September 4, 2012

THE OLD COLLEGE TRY SINCE 1918

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012 | VOLUME XCIV| ISSUE I

Just what are they building in there?

U

The AMS, and what you need to know about UBC politics on P4

THE UBYSSEY More than just grades Smart

P7

Rookie defence sends UBC to 0-1

sleeping

The bad rez room habits that will kill your REMs

P11

Price hike for U-Pass?

P3

The class of 2016 is UBC’s first broad-based generation. Find out why UBC admissions is now looking for more than marks on Page 8.

The AMS is negotiating a new U-Pass contract. What you need to know before this fall’s referendum.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 , 2012 |

YOUR GUIDE TO UBC EVENTS + PEOPLE

What’s on Tue 124

OUR CAMPUS

THIS WEEK, MAY WE SUGGEST...

2

ONE ON ONE WITH THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE UBC

FIRSTWEEK >>

TUESDAY

CLASS OF 2016

Art Attack! at UBC Imagine Day: 10 a.m.–1 p.m. @ Freddy Wood Theatre

Imagine Day is certainly one of the most exciting days on campus.

However, if you’re not in the mood for pep rallies or club fairs, make sure to check out Art Attack! The cultural showcase features many of the art departments on campus performing with song, personal expression and even human art. Arts Dean Gage Averill is rumoured to be performing.

Tue 125

LIFESTYLES >>

WEDNESDAY

Tue 126

DRINKING >>

THURSDAY

Kitsilano 101: 9–11 a.m. @ MacInnes Field Have you heard of the magical land that is Kitsilano? If not, make sure to check out this Firstweek event. Featuring outdoor yoga, bikes and sustainability, you can become a Kits expert!

12 7Tue

MUSIC >>

FRIDAY

Welcome Back BBQ: 2–9 p.m. @ MacInnes Field Make sure to get your tickets to the AMS’s Firstweek event featuring Hey Ocean!, Morgan Page, Starfucker and more. The event is free with a Firstweek wristband. Tickets available at goodnights.ca and The Outpost.

Tue 128

Electro Show featuring Sidney Samson: 9 p.m. @ The Pit Pub Whether it’s your first time at the Pit this year or your first time ever, there is no better way to get your groove on than by jamming out with Sidney Samson in the DJ booth. Since this is the first Pit night of the year, expect a long line to get in. Tickets available at the door or in advance at The Outpost. $15-25, 19+ only event.

CHARITY >>

SATURDAY

Shine Day: 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m. @ SUB Ballroom Your student society, the AMS, sponsors Shinerama, a national program to help raise money to support research for cystic fibrosis. At 9:30 a.m., students will hit the streets of Vancouver to wash cars, shine shoes, dance and sing to raise money.

Got an event you’d like to see on this page? Send your event and your best pitch to printeditor@ubyssey.ca.

do u like grammer??! cause da ubyssey is always lookin for volunters to help proof-awesome, right?

Karina Palmitesta | copy@ubyssey.ca

U THE UBYSSEY

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012 | VOLUME XCIV| ISSUE I

EDITORIAL

STAFF

BUSINESS

CONTACT

Features Editor Coordinating Editor Jonny Wakefield Natalya Kautz coordinating@ubyssey.ca features@ubyssey.ca

Bryce Warnes, Catherine Gyan, David Elop, Jon Chiang, Josh Curran, WIll McDonald, Tara Martellaro, Scott MacDonald, Peter Wojnar, Tanner Bokor, Dominic Lai, Mark-Andre Gessaroli, RJ Reid, Colin Chia, Anthony Poon, Vinicius Cid, Veronika Bondarenko, Yara De Jong, Evan Brow, Lu Zhang

Business Manager Fernie Pereira business@ubyssey.ca

Editorial Office: SUB 24 604.822.2301

Managing Editor, Print Jeff Aschkinasi printeditor@ubyssey.ca

Senior Lifestyle Writer Zafira Rajan zrajan@ubyssey.ca

Managing Editor, Print Andrew Bates webeditor@ubyssey.ca

Copy Editor Karina Palmitesta copy@ubyssey.ca

News Editors Will McDonald + Laura Rodgers news@ubyssey.ca

Art Director Kai Jacobson art@ubyssey.ca

Senior News Writer Ming Wong mwong@ubyssey.ca Culture Editor Anna Zoria culture@ubyssey.ca Senior Culture Writer Rhys Edwards redwards@ubyssey.ca Sports + Rec Editor CJ Pentland sports@ubyssey.ca

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 Layout Artist student organization, and all Collyn Chan students are encouraged to participate. cchan@ubyssey.ca Editorials are chosen and written by the Ubyssey staff.

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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 sub-

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PHOTOS KAI JACOBON & YARA DE JONG/THE UBYSSEY

Laura Rodgers News Editor

You show up with three cardboard boxes of shirts, a dogeared poster and a dry-erase whiteboard. A pack of twin extra-long sheets and a mini-

fridge (if you’re lucky) and a couple of overbearing parentfolk who insist on accompanying you to your first caf dinner (if you’re unlucky).

Moving into residence is a trial taste of sweet, sweet freedom. Or maybe it’ll just

be the start of a long, painful year of sleeping next to some heavy-snoring lummox you have nothing in common with.

Either way, try to make the most of it. U

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 , 2012 |

EDITORS WILL MCDONALD + LAURA RODGERS

PAINTINGS >>

TRANSIT >>

U-Pass price likely to increase after negotiations with TransLink stall

AMS plans to keep art collection Brandon Chow Contributor

Ivana Litaveez Contributor

Negotiations are underway for a new U-Pass agreement that will come into effect once the current agreement expires on March 31, 2013.

“We’re anticipating a price increase,” said Kera McArthur on behalf of UBC Transportation Planning. Although she could not say by how much the fare will rise from its current $30 price point, she did confirm that the new price will be released by September 11.

When contacted on the framework of the new contract, TransLink’s media advisor, Drew Snider, said, “We have nothing to report, [given] negotiations are underway for the next agreement.”

This new contract is being developed as part of TransLink’s broader initiative to replace all paper tickets with electronic cards by the summer of 2013.

“Under the current program, lost and stolen passes represent a revenue risk to the transit provider. We are anticipating that the new technology will eliminate this risk,” said McArthur.

Until the switch to the electronic cards is finalized, different schools in Metro Vancouver will be transitioning on varied schedules.

Under the current U-Pass agreement, UBC students are only able to receive one U-Pass replacement per semester. AMS VP

NEWS BRIEFS New trolley bus loop on campus Since August 28, the trolley buses (the #4, 9, 14 and N17) have run on the south side of University Boulevard. The move cost TransLink $900,00.

Campus + Community Planning Director Joe Stott said the former trolley loop will eventually be turned into retail and residential space, similar to the Strangway building.

University releases independent report on animal research UBC released a 21-month-old report on their animal research program.

The report was generally positive but offered some criticism.

According to the report, the university “made excellent progress in its animal care and use program.”

Helen Burt, UBC’s associate vice-president research and international, said the university will likely release future reports in animal research.

Koerner’s may delay reopening to January The Graduate Student Society (GSS) has shortlisted one third-party company as a candidate to run Koerner’s Pub, whittled down from six who initially expressed interest.

And depending on how much of an overhaul needs to be done on the space, the pub might not re-open until January. The company, HK Commerce and Industry Suppliers Ltd., is run by one UBC alumnus and others who have experience in the food and beverage industry, according to GSS President Conny Lin. Lin said that the details of the company’s proposal will be kept secret, and the GSS committee in charge of re-opening the pub will vote on whether to accept the company’s bid in a meeting later in September. U

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kai jacobson/THE UBYSSEY

The U-Pass , which currently costs students $30 a month, is likely to increase in cost in the new contract with TransLink.

External Kyle Warwick said that he isn’t sure yet if there will be restrictions on pass replacement in the new contract. Warwick explained, “The [current] contract only allows us to issue a certain amount [of replacement passes.]”

One rule about the procedure for U-Pass replacements introduced this fall will remain intact throughout the new contract.

Students who need a replacement U-Pass must submit a lost/stolen U-Pass B.C. declaration report to UBC Campus Security. UBC hopes this system will help pre-

vent fraudulent use of the U-Pass.

“I am hopeful and confident that students will continue to strongly support this program, so that they can continue to save a considerable amount of money each month,” said Warwick, basing his conviction on the support of an overwhelming 95 per cent of voters in the March 2011 U-Pass renewal referendum.

Kera McArthur stands by Warwick’s view, saying, “Transit ridership to UBC has increased by 208 per cent overall since 1997, and much of that can be attribut-

ed to the U-Pass.”

Warwick said student transit ridership has reached 74,800 daily trips, increasing by almost 12,000 since last year. He insisted on the necessity to increase transportation capacity to UBC, saying that he will promote this goal in the current negotiations.

According to Warwick, there is still a lot of work to be done on contract negotiations, but increased transit services are a main priority.

Students will vote on the upcoming agreement this fall. U

DEVELOPMENT >>

Campus skatepark to be built by December Arno Rosenfeld Contributor

Students could be shredding at the new UBC skatepark as soon as December 2012.

The final procedural step for the park was completed on August 29, with an open house revealing the finalized plans for Canada’s first on-campus skatepark.

Featuring a bowl, plaza elements and access for BMX riders, the skatepark will be located next to the basketball courts on the corner of Thunderbird Boulevard and Health Sciences Mall.

Transportation planner Adam Cooper said that the University Neighbourhoods Association (UNA) started discussing construction of a skatepark in 2006.

“There were UNA residents saying, ‘Hey, we’re concerned about landscapes in our residences getting destroyed by skating,’ and there were other UNA residents saying, ‘Those are our kids ... and there’s nowhere else for them to go.’”

Once money was found for the $490,000 skatepark, planning for the jointly funded UBC-UNA project began last fall. Open houses in January and March and online feedback from community members was used to shape the final park design by New Line Skateparks.

UBC has long been considered a street skating mecca, and Campus + Community Planning said in a written statement to The Ubyssey that while they encourage “active transportation” on <em>

</em>

KAI JACOBSON/THE UBYSSEY

The new skatepark will cater to skateboarders of all ages in the area around campus.

campus, including skateboarding, they hope the park will reduce the property damage that “some skateboarding activities can cause.”

But Addi Burke, a recent UBC graduate who attended the open house on August 29, said the skatepark won’t reduce skating elsewhere.

“Street skating is just going to happen no matter how many parks you build,” Burke said, adding that most skaters see parks as “training grounds” for the streets.

Fellow UBC graduate and professional skateboarder Mike Christie agreed, writing in an email that while he supports the new skatepark, “it’s always going to be cool to roll where you’re not supposed to.”

Burke, an instructor at UBC’s summer skateboarding camp, said the skatepark would be a big

help to the camp, which currently buses campers to parks.

The UBC park will feature a three-foot stack of concrete books, which Cooper said was intended to tie the skatepark back to the university in a playful way.

Burke said the combination of a partial bowl in addition to plaza elements for skaters to jump and grind on will let more people safely skate at the same time, which is a common stumbling block for other skateparks.

Barring weather delays, a soft opening is expected in December 2012, followed by a grand opening in the spring.

Will Aimee, an Arts student who also attended the open house, said he was excited to finally have a skatepark in a convenient location. “It’s going to be hard not to skip classes to skate,” he said. U

The AMS is holding off on selling valuable pieces from its permanent art collection.

AMS VP Finance Tristan Miller, who heads the ad-hoc committee in charge of the art collection, said that while the AMS now holds the power to go through with the sales, the timing isn’t right.

“The last referendum gave us the ability to sell the pieces if we wanted to, but as far as the pieces go, they are going to remain in our collection until the art committee comes out with their decision to sell them or not.”

At the August 29 AMS Council meeting, Council passed a motion instead allocating $20,000 to increase security on the art collection.

Last year’s cohort of AMS executives pushed to sell three pieces, pointing out that the maintenance and storage costs of the collection are roughly $9,000 per year.

Miller said the main reason for halting the sale was that the AMS hadn’t done enough research yet.

“When you actually get down to doing the research and finding things out like the cost of sales, when the right time to sell is, all of that kind of thing, certain aspects [become] eliminated,” he said.

“It’s more likely that we won’t sell them this year, due to a number of different factors.”

Scott Watson, head of the UBC art history department, said he wasn’t sure why the AMS backed off on the decision to sell. Although he’s a part of the committee the AMS set up to deal with the art issue, he feels he’s been left out of the loop.

“They’ve never invited me to a meeting, so I wouldn’t know,” said Watson.

The proceeds of the sales were set to support other endeavours, such as the AMS arts endowment fund, but Miller says the AMS will now develop a long-term art funding strategy that allows for the preservation of the permanent art collection.

“We really only have a collection right now,” said Miller.

“So we’re trying to develop the gallery and its collection so we can actually start to solicit donations.”

Watson embraced the decision to keep the pieces in the AMS collection. He said the art collection has not only become a part of the university’s history, but is worth a considerable amount of money.

Watson also said that, as some pieces in the collection were given as gifts to UBC’s student body, some have more meaning than others.

“There’s a legacy attached to [it] in connection with the university,” he said.

Meanwhile, the AMS is working to find new mechanisms to cover the upkeep costs of the collection. Miller said that there are plans to raise money through fundraisers at the art gallery, and he’s also talking about leasing some of the paintings for a fee. “[Leasing] can generate consistent revenue without losing your assets,” explained Miller.

“What we’d like to do...is develop a longer, 3-5 year plan for the art gallery to see where we want to be in the new SUB and how we’ll get there,” he said. U

4 | NEWS |

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

At the AMS, a year for rebuilding THE UBYSSEY’S AMS PRIMER

It’s been six months since the Alma Mater Society executives took office. Running a society that takes in $14 million every year and serves close to 50,000 students is probably the largest responsibility they’ve ever grappled with.

They’ve eschewed the political controversies of AMS past (which included a human rights complaint to the UN over high tuition and a vicious controversy over humanitarian donations to

President

Matt Parson Matt Parson puts his experience to work When we contacted AMS President Matt Parson about doing an interview on his first few months in office, it wasn’t clear what we’d talk about. Since Parson made his move into AMS politics in 2011, he’s been profiled in The Ubyssey five times.

We already know that the biology major hails from Smithers, B.C. and that he enjoys playing flag football.

We know that he’s a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, and that he was Interfraternity Council president in 2010, when RCMP officers were assaulted while trying to break up an out-of-control party.

And we know a bit about his family life, about how he had to step up and be a leader after his father was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease.

How to keep the details of his life story fresh? “Might have to just make the whole thing up,” he joked.

Fortunately, after six months at the head of the $14-million student society, Parson has plenty to talk about. He’s got a better sense of what the AMS does well, what it does poorly and how the student experience at UBC can improve.

This is a transitional year for the AMS. It’s currently undergoing a restructure of its business side, whose declining revenues are expected to dip even lower due to construction-related disruption. The AMS is also in the middle of contentious

Gaza) and have instead focused on tangible issues that regular students can get behind.

This isn’t a surprise. Their paycheques are $7,500 higher than in previous years, but they only get that $7,500 if they are able to set — and meet — goals over the course of their terms.

Halfway through their terms is a good time to evaluate where they are. Here, we’ve asked the execs to lay out their current progress and what their plans are for the future. negotiations over a collective agreement with COPE 378, the security workers’ union that formed last year. And plans to transfer over the new SUB are already underway.

The hole in the ground next to the current SUB is an eyesore, Parson admitted, but many in the AMS hope that a new SUB will be a cure-all for the student society.

The new space will have more businesses and bookable spaces, which Parson hopes will shore up revenue. But the new SUB is no silver bullet.

“An organization always has to connect on a person-to-person basis, not a building-to-person basis,” he said. “It’s still going to require us to be able to communicate effectively to students and give them a reason to care about why the AMS exists.”

Parson said he’s seen a gradual rolling back of alcohol-friendly events on campus, a trend that’s often referred to as the War on Fun. He said that while students might have different priorities these days, the university isn’t doing enough to facilitate on-campus social events.

“There’s definitely frustration from the university on the liquor licensing processing side of things, and it’s something they’re trying to address — from my perspective, not quickly enough,” he said. “You don’t want barriers to be in place to people to be able to put forward social events to allow students to come together and have a good time. That’s so critical for people to have those opportunities outside of the classroom.”

The student life aspect of the job is where Parson wants to make the biggest impact. He hopes that this year will see the creation of a speaker series in the Gallery Lounge and an AMS-sponsored T-Birds supporters group. He hopes to give students a few more things to rally around (not counting construction).

“There’s a lack of attachment to the school, a sense of community amongst students. It’s such a difficult thing for an institution to actively create, [and] I think the AMS could be doing a lot more toward creating that. But … that’s one of the major discrepancies between UBC and other schools.” U —Jonny Wakefield

VP Administration

VP Academic/University Affairs

Caroline Wong

Kiran Mahal

VP External

Kyle Warwick

Wong takes charge over construction of the new SUB

Kiran Mahal does her homework on UBC’s academic policies

Warwick champions transit issues

AMS VP Admin Caroline Wong is not the person she was six months ago.

“I remember walking into the role thinking, I’m the youngest executive, and feeling like I need more experience under my belt,” said Wong. “I’ve really learned a lot and ... I feel a little bit wiser than I was when I first stepped into the office.”

As VP Admin, Wong is in charge of AMS projects like the new Student Union Building (SUB), the AMS Art Gallery, the Shinerama fundraiser and over 350 clubs.

“It’s a huge learning curve when you first start,” she said. “I’m still learning how to manage a team....

It’s very, very exciting to try and understand everyone’s role.”

Wong is the latest to be in charge of the new SUB project since preliminary consultations began in 2007. With the building now under construction, Wong’s role is to plan how the SUB will function and make sure it meets the AMS’s sustainability goals.

Part of her job will be helping students navigate the construction that will follow them through most of their degree. “I want students to still feel [the new SUB] is something that will be theirs in 2014, that they have something to look forward to,” said Wong. “Because I’m sure with that, along with all the other construction going on, it can be quite a depressing scene.”

As chair of the Student Administrative Commission (SAC), Wong also is in charge of the AMS club system, and has been meeting with club presidents over the summer.

“It’s been really interesting to hear their concerns, give them a connection to what the AMS is,” she said. “[We’re] trying to say, ‘These are your resources, these are your funding opportunities.’”

Wong is in her third year of an Arts degree, but she hasn’t yet applied for upper-level standing because her work for the AMS was her top priority. “In the summer I did two classes, and I could barely do that,” she said. “I keep so many hours that school sometimes becomes secondary.... [It’s] quite impulsive and right now, in terms of my academic outlook.

I don’t have a set plan. It’s very thrilling,... but at the same time it’s very scary.”

Her main goal, at the end of the year, is to have made a positive change. “If I can confidently say that I helped this person, I helped this group ... and in the end the results were smiles, that’s all I ask for,” she said. “If I have a bunch of crying people, angry people in the end, I’d think I failed, but hopefully it doesn’t come to that point.” U

Kiran Mahal, AMS VP Academic & University Affairs, has a lot on her plate.

Her office deals with everything from whether high-rise apartments are built on campus to when exam schedules are released.

“Chances are, if you’re wondering about something happening at the university, this office will know about it in some way,” said Mahal.

She’s entering her fifth year of a biochemistry major, and last year, she ran the Science Undergraduate Society.

“I tried to stay away from student government for the first few years, then I got sucked in...and it all just sort of went on from there,” said Mahal.

Many of her projects for the year are research-heavy, such as a recently completed student opinion survey and a handful of reports that she will be presenting to the university for approval. Many of her goals need buy-in from UBC’s top brass, so she hopes to convince them by doing her homework.

Mahal said two projects she’s been working on, an online exam database and mid-term teaching evaluations, will likely be approved within her term in office.

Mahal is pushing the UBC Senate to create a database of old exams that students could access online. She said it will likely be approved before December.

She also wants UBC to release its exam schedules earlier. Usually schedules are posted close to the end of the term, to the chagrin of students hoping to book plane tickets or make holiday plans.

Part of Mahal’s job also includes advocating for student housing. She said UBC needs to make housing cheaper, rather than just focusing on building more of it. She will soon present a report to the university about how to make housing more affordable for students.

Mahal also has the only student seat on the University Neighbourhoods Association (UNA) Board.

There is currently no elected civic government at UBC, and the UNA acts as a de facto town council for the high-priced condo neighbourhoods on campus (but not for student residences).

Mahal’s office is also working to change the way the university addresses student mental health.

“I think that’s one that will create some work for the next [VP Academic],” she said.

Though she remains ambitious, Mahal is tempered by the knowledge that many of her goals require approval from UBC before they can become a reality. “[Projects are] so dependent on what this other group [UBC] says and does that it’s sometimes difficult to know what exactly we can achieve in a year.” U

As AMS VP External, Kyle Warwick is busy lobbying the provincial and federal governments on behalf of UBC students.

From the Arts Undergraduate Society’s VP External to his brief stint as a federal Liberal candidate, Warwick has an extensive history in politics, student and otherwise. His VP External platform had two main planks: reforming student aid and improving transit to campus.

As a student stressed about the price of education himself, he sees the recent loosening of the provincial student loan repayment assistance program as a “positive, small step” which may help some students, but not all.

“I do strongly believe there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done. We’re going to keep pushing with various initiatives this fall. We have a plan that we’re developing to make post-secondary education into a key elections issue,” he said, alluding to the looming provincial election next May. His office is also working with the nascent Where’s The Funding group, a B.C.-wide effort between various student unions that lobbies for increased post-secondary funding.

—Andrew Bates

—Will McDonald

We have a plan that we’re developing to make post-secondary education into a key election issue Kyle Warwick AMS Vice President External

Warwick is hoping to someday get a rapid transit line built along the Broadway corridor. To this end, he’s been working with local businesses, designing information handouts and developing a documentary about the difficulties of commuting on transit.

“We’ve got pretty high density along the Broadway corridor....

Moving away from single-occupancy [cars] is crucial from a greenhouse gas perspective and it’s just way more economically logical in the long run.”

His office also deals with the U-Pass program. With the current U-Pass contract ending, he’s anticipating a small price increase, but he still expects the new agreement to pass in an October referendum.

He’ll continue to be busy over the next six months of his term, but he’s looking forward to continuing the work. “By making the right policy, you can affect a whole swath of people,” he said.

“And policy-making is something I really care a lot about.” U —Ming Wong

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

VP Finance

Tristan Miller Tristan Miller plans to whip AMS finances back into shape Tristan Miller wants to clean up the AMS’s finances.

The sprawling $15-million student society has long been criticized from inside and out for a byzantine structure and bureaucratic inefficiency. But Miller, the AMS’s wiry and coldly efficient VP Finance, has taken it upon himself to clean house.

Now into its second year with a higher student fee that’s indexed to inflation, the AMS is no longer scrambling to make ends meet when its yearly budget is put together every summer.

But Miller is getting the society’s many departments to scramble anyway. For the first time this year, he adopted a zero-based budgeting system, forcing them to justify every expense rather than just take last year’s spending as a baseline.

“It’s been very informal in the

past,” said Miller. “We’re becoming more efficient than we were before, which is good.”

There were lots of areas where I just pulled my hair and said ‘why do we do [finances] this way?’

Tristan Miller AMS Vice President Finance

One of his top concerns since taking office in March has been the AMS’s lack of any kind of long-term financial plan. He explained how the society currently relies on business profits to fund services like AMS Tutoring and Safewalk, and how fluctuating profits can put the service budget in jeopardy. For example,

SUB businesses like the Pit Pub and Blue Chip Cookies took in far less money this summer than the AMS expected, a situation Miller attributes to the heavy construction going on around the SUB. Once that construction is completed and the new SUB is built by 2014, Miller expects business profits to increase, but he’s still wary about the idea of relying on business revenue in the first place. “Businesses are ... not a secure source of revenue,” he said. “Student fees are, and so are investments.”

He will be introducing a “restructure” of the fees students pay to the AMS in the fall, which will, in his view, free up money for new AMS projects and allow the society to invest more of its takings. By no longer routing student fees into a litany of specific accounts with restrictions on how they are spent, he expects funding for student projects to become more nimble.

But relying on other sources of money won’t mean that Miller is leaving the society’s business side behind. He’s also been a key figure in the society’s move to completely overhaul its internal structure, splitting out the business (money-making) side out with a separate board of directors so that the elected AMS Council can focus on the student service (money-spending) side.

Altogether, Miller is confident that his vision for tighter, more efficient AMS finances is coming together. “We’re hoping to just become a leaner, more efficient, better customer service kind of office,” he said. U —Laura Rodgers

| NEWS | 5

AMS/UBC glossary AMS

Senate

The Alma Mater Society is UBC’s student society, with a $15 million budget. They maintain student services, clubs, resource groups and businesses. Their job is to represent the interests of students at UBC. Their services range from health and dental insurance to throwing parties.

The highest authority on UBC’s academic side. They approve new courses and majors, and make rules about exams and teaching evaluations.

COPE 378 The union representing the AMS security staff, who patrol the SUB. The union was formed in September 2011, wants higher wages, and is still in bargaining with the AMS. Both sides have said they’re expecting a full strike at the beginning of this school year.

ROBOCOM The ReOrganization of Business Operations COMmittee. This group has just implemented its plan to overhaul the AMS’s internal structure.

They’ve put businesses (like the Gallery Lounge and Pie R Squared) under a new, separate board of directors, leaving AMS Council to deal with student services.

War on Fun UBC has been pushing to make the campus more habitable for wealthy, older condo-buyers, and this has made things a lot less fun for students.

There’s hardly anywhere to drink on campus, outdoor events are severely restricted, and it’s hugely difficult to get liquor licences for outdoor events.

BoG The Board of Governors is in charge of everything at UBC aside from the academic stuff. Since there’s no municipal government on this campus, this (mostly unelected) board has the final say on things like noise bylaws and what gets built where.

New SUB A $103-million project, this new hub for student activities is being built by the AMS and will open in 2014. It will have a brewery inside it, too.

UNA The University Neighbourhoods Association is an elected group that represents people living in the neighbourhoods on campus (but not students living in rez.) They don’t really get to act as a city council, but they want to.

Place and Promise UBC’s current strategic plan, which lays out the university’s goals. It was first put together in 2010 by UBC President Stephen Toope. Some of its main aims are increasing alumni engagement (i.e. donations), attracting more international students and making UBC more environmentally sustainable.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2012 |

EDITOR C.J. PENTLAND

SOCCER >>

Men’s soccer seeks redemption An abrupt end to 2011 season leaves the T-Birds motivated for 2012

Andrew Bates Managing Editor, Web

For the coach of the UBC men’s soccer team, it all comes down to one bad day.

In the final minute of last year’s Canada West final, the Thunderbirds conceded a goal to the University of Alberta. In a season where they went undefeated for long stretches, losing that game meant missing out on the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) nationals.

According to coach Mike Mosher, the team can’t stomach the loss two years in a row.

“It’s going to come down to performing on any given day,” he said.

“You could win every single game right up to playoffs, and you have one bad day or one bad break, one bad call, and there you go.”

The 14-game regular season starts at Thunderbird Stadium next weekend, with 7 p.m. matches against the University of Calgary on Friday and the University of Lethbridge on Saturday.

The team has cruised through a five-game exhibition schedule with five wins against the NCAA, CIS and Canadian college opposition, including a 3-0 shutout against Oregon’s Concordia University on Saturday. Mosher said the focus is now on the opening games. “We need to prepare our team to win games ... and be as good as we can be,” Mosher said. “It’s a process, weekend by weekend, to play well and build our confidence.”

That process will be marshalled by the team’s three fifth-year players, all taking over captain’s duties from the departing Jason Gill.

Brandon Bonifacio, Marco Visintin and Devin Gunenc will share the armband, a move that originated

DAVID ELOP/THE UBYSSEY

The UBC men’s soccer team kicks off their season on Friday at home against Calgary

from the three-week camp during the summer.

“We only made that decision in the last couple of days,” Mosher said. “We’ve got three guys, and it’s not just because they’re fifth-year guys.

“Each of them offers [something] a little bit different; each of them is a ... different personality off the field, but they’ve all earned it.”

Other returning players that shone during camp include standout defenders Paul Clerc and William Hyde, as well as Navid Mashinchi and Gagandeep Dosanjh up front in attack.

Mosher looks for Dosanjh, who comes off of a summer captaining the Vancouver Whitecaps U-23 Premier Development League (PDL)

SPORTS! follow us at @ubysseysports

team, to raise his game from last year’s disappointing three goals in 14 regular season games.

“I think he has the capabilities of being one of the best players in the country,” Mosher said. “I think he’s motivated by the fact that he didn’t have a particularly great season.”

Mosher has also been impressed by a number of rookie players through preseason, including Tyler Mertens, Brian Fong and Milad Mehrabi. However, the most interesting new recruit is transfer Reynold Stewart, a two-time men’s soccer player of the year in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association, which is a tier lower than CIS. Stewart, a midfielder, has fourth-year eligibility and joins the

Thunderbirds from Douglas College. Alongside Dosanjh, he played in all but one of the Whitecaps PDL games this summer. “We’re expecting good things from Reynold,” Mosher said. “[He’s a] good attacking player.”

Also new for this season are three additional teams in the Canada West conference. According to Mosher, the University of Northern B.C., University of Winnipeg and Mount Royal University are mostly unknown to UBC. Mosher said the biggest side effect of the new entries is the move to an unbalanced schedule.

The teams will be split into two divisions, Prairie and Pacific. UBC will play twice against teams in their own division, but will play teams on the other side of the Rocky Mountains only once. “Everybody wishes that we would still be able to play in a situation where you play everyone home and away,” Mosher said. “But that’s just not realistic, given the time parameters and the cost parameters in place.”

Though the Thunderbirds were dominant last year, they had trouble overcoming final hurdles — much like their 2010 season, when they lost in the national final to York University.

Mosher said the biggest difference this year is a hungry and focused core group. “Not to say that we weren’t last year, but the manner in which we were defeated last year has left a sort of bitter pill.

“We played about 50 games last year and we lost four. These guys are used to winning and getting results.

“Hopefully, this year, when it comes to getting those big games, we are getting it right.” U

6

Women’s soccer looks ahead C.J. Pentland Sports + Rec Editor

Coming off a preseason of playing a variety of teams from around the West Coast, the UBC women’s soccer team is looking to build off a 2011 season that saw them finish third in the Canada West.

The Thunderbirds went 4-2 in the preseason. A 3-0 win against Thompson Rivers University kicked off the year, followed by a 1-0 win against UBC Okanagan and 2-1 win against club team Surrey United. Their fourth win came against Langara College by a score of 5-1.

Thompson Rivers, UBC-O and Langara all play in the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association, the second-tier body for Canadian colleges.

The Thunderbirds aren’t heading into the regular season with much momentum, though, as they lost their final game 5-0 to the University of Victoria, the only Canada West team they played in preseason. Their other defeat came at the hands of Division II Central Washington University.

Aside from the drubbing by Victoria, the T-Birds have proven that their mantra will still be tight defence. Last season saw UBC lead the conference in goals allowed, only allowing an impressive five in 14 games. UBC also led Canada West with 11 shutouts.

Yet the team still scored an average of 2.14 goals per game, meaning that offence is no slouch, either. Janine Frazao led the way by scoring 16 goals, five ahead of the second-place finisher in the conference.

The T-Birds play at home this weekend on September 7 and 8 against Calgary and Lethbridge, respectively. Both games will start at 5 p.m. at Thunderbird Stadium. U

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

| sports + rec | 7

FOOTBALL >>

Thunderbirds stumble in season opener SEASON OF PROMISE

by C.J. PENTLAND

Coming into Saturday’s season opener at home against the University of Manitoba Bisons, the UBC Thunderbirds had many reasons to believe they were sitting pretty.

They were rewarded with a No. 7 ranking in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), making them the second highest ranked team in the Canada West conference. They had won five straight home games dating back to last year. They also had the best player in the country: quarterback Billy Greene, last year’s Hec Creighton trophy winner for CIS MVP. To add to it all, they were facing a team that wasn’t ranked, had just lost their starting quarterback and was missing their star running back to injury. It seemed like a lock for UBC to start the season with a win.

But if the UBC football team didn’t know it already, they know it now; the Canada West schedule provides no guaranteed victories.

Manitoba took a 9-6 lead in the first quarter and never relinquished it, holding off a late UBC comeback and winning by a final score of 31-24.

The effort put forth by UBC on Saturday afternoon during their home opener was by no means a terrible showing. A running back that had little experience heading into the year was able to run freely, helping amass a total of 291 yards on the ground on only 28 carries.

Aside from a few weak series where the Manitoba Bisons’ running backs ran wild, a new defensive corps looked capable of holding their own

just under two minutes left, meaning the ‘Birds would get one last chance to complete the comeback. But the punt was fumbled by the punt returner and the Bisons got the ball back, sealing UBC’s fate.

“We didn’t do enough to win,” said Olson to The Province after the game. “The good thing is there are still seven more games.”

The fixes need to come quick, as Manitoba provides a good forecast of what lies ahead for UBC this year.

No team in the Canada West can be taken lightly, as each team houses enough firepower to compete; just compare the preseason CIS poll and Canada West coaches poll to see how no one can agree on who is best in the conference.

With each team loaded with so much talent and with no favourite heading into each game, the little things will decide the winner. And on Saturday, UBC didn’t do the little things.

But the glimpses of brilliance show hope. The athleticism that the defence showed was impressive, to say the least; the number of huge hits and Matt Walker’s leaping interception exemplified that.

And as for offence, there’s no slowing down Greene and his impressive receiving corps. They will now have a week’s worth of footage from the other teams to use for scouting, and will know what to expect from other defences.

Athleticism and firepower will only go so far. If the Thunderbirds can’t get their players running on all cylinders, it might be a long season — and not because they’re going deep into the playoffs. U <em>

JOSH CURRAN/THE UBYSSEY

UBC had a hard time stopping the run on Saturday, as Manitoba racked up 270 yards on the ground in their 31-24 victory.

against a strong offensive team. And in the fourth quarter, Greene was performing in his trademark fashion, completing 8 of 13 passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns.

But for all those high points, there was a low one to cancel them out. It was a game plagued by costly mistakes, ones that put the game just out of reach.

Despite all the positive gains made by the running backs (most notably Brandon Deschamps and

Lucas Spagnuolo, who combined for 178 yards), the passing game wasn’t able to consistently keep up.

The Manitoba defence was clearly focusing in on the pass, preventing Greene from finding open men down the field and limiting first-team All-Canadian Jordan Grieve to only one catch in the first half. Greene was also sacked three times.

Even when the passing game finally got going in the fourth quarter, it was the defence’s time to

falter. After a touchdown that got the ‘Birds to within six points with seven minutes remaining, Manitoba took advantage of an unnecessary roughness penalty and proceeded to score just over two minutes later to restore the two-possession cushion.

And even when the D stepped up to force a two-and-out after UBC came back again with another touchdown to cut the lead to seven, the special teams didn’t come through.

Manitoba was forced to punt with

</em>

8 | Feature |

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

UBC Admissions Application

Tell us about you

tive The new application for UBC includes several questions that allow prospec and ideas hopes, ces, experien life their about officers ns admissio tell to students aspirations. Here are the questions that the class of 2016 was given.

more Describe up to five activities that you have pursued in one or of the following areas: • leadership/group contributions (e.g., student government, community activity, family responsibility, involvement in Aboriginal culture or community) est, • academic achievements (e.g., research project, success in a cont prize for a high standing) • sports (e.g., team membership, participation in competitions) • creative and performing arts • work experience • service to others aining Tell us more about one of the activities you listed above, expl what your goals were, what you did to pursue them, the results achieved, and what you learned in the process. (maximum 200 words) to Tell us about an experience, in school or out, that caused you on rethink or change your perspective. What impact has this had you? (maximum 200 words) have Explain how you responded to a significant challenge that you 200 encountered and what you learned in the process. (maximum words) the Please included any additional information that you would like ication Admissions Committee to consider when reviewing your appl (maximum 100 words)

UBC’s broad-based generation In an effort to engage its student body, UBC has turned away from grades as the sole benchmark for undergraduate applicants.

by Natalya Kautz

T

his September, UBC welcomes an undergraduate class like none before. What sets this group apart isn’t where they come from or even their high school grades. For the first time at UBC, all incoming undergraduates were asked to prove themselves outside of the classroom.

Starting with the 2012 applicants, UBC introduced the new broad-based admissions process. In addition to high school grades, applicants were required to submit supplemental material describing experiences outside of their academics.

By assigning value to the extracurricular lives of students, UBC hopes to elicit more “engagement” from the student body.

“Hopefully, in the long run, we get students who are more likely to be engaged on campus,” said Andrew Arida, UBC’s director of undergraduate admissions. Arida oversaw the university’s switch to broad-based admissions.

“What we’re doing is attracting and enrolling students who are more likely to not just do those activities, but take away something

meaningful from those activities and then use that to contribute to their community,” he said.

At least one student felt the new process benefited their application. First-year Arts student and Seattle native Nirel Marofsky was a member of her high school’s debate and swim team.

“My GPA was not extraordinary, my SAT score, I think, was pretty solid, but I really do think it was what I chose to do with my time outside of school that was a factor in admitting me to this school,” she said.

“A student with an average of 83 per cent in previous years wouldn’t have even been considered,” said Arida. “This year, they would have been considered, but they would need a strong personal profile to offset the fact that their grades were on the lower end.”

Each faculty sets a minimum grade required for consideration, ranging from 70 per cent for Forestry to 86 per cent for Science.

Though still academically rigorous, these minimums fall far below the 88, 89 or even low 90s average previously required for admission.

In her short time at UBC,

Marofsky has become involved in the First-Year Blog Squad.

Compared to other university applications, she called the short personal responses required by UBC “unique.”

“I think they got a more comprehensive understanding of who I am as an individual,” she said.

Arida explained that high numbers of applicants, competition and grade inflation pushed the university to look for alternative ways of measuring an applicant’s preparedness.

“There really isn’t a difference between an 88 per cent student and 87 per cent student, so instead of making the difference of whether or not the student gets in on one percentage point, let’s make it on things that they do outside of the classroom,” he said.

A series of short essay questions, ranging from 50 to 200 words each, allow students to demonstrate their community leadership, sports involvement, artistic experiences and volunteer or work experience. These essays are then marked by at least two trained readers.

Applicants can also submit a list

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

and test scores only accounted for not even half … of what contributed to a student’s success [in university],” said Vawter.

The factors that made up the other half were dubbed “non-cognitive variables.” Through research, the university developed a series of supplemental questions to specifically target non-cognitive variables like leadership, talent, overcoming adversity, community service and goal-setting.

Vawter felt the insight gained from the targeted short questions is more substantial than general essays.

“We’ve had instances where they revealed that they committed a felony, or that they were a victim of a crime or of abuse. We’ve had students be very candid about their own adversity and discrimination that they’ve faced, I think moreso than in a traditional essay,” he said.

Marofsky, who also applied to several U.S. universities, backed up the research.

“The people who read my [UBC] application got to know me better as a person than those who reviewed my application for other schools, where they really just looked at GPA, SATs and one standard essay.”

OSU currently experiences an above-average retention rate and enrolls a higher percentage of minority groups among its undergraduate students, which Vawter attributed to the success of broad-based admissions.

“It’s an emerging thing among public undergraduate institutions.”

•••

of their activities and accomplishments. However, Arida pointed out that that admissions is not simply looking for a laundry list of activities.

“Anybody can volunteer, anyone can put in the time to volunteer, but the question is, what are you getting out of it?”

Arida was quick to stress that grades are still the first cut-off point for admissions. He said that he felt broad-based admissions won’t revolutionize applicants’ prospects.

“This isn’t a substitution for grades. Grades still play an incredibly important role in the admissions process. If your grades are not strong, you’d need to have an unbelievably good personal profile to mitigate weak grades.”

their own ways, but in much smaller numbers,” said Blake Vawter, associate director of admissions at Oregon State University (OSU), where broad-based admissions have been in place since 2004.

I don’t want to put down nerds, but lots of employers would say, ‘People may get a 98 per cent average, but they can’t communicate and they just don’t do very well in business. ‘ Brian Bemmels Senior associate dean of academic programs at Sauder

••• With these changes to the admissions process, UBC joins a growing trend in higher learning.

“The idea of holistic [admissions] has been around for quite a while in modern admissions.

Private schools in many ways utilize holistic admissions policies in

Vawter explained that as a large public institution, OSU was a pioneer for introducing comprehensive admission policies.

In the early 2000s, OSU conducted research to identify factors that contribute to student success.

“We found that high school GPA

So how will broad-based admissions affect UBC’s future?

A good case study can be found at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. Often seen as a school within a school, the institution has used broad-based admissions since 2004.

“Being a professional school, we have to pay a lot of attention to the employers of our graduates,” said Brian Bemmels, the senior associate dean of academic programs at Sauder.

He recalled the motivation for changing the school’s admissions system.

“I don’t want to put down nerds, but lot of employers would say, ‘People may get a 98 per cent average, but they can’t communicate and they just don’t do very well in business.’

They felt that without broadbased admissions, we had too many of those people coming into the program.”

In response to the negative feedback, Sauder looked for an alternative admissions process.

Drawing on the research at OSU, the business school introduced their supplementary application for the class of 2004.

At that time, the concept of holistic admissions elicited mixed reactions at UBC. “Some other people around campus thought it was a bad idea, like, ‘Why would you want to admit on anything other than grades?’” said Bemmels.

Thanks to the direct employer feedback, Sauder was able to engineer the short application essays to target business values that alumni lacked. The average entrance grade required for admission decreased from 92 per cent to 88 per cent.

“We noticed a difference in the students, that they were much more engaged in the classroom, they’re much more willing and adept at getting involved in team projects,” said Bemmels. Participation in Sauder’s

student government, the Commerce Undergraduate Society, is now at an all-time high, with roughly a quarter of business students involved.

Bemmels also observed academic changes following the introduction of broad-based admissions. Averages in quantitative courses, like accounting or statistics, decreased, while grades in courses like marketing or organizational behaviour went up.

“People who were perhaps not so strong quantitatively were getting in because they had a good broad-based score. And the people who had good broad-based scores were doing well in non-quantitative courses,” said Bemmels.

By 2009, when the first class admitted under broad-based admissions was seeking employment, Bemmels felt at least some results were tangible.

“We heard back from some recruiters. Some said they didn’t notice a huge difference, but some said they did, that they thought that bunch was better.”

••• Despite initial misgivings, recent years have seen several other UBC faculties following Sauder’s example.

The idea is not that ... you come from a background where you’ve got the opportunity to do a lot of different things.

I can think of an applicant that I read who did a great job reflecting on what they’ve learned from a part-time job at the mall.

Andrew Arida UBC’s director of undergraduate admissions

For the past several years, the faculties of Arts, Science, Applied Science and Forestry have given applicants the option of filling out personal profile questions if they felt their grades were close to the cut-off. In 2011, the School of Kinesiology introduced broad-based admissions for all applicants. That year, 25 per cent of UBC undergraduates were admitted using some type of broad-based application.

But unlike Sauder’s experiences, the mean admissions average did not change after the introduction of broad-based admissions to all undergraduates.

In January, Globe and Mail writer Gary Mason questioned whether demographics or ethnic populatons could be controlled through broad-based admissions — a prospect that UBC administration firmly denied.

Perhaps surprisingly, the average remained stable at 89 per cent between 2011 and 2012.

Arida attributed this to the recent expansion of high school courses that can be applied to B.C. students’ averages. He suggested that the inclusion of low-

| Feature | 9

er-threshold high school courses might be raising students’ grades.

The introduction of the personal profile application brings a new level of subjectivity to the admissions process, as academic performance gives way to qualities of engagement and leadership.

“We have to get comfortable with the fact that there is some subjectivity; it’s no longer an empirical, black-and-white process. Grades are great: 87, you’re in, 86, you’re out. It’s very black-and-white, it’s very clear to communicate, it’s very clear to understand,” noted Arida.

This new degree of subjective control over admissions has some people raising questions.

In January, Globe and Mail writer Gary Mason questioned whether demographics or ethnic populations could be controlled through broad-based admissions — a prospect that UBC administration firmly denied.

But even without deliberate manipulation, the new application may favour certain sections of society. When applicants come from low-income families, equal access to extracurricular activities is not assured.

Marofsky felt the subjectivity has its benefits.

“It makes students feel like not just a number. I’m not just being represented by the empirics, like my GPA and test scores. They’re evaluating me like a real person more than the school that just looks at numbers.”

However, she agreed representation was not equal. “Some people look better on paper.”

Arida argued the admission process leaves room for all applicants to succeed.

“The idea is not that … you come from a background where you’ve got the opportunity to do a lot different things. I can think of an applicant that I read who did a great job reflecting on what they’ve learned from a part-time job at the mall.”

By any measure, judging the effectiveness of the new system will be difficult. Almost a decade after its introduction at Sauder, Bemmels felt there was still room for improvement in the school admissions policies.

“Even now, the main feedback we get from employers is that they want people with better communication skills.... So it’s not that we have the perfect model,” he said.

Arida agreed that there are some limitations.

“We’re a large institution. You can modify the incoming class to some extent, but I don’t think you can completely re-engineer it the way you could if we only took in 200 students every year,” he said.

But with plans to introduce broad-based admissions to UBC Okanagan for 2013, Arida felt tracking the quantitative effects of the process was important.

“We certainly want to know what the change was. Did we alter 20 per cent of the class, 40 per cent of the class?”

Though surveying the class of 2016 about their undergrad experience in four years may shed some light, judging the effects of broad-based admissions can be as subjective as the process itself.

Arida said he thought that substantial changes would not be felt for some time.

“The true test is going to be in two or three years’ time, when we see what this incoming class has done,” he said.

“I don’t think we’re going to see radical changes in one year.

It’s about changing the overall campus population.” U <em>

em>

</

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2012 |

EDITOR ANNA ZORIA

10

EXPLORE >>

Shelving the UBC Bookstore

Discover the hidden gems of Vancouver’s alternative bookstore scene Arno Rosenfeld Contributor

the flagship store on Main Street, but it’s very accessible (the #99 bus stop is right in front) and well worth checking out for an affordable book or three.

When faced with the task of buying books for their freshly picked courses, most students will head to the over-crowded, below-ground cave known as the UBC Bookstore.

True to its purpose, the Bookstore can seem like the only game in town, especially when you’re looking to fork over hundreds of dollars for obscure textbooks. But when you’re not searching for the $655 Biostatistical Genetics & Genetic Epidemiology or the $570 Advanced Semiconductor & Organic Nano-Techniques, many independent bookstores in Vancouver offer lighter reading at more reasonable prices.

These community bookstores don’t sell Thunderbird apparel or U-Passes, but they do have charm, personality and a wider selection of truly readable books that you won’t want to re-sell next September.

Book Warehouse 632 West Broadway A longtime favourite of Vancouver book lovers, this store sells books at unreal bargain prices. The four locations were poised to disappear from the city last year until a last-minute purchase of the West Broadway store by Black Bond Books. With neatly organized literature that spans fictions classics coffee table books and more, chances are you’ll find something you like.

<em>

</em><em>

Brigid’s Books 2932 West Broadway Tucked under a bright green awning on West Broadway, Brigid’s is the quintessential neighbourhood used bookstore, from the shelves of Nancy Drew in the back to the artsy greeting cards up front. Although it’s smaller than some other bookstores on this list, Brigid’s is an excellent place to browse books along Broadway.

MacLeod’s Books 455 West Pender Street

yara dejong/THE UBYSSEY

Banyen Books & Sound is one of the many bookstores in Vancouver that provides a unique collection and soothing ambiance.

Banyen Books & Sound 3608 West 4th Avenue Located on the corner of West 4th and Dunbar, Banyen Books & Sound sports a large, well-curated selection of books on everything from conspiracy theories to juicing diets and Buddhism. The spacious store, which also sells First Nations drums, CDs, crystals, meditation

supplies and Gandhi bumper stickers, is a great resource for topics under the “spirituality” umbrella.

Some titles (The Rogue Rabbi) and entire sections (“conscious evolution and planetary culture”) veer toward the eccentric, but well-established writers, both popular and academic, also find a home on Banyen’s shelves.

Pulpfiction Books 2422 Main Street Down Broadway from Brigid’s is one of Pulpfiction’s three Vancouver locations. True to its name, Pulpfiction boasts shelves lined with paperback mysteries and thrillers, along with a bit of literature and non-fiction. The Broadway location may have a smaller selection than

For those willing to trek downtown, MacLeod’s is a used book mecca, referred to in a MacLean’s headline last year as “the last great bookshop.” When you enter the store, you’re greeted by stacks and stacks piled on rows and rows of books.

Many of the stacks limit potential readers to just the top few titles, lest the whole heap tumble and start a game of literary dominoes.

But despite (or perhaps due to) the organized chaos, MacLeod’s is the perfect place to spend hours browsing titles from fiction to non-fiction, antique to near-new. U

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

HEALTH >>

TECHNOLOGY >>

Software bridges music and technology

UBC prof updates NoteAbility Pro for iPad

Sleep-deprived students in for a rude awakening Ludmila Andréa Contributor

Chloe Williams Contributor

Dr. Keith Hamel’s office is dotted with computer screens. In the corner stands a piano, black and reflective. As the creator of the NoteAbility Pro music notation software, a program for Macintosh computers that allows users to create scores as well as interactive computer music, the UBC professor represents the bridge between music and technology.

The interactive software synchronizes and mixes live performances with electronic effects. As an example, Hamel turns to one of his cluttered screens and clicks a button. Out come the fluttering sounds of a simulated piano, overlaid with electronic echoes. He explains that during a live performance, the player’s sound is picked up by a microphone and coordinated with the score; essentially, the score follows the live performance. Orchestrated, computer-generated effects are then triggered in turn. “At different times, different kinds of processing and electronic effects will happen,” says Hamel.

Hamel has been working on this software for nearly 30 years, since the first Macintosh computers came out. He wanted to create an easier, electronic alternative to writing music notation by hand that would still allow for the creation of

| CULTURE | 11

Eight hours of sleep per night is a rare phenomenon for most students, but getting that shut-eye can do wonders — not only for your health, but for your academic performance, too. After all, stellar marks are not easy to achieve when you’re constantly short-changed in the rest department. Thankfully, a good night’s sleep is not as elusive as it may seem. Here are some tips to get you snoozin’ right this school year!

Don’t mix business with pleasure

Kai Jacobson/THE UBYSSEY

Dr. Hamel has been fine-tuning the NoteAbility Pro software for nearly 30 years.

diverse and complex scores. All the while, he has been updating the software to newer operating systems and adding new facilities based on user requests. “The program grows as it goes through a collective consciousness, really,” says Hamel. “As people need new things, I just add them.” In recent years, he has included Chinese music and dulcimer notation components.

Hamel is now working on turning the software into an iPad application. According to Hamel, the iPad version would be useful, as iPads are portable, high-reso-

lution and easy to fit onto a music stand. However, the program is complex, which makes it difficult to turn into a user-friendly app.

“There’s a lot of issues with the whole positioning of the piece of software that we have to figure out. iPad applications are generally simple, pared-down applications.… People don’t really want to get an iPad app and then spend a day reading a manual on how to run it.”

Hamel hopes to work through these problems and have the app ready by December 2012. U

According to the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, engaging in stressful activities in bed (such as cramming for exams) can make it more difficult to fall asleep. Stress, whether psychological or physical, can cause your body to secrete cortisol, which increases alertness. Also, your mind might begin to associate your bed with negative thoughts and feelings.

So make sure to keep your bed stress-free by writing those essays far away.

Boring bedtimes aren’t so bad

As monotonous as it sounds, going to sleep and waking up around the same time every day will help you get to sleep faster. This may seem impossible, since weekend partying leads to much later nights than weekdays, but Dr. Jonathan Fleming from UBC Hospital’s Sleep Disor-

ders Program suggests that the best way to “strengthen a brittle sleep system is to ensure a regular bedtime and a regular rising time, seven days a week.” So do your best to pick a time and stick with it.

Computer curfew

It’s important to make sure you don’t watch TV or stare at your computer screen too soon before your intended bedtime. Some experts recommend adopting an “electronic curfew,” ideally one hour before bed.

Light exposure too close to bedtime can negatively affect your body’s sleep rhythms and prevent it from releasing melatonin. If a one-hour curfew seems unrealistic, try dimming your screen. There are also applications available for laptops, such as Flux, that automatically reduce the blue light from your screen once the sun sets.

Beware of naptime

When you’re sleep-deprived, a nice, long nap might seem like the perfect remedy. But according to Fleming, they’re not the best idea. “Napping should generally be avoided. If for safety reasons a nap is required, then it should be limited to 20 minutes and be timed.” Napping for longer than half an hour can actually cause an overall loss of wakefulness, productivity and learning ability. So if you find yourself in desperate need of a nap, do yourself a favour and make sure it’s a quick one. U

12 | games |

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Jigsaw Sudoku

Crossword Across

PUZZLE/KRAZYDAD.COM

Fill in the blank squares so that each row, each column, and each jigsaw shape contains all of the digits 1 through 9.

Games page too easy?

Get in touch, and you could be our games page coordinator!

• Make puzzles • Learn layout • Draw comics

JEFF ASCHKINASI | PRINTEDITOR@UBYSSEY.CA

Write.

Shoot.

Edit.

Code.

Drink.

VOLUNTEER FOR THE UBYSSEY VISIT US IN SUB 24

1- Snares 6- Extreme reverence 10- Air bubble 14- Actress Anouk 15- ___ majeste 16- Top-notch 17- Dens 18- Ancient Athens’s Temple of ___ 19- Ripped 20- Mil. officers 21- An organization 24- Veil worn by Muslim women 26- Exclusively 27- ___ Lingus 28- ___ nous 30- Reason to cancel school 33- Painter, e.g.

35- DDE opponent 38- Sri ___ 40- Bran source 41- Sufficient 43- Verily 44- Exam taker 47- East of Eden brother 48- Follows orders 49- Common ID 51- Asian deer 54- Artist 58- Esteemed 61- ___ Dawn Chong 62- Nerve network 63- “The Time Machine” race 64- Jewelled crown worn by women 66- Breezes through 67- Juniors, perhaps 68- Senior 69- Sailors 70- Affectedly dainty 71- Orchestra section

Down 1- Reckoning 2- Gaucho’s rope 3- Not quite right 4- For each 5- Opening word 6- Bottle 7- Architect Saarinen 8- Just ___!

CROSSWORD PUZZLES PROVIDED BY BESTCROSSWORDS.COM. USED WITH PERMISSION.

9- Withstands 10- Conflict 11- Sarge’s superior 12- Sign up 13- Amphetamine tablet 22- Franklin D.’s mother 23- Large artery 25- Bird of prey 28- Les ___-Unis 29- Evening, informally 30- Wily 31- Not for a Scot 32- ___ roll 34- Optimistic 35- Spring mo.

36- “Hold On Tight” band 37- D.C. VIP 39- Ready to hit 42- Jazz flutist Herbie

45- Most strange 46- Biblical birthright seller 48- Haunt 50- Female sibling 51- Herring type 52- Betel palm 53- Unit just above a yard 54- Composure 55- Commerce 56- Having auricular protuberances 57- Brings up 59- Incandescence 60- Actress Skye 65- Land in la mer

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2012 |

STUDENT VOICE. COMMUNITY REACH.

THE LAST WORD

by Jonny Wakefield

ILLUSTRATION INDIANA JOEL/THE UBYSSEY

Welcome to the class of 2016!

This generation of students is pretty unique, both in who you are and what you’ll experience.

For one, you’re the first UBC cohort chosen entirely through broad-based admissions. Which, at best, means that you’re more interesting, have a wider range of skills and are better equipped to tear up this campus and make it your own. At worst, it means that you’re part of a massive and potentially futile social experiment designed to combat the force of grade inflation by any means necessary.

If anything, you can look upon one another and be confident that you aren’t here just because of your skill at relentless grade-grinding, but because you possess whatever sort of secret sauce UBC decided was important this year.

You’ll get to contend with a horribly ugly, torn-up maze of a campus for far longer than any sane person would tolerate. Someday in the distant future, all of this construction might finally finish and all that is currently torn up might look perfect and pristine. But by then UBC will probably have decided to tear down and rebuild the other half of its buildings anyway, so don’t expect any reprieve. Let’s hope one of those broad-based skills you were admitted with was fence-climbing.

You’ll also get to witness, and possibly influence, both a provincial and federal election before you graduate. The fast-imploding B.C. Liberal Party will make next spring’s provincial election fascinating, and there are likely to be some serious changes in post-secondary education policy. And the next federal election, scheduled for 2015, will be taking place against a party landscape vastly different from any this country’s seen in a long while.

Hope you’re up to the challenge!

Good luck.

Students learning early on that construction is not for them To have nice things, you have to build them first. We get it.

But this is getting a little ridiculous. The Knoll is now a giant pit that will one day become the new SUB. With Imagine Day three days away, the university’s signature glamour corridor, Main Mall, is still covered in fences, as is University Boulevard, in an attempt to make it look nicer. It takes 30 minutes to cross the campus. The Aquatic Centre, MacInnes Field, and interior of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre will be under construction within 12 months.

This, of course, is not surprising

to anyone who’s set foot on campus. But it represents a fundamental failure on the part of UBC to provide useful infrastructure for the students currently attending the university.

For these students, travel time across campus has doubled, accessibility for disabled students is a nightmare, and the library will be under construction during exams. It’s not like there is a future time when these projects will end and there will be no construction; it will keep going, forever, and there’s no sign UBC thinks there is a limit to the disruption that can exist at any given time.

The vistas that everyone, especially first-year students, were sold in the brochures simply don’t exist any more. And UBC has done nothing meaningful to deal with that.

AMS art on display is a good first step Last January, the AMS sought permission from students to sell several valuable paintings from its permanent art collection. Most were surprised to hear that the AMS has a vault filled with paintings, and decided that, hey, maybe they could use the money. The referendum passed, but the AMS has since decided to hold onto the paintings.

The AMS reasoned that they didn’t have the facilities to store such paintings; some are from artists like John Paul Lemieux and the Group of Seven, and some have sold at auction for more than $1 million. But now these reluctant art patrons are doing what you’re theoretically supposed to do with paintings: hang them on a wall where people can look at them.

The paintings will be on display from September 4 from 6–9 p.m. in the AMS Art Gallery.

As the AMS predicted, holding onto the art is going to cost them.

Council just approved $20,000 towards new security measures for the paintings. But that kind of expenditure is small compared to the value of the paintings. And it’s probably better to make this investment now, before the paintings are again forgotten in the vault, than to attempt another cash grab. Sure, the money would have gone towards an art endowment, but it’s worth wondering whether this money would end up in just another underused slush fund.

A gallery show is a good place to start. Once students are aware of the quality of the paintings in the student union’s possession, the AMS will probably be glad they didn’t put such an asset on the auction block.

UBC’s hope for the class of 2016? Don’t be boring EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

If This will be my finest work! ll Ma in Ma up r tea ld cou I ly on e... one more tim

UBC Bookstore is only interested in one thing We’re not the biggest fans of the UBC Bookstore. Our guess is that you’re not a fan either if you just had to forgo food/booze/clothes in favour of buying expensive textbooks.

Hell, it’s hard to find anyone who can really get behind UBC’s retail store. Last year, we wrote an investigative piece detailing how UBC Bookstore buyers were in the habit of cutting off suppliers who also sold to the Outpost, the AMS’s comparatively tiny retail outlet. Relations there have yet to thaw. Faculty think they’re overly commercialized, and torpedoed an attempt last summer to rechristen the store as UBC Central.

So why is a university bookstore so hell-bent on profit, even at the expense of student groups and public relations? Well, that’s all the university wants from them.

As an ancilliary body of the university, the Bookstore — like UBC Parking, Athletics and Housing — is required to pay profits back to the university.

This must happen, even if it forces the department into a budget deficit.

People have long questioned the profit-driven motivation of UBC’s ancillary bodies. For example, why did UBC Parking recently ding a fraternity using one of its parking lots for a charity ball hockey tournament (a whopping $714, which was later deferred after bad press)?

Because it prevented them from making money! And why in 2009 did UBC Athletics proceed with a series of poorly planned concerts at Thunderbird Arena that have prevented them from getting a liquor licence since? Same reason.

As former RCMP Staff Sergeant Kevin Kenna said in response to a Killers show that got totally out of hand, “Profit is the main objective rather than ensuring that community interests are taken into consideration and looked after now and in the future.”

To be fair, UBC has to get creative about where it gets its money, and the Bookstore has been shaking in its boots in the face of declining revenue across the board (hence the proliferation of items that aren’t books, like those lovely “My kid and my money go to UBC” shirts). But the actions of UBC ancillaries are consistently a source of ill will within the university community. Students who just ran their credit cards at the Bookstore are learning this lesson early on. U

14

Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that UBC is a boring school that produces boring graduates.

This isn’t to put a damper on your Imagine Day spirits, and I’d probably be laughed at if I said as much to anyone in the over 8,000-strong class of 2016.

But talk to any recent grads, and they’ll probably tell you that outside of September, the campus is more or less socially dead. The kind of excitement that’s supposed to make university some of the best years in your life seems conspicuously absent.

What happened? During the first few weeks on campus, UBC administrators, profs and student leaders extol the virtues of “getting involved.” But come midterm season, it’s almost impossible to miss the university-wide change in priority: grades. After all, they’re what we’ve been told matters from even before we were admitted.

But earlier this year, UBC took a big step towards changing that.

The class of 2016, as we’ve mentioned numerous times throughout this issue, is the first to be admitted under a broad-based system. Instead of being judged solely on grades, prospective students were given the chance to expand on their life stories in a series of short

essay questions. How much these mini-essays matter varies by faculty, but the message is clear: UBC wants students to take off the blinders.

The university’s high admission average has been a bit of a lightning rod. Despite its claims that it’s admitting the best students in the world, employers regularly complain that university graduates, across the board, lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. And when a columnist in Canada’s newspaper of record describes your student population as “uni-dimensional” and “dominated by brainiacs void of any curiosity about all that university life can be,” you know you’ve got a problem.

Make no mistake: as changes go at UBC, this is huge.

UBC President Stephen Toope dedicated his space in the Alma Mater Society (AMS) agenda to talk about the shift, and how this will make UBC an even better top-40 sustainable Place of Mind buzzword.

So to the class of 2016: know that the university actually expects quite a bit from you. They expect you to inject life into class discussions, to be active in the community, to take on leadership roles. And if that makes the university look more appealing in the rankings, well, that’s a happy side effect for the administration.

So welcome to UBC, folks.

Let’s try to liven this place up a bit, shall we? U

A university needs academic risk-takers KATICHISMS

by Gordon Katic I have one piece of advice for incoming students: take risks. I don’t mean this as the sort of platitude you hear from high school advisors, career councillors or motivational speakers. I mean it in a very real sense: put yourself in a place where you are academically, politically and personally vulnerable.

In the classroom, you might think to take the easy way out. Why challenge authority — that’s difficult — when you could just relegate yourself to the role of stenographer, regurgitating the professor’s opinion back at them? This will surely trouble you if you have any intellectual integrity, but the temptation is oh-so-strong when you see your uninspired peers, as critical as Care Bears, receiving high grades for the most insipid work.

It’s easier, isn’t it? You’re forced to be pragmatic: you have scholarships, graduate programs and reference letters in mind. You are here to achieve your career goals, not exhaust yourself by swimming up the stream of established opinion. Nevertheless, you have these nagging thoughts: “This doesn’t seem right to me, I should say something ...”

But you are afraid. You are afraid of offending, afraid of annoying, and, most of all, afraid of being wrong, afraid of being ashamed. So you underline the passages deemed “important,” rephrase them, hand in your work, and the grading begins.

Later, the teaching assistant, over beer with other teaching assistants, says things like, “From day one he was sucking up to me, that shill. He gave me the most morally

underdeveloped trash. Read this!

These kids are stupid, man. Future leaders? We’re in trouble.”

The professor (more aptly titled “researcher,” because they long since stopped caring about teaching, around the same time students stopped caring about learning) looks over the paper and is utterly bored, as it’s nearly identical to the other hundred. “Good enough,” they think, “I’ll just add six or seven words to make it seem like I read it all; ‘interesting,’ ‘expand,’ ‘this needs work,’ ‘good,’ ‘A-.’”

There is another option, though.

A few years ago, a dear friend of mine was in a class he characterized “a semester-long fight between the professor and I.” He criticized the entire course for being politically motivated and wrong-headed. But in the end, this dissenter not only received top marks, but the utmost respect from the professor. The following semester, the professor confided to him that he was bored with his new class because nobody would ever challenge him. The professor invited my friend to speak to the new class.

And so he did. At the front of the room, my friend criticized the course material and urged the class to do the same. The professor invited this, adding that only through critically engaging with the material do we learn, enjoy our studies and move knowledge forward.

Today, the pragmatic path may seem like the path to success. But tomorrow, having stunted your critical and creative capacities, you become just another boring middle-management cog: dispensable, exploitable, expendable and forgotten. The real risk is not the risk of being wrong, but the risk of being worthless. U

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2012 |

YOUR UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE, CONDENSED

15

Welcome to university, kiddo HUMOUR >>

Your source for serious advice on life, academics and everything in between WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

B

with Dr. Bryce Warnes

eing a university student can be super hard! Your professors always want you to read stuff, you probably don’t have much money, getting people to have sex with you is really complicated, and in a few years, you will enter the job market, where you will struggle every day to afford the consumer goods and status symbols you need to feel good about who you are.

I’m here to make university easier for you. You can ask me any question anonymously, and I will answer it here in this column.

What makes me qualified to tell you how to live your life? For starters, people often come to me with questions such as “How do I know this boy likes me?” and “Can you hold onto this package until the investigation is over?”

Also, I’m like 40 years old and still doing my bachelor’s degree.

Not only has giving advice to everyone I meet slowed down my academic process, but each passing year has added another layer of wisdom-varnish to my already-wise soul.

Finally, I am an ordained doctor of the Universal Life Church*. And you should always do what your doctor tells you.

We’ll get things rolling this week

weed every day. People do it. It’s not impossible.

Now for the old “can vs. should” debate. You’ll meet plenty of students at UBC who smoke casually – at parties or concerts, for instance.

But it’s a certain set who maintain a nightly status quo of blaze-andwatch-Adventure-Time , and once you’ve fallen in with that clique, you may have trouble getting out.

This is university. You’re supposed to experiment. Quit smoking for a while and go to some stupid beer gardens and faculty parties.

If you’re underage, guzzle some hardbar in your neighbour’s dorm and go do something nasty to the Engineering Cairn. You have my permission.

Or stay entirely sober, and try out the company of people who get their highs in other ways.

Put down the pipe for a while.

You’ll save cash. You’ll have an easier time getting outside of your social comfort zone. And it will decrease your tolerance, so that when you smoke again, it will be way, way better. U <em>

Dr. Bryce is semi-qualified to provide you with valuable life advice.

with a couple of questions from new students at UBC. I’m a new student at UBC this year and am looking for some personal advice. I know that it is important to meet people, but I worry I’ll have trouble doing this. I’m very quiet and often find it difficult to initiate conversations. Can you give me some advice on how to make friends on campus?

—New Kid Dear New Kid, I guarantee that every first-year

student you meet feels almost as awkward and desperate for friendship as you do. You can make lots of new acquaintances during frosh activities. If you’re socially awkward by default, stick to a formula.

“Hey, what’s up. I’m New Kid.” After they tell you their name, be like, “Rad, where are you from, name?” Then, “What’s it like where you’re from, name?” Keep asking basic, non-intrusive questions. Pretend you care about the answers.

Whether they know it or not, most people’s ideal conversation is a monologue. Indulge them.

KAI JACOBSON/THE UBYSSEY

Before long, you’ll be recognized as a stand-up dude/lady and winning conversationalist.

I was a huge stoner in high school, but I always managed to get by with good grades. Everybody says university is a lot more work, though.

How can I do well in all my classes but maintain my lifestyle?

—Still Blazing

Don’t know what you should do? Dr. Bryce does! Email advice@ubyssey. ca for a chance at having your personal problems solved. All submissions are entirely anonymous. <strong>

</strong>

Dear Still Blazing, With a modicum of self-discipline, you can make it through your entire undergrad while smoking

*

Editor’s note: No, he’s not.