November 3, 2011 | VOL. XCIII ISS. XVIII
BOOM! SINCE 1918
GOVERNANCE UBC has thousands of residents, no local democracy P6
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KICK THE UBYSSEY OFF TO PLAY DOWNTOWN OFFS
EASTSIDE
DENTISTS P6
Four UBC teams roll into championship battle
P8
UBC Dentistry students gives back at the Native Health Society Eastside Dental Clinic
$1.5 BIL
HOW MUCH
FOR US?
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2 | Page 2 | 11.03.2011
What’s on 3
THU
This week, may we suggest...
Our Campus
One on one with the people who make UBC
CHEAP>>
Garage and Bake Sale: 10am—1pm @ Old Administration Building Check out the upcoming garage and bake sale! A variety of items will be on sale such as food, toys, jewelry, clothing, collectibles, memorabilia, CDs, barely-used household and kitchen items, electronic gadgets and appliances. Various door prizes are included, as well as delicious baked goods.
4
FRI
MUSIC >>
4
FRI
CRAWL>>
Classical Coffee: 10am @ UBC Bean Around the World, 6308 Thunderbird Blvd A series of concerts performed and coordinated by students from the UBC School of Music. Come join and listen to soothing music for free!
5
SAT
TEDX >>
TEDx Terry Talks: 10am—5pm @ Life Sciences Centre UBC’s most fascinating and engaging students will be sharing ideas and discussing their visions. Topics of speech will include HIV, obesity, media and zombies. There will be slam poetry and sandwiches.
5
SAT
DAVID ELOP/THE UBYSSEY
Police in riot equipment charge against the crowd at Georgia and Homer in the CBC plaza.
MISA Storms T-Birds Basketball: 6:30pm @ War Memorial Gym Chances are, the last time you were in War Memorial was Imagine Day. For some of us, that was years ago. Come watch UBC’s basketball team in action! Meet the Microbiology and Immunology SA at the front of Wesbrook and walk over there together. The varsity sports people are just as nice and will only charge $2 for admission.
HOCKEY>> Men’s hockey vs. Calgary Dinos: 7—9:30pm @ T-Bird Winter Sports Centre UBC just crushed Calgary on the gridiron. Let’s see the ‘Birds destroy the Dinos on ice! Tickets are $2 for students.
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Got an event you’d like to see on this page? Send your event and your best pitch to printeditor@ubyssey.ca.
THE UBYSSEY
On stage or off, Nilson performs Ginny Monaco Culture Editor
By her own admission, Ingrid Nilson doesn’t get a lot of sleep. Seems she doesn’t need to. “I hang upside down for one hour a night,” she joked. Nilson is a full time student, actress, voice actor, yoga instructor and co-president of the UBC Player’s Club. You may remember her from such roles as Patti on APTN’s Renegadepress.com, her guest spot on Supernatural last year or from 2009’s What Goes Up, which she starred in alongside Hilary Duff and Molly Shannon. Nilson’s schedule is a fine balance. She teaches yoga mostly at night, leaving days free for classes and auditions. “I ask myself sometimes,” she said, “Do I have the capacity to do all of these things, to balance a busy school schedule with being a professional and teaching yoga? “And yes. Yes, I can.” Originally from Regina, Nilson came to Vancouver in 2006 to find work as a dancer. “There’s quite an arts community [in Regina],”
she said, “[But] I came out here to pursue more opportunity. Not to go to school. “It’s funny because everything that’s come to me in my life, I’ve sort of resisted a little bit...[Acting] was something that I fell into. I came out here to dance and I got an agent right away. I didn’t necessarily think that I wanted to be the star at the top of the Christmas tree. I just sort of came to it.” Nilson is currently in her last semester of a BA Honours in theatre. She plans to spend several months in India after completing her degree, but will return to Vancouver in time to produce the Player’s Club’s spring production. Nilson identifies with the openness of the Player’s Club. “I love that there’s theatre other than Theatre at UBC, which is an audition-based acting program and it’s quite exclusive... We want to give a lot of opportunity to people that wouldn’t necessarily do theatre otherwise.” Though she said she’d like to do more work in film, Nilson’s first love is theatre. She recently wrote and starred in Yum/Yuck, her first show for the Vancouver Fringe
November 3, 2011, Volume XCIII, Issue XVIII
EDITORIAL
Coordinating Editor Justin McElroy
coordinating@ubyssey.ca
Managing Editor, Print Jonny Wakefield printeditor@ubyssey.ca
Managing Editor, Web Arshy Mann webeditor@ubyssey.ca
News Editors Kalyeena Makortoff & Micki Cowan news@ubyssey.ca
Art Director Geoff Lister
art@ubyssey.ca
Culture Editor Ginny Monaco
Copy Editor Karina Palmitesta
CONTACT
copy@ubyssey.ca
Business Office: Room 23 Editorial Office: Room 24 Student Union Building 6138 Student Union Blvd Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 tel: 604.822.2301 web: www.ubyssey.ca
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video@ubyssey.ca
Senior Web Writer Andrew Bates abates@ubyssey.ca
webmaster@ubyssey.ca
BUSINESS
Senior Culture Writers Taylor Loren & Will Johnson
Ad Sales Ben Chen
tloren@ubyssey.ca wjohnson@ubyssey.ca
STAFF
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Andrew Hood, Bryce Warnes, Catherine Guan, David Elop, Jon Chiang, Josh Curran, Will McDonald, Tara Martellaro, Virginie Menard, Scott MacDonald, Anna Zoria, Peter Wojnar, Tanner Bokor, Dominic Lai, Mark-Andre Gessaroli, Natalya Kautz, Kai Jacobson
LEGAL
The Ubyssey is the official student newspaper of the University of British Columbia. It is published every Monday and Thursday by The Ubyssey Publications Society. We are an autonomous, democratically run student organization, and all students are encouraged to participate. Editorials are chosen and written by the Ubyssey staff. They are the expressed opinion of the staff, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Ubyssey Publications Society or the University of British Columbia. All editorial content appearing in The Ubyssey is the property of The Ubyssey Publications Society. Stories, opinions, photographs and artwork contained herein cannot be reproduced without the expressed, written permission of The Ubyssey Publications Society. The Ubyssey is a founding member of Canadian University Press (CUP) and adheres to CUP’s guiding principles. Letters to the editor must be under 300 words. Please include your
phone number, student number and signature (not for publication) as well as your year and faculty with all submissions. ID will be checked when submissions are dropped off at the editorial office of The Ubyssey; otherwise verification will be done by phone. The Ubyssey reserves the right to edit submissions for length and clarity. All letters must be received by 12 noon the day before intended publication. Letters received after this point will be published in the following issue unless there is an urgent time restriction or other matter deemed relevant by the Ubyssey staff. It is agreed by all persons placing display or classified advertising that if the Ubyssey Publications Society fails to publish an advertisement or if an error in the ad occurs the liability of the UPS will not be greater than the price paid for the ad. The UPS shall not be responsible for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value or the impact of the ad.
Correction In the October 31, 2011 issue of The Ubyssey, our front page headline read “221,764,” referring to the number of animals UBC did research on in 2010. In actuality, UBC only did research on 211,764 animals, as was indicated in the actual article on Page 3. However, we added 10,000 to the front-page headline, and we sincerely regret the error. In addition, we put numbers over the silhouettes of different animals to indicate the amount of research done on different categories of animals—not the individual animals themselves. For example, UBC did not do research on 1,570 primates last year— they conducted that many experiments on all large mammals. Another example—UBC did not conduct research on 2,653 parrots. We don’t know how many parrots UBC performed research on. The Ubyssey regrets any confusion this may have caused readers.
Sudoku by Krazydad
Festival. “They say that the stage is the workshop, the little petri dish for actors,” she said. “In film, you don’t get the rehearsals. It’s great to have the background in theare to support your acting. There’s so much excitement when you’re performing live, but then there’s the permanent, lasting quality of film. You get so much more recognition. “I’m sort of at the tip of the iceberg for what I want to be doing.” U
Ingrid Nilson On What Goes Up, the film she did with Hilary Duff: “It ended up being a B movie. I don’t know if I’d call it a flop.” On the horror movie she turned down: “I turned down a lead role in a feature film. There’s been two roles that I turned down. One for nudity when I was 15. And that one. It was awful.”
News
11.03.2011 |
3
Editors: Kalyeena Makortoff & Micki Cowan
SECURITY >>
Pit Pub increases use of private security company Live Host Will McDonald Staff Writer
The AMS has increased use of private security in the Pit Pub due to a lack of certified student staff. “Over the summer a number of our door staff graduated or left, so when the start of the school year came around, we employed Live Host [International] in a larger capacity than we typically had,” said AMS President Jeremy McElroy. Although the AMS typically uses Live Host International for large
events such as the Welcome Back BBQ and Firstweek, now they are employed at the Pit on Wednesday and Friday nights, as well as for special events. “Right now the number of students that we do have is just limited. And while we are in the process of reviewing our policies at the Pit and Gallery, it is good to have that experience there on nights when it’s particularly busy,” said McElroy. According to AMS Food and Beverage Manager Nancy Toogood, the lack of student door staff is a
result of recent changes to security regulations in BC. According to the BC Security Services Act, all security staff must be certified with a Basic Security Training (BST) certificate. “Unfortunately, there’s just not currently enough of a labour pool of certified door staff available to us,” said Toogood. “We’re predominately using Live Host now with the hopes of changing that in January as more students become available to us that have their BST.” According to McElroy, Live Host
is more expensive than student staff, but it pays for itself. “It does cost more than our own staff…but it is a manageable number and on busy nights we are very easily able to make that back in revenues. It’s not an arduous expense,” said McElroy. Toogood said the AMS has a longstanding relationship with Live Host and they work well with the current student security staff. “We’ve always had them in there and our door staff works well with them. They’re very respectful to our
ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT >>
UBC’s fundraising push leaves students out Tanner Bokor Staff Writer
In late September, UBC began a renewed alumni fundraising and engagement initiative—an ambitious push to bring $1.5 billion into the university endowment fund and to double current alumni engagement by 2015. But the funds raised through the campaign—entitled Start an Evolution—won’t focus heavily on student financing. Of the $1.5 billion, most will be directed towards services and infrastructure. Already, $750 million has been raised towards the goal, but in 2010, only 10 per cent of the overall fundraising efforts went towards student endowment. According to Heather McCaw, associate vice president of the UBC Development Office, $20 million went towards future endowment, with $9 million going towards bursaries and awards for current students. “In the past, endowment has been more popular, and that tends to be for the students of the future, but with the rates of return… it’s become less popular with donors,” said McCaw. The guiding document steering the university’s long-range goals over the next ten years is based in three different areas: student learning, research excellence and community engagement. To meet these goals, the campaign is a compartmentalized list of priority projects brainstormed by each faculty, ranging from infrastructure investments to increased services. “It’s not like there’s just a big giant pot and [you can] throw your dollars into it. Everything is very specific to initiatives happening
staff and to the students in general. They recognize the nature of this organization as opposed to a night club downtown. We’re a kinder, gentler place. They seem to really respond well to the students,” said Toogood. McElroy said that the AMS is still in the process of determining the future of the Pit and Gallery security. “With a semester of experience under our belts of having this hybrid model with our staff and Live Host staff, we’ll have a better idea for next semester of what we want security to look like,” said McElroy. U AMS POLICY >>
AMS reviews ban on big corporate contract
GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY
Tsering Dorje Contributor
UBC launched their alumni fundraising and engagement campaign at War Memorial Gym in late September.
GEOFF LISTER/.THE UBYSSEY
around campus, and we want the donors to be connected to those different projects,” said Elain Evans, the director of the Alumni Call Centre. “We try to give some advice to what donors would be inspired to give to,” said McCaw. “Donors don’t really like to fund something that they believe the government should be funding… they want to fund things that provide students another level of excellence or opportunity with their money.” While fundraising is a key aspect of the initiative, both McCaw and
Evans stressed that it is multifaceted. “There’s dual goals: our dollar goal, and also engaging our past alumni and connecting them back to their campus,” said Evans. The main means of contacting past students is through the Alumni Call Centre, which last year placed approximately 250,000 calls. Working with the Start an Evolution campaign, callers have an individualized list of alumni that they circulate through each day, taking time to ask for donations and answer questions about what UBC is currently doing.
The Start an Evolution campaign kicked off at a launch event at War Memorial Gym in late September. According to McCaw, the last fundraising campaign started about 20 years ago and increased fundraising from $40 million a year to $80 million a year. After a 20-year hiatus, President Stephen Toope pushed to start a new movement to increase donations towards the university’s infrastructure and services, and to get students who count UBC as their alma mater to become more involved. U
Work begins on world-class isotope research tunnel
E-books now available through UBC Bookstore
Alumni donation leads to Engineering Design Centre
UBC researchers develop Facebook “socialbots”
The first of 300 BC workers have begun the construction of a tunnel and lab at UBC that will help solve medical isotope shortages. The $62.9 million project is underway at TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics. TRIUMF is owned and operated by a consortium of 17 Canadian universities and is located at UBC. By 2015, the Advanced Rare IsotopE Laboratory (ARIEL) is expected to demonstrate a new ways of producing medical isotopes, which are used to diagnose and treat cancer, heart disease, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
The UBC Bookstore has begun selling over 250,000 digital books online as a result of a new partnership between Campus E-Bookstore and Google eBooks. The format will allow purchasers to access their digital books through a single online repository. The most general books will be available as well as some course materials. The UBC Bookstore hopes this platform will allow them to add titles by faculty and local authors in the future. The online store can be found at shop.bookstore.ubc.ca/ ebooks.html.
The Wayne and William White Engineering Design Centre opened on November 2, with the goal of boosting collaboration and hands-on innovation among students from different engineering disciplines. The $8.5 million building is the first building on campus specifically intended to connect students from all UBC’s engineering programs. The facility was made possible with a $2.5 million gift from UBC alumni Wayne and William White. “It gives us great pleasure to provide a facility that we would have greatly enjoyed and benefited from as students,” said William White.
Four researchers from UBC have developed 102 “socialbots”—computer programs that pretended to be real Facebook users by posting updates to profiles and sending out friend requests. Researchers ran the program for eight weeks. They retrieved 46,500 email addresses and 14,500 home addresses—information that would be valuable to people looking to do large-scale email spam and phishing campaigns. A paper with the findings will be presented at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference in December. U
News briefs
The AMS is in the process of revisiting their Cold Beverage Exclusivity Policy, which bars the student union from entering into agreements with drink giants like Coca Cola that give companies a monopoly over products sold on campus. The policy was created after a controversial decade-long deal with Coca Cola ended in 2007, and it comes up for review every three years. “Back then it was a big deal because the university, which is a public institution, [was] signing confidential contracts with private companies and not disclosing the information,” said AMS President Jeremy McElroy. UBC and the AMS’s agreement with Coca Cola began in the mid90s. While it brought $8.4 million to the university, Coca Cola was given a beverage monopoly at the university. McElroy said that much has changed since then, and while it’s likely that the AMS will maintain the policy, getting rid of it could benefit the student union. “We are in a different financial situation [compared] to six years ago...we do not want to rule out on the opportunity of generating more revenues.” A cold beverage agreement could mean deals with energy drink or beer companies, not just soft drinks, McElroy explained. “If we sign the agreement, it will bring the cost of the goods down and that allows the AMS to make more money for student services.” However, the moral arguments are expected to trump the economic factors, McElroy said. “If we keep the policy, it maintains the stand— very traditional amongst student unions—against unnecessary alignment with big businesses.” The AMS Business and Facilities Committee is currently reviewing the policy, and is expected to come to a decision on it in the following months. U
No local government 4 | Features | 11.03.2011 beyond this point UBC is both owner and developer of campus land
THE INCUMBENT >>
What does it take to rep Electoral Area A?
There is no oversight by Metro Vancouver Thousands of people live in market housing here with no city council
UBC
VANCOUVER
Does UBC have a democratic deficit? The Ubyssey presents a supplement on governance at UBC Edited by Micki Cowan and Brian Platt Scott MacDonald
No local democracy beyond this point Electoral Area A: as confusing as it sounds Mike Dickson Staff Writer
While the rest of Vancouver will vote for the mayoral and councillor positions on November 19, citizens of Electoral Area A will elect their representative to the Metro Vancouver Board of Directors. UBC is a unique case in terms of governance. The only official elected by all residents on a municipal level is the director of Electoral Area A on the Vancouver Metro Board. Five candidates are vying for a three-year term as director in the 2011 election. Incumbent director Maria Harris explained the art of being a good middleman, as the director, is rooted in playing the hand you’re dealt. “We only have one voice of 37 [on the Metro Board], so it’s important
that voice be a reasonable one,” Harris said, who is running for re-election. “The extent to which a director can achieve results depends on the director’s ability to influence the process, and that influence comes from having a reasonable voice to convince others of the merit of their views.” The Metro Vancouver board consists of 37 members representing 22 municipalities from Langley to West Vancouver, one treaty First Nation and Electoral Area A. As the only official directly representing UBC in the regional political sphere, the director for Area A faces several campus-specific challenges, as well as communityspecific ones. According to the Metro Vancouver website, the elected official for Electoral Area A has a number of responsibilities in their portfolio, including sewage and water systems, emergency planning and response services, liquor licence review and general administration. While land use planning is
technically part of the portfolio, UBC has answered directly to the province for all land use planning since 2010. The vast majority of the electoral area’s over 11,000 constituents reside here at UBC and on the University Endowment Lands. But Electoral Area A also encompasses several unincorporated communities, like Barnston Island, Pitt Meadows and the Bowyer and Passage Islands in Howe Sound. With constituents as varied in their interests as they are geographically scattered, the balancing act, according to Metro Vancouver Media Relations Manager Bill Morrell, can be a delicate one. “Barnston Island is almost entirely rural farming community, while the north end of Pitt Lake is wilderness for all intents and purposes,” says Morrell. “Given most of the voters for the area live at UBC, advancing and balancing the needs of a very diverse group of constituents is an interesting challenge for the director of Electoral Area A.”
Candidates on the issues Scott Andrews
Graduated UBC in 2006 with a major in English, was president of the fraternity Alpha Delta Phi.
Colin Desjarlais Originally from Winnipeg, a 50-year-old UBC Law alumni who graduated in 1995. Alexandria Mitchell Second-year student in political science, lives on campus, and has sat on the BC Rural Network Board. Mischa Makortoff
Q: What do you hope to accomplish as director?
For S ale
CD: I have years of experience as a VANCOUVER UBC community person. I love to engage people, I love to listen and advocate for people. MH: I think I’m the one who has the experience to get us there. I just hope that I can have another round of this because the learning curve is very steep.
Administrative assistant with Classroom Services at UBC and campus resident for a year and a half.
MM: I’m a consensus builder, and I’m all about getting the job done. I’m not going to be put off if people are trying to play politics and be obstructive; I’m all about working together with different groups to complete the task at hand.
Current director of Electoral Area A, resident of the university endowment lands, mother of three UBC students.
AM: I think it’s important to add a new voice to a lot of these issues that are happening right now, to have someone that will not only listen but share what’s going on and make sure that there is a greater level of awareness.
Maria Harris
For S ale
Q: Why should people vote for you?
SA: I bring the right mix of professional experience and confidence. I will ensure that land use planning permits more affordable housing on campus and the region prioritizes rapid transit along the Broadway corridor.
Another difficulty for the director is representing a relatively small constituency on a large board. “The board operates fundamentally on a system of consensus,” Morrell said. Harris mentioned one example. “Some of my constituents and I went to a board meeting asking for a municipal centre,” she said. “We didn’t get it, but we managed to get changes in wording to the transit component of the regional growth strategy affecting things like transit ridership growth and mode-shifting (getting people out of cars). Aside from it being difficult to get representation, voter turn-out has historically been low, with less than 800 votes cast last year. If that’s not enough, there’s a lack of interest and confusion about Electoral Area A even from people you wouldn’t expect. The Ubyssey asked several political science professors with expertise in municipal issues about Electoral Area A, and none of them felt comfortable commenting. U
For S ale
SA: I am hoping to bring student interests and stronger democracy representation to the area. I would like to be a voice for regional issues and I’d like [the] priority at the regional level.
Q: What are the biggest issues facing UBC?
Staff Writer
During her three year term as director of Electoral Area A, Maria Harris worked on a number of projects, with a focus on transit for UBC. Harris considers getting Electoral Area A in a position to deal with transit to be her strongest accomplishment during her three years in office. “The key thing, I think the most important thing I did in the whole three years, is I got representation for this electoral area on the mayor’s council for TransLink,” she said. As the largest transit destination aside from downtown, transit is a key issue for UBC. Harris has decided she wants to continue her work on transit for another three years, and is running for re-election. While Harris has not been working towards another key issue for Electoral Area A—its governance structure—she said she’s been accomplishing things for the area in different ways. “A lot of [my] accomplishments may seem small, but that’s moving a big group with many interests at least in the right direction,” said Harris. If re-elected, she’ll continue to build relationships with other members ofFothe Board, r SaMetro l which Harris saideshe has been able to do successfully thus far. U
UBC
VANCOUVER
Q: How do you plan to address the current governance structure, if at all?
SA: Development and land use policy. If you’re going to have expansion right in the heart of campus, you want it to be accessible, affordable housing that generates external benefits.
SA: I believe switching that from an electoral area to a municipality would be something that I would be acting on as soon as elected. You would have more direct representation.
CD: I’m a mass transit/light-rail/subway advocate. I’m hoping that comes into fruition in the near future just to get rid of the cars with minimal impact on businesses on the West Side and the UEL, minimal impact on UEL itself.
CD: I’m concerned about the development, that we don’t get too crazy with it. I don’t want to see the the interests of the university compromised for big business or the almighty real estate dollar.
MH: I would continue to work on regional food strategy and the local foods. I would continue to work on the implementation of plans and look at the possibility of financial incentives as we go forward.
MH: I think transit is probably one of the big issues. I think what we’ve got out here at UBC is a transit-oriented community. [Environment] is a big one for me; how to grow as a livable region, zero-waste, drinking tap water instead of bottled water.
CD: The fact that we are governed by the rule of law and a constitution in this country and have an unincorporated entity that doesn’t have local representation in government, it’s time to have representative government.
UBC
UBC
VANCOUVER
MM: I want to improve some of the community services and ensure that our parks are safe and protected, [and] also look into some affordable housing options [I want to] ensure that we have consistent enforcement of the bylaws. AM: I want to make sure that people living here know that they have a representative and know that they can have a voice at Metro Vancouver. Aside from that, I have a variety of things within the platform relevant to UBC.
VANCOUVER
MM: I think we definitely need more buses and increased bus service. Affordable housing and accountable governance as well. AM: In 2014, the RCMP contract for the area expires, so I want to advocate for making sure we continue to have proper police service. [I also want to] institute a really strong community policing model that goes beyond block watch for the area.
MH: I think it’s a system that the local residents need to either want to change or not change. As the population grows they’ll understand [the] challenges even more and then changes will begin to happen. MM: We have quite a lot of people not to be in a municipality, so I think it is important to improve the governance model so there is more accountability. AM: Each of the stakeholders needs someone that is advocating for them and standing up for them as much as possible. I think it is extremely important as we go forward to advocate for a more democratic mode. U
11.03.2011 | Features | 5
Bill 20 leaves UBC in governance limbo Mike Dickson Staff Writer
In June 2010, UBC divorced one organization and married another. But a year and a half later, some are wondering whether the pre-nuptial agreement was properly sorted out. The university achieved a milestone in its quest for more active control over the campus with the passing of Bill 20 and its amendments to the Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act. These changes entailed Metro Vancouver transferring responsibility over UBC land use planning to the provincial government’s Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development (CSCD). Land use has become a touchy subject at UBC, as many Metro Vancouver board members have pointed out that the university is both land owner and developer. To that, UBC responds that it has accountability procedures in place. “If you look closely at Part 10 of the Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act, you see clauses almost verbatim from the Local Government Act,” said Joe Stott, director of planning for Campus and Community Planning. “The legislative provisions are largely to do with procedures and are the same as those found in many municipalities.” In municipalities, however, virtually all representatives who deal with the bottom line are elected, not appointed. The UBC Board of Governors (BoG) is comprised of 21 members, of which three are elected by students, three by faculty and two by employees of the university.
provided to The Ubyssey. “The province is not interested in imposing a governance change on residents.” It is not clear what constitutes a ‘consensus’ in this regard. Based on the angry comments at a November 1 public consultation for South Campus Neighborhood Plan amendments, there is a significant gap to be bridged. “My idea of consultation is very different from [the BoG’s],” said Kimberly Smith, a recent graduate of UBC’s English MA program. “There’s no binding responsibility for them to listen to what people have to say because they’re not elected. They kept using the words ‘we’ and ‘our’, when ‘they’ are actually talking about ‘their’ vision for the campus.” “In my view, the Board of Governors operates like a university corporation, without any accountability to the people that live here,” said a prospective Wesbrook resident who asked not to be named. “I find their tactics very underhanded and deceptive.” But as the province waits on the university and its residents, the university is waiting on the province. “The government will take lead on initiating the review,” said Adriaan de Jager, the executive director of government relations at UBC, “but [they] haven’t set any dates or formal meeting agendas.” For now, the governance model at UBC is in limbo, with each side waiting on the other to move first. The longer this state of inertia lasts, the longer a democratic deficit will endure for those who live and study here. U
UNA members frustrated over lack of land use power Jonathan Lopez Contributor
“Building residences is really not feasible for publicly supported institutions,” U of T’s assistant vice president of student life, Lucy Fromowtiz, told the Toronto Star.
In most communities with thousands of residents, decisions are made by an elected mayor and council. UBC, meanwhile, is controlled by a board largely appointed by the province and has continually built market housing on campus over the past two decades, becoming what is surely the largest urban area in Canada without a local democracy. In place of city council, campus residents rely on the University Neighbourhood Association (UNA) to represent their needs and carry out municipal functions. The UNA’s stated responsibility includes parking, noise management and pet regulation—but “we really do a lot more than that,” said Thomas Beyer, a newly elected UNA resident director. The UNA is entrusted with governing its five “local areas”: Hampton Place, Hawthorn Place, East Campus, Wesbrook Place and Chancellor Place. But the UNA does not have a seat on UBC’s Board of Governors (BoG), which means that residents don’t have a vote in the land use decisions of their own neighbourhood—and that’s why some UNA members are pushing for more power. Currently the UNA has an advisory role on land use decisions, but Beyer said the UNA lacks power without a BoG seat. “Essentially UBC, like a 19th century monarch, has the unfettered right to develop lands, within certain density restrictions, without listening to students, residents on campus like me, or residents offcampus,” said Beyer. “Any resident can voice an opinion, but [the BoG] doesn’t have to listen to us, and we cannot vote them out.” John Dickinson, a Hawthorn Place resident, similarly wants to see “more direct control by residents over what is being planned.” In a letter to the UNA and BoG, Dickinson proposed that the UNA be given veto power over development in existing and new residential areas. While Dickinson thinks “a much more thorough analysis of other governance options” should be considered, he said that in the meantime, a veto would go a long way to show UBC’s commitment to a true partnership with the UNA. Beyer, meanwhile, is focused on more specific problems. “No intensification without transportation” is his biggest concern. “Parking is already an issue and the buses are already overcrowded; our focus should instead be on rapid transit.” For Beyer, this is a prime example of a situation where the UNA does not have adequate power to lobby for its interests. As the UBC community continues to grow, expect voices like Beyer’s and Dickinson’s to grow along with it. U
—With files from Katie Coopersmith, Liam Scanlon and Brian Platt
—With files from Mike Dickson
BRIAN PLATT/THE UBYSSEY
Joe Stott, the director of planning at UBC, discusses land use with South Campus residents.
Eleven are appointed by the provincial Lieutenant Governor. The president and chancellor are both appointed by the board members. The BoG also appoints the UBC Permit Development Board, which issues clearances for both residential and institutional developments. Bill 20 was supposed to be the first part of a two-stage process, a temporary solution acquiescing to
UBC’s desire to divorce itself from Metro Vancouver while the relevant parties worked towards a long-term governance model by reviewing the legislation. But a year and a half later, that review has yet to happen. “Further local governance changes await a consensus amongst residents and other interests on the UBC campus,” said a CSCD statement
Land use planning at other universities How do other major universities balance the needs of students and residents with the financial benefits that can come from strategic land use decisions? Here are a few examples: Oxford University Oxford University was established in 1096, and over time a town grew up on the land surrounding it. Until the 20th century, the Oxford chancellor had the right to be the judge and jury for all transgressions committed in the town, and until 1974 could appoint representatives to the town council without support from residents. In an exact opposite scenario from UBC, the Oxford town has agitated for independence from the university. Today, the chancellor retains only the right to veto any festival or public performance in the town. In land use matters, the power is increasingly in the hands of the town. At least three new university housing developments have been stalled and eventually cancelled due to reaction from town residents. Last year, Oxford University proposed a £132-million redevelopment of Brookes College. It included new apartments, shops and a nightclub. A town resident sued the university to get the development cancelled, but the university prevailed. The nightclub, however, was dropped from the plans. Stanford University Stanford University only allows students, faculty and university staff to live on campus. But in 1951, it created the Stanford Industrial Park and began leasing its land to commercial electronics companies—the first ever universityowned industrial park. It was the stimulant for what became Silicon Valley. Today the park is known as the Stanford Research Park and houses the headquarters of Hewlett Packard, Facebook, Skype, Tesla Motors and other technology firms. These companies have access to Stanford’s libraries and often hire faculty as consultants or board directors. The university boasts on its website that “many of the companies in the Research Park have close relationships with Stanford faculty and students, who are just a bicycle ride away.” University of Toronto Last February, U of T announced it was leasing some of its land to a private developer to build a new $120-million, 42-storey residential tower for international students. U of T will retain no control over the building, only getting an annual fee from the developer who will keep the profits. Rooms may cost as much as $1250 per month. Adam Awad, president of the student union at the time, said he had concerns because it was a private developer and the university would have “no jurisdiction over what happens.”
Culture Editor: Ginny Monaco
ON THE COVER >>
UBC Dentistry students provide relief for DTES residents Alexandra Downing Contributor
Like most people, Gary Kirkness does not enjoy going to the dentist. But at the Vancouver Native Health Society’s Emergency Dental Clinic in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, UBC students helped put Kirkness’ fear of dentistry to rest. “You feel like you’re getting care right outside of UBC,” said Kirkness. “It doesn’t feel like you’re on the Lower Eastside, that’s for sure.” UBC Dentistry students put their skills to the test last Saturday as they volunteered at an Eastside emergency dental clinic. The clinic, run through the Vancouver Native Health Society and manned by volunteer dentists as well as dental students, was established in 2005. The non-profit clinic offers dental work and promotes health education to East Hastings residents. Donations and welfare are their primary sources of funding. UBC Dental students began collaborating with the clinic after arranging a volunteer program offered through the faculty about three-and-a-half years ago. The program is an extracurricular for these undergrad and grad students: this volunteer
You feel like you’re getting care right outside of UBC. It doesn’t feel like you’re on the Lower Eastside, that’s for sure. Gary Kirkness Patient at the VNHS Eastside dental clinic work is not part of their degree requirements. “We estimate that close to 75 per cent of all undergraduate dental students have participated in a volunteer clinic in some location around town,” said Larry Rossoff, a clinical assistant professor. “The program is so popular among the students that they are chosen by lottery. There is so much demand to come [that] we just can’t accommodate everyone’s interest in attending.” It’s a fast-paced work environment. The clinic sees close to 30 patients a day on a dropin basis. Coordinator Lynn Yancovitch said drop-ins allow for more effective treatment of DTES residents. “There are fewer people making their appointments because their lives are so crazy and upside down.” This also ensures that dentists aren’t sitting around when patients don’t show up. As the program is completely studentdesigned and organized, students allocate responsibility based on experience. Fourthyear students mentor first-year students while gaining real life experience in the world of clinical dentistry. “All of the things that they’re learning in theory, they’re seeing put into place. The students benefit and of course the primary purpose is to make sure that we have those who need access to care getting the care that they need to keep them out of pain,” said Rossoff. “We’ve managed to do up to $50,000 worth of free dental work around the city.” Emory Bland, a former UBC student and practicing dentist, said he feels that the School of Dentistry service-learning options have grown significantly since his time as a student. “[The program has] been doing really well with the Eastside clinic,” he said. “They also go out to Douglas College and Abbotsford.” Students volunteer at these clinics on a monthly basis. “They really believe that UBC should be involved in community programs and outreach.” U -With files from Jonny Wakefield
We’ve managed to do up to $50,000 worth of free dental work around the city. Larry Rossoff Clinical assistant professor
Photos by Alexandra Downing
Clockwise from top: Dentistry students work at the Vancouver Native Health Society Eastside Dental Clinic on Saturday, October 29; Gary Kirkness after some routine work by UBC Dentistry students; Dr Emery Bland, a former UBC student and practicing dentist on the Sunshine Coast, reviews a chart; Gary Kirkness relaxing before his appointment; Dr Larry Rossoff examines an X-ray; a practicing dentist at the clinic.
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11.03.2011 | Culture | 7 FASHION >>
Vancouver Fashion Week gets its strut on VFW has yet to walk the walk. Will this year be any different?
Taylor Loren Senior Culture Writer
Hotel basements, runways marked by duct tape and the RCMP shutting down a fashion show while models are still walking. It’s not a bad Paris Hilton movie, just the unfortunate history of fashion weeks in the third worst-dressed city—Vancouver. Vancouver Fashion Week (VFW) opened it’s tenth anniversary of the Spring/Summer season yesterday at Masik Studios in False Creek. It runs until Sunday night, with over 50 local and international designers showcasing their work. But if you’re looking for a glamourous, star studded affair, you won’t find it here. VFW deems itself “a global platform for designers, buyers, media representatives and sponsors,” but is positioned too late in the year for fashion buyers, who usually complete the spring season in October. Industry professionals usually scoff at VFW, which has traditionally been ridiculed as a venture designed to profit purely from having the established title of Fashion Week. Jamal Abdourahman created Vancouver Fashion Week in 2001, and ran the underground production with a staff composed entirely of volunteers. Ten years later, unpaid interns are still running the show, and some are fighting back. A cohort of anonymous interns formed the blog Vancouver Fashion
Weak “to stop the producer of VFW from exploiting students and recent graduates for their well meaning free labour, as well as exploiting emerging and established designers with sub par production,” according to one post. “We have created this site because we support local and international designers and their efforts in creating real art, and do not want them to be cheated by the producer of VFW,” the post entitled “Scam Alert” continued. The blog contains hundreds of comments, mainly from anonymous sources, depicting general disorganization and poor working conditions. Abdourahman could not be reached for comment. “We are a big enough city and globally recognized enough that doing a high school quality runway show in the basement of a crappy hotel on Robson Street is not good enough. It is embarrassing,” said Paul Melo, a Vancouver photographer, in an interview with the Vancouver Sun. Especially when compared to Toronto Fashion Week and other larger events, VFW lacks money. Without high profile sponsors or support from the city, expensive ticket prices (starting at $75 for a day pass) are inevitable. With interns and models training one another, it’s not possible to attract any well-known designers or industry professionals at VFW, which would
COURTESY OF LACHLAN MCADAM
In the past, Vancouver Fashion Week has not lived up to expectations. Employees allege that they have been overworked and poorly treated.
be a crucial step to improving their credibility. VFW isn’t the only fashion show that’s been problematic for Vancouver’s image. British Columbia Fashion Week was founded in 2004 and found some success, until it was shut down by the RCMP mid-runway show in 2009 due to allegations of credit card fraud. Vancouver Men’s Fashion Week (vMFW) opened its first season last month. vMFW was held in a
crowded club, with a runway roped off by duct tape, and the “week” consisted of one evening of shows by amateur models and designers. However, there is a glimmer of hope for Vancouver’s disintegrating fashion image. Opening it’s third season last month, Eco Fashion Week is a celebration of sustainable design that has grown to be the heart of Vancouver fashion events. Vancouver isn’t the most fashionable city in the world, but it is one of the greenest and the three day event,
which focuses on featuring environmentally friendly fashion, is more couture than granola. It grew from the small but committed group of independent designers in Vancouver who are using local, organic and recycled materials. U Will Vancouver Fashion Week be able to live up to their name this year? Follow The Ubyssey’s coverage of VFW as we offer up different perspectives for each night online at ubyssey. ca/culture.
Sports
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Editor: Drake Fenton
THE PLAYOFFS SINCE
UBC FOOTBALL THEN
hasn’t won a national championship since
1997
2 championships MEN’S SOCCER for
WOMEN’S SOCCER 3 championships 7 championships FIELD HOCKEY has
have gone to
STANDOUTS
UBC WILL HOST
it’s first football playoff game since
BILLY
JANINE
GREENE
FRAZAO 16 Goals 14 Games played 1 Assist
2558 Passing Yards
482 Rushing Yards (leading CIS)
20
1999
(leading Canada West)
(leading CIS Quarterbacks)
Touchdowns
4 Interceptions .709 Shots on Goal % THE ROAD FROM HERE
NOV
5-6
Field Hockey at CIS Championships Men’s and Women’s Soccer at Canada West Championships Football at Canada West semi-final
(lowest with over 250 passes)
Men’s and Women’s Soccer at CIS Championships Football at Canada West Final
NOV 12-13
NOV NOV
12-19 Football at Mitchell Cup (CIS Semi-finals)
25 Football at Vanier Cup Championships (BC Place)
11.03.2011 |
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KAI JACOBSON/THE UBYSSEY
T he UBC Thunderbirds men’s soccer team have brought the same approach—full of
FIELD HOCKEY
heavy pressure and offensive threat—to every team they played against in the regular season. Now, they bring it to the Canada West semifinal. “A lot of the hard work has been done,” said head coach Mike Mosher. “It’s just a little bit of fine-tuning through the week to get us ready.” The team, which was ranked first in the nation for a wonderful stretch, was undefeated at Thanksgiving, and looked certain to top the table and host the tournament. But they crumpled slightly after losing away to Victoria on October 16, collecting only 6 from a possible 15 points to round out the year.
GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY
T he UBC Thunderbirds football team is making a return to the playoffs for the first
time since 2006 and are hosting their first home playoff game in 12 years. After a 6-2 regular season campaign the ‘Birds clinched second place in the Canada West. On Saturday they will face the University of Saskatchewan Huskies (5-3) in the Canada West semifinal. “Being back in the playoffs is a huge thing and playing against Saskatchewan, probably our biggest rival over the course of the last 20 years, is a cool component of that,” said UBC head coach Shawn Olson. “Obviously this will be a very difficult task for us coming up on Saturday.” UBC made it to the playoffs from 2004 to 2006, only to be thwarted each year by Saskatchewan. However all of those games were on the road. Saskatchewan defeated UBC 36-33 earlier in the season. The game wasn’t as close
Janine Frazao seized the Canada West record for goals scored (16), and the team collectively broke their own 2008 records in the conference for fewest goals allowed (5) and most shutouts (11). They placed second to a Trinity Western side that won every game—except the ones they played against the Thunderbirds. But according to head coach Mark Rogers, the challenge is now to channel that output into a new format: single elimination. “The whole mentality changes now,” Rogers said. “It’s about making sure we’re ruthless in our preparation, making sure that we’re completely focused on that one performance to start with.” The University of Alberta Pandas are the T-Birds’ first round opponents, with Trinity Western and Victoria in the other semifinal. They defeated UBC 2-0 in September— handing them their only defeat of the year— but the Pandas fell by the same margin
when they visited Thunderbird Park on October 21. Rogers said the change in tactics in that game worked, dulling their vicious counterattack and strength in possession. “One of Alberta’s big strengths is that they pass the ball very well,” he said. “[What] we wanted to do was get a little bit more first-defender pressure on the ball [and] try to force them into poor decisions.” Rogers is pleased about not having to travel far to play. The tournament is hosted at Trinity Western in Langley, preventing a longer trip over the Rocky Mountains. Overall, the strength Rogers sees in the side is the tight-knit group of players that combine defence with attack to create pressure and hold the other team up the pitch. “In an 11-a-side game, it’s the sum of all parts. We defend from front to back,” he said. “You don’t keep 11 clean sheets unless you’re a unit, you’re all on the same page and frankly, you’re all in it together.” U —Andrew Bates
“We would have liked to have been at home, but we’re not, and so we can’t worry about that,” Mosher said. “We didn’t get as many wins as we would have liked, too many ties, but at the end of the day, since we started in the middle of August, we’ve lost one game, so that’s certainly a positive to draw upon.” The playoff will be hosted in Victoria, where the national championship will also be decided. UVic qualified for nationals as hosts, so if they win or tie, UBC could automatically qualify by winning its first round game. That means defeating Trinity Western University. UBC’s matches against the Langley school this year have been cagey affairs, with a 1-1 away draw where the T-Birds took advantage of an own goal and a close 1-0 win at Varsity Field. “They’re a tough, gritty,
well-organized team. They’re very strong defensively,” Mosher said, pointing to a strong striker and a strong keeper. “We’ve certainly got our hands full with this team. That said, we see that we’re a tough team to beat.” The Thunderbirds have strong offensive power and a relentless drive to maintain possession and pressure when they are focused. They enter this tournament looking to repeat last year’s performance, which saw them win every game in the postseason except for the CIS final. “We’ve got a pretty battle-savvy group,” he said. “We knew before we started practicing in the middle of August...we had to make it happen this weekend regardless of who or where we were playing.” U
Iwomen’s t should be no surprise that the UBC field hockey team will trav-
McManus. Joining these three will be the 2009 CIS tournament MVP Robyn Pendleton. Pendleton led the ‘Birds in scoring this season with six goals. If UBC wants to win their 13th McCrae Cup, Kanjee said they will have to rely on more than just one or two of their stars. “The message I give the team is that when anybody is on the field, they need to contribute, and they need to contribute to the best of their ability,” he said. “We have some talented players…but this is a team sport and if you have a team that defers to one or two players, that is a recipe for disaster.” Along with Toronto, UBC will face the University of Guelph (11-1), the University of Calgary (5-3-4) and the University of Alberta (4-6-2). The tournament will begin on Thursday and teams will square off against each other in a round robin format. The top two teams will play for the championship on Sunday. While Calgary and Alberta are familiar foes, Toronto and Guelph will pose unique
el to Calgary this weekend to play for the McCrae Cup in the CIS national championship. Following their 9 th consecutive Canada West title last weekend, the Thunderbirds (8-2-2) are heading to their 14th straight nationals. They’ve won a CIS record 12 titles, including five in the last 10 years. Despite all this, the ‘Birds are not the tournament favourites. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues (11-1) have that honour. Last year they defeated UBC 2-1 in the final. “I don’t think at the beginning of the year we think that it is a given [playing for the title] but we do the work and that gives us a chance,” said UBC head coach Hash Kanjee. “Whatever happens, happens.” UBC’s title aspirations will be bolstered by the return of three players from national duty at the Pan Am Games: Natalie Sourisseau, Abigail Raye and Sara the scoreboard suggests, as UBC scored a touchdown in the final seconds. The Huskies scorched the ‘Birds defence for 578 total yards, including 311 yards rushing. “For us it is the same old, same old: tackle well and execute and you will be fine,” Olson said about his defence. “It always comes down to fundamentals…and in the end the stats on the scoreboard are the ones that matter the most. If we can limit teams to under 20 points then we have a pretty decent chance of winning.” Since the game against Saskatchewan, UBC’s defence has made great strides. They contained the Canada West’s leading rusher Adrian Charles when they played Regina, limiting him to 86 yards in a 23-16 victory. Last week against the University of Calgary they only allowed 23 points, including none in the second half. Calgary led the Canada West with 39 points per game. UBC accomplished this without defenders Vivie Bojilov, Kareem
—Andrew Bates
DAVID ELOP/THE UBYSSEY
challenges for the ‘Birds. Toronto enters the tournament on a wave of momentum after smashing the University of Western 7-1 in the Ontario University Association (OUA) semifinal. Toronto then dominated Guelph 6-0 in the conference final. For their part, Guelph managed to upset Toronto 2-1 in the regular season final and are led by prolific forward Brittany Seidler. Seidler was the OUA player of the year and scored a ridiculous 26 goals in 12 games. Yet Kanjee isn’t too concerned about the competition. He said his focus exclusively rests on his own team. “I only think about my team. We have some good players struggling with a few injuries, but really it’s how we get them set up and pointed in the right direction,” he said. “That will determine how we do in the tournament.” The ‘Birds begin the tournament Thursday at 9:30am Mountain Time against Toronto. U —Drake Fenton
Ba and Justin Carpenter. Olson expects all of them to be healthy for the Canada West semifinal. This Saturday, Olson said that playing sound, fundamental defence and being aware of trick plays on special teams will be essential to the T-Birds’ success. On offence UBC will have to contend with a defence that plays a “bend but don’t break” style of play. “They play a lot of cover three and a lot of soft zones. You have to be efficient, they aren’t going to give you a lot of plays for big yards in chunks and we have been a big chunk offence this year,” said Olson. “They will pose a bit of a challenge for us offensively and we will have to take what they give us, maximize yards after catches and be able to run the ball with some effectiveness.” Kickoff is at 2pm Saturday at Thunderbird Stadium. U —Drake Fenton
Men’s SOCCER
F or the women’s team, the 14-game regular season has produced impressive results.
ERIC INASI/THE UBYSSEY
FOOTBALL
Women’s SOCCER
CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND PREVIEW
Opinion
11.03.2011 |
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Editor: Brian Platt
At TedX, learn for the sake of learning Editor’s Notebook Justin McElroy
Given their lucrative tuition fees, it’s little wonder international students have more payment options.
INDIANA JOEL/THE UBYSSEY
The Last Word Parting shots and snap judgments on today’s issues Domestic students should have the option to pay by credit card Unlike domestic students, international students can still use credit cards to pay their tuition. This came as a suprise even to us at The Ubyssey. For domestic students, not having access to paying tuition by credit card—as is the option at many other universities—means that struggling students have to find a way to pay their tuition in a single lump sum at the beginning of term. For those that are suffering financially, this is a real worry. We understand why UBC cancelled the credit card payment option, as it was costing them $3 million in fees every year. We also understand that the credit card fee for international students is covered in the internationl tuition rate. What we don’t understand is why domestic students aren’t allowed to cover the cost of their transaction fee if they choose to do so. Surely UBC could make that possible.
A mushy middle ground does not mean transparency Over the last year, UBC had been stubborn in releasing information about its animal testing—but they had at least been consistent and principled. They claimed that it wasn’t their responsibility to change laws on animal research, but rather the responsibility of the Canadian Council on Animal Care. For UBC to release information voluntarily while all other Canadian universities sat silently would damage UBC’s competitive advantage. After a year, UBC has changed its tune. They’ve released some information, and said that they want to be a leader in Canada on the topic. But while we applaud the university for responding to concerns, being transparent and taking a lead in Canada doesn’t mean releasing a few statistics with little context. It means releasing as much information as possible without putting researchers at risk. It means explaining the process—in detail—by which most research happens. It
means being a champion in Canada for overhauling our animal research laws so that they are more transparent and humane. In its change of opinion, UBC has taken a mushy middle ground that doesn’t actually satisfy STOP or other defenders of animal rights, and will make the university’s future decisions on animal testing open to further scrutiny. That they changed their tack is commendable; whether UBC is willing to really commit to transparency remains to be seen.
STOP is providing an activism model for Occupy Despite the released animal research statistics being mostly useless, it still represents a small victory for UBC STOP Animal Research. We’ve made this point before, but STOP has been one of the few examples of organized activism on our campus in recent years. In fact, STOP has been so effective at getting their message across that the Occupy Vancouver participants may want to spend a bit of time learning from them. There have been stories of Arab Spring organizers giving advice to the Occupy camps, but STOP may in fact provide a better model. The methods required for influencing squalid dictatorships are not the same as those needed for influencing democratic governments. STOP provides a model for how to keep your cause in the media spotlight and get the attention of political leaders. At Stephen Toope’s recent town hall, the room was filled with STOP members who, one by one, held up signs during the proceedings. They didn’t interrupt Toope or stop others from speaking; they just reminded everyone that they weren’t going away until they got some answers. Shortly after, UBC released statistics on research. At any UBC event with senior administration members present, you can expect STOP to be there, asking questions. That’s how to effectively represent your cause.
Private security for the Pit benefits students As you may have noticed if you go to the Pit regularly—which means most of you probably haven’t noticed—the AMS now has a private security firm, Live Host, doing security on Wednesday and Friday nights. This is due to a lack of student security guards who meet the training requirements. One of the benefits of having a large and experienced security company manage the doors on busy bar nights is that it gives the police and the liquor board less reason to clamp down on our bar nights. AMS bars get far more attention from these organizations than most bars in Vancouver, and it means they are under a microscope anytime the room is full of students having fun. Depending on how much it ends up costing the AMS (we’ll know that number soon) this may prove to be worth the cost even if there are enough student security guards to do the job. With the closing of Koerner’s, we have precious few places left on campus to have a beer with friends; whatever it takes to keep the RCMP at bay is generally a good thing in our books.
UBC’s democratic deficit needs some proposed solutions By now, anyone who pays even a small amount of attention to issues on campus should be aware of the democratic deficit at UBC: thousands of people live here, including around 7500 non-university residents, but there is no elected council with the power to make land use decisions. Those who consistently bring this problem up—and we include ourselves in that category—need to start putting more effort into proposing concrete solutions for how the situation could change. It’s very difficult to think of a governance model that both UBC and the residents would be happy with, but we have to try. If not, there’s no real pressure on the university to move toward a more democratic system. U
In case you hadn’t noticed, UBC is in the middle of “Celebrate Learning Week.” This week, not to be confused with Thrive Week, Celebrate Research Week, International Week, Business Week or any other themed week on campus, celebrates—you guessed it—learning. That we have to celebrate “learning” with a special week is indicative of how so much is now done by rote, automatically, as part of the tasks needed to acquire a degree and eventually a job. The financial pressures are incredibly high on both university administrators and students alike, so it’s not surprising that more and more of university life is structured around specific purposes. Hence, we get a Celebrate Learning Week. At the end of the day, large universities have evolved so much in the last century that little of our learning is for learning’s sake, for the pure pleasure of exploring our world and opening our eyes. Which is why the events of this week, all of which implicitly celebrate this idea, are pretty cool. And while there are dozens of free events around campus that everyone can enjoy, there are two inexpensive ones that UBC is justifiably hyping. One is a lecture by David Suzuki in the Chan Centre on Thursday. While the UBC professor emeritus has been delivering a variation of the “can the planet be saved?” talk for upwards of two decades, he’s a Canadian icon speaking at his home university. On Saturday, the highlight is the annual TEDxTerry talks. It’s an
independently organized TED event, it takes place in the Life Science Institute for most of the day, and it’s something I’m terrified for. They’ve foolishly allowed me to give a talk about media and communities on behalf of The Ubyssey—which means that I have to dust off my atrophied public speaking skills, wear something presentable and try to speak for 16 minutes straight without slouching my shoulders. But I’m just one of nine speakers at the event. Others, all UBC students (and one alumnus) have amazing stories to tell. Stories about alternative medicine, and the power of choir. Of HIV, and living with bipolar disorder. Every one of us is standing in front of our peers and sharing stories that we believe powerfully in. We gather, we share, we leave enriched. It’s the sort of communication method that used to be much more common—and today, the idea of a storyteller is an odd, antiquated concept. Yet the internet, which has fragmented audiences in so many ways, is responsible for the growth of the public talk. An idea presented to a group would once end with those who watched it in the moment. Now it can be shared, forever and with whomever. A talk, whether it’s part of TED or not, isn’t the end of a discussion, but the beginning. So come to the talks on Saturday if you want to learn, among other things, how amazed I am that a video we made of UBC engineers blowing stuff up can have, at this writing, 150,000 views. But if you don’t come to this event, try and attend another this week. Learn for the sake of learning. Even if it’s wrapped up in a gimmicky week, let’s celebrate the core reason why universities exist. U
Your role in housing Perspectives >> Matt Parson
We all know the Vancouver housing market is outrageous. The lack of affordable housing is particularly salient for students, for whom education is becoming increasingly more expensive, but also for the university itself, which is finding it harder to compete for top faculty with universities in less expensive cities. But UBC is in a unique position to address the issue of affordable housing for students, faculty and staff given its enormous land endowment and propensity for development—and students need to play a role in this. In June 2011, the Board of Governors approved the guiding principles for developing the Housing Action Plan (HAP) to address the housing issue at UBC. President Toope identified affordable housing as “the biggest challenge that UBC faces going forward in terms of recruitment and retention both of students and faculty.” The HAP has most notably aligned the campus housing plan with the academic mission of the university. The goal is to provide a comprehensive framework for affordable and desirable housing choices for students, faculty and staff. This is why students need to pay attention.
The university has set an aggressive growth strategy to increase the number of student beds on campus by 2600 by 2015. The days of thousands of students on waitlists will hopefully soon be gone soon. However, the question of what kind of housing, and at what price, has yet to be answered. It is not uncommon for universities to view student housing as a necessary service to provide rather than a convenience for those who can afford it. Considering the unfortunate housing market that UBC is surrounded by, it is even more crucial for there to be some form of housing assistance to make UBC a more accessible university for all. Thus far, the conversation surrounding the HAP has been dominated by the idea of homeownership for faculty and staff, without much consideration of affordability for students. UBC has made an outstanding commitment to building the Brock and Ponderosa Commons, but these units will be far outside of the budgets of most students on campus. This is why the AMS is hosting a housing forum on November 18. If you also feel that the discussion on how student beds should be offered is one that isn’t finished, please come out and make your voices heard. U —Matt Parson is the AMS VP Academic
Scene
11.03.2011 |
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Pictures and words on your university experience
STUDENT BODY >>
Sleep deprivation and your noggin
Feeling groggy after a week of sugar and booze? Here’s how to fix your sleep cycle Happy Healthy Horny
Raeven GeistDeschamps My circadian rhythms are in a serious post-Halloween funk. It might have been the partying in a sequin dress or insisting that dressing up for four days in a row was absolutely necessary. Or recovering from the greatest sugar rush of the decade. Sleep deprivation is a common affliction when we must mesh our academic endeavours with the casual inevitability of fun. Dr Jonathan Fleming of the UBC Sleep Clinic (yes, we have one!) assured me that there’s no way to speed up recovery. “The only treatment of sleep loss is sleep.” Yep. There’s no escaping the standard eight hours-ish required for our bodies to properly recover. In fact, according to Fleming, sleep deprivation in excess of 16 hours of wakefulness “has been associated with the impairments of a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05, which is sufficient for a roadside suspension.” And when we become sleepier, we lose the ability to recognize it.
In fact, sleep deprivation can lead to hallucinations and “impairments in psychological and cognitive functioning.” Fleming stressed the importance of waking up and going to sleep at roughly the same time every day. The principle behind this is to give your body a rhythm, so it can expect how to best recover from your daily activities. If stress, one of the most common causes of insomnia, has you up and running, it is best “if the sleeper keeps to a regular schedule
Sleep loss is cumulative. It will continue to affect your mood and behaviours as long as your body hasn’t had the rest it requires. and does not engage in compensatory sleeping, [like] long naps during the day time or lying in for long periods in the morning.” So, if you are compelled to avoid snoozing in the IK Barber Learning Centre: stay conscious! You’ll sleep longer later! Also, “students over the age of 30 may start to experience specific sleep disorders, such as restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder, that cause
STAY ON THE NEWS CYCLE Micki Cowan and Kalyeena Makortoff | news@ubyssey.ca
JOSH CURRAN/THE UBYSSEY
There’s no cure-all if you screw up your sleep cycle. You simply have to get your eight hours every night.
insomnia”—which leaves me concerned about all the UBC PhD candidates out there, wiring together brilliant thoughts and shaking their legs uncontrollably. According to our expert, two weeks with insomnia is long enough to consider getting professional help, especially if it has started causing “daytime impairment” like uncontrollable twitching or
running into doors. Sleep loss is cumulative. It affects your mood and will continue to affect your mood and behaviour as long as your body hasn’t had the full length of rest it requires. The UBC Sleep Clinic offers help with different conditions. They use psychological and physical interventions as well as medication according to your diagnosis. Fleming
recommends visting the National Sleep Foundation website for more information on sleep. As a side note, I would suggest checking out valerian and melatonin, which are natural supplements to help induce sleep and are readily available at most pharmacies. Cuddle up and have a good night sleep, everyone! It’ll make you saner. U
12 | Games | 11.03.2011 Puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com. Used with permission.
Across 1— Winglike parts 5— Actual 9— Exile isle 13— Pelvic bones 15— As a result 16— Bottom of the barrel 17— _ nous 18— Carson’s predecessor 19— Hard to hold 20— Summer drink 21— Civil disturbance 23— Pamper 25— Cushions 26— Birthplace of St. Francis 27— Plant-eating aquatic mammal 30— Howe’er 31— Long for 32— Esemplastic 37— Apex, pinnacle 38— Camera setting 40— Zeno’s home 41— Antidote 43— Dens 44— Hit sign 45— Ancient Egyptian king 47— Yellowish color 50— Belonging to us 51— Surroundings 52— Capital of the Ukraine 53— Cad or heel 56— Getting ____ years 57— Masked critter 59— From the beginning: Lat. 61— Prison 62— Romance novelist Victoria 63— Alleviates 64— Compassionate 65— Epic narrative poem 66— Hang around
Down 1— Between ports 2— Ground 3— Entr’ _ 4— Be human 5— Sleep 6— Part of Q.E.D. 7— Turkish title 8— “Your ______ “ said to a British judge 9— Nicholas Gage book 10— City in West Yorkshire 11— Attorney Melvin 12— _ sow, so shall... 14— Add fizz 22— Chemical ending 24— Beginning 25— Street machine 26— _ extra cost 27— Future doc’s exam 28— Flatfoot’s lack 29— Appoint 32— “Respect for Acting” author Hagen
33— A long time 34— Bones found in the hip 35— Emperor of Rome 54—68 36— Deep cut 38— Fierce 39— Flat—bottomed boat 42— Archipelago part 43— Immature insects 45— Indicates a direction 46— Color 47— Biblical mount 48— Set straight 49— Covered on the inside 51— Deride 52— Serbian folk dance 53— Damage, so to speak 54— Eye layer 55— Cheerful 58— Alley _____ 60— _____ —relief
U
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COME BY THE UBYSSEY OFFICE
SUB 24, FOLLOW THE SIGNS
Comicsmaster by Maria Cirstea