The three themes of Campaign 2008 were “Outstanding Students, Outstanding Potential,” “Outstanding Teaching, Outstanding Research” and “Outstanding Vision, Outstanding Growth.” With 65 Rhodes Scholars, 30 3M Fellowships recognizing teaching excellence and 1.3 million square feet of new research and educational space, Campaign 2008 has propelled the U of A onto the world stage. The Lee Playwright-in-Residence—the only one of its kind at a Canadian university— was created with a $1-million endowment from the now-dissolved Clifford E. Lee Foundation. Campaign 2008 Honorary Patrons John and Barbara Poole have quietly and thoughtfully championed numerous projects for the past 50 years, including the Devonian Botanic Garden. In recognition of their generous commitment, the John and Barbara Poole Family Atrium, located in the ETLC, was named in their honour. The Rosenberg Quilt Collection —valued at almost $500,000— was donated to the U of A’s Clothing and Textiles Collection. The only university teaching collection in Canada, it is comprised of a breathtaking assortment of 677 North American quilts, included ones crafted from materials as diverse as homespun wool and flour sacks. The oldest quilt dates back to about 1840. Pictured: Hearts quilt, 235.5 cm x 188.5 cm.

Captain Ethan Moreau chats with young fans at the opening of the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation Children’s Speech Research Laboratory.

The Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine and the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation teamed together to help improve the speaking skills of children with cerebral palsy or children who have experienced a traumatic brain injury early in life. Saroj and Prem Singhmar and their son, Gaurav Singhmar, gave a gift of $1.5 million to establish the Saroj and Prem Singhmar Chair in Classical Indian Polity and Society, the first chair at a Canadian university devoted to the study of ancient India. The James Stanford Lecture Theatres in the Natural Resources Engineering Facility were named in recognition of Campaign 2008 Co-Chair Jim Stanford who gave a personal gift of $1 million to the NREF. Established during Campaign 2008, the School of Public Health—Canada’s first stand-alone faculty dedicated solely to public health—is committed to promoting health and wellness, preventing disease and injury, and reducing health disparities across Canada and around the world. The Saville Sports Centre is a multi-sport facility managed and operated by the Faculty of Physical Education & Recreation. Named for Campaign 2008 Honorary Patron Bruce Saville, the Saville Sports Centre is home to curling sheets, indoor tennis courts and a variety of recreational facilities. The Torchinsky School of Geotechnical Engineering in the NREF was established with a gift of $1.25 million from alumnus Ben Torchinsky and family. Campaign 2008 Honorary Patrons Craighton and Irene Twa committed $1 million to endow the Craighton Twa Engineering Academic Excellence Scholarships. The University of Alberta Students’ Union committed $7 million to support student scholarships and awards as their legacy to Campaign 2008.

The Visiting Lectureship in Human Rights— inaugurated in 1998 by South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu— provides the U of A community with opportunities to learn about and discuss human rights. In 2005, the Stollery Charitable Foundation created a fund to match dollar for dollar all gifts to the Lectureship. Pictured: Former U of A Chancellor Lois Hole and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies was established through a generous $7.5 million donation from Austrianborn philanthropist and Campaign 2008 Honorary Patron Alfred Wirth. The mandate of the Wirth Institute is to raise the profile of Central Europe and Central European Studies in Canada.

x = (90,000 donors) + (1,114 scholarships) + (50 chairs) + (8 professorships) + (13 facilities) + ($581.7 million) = Thank you!

China’s Yangtze River received some muchneeded remedial work thanks to Larry Wang, professor emeritus of biological sciences, and his childhood friend, Sam Chao, who were the driving forces behind a program to clean up the river. With a $1 million personal commitment from Chao, the two launched the Ecological Conservancy Outreach Fund to help restore the health of the Yangtze. The Zeidler Family Gastrointestinal Health Centre, established through the personal generosity of Edmonton philanthropist Midge Zeidler, is Canada’s first clinical facility dedicated solely to gastroenterology patient care and research. Shaun Johnston, U of A alumnus and star of CBC’s Heartland, and student Marcus Beaudry at the “Celebration of Philanthropy,” the official close of Campaign 2008.

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Mamma Mia!

The hardest working mom in showbiz is always ready for her close-up by Mieko Ouchi, â&#x20AC;&#x2122;92 BFA

Elinor, Spider and the three girls, RubyJune, Ava and Waylon.

“Mommy’s got a show. Daddy’s got a gig.”

Marc Rimmer

hat’s what nine-year-old Ava tells the babysitters when company. So we need a name. Urban? Kids? The Street? asked where her parents are going for the evening. Mommy Concrete?. . . ah, “Concrete Theatre.” is Elinor “Elli” Holt, ’88 BA, who has worked as an actor, Thus it was while earning our undergraduate degrees that singer and comedienne on virtually every stage in Calgary. Elli and I also became two of the founding members of Daddy is musician Spider Bishop, who plays upright bass Concrete Theatre, a theatre company that enables commuwith Tim Hus and the Rocky Mountain Two (www.timhus.ca). nity groups to turn their real-life experiences into theatre. With three little ones ranging in age Street-youth, single parents, NGOs — we from three to nine, theirs is a home full worked with them all. I remember buying of scripts, music, toys and a whole lotta some sparkling wine to celebrate when love — they celebrated their 10th wedding we learned of our first $2,000 grant from anniversary in April. the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Over the years, I’ve cheered Elli on Commission — the irony of which was from a distance and celebrated with her, lost to me at the time. Back then it was at least vicariously, when she met “the just exciting to be doing something that one,” when she had her kids, and when seemed to make a difference. Who knew she nabbed some spectacular roles — both of us would still be involved in the everything from Penelope Pennywise in theatre over 20 years later and that Urinetown to Mercy in Little Mercy’s Concrete Theatre — where I am one of First Murder and Helen in Helen’s two artistic directors —would also survive Necklace. that long? The week I pop in on my old friend is But this story is about Elli. Born in no different — and no less hectic — than 1966, the youngest of seven children, any other. Spider’s about to hit the road, she grew up on a family farm in central while Elli is in rehearsals for Boeing, Alberta and attended a country school Boeing at Stage West in Calgary where that was, as she describes it, barely one she’ll star alongside Peter Scolari of step up from a one-room school house Newhart fame. When I think about all — three grades per class, all farm kids. that she has accomplished since we first Elinor in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. She could have gone to high school in met as U of A drama students over 20 New Norway, which was closer to her years ago, I find myself asking the same question everyone house, but, she says, “I remember I didn’t want to go there in the local arts community asks, with exactly the same note because they didn’t have drama and the high school in of wonder and awe: “How does she do it?” Wetaskiwin did.” It was her first inkling that she wanted to A memory: Elli, Lisa Kazimea Sokil, ’89 BA, Caroline perform. Her parents were a little surprised. Of course, is a Howarth, ’87 BA, ’94 MA, and I sit around Elli and Lisa’s life in the theatre ever what parents have in mind for their tiny attic apartment in Edmonton. Think Rent, except we’re children? They might be encouraging, but usually they’ll listening to Billy Bragg. It’s 1988. We’re a bunch of keen suggest that you at least try and have something other than drama students finishing up work on a collective theatre show business to fall back on. project with a group of street-youths, although it’s weird to So Elli tried to be practical. She worked as an admissions call them “youths” since we’re more or less the same age. counsellor at Camrose Lutheran College, now the U of A’s But we’re looking at notes that I’ve typed up on an actual Augustana Campus, and worked for a time at the Canadian typewriter and talking about the fact that the youth loved Liver Foundation. Over the years she was also twice offered putting together the show and want to create more plays the farm and turned it down both times. Then she got her with us. But more plays will mean we’re a group, almost a first lucky break. She was accepted into the U of A’s BFA Spring 2009

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Why everyone wants to work with Elli Bob White, Alberta Theatre Projects artistic director (Angels In America): “One of the first major parts she did at ATP was in Angels in America, 10 years ago. What struck me then, and ever since, is her absolute passion for the work. She dives right in, she knows no fear. Added to that, she brings intelligence to the craft of acting — yet she doesn’t let the intelligence get in the way of the work.

Vanessa Porteous, ’96 BFA, (incoming) Alberta Theatre Projects artistic director (Helen’s Necklace): “I love her. When I was proposing Helen’s Necklace to Urban Curvz Theatre, I had her in mind because she’s a really sensitive performer, she’s got a huge range, and she’s really smart. The play requires her to tell a story nice and clearly, but also requires her character to go through a big journey. I wanted that balance — an actor who can express what’s happening with her body and voice, but is also vulnerable.”

Kevin McKendrick, producer and director (Urinetown, Boy Gets Girl, The Full Monty): “I hire her because she’s cheap. Ha! Seriously, she’s so easy to work with. Even though she’s raising three fairly young kids, she’s got incredible energy, she’s always prepared and she’s a legitimate quadruple threat: she sings, she dances and she’s a superior comedic and dramatic actress.”

Mark Bellamy, artistic director of Vertigo Theatre (Vertigo, Little Mercy’s First Murder, Mystery of Edwin Drood, Sheer Madness): “Ellie is one of those actors who will go anywhere you ask with enormous heart. I first worked with her as an actor. Now that I work with her more as a director, the thing I adore is that she pushes everything with an immense heart; her characters are so funny and heartbreaking. She risks with enormous integrity and can be so different depending on what the role calls for.”

Dennis Garnhum, Theatre Calgary’s artistic director (Our Town): “Elli is one of Calgary’s jewels. What I think is most impressive about her is her ability to transform; I’ve seen her be a kid, I’ve seen her be a horse, I’ve seen her play a mother. She’s done workshops with me where she’s just transformed and surprised us. Elli has a dignity and wisdom that I suspect has to do with being a mother.”

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program and the MFA program at York University at the same time. She chose Toronto. Why? Practical as ever, Elli weighed the options. She already had an undergraduate degree, and the decision to pursue the master’s degree at York thrilled her parents because at least she’d have that something to fall back on. “My parents were so excited,” she says, “because with an MFA you can teach.” So she packed her bags and headed for the Big Smoke. Now this is what fascinates me. As a fellow Albertan artist, this is the number one question I always get: Why don’t you move to Toronto? Vancouver? Los Angeles? “What drags us back to Alberta?” I ask Elli. Her answer is both practical and philosophical. “I got a job in Kananaskis Country doing theatre in the park, so I had a job to go back to. And I just knew I wanted to come back to Alberta. You can take the girl off the prairies, but then you have to put her back.” There is also something she articulates simply that resonates with me. “I ended up getting work here and kept working. I haven’t done a — touch wood — non-theatre-related job since 1990.” We both know that’s a gift. And one that neither of us takes for granted. Elli is the quintessential Renaissance woman — comedy, drama, dance — a fearless chameleon on stage and off who isn’t afraid to wade into new territory . . . in art, or love. She added music to her repertoire in 1993, around the same time she met her future husband. She remembers it this way: “I was working in Kananaskis Country with Judd Palmer, who is now with the Old Trout Puppet Workshop [www.theoldtrouts.org]. On our days off the guys and me kept on asking Judd if he wanted to stay and jam with us. And he was like, ‘Oh, no, sorry, I’m going to Calgary to go busking with my friend Spider.’ And I thought, who the hell calls himself Spider? Judd was always talking about the two of them busking and then going to Subway and having a cold-cut combo. One day I was walking past a Subway in Calgary and I looked in and there was Judd with this guy I thought must be Spider.” The long and short of it is, Elli and Spider ended up singing karaoke one night after the Kananaskis gang had driven into Calgary to check out a new gay bar opening up. The bar had a dance club on the main floor and upstairs was a lesbian karaoke bar. “The dance club bathroom was full,” she remembers, “so I went upstairs to use the bathroom and I got sucked into watching lesbian karaoke. Spider joined me on the stairs and we were watching together when I got up on stage and sang a Patsy Cline song, which seemed to impress him. We ended up dancing to a woman singing Elvis’ ‘Love Me Tender’ and that was it.” Flash forward to 1995. Elli and Spider and a gang of friends decide to put on a night of theatre, stand-up comedy and music. Elli and Spider’s contribution to the event was putting together a band called The Ed Wailin’s. (Ed Whalen was a popular Calgary sportscaster best known outside the

province for hosting Stampede Wrestling. summer — they could talk about her His nasal voice earned him the sobriquet performing in the season’s next show. “Wailin’ Ed.”) People dug them. Then, Elli made her Theatre Calgary debut in under the company name Le Freak C’est Holiday when Ava was six weeks old. After that experience she promised Chic, they did Camille on Wheels, Nicole herself that she would never go back to Zylstra’s reinterpretation of La Traviata work again so soon after having a baby. set to the music of ABBA and the Bee Gees But life has a way of laughing at you and performed on roller skates. People when you promise yourself something like noticed. The offers started rolling in. that. RubyJune was five weeks old when People still bring up The Ed Wailin’s Elli started rehearsals for A Christmas today, she says. “When we had our son Carol at Theatre Calgary in 2005. More Waylon, people were like, ‘Aw, you recently, Elli has appeared in Unity (1918) named him after the band.’ And we were at Alberta Theatre Projects, The Attic, like, ‘No, we named him after Waylon The Pearls and Three Fine Girls for Sage Jennings.” (Only in Calgary would people Theatre and, by the time this story goes to imagine that you would name your son print, she will have finished her run in after Ed Whalen.) Waylon is now six. The Boeing, Boeing, and will next perform in couple’s oldest child, Ava, was named “They say it two musicals, ...but this IS my day job!, after Ava Gardner, while three-year-old and The Piper, as well as a stage adaption daughter RubyJune’s name is a combinatakes a village to of W.O. Mitchell’s Jake and the Kid. tion of Ruby from Kenny Roger’s “Ruby And while The Ed Wailin’s are done, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” and June raise a child. music also continues to play a huge part in honour of June Carter Cash. In my case, it’s a in her life. On top of her being one of the Somehow, Elli and Spider make their most sought-after actors in town, she three-kid, super-busy, irregular schedule theatre community.” and Spider have also released an album work with babysitters. “No daycare of original songs. “Our duo’s name is would have us,” laughs Elli about the SPIDERELLI,” says Elli, “and the album is called 12 Farm fact that most parents either need daycare or a sporadic Fresh Hits [www.myspace.com/spiderelli]. We’ve been playing nighttime babysitter — but, with rehearsals, performances, gigs in Calgary in support of the album and we will continue playing gigs and touring, they often need both. “When I got to promote it by touring in the spring. We’ve also received nominated for a Betty Mitchell Award for Urinetown, I airplay on CBC and CKUA Radio.” didn’t win,” she says, “but if I had, my acceptance speech A couple years ago, Elli and Spider returned to her would have been all about, ‘They say it takes a village to “farm-fresh” roots when they bought a house in Broadview, raise a child. In my case, it’s a theatre community.’ We’ve Saskatchewan, a few blocks away from Spider’s grandma’s been very fortunate to make our way through with lots of house, which was left to him and his cousin when his grandactors babysitting.” But it hasn’t been easy and there are mother passed away. Sure, Elli may have twice turned down always challenging moments. the family farm in favour of a career in the theatre in a city “Anybody who has kids will tell you, it’s surprising how perched on the edge of the Rocky Mountains, but, as she child care becomes the bane of your existence,” says Elli. said, “You can take the girl off the prairies, but then you “You’re always on the hunt. Lindsay Burns [’88 BFA] has have to put her back.” these great monologues in the plays she’s written [Dough: The Politics of Martha Stewart, The Vajayjay Monologues] about Mieko Ouchi is an actor, writer and director. always being on the hunt for babysitters — it’s like finding a The Edmonton native has won the Canadian good drug dealer, that pipeline to good babysitters.” Authors Association’s Carol Bolt Prize, the It’s obvious Elli has found great support in the theatre Governor General’s Literary Award and the City community as she raises a family in the midst of this, by of Edmonton Book Prize. Her plays have been nature, peripatetic existence. For instance, when she apoloproduced across the country as well as being gized to then artistic director Ian Prinsloo for having to selected as finalists for the “4 Play Series” at The Old Vic in turn down her first big gig at Theatre Calgary because she London, England. Her films have played over 30 festivals and was pregnant, he set her straight, telling her, “You don’t aired internationally. Last year, Mieko appeared in 11 episodes of need to apologize. Too many women in this business lose Global TV’s The Guard. She is currently the Faith Broome work because of that.” He then asked whether — if everything was still okay with her pregnancy by the end of that Playwright in Residence at the University of Oklahoma. Spring 2009

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During all the hoopla of the University of Alberta’s recent centenary, there was perhaps something that went under-reported. That something is the unique opportunities afforded by the small and close-knit campus communities of Campus Saint-Jean and Augustana Campus. The big difference between the main U of A campus and its smaller confreres—who have an equally storied history and play important roles in the preservation of the culture of their communities—is that students will interact with only a fraction of the student body on the main campus while Augustana Campus and Campus Saint-Jean are more intimate learning environments...

Where Everybody Knows Your Name Campus Saint-Jean— a little francophone gem

Dean Marc Arnal with a group of Saint-Jean students.

ne blustery New Year’s Eve a little over five years ago a young man arrived in Calgary and, after unpacking his bags, helped his uncle shovel snow in minus 45ºC weather. It was the French-speaking West-African’s first day in Canada. He had just arrived from Niger. A few months later, after completing grade 12 in Calgary, he headed even farther north to the University of Alberta’s Campus Saint-Jean in Edmonton, a small francophone campus in a big, northern, anglophone city. Thousands of miles away, a young Alberta man and his girlfriend spend New Year’s Day in Mexico working in

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the hot, dry cornfields alongside a rural farmer. The pair, students of Augustana Campus, are visiting their friends over the Christmas break—the same family that hosted them when they participated in an exchange program offered by Augustana, the U of A’s other small campus located in Camrose. These two small campuses are often overshadowed by the main U of A campus whose 90 buildings scrape the upper horizon on the south side of the North Saskatchewan River. It is a whopper campus with more than 14,000 full- and part-time employees, 37,000 students, and research budgets and endowments measured in hundreds of millions of dollars. By comparison Campus Saint-Jean and Augustana Campus have a combined student body of fewer than 1,500, a handful of buildings to house them, and research budgets in the tens, not hundreds, of millions. But, the true measure of any university is the lived experience of the people who study and teach there. And, by this measure, the small “other” U of A campuses are as large as their big sister.

Campus Saint-Jean began to take shape in Edmonton about 100 years ago, not long after loads of bricks were hauled west of the Strathcona rail station to be laid into the first buildings of the U of A campus. A recent Strathcona bylaw dictated brick construction as a means of fire prevention. Bricks would also move east from the yard, as the French-Catholic Oblate priests built their chapel and secondary school on the highest hill in Mill Creek Ravine, the grounds of which would become Campus Saint-Jean. The Campus began its affiliation with the University in the 1960s, primarily by offering education degrees that to this day figure large in the education of highly qualified French immersion and francophone teachers across Canada. The Campus’ four-year program and master’s-level education courses are among only a few offered in French in the country. On the west-facing exterior wall of Campus Saint-Jean’s La Salle historique, some of the original bricks remain — dated 1910, the year before the school opened to prepare young Catholic men for university. Campus Saint-Jean’s actual roots go back to teaching that took place in Pincher Creek, AB. The

The first building built in 1910–11, now called Le pavillon Lacerte. Behind it is the small nun’s convent, now called Le pavillon Daridon. (Right) Le pavillon Lacerte today. (Inset) Henri Grandin, 1853–1923, St-Jean’s founder.

school opened its doors to women in the early 1960s. La Salle historique encompasses the original chapel and is the physical manifestation of the campus memory with its hand-carved altars, pictures of each graduating class, and memorabilia from activities that define the memory of a campus —the hockey teams, choirs, theatre productions, buildings gone and new ones built over the decades. To alumni these objects and images trigger personal memories and connect them to a shared history, culture and experience. They also provide evidence of the evolution of traditions over time. On small campuses, these images are like the family mantelpiece. They foster the ties that bind, and provide a sense of place and belonging. La Salle historique embodies the evolution of Father Grandin’s dream of a school that would foster education and bilingualism —“a bilingual elite from all walks of life”— in the northwestern Prairie. It was Father Grandin, a vicar of the Oblate Mission of Alberta-Saskatchewan, who decided to found the juniorate of the Oblate Order that became Campus Saint-Jean. His vision of one culture living in harmony alongside

another is an early indicator of the hopefulness of Canada’s cultural tolerance and, as with the iconoclastic steadfastness of missionary priests, it is not without complications and an indication of tolerance’s necessary tenacity as well. Campus Saint-Jean celebrated the inaugeration of its status as a faculty in 1978, and formally changed its name to “Campus” Saint-Jean in 2006. And so it happens that the U of A is also, as proclaimed on the signposts of the Campus entrance on rue Marie-AnneGaboury, l’université de l’Alberta. The signposts, across from La Cité francophone, are significant: a landmark in Edmonton’s vibrant French-quarter. The Campus Saint-Jean student body has evolved from mostly francophone students to predominantly those for whom French is a second language. “Our students come from all walks of life and over 65 percent of them come with a commitment to study not in their principal language,” says campus dean, Marc Arnal, ’99 PhD. He notes that, because of the effects of globalization, identity and culture are not simply inherited anymore; students are more intentional about their identity than prior genera-

tions. Campus Saint Jean is a residencebased campus that offers students the opportunity of intercultural experiences, a unique way to learn more about each other and the world. “This is the essence of Canadian citizenship,” says Arnal. By immersing themselves in residence, and on campus, students expand their identities intentionally and creatively as their beliefs are challenged in and outside of the classroom. More than linguistic facility is taught because every language is a means to an embodiment of a culture, a way of being, a different way of thinking. “For young people today, difference doesn’t get in their way; they see culture perfectly well,” says Arnal, whose Spring 2009

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One of the altars in La Salle historique and the “Tea Cups & Stories” display.

own children are a prime example as they are students of Campus Saint-Jean who have chosen to explore their mother’s Hindu faith. “They didn’t think Catholicism was cool,” Arnal says. It is not surprising to those who know Edmonton, whose founders built as many churches as schools, (home to North America’s first mosque, for example), that the children of a FrenchCatholic, Jesuit-schooled dean might follow the Hindu faith of their mother. Bailey Adams—a fourth year biological science student at Campus Saint-Jean who is applying for medical school next fall—is no stranger to difference. She 22

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hails from Edmonton and was not a fullimmersion student but had taken advantage of an exchange program to France in high school. She came to Campus Saint-Jean for the language, to do something different, and also because the small campus appealed to her. Bailey has embraced the language and culture at Campus Saint-Jean and considers herself a member of Edmonton’s francophone community. “I’ve never been part of a minority before,” she says. Campus Saint-Jean is an integral part of the francophone culture in Alberta and has opened its campus to the surrounding community. A commu-

nity garden is frequented by residents of centre de santé Saint Thomas Health Centre, the seniors’ centre across the street from the school. Many students, including Bailey, volunteer at Saint Thomas. There she is able to converse with elderly patients in French, no small thing for these seniors who, as their memory fades, find it hard to converse in English. Le Carrefour, located in La Cite and the only French language bookstore in Edmonton, has also been purchased by Campus Saint-Jean. “There’s a different feeling within the French community, different expressions,” says Bailey. “It’s good to not be limited to one way of understanding things.” Another way she broadens her understanding of “difference” is, like her mother before her, working part-time with a local organization that provides care for developmentally challenged adults.

“I like helping people,” says Bailey, whose sense of social justice has been deeply affected by her involvement in the special-needs community. There is no current specialization within medicine for people with special needs, but by the time Bailey is done with her career, there will be, she hopes. “They are ignored and I would like to help them not be ignored. “I love their passion, and the joy on their face when they recognize me,” says Bailey. “I don’t see the same stigma or stereotypes as [I do in] some people. People with disabilities are also normal.” She says that working with the developmentally challenged has changed her priorities. “They’ve made me appreciate my ability to think clearly, to be born into a family that has resources, to even be able to have the opportunity to go to university.” Bailey, who as a student is used to chatting with her professors and the dean in the hallways and the café — and finding out more than once when she got up to the cash register that he’d bought her coffee — also volunteers time promoting the campus to high school students. She emphasizes the advantages for undergraduate students on a small campus to build relationships, and also the advantage to apply for francophone as well as anglophone positions when applying for jobs or grad school. Most of all she encourages students to take the jump, to not see language as a barrier. “It’s a small campus, so there is lots of support,” she says. Besides creating a new medical specialization for This statue of Saint-Jean sits above the west entrance to le pavillon Lacerte.

the disabled, Bailey would like to return to Campus Saint-Jean to teach anatomy. “I had a great anatomy teacher on the riverside campus,” she says. Only she’d like to teach it in French —perhaps in the new science building on which construction is slated to begin in 2010. “L’anglais ça s’atrappe” is a common francophone phrase. It describes how, as a minority culture surrounded by anglophones, French-speaking Albertans catch English —like a cold. For Pierre Landry Muhire, ’09 BA, — the West-African mentioned earlier — who arrived five years ago on the coldest day of the year only to be handed a snow shovel as his first “Canadian” experience, English was a welcome virus, one of his primary reasons for coming to Campus Saint-Jean. His sister attended before him, and told him about the intimacy of the small campus. And, as well as being able to study in his first language, he would also have the advantage of being able to “catch” English from the surrounding Edmonton community. “When you come to Canada it’s not so scary to be different. It’s a more integrated society,” says Landry. But it’s not easy at first. When Muhire arrived at Campus SaintJean, he was very homesick and a

little afraid. He even booked a return ticket home. “To integrate is difficult,” he says, “The cold, the loneliness —it’s a challenge.” But within a few months teachers knew his name, students recognized him, people asked how he was doing and he found a new family —a family that welcomed his culture and differences. “Culture is not just language,” says Muhire. The French-Albertan culture is different from the culture of Niger, he points out. “For example, in Niger, you have a great respect for your elders and for teachers. You don’t speak or ask questions of them unless you are invited.” At Campus Saint-Jean there are students from Asia, Africa and across Canada. “There is not one dominant culture and we get along with each other,” says Muhire. “There is tolerance.” In trying to translate his intercultural experience into English, Muhire resorts to the word “enrichie”— richer than enriched, like café au lait with whole milk, not skim. It’s a different kind of understanding. One of the different ways of understanding is on display when you enter La Salle historique and pass by a simple handmade wooden wardrobe —once a standard item in the priests’ bedrooms. Inside, instead of the vestments and simple possessions of a missionary, are shelves of tea cups. Attached to each tea cup is the story of its owner, as told by a Campus Saint-Jean student. Tea Cups & Stories was an assignment for students where they had to learn and tell the stories of the francophone community in Edmonton. It is a simple gesture, and the stories are personal, but they evidence the powerful connection that a small campus can make between its students and the community. Pierre Landry Muhire

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Some members of the cast of Molière’s Les précieuses ridicules. The women on the left with the long hair is France Levasseur-Ouimet. (Right) The 1949 Saint-Jean choir that visited Quebec for a month.

France Levasseur-Ouimet, ’67 BEd, ’77 MA, ’82 PhD, a farmer’s daughter who understands the importance of stories told over tea at the kitchen table, taught at Campus Saint-Jean until her retirement in 2004. Now the Campus historian and writer-in-residence — and the brainchild behind the tea cup collection and stories —she has made the stories of the Campus her passion. Levasseur-Ouimet is also the composer of the U of A commemorative song, “Je te retrouve” (I Remember You) — performed with the U of A symphony last year. She has always been involved in theatre and music and points at one group of pictures in La Salle historique that she collected and assembled for the 100th anniversary of the University. The photographs are of the Campus SaintJean choir —a mixed group of students, professors and alumni. Her face is in more than one of the pictures. Levasseur-Ouimet tells the story of when the choir first toured Quebec in 1949 — about how moved the audiences were. Eastern French Canadians did not know about their culture embedded in the founding culture and education of northern Alberta. Levasseur-Ouimet remembers when the choir returned to Quebec in 2005 during Alberta’s centennial that there were also tears, and how each concert ended with an ovation. Amazingly, some of the audience members had attended the original tour, 56 years earlier. As she walks through La Salle historique and reminisces about the pictures she has lovingly assembled, LevasseurOuimet talks about the power of community, of how, on a small, culturally 24

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distinct campus such as Campus Saintmet my husband here,” she says simply. Jean, “we belong to one another.” How “When we get older we don’t dream as students who share a history and have much as remember. close interaction become a group, build Levasseur-Ouimet talks of how small links, and how it is a particular way of community fosters a way of being that being —a close integration develops into important valof student life and commuues. “The smallness balances nity, where anonymity is difthe bigness, like a counterficult, if possible at all. weight.” For LevasseurLavasseur-Ouimet hopes Ouimet, the preservation that parts of the history that and promotion of French were important to her genCanadian culture on a small eration, such as the sense of university campus in Alberta faith, do not get lost. As she is not just an end, it is also a points out the stories behind means to building a sense of the images she reflects that citizenship and community. the way memory works on a “Being close to people is an place —what memories are important part of how we kept and what are lost —has André Daridon, 1880–1943, define ourselves,” she says. St-Jean’s first professor. a great influence on its “Community is like a magic future. “It feels like we are at a crosspotion. If you don’t belong, you don’t roads. At one point we’ll have to redehave an obligation to one another. Being fine our link with history. It may part of a minority community allows happen when I am gone, but links will you to see difference in a new way, to be inevitably be kept.” In small places, more accepting of difference. It keeps us such as Campus Saint-Jean, the past is awake to the fact that we are all not the present enough to be remembered. same. The world is so big —we all need Class pictures line the hallways and to find a way to belong, to have a purLevasseur-Ouimet, who educated hunpose with people.” dreds of teachers over the years, often hears her former students pause outside University of Alberta Alumni Association her office: “This is me,” they say to Summer of Discovery 2009 their own students, pointing to themJoin us for a visit to Campus Saint-Jean & the selves in a picture. “I belonged here.” heart of Edmonton’s francophone community. Lavasseur-Ouimet, who admits that her Le campus St.-Jean et feet sometimes wander “to places that la Cité francophone d’Edmonton are no longer there,” has her own hisMay 28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (lunch included) tory documented in the images in La Visit www.ualberta.ca/alumni/ed or call Salle —her with the choir, in a theatre 780-492-1835 for more information about this production, her name on many choral and other Summer of Discovery activities. productions. “I learned to teach here, I

Augustana Campus — the jewel of Camrose

t Augustana Campus in Camrose, When you walk on to as at Campus Saint-Jean, the two Augustana Campus, the first —community and campus —are thing you see is its principal not separate entities. To some extent building, called Founders’ Hall this is also true of the main campus, or Old Main. It is iconic, as but in smaller locales the degree of familiar in our imaginations as interconnectivity is bound to be more the old wooden schoolhouse it intense. Dean Roger Epp, ’84 BA, has a is. Unexpectedly, it has outlasted community-based vision of Augustana its now extinct wooden Prairie Campus, one in which the Campus is companion, the grain elevator. not an ivory tower, but a vital contributor to Camrose and rural Alberta. Community connection and experiential learning are built into Augustana’s mission, and many of its professors have a long history in the community and on the campus. “When students are in a real place, their learning is not an abstraction,” says Epp, whose residencebased liberal arts model is consistently challenged by the economics of having to convince people that it’s a Sarah Skinner (fifth from left) at the end of her group’s four-day Walk for Darfur from Red Deer to Camrose. good idea to leave home to (Top) A statue of Martin Luther — who ushered in the Protestant Reformation — stands in front of go to school. To do this, he Augustana’s Founders’ Hall. says, education has to be intentional, it has to be integrated into had come from Scandinavia to make a Augustana opened its doors in the community in a tangible manner. new life on the Prairies. These pioneers 1911. Then it was known as Camrose As with Campus Saint-Jean and its were motivated by the conviction that, Lutheran College. In its early years, it connection to francophone culture, as the Augustana Campus mission statewas recognized for the quality of its Augustana is intimately connected to ment says, “personal wholeness emerges academic program and its endeavour the culture of rural Alberta —but it is from a liberal education and that the to provide an education that extended landscape, not language, that provides spirit of cooperation so crucial to rural beyond the intellect “to the heart and its unique educational opportunity. life invigorates human endeavour.” its affections.” Augustana began offerCamrose is about 75 kilometres southThe strong rural influence means ing university courses in the fall of 1959 east of Edmonton. The city of about that in Camrose and the counties that as an affiliated college of the U of A 17,000 sits on the flat, Prairie landsurround it, people still know each and became Alberta’s first private scape stretching eastward for what other’s names. And being in a commuuniversity in 1985. seems like forever. It is a landscape nity where everyone knows your name It was only in 2004 that Augustana dotted with pumpjacks, windbreaks, means you are accountable to those Campus became a faculty of the U of A cattle, farmhouses and barns, around you. One of the benefits of and the institutional memory has not windrows of hay, scattered machinery that, says Epp, is that “you have so forgotten who built it. Many who have and tractors, all hemmed in with many helping hands.” As an example, attended the school can trace their fences that show, by their state of he cites a local food project that is ancestors back to those tenacious and repair, prosperity or the lack thereof. dear to his heart. It is a multi-year hopeful new Canadians, most of who Spring 2009

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pilot project in which Augustana Campus staff are working with the community and Alberta Agriculture to secure the majority of food served on campus from regional sources. As they work together to build a network of suppliers and deal with regulatory and price issues, Epp’s hope is that Augustana Campus, which feeds over 500 residence students daily, can leverage its position to address a vulnerable food system and a vulnerable rural economy. “Given our location and where our students come from, we can and should do that,” he says. It is a part of his commitment for Augustana Campus to be “at home” where it is in rural Alberta. “It’s a whole lotta work, but it’s the really terrific people —staff and people in the community —who take it up and make it happen.” The small, academically strong student body at Augustana Campus is recruited from northern communities and small towns across the Prairies and throughout Canada. Augustana also has a strong contingent of international students —about seven percent —but does not have an overabundance of students from any one particular region. “We get a lot of “ones and twos,” says Epp, who is proud of the fact that guidance counsellors —who used to promote Augustana to weaker students, thinking the small campus would foster them —now send them leaders, those who are more active, because they will learn more. “It’s really striking,” he says. “We get our students from a lot of different schools and they are amazing people.” Epp echoes his counterpart, Dean Arnal at Campus Saint-Jean, by stressing that critical awareness does not kick in after students graduate. “We have to get them into practical situations while they are on campus. This is where it all gets real.” Augustana has also been able to build on long-time community connections and traditions to make this happen. Integrated into the campus experience —alongside the regional projects, choir concerts, plays, art exhibits and sports events —are visiting guests and 26

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Karsten Mundel: “We can really harness the University to do things of real benefit at the local level.” lecturers from such schools as Yale, McGill and the University of Toronto. “I can’t think of a small Prairie city the size of Camrose that has the cultural opportunities we do,” says Epp. Augustana also provides international exchanges that place students in crossdisciplinary projects and at kitchen tables in communities as far afield as France, Germany, Cuba, Mexico, Costa Rica, Greece and India. Professor Karsten Mundel, ’95 BA, now runs the international exchange program founded by his father, Dittmar, a Lutheran pastor and semi-retired professor at Augustana Campus. Tall with a distinct profile (think of Ichabod Crane as an elderly Nordic scholar) the senior Mundel is a familiar figure in the Camrose landscape who can often be seen on his morning cross-country ski across the campus grounds to the nearby Waskasoo trail. It was Mundel’s crossing of academic paths with LatinAmerican Freirian disciple, scholar and activist Arturo Ornelas that resulted in Augustana Campus’s seminal PueblaAlberta Community Service Exchange (PACSE) program. The program, which has been running for over 15 years, places small cohorts of students from Mexico and Canada in each other’s rural communities where they perform community service and carry out research. PACSE is an early prototype of community service or “place-based” learning —a method of teaching that

places students in volunteer or service capacities and encourages them to think critically. It is based on the Freirian principles of civic engagement and selfdetermination across all social classes — tenets that were first propounded by educational innovator Paulo Friere in the late 1940s. The junior Mundel now runs the PACSE program in his capacity as interim director of Augustana Campus International, Outdoor and Community Service Learning. An activist at heart, Mundel “blames” his passion for placebased education on being raised in a “household of learning and ideas.” (His mother was also a teacher in Camrose.) He had no doubts after finishing his PhD that he would remain part of the community and says, “I’m fortunate to be able to carry on at Augustana.” This year, in collaboration with the U of A’s Community Service Learning Centre Office at the Faculty of Arts, Mundel has also placed 10 percent of Augustana’s students in local servicelearning projects. “Virtually every department has embraced the idea,” he says. For example, students who are studying linguistics are placed as reading buddies in primary school —where the fundamentals of how children learn to read become crystallized. Others learning about young offenders and the law volunteer in junior high schools. There they create activities such as potluck suppers and storytelling that

Sarah Skinner with her host “mom” in Mexico and Shawn Banack dressed up for Mexico Independence Day.

benefit the community; at the same time they contextualize the pressures on contemporary teenagers. “I see in these placements the profound nature of the relationships that students form,” says Mundel. “It’s a really rewarding feeling. We can really harness the University to do things of real benefit at the local level. This moves students beyond a charity model. They put their whole being into these projects. It is really meaningful for them, and it involves the whole community in learning.” Sarah Skinner came to Augustana Campus from Turtleford, Saskatchewan, and is completing her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and Development Studies. She recently completed a directed studies project researching the motivations that engage people to take up organic farming. By talking to farmers and listening to their stories she found that their reasons for switching to organic cultivation methods ranged from the financial to the altruistic. She also spent time in Mexico taking part in the PACSE program. “There is so much you can learn from being in a community,” she says. “In Mexico I learned the impact of family members leaving to find work in the U.S. It made me see how unsustainable it was.” Living with a Mexican family, Skinner witnessed the impact on the family —on children from a collective, patriarchal culture who, without

their fathers’ presence, obtained mostly just a material connection from the money sent home. Skinner saw parallels in the Prairie leg of the exchange, which took place in Tofield, Alberta. There, many families have fathers or brothers who have left the farm to work in Alberta’s oil industry. The PACSE program taught Skinner how important it is to talk to people about their situations in their actual locales. “They are the experts,” she says. “I will always seek out people’s stories. Hearing their stories makes you care about what’s going on —it

gives a deeper meaning.” Hoping for a development internship when she graduates — something where she could help build sustainable communities and leave another place in a better situation than when she got there —Skinner says, “I will always want to hear the stories.” Skinner was also active on campus. She took part in the Augustana Against Aids student club and also participated in Augustana’s Walk for Darfur and in Augustana Campus’s student chaplaincy program. “Augustana is a close-knit community,” she says. “There are always concerts or speakers on campus, and you see the professors engaged in the community off campus.” An example of one engaged professor is Glen Hvenegaard, ’87 BSc, ’89 MSc, an Augustana Campus professor of Geography and Environmental Studies since 1995. A distinguished scholar in ecotourism, biodiversity, outdoor education and conservation biology, Hvenegaard is highly regarded in the regional environmental community. He has been active in Camrose’s efforts

Glen Hvenegaard (right) with farmer and friend Don Ruzicka. Spring 2009

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to conserve wildlife habitats and in creating local ecotourism activities —such as birdwatching and wildlife monitoring —that help to create awareness and raise funds that benefit the local environment. With funding from the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, Hvenegaard is examining how bird species can be used as indicators of biodiversity. To do this, he engages local farmers in bird monitoring programs on their land. Hvenegaard is no stranger to the kitchen tables of the Camrose and area community. There, chatting over a cup of coffee, he engages farmers and local groups in his biodiversity studies. It is at the kitchen table where he not only gets people involved in making an impact on the environment, but where he also learns from their intimate knowledge of the terrain. “Relationships are important in rural places,” he says. “People need to know who you are and trust you.” Shawn Banack, like Skinner, studied with both Hvenegaard and Mundel, and is also a place-based learning junkie. Just back from a biodiversity field studies course in Costa Rica, he is currently interviewing farmers in the Camrose region in connection to Hvenegaard’s biodiversity study. And he is getting in shape to take Augustana Campus’ famous outdoor education three-week spring course—a canoe trek on the Brazeau River. Banack says the appeal of a smaller campus where there would be lots of opportunity for interaction with professors is what led him to Augustana. Opportunities to learn “in-place” are what kept him there. Banack’s addiction to experiential learning was ignited during his first year of studies, in a Geographic Information Systems course with Hvenegaard’s environmental science colleague, Glynnis Hood, ’07 PhD. Hood made her students learn GIS (information from a Global Positioning System —the more familiar hand-held or in-car GPS systems—can be uploaded to a GIS device) by mapping their own world. “That class had an unbelievable impact,” 28

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Shane Banack doing biodiversity work for Glen Hvenegaard.

says Bannack. “It brought a whole new dynamic to university for me.” The experience catapulted him into environmental science and experiential, place-based learning. Banack also travelled to Mexico on an exchange where he lived with a family, taught ESL and worked the cornfields. “Experiences such as the PACSE program change you,” he says. “It’s good to understand how other people live and what they value. I’ve learned more about things I would have been blind to.” Working in a field with a machete, stacking huge piles of corn stalks for feed, taught him tolerance and patience.

Living with rural families taught him about giving all people time and respect. The Mexican emphasis on family and friends and their relaxed sense of time affected him deeply —so deeply that last year he returned to Mexico so he could spend Christmas and New Year’s working in the corn fields with his host family, Thomas and Martha Candeles-Flores. “You get physically and emotionally attached to a place,” Banack says about his U of A experiences that have given him a different world view. “You feel things.” —Zanne Cameron, ’99 BA

Corpus Christi College — founded 657 years ago, it was once home to Shakespeare’s playwriting rival, Christopher Marlowe.

Town & Gown Academics Joel Dacks, ’95 BSc, and Lesley Dacks, ’98 BSc, take us on a stroll through the colleges and commons of Cambridge, England. estled in one of the most beautiful pockets of the United Kingdom, Cambridge is a city full of history and scholarship. In 1209 a group of scholars fleeing Oxford after a feud with the locals settled in this once-quiet hamlet and sowed the seeds of Cambridge University. The city of around 120,000 people and the university are now virtually synonymous, and with that joint 800-year history comes a wealth of legend and lore. Because Cambridge is such a walkable city, still shaped by its medieval city plan, the best way to see it is on foot. So we invite you to stroll through its crooked streets with us, streets once trod by the university’s famous that include alumni such as Charles Darwin, Oliver Cromwell, John Milton, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and, more recently, Salman Rushdie and Prince Charles. You might even be lucky, as we were one evening, to sit next to Cambridge professor and intellectual rock star Stephen Hawking at a local restaurant.

I’m Henry The 8th I Am ... The tour begins in the centre of town at Parker’s Piece park. Unlike many of the private gardens belonging to the colleges, this groomed green space is public land. It was purchased by the city from Trinity College in 1613 and is open for all to enjoy. Parker’s is the birthplace of modern British football (i.e., soccer). In 1848, a group of students drew up a set of rules (the Cambridge Rules) for the game, which they pinned to the trees around the park. These rules formed the basis for today’s game, and on most days you can still see students and locals playing on the park’s 24 acres. From Parker’s Piece, we exit onto St. Andrew’s Street, turn left on Pembroke Street, and right onto King’s Parade, the city’s main drag. Immediately to our right is Joel’s former academic home, Corpus Christi College. (A college member is known as a “corpuscule,” a term coined by Sir Isaac Newton, for-

mer chair of the mathematics department, for an infinitesimally small particle of light.) Founded in 1352, it is the only college established by the citizenry, rather than the royal family or the university, and was home to Shakespeare’s rival, Christopher Marlowe. One of the oldest buildings in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College has survived relatively unaltered since its founding. Across the street is one of Cambridge’s most beautiful buildings, King’s College, named for King Henry VI, who founded it in 1441. Visit the cathedral first for a crash course in Tudor history as told through art, architecture and music. A walk through the cathedral costs £5, but it’s worth it to see Ruben’s The Adoration of the Magi (1634) above the altar, the intricately vaulted ceilings, and one of the largest and most complete collections of ancient stained glass windows in the world. If you visit at 5:30 in the evening during the school term you’ll be treated to evensong, a 45-minute mass sung by Spring 2009

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one of the King’s College choirs. Unless it’s mealtime (when it’s closed to visitors), take a look in the college’s main dining room, located beside the chapel near the back of the courtyard. Unlike ordinary school cafeterias, this one has a three-storey vaulted ceiling and an impressive portrait of King Henry VIII, one of the college’s many benefactors. From here, cross the street to the Cambridge Market, a favourite place to go for everything from produce and cheese to books and socks. Highlights include Burough Olives (a.k.a. “the Olive Guy”), the fish stall and the cheese stall. The Olive Guy is incredibly friendly, will always remember your face, and has the best olives in town. But he’s only there on Sundays. Likewise, the Saturday fish stall boasts the best fish in town, only you have to get there before noon, otherwise he’s sold out. The added value of this stall is that the slightly rough-around-the-edges owner will tell you the best way to cook your purchase. The cheese stall is another must, carrying mostly local cheeses, including Stiltons, and an amazing (but slightly dangerous) unpasteurized brie. Next door to the market is Great St. Mary’s Church, the main church for the city and the university — in fact, it’s a university rule that all students must live within two miles of this church. Inside, the church has a beautiful simplicity, with dark wooden pews and memorial stones dedicated to generations of townspeople. From atop the church’s tower are unrivalled views of the city and the surrounding countryside. St. Mary’s is also a great place to hear classical music throughout the year. Check the front gate for playbills for upcoming concerts. Listening to a string quartet or a small choral group in this 15th-century church is the perfect end to a busy day of sightseeing. If you’re feeling peckish, go down the street to The Eagle for a decent pub lunch. The Eagle is where Cambridge scholars Watson and Crick spent much of their time “working” on the structure of DNA. As the story goes, they first announced their discovery of the double helix standing on one of the Eagle’s tables. (Who says academics don’t have 30

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The Bridge of Sighs (top) over which St. John’s students must pass to collect their grades at end of term and a detail from St. John’s College.

any fun?) Before you leave, be sure to check out the ceiling at the back of the pub where dozens of Second World War pilots (mostly American) burned their names and regiment numbers into the wood. For a very different lunch experience, walk a half block from the market to Michaelhouse Café. Housed in the 14th-century Church of St. Michael, the café serves sandwiches, soups, cakes and entrees in a stunning, yet relaxing, environment. After lunch, backtrack to Clare College, next door to King’s. Although much more understated than its showy neighbour, it boasts Cambridge’s most impressive gardens, overflowing with ancient trees, lily ponds, and exotic plants and shrubs. Further up King’s Parade, the street turns into Trinity Street where you’ll find a string of highend boutiques. Follow this street to the entrance of Trinity College, the largest and wealthiest of Cambridge’s colleges — and one that has produced 32 Nobel Prize winners. At the main entrance, notice the statue of King Henry VIII wielding a weathered table leg. The sceptre he’s supposed to be holding was purloined and never recovered. At Trinity, you can walk through the college’s expansive grounds where once strolled some of the greatest minds in Western civilization, including Francis Bacon, Alfred Tennyson, James Clerk Maxwell and Isaac Newton. Time for a coffee? Although Britain is known as the land of tea, Cambridge

has some very nice coffee shops. Savino’s, with its real Italian baristas, old movie posters of Sophia Lauren, and the best-ever chocolate croissant, is definitely worth a visit. Doubling as a café and de facto Italian cultural centre, Savino’s is always packed, so get your coffee to go and let’s move on. Next door to Trinity, St. John’s College has impressive gates, lovely quads, and one of the most beautiful bridges in Cambridge, the Bridge of Sighs. The story goes that St. John’s students must walk over this bridge on their way to pick up their grades at the end of term, and so this bridge shares more than just the same name with the bridge in Venice from which convicts glimpsed their last view of the city before imprisonment. At the end of Trinity Lane is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, known more commonly as the Round Church, a must-see if you are a fan of Dan Brown’s novels or have an interest in the Knights Templar. This Romanesque church was built in 1130 and modelled on the church of the same

name in Jerusalem. Today it functions as a museum devoted to church history — with a fantastic staff — and is one of only four round churches left in Britain. For dinner, you can head down to The Anchor for some fish and chips, a pint and a view of the River Cam. The Anchor used to be a jazz club in the 1960s and a favourite hangout of Syd Barrett, local lad and founding member of Pink Floyd. If you’re tired of pub fare already, walk about five minutes to The Rice Boat for some excellent Indian food from the southernmost region of Kerala. There’s also the nearby Sala Thong, which has a delicious Thai menu.

Skull-duggery With 800 years of academic history, it’s not surprising that Cambridge boasts some superior museums. The Zoology Museum and the Sedgewick Museum (of geology) — on opposite sides of Pembrooke Street — together house an excellent natural history collection. In the same quad as the geology museum is another gem, the Anthropology and Archaeology Museum. On the ground floor you can see the tools and skulls of ancient humans; many of these artifacts were found around Britain. On the upper floor are exhibits devoted to various cultures, included are some canoes and a totem pole from Canada. Each museum probably deserves an hour or so of your time. The important thing is not to tire yourself out before getting to the pièce de résistance of Cambridge museums — the Fitzwilliam. This Greekinspired behemoth gives you the choice of two quite different museum experiences: upstairs is the art collection, with a taste of everything from 16thcentury Italian paintings to modern art; downstairs is the antiquities collection, with displays of Etruscan pottery, Egyptian mummies, Greek urns and Roman armour. For supper, treat yourself to a more formal meal by heading back across Trumpington Street to Fitzbillies, or try the Italian restaurant Strada on Trinity Street — our favourite place for a celebratory dinner.

“Back” Roads From Cambridge, the English countryside is incredibly accessible. In just a few hours you can walk along the river or through lovely fields and reach quiet little villages. For a day tour of the Cambridgeshire countryside, start at the “backs” — the gardens behind King’s, Trinity and the other colleges that back onto the River Cam. Enter from Silver Street and pass by Darwin College. This graduate college is housed in a 19th-century farmhouse that once belonged to Charles Darwin’s son and is the only Cambridge college to have its own island. Further down the street, across from the Anchor Pub, you’ll find the Mathematical Bridge of Queen’s College. The legend is that Isaac Newton, at the tender age of 19, built this bridge in one night without using a single bolt or screw, just geometrical concepts. Then, in the19th-century, a plucky group of students decided to disassemble the bridge and put it back together to see how Newton accomplished his feat. But they couldn’t reassemble it without bolts. A great story that has the misfortune of not being true. The truth is the bridge was built by traditional means some 22 years after Newton’s death. Nonetheless, it is a remarkable structure and just down from it you can rent a canoe, kayak or — even better — a punt. You can punt all the way to Grantchester (or walk the three miles along Newnham Road and Grantchester

Lane). Whichever way you get there, try to time your arrival for tea, scones and clotted cream at The Orchard. This teahouse has been a destination for Cambridge students and visitors since the 1890s and was the hangout for a group of students dubbed the “neo-pagans” that included the poet Rupert Brookes, the novelist E.M. Forster, the painter August John, the economist Maynard Keynes, and the philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell. If you follow the Cam upstream past the Round Church — in the opposite direction from Grantchester — you’ll reach the bend in the river where punting turns into rowing territory. To go further in this direction you have to travel by foot, but it’s a pleasant walk with views of one of Cambridge’s most iconic sights: the college rowing crews. Because the Cam is a small river and Cambridge — both the city and the university — have a number of rowing crews, you can watch practices almost any time of day, although “rush hour” is around 7:00 a.m. and from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. If watching all that exercise leaves you winded, then stop at the village of Chesterton and have a pint at the Green Dragon pub, just over the bridge, or keep walking for another hour to the village of Fen Ditton. Here, you’ll find one of the best restaurants in the area, The Plough. This gastro-pub

Punting under the Mathematical Bridge on the River Cam. Spring 2009

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Finding Your Way Around: Corpus Christi College King’s Parade www.corpus.cam.ac.uk

The Eagle 8 Benet Street

Michaelhouse Café Trinity Street www.michaelhouse.org.uk A sculling crew on the River Cam, where the river’s small size means that watercraft other than rowing teams are not allowed.

The Cambridge colleges www.cam.ac.uk/colleges

Savino’s 3 Emmanuel Street

offers gourmet dishes such as twiceroasted teriyaki duck and chicken breast wrapped in air-dried prosciutto with a wild mushroom garlic sauce. It also has one of the best burgers around.

Footnote If you’re hard of foot and light of spirit, a terrific day trip is the walk to the town of Ely. Although the 18-mile hike is not to be taken lightly, it’s a lovely walk on National Trust trails along the river and over pastoral landscapes. Don’t be surprised, though, if cows or sheep cross your path. The English countryside is full of walking trails that cut through farmers’ fields. The final four miles of the walk will give you the sense of going back in time to the days of pilgrimages as the end destination, the stunning Ely Cathedral, rises up on the horizon. The stained glass in this cathedral makes it a nice resting point, as is the village itself, with its quaint market and winding side streets. Getting back to Cambridge from Ely is a £6 — and, at 13 minutes, dishearteningly quick — train ride after your six- to eight-hour hike.

And Eeyore, Too Shopping is an essential part of the tourist experience. If you’re looking for the mainstream chains, we’d suggest the recently expanded Lion’s Yard, a mall tastefully hidden behind the shops on Front Street. However, our favourite haunts were antique and second-hand bookstores. At G David you can find everything from rare first editions (including an under-glass volume of Winnie-the-Pooh) to less expensive — but still impressively — old volumes. We spent hours here flipping through old accounts of the first expeditions to Canada and sifting through boxes of old maps. Just as in the city itself, you never know what you’ll find when you set out on a day’s excursion, but you know it’ll have a story to tell and a history all its own.

The Rice Boat 37 Newnham Road www.riceboat.com

Strada 17 Trinity Street www.strada.co.uk

The Anchor Pub 12 Silver Street www.cambridgeanchor.co.uk

Sala Thong 35 Newnham Road www.arak84.dsl.pipex.co

Cambridge museums www.cam.ac.uk/collections

Darwin Bi-Centennial celebrations at Cambridge www.darwin2009.cam.ac.uk

Fitzbillies spent nearly two years

52 Trumpington Street www.fitzbillies.cp.uk

as researchers at the

Orchard

University of

45-47 Mill Way, Grantchester www.orchard-grantchester.com/

Lesley and Joel Dacks

Cambridge. They are now back in Edmonton

The Plough

— Lesley is a researcher

Green End, Fen Ditton www.theploughfenditton.co.uk

at the Cross Cancer Institute and Joel is an

Ely Cathedral www.ely.org.uk/cath.htm

assistant professor in the Department of

G David 16 St. Edward’s Passage

Cell Biology. Spring 2009

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Forget Me Not Lost, sometimes found, but never forgotten, this is the story of some iconic U of A objects that have (mostly) returned to the fold

Every University has

links in the U of A’s past.

its iconic objects —

Fortunately, some of

those treasured

these items have turned

mementoes from the

up in the attics and

past that are imbued

basements of alumni;

with the institution’s history. Many such treasures from the U of A’s past are carefully stored in its Museums and Collections, in the University Archives or in Human Ecology’s Clothing and Textile Collection. But before these departments were created, there was no central place within the University to catalogue and

unfortunately, some continue to elude the most diligent of searches. In 2000, when I began researching I Was There: A Century of Alumni Stories about the University of Alberta, alumni told me about some of these iconic objects, which sent me off on a (so far) eightyear quest to find these missing treasures. But my quest actually began 15

conserve our historical record,

years ago with the first treasure

thus leading to many missing

that was returned to the trove...

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‘Wauneita Society Silver Samovar’, Manufactured by Walker & Hall, Sheffield England, No date, 48.8.cm (h) x 24 c (w), University of Alberta Art Collection, University of Alberta Museums

by Ellen Schoeck, ’72 BA, ’77 MA

The St. George’s Banner In 1911, Governor General Earl Grey presented a handstitched Saint George’s banner to each of the then-nine Canadian universities. For decades, the University president presented the banner to the Students’ Union president as the symbol of student office. In later years, the students kept control of the banner, with each outgoing SU president presenting it to the incoming president. At some point the banner was transferred by the SU to the University Archives where it was later signed out by the SU and never returned. I came across a black and white photograph of the banner taken in 1977. But something seemed wrong: St. George’s face in the 1911 banner was soft and feminine while the face in the photograph was strong, angular. Then I found a colour picture of the banner and saw that the armour was a rich green and not silver as it was with U of A’s 1911 banner. So where had this second banner come from and where was the 1911 banner? A call from Archives solved the second mystery. While perched atop a cherry picker organizing large volumes on a high shelf, staff at the cavernous Book and Record Depository discovered a carefully wrapped package — the original banner of St. George in silver armour presented 97 years ago to President Tory by Earl Grey. But now there’s a new mystery: how did we acquire the second banner (pictured between the “Foreword” and “Dedication” in the 1941 Evergreen and Gold) and where is it now?

<The Wauneita’s Silver Samovar In 1994 I was the executive assistant to then-President Paul Davenport, ’94 LLD (Honorary). One day when I was alone in his office reviewing a mountain of mail, receptionist Sheryl Neuman suddenly rushed in and breathlessly told me that I had to come to the main desk right away. I rose and followed the normally calm Sheryl down the hall to find a man in his 30s standing at the reception desk holding a large silver samovar. He abruptly thrust the samovar into my hands before blurting out: “My wife says this belongs to the University. It’s been in our basement for years.” Then he turned and fled. Not knowing the significance of the samovar, I phoned Art Collection curator Jim Corrigan, ’79 BFA, ’81 MVA, and asked if he knew anything about it. After some investigation he told me that I was probably in possession of the Wauneita Samovar that was used for generations by the Wauneita Society to serve tea. (In 1909, the first female university

undergraduates bonded together under the name of Wauneita, a word purported to mean “kindhearted” in Cree.) When the first Students’ Union building (now University Hall) was constructed in 1951, a gathering space with a large fireplace was set aside for the Wauneitas. But in the ’60s, this space was lost to administrative offices and the Wauneita tradition began to fade away. By 1972, the Wauneitas were no longer. The mystery-man who returned the samovar probably thought his wife or mother-in-law had wrongly appropriated University property. But quite the opposite was true. At the time the Wauneita Society was quietly dissolved as a Students’ Union club, the SU had no storage space or collection service, so it’s fortunate that someone had the good sense to hold on to this memento. The Wauneita Samovar is now a part of the U of A’s Historical Objects Collection. The University also has 35 other museums with collections on campus — ranging from archaeology to zoology — used for teaching, research and community outreach. Spring 2009

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The Badminton Banner The Badminton Banner was most likely made by students in the late 1920s or early ’30s—probably by members of the U of A’s first badminton team. The banner fell into the hands of David Michelsen, ’65 BEd, ’72 MEd, after a Golden Bears volleyball game in Vancouver in the 1960s. At the time, the badminton and volleyball teams were on the same away-game travel schedule and David, who was in charge of making sure the volleyball equipment made it back to Edmonton, noticed the abandoned banner and packed it up with the volleyball gear. Back home, not knowing whom to return the banner to —and about to move —he packed it up with his possessions and it was with him some 45 years. It has now found a welcoming new home in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation.

Hammond Trophy In 1929, Priscilla Hammond, ’33 BA, captured the hearts of all her classmates. As Hugh Morrison, ’30 BA, told me, “The boys were all in love with her; the girls all wanted to be her best friend.” Priscilla was the class historian, the first president of the Delta Gamma women’s fraternity, an honour student (a scholarship bears her name) and a star tennis player. That athletic talent is why Priscilla’s death from heart failure one week after graduation stunned the small, close-knit campus. What her classmates didn’t know was that, at 12, Priscilla had been diagnosed with a heart defect and was told that if she lived a quiet, careful life, she might live to 30. But when Priscilla entered the U of A, she must have decided the quiet life was not for her and, no matter what the consequences, she was going to live life her way— which included competitive tennis. I knew that a tennis trophy had been commissioned in her memory and had even found a picture of it. But no one could find the actual trophy... until a young man named David Bandla came along. New to the Faculty of Physical Education and keen on the faculty’s history, in 2005 David unearthed the Hammond trophy in “Locker 8.” It is now on display in the Butterdome’s entranceway.

Another item to find its way home is a picture of the 1915–16 College of Pharmacy class with Henry Marshal Tory, ’28 LLD (Honorary), returned to the University by Gale Boutwell, the registrar of Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. Boutwell found the item at an estate sale and bought it because of the “beautiful antique frame” it was in and then contacted the pharmacy faculty because, as she said, “Since I am a university registrar myself, I find it difficult to destroy old documents without inquiring as to their value to anyone else.” Pharmacy began as a department in the Faculty of Medicine in 1914 before

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becoming a school in 1917 under the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Jurisdiction was transferred back to the Faculty of Medicine in 1939 and the School was granted Faculty status in 1955. Terry

Legaarden, ’71 BSc(Pharm), director of fund development for the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, welcomed the photo as it helps in his quest to complete the faculty’s collection of grad composite photos. “I am working with U of A Creative Services’ graphic designer Penny Snell to scan individual photos from old year books and produce composites to hang on the wall in pharmacy,” says Legaarden. “But we’re still missing 17 classes ranging from 1916–17 to 1946–47.” If anyone has photos from these years they can contact Terry at 780-492-8084 or tlegaarden@pharmacy.ualberta.ca.

The Green & Gold Ribbons

The Tuck Shop Tree

In 1908, the University needed to decide on its official colours before the October 23 convocation. (Although there were no real graduates, the University invited those who had a degree from a British or Canadian university to pay $2 to register as part of its first convocation; 364 people responded.) Fifty-one years after that event the University’s first professor, William Hardy “Doc Alik” Alexander, ’33 LLD (Honorary), wrote about how his wife, Marion, came upon the idea of green and gold as the University’s colours. He wrote that they were walking along the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River in early fall when Marion looked at the fall colours and said, “I’ve got it! The whole view cries out: green and gold.” Marion bought one shimmering gold and one deep green ribbon to show the Board of Governors who voted to adopt the colour scheme. I wondered if the original ribbons survived and, in 2006, I contacted Marion’s grandson, Will Alexander — who still lives in his grandparents’ original home on Saskatchewan Drive — to inquire about them. It turned out the ribbons were carefully stored in his attic (where they were as of this writing). An image of them graces the back cover of I Was There.

This is not a lost and found story, but more of a saved-andpreserved one. Three years ago, while visiting a friend in New York City, I learned that she was a distant relative of Hugh Knowles, a long-time grounds superintendent at the U of A who came to the University in 1948. Weeks later, this friend sent me an article about Knowles that included the information that, as the Tuck Shop was about to meet the wrecker’s ball in the late ’60s, Knowles persuaded the last owner of Tuck, Edgar Gerhart, ’48 BSc(Pharm), ’60 LLB, to allow him to transplant a rare white walnut tree that was on the property to the Faculty Club grounds. The walnut tree lives on in that location and every fall a group of elderly Eastern European women carefully climb ladders to harvest the butternuts. And thanks to Wayne McCutcheon, U of A’s manager of landscape maintenance, the tree now has a memorial plaque recounting its history.

Still Missing In Action... The Original Door to Henry Marshall Tory’s Office: The first home of the University of Alberta was on the top floor of the Duggan Street School, now Queen Alexandra. Walter Johns, ’70 LLD (Honorary), in his History of the University of Alberta, 1908-1969, writes that the original door to Tory’s first office was given to the University in 1958 by the Queen Alexandra School and that the door was “still preserved as one of the memorabilia of the University’s earliest year.” Now it’s nowhere to be found. In 2007, Glenn Irving, ’53 BSc(Eng), ’60 LLB — who attended Queen Alexandra school and remembered the door — told me: “There was an unused classroom behind the school’s stage. Painted on the glass panel in the classroom door was ‘University of Alberta.’ ” The following year I met another Alexandra graduate who also remembered this door, and who was sure the door also had Tory’s name on it and the words “President’s Office.”

The Dramat Shield: When Hugh Morrison was well into his 90s, I asked him what his proudest moment was as an undergraduate. He answered instantly: “Winning the Dramat Shield in 1929 for directing the best undergraduate play in the Inter-Year Play Competition.” From 1921 to 1950, the Shield was, indeed, the most coveted of awards. No other story in The Gateway received more coverage than the Inter-Year Play Competition that, in late winter, saw the freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior classes each mount a one-act play. Edmontonians flocked to Convocation Hall for the sold-out performances of these plays in competition for the coveted Dramat Shield. Under the guidance of the inspiring theatre teacher Elizabeth Sterling Haynes — co-founder of the Banff School of Fine Arts — students from all faculties learned to act, direct, build sets, apply makeup, sew costumes and light a stage. The actual Dramat Shield was a small wooden plaque donated by English professor J. T. Jones. The last known photograph of the Shield (above) was taken in 1949 when Jones presented it to that year’s winners. Spring 2009

new trail

Law and Order When families can’t agree on the specifics of a departed one’s will, she’s the one who has to find a way to make sense of the chaos aren Platten, ’74 BA, ’78 LLB, to sort out their difficulties. Sometimes has made a career out of taking those difficulties end up in a courtthe long view. As a leading room — Karen’s least favourite workpractitioner in the areas of trusts and place. “I do some estate litigation, estates, she helps her clients form clear though I prefer not to,” she explains. plans for when they leave this world “My method of dealing with issues is to or become incapacitated in some way try everything possible to get to a setthat renders them unable to manage tlement, but that doesn’t always work.” their own affairs — a day Karen relies on her that will come for each of us, people skills to help those “You really whether we’re ready or not. families struggling with She also deals constantly can’t generalize the legal issues left behind with the fallout, both perby a departed one to work sonal and legal, that comes about people and through their differences. from not being properly pre“There are always people how they see pared for that eventuality. issues that you have to Given Karen’s area of overlay over the legal their estates.” issues. Sometimes, getting expertise, it’s no surprise that she has devoted a lot of through the legal issues is thought to her own estate. As a result, easy. It’s getting through the people her will includes a charitable bequest issues that’s hard.” to the University of Alberta that will The process invariably demands provide scholarships for young law patience and empathy. Grief and students who would otherwise not be financial uncertainty can cause able to afford tuition. people to act out of character, Karen is a partner with the promiKaren observes. “Sometimes you nent law firm McLennan Ross — have to step back and remind which has offices in Edmonton, Calyourself of that. But you have to gary and Yellowknife —and leads its know how to deal with people, wills and estates practice group. It’s a and you have to appreciate that job that often places her smack in the there are emotions involved that middle of complex family dynamics, they cannot shed. You just have requiring her to perform a new legal to accept that as part of your job and emotional high-wire act each time. and deal with those emotions “Everyone is different,” she says. “You along with all of the legal issues.” really can’t generalize about people Unfortunately, Karen’s best and how they see their estates.” attempts at mediation occaIn a perfect world, everyone would sionally fall short. “For have a well-thought-out, well-crafted example,” she says, “I estate plan — and Karen is on a mishave an estate in litigasion to steer her clients along that path. tion right now. There She knows first-hand that when people are five beneficiaries, die without a proper will and leave a two of them have one substantial estate behind, their grievview of the world and ing families will often need legal help three of them have a

new trail

Spring 2009

totally different view. And, outside of going to court, we’re never going to get them to agree.” By putting a clear and effective estate plan in place before the inevitable happens, people can spare their families that kind of ordeal. “I start at the end and work towards the here and now,” Karen says. “I can tell you this is what’s going to happen when you die and make your document plan for that eventuality.” Estate law may not boast a glamorous image, but Karen enjoys the colleagues she works with and the specialized area of the law in which

she has chosen to work. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not surprising, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something I did even then, that charity forms â&#x20AC;&#x153;...itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a signal when I first started out a significant part of her to my children and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an area of law own estate planning. that I love,â&#x20AC;? she says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m doing this for two that this is very find the issues fascinating major reasons,â&#x20AC;? she and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re always dealexplains about the important, and ing with people. For the charitable bequest in most part, other lawyers her own will. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The first they should be in this area are very good one is that I honestly looking at doing believe that you have to to work with. They tend to see the human side of give back to the comthe same thing.â&#x20AC;? munity. It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matthings. So, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a very nice practice areaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not that it ter how big your estate isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stressful, or complicated!â&#x20AC;? is. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not saying I have a huge Like many lawyers, Karen finds estate. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m just saying I want to give that her job can be all-consuming. part of it to the community. I feel â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do I have a life? Probably not,â&#x20AC;? she very strongly that everybody should laughs. But when she does manage to want to do that. Secondly, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a sigescape from the office, she often ends nal to my children that this is very up on a different continent. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important, and they should be lookmy one luxury â&#x20AC;&#x201D; travel,â&#x20AC;? she says. ing at doing the same thing.â&#x20AC;? This year, her daughter (the youngest Both Karen and her late husband, of her three children) graduates from Jim Brimacombe, â&#x20AC;&#x2122;70 BA, â&#x20AC;&#x2122;74 LLB, university and Karen eagerly looks went through law school at the U of A, forward to a mother-and-daughter so it seemed only natural to include getaway to France and Greece. the University in her will. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There She also manages to wedge into already is a moot court competition her schedule some serious charitable at the Faculty of Law thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s named work in the community. She currently after my husband, so I thought this serves as chair of the Edmonton was a good addition to it. Community Foundation. Her comâ&#x20AC;&#x153;We both got an incredible amount mitment started small with that out of our years at the Faculty of organization â&#x20AC;&#x201D;â&#x20AC;&#x153;Someone I knew Law,â&#x20AC;? she continues. By reducing the thought Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be a good fit for the financial barrier, she hopes to enable planned giving committeeâ&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but she future young students to reap the same gradually found herself playing a rewards. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Especially with the huge larger and larger role in the increases in tuition, that is even more Foundation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think all boards are important now.â&#x20AC;? like that,â&#x20AC;? she observes with a smile. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Scott Rollans

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How Karenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gift Works Karen has made a specific bequest in her will naming the Faculty of Law as beneficiary. The funds from the bequest will provide scholarships for young law students who would otherwise not be able to afford tuition. Karen has also accepted an invitation to become a member of the Quaecumque Vera Honour Society. This donor group is comprised of individuals who have included the University in their estate plans. Each year, the University hosts a luncheon on campus for members of this group. Including a charitable bequest in your will is an effective method of supporting the University without compromising current living standards. As one of the many ways of making a gift to the University, bequests are usually one of the largest gifts an individual can make. Charitable bequests can help reduce the tax payable by the estate, thus allowing more of the estate to be used as desired.

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If it is your intention to include the University in your will, or if you would like to learn more about how to do so, we would be pleased to hear from you.

Name:_________________________________ Address:_______________________________ ______________________________________ Telephone:______________________________ e-mail:_________________________________ Please contact us at: Gift Planning Unit, University of Alberta Enterprise Square, 3rd Floor, 10230 Jasper Ave NW, Edmonton, AB T5J 4P6 Phone: 780-492-0332 Toll Free: 1 (888) 799-9899 e-mail: giving@ualberta.ca

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new trail

ALUMNI EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Learning on Location

Enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of Tuscany this fall! Bella Toscana: An ll-day exploration of the wonders of Tuscany This special program, which benefits from the University of Alberta’s longtime presence in one of Italy’s most appealing hill towns, is designed to make you feel at home in Tuscany.

October 20 – 30, 2009 $3,125 per person, double occupancy, airfare not included

It’s not too late...

Imagining Tuscany A photography workshop in the heart of Italy June 9–16 • $3,095 per person Limited space still available

Call now for more information: 1-800-661-2593 www.ualberta.ca/alumni/cortona

REFLECTIONS As in any big family, the younger siblings are often a little overlooked, lost in the general tumult of the day-to-day goings-on. So it is with the University of Alberta’s younger and smaller siblings—Campus St-Jean and Augustana Campus. Not that they’ve been forgotten, mind you. Using the family metaphor again, it’s like the second, third or fourth child to enter into the mix, most of the new-parent concern, anxiety and worry have been used up with the first child so that the next ones to come along don’t receive the same kind of attention as their older siblings. We’ve tried to make up for that oversight a bit in this issue with a feature story that looks at what makes the educational experience at Campus St-Jean and Augustana Campus so dear to the hearts of those who study and teach there. They are an important and valuable addition to the University of Alberta family and provide a truly unique learning experience for those who choose to study at their campuses, located in Edmonton and Camrose, AB. Speaking of important and valuable additions, this issue, sadly, will be the last one that will feature Susan Peirce at the top of the masthead. My friend, and the director of the Office of Alumni Affairs and executive director of the Alumni Association, will be officially retiring in July after 28 years at the helm of the organization that she had such a huge part in making one of the best alumni operations anywhere. Both of us are alumni of this fine institution and as such are attached to it in a somewhat personal and almost intimate way. But I have to say that I probably wouldn’t be occupying the presidential position on Alumni Council without the inspirational and vitalizing influence of Susan, who is just plain passionate about what the U of A has to offer and how she can best convey that to its alumni and, indeed, the world. U of A President Indira Samarasekera says she has a goal of making the University one of the top 20 schools in the world by 2020. That goal just got a little harder without Susan at the helm of the Alumni Association, but Susan sure as heck has done her part to make that dream a reality. I feel fortunate to have not only worked with her, but also to call her a friend. Jim Hole, ’79 BSc (Ag) Alumni Association President Chair Centenary Committee

Following

the

trails

Footsteps

University

Alberta

Alumni

zabella Orzelski-Konikowski, ’95 BFA, and her husband, Bogdan KoralKonikowski, travelled across the country to visit and talk to all 32 female subjects of their latest portrait exhibition called “HERS: The sky is the Limit,” because, as Izabella says, “it was important to see where they lived. These portraits are about depicting how these women came to be artists. This is the whole package.” The package in this case is Canadian women who have become successful in their chosen artistic field. The subjects include such people as filmmaker Anne Wheeler, ’67 BSc, ’90 DLitt (Honorary), opera singer Maureen Forrester, fashion designer Linda Lundstrom (depicted topless), actor, director and writer Joy Coghill (shown here), and commediene and actress Mary Walsh, one of the creators of CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Each portrait is given its own personal touch that often has images or items that have some significance to the person’s life in the picture or spilling out of the frame. For instance, Lundstrom is depicted with a measuring tape wrapped around her neck while a portrait of writer Myra Kostash, ’65 BA, (U of A writer-in-residence for 2003–04), has crumpled pieces of writing paper falling out of the frame, as if on their way to the recycling bin after being ripped out of a typewriter. “Our goal,” says Izabella, “is to depict each of these women expressing their passion in their respective art forms.” The portaits, currently on a cross-Canada tour, will eventually return to Edmonton. “Here they will be sold through an auction,” says Izabella, who’s also an art instructor in the U of A Faculty of Extension. “Proceeds from the sale are to be donated to a charitable organization chosen by the participating artists.” Spring 2009

new trail

bookmarks Offshore

The Book Collector

Catherine Dook, ’89 BEd

Tim Bowling, ’97 MA

This real-life story chronicles the adventures of Catherine and her husband (John Dook) — as well as a couple of other “Johns” — as they set out in a 44-foot ketch named Inuksuk on a journey across the Pacific Ocean from Vancouver Island to Hawaii. Along the way they run into a threeday gale that carries away two of their sails, smashes stoves and lanterns and floods the boat below decks. (Oberon Press) www.oberonpress.ca

Foreign Policy Inc.: Privatizing America’s National Interest

Bowling’s eighth collection of poems follows on the heels of his first book of non-fiction, The Lost Coast: Salmon, Memory and the Death of Wild Culture. In this poetry collection, Bowling takes readers from the salmon fishing grounds of BC and the vanishing rural practice of pheasant hunting to salmon canning factories along the banks of the Fraser River and deep beneath the ocean to the deck of the Titanic. Two of Bowling’s last three poetry collections have been shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award. (Nightwood Editions) www.nightwoodeditions.com

Lawrence Davidson, ’76 PhD

This book points out how well-organized private interest groups are capitalizing on Americans’ ignorance of world politics to advance their own agendas as they become the de facto leaders in determining the direction of U.S. foreign policy. Supported by vast economic resources and powerful lobbyists, these groups thwart the constitutional checks and balances designed to protect the U.S. political system, effectively bullying or buying America’s national leaders. (The University Press of Kentucky) www.kentuckypress.com

new trail

Born in Wroclaw, Poland, Przybylo arrived in Edmonton with her family 18 years ago. She is currently a graduate student in Women’s Studies and this collection of love poems is her first poetry collection. The poems in this compilation poignantly weave the theme of love into the wider context of our simple lives. Moving clouds, shifting light and the rolling prairies are among the cast of Przybylo’s playpen of poetry. (Buschek Press) www.buschekbooks.com

Before and After Radical Prostate Surgery

Gwen Molnar, ’48 Dipl(Ed), ’49 BEd, ’78 BA

Virginia Vandall-Walker, ’06 PhD

Spring 2009

Robin C. Whittaker, ’03 MA (editor and critical introduction)

Edmonton hosts more live theatre per capita than any other city in Canada. The editor of this collection of 10 Canadian plays was appointed as the 24th artistic director of the non-professional Walterdale Playhouse, which puts on seven productions a year. This anthology has the full text of 10 plays that premiered at the theatre, including The Trail of Salomé by Scott Sharplin, ’97 BA, ’05 MA, and The Three Sillies by Mary Glenfield, ’92 BA, ’01 MA. (AU Press) www.aupress.ca

Ela Przybylo, ’07 BA

Hate Cell: A Casey Templeton Mystery

When Casey—the youngest son of a retired RCMP chief superintendent who has recently moved to the southeastern Albertan town of Richford —discovers the frozen body of his science teacher in an abandoned farmhouse, he also makes an equally frightening discovery: his new hometown may harbour a vicious cell of white supremacists. Soon the RCMP and Casey’s hacker brother, Hank, are hot on the case of the “hate cell.” (Dundurn Press) www.dundurn.com 42

Threats of Intimacy

Hot Thespian Action! Ten Premiere Plays from Walterdale Playhouse

This book targets the one in eight men between the ages of 50 and 79 affected by prostate cancer. In Canada, over 22,000 cases are diagnosed every year. This compact information and resource guide contains concise information, including management tips useful for men (and their partners) about treatment choices for those still in the decision-making phase, as well as tips on what to expect during and after radical prostatectomy. (AU Press) www.aupress.ca

Spectrum: A History of the Biochemistry Department at the University of Alberta Vern Paetkau, ’63 BSc, Neil Madsen, ’50 BSc, ’52 MSc

This history is told in two parts. Part one covers approximately the first 45 years of the department. The second part begins with the arrival lof John Colter, ’45 BSc, which also roughly marks the arrival in the department of co-author Neil Madsen, who writes that, “unknown to me at the time, David Suzuki had joined the Genetics Department that same fall, but the short walk across the campus from his apartment on 87th Avenue — even during a mild winter — was too much and he decamped to Vancouver.” (Printorium) printoriumbookworks.islandblue.com

A Son of the Fur Trade: The Memoirs of Johnny Grant Gerhard J. Ens, ’89 PhD (editor)

Johnny Grant was born at Fort Edmonton in 1833 and died within sight of the same fort in 1907. During the seven decades separating these two events, Grant had some 28 children by at least six different women and operated as a fur trader and rancher across most of the northwestern Plains, as well as being instrumental in early ranching efforts in Montana and playing a pivotal role in the Riel Resistance of 1869-1870. (The University of Alberta Press) www.uap.ualberta.ca

One-Way Ticket Lenna Roberts & Serge Cipko, ’95 PhD

Decades worth of interviews and searches through archives have resulted in this book that collects the stories of those who heeded the call of the “Return to the Homeland Committee,” a highly organized propaganda machine enticing displaced Soviet citizens and their families to return to the motherland in the 1950s and 1960s. In this major work of Cold War–era history the authors throw the reality and rhetoric of the Soviet call to its former citizens into sharp relief. (Penumbra Press) penumbrapress.ca

My Wandering Wings of War Stanley H. Ward, ’39 BSc(Eng), ’48 MSc(Eng)

Ward is a lifetime member of the Canadian Fighter Pilots Association. He flew during the Second World War and the over500 pages of poems included in this collection are all remembrances of that time. Born in Banff, AB, Ward remembers that he “had a poetic bent from a young age, although such leanings were submerged and concealed for many years ... and that the poetic bubble began to burst forth at age 75, two full years after full retirement.” (Trafford Publishing) www.trafford.com

Becoming Batman: The Possibility of a Superhero E. Paul Zehr, ’98 PhD

For every kid who ever dreamed of growing up to become a crime-thwarting, costume-wearing superhero, finally there is a book detailing how to get the job done. Becoming Batman is the howto manual on converting any 98pound weakling into a lethal weapon. Someone who—while perhaps not able to leap tall buildings in a single bound — can Thwock! Klonk! and Kapow! themself out of most sticky situations and perform other feats of human prowess beyond the ken of the mere meek and mild. Batman is the only real superhero who attained his remarkable physical abilities through sheer force of will and not some freak of nature such as being born on the planet Krypton or being bitten by radioactive spider. He became the caped crusader (as portrayed in the 2005 movie Batman Begins) by sheer force of will (and a billion bucks or so). Bruce Wayne’s physical makeover to become his alter ego Batman was done with a strict diet, rigorous physical training and the devoted study of more than 127 martial arts techniques. Zehr, a professor of neuroscience and kinesiology at the University of Victoria (as well as a holder of black bets in empty-hand and armed martial arts), looks at the real science necessary for Wayne to make himself over as the fighting machine capable of taking on such arch villains as The Joker and The Riddler, as well as anti-heroine and love interest, Catwoman. “A key thing about Batman’s main mystique is that he is a human being who is ‘self made,’ ” says Zehr. “This makes it seem that it might really be possible for Batman to exist. So, I decided to explore and examine the actual scientific background and basis for this — also challenging it in some cases.” Zehr has written his treatise in a way that Batman himself (not to men-

tion Alfred) would approve of, without discounting any hypothetical and without over-simplifying any of the science. And after Zehr takes us through the genetics and the training involved in the creation of “the Batman,” he examines what such a creature could actually accomplish. How fast could a real Batman kick and punch? How many bad guys could he take on at once? Could a female opponent beat him? The answers might surprise you. “Because I’m a professor who studies the control of movement, my lifelong passions place me in an expert position to attempt to search out and answer questions relating to the feasibility of a real-life superhero such as Batman,” says Zehr. “I also think scientists such as myself should sometimes try to go the extra distance to translate our science into terms that are interesting and accessible to the general public.” (The Johns Hopkins University Press) www.press.jhu.edu Go to www.becomingbatman.com for more on the book. To hear an audio interview of Zehr go to www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/0809/qq-2008-12-20.html

Spring 2009

new trail

ever gr een

An Alumni Affairs à I

t’s hard to imagine Alumni Affairs without Susan Peirce. But, come July, staff at the University of Alberta’s Alumni Affairs, the University community and, most of all, the alumni whose lives she’s touched over the years will have to do more than just imagine it: after 28 years at the helm, Susan will retire from her roles as director of the Office of Alumni Affairs and executive director of the Alumni Association. In 1981, Susan inherited a relatively small alumni operation with a staff of two. During her tenure she championed expansion, creating a strong program of alumni engagement that by all measures is among the best in the country. Under Susan’s leadership, New Trail became a quarterly magazine, a variety of new electronic communication strategies were launched, alumni networks expanded world-

wide, and a cutting-edge alumni education and travel program was created. Susan’s interest in people has led her to develop many lasting relationships with alumni. At the helm she has recruited outstanding volunteers and worked in partnership with staff that she recruited and trained— an award-winning team of alumni professionals. During her first decade at the helm, in competition with educational institutions worldwide, the Office won the prestigious silver medal award for Most Improved Alumni Program of the Decade from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. In the years following, Susan and her resultsoriented team received more programming awards, while engaging alumni in ever-increasing numbers, realizing over 1,100 percent growth in the valuable connections made with alumni in the last decade.

The French have an expression when taking leave of friends—à bientôt. Although saying good-bye, the expression actually means “see you soon.” Here at Alumni Affairs we all know she’s too dedicated to the University to “For many U of A alumni—especially those living far from Edmonton—Susan is the face of the University. For the last 28 years, her warmth, enthusiasm and organizational powers have created a growing, lively and engaged U of A alumni community of tens of thousands around the world. Homecoming 2008—in so many ways the pinnacle of Susan’s career — exceeded all expectations, tripling all previous attendance records and reuniting generations of U of A alumni with their alma mater. That success perfectly illustrates Susan’s commitment and contributions to this University and her incredible impact on the lives of U of A alumni. She will be missed!” — Indira Samarasekera, U of A President !!!

Susan with former Alumni Council President (1993–94) Bryun Sigfstead, ’67 DDS, ’73 PGDip(DE), and (far right) Francis Winspear, ’51 LLD (Honorary).

new trail

Spring 2009

“Susan’s leadership and commitment to the University of Alberta have been simply outstanding. Today, the robustness of our alumni program, and the momentum it has attained and increased, are the direct results of her talents and passion. She is leaving the University of Alberta with the strong and skilled team she developed who will build on those strengths.” — Carl Amrhein, U of A Provost & V.P. (Academic)

Alumni Events

bientôt Susan with Trevor Mak, ’82 BCom, ’84 MBA (middle), and former U of A president Myer Horowitz.

completely sever all ties. So you can expect Susan to remain connected to her alma mater in one guise or another for a long time to come. And that makes saying à bientôt to Susan a little easier for all those whose lives she’s touched.

“I’ve never met someone as passionate about the U of A as Susan. In fact, I probably would not have committed to serving on Alumni Council without her inspiration and her passion for constantly thinking of new ways to bolster the image of the U of A. She’s also friendly, warm and always professional when it comes to her job, but also just great to hang out with. Susan’s contribution to the life of the University and the positive experiences of the Institution’s alumni that she has fostered have been nothing short of remarkable, and it’s truly sad to see her move on.” — Jim Hole, ’79 BSc(Ag), Alumni Association President !!!

“Whether right in Edmonton or in places near and far, it was an absolute delight to observe the positive effect Susan has had on numerous U of A alumni. She deserves much credit for the warm feelings for our University that graduates have. [My wife] Barbara and I value very much our continued friendship with Susan and wish her well in her retirement.” — Myer Horowitz, ’59 MEd, ’90 LLD (Honorary), Former U of A president (1979–1989)

For more information about events, contact the Office of Alumni Affairs by phone at 780- 492-3224 or (toll-free in North America) 1-800-661-2593 or by e-mail at alumni@ualberta.ca. You can also check the alumni events website at www.ualberta.ca/alumni/events. May – Summer of Discovery 2009 Le campus St.-Jean et la Cité francophone d’Edmonton Join us for a visit to Campus Saint-Jean and the heart of Edmonton’s francophone community. 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Lunch included. Please register in advance by contacting Angela at 780-492-1835, or angela.tom@ualberta.ca

June 22–26, 2009 – Quadra Island, BC Join us for a five-day Sea Kayaking and Camping Trip among the Discovery Islands on Canada’s west coast. No experience necessary — just a sense of adventure! $875, includes equipment and meals. Contact Chloe at 780-492-7726, toll-free at 1-800-661-2593, or chloe.chalmers@ualberta.ca.

May 20, 2009 – U of A Calgary Centre (120, 333 Fifth Ave., SW) Investments 101: Plan for your future and invest your money wisely. It’s especially important now to know how to manage your money. Get started with advice from Steven Visscher, ’99 BCom, Canadian investment manager and chartered financial analyst. 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. $15 Contact Chloe at 780-492-7726, toll-free at 1-800-661-2593, or chloe.chalmers@ualberta.ca.

June 26, 2009 – Royal Glenora Club – Edmonton (11160 River Valley Rd.) The U of A Orthodontic Program and the U of A Orthodontic Alumni Association cordially invite all U of A orthodontic alumni to attend the annual Orthodontic Graduation Celebration Dinner. $70 per person (includes GST). RSVP deadline is June 12, 2009. Register at www.ualberta.ca/alumni/orthograd.

May 21, 2009 – Jasper Park Lodge, Jasper, AB The U of A Dental Alumni Association extends an invitation to all U of A dental alumni to attend the Annual Reunion Reception held at the Jasper Park Lodge in conjunction with the ADA&C 2009 Dental Congress. This reception pays special tribute to the 25- and 50-year anniversary classes and will be in Ballroom A. 6:30–7:30 p.m. To register for this complimentary reception, contact Vi Warkentin at 780-492-2896, toll-free at 1-800-661-2593, or vi.warkentin@ualberta.ca. May 24, 2009 – Lethbridge, AB (502 1st St., South) Afternoon coffee, dessert and Annual General Meeting. Join local alumni for an afternoon coffee and dessert as well as a tour of the Galt Museum. For more information, contact local alumna volunteer Marion Snowden, ’67 Dip(Nu), at marion.snowden@xplornet.com. June 11, 2009 – Calgary – Spruce Meadows (18011 Spruce Meadows Way) Join local alumni for this Annual Alumni Dinner. Featuring guest speaker Gordon Houlden, director of the China Institute, this event will include a buffet dinner and view of the National Show Jumping Tournament from our private pavilion. For more information, contact Cristine Myhre at 780-492-1059, toll free at 1-877-492-1059 or cmyhre@ualberta.ca. June 20, 2009 – Halifax, NS (1751 Lower St.) Alumni Association Halifax Harbour Dinner Cruise: Come dine with fellow U of A alumni and guests as you set sail on a Mississippi-style sternwheeler. Don’t miss your chance to play tourist in your hometown while enjoying delicious food and great conversation. For more information contact Riyaz Sharan at 1-800-661-2593 or riyaz.sharan@ualberta.ca.

July 23, 2009 – Summer of Discovery 2009 Tour of Campus Trees: Join tree enthusiast Paul Woodard, professor of forestry in the Department of Renewable Resources, on a walking tour to view the wonderful variety of campus trees. You’ll never look at trees the same way again! Morning tour: 10:00 a.m.– 12:00 p.m. Afternoon tour: 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Space is limited, please register in advance by contacting Angela at 780-492-1835, or angela.tom@ualberta.ca July/August 2009, BC Okanagan – Alumni Winery Tour Details to be confirmed, stay tuned! Vancouver – Alumni Winery Tour Details to be confirmed, stay tuned! August 18, 2009 – Summer of Discovery 2009 The New Green Acres: On today’s green acres, organic is the place to be, and there’s something special about the farmers who invest the extra elbow grease to make their products tasty and healthy — without all of the chemicals. If you would like to know more about organic farming — or would simply welcome an outing to the country — join our tour to Sunworks Farms near Armena. Jane King, professor of agricultural, food and nutritional science, will be along to provide scholarly insight into organic and holistic farming practices. Lunch and transportation to and from Edmonton will be provided. Space is limited, please register in advance by contacting Angela at 780-492-1835, or angela.tom@ualberta.ca Did you know that you can get a free full web-based (@ualberta.net) e-mail account through the U of A Alumni Association? Visit www.ualberta.ca/alumni/emailforlife to find out more. Spring 2009

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Spring 2009

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’40s

’40 Elwood Stringam, BSc(Ag), ’42 MSc, writes from Surrey, BC, to say that with the death of Neil Bosomworth, ’40 BSc(Ag), a close classmate, he realizes there are “only a few left of ‘Ag 40.’ Elwood was felled by a left-side stroke two years ago and, with other complications, he’s not recovering very fast and “my handwriting is worse than usual.” He also writes that he enjoys the New Trail and that he finds it “hard to believe I retired 25 years ago last September from the U of Manitoba.” ’43 Ken Penley, Dip(Pharm), wrote in from Calgary to say that he met his wife, Prudence Penley (Bamlett), ’44 BSc(Pharm), during classes at the then-School of Pharmacy. The couple will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary this year. “Prue worked briefly at the Galt Hospital in Lethbridge, AB, before we both dispensed at the Calgary General Hospital and retail pharmacies. We owned and operated three successful pharmacies in Calgary and together we also started a monthly luncheon meeting for retired or senior pharmacists which is still operating.” The couple —who have three children, two of whom attended the U of A— have retired to a Calgary seniors residence.

Ka-iu Fung, ’65 MSc, was one of a group of U of A alumni and friends who recently travelled to South Africa as part of the Alumni Travel program in conjunction with Alumni Holidays International (AHI). Kai-iu, from Saskatoon, SK, made an ecological difference on the journey by planting a tree in Soweto. An initiative of AHI, this greening of Soweto helps the company and travellers offset their carbon emissions and reduce their environmental impact, as well as supporting the legacy project of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which aims to plant more than 300,000 trees in Soweto. “I believe that our group was very pleased and gratified for having this opportunity,” says Ka-iu.

’48 James L. Way, BCom, ’49 BEd, writes from Calgary to say that “with the loss of my wife and elder son in the past year, things have been rough. However, I was able to enjoy the 100th anniversary of the U of A last September, as well as the 60th anniversary of my graduation. Had a great time reliving old times with two classmates, Vic Mark and Evan Potter. I have also just returned from Maui where I spent a lovely holiday with my two daughters, Joanne and Karen (Davis), ’99 BEd.”

Frank Haley, ’51 BSc, ’53 MD, ’57 MSc, ’95 BA, participated in the Canadian Birkbeiner Ski Festival held outside Edmonton at the Blackfoot Provincial Recreational Area in February. More than 1,400 skiers competed in the cross-country skiing race and Frank, a retired anesthetist, completed the 55-kilometre event in 7:21:57 while carrying a 5.5 kg pack. Frank has competed in 20 out of the last 21 Birkbeiner events and, at 84, was the oldest person to compete in this year’s contest. One of Frank’s daughters, Janet Sperling, ’83 BSc, ’88 MSc, was a volunteer on the finish line. “That’s me in the middle of the picture,” says Frank. “My daughter, Laura Roome, ’77 BA, ’79 BEd, is on the left and my son, John Haley, ’85 BSc(Eng), is on the right. I’m wearing the gold as oldest finisher in the full Birkie with pack.”

’50s

’57 Lynn Allen Patrick,

BSc, ’60 LLB, wrote in from Edmonton to say he’s been re-appointed to the Alberta Municipal Government Board for a three-year term. Lynn was first appointed to that board in 2004. ’58 James F. Lavers, ’58 BEd, ’70 MEd, wrote in to say that he has completed two Alberta Historical Resources Foundation submissions. The first is the “Mackay Women of the Cypress Hills and Their Descendants;” the second is the “First Female High School Principal, Alix, Alberta, 1922.” “Now working on a massive (four provinces) reconstruction of Orkney families Mackay, Sanderson and Anderson and their history from 1757 to 2007 in Western Canada,” says James. “I also have a proposal in for an accurate socio-historical account of Louis Riel.”

’60s

’64 Larry George, BPE, writes to say he’s now working at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre delivering facility tours and presentations. “The centre is presently diverting 60 percent of Edmonton’s household garbage from landfill sites,” says Larry. “This diversion rate will reach approximately 90 percent by 2012 when gasification is added to the process involved.” ’65 Jeanne Derksen, BEd, wrote in to say that she was, “nee Tupin, formerly Kozak, then Bennetta. I retired after 25 years at Bibliothèque SaintJean and moved to the village of Hays Lake, AB. I enjoy gardening, reading and volunteering for our Library Lions Club and Seniors Club. Best of all, I met my wonderful husband, Bill.”

Henry Shimizu, ’52 BSc, ’54 MD, of Victoria, BC, recently published a book, Images of Internment, about the years he and his family spent at the New Denver Internment Camp in British Columbia during the Second World War. The book collects 27 of Henry’s oil paintings, along with a story about each scene. The book and pictures depict his time there as bittersweet: physically and emotionally difficult, but enriched by a strong sense of community. Although Henry has been painting for 30 years, it wasn’t until 1999 — after a reunion with 12 of his fellow internees — that he decided to take his experiences at the internment camp as his subject matter. The paintings toured Canada in 2002 and the book was released in 2008. Henry, a retired plastic surgeon, served as a professor, researcher and administrator at the U of A for more than 30 years. He is a member of the Order of Canada and a 2004 recipient of the U of A’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Spring 2009

new trail

’66 Dennis Foth, BSc, ’68 MSc, ’71 PhD, writes in to say that he’s organizing a Male Chorus reunion for Homecoming Weekend in the fall of 2011 — “our 50th anniversary.” Helping out is Helmut Nikolai, ’65 BEd, ’90 Dipl(Ed), Dave Leigh, ’68 BEd, ’75 Dipl(Ed), and others. Any interested Male Chorus members from 1961 to 1975 are invited to attend. Interested parties should phone 780-444-4646 or e-mail John McEwen, ’64 BEd, ’74 MEd, at moparr@shaw.ca. Sheila Weatherill, 66 Dip(Nu), ’89 BSc(Nu), was named by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to serve as the head of the inquiry into last summer’s listeriosis outbreak in Canadian-made luncheon meats. She will act as an independent investigator looking into the events, circumstances, and factors that contributed to the outbreak. She also recently accepted the roles of special advisor to the University’s vicepresident (external relations) and distinguished executive-in-residence in the U of A’s School of Business.

’70s

’70 Margaret-Ann Armour, PhD, the associate dean (diversity) of the Faculty of Science at the U of A, was recently named by the Women’s Executive Network as one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women in the Champions category. Robert “Lynn” Ogden, BA, writes to say that he has spent the last nine years “exploring, researching, writing, and working throughout Asia.” Most recently, Lynn and his wife, Jenny, have settled in China’s Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, where Lynn is headmaster of Huizhou Hope Rising International School and Jenny is an accountant. As well as teaching English to about 1,000 adults and children each year, Lynn organizes cross-cultural training courses for Chinese businessmen and government executives. “I have also just been cross-appointed as a professor of history and professor of economy and management at Huizhou University,” says Lynn, who would welcome contacts from alumni and professors who knew him from 1965 to 1970. Lynn can be reached at ogden.lynn@gmail.com.

Michael Chisholm, ’72 BA, ’77 BCom, writes in from Maidstone, SK, to say that he “was recently elected as vice-president (Canada) of Pacific Northwest Economic Region, a regional U.S.-Canadian forum dedicated to encouraging global economic competitiveness while preserving our worldclass natural environment. PNWER includes public and private sector representatives from Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, the Yukon, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.” Michael is also in his second term as an MLA in the Saskatchewan Legislature representing the governing Saskatchewan Party for the constituency of Cut Knife-Turtleford.

’71 Robert Bertram, MBA, from Aurora, ON, retired in December after 18 years as the investment brains behind the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Prior to joining Teachers’, Robert was a long-time employee of Alberta Government Telephone/TELUS. He has also held a number of governance roles in various organizations, including Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, and has been instrumental in the establishment of the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Canadian Foundation for Governance Research.

Joan Connors (McLarty), BSc, writes from Prince George, BC, that after 32 years she has retired from her position as an instructor at the College of New Caledonia, where she taught math and physics. Joan now joins her husband, Keith, in the operation of the couple’s wilderness lodge in the Cassiar Mountains of northwestern British Columbia. Emanuel “Manny” Fritsch, BSc, ’77 MD, wrote in to say that he has been doing family practice for 29 years and palliative care for 10 years in Ladysmith, BC. He is cur-

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neer in charge of the Edmonton office before moving on to become vice-president of the Edmonton Urban Land group, vice-president of Alberta North, Stantec’s largest region, and senior vice-president for the Industrial & Project Management group.

Evelyn Hamdon, ’76 BA, ’07 MEd (right), and Netta Phillet, ’71 BA, were recipients of this year’s Salvos Prelorentzos Peace Award in recognition of their work with Edmonton’s Arab/Jewish Women’s Peace Coalition. The group has been meeting for 17 years and uses “respectful dialogue” to discuss their political differences and visions for peace in the Middle East. Sponsored by Project Ploughshares Edmonton, the Salvos Award has been handed out since 1996 to those who promote harmony, peace and understanding. Next fall, the Peace Coalition group plans to take its message of goodwill and co-existence on a long-planned tour to Israel and Palestine. rently enrolled in a Year of Added Competency Fellowship in Palliative Care through the University of British Columbia based at the Victoria Hospice in Victoria.

U of Waterloo). A pioneer in educational computer applications, Glenn introduced and specialized in largescale, computer-assisted instruction at McGill.

’72 Arden Berg, BSc(Eng), of

’74 Wayne Madden, BEd, wrote to

Calgary, was appointed vice-president and chief operating officer for Canada Hibernia Holding Corporation. He was previously a board member with the Alberta Energy & Utilities Board.

say that, “I have retired after 31 years teaching elementary school at Fort McMurray Catholic School. I moved back to Edmonton and now volunteer once a week at the Jackson Heights School across the street from my home.”

William O. Ingram, BSc(Eng), has been named the executive vice-president and chief operating officer for RIFE Resources Ltd. in Calgary.

’73 Glenn Cartwright, PhD, professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and former dean (interim) of the Centre for Continuing Education at McGill University, will become Renison University College’s 10th principal and vice-chancellor in August (Renison is affiliated with the

’75 Trevor Boddy, BA, a Vancouver-based architecture critic, recently curated the exhibition “Vancouverism” highlighting the city’s contemporary architecture, which appeared as a site-specific construction at London’s Trafalgar Square and Paris’ Les Invalides.

’77 Robert Neumann, BCom, has been appointed vice-president, internal audit, at ATCO Ltd. and

’79 David Kastelic, BCom, has been appointed the practice leader in the Edmonton office of the recruitment and job fit analysis firm of Mercer Bradley.

Canadian Utilities Ltd. in Calgary. Robert has more than 27 years of accounting and business-plan experience with the ATCO group.

’78 Harry Anchan, BSc, a desktop support analyst with Chevron Canada Resources in Calgary, would “love to hear from Lister Hall friends from 1976 through 1979.” Contact him at musiccollector@gmail.com. Anne S. de Villars, LLB, of Edmonton, will publish the fifth edition of her book, Jones & de Villars’ Principles of Administrative Law, this spring. She co-authored this textbook with David Phillip Jones, her husband and law partner. David was a professor in the U of A law faculty from 1978 to 1988. Bob Gomes, BSc(Eng), will become the next president and CEO of Stantec in May 2009. Bob joined Stantec in 1988 and three years later was appointed principal engi-

Roderick “Neil” MacIver, BA, wrote in from Edmonton to say that in a Class Note from the previous issue about Frank Phillet, ’71 BA, we incorrectly listed the website for Magic Music as a .com site and it should be magicmusic.ca. “Frank and I met and began writing songs together in 1969,” says Neil, “so it’s now been 40 years of writing together. Our early success included original work with the Department of Drama and the U of A Symphony. We played at the RATT on the occasion of it getting its first liquor licence. It was a one-time licence so it was back to coffee and tea on the second night.” Chris Peirce, 79 BA, was recently appointed chief corporate officer of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.

Ketchup with all your old friends. October 1– 4, 2009 See the Alumni Weekend brochure in the centre of New Trail to find out more. Spring 2009

new trail

’80s

’80 Bev Milobar-den Ouden, BEd, recently received a Governor General’s Award for Excellence in teaching Canadian history. An elementary school teacher at Colchester School near Sherwood Park, AB, Bev was recognized for encouraging students to develop an interest in both local and national history. She was one of six teachers from across Canada to receive the award.

’81 Mary Martens, BEd, writes from Osler, SK, to say that, “I was surprised and delighted to see the photo and article regarding the Shiloh and Good Hope Baptist Church choir, ca. late 30s or early 40s [Winter 2008-09 pg. 72]. One of the gentlemen standing in the back row, John “Jack” Bowden, was a very dear friend of mine. I remember many people in church trying to get a seat in front of him in order to hear his beautiful tenor as the congregational hymns were sung. If any of the choir members are still living, I’d love to hear from them. Thanks, New Trail, for publishing the article and photo and I can be reached at martens777@sasktel.net.”

’82 Rob Daum, BPE, ’84 BEd, has been appointed head coach of the Springfield Falcons, the Edmonton Oilers American Hockey League farm team. Rob was an assistant coach with the Oilers last season and spent 10 years as a coach with the Golden Bears hockey team, winning three CIS national championships. Rob also played as a forward for the Golden Bears during the 1980–81 season. Amanda Le Rougetel, BA, writes from Winnipeg to say that she has earned a Bachelor of Journalism (1988) and an MA in Applied Communication (2006). “I’ve been running my own writing and editing business for the past five years,” says Amanda. “I have also recently discovered the joys of teaching at the college level and would like to do more of that in the future.”

’83 Janet Markley, BA, wrote in to say that her debut novel for young readers, Dead Frog on the Porch, will be published by Gumboot Books in the fall of 2009. The book is about twin sisters, Cyd and Jane, who find themselves caught up in an international plot that involves evil scientists and giant, genetically stretched frogs. 50

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Spring 2009

’84 Zsuzsanna Ardó, BA, a writer and photographer based in London, England, recently exhibited a onewoman show of her photographs titled “Urban Resonances” at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France. Zsuzsanna is also the author and illustrator of a travel book, Culture Shock! Hungary, which just had its third international printing. Linda Cundy, Dip(Ed), ’88 MEd, who is widely known in Alberta’s deaf community for her advocacy work on the local, national, and international level, was recently honoured as a Woman of Vision by Global TV. Michael Spotowski, BA, has been appointed president of the Edmonton Construction Association. ’87 Brent Fetterly, BEd, of Lanark, ON, writes that he retired from teaching biology in 2007 and now grows apples and grapes in the Ottawa Valley. Laura Storey (MacGregor), BEd, of Sexsmith, AB, started a new job in January teaching music to grades one through four at a newly opened school in nearby Clairmont. “I am so excited to have my own music room again,” she writes. “It’s been years!” ’88 Dale Friesen, BSc(Eng), has been appointed vice-president for environmental and regulatory affairs at ATCO Power in Calgary. Dale joined ATCO in 1988 and spent time as manager of the company’s Bulwer Island cogeneration plant in Queensland, Australia.

Denis Wall, ’82 MEd, ’87 PhD, of Ottawa and Edmonton, recently published The Alberta Métis Letters: 1930-1940, about the early years of the Métis Association of Alberta and its policy relationship with the provincial government. The book received major support from the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation and the Métis Settlement General Council.

’89 Dan Barclay, BSc, was named head of BMO Nesbitt Burns’ Canadian Mergers and Acquisition team in January 2009. Peter Beyak, LLB, of Vancouver, has been picked to head the new entertainment law group at the firm Borden Ladner Gervais and will coordinate the firm’s entertainment law services at its offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Previously, he was the executive producer on the successful 1999 IMAX film, Extreme, which has grossed over $23 million (US).

Susan Delaney, ’BA, ’91 MBA writes from the soulful Heights district of Houston, TX, that she continues to consult with her not-for-profit clients as she watches the mailbox looking for thick envelopes of acceptance into a fall 2009 PhD program. Her remaining time this winter was spent “transitioning my ex-pat kids into the ‘New South’ (more challenging than imagined), taking Spanish classes (easier than U of A’s mandatory honours language class) and missing all things Canadian (especially Tim’s coffee, our friendly RCMP and snow!).”

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Abi Aghayere, ’88 PhD, acting chair of the Department of Civil Engineering Technology at the Rochester Institute of Technology, has recently published a new structural engineering textbook, Structural Steel Design: A Practice Oriented Approach, with Pearson/Prentice Hall. This is Abi’s third structural engineering textbook, and he has just completed work on his fourth book, Reinforced Concrete Design, which is expected to be released in 2009.

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Keys, Bahamas, and from the West Indies to Brazil. A U of A professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and leader in the field of preserving human blood and stems cells through deep-freezing, Jason will help to figure out how to freeze the sperm, eggs, and larvae produced by the elkhorn coral so that they may be cryo-banked for the future.

’96 Rozina Kassam, BCom, was recently appointed chief financial officer of Commercial Solutions Inc., a Canadian distributor of resource management equipment products. ’97 Janaya Ellis, BEd, lead singer

Danita Haysom, ’93 BEd, ’08 MBA, PCL’s director of professional development, is seen here accepting the training and development award in Alberta’s Best Workplaces Awards competition on behalf of the PCL family of companies. Danita is pictured here with PCL’s corporate training consultant Darcy Belanger, ’94 BEd, (left) and Mike Morton.

’94 Jane Halford, BCom, CEO and

’90s

’92 Roger Keglowitsch, BSc(Eng), has been appointed general manager of Melloy Industrial Services Inc., a PCL company, in Nisku, AB. A journeyman plumber pipefitter, Roger joined PCL, one of Canada’s leading construction firms, after graduation and has since that time led some of PCL’s large-scale projects. ’93 Richard Harcourt, BA, has been appointed as the president of Edmonton-based Harcourt Recruiting Specialists. Richard worked for the company in the past and, prior to coming back to the company in 2003, he spent several years working in the multimedia and film industry in Edmonton and Vancouver.

executive director of the Edmontonbased Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta (ICAA), was named a Global Television Woman of Vision last November. The first female CEO of the ICAA, she has brought a new direction and energy to the ICAA, an organization that governs Alberta’s 10,500 CAs and CA students. In the community, she serves on numerous professional boards, is chair of the George Spady Centre Board and is a member of the University’s Alumni Council.

’95 Jason Acker, BSc, ’97 MSc, ’00 PhD, is part of an international effort to safeguard elkhorn coral, considered to be one of the primary reef-building corals in the Caribbean, Florida

Relish the thought. Check out the Saturday Scholar Series on October 3rd during Alumni Weekend 2009. See the brochure in the centre of New Trail to find out more.

of the Edmonton-based reggae group Souljah Fyah, along with bandmates Bongbiemi Nfor and Paul Joosse, was recently nominated for a Juno Award in the category of Best Reggae Recording. Last year, the band won a Western Canadian Music Award for best urban recording. Ted Kouri, BCom, and Jared Smith, ’98 BCom, co-owners of Edmonton’s Incite Solutions, a full-service marketing company, recently won the Young Entrepreneur Award for Alberta from the Business Development Bank of Canada.

’99 Vicki Giannacopoulos, BA, ’03 LLB, has joined the Edmonton law firm Kennedy Agrios LLP as an associate. Vicki works in the area of commercial litigation. Adam Merrick, LLB, has been made a partner in the Edmonton law firm Henderson Gower Massing Olivieri LLP, Amanda Read, ’99 BSc, ’03 BA, ’06 LLB, has also been promoted to the position of associate in the same firm. Adam practices in the areas of corporate, commercial and real estate law while Amanda’s focus will mainly be in the area of civil litigation. Lt.-Cmdr. Patrick Montgomery, PhD, took over the helm of HMCS Edmonton in a December ceremony at a naval base in Esquimalt, BC. The HMCS Edmonton is one of 12 Kingston Class Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels (six on each coast) employed in such missions as coastal surveillance, training, anti-smuggling, search and rescue, resource protection and scientific research.

’98 Christopher Rudnisky, BMS, ’99 MD, a U of A eye researcher and professor with the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, recently received the 2008 Knowledge Translation Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health for creating a web-based computer technology that can diagnose eye diseases remotely. Christopher shares the $100,000 award with colleagues Mark Greve and Matthew Tennant. Emmy Stuebing, BA, writes from Edmonton to say, “Since I graduated I’ve spent my career working in the non-profit sector for organizations ranging from the U of A to the Alberta Cancer Foundation. Over the past year, I achieved my Certified Fund Raising Executive designation (only about 5,400 people worldwide have achieved this designation). This past autumn, I was also very pleased to accept an appointment to be the executive director of the Alberta Emerald Foundation, which is a provincial organization working to celebrate and inspire environmental excellence. Our major event is the annual Emerald Awards, which will take place in Edmonton in June 2009, www.emeraldfoundation.ca.”

Cory Clouston, ’94 BA(RecAdm), was named the new head coach of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators in February. Previously, Cory was with Ottawa’s minor-league team in Binghamton, NY, and was promoted to the big club to finish out the dreadful season the Senators had that saw Craig Hartsburg, who was only hired last summer, being relieved of his behind-the-bench duties. Cory coached the Grande Prairie Storm from 1995–99, taking the Storm to a first-place finish in their only season in the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League during 1995–96. He was named the league’s coach of the year for that season and Cory remained behind the bench for the franchise’s first three Alberta Junior Hockey League seasons. This year he has led a young team in Binghamton to a 25-16-3 record in his second season as head coach. Cory is from Viking, AB, the home of the famous hockey Sutters, and played for the U of A Bears hockey team from 1989 to 1993. Spring 2009

new trail

’00s

’00 Ted Matsikas, BCom, has become a partner in the Edmonton accounting firm Yaremchuk & Annicchiarico LLP where, for nine years, he has been providing income tax and business advice to owner-managed businesses. And from the same firm, Colin Rietveld, ’05 BCom, and Kyle Konsorada, ’06 BCom, both passed their Uniform Final Evaluation examinations. ’01 Christopher Carriere, BSc(Nu), writes in from Ottawa to say, “I am happy to report that I will be graduating with a degree in medicine this May from the U of Ottawa, and have been accepted to Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Family Medicine, for residency. This past August my wife and I had our sixth child (third boy), Ephrem. We have called a halt to children as we have run out of room in our minivan!” ’03 Adam Bourque, BEd, writes in to say that since graduating, he’s been creating curriculum and teaching English in South Korea.

Rina Chan, BFA, ’05 BDes, and Anthony Chan, ’05 BSc(Eng), recently returned to Edmonton from the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) 2009 convention in Las Vegas. They brought home six WPPI International Awards, including a third place award and five accolades. The annual WPPI print and album competition is one of the world’s premier photography competition with over 2,900 entries received from more than 35 countries. “I never expected such an honour. I was in total shock,” says Rina. “When they showed our award-winning print and announced my name, I was speechless and almost walked up to the podium to receive the crystal ... not knowing that we’re supposed to pick up the awards after the ceremony.” The couple’s work can be seen at www.infusedstudios.ca.

new trail

Spring 2009

Tracey Fehr, ’02 BMus, wrote from Summerland, BC, to say that she has plans to tour North Africa and England promoting A Song for Hope: Women Helping Single Mothers in North Africa, a program in aid of marginalized women in Tunisia. While in Tunisia, Tracy — a classically trained soprano who has performed frequently with the U of A Symphony Orchestra —will offer formal concerts in the capital, Tunis, including several embassyrelated events. These concerts are fundraisers for the Association for Cooperation in Tunisia. On her homeward trek, Tracy will spend time in the U.K. promoting A Song for Hope through music and stories. (www.traceyfehr.com) Kirsti Haugen (Hovdestad), BSc(OT), wrote in to say that she had been working in Afghanistan on aid and development projects for the last six years but is now doing private practice occupational therapy in rural Saskatchewan.

WIN A BE WARDRO CREDIT

’04 Tim Hague, BA, ’06 BEd, is the first-ever Canadian King of the Cage Heavyweight Champion, amassing a remarkable 8-1 record in mixed martial arts competition over the past two years. Previously a kindergarten teacher, at 6’4” and 260 pounds Tim “The Trashing Machine” Hague cuts an impressive figure in the cage and in the classroom. Although he is currently focusing on his career as a mixed martial artist, he plans to stay active in the classroom as a substitute teacher. Tim lives with his wife, Brianne, and their son, Brady, in Sherwood Park, AB. He will be making his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut in Las Vegas in May.

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Canadian Women’s Basketball Association

Kimberly Spears,’04 BEd, writes from Gibbons, AB, to say that after she completed her Bachelor of Music degree at Brandon University in 1997, “I hit the Winnipeg music circuit, playing three or four nights a week with my band and recorded two CD’s. After completing my second CD, Don’t Hesitate, I was picked up by manager Paul Mascioli (who also manages Ian Tyson, Lisa Brokop and Duane Steele), at which time I moved to Orlando, Florida. While south of the border I continued to perform nightly at various resorts and did a development CD with world-renowned producer Jerry Crutchfield in Nashville. While spending a lot of time in Nashville I honed my skills as a songwriter and co-wrote with a number of Nashville’s best. After four years in the U.S., I felt myself being called back to the land of ice and snow (ha), and decided to break from my manager and recreate myself as an artist. I found the confidence to shed the security of my country music genre and write strictly from my heart and soul, and thus my album, Losing A Layer, came to light. This year will be a year of travel and promoting this record, and I am thrilled to see where the next road leads.” You can learn more about Kimberly at kimberlyspears.com. Krystal Hodge (Nieminen), BEd, wrote in to say that she is now an elementary school teacher in Olds, AB, where she also lives. Tara Feser (Scade), ’02 BPE, headed to the University of Alabama in January after receiving a full scholarship to complete her master’s degree and compete for the Crimson Tide women’s wheelchair basketball team. Although the sport is relatively new in the U.S., Tara is already an old hand at the game, having helped the Edmonton Inferno women’s team to five consecutive Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League championships and having represented Canada at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. Although Tara is completely mobile, she is eligible to compete as a wheelchair athlete in the U.S. and Canada because of a condition that caused one of her legs to be an inch-and-a-half shorter than the other. After she completes her degree, she hopes to return to Edmonton to help grow the sport locally.

Natalie Tymchuk, LLB, joined Edmonton law firm Emery Jamieson LLP in 2005 and is practising civil litigation, employment and labour, and family mediation law. Also joining the law firm recently are Linda Svob (Mosac), ’04 LLB, Kyle Kawanami, ’03 BA, ’06 LLB, and Jonathan Wescott, ’07 LLB. Brad McMaster, BCom, Blake Schneider, ’06 BCom, Amy Luchkovich, ’06 BCom, Evan

See olive your old friends. October 1– 4, 2009 See the Alumni Weekend brochure in the centre of New Trail to find out more.

Conrad, ’06 BCom, and Omar Mawani, ’07 BCom, all passed their final exams to become chartered accountants and all work in the Edmonton office of KPMG.

’05 David Bawol, BCom, has been awarded membership in the Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuations as an official chartered business evaluator. David works for the Edmonton office of McNally Valuations Inc. Preet Khinda, BCom, and Colin Semotiuk, ’06 BCom, of the Edmonton accounting firm Veres Picton & Co. LLP recently celebrated milestones in their careers. She obtained her chartered accountant designation and he passed his Uniform Final Evaluation exam. Taron MacLellan, BCom, has passed the Uniform Final Evaluation exam for chartered accounts and is now the newest CA in the Edmonton accounting firm of KRP, which she joined shortly after graduation.

’06 Simon Wong, BCom, Clayton Zerbin, ’06 BCom, Ben Zhao, ’06 BCom, Graham Quast, ’07 BCom, Douglas Zurbrigg, ’07 BCom, Christopher Poulette, ’07 BCom, Lin Cui, ’07 BCom and Gurdeep Minhas,’07 BCom, all work for the Alberta Office of the Auditor General in Edmonton and all passed their 2008 Uniform Final Evaluation exam on the way toward their goal of becoming chartered accountants. Spring 2009

new trail

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

’31 Sheila Margery Beddome (Murray), Dip(Nu), of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009

Alice Ann Hanson (Brown), BA, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

Maria Biamonte, BEd, ’64 BA, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

Ronald Ralph Jeffels, BA, ’47 BEd, of North Vancouver, BC, in November 2008

Arthur Bernard Fitzpatrick, BSc, ’56 MA, ’71 MSc, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

Robert Logan Sutherland, MD, of Calgary, AB, in October 2008

’43 Margaret Shaw, BSc(HEc), of

’32 Jean Louise Dale, Dip(Nu), of

Calgary, AB, in November 2008

Bernard Joseph Bowlen, BSc(Ag), of Amarillo, TX, in December 2008

Edmonton, AB, in December 2008

R. Clive Brown, BSc(ChemEng), of Calgary, AB, in January 2009

Gerry Cullen, BSc(ChemEng), of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

’35 Ernest G. Willis, BSc(ElecEng),

Isobel Stevinson (Williamson), BSc(HEc), of Ottawa, ON

Nellie McClung, BA, of Vancouver, BC, in February 2009

of Calgary, AB, in August 2008

’44 Dorothy Anne Bateman

Maxine Helen Tomkins (Darrah), BA, ’36 BEd, of Calgary, AB, in March 2009

(Geeson), Dip(Nu), ’45 Dip(PHNu), ’47 BSc(Nu), of Ponoka, AB, in November 2008

Nick J. Andruski, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2009

’36 Johanna Michalenko (Magera),

Harry Thompson Stevinson, BSc(ElecEng), of Ottawa, ON, in December 2008

’33 Mary Louise Calder (Barker), BA, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2009

BSc(HEc), of Edmonton, AB, in October 2008 Norman Bailey Smith, Dip(Pharm), of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009

Hugh Alexander Rigney, BSc(Ag), ’46 MSc, ’59 BEd, of Bon Accord, AB, in January 2009

Peter Maciborsky, Dip(Ed), ’50 Dip(Ed), of Grande Prairie, AB, in January 2009

’50 Edward Daniel Stack, BCom, ’53 LLB, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009 H. Thomas Greaves, BSc(ElecEng), of Edmonton, AB, in November 2008

’55 John William Baker, BPE, of Vancouver, BC, in October 2008 Joseph Nowicki, Dip(Ed), ’68 BEd, of Hinton, AB, in March 2009 M.A. Cameron, BSc(Pharm), of Penticton, BC, in February 2009 Mary Ellen Kemper, BEd, ’55 BA, of Langhorne, PA, in January 2009 William S. Faminow, MD, of Calgary, AB, in January 2009 James Summers, BCom, of Red Deer, AB, in January 2008

’56 David Louis Clark, BEd, of Fort Saskatchewan, AB, in February 2009 Garth R.E.E. Milvain, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

James Nesbitt McPhail, BCom, of Dawson Creek, BC, in January 2009

Isobel Lillian J. Johnson, BA(Hons), ’52 MA, of Edmonton, AB, in August 2008

’46 Bligh Henry Stockwell, BSc, of Coquitlam, BC, in August 2008

Joseph B. Gurba, BSc(Ag), of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

Dency Ruth McCalla, BA, of Kamloops, BC, in February 2009

Kenneth J. Spread, BSc(Ag), of Edmonton, AB, in October 2008

Neil Alexander Morris, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2008

Lois Evangeline McLean, BEd, of Vancouver, BC, in September 2008

Stanley Charles Powers, BSc(Ag), of St. Albert, AB, in March 2009

BSc(ChemEng), of Campbellford, ON, in January 2009

’38 Joseph Gleddie, BSc, of Calgary, AB, in December 2008

’47 David Klassen, BSc, ’49 MD, of Chilliwack, BC, in September 2008

’51 George Albert Miller, MD, of Murray, UT, in January 2009

Barbara Ellen Cummings, Dip(Nu), of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009

Dorothy Elizabeth Milner, BA, of Victoria, BC

Donald Martin Downie, BSc, ’55 MD, of St. Albert, AB, in January 2009

Michael Worsley, BSc, ’54 MSc, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009

’39 Gustaf Lawrence Osberg, BSc(ChemEng), of Ottawa, ON, in January 2008

’48 C. Bruce Hatfield, BSc, ’51 MSc, ’53 MD, of Calgary, AB, in February 2009

Nickol Olinyk, Dip(Ed), ’52 BSc, ’55 BEd, of Two Hills, AB, in October 2008

Elizabeth Anne MacGregor (Milligan), Dip(Ed), of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

John Mayhew Fulton, BSc(MiningEng), of Delta, BC, in January 2009

Hamilton Howse Neelands, BSc(ElecEng), of Edmonton, AB, in December 2008

’37 Benjamin David Margolus, MD, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009 Doris Middleton Hamilton, Dip(Nu), of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009 Mary Edith Wallace (Hewitt), BSc(HEc), of Canmore, AB, in January 2009

Sylvia Aldridge, Dip(Nu), of Victoria, BC, in February 2009 T. Alfred Gander, BSc, ’40 MD, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2008

’40 Samuel Richard Souch, BSc, of Caslan, AB, in January 2009 ’41 Frank Semaka, BSc, ’50 BEd, of Taber, AB, in April 2007

’52 Lee Phipps, BEd, ’63 MEd, of

James Thorburn Ballantyne, BEd, of Victoria, BC, in January 2009

Macrae Chinneck, BSc(MiningEng), of Canmore, AB, in November 2008

Leo Francis McDonnell, BSc(ChemEng), of Upper Providence, PA, in January 2009

’53 Charles Francis Meraw, BCom,

J.C. Gordon Brown, BA, of Victoria, BC, in January 2009

Nancy Susan McMurchy, BA, of Victoria, BC, in January 2009

Leila Genevieve Jones (Hutchins), Dip(Nu), of Kingston, ON, in October 2008

Wilfred James Fitzpatrick, Dip(Ed), ’51 BEd, ’60 MEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

M. Beryl Mead (Saul), Dip(Nu), ’43 BSc(Nu), of Vancouver, BC, in January 2009

’49 Albert Allen Bishop, BSc(ElecEng), of Calgary, AB, in November 2008

Spring 2009

Vivian McCroary, Dip(Nu), of Edmonton, AB, in August 2008 Victoria, BC, in February 2009

BSc, of Salmon Arm, BC, in November 2008

new trail

Sidney Zennith Macklin, BEd, of Calgary, AB, in September 2008

Harald Alfred J Schwarz, MD, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2008

Molly Policha, Dip(PHNu), ’60 BSc(Nu), of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009

’42 Doris Elaine Murray (Danner),

Peter Poohkay, BSc, ’49 DDS, in January 2009

of Pigeon Lake, AB, in December 2008

John A. Weir, BA, ’57 LLB, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009 William Unruh, BSc(ChemEng), of Fort Saskatchewan, AB, in February 2009

’57 Alec Duncan McEachern,

James Edward Bower, BA, of Calgary, AB, in October 2008 Robert Wayne Evans, Dip(Ed), ’64 BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009

’58 Jim Burgess, BSc(CivEng), of Calgary, AB, in January 2009 Karen Kathleen Loney, Dip(Nu), of Calgary, AB, in November 2008 Patricia Doreen Burgess (MacKenzie), Dip(RM), of Winnipeg, MB, in January 2009

Donna Jean Murray (McNabb), BSc(HEc), of Edson, AB, in November 2008

Peter Arnold Adie, PhD, of Medicine Hat, AB, in February 2009

James Norrie Fyvie, BSc, ’55 MD, of Calgary, AB, in September 2008

William Leonchuk, BA, of Ottawa, ON, in October 2008

Raymond Clinton Miller, BSc(CivEng), of Richmond, BC, in March 2009

’59 Allan David Tobe, MD, of

’54 Alvin Fredric Blakie, BEd, of

Gael Iona M.M. Nicholson, BSc(Pharm), of Fort McMurray, AB, in March 2009

Coaldale, AB, in October 2008 Kenneth Bryan Rayment, BSc, ’56 DDS, of Camrose, AB, in November 2008

Vancouver, BC, in October 2008

Joan Brumlik, BEd, ’65 MA, ’76 PhD, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2008

Patricia Annette Radke (Tompkins), Dip(Nu), of Ponoka, AB, in October 2008 Ronald Keith Taylor, BSc(ChemEng), ’66 BEd, ’89 BEd, of Tofield, AB, in August 2008

’60 Barrie Thompson, BEd, ’66 Dip(Ed), ’69 MEd, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2009 Lorne Richard Ottewell, BSc(Ag), of Edmonton, AB, in January 2009 Markus Cohen, BA, of Toronto, ON, in January 2009 Mederise G. Lessard, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2008 Peter Nicholas Balko, BSc(CivEng), of Edmonton, AB, in December 2008

’62 Alma Kay Tedford, BEd, of Victoria, BC, in September 2008 Glen Wayne Lavold, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009

Robert James Kavanagh, MSc, of Spruce Grove, AB, in March 2009

Grace Philomene Diederichs, BEd, in November 2008

Valerie Joan Mulesa, BEd, of Sherwood Park, AB, in February 2009

Sharon Eloise Fitzsimmons (Peterson), BEd, ’93 MEd, ’95 PhD, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2008

J. Ann Sutherland, BEd(VocEd), ’89 Dip(Ed), of Edmonton, AB, in January 2009

’81 Warren Dean Henning,

’68 Bozena Marie A. Shanahan, BEd, ’78 MEd, of Edmonton, AB, in May 2008

Lawrence Gregory Sim, BSc(CivEng), of Brooks, AB, in September 2008

’82 Barry John A .Androschuk, BEd, of Evansburg, AB, in January 2009

Reinhold Hohnsbein, BA, of Camrose, AB, in February 2009

’83 Frederick Takashi Sonoda, MEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

’74 Emily Mary Matwichuk, BA, ’76

Gary Glenn Calderwood, BCom, of Calgary, AB, in January 2009

Carol Elaine Lines (Empey), BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in September 2008 Kathleen E. Teape, BEd, of Sherwood Park, AB, in October 2008

Dip(Ed), ’77 BEd, of Edmononton, AB, in November 2008

Kenneth William Coull, BSc, ’82 MBA, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009

Laura L. Young (Guiltner), Dip(DentHyg), ’74 BEd, of Sherwood Park, AB, in January 2009

Marilyn G. Coull (Duncan), BSc, ’92 BEd, ’96 MLIS, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009 Nick W. Dushenski, BEd, of Willingdon, AB, in February 2009

’69 Gene Katerenchuk, BEd, of Bonnyville, AB, in February 2009

Marjorie Elfreda Mckay (Howery), BSc(Pharm), of Spruce Grove, AB, in October 2008

Herbert John Hartwig, BA(RecAdmin), of Edmonton, AB, in August 2008

’63 George William Wallis, BEd, of

’70 A. Robert Fraser, MA, of Calgary,

Sherwood Park, AB, in February 2009

AB, in July 2008

Gerrit Theodore F. Maureau, BSc, ’65 MSc, of Calgary, AB, in December 2008

Edna Mae Ondrus, BEd, of Coleman, AB, in December 2008

Russell Kneen Crosby, BSc(CivEng), of Lethbridge, AB, in October 2008 Sara Elizabeth Bowen, BSc(HEc), ’65 BEd, ’74 MEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

’64 Marion Annie Vaniderstine, BSc(Nu), of Halifax, NS, in August 2008 Patrick N.D.D. Seymour, BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2009

’65 Brenda Joyce Kozmech (Vreeland), BSc(Pharm), ’66 BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009 Doris Alta Vesala, Dip(Nu), of Edmonton, AB, in December 2008 George Donald Labercane, BEd, ’68 MEd, ’79 PhD, of Calgary, AB, in December 2008 Sheila May Malm, BSc, of Calgary, AB, in December 2008 Dale Arnold Enarson, BA, ’67 BEd, of Ferintosh, AB, in July 2008

’66 Lena Evelyn Carlstrom, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009 ’67 Colleen Knudtson, BA, of Calgary, AB, in November 2008 Hilary Thompson, MA, ’72 PhD, of Kentville, NS, in February 2009

Edna Margaret Arkinstall, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

’75 David Philip MacDonald, BSc, ’78 BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009

Kathleen Rooks Ryland, BSc(Nu), of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009

Jean Jobin, MSc, ’77 PhD, of CapRouge, QC, in November 2008 Phyllis Margaret Nerbas, BEd, of Calgary, AB, in March 2008 Ursula Shields (Denk), Dip(Nu), of Edmonton, AB, in October 2008

’76 Brian Richard M. Warick, BSc, ’77 Dip(Ed), of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009

Keith Edward Toogood, BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009

Eileen Helen Spillett (Hause), BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

Roman Platon Roshak, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009

Lorne Joseph Ruzicka, BCom, ’80 LLB, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

’71 Dinaldo Borba De Oliveira,

Margaret May Shupe, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

’72 E. Leola Boechler, BEd(VocEd), of St. Albert, AB, in January 2009 George Willis Hedgecock, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2008

Robert William Anstruther, BSc(ChemEng), of Onoway, AB, in January 2009

’77 Bradford Guy Reid, MA, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2009 ’78 Donald Fenna, BA, of Canmore,

Gregory Martin Ritson-Bennett, BSc, ’73 Dip(Ed), ’77 DDS, of Innisfail, AB, in January 2009

AB, in December 2008

John Cong Ng Lee, BSc(CivEng), of San Jose, CA, in September 2008

Theresa Susan Hiebert, BSc(Spec), ’86 MLS, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2008

Randall William Chappel, BA, ’78 MSc, of Calgary, AB, in January 2009 Volker Meier, BEd, ’89 Dip(Ed), of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

’73 Dennis Stephen Brophy, Dip(Ed), ’83 Dip(Ed), of Edmonton, AB, in November 2008

Teresa Stephanie Sawchuk, Dip(Nu), of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009

’84 Dale William Husack, BSc, of Calgary, AB, in October 2008

George Humphrey Davison, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2008

Marilyne J. Troock, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2008

Gladys Kyte, BA, of North Vancouver, BC, in March 2009

Lee Gordon Bomerlan, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in December 2008

Debra Sharon Kennedy (Sokolik), BSc(Pharm), of Edmonton, AB, in January 2009

MSc, of Brazil, in January 2009

BSc(Spec), of Calgary, AB, in December 2008

Herbert Quoika-Stanka, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

’79 Maria Do Carmo Cabral, BA, of Vancouver, BC, in December 2008 Mary Joan Ursuliak, BA(Spec), of Summerland, BC, in January 2009 Patricia Anne Fuhr, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2009

’88 Carla Mary Erdman (Lever), BEd, of Lethbridge, AB, in January 2009 Sheilesh Dave, BSc, ’92 DDS, of Calgary, AB, in March 2009

’90 Warren Albert Regehr, BEd, of Sherwood Park, AB, in January 2009 ’91 Patrick Blair McLean, BSc(PetEng), of Calgary, AB, in December 2008

’93 Stuart Henry Lindop, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2009

’95 Gordon Charles Brilz, BEd, of Oliver, BC, in January 2009

’98 Monika Maria Scharfenberger, BA(Hons), of Edmonton, AB, in December 2008 ’00 Randall Kim Tai, BSc(Spec), ’03 BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2009 ’06 Curtis Mark Allanson, BCom, of St. Albert, AB, in January 2009 Matthew Proudfoot, BCom, of Calgary, AB, in January 2009 Wendy Lynn Friesen, BEd, of Eckville, AB, in January 2008

’07 Sean Malcolm Macdonald, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in January 2009

’08 Edward John Van Fossen, BSc(ChemEng), of Edmonton, AB, in December 2008 *** Alumni interested in submitting remembrances about U of A graduates can send a text file to alumni@ualberta.ca. Tributes are posted on the “Memory Lane” webpage at www.ualberta.ca/alumni. Spring 2009

new trail

tuck shop

Clean Sweep Broomball —unlike in the game pictured here—is officially played by players wearing shoes, not skates. The game is not only gaining surprising popularity in Edmonton (www.ebabroomball.com), Calgary (www.calgarybroomball.com) and the rest of Alberta (www.albertabroomball.com), but also throughout Canada (www.broomball.ca) and around the world (www.internationalbroomball.com). The first documented real broomball game in Canada was played in Saskatchewan in 1909, so this is the game’s official centenary in this country. Today, the game is played in such countries as the U.S., Australia, Japan, Finland, Sweden and England. When Vancouver hosted last year’s World Broomball Championship, over 1,000 players on 52 teams competed. According to Wikipedia, Saint-Claude, Manitoba, is the broomball capital of the world (the town’s website — www.stclaude.ca — has a picture of broomball being played). Although the game’s rules are very similar to those of that other sport played on ice, broomball players wear specially designed softrubber-soled shoes that provide improved traction on the ice. Many modern brands are manufactured with other features specific to their use, such as improved toe and ankle support and waterproofing. Although there is no U of A broomball league (yet), in years past a version of the game was typically mounted during the school year as a bit of a lark, thus the rather odd “uniforms” in the picture above, which we’re guessing was snapped circa 1967–’72 (we’d love to have these students identified and the date confirmed). 56

new trail

Spring 2009

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