October 2, 2018

octoBER 2, 2018 | VoLuME c | IssuE VIV tai me up since 1918

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THE UBYSSEY

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NEWS

CULTURE

SCIENCE

SPORTS

AMS lobbies for mental health support space

OPINION

Eclectic lives at the Vancouver Art Gallery

The AMS is not a board

SimMan brings realism to the classroom

U Sports starts new transgender athlete policy

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oCToBEr 2, 2018 tueSDAY

YoUr GUIDE To UBC EVENTS & PEoPLE

events

2

this week in PhOtOs

WEDNESDAY, oCToBEr 3 Last Candidate standing 6 To 10 P.m. @ ThE ImPErIAL Vancouver’s most-anticipated election debate returns!

BY DoNATIoN (must rSVP online)

ThUrSDAY, oCToBEr 4

ELIzABETh WANG

buiLding haPPier, heaLthier Cities 5:30 To 8 P.m. @ roBErT h. LEE ALUmNI CENTrE An evening of fascinating science and stories.

FrEE (ticket required)

SATUrDAY, oCToBEr 6 eastside FLea FaLL markets 11 A.m. To 5 P.m. @ EASTSIDE FLEA (550 mALKIN AVE) A one-stop shop for vintage and locally made goodies. $3 for a single day, $5 for the weekend

On the COver

SArAh roBErTSoN

ELISE GALLoIS

roSE WU

LUCY FoX

COver by Elizabeth Wang “Critical Days”

Want to see more events or see your event listed here? ubyssey.ca/events

U THE UBYSSEY

EDITORIAL

STAFF

Coordinating Editor samantha mcCabe coordinating@ubyssey.ca

Pawan minhas, zubair hirji, Jack Yuan, Jane Procyshyn, matt Asuncion, olivia Johnson, Candice Lipski, marissa Birnie, rolando hinojosa, Lua Presidio, Salomon micko Benrimoh, Chimedum ohaegbu, ryan Neale, hannah Feodorov, Angela o’Donnell

Visuals Editor Claire Lloyd visuals@ubyssey.ca News Editors alex nguyen & Zak vescera news@ubyssey.ca Culture Editor bridget Chase culture@ubyssey.ca Sports + Rec Editor Lucy Fox sports@ubyssey.ca Video Producer marina mcduff video@ubyssey.ca Opinion + Blog Editor tristan wheeler opinion@ubyssey.ca Science Editor james vogl science@ubyssey.ca Photo Editor elizabeth wang photos@ubyssey.ca Features Editor moira wyton features@ubyssey.ca

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zUBAIr hIrJI

news

oCToBEr 2, 2018 tueSDAY

EDITorS ALEX NGUYEN + ZAK VESCERA

3

indigeneity //

where was the bbQ? //

AMS Welcome Back BBQ sees AMS considers average ticket sale despite ‘small how to better partnership’ with SFU student union consult, represent

Indigenous members

The 2018 AmS Welcome Back BBQ sold 4,000 out of 6,500 tickets.

rolando hinojosa Staff Writer

The “small partnership” between UBC’s and Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) student unions for this year’s Welcome Back BBQ did not deliver a bump in sales — but both societies believe it was a positive experience that could lead to more collaborations in the future.

According to AMS Programming and Events Manager Asad Ali, the 2018 AMS Welcome Back BBQ sold 4,000 out of 6,500 tickets.

While this meant just over 60 per cent attendance, Ali noted that the number is within the AMS’s expectations based on past Welcome Back BBQ events.

“In terms of ticket sales, the trend is pretty normal for us, actually,” he said, explaining that the number of tickets sold has fluctuated between 3,000 and 5,000 over the past five years.

“So being within that range, we’re good. … Obviously our goal is to sell out the event. We didn’t sell out, but we were close.”

This year’s event also included “a small partnership” with the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS),

who cancelled its own start-ofthe-year event following space and scheduling conflicts with SFU. Announced in July, the collaboration led AMS Events to increase the attendance cap from 5,000 tickets to 6,500 — on par with that of Block Party, the AMS’s largest event — to reserve additional tickets for SFU students.

They, however, only bought 200 tickets according to Ali. According to SFSS VP Student Life Tawanda Masawi, his society’s goal “wasn’t to create some sort of replacement” for their own event, but to secure a subsidized rate for SFU students who intended to attend the Welcome Back BBQ anyway.

While tickets for UBC students ranged from $20 to $40 depending on the time of purchase, SFU students had to pay $37.50 for entrance, which is still substantially cheaper than the $55 ticket price for public attendees.

“The AMS event to me was never a solution like, Hey, here’s a new event for students,’ it was just, Hey, if you’re already going to the AMS event, here’s a discount,’” said Masawi.

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CoUrTESY AmS EVENTS

“And then through that, we ended up having further conversations and saying, Okay, what else can we do?’ because …

I’m not afraid to take [risks], but to explore new opportunities.”

As anticipated in July, the AMS managed most of Welcome Back BBQ’s logistics while the SFSS “[played] a minor role” and focused on promoting the event to SFU students. The SFSS had agreed to pay for more security personnel if the expected attendance number increased significantly, but this ended up being unnecessary.

Masawi noted that the AMS-SFSS partnership went well logistically, describing it as “a building block” in terms of collaboration between both student societies.

“You don’t start off at the top of the block — you start off at the bottom and you build that relationship,” he said. “So you don’t expect the first go at anything to always be perfect. The goal is always to start that relationship.”

Ali echoed this sentiment. “[The AMS would] like to revisit the partnership again, and see how people want to get involved,” he said. “It just comes down to the fact that if you want something bigger, it’ll be a bigger collaboration.”

Regarding the event’s financial performance, Ali indicated revenue and expense numbers are not yet available, with Masawi confirming he had yet to meet with AMS Events to discuss results since the numbers haven’t been finalized.

But Ali said he’s confident that the AMS’s investment stayed within the $25,000 to $35,000 range that it estimated in July.

The event’s preliminary budget of $25,000 is around half of last year’s $48,965 budget.

“We do subsidize prices, and we try to make this a more studentfriendly event, more student price affordability and whatnot,” he said.

“So the hope is again obviously to stay within budget. I’m pretty confident we will.” U

ALEX NGUYEN

“At this time, we are not proposing any new policies or structures until we have had the opportunity to meaningfully hear and consult Indigenous students.”

benoit dupras Contributor

The AMS is starting to consider how to better represent its Indigenous members.

Rodney Little Mustache, a mature GRSJ student and member of the Piikani Nation of the Niitsitapi confederacy, ran for the AMS presidency last year and later released a letter containing 13 demands for change in the way Indigenous people are represented at UBC. The document, he said, draws on the encounters he had with Indigenous people over the years across Canada. It includes calls to increase the Indigenous presence in the AMS and in campus media organizations — including The Ubyssey — and advocates for policies that would benefit other marginalized populations, such as low-income students.

“It’s time to change those priorities to be more inclusive for everybody,” said Little Mustache.

“Indigenous issues and lowincome [students] should start being your priorities.”

Little Mustache unsuccessfully attempted to join the AMS Council’s advocacy committee as a member-at-large earlier in September.

“I was shocked that it was allowed to happen because there were elected officials in there and none of them stopped the process,” he said.

“There was no other Indigenous people in there.”

The AMS recently decided to organize an Indigenous student discussion circle to gather ideas, thoughts and impressions from the First Nations community on what this restructure should look like. The meeting, which will take place on October 2 in the First Nations Longhouse, is set to be a major discussion space between

the student governing body and UBC’s Indigenous communities.

AMS President Marium Hamid said that the society wants this event to lead to other forms of engagement through consultation with Indigenous students.

“We hope that this circle and the resulting conversation is the next step in determining what Indigenous communities here at UBC see as a meaningful change in AMS’s operations and advocacy,” she said.

Although he is happy the event is taking place, Little Mustache referred to the consultation process as being typically European.

“That’s oppression — you’re still oppressing us here at the university by making us go through these different protocols that are foreign to us … and we have no choice but to do it or else we don’t get anything,” he said.

Instead, Little Mustache believes that in an ideal situation, the AMS should create assigned seats for Indigenous students on AMS Council to be filled in the next elections.

The AMS, however, is not considering structural changes until it has consulted the broad communities of Indigenous students, according to Hamid.

“At this time, we are not proposing any new policies or structures until we have had the opportunity to meaningfully hear and consult Indigenous students,” she said. “... We will openly reflect on past injustices and how they will inform the structures and pathways of communication between communities.”

When asked if he thinks the AMS would respond to the letter’s demands, Little Mustache believes that they will eventually be met.

“It’s not a question about if they’re going to do it, it’s about when they’re going to do it,” he said. U

4 | News | tuesDAY october 2, 2018 advertising //

UBC launches national branding campaign following negative press attention in recent years Charlotte Alden Contributor

UBC launched a national campaign on September 24 to showcase its new branding as a university engaged in “tackling society’s largest challenges,” following negative press attention and increased global competition in recent years.

Titled “The potential is yours,” the campaign focuses on the potential of UBC community members to change the world through their research and work.

Featuring a number of faculty and students, the advertisements touch on pressing issues such as reconciliation with Indigenous communities, sustainability and the overdose crisis. “[T]he campaign focuses on the importance of UBC’s research and teaching mission and positions UBC as a university tackling society’s largest challenges,” reads the Board of Governors submission about the campaign.

“The ads challenge the audience, as we at UBC challenge ourselves, to not accept the status quo,” Rick Hart, UBC’s senior director of Brand and Marketing, said in a statement to The Ubyssey.

Hart first publicly announced the campaign at the September 13 Board of Governors People,

“The ads challenge the audience, as we at UBC challenge ourselves, to not accept the status quo.”

Community and International committee meeting. Touching on the motivation behind it, he said that it is largely to improve the university’s reputation following “a series of negative news headlines through 2015 and into 2016.”

Some include the Board of Governors’ involvement in the lead up to and fallout from former President Arvind Gupta’s resignation, UBC’s handling of sexual assault and harassment allegations against former creative writing Chair Steven Galloway, as well as a human rights complaint and the CBC’s investigation into

the university’s handling of reports of sexual misconduct.

“While there has been a measurable improvement in the last 18 months, there is still room for improvement,” the submission reads.

The campaign will now run on “national TV, newspaper, online video, digital advertising and social media” from September to November and then start up again in January. A “separate stream” for an international audience is still under development, according to the submission.

Partnering with agencies TAXI and MediaCom, the campaign was

FILE ALEX NGUYEN

developed by an advisory group of UBC executives, including Provost and VP Academic Andrew Szeri, VP Research and Innovation Gail Murphy and and UBC Okanagan Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal Deborah Buszard.

The campaign also included consultation with just under 5,000 people from various backgrounds — including “students, alumni, BC general population, university leadership ... Canadian prospective university students [and] business leaders” — in the research of what UBC means to people. Just under

2,000 people were also asked to evaluate the campaign’s concept.

“The province had no involvement — indirect or direct in the creative process or the financing of the campaign,” Hart said.

At the September 13 Board meeting, faculty representative and anthropology professor Charles Menzies questioned how the campaign’s effectiveness would be measured, noting that he did not find it “very provocative at all.”

VP External Relations and Communications Philip Steenkamp responded that there are “very rigorous metrics” in the quantitative market research to evaluate the campaign’s success in creating “familiarity, positive sentiment and impact on brand attributes.”

Menzies also pointed out that there had been no discussion of cost at that point.

In the statement to The Ubyssey, Hart said that $1.25 million had been allocated for 2018’s advertising budget. UBC is also planning $900,000 for the 2019 media budget and $750,000 for production costs, market research and contingency.

“While this figure is higher than in years past, this is also the first time UBC has advertised on television locally and nationally,” Hart said. U

SPACE ALLOCATION //

In fiery Board submission, AMS calls on UBC to prioritize mental health space on campus

“This is the result of a system that prioritizes academic needs over the basic health and well-being of students.”

Isabelle Ava-Pointon Contributor

UBC’s Vancouver campus is struggling to find space to house its mental health services, and the AMS isn’t happy about it.

AMS VP Academic and University Affairs Max Holmes wrote a submission to the Board of Governors “in response to the capital priorities presented to the Board of Governors at the June 2018 meeting, in particular the

information presented about the UBC Life Building (Phase 2).”

The second phase of the Brock Commons project aims to create a mixed-use building whose offices would include “a new integrated student health centre that would combine counselling and student health services,” according to the proposal given to the Board by Associate VP Facilities John Metras.

“It’s a really important academic and student service component to this project … it’ll begin to create

ALEX NGUYEN

the student service precinct that we’re envisioning,” said interim VP Students Andrew Parr at the time.

The Brock Commons Annex was intended to house Counselling Services once construction begins on Brock Commons Phase 2 — but will no longer be able to do so.

The planned second phase of the Life Building would also see the addition of a new Integrated Mental Health Centre — but there is no timeline for the renovation

work at the moment.

Holmes’ submission expressed concern that measures will not be taken to improve student mental health services until Brock Commons is complete — and casts doubt on whether the promised space will ever be a reality.

“This is the result of a system that prioritizes academic needs over the basic health and wellbeing of students,” said Holmes.

According to him, the AMS wrote the submission to stress that mental health support is not an option but a necessity for the campus community.

“There is also sometimes a reluctance to fund projects that may not be directly related to the academic mission or academic space but are more related to student health and well-being,” said Holmes.

Holmes said that space on the second floor of the Life Building was originally slated as a student health centre, but it was then appropriated for academic swing space instead.

“Recently the AMS was told that due to a balancing of priorities, the second phase of the Life Building … was not going to continue as a project for a while because that flex academic space was needed,” said Holmes.

At a committee meeting on September 13, Board student representative Jakob Gattinger

asked what was being done to resolve the need for swing space.

Metras responded that the university was constrained by capital funding, adding that more research was needed for a “long term plan.”

Board Chair Michael Korenberg noted the importance of spaces for student mental health and stressed this was part of the “broader issue of space on campus.”

At the Board’s general meeting on September 27 at the Okanagan campus, Korenberg said that interim spaces at Vantage College and a modular space near Brock Hall could help fill the gap in capacity.

Holmes says pressure for new mental health space is rising due to the fact that Brock Commons will stop offering counselling services when construction starts — “and that’s close to a year away.”

Holmes emphasized that the AMS is “currently in discussions with the university, as well as Student and Development Services, to look at where space can be identified on campus, and the UBC VP Finance and Operations is working with us on how to identify space in the short-term as quickly as possible.”

“In the medium-term, looking at four or five years from now, the space that will be available for mental health resources on campus is going to be Brock Commons Phase 2,” he said. U

CULTURE

october 2, 2018 Tuesday

Editor Bridget Chase

$400,000 bricks //

5

crying in the art gallery //

Good lives are eclectic: Lessons The inauguration learned from Ian Thom Selects of The Shadow: Controversial art piece is formally recognized Angela O’Donnell Senior Staff Writer

At first look, the exhibit is eclectic.

A Curator’s View: Ian Thom Selects at the Vancouver Art Gallery consists of colourful paintings, muted tones and sculptures that seem fairly unconnected.

It takes Ian Thom himself to bring the connections to light.

Thom is the recently retired, long-time senior curator at the Vancouver Art Gallery who put together this exhibit as his swan song. The current chief curator introduces him to our tour group, before Thom begins to describe his time at the gallery.

No piece in the collection is without extensive thought.

The Warhol Monroe prints are connected to the other adjacent pieces in ways that only Thom would know. His description of items is so substantial that the group isn’t even able to make it through the entire tour.

The exhibit also features local art, including a painting by E.J. Hughes entitled Comox Valley. I recognize it instantly, and tears well up in my eyes as I think of the valleys and mountains of Vancouver Island. I recall how long it’s been since I’ve seen my family, the bucolic waters and fields of my childhood. The addition of this painting within the exhibit rips me from the curated tour and and evokes the feeling of homesickness. It then hits me that this work of art means something to me, just like it means something to Thom. Looking around the exhibit,

“I needed the spirit of all the students with me.”

Candice Lipski Staff Writer

In November 2017, UBC began the installation of a controversial art piece ominously titled The Shadow on the University Commons Plaza near the Nest. On September 16, over nine months after the piece’s completion, university students, staff and the general public were invited to partake in the inauguration of the permanent art installation.

The world-renowned artist commissioned for the project was Esther Shalev-Gerz. Shalev-Gerz grew up in Israel and now resides in Paris, and her work has been exhibited all over the world.

When asked why it took so long for the inauguration ceremony to occur after The Shadow was completed, Shalev-Gerz stated that she had originally wanted the inauguration to occur in April 2017, but was cautioned that students would be writing final exams.

“I needed the spirit of all the students with me,” she said.

The installation uses paving stones in various shades of grey to depict the shadow of a Douglas fir tree which spans across the plaza. The project raised concerns in 2017 partly due to the price tag (now estimated to cost approximately $400,000), as well as for the disruption it caused on campus during construction.

name

Trevor Mills/Vancouver Art Gallery

E.J. Hughes, Comox Valley, 1953, oil on canvas and composition board, Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Acquisition Fund.

I can now recognize that this is not just a collection of unrelated art, but a life lived. “... [C]urators do have legacies,” Thom said, “... I was directly responsible for putting [these things] into this collection. ...

I guess the lesson I’ve learned the hard way is that if you really want something, you must keep persevering no matter what and

eventually, if you’re really lucky, it’ll happen.”

A good life lived long will seem eclectic. Exhibits like this sort of make you excited to live your whole life. U A Curator’s View: Ian Thom Selects is on from September 22, 2018 to March 17, 2019 at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

elizabeth wang

The event started with an onsite flute performance composed

by Ramsey Sadaka and performed

by Emily Richardson, both UBC School of Music students. Although the performance was meant to take place outside, due to rain it took place in the foyer of the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre.

“It’s something you definitely can’t turn down. It was just a wonderful collaboration, working with the people at the Belkin Art Gallery [and] my colleague Emily Richardson,” said Sadaka.

The inauguration ended with a short tour of trees in the area of campus surrounding The Shadow, lead by UBC Horticulture Instructor Egan Davis.

According to Barbara Cole, curator of the Belkin Art Gallery’s outdoor art collection, the production of the event was a collaborative effort. “A lot of what we’re thinking about with outdoor art is an opportunity to start to cross-pollinate with other departments, faculties [and] areas of research on campus.”

Generally speaking, the somewhat unusual event came together successfully, despite minor setbacks such as the musical piece having to take place inside, there being no seating and there being no microphones or audio equipment for the reception. With that said, the art and the artist were regarded highly by the audience and other presenters, although very few students were in attendance. U

Stadium Neighbourhood Join us in shaping the plan for UBC’s next neighbourhood

Public Consultation

PHASE THREE: OCTOBER 1 TO 21

We need your feedback on the Plan Options for the Neighbourhood. Share your ideas online or in person.

To register or learn more: stadiumneighbourhood.ubc.ca Questions? Contact Aviva Savelson, Senior Manager, Public Engagement at aviva.savelson@ubc.ca or 604 822 0273.

Online Survey Available October 1 to 21

Public Open Houses Wednesday, October 3 10am to 12pm Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre, 6163 University Blvd Wednesday, October 10 4pm to 7pm Wesbrook Community Centre, 3335 Webber Lane

Public Talk Thursday, October 4 5:30pm – 8:00pm Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre, 6163 University Blvd

Workshop Saturday, October 13 12pm – 4pm BC Hydro Theatre, 2260 West Mall

6 | Culture | tueSDAY october 2, 2018 judaism //

Memoir: Apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah Eve O’Dea Contributor

The question of my identity presented itself on Sunday, September 9, the beginning of the year 5779. This is Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the new year according to the Jewish calendar.

Jews all around the world celebrate Rosh Hashanah in different ways: some attend service at their local synagogue, some go about their day like it’s any other Sunday, and all of us dip slices of apples in honey hoping for a “sweet” new year. I have never been to synagogue, outside of my cousins’ Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, and my family doesn’t observe the holidays in a religious fashion. We do have commemorative dinners for the high holidays, like Rosh Hashanah and Hanukkah, and very abridged seders for Pesach. When my mom and I started reading our traditional prayers off an iPad, I couldn’t help but wonder if I should have these prayers memorized by heart. What did my lack of knowledge say about me and my connection to my culture?

This August, I travelled to Israel with an organization called Birthright. wifAccording to their website, their vision is “to ensure the future of the Jewish people by strengthening Jewish identity, Jewish communities, and connection with Israel.” On this trip, we went to some of the

holiest sites in Judaism, such as the Western Wall, and more recent historical sites such as the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre, Yad Vashem.

Alongside learning about Jewish history and the background of Israel, I learned about the varying Jewish experiences in Canada through discussion with my fellow tour members. Outside of my own family, the Jewish community feels almost non-existent in Vancouver to me. I know this isn’t actually true. There are just under 30,000 Jews here, and I haven’t necessarily made a genuine effort to be an active participant in this community. Compare this to the Greater Toronto Area, which is home to over 200,000 Jews.

This is where the majority of my fellow Birthright participants were from, many of whom knew each other prior to the trip. It was apparent that Judaism was more present in their everyday lives than mine. They all spoke of their memories of Jewish overnight camp, their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and their Hebrew names. I felt a degree of envy for not having these memories to share with anybody. Off the top of my head I can think of only one other Jewish person in my high school class, and I am still jealous that I never had a Bat Mitzvah, which requires years of studying the Torah. I also only have one

Rose Wu

All of us dip apples in honey hoping for a “sweet” new year.

Jewish parent, which was true for the two other participants from Vancouver on my trip as well.

So while the celebration of Rosh Hashanah back in Vancouver did pose questions about my connection to faith, this celebration of life and renewal also provided me with some answers. In the middle of our Rosh Hashanah dinner I looked around our table and realized that almost half of our dinner party was not Jewish. This observation

reminded me of a discussion we had on Birthright. Our tour guide asked our group, “Should all Jewish people live in Israel?” The vast majority of the participants, including myself, answered no.

My reasoning for this answer has helped put my past insecurities into perspective.

In Vancouver, I’ve met people who have little to no understanding of Jewish culture, and have probably never met a Jewish person other than me.

In these moments, I feel proud to be the only Jewish person in the room, an ambassador of sorts for my culture. If I lived in Toronto, or was constantly in the company of other Jews, there’s no way to know if I would be any “more” Jewish. In this hypothetical universe, when Judaism is as prevalent in my life as the mountains of my hometown are now, I could forget to pause and reflect on how special my identity is. U

pour one out //

Mourning the loss of iconic student spaces Dunbar Jethro’s Fine Grub closed their Dunbar location on July 25, 2018, as a result of pressure from their landlord. u/Neobladesman on Reddit grieved “RIP Jethros [sic] on Dunbar, my brunch will never be the same.” It still has a location on Fraser street in East Vancouver, but students loved Jethro’s on Dunbar for its cheap brunches close to campus. Gone is the tight space with the aroma of syrup, eggs, bacon, and the approval of Guy Fieri, who tried the pulled pork sandwich when there and allegedly “loved it.” If that’s not a testament to the importance of this place, I don’t know what is. Renoviction has cost us a tasty, cheap brunch spot, especially one so close to campus.

LUCY FOX

It’s important to cherish the places we still have.

Sammy Smart Contributor

We usually don’t expect beloved places to die. Whether it’s a latenight study spot with free WiFi, or a late-night party spot with cheap brews, it’s disappointing to find out your favourite place is no longer with us.

There have been some special student hotspots close to UBC which have since disappeared or ceased catering to us in the way they once did. Let’s pour one out for the most notable places we’ve mourned the loss of in the recent past.

Calhoun’s Bakery

Bimini’s College Night

Calhoun’s Bakery was a 24-hour cafe on West Broadway, frequented by students studying late into the night and in need of WiFi. It closed in January 2017 so the owner could focus on Calhoun’s Catering, which is a big source of revenue for the company. Even though there were never enough outlets and you had to buy something every hour to renew your internet access, the ability to work all night long with an immediate caffeine supply made it all worth it. The building still exists with its exterior cowboy facade, only as the restaurant East is East.

The Bimini Public House on West 4th Avenue has been a popular place for students to go out on Wednesdays. However, “College Night” has now been moved to Republic due to overcrowding.

“It outgrew Bimini’s. It got too big … and there was just too much going on, and it almost overpowered this place,” explained Matt Donnelly, the managing partner at Bimini’s.

On whether or not this will affect the off-campus nightlife of students, Donnelly said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I have no idea…”

Jethro’s Fine Grub on

The old Coppertank Coppertank, also known as “the Tank,” is a very popular pub on Broadway once packed with UBC students. It moved to a new location with some new, not-sowelcome features. u/blueish101 on Reddit explains that the old Coppertank was “an absolute staple for a bunch of different friend groups.” They went on to mention that the wait was not long (if there even was a wait), the Long Island iced teas were cheap, and the music was just the right volume to have a conversation.

Since opening in a new, smaller location, “the music is much louder in comparison … and since

the location is much smaller … it’s not a guarantee that you can get a spot with a group. Used to be my favourite bar to go to on any given day of the week, but it’s definitely not got the same feel.” The only thing retained has been the cheap Long Island iced teas – so at least there is that.

Reboot CafÉ Reboot Café was a popular café in the Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems on campus, which closed in August 2017. Students who loved the café environment and the choice of food and drink mourned the loss of Reboot. The space was replaced with Pacific Poké in September 2017, which was met with very mixed reviews. A survey was even circulated in a CPSC newsletter to assess whether or not students would like to reboot Reboot Cafe. On Reddit after it had been announced Reboot was closed, u/ billnyethewifiguy commented “Wait...so I can’t buy coffee during class anymore?” to which u/efskap replied “guess we’ll have to go across the street to forestry timmies and stand in line for hours.”

As we can all tell from the past, we could face disappointment in the future. The prospect of losing a beloved haunt is always a possibility.

It’s important to cherish the places we still have, to love them until their death, and keep close the memories of our lost ones close. U

Features

EDITor MOIRA WYTON

oCToBEr 2, 2018 tueSDAY

CRITICAL DAYS

UBC IS USING JUMP START TO BUILD “FUNDAMENTAL UNITS” OF COMMUNITY — AND MORE RESILIENT STUDENTS WORDS ZAK VESCERA DESIGN CLAIRE LLOYD

7

8 | FeAtureS | tueSDAY oCToBEr 2, 2018

I

n 2011, UBC was struggling to keep all of its growing cohort of international students.

According to that year’s enrolment report, the retention rate for international students was 86 per cent compared to over 95 per cent for domestic students.

“So the question was, what do we do to address this?” said UBC math Professor Dr. Mark Mac Lean.

International students weren’t necessarily dropping out purely because of grades. The trip abroad to UBC brings a whole set of challenges to international students, ranging from building good academic habits to adapting to the local language, to learning how to do laundry.

UBC saw it as a chance to change how it welcomed students to campus.

“Some of [their] needs are just the needs of transition,” said Kari Marken, educational designer at the Centre for Student Involvement & Careers. “What does it mean to welcome students to a university by saying, How are you going to be a successful UBC student?’ Is that the right question, or is it, Who am I, and what am I contributing to this community?’”

Mac Lean knew of an existing orientation program for roughly 250 international students in the faculty of applied science, where participants spent the weeks leading up to the school year getting to know each other, their professors and the campus.

“And since a program existed, it was the thing to build on,” said Mac Lean.

Seven years later, that program — Jump Start — has grown to over 3,400 students, both international and domestic. Its benefits have been linked not just to improving retention, but to improving almost every aspect of a student’s university career.

And it all comes down to the first few days of school.

THE FIRST DAYS Around the same time that Mac Lean joined the program, Dr. Amori Mikami was contacted to do a study on the new program’s participants.

A specialist in relationship formation in young populations in the UBC psychology department, her goal was to understand the importance of interpersonal relationships in international students’ decision to stay in — or leave — school.

“The transition to university can be a really big time of change for students, especially students who are moving away from home to attend university,” said Mikami. “They need to do things like manage some of their own finances, and laundry and study habits.”

Professors knew anecdotally that orientation programs had been beneficial for many participants, but needed a comprehensive study to back up their hunch.

“Basically we turned over this money as a research grant and said, Is there anything you can do to take a look at the experiences these students are having to tell us what effects this is or isn’t having?’” explained Mac Lean.

Mikami surveyed over 500 international and Indigenous students who entered the first years of Jump Start to monitor the quality of their social relationships.

She even gained access to their Facebook accounts to examine how they were interacting online.

By monitoring the sample over the course of their university career, she found that the single most important factor in whether a student decided to drop out wasn’t necessarily their academic success — it was their emotional and social attachment to UBC. A study published by Mikami, professor Kristen L. Hudec and PhD student Adri Khalis found that participants who exhibited the most symptoms of ADHD also benefitted the most from reciprocated friendships and attachment to UBC. Contrarily, for participants whose ADHD symptoms were a full standard deviation below the mean, there was not an association between reciprocated friendships and attachment to the university.

While Mikami’s study did not include a control of students who had not gone through the Jump Start program, the results affirmed existing scholarship that the social and academic parts of university are inseparable.

“Students that have more attachment to UBC [and] take that into their identity do better here,” said Mikami. “They do better academically, they have less depression and anxiety, and they’re more adjusted socially … over their time here, there’s higher retention.”

The timeline for doing that, it turned out, was small. Within just a few days, faculty peers on Jump Start were able to tell whether a student was making those crucial connections.

“It was very rapid,” said Mac Lean. “If students didn’t have that in the first days they were here, it was unlikely to happen.”

GETTING SETTLED How is a community created?

Like anything, it starts from the ground up.

“One of the things early on in my own thinking … is what’s the fundamental cell that we build?” wondered Mac Lean. “What’s that fundamental unit for student and faculty and student leaders that you can replicate as many times that you want?”

The result ended up being roughly 30 students, two peers and a professor all in the same faculty — a combination of representation that allows students to adjust both academically and socially.

“Universities are different places from high schools,” said Marken. “Very often some of that distraction in first year isn’t from not trying hard enough. It’s not having enough time to reflect on what those differences are.”

One takeaway from Mikami’s studies were that for students with difficulties adjusting, connecting to a faculty fellow was often just as impactful as making friends with a peer.

“Being comfortable reaching out to a professor when you need help is one of the most obvious things,” said philosophy professor Dr. Michael Griffin, a faculty fellow on Jump Start. “It’s also one

of the hardest behaviou Faculty fellows said classes between Jump S students is immediately “They sit together. T before classes start. Th botany Professor Dr. Ce who haven’t gone throu people from Imagine D school, but it’s not the s

BRID

VULNERA

For some students, mak matter of more than aca In a study involving Mikami found that pos be a “buffer” against m Students with symp were less likely to strug friends in Jump Start. M interactions were linke And social acceptance w academic success.

“We know that Jump belonging at UBC and th

urs to get comfortable with.” d that the difference in their Start participants and other y noticeable.

They’ll be taking to each other hey already have friends,” said eleste Leander. “The students ugh that might have a few Day or someone from high same.”

DGING ABILITIES

king those friendships is a ademics. g 571 Jump Start participants, sitive social relationships could maladjustment. ptoms of ADHD, for example, ggle in school if they made More supportive Facebook ed to lower rates of depression. was a significant predictor of

p Start contributes to a sense of hat sense of connectedness to

oCToBEr 2, 2018 tueSDAY | FeAtureS | 9

faculty leaders and other first year students,” said Kim Kiloh, director of the Centre for Student Involvement & Careers. “That social belonging has protective benefits for health but also for academic success.

“When you have these sorts of relationships and when you feel connected to the campus, it actually is a contributing factor to students being more successful.”

Mikami’s original study didn’t just address international students. It also included several Indigenous students who, like students coming from abroad, were likely to experience a range of difficult adjustments as they settled into university life.

“In some ways the social connections seem more important for the students who are more vulnerable when they’re starting university for one reason or another,” said Mikami. “They’re the ones for whom having the Jump Start program mattered more.”

IN TRANSIT This year, the scope of Jump Start has expanded to other vulnerable groups — namely, commuters.

“We hear from other organizations on campus like rec where student involvement is really heavy on the residence side and not on the commuter side,” said Robbie Morrison, associate director of first year experience and student engagement.

Morrison helps oversee the Collegia program that was created partially to give commuter students a dedicated space on campus in the midst of an often difficult university transition.

“One of the fun things we heard from almost every single consultation we did was, Where are the microwaves in this place?’” said Morrison.

“It’s little, but it’s a fun one that came up that you might not think about as a student experience … the importance of their food and where they’re going to eat that.”

Academically, commuters may also have less time to dedicate to school work or creating friendships because of the time spent in transit — something Jump Start’s coordinators have picked up on.

“It was really clear, even years ago, who the students were who had participated in Jump Start.

They were in groups already, they had friends,” said Leander.

“Then it was really clear who the commuter students were, the ones who were just rolling in.”

This year, Jump Start expanded to domestic students for the first time with an expected uptake of roughly 800 students. What they got instead was 1,677 registrations.

“Our estimates this year were trampled,” said Marken.

Leander said the expansion to commuters has been a long time coming.

“I think in a way the expansion especially to commuter students was need-driven,” she said. “They were asking to be a part of it.”

Commuters, of course, were far from the only

group of domestic students who require additional support. Students from rural communities have also indicated they need time to adjustment to the stresses and changes of a large campus.

“You’re just constantly meeting people, constantly overwhelmed and jet-lagged — that combination was overwhelming for me,” said Charlotte Gilby, a student from the small town of Hawkesbury Upton in England.

“I didn’t do Jump Start, which I should have.”

“The justification for not doing it for everyone starts to weaken,” said Mac Lean. “So after a few years, it builds out to a certain level, and then that moral imperative sort of rolls out ... And so then you jump and decide to make such an expansion to everyone.”

GROWING WITHOUT CHANGING

Jump Start’s current challenge? Managing its own success.

The program welcomed 3,264 students this year, over half of whom were domestic. The program’s growth has propelled the expansion of its managing team and $4.2 million in funding from UBC, but the stresses of a growing program still show.

“It’s scary to have success, because you have all the technical issues that come with it,” said Mac Lean.

“On the other hand, it also speaks that, Yes there’s a value there.’

“You have to manage that growth carefully.”

The team is currently looking at how Jump Start can continue to scale up — catering to more and more students while still maintaining its original success and spirit.

“The core fundamental element of the program is small communities of students who share faculty interest, a bond with a faculty leader and interest in faculty material,” said Marken.

“We’re never going to depart from that.” U

OPINIONS

october 2, 2018 TUesday

Editor TRISTAN WHEELER

10

LEASE ON LIFE //

Ask Pawan: My roomate’s boyfriend is staying over almost every night

Living with a new person is strange enough, but throwing a second one in there makes it exponentially harder.

Pawan Minhas Advice Columnist

Hey Pawan, I just got a new roommate and she seems great, but there’s one issue: her boyfriend stays over almost every night, and he’s been staying here every night for the last week

that she’s been back in town. He’s really nice and I don’t mind having him around a couple of nights a week, but I don’t enjoy sharing a space with someone I don’t know well when I don’t even know my roommate very well yet. I feel bad asking for him to leave or stay over less because I just learned his place isn’t that great, but I signed

FILE ALEXANDRA DOWNING

a lease with one person and I don’t think my landlords would be cool with him essentially living here rent-free when they rented to just the two of us. My parents even think it could be a legal issue if our landlords found out, so I want to address it quickly. How do I bring it up without ruining the vibe of our apartment?

In terms of city-livin’ student strife, roomie troubles are basically Herculean tasks. You’ve got to make sure that your voice is heard, while also accounting for the fact that the other person (hopefully) pays their way and deserves just as much leeway.

Trying to get your comfort and living preferences into someone else’s head is rough, especially when you’re still in the early stages of getting to know each other and trying to figure out a way of coexisting that doesn’t involve someone washing their dishes at 1 a.m.

It seems like the problem you’ve written in with can be tackled with two of the oldest tricks in the book: communication and time. Regarding the former, you have to open up with your roommate to get any kind of positive traction on this. She may or may not have noticed any outward displays of discomfort you’ve expressed about having the boyfriend around all the time, but it’s up to you to express just how much it affects you. The unfortunate news is that this will likely lead to a conversation involving the three of you and the living arrangement. The good news is that by speaking to your parents and sending in the question, you’ve already got a good handle on what you dislike now

and have a vision for the future.

I encourage you to stick to a solution that solely involves the three of you, at least initially, as invoking any authority, be it landlord or legal, could end up with everyone worse off in a bunch of different ways. If your roommate has been having him over a lot, she should be able to see from your perspective that living with a new person is strange enough, but throwing a second one in there makes it exponentially harder. I also encourage you to consider future concessions and talk to them about, rather than the current seven nights per week, slowing down to just one or two a week and seeing how comfortable everyone feels after a while.

Try not to allow the conversation to take on a “me or him” tone because that’s not fair to anyone and could possibly end up with you scavenging for another roomie. Normally, I’d end with the fact that as a last resort, moving into a single bedroom is a viable option, but last I saw, someone dropped a milk crate on Dunbar and now it’s listed $1300 plus utilities. U Uni problems? Unique answers.

Send your questions in to advice@ ubyssey.ca, or anonymously at ubyssey.ca/advice!

elected not appointed //

Last Words: AMS Council is not a ‘board’

AMS Council is not — and should not be — a board.

The Ubyssey Editorial Board

At a somewhat disorganized Council meeting this past Wednesday, AMS President Marium Hamid intervened to remind councillors of their responsibility as “the Board of the society.”

Keeping Council engaged has been a common problem for the AMS. Former President Aaron Bailey is rumoured to have started a tradition of colouring a single word in each set of Council documents blue, promising that the councillor careful enough to read through it all and find the

FILE KOSTA PORDANOVIC

coloured word would get a prize.

He was thwarted, eventually, by a councillor in computer science who built a program to find the coloured word.

But if Hamid wants a more engaged Council, it might be worth remembering that they are not — and should not be — a board. Most corporate board members are appointed on the basis of patronage and rarely connect with or consult the shareholders who are the basis of their business. In corporate settings, shareholders and board members almost always follow the lead set by unelected

executives: an excess of 95 per cent of board motions in Canada and the US are passed.

The AMS is a non-profit society whose councillors and executives are elected for and by the students. While the executives might have the most firsthand knowledge of society operations, Council plays an integral role in balancing this with the interest and wellbeing of its constituents.

It doesn’t always perform this task. Your average Council session has precious little debate.

From our handy vantage point at the back of the chamber, we see more screens on Facebook than the docket.

This can have serious consequences. Earlier this summer, Council sat back and almost allowed the executive to defund the Sexual Assault Support Centre. Part of this mentality may be because by seeing itself as “a board”, Council is under the impression that its job is to be the rubber-stamp rather than actively shape the decisions of the society.

To give credit where credit is due, many councillors have recently risen well beyond their role. Law councillor Dylan Braam has been a frequent voice of prudence on Council and has been willing to challenge the executive when appropriate. Muse Greenwood from the School of Theology and Andy Wu from arts have also frequently stepped up the plate to debate and

guide discussions on Council. But the majority of councillors may well pass their term without making a single motion.

If Council wants to really be a Council — and not a Board — it

should remember that it can and should provide more than just oversight. And the Executives should remember that Council is never obligated to follow their lead. U

FROM THE BLOG

october 2, 2018 Tuesday

Editor Tristan Wheeler

BATHROOM BLITZ //

11

caffeination //

The best and worst Coffee shops to go to when the public washrooms line at Starbucks is way too long across campus but if you were planning to go to Starbucks in the first place, it isn’t much of a stretch.

Stir It Up Café A Buchanan staple, Stir It Up has moderately priced drinks, hot food and efficient service. The line at this place usually gets bad within the first 10 minutes of class ending, so it’s good for a well-timed preclass coffee. If you are going after class to get a coffee and a bite to eat, bring your jacket and get used to sitting outside in the rain while all the faster walkers sit in the limited seating they “won” in the false meritocracy.

Loafe Café

This cafe is conveniently located in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, and it has THREE CASH REGISTERS. THREE. Grab a coffee, a chunk of Ponderosa cake and get to class.

Right across from the bookstore Starbucks is the ever-intriguing Loafe Café. There are never-ending windows, everybody in there looks like they know what direction their life is going and the water dispenser sometimes has fruit in it for that extra dose of vitamins you dearly need. Their coffee is great, their system is efficient and prices are comparable to Starbucks or Great Dane.

Great Dane Coffee

Buy a French press

This place is as the name states: great! It’s hidden behind Walter Gage Residence, which adds to its low-key vibe. The line is never really long, they have two locations right next to each other and they make good coffee and good food. It’s moderately pricey,

It’ll cost $30 for the French press, $10 for a bag of coffee once in a while and you will never have to wait in a line for your coffee again.

You can also start pretending you can taste the chocolatey or fruity notes in the grind, since you did make it yourself. U

File KOSTA PRODANOVIC

Coffee coffee coffee.

Sammy Smart Contributor

The only washroom I’d avoid is the one on the main level of the Nest.

JACK YUAN

Amy Shandro Contributor

the other Sauder washrooms and frankly, I’m appalled.

It’s unavoidable that in the time you spend at UBC, you’ll have to use some of the washroom facilities available on campus. Why not make sure you’re not wasting your time in some mediocre stall?

Here’s a guide to the best and worst washrooms on campus:

The Buchanan Complex

The AMS Nest With four floors of blindingly brightly coloured washrooms, there’s a lot of choice in the Nest. My vote for best washrooms goes to the ones on the basement level. They’re clean and almost always vacant, making it a great place to pee in peace or cry alone after failing two midterms.

The washrooms of the upper-levels are also usually empty, but you won’t catch me trying to scale that hellish ladder they call a staircase. The only washroom I’d avoid is the one on the main level — massive lines and unsavoury smells make this washroom one of my least favourite.

Also, I may be alone in this, but whenever I go to the main floor one, there’s an unaccompanied child there. That’s weird, right?

The Sauder School of Business The crisp, clean and boring architecture of the Sauder building reflects the quality of washrooms you’ll find in there. Most of the washrooms are pristine and come with those fun high-tech Dyson hand-dryers. However, the one dark cloud hanging over the building is its basement washroom. It has little privacy, messes that are rarely cleaned up and no Dyson hand-dryer. This three-stall travesty does not live up to the gleaming reputation of

Honestly, what did I expect from one of my least favourite buildings on campus? There are consistently long line-ups and a general lack of cleanliness. The Buchanan washrooms are just as bad as Buchanan itself.

Irving K. Barber Learning Centre

Are you frustrated that the line to get your grande caramel macchiato will make you 45 minutes late to a 50-minute class?

Well believe it or not, there are a few other places on campus to get coffee. Depending on your location and timing, some of these places might be better than others, but I guarantee you will not be waiting outside in the rain while you slowly count the minutes until your class begins, knowing you won’t make it through without a coffee. Here are a few places to try out:

Ike’s Café

water //

The Martha Piper Fountain is surprisingly awesome

What a disappointment. What complete and utter garbage.

These washrooms are disgusting to look at and disgusting to be in. Hair on the seats, foul smells and constantly not-from-water wet floors. The only redeeming quality is the doors come with a cool foot handle, so you can open the door with your foot. That’s neat, I guess.

The Life Building Under a veneer of loud yellow walls that stab your eyes with their brightness is an oasis of a washroom. The main floor washrooms are gender neutral, single stalls that are usually pretty clean, which are really the only things we’re asking of UBC. If you pick your stall wisely, it may even have a sink of its own in there, allowing your complete washroom experience to be in privacy.

In addition, the washrooms on the second floor give you a whole other experience. The entrance begin as that familiar yellow colour, but soon the walls transform into a luxurious charcoal black. If you’re one of the brave souls who takes mirror selfies in public washrooms, this is the place to do it. U

Fountains are perfect for holding water.

Johann Cooper Contributor

There’s something magical about strutting past the gushing spouts of the fountain — when it’s working — on Main Mall in the hustle and bustle of a sun-kissed afternoon. A certain rhythm can be felt, giving life to this daily ritual. And that’s exactly how it’s supposed to feel — it was engineered that way.

The fountain activates for 10 minutes in between classes, hurling an increasing volume of water with each passing minute until finally, it stops. The water cuts out and a quick look at your reflection in the still water reveals

FILE JOSHUA MEDICOFF

a horrifyingly tardy monster looking back. You’re late. Class has begun.

In the original blueprints for the Piper Fountain, the growing water spouts were referred to as the “Mad Dash” and were intended to reflect the “rush of activity in between classes.”

“The centre ring of jets is set at a higher elevation to serve as a focal point on the Mall without all of the arcs effectively blocking the view down the Mall,” said campus Landscape Architect Dean Gregory.

The original plans also contain references to barometers, person-counters and motion detectors that would allow the

fountain to activate situationally depending on how many students were walking by. Sadly, theses technologies were never incorporated in the final design.

There is, however, a misting effect that activates in the evening. This feature has proved to dampen more people than it has charmed.

Beyond all its beauty, the fountain is a creature fighting to survive. While it’s amusing to see the fountain turns into a bubble bath or rainbow puddle, the introduction of soaps and dyes is extremely damaging to the fountain’s health.

“The pumps and filters are not designed to manage the suds and they must be removed in order to avoid permanent damage to the mechanical infrastructure,” said Gregory. “The costs to clean the pool are manifold including considerable staff time to drain the fountain, clean it and refill it.”

Students last year are also sure to remember the months spent retiling the fountain’s surface after countless students walked in the water.

The daily water displays of the Piper Fountain are undeniably great, and the only way to preserve this UBC landmark is to resist the urge to go for that midday swim. U

SCIENCE

octoBER 2, 2018 tuesday

Editor JAMES VOGL

12

the uncanny valley //

Speech-language pathology simulator provides unique opportunities Kristine Ho Contributor

Meet the SimMan, a life-sized plastic mannequin programmed to help speech-language pathology students develop their swallowingassessment and treatment skills.

With internal and external anatomy akin to a human, the SimMan reacts physiologically in many of the same ways that a live patient would, such as through pupil dilation, verbal responses, breathing pattern changes, and saliva and tear production.

Speech-language pathologists assess many different aspects in a patient, including swallowing, speech disorders and cognitive communication disorders. UBC is the first speech-language pathology program in Canada with a simulator like the SimMan, known formally as a high-fidelity patient simulator. Such simulators are often used in healthcare training for nurses, physicians or emergency medical professionals.

“Basically, the ultimate goal for the simulation is to enhance the education experience for the students, afford them the opportunities that … they might not get before they are out in the workforce, and then to give them a safe space for learning and a place where they can get … really systematic mentorship and then an opportunity to redo things,” said Dr. Stacey Skoretz, an assistant professor in the School of Audiology and Speech Sciences and director of the Swallowing Innovations Lab at UBC. Skoretz has programmed the simulator to respond to different actions and instruments used in

swallowing assessments, and has also created unique scenarios for her students. To develop a range of skills that they can eventually apply to a live patient, students can practice both instrumental and clinical assessments on the SimMan. Instrumental assessments, as the name suggests, involve using diagnostic tools or imaging to conduct swallowing tests. Clinical assessments, by contrast, are more like visiting a doctor’s office, where instruments and imaging are not usually involved.

“What simulators can do is they can afford the opportunity for students to practice different things before they go out and do it on live patients,” said Skoretz.

Unlike with a live patient — where one mistake may lead to serious consequences — the simulator creates a low-risk environment where students have multiple opportunities to repeat cases and improve their approach.

By harnessing the SimMan’s technology, Skoretz can also simulate important but rare cases for her students to practice with. “It helps [students] to learn about situations … [like] health emergencies that are very important, but a lot of students don’t necessarily get the opportunity to learn that out in clinical practice because thankfully, you know, critical things don’t happen all the time,” she explained.

“But [students] need to be prepared for them.”

Skoretz noted that swallowing is linked to many other body systems — like the respiratory system — and that difficulties in

The SimMan is programmed to help speech-language pathology students develop their skills.

one will often affect another. The SimMan is programmed to help students understand how patients react across multiple body systems by allowing them to observe reactions like throat-clearing

The future is information.

At UBC iSchool our graduate programs prepare you for a variety of careers that matter in today’s information society: digital content strategist, records manager, data librarian and more.

or coughing that may occur simultaneously with swallowing.

“What I’m trying to help the students bring together is ... the multiple systems that are involved in swallowing,” Skoretz explained. “It’s not just [that] you just look at the swallow — we look at many other components of the human body because … they’re all so interconnected.”

To provide students with a realistic experience, Skoretz has synchronized swallowing video footage from real patients with the corresponding physiological responses in the SimMan. For example, some tests involve special instruments, such as the fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing, where students can pass a thin tube with a camera on the end through the simulator’s nose and through a part of the body called the nasopharynx. They are then able to see the SimMan’s airway and swallowing on another screen, like with a real patient. If fed by a student, the simulator responds accordingly, producing responses with synchronized imaging that helps students learn about the effects of their decision-making during their assessments.

“What I’ve done is I’ve superimposed it so as the students are feeding the simulator different things, I’ve got real images of those things being swallowed, and then the simulator is programmed to respond accordingly,” Skoretz explained. If the student feeds the simulator and food goes down the wrong pipe, for example, the simulator is programmed to react the same way a human would.

This allows the student to link what the simulator does to what

SARAH ROBERTSON

happens inside of a live patient, painting a holistic picture of inner and outer processes across multiple body systems.

After conducting a swallowing assessment on the SimMan, students make treatment decisions in consultation with the patient.

Skoretz also added that the SimMan reflects a patient’s psychological state as well as their physical one. During simulations, a real person is miked into the SimMan. The actor can alter their speech, language and energy level in response to treatment, allowing students to practice assessing a patient’s cognitive state.

Although the SimMan provides a novel way for speechlanguage pathology students to develop their skills, it still has some limitations. For example, the simulator’s cheeks and tongue are immobile and its lips cannot close together like a real human’s.

Though formal plans have yet to be established, Skoretz has ideas to improve the simulator and create a more seamless experience for her students, potentially by introducing augmented reality.

“I think there’d be ways that we can work with 3D imaging and 3D projection to enhance the experience for the students, so that they don’t have to switch between … looking at a flat screen in a multimedia file, but yet draw it all together so that the experience is kind of all-inone,” Skoretz added. With these integrateed aspects, the SimMan would better model a live patient, further enhancing a learning environment where UBC students can assess, practice and develop their skills. u

october 2, 2018 TUESDAY | science | 13 Deep freeze //

UBC graduate students look to shrubs for clues to effects of climate change in Arctic Clare Skillman Contributor

Seventy-nine degrees north of the Equator, up in the Arctic tundra, lies Ellesmere Island. Every year for the past 27 years, intrepid students led by UBC professor of geography Dr. Greg Henry venture to the island to conduct a plethora of experiments focused on the effects of climate change.

The group stays in a set of RCMP buildings that were built in 1953. There’s no internet, so they entertain themselves by snooping through the miscellany left behind in the attics and playing Boggle with a dictionary that was partially eaten by a polar bear.

One of the students who embarked on this year’s adventure is Elise Gallois, a UBC master’s student in the department of geography. In addition to being part of the tundra ecology group, she is also part of the International Tundra Experiment — an international collaborative examining the effects of climate change on Arctic and alpine plants.

Gallois is helping to develop a method for observing the effects of climate change based on the technique of dendrochronology

— the practice of analyzing atmospheric conditions at various periods in history by dating tree rings.

“With trees, it’s really easy to get a ruler and measure out the tree rings, but there’s no trees in the high Arctic — it’s too hostile of an environment,” she said.

To overcome this obstacle, Gallois studies the Arctic dwarf shrub Cassiope tetragona, more commonly known as Arctic heather. However, the stems of Arctic heather are only a few millimetres thick. So, rather than measuring tree rings, Gallois spent the summer peeling off the leaves of the shrub and measuring the distance between them.

“If I can figure out in a sequence of leaf scars where are the shortest internodes, I can use those as markers for the end of the growing season. The distance between two of those features is one year.”

The annual leaf growth of the shrub correlates strongly with annual air temperature, which is how this method can be used to analyze the impacts of climate change. Higher air temperature seems to correlate with bigger leaves that are more widely spaced on the stem.

“It’s a really new proxy, only a couple of people have been using

Gallois estimates that she has collected at least 250 records of perhaps a century’s worth of climate warming.

it so far, but it works in the same way as tree dendrochronology and you can go back at least 150 years or more with one stem that’s about 30 centimetres long.”

Gallois estimates that she has collected at least 250 records of perhaps a century’s worth of climate warming data, however she has to finish analyzing these samples

before making any definitive claims.

“It is actually a very quick process and the grueling work begins now, as I have to prepare and scan all of my samples.” u

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inclusive athletics //

U Sports launches new policy on transgender athlete participation Alex Nguyen News Editor

Transgender student-athletes in many Canadian universities can now choose to compete in either the team of their gender identity or the sex they were assigned at birth.

U Sports, the national governing body of university sports in Canada, announced the new policy September 27. It has taken effect at all 56 U Sports-affiliated institutions across the country — including UBC. Specifically, transgender studentathletes can compete on the team of their choice as long as they follow the Canadian Anti-Doping Program.

Those who choose to compete on the team of their gender identity will not be required to undergo hormone therapy.

The total duration of athlete eligibility will remain at five years, and the student-athletes may only compete on sport teams of one gender during an academic year.

The policy has been in development within the organization’s Equity Committee since 2016.

“The members of the Equity Committee were driven to ensure that all students at our Canadian

LUCY FOX/ COURTESY U SPORTS

The new policy has been in development since 2016.

universities have equal opportunities of being selected to varsity teams regardless of their gender or their gender identity and expression,” said U Sports Equity Committee Chair Lisen Moore in a press release.

The committee also considered input from U Sports membership, the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport

and Physical Activity, and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport’s “Creative Inclusive Environments for Trans Participants in Canadian Sport” report.

In comparison, the NCAA’s policy in the United States does not allow a transgender man undergoing hormonal treatment to compete on a women’s team,

unless the team’s status is changed to mixed. A transgender woman can still compete for a men’s team but not a women’s team without the team changing its status to mixed, unless they have undergone hormonal treatment for a full calendar year.

For those who are not undergoing hormonal treatment,

a student-athlete who is a transgender man can compete on either the men’s or women’s team; a transgender woman studentathlete, however, is not allowed to compete on a women’s team.

Currently, with its policy already in effect, the next step for U Sports will be facilitating its implementation in institutions across Canada.

“We are thrilled by the support of the Board on our leading-edge transgender policy, and we are now looking forward to assisting our member institutions with the roll-out and implementation of that policy,” said Moore.

“UBC supports this policy which is the product of two years of research and consultation

by U SPORTS involving its member institutions and outside experts,” said Gord Hopper, UBC Athletics’s director of athletics, performance and team support, in an emailed statement.

“UBC supports inclusive and safe environments along with equal opportunities for all student athletes and we look forward to further consultation with U Sports and member institutions around best practices for the policy’s implementation.” U

history //

Bird is the word: The origin of the Thunderbirds’ name is a quirky tale

JACK YUAN

It all began in 1933.

Brendan Smith Contributor

Behind the names of most university sports teams normally lies a story — some are more compelling than others.

The Thunderbirds are one such team.

McGill University decided to call their men’s teams the “Redmen” as a result of their athletes wearing red sweaters and, allegedly, because of school founder James McGill’s hair colour — but it is widely considered racist towards Indigenous peoples.

In the case of UBC’s “Thunderbird” and its origin, the story is also a hair-raiser.

The process for naming the school’s sports teams began in 1933. At the time, other universities had already devised names for their teams while UBC athletes still competed under the titles of “varsity” and “Blue and Gold.” UBC wasn’t so much looking to rename its teams, but was looking to legitimize its team beyond jersey colour.

This is where The Ubyssey comes in. According to UBC sports historian Fred Hume, the

newspaper decided to use the ever-popular student vote to determine the school’s new team name in fall 1933.

It started with an article. As AMS Archivist Sheldon Goldfarb states in his article “How the Thunderbird Came to UBC,” The Ubyssey released an article entitled “Zoological Cognomen Needed for Our Athletic Teams” that urged students to submit potential names for varsity athletics. The most popular suggestions would end up on the ballot for a student vote.

The article didn’t elicit much response, so The Ubyssey released another article — presumably with less polysyllabic words — and the students came out in droves.

Ultimately, Spartans, Corsairs, Thunderbirds, Golden Eagles and Musqueams were the five most popular suggestions. All of them were put to vote. There was also a write-in option on the ballot and, if you are familiar with the nature of student voting, it shouldn’t come as a surprise as that the new name for UBC’s athletic teams would be the Seagulls — a writein candidate.

This wasn’t going to fly. The Ubyssey promptly dropped the idea of letting students choose the name of the school’s athletics teams.

Instead, they decided to hold a meeting with the school’s Pep Club to collectively choose from one of the five original suggestions.

On January 31, 1934 — after hours of what Hume described as “lengthy and spirited debate” — the Thunderbird was finally chosen as the winner. The name was ratified on February 19, 1934.

One of the biggest lobbyists for the name was Clarence Idyll, a member of the sports department at The Ubyssey. Idyll sent a letter to the editor indicating that Thunderbird should be used because of its connection to Indigenous culture. He also continued to push for the name at the selection meeting — without his efforts, UBC’s sports teams would have never been called

the Thunderbirds. In fact, the university wasn’t permitted to use the name Thunderbird until 1948, after Chief William Scow gave permission during a formal ceremony held at half-time of a football game between UBC and the College of Idaho.

Although many other sport teams tried to claim the Thunderbird title, Hume confirmed that UBC was the only one given permission by local Musqueam Indigenous communities to use the name. The term Thunderbird contains great meaning in many Indigenous cultures as the creature is seen as an underlying force that is responsible for all natural activity.

Hume added that UBC not only received permission to use the name at the Homecoming football game, but also received a totem pole named “Victory Through Honour” that was hand-crafted by carvers Ellen and Ted Neel from Alert Bay. This totem stood in front of Brock Hall before it was taken down in the early 2000s.

Efforts to replace the totem have since succeeded — in 2004, a replica was placed outside of Brock Hall, where it stands to this day.

All of this seems hard to imagine today, given that the Thunderbird logo is as common on campus nowadays as books and backpacks. But, despite the many changes to student life over the years, UBC students have always had a history of turning an otherwise-mundane event into something worth remembering. u

october 2, 2018 TUESDAY | sports | 15 RECAP //

Weekend rundown: Soccer supremacy, series sweeps and roadtrip woes Mitchell Ballachay Contributor

September has been an significant month for the Thunderbirds, and it wrapped up with an eventful last weekend. The UBC soccer teams are rounding into powerhouses, the football season continues to ramble on and the hockey season is just getting underway.

With midterms upcoming and so many sports to keep track of, it’s hard to catch everything that UBC’s teams are up to. Here are five things you may have missed from your Thunderbirds this past weekend:

Men’s soccer still division’s best UBC’s men’s soccer team carried their unbeaten record into a pair of weekend games against provincial rival the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). UBC would draw a frustrating game on Friday night, 1-1, and would take out their frustrations in a 7-0 blowout victory on Sunday afternoon to remain undefeated at a record of 8-0-2 — comfortably the Canada West Pacific Division’s best team.

Friday night’s game would see UBC’s attack generate 26 shots, only 9 of which made it on target. After surrendering a goal late in the first half, the T-Birds would play from behind for most of the match. Caleb Clarke, who was named both U Sports male athlete of the week and “guy who The Ubyssey always raves about” this month, would be ejected late in the game with his team still behind. Minutes later, Victory Shumbusho would find the net on a tapped-in corner kick, securing the draw for UBC. The Thunderbirds would storm the pitch on Sunday, hungry for a second chance at beating the middling UNBC team — they would do so handily. The highscoring effort included six goals in the first half alone. Kristian YliHietanen would find the net four times on five shots.

Women’s soccer earn fourth-straight shutout Coming off their first double-header victory last weekend, in which they outscored their opponents 5-0, the UBC women’s soccer team looked to build on some promising momentum. In this weekend’s games, they had a pair of impressive victories, including a tight 1-0 win over MacEwan and a 7-0 trouncing of UNBC. Friday’s victory over UNBC was a dominant performance as the team assembled a comprehensive attack in front of the Prince George crowd, brutalizing the opponent with 32 shots throughout the game. The forward trio of Amelia Crawford, Alyssa Hunt and Michelle Jang would pick up nine points between them, including Crawford’s pair of goals to open the scoring and a third to complete the hattrick in the 78th minute.

The squad would return to action on Sunday in Edmonton to face

DAVID MOLL/UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY

UBC’s women’s field hockey team captureD their first victory of the season on Saturday.

the MacEwan Griffins — a match up that would prove to be far more competitive. UBC’s veteran defender Emma Kallner scored her first of the season as the lone tally, and the Thunderbirds would win a close one to extend their win streak to four.

Football falls to bottom of Canada West The UBC football team picked up their fourth straight loss at the hands of the otherwise winless Alberta Golden Bears on Friday night by a score of 21-26. The game saw a number of lead-changes and ended with the ball in the ’Birds’ hands with a winning opportunity — as was the case in the dying minutes of last week’s Homecoming heartbreak.

But, once again, they failed to seal the deal.

For the fourth straight game, the T-Birds offense was outgunned.

They would give up more than 400 yards of offense to the Bears, as they have to every opponent so far this season. Veteran quarterback Michael O’Connor would post 323 passing yards and 2 touchdowns through the air — but would finish the game completing just 60 per cent of his passes.

Following a lock-down game against the Dinos where UBC’s defensive backfield was able to hamper Calgary’s vertical game, the Bears punished the Thunderbirds on

the ground. Alberta would average over 6 yards per carry for 167 yards, with one rushing touchdown.

Season-opening sweep for men’s hockey The T-Bird’s men’s hockey team stormed into their Canada West season with a pair of resounding wins over the Lethbridge Pronghorns — 6-4 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday.

Despite a number of key departures in the off-season, including both long-time captain Wes Vannieuwenhuizen and starting goaltender Matt Hewitt, third-year coach Sven Butenschon had his team executing well.

The ’Birds went 5-for-10 on the powerplay throughout the weekend and punished the Pronghorns’ goaltenders, peppering the net with more than 80 shots between the two games.

UBC’s offense had contributions throughout the lineup, but Carter Popoff had a particularly strong start to his season, scoring three powerplay goals — including the eventual game winners in both matches.

First 2018/19 win for women’s field hockey UBC’s women’s field hockey team would capture their first victory

of the season on Saturday — the first of head coach Poonam Sandhu’s young career. The 3-0 victory would be one of a pair of

games against the Calgary Dinos, the other of which would end in a 2-2 draw.

After a scoreless first half in their first game, UBC’s offense started to click. Sara Goodman would open the scoring on a penalty corner in the 38th minute, which would be followed by a pair of insurance goals from fourth-year Niki Best to secure a comfortable victory. The goaltending tandem of Gabby Switzer and reigning Canada West Player of the Year Rowan Harris would secure the shutout victory.

In Sunday’s game, the teams would trade goals and ultimately end knotted up at two. The Thunderbirds would generate plenty of pressure, but would be unable to put the Dinos away.

UBC will walk away from this weekend’s double header with a 1-0-3 record.

The tie would mark the end of a losing streak for Calgary that dates back six years to a tie against Victoria in October of 2012 — a fact that will make the ’Birds’ third draw of the season no more palatable, as they fall two points out of first place in the Canada West standings. U

Fixtures Sport

Home

Score

Away

Friday, September 28 Volleyball (W)

UBC

0-3

Alberta

Basketball (W)

York

73-62

UBC

Volleyball (W)

UBC

3-2

Mount Royal

Ice Hockey (M)

Lethbridge

4-6

UBC

Soccer (W)

Northern BC

0-7

UBC

Football

Alberta

26-21

UBC

Soccer (M)

UBC

1-1

Northern BC

Saturday, September 29 Field Hockey (W)

Calgary

0-3

UBC

Ice Hockey (M)

Lethbridge

2-3

UBC

Field Hockey (M)

West Vancouver FHC

2-1

UBC

Basketball (W)

Toronto

59-74

UBC

Rugby (M)

UBC

45-15

Westshore RFC

Volleyball (W)

UBC

3-2

MacEwan

Sunday, September 30

Rylan Sangha brings the ball up the midfield.

SALOMON MICKO BENRIMOH

Basketball (W)

McMaster

71-73

UBC

Field Hockey (W)

Calgary

2-2

UBC

Soccer (W)

MacEwan

0-1

UBC

Soccer (M)

UBC

7-0

Northern BC

Rugby (W)

Victoria

10-5

UBC

16 | GAMeS | tueSDAY oCToBEr 2, 2018

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