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The University of British Columbia Alumni Magazine
Volume 52 • Number 2 •   Summer, 1998
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Killam Prize winners: engineer Martha Sajjcjudean anAjigMJ^aaxs^
UBC Goes Digital
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ChronicleFe^Sures
Research news, Alumni news, profiles,
reviews, class acts and much more ...
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Affordable Visitor
Accommodation at the
UBC Conference Centre
▲ Spectacular location close to campus amenities
A One-stop shopping for all your conference arrangements with our
meeting professionals
The University of British Columbia
5961 Student Union Boulevard
Vancouver, B.C. V6T 2C9
Tel: 604-822-1010    Fax: 604-822-1001
Email: rcservation@brock.housing.ubc.ca
Visit our web site at http://wwvo.conferences.ubc.ca
UBC 4th Annual
F"yi   Alumni Recognition
V^/ and
Sports        ^jsaaGB^
Hall of Fame
Dinner
Thursday, October 8
Hyatt Regency Hotel
in support of student scholarships
Tickets
$1,000 table of 8
$1 25 individual
GST included
Tax receipts will be issued
UBC Alumni Association,
Tel: (604) 822-33 I 3 On The Cover
Great teachers, great researchers and a great location.
Along with everything else, UBC has the most beautiful
university campus in the known universe. Can you pick
out your favourite haunts? Waite Air Photos.
Features
Engineering professor Martha
Salcudean makes computer models of
industrial processes. She does it so
well, she has won this year's Killam
Prize for Engineering
^ H Information
Technology is set to
transform teaching, learning
and research. UBC is ready.
10
Creative Writing professor
George McWhirter is a poet
who moves words, images
and students.
14
The graduation ceremony is one
of those rites of passage that
mark our lives. Here's what it's
like at the new Chan Centre.
24
chronicle
Editor Chris Petty, MFA'86
Assistant Editor Shari Ackerman
Contributors Deanna McLeod, Don Wells
Advertising Katie Stradwick
Board of Directors
President Haig Farris, BA'60, LLD'97
Senior VP Linda Thorstad, BSc'77, MSc'84
Past President Tricia Smith, BA'80, LLB'85
Treasurer Thomas Hasker, BA'86
Members at Large '98-'00
Gregory Clark, BCom'86, LLB'89
Jean Forrest, BPE'83
Thomas Hobley, MBA'83
Members at Large '97-'99
Peter Ladner, BA'70
Don Wells, BA'89
Lome Whitehead, BSc'77, MSc'80, PhD'89
Executive Director
Agnes Papke, BSc(Agr)'66
Editorial Committee
Don Wells, BA'89, Chair
Ron Burke, BA'82
Paula Martin
Sue Watts, MF'75, PhD'81
Design Consultation
Chris Dahl Design Communications
Printed in Canada by Mitchell Press
ISSN 0824-1279
The University of British Columbia Alumni Association
9
9
4
13
20
Research News
Athletics
Awards
A digest of news from UBC
Varsity year in review. 1997-98
We're honouring these UBC grads
Reports and elsewhere:
was a banner year for UBC teams
and athletes at this year's Alumni
3
neurotoxins in white bread to
and athletes. More awards and
Recognition and Sports Hall of
Humanities 101
more championships.
Fame Dinner.
27
Class Acts
What's going on with those
people who sat beside you in
English 101? Here's the place to
find out.
32
34
Student Profiles       Books
Meet two of tomorrow's movers
and shakers: both smart, active
and willing to pitch in to help
the community.
UBC alumni write books. We try
to show you some of them. It's
hopeless: too many writers, too
much talent.
Visit our website: www.alumni.ubc.ca chronicle news
Women's
Centre Turns 25
It's been 25 years of success
for UBC's downtown Women's Resources Centre
(WRC). From women's lib to
corporate downsizing, the center
has kept up with women's needs
over the years.
Director Ruth Sigal says activities at the centre reflect changes
in women's lives since it opened
in 1973. Then, the focus was helping
women discover their own identity and
strengths when they were just entering
the workforce.
The centre started with eight volunteers and saw about 1,000 women
annually. Now, there are 60 volunteers to
handle 25,000 clients annually.
The centre, located at 1144 Robson
Street (near Burrard), sees clients from all
ages and all levels of society. About 20 per
cent of the clients are men.
Sigal is especially proud of the
dedication of the centre's volunteers. A
third of them have been with the centre
for more than eight years, some for two
Women's Centre Director Ruth Sigal, (I) discusses a program
with WRC volunteers.
decades. Many are UBC alumni, from
faculties ranging from social work to
commerce.
Shifts in Vancouver demographics
are reflected in the WRC's programming,
notably its cross-cultural peer counselling
programs which teach basic counselling
skills and an understanding of
multicultural issues.
The WRC is a community service of
UBC Continuing Studies. It offers personal and career planning for women and
men. Programs are run by professional
counsellors and instructors. Free drop-in
counselling is offered and pre-registration
is required for all programs. •
Summer Jobs for Pharmacy Students
Pharmacy students won't be waiting
tables and pulling weeds this
summer. Instead, two dozen of
them will work in pharmacy research
labs, thanks to the Summer Student
Research Program.
"We want to give undergrads a taste
of what it's like to be a research scientist,"
says assistant professor Kishor Wasan.
"We want them to see what they can do
with a pharmacy degree." The projects are
designed to give first, second and third
year students lots of science and community pharmacy education experience.
"By getting students involved early, we're
helping to fulfill Martha Piper's vision of
using research to enrich the undergraduate education at UBC," says Pharmaceutical Sciences Dean Frank Abbott.
Between 1994-1997, about 40% of
students in the summer program have
gone on to graduate studies. The program
also gives additional job skills, such as
training in operating drug analysis
equipment.
The program recently received a two-
year grant from the Medical Research
Council of Canada and new funding from
the American Society of Pharmacology
and Experimental Therapeutics. •
Student Scholars
Score Awards
Fourteen students have been named
Wesbrook Scholars, an honorary
designation for undergraduates
who have distinguished themselves
| academically and socially. They are:
S" Christopher Bennett, Law; Jeff
i Beselt, Education; Victoria Colvin, Law;
| Mandeep Dhaliwal, Arts; Fahreen
Dossa, Science; Kelly Harrison, Medicine; Kibben Jackson, Law; Adam Lund,
Medicine; Gregory Mackie, Arts; Feisal
Mohamdeali, Science; Ian Mortimer,
Science; Andrew Scholes, Law; Shaila
Seshia, Arts; Andrea Thompson, Education.
Winners of the following awards
automatically receive the designation:
Andrew Lim, Science (Sherwood Lett
Memorial Scholarship), Brian Murphy,
Applied Science (Harry Logan Memorial
Scholarship), Kimberly Eldred, Law
(Amy E. Sauder/Jean Craig Smith Scholarships), Sarah Cherry, Commerce (John H.
Mitchell Memorial Scholarship), and Kim
Hendess, Arts (C.K. Choi Scholarship).
The Wesbrook Scholar award honours 20 students annually who have
completed one winter session at UBC, are
in their final year of undergraduate
studies or in the Doctor of Medicine or
Dental Medicine programs, stand in the
top 10 per cent of their faculty, and
demonstrate the ability to serve, work
with and lead others. It is sponsored by
the Wesbrook Society, an organization of
the university's major benefactors, and is
named after Frank Fairchild Wesbrook,
UBC's first president. •
WriK
About K
UBC RESEARCH
Chronicle Gallery to Provide Student Exposure
The UBC Architecture Gallery and
Studio is now open.
"Our goal is to raise public
awareness of architecture in Vancouver
while providing our students with greater
exposure to urban issues in architecture,"
says Sandy Hirshen, director of the
school.
Hirshen wants to explore ways to
work with activist groups, such as the
Downtown Eastside Residents' Association, to produce a more livable and
dynamic city.
"We want to create relationships with
these groups and determine how we can
balance our educational requirements
with community service," he says.
The gallery and studio is on the
Neurotoxin Linked
to White Bread
A chemical produced in the
making of white bread may be
linked to some neurological
diseases, according to the preliminary
findings of a team of UBC researchers.
"There is a very suspicious correlation between the characteristics of this
substance and those known to be toxic to
the nervous system," says Christopher
Shaw, associate professor in Ophthalmology-
Shaw and fellow researchers think
the culprit may be methionine
sulfoximine (MSO), a substance that was
used to bleach processed wheat flour in
the early part ofthe century. By 1950 the
process was banned in the UK and the
US. Canada stopped using it in 1968.
Shaw, research associate Jaswinder
Bains, and Physiology PhD candidate
Bryce Pasqualotto have found that MSO
over-stimulates neurons and can lead to
neuron death called excitotoxicity, says
ground floor of a historic building located
across from Victory Square on the edge of
Gastown. Thanks to a fundraising effort
led by the Friends of the School of
Architecture, the gallery space opened
recently with an exhibition titled Architectural Photographers: Vancouver in Black and
White.
The space will be used next fall as a
planned joint studio project that will
examine the southeast False Creek area. It
involves UBC students from Architecture
and Landscape Architecture.
The gallery will also sell exhibition
photographs as well as books, monographs and student-designed furniture. It
is located at 319 West Hastings St. and is
open Wed-Sat, llam-6pm. •
Christopher Shaw and Jaswinder Bains feel
they've found a "smoking gun in a chemical
formerly used to bleach white flour."
Shaw.
"This appears to be the worst possible
toxin you can imagine for the nervous
system because it strikes in so many
different ways at the same time," he says.
Because it is eliminated from the body
over time, MSO cannot be detected in
patients suffering from neurological
disease.    •
But is it art? The south end ofthe Koerner Library
basks in the spring sun.
Top Award Goes to
Shakespeare
Scholar
The 1998 Dean of Arts Award goes
to Alexander Globe, Shakespeare
scholar and English professor.
Globe is a popular and respected
teacher who promotes student use of
computers in a field not known for
computer-aided research. He is the
driving force behind a $250,000 computer lab set to open in the English Dept.
He has also introduced gay and
lesbian studies to UBC, and has developed a curriculum that will soon go to
the Faculty of Arts curriculum committee
for approval.
The $5,000 award recognizes exceptional contributions by a faculty member
in teaching, research, administration and
service. Globe won a Killam Teaching
Prize in 1991. •
Chronicle chronicle news
' 3hHhHP-w       'tw ^T   jjA
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Fisheries Centre Professor Daniel Pauly.
Repair Needed for
Collapsed Fisheries
Marine Fisheries are in a global
crisis, says Fisheries Centre
Professor Daniel Pauly.
Researchers show through 50 years of UN
catch data that as commercial fishing
destroys larger predators, fishers move
systematically down the food web to
smaller plankton eaters.
"When we remove big predators and
go after their smaller prey, we are ripping
the fabric of these webs, and endangering
their ability to produce harvestable fish at
any level," Pauly says.
Pauly warns that continuous shrimp
fishing may hinder the recovery of cod
stocks on the East Coast of Canada, where
the fished-out cod feed on shrimp.
Fishing down the food web is worse
in the Northern Hemisphere, with its
highly efficient and technologically
advanced fishing fleets. Creating marine
protected areas may be the only way to
avoid the widespread collapse of fisheries
and rebuild healthy food webs, he says.
"We should be focusing on the
health of ecosystems, and the consequences of extracting single species stocks
from the system." •
Bacteria Beware:
Peptides are Here
Little defenders can do a lot of
damage. Such is the case with
UBC microbiologist Bob
Hancock's "little killers," a new class of
antibiotics called cationic peptides. These
guys do not put up with bacteria; in fact
0 they downright hate them. The peptides
o
■§. are covered with positive electric charges
1 which aid in their killing power. They
3  attach themselves to the outer surfaces
of bacteria, and pry open holes in the
microbes' outer membranes. "Then their
guts leak out," says Hancock.
Peptides may be the answer to the
problem of bacteria resistant to
conventional antibiotics. Tiny amounts
of peptides are found in almost all living
things, including humans, making it
easy to mass-produce.
Hancock's team, paired with UBC
spin-off company Micrologix
Biotehcnology Inc. and medical
researchers in Alberta and Quebec,
recently won a $500,000-a-year grant
from the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation. The grant will be used to
explore how peptides can destroy the
bacteria that kills people with cystic
fibrosis.
Hancock has been exploring the
peptides' biological significance and
commercial applications for about six
years.
"The beauty of the peptides is the
way they kill on contact. We have 100
per cent kills in two to five minutes.
They are really potent," he says. This
doesn't give bacteria much of a chance
to fight back. However, Hancock expects
bacteria will one day be able to elude the
little peptides. "But it will probably take
them quite a while." •
Avalanches Hit by
New Funding	
For Prof. David McClung, a mountaineer and backcountry skier,
understanding avalanches is a
matter of life and death. When he
receives new funding for his research on
avalanche prediction and prevention, it
means his knowledge will be more widely
shared with the BC industries most
affected by avalanches.
McClung has been named NSERC-
FRBC-CMH Chair in Snow and Avalanche
Science. NSERC, Forest Renewal BC
(FRBC) and Canadian Mountain Holidays
(CMH) Inc., the world's largest heli-skiing
operator, fund the chair.
"This chair will allow me to focus my
energy on research, provide significant
technology transfer to industry and
advanced training for professional
avalanche workers," McClung said.
A geography professor and associate
member of Civil Engineering, McClung
has led UBC's Avalanche Research Group
since 1991. His research has been snow
mechanics, avalanche dynamics, land use
planning, and avalanche prediction.
Among other things, it will provide the
ski industry with better weather and
avalanche forecasting.   •
Chronicle Message from the President
A New Vision for UBC
It may sound a bit odd to say we're
seeking a new vision for UBC: the
university is already one of the
best post secondary institutions in
the country. But every organization needs a set of principles to focus its
efforts and guide its decisions.
At UBC, our vision is to become the
preeminent teaching and research
university in Canada.
A lofty aspiration? Indeed. An attainable goal? Absolutely. Over the past few
months we've been talking to staff, faculty, alumni and the community about
this university and what it should become
in the 21st century. With their help, we
have produced a Green Paper that defines
five broad areas of strength, and outlines
how we can build on them.
• People. Our major strength is in our
staff, faculty and students. We have some
of the best people in Canada working and
studying at this university.
Nearly half of our faculty and staff
will retire in the next ten years. We will
develop a comprehensive approach to
hiring that encourages cooperation and
rewards excellence. We will enhance our
student recruitment efforts to ensure that
the best students in Canada and abroad are
attracted to UBC. As part of this strategy,
we will increase scholarship and bursary
support and upgrade our infrastructure.
• Learning. We will develop a new
undergraduate program that incorporates
our research strengths. For undergrads
that means exposure to some of the most
advanced research in the world, in all
disciplines. We will also focus learning in
three areas: internationalization, interdisciplinarity and interactivity. We will
expand our coop programs in all areas.
• Research. UBC is a world power in
research. We will expand our research
capability and output by establishing
clear targets for increased funding from
all sources. We will also develop more
research mentoring programs for grad
Martha Piper, President, UBC.
students and enhance our library resources in terms of acquisitions and advanced
information technology.
• Community. We are investigating the
expansion UBC's services to the broader
community. We will establish a larger
presence in downtown Vancouver and in
communities across the Lower Mainland.
We will expand our distance learning
program and professional upgrading
programs to include students in all parts
of the province. We will also expand our
alumni branches program throughout BC,
Canada and the world.
• Internationalization. UBC is an international university. We will enhance our
presence in the Asia Pacific, the Americas,
Europe and in aboriginal studies worldwide. We will expand our exchange
programs overseas and create more linkages with other international universities.
As alumni, you are an important part
of our new vision. We need your help to
attract the best students in your community, to support those students in co-op
and work placements, and to ensure that
post secondary education remains a
priority in our society. I welcome your
comments on the development of UBC's
new vision. •
Project to Educate
Vancouver's Poorest
Twenty people from Vancouver's
poorest neighbourhoods will be
studying philosophy, history and
literature at UBC this fall in a three-
month pilot project called Humanities
101.
Students Allison Dunnet and Am
Johal, co-chairs of the committee planning the program, say bus fare, childcare,
and meals will be provided to students
who are referred by non-profit agencies.
The aim is to "introduce students to
critical thinking in everyday life and
develop a desire to keep learning," says
Dunnet.
The idea for Humanities 101 came
from an article in Harper's magazine that
described a program in New York's Lower
East Side. Graduates, who had no former
education, then went on to college
studies or full-time jobs.
"A variety of backgrounds and
opinions will make the class that much
more interesting, and it will be good for
UBC students and faculty, too," says
Johal.
The courses will be non-credit, but
the organizers hope students who
successfully complete the program will
receive a certificate and be able to take
part in Congregation ceremonies.
The pilot program will be funded
with a $15,000 grant from the Innovative
Projects Fund, jointly operated by the
Alma Mater Society and the university.*
W K
Ab uttf
UBC RESEARCH
Chronicle chronicle news
Commerce #1 in Research, Training
Canada's top business school for
research is right here: the Faculty
of Commerce and Business
Administration.
This year, the faculty received 15
grants totaling $698,700 from the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research
Council of Canada (SSHRC)—more than
twice as much as any other business
school in the country.
The grants will finance research on
topics including consumer behaviour,
government privatization and renewable
resources.
"UBC has regularly been the number
one business school in Canada for
research accomplishments and is recognized as such internationally," says Izak
Benbasat, associate dean of faculty
development and professional programs.
He says that good scholarship goes
along with good teaching. Many faculty
members who have received the Commerce and Business Admin, research
prizes have also been nominated for (and
won) the teaching excellence prizes given
by the faculty, commerce graduate or
undergraduate student societies.
The faculty also ranked 13th in the
world for the number of publications in
top finance journals credited to faculty
members from 1992-96.    •
Canadian Students Score Big in Survey
Canadian students score near the
top of the class in math and
science skills, according to UBC
researchers who recently released a global
survey of senior secondary students.
Canadian students were among
those in 24 countries tested in the Third
International Mathematics and Science
Study. The results compare students in
their last year of secondary school.
Canadian students topped the charts
in math and science literacy compared to
other countries: they beat 17 of the 20
countries taking part.
In advanced mathematics, they did
as well or better than students from 13 of
15 countries.
Scores in physics were slightly lower,
however, scoring better than 9 of 15
countries.
In a test for the top five per cent of
students, Canada scored higher than the
international average in both advanced
math and math and science literacy.
Canada is the only G-8 country
whose top students achieved two scores
above the international average in this
part of the study.     •
l\:   l!
Carl Leggo makes poetry exciting.
Poetry Prof gets
Personal
Understanding poetry can be a
daunting task. That's why Carl
Leggo, poet and associate
professor of Language Education, decided
to write a book, Teaching to Wonder:
Responding to Poetry in the Secondary
Classroom, designed to put excitement
into poetry. In it, Leggo combines
practical techniques and strategies with a
theoretical framework.
"Of all the genres in literature, poetry
is the one teachers and students find least
interesting and the most difficult to come
to terms with," Leggo says.
Leggo tries to get people to apply
their own experiences and emotions to
poetry instead of trying to analyze it. This
way they can relate to it in a personal way
and not see it as exotic and impenetrable.
"When people actually read poetry
with passion and enthusiasm, they realize
it's not some arcane text. It's all about life,
heart, story, music, how we live in the
world."
His book is published by UBC's
Pacific Educational Press.    •
Chronicle $100 Reward for
Return of This Man
One night at the end of the
1985-'86 term, this painting
was stolen from the Forestry
Building. It depicts Lawrence Guichon, a
UBC honorary degree holder (1953) and
a builder of the ranching industry in BC.
Both his family and Agi. Sci. have
been on the lookout for this painting in
the intervening years, but to no avail.
If you've seen this painting, call
Brigitte O'Rooney, 822-8910. If we get
the painting back, $100 is yours, no
questions asked. •
Prostate Research Feels Funding Pinch
One man in eight suffers from
prostate cancer. Of the 3,500
men who have the disease in
BC, 550 will die this year. In spite of this,
only $560,000 was spent in Canada during 1995/96 for research. Very little is
known about prostate cancer, according
to molecular biologist Paul Rennie, director of the Prostate Cancer Research Program at the BC Cancer Agency.
The process goes something like
this: the prostate gland surrounds the
part of the channel that drains the bladder. When it is enlarged or cancerous it
may compress the channel, obstructing
the free flow of urine. The gland's function is susceptible to three common diseases: prostatitis (infection of the prostate), enlargement (benign prostatic hyperplasia), and cancer.
Rennie and several others are working on two therapies that involve suppression of the male sex hormone, androgen. One therapy, used prior to surgery, reduces the volume of the tumour,
making the treatment more effective.
However, in advanced stages, the prostate becomes unresponsive to the treat
ment. The tumour then grows back and
is untreatable.
The second therapy addresses that
problem by withdrawing androgen periodically. Preliminary studies suggest that
this irregular treatment keep tumours
responsive to therapy.
"It is a silent disease," says Rennie.
"Often there are no symptoms for
months or years, or until the disease has
spread."
The Canadian Cancer Society allocated $1.25 million to prostate research
last September. •
BC Needs More
Grads, Study Finds
We need more university grads,
according to a recent study
on the demand and supply
of post-secondary graduates in BC.
"There's a strongly held view that we
should continue to emphasize vocational
and technical training," says Economics
Professor Robert Allen, who is a member
of the Western Research Network on
'50s Sorority Pals
Do Lunch
UBC's Delta Gamma sorority friends
gathered togetfier for lunch and reminiscence on April 21,1998 at Cecil Green
Park, organized by Anne Carmichael.
(middle,'second from left). L-R: Beverly
(Glasgow) Baird BA'52, Janet (Whitmore)
Bingham BA'50, Shirley (Shields) East
BA'51, Mary (Grant) Banham BA'51,
Carolyn (Harvie) Taylor BSN'57, Shirley
(McTavish) Ripley BSc'49, Anne (Ewing)
Carmichael BA'51, Joanne (Strutt) Russell
BA'51, Robin (Orr) St Louis BA'50,
Margaret (Low-Beer) Libbert BA'50, Pam
(Fraser) Wetmore BA'50.
Education and Training. "My findings
show this approach to be misguided."
Between 1992 and 1996, BC needed
about 35,000 university graduates annually, but BC's universities only produced
12,000. Two thirds of the high quality
jobs in BC, therefore, were filled by
people moving from the rest of Canada,
the US and overseas. The demand for
people with trade, technical and vocational credentials, also about 35,000, was
filled by BC vocational graduates.
Providing increased funding for
vocational training and less for university
training goes against demonstrated needs
in the province.
BC is last among the provinces in the
number of degrees awarded per resident
aged 20-29, and has the smallest per
capita university system in Canada.    •
Chronicle chronicle feature
Martha Salcudean brings passion and flair to a profession
that doesn't often make the front pages. She's practised it
from the mountains of Transylvania to the towers of UBC.
enqineers ru e!
(or at least they should)
Martha Salcudean is just about the
most pleasant person you'd care to
meet: warm, friendly, inviting. She
calls you by your first name in a practised sort of way, like someone who
has great comfort dealing with differ-
■ ent people. She curls up on the
small sofa in her office in the Mechanical Engineering building,
tucks her feet up under herself and talks openly and frankly
about her life, her career and her family.
Family comes first. "Before all other things, family is the
most important," she says. That from a woman who has
worked her way to the top of her profession, mechanical engineering, and developed a reputation as a first-class academic
administrator.
The connection to family is understandable. She and her
family suffered the ravages of World War II and life in Romania,
one of the world's most repressive states.
She was born in Cluj-Napoca in north east Romania, the
largest town in Transylvania, to a family of intellectuals. Both
her parents were doctors. She was educated there and in Bucharest. Romania was a grim country in the period after the war:
poor, agrarian and backward. After 1965, under the government of Nicolae Ceausescu, it became even worse. Ceausescu
initiated a ruthless campaign to industrialize the country at any
cost, and in the process he and his family and friends amassed
huge personal fortunes and cast the country into crushing debt.
Virtually all industrial and agricultural production was sold internationally with proceeds used to pay down the national
debt. Living conditions were among the worst in Europe. Food
and fuel shortages in the '70s and '80s were, according to residents, worse than those experienced during the        	
war. Gleaners roamed harvested fields of hog-feed
corn gathering up
crushed and broken cobs
to feed themselves, and
many workers still used a
horse and buggy as their
main form of transportation. Romania was so
poor that towns were unable to light their streets
after dark. In towns all
over the country, shoppers scurried about in
Martha Salcudean is one of
three national winners of the
1998 Killam Prize in
Engineering. The award,
worth $50,000 and awarded
annually by the Canada
Council, recognizes outstanding achievements by
Canadians in the natural
sciences, health sciences and
engineering.
By Chris Petty
pitch-black streets while
cars and horse carts picked their way through the crowds.
But whatever deprivations the state was willing to visit
upon its people, it was not willing to skimp on education. Students were expected to perform, and parents were very concerned that their children do well. One of the few methods of
improving a family's lot in communist Romania was to make
sure the children worked hard and got a good education.
Martha Salcudean was an extremely bright student. She
was interested in mathematics at an early age and excelled in
her studies in engineering. She was spared some of the worst
hardships of Romanian society, but her family's professional
status brought on different problems. Because of her class she
was unable to get a teaching job at the university after her
graduation. Teaching jobs were given almost exclusively to
children of the working class. She worked first in industry and
then for 12 years in the Research Centre for Metallurgy.
She met her husband, another engineer, in Bucharest, and
had a son (who also became an engineer, now an associate professor in the department of Electrical and Computing Engineering at UBC ). They both wanted
10
Chronicle Martha Salcudean by the
often defiled but always
triumphant Engineer's Cairn
on Main Mall. Current
defilers include Pharmacy '98
and a subtle but effective fan
of romance languages.
^risPettyph0o.     •
Chronicle       11 very much to leave Romania, but emigration under Ceausescu,
especially for engineers, was impossible. Martha and her husband were allowed very limited travel outside the communist
bloc, but they weren't allowed to take their child, a common
practise in communist countries to ensure that travelling parents would return. But finally, in 1975, Ceausescu wanted to
build trade relations with the west and, for a brief time, let the
doors open just a crack. Salcudean, with her husband, son and
mother, saw their chance and left Romania.
The family went to Paris to sort out their options but finally settled on Canada because her mother had a friend who
lived in Montreal. Within three months of landing in Canada,
Martha Salcudean was hired by the University of Ottawa as a
professor in engineering. From there she came to UBC as head
of the department of mechanical engineering in 1985, and became associate VP research in 1993.
During that time she built her reputation as an innovative
engineer, a creative administrator and an able entrepreneur.
Many of the process models she developed with her colleague
professor Ian Gartshore and former PhD student Zia Abdullah,
have been applied to industrial applications and are now in use
around the world. She is currently on administrative leave and
is working as professor and Weyerhaeuser Industrial Research
Chair in Computational Fluid Dynamics.
Computational Fluid Dynamics. It rolls
off the tongue very easily. The whole
phrase has a rather liquid feel to it. But
what does it mean? To the non-engineer
such a phrase could mean anything from
the amount of water a person should
drink while playing computer games to
how much pressure per square centimetre it takes to blow a
computer off a desk using a garden hose.
But no. Dr. Salcudean is able to explain, in jargon-free
English, exactly what computational fluid dynamics is and how
it applies to her work, which she describes as "mathematical
modelling of industrial processes." The following, a process
taken from the pulp and paper industry, describes one of her
more famous accomplishments.
Wood is chopped up into small pieces and put in a huge
tub with a chemical liquor designed to break down the fibres
and dissolve lignin, the substance that binds wood cells together. When the wood is sufficiently processed, the liquor is
drained off and the pulp is either processed further into paper
or cardboard on site or shipped to a plant somewhere else. But
what happens to the liquor, which at this point is the consistency of water? It's rich in the chemicals needed to process
wood chips, but also contains the organic materials drawn
from the wood. The most efficient way to treat the liquor is to
burn it. But how do you burn a liquid?
By using a recovery boiler. The chemical soup is drawn up
by pipes into a huge burner ten storeys high where it is sprayed
into a super-heated chamber. The tiny moisture droplets vaporize, then ignite. The impurities are burnt off, the steam produced is used as energy in the plant, and the chemicals precipitate onto a collecting tray at the bottom of the burner. From
there they are put back into the pulp-making process to start
the journey again. Recovery boilers have been used for many
years to recycle pulp-making chemicals, but only since Martha
Salcudean have the processes that go on inside these boilers
been translated into computer models.
Using mathematics and computers, Salcudean and her
team have created a model of the recycling process that computes, among other things, temperature, oxygen, moisture and
chemical content variables to produce an ideal environment for
processing the liquor and recovering pulp-making chemicals.
"We calculate all the variables, then develop a computer graphic that shows the operator every step of the process," she says.
"We can alter any variable, such as the oxygen level, the temperature or the amount of liquid we introduce, and see what
the result will be on the computer before we try it in the actual
boiler. That way, we can improve efficiency, increase production and limit any environmental impact." Which, all in all,
pretty well sums up 'computational fluid dynamics.' Her models are now in use in several mills in Canada, the US and Scandinavia.
Salcudean has also been involved in similar collaborations
with Atomic Energy Canada on heat transfer in nuclear reactors, with Cominco on the growth of crystals in the manufacture of metals, and with Pratt and Whitney, on developing film
to cool turbine blades. She markets these models through the
Continued on page 16
r*\
n
The Killam Prizes
Izaak Killam began his financial career as a junior clerk in a Halifax bank in 1903. At his death in 1955 he had amassed a large
fortune from banking and resource development. He and his
wife, Dorothy, were committed to supporting advanced study
and research in Canada, and set up endowments at universities
across the country. UBC began awarding Killam Prizes (for
teaching; pre- and post-doctoral fellows; senior fellowships and
faculty research fellowships) in 1967 and has, since then,
awarded more than $9 million. The Killam program of the Canada Council awards two prizes: the Memorial prize won by
Martha Salcudean; and a research fellowship that pays a researcher's salary for a period of two years. Fellowships are given to researchers in the natural and social sciences, the humanities, medicine and engineering.
12      Chronicle _%y_
chronicle
TT he past season produced one of
the most memorable years in
sports in UBC's history. Three new
Canadian university championship banners
hang from the ceiling of the War Memorial
gym. The T-Bird total of 40 CIAU championships ranks second only to UofT's 48.
Individuals performed spectacularly,
too. Stars such as volleyball aces Mike
Dalziel and Melanie Griswold each won the
CIAU's prestigious TSN Award, and Mark
Nohra received all ofthe highest honours in
Canadian university football while leading
his team to their third Vanier Cup win.
Here is a month-to-month breakdown of
sports successes last year:
September
The football T-Birds lost their home-
opener in front of a record crowd and
then dropped their second straight
Shrum Bowl Game against arch-rival SFU.
Doubt evaporates quickly, however, as
the T-Birds eventually rally behind Mark
Nohra, quarterback Shawn Olson and a
superb defense.
October
UBC's men's soccer team toils in
relative anonymity against the
televised success of T-Bird football. They win the Canada West Championship and go on to dominate the field
at the CIAU national tournament in Halifax. But despite out-shooting McGill
20-0 in the final, the T-Birds lost in an
overtime shoot-out.
November
Early-season jitters vanish for the football squad, and no team can stop the
Thunderbirds from capturing the Vanier
Cup. Mark Nohra is named the Hec
Crighton Award winner as the most outstanding player in the country. Three T-
Birds are first-team All-Canadians and a
total of nine are conference all-stars.
December
While everyone expected the first-place
standing of the women's volleyball
team, few expected UBC's basketball
teams to be as scrappy as they are.
The men's squad under interim head
coach Rich Chambers stuns a few
conference and non-conference rivals.
The hockey team hosts the Father
Bauer Christmas Tournament, and
posts a tournament victory.
January
UBC has the best swimmers in the
country: they cruise to wins in both
men's and women's championships
in Victoria. For the men, the win happens without national team member
Ken Strain (r) battles for the ball in
Canada West final.
Dave Thomson photos.
Women's volleyball team wins Canada West
Championship, (l-r) Sarah Maxwell,
Izabela Rudol and Melanie Griswold.
and World's double medalist Mark Vers-
feld, who is competing at the World
Aquatic Championships.
February
The women's volleyball team clinches
the Canada West Championship and
ends the four-year reign by the Alberta
Pandas in their own gym. The hockey
team reaches conference quarter-finals
for the first time in recent years. UBC's
gritty hoop squads also lose in play-off
semi-finals to powerhouse provincial rivals from the University of Victoria.
Women's ice hockey completes its inaugural season in the Canada West conference.
March
Women's volleyball coach Erminia Russo
is named Coach of the Year at the CIAU
Championships, but in match two, the
T-Birds again face the defending national
champion Pandas, who send UBC to the
consolation final and eventually a
fourth-place finish. The swim teams win
simultaneous national championships, a
UBC first. Tom Johnson is named CIAU
Coach of the Year. UBC's women's golf
team wins their first NCAA Tournament
at Santa Clara's Colby Classic. Olympic
swimmer Sarah Evanetz and Mark Nohra
are named UBC's top athletes at the annual Big Block Awards Dinner.    •
Chronicle      13 Creative Writing prof. George McWhirter, a winner of this
years' Killam Teaching Prize, uses his skills as a poet to guide
his students and make their work move on the page.
I chronicle feature H
Words, Images
and the Water Works Bus
by Chris Petty
Researchers speculate that a
grammar gene exists in us
humans. It predisposes those
who possess it with an in-
knate ability to understand
syntax at an intuitive level. They might
not be able to point out parts of speech,
oi identify a dangling modifier, but they
know when there's something wrong
with a sentence and can usually fix it. In
short, good writers are born, not made.
Just as some people are born with
athletic ability and never become athletes, being a natural writer doesn't mean
automatic success. Success in writing
takes hard work, constant practise, and
an understanding of language that is decidedly, well, genetic. A skier being interviewed after a run at last year's Olympics
said that she could feel the hill before
she started down it. She felt like she was
attached to it physically and spiritually,
not just sliding down its surface. She
made a good point: to be exceptional at
something one has to go beyond mere
facility and mere technical understanding. That's as true of engineering and
medicine as it is of writing and teaching.
Everyone learns basic writing at
school so, naturally, everyone thinks he
or she can write well. Margaret Atwood
once spoke to a neurosurgeon at a party
who said, "When I retire, I plan to become a writer," to which Ms. Atwood
responded, "That's nice; when I retire I
plan to become a neurosurgeon." Of
course, if we all took brain anatomy
George McWhirter, winner of a Killam prize for teaching. He's reading The Gladys Eligies,
by Barbara Nickel, one of Msformtrstudents. Chris Petty photo.
Killam Teaching Prize winners are selected by their faculties on the
basis of recommendations from colleagues, alumni and students.
Each award winner receives $5,000. This year's winners are:
Christine Parkin, English
Jerry Wasserman, Theatre
R. Jonathan Fannin, Forestry
Marc Levine, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Eunice CY. Li-Chan, Food Science
F. Brian Holl, Plant Science
Michael Jackson, Elec. and Comp. Eng.
Philip Hill, Mechanical Engineering
Lyn MacCrostie, Arts One
Bruce Miller, Anthrop. and Sociology
Ruth Freedman, Finance
Donal McDonnel, Oral Biol. & Med Sc.
Colin Price, Oral Biol. & Med Sc.
Rita Irwin, Curriculum Studies
Marion Porath, Ed. Psych. & Sp. Ed.
Richard Ericson, Green College
Margaret McCuaig, Rehab. Sciences
Carol-Ann Comeya, Physiology
Richard Arseneau, Medicine
Carol Ann Borden, Botany
Chris Orvig, Chemistry
Chris Waltham, Physics
14      Chronicle along with our basic arithmetic, we'd be
able to face the neurosurgeon at the party and say, "Ha! I can do brain surgery. I
learned it in high school."
But given a facility with words and a
willingness to work very hard, it's the
lucky fledgling writer who stumbles on a
superb mentor or teacher. Such a teacher
is George McWhirter, one of the winners
of this year's Killam Teaching Prizes.
George McWhirter has
been in Canada for more
■ than 30 years, but his
Irishness sits as thick on
him as the head of a
freshly pulled pint of Guinness sits at the
top of the glass. On first meeting it takes
a while of good listening to understand
everything he says. It's like sitting perplexed through the first 20 minutes of an
Irish version of "Coronation Street" before the cadence, lilt and sound of the
words coalesce into understandable language.
It's language that McWhirter is all
about. He's always been a poet — "the
broody type," he says — and he's quite
happy to read it, speak it, write it, eat it
and drink it all day long.
He had an odd "Road to Damascus"
experience as a university student in Belfast when he was 19. He was
already struggling with his own
poetry, and spending long
hours studying and writing.
One night he rode home from
the university on the Water
Works bus. "It was going up
Albert Street, past Francie Collins' parents' vegetable store,"
he says. "Albert Street goes in a
huge curve and the buses race
up there like the hammers of
hell. I'd been working too hard,
and reading John Donne and
the like; poems full of tears and
thorns. And this phrase came
into my head about what Albert
Street looked like at night on a
racing bus with the lights flashing and all: it looked like a ring
of thorns around the head of Christ. Too
much Irish iconography, I suppose."
But he found himself literally
knocked out by the sight, sound and
sense of the scene, and next thing he
knew he was waking up in his bed, next
morning, at home.
"It scared the hell out of me at the
time," he says, "but after that experience
my confusion about how words are connected to the images they convey disappeared. I probably can't explain it to you,
but from then on words were images and
images were words. One and the same."
If that's the secret to his writing,
then it's been a valuable one. He's published 20 books of poetry and fiction and
been anthologized in well over 100 publications. He is also a well-known translator of Spanish writers. He's won many
awards including the Ethel Wilson Prize
for Fiction, the FR Scott Translation Prize
and the Commonwealth Poetry Prize
which he shared with Chinua Achebe. A
few weeks ago the League of Canadian
Poets gave him first prize in their chapbook competition for his book, Ovid in
Saskatchewan. "It's about Ovid, banished
to the Black Sea's other side. Saskatchewan seemed the right place." By all indicators, George McWhirter is a first rate
poet.
ADVICE
I have had many things. East of me - the City, the people;
And West of me, the sun. Never has it failed
In its duty.
When you buy food, make it in the morning.
In the afternoon, you may not live
To eat it.
Or worse -
Get knocked over
On the road.
This is Rosa Maria del Valle's advice for old age.
Her other advice is this: If you have anything to bury,
Don't let it be your talent, or your spirit.
That will always shine and irritate you.
Let it be your body,
It has always known how to rest.
from Incubus, Oberon Press
And a first rate teacher. He earned
his teaching credentials in Ireland and
taught in Kilkeen and then in Bangor. He
married a Bangor girl, Angela, also a
teacher, and together they decided to
leave Ireland in 1966. As is the case with
many emigrants, both he and Angela
were eager to get away from what they
saw as a tradition-bound and in-grown
society with little hope of change and in
which they could find no comfortable
place.
After a year in Barcelona — George
had studied Spanish in school and is fluent — they decided to try their luck in
Canada and set out for the west coast.
Fortunately, teaching jobs in BC were
plentiful at that time and they chose Port
Alberni as the ideal place to live and
work.
Like all teachers from abroad, he
was required to take a few courses in
Canada to upgrade his certificate. He discovered that UBC offered creative writing courses and signed up for a summer
course in 1967. By the next summer he
decided to take a Master's degree and by
1968, he was hired to teach in the department.
He attributes much of his ability to
teach basic writing technique to the mercurial but brilliant poet, J. Michael Yates,
then head and the major moving force in the department.
One of the grad courses he took
with Yates was the poetry workshop, and often when Yates was
away he asked George to fill in.
Yates taught a poem in translation by Berchtold Brecht, "The
Japanese Mask," and tried to
get across to students the relationship between the idea and
the thing — in this case the
Japanese mask, which was used
to contain the thought, so that
students could see the mask
clearly and feel it physically in
the words — something George
had worked out under the giddy flashing lights of the Water
Works bus blasting through the
Chronicle     IS curve of Albert Street*Be developed this
idea into a method for teaching. For the
next 20 years he honed and refined his
teaching styled through the various fashions of writing that swept through the
department and through a tour of duty
as head, to become one of the most
loved and respected teachers in the department.
Shauna Fowler, a second year Master
of Fine Arts stldent, ■says George is the
soul of the department.
"He has an amazing gift," she says.
"His understanding of the various styles
of poetry is very sharp. He never imposes
a politic or aataesthetitr on anyone's
work. He's able to see it and accept it for
what it is. His gift as a teacher is his ability to understand what you're trying to
do and to give you both artistic and
technical advice to help you achieve
your goal."
Winning the Killam prize was a surprise for McWhirter, not because he
didn't have faith in his own ability, but
-Shauna Fowler, 2nd year MFA student.
'Lay out the heaviness in your head like
stones into a hill, then climb it word by
word.' It struck me as exactly the right
way to solve the problem. That bit of
advice, that image, is something any
writer could reflect on for the rest of her
life, when the page gets her tangled." He
not only clarifies the process, he clarifies
what is being expressed.
Ellen Schwartz, MFA'88, author of
the Starshine series and the recent Mr.
Belinski's Bagels, shares that view.
"George has a way of getting to the
centre of a story. Sometimes I'd get lost
with some piece I was working on, lose
track of where the story was going and
what I wanted to do with it. George
helped me cut through excess prose and
find the essential bits."
George McWhirter does have a rare gift.
He is a poet able to express the words,
feelings and ideas of everyday life in profound images; he's an academic who has
a deep understanding of world literatures
from every period; he's a
teacher who is able to fo-
He has an amazing gift,  *»««#>«*!i*™
talent and expertise on a
student's work.
Writers of every
because he doubted anyone else would
understand his teaching methods
"Teaching chemistry and teaching
creative writing are two vastly different
things," he says. "Basically we wait for
the student to produce the course material, then we sit around and talk about
whether it works or not."
Of course it's not that simple. Most
writers don't just sit down and type up a
finished story or poem. The idea of the
piece whirls around In the writer's head,
and he or she tries to use words to work
it out. It's the same struggle: how do you
turn the image you have in your head
into the words on the page?
One piece of advice McWhirter gave
Shauna Fowler is typical, and it suggests
his ability to help the artist on the artist's
own terms. "Once when I was having
trouble with a particular poem he said,
stripe have passed through UB.Cs creative writing de^itoent, They^i gone
on to write novels, plays and books of
poetry or short stories; they've started
literary magazines, become editors or
taken up industrial writing; some have
become teachers themselves. Some have
gone on to careers that have nothing to
do with writing. But all who passed
through George's workshop saw their
own woric reflected back by a master
t*acher *ad master poet, and keep the
little flame alive in private journals,
tucked-away computer files or scraps of
paper. His legacy to them is the knowledge that their language lives.
If scientists determine that there is a
grammar gene, they will probably find
one for teaching, too. George McWhirter
is just one of the many teachers at UBC
who possess it. *
Martha Salcudean
continued from page 12
UBC spin-off company, Process Simulators Limited, which she established with
colleagues Ian Gartshore, Zia Abdullah
and Ian Robertson. Two of her former
PhD students, Eric Bibeau and David
Stropky, have joined her at PSL.
In spite of the many years she
has spent at her calling, Martha
Salcudean still has a passion for
engineering. "Canada has a tremendous international reputation for engineering," she says.
■"We produce some of the best
engineers in the world, and our practising engineers are second to none."
But she's concerned about the future. "The need for qualified engineers is
going to increase in Canada," she says,
"and we have to encourage more young
people to consider the profession. Virtually all our graduates are getting jobs."
She is also convinced that engineers can
create jobs through their development of
new techniques, new processes and new
products. "We have to offer more courses
to engineers that teach them how to create and run their own businesses."
She think* government has to look
seriously at mathematics and science
programs in the high school, to make
sure they are teaching students what
they need to know. "We also have to
convince private industry to support faculties of engineering and to make the
case to government for incfeased resources for engineering education and
research."
"We have to raise the profile of engineers," she says, then smiles: "There are
plenty of television shows about lawyers
and doctors and business people, but
none about engineers. People don't make
movies about them. We need to develop
a sense of excitement about engineering
and what an engineering career can offer
in terms of creativity and self fulfilment." •
16     Chronicle on the
II    UIC       ■
arts
upcoming
exhibitions and events:
UBC Museum of
Anthropology
v   ivVyHrJ."  ^K <
• Transitions, July 7-tfec. 199$
• Recalling the Past: A Selection of
Early Chinese Art from the Victor
Shaw Collection, through Dec. 1998,
Masterpiece Gallery.
• Vereinigung, through Dec. 1998.
Traditional West Coast design.
• Hereditary Chiefs of Haida Gwaii,
through Feb. 21 1999, Gallery 10.
• Tahaygen and K'woiy ng: Works by
Charles and Isabella Edenshaw,
through February 21 1999, Outside
Gallery 10. *'*■'■-
• From Under the Delta: Wet-Site
Archaeology in the Lower Fraser
Region of BC, throughiMar. 1999.
New! the MOA Cafe: Now you can
enjoy a cappucino, sandwich ot,dessert;
indoors. The Museum j*Open cUil> Hum
10-5pm, Tuesday*toj^pm (May 18-
Sept.7)
Phone 822-5087 for in I < inflation.
Continuing Studies
UBC Certificate in Intt FLUlturdl Studies
Summer Institute
Aug. 17-21, 1998
Chan Centre for the
Performjpg Arts
\fef 21 '$ Musical evening
*f? »,.   .v   i$Jyith Emil ChaU
l^ly 23 Vancouver Symphony
^Orchestra Concert
JrVSO Concert
*~ 'VSO Concert
CBC Avison Series
UBC School of Journalism Opining, for info
call: 82216688
Sept. 20 Robert Silverman
Beethoven Sonatas
Sept. 26 War and Peace
Sept  27 Arradi Vnlrtdos, pianist
Fort. I K&1pfo,pleffl«e till Ticket master
at (6' ■ '■ '^0-3311 orifo f han Centre Box
Of fie   11 16(H) $32-2687.
Ikin Art Gallery
Recent I'lmto AcqtiJMtioiis to the UBC
Colh-i turn
|..iln        -"tvAri|e|i, Stan Douglas,
I ii /an, Ken Lum, KetiffifyBA, Liz
M i ,nor, N.h. lhing Co. and Manuel Pina.
hin i 19-Sept. 27
OBC Masters of Fine Arts Graduate
Exhibition
1998 grads present their work, much of
winch is the product of more than two
I'frais of intensive research and study.
Oct; 9-25
Vancouver Institute
Lectures
Sept. 21-27: Cecil and Ida Green Lecture:
Professor Thomas King, Department of
English, Guelph University
First Nations and Literature
Oct. 3: Dal Grauer Lecture: Paul Fussell,
Donald T. Regan Professor Emeritus of
English Literature, University of Pennsylvania
The Poetry ofThreeWars: WWI, WWII, and
Vietnam
Oct. 17: Professor James Hudson,
Department of Pathology, UBC
Searching for anti-viral compounds in
tropical forests
Oct. 24: Dal Grauer Lecture: Ms. Karen
Armstrong, author, teacher and commentator, London
A History of God
Oct. 31: Cecil and Ida Green Lecture:
Professor William Chafe, Dean of Arts
and Sciences, Duke University
Race, Law and Justice
For information, please CftD 822-1437.        C all 822-2759 for more information.
Photo (left): Voodoo doll (Self Portrait) by Alan
Belcher. Sculpture: cloth, silver gelatin print,
Belkin Art Gallery. Top right photo: Standing Dog,
from the Eastern Han Period (220 B.C. - A.D. 25).
Museum of Anthropology's Victor Shaw Collection. Photo: Bill McLennan.
Chronicle
17 feature
Information Technology
2008: Classrooms will be wired so students can be on-line with each other,
the professor and the rest of the world. UBC is undergoing a major technological facelift that will prepare students for the next century.
Tl     he year is 2008. From a glance at the
buildings, UBC looks very much like it
did in 1998. But step into a familiar lecture
theatre in Buchanan—perhaps a Psychology
100 class—and it's a different scene. Students
are clustered at computer station pods and
interacting on group projects while the prof
circulates. Later, a guest lecturer speaks to them in realtime video over the internet. Then the prof's back at the front of the
room lecturing for 15 minutes while the students type notes
into their laptops. Room lighting is lower, the chairs are comfortable and movable.
Students feel that they're playing an active role in constructing their education. They're interacting not only with the
professor, but with each other and with professors and students
around the world. Most students have their own laptop computers, which they plug into the ports available in classrooms,
labs, libraries and offices all over campus.
It may sound like science fiction, but UBC's president Martha Piper describes the scenario as the classroom of the future.
"We know we need to put money into classrooms anyway," she
says, "so they might as well be state-of-the-art."
The growth in information technology (IT) seems so rapid
and all-encompassing that it can be overwhelming to absorb:
like the dozens of e-mail and phone messages we get every day;
or estimates that the total sum of human knowledge is doubling every seven years; or the fact that 50% of the products a
high tech company sells today, didn't exist a year ago. The social change associated with this growth is often compared to
the impact of the printing press and the industrial revolution.
And now, as then, we're no doubt too close to the change to
understand its magnitude.
At UBC, new information technology has an impact on
several levels. There are the tangibles such as the construction
involved to install network ports; new software required to
manage effectively the university's finances
and student records; and the computers used by Deanna
in courses and research.
But the intangibles are no less imposing. How do we protect the copyright of electronic scholary material? Should fees
for on-line courses be more or less than fees for on-campus
courses? How are professors to be rewarded within the tenure
system for electronic course development and electronic publications? How can we ensure efficient and secure internet access
for all students and researchers? How can we encourage more
young women to study and work in IT? Currently, fewer than
15% of high tech workers and students are women.
UBC's Advisory Committee on IT (http://www.acit.ubc.ca/),
led by VP Student and Academic Services Maria Klawe, is asking
and answering these kinds of questions. Martha Piper emphasizes that "IT is not the driver of our academic goals; it's simply
a device, a tool." Together with the answers that ACIT comes
up with, that tool will be used in various ways to enhance —
but not drive — education and research at the university.
UBC's Campus Connectivity Project (CCP) (http://
www.ccp.acit.ubc.ca/), now in Phase I, is installing or upgrading
basic infrastructure — high speed network connectivity — in
every UBC building. It will create 25,000 connections in offices,
classrooms, laboratories, libraries and residences over the next
five years. Every building from Buchanan to the remaining huts
will have state-of-the-art connectivity. It's a challenging project,
especially in light of the rapid pace of technological change.
"But with a project like the CCP," says Ted Dodds, associate VP,
Information Technology, "it gets the attention of the IT heavyweights, and they want to participate. This helps us to stay on
the cutting edge."
Dodds emphasizes that the success of the CCP will not just
be data networks. "When we're done, we'll be able to say we
have 25,000 connections, but then what? The real question will
be what can people do with them? How will the network help
people collaborate and communicate with each other?" IT and
data networks, he says, are just the plumbing that will make
possible all other priorities, such as interdisci-
McLeod plinarity and internationalization.
18     Chronicle Tft   echnology is only as good as the use we
make of it. And that's where we move
from leading edge computer science to leading
edge education methods. Along with the development of new learning technologies (from
medical courses on the web to interactive
multimedia labs in theatre design) is a growing emphasis on learner-centred education and a two-way flow
in learning, rather than the one-way flow of traditional university instruction. The goal is to allow students more flexibility,
more interaction, and a more active role in their education, like
the scene of our Buchanan classroom of 2008.
On-line courses won't replace professors. What IT offers is
a different mode of course delivery that can be more research
based, enhancing the learning outcomes for students. Martha
Piper is emphatic that this does not reduce the role of professors. "We're not replacing professors, but their role might
change somewhat. Professors might in some cases be more like
coaches, so their role becomes even more central." At UBC, departments from theatre to pharmacy are developing educational software for use in labs, assignments and research.
It's one thing to say everyone should put their courses on
the web, but it's another to learn how, and do it. An exciting
new tool that is receiving a lot of international attention was
developed by UBC computer science instructor Murray Goldberg. His WebCT is a set of worldwide web curriculum tools that
help professors design and deliver multimedia course content
to students. It's very user friendly, and offers professors with no
computer expertise the ability to put things like indexed course
outlines, timed quizzes, assignments and chat lines on the web.
Try it out for yourself at http://homebrew1.cs.ubc.ca/webct/.
But will all this actually work? Studies on the effects of
these new educational technologies on learning, and on professors, are only just beginning and the results aren't in yet. Tony
Bates, director of distance learning and technology with UBC's
Continuing Studies department, is leading a Canadian research project studying
how adult learners respond to the use of
new technologies in the delivery of university and career programs (http://
research.cstudies.ubc.ca/olt/index.html). Integrating technology into education is also
likely to play an important role in facilitating students' transition to the working world.
One of the benefits of IT is that it
brings post-secondary education to the
home computer. That Buchanan classroom of 2008 might just as well describe
an on-line classroom with students at
home in fluffy slippers and bathrobes,
connecting over the course chat-line and
The real questions will be what can people do with the
new technology? How will the network help people
collaborate and communicate with each other?
- Ted Dodds
listening to their professor in real-time video.
It's an exciting time to live in, says Ted Dodds, but a challenging one too. "How do we assimilate it all, when many of us
are already finding it difficult to deal with the wired world? We
can only process so many things. We need down-time to hang
out with our families, to put our feet up or go fishing." The industry's ability to deliver the solutions, Dodds says, is almost a
foregone conclusion. The question is no longer how we'll be
able to deliver the technology, he says, "but how we'll manage
culturally. How we'll cope with what the technology will make
possible, is a more interesting and difficult question."
iderlying all the technology is just us
humans. To cope, we need to keep some
sort of perspective on what IT makes possible, and adapt while the world keeps
shifting under our feet. Adapting to the
change and making the best use of it includes time to unplug ourselves and go for
walks in the park. The greatest challenge, perhaps, is making
use of the technology to ensure equal access to the information
it provides, and to improve the quality of people's lives in our
own and in distant communities,
"It's tremendously challenging but that's the fun of it," Dodds
says. "The ground rules keep changing. The assumptions we make
today aren't valid tomorrow, so it keeps the adrenaline going." •
This is the third and last in a series of articles on Internationalism,
Interdisciplinarity and Information Technology at UBC.
Some related links
UBC's Vision Statement
http://www.vision.ubc.ca
Office of Learning Technologies (HRDC)
http://olt-bta.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/english.html
UBC Centre for Educational Technology
http://www.cet.ubc.ca/about/index.html
UBC's Technology Studies Education program
http://www.curricstudies.educ.ubc.ca/division/TSED/
programs/ugrad.html
New Media Centres
http://www.csulb.edu/gc/nmc/
TeleLearning, National Centres of Excellence
http://www.telelearn.ca/
Society for Canadian Women in Science &
Technology
http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/scwist/
Centre for Currie, Transfer and Technology
http://www.ctt.bc.ca/edtech/
Network for the Evaluation of Education and
Training Technologies
http://socserv2.mcmaster.ca/srnet/evnet.htm
World Lecture Hall
http://www.utexas.edu/world/lecture/
Attitudes and societal impacts
http://onteris.oise.utoronto.ca/ceris2/Tech1.html
Technology & social change
http://www.ctf-fce.ca/e/what/restech/reading.htm
Chronicle      19 4th Annual Alumni  Recognition
Sports Hall of Fame Inductees
Three of UBC's most outstanding athletes, one of its teams and
one of the great builders of sport will be inducted into the
Sports Hall of Fame this fall. These men and women represent
the best in athletic endeavour at UBC. The Hall of Fame, established in
1992, is dedicated to their accomplishments.
^|^      J.D. Jackson
■^Hflff        John David "Action"
B^^F*,**f Jackson is the most
H^^^^j^k     prolific scorer in UBC
i^^^^^^^B    history, with a
>>^^^^^^^B    3,585 points in his
storied five-season
basketball career. Following his graduation
in 1992, he played for Canada's national
team and now resides in Antibbes, France
where he plays professionally.
Turlough O'Hare
O'Hare, a contemporary of Jackson's, was a
two-time Olympian and
Commonwealth Games
swimmer as well as a
World Cup freestyle gold medalist, all the
while dominating on the Canadian
university scene. The Richmond native
and current UBC graduate student won a
total of 21 medals in university (CIAU)
competition and his three CIAU records
stand to this day.
Nora McDermott
BPE'49, BEd'56
Despite graduating
almost a half-century
ago, McDermott remains
one of the top female
athletes in UBC history.
Her skill on the basketball court led her to
an international career, a place in the BC
Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian
basketball Hall of Fame. A standout in
May Brown's Thunderbird field hockey
team, McDermott matched her athletic
prowess with her student accomplishments, having been named top student in
her 1949 graduating class.
20       Chronicle
John Owen
Builder
John Owen, well known
in the thirties as a local
hockey player and
referee, was hired by
UBC in 1937 to be a
coach, trainer, and manager of the newly
built Varsity Stadium. In the subsequent
28 years leading up to his death in 1965,
he provided training and equipment for
many of the greatest football, rugby,
track and basketball teams in UBC
history. The popular Owen is remembered through the John Owen Memorial
Scholarship Fund and the sports medicine centre pavilion on the south campus
which bears his name.
*m   ;* y i5S*w'
1977-78
Women's
Volleyball
Team
~3*k2I
The 1977-78
women's
volleyball team, coached by Dianne
Murray, was undefeated during the
Canada West regular season schedule.
They went on to the CIAU Championships at Moncton, New Brunswick, where
they won the fourth and most recent
CIAU Championship for a UBC women's
volleyball team. They were also winners
of the Canadian Open Senior Championship and, with the exception of one
player, the same roster won the CIAU
title the previous year as well. One of
UBC's finest women's teams in any sport,
an unprecedented total of seven players
were named Canada west first-team all-
stars.
Alumni Association Awar
Alumni Award of Distinction (2)
Recognizes outstanding achievements by UBC grads in the arts, research, civic, business, community,
athletic or similar activities.
John Millar
BSc'63, MD'67, HSc'86
John is director of the
BC Health Research
Foundation and Provincial Health Officer. He
taught in International Health at UBC
from 1991-97. John won the DeFries
Award in Public Health in 1997 and the
James Robinson Prize for his contributions to public health.
Milton Wong BA'63
Milton began M.K. Wong
& Associates in 1980 and
is co-founder of the
Laurier Institute for
multicultural studies. He
is also vice-chairman of fundraising for
Science World and founder and trustee of
UBC Commerce Portfolio Management
Society. Milton is also chairman of the
International Dragonboat Festival.
Blythe Eagles Volunteer Award
Special recognition to grads who
have shown extraordinary leadership in Association affairs.
Jim Stich
BSc'71, DMD'75
Jim is the director of
the Dental Clinic at the
Faculty of Dentistry. He
was the president of the
UBC Alumni Association from 1993-94,
and the senior VP from 1992-93. He was
also president of the Dental Alumni, and
VP and Chair of the Dental Alumni Fund.
Jim was co-chair of the 75th Anniversary
Great Trekker Gala Dinner in 1986-87. and Sports Hall of Fame Dinner
d Winners
Faculty Citation (2)
Awarded to faculty members who
have rendered outstanding service
to the community in other than
teaching or research.
Paul Stanwood
A professor of English,
Paul has been a member
of Green College since
1994 and has served
UBC since 1969. He
won the Provincial Year of the Child and
Family Achievement Award in 1979 for
his community service to children and
families. Paul has also authored two
program books for the National Council,
Boy Scouts of Canada.
Carol Herbert
BSc'66, MD'69
Carol has been
professor and head of
the UBC Dept. of
Family Practice since
1982. She won the YWCA Woman of
Distinction Award in Health & Social
Sciences in 1985. Carol is a Fellow of the
College of Family Physicians of Canada
and the winner of the 1997 W. Victor
Johnston Medal for contribution to the
College of Family Physicians of Canada.
Outstanding Young Alumnus
Recognizes outstanding work by
UBC grads under 40.
Peter Dolman MD'84
Peter is a contributing
teacher and clinician to
developing nations and
an active participant in
UBC AIDS Eye Clinic.
He is a clinical assistant professor at UBC
and has provided care to outreach clinics
in Northern BC. He specializes in ophthalmology.
Outstanding Student Awards (3)
Awarded to students who show
leadership and academic success,
and who are active in the university community.
Mg^        Lica Chui
^B; pH        Lica is a third-year Med
^K 'rdfe^B       student and has been
^^^ "^^H^    the student rep on the
i^^V^Hf    UBC Senate since 1993.
^^^^^^^™    She was VP of the Alma
Mater Society from 1996-97. She is a
Wesbrook Scholar and recipient of the
Sherwood Lett Scholarship. Lica is also
Young Ambassador to the Chinese
Canadian Association of Public Affairs.
Andrew Booth
Graduating this year in
Engineering Physics,
Andrew started the UBC
Solar Car Project, and is
the Engineering Physics
Student Society President and a member
of the Engineering Graduate Society. He is
crew leader of the UBC Lightweight
Rowing Team, participates in Intramural
Sports and is UBC Student Ambassador.
Allison Dunnet
A 1998 Political Science
grad, Allison is the
founder of Imagine UBC,
which welcomes new
students to UBC, and of
Humanities 101, a project to encourage
people from disadvantaged backgrounds
to study at UBC. She was the coordinator
of External Affairs for UBC's Alma Mater
Society, '96-'97, and co-chair of UBC's
New Democratic Club from 1997-1998.
Lifetime Achievement Award (2)
Recognizes extraordinary individuals who, over a lifetime, have contributed significantly to UBC and
the Association.
William Gibson
BA'33, DSc(Hon)'93
Bill was appointed
director of research for
mental hospitals of BC in
1949 and professor of
neurological research at UBC. He was
professor of history of medicine and
science from 1959-78 and chaired the
financing body of the Universities
Council of BC from 1978-1983. He was
chancellor of the University of Victoria in
1984. Bill served as president of the
Alumni Association in '61-62.
Cecil Green
DSc(Hon)'64
Cecil was a founder of
Texas Instruments. He
spent two years at
UBC, then transferred
to MIT. More than a dozen universities
have given him honorary doctorates,
including Oxford and UBC. As a philanthropist, he has supported post-secondary
education across Canada, the US and the
United Kingdom. In 1965, he purchased a
mansion located on the cliffs at the
northern edge of the campus. Cecil Green
Park is now home of the Alumni Association. He is also the major donor to Green
College, UBC, a residential graduate
school located just east of Cecil Green
Park. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth
in 1991.
4th Annual Alumni Recognition and Sports Hall of Fame Dinner
Thursday, October 8, 1998
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Vancouver
Tickets: $125 ea., $1,000 table of 8, GST included. Tax receipt issued.
Book now! Call 822-3313
Chronicle
21 a umni news
President's Message
Branch events keep
you in touch
Watch for news about
branch events in your area.
For information about branch activities, or to establish a branch in your
area, contact Marlene King at
(604)822-8918, e-mail:
kmarlene@alumni.ubc.ca.
Branch Rep's ft Contacts:
Kamloops
Rob McDiarmid (250) 374-3344
Kelowna
Tom Edwards (250) 762-2604
Nanaimo
Johanna Scott (250) 390-1085
dscott@fairwinds.bc.ca
Jim Slater (250) 681-7491, local 2515
slater@mala.bc.ca
Kitimat
Louise Shaw 632-7147
lshaw@kitimat.sno.net
Edmonton
Claire Pallard Belanger (403) 427-5133
Toronto
Catherine McCauley (416) 622-5116
mccauley@mail.interlog.com
Ottawa
Carole Joling (613) 236-6163, ext. 2580
cjoling@idrc.co
Don Gardner (613) 829-2257
Chicago/Milwaukee
Jay Phipps (414) 552-6446
jaylphipps@aol.com
Lot Angelas
Dr. Hartley Turpin (714) 640-5030
Betty-Jean Prosser (818) 790-7833
Doug Thomas dothomas@dttus.com
New York
Dave Nuestaedter (212) 241-1864
neustd01@doc.mssm.edu
San Francisco
Kent Westerberg 370-5070
<rentivest@/x.netcom.com
Cont'd on page 28
22      Chronicle
hink about it, as Martha
Piper would say. As we all
become more accustomed to
using the web, I hope all our
alumni will add the UBC Alumni web site — www.alumni.ubc.ca—
to their list of favourites. We are now
equipped to have video and sound clips,
so tune in to see short clips from the
convocation speeches of honorary degree
recipients. News events from reunions
and campus activities will soon be in
text, in living colour and in real audio.
As our expertise improves we will have
interviews of leading campus personalities and cover events of interest to our
Alumni. Please send us your ideas on
what you would like to see.
The current "brain drain" is a matter
of great concern to UBC and its alumni.
A brain drain questionnaire is posted on
the web site and we would ask all UBC
alumni who have left Canada to fill it
out (it only takes a few minutes). Already
we have had many responses and it is
providing us with useful information on
solutions to the exodus problem.
In the US all levels of government
are increasing post secondary educational and research funding. In Canada it is
the reverse. I believe that university
alumni from all Canadian universities
must take the lead in convincing politi
cians that jobs and wealth creation are
dependent on a highly educated workforce and that Canadian tax and immigration policies must be globally competitive. High levels of student debt, a low
value Canadian dollar matched against
high wages, low taxes and greater job
opportunities in the US and elsewhere,
are forcing too many of our students and
researchers to seek opportunities abroad.
Canadian universities are also having a
terrible time recruiting new faculty.
If we want to keep our country
strong and our universities great we, as
university alumni, must be politically
active.
A priority for us this year is to
develop more active branches, particularly in Toronto and major cities in BC. An
important role for the branches to play is
making new UBC students feel enthusiastic about going to UBC. We do this with
alumni send-off receptions for new
students and their families. If you would
like to participate in send-off programs
let us know.
We now have an UBC Alumni
Endowment Fund for Needy Students. Its
starting capital is $300,000, thanks to a
major gift by Helen Knight (a Great
Trekker). Additional contributions are
welcome. We will report in future
Chronicles on awards made by the
Endowment Trustees.
A reminder! Our annual awards
dinner is October 8th at the Hyatt
Regency Vancouver, and Alumni Day at
UBC is October 1 7. Join us for tours,
lectures, nostalgia and camaraderie.
Haig Farris, President,
UBC Alumni Association
Visit Our Website
We're upgrading our website to include
A/V clips of UBC events and people.
www.alumni.ubc.ca A Division is a group of alumni in the
Lower Mainland who graduated from
the same faculty, school or department, or who maintained membership
in a club or other UBC association.
Divisions provide an opportunity for
alumni to network, get involved in
various activities or simply renew old
friendships. They are an excellent way
to stay in touch with UBC. For information on how to start a division, call
Catherine Newlands at 822-8917 or
e-mail newlands@alumni.ubc.ca.
Engineering
The division is being revived after a
two-year hiatus. Plans for next year are
participating in some ofthe student activities including Clubs Day and the Career
Fair.
Family ft Nutritional Sciences
ft Home Ec.
All alumni and friends are invited to the
annual fall social evening, Friday, Oct. 16,
7:30 pm, FNS foyer.
Art History/Studio Arts
An Art History division is being formed
and is looking for interested volunteers to
take part in this exciting launch.
Law
UBC Law Alumni Distinguished Speakers
Series Breakfast, Thursday, Sept. 17, guest
speaker will be Justice Ian Binnie, newest
appointment to the Supreme Court of
Canada.
New Students Can
Imagine UBC
Remember your first day on
campus? Scary, eh? Well, Imagine
. UBC changes all that for new
students. This year, on September 8,
about 5,000 students will attend a full
day of events, meetings with deans and
profs, scavenger hunts and an evening
carnival, all aimed at introducing the
greenhorns to the big campus and giving
them a leg up on the year.
New students will be contacted in
the summer with information about
Imagine UBC. If you know of students in
your area (or in your household) who are
off to UBC for the first time this year,
encourage them to attend.
Also, don't forget our Student Send
Off events in communities outside the
Lower Mainland. That's where you, the
seasoned grad, get to share your experi-
neces with the new kids. Call Kristin at
800-883-3088 for more information.
UBC Alumni Association
Annual General Meeting
Thursday, September 17, 1998
Main Floor,
6251 Cecil Green Park Road
6:30 Reception
7:00 Business Meeting
Rehab 77 Celebrates a "Mini-Reunion"
Rehab Sciences '77
held an impromptu
20 year reunion on
Jan.10 '98 on the
occasion of Linda
(Owen) Brunton
leaving for Botswana. Let's try
again for the 25th
in 2002!
Is 1998
Your Reunion Year?
Reunion Weekend is
Oct. 16, 17 ft 18
For information on reunions, please
contact Catherine Newlands at
822-8917 or e-mail:
newlands@alumni.ubc.ca.
These reunions have also been scheduled
for 1998:
• St. Mark's College 40th Anniversary Reunion, UBC Campus, July 25.
• Medicine "58 Whistler, Aug. 15/16.
• Mechanical Engineering '68 UBC
Campus, Aug. 21/22.
• Pharmacy '88 UBC Campus,
Aug. 28/29.
• Pharmacy Class of '95 Harrison Hot
Springs, Sept. 12/13.
• Animal Ecology '70-75 UBC Campus, Sept. 12/13.
• Medicine '88 Whistler, Sept. 26/27.
• Applied Sci. '58 UBC Campus,
0ct.16/17.
• Commerce/MBA-all decades Faculty
of Commerce, Oct. 15, 16, 17.
• Class of '38: Cecil Green, Nov. 27.
• Education "39 UBC Campus, Nov. 27.
• Rehab Sciences'88 TBD
• Civil Engineering '78 TBD
• Civil Engineering '73 TBD
• Pharmacy "68 TBD
Education "39 Alert!
Alex Charters, president of Education '39
class would like all of his classmates to
get together before or after the Class of
'38 Reunion on Nov. 27. If you are a
member of this class and would be interested in participating, contact Catherine
Newlands at the above number.
Chronicle      23 a umni news
Spring Congregation
The Chan Centre, a sunny May day and
hundreds of ecstatic grads. Graduation brings
out the smiles in everyone. Chris Petty photos
24      Chronicle That 01' Graduation Magic
There's something magic about
graduation. Sure, it's easy to get all
cynical and nineties-bitter about
various economic forecasts and to call
into question the value of an applied
versus a theoretical education, too-cheap/
too expensive tuition, the sorry state of
our post secondary system, corporatiz-
ation, the brain drain, barista degrees and
on and on.
But take a walk outside the Chan
Centre anytime during convocation week
and all that end-of-millennium melancholy melts away, replaced with hope,
promise and the satisfaction of accomplishment.
There's simply something magic
about it.
Maybe it's the age of the graduates:
they are overwhelmingly young. Our
culture's fascination with youth isn't
completely unfounded. Our whole point
here on earth, some would argue, is to
produce the next generation. If that's the
case, one can't help but be excited to see
all these smart, clear-eyed young people
full of excitement (and empty, as yet, of
accumulated disappointments) about the
world they are about to conquer.
But hope doesn't glint only from the
eyes of the young. In each class there is a
smattering of men and women who have
come back from careers, parenthood or
crummy jobs to learn new ways of
working in the world. These older grads
are inspiring and encouraging, like the 45
year old first novelist or the late blooming
movie star. They show us all that the idea
of a new start isn't just a tired cliche.
Or maybe the magic comes from
those special people who have had to deal
with incredible obstacles to get their
degrees: the kid with the physical disability who overcomes everything and makes
it look easy; the kid from the wrong class
or wrong part of town who excels beyond
all expectation; or the person who
struggled and sacrificed and worked
harder than anyone else just to prove to
themselves that, yes, they DID have it in
them. Those stories are everywhere.
Maybe the magic comes from those
other kids, the ones who get written
about in the papers because they are so
brilliant. The one whose master's thesis
bags a national prize, or the Governor
General Award winners, or the heads of
the various graduating classes. These are
the people who put the line under
'excellence' in the promotional literature,
the people who every university (or high
school or small town or neighbourhood)
points to and says, 'look what we produced.'
Some of the magic comes from
family and friends. When the grads file
into Chan Centre, people in the cheap
seats call out, wave or whistle to get the
attention of their son/daughter/mom/
dad/friend ("We love you, Mom!"), and
with all the flashes going off, you'd think
we were at the Oscars when the stars
saunter in. And outside, after the Chancellor taps everyone on the head, the
hugs, flowers, congratulations, photo-ops
and giddy excitement pour out unabashed. No wedding could generate more
good feeling or well-wishing.
I had the pleasure of attending ten of
the 23 graduation ceremonies held
between Sunday, May 24 and Friday, May
29. (That's right: 23 complete ceremonies.) Proof, to me, that graduation
generates magic is the fact that Martha
Piper's speech (which she delivered at
every ceremony save two she missed)
about 'Belling the Cat' to this year's grads
was just as heartfelt, just as sincere on the
last day as it was on the first. It seemed to
me, the observer, that each ceremony was
fresh and important.
Next year, if you get the chance,
come up and stroll among the just-
graduated throng out on the flagpole
plaza above the Rose Garden. The magic,
wherever it's coming from, is as thick,
and as sweet, as honey.   •
Chris Petty
Alumni Day, 1998
Saturday, Oct. 17
A day dedicated to
you and UBC.
Some events planned:
• Chan Centre kick-off: Free
performances Et displays.
Famous cinnamon buns
• Free web workshops at
Koerner Library
• Belkin Art Gallery UBC
Masters of Fine Arts Exhibition (by donation)
• Guided bus and walking tours
ofthe campus
• Alumni Lunch at Green College.
Donna Logan, director, Sing Tao
School of Journalism talks
about Good News, Bad News:
what kind of job is the media
doing?(reservations required,
$15 per person)
• Lecture Series
Patricia Baird on Cloning
Stanley Coren: People Et Dogs
Ivan Head: Globalization
Wayne Norman: Ethics Et
Business
• BBQ ($15) Et Beer Garden (no-
host) at Cecil Green Park
We need Volunteers for Alumni
Day. Help organize events, take
tickets, conduct tours. Get
involved in a great day!
Call 822-3313 for info.
Chronicle      25 a umm news
Branch Contacts, cont'd
The new Young Alumni group is made up of recent grads
who want to stay in touch with each other and with the
university. We get together for networking, skills development, sports and just plain fun. Join us and become part
of a dynamic group. For more information, call Kristin
Smith at 822-8643, check out our website:
www.helinet.com/ya or e-mail: kristins@alumni.ubc.ca
• The Young Alumni Breakfast (pictured above) was
a tremendous success. Laurie Baggio, BA'94, above
right/showed off his favourite sweatshirt bearing the
YA logo, while Peter Ladner BA'70, left, looked on. The
Young Alumni had a scrumptious breakfast and thoroughly enjoyed 1 1/2 hours of discussions and laughs
with guest speakers Martha Piper and Ladner, publisher
of Business in Vancouver. An inspiring start to the day.
• Young Alumni High Tech Industry Roundtable
The high tech industry promises to become the economic powerhouse of the next decade. The idea of the
roundtable is to create a forum for industry and UBC
(students, faculty, grads) to get together and talk about
issues of mutual concern such as industry needs, the
brain drain, the future of the university or the value of
a university degree. YA will work with industry and the
university to open discussions on these issues. If you
are interested in YA hosting a roundtable for your industry, contact Kristin at the above number.
Upcoming Events
• July 16: Summer BBQ. Join us for sunshine, great
fun, great people and a great time!
• Aug. 4: Scott & Ritchie, Cactus Club Restaurant.
Presented by Vancouver Network of Young Professionals.
• Aug. 19: Bard on the Beach performance As You
Like It. Join YA at this festive English Bay event. YA
members are eligible for a group rate.
Seattle
Joan Whiley (206) 731-2174
jwhiley@u.washington.edu
Washington, DC
Janice Feld (703) 305-2010
Sydney, Australia
Christopher Brangwin
61-2-9363-2599
Jim Crowe
61-2-9232-1566
pht@zeta.org.au
Melbourne, Australia
D.C. Bear McPhail
61-3-9905-5768
bear@earth.monash.edu.au
Bermuda
Adrian Kimberley
(441)295-8495
adriank@powerscourt.bm
England
Paul Hitchens
0171-214-1074
paul.hitchens@baring-asset.com
France
Mandy Kerlann 333-80-249-294
Greece
Fofi Orfanou fdfdvaca@compulink.gr
Hong Kong
Ricky Lau 852-2530-2652
rlau@newbridge.com.hk
India
Dr. Sanjay Chandra
subbu3@tisco.ernet.in
Indonesia
Chris Bendl 62-21-391-1584
bendl@uninet.netid
Japan
Robin Mah 047-380-1635
robin @japan.co.jp
South Korea
Allan Suh 82-2-731-1669
allan.suh@citicorp.com
Kenya
Azim Lalji 254-253-4200
aneez@orcc.or.ke
Malaysia
Susan Thomson 603-408-5668
Mexico
Manuel Santos Trigo
5-747-3800, ext.6023
msantos@moil.cinvestav.mx
New Zealand
Chris Hall 64-4-473-7777
chris.hall@bellgully.co.nz
Norway
Jan Aaseth +(47)-22-94-80-21
jan.aaseth@dnb.no
Philippines
Bob Gothong 63-32-231-7730
roberto_gothong_at_wg&a
@ wgamail Lmozcom.com
Singapore
Hannah Chiew
hchiew@pacific.net.sg
Taiwan
Melissa Foo (886-2) 2500-5116
melissa.foo@ogilvy.com
Thailand
Panadda Dheeragool
2-661-8383, ext 3837
pdheerag® ford, com
Serious Fun2 Student Send Offs
Do you live in Kamloops, Kelowna, Calgary,
Edmonton, Toronto, Hong Kong or
Singapore? Help next year's
students survive the first-year ordeal
with an August Send Off Social. If
you are interested, contact Kristin
Smith at 800 883-3088 or
e-mail: kristins@alumni.ubc.ca
26      Chronicle class acts
20s
60s
Bob Mukai
S.C. Carver BASc'29 is retired and has been living in
Capetown since 1994.
30s
J.V. Jordan BSA'39 is busier than ever even though
he is supposed to be retired. He is travelling, trying
to stay on top of the family investment company,
and living in Surfers Paradise, Australia. He
encourages any classmates that remember him to
contact him at: <tracer@atnet.net.au> ... John
Laurence McHugh BA'36, MA'38 got his PhD in
Oceanography at the Scripps Institution of
Oceanography in La Jolla, CA. He had a varied
career in the States and retired in 1984 ... Wilfred
Pendray BSc'38 is retired and living in Victoria. He
is looking forward to the 60 yr. reunions.
40s
William A. Laudrum BCom'48 is retired and a
member of the Granite Club. He and wife Shirley
McConville BA'49 are active in tennis, golf, lawn
bowling, bridge, travelling, etc ... Roy Wilkinson
BSc'48 celebrated his 55th wedding anniversary
with wife Magna on March 24, 1998 ...
50s
Joan M. (Campbell) Crosby BA'50 retired several
years ago from the University of Oregon Medical
School. She and husband Roger are still skiing and
enjoying living in the San Juan Islands and are very
active in community affairs ... After teaching in
Toronto until 1997, Esther Harrison BA'54
purchased, restored and now lives in the historic
(1848) Krieghoff cottage in the heart of Quebec
City ... Dick Koppenaal BA'55, MA'56 will resign
this September as dean of the Gallatin School of
Individualised Study at New York University. While
he was at UBC he studied with Doug Kenney, who
later became president of UBC ... After 22 years of
service, Carlos Kruytbosch BA'56, MA'58 retired
from the US National Science Foundation. He will
continue to consult in science policy affairs.... Klaus
E. Rieckhoff BSc'58, MSc'59, PhD'62 will receive
an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the Fall
convocation of Simon Fraser University this October
... R.H. Roy BA'50, MA'51 was appointed a
member of the Canadian War Museum Advisory
Committee recently. He is a former veteran and
Professor Emeritus of Military and Strategic Studies
at UVic ... Carole Anne Soong BA'57, BSW'58
administrator and volunteer activist, won the
Women of Distinction Award for Communications
and Public Affairs.
Leonard Angel MA'68, PhD'74 just published his
philosophical novel, The Book of Miriam. It is 'pious
fiction' about the discovery and translation of an
ancient woman's Bible ... Doreen Montgomery
Braverman BEd'64 was featured on the Women's
TV Network on the program Success, Inc. as a
successful Canadian entrepreneur with her flag
shop ... Tom D'Aquino BA'63, BSW'66, MSW'67
has moved from Moricetown, BC to Whitehorse in
the Yukon ... Raphael Girard BA'63 was appointed
Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,
July, 1997 ... Ed Pankratz MD'66 was named South
Fraser Health Region's Interim vice-president of
Medicine last December... Joyce Pearson BSc'60
has retired as director of the Blue Flame Kitchen of
Northwestern Utilities Ltd ... Hart Pfortmueller
BA'67 is VP, private investment management div.,
Western Canada at Montrusco Associates Inc. ... J.
Christopher Poole BA(Hon)'66 was appointed
Consul General in Chicago in July, 1997 ... Heather
(Burton) Raff BA'60 was a guest speaker last June
at the Canadian Studies Conference of the Hebrew
University, Jerusalem. She demonstrated how the
great BC born architect Ron Thorn carried his
design talent and close kinship with the landscape
across Canada to build homes, a zoo, theatres and
universities ... Cliff Scott BA'67 retired from public
service of Canada in 1991, after more than 35 years
in both military and civil service. He is currently
teaching history courses to engineering students at
the University of Ottawa ... O.P. St. John BA'60
was a political science professor at the University of
Manitoba for 35 years. He won the 1997 Olive
Beatrice Stanton Award for Excellence in Teaching
... After he returned from Taiwan where he was
director of the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei,
K.W. (Ken) Putt BASc'65 an industrial technology
advisor for Petroleum Services Association of
Canada in Calgary, Alta, won the CPR Engineering
Medal. He was recognized for many years of
leadership and service to the Institute and its
member societies at all levels ... Hugh Stephens
BA(Hon)'67 was appointed assistant deputy
minister for Communications and Policy Planning at
the Department of Foreign Affairs and International
Trade ... G. Laird Stovel BASc'61 has recently
retired as chief engineer, Operations for Air Canada
after 31 years in Montreal. He moved to Kelowna
after a strong recommendation from brother Brian
Stovel BEd'69 ... Edward T. Thorpe BSc'66 worked,
studied and researched at Texas A & M University-
Commerce. He has returned to Mohawk College in
Hamilton, Ont. to help expand the role of
technology for instruction ... Gardiner James
Wilson BA'66 was appointed High Commissioner to
Brunei July 11, 1997.
An active volunteer, Bob Mukai
BSc'63, is a director on the executive
committee ofthe Richmond Minor
Hockey Association and director of
the Richmond Arenas Community
Association. He is also involved with
the organizing committee for the
annual Richmond International
Midget Hockey Tournament, on the
board of directors of the Richmond
Museum Society and the announcer
at the international Judo tournaments held in Richmond. He recently
was named the Save-0n-Foods/
Richmond News Community Achiever
ofthe Month.
70s
Margaret Catherine Allan BA'70 got her PhD at the
University of Texas at Austin last December in the
department of Educational Psychology ... Wendy
Hamlin BFA'78, John Clair Watts BFA'79, Gloria
Masse BFA'80, and Gathie Falk, who taught in Fine
Arts, have been meeting in each other's studios to
critique each other's work every few weeks since
1975. The held a 'group' exhibition in May ...
Wayne Hammond PhD'74 was appointed High
Commissioner to the United Republic of Tanzania
and accreditation to the Republic of Seychelles, and
as Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of
Madagascar, July 11, 1997 ... F.S. (Rick) Hirtle
BCom'74 to BDO Dunwoody's Policy Board for
1997-98. He is a partner in the firm's Salmon Arm
office ... Karen Hook BEd'77 is proud to announce
the birth of her son, Alexander Antonio John Hook,
July 12, 1997 ... Carol Kline MA'75 was recently reelected to the Board of the College of Dental
Hygienists of BC. She was a founding member of
the Board, appointed by the Minister of Health in
1995. She was first elected to the Board in 1996 ...
Chronicle
27 class acts
Donald J. Norris PhD'75 began an assignment with
Exxon Chemicals Baton Rouge operation as Basic
Chemicals Plant Technology Section Leader. He and
his wife Vikki are enjoying life in the Cajun Country
of Louisiana ... Barbara (Merryfield) Peace
BCom'79 was appointed vice-president, Energy
Marketing Systems Division of Applied Terravision
Systems Inc. last January ... Rosalie Tung MBA'74,
PhD'77 Professor of Business Administration at
SFU, won the Women of Distinction Award in the
Management, Professions and Trades category ...
Murray Walker BMus'75 has returned to York
School in Monterey, CA as director of Music and
Head of Arts after a three-year absence. Murray
was the founding head of the Georgiana Bruce
Kirby School in Santa Cruz.
80s
Claudio Arato BSc'89, BASc'91 is doing all kinds of
qualitative risk assessment, hazard and operability
studies and pollution prevention engineering in the
pulp and paper, petrochemical and oil & gas
industries ... Theresa Best BA'87 and Naomi Pauls
BA'83 have launched Paper Trail Publishing, a book
packaging and editorial services company specializing in multidisciplinary works on culture and society
... Janet Campbell BEd'86 has been working for
the Vancouver School Board for ten years as a
primary and special education teacher... Andrea J.
(Lazosky) Chisholm BSc'83 got her diplomate
status in Clinical Neuropsychology from the
American Board of Professional Psychology. She
married Ian Chisholm in Hawaii last February ...
Terry Dash BASc'80, MEng'87, wife Karen and four
kids moved to Calgary, AB last July. Terry is the
senior geological engineer for Southern Alberta for
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada ... Sue (Fisher)
Dritmanis BFA'83 is managing editor of Western
Living magazine and husband John Dritmanis
BFA'79 is a freelance radio producer. Their twins,
Christopher and Allison, were born in January ...
Bruce Ferguson BA'85, MA'87 earned a PhD in
French from U of Toronto and has been appointed
as the assistant registrar of Trinity College there ...
Living and working for five years in Texas is Rev.
Mark R. Gazin BA'83 at the University of St.
Thomas as director of Campus Ministry. He directed
a team of 12 students to coordinate the recent
Texas Catholic Student Conference last March ...
Laura (Ryder) Hudson BEd'86 and husband Dave
welcome their third child, Michelle Marie, born Feb,
12, 1998 ... Brian J. Gibbs BSc'82, MA'85 is
assistant professor of Marketing and Behavioral
Science in the Graduate School of Business at
Stanford University. Staring in Sept. he will be
associate professor of Management at Vanderbilt
University in Tennessee ... Sal Johal BA'84 is
working on immigration issues with the Ministry of
Attorney General in Victoria after ten years with
Employment and Immigration Canada ... Linda
(Pretty) Kern BCom'84 is living in Toronto with her
husband Greg. They are raising their beautiful four-
month-old daughter, Tess ... Anna Krause BEd'84
edited The Life and Times ofthe Comox Valley,
written by her husband, James. She is working full-
time and taking courses through the Justice
Institute ... Jenny Leary BEd'80, is a senior internet
consultant trainer with Futurenet Canada, bringing
internet access through TV sets across North
America, without a computer. Her e-mail through
the TV is <jenny.wilklear@netchannel.net> ... Jeff
Leigh BASc'84, wife Denise (Sammartino) BHE'82
and daughters Amanda and Jennifer have moved
from Grande Prairie, AB to Antofagatsa, Chile,
where Jeff works for Finning Chile S.A. ... Janie P.
(Leung) Louie BCom'87 and husband Ming were
married in June, 1995, and would like to announce
the arrival of their first child Michael, born Nov. 19,
1997 ... Raffaele Luongo BASc'84 is working for
BCRail Ltd. in North Vancouver. He and Lucy would
like to announce the birth of their second daughter,
Daniela Christina, born Oct. 16, 1997, a sister for
five-year-old Gabriella Michele ... George Melo
BASc'85 and Maria (Garcia) Melo BCom'86
announce their second daughter Victoria Alicia,
born May 12, 1998 ... Ian Miller BSF'84 and wife
Colleen McKendry BSF'84 are proud parents of
Lynden Kathleen, born Oct. 9, 1997 ... Denise E.
Mills MSc'84 has been the administrator of the
Remediation Divison at the Montana Dept. of
Environmental Quality in Helena, managing the
state's involvement in a variety of environmental
cleanup programs ... Scott Paget BA'84 has
completed a two-year secondment at the Privy
Council Office/Prime Minister's Office in Ottawa.
Starting July, he and his wife Sherry will be moving
to Washington where he will assume the duties of a
First Secretary at the Canadian Embassy in
Washington, DC ... Candace (Laird) Parsons BSF'83
is the executive director of the Silviculture Institute
of BC and the Institute of Forest Engineering of BC.
She and husband John just moved into their dream
home on the Fraser River in Queensborough ...
Pammy Pasicnyk BSc'89 has been working for
Safeway Pharmacy since graduation. She married
Kevin Clarke BA'89 in 1995 and just bought a
house in North Vancouver... Leslie Pidcock
BSc'80, MBA'85 is living in Calgary and was
promoted to assistant to the president and CEO
with CPR ... Stephen M. Pink BA'84 is working with
Richmond Savings Investments in Steveston as a
financial planner... Michael K. Pugsley BSc'89
MSc'92, PhD'95 just completed a three-year postdoctoral fellowship as a MRC Scholar at the
University of California, Irvine. He is now a senior
scientist at XOMA Corporation in Berkeley ...
Benny Tong BCom'87 and Sandra Tong BA'87 are
delighted to announce the arrival of Christopher
Gregory Tong, April 16, 1997 ... Colin Wolfe
MA'81 has been closely involved with the peace
process in his native Ireland, looking after the
European peace & Reconciliation Programme funds
coming from Brussels. Jack was born to Colin and
his wife Sue on Nov. 5, 1997 ... David Yiu Sang
Wong MBA'86 has moved back to Hong Kong after
working in New York for three years. Would like to
re-establish contact with old friends and colleagues.
His address is: Apt. 10G, 113 Tai Hang Road, HK ...
Tony G. Wong BASc'84 and Janet Beasley were
married in May, 1995, and their first daughter,
Ellery S. Wong, was born in 1996. Tony is a
manufacturing project manager with General
Motors Thailand ... Angela Wu BA'88 is branch
manager for HongKong Bank of Canada and enjoys
travelling, ballroom dancing and karaoke.
90s
James Andrew BSc'96 is currently the interim
coordinator of First Nations Health Careers at UBC.
He plans to get his master's in Aboriginal Community Health at the University of Sydney in Australia
...  Monica Beaulieu BSc'94 and Martin Cocking
BA'87 got married at Cecil Green Park in June.
Monica is back at UBC in first-year medicine and
Martin is still working in the post-secondary system
after five years at UNBC ... Chris Bendl BSc'91 is
managing director for Dharmala Manulife Asset
Management in Indonesia ... Bill Bonner MBA'92 is
living in Calgary doing his PhD in Management
Information Systems at the U of Calgary ... David
Bruce MA'90 is now the acting director and senior
research associate for the Rural and Small Town
Programme at Mount Allison University in New
Brunswick ... Gregory Dake BSc'92 received his
PhD from Stanford University last April and has
moved to New York City with his wife Lorelei
(Erickson) Dake BA'92 where Greg is doing postdoctoral work at Columbia University ... Sarah
Eastman-Pegg BA'95 and husband Kern Pegg had a
daughter Emily Kaylen Eastman-Pegg on Dec. 23,
1996 ... Lisa Freeman BA'97 is still working at the
Shoah Foundation doing Holocaust research and is
engaged to marry Richard Grant of Costa Mesa, CA
on June 26, 1999 ... After finishing her law degree,
Kristin Graver LLB'96 articled at DuMoulin &
Boskovich. She started her own business doing
animal law soon after being called to the Bar...
Wesley Hochachka PhD'90 is moving to Cornell
University to take a research associate position as
assistant director of Bird Population Studies at the
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology ... A month after
graduation, Alexander D.C. Kask BA'97 moved to
28
Chronicle Gregg Saretsky
Gregg A. Saretsky BSc'82,
MBA'84 has been elected vice-
president of marketing and
planning by the board of
directors of Alaska Airlines.
A 13-year veteran of
Canadian Airlines, Saretsky most
recently served as vice president
of passenger marketing, where
he oversaw a range of marketing
activities including pricing and
yield management, advertising
and promotions, product
development, consumer
relations and the carrier's
frequent flyer program.
Saretsky began his airline
career with Canadian in 1985 as
a route development planner.
Through the years he held a
series of positions of increasing
responsibility with the carrier
including director of pricing and
yield management, director of
Asia and Latin America marketing, vice president of strategy
implementation, and vice
president of airports.
Saretsky is married with
three children.
Tokyo and spent the next five years working in
media. He has since written three books: Tuttle
Kanji Cards, Japanese for the Martial Arts, and
Tuttle Kanji Cards 2. He is now back in Canada
studying law at UBC ... Laurie Lawson MD'95 and
Susan Melnychuk MFA'93 are proud to announce
the birth of Thomas James in May, a playmate for
Reggie ... Benoit LeBlanc MEng'95 is finishing his
first year in medical school at Universite de
Montreal after working as a technology strategy
process engineer for Abitibi Consolidated Inc. in
Toronto ... Don Mah BA'92, BEd'96 is dividing his
time between teaching in Coquitlam and working
for REUTERS news in Malaysia ... Eleanor (Wong)
Miu BSc'91 and Kar C. Miu BCom'97, MBA'94 are
happy to announce the birth of their son, Winston,
in May ... Angela O'Connor MA'95 is in Australia
studying for a PhD at the University of Queensland
in Human Movement Studies. She studied at UBC
in 1993 & '94 in the Centre for Cirriculum and
Instruction. Contact her at:
<angela@hms.uq.edu.au> ... John Omielan
MSc'91 is a C++ M.S. Windows programmer for
J.O.C. Consulting Inc., and also has a home-based
business where he helps other people set up home-
based businesses as a health food marketer... Mark
Oulton BSc'91 just completed a Masters in
Environmental Studies/Bachelor of Laws joint
degree program at York University. He is now
working at a law firm in Toronto for the rest of the
summer and is getting married in May, 1999 ...
Sophie (Gazetas) Peerless BSc'93, BEd'94 is an
elementary teacher on the Queen Charlottes and
had her firstborn in June ... Jodie (McJannet)
Rogers BA'96 is teaching English in Tokyo ... After
being called to the Bar in Ontario, Gregory Rose
LLM'95 received a contract with the Privy Council
to assist in the writing of the Somalia Commission's
Final Report. He then joined the Proceeds of Crime
Branch at RCMP HQ in Ottawa, working as a
policy analyst and advisor... Dale Sapach BASc'90
and Jenine Gobbi BCom'90 were married in 1994
and have a six month old son named Julian. Dale
works for Dynapro Systems and Jenine with
McKinsey & Company in Seattle ... Andrea (Brocke)
Seeley BSc'93 married Will Seeley BPE'93, BEd'94
in July, 1996. Will is teaching at Banting Middle
School in Coquitlam, and Andrea is working at
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more information and a free 32-page
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Analytical Service Laboratories in Vancouver... Rosi
van Meel BSc'90 and Michael van Meel BMus'91
are pleased to announce the birth of their third
child, Emmalene Anne, on July 28, 1997, a sister for
Gregory and Clara ... Jim Wanklin MD'94 and
Diane Wanklin moved to Jackson, Tennessee,
where Jim is an ER physician. They had their first
child, Laura Elizabeth, on Feb. 11, 1998 ... Another
announcement for Jana (Chu) Wong BSW'91 and
husband Edward. Andrew Bill Wong was born on
Dec. 8, 1997 ... Stanley Yuen BSc'91, BEd'95
married Sophia in March and is currently a teacher
in Coquitlam.
Chronicle
29 class acts
In  Memoriam
Tong Louie
1914-1998
Tong Louie BSc'38, LLD'90 passed away in
Vancouver on April 28,1998, He was chairman
and CEO of H.Y. Louie Co., the family food
distribution giant, chairman and CEO of the
family-held London Drugs, and vice-chairman of
IGA Canada. He was a generous philanthropist,
donating to the Sun Yat-Sen Gardens, Vancouver Public Library, the VSO, several colleges and
universities, Vancouver's hospitals, and the
YMCA, to name a few. He was also very
generous in his contributions to charities. In
1968, he was the first Chinese Canadian to be
granted a membership to the Shaugnessy Golf
and Country Club. Louie was a former UBC
Alumni Association board member and received
the Order of Canada in 1989.
Adela S. Lintelmann
19   -1998
Adela Smith BA'20 was an early feminist role
model. She established herself as a mathematician, scholar, and artist. She worked her way up
at the New York stock exchange to become one
ofthe first women stock brokers on Wall Street.
But her true love was art Her art career
spanned over seventy years. She became a
trustee of the American Fine Arts Society and
won many awards for her work. Ada contributed to scholarships and provided financial
support to young artists.
Harry Warren
1904-1998
Born in Anacortes, Washington, Or. Harry Warren
BA'26, BASc'27, DSc(Hon)78 joined the UBC
faculty in 1932 and was a teacher and researcher
for 41 years. He completed MSc and DPhil degrees
at Oxford as a Rhodes scholar.
Harry was an outstanding athlete, representing Canada in 1928 as a member of the Olympic
track team where he coached the women's relay
team to a gold medal. He was a champion of field
hockey, and organized teams at both University
Hill School and UBC. He was inducted into the BC
Sports Hall of Fame in 1990 for his lifetime
contributions to coaching and to the support and
encouragement of athletes. While at UBC he
helped form cricket and rugby teams, played
rugby and excelled at track and field, while
maintaining top marks. In his spare time he acted
with the UBC Players Club.
Harry was a highly respected and popular
geology teacher, and was a pioneer in biogeo-
chemistry, which examines the relationship
between surface elements of soil and plants and
the mineral content of bedrock. He published
many academic papers in the field. Harry and his
family owned a mineral claim at Watson Bar, and
he spent many joyful days in search ofthe
motherlode. Among other honours, he received
both the Order of Canada and the Order of BC.
Harry had a long and productive life. He
maintained his natural graciousness throughout,
and never lost his sense of humour. He died on
March 14, 1998 in Vancouver.
Bill Reid
1920-1998
Bill Reid LLD'76 was associated with UBC for
40 years. He created the Haida village that now
stands outside the Museum of Anthropology,
and is credited with reviving traditional Haida
carving and design. His other works include the
Spirit of Haida Gwaii, a pair of 19 foot
sculptures that stand in the Vancouver
International Airport and at the Canadian
embassy in Washington, DC, and Raven and the
First Men, also at MOA.
He received nine honorary degrees from
Canadian universities. His work has been
exhibited internationally and can be found in
public and private collections all over the
world. He was the first living artist to have his
work displayed in the Musee de I'Homme in
Paris, an exhibition celebrating the works of
the world's foremost ethnologist, Claude Levi-
Strauss.
He received many awards, among them
the Molson Award, Diplome d'Honneur for
Services to the Arts, Ryerson Fellowship,
Bronfman Award for Excellence in the Crafts,
Vancouver Lifetime Achievement Award,
Freeman of the City of Vancouver, Royal Bank.
Award, National Aboriginal Lifetime Achievement Award, Order of British Columbia, and the
Royal Architectural Institute of Canada's Allied
Arts Medal.
His spirit will remain in the hearts of the
many young Haida carvers he has nurtured, an<J
with his worldwide network of family, friends -y
and admirers. A philanthropist, he donated
many of his works to local causes.
30
Chronicle Robert M.P. Driscoll
1963-1998
Dr. Robert M.P. Driscoll, 35, died January 2,
1998, along with five others in a massive
avalanche in Kokanee Glacier Park while
backcountry skiing. Robert graduated from UBC
Medicine in May, 1990 and returned in 1996 to
complete the one-year advanced family
practice training program.
While attending UBC, Robert was the
recipient of more than a dozen scholarships for
his strong academic achievement. As an
undergraduate, Rob served as President of the
Varsity Outdoor Club. He became the first
Canadian to complete the French direct ascent
of Alpamayo, a 5947m (19,500 ft) peak in Peru.
Upon graduation, he practiced medicine
throughout BC as a locum and spent two years
working in Baffin Island. In 1997 Rob worked as
the anesthesiologist at Nelson Hospital in
Nelson, BC.
Mabel Colbeck
1898-1998
Mabel Colbeck BA(Hon)'46, MA'48, was born in
Uplawmoor, Renfrewshire, Scotland. She won a
university bursary but had to take a job as a
stenographer to help her family, whith whom she
later emigrated to Niagara Falls.
She travelled and studied on her own,
working as a journalist and broadcaster. After
Mabel received her master's at UBC, she worked
with legendary professor Garnett Sedgewick. She
earned her PhD at Toronto in 1955, and for
twenty years she was regarded as one of the
most dynamic and exciting English professors at
UBC. As well as excelling as a teacher, Mabel
gave years of sterling service to the Faculty Club
and Vancouver Institute boards. Her family has
generously opened a scholarship fund in Mabel's
name. Interested contributors can contact the
Develpoment Office at 822-8905.
Sam Black
1913-1998
Sam Black died April 23, 1998. He graduated
from the Glasgow School of Art in 1936. He
served with the Royal Scots Fusiliers during
WWII, attaining the rank of major and winning
medals for bravery. He was an honorary lifetime
member ofthe Canadian Society for Education
through Art and a founding member of the
International Society for Education Through Art.
He received a Master Teacher Award and an
honorary degree form UBC.
As a teacher, he was considered inspirational. He arrived at UBC in 1958 and quickly
established his reputation with his enthusiasm,
creative energy and openness.
He was one of Canada's outstanding
artists. He was accomplished in watercolours,
acrylics, oils, woodcuts and metal sculpture. His
works are held in galleries around the world. In
recent years, he continued to create works of art
while living on Bowen Island.
In Memoriam
Allan Bate QC, LLB'50. BA'56 of Chemainus, Feb. 1,
1998 ... Rodney Beavan BA'39 of Nova Scotia, July
16,1997 ... Mills Forster Clarke BSc'35, MSA'37 of
Nanaimo, Feb. 23, 1998 ... Harold Copp BASc'60.
LLD'80 died on Mar. 17, 1998 in Vancouver. He
received his MD from the University of Toronto in 1939
and his PhD in biochemistry from UC Berkeley in 1943.
He was also assistant professor there until 1950 and
then became head of the department for 30 years. In
1961, he discovered the hormone calcitonin, now used
internationally to treat osteoporosis. Copp was made a
companion of the Order of Canada in 1980 and in
1994 was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of
Fame... Sonia Craddock BA'72, MEd'76, EDD'82 of
Vancouver, Nov. 1997 ... Paul Cronert BASc'69,
MEng'70, of White Rock, BC, Mar. 10,1998 ... W.
(John) S. Downton PhD'69 of Adelaide, Australia,
Jan. 9, 1998 ... Lara Gilbert BSc'95 ofVancouver,
Oct 7,1995    Braham (Grey) Griffith
BA(Hon)'26, MA'28, Prof Emeritus, ofVancouver, died
on April 12,1998 in a long-term care hospital. Braham
also received an MF in Forest Soils from Harvard in
1930 and a PhD in Plant Physiology at the University of
Washington in 1939. He worked for the Research
Branch of the BC Forest Service from 1926-36. He
began teaching at UBC part-time in 1937 and was full-
time for 30 years from 1938/39... Gordon Heron
BCom'38 ofVancouver... Bernard N. Laven, QC
BA50, LLB'51 of Calgary, Mar. 17, 1998 ... Derek
LePage LLB'52 of Nanaimo, BC, Jan. 16, 1998 ...
James Earl Miltmore BSc 48, PhD'61 of
Summerland, BC, Mar. 23,1998 ... John (Jack) D.
Mitchell BASc'34 of Rossland, BC, Nov. 2, 1997 ...
Dennis B. Owen LLB'51 of Collingwood, Ont, Mar.
25, 1998 ... Clarence (Sammy) Samis Prof
Emeritus of Areola, Sask., died on March 8, 1998 at the
age of 87. Samis taught Metallurgy at UBC for more
than 30 years. He received his BSc and MSc from the
University of Manitoba, and his PhD from University
College in London, England. Samis received the
Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Alcan
Award ... Christian B. Reid BA'32, DipEd'34 of
Victoria, BC, Feb. 13, 1998 ... Joachin von Hahn
BASC'59 of West Vancouver, Dec. 13,1997 ... Harold
Douglas Whittle Prof Emertius. of Vancouver, Apr.
3,1998    WJ Wood BASc'50    John Woodcraft
BASc'45 of Barrie, Ont, Sept. 1997 ... Geoffrey
Gaston Woodward BA'30 of Minneapolis,
Minnesota, Jan. 1, 1998 .    •
Chronicle
31 chronicle profiles
Students
Elana Brief, faculty of science
It didn't take Elana Brief very long to decide what she wanted
to do with her life. When she was seven, she knew she
wanted to venture into the world of physics.
And she stuck with that dream. Elana will graduate next
September with a PhD in physics and astronomy "I've always
been interested in physics because it teaches people to see
beyond the visible," she says. "It uses technology as a way to see
beyond what we normally see."
Elana did her undergrad degree at York. She decided to go to
UBC when she came out here in 1992 as a summer student and
met physics and radiology Prof. Alex McKay.
"My experience with him has been valuable on many
levels," she explains. "He not only taught me to love physics,
but also to have priorities outside of it and not make it your life.
I knew I wanted to study with him."
Since then Elana completed her master's in physics at UBC,
received the Canadian Federation of University Women Award,
University Grad Fellowship, and was one of 11 graduate students
to win a graduate student teaching award from the Presidents'
Office.
"I'm very impressed by the faculty and grad students in
physics here at UBC," she says. "They're passionate about
physics, and about stuff outside of it. The students are involved
in all sorts of things, from triathlons to protests to the Graduate
Student Society. Almost all the Grad Society members are physics
students."
Elana's time in the classroom isn't devoted exclusively to
physics. She's taken Education courses and a high-tech entrepre-
neurship course taught by commerce Prof and Alumni Association President Haig Farris, which gave her "great experience in a
field I knew nothing about."
Elana is also active outside of the classroom: she was
responsible for coordinating the first year of the Let's Talk
Science program at UBC (see our Spring '98 issue). She plays the
violin in a Klezmer band, which performs Eastern European
Jewish Folk Music at venues anywhere from Citifest to bar
mitzvahs. She also does triathlons and 10k runs ("the West Coast
really inspired me to athletics"), works at the BC Advanced
Systems Institute (BCASI), is on the Science World Committee
for exhibits and programs, and has traveled extensively from
Australia to Israel.
Her practical experience has been rewarding as well. She's a
TA for The Physics of Music, a course that integrates physics to
music.
"The course tries to change people's attitudes about physics,
that it's not always
'hard.' We use accessible
material such as charts,
graphs and equations;
things that are essential
for living in a modern
society," said Elana.
She is also working
with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) at
UBC hospital. A technique similar to that of a CAT scan, it allows the practitioner to
look inside a body without physically touching it.
"It is useful for drug trials to see if people are getting better
before anything physically changes in the brain." She also deals
with Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS). "If a person had a
tumour and there was no way to take a biopsy, you could use
this method to see if it was malignant or benign."
But for all that she does, she still has time to dabble in some
extra terrestrial activity. Recently the X-Files props people got in
touch with her at the hospital. They were looking for brain
spectra to show a chemical which, when injected into the body,
freezes every cell instantly. Such a chemical does not exist, so she
gave them a brain spectrum of a completely healthy living
person instead. It worked perfectly well. "They used the printout
I gave them for one of their episodes," explains Elana, "I think
they liked it because there were lots of lines and numbers all
over it."
For now, Elana will concentrate on graduating. For later, she
would like to become a teacher, something that the graduate
students' teaching award has inspired her to do.
"That's the direction I want to go in. I like the idea of
teaching physics. I would prefer smaller, more intimate classes,
which means more discussion and inevitably leads to better
understanding."
Her love of science, however, goes beyond teaching. "I am
very enthusiastic about science education in a broad sense," she
says. "I love science centers, museums, places where people can
play with science. It opens up a world for people seeing things in
a different way. Being curator of a science museum is definitely
in the picture."
It sounds like she made the right choice to move here: "I've
been here for three years, and have had a great time," she says
enthusiastically. "UBC has given me the opportunity to explore
things that I would not normally explore myself."    e
32
Chronicle Kirsten Molstad, faculty of arts
If anyone was destined to go to UBC, it was fourth-year
political science student Kirsten Molstad. Not only did she
live in Acadia Park until she was six, but both her parents
went here. She grew up knowing the area and knowing the
school; coming here was just a natural thing for her to do.
Unlike her parents, a lawyer and a teacher, Kirsten is looking
for more non-conventional career choices. A volunteer at heart,
she devotes her spare time to the Canadian Diabetes Association,
Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, the Youth Rotary Club, and
a mentorship program for disadvantaged children. At university,
she is vice-president of the Political Science Students' Association, works in the School & College Liaison Office, and is a
residence advisor at Place Vanier.
"Having a lot to do makes me more organized," she explains. "It's motivating and I meet a lot of people."
It's nothing new for her. Active since high school, Kirsten
came to UBC with the attitude that she should cut down the
activities and really concentrate on her schoolwork.
"I quickly found out that instead of studying more, I wasn't
doing anything. So I packed up my things, moved into residence, and became active. I met more people in my first week
there than in my first year altogether."
She has definitely taken advantage of living on campus.
"UBC is very holistic," she says. "Anything you want to do, you
can do it here." Her advising job is especially rewarding. "It's a
very challenging experience," Kirsten explains. "You get to do
fun stuff like organizing special events and career forums and
not-so-fun stuff, like rule enforcement. But counselling is what
keeps me there; it's something I am comfortable with and I
enjoy talking to people and helping them solve their problems."
One particular event that she thought "fantastic" was the
UBC Alumni Association's Mentor Lunch, a program for students and mentors to get together and talk about life after
graduation. "I think it was rewarding not only for the students,
but for the mentors as well," says Kirsten. "It's a chance for them
to help people. They showed us that it's okay to have a few
different careers, and that you don't always have to be so
focused on one area. I would definitely go again."
As far as school goes, political science was not her first
choice. She was originally going to major in English, but then
took a couple of political science courses and was hooked. "I like
to study how the government works—or doesn't work, for that
matter," she says. Instructor Paul Tennant was a big influence
too. "He knows everything about politics, not only in a theoretical sense, but a practical one as well," says Kirsten, "During
election time, he lets us go to debates, parties, and nomination
meetings. He makes us
apply our knowledge,
instead of just listening
and regurgitating."
Kirsten has taken her
studies a little further: she
has enrolled in VCCs nonprofit sector management
certificate program. She
hopes it will lead to a job
in a non-profit organization or volunteer
fundraising for a social service. After she graduates, she thinks
she may come back for an MBA or a counselling degree. However, her broadmindedness has always been a factor and changing her mind is not uncommon. "When I was a kid, 1 wanted to
do everything. Since then I have looked into literally every
profession." Her choice of school didn't waver, though. "I've had
an amazing experience here," Kirsten says in a serious tone. "A
lot of people just go to university, get their degree, and get a job.
I have tried to do a lot more than that. I feel it's the extra stuff I
do that'll get me the job I want."   e    - Profiles by Shari Ackerman
Stay in Touch
Keep us up-to-date on where you are, what you're doing and who
you're doing it with. We want to know, and so do your old classmates. Use another sheet of paper and send it in today!
Name _	
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Send your news one of these ways:
Snail mail: 6251 Cecil Green Park Rd.
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Chronicle
_ J
33 books received
UBC's Writers
Silver Donald
Cameron
The Living Beach
by Silver Donald
Cameron BA'60.
MacMillan $32.95
This gracefully
written, elegant book
takes us on a tour of
beaches from Cape
Breton to California.
Our fascination with the edge of the
ocean colours our view of the world away
from the water as well as on it. At times
philosophical, at times funny, this book
about our beaches works, metaphorically,
as a look at the larger human experience.
HE AC I
m
Borderlands by
W.H. New
BEd'61, MA'63.
UBC ,$19.95
An eloquent study
of how our sense
of 'borders' shapes
the Canadian
Borderlands
experience. New uses both Canadian and
American literature as illustrations and he
is, as usual, interesting, thought provoking and hugely readable.
Writing Travel
Books and Articles J
by Richard Cropp
BA'77, MBA'81,
Barbara
Braidwood and
Susan M. Boyce.
Self-Counsel
$15.95.   If your dream job is to be paid
to write about the beaches of Tahiti or the
world's newest luxury cruise liner, read
this book. The authors will show you how
to get those free trips and your writing
published. Excellent writer's guidelines.
Mendel's Children by Cherie Smith
BA'55, U of Calgary Press This is a
personal story of a family's migration
from Poland and Latvia to the Canadian
prairie. It is an extraordinary book, filled
with pain, laughter,
determination,
foolishness, strength
and weakness: all the
things that make us
human. It's a reminder
that we all have
histories, and that passion isn't something we invented in our own generation.
A House of
Words by
Norman Ravvin.
McCill-Queen's,
$15.95.   Rawin,
a UBC prof, looks
at how Jewish
history influences
postwar Canadian and American Jewish
literature. He argues that this literature
cannot be examined outside the Jewish
cultural landscape, e
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Registrar's Office
2016-1874 East Mall
Vancouver, BC, Canada
V6T1Z1
Notice of Election
Chancellor and Convocation Senators
The election of the Chancellor and of eleven members of
the Senate to be elected by the members of Convocation
of The University of British Columbia will be held in
January 1999, Votitig instructions will appear in the Fall
issue of The Chronicle.
Candidates eligible to stand for election to the Senate are
members of Congestion who are not members ofthe
faculties of the University.
The term of office is three years. The Convocation Senators will take office on September 1, 1999. The Chancellor
will take office on June 2, 1999.
Nomination forms may be obtained by contacting James
Lowther, Coordinator of Elections by telephone at (604)
8224367, fax (604) 822-5945, or email
James.Lowther@ubc.ca. The forms will also be available
for downloading in Adobe PDF format from the Elections
home page at www.student-services.ubc.ca/election/.
All nominations of candidates for the office of Chancellor must be supported by the identifiable signatures of
seven persons entitled to ysajttfln the election of Chancellor and carry the signature of the nominee indicating
willingness to run for election.
All nominations of candidates for membership in the Senate
must be supported by the idettifiable signatures of three
persons entitled to vote in the election of the Senate,
Nominations for these offices must be received by the
Registrar's Office no later than 4:00 pm on Monday,
August3, 1998.
In accordance with the University Act, an election
register has been prepared showing the names and
known addresses of all mgnjtbers of Convocation who are
entitled to vote at an election and thetregister is open •
for inspection by all members entitled to vote, Monday
to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm.
34
Chronicle In addition to our present
A card sponsors, we are proud
to introduce the new UBC
Alumni A card - the only
alumni program of its kind in
Canada that is affiliated with
Score Card's national retail
sponsors. Now, when you
purchase a membership for
only S26.7S (including tax) you
can use your A card to access
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A card holders. You can also
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and receive preferred rates
across Canada and the U.S.A.
Avis, Tilden, Budget, Hertz,
Best Western, Howard
Johnsons and Ramada Inns &
Hotels are just a few of the
travel partners available to
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Mail coupon to: 6251 Cecil Green Park Road, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z1
or fax to: 1 -800-220-9022 or local fax # 604-822-8928.
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