July 25, 2017

JULY 25, 2017 | VOLUME XCIX | ISSUE III BEER VENDING MACHINES SINCE 1918

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NEWS

CULTURE

OPINION

SCIENCE

SPORTS

AMS VP Academic Daniel Lam resigns

Why Being a Teenager Sucked: The Musical

Their Campus: Changes in Cape Town

Med students support Nepalese sickle cell patients

The ’Birds turn out world class athletes

THE UBYSSEY

CANADA 150 The Ubyssey looks back on our country’s history and culture to see how the past has formed today. // Page 6

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JULY 25, 2017 TUESDAY

YOUR GUIDE TO UBC EVENTS & PEOPLE

EVENTS

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OUR CAMPUS

Alfred Hermida and Mary Lynn Young are “turning journalism on its head” with The Conversation JUNE 24 TO OCTOBER 1 CLAUDE MONET’S SECRET GARDEN @ VANCOUVER ART GALLERY Visit the works of the founder of Impressionism.

STUDENT TICKETS AT $17.14

FRIDAY AUGUST 4 DAVIE STREET PARTY 6 PM TO MIDNIGHT @ DAVIE ST Vancouver Pride holds the biggest party in the West End, including an eight DJ line up.

FREE ENTRY, DRINKS NOT INCLUDED “Anyone can take this material and publish it on their website, and that’s part of the power here.”

Joshua Azizi Staff Writer

FRIDAY AUGUST 11 AN EVENING WITH BILL NYE & GEORGE STROUMBOULOPOULOS @ ORPHEUM Meet the Science Guy. TICKETS STARTING AT $60

ON THE COVER COVER BY Natalie Morris

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JULY 25, 2017 | VOLUME XCIX| ISSUE III

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At a time when digital media is constantly expanding and the need for critical journalism is as high as it’s ever been, UBC Associate Professors Dr. Alfred Hermida and Dr. Mary Lynn Young are seeking to provide media consumers with informed explanatory journalism to make sense of the world around them.

The two professors at the UBC School of Journalism recently launched the Canadian branch of The Conversation, a nonprofit journalism site originally founded in Australia that bridges the gap between academia and journalism. Although the site is organized and edited by professional journalists, its articles are written by scholars who are already experts on the topics they’re writing about According to Hermida, who is the current director of the UBC School of Journalism, this model is a good way to get important critical research out of academic journals and into the public’s consciousness.

“There’s a depth of research at Canadian universities, but often the challenge is ‘how does that research then get presented in a way that is accessible to the public?’,” he said. “And that’s what journalists are very good at.”

Although academics are frequently quoted and referenced in the media, Young explained that they’re often hesitant to talk to them out of a concern that their work could be misrepresented through the filtering and gatekeeping of journalists and editors.

“The media studies literature is clear that often people can have problematic experiences

with being misquoted or feeling like their ideas weren’t fully represented,” she said.

By allowing the academics to write the articles themselves, The Conversation sidesteps this issue.

“They’re supporting academics who might not normally be able to make it through the gatekeeping process or may not want to,” said Young.

In order to proliferate the academic information as much as possible, The Conversation permits other media sources to republish their articles, as long as they leave the story untouched and note at the top of the page where it came from.

“Anyone can take this material and publish it on their website, and that’s part of the power here,” said Hermida. “We’re turning journalism on its head because, traditionally, when you set up a journalism organization, you’re trying to attract readers and viewers to your product and you’re trying to keep them there.

“Our model is almost the reverse … it’s more about taking this independent informed journalism to the audiences who have an appetite for it rather than saying to the audiences ‘you have to come to us.’”

For example, an article that Hermida wrote for The Conversation in November about Trump supporters and the media was republished in Salon. Other sources that have republished articles from the platform include Business Insider, the Washington Post, the National Post and Maclean’s.

Both Young and Hermida worked as professional journalists before becoming associate professors at UBC. Young worked for various newspapers such as the Vancouver Sun, the Houston Post

COURTESY REILLY LIEVERS/RACHEL NIXON

and the Globe and Mail, but she later decided to pursue a Ph.D in criminology from the University of Toronto in order to get a better understanding of her craft, particularly the connections between power relations and newsrooms.

“It helped me make sense of what journalism could be doing and should be doing and some of the gaps that I had observed,” she said.

After completing her Ph.D, Young went on to become the director of UBC’s School of Journalism from 2008 to 2011. In co-founding The Conversation’s Canadian site, she’s continuing her work connecting higher education and academia.

“I’m not making any money from this, I’m not getting a job from this — it’s just purely a way to try to support a model that seems to have relevance and importance at this time and stage in journalism and in higher education.”

Before becoming the current director of the School of Journalism, Hermida had already established himself as a pioneer in the world of digital journalism.

He worked for BBC for 16 years, where he served as a foreign correspondent in North Africa and the Middle East and worked as a founding news editor of their first news website.

Through The Conversation, he is working with yet another shift in the ever-changing world of digital journalism.

“I’ve been in digital journalism now for 20 years, working in this field, and it’s fascinating to see it’s growth and evolution and how it’s developed,” he said. “It’s also what I research to make sense of what’s happened to journalism and how people are getting their news today.” U

NEWS

JULY 25, 2017 TUESDAY

EDITORS SAMANTHA MCCABE + ALEX NGUYEN

3

STUDENT MONEY//

AMS//

Block Party 2017 breaks even following last year’s $200,000 deficit

Lam ran unchallenged in the 2017 AMS Election.

FILE JOSHUA MEDICOFF

AMS VP Academic Daniel Lam resigns Alex Nguyen News Editor

Almost three months after assuming his position as AMS VP Academic, Daniel Lam has resigned. This decision will take effect on July 28.

“I can’t really say much besides the fact that I did it for personal reasons,” he said. “I’m going to miss Council. I have been here for two years. It’s a bittersweet moment for me to leave Council so suddenly and knowing that this is the last time I’m going to be voting in Council.”

Lam announced his resignation at the July 19 AMS Council meeting in closed session, which was entered upon his request.

However, a public discussion on his resignation and the transition process was held shortly after in the meeting.

In particular, the focus was on determining the interim VP Academic due to the imminent date of transition on July 31.

Both student Senator Jakob Gattinger and SUS AMS Representative Wendy Guo were nominated for the role. Following one round of individual speeches and a question period, AMS Council voted for Gattinger to be the interim VP Academic.

FILE JOSHUA MEDICOFF

Gattinger served as the VP Academic for the EUS in 2016/17.

“[There are] lots of challenges, but lots of opportunities for me and the team. I think the most pressing one is transition,” said Gattinger in a written statement.

“We need to maintain continuity and set the table for the permanent replacement.”

When asked about his plan for this role, he identified his first priority as “[working] with the staff of the office to establish a plan of how [they] will structure things until [his] return.”

Gattinger is currently on the East Coast for work and expects to return to Vancouver on August 11. However, upon receiving this position, he notes that he is “actively trying to move [the date] up.”

Prior to this role, Gattinger has served as the VP Academic for the Engineering Undergraduate Society in the school year of 2016/17.

He will hold office from July 31 until the new VP Academic is elected in the by-election.

Gattinger has stated that he will not run in the by-election.

According to AMS President Alan Ehrenholz, AMS Council’s current timeline will have a new VP Academic elected into office on September 22.

However, at this point, the campaigning period has not been determined. The final details have to wait until an Elections Committee is formed.

In the 2017 AMS Election, Lam ran unchallenged on a platform of “affordability, equity and inclusion, and the student experience.” He was also reelected as a student Senator, and will continue this role for the upcoming year.

“I do have hope for how this office is going to go,” said Lam. “Jakob has a lot of work ahead of him in the next two months ... but I hope that the interim can set this office up for success.” U

Block Party 2017 filled University Commons to its capacity.

Vera Sudakova Contributor

Following a $200,000 deficit in 2016, Block Party broke even this year and even ended on a small profit of less than $1,000, according to AMS VP Finance Alim Lakhiyalov.

Asad Ali, the AMS’s current programming and events manager, attributed last year’s massive deficit mainly to poor management and the unforeseen challenges of hosting Block Party at Thunderbird Stadium. These led to delays and added extra costs like the $100,000 floor needed to protect the Stadium’s turf.

FILE CHERIHAN HASSUN

This year, the AMS started to work on the event planning earlier and made changes to minimize costs — decisions that greatly contributed to making Block Party a success, according to Lakhiyalov.

For instance, Block Party was moved to University Commons. It subsequently sold out and filled the venue to 100 per cent of its 6,500 person capacity.

“Finding a location for Block Party is always so hard because it’s such a massive event,” said Ali, while clarifying that the aim is still to grow Block Party every year.

However, until a larger affordable venue can be found, it will remain at University Commons.

“If we move back to Thunderbird stadium … the final tier will have to be about $60 or $70,” he said, noting that University Commons will allow ticket prices to be kept lower for Block Party 2018. “We’re just trying to go with the same format [as this year] so $20 to $40 or $20 to $50 is the range we’re looking at, but of course it’s subject to change.

“Our goal is to make sure students have a good experience, which includes pricing as well.”

In the spirit of student affordability, the AMS is also not opposed to going into a small deficit.

“We are okay with running a deficit, but you know a $200,000 deficit isn’t good for the society, so even if we run it on a deficit we want to make sure it’s a deficit the society can handle,” said Ali. For next year’s Block Party, the 2018 Budget plans for an approximately $25,000 deficit.

According to Lakhiyalov, this is largely the result of increased spending on artists and talent to engage students.

At the same time, Ali reassured that the AMS will remain mindful of costs, while “trying to keep up with the market and student expectations.”

Nevertheless, he believes that Block Party is a discount.

“The lineup we got for Block Party this year, if you were to buy tickets for that individually it would cost you about $120 … and we’re selling our cheapest tickets for $20 plus service charge,” he said.

“I think it’s a great deal for students [and] that’s what we’re trying to do.” U

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4 | news | TUESDAY JULY 25, 2017 BC STATE OF EMERGENCY//

UBC community feels the impacts of BC wildfires

According to National Observer, this wildfire was burning at Ashcroft on July 7.

Joshua Azizi Staff Writer

After two days of no electricity and wildfires burning far off in the distance, UBC Forestry Professor and Associate Dean Sally Aitken and her husband left their cabin in the West Chilcotin region to make a harrowing drive home via Highway 20. While her husband drove, Aitken recorded the devastation around her.

The video, which has since gone viral, shows the couple driving under a thick cloud of smoke as various wildfires burn down the trees beside them. Dead power lines were on the ground, while lost cattle roamed the area. Flames from the Hanceville wildfire surrounded the road.

“It was really frightening,” said Aitken. “We were driving the same direction as the wind, so we were driving from the back of the fire to the front, oriented to how the fire was moving.”

In a particularly dark portion of the video, their car goes under a large cloud of pure black smoke.

According to Aitken, they were under this column of smoke for about 10 kilometres.

“The visibility was terrible, and that was the most dangerous part — not because of flames, but because we couldn’t see much and we had to go fast enough to stay ahead of the fire.”

Aitken and her husband are now home safe in Vancouver.

However, many British Columbians in the interior are still feeling the effects of the wildfire. Connor Holloway, a butcher who works by Cannon Lake, is currently on evacuation alert 35 minutes away from the Gustafsen fire.

“Everybody is kind of in a state of panic,” he said. “We ran out

of gas at our little corner store, and because 100 Mile is actually evacuated, there’s no place to get food or animal feed or gas besides small corner stores in the country here.”

Smoke hovers over the area where Holloway lives, but he did manage to get a glimpse of a wildfire itself a few days ago.

“I saw a big plume of smoke and flames,” he said. “It was pretty crazy.”

UBC OFFERS A HELPING HAND For those at UBC who have been seriously affected by the wildfires, UBC Enrolment Services has announced that they are willing to provide financial support.

“If they’re in a financial hardship situation as a result of the wildfires — which are extenuating circumstances that go beyond students’ control — we’re happy to provide emergency funding or anything that’s similar to that in order to make sure that they’re able to be successful when they return to school in September,” said Associate Registrar Darran Fernandez.

Fernandez also said that he has so far received “about a handful” of students requesting aid. He expects this number to increase following a campus-wide e-mail sent out by UBC Enrolment Services promoting their service.

Likewise, UBC Okanagan has announced that they are offering accommodations in the student residences to those who have been affected by the wildfires.

FLEEING THE FLAMES However, a more significant share of UBC students are feeling the effects of the fires in less intense ways. For instance, third-year psychology student

THEO FABER /TWITTER

Alexandra Dann had to evacuate 12 horses from her family’s ranch in the British Lake area near 100 Mile House.

“We started getting boxed in by two fires that were in Little Fort, which is on one side of highway 24, and then 100 Mile is on the other side,” she said. “We’re right in the middle.”

Dann managed to find a volunteer to house the horses through a Facebook group dedicated to helping people’s animals evacuate from dangerous areas.

“People were volunteering to haul horses and other livestock, and other people were putting up their properties. [The Facebook group]

ended up being a huge outlet for people to use, like in order to move their livestock,” she said.

Others like recent graduate Dustin Patara are less worried about their personal safety and more about the businesses they had to leave behind. Prior to his evacuation to Kamloops, Patara was working as a manager at one of his family’s motels near 100 Mile House.

“My parents are very stressed out because [the motel]’s our livelihood,” he said. “They’ve been operating there for about 20 years.”

He added that their employees are also concerned.

“They’re more stressed out because they live in the area. One of our managers, for example, she actually lived in the 108 [Mile House community], and as far as I know her house has likely burnt down. So lot of our employees are very stressed out, and during the evacuation it was very rough for them.”

Further south, fourth-year political science student Ty Yamamoto was working as a councillor at Rockridge Canyon Camp near Princeton when an evacuation announcement required him to help evacuate 400 kids. The fire in Princeton also affected second-year LFS student Lexi Patton, as her family had to evacuate from their cabin

by Missezula lake.

“The power went out, so they were relying on communication from police and firefighters literally showing up at the door,” said Patton. “They basically showed up sometime last week and said ‘Ok, you all need to have all your stuff packed, you could be evacuated at any moment.’ So they were just living in the living room wondering when they were going to have to leave.

“So it’s a pretty scary situation. And eventually when the firefighters called for evacuation, it was a 2 a.m. escorted evacuation.”

According to CBC, this wildfire is about 10 km north of Princeton.

LIFE UNDER SMOKE CLOUDS Beside the wildfires, UBC students who are currently living in the interior also have to face the smoke clouds that hover in the sky and pollute the air.

“There’s smoke that hangs over the mountains that makes them not even visible, and that’s pretty surprising because we live in a valley,” said Gjalen Heer, a thirdyear integrated sciences student currently residing in Kamloops. “It looks like thick fog hanging over the city.”

Since it has also strongly deteriorated the air quality in the city, residents are told to avoid being outdoors. Heer has asthma, so it’s particularly tough for him.

“It just made it difficult to go outside at all,” he said. “I mostly get around on my bike, so I couldn’t really leave the house as much.”

COULD IT HAPPEN AGAIN? According to Aitken, intense fire seasons like these are going to become more common because BC’s summer is becoming increasingly hotter.

“This is an exceptional year, but we’re going to have more and more years that are exceptional compared to the past,” she said. “So it’s really important that we realize that we’ve got to start proactively managing around wildfires more, reducing the amount of fuel and doing controlled burns — so using fire as a tool against fire.”

When asked if these wildfires were a result of climate change, Aitken explained that although you can’t attribute any one event to climate change, the predictions in the upcoming changes in climate are certainly linked to longer and more severe fire seasons.

“We expect these types of fires to be increasing as a result of climate change. That would be a fair statement, not attributing this one event — although I think that is in fact what’s driving it, our exceptionally warm Junes.” U

KATHY SIMPKINS/CBC

JULY 25, 2017 TUESDAY | news | 5 PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT//

“Not the dawning of a new era”: UBC faculty weigh in on NDP government

CABINET//

FILE JACK HAUEN

Eby worked at Pivot Legal Society and served as executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association.

UBC riding MLA David Eby appointed attorney general Alex Nguyen & Jack Hauen News Editor & Coordinating Editor

The NDP government was sworn into office on July 18.

Helen Zhou Staff Writer

After almost two months in limbo, Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon has called on John Horgan and the BC New Democrats (BC NDP) to form government, ending the 16-year reign of the BC Liberals. To help understand what this could mean for students, The Ubyssey asked UBC faculty members to weigh in on important issues like tuition and housing.

But, first, how much of an impact could an NDP minority government make?

According to UBC Professor of political science Richard Johnston, this depends on how long they will last.

“They essentially hang by a thread, even though they have a comprehensive agreement with the Greens,” Johnston said about the NDP’s current alliance with the Green Party, which gives them 44 seats — just a single seat over the Liberals’ 43. “It’s an agreement that makes sense, but the fact is that they’re vulnerable to random events, like traffic accidents, sickness or deaths.”

“The past experiences with minority governments in Canada and average duration of a federal minority is about 18 months,” he added. “They will want to be as different from the Liberals as circumstances permit, but there is this noose around their necks. The government might not last that long.”

Still, the NDP’s platform differs considerably from the Liberals.

To gain an understanding of what

it could mean for students, The Ubyssey asked UBC faculty to weigh in on important issues like tuition and housing.

TUITION AND FEES UBC Professor of sociology and former Deputy Minister of Education Charles Ungerleider predicts that the government will not pursue a blanket tuition waiver policy.

“Having a blanket tuition freeze or reduction is always popular politically in some quarters. I don’t anticipate that the government would go in that direction, because it would be enormously expensive and they’ll find that they don’t have the resources,” Ungerleider said. “[However, the NDP] is certainly more oriented towards education — at the K-12 level, the early childhood level and at the post secondary level. This is a government that understands that you build a better society by supporting education.”

On this topic, the BC NDP has stated in their platform that they would work toward affordable post-secondary education by “making student loans interest free — current and future —” and “keeping a cap on tuition fees at colleges and universities.”

Graduate students are also expected to see new fundings and scholarships, especially for those in technology-related programs.

HOUSING Penny Gurstein, a UBC professor and director of the School of Community and Regional Planning, is optimistic

JOHN HORGAN/ TWITTER

about the new government’s ability to advance affordable housing for students.

She noted that during their time, the Liberal government was essentially forced into addressing the housing issue. However, they focused on home ownership, which was not as applicable to students.

“What I expect the NDP government will do is actually develop policy that will encourage building of rental housing, encouraging non-profits to build housing, and giving some kind of subsidy to renters,” she said, while noting that students could benefit from the shift in focus to rentals.

According to their platform, the NDP promises to make it easier for post-secondary institutions to build student housing by removing “unnecessary rules.”

“Universities and colleges are not actually allowed to carry debt,” said Gurstein. “What they would have to do to encourage more student housing is to get rid of that regulation, which would mean that universities could borrow and take out mortgages to build housing.”

According to her, if the government follows through on this platform point, it would be easier for on-campus housing to be built.

CAUTIOUS WAITING GAME On July 18, Premier John Horgan and his gender-balanced cabinet assumed office.

Most relevant to students, Mount-Pleasant MLA Melanie Mark was appointed minister of advanced education, skills

and training. As the first Indigenous woman to be elected to the Legislative Assembly, her experience has mostly been on youth issues.

For the role of minister of municipal affairs and housing, Coquitlam-Maillardville MLA Selina Robinson was named. Prior to this appointment, she served as the opposition spokesperson for local government, sports and seniors.

Closer to home, UBC riding MLA David Eby was picked to be the attorney general.

“Although there isn’t a lot of cabinet experience here, it is a politically experienced group and my guess is that they will be a restrained bunch. They’re presumably conscious of the fact that they are in a minority and they’ll have to deal with the supporting party, the Greens,” said Johnston. “The Liberals aren’t going to let them off lightly.”

The first order of business and test for the NDP will be the budget.

“The budget is where the priorities of the government take hard form,” he said. “It’ll be interesting to see what goes into it, how ambitious it will be.”

For now, only time will tell whether the new government will be able to accomplish what they set out to do.

“It could be a nasty couple of years and my worry is that with all the best intentions in the world, they have been given just enough power to wreck themselves on the rocks, so to speak,” said Johnston.

“It’s not the dawning of a new era — not yet, at least.” U

David Eby — the NDP MLA for UBC’s riding, VancouverPoint Grey — has now been appointed as BC’s attorney general. According to the Vancouver Sun, his portfolio will also include ICBC, liquor and lotteries.

Eby holds a law degree from Dalhousie University and has previously taught at UBC as an adjunct professor of law from 2009 to 2013. He has also worked as a human rights lawyer with the Federal Department of Justice and with non-profit organizations like Pivot Legal Society and the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA).

According to Pivot, Eby played a “founding role” at the human-rights focused law group, which “use(s) the law to address the root causes of poverty and social exclusion.” There, he advocated for low income residents of the Downtown Eastside, worked to reform BC’s Police Act and fought evictions of tenants of low-income rental buildings.

At BCCLA, he served as the executive director. During his time there, he worked to reform Vancouver Police Department’s policies on crimes relating to poverty and was a member of Mayor Gregor Robertson’s Homeless Emergency Action Team. He also appeared in the media multiple times as the BCCLA’s spokesperson.

Prior to this appointment, Eby has served as the MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey after beating out former Premier Christy Clark in 2013. Since 2014, he has been a vocal critic on the topic of housing, as well as on the topic of transit during the 2017 provincial election.

Eby was recently re-elected to the position on May 9, 2017, for his second term. U

FEATURES

JULY 25, 2017 TUESDAY

EDITOR MOIRA WYTON

CANADA 150

For over 100 years UBC has shaped Canadian politics — and as Canada reaches 150 years since its confederation, the university is not slowing down.

Moira Wyton Features Editor

Founded in 1908 and becoming independent in 1915, UBC has had a significant impact on Canadian politics as both a cradle of research and the alma mater of prime ministers, governor generals, premiers and mayors.

It was here where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earned his education degree and where the first female Prime Minister, Kim Campbell, graduated. When former premiers, who are sometimes also alumni, like Mike Harcourt find new projects, it’s UBC that they seek out to help them get it off the ground.

But unlike many Canadian universities who have traditionally found niches of impact through informal partisan alignments, UBC is focusing instead on educating the people and parties who practice politics from across the political spectrum.

“Our view is that we are ‘crosspartisan,’ which is a little bit different from saying we’re bipartisan or we’re non-partisan, right?,” said Dr. Maxwell Cameron, a UBC professor of political science and director of the Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions (CSDI). “We want to create a space in which any one from any place on the political spectrum can feel comfortable — provided, of course, that they are prepared to work with people from across the political spectrum.”

How then has UBC exerted such influence 4,364 kilometres away from the nation’s capital and does it matter at all?

A LESSON IN HISTORY According to Dr. Barbara Arneil, head of the department of political science, the areas of research expertise present at UBC are part of the reason it continues to be a cradle of knowledge that decisionmakers turn to. Here, topics of research range from Asian politics to democratic theory to the study of multiculturalism.

One particular area of study stands out to Arneil — historical Canadian political theory.

Spearheaded by UBC Professor of political science, Dr. Samuel LaSelva, the field focuses on issues of historical importance to the country, like colonialism and indigeneity.

“They’re almost at the nexus between Canadian politics and political thought,” said Arneil. “It’s kind of the history of Canadian ideas.”

Within the context of Canada 150 celebrations — which have spurred criticism and protest from many Indigenous, Métis and Inuit communities who felt the celebration pushed the

genocide and mistreatment of their peoples under the rug — Arneil acknowledged that the presence of UBC on the traditional, ancestral and unceded Musqueam and Coast Salish land is also a significant guiding factor to its research interests.

“We focus on the question of settler colonization as it’s manifested itself in the relationship between the settler state of Canada, and even the colonial state of Britain which preceded that and the Indigenous peoples,” said Arneil.

“As historical political theorists, we’re trying to see how the history of [colonialism] developed, what were the ideas and the ideologies that sought to justify the relationship, so how do we critique it now looking back at how it developed and how that leads to [present day] forms of decolonization.”

She further noted that the department is now graduating more and more Indigenous political science Ph.D students, who then go on to influence and transform the research communities they work in.

POLICY, POLICY, POLICY Theory isn’t the only element that UBC is using to help guide Canada through its most challenging questions.

“There’s a phrase that some people use in other universities when they talk about their work, which is ‘publicly-engaged research.’

The idea is to do work by starting with people in the community and asking them what are the problems that they think need to be addressed,” said Cameron. “And then beginning to think about ways in which as academics we can respond to those social needs.”

With the launch of the UBC School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA) in May 2017, UBC is now creating a centre to build on its “long history of involvement in public policy,” according to Cameron.

“One of the reasons we’re excited about this is UBC has always had a big impact on our community,” he said, citing the Great Trek in 1922 that founded the university on Point Grey and the growth of the faculty of forestry in order to incorporate Hungarian students and academics fleeing conflict in 1957 as examples.

“Our hope with the SPPGA is that we’ll be able to bring those contributions together because all of those things are connected.”

Part of the success of bringing the academic and the political together at the SPPGA will be the expertise of political practitioners contributing to its work, including that of former Mayor of Vancouver and Premier of BC Mike Harcourt.

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JULY 25, 2017 TUESDAY | feature | 7

Since 2009, Harcourt has been the associate director of the UBC Continuing Studies Centre for Sustainability, where he uses his position to advocate for responsible city development and energy sustainability.

With an estimated population of almost 10 billion on Earth by 2050 — seven billion of whom will live in cities, particularly in the Global South — Harcourt is adamant that UBC needs to examine issues of sustainability as they relate to the politics practiced at home and abroad.

“Welcome to the urban age, the urban century,” he said. “One of the things that really struck me when I was starting to study this really intensely in the 1990’s was … just how massive the urban populations are around the world.”

When a massive raised highway was proposed to be built along the Waterfront and through Stanley Park in 1967 — Canada’s centennial year — Harcourt used his law degree to act as an unofficial counsel to the group of activists organizing against it due to concerns for the loss of natural areas and the displacement of Downtown Eastside communities. Eventually, the organizers were successful in convincing the city not to proceed with construction.

Later, as mayor of Vancouver during the 1986 World Expo — which brought challenges to the city including financial strains and dislocation of residents on the Eastside — he further saw how small decisions can have a lasting impact on the characteristics of a city.

“Cities are about choices — they’re not pre-ordained — and you better make the right choices,” said Harcourt. He later advised current Mayor Gregor Robertson and former Prime Minister Paul Martin on sustainability and transit. “I realize

how important cities were in being sustainable, it’s essential.”

Now, at UBC, he is focusing on translating his experiences into research and policy that would help municipal, provincial and national governments create and maintain sustainable cities.

“UBC has become certainly renowned as a world-leading institution around sustainability issues, both by example with the sustainability initiatives and by bringing sustainability principles into every faculty and into many courses as well,” said Harcourt.

“The flip side of leading by example at UBC campuses is to be involved in community engagement of working with people in the city of Vancouver and elsewhere to become equal world leaders in building communities with sustainable practices.”

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT When research and policy proposals go as far as they can, UBC is also trying to change theframework entirely. Under Cameron’s leadership, the CSDI — which will be housed under the SPPGA — is looking to improve Canada’s institutions by educating the elected officials who act within them.

“It’s hard to change institutions, and in some ways we’ve got fairly good institutions [in Canada] anyway,” said Cameron. “So perhaps a better way to make an impact is to change the practitioners.”

The CSDI’s Summer Institute for Future Legislators (SIFL) hosts students and professionals alike to learn how to be better politicians and public servants for the past five years. With the support of Preston Manning of the Calgary-based think tank the Manning Centre, the SIFL is hoping to increase cooperation and

compromise in politics by teaching participants about the “workspace of politics.”

“We aspire to encourage people to reflect about the kind of practitioner that they want to be, to experiment and to look at different ways of doing politics, and then make some choices about how — if they go into politics — they want to behave,” said Cameron.

“The hope is over time that might help to improve the tone of politics ... [and create] more of a willingness to work across party lines, more capacity for listening and empathy and more ability to work collaboratively.

Part of that change is also diversifying the variety of people who are elected. Cameron noted that while the CSDI doesn’t collect enrolment data on the gender, race or age of participants, he certainly sees a much more diverse group of participants than compose the Canadian parliament.

Currently, only 26 per cent of Members of Parliament (MPs) are women, while only 14 per cent are visible minorities with three per cent of MPs identifying as Indigenous.

“It’s wonderful you know when we start these up each year to look up and to see reflected the many faces of Canada from the perspective of gender or race or ethnicity or levels of income or geography,” said Cameron.

While still in its early years, the SIFL is already looking for national reach. After one of its alumni, Heather Sweet, was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in 2015, Cameron is hoping to offer similar programming in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.

“UBC is really a place that wants to be a pioneer of thinking of how we can improve the practice of politics by creating opportunities for people to learn experientially and to learn by doing,” he said.

THE NEXT 150 Given UBC’s illustrious past, many believe that the university will continue to have a major influence on Canadian politics and society for the next 150 years.

“You see when you actually add up all the things that UBC has been involved in since the Great Trek of 1922 to today, it’s deeply involved with BC and the rest of the world,” said Harcourt. “I think people at UBC sometimes underestimate the tremendously positive influence that UBC has had.”

Cameron agrees.

Whether it’s the involvement of some faculty of the School of Community and Regional Planning in the anti-highways protests, the work of members of the faculties of science and medicine in the response to the overdose and healthcare crises on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside or simply the work of educating local students to be better community leaders, UBC has been there since the very beginning.

As the SPPGA develops, the challenge will be to continue pushing these efforts beyond the classroom and the research lab, as well as bringing in the Liu Institute of Global Issues and the CSDI under its roof.

“We’re trying to break down the wall between the ivory tower and the broader political community and to recognize that there is a role for thinking about politics as a practice — not just as theory, not just as political science, not just as reading textbooks and writing papers,” said Cameron.

“We’d like to create a place at UBC where we make it our mission to think about how we can have an impact on our community both locally and globally.” U

More Canada 150 content is available online at ubyssey.ca.

CULTURE

JULY 25, 2017 TUESDAY

EDITOR SAMUEL DU BOIS

THEATRE //

BACK IN THE DAY //

The hundred year trek of UBC

Sheldon Goldfarb (pictured above) has been working for the AMS for 23 years.

Amelia He Contributor

As UBC launched its Centennial year in 2015, the AMS’s longtime Archivist Sheldon Goldfarb was at work on a book that celebrates the essence and evolution of student experience and self-governance.

The Great Trekking is the final product of this immersive inquiry into UBC’s cultural history and identity in the last century.

Goldfarb is the man behind the curtain of the student union and the first stop for advice on UBC rules and bylaws. “I like research and I like answering questions,” said Goldfarb on qualities that landed him the position as an archivist of the AMS. During his 23 years at the AMS, his role expanded from being in charge of records to drafting AMS code of procedure. Three years ago, he picked up the project on writing the centennial history of UBC. The Great Trekking is named after the student-facilitated campaign in 1922 that took place as a movement toward the new site for UBC in Point Grey. The University of British Columbia was initially founded at Fairview in 1915, on the site of what is now Vancouver General Hospital.

The university expanded rapidly in its first seven years: lecture halls became overcrowded and laboratory facilities were inadequate. A new campus site was necessary for more adequate facilities, but the government had ceased its funding due to WWI and economic restraints over the Great Depression Era. Under the leadership of returned war veteran and AMS President-Elect Ab Richards, UBC students collected approximately 56,000 signatures over the summer break in support of building the university at the Point Grey site. This campaign culminated into a successful trek to raise public awareness about

8

the plight of inadequate campus and frustration with government inaction.

1,200 students marched their way from the Fairview campus, travelling through downtown, over the Granville Street Bridge, up West 10th Avenue and finally up to the Point Grey site.

“It was the first successful student led event illustrating AMS’s independence from UBC. That’s something we are very proud of,” said Goldfarb.

The campaign swayed the provincial government to raise $1.5 million to construct permanent buildings on the site.

The AMS continued to campaign and fundraise for non-academic buildings on campus, which led to the construction of Brock Hall (1940), War Memorial Gymnasium (1951), the Student Union Building (1968), the Old UBC Aquatic Center (1978) and the Nest (2015).

“One thing I noticed while going through the records was that things are really different back then,” said Goldfarb. “There was a lot of hazing where people are told to crawl on their knees. In the book, there is even a picture of guy hooked to a battery, though I’m sure he wasn’t hurt badly.

Imagine Day is certainly nothing compared to the past.”

Most of the changes took shape in the 1960’s. The new wave of cultural dissent was the turning point where student government rose to prominence, pushing for more weight in administrative decision. The counterculture also sought to offer alternatives to patriarchal social structures, unquestioning support for the United States and traditional ideas of love and marriage.

“A lot of things changed in the 60’s; it was a wild era, culturally and politically,” said Goldfarb.

At UBC, Jerry Rubin urged 1,500 students to liberate themselves from all forms of establishment. The students

Youth theatre company debuts its first musical

FILE GEOFF LISTER

occupied the Faculty Club, emptied the faculty’s liquor cabinet, smoked their cigarettes, burned an American flag and swam nude in the patio pool. The sprawl was the largest display of UBC student power since the 1922 Great Trek, ultimately giving students more say in how the university was run.

Students were given an increased role in UBC’s governing bodies: the number of students on the university’s senate increased from four to 12, and two students were elected to UBC’s board of governors for the first time.

The era of 2000’s saw substantial advancements in labs and classrooms that aim to affect the world, not solely on an intellectual scale but also in the commercial arena. To date, UBC has seen 169 spin-off companies.

More condos and market housing would rise on the university’s endowment lands, which later developed into a series of residential neighbourhoods around the campus. They are named after the first university president Frank Wesbrook.

The AMS has also evolved with employment programs that cater to student needs, such as AMS tutoring and Safewalk.

Nonetheless, a lot of things are still the same.

“Both UBC and AMS are at constant shortage of money to complete their mission. Students always protest about the increase in tuition fees, cost of housing, not enough housing and the cafeteria food,” said Goldfarb.

Now entering into its second century, UBC continues to be a place of mind — resilient, agile and curious. From the Fairview shacks to an incubator for innovation, The Great Trekking chronicles the plethora of ways in which UBC, AMS and its alumni have paved the path for the present. U

The people involved range in age from 13-25.

Danisa Rambing Contributor

Ah yes, the golden age of 13, when the unexpected chin pimple became your best friend, the blue eyeshadow looked great no matter what your mom or classmates said and your body began growing its own personal George Bush. We’ve all been there and none of us would want to go back. However, Vancouver’s very own local youth theatre group, Eternal Theatre Collective (ETC.), has made reliving the trials and tribulations of these notorious pubescent years far more entertaining in their rendition of Jason Robert Brown’s Broadway musical, 13.

The play follows the life of 12-year-old Evan Goldman as he embarks on a rough journey into adulthood. Along with parental divorces, bar mitzvahs and a plethora of hormones, Evan’s life is suddenly relocated from the accustomed havens of New York to the unfamiliar suburbs of Appleton, Indiana. All the while he is undergoing a serious (as serious as 13-year-olds can get) reevaluation of social priorities.

With only a few months of the semester left, Evan is counting on his bar mitzvah to establish his reputation with the cool kids in his new school.

As a coming-of-age story, Brown’s musical production seems to centre primarily on the exaggerated distress and ignorant sentiments of adolescents in a satirical yet heart-warming way.

With an unforgettable pop-rock score from a Tony-Award winning composer, 13 is a musical about fitting in and standing out, while also exploring issues surrounding disabilities and bullying in early adolescence.

Founded in 2015, ETC. is composed entirely of young people aged 13-25, including

ETERNAL THEATRE COMPANY

board members, designers, actors and directors. The company’s members also include a large group of UBC students.

Since incorporation, the company’s aim has been to inspire young performers and artistic minds, and to create more opportunities for young artists in a very adult-oriented industry.

“Most people think about youth theatre as summer camps or high school plays, but if you take a group of young people who all intend to pursue careers in theatre, and put them together, the art they create is so much more inventive and professional than people anticipate. What [ETC. members] lack in life experience, they make up for in heart,” said ETC Co-Founder Laura Reynolds.

As one of the only theatre companies in Vancouver focusing on youth participation, ETC. has become a platform for individuals with a variety of interests and diverse life experiences to come together with their shared love and passion for theatre.

“I came back to ETC. because of the open, fun atmosphere I experienced as a writer. I’m enjoying the same atmosphere now as a crew member. ETC. is so helpful for me because I’m able to work and network with the next generation of Vancouver artists,” said former ETC. playwright and current crew member David Volpov.

As a non-profit organization, the company has proven its ongoing commitment to create and perpetuate a sense of community — whether it be artistic or otherwise — by donating all proceeds to the West Point Grey Presbyterian Church. U The performance will be showing from August 9 to 12 at the Revue Stage on Granville Island.

OPINION

JULY 25, 2017 TUESDAY

EDITOR EMMA HICKS

TRAVEL //

9

ADVICE //

Their Campus: Let your travel experiences influence day-to-day life Zach Weiss Contributor

I’ve been thinking about change a lot recently. I’ve been thinking about change because it was at exactly this time last year when I experienced the biggest set of changes in my entire life. Because it was at this time last year that I went on exchange to Cape Town.

All of this thinking about change has made me realize how precious change can be. For the most part, I’ve lived my life following a pretty set schedule — like most of you reading this article. My life revolves around school, part-time jobs, applications and occasionally being social and sleeping. But when I was in Cape Town, everything was different. In Cape Town, everything was perfect — and then, that had to end.

My time in Cape Town was truly the greatest five months of my entire life. I traveled to seven countries. I went on countless trains, planes and automobiles.

I drank too much and I ate far more. I saw deserts and savannas and palm trees and lush forests.

I raced down highways and was stared down by elephants. I

got terribly lost and missed out on even more sleep. I jumped off bridges and jumped on trampolines. I walked through a KFC drive-thru at 4 a.m. and I walked across international borders. I ordered Ubers so I didn’t have to walk three minutes in the rain, and I walked hours in the sweltering heat. I cried and I yelled and I smiled so big that my face hurt.

Yes, I did it all.

But change — change doesn’t care. Because change is inevitable.

So now I find myself back to where I started. At least, in terms of the schedule, that is. No longer am I living a life defined by adventure. Once again, it’s school, part-time jobs and applications. But that’s okay.

Because the reality is, I still have the memories. I still have the knowledge. I still have, and will always have, the lifelong friendships.

Change can’t take that away from me. I won’t let it.

So no matter what changes you endure. Whether they be good, or bad. Don’t let change define your experiences. Don’t let change define who you are. U

“Dear Natalie, How do you minimize distractions while studying?”

Ask Natalie: Summer, school and everything more Natalie Morris Design Editor “Dear Natalie, What would you do if you thought your relationship was turning into something boring and tired? I love my boyfriend, but I think our relationship is reaching its end. I don’t think he would break things off if I don’t, but how do I know when it’s really dead?”

Life in Cape Town.

U

ZACH WEISS

Oh my, have you been working out?

Because those opinions are so strong!

Hit us up at opinion@ubyssey.ca ;)

FILE PATRICK GILLIN

Sometimes relationships can die right before your eyes and you don’t even know until you’re already at the end.

It’s easy to say I would leave now, but I know how hard it is to come to terms with the end of a relationship when nothing has caused the break up. When the end comes organically to a relationship, it’s hard to say when you should say the words.

You can talk to your partner about how you’re feeling and see if that helps. Don’t expect it to be easy, especially if you’re not sure if your boyfriend is also seeing the end, but because you’re so hesitant to break-up, it really can’t hurt. If you leave the relationship as it is, then in a few weeks, it won’t be comfortable. It will start to crumble and it will be messy and much harder to end things.

If you’re feeling the end, then the end is near. There is no reason you should stay in a relationship that you don’t want to be in anymore — and that includes the ones where you still love the other person.

“Natalie, I didn’t get the courses I was hoping for next year and I’m really, really bummed. I signed up for my back ups, but they aren’t ones I’m interested in. Some of them are required, but some of them are just boring and now I have to take them (cries). What should I do?”

Registration isn’t over! School hasn’t started yet! You can still change your classes! Wait and see if any spots open up in the courses you’re excited about. Be willing to jump on a computer in the middle of the night to register for the new classes.

But at the same time, don’t preemptively hate your classes.

Just because your first pick courses had an interesting description that doesn’t mean that the actual class will be interesting.

Look up your professors of your registered classes on Rate My Professors and see what their rating is. If it’s high and people seem to love them, honestly, just take a chance. Your boring class might be your most interesting class this year. That offbeat, last minute class addition might be your passion.

If term time comes around and you’re still in your second choice courses and you go to classes and completely hate it still, then just switch. September 22 is the last day to drop before you receive a W, but at the same time, you don’t want to get too far behind in a new class if you know you’re going to switch.

“Dear Natalie, How do you minimize distractions while studying?”

That’s a simple question without a good answer. Everyone is different. Some people find being out in public in a cafe or outside as their best mode to study. Some prefer complete silence and try to find it in either their own bedrooms or in a library.

You just have to find which method works best for you.

The best way to study and focus is to actually be engaged with what you’re learning. If you find by just reading your notes, you get distracted more often, then change up how you study.

Try quizzing yourself, making flashcards or rewriting all your notes. If you find that you just keep getting up to get coffee, put yourself in a place where you can’t get any — no Starbucks study seshes for you, unfortunately.

There isn’t a “good” or “bad” way to study, it’s just what works for you and what doesn’t.

Fine-tune your habits and you’ll become a better student. I’m entering my fifth year and I’m still finding new ways to become a more efficient student. Some people strike gold their first study session, but don’t be discouraged if you can’t hit your stride right away. U Need advice? Contact Natalie anonymously at asknatalie@ ubyssey.ca or at ubyssey.ca/ advice and have your questions answered!

SCIENCE

JULY 25, 2017 TUESDAY

EDITOR NIVRETTA THATRA

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MEDICINE //

Medical students provide care for underserved sickle cell population in Nepal Orchid Chen Contributor

This past May, eight UBC medical students provided education, raised awareness and supported screening and diagnosis of sickle cell disease to locals in the underserved medical community of Dang, Nepal. They worked with their local partnered NGO, Creating Possibilities Nepal, as well as school staff in the schools which they visited.

Based on data collected in 2015 by the founding UBC Sickle Cell Project, over nine per cent of people in the indigenous Tharu community in Dang, Nepal have sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell patients have a genetic mutation in a protein called hemoglobin, causing their normally circular red blood cells to become mis-formed into the shape of a crescent moon. This crescent-moon shape is also known as a sickle, hence the disease’s name.

The diseased sickle-shaped red blood cells cannot effectively deliver oxygen to the body because they get stuck in blood vessels due to their abnormal shape.

After completing the project, the medical students went their separate ways for the remaining summer months. The Ubyssey spoke with the six available members of the team postproject, via Google Hangouts.

UBC Sickle Cell team debriefed on what they learned, what they experienced and how they helped the local population in Dang.

FIGHTING FOR HEALTHCARE ACCESS AMONG FANCY FOOTWORK The medical students first took time to respectfully acknowledge the hospitality and enthusiastic spirit of their Nepali

hosts. Welcoming outsiders into any community is difficult and is even more so when the community is afflicted by an illness.

“People in Nepal love to dance. They would bring out their scarves and skirts for us,” said Natasha Benson, the project fundraising coordinator and firstyear medical student. “And they would always want us to dance before we started our educational module.”

The dancing was fun, and brought the UBC medical students closer to the local community. Still, the differences between the two communities were apparent; the UBC Sickle Cell team was struck by their privilege in multiple ways.

O

ver nine per cent

of people in the indigenous Tharu community in Dang, Nepal have sickle cell disease.

The differences in transportation access and its effects on healthcare access were especially apparent. “We were the only people that were being transported by bus in the city,” said Benson.

Meanwhile, locals had to travel long distances on bikes or on foot simply to obtain a screening, which involved taking time off work, in uncertain road conditions.

UBC SICKLE CELL PROJECT

The UBC Sickle Cell team with members from their local partnered NGO, Creating Possibilities, and school staff of a small government-run school.

Jesse Spooner, another medical student, stated that it was quite an ordeal for patients to just obtain a diagnosis, making downstream care even more difficult to obtain.

The UBC medical students observed that it is not only the patients of Dang that are underserved — the local Nepali doctors also lack resources. There is a huge chain of paperwork and bureaucracy in Nepal which blocks the support that is available.

“It’s a hard situation in Nepal because, politically, it’s the first time in recent history that they’ve had a general election,” said UBC med student Alice Liu. “A lot of the funding that comes in is lost in paperwork.”

Ideally, there would be more incentive to enforce a system that would allow the local doctors to

UBC SICKLE CELL PROJECT

The UBC Sickle Cell team dances with their local partnered NGO members before a drama performance to educate a small village about sickle cell disease.

obtain more supplies, personnel and funding.

EDUCATING WOMEN TO EDUCATE THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE Before the UBC Sickle Cell team set off to Nepal, they started with four goals. One of these goals was to educate the community in Nepal about the disease. They planned educational modulations to accomplish this goal.

Later, the team adapted their strategy of providing educational modules to reach the population more effectively through providing training specifically to women of the community.

The hope is that educated women in the community will continue the work after the team leaves by communicating their knowledge to other women, including mothers, about the disease and its effects.

The work allowed many locals to put a name to their ailments.

“We had a chance to meet two younger people who had

sickle cell disease, six or eight years old, I believe,” recalled Alice Liu. “I remember that their moms were so grateful, because it meant that their kids could get blood transfusions and treat the disease.”

DAL BHAT POWER, 24 HOUR While in Nepal, the UBC Sickle Cell team survived on dal bhat, a traditional Nepalese meal consisting of rice and lentils.

“Dal Bhat power, 24 hour,” piped Liu, referencing a popular phrase from theregion. Printed t-shirts, found all over Nepal, attest to the lasting caloric power of this staple meal.

All the students concurred that the trip to Nepal was an immensely rewarding experience.

“When we had some free time, we would go into the city and see the temples,” said Spooner.

The team hopes that their work will be continued by future medical students from UBC. “Our advice to the next team,” said Benson, “is to learn how to dance.” U

UBC SICKLE CELL PROJECT

UBC medical student Sophia Lee presents a poster titled “What is Sickle Cell Disease” to a group of mothers of young children in a small village in rural Dang, Nepal.

SPORTS+REC

JULY 25, 2017 TUESDAY

EDITOR LUCY FOX

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ALUMNI SUCCESS //

Back in the lineup: ’Birds alumnus Jason Yee joins HC Kunlun Red Star Bill Situ Staff Writer

HC Kunlun Red Star has another T-Bird joining their ranks: former ’Birds defenceman Jason Yee. Yee is the third UBC player to have signed with the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) team this summer.

Based in Beijing, Kunlun is the only Chinese team in the KHL. Yee got the opportunity after

participating in an identification camp last month, which recent Red Star signings and former T-Birds Luke Lockhart and Derek Dun also attended.

“It was not really an opportunity that I was expecting and so it kind of came out of the blue, to be honest,” said Yee. “When opportunities come up in life, you got to take them.”

A native of Victoria, BC, Yee was a defenceman for the

Yee with former UBC teammates (left to right) Brendon Wall, Nate Fleming, Cole Wilson and Ben Schmidt.

COURTESY JASON YEE

’Birds from 2011 to 2015. He was Lockhart’s teammate during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. “[Lockhart] is a good friend of mine,” said Yee. “It was cool to play with him for two years at UBC, and then it’s cool to be reunited with him again.”

After graduating with his kinesiology degree, Yee went on to establish Train 2.0, a Vancouverbased business that provides hockey training for youth. Now that he has signed with Kunlun, Yee will no longer be able to coach on a full-time basis — an experience that he admittedly misses.

“I really like being able to spend quality time with kids. When you’re really spending time with them, that’s when you get to see them grow,” said Yee. “I do miss that a lot.”

Still, Yee doesn’t plan on leaving his coaching job behind completely, as he will be returning to Vancouver during the offseason.

He also sees his upcoming career with the Red Star as an opportunity to hone his skills as a coach.

“It provides a different learning opportunity for [the players I coach] and me,” said Yee. “I’m really excited to share what I learn playing at a really high professional level with the players.”

Moving forward, there may be even more in store for Yee than just a professional career in the KHL. As a player of partial Chinese descent, he also has an opportunity to represent the Chinese national team in the 2022 Beijing Winter

Yee was an important member of the T-Birds team for four years, playing over 90 games for UBC in his first three seasons alone.

Olympics. China is currently in the process of building its national hockey team for the event.

“It’s exciting to potentially represent Team China in the Olympics,” he said. “A portion of my heritage is from [China] … I might have [the] opportunity here to represent part of my heritage.”

COURTESY BOB FRID/ UBC ATHLETICS

As much as he has to look forward to, Yee’s current goal is to make the best out of his time ahead with Kunlun.

“I’ll take it day by day and make sure I’m having fun doing that,” said Yee. “I think the next few years are going to be really exciting.” U

LEAVING THE ROOST//

T-Birds Lockhart and Dun set for the pros with KHL’s Red Star

Derek Dun (left) and Luke Lockhart (right) leave the Thunderbirds after one and four years respectively with the team.

Olamide Olaniyan Staff Writer

Two UBC hockey players have bid farewell to Vancouver and are moving on to play professional hockey in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

UBC goalie Derek Dun and forward Luke Lockhart have both signed three-year contracts with

HC Kunlun Red Star — a Beijing based KHL team — currently led by legendary former Canucks coach Mike Keenan.

The contracts are two-way, which means that the athletes will also be playing for the the Red Star’s minor league affiliate team, based out of Harbin, China.

“It’s pretty amazing and special because the KHL is an outstanding

COURTESY UBC ATHLETICS

league and there’s a lot of former NHL-ers, future NHL-ers there,” said UBC Head Coach Sven Butenschon about the signings.

“It’s going to be an incredible experience for them The two athletes first got wind of a potential identification camp from Zach Yuen, a mutual friend who currently plays for HC Kunlun Red Star. Dun and Lockhart then

attended a Red Star selection camp, held last month at Burnaby 8 Rinks.

Both athletes impressed at the selection camp and quickly negotiated, then accepted offers from the team.

“It was kind of a no-brainer for me, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Dun. The signing of the two athletes is also part of a larger move by China to develop players for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Both players are of Chinese descent and will be eligible to compete in the Olympics for Team China.

“To play pro and then to play [in the] Olympics is every kid’s dream. For me, growing up it was kind of for Canada. At the same time, it’s nice because I can learn more about my roots and about my heritage and having that option of playing in the Olympics is still amazing,” said Dun. In terms of career moves, the KHL signings and ensuing moves will be a big change for the former ’Birds. Both Dun and Lockhart have formed many lasting relationships in Vancouver and will be leaving those for their professional careers in China. But, they’re optimistic about the future.

“There’s a good bond with these guys [at UBC]. All the guys I started with in my first year are still here … but when you’re moving to a new team, you kind of build those same kind of friendships there as well

hopefully,” said Lockhart.

Both players’ final seasons with the Thunderbirds ended in relative success last year. In Dun’s sole season with UBC, he helped the ’Birds clinch the final Canada West playoff spot. The T-Birds won both games 2-1 in a doubleheader against the Mount Royal University Cougars, with Surrey native Dun stopping 24 of 25 shots on the first day and 37 of 38 shots on the second.

Before joining the T-Birds’ roster, he played three years in the NCAA at Northern Michigan University.

Lockhart was one of the top forwards in USport last year, finishing up the regular season with nine goals. The Burnaby native has played for four years with the UBC Thunderbirds and played in the Western Hockey League (WHL) for the Seattle Thunderbirds before that.

With these two ’Birds leaving the roost, UBC will have to adjust and new players will have to fill the gaps. Even so, Butenschon is confident that with the exit of both KHL signings, the Thunderbirds will be just fine.

“Moving forward, it’s like Mike Babcock [head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs] always says: ‘next man up.’” said Butenschon.

“They’re going to go on and play pro, and we’ve got a lot of good young hockey players here that are ready to step in.” U

12 | games | TUESDAY JULY 25, 2017

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CROSSWORD PUZZLE Across 1: WWII battle site 5: Angry with 10: Currency of Turkey and formaly of Italy 14: Twin in Genesis 15: Texas shrine 16: Put a lid___!

17: Talk wildly 18: More tender 19: Kodak rival 20: ____Rabbit 21: Bonnet with a large brim 23: Manipulate 25: Faulkner’s “___ Lay Dying” 26: Living in the open water 31: Low-budget prefix 35: Game with Skip cards 36: Actor Romero 38: ____ Gay 40: First man 42: Like most movies 44: Elevator man 45: Utah’s ___ Mountains 47: Eight singers 49: Holiday start 50: Light ___ 52: Stocky 54: Susan of “L.A. Law” 56: Ending for legal or Japan 57: Gazette 62: Pouches 66: Take ___ your leader 67: Prince Valiant’s wife 68: Dairy product 69: Hebrew month 70: March honoree 71: An Apple ___...

72: “Cast Away” setting 73: Flavour 74: Votes against Down 1: Balkan native 2: Former Russian ruler 3: Alley 4: Surpass 5: Jaw muscle 6: Baseball’s Felipe : Mend socks 8: Low life?

9: Knobbed 10: Bank offering

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11: “Splender in the Grass” screenwriter 12: Fissure 13: ____ standstill 22: Pleasing 24: Jiff 26: Island fest 27: Gandhi’s land 28: Haunted house sounds 29: Golfer Aoki 30: Trap 32: Lennon’s lady 33: Short letters 34: Antipasto morsel 37: Nerve network 39: I’d hate to break up ____

41: 1959 Kingston Trio hit 43: Remove air from 46: Helps 48: Boob tubes 51: Meal 53: Toady 55: Seaport in the Crimea 57: Sparks and Beatty 58: And others: Abbr.

59: Sported 60: Enlivens, with “up” 61: Coup d’___ 63: Opera set in Egypt 64: Pottery material 65: The ___ the limit 66: ___tai