RENCH FRIES FUEL THE FUTURE ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWAR tagazine of The University of Br i B Publications Mail Agreement # 40063528 The University of British Columbia Alumni Association A nft * m A, ' ■ ^1 1 _ ^ ■ 1 M 1 .^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^= $1 Documentl ; |S§ 'i Ei 3i 4i B &■' 11111 i 2 Trek Fall 2004 Cover photograph: Getty Images 3 Novel Ideas Earle Birney's shelter for "the creative student naked in academia" has produced some heavy hitters. By John Vigna 16 A Forest Path - A Short Story Was Malcolm Lowry's vision in the forest a hissing cougar or an apparition of lust and desire? By Bill Gaston 4 The Ropes That Bind The UBC Ropes Course puts the group experience in perspective. By Chris Petty 5 French Fries Fuel the Future UBC's biodiesel project takes the french fry and makes it an environmental saviour. Sort of. By Katie Eliot 1 2004 Alumni Achievement Awards Eight high achievers honoured at this year's Alumni Achievement Dinner. = ALL 2 004 The Magazine of the University of British Columbia Editor Christopher Petty, mfa'86 Designer Chris Dahl Assistant Editor Vanessa Clarke Board of Directors Chair Jane Hungerford, BED'67 Vice-Chair Martin Ertl, BSc'93 Treasurer David Elliott, BCOM'69 Members at Large '04 - '07 Don Dalik, LLB'76 Ron Walsh, BA'70 Bernie Simpson, BA'64, BSW'65, llb'68 ('04 - '05) Members at Large '03 - '05 Raquel Hirsch, ba'8o, MBA'83 Mark Mawhinney, BA'94 Doug Robinson, BCOM'71, LLB'72 Appointments to the Board '04 - '05 Tammie Mark, bcom'88 Marko Dekovic, ba'oi Darlene Dean, BCOM'75, MBA'85 University Representatives '04 - '05 Richard Johnston, BA'70 Jim Rogers, BA'65 Amina Rai, AMS President Executive Director Leslie Konantz Trek Editorial Committee Vanessa Clarke Scott Macrae, BA'71 Chris Dahl Christopher Petty Sid Katz Herbert Rosengarten Trek (formerly the UBC Alumni Chronicle) is published three times a year by the UBC Alumni Association and distributed free of charge to UBC alumni and friends. Opinions expressed in the magazine do not necessarily reflect the views of the Alumni Association or the university. Address correspondence to: Christopher Petty, Editor UBC Alumni Association, 6251 Cecil Green Park Road, Vancouver, BC, Canada v6T 1Z1 e-mail to cpetty©alumni.ubc.ca Letters will be published at the editor's discretion and may be edited for space. For advertising rates contact 604-822-8914. Contact Numbers at UBC Address Changes 604-822-8921 e-mail aluminfo@alumni.ubc.ca A Forest Path "Mom, for instance, wanted to be a mad poet. At the start, she was neither, and by the end she was only mad." Alumni Association Trek Editor UBC Info Line Belkin Gallery Bookstore Chan Centre Frederic Wood Theatre Museum of Anthropology Volume 59, Number 2 I Printed in Canada by Mitchell Press Canadian Publications Mail Agreement # 40063528 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Records Department 6251 Cecil Green Park Road Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 604-822-3313 toll free 800-883-3088 604-822-8914 604-822-4636 604-822-2759 604-822-2665 604-822-2697 604-822-2678 604-822-5087 Fall 2004 Trek 3 This summer in Vancouver was spectacular. We had the kind of weather that makes you forget we live in a rain forest, and makes you think it never really rained that much, anyway. The rest of Canada had monsoons or frost or some part of all the plagues of Egypt, while here on the coast, we thought California had finally arrived. Well, it's gone now. Since late August the rains have come back as if they never left. Those brown patches of grass on the meridian of Main Mall up from the Flagpole Plaza are now gaily green, and the weeds that grew, impossibly, out of the cracks on the sidewalk outside the Buchanan Building are once again flourishing in the endless, pelting precipitation. Most of us remember our first rainy weeks of autumn at UBC: standing in a packed, lurching, sweaty bus, soaked through from waiting too long at the bus stop; scrambling to class through ankle- Through the rain: outside Main Library, early 1960s LIFE, LEARNING AND THE SOUND OF RAIN high puddles; fighting valiantly against the overwhelming urge to just close your eyes for a moment during the warm, early- morning lecture on Newtonian physics or the Cavalier poets; huddling over a hot cup of coffee and a slice of Ponderosa cake and finally waking up; then sluicing through the rest of the day wishing your umbrella worked better (or your shoe didn't have a hole in it), before heading home to sleep and get ready to do it all again tomorrow. Ah, those luscious, watery days! I must admit to a warm nostalgia (tempered with a slight melancholy) for that time, filled as I was with a sense of personal adventure and importance, blissfully unaware of how carefree I really was. It's instructive to stroll around campus now. Today's students are altogether as poorly equipped for the rain as my generation was: many women wear shoes far too scanty to ford the pond formed by a speed bump on the roadway behind Main Library, and plenty of men are still too proud to carry an umbrella or wear a rain jacket, preferring a good drenching to any implication of softness. Some things never change. But today's students do have advantages we never had: the Chapman Learning Commons in Main Library, for instance, that feels more like a quiet workroom in a luxury hotel than a study centre, and dozens of other dry, out-of-the-way places in new centres to sit and listen to the soft drizzle, ponder the weight-bearing ability of a wooden beam, or reflect on the nature of particle distribution in a beam of light. They will, I'm sure, look back on these days with a certain wistfulness. A UBC student's years are full of fast learning and surprising experiences, life- changing ideas and unexpected opportunities. Underscored as these are by the near- constant patter of rain, it's no wonder we grow just a little bit fond of the sound. - Chris Petty, mfa'86, Editor 4 Trek Fall 2004 UBC NOTE History Goes High Tech ]DThe next time you see an historical fragment at your local museum, look again. It may be a laser reproduction. The Museum of Anthropology is currently investigating three-dimensional laser scanning as a way to preserve and present bits of the past that would otherwise be too delicate or too difficulty to show. Bill McLennan, moa curator and projects manager says the new technology allows anthropologists to record information that is in danger of being lost. It consists of a portable, tripod-mounted scanner that captures a digital record of an object by measuring and recording its surface in minute detail. Researchers can then view an accurate, virtual, 3-D representation of the object from any perspective on a computer screen. They can also produce a 3-D plastic model with a 3-D laser printer. Researchers have already scanned a mid- I9tn century totem pole originating from the Queen Charlotte Islands. The pole is in a deteriorated condition, but the new technology can create an exact life-size model. "First we get an exact wire mesh of the whole piece, then we can lay on the skins [layers of wood]," explains McLennan. "Working with contemporary artists, we can determine what the colours were in the 18 50s when it was carved. We can also bisect the virtual pole at any point and get an exact representation of the thickness of the wood." The technology can be employed hundreds of metres away from the object and was originally developed to view large buildings and sites from a distance. It has recorded cathedrals and castles, dinosaur bones and the Statue of Liberty. The technology is noninvasive, an important consideration when dealing with delicate artifacts or sensitive historical sites. Another advantage of the technology is that objects housed in museums can be examined in detail without the observer Plastic Totem Archeologists can now use high tech scanners to replicate objects for closer study having to travel there - a bonus for researchers and students. he moa worked in conjunction with the Haida Nation on the pole-scanning project. Lhey recognize the technology as a means of preserving the past for future generations. "The poles in SGang Gwaay 'llnagaay [Ninstints] are really on their last legs," says Guujaaw, president of the Council of the Haida Nation and accomplished carver. "In another decade they won't be here. Our people want to let them finish their course." McLennan is now seeking financial support to digitally record Ninstints Village, a world heritage site. New-Fangled Watches DDNot everything that's bigger is better. Some things are smaller and smarter — including a new microsensor developed at UBC that can detect environmental pollutants. Its predecessor was a $10,000 contraption the size of a Dhotograph Martin Dee Fall 2004 Trek 5 ACCOLADES FOR EXCELLENCE TAKE NOTE One of our university's most impressive strengths is the talent of our faculty. We have attracted the finest academics in every field, and they are being recognized by organizations around the world. Just as significantly, they are being recognized (^>.. by institutions right here at home. The Royal Society of Canada, established in 1882, is this country's most prestigious academy of scholars and scientists. Election to the Society means your work has set the standard in your field, and that you are among the country's academic elite. Last July five UBC faculty members were elected to the Society: an hiv/aids researcher, an economist, a geographer, an historian and a cancer researcher, showing once again the impressive depth and breadth of our university. We now have more than 150 Royal Society members among our faculty. In the same month, five of our faculty members were named to the Order of Canada for outstanding contributions to society through their work in the Arts, the Sciences, Engineering, and the Social Sciences. More recently, UBC professors swept all five categories of the BC Innovation Council's annual awards. Other prestigious awards are won every year by dozens of UBC faculty members across the academic spectrum, from poets and archeologists to physicists, novelists and engineers. It would take a magazine the size of Trek to list the national and international awards won by our researchers and scholars. The fact that our faculty earn such recognition is important for our students (themselves major prizewinners on the national scene), for our community and for our nation. It means our students will learn from scholars and researchers judged to be the very best. It means our community will benefit from the research conducted by these scholars and from the spin-off companies some of this research will create. It means our nation will become a world leader in innovation, invention and the creation of knowledge. As UBC's reputation grows in Canada and abroad, we will increasingly attract and recruit dynamic faculty. Success begets success: each new accolade pushes us farther up the ladder as a significant post-secondary institution, and tells the world that UBC is the place to be. Trek magazine presents stories about our faculty, as do many other sources, including our website. I invite you to visit the site, www.ubc.ca, and read about the amazing men and women who are sharing their knowledge with our students today, and preparing them to become the global leaders of tomorrow. - Martha Piper, President, University of British Columbia brick, but the new sensor is so small its developer, Winnie Chu, hopes that in a few years time it could be worn like a wristwatch and cost closer to $300. Chu, a researcher at the university's new Centre for Health and Environment, says that although the sensor is currently able to detect only nitrogen dioxide, several sensors for detecting different pollutants could be placed in one small device. The principal application of the research is workplace safety. A sensor worn by an individual (rather than one in a fixed position to cover a certain area) may provide more pinpoint protection and a faster warning to people working in potentially hazardous conditions. The device could also be adapted for use by the general population in measuring levels of smog or testing water for E.coli. More Alzheimer's Research QDNeuroscientist Weihong Song joined UBC's impressive army of Alzheimer's researchers last summer from Harvard Medical School. Born into a family of physicians in China, Song showed early academic prowess and later worked at the prestigious West China University of Medical Sciences, which contained China's first lab to explore genetic causes in mental disorders such as schizophrenia. He went to Purdue University in Indiana to pursue his Masters and then to The Indiana School of Medicine for his phd, researching the causes of Alzheimer's disease. Song is optimistic about the potential for breakthroughs in this area at UBC. "We're at the cutting edge of research. Pioneering work is going on," he says. Scientists have already established that a number of mutant genes are implicated in inherited form of Alzheimer's, which accounts for about 10 per cent of cases. Song, who has received a Canada Foundation for Innovation grant to set up a new lab, is exploring how these genes communicate and interact. He has already established that some of them are directly involved in the production of a neurotoxic fragment, giving rise to the toxic amyloid beta protein that is a cause of brain cell death. They also play a role in notch signaling, a molecular mechanism that scientists speculate is involved in the progression of diseases like Alzheimer's. "We see that there is a relationship between these mutations and the disease but we don't know the exact mechanisms - that's what I want to find out," says Song, who also examines other factors associated with Alzheimer's such as stroke and stress. Song is a member of the recently opened Brain Research Centre, a partnership between UBC and Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre. Early Warning Signs for Alzheimer's Researchers examining mice genetically modified to develop a disease similar to Alzheimer's have discovered an early symptom of 6 Trek Fall 2004 Dhotograph: Paul Joseph the disease that they hope will also be evident in humans, leading to early treatment intervention. Led by Professor Wilfred Jefferies of the Biomedical Research Centre, the researchers observed a gap in the mice's blood-brain barrier that developed at a very early stage of disease progression. If there is an equivalent symptom in humans, then Alzheimer's might be diagnosable in people in their early 20s, which might lead to new treatments to combat the disease at its earliest stages. Amyloid plaques that develop on the brain are well established symptoms of Alzheimer's in its later stages. In the mice, these plaques did not develop until several months after the blood-brain barrier gaps were observed. In humans this period translates to several decades. Jefferies is now working on determining whether gaps in the blood- brain barrier is a symptom of Alzheimer's in humans, and on finding ways to repair the barrier, which protects the brain from bacteria and disease. Gone Today, Hair Tomorrow By the time they hit 50, about half the male population and 20% of women will experience hair thinning or baldness. But hair loss isn't necessarily associated with middle age: about 20% of males in their 20s are affected by it and a disease called alopecia areata, which causes hair loss over the entire body, can affect men women or children. Hair biology is an area of study with very few specialists, but the department of Medicine's Dr. Kevin McElwee is one of them. He is exploring hair cloning (slang for engineered hair growth) as a means of reversing hair loss and believes that the process will be commercially available within the next 10 years. The process focuses on follicular cells located at the base of a healthy hair follicle. These are removed from sample hairs then multiplied in a laboratory. After being transplanted back into the scalp, they continue to multiply and grow new hair. From a sample of ten hairs, a few thousand can be generated. It isn't a new area of research, but McElwee is the first to demonstrate comprehensively how the cloning works. "Now that we have proof of how the process works, we can accelerate the research toward creating a limitless supply of hair - in effect, a cure for baldness," he says. Sports Hall of Fame Inductees □DFive UBC sporting heroes have been inducted into the university's Sports Hall of Fame. John Turner, BA'49, LLD'94 was one of the greatest sprinters in UBC history and one of Canada's three fastest men over the period 1947-1949. He qualified for Canada's 1948 Olympic trials only to be thwarted by injury. A popular, active student, he was sports editor of the Ubyssey and graduated at age 19 with a Rhodes scholarship, later serving as prime minister. Patrick McGeer, BA'48, MD'58, dsc'oo was Canada's premiere scorer in basketball during the late 40s, and a star on the team that represented Canada at the 1948 Olympics. He was also an integral part of the 1945/46 team, the first to win a us league championship. TS? ADVOCACY IMPORTANT ROLE FOR ALUMNI ^^ The agreement between the Alumni ■k Association and UBC to share delivery of alumni services is now in effect. A direct ben- TJfc Jfc\ Wf efit of this new relationship is our ability to focus on one of our most important functions as alumni: advocacy. When a small group of alumni met in ■ 1917 to form the UBC Alumni Association, Ithey were mostly interested in keeping in touch with each other. But they also felt a strong commitment to the well-being of the university. Scattered around the Fairview Slopes in church basements and inadequate buildings, the university needed new facilities to meet the educational needs of BC students. Early UBC alumni kept a constant flow of correspondence to government members, urging them to restart construction of a new UBC campus at Point Grey. By 1922 and the Great Trek, the government of the day saw the wisdom of a strong post secondary institution in BC and began to build the university. Today, most elected BC government officials are university- educated, and the majority of those hold degrees from BC universities. Yet our province has one of the lowest per capita ratios of available spaces to population in the country. Access to many of our universities is limited to high school graduates with only the highest marks, forcing many capable students to down-grade their educational expectations, or move to universities in other provinces. Such limitations are not acceptable. The current government is beginning to address this problem, promising to create an additional 25,000 seats by 2010. The creation of UBC Okanagan is a good start to this process, and one we heartily endorse. But more must be done, and the Alumni Association, through the advocacy program, is working with our MLAs to ensure accessibility to a post secondary education remains a top-of-mind issue in the years to come. You, as a graduate of UBC, can add your voice to those who are encouraging government to increase support to post- secondary education in BC. Talk to your local MLA and city or town officials. Make sure they know how important our universities are, both for our children and for the future of the province. Other important issues will need to be brought to the attention of governments at all levels. Alumni, represented by an autonomous Alumni Association, are often best suited to present these issues to our elected officials. We welcome your input, advice and participation in this important program. Jane Hungerford, BED'67 Chair, UBC Alumni Association. Fall 2004 Trek 7 TAKE NOTE McGeer, who served for many years as a provincial politician, is a renowned UBC scientist and professor, specializing in brain research. He received the Order of Canada in 1995. Lisa (Nickle) Bond, BHK'94, BED'95, was the sparkplug guard of UBC's early 1990's basketball teams, and led the way to a first victory in 19 years at the 1994 Canada West Championships. Twice an academic All-Canadian, she was top scorer in four out of five years of play and holds both UBC and Canadian Interuniversity Sport scoring records,including the UBC record for most points scored in one game. Gail Wilson, mpe'8o, is one of the reasons UBC has seen success in field hockey for the past several decades. She coached 16 seasons and guided the Blue & Gold to seven West Coast titles and five National Championships. She has won the Vancouver, Canada West, CIS and Canadian Coach of the Year awards and has coached Canada's Olympic team. A respected teacher at UBC, the CIS National Player of the Year Award is named in her honour. Bill Whyte, BED'54, was a unique two- sport star at UBC. During the early 1950s, he captained some of the university's finest rugby teams and at the same time was the showcase pitcher and respected playing coach with UBC's baseball team (he pitched professionally before enrolling at UBC). Cited for his leadership and integrity as a student, he received the Bobby Gaul Award and the Honorary Activities Award. (Thanks to Fred Hume, UBC Athletics historian.) Wiley Coyotes QDCoyotes have demonstrated an amazing versatility in adapting to human surroundings. But as the population of coyotes on the Lower Mainland increases (it now stands at about 2,000), so do encounters with humans. And despite the abundance of food urban areas present to them, coyotes have been known to stalk and attack pets and children. Lhey have exhibited a great deal of boldness, attacking small children even when adults Famous brain researcher Pat McGeer was also a star basketball player in the 1940s. He has been inducted into UBC's Sports Hall of Fame were very close by. One unnerving example involved a coyote attacking a 14-month old baby in a front garden on W 22n" Ave, just a few feet away from her gardening mother. Lhe coyote bit the baby before the mother was able to drive it away. Coyote attacks on children in the Lower Mainland were the subject of research recently undertaken by undergrads under the supervision of Nicholas Carr, head of UBC's division of Plastic Surgery and Wendy Cannon, research coordinator. The team discovered that to a large extent, the public has little appreciation of the risk posed by coyotes. It determined that public warnings are required to prevent people feeding coyotes or allowing them easy access to garbage or pet food. The Chips are Down for Fish Where have all the Fraser River sockeye salmon gone? The fish have been dying in droves before being able to spawn, seriously threatening the river's salmon fishery. Part of the phenomenon involves the fishes' deviance from normal behaviour patterns. In 1995, scientists first noticed that many late-run sockeye were heading from the Strait of Georgia up the Fraser towards their spawning grounds four to six weeks earlier than usual. "This wouldn't have been a big problem except that they seemed to be dying in really high numbers - up to 95 per cent of the total run in some years," says Forestry Sciences professor Scott Hinch who heads the research group. UBC and SFU researchers think they are close to being able to explain why. Their theory is two-fold. First, they hypothesized that a kidney parasite (Parvicapsula) at the mouth of the Fraser had a part to play in killing the fish. (Salmon rely on healthy kidneys for their adjustment to fresh water.) Although the parasite attacks all fish heading up the Fraser, it only appeared to trouble the early migrants. This discrepancy, the scientists thought, could be explained by the difference in water temperature between August and September. The warmer August temperatures might be acting as a catalyst for the parasitic infection, causing it to have a more detrimental affect on the kidneys of early arrivals. Subsequent observations lent credence to the hypothesis; researchers operating on salmon to insert radio transmitters noticed that the early migrants bled a lot. Further investigation revealed poor clotting and high levels of ions, a clear sign of kidney malfunction. "What it also means is that fish could be bleeding to death during their migration if they get any small nick or cut," says Hinch. The second part of the theory concerns the cause of the early migration, and it came from the Institute of Ocean Sciences on Vancouver Island. In carrying out surveys of the Strait of Georgia, colleagues at the institute noticed pockets of low-salinity water not previously present. Salmon usually stay in the Strait for several weeks before heading to the Fraser, but researchers suggested that if the fish entered areas of low-salinity water, the process that allows them to adapt to fresh water might be triggered too early, driving the fish to the Fraser ahead of schedule. The researchers have other hypotheses still to test, but have already gained much insight. This, together with the fact that the past two Trek Fall 2004 years have seen an increase in normal behaviour among late-run sockeye, gives Hinch hope for the future of these fish. The project is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada with support from the Pacific Salmon Commission and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Hot Flashes Estrogen therapy has been used by many women to combat symptoms of menopause. Some have used estrogen alone; others who have not had hysterectomies have used estrogen combined with low doses of synthetic progesterone (Progestin) to help prevent uterine cancer. Research released in July 2002 has connected combined HRT therapy with heightened risk of serious health problems: pulmonary embolism, heart attack, stroke and breast cancer. Results for using estrogen alone also indicated an increased risk of stroke. (The studies covered one particular dosage level of HRT in pill form.) Fearing that the risks of HRT outweigh the benefits, many women stopped using the therapy. Without it, many are left to cope with menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and night sweats, which can last for years. But there may be an alternative in the horizon. UBC researchers are testing a manufactured, plant-based hormone, Prometrium, on these symptoms with the help of a group of 60 women, some of whom will take Prometrium and some a placebo. Principal investigator professor Jerilyn Prior and colleague Christine Hitchcock of the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research (part of UBC's department of Medicine and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute) also want to test this natural oral progesterone's affect on cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and weight gain. "We want to be able to give women a choice and a more targeted therapy for hot flashes," says Hitchcock. "Also, this study will provide important information about the effects of progesterone alone on cardiovascular health." To find out more about the research, visit www.cemcor.ubc.ca. Treatment for Obsessive Eaters Prader-Willi syndrome (pws) is characterized by a feeling of insatiable hunger and obsessive eating, and results in obesity that can lead to major medical problems such as diabetes and heart disease. It is an unbeatable genetic disorder that affects about one in 15,000 people worldwide. Other symptoms include behavioural problems and impaired cognitive development. People with pws require constant supervision around food. The condition is severe enough to compel them to rummage though trash for food, or to steal it. Clinical professor of Pediatrics Jean Pierre Chanoine is breaking ground in the fight to find a treatment for the condition by testing a new appetite suppressant. This long-acting form of octreotide can counter the affects of the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin, only recently discovered and present at three- to-five times the normal levels in people with pws. The research involves ten patients with pws, aged 10-17. Some will be administered octreotide and others a placebo. The trial will last for a year. Chanoine is head of the Endocrinology and Diabetes unit at BC Children's Hospital and a member of the BC Research Institute for Children's and Women's Health. Pass the Glade, Please DDBecause it exacerbates respiratory problems, indoor air pollution (which can reach higher levels of concentration than that found outdoors) presents a worrying health problem. Tobacco smoke, chemical cleaners, allergens from pets and dust mites, modern construction materials, carpets, and paint are just some of the culprits that reduce air quality. The problem is compounded by the fact that Canadians spend the vast majority of their time indoors, mostly in their homes, and by building protocols of the 1970s that (in the face of an energy crisis) focused on the reduction of energy use, at the expense of good ventilation, giving rise to damp and mould. Grad student Wellington Spetic from the faculty of Forestry wanted to find out Stay, work , , ' and play ■r- ogr ^..,,1 hr,, ih* Wl. Ufa ^|er lh* fc+11 'JfchRt 4* iforihb* iCEorurxidilJDr., nrrTirif; ipiu in£ Lar.fcrtr-a airviux wvw.u bo: j ufeF*Ei£££.£o?n Mfr- liludtn u*-gn **vlwira 4^nrtlJnrtj TeI &_i£ Jxr IL1?U £kl bLj, til rfili' T>J -trn* lap- nr>5r> ff tiw Jtai 1 |UE Conferences and '.,____/ At^bmrntidattcin #4 Th* y^**rty itt ft n^d Cotorffc* WFST CCATTPUrTCT I THE «GE1 KP^EFVtr 5FEWTS Fall 2004 Trek 9 TAKE NOTE exactly how much Canadians know about healthy housing, and what impressions they have regarding indoor environmental quality. According to his survey of 800 Canadian households, a majority of Canadians are well aware of the concept of healthy housing. Furthermore, many of them are willing to invest in it. Wood from sustainably managed forests is a building material that could satisfy this demand for healthy and environmentally sound housing. "Wood is the ecologically responsible material to be used in applications like houses," says Wood Sciences professor Robert Kozak, Spetic's project advisor. "It's renewable, it's recyclable and it's long-lasting when homes are properly designed." But Canada's wood product companies appear to be a little behind. "There seems to be a clear disconnect between producers and the marketplace. There may be an opportunity there that's being missed," says Kozak, who is currently leading research into the positive psychological impacts of wood products in the home. Although the survey showed a generally Can I OU Open a Door for UBC Students? v CeciLi Chen think; v*. "Dq.tc-.is .have supported me and mj> pecs, throughout our university careers — it motes me proud that I can give uuhile I'm. j.till a student:" During the past year. Cecilia and other student volunteer Jtaised more than $A?ftQO froml.,42-5 undergraduate student!, ior various projects around campus. There is a Chin.t« proverb that Cecilia impJements into her life: "li you uuint happiness for an hoiiL, tale a nap; if you uuant happiness for a lifetime, Aflfj*- jorwaowfl." With donors lite Cecilia, neuu doors- uuill continue to fly open for UB C itudenti. To find out more about supporting students, please contact the UBC Development Office. Tel fi£W-822.-9?O0 Email: info.req uestSt upporting. ubc.ca THE UNIVERSITY OF EiRITISH COLUMEMA | VANCOUVER w ww. su pporti n 3. u bc. i* positive response to the use of wood products, respondents also feared wood might be expensive and expressed concern about sustainability issues. With consumer education and targeted marketing, healthy housing might prove a healthy market and a win-win situation for wood companies and consumers. The Healthy House Survey of Canadian Households was funded by philanthropist Akira Yamaguchi, whose building company, KST- Hokkaido is based on a philosophy of healthy housing. UBC Recreation the Best in Canada UBC's intramural programs have long been the envy of other Canadian universities. Our students, it seems, run, jump, swim and generally participate in sports in higher numbers than in schools elsewhere. Over the past year, intramural registration has increased by 20 per cent to 22,500 participants; noon runs participants have grown 46 per cent to more than 1,800; and 100 teams registered for Storm the Wall. Even more significant is the fact that students who get physical also get higher marks. Last year, 1,700 (30 per cent) first-year students got involved in intramurals. Their GPAs averaged 70.74 per cent compared to 68.51 per cent for non participants. As well, 62 per cent of first year participants had a higher than mean GPA, while 59 per cent had a GPA above the overall UBC average. Now, the intramural program has combined with UBC Active Living to form UBC REC. The new organization will coordinate intramural leagues (10,000 students involved last year), events (11,000), tournaments, the Bird Coop fitness programs, outdoor recreation and instruction programs such as yoga, dance and martial arts. UBC REC has also established a scholarship in honour of Nestor Korchinsky, who is credited with laying the foundation for intramurals at UBC. For more information, contact visit the website www.rec.ubc.ca/ alumni/support/index.cfm More BC Doctors in the House UBC's school of Medicine has increased its intake of first year students for the first time in 10 Trek Fall 2004 20 years. In an historic agreement with the University of Northern British Columbia and the University of Victoria, two groups of 24 UBC medical students will transfer to the two universities to complete their four-year program. The new MDs, counted as graduates of UBC, will do their residencies in rural communities in northern BC and the Island, then be free to practice where they choose. However, as associate dean Dr. Joanna Bates says, "Medical graduates tend to stay and work close to where they are trained." The result should be a net gain in medical practitioners in BC's smaller communities. The new model of medical training, called the Distributed Learning Program, has been many years in the making, and is a response to the fact that BC ratio of medical school places to population is the lowest in Canada. BC needs about 400 new doctors every year, but only 128 graduate from the medical school. The shortfall is partially made up of doctors moving here from other provinces, but BC experiences a chronic shortage of doctors, especially in the rural regions. The first expanded class will graduate in 2008. Mood Disorders Clinic People who suffer from certain mood disorders, such as bipolar disorder, can suffer for years before an accurate diagnosis is arrived at and appropriate treatment provided. Another disorder, depression, accounts for a high percentage of work absenteeism and leads to suicide attempts in 15 per cent of severe cases. Yet, properly diagnosed and treated, depression is a manageable disease. The newly opened Mood Disorders Centre of Excellence at UBC Hospital hopes to improve timeliness of diagnosis, and introduce new methods of assessment and treatment. Part of the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, the centre "will offer research and patient care with a 'bench-to- bedside' approach focusing on rapid translation of research into improved care," says Dr. Alison Buchan, associate dean, Research, with the faculty of Medicine. Thanks to donations from BC credit unions Call for Nominations For the position of Chancellor of The University of British Columbia For eleven representatives of the Alumni of UBC to serve as Convocation members of the UBC Senate Nomination forms and information about these positions may be obtained by contacting: UBC Election Services Enrolment Services, Brock Hall 2016-1874 East Mall Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6T 1Z1 Tel: 604-822-9952 E-mail: eric.smith@ubc.ca The close of nominations will be 4:00 pm on Friday, December 3, 2004. FACULTY OF ARTS UBC KILLAM TEACHING PRIZES Once again the University is recognizing excellence in teaching through the awarding of prizes to faculty members. Five (5) prize winners will be selected in the Faculty of Arts for 2005. Eligibility: Eligibility is open to faculty who have three or more years of teaching at UBC. The three years include 2004 - 2005. Criteria: The awards will recognize distinguished teaching at all levels; introductory, advanced, graduate courses, graduate supervision, and any combination of levels. Nomination Process: Members of faculty, students, or alumni may suggest candidates to the Head of the Department, the Director of the School, or Chair of the Program in which the nominee teaches. These suggestions should be in writing and signed by one or more students, alumni or faculty, and they should include a very brief statement of the basis for the nomination. You may write a letter of nomination or pick up a form from the Office of the Dean, Faculty of Arts in Buchanan B130. Deadline: 4:00 p.m. on January 17, 2005. Submit nominations to the Department, School or Program Office in which the nominee teaches. Winners will be announced in the Spring, and they will be identified during Spring convocation in May. For further information about these awards contact either your Department, Fall 2004 Trek 11 Garry Oak Experiments with the nature of invasive plants will help preserve Garry Oak stands like this one on Vancouver Island and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, the centre is able to offer two main programs of treatment for depression and bipolar disorder. Among treatments tackling depression is a program called ReCHORD (Relief of Chronic or Resistant Depression), combining approaches such as psychotherapy, occupational therapy and expert medication management. For bi-polar disorder, one important program focuses on early diagnosis and intervention: The Systematic Treatment Optimization Program in Early Mania (stop-em) is based on thorough clinical assessments, neuropsychology and neuroimaging, as well as pharmacological and psychosocial therapies. It aims to intervene accurately and effectively during, or shortly after, a first instance of mania. Wither the Garry Oak ]DThe devastating forest fires in BC in the summer of 2003 and the heat wave of this past summer have instilled a strong awareness of the threat of fire in the province's 12 Trek Fall 2004 residents. No doubt they would have been horrified to witness UBC researcher Andrew MacDougall torch some areas of the Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve, this summer - a ritual he has performed for the past five years. But MacDougall is no eco-arsonist. The preserve represents a rare, diverse ecosystem, and he is conducting controlled experiments to find out if low-intensity fire can improve the regeneration of native plants such as the yellow prairie violet and the white-top aster. He wants to understand the impact of non-native species. As well as the threat they present to native plants, they also provide a great deal of fire fodder, hence increasing the risk of a forest fires. The idea of using controlled fire was first employed by First Nations people. Research by MacDougall and colleagues at uvic shows that First Nations people used burning to manage the cultivation of food supplies. Their method also had the benefit of encouraging growth of native grasses to attract deer and elk. MacDougall, who recently completed his phd under the supervision of botany professor Roy Turkington, has already seen results, with some rare plants beginning to thrive in areas that have been fire managed. The research has also yielded some surprising information. "At first glance, the high abundance of invasive plants suggests that they drive biodiversity decline," says MacDougall. "However, our research has also revealed a hidden but significant impact of habitat fragmentation on the ability of native species to recolonize invaded areas. Because exotics [introduced species] thrive in our highly developed, contemporary landscapes, they can dominate by default rather than competition even though their dominance suggests otherwise." The experiments are likely to continue for another five years. The Nature Conservancy is copying MacDougall's techniques in an effort to support native species. "Rather than a carpet of exotic grasses punctuated by one wildflower, what we want to achieve is a carpet of native wildflowers," says director, Tim Ennis. > IDEAS The craft of creative writing at UBC "Do you want to know how to write a book by Christmas?" George McWhirter, retiring head of Creative Writing once asked Laisha Rosnau. A Master of Fine Arts candidate in the Creative Writing program at UBC, Rosnau was seven months from graduating and had only 2.0 pages of her thesis written. "Get up at 5 am and don't do anything; don't make coffee or read the paper or have breakfast. Sit at your desk and write," was her teacher's advice. Not exactly the magical secret one would expect to hear passed on in the respected program, one that has produced some of Canada's most successful writers. But sage, practical advice. "I didn't get up that early," confesses Rosnau mfa'oo. "But I did get up at 6 or 7 am and wrote to a word count each day." She completed a thesis draft in February 2000, graduated in May and had a book deal by September. That thesis became her first published novel, The Sudden Weight of Snow. UBC's MFA in Creative Writing is the only masters-level writing program in Canada, and is regarded by many as one of the best in North America. It all began with Tarle Birney, the author of more than 20 books and recipient of two Governor General's Awards in poetry, who agreed to teach Tnglish at his alma mater in 1946 if "I can have one course I can believe in, the first stone in a little shelter for the creative student naked in academia." He got his course, and UBC became the first Canadian university to give credit for BY JOHN VIGNA Screen capture: Chris Dan ^Documentl m _I_L _I_L _I_L _I_L _I_L ■ ■ ■ ■* creative writing. It became a department of its own in 1965. Today, the Globe and Mail calls the program a "hothouse of literary talent" and the department attracts scores of eager applicants from around the world. In 2004, nearly 200 writers applied for one of the 25 seats available. MFA grads have won or been nominated for every major literary award in Canada including the Giller Prize, the Governor General's Award and the CBC Literary Awards. Seven of the Vancouver Sun's (June 2000) Ten Most Vaunted Writers were students or grads of the UBC program. But despite its success, little is known about how such a small department produces so many outstanding writers. Rosnau graduated in 2000/2001 with a wave of now published UBC writers, a group that included Madeline Thien supportive atmosphere. It offers a chance for students to be as much part of the learning process as the teachers themselves. Each workshop is limited to 12 students in one specific genre. Students receive each other's work in advance, enabling them to read critically and offer thoughtful comments. "You're with a group of sensitive, creative people," says Bill Gaston mfa'8i, Giller Prize nominee for his short story collection Mount Appetite. "You get a whole swash of colourful people discussing your work and offering you ways to improve it. I needed a lot of help in my work; the feedback from my peers was invaluable." The workshop's success depends partly on the tone set by the instructor - usually congenial and mutually respectful - but real success depends on the students themselves, how well they work together our opinions and add that to the discussion." One unique feature of the program is its multiple-genre requirement. To be admitted, writers must submit a portfolio to show ability in at least three of the eight working genres: fiction, poetry, non- fiction, writing for children, writing for the stage, translation, writing for radio, and the most recent addition, song lyric and libretto. UBC's is the only multiple- genre program in North America. "Nobody is copying our three-genre approach," says Schroeder. "That puzzles me. I think it's one of the open secrets of our success. If you're going to make a living as a writer, you need a lot of irons in the fire." As a result of the three-genre approach, students entering the program with a strong ambition for writing in one partic- Unlike creative writing programs elsewhere, UBC's master's program has no academic component: no textbooks, no academic (Simple Recipes), Steven Galloway (Finnie Walsh; Ascension), Nancy Lee (Dead Girls), Rick Maddocks (Sputnik Diner) and Lee Henderson (The Broken Record Technique). Despite the publishing achievement among classmates, the atmosphere within the program is supportive rather than competitive. "Students come to us looking for a community of writers," says Peggy Thompson, the program's chair. "They support each other, share their praise and criticisms, their news, contract details. It's really incredible." Rosnau recalls the closeness that she felt towards her classmates, several of whom are her best friends today. "We were all working towards the same thing, working without any guarantees, all for the love of writing. Everything seemed possible. I felt part of the success of others. I took their success as a possibility for me." The program's use of a workshop ormat is a major factor in creating a and how honest they are in their comments to each other. "It's important to know the people well in a workshop," says Steven Galloway mfa'oi. "It's a very personal experience. For a writer to be told that their story is fatally flawed is an intimate thing." "The workshop is very much a two- way process," says Thompson. "You have to enjoy the process to enjoy the program. Sometimes we feel as though the students teach each other." What then, are the roles of teachers in a workshop? With the depth of talent and commitment of students who enter the program, the teachers' primary focus is on enabling and facilitating. "We're at the most exciting place in a writer's life, before they start publishing, where the learning potential is at its maximum," says Andreas Schroeder, BA'70, MFA'72 a tenured professor of non-fiction and graduate of the program. "We don't teach students. They are open for the learning and can take huge risks. We give them ular genre may leave it more interested in another genre. Steven Galloway entered as a playwright and left as a novelist. Galloway published Finnie Walsh shortly after graduation and recently published his second novel, Ascension. "I wanted to be a playwright until my first year in grad school," he says. "But my experience with Brave New Playwrights (an extracurricular option) changed my mind. I realized that I wasn't interested enough in theatre to continue pursuing it seriously." According to Peggy Thompson - a screenwriter and producer, as well as program chair - the three-genre requirement influences and instructs a student's writing. "Taking the rules of one genre and applying them to another enriches the form. The more fluent you become, the better your work becomes. In the end, it's all storytelling." The program, of course, is about writing itself, regardless of the genre. "It's a process of writing, editing and revising," says Thompson. Unlike creative writing 14 Trek Fall 2004 programs elsewhere, UBC's master's program has no academic component: no textbooks, no academic essays, no exams. Course work is made up of writing, reading (and critiquing) the work of other students, and rewriting. One criticism of the program is that it produces homogenized writers that follow an ideology or prescribed style. This longstanding criticism is closely tied to the debate over whether writing can be taught in a classroom. It's one that makes creative writing program supporters bristle. "We're primarily writers, not academics," says Schroeder who himself has published more than 20 books of poetry, fiction, non-fiction and, more recently, young adult fiction. "We are writers who love to teach, not teachers who write. When ideology precedes practice, when- wonderful writers in all of our genres," says Thompson. "We can't stop students from being published and we don't want to. It's not uncommon for a faculty member to introduce a student to his or her editor or agent as a way to help them." Schroeder takes this further: "This whole notion of people writing for themselves is an antiquated notion. It's almost hypocritical. If writing is such an important part of their life, or if they want to earn a living from it, then why wouldn't a student be seeking publication? And what better place for them to come and learn the ins and outs of the industry so that they can find a way in. I think some people get uneasy about publishing because they are talking about taking a contemplative activity like writing and driving it into a competitive arena." qualified applicants it turns away each year? One alternative being considered is an online MFA program. Andrew Gray mfa'96 is a sessional instructor in the program and responsible for developing a pilot online MFA. Gray feels that creative writing is an excellent fit for distance education, accommodating both students and instructors from all over the world. "There are a lot of people out there who can't take two years out of their lives to relocate for a full-time program," he says. A pilot course in fiction is currently in progress and a second pilot course is planned for the fall. If all goes well the department hopes to have the online MFA running by 2005. It will be an alternative means of delivery only and the curriculum will remain the same. Gray feels that the online program might actually be a better form of feedback for essays, no exams. Course work is made up of writing, reading (and critiquing) the work of other students, and rewriting. ever ideology pushes writing, the writing suffers. None of us promotes one way of writing. Students have a lot of flexibility and room to grow creatively." Annabel Lyon MFA'96 entered the program to "figure out if I was any good at writing." Lyon's first book, Oxygen (published in 2000) received critical acclaim for its highly stylized and well- crafted stories. Lyon fears that the MFA tag is open to misperception. "I worry that it's a cookie-cutter thing. What do people think they know about me as a writer just because I went to UBC? When you compare the styles of writers like Steve Galloway, Lee Henderson and Nancy Lee, you really see how disparate their styles are." Another criticism of the program is that it is publication-focused not writing-focused. This kind of criticism is understandable, agree Thompson and Schroeder, but it comes from outside the program and is blown out of proportion. "There's been a wave of fantastically Raincoast Books is a national publisher based in Vancouver. It's published more than half a dozen MFA grads in the last five years. According to Lynn Henry, associate publisher and fiction editor, "UBC's program has always produced excellent writers who are fairly savvy about the book industry." With new writers, Henry looks for "a distinctive voice, talent and an ability to develop an ongoing relationship. If they're from the MFA program, then we pay close attention." Understandably there's a whiff of competition from other schools seeking to imitate UBC's success. SFU and the universities of Victoria and Waterloo are rumoured to be considering an MFA program. Next year the University of Toronto will offer an master's degree with an option in creative writing. So how does a successful program like UBC's grow into the future? The real question is what can UBC do to accommodate the hundreds of writers and teachers. "Online is a better mode of expression for writers," he says. "It can create stronger, more in-depth discourse for all involved." In addition to the online program, the department is considering an independent school (separate from UBC) of creative writing to offer more undergraduates the chance to study writing. "This would help us reach more students across campus," says Peggy Thompson. Currently, there are few openings for undergraduates enrolled in other programs who would like to take courses in creative writing as options. Ultimately, the program is and has always been about writing and that is where its future lies. Did Earle Birney ever anticipate when he cobbled together that first fledgling workshop, naked in academia, that almost forty years later a critically acclaimed author like Annabel Lyon would say of the program, "It made me a better writer" ? As Thompson puts it, "We've grown from a program nobody Fall 2004 Trek 15 A FOREST PATH A SHORT STORY BY BILL GASTON The cougar was waiting for me part way up a maple tree in which it was uncomfortably balanced... - Malcolm Lowry, "The Forest Path to the Spring" Unlike the above epigraph, this is not a fiction. I have a distrust, a fear, a hatred of fiction, and I have my reasons. You might find these reasons colourful. The first example I'll give should suffice: my middle name is Lava, this the result of having had an eccentric and literary lush for a mother. I have things to say on other subjects, but this has primarily to do with Malcolm Lowry, Dollarton's most famous man. You'll find I can speak with authority here, one of my credentials being that I grew up not more than one hundred yards from Dollarton Beach, the very place Lowry had his shack, wrote Under the Volcano, lived with M—, drank himself cat-eyed, and all the rest. As concerning all famous people, one hears contradictory "facts." The first "fact" is this. It is said that Lowry's first shack, containing his only complete draft of Volcano, all his possessions, etc., was accidentally consumed by fire. It is said he was consequently overcome with despair but proceeded, using his vast reserves of memory and imagination, to write an improved draft. None of this is correct. The true facts are that, one, in a drunken rage, his feet bandaged, Lowry burned his shack on purpose, having cut his feet too many times on the broken glass which glittered all around it. He was in the habit of disposing of his empty gin bottles out a window with but a flick of the wrist and, you see, it was time to relocate. (If you want proof, bus fare to Dollarton will give you proof. The glass is still there, and children still cut their feet.) And, fact two: while a draft of Volcano was destroyed, it was a draft that embarrassed him. The three other drafts were scattered around the parlors of Dollarton's sparse literati. My mother had one. I will push on with my account now, confident that I need supply no further proof. But I should add that not only do I abstain from alcohol as resolutely as I eschew spinning fictions, I hold no tolerance for those who indulge in either. It amazes me that men like Malcolm Lowry are ever believed, let alone admired, at all. When, head in hands, he announced that morning to the various fishermen, neighbours, and squatters, "My god, my home is gone! My book is burned! But at least M— and I are alive!" he no doubt looked wretched and despairing. To be fair, how could his audience have known the truth? It was easy for Lowry to look wretched and despairing when he was in fact hungover and ashamed. But I have to ask, why would anyone ever believe one whose profession was to weave yarns on paper? One who tried to lie and lie well? One whose voice all day was but a dry run for grander lies spawned with purple ink later that night in the name of art? Add to that his drinking. Lowry was incapable of telling the truth. Perhaps I should feel sorry for him. I don't. While living in Dollarton, Lowry wrote a story, "The Forest Path to the Spring." It was published posthumously, by M—. The story is a rather long, rambling affair, and while some of it is a lie, much of it is not, and so I recommend it to those who must read. In fact, it is perhaps the closest Lowry came to not lying, for the mistruths found in it are not so much lies per se as they are drunken inaccuracies. I'd like to rectify some of them. The story involves his life in Dollarton, his life on the beach with the inlet fronting him and the dripping coastal forest pressing at his back. I find it a very nostalgic experience each time I read it, and I have read it many times. (Again, I have my reasons.) Lowry describes the unfurling of sword ferns, the damp promise of a forest at sunrise. The dutiful tides of Indian Arm, the rich, fish-rank croaks of gulls and herons, the smell of shattered cedar, the sacred light in a dewdrop reflecting the sun, the mysterious light in a dewdrop reflecting the moon. He describes creeks and trails I myself know well. He dived off rocks that I and my friends once used for the same purpose. And, more, he mentions in passing the elementary school I attended as a child (where no one knew my middle name); he describes the tiny cafe where I bought greasy lunchtime fries for a dime after having thrown away one of my mother's inedible eccentric sandwiches. Again, it is a rambling story, its focus hard to find. Love, perhaps. He tells of his love for midnight walks through the forest, his love for fetching crystal mountain water from the spring, his love of dawn plunges off his porch, his love of M—, his love of life. We know that last one is a bald lie. He hated life, which is why he drank, and why he created a lying life on paper. In any case, the story's climax of sorts occurs one fateful day in the woods when a cougar leaps out of a tree across his path. He is startled, awestruck, petrified. And in what amounts to a none other than cosmic revelation he learns that his Eden, his forest haven-of-a-life, has on its outer edges forces of amorality and destruction. He discovers, it 16 Trek Fall 2004 Mom, for instance, wanted to be a mad poet. At the start, she was neither, and by the end she was only mad. Dhotograph: Getty Images Fall 2004 Trek 17 seems for the first time, that a rose has thorns. Critics cluck like sympathetic hens and suggest that what we have here is a classic hidden theme, one which reveals no less than a genius admitting to a suicidal battle with the bottle. The cougar! What a bitter laugh! All of it! Before I explain why I am laughing, I want to discuss my mom. Rather, memories of my late mother. Her name was Lucy, and she was unmarried. If there are two kinds of eccentric—one who doesn't try to be eccentric, and one who does—my mother was the latter. People tend to dislike her kind, withdrawing from their reek of fakery. And since my mother's kind choose their eccentricities, their choices tend to be exaggerations of qualities they admire. Mom, for instance, wanted to be a mad poet. At the start, she was neither, and by the end she was only mad. In Dollarton in the Forties it was most unattractive to dress up in flour sacks, mauve scarves, bangles, and canary-yellow hats. To spout bad poetry in public was abhorrent. This was Mom's choice. Dollarton was at the time a huddled collection of sulking fishermen and poor squatters, and though my mother had a captive audience she had few fans. Perhaps they could smell her self-consciousness; perhaps they noticed her eyes lacked that electrified blankness of the true eccentric. And while you may think what you want of her, she was but the tactless extrovert, a bucolic extension of the loud woman in the turquoise kaftan, and harmless. The harm set in when she began drinking. I see one cause of her drinking to be identical to that of that man who lived one hundred yards down the beach from her: an over-active imagination and no appreciative fans. For Lowry was at that time in no way famous. I gather these facts from years of researching my personal history. My sources are the aforementioned fishermen and squatters. When they speak of my mother they speak kindly but apologetically. They hadn't liked her, and I can see in their faces their embarrassment. I am tempted to ease their pain and tell them I not only didn't like her much either, I detested her. And loved her, in the intense and awful way reserved for only sons. To illustrate: not long after she died I tried to read her poetry, and while I read for only ten minutes, I hyperventilated for twenty. It was dreadful poetry, revealing an embarrassing mind. But only I who loved her so much have the right to hate her so much. I don't know if Lowry liked my mother or not. I have gathered that it was she who took to him first, if he took to her at all. She must have seen him there on Dollarton Beach, looking slyly Slavic-eyed, yet burping and twitching like a lunatic in the hot noon sun. He would have been as naked as legally possible, for in the early days he was proud of his build. Mother would have known he was a writer. She must have thought: At last! Another sparkling mind! I believe she first tried to attract his attention in the local bar, where it's reported she attempted (successfully) to buy him drinks. I don't know what M—, secure in her childlike love for him, must have made of that. And it's said she would sometimes flag him down in the streets, the trails, on the beach. Perhaps she'd borrow a canoe and arrange to accidentally bump bows out on the inlet. I can picture her trying to impress him. My spine creeps as I envision her passing a lime-green scarf over her unblinking Mata Hari gaze. Having caught his eye, my mother now goes for his mind and, with that flaccid flare of spontaneity-rehearsed-for-days, she points to the sun and cries laughing, "The moon! The moon!" (I believe my mother was capable of little more than cheap paradox. I also believe she was the last person of this century who held alliteration to be somehow profound. Not long before she died she said to me, in that awesome hoarse whisper of hers, "Meeting Malcolm melted my mind.") I suspect that you share my embarrassment. But I would also hope you are coming to understand my loathing for imagination, and writers, and fiction, and drink. If not, keep an open mind. My sole purpose here is to free the steel blade of truth about Lowry from the paste-jeweled scabbard of fable that now hides it. I can assure you I'm not denigrating Mom here for pleasure. So I doubt that Lowry liked my mother much, unless he was a bigger fool that I imagine. His writing demands that I admit he, unlike my mother, at least possessed sub tlety. Perhaps fleeting genius; clarity in bursts (burps). Whatever the case, how my mother got hold of his manuscript is unclear. It could be that, like an adult relenting at last and giving candy to a brat, Lowry handed over a copy so she would go away. He likely thought it would take a woman like Lucy a full year to sift through such a book as Volcano, but he was wrong. No, in Mom's words, she "communed with his mind for twenty-three hours straight," and finished it. And her "communion" with him proved to be the beginning of her end. For my mother, whose mind's sole ambition was to snap colourfully, Lowry's fiction, his obsessive flowery pain-packed verbiage, was the necessary nudge. It was on the day following Mom's twenty- three hour binge that the Event—and my reason for writing this—took place. The Event has to do with the story, "The Forest Path to the Spring," specifically with the cougar the narrator saw. As I mentioned, he was out collecting water from the spring, looked up, and there was the cougar. He describes the encounter at great length. Again, it was "uncomfortably balanced" in the tree. It was "caught off guard or off balance," and then "jumped down clumsily." But it was "sobered and humiliated by my calm voice" and it "slunk away guiltily into the bushes." There is more, much more. Page upon page about the cougar, Lowry's fear of it, his thoughts about his fear, his thoughts about these thoughts, his clinging passionately to M— all through the ensuing night, shaking and having tremulous sex together in the knowledge that Danger Lurks. That cougar made quite an impression on him. However, I'd like to draw your attention to his summation of the encounter, which was that it was so weird apparition that "an instant later it was impossible to believe he'd ever been there at all." Having done so, I'll simply come out with it: That was no cougar. That was my mom. I sometimes wonder just how drunk a man can get. I think about that as I try year by year to understand the man Malcolm Lowry. Wandering Dollarton Beach (or Cates Park as it's come to be called) again this week, along 18 Trek Fall 2004 the path that is now proclaimed by sign to be Malcolm Lowry Walk, I took a good steady look. A sober look. I studied hard this plot of land and sea so described by Lowry to be "everywhere an intimation of Paradise." He found "delicate light and greenness everywhere, the beauty of light on the feminine leaves of vine-leaved maples and the young leaves of the alders shining in sunlight like stars." Oh, he goes on and on and on. Unadulterated opulence, with four adjectives per noun. But here is the one I can't help but smile grimly at: "The wonderful cold clean fresh salt smell of the dawn air, and then the pure gold blare of light from behind the mountain pines, and the two morning herons, then the two blazing eyes of the sun over the foothills." Did you get that? Two suns? The words blaring and blazing to describe light? This is a description not of nature but of a raging dawn double-vision hangover. I have lived here by the beach all my life and I have never seen herons travel in pairs. This passage would have been different had the man had a palm pressed to one eye. While walking the identical path I saw beauty too, certainly, but not Lowry's bombastic brand. I too saw rustling dainty foliage of one hundred shades of green. I saw sturdy stoic trees, and mountains with their awesome noble mysterious elan. (It's easy to be Lowry.) Boats on the oh so wonderful water, King Neptune's refreshing wavelets tickle- slapping the angel-white hulls, etcetera. But what else did I see? I saw slugs mid- path, dry pine needles stuck to their dragging guts, their bellies torn open by the sensible shoes of strolling ladies. I saw dull clouds muffling mountains logged off and scarred for ever; clouds muting the high notes of birds; clouds reflected better in the oil slicks than in the patches of clear water. I saw rotten stumps, diseased leaves, at least as much death as life. In short, I saw reality. I had no need of hiding from the truth. I didn't have the need of a man ashamed, the need of a vision hungover and in constant pain. Lowry donned his rose-coloured glasses and painted the shuffling grey world with the glad shades of Eden in order to stay sane. Art was his excuse as much as it was his tool. He probably believed what he wrote. On to my mother, and the Event. I should add that I heard all of this straight from Mom's mouth, and the disturbing mix of anguish and ecstacy in her eyes as she spoke makes me doubt not a word of it. She told me several times, and the story didn't vary. Her words: "I just finished reading Volcano. In twenty- three hours. Oh, I was in rapture. I was under a spell. He had called out to me and I wanted to answer. And I had to answer in a worthy way. I decided to go to him dressed to celebrate the Day of the Dead. In the book this was the first thing mentioned—the Day of the Dead, the costumes, the skulls, and all of those things that so horrified poor Geoffrey Firmin. In the end Death is the last thing Geoffrey sees. It is the book's heart: Death. It was important that Malcolm knew I understood, as he knew I would. So I made the skeleton costume. The material should have been black, or course, but I had no time, and all I had was a brown one, a rabbit costume left from a bygone Hallowe'en dance. I cut off the ears and painted on the bones. It wasn't a good job I'm afraid. My word, I had just read Under the Volcano and naturally my hands were shaking." I was scared as my mother told me this part, because each time she told me, even though the Event was years past, even though Lowry was dead and Mother was in her hospital ward only obliquely aware of me, her hands would begin to shake. "But the idea itself was enough. My plan was to show up at his door, because I knew M— was back east. She hadn't taken to me, you see, and I can't say as I blame her, of course. Malcolm would act positively fidgety around me, a torn man. But anyway I happened upon a better plan. I felt it was important that he look up to see me, to see Death, just as Geoffrey did at the end, from under his horse. So I climbed a tree and waited. I knew he'd be along soon. I had spied on poor Male and I knew his habits. Englishmen, especially Englishmen who drink, have strict habits." Here Mother would stare coyly down at her feet, pretending naughtiness, and laugh like a girl. The final time I head this story Mom looked very old, her fingers were ochre from cigarets, she was dressed as always (the staff let her keep her stash of scarves and hats under her bed), and yet she could giggle as pure and free as a little girl. I felt like crying. I felt like looking up and shouting: You may be dead, Mr. Lowry, but look what you are doing. "So I found a nice tree and waited. And my lord don't you know I fell asleep. All that reading and no sleep. Also, I confess to having sipped some." That is, had a lot to drink. But I admit I love to picture her up that tree, and I perversely enjoy Lowry's version, that of "a lion uncomfortably balanced." What a nobly optimistic euphemism for a snoring drunk crazy lady hanging there like a noodle on a chopstick. "But I knew Malcolm would understand. When he gave me the book he said, in that marvelous Oxonian of his, 'This is a tome best read drunk, for so its best bits were thunk.' Ah, Male, a lad so boyish. A boyish genius." Here Mom might drift off. If I felt like hearing more, I'd prod. "There I was asleep, eight feet up. The next thing I knew, I head a scream. Yes, a scream. My lord don't you know I thought it was a woman? I must have startled, for I fell. And considering I could have met Death myself right then and there, I wasn't hurt much. A broken rib and a cut on my back, and thank the lord for having sipped some. When I looked up, there was Malcolm running with his clattering empty water pails back in the way of his cabin. He was making the most curious noises in his throat. I was concerned. I think he'd been sipping rather heavily that week, what with you-know-who gone." My mother's story would go on one segment longer. She would gaze searchingly through the smudged windows of years until, seeing what she wanted to see, her eyes would close and she'd say, "And I followed Malcolm Lowry home. In I walked, dressed as Death, bleeding from my back, and told him I loved him. He rose slowly from his bed, stood ramrod straight and told me in a whisper that he loved me too." Once, and only once, she added: "And we... communed." Perhaps realizing for the first time Fall 2004 Trek 19 who her audience was, Mom went instantly shy and changed the subject. My mother may have been extroverted and insane, but she was conservative when it came to certain subjects. I saw Malcolm Lowry only twice that I remember. I was eight or nine, and it was just before he returned to England for good. The first time, my mother had sent me to his cabin with a letter, sealed in a black envelope and smelling—good god—of perfume. Lowry bellowed "Come!" at my knock, and there he was, sitting at his writing table. He had erect posture and a barrel chest, but a big and flabby stomach. A deeply proud bearing. His eyes looked almost Oriental. He just sat there, sober I think, and he seemed to know who I was. He didn't look pleased to see me. I gather from my probings that he'd during those years been spending considerable energy avoiding my mother. I gave him the letter and fled. The second time, mere weeks later, I was again a messenger boy. I knocked at the same door, and hearing only the oddest whoops and titters but no invitation to enter, I peered in at a window. There sat the same man, but hardly. This time he was naked. (I have heard he sometimes wrote that way.) He looked dark and crude, a greasy feline-eyed peasant. His table was littered with papers and books, and crumpled balls of foolscap covered his cabin floor like a spill of giant's popcorn. He was hunched over and rolls of pale fat lay on his lap. He began to make noises again, noises that are unforgettable but hard to describe: a high-pitched kind of squealing, but with a deep bass undertone at the same time. As he squealed he swung his head back and forth in arcs. His lips were clamped open, showing teeth, and his scrunched eyes looked on the verge of tears—like he was trying for tears. Swinging his head faster and faster, he finally stopped and took several glugs from a bottle he had at hand's reach on the floor. I recognized the brand: Bols, the same English gin my mother drank. I stared, fascinated, with the avid hollowness of car accidents, when a cop with a flashlight stands over a puddle of someone's blood. What made me run in the end was this: Lowry finally managed to get a pipe lit after missing the bowl with several matches. He took a long draw and settled back and sighed as if in satisfaction. But instead he grew dizzy from the smoke. He began to sway in his chair. And suddenly he shot up, threw back his head and howled. In the middle of howling—I swear this is true— he accidentally shit himself. I think it was an accident. In any case it was an explosion of diarrhea, expelled in a one- second burst. Much of it sprayed his buttocks and legs and, snarling now, Lowry began to twirl and slap at the wetness, stumbling as he did so. I ran then. I realize I am more or less trampling on the reputation of a man a good many readers respect and admire. And I don't mean to rub it in further—no, I only mean to establish thoroughly my reasons for writing this—when I tell you it was on same afternoon that I first heard Malcolm Lowry was a famous man. Handing me her latest note, Mother had told me, "Be careful with this, Dear, you are taking it to a very special person. He is a writer, and his book is in all the bookstores of the world." Well, I had just seen my first writer, my first famous man, and now fame and fiction had a face. You have already guessed a number of things. First, the reason for my bitterness— namely, that Lowry and my mother had sex after she fell from the tree. My feelings stem not so much from the act itself but rather because what meant so much to my mother meant so little to Lowry. I believe it was his utter rejection of her after the Event that shoved her down insanity's slide. Mother never told me about it herself, this I admit, but the evidence pointing to their carnal union is overwhelming and I don't for a moment doubt it took place. One, she told me she followed him back. Two, M— was away. Three, as she told me but once, they "communed." And my research has given me these clues as well: There was a two week period during M—'s absence when Lowry was purportedly most upset. "Crazy," my sources put it. On a non-stop gin binge, he raved to all who'd listen that he'd met Death in the flesh, that he'd met Death and defeated it. One barfly heard him distinctly say, "I rogered Death from behind like a dog." (I don't like to picture this.) During that period of time he would laugh and rave, rave and cry. What ended his raving was news of a cougar in the area. Hearing this news seemed to cheer him up. He took to saying he too had seen the cat, and so his run-in with Death went the way of bad dreams. It takes no detective to sort out the self-serving machinations of this drunken man's mind. For sanity's sake, for relief from devils, he made himself believe he'd seen a cougar, not my mother, not Death. I hate but can't help picturing the scene. Lowry, drunk and whimpering, finds that Death has not only leapt at him from a tree but has followed him to his door. My mother, ludicrous in a rabbit's costume with a skeleton etched on it, with a broken rib and bleeding from the back, tells him she loves him. She embraces him and, scared, Lowry can't deny Death its desire. My mother instigates the unthinkable. And two hideously incongruous dream worlds unite there in a shack on Dollarton Beach: My mother believing she has won over her aloof treasure, her boyish genius. Lowry believing he is copulating with Death. On Lowry's behalf, I like to assume that at some point in his passion he reached that minimal level of awareness where he realized it was in fact a mortal woman in his bed. Someone who was not M—. Though in "The Forest Path to the Spring" he writes that after his brush with the cougar he and M— "embraced all the night long," I should restate that during this time M— was gone for three months, and I doubt that even a gin-riddled Lowry could stay unaware of that. So did he know it was my mother? Did he make himself believe it was M—? What shaped pretzel of logic did he construct in order to stay sane? Lowry was by all accounts a monogamous husband, and so perhaps it was his horror at this odd adultery that made him go mad for a while. We'll never know. For years, my mother assumed he'd known it was her. But when she first learned of his death—she did not read newspapers and it was me who told her—she said, "I thought he'd send word. Something." Then she laughed, and lapsed back into what was now her world, a state of waking dream. And when "The Forest Path to the Spring" came out in 1960, and 20 Trek Fall 2004 after Mother read certain parts over and over, she closed the book at last and—cried. I could go on and on about Lowry's life, Lowry's lies to himself. Indeed, I could water my prose with imagination and assault the man with a decadently flowery language he would well have recognized. It is tempting. I see now how the taking up of a pen and the posture of writing itself seem to abet some kind of exaggeration. Once begun, words find their own momentum in the direction of colour, veneer, dream. Lie. I can only hope that by now you understand that my loathing for fiction is so resolute it has allowed me during this account to tell you nothing but the granite truth. However much I am tempted to sink into venom, attach the leash of speculation to Lowry's name and drag it through any number of cesspools, I won't. Nor will I go on to describe his final fall, for to do so would be to ennoble it. His tawdry death. Myth be damned: his death was nothing but tawdry, as tawdry as my mother's. I'll draw no cheap conclusion from this, but the equation is there for all to see: two people, lashed by self- doubt, forced by life's grinning skull to turn to dreams and poetry and imagination, poisoned yet further by alcohol—two people die a false and tawdry death. My point is made. I give it to you and leave it; I ask only that you refrain from embellishing either their lives or their deaths with yet more poetry. I have the right to ask this. I'll likely never discover whether Lowry knew he was my father. He may have known; he may only have guessed. Perhaps Mom told him. Perhaps she pestered. But, not being the kind to ask for money or seek a scandal, my mother would have preferred cherishing me in secret, me her precious relic of a single sacred meeting. Not knowing has been hard on me. Harder, in fact, than having had no taste of fatherhood, save for a singular image of a naked man squealing, stumbling, slapping at glistening legs. It's been hardest of all to admit to myself that, in the booze-blurred moment of my conception, not only was I not planned, not sought for, but was in fact the result of a man's lust for a woman other than my mother. To be blunt, Lowry's sperm was meant for M— (or perhaps for Death!), but was waylaid, like a manuscript, by a lonely woman in a bid for a bit of attention. Such was the flavour of my beginning, and such remains the flavour of my life. Proof that I'm his son? It took no wizardry to ascertain the year and month of the cougar Event, add to it nine months and, lo and behold, arrive at my birthday. My mother had no boyfriends and was not known to have affairs. Lucy was a remarkable woman in many ways, not the least of which being that she knew a man's nakedness but once, and this while wearing a rabbit costume. As I mentioned when I began, my middle name is Lava. "The Forest Path to the Spring," and the later stories—and according to my mother, all his work-to-come—were to be part of a magnum opus he would call Mount Appetite, a renaming of Mount Seymour, the mountain at whose foot Dollarton squats. Why rename a mountain? For poetry's manipulative sake, of course. For metaphor's aggrandizements. According to Mom, Lowry raved about his project endlessly and famously, to all who would listen. People here talk of it still. Mount Appetite was to catalogue and sanctify the many kinds of human desire. A portrait of passions, a rainbow of hungers. (Gamut of gluttonies. I can't help but picture a troupe of pained eccentrics, driven by desires feral, pungent, twisted and hidden. Equipped with ropes and spiked boots and clenched jaws they eternally scale the Sisyphian heights of their sticky needs.) My mother's inspiration for "Lava" was equally metaphoric, if sillier. In this case, I know the meaning. In her way of speaking to me as though I weren't there, staring up into space and talking over my head both literally and figuratively, Mother more than once intoned grandly, "Lava. You are my Lava. My dear little man. You are the emission of a volcano." She doubtless imagined I'd be as wordproud as my father. No. But I'll travel that road as long as I can stomach and extend her metaphor for her: hot lava is upchucked dumbly into the world, soon cools, and resents having been spewed there. Lava is nothing like the fiery bowels of its father. If lava could feel, it would feel like effluent, like scum. Not art but puke. It would feel carelessly and wrongfully ejaculated—I cannot resist—under the volcano. As I've been writing this history, I've often stopped and asked myself: Is this the voice of bitterness? Male and Lucy's bitter bastard boy? If not, why do I smear both a mother and a father? I seek neither notoriety nor a noble name, neither a paternity suit not a share of his estate, if he left one. So why do I expose? Whose voice is this? I like to think it is my father's voice—his voice had he lived, his voice had he learned to stop lying, had he learned to lift his head high and breathe for good and all the pure cold air of objectivity. If children inherit one thing from their parents it is the claustrophobic fear of their parents' faults. I thank mine for helping me, through revulsion, towards clarity. My mind's best food has been the flesh of their faulty lives. Neither of my parents understood that appetite is mostly about the art of control. I've been drunk but once in my life. I was seventeen. My mother had just died. That it happened to be my high school graduation party didn't matter to me—this wasn't a celebration but an exorcism. We drank under the stars in—where else?—Dollarton Beach. Under Mount Appetite. In paradise. A body had been found here in a burned-out car earlier that week, a murder, so added to the evening was an air of danger lurking. And I drank gin, my parents' brand. I slept with neither cougar, ghost, nor woman, but still I had a wondrous time. I cried about my mother and raged about my father, pounding a driftwood club into the beachfire, sending showers of glowing amber skyward. None of the other kids noticed me really, for many were on a first-drunk as well, and flailed about in the own style and for their own reasons."□ Bill Gaston, mfa'8i is the author of Deep Cove Stories, Tall Lives, North of Jesus Beans, Belle Combe Journal, Sex is Red and The Good Body. "A Forest Path" is from his latest book of short stories, Mount Appetite, which was nominated for a Governor General's award, lie teaches Creative Writing at the University of Victoria. Fall 2004 Trek 21 Another Alumni Success Story Advertorial Overcoming a Life-AlterincJ Condition With Critical Illness Insurance Knowing the masons for having critical Mine; insurance, and how it differs from life or disability insurance, can help you make important decsions that could affect your financial sec unity. To illustrate, lets look at what happened to Kelly and Patrick.* Ke Iy and Patric Ks sto ry: KJelly, a 43-yeanold U niveisity graduate, c a ca ree nwoman with two children, she and hen husband, Patrick (a bo a Universityqradj, had been paying down the mortgage, saving fonthein children^ university educations, and investing in order to retire before the age of 60. The n eve rything c ha nged. IGellysays: ™^vfc* / VHS7 ■tj^otrkc-kj a jiiirirJ. fc-jfor \iizxk- -»s h^ kji sii&r. jftrfyvoJc rcjtrfw? «i £sJcr?$ hko&■ft?kttg&i'i ifai fiust's telly was diagnosed as having had a stroke. Worse, hennumbness progressed in a miattenof hours, eventually leaving hen panalyzed on hen left side, and with little hope of even regaining sensation oncontrol. "I\»afJi<rwiii^iA ft jwm«? £wi wwy&i kjvw faawf tews vtwrtwj y&Ktdi&yaiid &bmxi&tf to flw Jwetf^ M-az^v topayjorcfa iidc&T! dKof fi«iPd0N^H J iff!^ fct / VHXS res loa^rr a&k &> vnart i*- ffVSW jrf SiFOUiA -3! Hl^ -34H. jf&VC VftMl&S VW included joining the AlunxiiCnitica I Illness Plan. It wasn't longaftenthe 50-day waiting period thai Kelly received a cheque fonthe fullamount of hen J 100,000 coverage. Tftft flw iJCtKJffl kxwfe io to &rt up our fj-Hiw dfta^ oar j^ tfidtf fcouH jrf tffowJi iy txysvjf vxgvnsv -sfixy gkysio&vfugy and Y)K&K£it(&lS. JfHi Sw iK-HB^V kj£ j*w: wt paiA down part of tier vxortgtg*. I'vx keek to ■mwIcmj rata <a«^ vw tfiHJcflaarfvw'W urhjAj-.'jI..' t*akkfoprfirvsoatw And with the help of test Doctors* recoveiy management servkes (included in hencoverage at no additional chargej, Kelly c currently punsuing a promcing line of treatment developed by one of the world stop spec ia lets in strokes, in the hope of someday overcoming hen paralyse. but, fortunate Iy, Ke Iry and Pat ric kV plans fon the in financial security Kelly and fetnick^experience c not uncommon but it demonstrates the importance of including critical illness insurance in younfinancial planning. Fillincjthe gap left by your life and dsabilhy insurance! Simply put; cnitkal illness insurance offers you a lumpsum cash benefit; to spend any way you wen, intheeventof life-threatening cancer; heartattack stroke, kidney failure, cononany ante rial by pass on nnajo nongan tra replant. Accordingto the Ca nadia nCancen Society, an estimiated 145,500 new cases of cancen will occun in Canada in 2004, and 77,200 are expected to survive. The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada estimatesthat one infounCanadians has somie form of heart disease, on disease ofthe blood vessel on c at risk ■fonstroke. With every passing yean it becomes inc nea singly likely that you too will undergo a serious openatbnorcontnact a life-altening illness sonnetime during younlife. The good news c thatwith -todays advances in medical science, youncnances of survival a re gneaten t han even, but how we II will your ■finances survive? The same condition that can threaten youn life can a bo we gh you down with f ina nc ia I bu rde ns ■that put youn lifestyle and yoursecunity in jeopardy. Like it did fon Kelly and Patric k, the money you get from a critical illness benefit can piovide you with the financial resourcesyou need to recoven fully from youncondrtion, without financial worries on lifestyle compromees. Tne4/umrr Critical IllnessPlana underwri ttsn iy The- Majrii/acltiVTara life-Insurance Gxnp&ny fflbnvlife rfnancYarJ. This pt&n o/fes speda! ntamkvi'rates on henefi Is from $25,000 to$S50,C00in theeuintoflife- £rvHa teninff cancer, heart a ttsck,* frofce-^ kidney failure, coronary arterial iypass cv major o/yan transplant lb learn mevs a.c->-jt the Alumni Oitical Illness Ran,ciJl toll-free T 66S 913-GJ33 Mcuxlay through rm^ay Jfom $ a.m. to S pm. EST, or e-mail amjenfcsfflmanujVfecomarjy time, and /BCrtJiesna ixodxire and a mail-in applies iron that you can complete in the pri\acy of yourown home * KJdly jM Fatriii m IcticriJ coupla cradadtc- IllustrAta'haulLHC'f'thapljrL LETTERS Sorry I'm Late I came across a copy of the Spring 2001 issue of Trek at a thrift shop, recently. I very much enjoyed reading it, especially the phrase "distributed free of charge to UBC Alumni." All these years and I never knew about either The Chronicle or Trek. So here I am, better late than never, looking forward to your next issue. Alfred John Breuer, BA'64 Vanderhoof, BC Foresters Count Their Rings On May 18-19, grads of the 1954 Forestry class got together in Langley for a "slashburn." Of the massive class of 20 graduates, 15 still survive but only seven were able to answer the call. Recognition was a bit tenuous at first, but with badges containing our 1954 photos, we were soon able to make identifications. We were also very pleased to receive the 50-year pins provided by the Alumni Association. Amid renewed friendships, shared memories and photo-enhanced family details, we all enjoyed ample refreshments and made several toasts to absent companions. We also acknowledged special events and achievements in forestry over the past 50 years - all owed, of course, to the class of '54. That evening we enjoyed a dinner at La Maisia Restaurant in Langley, and then continued the swapping of lies into the night - and for a few, into the wee hours. Following breakfast the next morning, the group made a field trip to the Permanent Pole Plant in Langley Municipality. The plant is owned and operated by Art Paul, ForEng'54, and produces functional and decorative wooden components and structures for high-end residential, business and industrial building projects, all from waste logs. The plant also produces a number of practical, building items - again using wood that would otherwise be scrapped or burned - altogether a prime example of how imagination can fuel reality. After lunch, a few good-byes were exchanged and the "Final Four" traveled to the Forest Service Seed Centre south of "A toast to friends, both past and present." Forestry grads from 1954 gathered in May to swap life stories and tell tall tales. Cloverdale and were given a brief tour of that facility and an understanding of how cones from the tree are processed to provide tree seed for the nurseries. The day concluded with a short visit to Fort Langley and dinner at the Bedford House. While it would have been better with more bodies, those that attended were happy to see old classmates again, and share experiences. We are sending badges with photos and 50- year pins to those unable to attend, and discussed for another slashburn in five years. Our sincere thanks to the Alumni Association for its support! Dave Wallinger, BSF'54 Victoria, BC Sports Hall of Fame Omissions I would like to address the committee that selects members for the UBC Sports Hall of Fame. Fd like to thank Peter McGeer for his letter in the Winter, 2003 issue of Trek. I was beginning to think I was the only one who remembered the Maury Van Vliet era at UBC. The Sports Hall of Fame has managed to overlook the teams Maury coached. He coached two Senior A Men's Championship teams, in 1937 and 1941. He also coached an outstanding football team in 1939. Many of the players on these tree teams went overseas in wwn, and a good number did not return. Unfortunately, too few of these players are left to honour. In recent weeks, two more of the '39 football team passed on. The committee has also failed to honour some significant faculty members. Dr. Dickson for basketball, Dr. Gunning for rugby, and Dr. Todd for soccer. As a former basketball senior manager, I know that Dr. Dickson each year put on a dinner for the team and know for a fact that he had the whole team with their dates to his home for dinner one evening in the Spring of 1943. I am prejudiced because I knew Maury as a friend, but I feel your committee is prejudiced against the teams of this era. Why? I can find no rational explanation. Howard J. Shadwell, BASc'48 You Guys are Crazy The heading, Psychotic Corporations, intended to describe the second item in the Spring, 2004 Trek Take Note section, ought to have read, Psychopathic Corporations. The story was actually about psychopathy Although they share a common root (psycho, mind), the adjectives psychopathic and psychotic represent entirely different phenomena and should never be used interchangeably. When they are, a disservice is done to innocent sufferers of psychosis and their loved ones. Kirk Brown, BA84 Fall 2004 Trek 23 the ropes that Bind The UBC Ropes Course puts the group experience in perspective: we all depend on each other. It's unnerving at first: platforms, highwires, dangling ropes and ladders with impossibly wide rungs suspended three storeys up from the forest floor turn your vertigo sensors up to full volume. A voice somewhere in the back of your head says, "You ain't goin' up there, my friend!" But Conrad Cone, head of UBC's Ropes Course, is quick to stifle your fears. "No one goes up if they don't want to. The Ropes Course isn't about testing your fears. It's about teamwork." Located in the forest just south of the Thunderbird Stadium, the course is a joint project of Cone's company, Pacific Adventure Learning and UBC. It was designed to show groups of people who work together — corporate offices, members of individual faculties, staffs of small companies — that each member of the group is an essential part of the overall success of the team. Ours was a typical group. Twelve members of the Alumni Association staff, from receptionist Marguerite Collins to executive director Leslie Konantz, gathered one morning in early September to learn the ropes. We started with elements of the "low 24 Trek Fall 2004 Right: Association staffers "walk the beam" by lifting and stepping together. Opposite: Executive director Leslie Konantz climbs nimbly to the tree tops. forest" course. Our group stood on a large teeter-totter platform and, without speaking, worked out how to maintain balance while shifting positions. Then we stood on two beams and, using ropes as straps, figured out how to "walk" the beams ten feet, again without speaking. Success came only when we all worked together in a spirit of cooperation and trust. After lunch a few brave souls volunteered for the "high forest" course. Harnessed in, with other group members tending a series of ropes to take up the slack, the brave ones walked highwires and leapt across wide-spaced ladder rungs. We were never in any real danger — the harness and rope-holders guaranteed that — but the feeling of standing on a little wire 30 feet above the forest floor was nonetheless horrifying. By the end of the day we came to some interesting conclusions: each of us is dependent on the rest of the team for our success and, as a team, we do pretty well together. The UBC Ropes Course is available to faculty, staff and student groups at UBC, and to schools, businesses and other community groups. Call Conrad at 604-732-3588 or visit the website, www.ubcropescourse.ca for more information.D Dhotos by Chris Petty Fall 2004 Trek 2 5 FRENCH FRIES FUEL THE FUTURE BY KATIE ELIOT There's something new in the air this spring at UBC. Strolling along West Mall road among pine trees and cherry blossoms you might catch a whiff of french fries where a campus vehicle is cutting the grass. No, you're not breathing in the lunch-time waft from The Barn. What you detect is biodiesel fuel in action. It all started one beautiful summer day a few years ago, when UBC science students Peter Doig and Geoff Hill headed out on their regular back-country excursion to find new rocks to climb. In the pristine beauty of their surroundings they noticed something was out of place. With windows open to let in the fresh air, they smelled the exhaust from their VW van. "This is not cool," they thought. They decided to put their educations to work by producing a clean fuel and, in a eureka moment, committed to making biodiesel fuel. Geoff founded the biodiesel project in January 2002 and applied for grants from VanCity and hrdc to help start up. In January 2003, Peter Doig set some wheels in motion by approaching Naoko Ellis, a professor in chemical and biological engineering at UBC who had sent out a call for 4th year student projects on alternative fuels. She was very enthusiastic about this project and assisted with the start-up. Doig and Hill's first order of business was to develop a methodology that would incorporate existing biodiesel production techniques to a scaled down project using waste cooking oil. When Rudolph Diesel developed his engine in the 1890s, he designed it to run on vegetable oil, so it was ideal for the project. Existing techniques for turning vegetable oil into a useable fuel are huge in A new project by environmentally aware students may change the way we fuel our cars, save us from the collapse of the oil industry, and clean up the air. All the while, ensuring good quality french fries. scale, and don't normally utilize used oil, but the project had a virtually unlimited supply from UBC cafeterias. The oil is first put through a process that eliminates fatty acids, then is mixed with methanol (supplied by Methanex) by way of a catalyst (usually sodium or potassium hydroxide), then is purified and evaporated through a still. This results in an output of methyl ester (the biodiesel fuel), with small amounts of glycerine, alcohol and fertilizer. Nothing is wasted in this process. Once the project was approved by senior administration, it got underway in the summer of 2003. The initial phase involved Perrin Hayes, an operations worker at SFU, who loaned his So litre biodiesel reactor for tests. This informal phase moved from a corner of the (appropriately-named) Gas Gunn building to a So square foot storage shed in the lower mall research station. Adjacent space was gradually cleaned out and The Lab (as project members call it) expanded to three times its initial size. The container drums, distillation equipment, tubes and a cooker were installed; the department of Chemical Engineering did safety inspections, then production began. This work-in-progress looks like a still you'd expect to see in some moonshiner's back forty with its conglomeration of tubes, piping and a huge vat to catch the distilled good stuff. The lab is now producing a clean and efficient fuel at a rate of 100 litres per week. The process was recently automated to reduce labour intensity, and the system can be controlled and monitored remotely. But it's a hands-on process to collect the necessary bio-waste to produce the fuel. Two students, working with the Environmental Youth Alliance on campus, spend eight hours every two weeks collecting waste cooking oils from UBC cafeterias. Instead of paying an outside company to remove this waste, UBC Food Services benefits from free oil removal, straight to the Biodiesel Lab. The collectors get to see the chemical process as well as an understanding of the distribution process so that they can take this model to other communities. The saving is dramatic: fresh oil such as rapeseed, costs $.7o/litre, while reduction companies charge $.50/ litre for used oil. With UBC-supplied waste cooking oil, costs run at $.2o/litre. The oil is free but costs include student wages, transportation and other factors. UBC Plant Ops has agreed to run all campus lawn equipment with a 20% biodiesel blend for the next few months, to determine if long-term usage and an increase in infrastructure are viable options for this fuel switchover. The UBC Biodiesel project's output could be increased to a maximum of 1000 litres per week, according to Norman Woo, another key member of the project. He is completing his master's degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering at UBC and started working on Biodiesel in June last year. "I like the idea of recycling a waste stream into a useable commodity, not to mention a more environmentally clean fuel," he says. As supervising facility engineer, he is involved with all facets of the project. Plans include running a test Norman Woo, part of the Biodiesel Project, designer of the large scale facility and mad scientist, doing a biodiesel experiment at the Quesnel fall fair 26 Trek Fall 2004 Fall 2004 Trek 27 diesel engine, in partnership with the department of Mechanical Engineering, to determine running mixtures and injector clogging. So, is less more? This would appear to be the case. A small-scale production facility for biodiesel fuel has large-scale implications. It's a portable system: communities including Bowen Island and Quesnel hosted biodiesel project demonstrations by Woo and have called for feasibility studies. The City of Richmond fleet manager is committed to increasing its use of biodiesel fuel for city vehicles to ioo per cent over the next few years. Hypothetically, UBC's maximum biodiesel production of iooo litres per week could fuel 15 one-ton trucks to run 250 km each. Better still, this output could fuel So cars with diesel engines, assuming 1000 km per tank. At $.2o/litre, you can do the math. You now have a clean-burning inexpensive recycled fuel. Somebody pinch me! Benefits go beyond cost and are equally appealing. We know that petroleum won't last forever: one source (Harper, 2000) estimates viable stocks will all be used by 2059; another source (Heinberg, 2003) estimates that oil production will peak by 2015. Other fuel sources are not only desirable but imperative. Health benefits, estimated by the US Department of Energy, include reduced exposure to emissions of carbon monoxide (43 per cent reduction at 100 per cent mix, or 13 per cent reduction with a 20 per cent mix); hydrocarbons (56 per cent and 11 per cent respectively); loosely-defined air toxics (75 and 15 per cent) and reduces cancer risk by 94 and 27 per cent. The main components of smog are particulate matter and ground-level ozone. Using a 20 per cent blend of biodiesel lowers these emissions by half, and C02 by nearly 20 per cent, which would help Canada meet its Kyoto protocol commitment. In addition, biodiesel is 10 times less toxic than table salt, which means a major spill would be messy, but far less damaging to the environment than a major spill of petroleum. These are good numbers and with healthcare costs climbing, anything that promotes better health in the population will be in demand. Going one step further, a major byproduct of biodiesel production is glycerine, which Naoko Ellis is working to utilize. This complements her research on bio-oils. She recently was awarded an nserc strategic grant for the Biocap Program (biomass fuels, specifically wood-wastes) and stresses that a diversity of strategies for fuel sourcing is necessary. Fuel cells, such as those produced locally by Ballard Power, run on hydrogen and still rely on petroleum to supply it. Bio-oils and biodiesel are environmentally-friendly sources of hydrogen for these new fuel cells. But her biggest turn-on with this project? "Talking with students who want to be involved. They get so excited about participating in research for this project." Ellis hopes that projects such as biodiesel become a major part of the sustainability initiative that has garnered international recognition for UBC. Norman Woo cites the unique partnership this project fosters among UBC, private funders (Methanex), and a non-profit organization, the Environmental Youth Alliance. The federal Department of Transport has also contributed $50,000 for facility design and materials. This structure can concentrate on the work at hand and not be subject to shareholders and red tape that generally constrain larger companies. The UBC Sustainability Office has brought the necessary players together through its Social, Ecological, Economic Development Studies program. seeds manager Brenda Sawada explains how citing the project on campus within an academic discipline, along with developing a business plan and starting the engine testing, have contributed to the project's momentum and credibility. One of the most exciting parts of the Biodiesel Project is the ripple effect. Five Sauder School of Business students prepared a business development plan for the project in April 2003. They note this project is the first community-sized facil ity of its kind and would be ideal for universities; Harvard University has recently switched to running all of its diesel vehicles on biodiesel. As well, more UBC science and engineering students are taking courses on alternate fuel technologies. As Karun Koenig, head of the Environmental Youth Alliance on campus says, "Even if someone from this project goes to work in the petroleum industry, that person can introduce some change and bring a part of the biodiesel sustainability model to that other industry and benefit it. Even if they go mainstream, they still carry the spirit of our work here." Meanwhile Peter Doig and Geoff Hill are carrying their environmental commitments forward. Peter is completing his masters in bio-resource engineering at UBC and is currently working with a local company on organic pesticides. Geoff is somewhere deep in the BC woods working on sustainable forestry practices. The biodiesel seeds they helped plant are beginning to yield a bumper crop here at UBC. Biodiesel fuel produced from waste oils is a huge paradigm shift that even the federal government is encouraging. With its renewed commitment to developing green power markets, producer support and tax incentives, the feds may consider this biodiesel project an ideal candidate for partnering in tech innovation as well. The future looks bright. And clear, too: no more black fumes spewing from the trucks on our streets, and our view of the surrounding mountains to the south and east would be restored. We can even start to catch up to Europe, where biodiesel is sold at more than 800 gas stations, or have California follow our lead here. Perhaps Silicon Valley will be giving way to Bio-Mass Valley (Biodiesel North) on the not-too-distant horizon.n For more information go to: www.biodiesel. org or www.eya.ca/biodiesel Katie Eliot, BA'8o is Coordinator of the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, and a Vancouver poet and writer. Trek Fall 2004 University of Bri "' *; ARTS THE BELKIN ART GALLERY For info on exhibits, please contact the Belkin at 604-822-2759/www.belkin-gallery.ubc.ca or the Belkin Satellite at 604-687-3174/www.belkin- gallery.ubc.ca/satellite. Daniel Richter October 8 - November 28 Eight large paintings by the Berlin/Hamburg artist with some accompanying sketches, notes, photographs, clippings, etc. Electrifying Art Atsuko Tanaka 1954-1970 An early figure in postwar Japanese art, Tanaka is perhaps best known for creating the 1956 Electric Dress from cables and light bulbs. THE CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS Tickets for free events at the Chan Centre may be picked up anytime during ticket office hours. For more information on events, please call 604-822-2697 Paris in the 19th Century (Concert 2 of 3) Sunday October 3, 3:00 pm Concert by Request (Concert 3 of 3) Sunday November 7, 3:00 pm UBC Symphony Orchestra Thursday 7, noon; Friday 8, 8:00 pm, free Saturday, November 6, 8:00 pm, free Bach and Beyond Five concerts presented by the VSO Concert 1 Friday October 15, 8:00 pm, Saturday October 16, 8:00 pm Concert 2 Wednesday December 29, 8:00 pm Thursday December 30, 8:00 pm Concert 3 Friday January 21, 8:00 pm Saturday January 22, 8:00 pm Concert 4 Friday April 15, 8:00 pm Saturday April 16, 8:00 pm Concert 5 Friday May 13, 8:00 pm Saturday May 14, 8:00 pm UBC Symphonic Wind Ensemble Thursday September 29, noon Friday October 1, 8:00 pm Friday November 19, noon, free A Blaze of Berlioz: Symposium Saturday December 4, noon. Call 604-822- 5574 for location info. Grande Messe des Morts (Concert 1 of 4) Saturday December 4, 8:00 pm, $2o/$i4 OCTOBER Sing All Ye Muses Sunday 3, 8:00 pm Celebracion! Mexico y Canada Saturday 9, 8:00 pm Fou Ts'ong 70th Birthday Piano Recital Sunday 17, 7:00 pm Rokia Traore Friday 22, 8:00 pm Ian Bostridge, tenor/Leif Ove Andsnes, piano Saturday 23, 8:00 pm David Spencer Memorial Concert UBC Opera Ensemble October 29, 8:00 pm, free NOVEMBER Michael Schade, tenor/Malcolm Martineau, piano Sunday 21, 3:00 pm Yefim Bronfman, piano Sunday 28, 3:00 pm UBC Chamber Strings Friday 19, 8:00 pm, free DECEMBER Yo-Yo Ma, cello, & Emanuel Ax, piano Friday 10, 8:00 pm UBC Opera Ensemble / Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra Offenbach, Orpheus in the Underworld December n, 14 & 15 (8:00 pm) 12 (3:00 pm) $2o/$i4 Festive Bach Cantatas for Christmas Wednesday 22, 8:00 pm MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY For details on the following exhibits, and on permanent collections, please visit the website at www.moa.ubc.ca or call 604-822-5087. Wearing Politics, Fashioning Commemoration Factory Printed Cloths in Ghana Grad student Michelle Willard's collection of printed cloths that Ghanaians consider significant. Her exhibit shows how these cloths are worn in Ghana to proclaim political loyalties and commemorate important events. Mehodihi: Traditions of Tahltan People Our Great Ancestors Lived That Way This first exhibit of Tahltan First Nations art and culture highlights the profound and continuing links between the Tahltan and their land, culture and heritage. To Wash Away the Tears A Memorial Potlatch Exhibit Based on a memorial for Maggie Pointe, the exhibit includes a contemporary 14-foot West Coast style canoe and its contents. Dempsey Bob The Art Goes Back to the Stories Fourteen panels of text and photographs. The exhibit also features three of this Tahltan artist's most recent bronze sculptures. Site to Sight: Imaging the Sacred How and why we create sacred spaces in our urban environment. Anthro 431 student photo exhibit. Robert Davidson: The Abstract Edge Thirty works including paintings on canvas, paper, and stretched deerskin drums; carved and painted red-cedar panels; laser-cut sculptural works; and sketchbooks. UBC SCHOOL OF MUSIC For tickets and event details, please contact 604-822-5 5 74/concerts@interchange.ubc.ca Wednesday Noon Hour Concerts Recital Hall, $4 October 6 Saxophilia Saxaphone Quartet October 13 Piano and violin October 20 Alma Duo (Ravel and Kodaly) October 27 Rameau, Mendelssohn November 3 Lana Henchell (piano) November 10 Eugenia Choi (violin) November 17 Sara Davis Buechner (piano), Terence Dawson (piano) 30 Trek Fall 2004 Music at Main (Library) Dodson Room, noon, free Friday October 15 noon, pianissimo 2 Friday November 5, French music UBC Contemporary Players Recital Hall, Noon, free Friday 8 & Thursday 21 October Thursday November 25 Opera Tea (UBC Opera Ensemble) Robson Square, 2:00 pm, $17/$ 12 Sunday October 24, Sunday November 21, & Sunday January 23 improLAB UBC Contemporary Players 20tn C classics and new works: Recital Hall, noon, free Monday October 25 Monday November 29 Masterclasses Pinchas Zukerman Friday 12, 1:00 pm, Recital Hall, free OCTOBER UBC Guitar Division Friday 22, noon, Recital Hall, free UBC Jazz Ensemble Friday 29, noon, Recital Hall, free NOVEMBER Visiting People's Republic of China Tuesday 2, noon, Gessler Hall, free UBC Contemporary Players Thursday 4, noon, Recital Hall, free UBC Percussion Ensemble Monday 8, noon, Old Auditorium, free UBC Composers Symposium Alexina Louie, BMus'70, two-time Juno Award winner will have a newly commissioned orchestration of her work, Bringing the Tiger Down from the Mountain II, performed by the National Arts's Centre orchestra during its tour of BC. In this symposium, Alexina will conduct composition workshops. See www. ArtsAlive.ca for details. Tuesday 9, noon, Gessler Hall, free Rokia Traore, part of the Global Arts Concert series at the Chan, October 22 Rokia Traore's gently intense voice combined with an elegant cocktail of gorgeous harmonies and stark, earthy rhythms have helped to rocket her to the top of the international world music scene. Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal Sunday 14, 8:00 pm, Recital Hall, $io/$20 Jazz Ensemble II Thursday 18, noon, Recital Hall, free Duo Matteo Cello and Piano Sunday 21, 3:00 pm, Recital Hall, free UBC Student Composers Monday 22, noon, Recital Hall, free Canada Music Week Concert UB C music students Wednesday 24, noon, Recital Hall, free Collegium Musicum Music from the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque eras, Friday 26, noon and 8:00 pm, Recital Hall, free DECEMBER UBC Jazz Ensemble I With Ian McDougall on trombone Thursday 2, noon, Recital Hall, free Theatre The Box Office is open during the day in the Frederic Wood Theatre Lobby from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm. Reserve: 604-822-2678, website: www.theatre.ubc.ca Under Milk Wood Dylan Thomas, Frederic Wood Theatre, September 23 - October 2, 7:30 pm The Cherry Orchard Anton Chekov, Telus Studio Theatre, November 4" !3, 7:3° Pm Village of Idiots John Lazarus Frederic Wood Theatre, January 20 - 29, 2005, 7:30 pm Fall 2004 Trek 31 BOOKS No Ordinary Mike: Michael Smith, Nobel Laureate Eric Darner DIP.ED'93, MA'96, phd'oo & Caroline Astell BSc'64, msc'66, PHD'71 Ronsdale Press, 2004 DDFrom modest beginnings in England, Michael Smith forged a distinguished career in scientific research that culminated in his being a co-recipient ofthe 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The discovery that attracted so much attention and excitement was a process for altering genes under laboratory conditions for medical and research purposes - site- directed mutagenesis. He used the spotlight afforded by the Nobel Prize to champion the cause of scientific research at the highest levels, and his influence contributed to the establishment of Canada's Genome Sciences Centre. This biography helps to carry on that legacy by underlining the importance of supporting scientific research. A professor at UBC, Smith launched the Biotechnology Laboratory, which became world renowned for the quality of its research. Respected by colleagues, Smith was also well liked. He is remembered as a modest, witty, and generous man, who readily credited others for their work and support. Missing Sarah Maggie de Vries, BA'84, MA'92, BED'95 Penguin Canada, 2003 $24 On April 14, 1998, Maggie de Vries' sister vanished. Sarah de Vries was a sex trade worker in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and a drug addict. Many other women in her position were also disappearing, with scant attention from the authorities. In this book, Maggie de Vries tells us who her sister was, preventing her from becoming an anonymous victim. We are made privy to Sarah's journal entries, sketches, letters and poetry. The author describes her relentless search for her sister, which culminated in Sarah's dna being discovered at Robert Pickton's farm. But De Vries never gave up looking for answers and questioning the social and legal processes that played a role in the plight of these women. The Paperboy's Winter Tim Bowling, ba'86 Penguin Canada, 2003 QDSince the death of his beloved father, Callum Taylor's life has come undone, drained of meaning and purpose. Along with his father, a way of life has died — that of the West Coast salmon fisherman, a life that Callum had assumed would always exist. During a trip back to his childhood home, Callum encounters an eccentric fisherman from his past who prompts a vivid recollection of a boyhood paper round. It was a time when Callum's life was beginning to grow and change, when he started to glimpse the rich complexities of the adult world. Friends are not friends forever, people sicken, even die, and they have pasts and secrets that we may never know. 32 Trek Fall 2004 Dhotograph: Vanessa Clarke The Paperboy's Winter explores not only what it means to shed the protective layers of childhood, but also what it means to witness the disappearance of a culture. Notes on Leaving Laisha Rosnau, mfa'oo Nightwood Editions, 2004 $15.95 From the author of the bestseller The Sudden Weight of Snow comes an accessible and prose-like debut poetry collection. Rosnau's poignant poems address life in a startlingly direct and honest voice, employing a robust combination of jaw-dropping forth- rightness and delicately crafted verse. Cutting through time zones that encompass the rural and urban, the remembered and the forgotten, Rosnau reminds us to "Pay attention to your surroundings," and to "watch for potential road-kill," while never forgetting to compare scars along the way. Preventing Sexual Abuse of Patients: A Legal Guide for Health Care Professionals Marilou McPhedran & Wendy Sutton, BA'72 LexisNexis Butterworths, 2004 nDAimed at health care practitioners, this book provides practical advice and information for understanding and dealing with incidents and claims of sexual abuse committed against patients. A plain language translation of the relevant legalese, the book is a tool to help health care professionals understand the legal framework for dealing with complaints, and hone awareness of acceptable standards of professional conduct. It also deals with recognizing the warning signs of abuse, formulating strategies for prevention and developing educational initiatives. The Road to Makokota Stephen Barnett, MFA'82 MacAdam/Cage, 2003 ]DThe Road to Makokota is set in a war- torn former British colony in present-day West Africa. Craig Allan Hammond, a black American, returns to Africa to find his former love, Oussumatu Turay, and her son - his son - Abu. Sixteen years earlier, Hammond left Ossu and Abu in Makokota after completing a road-building project; she was 19 when he left, and his son only a few weeks old. He has not seen them since. Now the country is decimated by a civil war. Wracked by guilt and fear, Hammond needs to find mother and son and bring them out of the killing zone to safety - in order to save himself. Hammond scours refugee camps in the French-speaking country across the border from Makokota. Having no success, he journeys with a Polish nurse deep into the ravaged land and its violent and dismal reality. Before his journey is over, he will learn that you can't find anything until you've lost everything. Standing on Richards George Bowering, ba'6o, MA'63, DLIT'94 Viking Canada, 2004 $34 (hardcover) Filled with Oddball characters, Bowering's mini-narratives explore the awe and mystery of human relationships. In the title story, a disillusioned English professor ensconces himself on a corner of Richards Street in downtown Vancouver. There, among women selling their bodies, he tries to look intellectually seductive in the hopes of selling his mind. In Old Bottles, a woman recounts how her neighbour cut down his lilac hedge only to replace it with a fence made of empty wine bottles. She thinks the man is crazy, but nonetheless finds his bottle fence strangely appealing. In another story (entitled simply A Short Story) Bowering openly challenges the conventions of realist storytelling and plays with readers' expectations. Throughout the story we re encouraged to question the method of storytelling. Forced Out: The Fate of Polish Jewry in Communist Poland Arthur J. Wolak BA'90, DIP. ART HIST'94, MA, MBA Fenestra Books, 2004 $17.95 In the late 1960s, after the Holocaust had bought about the almost total destruction of centuries of Jewish civilization in Poland, senior leaders of the ruling Communist Party initiated a domestic terror campaign that resulted in the eviction of thousands of Polish Jews. Why did the leadership of a nation that professed equality among all peoples suddenly drive them into exile?" asks Arthur Wolak, son of Holocaust survivors. In Forced Out, he explores this turbulent era, revealing a period in modern European history that offers important lessons about the dangers of political opportunism and the inherent evils of totalitarian- Highbinders Shane Kennedy, BA'91 AuthorHouse, 2004 3D" Better to spend an eternity in Hell than worship at the foot of an unjust god." With those words, Seth Delaney commits himself to destroying his three half-brothers in order to gain control of their father's munitions company, Highbinders Industrial, Ltd. His only chance is to succeed in finding his twin brother who is fleeing from the RCMP and CSIS. His only problem is that his brother has been reunited with someone who has plans of her own. Fall 2004 Trek 33 JBC % alumni news REGIONAL NETWORKS Regional Network News Looking to connect with alumni in your area for a little social or business networking? No matter how far you are from Point Grey, with alumni living and working in 120 nations around the world there are bound to be a few fellow grads to reminisce with in your area. Visit www.alumni.ubc.ca/regions for a list of contacts. Regional reps can help if you're relocating, traveling or wish to participate at upcoming events. And they can always use your help - especially in Montreal and Florida. New reps are needed in New York and Kelowna. If you're interested in getting involved in one of these or other regions, contact Tanya at twalker@alumni.ubc.ca, 604-822-8643 or toll free at 800-883-3088. Of course, the network is always expanding and we're pleased to introduce new reps in Saskatchewan, Houston, Texas, Germany and Hong Kong Saskatchewan Dawna Rumball, MLls'95 and med'02 Email: dawnarumball@yahoo.com Houston, Texas Lars Ronning, BASc'97 and Grace Lo, BA'99 Email contacts: lronning@earthlink.net and glo@rice.edu Germany Steffen Lehmann, BA'04 Email: Steffen.Lehmann@web.de Hong Kong New President - Allan Matheson, BA'9 8 Email: ubcalumni@hknet.com Events Here's what alumni around the world did together this spring and summer: • Watched the Vancouver Canucks and Mighty Ducks in Los Angeles; • Tasted wine in Toronto and London • Came out to hear President Piper speak in Kelowna, Seoul and London • Joined alumni from other Canadian universities in Los Angeles, Washington DC, Boston and Victoria as well as at a number of Canada Day festivities • Ate Peking Duck in Beijing with Canadian astronaut and alumnus Bjarni Tryggvason (BASc'72), who talked about UBC, space and advanced research.. • Raced dragon boats in Hong Kong • Welcomed new UBC students at send-offs in Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, London, Calgary and Toronto • Gathered for a pub night in Tokyo Upcoming Regional Network Events Thursday, September 30 New York Canadian Universities Alumni Reception hosted by the Canadian Club 6:00 - 8:30 pm Penn Club, 30 West 44 Street Sponsored by the UBC Alumni Association. There's a special rate for UBC grads to attend. Last year more than 400 alumni attended from universities all across Canada. Join other alumni for a cocktail reception with drinks, fine food and music in posh surroundings. Friday, October 8 Seattle 8tn Annual Canada Gala hosted by the Canada America Society of Washington and the Canadian Consulate General 6:00 pm Seattle Westin Hotel Special pre-reception for UBC alumni in the Fifth Avenue Room starting at 6:00 pm. Wine and nostalgia will be served before the main event. Wednesday, October 13 London UK pub night. Time and venue TBC Join fellow grads and special guest Linda Alexander, UBC's Director of Career Services. October TBC Faculty of Applied Science reception for California alumni. Contact May Cordeiro, Alumni Relations Officer, at 604-822-9454 or mcordeiro@apsc. ubc.ca for information. Friday, October 15 Kuala Lumpur Alumni and Friends reception with UBC President, Dr. Martha Piper 7:00 - 8:30 pm Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur Hotel, Penang Room 1&2 Haven't been back to the UBC campus in awhile? UBC is coming to you. Come out to meet fellow grads and UBC President Martha Piper, and view a UBC video presentation. Monday, October 25 Toronto Faculty of Arts reception. 6:00 - 8:00 pm Hilton Toronto, Governor General's Suite Meet the new Dean, Nancy Gallini, fellow alumni, and hear from three distinguished professors from Political Science. Friday, October 29 Chicago All Canada universities Event hosted by the University of Waterloo. Chicago Athletic Association, 6:00-9:00 pm November TBC Vernon reception. Time and venue TBC Sunday, November 14 Toronto Faculty of Applied Science reception. Contact May Cordeiro, Alumni Relations Officer, at 604-822-9454 ormcordeiro@apsc. ubc.ca for information. All information is current at time of printing. 34 Trek Fall 2004 Check for confirmed details on the web calendar at www.alumni.ubc.ca/events/calendar. To RSVP for these events, visit the website, phone the Alumni Association at 604-822- 3313 or toll free at 800-883-3088, or email aluminfo@alumni.ubc.ca. YOUNG ALUMNI After a spring and summer helping out with the Cinderella Project (providing formal attire for students to wear to their high school proms), volunteering at the UBC Learning Exchange, and attending a Vancouver Canadians baseball game at Nat Bailey Stadium, the UBC Young Alumni Network is picking up steam for the fall season. Friday, October 1 The Young Alumni Network is once again organizing a "Murder at the Mansion Murder Mystery" event to kick off Alumni Reunion Weekend. (Our thanks go to Roger Haskett BFA'91, ma' 92 and his company Murder Unlimited for sponsoring this terrific event.) Tickets are only $20 and include a dessert buffet, prizes and some great interactive entertainment. Put together a team of five or six, or sign up on your own and meet some other alumni and friends. Tickets can be purchased at www.alumni.ubc.ca/ Dragon Boat Race at Stanley, Hong Kong, June 22, 2004. The joint UBC/UofT Men's "A" Division team placed 12th out of 27 (a move up from 16th last year). No one seemed to mind that the team was the only one with five female members, which was probably responsible for the great finish. Fall 2004 Trek 35 youngalumni October 27 Entrepreneurial Opportunities Robson Square Career workshop put on by Canadian Youth Business Foundation.Check our website for updates. Newsletter The Young Alumni Network sends out an e- newsletter every two months. Make sure you're on the list! Visit www.alumni.ubc.ca/ youngalumni and click on 'Newsletter' to subscribe. Mentoring Programs Who better than UBC alumni for offering UBC students valuable insight about the challenges they will face upon graduation? This is why we need your help. We are looking for alumni currently working in the Vancouver area willing to come and speak to students about their careers. We have various ways that you can get involved and inspire students. Our first event is Science Career Expo in November, which attracts nearly 500 Science students eager to hear what our graduates have to say about the world of work. This will be followed up with Arts Career Expo and Beyond the BA. In addition, many faculties offer one-on-one mentoring opportunities for students through the UBC Tri-Mentoring Program. If you are interested in participating in these events, please call Dianna DeBlaere Ladicos at 604-822-8917 or email yamentor® alumni.ubc.ca Volunteer Programs Did you know that the UBC Alumni Association is a volunteer organization? We are always looking for alumni to get involved, be it handing out pins at convocation, acting as a mentor on a panel discussion for students, being an alumni contact in a city outside of Vancouver, sitting on various planning committees, or serving on our governing board of directors. Visit www.alumni.ubc.ca/ about/volunteer to find out more about different ways to get involved. For more information you can contact Dianna DeBlaere Ladicos at 604-822- 8917 or email yamentor@alumni.ubc.ca. Medicine '54 was the first class to graduate from the faculty. At Spring Congregation, 2004, remaining members joined the 2004 grad class for a special ceremony. Following was a hosted lunch with Dean Gavin Stuart before setting off to the Manteo Resort in Kelowna for four days of golf, relaxation and reminiscence. Dr. Bill Gibson is seated, front. 36 Trek Fall 2004 ALUMNI REUNION WEEKEND Thursday, September 30: Happy Birthday UBC! Campus Alumni Barbeque at Cecil Green Park House Sigma Tau Chi dinner at University Centre Friday, October 1 Annual Murder Mystery Night, Cecil Green Park House. Everyone Welcome BASc'54 Lunch, Cecil Green Park House BASc(Elec)'69 Tour of ECE building & pub night, Green College BASc(Geol, Miners & Mets)'54 Dinner, Brock House Dentistry, all years Alumni & Friends Golf Tournament, University Golf Club, BBQ lunch Home Ec'54 Lunch, UBC Botanical Garden Pavilion Law Alumni Association AGM, Curtis Building Med'64 Wine & cheese reception, Green College Pharm'94 Cocktails, Toby's Bar Pharm'74 Dinner, University Golf Club Saturday, October 2 All classes Pancake Breakfast (RSVPs only - contact info below), Cecil Green Park House Aggie'54 Tour of Nitobe Gardens & lunch at the Asian Centre Arts & Science'54 Hosted lunch, Green College Great Hall, campus tours AppSci'54 Tour and lunch, CEME Building BASc(Elec)'69 Dinner, Green College Educ'79 & '94 Lunch, Scarfe Building Forestry, all years BBQ and tour of Forest Science Centre Law'79 Reception and dinner, Cecil Green Park House Nursing, all years Lunch & guest speaker, UBC Botanical Garden Med'64 Afternoon activities with reception & dinner, Seasons in the Park Pharm'94 Tour of faculty & dinner, Pacific Palisades Hotel, Seaton Suite Pharm'74 Tour & lunch, Cunningham Sunday, October 3 CBC Radio Orchestra at the Chan Centre BASc'64 Evening reception at Cecil Green Park House Home Ec'54 Brunch at classmates home Med'64 Brunch location tbc For information on reunions, please contact Jane Merling at merlingOalumni.ubc.ca or 604-822-8918. Forestry'73 Woodsmen (and women) got together in Priddis, Alberta and had a great time recounting the rings, so to speak, of their lives. Hard work from Bill & Janet Jansen, Mike & Kate Case, and Jim Geoghegan made sure the event was as well-planned as a tree farm. Including families, 45 people attended. Front row - Doug Baker, Brian Logan, Frank van Oyen, Jim Burbee Middle Row - Gord Sluggett, Mel Johnson, Mike Casey, Larry Atherton ('74), Steve Silveira, Bill Jansen, Eric Johansen, Guenter Weckerle, Bob Johnson, Lloyd Wilson Ken Balaski, Ron Gray Back Row - Dave Clarke, Jim Geoghegan Upcoming Reunions Applied Sciences: (Contact May Cordeiro at 604-822-9454 or mcordeiro@apsc.ubc.ca for details) BASc'74 October 6, lunch at Cecil Green Park House ChemEng'69, CivEng'64, MechEng'54, MechEng'74 dates to be confirmed Class of 1944 November 25, hosted brunch and participation in Fall Convocation Home Ec'59 September 29-30, Whistler Summit Lodge Home Ec'69 September 25, pot luck supper at classmate's home Home Ec'79 October 16, Dinner at Cravings Restaurant, Vancouver Law'69 September 17-19, 35-year reunion at Crown Isle Resort, Courtney, BC Law'74 October 22-24, Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa Law'84 October 29, Dinner at Cecil Green Park House Law'89 October 22, Wine and Cheese at Cecil Green Park House Med'55 tbc Med'74 October 16, Dinner at the Wedgewood Hotel, Vancouver Creative Writing November 4, 40tn anniversary reunion at Cecil Green Park House For information on reunions, please contact Jane Merling at merling@alumni ubc.ca or 604-822-8918. Fall 2004 Trek 37 CLASS ACTS 50S Canon Bernard Barrett BA'51, BD'54 has recently returned to Vancouver. He is president of Religion for Peace, Canada, and has been an Anglican priest for 50 years ... Hugh Daubeny BSA'53, MSA'55 received Outstanding Cultivar awards from the Canadian Society for Horticultural Science and the American Society for Horticultural Science. The awards recognize his development of the red raspberry cultivar, Tuiameen. The cultivar, released from the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada berry breeding program at the Pacific Agriculture Research Centre, has become the world's leading fresh market raspberry ... Retired Supreme Court Justice William H. Davies LLB'55 has returned to practice as associate counsel at Baker Newby in Chilliwack. He was a partner there (then Wilson, Hinds & Davies) in 1957, shortly after being called to the bar. In 1982, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of BC and in 1990 to the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories. He retired in 1999 and has been active in the Chilliwack community, holding office in many local organizations ... Robert P. Langlands MA'57 has been elected to the American Philosophical Society in recognition of his distinguished achievements ... Primate Michael Peers BA'56 received an honorary degree at the Vancouver School of Theology's annual convocation. He has been primate of The Anglican Church of Canada since 1986. 6O Silver Donald Cameron ba'6o, journalist, playwright, educator and champion of grassroots economic development, received an honorary Doctor of Civil law degree 38 Trek Fall 2004 .r . A 5* -^ r — -' r^^^ a ^m t ■■ ■ h - 4 IT * * ■ "1 w ■ fr-1™ r- -^_J 1 S.K. McGarvey with NASA Space Foundation Medal from The University of King's College. He has written 15 books and more than 50 radio dramas, television scripts and magazine articles. He is co-founder of The Mysterious East magazine and Centre Bras d'Or, the Cape Breton arts organization. He is founding chairman of Telile, Isle Madame's community television station and is deeply involved in the restructuring of the area's economy following the collapse of the fisheries ... W. John Dawson BCOM'64, FCA has been recognized in the 2004 Merit Awards program of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta. He is only the second CA outside Alberta to be given this award ... Art Field bpe'6o, MPE'64 taught and administered in Salmo for more than 30 years, retiring a couple of years ago. A new Salmo school was recently opened and during the ceremony Art was recognized for his dedication to education and community involvement. The new school's gymnasium has been named the Coach Art Field Gymnasium in his honour ... Robert L. Felix MA'62 is president-elect of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools. He and wife Judy J. Grossman BA'62 have just returned home from a tour of the Baltics and Russia. They have 10 grandchildren, all within an easy drive from their home in Columbia, South Carolina ... Constantine Gletsos MSc'65, phd'68, now retired and living in Pomona, New York, has received this year's County Executive's Outstanding Environmental Volunteer Award. The award recognizes his efforts to protect local water supplies by putting up notices near storm drains warning against the repercussions - both legal and environmental - of dumping, and for making his village a litter-free zone by forming the Pomona Clean-Up Squad. Constantine is a retired medicinal chemist who discovered an anti rejection drug in the 1990s used when transplanting organs. His wife, Helen D. Kerr-Gletsos, graduated from UBC with a BA in 1965 ... Jane Heyman ba'66 is the 2002 recipient of the Union of BC Performers Sam Payne Award for Humanity, Integrity, and the Encouragement of New Talent. In 2003, she received the Canadian Actors' Equity Association Larry McCance Award for members of Canadian Actors' Equity Association or staff who have made an outstanding contribution to the association ... Bill Kirby ba'66, MFA'73 is founder and executive director of the Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art and director of The Canadian Art Database Project, which can be seen at www.ccca. ca. He was head of the Canada Council Art Bank for 14 years until 1995, and prior to that was responsible for the Council's Program of Assistance to Art Galleries and Artist-Run Spaces for three years. He is a former professor of Contemporary Canadian Art at the University of Manitoba's School of Art; curator of Contemporary Art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery; and director of the Edmonton Art Gallery ... S.K. McGarvey bsc'68 has been inducted by the NASA Space Foundation into the 2004 Space Technology Hall of Fame. Established in 1988, the hall of fame recognizes people who have adapted technology developed for space applications for everyday use. McGarvey developed a laser which is able to correct myopia and hyperopia from technology NASA used for delicate docking procedures ... After 39 years wandering in the wilderness of Ontario, Illinois and Alberta, Andy Pickard BSc'64, phd, has moved back to BC, just north of Qualicum Beach. He continues his career as a consultant with the petroleum industry. He left UBC to follow Howard Clark to Western for his phd, then completed two-years post- doc at the University of Chicago. He then spent 10 years with Imperial Oil in Sarnia and 24 years with Petro-Canada in Calgary. Now, he and wife Charlene are looking forward to designing and building a new home, hiking, canoeing and gardening (when not consulting) ... Tracy Wolfe msc'68 and Robert Wolfe BSc'64, MSc'67 are retiring after 34 years of teaching in the English section of the Cegep de la Gaspesie et des lies in Gaspe, Quebec. They have been the only chemistry and physics professors in the section during that time. Robert has been honoured by l'association quebecoise de pedagogie col- legiale in recognition of his teaching. They have two sons: Jonathan at the University of New Brunswick in Biology, and Christopher at Queen's in Computer Science. Tracy and Robert look forward to having more time for traveling in the spring and fall seasons, leaving the summers for sailing. In recent years Robert has developed a hobby repairing computers and now has a part-time position as a school computer technician. Tracy in involved in a number of music projects, which include singing in three choirs. 70S Silver Donald Cameron received an honorary degree from the University of King's College Dick Chambers BPE'70, pdp, ma has been honoured by the BC School Superintendents Association with its Distinguished Service Award. Dick has been a superintendent for more than 20 years, first in Arrow Lakes and now for the Prince George School District. He is a long-standing member of the BC School Superintendents Association, spearheading many initiatives and presenting at workshops and conferences. He has also been a committed boys' volleyball coach, leading three high school teams to provincial championship games. He is an Honorary Life Member of the BC Secondary School Boys Volleyball Association ... Stephen Fera BPE'71 has been named Delta's Teacher of the Year. A science teacher, he believes that fun is the key to keeping students engaged and learning. Outside the classroom, he encourages students to achieve through participation on a student council and helps them to organize fund-raising and social events ... Neil Fraser BASc'78, MBA (uwo) is president of Medtronic of Canada Ltd. after almost 20 years with the company. He lives in Toronto with wife Heather and daughter Ceilidh (n years) ... Hugh Harden BASc'75 MBA will return to Canada in September Fall 2004 Trek 39 CORRECTION Our apologies to Rev. Max Warne, who received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the Vancouver School of Theology in May, 2003, not a bachelor degree as stated in our spring issue. He is minister emeritus at St. Andrew's Wesley United Church in Vancouver. Ceilidh (n years) ... Hugh Harden BASc'75 MBA will return to Canada in September to join Terasen Pipelines in Calgary as VP Operations. Hugh, his wife, Gaye, and children Heather, Angus and Stuart have spent the last six years in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where Hugh has been VP of Operations for Terasen International ... Rowena Liang BA'77, CEO °f Inventure Solutions and VP of IT at VanCity Savings Credit Union, received the Knowledge and Leadership Award from the Association of Women in Finance at the seventh annual Peak Awards. She was selected for her commitment to a high professional ideals, as a mentor within the finance industry and through community involvement ... Brian Nattrass LLB'72 has been awarded a scholarship by the Batten Institute of the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration in Virginia. He will pursue research and writing on sustainable business practices and sustainable innovation ... Alex Nichol MA'70 and Kathleen Nichol (Sturgess) BA'70, MLs'73 run the Nichol Vineyard & Farm Winery in Naramata, BC. Visit www. nicholvineyard.com for more information on their activities and products ... Wayne Yu dule'oo is president of the Real Estate Board of Canada, Greater Vancouver Chapter, and was recently awarded the Certified Commercial Investment Member designation by the ccim Institute. 80S Russell Stewart Brown BA'87 and wife Heidi Brown (Hawelka) BCOM'89 have moved to Edmonton, where Russell has been appointed to the faculty of Law at the University of Alberta. They have a son, Gavin Paul, born in 2002 ... Donna Lee Hill bsc'88, BED'91 is the director of Island Discovery & Training, which teaches tour guides and group leaders interpretive skills and natural history. She enjoys native plant gardening. Husband Bruce Angus bsc(pharm)'90 works in commuity pharmacy and is completing his Provincial Instructor's Diploma, and enjoys competing in master's level agility. They are enjoying a relaxing life on Vancouver Island with their two dogs ... Bob Hewitt bsc(agr)'84 and Huang Hefeng have a son, Michael ... Cam Livingstone BASc'82, meng married Mireille Campeau. The couple are settling in Seattle, WA, where Cam is taking a management position in Motorola's cellular telephone division ... After several years abroad in research management positions at Bayer Pharma's research sites in Japan and Germany, Tim Lowinger bsc'86 has returned to Connecticut, where he is VP of Medicinal Chemistry Research at Bayer's us research centre ... Takashi Sato bsc'86, msc'88, PHD'95 and Nancy Norman bed'oo announce the birth of their first son, Marc ... Pianist James Parker BMus'85 is the recent recipient of two Juno Awards. The first was for his part in the Gryphon Trio and their CD Canadian Premieres, and another for his pianistic collaboration with soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian in the CD Azulao. Jamie is a graduate of The Juilliard School and currently holds Rupert E. Edwards Chair in Piano Performance at the u. of Toronto. He was a soloist with the Vancouver Symphony in February and the Gryphon Trio played for the Music in the Morning series for four mornings from March to April ... Stephen Wendell Barnett MFA'82 has published The Road to Makokota (MacAdam/Cage), a novel set in West Africa. (See book reviews.) 90S Cynthia Azana BSc'97, Msc'02 and Oliver Guevara BSc'97 were married in August, 2001. Cynthia now owns and operates Sentiment Photography and Imaging, and Oliver is a radiation therapist at the BC Cancer Agency ... Jessie Barkley BA'97 graduated from the University of California in 2000 with an MA in Urban and Regional Planning. She is currently working in Los Angeles for an urban planning firm. In June, she won the California American Planning Award for a community design project for Brea, California ... Greg Bauder BA'98 has had two novels accepted for publication by Publish America: The Temptress Ariel and Selene's Guiding Light ... Danielle Bretton BA'90, LLB'94 had her first baby, daughter Rachel Hope Coyne, on February 25, 2004 ... Erhan Budak PHD'94 worked for Pratt and Whitney, Canada in Montreal after graduation. He returned to Turkey in 2000 to become a faculty member at Sabanci University in Istanbul. Daughter Ece, who went to UBC daycare and preschool, is now 15 and in high school. Erhan was awarded the 2003 Taylor Medal by the International Production Engineering Research Institution, 40 Trek Fall 2004 based in Paris, for his work in the area of advanced machining technologies, which he began during his phd at the Manufacturing Automation Lab at UBC. He frequently misses UBC ... Karen Marie Cornelius BA'93 received an MA in psychology in 1997 and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2003 from Pepperdine University. She runs a psychology research program at UCLA in California ... After a long trek, Jadvinder Dhesi BSc'96, DMD'04 has completed his Doctor of Dental Medicine degree at UBC ... Elizabeth Hewalo BA'98, llb'oi and Michael Steinberg BA'98, llb'oi were married in North Vancouver on July 10, 2004. Mike and Lis met at UBC Law and now work in New York. Both are admitted to the New York Bar ... Connie Jang Bsc'95 asks "Who says a bsc won't come in handy?!" She and husband Eugene Mar BSc'93 have recently celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary and the fifth anniversary of being in business together. Their business, Wedding Things, can be found in Yaletown at 1020 Mainland Street. They specialize in wedding invitations, wedding favours, confectionary and baby gifts. OOs Freddy Abousi bsc'oi is taking his degree in medicine at UBC and recently received the Action Canada Fellowship, worth $20,000, meant for young leaders in Canada who have the potential to become top public leaders of the future. Of Armenian descent, Freddy was born in Iran and grew up in various places in Europe. He holds an MSC from the London School of Economics and an MBA from Oxford. He has led consulting and research projects for organizations such as the Kenyan Agency for Rural Development, the British Medical Association, the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, the nessT Venture Philanthropy Fund and the World Bank. His most recent initiative, Medamorph Systems, aims to improve medical education throughout Canada by development and implementation of a comprehensive medical record clinical curriculum. In addition, he has spent the last few years competing in marathons and triathlons, sailing internationally, and rowing on the Thames ... Carley Daye Andrews ba'oo is pleased to announce her graduation from Harvard Law School upon completing her JD degree. She plans to practice law in Seattle ... Darren Harkness BA'02 has just published Apache Essentials: Install, Maintain, Configure, a guide to the Apache webserver for the non-propellerhead. More information can be found at www. amazon.ca ... Allison Kozdron Bsc'oo and Nils Johnson Bsc'oo were married on May 29, 2004, in Langley. Earlier that month, Allison received her mpa, and Nils his MD, from Columbia University. They are moving to Chicago where Nils will begin an internal medicine residency at Nortwestern University ... Kristin Anne Mellish (Smith) Msc'97 married Robert Mellish in May, 2004 ... Jonathan Denis Mills Msc'03 is studying medicine at Dalhousie ... Sharon Priest-Nagata MED'03 is pleased to announce the opening of her private counselling practice at 1200 Burrard Street. D Can UBC Create Your Legacy? Bailie Martin trunk-; ;o. Attaining hi* CGA training from UBC while holding dowm a job and *nff acting a family he .learned fic*thand .now older *tudent; in particular often *tmggk to complete their degree*. To honour hi daughter, Diana Cajol L/uLTtin, he ha* eatable-hed a bius-aiy that will ea*e the financial buiden for Commerce student*. Alto, to en* ure that thi* award will benefit i indent* well into the f utnie, he ha* included U£ C in hi* will, faying, "It* amazing what you. can do even with *mnll amount*." To cueate a legacy that will helf *tudent* achieve their dreamt, contact UB C Gift &£ E*1ate P .tanning *taf f or aik for a free information .kit. TeL 604-822-5573 Email hintagi.ciiicle@iibc.ca THE UNIVERSITY OF 9RITISH COLUM9IA 1 VANCOUVER w ww. ;u pporti n g. u bc. c-i Fall 2004 Trek 41 Each year, the Alumni Association puts out a call for nominations for the annual Alumni Achievement Awards. The awards selection committee then pores through the nominations to choose individuals from among UBC's alumni and friends who represent the highest standards of achievement. It's a difficult task because there are so many worthy people. jSEaSfr* ^mSSS^ THE 2004 ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS Fortunately, there are other years, and there will never be a shortage of worthy recipients. This year's Alumni Achievement Dinner takes place Wednesday, November 17, at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, and will honour those alumni and friends described below. Outstanding Student Award Christopher Zappavigna, Bsc'02 Chris didn't want his student experience to consist solely of attending class. He wanted to explore everything that the campus had to offer, and beyond. So he got involved in intramural sports, community volunteering and student politics. He likes to shoulder responsibility directly, from sitting on committees that deal with top levels of university administration to his volunteer work as a certified first-aid attendant at public events with the St. John's Ambulance. As a student politician, he makes sure student concerns and interests stay firmly in the minds of policy- and decision-makers. He served on the Student Appeals on Academic Discipline Committee and was a member of the President's Advisory Council for the selection of a new Dean of Science. It was a source of pride to be recognized by his peers when he was chosen to be a student senator for the Faculty. As VP and then president of the Undergraduate Chemistry Society, he attracted more funding than ever before, and expanded the society's scope to include all science students, increasing membership by 50 per cent and helping to encourage inter-disciplinary exchange. He also represented the chemistry department on the Science Undergrad-uate Society, was the student representative on the department's curriculum committee and was a member of the Grad Class Council. Chris is a biochemistry and genetics major with an impressive academic record punctuated by many scholarships and awards, a place on the Dean's Honour List and membership in the Golden Key Society. One of his passions is soccer. He is a member of the UBC Legacy Games Soccer League and a gold medal winner in men's first division futsal, a five-a-side version of soccer. Another activity he crams in is writing and editing a bi-monthly, English-Italian medical newsletter, The Health Language. Beyond the campus, his community involvement includes working in the Emergency Room at Burnaby Hospital, where he heads training for other volunteers. He is also an executive officer on its auxiliary board of directors. As part of UBC's Trek Program, he volunteers in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside at a shelter that provides a place to sleep for those with substance abuse problems. He is now leader of orientations for new student volunteers. He believes his contact with the outside community keeps him in touch with reality and will serve him well in his future pursuits. He plans to attend medical school. 42 Trek Fall 2004 Fall 2004 Trek 43 Outstanding Young Alumna Award Heather Lovelace, Msc'02 Heather Lovelace is a registered dietician who provides nutritional assessment and care for patients at Vancouver General and Royal Columbian hospitals. She is also a sessional instructor, teaching assistant, and workshop facilitator at UBC. Heather remembers the mentors who enriched her experience as a graduate student. As well as demonstrating a genuine interest in students and teaching, they were active in the community and advocates for better health care. Like them, she goes out of her way to help, and wants to have an impact in the lives and careers of her students, her peers and her patients. She saw her chance to make a difference through the Community Health Initiative by University Students (emus) located in the Downtown Eastside, where she is a project leader and student mentor. She has helped raise the level of participation and quality of experience for dietetics students, providing them with a slice of real life on which to base the development of professional habits. She involves them at the planning stage for projects, gives them front-line experience with clients and facilitates their interaction with students and practitioners from other disciplines. Her approach enhances the synergy among disciplines to improve outcomes for all involved. Dedicated, compassionate and non-judgmental, she breaks down barriers at all levels so that students will approach her, clients will confide in her, and colleagues from related disciplines will collaborate with her. Her persuasiveness and achievements attract funding to projects and one of her goals is to make these programs financially sustainable for the long-term. She credits her experience with emus as increasing beyond measure the value of her formal education; she loves to see scientific knowledge applied to real-life practice. Illuminating ■IVM,-.^ Achievement 10th Annual Alumni Achievement Awards Dinner Wednesday, November 17, 2004 5:30 pm Fairmont Waterfront Hotel 900 Canada Place Way Vancouver Thanks to our Platinum sponsor Placer Dome Inc. Generous with her knowledge and skills, Heather is happy to see others in her field succeed and is doing her part to ensure quality in the next generation of practitioners. Her infectious enthusiasm for her work motivates students and inspires them to push themselves beyond traditional barriers and the confines of their program of study. She is frequently sought out as a mentor at emus and for research and clinical projects with more than 20 students at a time benefiting from her insight and time. She is the 2004 recipient of Most Spectacular Mentor Award for contribution to emus. Heather was recognized by Dietitians of Canada with the Judy Van Tilburg Memorial Award in 2002 and received the Isaac Lipovsky Award in Nutrition in 2001. Alumni Award of Distinction Henry (Hank) A. McKinnell, BCOM'65 Hank McKinnell is Chairman of the Board and ceo of Pfizer. He joined the company in 1971 in Tokyo and has worked for many of its subsidiaries abroad. Thanks to fast organic growth and two major acquisitions under his guidance, Pfizer is now the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical company. Hank earned MBA and phd degrees from Stanford and is chairman of the advisory council for its Graduate School of Business. In 2003, the school presented him with its Excellence in Leadership Award, lauding his leadership and integrity. Along with charing Pfizer's board, he has been elected to the boards of Moody's Corp., ExxonMobil Corporation and John Wiley & Sons Inc. He is a director of the Chamber of Commerce of the USA, and of the Business Council. He is co-chairman of Business Roundtable and a corporate member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Hank believes in management education that creates strong leaders, and a business environment where employees can speak openly and candidly about problems and opportunities. As well as for commercial success, Hank wants Pfizer to be recognized as a corporate citizen with good business practices. In partnership with governments and non government organizations, Pfizer has initiated programs to help provide affordable medical treatment to low-income people and to combat infectious diseases, especially HIV/ AIDS, worldwide. Hank's vision is to tackle world health problems through a coalition of stakeholders—government, non-profit and private sector—to shape innovative health programs that offer more medical access to more people. He was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on hiv/aids. He is also a Fellow of the NY Academy of Medicine. Hank has contributed to the larger community as well as to the corporate world. He sits on the board of trustees of NYC Public Library, the New York City Police Foundation, the JF Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, Channel Thirteen/WNET, the Royal Shakespeare Company of America and the Japan Society. 44 Trek Fall 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award Irving Barber, BSF'50, LLD'02 Hard work, the recognition of opportunity and faith in his own ability have catapulted Ike Barber to the heights of achievement. A Professional Registered Forester, Ike purchased a lumber mill in 1978 at the age of 55, and established Slocan Forest Products Ltd. He developed this company into one of the most successful in the North America lumber industry. In 1997, he received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Pacific Region, in recognition of his entrepreneurial leadership. More recently, in 2000, Ike was recognized with the Distinguished Forester Award by the Association of BC Professional Foresters. Although retired now, he stays involved as a member of the UBC Faculty of Forestry Advisory Council. Ike claims he never had his career plotted out as a series of goals to be achieved. Instead, he kept his head down and worked specifically on immediate issues. Now in his eighties, he is able to enjoy a sense of accomplishment and wants to accomplish still more. He is motivated by the desire to create a meaningful legacy that will have a positive impact on British Columbians. Ike is a philanthropist who directs his gifts carefully, ensuring that money goes toward causes that will serve the people of BC and positively influence the future development of the province. Educational institutions, especially UBC, have been a vehicle for achieving these aims and Ike has been able to enhance health research and learning potential. His gifts made possible a learning centre at UBC, a diabetes research endowment fund at UBC, a human islet transplant laboratory at Vancouver Hospital in partnership with UBC, and a forestry laboratory at the University of Northern British Columbia. As a benefactor of The Irving K. Barber Learning centre, currently under construction, Ike has demonstrated the importance he attaches to access to information and resources to promote learning. The Learning Centre seeks to better BC economically, culturally, socially and intellectually, taking full advantage of the opportunities afforded by the electronic highway to open up the resources of UBC Library to communities beyond the campus. Ike received the Order of British Columbia in 2003 and was invested as an Officer of Order of Canada in 2004. He has been inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame and was awarded honorary Doctorate of Law degrees by UBC and by University of Northern British Columbia in 2002. Outstanding Student Award Jama Mahlalela Although he is not his team's star player and sometimes doesn't even get to appear on court during a game, Jama Mahlalela's naming as captain for the UBC mens' basketball team last October was a popular decision, approved of by fans and fellow players alike. He's a natural leader, well liked and his team is one of Canada's best. An undergraduate in Human Kinetics, Jama has been president of the Thunderbird Athletic Council for the past three years and is student rep on the University Athletic Council. His sporting colleagues have Jama to thank for a good chunk of the department's social life. He is the athlete rep on the organizing committee for the annual Millennium Breakfast and Big Block Dinner, and was MC for the 2002 Mentor Breakfast. He has also spearheaded a number of other social activities including a bowling night, a Halloween bash and an Athletes Welcome Back BBQ and Social. At this year's Big Block Awards banquet, Jama was presented with a certificate in recognition of his "excellence in the areas of selfless-dedication, leadership and spirit." Jama's involvement at UBC is not limited to sports and he doesn't want to miss out on anything that campus life has to offer. He recently ventured into student politics, standing for a position on the AMS council, and participated in this year's Student Leadership Conference. He is a member of the African and Caribbean Association of UBC (he is from Swaziland), was involved in unicef's collection drive in support of Southern Africa, is a member of Students Against Global Aids (he has lost members of his own family to the disease) and volunteered during Africa Awareness Week in January. Jama uses his skill on the basketball court to help and encourage kids, and give them a positive role model. He provides his time and expertise as a referee for real basketball - a community program for kids - and took part in basketball clinics at Collingwood School. He was also involved in organizing basketball camps for underprivileged kids in Penticton. Teaching is one of the areas he is interested in exploring. He gained a lot of satisfaction by helping to coordinate the I'm Going to UBC program, running sessions for more than 200 participants. On completing his studies he plans to return to Swaziland to teach and help his homeland, which has a high level of poverty and is ravaged by aids. He sends over as much sporting wear and equipment as he can collect. While most of his Thunderbird team activities are now behind him, a competitive career might not be out of the question. He has accepted an invitation to play basketball on the Swaziland national team. Blythe Eagles Volunteer Service Award Kimberly Azyan, BA'85, Bsw'89, Msw'92 With three UBC degrees to her name, Kimberly Azyan is finding it hard to sever her alma mater's apron strings. Her work as president of the School of Social Work's alumni division since 1997 is encouraging other alumni to stay attached, too. For almost ten years, she has been at the forefront of activities designed to allow alumni to maintain strong connections with old classmates and with the university. She chairs regular meetings to boost membership, plan and implement events and guide other division activities. Currently Director of Adult Services for Public Guardian and Trustee of British Columbia, Kimberly's work promotes and implements policies to serve the interests of vulnerable adults in the province. Previously, she worked in child protection, resource development, emergency services and the community placement project. She is heavily involved in her profession and its development and she is a catalyst that brings together Fall 2004 Trek 45 seasoned and beginning practitioners so that they can benefit from each other's insights. She is involved in organizing an annual alumni forum to discuss vital issues affecting social work, such as community development strategies, protection of seniors' rights and child welfare services. Another annual event is a Social Work Week collaboration with the Sea to Sky Branch of the BC Association of Social Workers. It brings together social work students, alumni and faculty and showcases graduate student research. Kimberly has also arranged post-convocation receptions to welcome new social workers into the fold. She keeps in touch with other alumni through her co-editorship of the UBC School of Social Work and Family Studies' newsletter, The Bridge. Both publications help support the school's annual fundraising drives. Kimberly is also part of a team developing a publication on the history of the UBC School of Social Work and Family Studies. Her service to the community doesn't stop at professional boundaries. Kimberly has been a board member of the Queen's Park and Felburn Care Centres Foundation since 2000, and a member of VanDusen Botanical Garden's Flower & Garden Show Committee (1996-2000). She volunteered as coordinator ofVancouver Playhouse fundraisers (1986- 94), and with West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund and Surrey RCMP Victim Services. Honorary Alumna Award June Carlyle UBC is a place that holds many memories for June Carlyle, but for her, the heart of the campus is the Athletics department. At least, that's where her heart is - along with her second family. Before her recent retirement, June Carlyle was a beloved fixture in at UBC Athletics for 15 years. Being around people is the fuel that stokes her boundless energy and the part about her work she loved the most. Beginning as an administrative assistant, June soon became an integral component of the department, vital to the morale of its inhabitants and its continued positive development. She retired as manager of Special Events and Alumni Relations, having been the driving force behind many formal and informal functions and a well known face about campus. She was responsible for organizing the annual Millennium Breakfast, a fund-raiser for an endowment fund for student-athlete scholarships. The challenge of persuading 1,800 people to gather in one room for breakfast at 7:00 in the morning had seemed daunting, but with June as one of its champions the popular event has developed into the most successful university fundraising event for athletics in North America. June has also helped to make the fund-raising golf tournaments and the Big Block and Sports Hall of Fame banquets productive and memorable occasions. She was also a key organizer for the combined Alumni Achievement and Sports Hall of Fame dinner, held between 1994 and 1998. She is regarded as a mentor by many current and past students and colleagues. Alumni Award for Research Walter Hardy, bsc'6i, PHD'65 If Walter Hardy had followed his first calling, that of becoming a professional pianist, the world would have lost out on a top-notch experimental physicist. As it happened, the world may well have lost out on a top-notch pianist, but at least colleagues and students in the department of Physics and Astronomy at UBC can hear him play at the annual department dinner. Walter has a long history at UBC. After a brief break following his bsc and phd degrees, he returned to campus in 1971 as a member of faculty. He is lauded by colleagues, who respect the quality of experimentation that has yielded invaluable knowledge for his field over the past 40 years. Career highlights include the development of a cryogenic hydrogen maser, a precision atomic clock emerging from his research on solid hydrogen and spin-polarized hydrogen. But since the discovery of superconductors (materials that conduct electricity with virtually no energy loss) in 1986, Walter's research has focused on the mechanism of high temperature super-conductivity. He is now recognized as a leader in this competi tive field that has attracted the attention of many of the world's top physicists, and has many potential applications in satellite and wireless communication. Walter's research group conducted microwave measurement experiments that lent new understanding to how electrons behave to produce high-temperature superconductivity. According to Science Watch, the 1994 paper relating to this significant work is one of the top-ten cited papers in physics in the year it was published. Walter provided much of the leadership for setting up a program in high temperature superconductors at UBC and many credit him for the success of the national program and academic network. His group remains central in the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Program in Superconductivity - an international network of specialists - by providing the purest crystals for their research. Walter is a scientist who has stared down the most vexing questions posed by his field, and his work has pioneered new depths of knowledge. Several of Walter's proteges have gone on to become professors, and he has helped develop the careers of many others as well as enticing established and distinguished researchers to UBC. Walter has done much to enhance UBC's reputation as a research university. Has impressive list of publications have appeared in the best journals and he was elected to the Royal Society of Canada at just 40 years of age. He has won almost every significant award in Canada including the Fritz London international award in 2002, the Canada Council Killam Prize in 1999, the Canadian Association of Physicists Medal of Achievement in 1993 and BC Science Council Gold Medal in 1989. Walter has no plans to slow down and recently took up hockey. 46 Trek Fall 2004 JJg[| The Benefits of pra Membership The benefits begin with graduation UBC grads organized this Alumni Association in 1917 as a way to stay in touch with friends and with the university. We've developed many programs and services over the years to help the process, and we're proud of what we do. Because we have nearly 200,000 members, we can offer group discounts on services and save you money. At the same time, you'll be supporting programs offered by your Alumni Association Manulife: Term Life Insurance. Extended Health and Denta Protection Plan, and new Critical Illness Plan dl Manulife Financial MBNA: More than 10,000 alumni and students are supporting alumni activities by using UBC Alumni Mastercard. The card gives you low introductory rates, 24-hour customer su and no annual fees, and helps support programs like these every year Reunions and Regional Networks • 54 Reunions, with 4,100 alumni and guests attending • 52 Regional Networks with 70+ world-wide events, and 2,000+ attendees Mentoring and Young Alumni Programs • 815 students attend mentoring events • 50+ mentors helping current students • 350+ alumni attend Young Alumni events On-line community • 3,600 members • 1,406 mentors their pport § J1IA H«(PHi»BTI(ll m Meloche Monnex: Home and auto insurance with preferred group rates and features designed for our grads. Travel and micro- enterprise insurance also available E3 fcflttt CPtarpblB M™ AftjFTfflr. j _jjJ j Alumni Travel Program: Education, Exploration, Adventure More than 800 UBC alumni have experienced our exciting travel program. From the Napa Valley and the Yucatan to Tuscany, Galapagos and the mountains of Nepal, our tours introduce you to planet earth's most fascinating places. Our travel partners, Intrav and Alumni Holidays International provide the highest quality service in uxurious, educational travel. See our 2005 offerings here, or visit our web site Alumni Acarc* partners offer you more value The Alumni Acard $30 per year (plus GST). UBC Community Borrower Library Card Your Acar® entitles you to a UBC Community borrower library card, a $100 value. Working downtown? The Acar® is available at the library at Robson Square The Museum of Anthropology ^cara holders receive 2-for-1 admission. For exhibit information, visit www.moa.ubc.ca UBC Bookstore First-time Acar® holders receive a 20% discount on selected merchandise For more info about services and benefits, or to purchase an Alumni Acar", please contact our offices Phone: 604.822.3313 or 800.883.3088 E-mail: aluminfo@alumni.ubc.ca 2005 Alumni Travel Education, exploration and adventure Antarctica & the Falkland Islands February 1-17, 2005 Discover the mystery below 60°S aboard the 122 passenger Clipper Adventurer. Booking quickly. Galapagos Natural Wonders February, 2005 Discover Darwin's inspiration and walk through flocks of blue-footed boobies Tuscany Cinqueterre May, 2005 Based in Lucca, explore Tuscany and the Cinqueterre, from the rugged shores of the Ligurian Sea to hillside vineyards. Classic Rhine Cruise June, 2005 Sail from Amersterdam to Basel and steep yourself in the history, culture and cuisine of Europe Romance of the Danube Cruise June, 2005 Sail from Germany to the Baltic and taste the flavours of classical Europe Historic Ireland (Ennis) June/July, 2005 Meet the locals and sample the music, dance and literature of Ireland Russia: Journey of the Czars August, 2005 Waterways of Russia - Moscow to St. Petersburg UPCOMING ADVENTURES South African Safari - September 2005 China and the Yangtze River - Sept. 2005 Greece (Poros) - October 2005 Cal. Wine & Gastronomique - Oct. 2005 India & Nepal - November 2005 Mexico (Yucatan) - November 2005 More Young Alumni Adventures coming soon! For more information please see www.alumni.ubc.ca/services/travel.htm or call 604.822.9629 toll free 800.883.3088 UBC Cany the pride of the University of British Columbia in your pocket. Join more ttion 10,000 other UBC olumni and students in supporting your Association! a ■> Apply now for your UBC Alumni Association MasterCard"! www. a pplyonfi nenow.com /canada/trek 1 UBC issiaa 78 "HWrn-n ROGER A CROZIER ■■1 HBtW Unnncn B^r* n '-no CKAJSlvn Bs-JCr pro ocmni^mtar nt rhc MBNA Hrjtvi urn- FU.-, dor*? nord piWarr in Canada. MBNA. MBNA f^Crtni m Rfes, MBNA Corada Bank and MBNA Canada -ara n&oJElwi&d trademarkE ol MBHA Amedoa Bant N.A.. usea punuanl lo Uo&nce by MBNA corodd Bdflk-.Mfliie'Ciirdis.u nd££r&retJ ftagfamaft orwoiierecri Hamdtotaine\dvtiinttid; Lried puuuani lofioerioe. ■~ 3DCi.V.aMA Canudrj Bunk in MEMORIAM In Memoriam listings can be sent by post (see masthead), or email to vanessac@alumni.ubc.ca. If sending photographs electronically, please provide high resolution file or scan print at 133 dpi A. Harvey Burt BA'48 on December 27, 2003 ... Bernard Brynelsen, BASc'35 on July 27 ... James Patrick Fogarty BA'50, Bsw'51, Msw'52 on November 16, 2003 of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy ... Aric Hayes, med'oz died suddenly on August 6 from unknown causes. He was a week away from his 32nd birthday ... Ronald M. Killick BCOM'57 of North Vancouver ... Rev. Edward I. McPhee BA'40, BED'46 ... Norman B. Rudden BCOM'64 on December 25, 2003 ... Keith Allan Rutt BASc'51 on April 30 ... The Most Reverend Ted Scott BA'40 has died in a motor accident. He was a head of the Anglican Church of Canada during the 1970s and 1980s. Florence Alexandra McLeod Auld BA'25 Florence passed away peacefully on February 28, 2003 in Vancouver at the age of 98. Mac, as she was known, was on her class executive for three years, vice-president for 1921-22, secretary for 1922-23 and literary representative for 1923-24. In 1924-25 she was a member of the Women's Undergraduate Society Executive as Women's Marshal, and was secretary of the Mathematics Club. She was a founding sister of Tau Omicron which became the Alpha Lambda chapter of Gamma Phi Beta in 1928. She also took part in the Great Trek and was a member of the Westbrook Society. Florence started her teaching career in Victoria and continued as a secondary business teacher for the Vancouver School Board until her retirement. She and her husband, Bill, retired to the Nanoose area of Vancouver Island where they were instrumental in establishing the Nanoose Volunteer Fire Department. She was predeceased by Bill in 1976 and is survived by her stepson, John Auld, bcom'6i, daughter-in-law, Diane Auld, bed(sec)'59, grandsons, James, Jeffrey and Jerry Auld and granddaughter, Joni Auld Stetz, BA'92, and six great grandchildren. Norman Campbell BA'44 Television producer Norman Campbell died on April 12, aged 80. He was best known for his involvement in both the television and stage pro ductions of Anne of Green Gables, but produced and directed countless other works in various media to great acclaim in Canada, the US and Great Britain. Norman was around - leading the way in studio production - when CBC first went on the air in 1952, eventually finding his niche in music and variety shows. He received Emmy awards for his ballet productions of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella (he produced 28 in total) and in the US directed many episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and All in the Family. His work meant he crossed paths with the likes of Frank Sinatra Dianna Ross, Rudolph Nureyev and Bing Crosby. He was born in Los Angeles in 1924 but grew up in Vancouver. At UBC he was a member of the Players Club, starring in Her Science Man's Lover by Eric Nicol. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy, and an officer of the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada. Norman leaves his wife, Elaine, and their five children. Eve Cavendish BED'76 Originally of Belfast, Northern Island, Eve was the cherished wife of Ken and mother of three wonderful children, Alison, Nicola and Mark. She also leaves grandchild Bronwyn, great grandchild Norman Campbell Similkameen, and sister Ethel Austin and family. Eve died on January 14, 2004, after a valiant battle with cancer. She was a teacher with many years experience in the Vancouver and South Okanagan School District. Both daughters went on to receive their education at UBC. She was a lifelong advocate of programs for the gifted child. Eve's caring and compassionate nature bolstered and nurtured the esteem and self confidence of all whom she taught. She was particularly dedicated to providing a rich and intellectual education for all children. She didn't want children underestimated. She will be warmly remembered by the many parents, children and teachers whose lives she touched. While serving with the WRENS during WWII, she met and married Ken, then a junior officer in the Submarine Branch of the Senior Service, Royal Navy. It was an encounter that would provide them with 58 years of treasured memories. Eve and Ken settled in Kaladen in 1964, where the peace and tranquility, the ever-changing views of the lakes and hills, and their joy of gardening gave them a keen sense of belonging and home. Eve's family want to thank her friends, neighbours and colleagues for their comfort and support and the many fine and dedicated folk in the health care field. William Brown Esson BCOM'47 William died May 6, aged 90, in Anacortes. He was born September 23, 1913, in Vancouver to Alexander and Anna (Anderson) Esson. William married Frances on November 21, 1942. He was employed as a hospital administrator in the healthcare industry. He is survived by wife Frances, sons James (West Virginia) and William (Arizona), sisters Frances (Vancouver), Jean Holton (White Rock) and Margaret Elliott (Regina), as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. Dorothy Beatrice Farris (Colledge) BA'32 Dorothy passed away peacefully after a brief illness, surrounded by family in her home. She was 92 years old. Born in Winnipeg, she moved to Vancouver in 1918 and married John Lauchlan Farris, who died in 1986. Her passions in life were classical music, developing and overseeing her beautiful garden, exploring bc's coastline, nurturing her family and friends, and supporting her husband in his professional pursuits, most notably within the Canadian Bar Association. Dorothy's positive approach towards life will forever be remembered by her children Ann, Haig and Katherine, daughter-in-law Margaret, grandson Jason (Sarah), granddaughter Lara (Bob), and great grandchildren Jane, Hannah, Owen and Lauchlan. Dorothy graced our lives with elegance and love. Her genuine interest in people put everyone who came in contact with Fall 2004 Trek 49 in MEMORIAM her at ease. All who knew her were indeed "hung with horseshoes," and we take comfort in knowing that for Dorothy "all is well." Memorial donations may be made to the Van Dusen Botanical Garden Association or a charity of choice. Maxwell Eric Hewitt Gordon BED'63 Max was born in Trail, BC, on August 21, 1935 and passed away peacefully on April 10, 2004, in the Palliative Care Unit at Princeton General Hospital. A sportsman and a teacher, he will be remembered on the basketball court, the curling rink or fishing his favourite streams. Max will be sadly missed by many friends and relatives in Canada and Scotland, but particularly by his mother, Jean Gordon, sister Ann-Shirley Goodell (bsn'6o), son Dean Gordon, daughter Dawn Gordon and their families. Dr. Kenneth Graham Kenneth, a professor emeritus from the faculty of Forestry at UBC, passed away on Sunday June 6, 2004. Ken taught forest entomology in the core forestry program. He retired from UBC in 1977 after thirty years of service. A memorial donation may be made to the Kenneth Graham Memorial Fund, for forestry studies at UBC. Edward Greathed BA'58 Ed majored in History and International Relation at UBC, a course established by (then head) Fred Soward in the hopes of producing recruits for Canada's fledgling diplomatic service. He went on to Columbia, where he received a Masters of International Affairs in i960. One of his first appointments was as national secretary in Toronto for the Canadian Institute of International Affairs. He went on to work for the government of Ontario for twenty-five years, principally as an advisor on intergovernmental affairs for several ministries. On retiring in 1997, he returned to Vancouver and took up a number of volunteer positions. Edward began his service at UBC as Convocation Senator in September 1999. He contributed regularly at the meetings of Senate at its standing committees, including the Student Awards, Curriculum, Academic Policy and the Tributes Committees. He also served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors, and volunteered as a reader at the Crane Resource Centre. He volunteered, Dorothy Beatrice Farris too, at St. Helen's Anglican Church in West Point Grey, serving for several years as rector's warden. Wherever he worked, Ed demonstrated the finest qualities of a public servant through his integrity, orderliness and scrupulous care in carrying out his duties. Ed is survived by his two children, Dan and Lara, and his grandchildren, Matthew and Sarah. Maud Hazel Hurst Hody BA'49, BED'52 Maud died on November 18, 2003, in Halifax. She was born May 23, 1928, in Vancouver. She is predeceased by husband Reginald Edmund Hody, BA'49, whom she married while they were still undergraduates. They lived in a trailer park with other students and one of their part-time jobs was babysitting UBC President Norman MacKenzie's children. Always a strong woman, she requested that her maiden name be put on her degree. The Dean of Women refused and apparently rather scathingly told her that if she wanted to keep her name then she shouldn't have married. Reg was a WWII veteran (rca) and meteorologist. In the early 50s, he got a job with what is now Transport Canada at Moncton Airport and the couple moved to Moncton, where all their children were born and raised. Maud taught in Moncton and received her MED from the University of New Brunswick. When Reg died, Maud's oldest child was in first year university and the remaining three were still at home (aged 7, 12, and 15). She had stopped teaching because of a hearing problem, but was still writing (she wrote and researched for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography). She decided to return to work full-time and went to Corrections Canada as a parole officer, the second woman in Canada to hold this position. In 1984, she transferred from the Moncton office to Halifax where she remained until retirement at the age of 65 in 1993. To say that Maud had a life-long love of travel is putting it mildly. She travelled extensively, frequently, and independently - often accompanied by various children. She began in 1955 by taking her toddler to the UK for a few months. During the 60s, she often drove her family to Vancouver and 1972 saw them car-camping around Europe. The day after her retirement, she got in her car and drove to Alaska for the summer. She made several big trips in her retirement and was always planning for the next one. Maud had a strong social conscience and was involved with Voice of Women, the NDP and other organizations. She was a founding member of the Unitarian Fellowship in Moncton. She is survived by daughters Florence and Laura, sons Reginald and William (Pam Griffin-Hody), grandchildren Max and Arden, and sister Clare Dick. William George Johnston MASc'47, PHD, PENG Bill received his BSC in Mining Engineering, Geology option, from Queen's in 1945, an MASC in Geology from UBC in 1947 and a doctorate in Geology from MIT in 1950. He loved his work as a geologist and worked at several locations in North America before settling down with his young family in Regina in 1964. He worked many years for Saskatchewan Energy and Mines spending considerable time every summer in the field and retiring in the mid-1980s. Recently, he had been undertaking his own research mapping boulder trains in the prairie provinces of Canada and northern USA, and was preparing for another season of field work. Bill was killed in a tragic accident on Friday, May 14, 2004. James M. Kennedy A professor emeritus of Computer Science, James was director of the Computing Centre, professor of Computer Science and vice president of University Services. If desired, memorial contributions to St. Anselm's Church, UBC Hospital or the Alzheimer's Society would be appreciated. Rolf Dietmar Kratz MASc'70 Professor Rolf Dietmar Kratz, one of South Africa's leading structural engineers specializing in bridge design, died May 17, three days after suf- 50 Trek Fall 2004 fering from a stroke at the age of 62. After receiving his BSC in Engineering at the University of Cape Town in 1965, he came to UBC in 1967 to do his Masters in Applied Science. He met his wife, Karin, while still studying. Growing up in near-desert conditions in Namibia, the cold, long, wet winters of BC finally got to him and after three years they returned to Cape Town. He started work for a large consulting firm and duly established their computer section. He designed the Gouritz River bridge using largely a plane-frame program that he wrote himself. In 1984 he started as a lecturer and researcher at UCT, finally becoming an associate professor in 1988. He had a passion for teaching so although leaving UCT in 1998 to become a specialist consultant, he still taught post-graduate courses. Many of the young engineers today in South Africa have benefited from the high standards and quality of his courses. With his encouragement, several of his students went on to do their masters at UBC as well. In his career he was involved with bridges in several foreign countries including Swaziland, Nepal and Indonesia. In South Africa more than 20 bridges involved his expertise including the Bloukrans and Mandela suspension bridge in Johannesburg. He was also part of the team responsible for the writing of the South Africa's Bridge Code TMH7. Although bridges were his first love, he was involved with structural designs of many different kinds: oil refineries in Iran; analysis of shear wall systems and design for earthquake resistance of the Telekurs banking archive building in Zurich; high rises in Canada; the design of pre-stressed segmental struts of a cofferdam for a luxury hotel in Hong Kong. His work was of the highest calibre and carried out with great care and attention. This was duly recognized with several South African design awards and by being elected as a Fellow of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering in 2001. He is survived by his wife Karin, mother Anny, brother Frank, sister Karina, son Stephan, daughters Kristina, Brigitte and Barbara and grandson Darren. Paul Lin Professor Paul Lin passed away on July 4 2004. Since 1983, when UBC first appointed him an honorary research associate (becoming honorary professor in 1984), he had long-standing relations with the Institute of Asian Research. Paul was appointed to the UBC Senate by the BC government in March 1994. He was appointed Member of the Order of Canada in 1998 in recognition of his outstanding contributions in the development of Canada's ties with China. He was considered Canada's leading authority on the country and headed McGill's East Asian Studies department for many years. James Buckham (Jim) Magee BASc'47 Jim enjoyed a wonderful life from June 4, 1916 until April 16, 2004. After teaching for a year and then working near Yellowknife in the mining industry, he returned to UBC to earn a BASC, concentrating on Mining Engineering. His career took him to interesting locations around BC, NWT, Ontario and South America. In 1979, he retired as the Mine Manager at Western Mines, Campbell River. Jim is survived by Hilda, his wife for 62 years, of Campbell River. Francis (Frank) Joseph Marshall bed'6o Frank Marshall of Quesnel passed away suddenly at his vacation cabin at Eagle Bay on Shuswap Lake, on the morning of Sunday April 4, 2004. Frank was born on March 25, 1937 in Nelson, BC. He grew up by Kootenay Lake and loved the water. He built his first small boat in Nelson and two more in Prince George in the 60s. In the 80s, Frank studied boating courses through the Canadian Power and Sail Squadron and taught boating courses in Quesnel. When the Quesnel Power and Sail Squadron was formed, Frank held the position of training officer. He began to play the bagpipes at age 10 with the Kootenay Kilties band and later played with the UBC band, Shuswap Pipes and Drums . James Magee and the Quesnel Legion Band. Frank earned an MED from Western Washington State. He taught industrial education in Vancouver and Prince George, was director of adult education in Cranbrook, BC; vice-principal at J.L. Jackson Jr. Secondary in Salmon Arm; principal of QSS and Correlieu; director of instruction, SD 28, and later assistant superintendent until retirement in 1995. Frank was active in the BC provincial school accreditation program for a number of years. In his spare time Frank loved Shuswap Lake and the times he spent at the Eagle Bay cabin, as well as RV travelling and camping, especially around BC and Alberta. He is survived by his wife Anna Ingeborg and his children John (Dawn) Marshall, grandchildren Eric and Lacey, of Tumbler Ridge, BC, Dorothy (Allan) Sand, grandchildren Curtis and Derek of Quesnel, Tom Marshall, grandchildren Briana and Brayden also of Quesnel, Karen (Shorty) Smith and grandchild Jared of Tumbler Ridge, and Christina Marshall of Calgary. Frank was looking forward to the birth of another grandchild and Jared Francis Smith was born in Dawson Creek on April 20, 2004. He was predeceased by his son William in 1980. Donations in Frank's memory may be made to a charity of your choice or the Building Fund of Our Lady of the Lake Church, Sorrento, via St. Ann's Church in Quesnel. The family of Frank Marshall would like to thank their many friends for all of their cards, food, flowers, prayers and support given to them during their great loss and members of St. Joseph's and St. Ann's Catholic Women's League who prepared and served the receptions. Henry S. Maas A professor of Social Work (1969-1984), Henry passed away June 14. He was well loved by his students and colleagues alike. Henry will be greatly missed by all who knew him, especially for his scholarly mind, commitment to social work education and social justice, his accomplishments as a poet, his ready wit and the twinkle in his eye. Rex Bruce McKenzie BED'65 Rex McKenzie passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in Kelowna on September 28, after a lengthy illness. He leaves his wife Dorothy, son Brian (Molly), daughter Susan (Jamie Bannerman) and three granddaughters, Molly, Katie and Maggie Bannerman. Rex was born in 1924 in Warner, Alberta, where he graduated from high school in 1941. Fall 2004 Trek 51 in MEMORIAM He spent that summer attending normal school in Calgary, where a four-month course in teaching was offered. He spent a year teaching in the Peace River area. In 1942 he joined the RCAF and spent three and a half years overseas. On returning from the war in 1946, he spent a year at UBC but was lured away from his studies by a business venture - a small hotel. He and his wife, Dorothy Boswell, bought and operated the The Willow Inn in Kelowna. They had two children, Brian (1945) and Susan (1952). They operated the hotel, latterly with partners, until 1962, when Rex returned to UBC to study Education. He graduated in 1965. Rex began his teaching career at Dr. Knox High School in Kelowna in 1965. In 1968, he transferred to Kelowna Senior Secondary School, where he taught mathematics until retirement in 1988 (due to ill health). Rex enjoyed tennis and curling and had been involved in track and field as a student. He was always available to help with school events - basketball tournaments, swim meets and track and field meets. Rex was very much a family man. He enjoyed his family, granddaughters and his friends. He is missed by all of them. Roy Andrew Nodwell MASc'54, PHD'56 Roy passed away on June 3 o, 2004. He was the head of the Physics department from 1977 to 1982. He started out at UBC as a student, earning his masters and his PHD. He began his career at UBC as an assistant professor in i960, and was appointed as a full professor in 1966, before rising to head the department in 1977. In 1984 following his retirement FROM UBC, he was appointed chairman of the Science Council of BC. Jack Pearl BASc'71 PENG Jack died on May 25, 2004, after a long and courageous battle with cancer and, later, lung disease. Family and close friends gathered on May 29 to say goodbye. Arthur T. J. Physick BA'41, Diploma in Social Work '42 Arthur died in the early hours of Monday, April 26, 2004, never regaining consciousness after a stroke on April 24. With humble beginnings, Arthur had to work hard in order to attend UBC. At one point, he left his studies to drive a bus so he could earn more money to carry on his studies. It was while he was a bus driver that he met his wife, June. Art Physick She had also spent a short time at UBC. After university Arthur served with the RCAF and the Canadian Army. He and June were married in 1945, a union that would last almost 56 years until June's death on December 3, 2000. Throughout their marriage, Arthur would say "I married above my station in life." They had two sons: Brook (1950) and Greg (1947). Although he started off in social work, Arthur moved into the insurance field, joining New York Life Insurance Co. and staying with the firm for more than 30 years, ending up in the executive offices. He commuted daily to New York City, until retiring at the age of 61 and moving back to Canada. In the New York Times of December 23, 1979, there was an article relaying one woman's experience of commuting and forming relationships with others who shared the same journey every morning. "The catalyst among us," she wrote, "whose quick friendliness and puckish banter sparked conversation and elicited witty remarks from the others, the one who, in fact, held it all together, is gone, retired, and moved back to his native Canada. No one speaks of it as such, but I believe all of us sense not just the loss of an irreplaceable friend but the subtle dissolution of a special atmosphere." After retiring, he continued to work as an insurance consultant in Toronto, choosing the city over Vancouver because it was where both his sons were living. Later on, four grandchildren were a source of great pride. Arthur loved traveling and music. In 1993, he went to Israel and was very moved by what he experienced there. Arthur was a churchman all his life and served in the church wherever he lived. He was a man of love and faith. He used to say "Throw a pebble in the water and the extent of the ripples is the impact of your life on earth." Arthur succeeded in making many positive ripples on the pond in which he lived. Sandra Thomson phd'8i Sandra died on July 16, 2004, after suffering complications from hip replacement surgery. She was 53 years old. Sandra was director of Provincial Archives in Alberta and had recently overseen the collection's move to new premises in Edmonton. She was a champion of Alberta history and believed that the collection should be more easily accessed by scholars, geneolo- gists and others, and that it contained invaluable insights for shaping the future. Sandra was involved in the local Ukrainian community and was a member of the Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada and of St. Anthony's Ukrainian Church. She attended church services regularly and performed research for the church newsletter. She will be lovingly remembered by husband Gunther, stepsons Eric and Graeme, mother Helen, brother Edward (Natalia), niece Tamara and mother-in-law Gertrude. Memorial donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta or to St. Anthony's Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Miranda Sharpe BA'89 Miranda passed away peacefully on April 1, 2004. She was the beloved daughter of Keith and Pat Sharpe, sister of David and Christopher (Alison), and granddaughter of Vin and Edna Bland. She will also be missed by cousins, aunt and uncle. Miranda's journey with breast cancer was powerful to witness; she travelled with courage and grace. In her 37 years of life, she wove a wonderful web that connected people all over the globe. Miranda enjoyed a successful career at the Rick Hanson Institute based at UBC. She embraced life, loved to travel, snowboard the hills at Whistler, and play volleyball at Vancouver's beaches. Miranda's family and friends will remember her welcoming smile, sparkling blue eyes and huge heart. Behind her beautiful face and calming presence was a feisty intellect and rapier wit. Miranda's passion was friendship and her life was a testimony to the value, art and beauty of relationships. Miranda made a difference in this world. She taught all those who knew her generosity of spirit and the magic in every breath of life. The Sharpe family 52 Trek Fall 2004 thanks Miranda's oncologist, Dr. Stephen Chia, the BC Cancer Agency, and Miranda's wonderful friends for their incredible support. Andrew David Stagg BA'03 Andrew David Stagg, the only child of David and Debby Stagg, was born on July 15, 1980, in Vancouver. Until he entered Grade 2, Andrew's second mum, Penny Spidel, looked after him in her very special family daycare. From there, he went on to attend Immaculate Conception School, St. George's Junior School, and Point Grey Mini School. He attended Langara College before studying at UBC. Many wonderful teachers throughout Andrew's life went out of their way to encourage him and help him develop his gifts and skills. Classmates, too, influenced his development. Andrew played soccer throughout elementary and high school. He played in Dunbar's House League for the Kingfishers and the Rams. Under the supervision of Coach Luigi Scaglione, Andrew played for the Dunbar Dynamites and the Dunbar Celtic, winning with his team three provincial championships. Coaches, parents, and team-mates influenced and shaped Andrew as player and person. Work and workmates influenced Andrew, too. He learned a lot about salesmanship in his time at Eddie Bauer and enjoyed seeing familiar faces among the customers there. For a couple of summers, he enjoyed the destruction that is part of construction, taking pleasure in dismantling chimneys, lath and plaster walls, and cement walks. Andrew's most recent job was as a food runner for Sandbar restaurant, on Granville Island. He enjoyed the physical challenge of navigating the layout with large trays, and the mental challenge of expediting orders and engaging customers. Camping and travelling with the Coombe family gave Andrew much joy and many adventures. As a teen, he enjoyed mountain-biking with his dad in Pacific Spirit Park. As an adult, he chose motorcycling as his mode of transportation, sharing his mum's car as necessary. Andrew also enjoyed playing video games, watching Fi races on television, and attending Vancouver's annual Indy race with friends. Stagg family projects Andrew took a hand in included kitchen renovation, patio-brick laying and garage siding. The many pieces of pottery he created as a young teen are on display throughout David and Debby's home. Andrew's reading was eclectic, from Shel Silverstein to J.R.R. Tolkien to the heavy material of textbooks. He managed his time well, making room for family, friends, work, rest and study. His favourite times were just chillin' with the guys. And later he found love and companionship with Naomi Buell. Andrew had a full life. Andrew became a Christian as a child, believing and accepting the promise of John 3:16. Immaculate Conception School, St. George's School chapel services, and First Baptist Church's Sunday School prepared Andrew for his walk with God. Andrew died on November 9, 2003, as the result of a motorcycle collision with a motor vehicle on October 1. David and Debby are grateful to the doctors and nurses, in Emergency, icu, Trauma, and Palliative Care, who strove to help Andrew. He will be lovingly remembered by family, friends, teachers, classmates, and co-workers. Donations to the Andrew David Stagg Memorial Fund of VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, 855 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9, would be much appreciated. John Stewart Assistant professor emeritus John Stewart died on June 1, 2004. He was appointed as an assistant professor of Philosophy in 1965 and retired in 1995 from the department of Philosophy after 30 years of teaching. He leaves behind his wife Phyllis and his two sons Doug and John. Lila Stringam (Morrow) dip.phn'6i, BSN'72 Lila passed away peacefully in Peace Arch Hospital after a courageous battle with cancer. Predeceased by her parents, Lila will be sadly missed by husband Elwood, sister Joan (Dale), brother David (Susan), and many nieces, nephews, stepchildren and grandchildren. Born in Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan, Lila devoted her life to caring for others. After her nursing degree, she worked for several years as a general nursing practitioner and taught nursing at Kelsey College in Saskatoon. Later she served as the head nurse of the Obstetrical Unit at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver for more than 20 years. In retirement, Lila was an avid gardener who was instrumental in the development of the Memorial Garden at Holy Trinity Church. She was also an active member of the Church Altar Guild. Those who knew her were blessed by Lila's generosity and genuine concern for others. Her family will miss her but are comforted to know that she is in a better place. They would like to thank Dr. Anna Chlebak and the staff and volunteer drivers of the BC Cancer Clinic for their support during Lila's illness. A memorial donation may be made to the BC cancer Foundation or charity of choice. George W. West basc(mining)'5i George West passed away suddenly on Wednesday, May 12, 2004, at the age of 81. Born in Edmonton on August 21, 1922, he lived an active life right to the end. He was a graduate of Strathcona High School. He was commissioned a pilot officer during WWII, and later promoted to flight officer in the 409™ Squadron, RCAF, serving from 1942 to 1945 in England and France. He flew more than 120 missions and was downed twice in his Mosquito. He returned to Canada in 1945 and entered UBC first in Arts and then Engineering for two years. He married Joan Byar of Edmonton in 1948 and took one year out. He reentered UBC in 1949 in the Mining faculty. His early career initially focused on the mining industry, but later he moved over to the petroleum industry working for McColl Frontenac, which later became Texaco Canada. He spent a good part of his later career in the oil patch in Alberta, including a two year contract overseas in Equador. He retired in 1987 after 31 years of service, and carried on a very active life traveling the globe and volunteering in several community organizations, most recently in registering seniors for community computer courses. He was a gentle, kind and caring man who had a curiosity of things and his love of learning stayed until the end. He leaves to mourn many friends and family, and is survived by his wife Joan, son Robert, daughters Marie (Russ) and Beverly (David) and grandchildren Shannon, Kelly, Channing and Pierce.□ Andrew Stagg Fall 2004 Trek 53 with f/ersom*/ can? and attention! as an alumnus or tne University of British Columbia. you reve a PRIVILEGED STATUS writ h entitles pu to enjoy savings through preferred group rates. As Ca radars leaderof group home nsurance programs, we p row He coverage to more trran eoojOOO clients andare renowned Tor our eroeptio ra I die nt care. www.melochemonnex.com/ubc 1 877 722 2299 Get a quote and you could M the new Marcadef-Banz CLK320 Cabriolet*! Endcfced by UBC 3i,iluir|U-LVilDtirc -H-:-p r-Jw + ra-:+n n. Tn -:-:-rl-^ hi-:-F-*ik-i***rl■ <ACmn-± ^■:-rm*w-w*+:-twilYw+M-:Am4l-yi*mlw¥*-Wmwr-M-ih 1mDr^ri+*h> d I QKUQ^tTtd+lta «<000j Tv-::-rt+*i in h--s teur r k-Eh-:-« t-r ±1, i-T in ■:■£*-"i^p. In-**wl\ t#f-d+dri rwrK-a, hljI m^ «-l-Bfru-**4kn. F-ilf»-:-d-± :-l 4iwpiid k-i+«nh-^ I-:-p«1-:U-i, t++ hi--:-:-■ L-h-^uh-:4 li>Hh>tu-riw tto^M-bn OL K£» Ou brfc-W C-rtt4 il ■'■ J— —IJ-' Th+W+k-TH- M-:-ttm Km ■* nimt pr-^pw h-1 n J nrl 11 n It i li lir thi I ■ ra I ■ iT-i-£-:-■ pa-pi PROFILE ALLAN McEACHERN: CHANCELLOR'S WORK IS INTERESTING, CHALLENGING What does a former Chief Justice ofthe Appeal Court of BC do when he retires? The short answer, for Allan McEachern, is "he doesn't." The long answer is a bit more complex. He practiced law after he graduated from UBC with an LLB in 1950, ending up with one of Vancouver's top firms, Russell and DuMoulin, now Fasken Martineau DuMoulin. In 1979 we was appointed Chief Justice ofthe Supreme Court of BC, and in 1988 Chief Justice of the Appeal court. He retired as Chief Justice in zoo 1, and returned to his old law firm to resume his practice. In 2001, he was elected Chancellor ofthe University of British Columbia. During his time as Chief Justice, McEachern was highly respected as a reformer and as a champion of judicial independence. He was also deeply concerned with the smooth operation of the judicial system, adjusting court procedures to make them more efficient, less expensive and more open to public scrutiny. He served on the Canadian Judicial Council, a body that promotes efficiency, uniformity and quality in the performance of federally appointed judges in Canada. He also hosted his own website, inviting questions from the public on the judicial system. Being Chancellor of a large university is not an easy job, and is quite different from what he thought it would be. Never mind that the annual pay is "less than a dollar." He knew that convocation ceremonies at UBC were small, numerous (23 in the spring and only a few less in the fall) and demanding, but he appreciated their significance. "I thought the job would be largely ceremonial," he says with a laugh. "I didn't realize the importance of being a full voting member of the Board of Governors." As it turns out, the ceremonial part of the job is relatively small. "There's a lot of interesting, challenging work to do. He attends bi-monthly meetings of the Board of Governors, which in itself requires reading inches-thick binders on the various issues being discussed. As Chancellor, he is an ex-officio member of every BOG committee. He attends many of their meetings, especially of those committees where his expertise and experience will be of benefit. He also sits on vice-president search committees. Has has represented the university at town meetings up and down the Okanagan for UBC OK, and at town meetings for campus construction, and is on a joint UBC-GVRD committee, which deals with issues that arise between the two. President Martha Piper is impressed with his work as Chancellor. "He is extremely conscientious and commited, " she says. "He involves There are a lot of rewards in the job, and a lot of satisfaction in doing something himself in the proceedings of Senate as well as the Board, and he attends every grad ceremony and shakes every student's hand." "It's quite an honour to have the job," he says. "The committee work is extremely interesting, and you know at the far end of all the work there's a great institution humming away, giving students the very best education." McEachern is also involved with the Faculty of Law. He is in charge of a third year course in trial advocacy, held in the Law Courts. "It's a very popular course," he says. "I do some teaching, but I'm chiefly responsible for recruiting the lawyers and judges who give the course." McEachern's term as Chancellor is up this year, and he has agreed to put his name forward for election to another three year term. "There are a lot of rewards in the job," he says, "and a lot of satisfaction in doing something worthwhile." D Photo Martin Dee Fall 2004 Trek 55
UBC Publications
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UBC Publications
Trek [2004-09]
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Title | Trek |
Publisher | [Vancouver] : University of British Columbia Alumni Association |
Date Issued | [2004-09] |
Subject |
University of British Columbia. Alumni Association |
Geographic Location |
Vancouver (B.C.) |
Genre |
Periodicals |
Type |
Text |
FileFormat | application/pdf |
Language | English |
Notes | Titled "[The] Graduate Chronicle" from April 1931 - October 1948; "[The] UBC Alumni Chronicle" from December 1948 - December 1982 and September 1989 - September 2000; "[The] Alumni UBC Chronicle" from March 1983 - March 1989; and "Trek" from March 2001 onwards. |
Identifier | LH3.B7 A6 LH3_B7_A6_2004_010 |
Collection |
University Publications |
Source | Original Format: University of British Columbia. Archives. |
Date Available | 2015-07-15 |
Provider | Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library |
Rights | Images provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these images must be obtained from the University of British Columbia Alumni Association. |
CatalogueRecord | http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=2432419 |
DOI | 10.14288/1.0224183 |
AggregatedSourceRepository | CONTENTdm |
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